Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Mini Dungeon (3)
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"Hey, O-su hyung. About that ability of yours."
"Don't worry. Those three are handling the front line so well that my mana is still overflowing."
"You said that if the clone you send out for scouting dies, it chips away at the main body's stamina, right?"
"Yeah."
"And once a clone dies, it takes time to resummon it, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"Then let's scrap that idea."
"Huh? You mean we won't send scouts down either path?"
Dokgo Hyun's response left everyone puzzled.
If they were agonizing over which fork in the road to take, it made sense to send clones to scout the better route.
"Even if we snag some treasure, it won't benefit us much. We'd just have to turn it in anyway."
"Hmm, so you're saying we should just go straight for the boss kill?"
"Yes."
"Tch. If that's the team leader's call, then fine, but the rewards feel a bit lacking."
To Kang O-su, clearing both paths seemed like it would yield extra rewards.
He figured it might be worth risking the danger to go for it.
"It's fine. If things go according to my plan, the rewards we'll get will be more than generous."
Dokgo Hyun grinned as he spoke.
"Huh? How so?"
"Listen up, everyone. No guarantees it'll work perfectly, but here's my plan..."
The three others had the exact same reaction upon hearing Dokgo Hyun's strategy.
'Will this really work as planned?'
Half-doubting, they still followed Dokgo Hyun's instructions and got ready.
After some noisy preparations, they thought:
'This might actually work.'
Having finished their preparations for the plan, Team 41 stood before the boss room.
A warning was inscribed there.
Of course, Team 41 had come after completing all their preparations.
"Opening it."
Rumble...
The door to the stone chamber where the boss resided slid open.
The identity of the dungeon boss was a massive ogre.
"Grrr...! Foolish humans."
The ogre raised its enormous club and declared,
"You will regret challenging this place!"
The challengers, Team 41, had no response.
Tension was etched on all their faces.
Seeing this, the ogre judged that the humans were frozen in fear.
But that wasn't it.
Thud!
Team 41 was simply tense to execute the plan flawlessly.
"Hyaap!"
Choi Hanpoong, activating [Palm Strengthening] on both hands, charged straight ahead.
"Groooar!!"
The ogre swung its club down vertically.
Boom!
Choi Hanpoong barely blocked the club with his reinforced palms.
"Urk! That hurts!"
In that opening, Dokgo Hyun and Eun Jua split left and right to assault it.
Slash!
Stab!
Dokgo Hyun's greatsword grazed the ogre's shoulder, and Eun Jua's spear pierced its calf.
But the ogre had a skill.
Bubble bubble...
Foam bubbled from the wounds, regenerating them.
No, it wasn't mere regeneration.
"Kekeke. This is my unique skill, [Enhanced Regeneration]."
Whenever the ogre took damage, that wounded area instantly healed while its defense in that spot increased.
"Huh?!"
"The attacks are bouncing off!"
In other words, relying on numbers and landing shallow hits everywhere would only make the ogre's defenses gradually stronger.
They had to finish it in one decisive blow.
Normally, this would cause great panic.
But
"Is that all you've got?"
Dokgo Hyun asked.
"What did you say?"
"Regeneration and boosting defense on the wounded spots. Anything else? That's what I asked."
The ogre answered with its club.
Bam!!
If Dokgo Hyun hadn't used [Instant Acceleration], he'd have been smashed flat.
But Dokgo Hyun laughed.
"Hahaha! Resorting to violence instead of words? Looks like I hit the nail on the head. Good, I've got your number now."
Dokgo Hyun shouted,
"Everyone, fall back into retreat formation!!"
Thud thud!!
The players immediately turned and fled.
"You won't escape!!"
The ogre gave chase.
'Going according to plan. No, even better.'
Dokgo Hyun thought as he signaled Choi Hanpoong with his eyes.
"My turn!"
Choi Hanpoong, who had retreated to the boss room entrance, stopped.
As if the retreat had been to build charging distance, he whirled around and charged.
Thud thud thud thud...
A thunderous charge with no tricks, straight on.
The ogre prepared a full swing at the oncoming Choi Hanpoong.
But.
Thud!
Choi Hanpoong kicked off the air and leaped high.
"What?!"
The ogre was stunned.
In truth, Choi Hanpoong hadn't stepped on air.
Eun Jua had laid a silver thread at ankle height with her [Silver Thread Creation] skill.
A thread so thin it was invisible to enemies but barely visible to allies who knew it was there.
Choi Hanpoong had leaped off that, making it look like he'd stepped on thin air to the ogre.
"Pot Smasher!!!"
Smack!!!
His massive, hardened palm from [Palm Strengthening] slapped the ogre's head.
Like being hit by a broad stone slab, the ogre staggered.
In that gap, Dokgo Hyun and Kang O-su launched a combo attack.
Splatter!!
Dokgo Hyun's greatsword severed the ogre's right arm completely.
Since light slices would just regenerate, he went for amputation.
At the same time, Kang O-su hurled throwing knives with his clone.
Stab! Stab!
They embedded precisely in the ogre's eyes.
"Gaaah!!"
Thud!!
The giant ogre's body collapsed.
"Gwaaaah!"
The ogre writhed in agony.
With knives in its eyes regenerating, the pain was even worse.
"Nice!"
"We brought it down!"
"Alright, then Jua noona! Stick to the plan! First, bind it with [Silver Thread Creation] and..."
That was when it happened.
Pew!
A sharp whistling sound unbelievable from the massive ogre's body.
Looking back, the ogre was moving lightly, almost dancing.
No, it looked like dancing, but it was thrashing.
"Groooaaar! My brother within awakens...!"
Groooowl...
Splat!!
Splat!!
Its head split into two.
Its arms regenerated, and two more grew.
The eye wounds on the original head fully healed too.
"Damn, even this death game follows game rules? Can't have a boss without a Phase 2, huh."
Kang O-su grumbled.
At that moment.
Crack!
The two-headed ogre shattered its massive club into four pieces.
"Kekeke."
"This is."
"Our."
"True battle mode."
Four hands gripped the four short clubs tightly.
Whoosh!!
The air whistled menacingly from a casual swing.
Shorter length improved speed and balance.
"Hmph. Keeping that ace up your sleeve, eh."
Dokgo Hyun was a bit surprised but didn't think the plan had failed.
On the contrary.
'If it hadn't gone according to plan, we might've lost.'
Dokgo Hyun held his greatsword in his right hand and the Venom Knife in his left.
The weight balance was all wrong.
'Let's do this! [Instant Acceleration]!'
Thud!
As Dokgo Hyun charged, four attacks from the ogre flew at him.
He parried them with greatsword and dagger.
Clang clang clang!
Wielding unbalanced weapons, his body danced in a flurry of blade work.
A technique abandoning finesse for pure speed and deflection.
"Here I go!"
Choi Hanpoong swung his massive fist.
Dokgo Hyun and Choi Hanpoong attacking front and back.
But the two-headed ogre twisted its heads front and back, splitting its four hands to counter.
Thud!
Thwack thwack!
Clang!
Fast and varied exchanges, but neither side landed significant hits.
Kang O-su immediately joined, targeting the eyes with thrown knives again.
Thud!
The previously damaged eyes had hardened immensely; the knives no longer penetrated.
"No way the eyeballs toughened up too!"
Kang O-su clicked his tongue, and Dokgo Hyun yelled,
"All-out charge!!"
All four of Team 41 assaulted from every direction.
Surprisingly, the two-headed ogre calmly assumed a defensive stance and blocked every attack.
Thud thud!
"It blocked everything with those short sticks?!"
"It's calmer than it looks!"
Choi Hanpoong and Eun Jua exclaimed in shock.
"You're not on my level."
The two-headed ogre spoke from both heads at once.
"I was designed as a boss for five or more players uniting their strength. You're just four. You fight well, but the more we clash, the tougher my body gets."
Exactly as it said.
Team 41 had Dokgo Hyun as an outstanding standout, and the other three were solid, but they lacked the power for a one-shot kill.
If the three supported while Dokgo Hyun beheaded it with his greatsword, maybe.
'Problem is, two heads.'
Failing to sever both necks at once would just waste the chance.
"Tactical retreat!!"
Dokgo Hyun bellowed.
They'd planned to fall back while the ogre got cocky.
Thud!
Team 41's players fled as planned, and the two-headed ogre pursued.
"You won't get away!!"
Thoom thoom thoom thoom thoom!
The two-headed ogre's footsteps shook the dungeon.
"Out of the boss room! We'll head outside first, then rechallenge!"
Hearing Dokgo Hyun's shout, the two-headed ogre sneered inwardly.
'Idiots. Think I can't chase you outside?'
Once players entered the boss room, the boss was free to roam after.
It could pursue even to the waiting room if it wanted.
"H-Hey! It's still chasing?!"
Kang O-su yelled.
Dokgo Hyun clicked his tongue; Choi Hanpoong and Eun Jua were gasping for breath.
Team 41's running pace slowed a bit.
"Die!!"
The moment the two-headed ogre swept in to finish them all—
Rumble!!
The ground suddenly collapsed, and the two-headed ogre plummeted.
Snap snap snap!
The trap held silver threads of various thicknesses woven by Eun Jua, and the heavy ogre snapped some but got tangled in most.
Resulting in it being trapped like a fly in a web.
"Wha...!!"
"Phew, right on plan."
Dokgo Hyun sighed in relief.
"That was close."
Choi Hanpoong stood by Dokgo Hyun.
Before challenging the boss room, they'd dug the trap as part of the plan.
'Live capture operation.'
Choi Hanpoong smashed the floor with his reinforced fist, breaking it open.
Eun Jua layered silver threads of varying thicknesses inside, designed to ensnare large creatures that fell in.
Finally, Dokgo Hyun loosely activated [Object Rewind], a special technique of [Time Distortion], on the pit's entrance.
[Object Rewind] rewound an object's time to fully restore it, but Dokgo Hyun only lightly restored the 'entrance' of the pit.
So light humans could pass unharmed, but heavy giants would collapse it and fall.
"Grrgh. Th-this stupid, childish trap...!"
The two-headed ogre thrashed, and Dokgo Hyun asked his teammates for help.
Bam!! Bam!!
Choi Hanpoong's massive palms alternated smashing the ogre's heads.
Whirl!
Eun Jua wrapped more silver threads around the dizzy ogre's body.
Thud!
Kang O-su swiftly touched the two-headed ogre's body with his hand, then climbed back out.
Kang O-su took a deep breath.
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"[Clone Summon]."
Fwoosh!
A clone of the 'Regenerating Two-Headed Ogre' appeared before him.
Stab!! Stab!!!!
Dokgo Hyun killed it with the Venom Knife in [Venom Mode].
"We did it!!!"
Dokgo Hyun shouted.
His plan boiled down to this:
Step 1: Dig the trap.
Step 2: Probe the boss's abilities, then lure it into the trap.
Step 3: Clone the boss monster with [Clone Transformation].
Since he knew its name and had touched it, cloning was easy.
Step 4: Kill the cloned boss for coins.
Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 nine more times for a massive coin haul.
A perfect plan.