Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The Lich Terry Prisoner
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[What is this......]
Lee Sang was perplexed.
He had every reason to be.
This lich's name was Terry Prisoner.
Once upon a time, he had been the second prince of the Prisoner Kingdom.
Unlike his brother, who excelled in swordsmanship, he possessed exceptional talent in magic.
Unfortunately, the Prisoner Kingdom valued swordsmanship over magic.
As a result, no one doubted it.
The throne would go to the firstborn prince.
Only one person refused to accept that.
Terry Prisoner's mother, the second queen.
Desperate to see her son Terry ascend to the throne, the second queen pulled every string she could.
In that environment, Terry himself had no choice but to strive not to disappoint his mother's expectations.
However.
No matter what the two of them tried, they couldn't wrest the throne from the firstborn prince.
Bound by the traditions of the Prisoner Kingdom, which prized legitimacy and swordsmanship above all, Terry—as the second prince—could never claim the crown.
In the end, realizing that as long as the firstborn lived, the second son could never be king, Terry's mother attempted to assassinate the first prince.
But the plot failed, and she was executed.
That was the reason Terry Prisoner had become a lich.
To avenge his mother against the Prisoner Kingdom that had put her to death.
And so he began raising an undead legion.
In pursuit of a plan to make his undead legion even stronger, he targeted the dwarves.
To equip them with dwarf-forged gear.
To that end, he had set up base in a cave near the dwarf village, spawning undead forces to harass them bit by bit.
He figured the pressure would turn some dwarves into his undead slaves, while others could be forced to craft equipment for his legion.
But then, out of nowhere, some human invaded his zone.
'Did he take down all the undead I sent to the dwarves?'
No.
The undead he'd dispatched to the dwarf village were still locked in combat—less than half of half had fallen.
'But what the hell is this human... More importantly, where did this monster come from?'
Monster.
That was how Terry Prisoner saw Hae-jin.
He had no choice.
Not only had this intruder cleaved through his elite undead squad in a single stroke, but even now, he was ripping Terry's limbs apart, leaving him utterly helpless.
A lich, by nature, couldn't be killed no matter how much you attacked it.
To defeat one, you didn't attack the lich itself—you destroyed its origin, the 'Life Vessel.'
Without shattering the Life Vessel, a lich regenerated endlessly, an immortal being.
Yet Hae-jin was dismembering Terry faster than he could regenerate, leaving only his head intact.
Hae-jin was waiting on purpose.
For the growth of the other players.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
'I want to clear the hidden trial...'
That was Lee Sang's goal.
The hidden trial in the fourth Trials' Arena, as told to him by Hae-jin.
Survive after racking up exactly 666 kills in this arena, and you'd clear it.
From what he'd heard, it wasn't easy.
You had to take down 665 out of over ten thousand undead, then hunt the lich.
Hae-jin had said the easiest way was to monopolize the monsters in the final zone.
'But that's by his standards. He said it's impossible for us.'
"Easy" didn't mean low difficulty—it meant clearing the hidden trial effortlessly without counting kills.
So Hae-jin had shared a method the rest of the party could actually pull off.
『Grab exactly two in the first zone to get the dark magic stones. Use them to upgrade just your main weapon and armor. That alone makes you noticeably stronger. Skip hunting first-stage undead after that. As you push into second and third stages, pick off one at a time.』
That was step one.
Step two came later.
『Things will get tougher eventually. That's when you swap for 100-stone weapons and main armor. Usually, you'll need about 200 stones from second and third stages—that drops from 100 to 70 kills. After that, just watch. With 100-stone gear, sixth and seventh stages become manageable. Hunt around 300 there to gather stones for 1,000-stone weapons and armor. Then hit exactly 665 kills across ninth and tenth stages before contributing to the lich hunt.』
It was a way for even average players to tackle the fourth Trials' Arena's hidden trial, as outlined by Hae-jin.
Lee Sang followed it to the letter.
He snagged just two undead early on, then visited the dwarf elder to exchange for gear.
[Dwarf-forged Mage's Staff]
Grade: Advanced
Options: Magic Attack Power +20%, Intelligence +2
Description: Even an ordinary mage's staff becomes exceptional when forged by dwarves.
[Dwarf-forged Mage's Robe]
Grade: Advanced
Options: Magic Defense +20%, Intelligence +2
Description: Even an ordinary mage's robe becomes exceptional when forged by dwarves.
His equipment slots were sparse, to put it mildly.
But Lee Sang was plenty surprised.
'The regular-grade ones I had looked identical, but the options are double?'
They appeared no different from the common-grade items he'd acquired before, yet the dwarf gear he'd traded dark magic stones for had double the stats.
Confirming that, Lee Sang recalled.
'The Leader said to gauge our strength benchmark as we moved into second and third stages?'
Still, to get 100-stone gear, start farming steadily from second stage.
But Lee Sang skipped hunting entirely in first and second stages, just spectating.
He judged that with the gear, third stage was doable, per Hae-jin's advice.
Thanks to the other players in the zone grinding away, they advanced to third stage.
There, Lee Sang cast his spell.
"Burn bright, orb of flame. Fireball!"
He thrust his staff forward, chanting.
A red aura surged from the staff, forming a fireball that hurtled toward the undead.
Whoosh—!
The fireball sliced through the air, striking the undead kobold.
Boom—!
It even exploded on impact.
Afterward, Lee Sang saw the system window pop up.
[Experience gained.]
[Level up.]
[Kill: 3.]
[Point: 5.]
"One-shot? Then let's try the fourth-stage monsters."
He'd assumed second stage would be a one-shot, obviously.
Based on Hae-jin's info, second was easy, but third felt tougher.
Yet the third-stage undead kobold dropped to a single fireball.
So why not farm stones in fourth stage?
Lee Sang quickly realized he was stronger than expected, then skipped hunting here too, waiting to push to fourth.
Soon enough, they reached fourth stage, facing a horde of undead orcs.
Lee Sang picked one undead orc as his target and cast his most effective spell available—fireball again.
"Burn bright, orb of flame. Fireball!"
Whoosh—!
Boom—!
"Kuugh!"
Unlike living orcs that spoke human tongues, this undead only screeched in pain. It didn't drop like the third-stage kobold.
The undead orc writhed briefly, then charged at Lee Sang.
Seeing that, he thought:
'From here, fireball won't one-shot anymore?'
Dodging the incoming attack, he cast another spell.
"Wind, lend me strength. Haste."
Haste, the spell that boosted the caster's speed.
Applying it to himself, Lee Sang evaded every wild axe swing from the undead orc with agile footwork.
As he dodged, he calculated.
'Fireball's still on cooldown. Go for another orb spell, or stick to fire against undead?'
After a moment's thought, he chose fire.
"Arrow of flame, Fire Bolt."
Fire Bolt was a lesser spell than Fireball, so the incantation was shorter.
Evading axe swings, he unleashed Fire Bolt.
A fiery arrow formed at his staff's tip and pierced the undead orc.
Whoosh—!
But even that didn't fell it.
Lee Sang immediately followed up.
"Tear all asunder, orb of wind. Wind Ball!"
Whooo—!
Wind gathered at his staff, forming a ball that smashed into the orc.
Shrieeek—!
On contact, it spread like blades, shredding the undead orc everywhere.
Finally, it collapsed with a death rattle.
"Kugh!"
Thud.
The orc crumbled to gray ash and vanished, dropping four dark magic stones.
Lee Sang pocketed them and said:
"For me, this is where gear upgrades become necessary."
Having judged that, unlike prior zones where he'd spectated, he relentlessly hunted undead orcs in fourth stage.
'Just 50. Wait, I've got 9 stones already, so 48 more?'
Hae-jin had said skip straight from 1-stone gear to 100-stone after.
Fourth stage dropped 4 stones per orc.
For 100-stone main weapon and armor: 200 stones total.
With 9 picked up minus 2 spent, 48 kills got him to 99— one short.
So 49 it was.
Decision made, he farmed undead orcs without pause.
After nonstop grinding, he saw:
[Experience gained.]
[Kill: 53.]
[Point: 205.]
Confirming 49 extra undead orcs down, Lee Sang stopped hunting and returned to the dwarf village.
He handed over 200 stones and received new staff and robe.
Lee Sang checked the gear from the dwarf elder.
[Dwarf-forged Magic Captain's Staff]
Grade: Special
Options: Magic Attack Power +50%, Intelligence +5, Agility +3, Cooldown Reduction +5%.
Skill: Power Spell
Description: A staff said to be usable only by magic captains forged by dwarves.
[Dwarf-forged Magic Captain's Robe]
Grade: Special
Options: Magic Defense +50%, Intelligence +5, Vitality +3, Cooldown Reduction +5%.
Skill: Comfortable
Description: Even an ordinary mage's robe becomes exceptional when forged by dwarves.
Eyeing the gear, Lee Sang tilted his head.
"Hmm? What are these skills?"