Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 8
>Chapter Title: The First Slayer
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>Tick!
A pathetic sound that would sap the strength from anyone who heard it.
Do-hyun slowly raised his head, hearing that familiar sound he'd heard who knows how many times now.
Roooaaar!!
He saw the wyrmspawn roaring with overwhelming might.
From the one covered in blood, though, he no longer felt the predator's intimidation like at the start.
Like a beast howling more desperately out of fear, its roar was utterly pitiful.
Its bold swipes, like swatting a mosquito, had turned into pleas to stay away.
-HP [80 : ???]
A mere 80 HP.
[Basic skill 'Heavy Strike' is now available.]
And right on cue, Heavy Strike's cooldown was back.
After over five hours of bloody combat, the end of the battle was finally in sight.
Did it know that, too?
Boom! Kwaaang!
Instead of accepting death, it kept swinging its fists at the approaching Do-hyun.
Even as he drew closer without stopping, its frantic thrashing grew more desperate.
Getting bitten once by a mosquito was just annoying and itchy, but if an unkillable mosquito drained your blood tens of thousands of times, that was terror.
Clank. Rattle!
It couldn't retreat any further, yet it kept stumbling backward, making the restraints rattle loudly.
Do-hyun's expression remained cold as he watched it.
"You held out as long as you could. Now go."
Kwaaang!
Tick!
Right after calmly dodging its desperate final blow, his sword plunged into its foot the moment it dropped.
Krerrr....
With a pathetic death cry, its massive body collapsed.
Dust billowed up as countless messages appeared above its wildly thrashing form until the very end.
[You have defeated the Bound Iron Blood Wyrmspawn.]
[You are the first to defeat a Legendary Named Boss in the Tutorial.]
[You have defeated a Legendary Named Boss single-handedly.]
[You have achieved the unbelievable.]
[It will be recorded in the Book of Adventures.]
[Rewards: ....]
....
Confirming the flood of messages, Do-hyun flopped down onto the ground.
He didn't care about checking rewards—he just wanted to lie flat.
It had been fun at first, but later he was too focused to even think.
"What a truly annoying bastard."
Five hours and thirty minutes. That was how long it had taken to hunt it down.
He'd expected it to take a while, but it had dragged on even longer than anticipated.
The difficulty had been higher than he'd predicted.
"Ten thousand times, my ass...."
The moment its HP dropped below 30%, its pattern changed from just wildly flailing its arms.
Pissed off by Do-hyun hiding at its feet and striking, it started stomping around, then eventually slammed its ass down hard.
Thank goodness its legs were tightly bound compared to its somewhat freer arms.
Otherwise, even Do-hyun wouldn't have been able to take it down.
He was certain of that.
'No one else could have done this.'
Not even his old comrades.
He wouldn't have succeeded himself if he hadn't been in top condition today.
And that prediction proved spot on.
[You are the first to defeat a Legendary Named Boss in the Tutorial.]
The system confirmed it.
It meant all his comrades had encountered it and despaired.
'They must have cursed up a storm.'
Imagining what they'd said upon meeting it brought a smile to his face.
The Sword Emperor probably grimaced but pretended to be stoic, while Kkukku Dak Kkukku unleashed a machine-gun barrage of filthy curses.
Purple Dude might have just chuckled, "Heh heh... yeah, that's how a trash game's sequel should be."
'Or maybe they never even made it this far?'
That dude was the embodiment of effort and capital, after all.
The system favored results in the unfamiliar Tutorial stage, putting Purple Dude at a disadvantage.
Either way, he'd done it.
What reactions would they have when he revealed this later?
'They'll be rolling on the floor laughing for days.'
Just like he had whenever they scored good items or skill cards.
'Wherever they're grinding right now.'
They should have been in the rankings, but even scanning for high rankers, he saw no one who matched.
They could have set it to private, so he couldn't rule that out, but it was still odd.
Those attention whores wouldn't bother hiding, honestly.
Or maybe they weren't playing Godose?
The thought crossed his mind, but he shook his head.
These were the guys who grinded trash games like Demlock to death.
Unless something special like military service had come up like for him, there was no way they hadn't started Godose.
'With personalities that strong, they're probably off somewhere with some weird concept.'
Maybe holed up in the mountains playing hidden master.
Do-hyun chuckled and opened the closed reward window.
With some fatigue recovered, he was curious what they'd give him.
'With all that fanfare, it won't be junk.'
Probably some solid rewards.
At least Hero-grade or higher. With bated breath, he checked the rewards.
[You have acquired the title 'First Slayer.']
[You have completed the Tutorial with an unbelievable achievement. A trait matching your play and accomplishments has manifested.]
[Trait 'Weapon Master' has manifested.]
[Trait 'Latent Dragon' has manifested.]
[Trait 'Slayer' has manifested.]
[Trait 'Hero' has manifested.]
[Trait 'Overcome' has manifested.]
[Conditions fulfilled.]
[Unique trait 'Eye of Truth' has manifested.]
"......?"
Do-hyun blinked in a daze, reality slipping away.
* * *
Unlike Demlock, Godose had 'several' special systems beyond skills.
One of them was traits.
Abilities granted separately from the fixed 13 skill slots.
Unlike active skills, they were passives that aided play and combat.
Despite worries about weird systems, players who started praised the increased variety.
Deep into a game, national skill trees inevitably formed per class.
The most efficient and optimal ones.
Godose made it hard to build them on demand, but rankers ended up with similar ones anyway.
Traits provided that special edge.
Even same-class players built different trees based on traits, or added variables even with identical trees.
More mind games, more diversity.
But not everyone could get desired traits.
There was only one known way to obtain them.
They manifested in the Tutorial based on achievements.
"Crazy...."
That was exactly Do-hyun's case.
A trait for every Tutorial completer.
Yet he was stunned for a simple reason.
"......Why so many traits?"
Tutorial traits were always just one.
No exceptions.
Whether maxing Charlie's affinity or tanking it, only one manifested.
Quality and type varied by achievements.
From exploration types like Guide to combat ones like Sword Master.
The right trait for your Tutorial performance, higher tier for greater feats.
That was why big guilds scouted high-Charlie-affinity users.
Objective proof of superior potential.
Higher-tier trait holders had advantages at max level under same conditions.
Do-hyun's case was anomalous.
[Weapon Master]
-Grade: Trait
-Effect: Ignores weapon type equip restrictions.
Can raise proficiency in all weapons and grow them quickly.
[Latent Dragon]
-Grade: Trait
-Effect: +2 stat points per level up.
[Slayer]
-Grade: Trait
-Effect: Reveals locations and hidden info of monsters matching your Slayer title type.
[Hero]
-Grade: Trait
-Effect: Hero's spirit blocks mental corruption.
[Overcome]
-Grade: Trait
-Effect: Unyielding spirit overcomes limits.
"......Each trait is top-tier."
Traits lacked formal grades unlike skills, but patterns allowed guesses.
Take Weapon Master.
Even Sword Master alone got guild invites.
Sword Master swordsmen leveled proficiency and power faster than others.
Mastery in one weapon type.
Weapon Master?
' Sword Master effect for all weapons.'
Handle anything, counter any matchup.
Couldn't fix class skills, but perfect for irregular situations.
Latent Dragon?
'Insane potential.'
At max level 100, equivalent to 140. Cheat trait.
Pure stats matching several items.
Endgame, one stat point was life-or-death.
Seemed busted, but middling compared to others.
'Utilization is lacking.'
Others leveraged traits strategically; Latent Dragon owners just got the stats.
Simple, reliable, but late-game wanting without builds around it.
Gap widens post-max.
That's why evaluations were lukewarm, but....
'Not for me.'
Irrelevant flaw for multi-trait Do-hyun.
Six powerful ones.
Look at Hero and Slayer for direct combat aid.
'Status immunity.'
Black mages' curses plagued Demlock; Hero appealed.
Guild wars, no bigger headache than them.
Slayer needed matching boss title, but solid once earned.
'Start with info edge.'
Info critical for high bosses—worth it to endgame.
Any one meant respect anywhere.
Overcome's vague effect nagged a bit, but others shone so bright, no regrets.
Finally, the standout among them.
'Eye of Truth....'
Do-hyun swallowed hard and slowly read the description.