I'll Take the Last Hit (3)

KAAANG!

It happened the instant the armor blew apart. Taeya's stream chat detonated.

The chat was stuttering as it crawled up the screen, and no wonder. What Shin Jaeha had just done was enormous. He had cracked the Underground Prison 131st Floor—one of the so-called demonic realms that had chewed players up for ages. Until now, the only known method was to cram damage in all at once and stack hits until that defense finally gave. Inefficient by nature, and a half-measure you couldn't even attempt if the team composition didn't line up.

Now a perfect clear method stood in the open. From a single person. A Level 6 Warrior no one had expected anything from.

The story was perfect. A Level 6 who had looked every inch the troll, proving his skill and finishing an achievement no one else had managed—a short-form drama with the beginning, the rise, the turn, and the payoff all locked in place. Taeya's heart hammered. Insane... this is actually insane! The scenario he'd sketched at the start had collapsed into garbage, but something far bigger than that cheap script was unfolding right in front of him.

"Let's begin. Bull hunt."

Shin Jaeha settled the club across his shoulder and gave the order, and the team's bodies moved before they had time to think. They'd already been walked through the Imprisoned Minotaur's patterns once the armor was gone.

The formation Shin Jaeha had set burned clear in all four minds. The swordsman bared a grin and swung a blade wrapped in mana.

"Kahaha! Now this is what cutting feels like!"

Taeya shot in on the opening the swordsman had carved, smacking his lips as he unleashed his signature Ssuk-ssak.

"Don't mind if I do!"

Shhk— skrrk!

Shadow coiled around both daggers, and he blinked to the rear to drive them into a killing point.

"KRAAAH!"

Hit in the weak spot at the nape, the Minotaur bellowed and staggered. It clamped a hand over the spurting blood and braced to swing back.

"It's already over."

From the moment it had given up its armor, the Minotaur's defeat was decided. The reason was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simple. Once the armor broke, the strategy changed at once. This team had a Mage—so they would leave the Three Knight Strategy behind and shift into the One Mage Strategy.

FWOOOOSH!

While the two Warriors bought time and kept the damage coming, the Mage finished her cast. Her mana was scraping bottom, cold sweat beading down her face, but it didn't matter. This room was the last one anyway.

The moment the Supporter laid the blessing down, the gathered mana flared sharper still.

"Now!"

At Shin Jaeha's signal the Mage's eyes flew wide, and she fired the spell she had been holding.

"HAAAAAAP!"

Her shout rode the spell straight into the Minotaur.

FWOOM-BOOM!

Light tore outward, and a grand explosion bloomed. Charred black, the Minotaur lost its center and its upper body sagged.

"Grrrr...! Kruk!"

It still had not fallen. Obsession burned in its eyes as they locked onto the Mage who had hit it.

"H-hiiik!"

Her mana was gone. She couldn't move. Her legs folded, and she dropped onto her rear with naked fear on her face.

"KYAAAAAH—!"

The Minotaur poured the last of its life into a lunge and hurled itself at her.

Even the viewers watching it live had their fists clenched—and Shin Jaeha stepped forward as if he had been waiting for exactly this.

"Knew it'd be left with just a hair of health. Right on the edge."

He had run the numbers on the team's damage. Done this way, the beast would be left with just enough health to show its ambush pattern: in the instant before death, it threw itself at whoever had landed the last hit and dragged them down with it. A filthy pattern, right to the end. Shin Jaeha had been aiming for it anyway. Because only then—

Fwoom!

—could he be the one to finish it. He kicked off into the air, grinned, and lifted the club.

A violet barrier unfurled around him.

His weight ballooned several times over, and he fell on the Minotaur like a meteor, every scrap of mana poured into his arm and the club. An all-out blow.

Shin Jaeha speared straight down and smashed the thing's head.

KWAAAAANG!

The impact was less a man falling than a boulder. The whole boss room shuddered.

"...Hoo."

When the thick dust settled, what remained was a Minotaur crushed past any recognizable shape—and a Level 6 leader, the broken handle of his club still in his hand.

"Subjugation complete."

Shin Jaeha.

The success message flashed, and color rushed back into the team's faces.

"WAAAAAH! I did it! I actually did iiiit!"

"I-I cleared the Underground Prison...! Kyaaaa!"

The swordsman and the Mage shrieked and carried on without a pause. Stamina to spare, those two. Right. They're over Level 20.

I'm putting on a fine face, but the truth is my whole body is buzzing, a thin high whine running through it. Every muscle I own is screaming Help!!!! Heeeelp!!! Fair enough. Clearing the Underground Prison on Level 6 stats was always going to do this.

And the club broke. Snapped on only the third run. Three hundred credits, gone—but I'd gotten my money's worth, so I let it go without a second look. It was about time I started putting real gear together anyway.

"Good work, everyone."

"Good work, nothing! Our Leader Jaeha did all the hard part!"

"Thank you so much! Clearing this place was my dream!"

The titles had been promoted—from "Level 6" and "that bastard" all the way to "Leader." Heh. Fastest promotion on record. How embarrassing. Yes. I played along just enough, matching their rhythm, and checked the rewards I'd been waiting for.

"WAAAAAH!"

The insane rewards dumped on me all at once, and I couldn't help the yell. First, the level that had leapt straight to 10 in a single bound. Honestly, I was hoping for about Level 8... I genuinely hadn't expected them to shoot me all the way to 10. On top of that, two extra stat points. Six in total! Stat points that would one day be worth more than any treasure—securing this many was an unambiguous win.

And then, of course, All Stats +3. That, too, was an obviously unhinged reward. A single stat rising by 3 would already be a jackpot, and every stat had risen by 3? If the players on the top teams found out, they'd roll their eyes white, grab me by the collar, and shake me until I coughed up how. With this, Strength and Agility both broke 10. At last I could receive the Constitution Awakening Quest. Excitement surged up from deep in my body—enough that even a fortune of 50,000 credits landing as a reward felt like something I could breeze right past.

"And this..."

I picked up the cube that had materialized in front of me. What? I'd never heard of a reward like this dropping from the Underground Prison. Wasn't it Minotaur gear that came out of there? Equipment with "Minotaur's" in the name. The grades were random, but the moment you wore the pieces together, a set effect triggered. The whole reason I'd agreed to take the gear as a clear condition was this.

"Ugh... it hurts, but it can't be helped. Without Leader, we wouldn't have cleared at all..."

"The other rewards are plenty for me! Here!"

The swordsman and the Mage handed over the equipment they'd received, one after the other.

Oh. C-grade. Considering Level 20 content mostly dropped D-grade or E-grade gear, this was a gain. Looked like the Mage had invested a fair bit in Luck.

"Thank you."

I took them, crushing the upward twitch at the corner of my mouth with superhuman patience. Then the Supporter approached, quiet.

"Here."

What she gave me was an ash-gray cloak, the hem slightly frayed.

Another C-grade! A pair of them, here? Maybe the one with the real luck was me.

"I'll take it gladly."

"......"

Even after handing over the cloak, the Supporter kept looking at me, steady and unblinking—staring as if she meant to drill a hole between my brows with her eyes alone.

"...Is there something on my face?"

"You... which team are you with?"

"Sorry?"

"I don't think I've seen you in the league..."

She seemed to be laboring under a serious misunderstanding, so I cleared it up fast.

"I don't have a team. And I've never played in a league match."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes."

What team sends a Level 6 into a match in the first place? You wouldn't see that even in the third division.

"I see."

The Supporter gave a small nod. Then, just barely, she smiled.

"Shin Jaeha... I'll remember that."

"Ah... yeah, well... do whatever you want."

As expected, this woman was no ordinary person. And there was something faintly familiar about her face, too.

"Hyung-nim!"

The last piece of gear—no, the last teammate—waved both hands wildly. What Taeya was holding—!

D-grade. Tsk! I clicked my tongue inwardly and took the breastplate.

"Hm?"

Once I had it, I noticed something sitting on top. A name and a number on a small white rectangle... a business card?

"That's my card! You have to contact me, Hyung-nim!"

Taeya's eyes sparkled as he grabbed my hand and shook it.

"You absolutely have to come back on my stream! I'll pay you a fat appearance fee!"

A streamer to the very end. A dry laugh slipped out of me before I knew it.

"Leader! We've got to meet again!"

"See you again, Jaeha!"

"Shin Jaeha..."

"Hyung-nim! Don't throw my card away! Got it?!"

A far cry from the hostile start—the mood had turned loud and lively. Looking at the scene, I smiled, perfectly content, and said:

"Ugh, you're loud."

Why were their voices so big? I thought my eardrums were going to fall off.

Flash!

A room with all of Gangnam spread out beneath the windows. Someone who had just disconnected from Channel slowly opened her eyes.

"Welcome back, miss."

"I'll prepare your bath at once."

The attendants who had been waiting received her with careful courtesy.

"......"

Long straight hair. A slender line of jaw. Large eyes settled, calm and deep.

"Shin Jaeha... that was the name."

A secret smile drew itself across the woman's face—the smile of someone who had just found a jewel glittering in the mud. She immediately picked up the phone on the table and dialed.

"Mm, Grandpa."

"That's not it."

The woman licked her lips and looked out the window.

"I just... found something interesting."

Behind her, an enormous emblem occupied an entire wall of the room.

One of the KPL's three great houses—and among them, the one that stood alone with the most championships to its name. In name and in fact, Korea's finest player-league team. Its parent company was the Hwarang Group, and she was the granddaughter of that group's head, Ju Yulcheon.

"I'm sure you'll like him too."

Ju Yeonseo smiled with her eyes.