Chapter 63
Chapter 63
"Oh? Come to think of it, boss monsters appear every five floors, right?" That left two possibilities. Either Terry Prisoner wasn't the boss monster for this early 90s floor, or because he was the boss monster, he could flee all the way to floor 95. By the time that thought crossed his mind, Terry Prisoner had vanished. Hae-jin decided then. 'Gotta head to floor 93 and see what happens.' No matter how he looked at it, Terry Prisoner was fleeing too fast for Q or Kiyo to catch. If he wanted to grab the guy, Hae-jin would have to step in himself
Which meant... "First things first, let's clear this floor. Go get 'em, kids!" [Kyuuung!] [Kiyooo!] For Q and Kiyo's growth, Hae-jin provided support from afar and waited for the battle to end on its own. Only then could he move on to floor 93. Q and Kiyo diligently took out the mounted Death Knights. Once the Death Knights were cleared, Hae-jin headed back to floor 93. Sure enough...
Terry Prisoner
[Eeeeeek! You idiots, why can't you handle one measly human?! In the name of the Lich King, come forth, liches!!!] Hae-jin tilted his head at Terry Prisoner's line
'Lich King?' The Terry Prisoner he'd encountered before was just a regular lich. Not something worthy of being called a Lich King. Yet here this Terry Prisoner was, calling himself the Lich King. If he really had become the Lich King... 'That puts him on the level of a floor 95 boss monster. But how?' Hae-jin had already obliterated him in the Trials' Arena. Not only had Terry Prisoner respawned, but he'd become the Lich King here. No matter how he sliced it, Hae-jin figured he'd have to capture the guy to get answers
He charged forward swiftly.
Terry Prisoner
[H-Hiiiik! What the—how are you so fast?!] He must have thought Hae-jin was slow since he couldn't keep up on floors 91 and 92. Truth was, Hae-jin had just held back for Q and Kiyo's sake. Terry Prisoner tried to flee to the next floor—94—but ended up caught by Hae-jin. Thud!
Terry Prisoner
[Hngh!] Terry Prisoner gasped as Hae-jin seized his neck bone. Hae-jin greeted him casually in that state. "Long time no see, Terry Prisoner."
Terry Prisoner
[H-Hiiiik!] Terry Prisoner freaked out at the sight of Hae-jin Acting like he had PTSD or something. It meant he remembered what Hae-jin had done to him. Of course he'd run so desperately. Hae-jin spoke to the trembling Terry Prisoner. "We need to talk first, so how about I chop off your limbs like last time to keep you from running?"
Terry Prisoner
[N-No...!] "Sure we can." With that, Hae-jin sliced off Terry Prisoner's limbs one-handed with his blade. Slash, slash, slash, slash. He figured that would keep him from fleeing.
Terry Prisoner
[As if!] Suddenly, flames erupted from Terry Prisoner's skull, and it shot off into the air "Huh, ditching the body and bailing?" Exactly as Hae-jin said. Terry Prisoner had abandoned his body and tried to flee with just his skull. But... Pop! Thud! "Where do you think you're going?" Terry Prisoner, aiming to slip to floor 94 with nothing but his skull, got snatched by Hae-jin again. Caught once more, he screamed.
Terry Prisoner
[Why are you doing this to me?!] "Why am I picking on you? You're a monster in the Tower of Trials, so I gotta kill you." Right now, Hae-jin was a player climbing the Tower of Trials Naturally, he had to take out every monster that appeared. Terry Prisoner responded to Hae-jin's words.
Terry Prisoner
[Then just kill me!] He wanted Hae-jin to kill him outright without the torture like before. But could Hae-jin just kill a lich whenever he felt like it? To kill a lich, you had to destroy its Life Vessel. Sure, there were ways even without the vessel—smash the skull so badly that its energy couldn't regenerate. That was why Hae-jin had severed Terry Prisoner's limbs last time Keep smashing and regenerating until the Life Vessel's power ran out and he dissipated. He knew the method, but no need to indulge the guy. Hae-jin told the pleading Terry Prisoner: "But I don't know where your Life Vessel is here."
Terry Prisoner
[You knew in that cave before!] Terry Prisoner argued that Hae-jin knew last time, so how could he not now? From Hae-jin's perspective, he genuinely didn't know. This was his first time reaching the 90s in the Tower of Trials. Even Joo-hyuk had never climbed this high, so there was zero info from here on Naturally, he had no clue where Terry Prisoner's Life Vessel was. Hae-jin told him: "I knew then, not now. If you wanna die that bad, tell me where it is."
Terry Prisoner
[Two floors up!] Two floors up. They were on 93 now. That meant floor 95—the boss floor. 'So he really is the boss monster, huh?' Anyway, hearing the Life Vessel was on 95, Hae-jin asked: "So if I don't go there, you'll keep regenerating?"
Terry Prisoner
[I won't! You'll just chop me up again!] Terry Prisoner whined about why Hae-jin was so hung up on his regeneration To make him compliant, Hae-jin considered slicing him up like before. "You know it. But wouldn't losing limbs be better than getting your face mutilated?" Hae-jin, planning to just take the limbs again. Terry Prisoner begged.
Terry Prisoner
[Ughhh, just kill me already!] He'd rather dissipate than endure that hellish pain again. Hae-jin did need to erase Terry Prisoner to proceed to floor 96 anyway. But he had questions. How had Terry Prisoner come back after Hae-jin destroyed him? And how did he become the Lich King boss on floor 95? To break his spirit, Hae-jin stalled by refusing to go to 95 "Then we gotta go two floors up, but I don't wanna."
Terry Prisoner
[Where's that fair?!] "It's fair here."
Terry Prisoner
[You psycho!] Terry Prisoner spat curses at Hae-jin for tormenting him. But the insults did nothing to Hae-jin. "Thanks for the compliment."
Terry Prisoner
[That's a compliment?!] Terry Prisoner shrieked as Hae-jin twisted his insult into praise. Hae-jin just smirked. "That's always been my nickname."
Terry Prisoner
[What?] Terry Prisoner wondered what that meant 'Psycho' as a nickname? It was half-true. He wasn't a true psycho; back when Joo-hyuk was leader, Hae-jin's moniker was 'Berserker.' Mad warrior. Or psycho, in other words. No need to explain that much to Terry Prisoner, though. Hae-jin made it clear what he had to do to avoid pain. "Doesn't matter the details. If you wanna die, just answer my questions nicely."
Terry Prisoner
[What do you even want me to answer?!] "Okay?"
Terry Prisoner
[Fine, fine! What do you wanna know?!] Better to cooperate than endure nonstop agony like before, apparently He promised sincere answers. With that, Hae-jin fired off his first question. "How'd you come back to life? I definitely killed you by smashing your Life Vessel." That was the big one. Liches were supposed to vanish once their Life Vessel was destroyed. So how was a once-erased lich here now? Terry Prisoner explained what happened after Hae-jin smashed it.
Terry Prisoner
[Thought I was done for. But I woke up in some monster-packed space. Battles happen periodically there, and if you survive to the end, they revive you Happy?] He revealed his post-death and revival process. That gave Hae-jin a clue about the Lich King upgrade. "So you powered up to Lich King by surviving that place?"
Terry Prisoner
[Yeah, got stronger there.] "What if I smash your Life Vessel again and erase you? Back there?"
Terry Prisoner
[Dunno, no idea.] "Yeah?"
Terry Prisoner
[Yeah! Answered everything—now kill me!] "Got it, got it. Let's head to the floor with your Life Vessel."
Terry Prisoner
[Sweet!] Hae-jin climbed to floor 94, skull in hand Undead swarmed as he arrived, charging at him. But Q and Kiyo, fully buffed, handled the horde. Watching, Hae-jin asked Terry Prisoner: "What's this? You said hurry to your Life Vessel, but now they're attacking?"
Terry Prisoner
[I didn't order it! They're programmed to auto-attack intruders...] Terry Prisoner insisted it was instinctual system behavior for them, not his command. He seemed worried Hae-jin would misunderstand and torture him. Hae-jin twitched an eyebrow at the explanation "Yeah?"
Terry Prisoner
[R-Really!] The most wronged tone imaginable. Seeing that reaction, Hae-jin decided to buy it. "Fine, whatever. Q and Kiyo will handle 'em anyway." The powered-up Q and Kiyo swept the floor 94 undead clean without Hae-jin lifting a finger—his buffs alone sufficed. Impressive pets. Anyway. With floor 94 cleared by Q and Kiyo, Hae-jin finally reached floor 95—where Terry Prisoner said his Life Vessel was. Hae-jin asked: "We're here. So where's your Life Vessel?"
Terry Prisoner
[Let go of this hand, and I'll show you.] "Yeah?"
Terry Prisoner
[Yeah.] "Okay, lead the way." Hae-jin released the skull Immediately, Terry Prisoner zipped toward the largest grave in a field of tombs. Must be where he'd buried his Life Vessel. Right then...
Terry Prisoner