Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 64
>Chapter Title: The Shoulder Clash
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Chapter 64
There's a saying in Brion:
"You haven't even been to Brion? Then you haven't truly fought in battle yet."
Arde was for beginners as a tutorial, Raven was just a light warm-up, and only from Brion could you call it proper combat.
It wasn't just empty bravado.
"Quit talking bullshit! Have you even seen an orc up close? Even the regular mobs are 1.5 times the size of a goblin chieftain. Imagine those things charging like wild, unleashed colts."
"Fuck, orcs and goblins aren't even on the same level to begin with! They're in a whole different league!"
Towering over 2 meters with hulking, heavyweight muscles that made even heavyweights look cute.
If goblins had sly faces, orcs had that perfect rugged, menacing look—their mere presence was intimidating.
Now imagine them wielding double-bladed axes.
Most people would piss themselves if they ran into one on a dark road.
And when those scary bastards got riled up and charged? It was straight out of a horror movie.
"Ugh, uwaaak!"
"Hey, you fucking idiot, what are you doing? Grab aggro quick!"
"A-ah... how the hell am I supposed to tank that?!"
"Aggro! Grab the damn aggro!"
"Fuck, these troll bastards!"
"No way those guys soloed that shit, right? Must've gotten carried."
"Probably partied up with multiple groups, fuck. That tank's fresh out of tutorial, Rank D for sure."
The terror hit the tanks hardest.
It came with the position—holding the frontline and drawing all the aggro.
Warrior or whatever, they were still just goblin slayers at heart.
Guys who'd only ever punched bags in any fantasy setting suddenly facing orcs for the first time? No wonder they struggled to adjust.
'If I exaggerate a bit, it's like standing barehanded in front of a raging bull?'
And it wasn't just one bull.
Already tough to adapt, but unlike field bosses, you couldn't group-tank them. You had to handle the aggro solo.
So nine out of ten newbie orc tanks froze up, flailing around.
The remaining one? Better than that mess, but not by much.
"Who the hell tries to shield-block a charge? Did you block charges from variant warriors back then?! You gotta know when to sidestep!"
"Fuck, so frustrating. If you're just gonna body-block everything, why wear a shield—just tank in armor!"
"Fuck this, who doesn't know that? They're charging from all sides—what am I supposed to do? If you're so good, you tank, stop backseat gaming me, you old fart."
"Old fart? Kid, you're the green one here..."
For players who'd adapted to predictable patterns, the orcs' mindless tank-rush patterns were a whole new world.
Goblin and orc behaviors were too different, and aggro management had become way more critical.
It wasn't just tanks either.
Melee DPS jumping in to "help" without proper aggro control and dying left and right. Ranged DPS messing up their damage output and stealing aggro, shattering the formation.
"That's why we shouldn't take fresh grads."
"Fuck, skipping 24s from now on. Gotta be at least 27 to be usable, tsk."
"Unless they've got aggro traits or unique abilities."
"That one's hopeless. That scared? Probably deleting and rerolling soon."
That was why Brion vets looked down on newbies, and why Do-hyun got fewer party invites than most even out in the field.
"Excuse me, party...? Nah."
"What's your level? Oh, 24? Uh... sorry. See you later."
"And what's with that gloomy shorty? Can't tell if he's player or guardian."
"Ignore him. He'll figure it out."
They weren't planning to party anyway, so they weeded themselves out.
Makes sense—with a newbie melee DPS, it was a walking landmine unless you were ranged.
-Kyek! Foolish humans!
-Rijariza!
Suddenly labeled a short gloomy nobody, Jihad huffed in anger on Do-hyun's shoulder, but they were already gone.
Eliza rubbed her face against Jihad's in comfort.
Like an auntie chiming in, "Yeah, yeah, you're right," when her nephew got dissed.
Jihad looked annoyed, but Do-hyun was thrilled.
'Works for me.'
No interruptions meant smooth sailing into the Fetid Rock Forest.
Thanks to everyone ignoring their group. Once deep enough, Do-hyun scanned around.
'Fetid Rock Forest lives up to the name—not exactly smelling like roses.'
A light mist hung in the air, and true to the name, massive rocks were splattered with red blood.
Add the fishy stench, and it felt like a massacre site.
Yet players were hunting orcs just fine there.
Well, not all of them.
"Hey! Charge incoming—dodge!"
"Oka—aaak!"
"Fuck, moron! I said dodge!"
"It's fine, I got aggro solid! Kill it quick!"
Some fresh Raven grads partying up were struggling hard against an orc pack.
Boss-try level intensity.
Slash—thunk!
Chiiik—splat!
Meanwhile, the group on the other side was on another level.
"Nice~ Clean kill."
"Keep it up. How many left?"
"One... 30?"
"Damn, you're faster than me. I got 36."
Seasoned moves at a glance.
Their gear gleamed differently as they synced perfectly. Hard to believe same field—huge skill gap.
'They say class quests widen the gap even more.'
Unlike fairly even Arde and Raven, Brion kicked off class quests.
So players with similar god ranks grouped up.
Excluding a few myth gods, myth and hero god quests were usually different beasts.
"Tch, why'd my class quest have to be material grinding?"
"Tough, but efficient at least. Myths get stuck temple grinding with NPCs—what fun is that?"
"True."
Eavesdropping confirmed—they were a hero-god party.
Outside mandatory dungeons or shared content, those two groups wouldn't mix.
A city where rank sorting and cliques truly began.
'Shared content favors traits and gear more, though.'
Boss-specific meta jobs and traits added the fun.
Irrelevant to Do-hyun now.
He found a spot, stretched lightly.
Chirik—splat—.
Far off, two burly orcs locked eyes with him.
Already ugly mugs twisted in fury—easy to see why newbies bolted.
'Graphics are next-level. Muscles twitching and all.'
To Do-hyun? Adorable.
Orcs from Demlock? Early-game fodder.
VR made them lively, but after devouring zombie dragons, orcs were a joke.
Chiiik—!
Do-hyun's casual stare pissed them off—they charged.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—.
Two orcs side-by-side: pure destruction.
No wonder players called Brion orcs "Orc Charge."
Blocking it? Amateur hour.
One, maybe. But chaining into the follow-up? No chance.
But...
"Worth a shot."
Do-hyun didn't dodge—stood firm, inviting them.
To test his specs all around.
'Dying? Nah.'
HP solid, defense beyond level 24—should hold.
Still, first time blocking an obvious charge—bit tense.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—.
Chiiik!
Vibrations from their stomps as they closed in.
Whispers followed.
"Huh? Hey, what's that guy doing?"
"No way he's tanking the charge bare? Shieldless lunatic."
"What's that tiny stick? ...A staff? Tankless staff user? And why's the robed one just standing—run!"
"Staff? Staff god?"
Do-hyun's mad stunt drew stares from nearby hunters.
Noise carried to the group.
-Kiruk, master hearing?
-Rijariza!
Tempted to smack the giggling duo, but priorities.
Tank the charge first.
'Wanted somewhere empty... tsk.'
Too many Brion players—crowded everywhere.
Fetid Rock Forest being prime hunting ground.
Raven was nicer that way—deeper woods thinned out crowds.
Attention sucked, but whatever.
'Time to try this out.'
Do-hyun ignored, lowered stance, shoulders forward.
Classic schoolyard bro game/ego clash pose.
The shoulder bash.
Challenging orcs to a fair shoulder bash.
"Whoa, going for the clash."
"Dude's lost it."
"Nope, not watching. Too brutal."
His insane goal had some quitting the peanut gallery.
Amid the buzz(?), seconds later.
Orcs charged hard, closing in.
Ta-at!
Do-hyun launched forward.
Kwaang!
Shoulders collided—deep thud echoed through the forest.
Impact so unreal for flesh-on-flesh, even quitters peeked.
"!?"
"Huh?"
Eyes bulged.
He flew like paper? Kinda.
Bounced right off.
-Chiiiik!?
But the orc flew—not Do-hyun.
Ever seen an orc lose a shoulder bash to a player?
"Insane..."
High-level zones maybe, but first for them.
And from a staff user—not tank or monk? Jaw-dropping.
-Chirik!
But not over.
Remaining orc pounced like avenging buddy.
Once forgivable, twice? No way.
Awkward stance too—guaranteed launch.
Kwang!
Thunderous crash,
-Chi... iik?
Orc's pupils shook in disbelief.
Do-hyun stood firm, same pose—casual as ever.
Orc backed away instinctively, faith shattered.
-Chi, chiik...
Do-hyun smashed his staff down.
That's when it changed.
Lengthened, sharpened—instant sword, slicing the neck.
Slash—!
Pook!
Stabbed the falling heart—done.
First orc finally lunged late; Do-hyun hurled the sword.
It morphed midair into a dagger.
Puk!
Over.
Do-hyun reached out—the dagger flew back, fitting perfectly.
Like it belonged.
Buzzing crowd went dead silent.
"...What did I just see?"
First words broke the hush.
Spoke for all secretly watching.
Hunters and spectators alike froze dumbfounded.
Chaos-maker Do-hyun looked up slowly.
Face blank, eyes alight with thrill.
[Thousand Changes transforms into 'Bastard's Training Sword.']
[Karuk's Red and Blue Leather Top effect activates, resisting 'Knockback.']
....
[Thousand Changes transforms into 'Assassin's Dagger.']
[Bleed activates.]
'Whoa. Sick.'
Fighting God Kashyar. The one human even gods feared.
The authority of history's strongest emperor revealed its fangs once more.