Chapter 158: Troll King, Who’s Amanda?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 158: Troll King, Who’s Amanda?
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Welcome to the C-Class Gate, Troll Kingdom!
Trolls have long been known as intelligent beings possessing both exclusive and bellicose temperaments.
They primarily live in packs and exercise merciless violence through their incredible regenerative abilities, destructive physiques, and physical prowess.
Furthermore, as they are capable of wielding tools, a combat of considerable difficulty is expected.
Other characteristics include the fact that female authority is so high it doesn't just pierce the heavens—it dominates the kingdom.
Consequently, the King of the Troll Kingdom is a female, not a male, and the female is currently in heat.
A simple goal, yet a difficult objective!
Do your best!
Clear Condition :: Defeat the Troll King (0/1)
Failure Penalty :: Gate Wave
Time Limit :: None
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The first thing that greeted us upon entering the Gate was the system message.
One surprising thing, however, was that the difficulty remained at C-Class.
From the clear conditions to the time limit, everything matched the characteristics of a C-Class Gate that Kim Seok-gu had explained to me.
In other words, there had been no tampering.
‘Chubby Ahn didn’t pull any cheap tricks?’
Since Kim Min-su was here, along with Melanie and the Saintess, I naturally assumed Chubby Ahn would have schemed something. To think nothing had happened.
"Is everyone alright? No one's hurt, right?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"I am also fine, Mr. Tae-yang."
"Baek Tae-yang! I was going to ask the Saintess myself, so don't go saying—"
"Hahaha, I am perfectly fine as well."
Even the rest of the party was completely unscathed.
‘He didn’t manipulate the difficulty like with Don Quixote... and he didn't split the party like in the Chunhyangjeon Gate...’
He wasn't taking advantage of an opportunity like this?
I couldn't fathom the mindset of setting up a dream team for a squad and then doing absolutely nothing.
‘No, there’s no need to worry about things that haven't happened.’
If Chubby Ahn hadn't done anything, there was only one thing left to do.
Focus entirely on clearing the Gate.
"But they really are massive."
"They sure are."
Melanie was observing the Troll Kingdom through the scope of her sniper rifle.
Not that there was much to "observe"—the Troll Kingdom was simply too gargantuan to miss.
‘It’s like something out of Gulliver’s Travels.’
I wondered if this was what it would feel like if people the size of five-story apartments built houses and lived in them.
The castle gates looked sturdier than any wall in the world, and the bricks stacked beside them were each the size of a grown man.
It felt like I had stepped straight into the pages of David and Goliath or Gulliver's Travels.
"The difficulty is C-Class, but the momentum it gives off is no less than an S-Class. Had I known, I would have brought more oversized weapons. This is my oversight."
"Don't say that, Baelson. Who could possibly predict and prepare for everything inside a Gate?"
"Fufu, Saintess, I can also make my weapons grow larger. It’s as good as having predicted it beforehand."
"Oh my, Hero, your skill at sliding right into a conversation is quite something, isn't it?"
"Ehehe, it's basic stuff."
Melanie and I were on scouting duty.
The others were maintaining their equipment.
There should have been a perfect division of labor, but because Kim Min-su was involved, one side was experiencing significant setbacks.
The way he kept scurrying over to the Saintess, begging for praise like a dog...
It was even more baffling to see the Saintess just watching him and clapping along.
Even Baelson didn't seem to mind. He just played along whenever Kim Min-su acted out.
There was no rule saying the atmosphere inside a Gate had to be strictly solemn or heavy.
However...
"Hey, are you on a picnic or something?"
It was a different story when someone broke the flow with unrelated bravado and frivolous antics.
I tried to let it slide, but he just had to make a scene.
Just as I was about to snap, unable to take it anymore—
"Tae-yang! Above us!"
At Melanie's shout, a massive object began falling from the sky toward us.
"Wh-What is that...!"
"Stop talking nonsense and block it!"
[Summoning Rocinante! Start the reckless driving!]
Neighhhhhh!
Leaving the dazed Min-su behind, Baelson and I immediately lunged toward the massive object.
Baelson had already activated his Main Skill, his body doubling in size.
I used Rocinante as a springboard to attempt a high-speed approach.
I summoned Rocinante to jump high, then reverse-summoned him. Then, I summoned him again to create a new springboard at the peak of my jump.
‘I wish I could fly.’
There was a reason people said aerial mobility was a basic human right for ability users.
Anyway, just as I reached the massive object faster than Baelson...
I saw it.
"Oh my, you're way too ugly. You're not my style, so get lost~!"
"...What?"
Tough, bronze skin.
An overwhelming physique with muscles that looked ready to burst.
An ugly, hideous face that looked like a mix of an orangutan, a gorilla, and a human.
Canines that looked like they could crunch through boulders.
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The Troll King! Who’s Amanda descends!
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It was the appearance of the Troll King.
‘What the hell is this?’
It felt like a concentrated essence of what people call a "bomb" on a blind date.
The problem was that she was seven stories tall and had better muscle definition than a heavyweight bodybuilder.
The worst part was the one-piece dress made of monster hide and the ribbon tied in her hair.
"I said get lost! Can't you hear me~?"
Whack!
While my eyes were rotting from the sight of the Troll King, Who's Amanda swung the club in her left hand and slammed me into the ground.
"Tae-yang!"
"What! Baek Tae-yang! What happened!"
"Baelson! It's the Troll King! Don't try to face her head-on!"
This was the level of a C-Class Gate boss?
‘There’s no way.’
My body was still tingling from a blow that was overwhelmingly more powerful than anything Don Quixote had dealt.
Claiming I couldn't react because of her appearance was just an excuse; Who's Amanda's attack speed was nonsensical.
I would have believed it if someone said she had compressed time to strike.
"Hmm... You're not my style either~ Actually, I didn't come here to meet you guys anyway!"
"Kuaaaaakh!"
Boom!
I was lucky enough to deflect the damage with the club I was holding.
Baelson, however, must have taken a direct hit from Who's Amanda's club.
He was instantly rendered combat-ineffective.
The Saintess's immediate heals and barriers.
Melanie's supporting fire.
An overwhelming dignity that rendered all of it meaningless.
"...This isn't... C-Class level... For now, we must retreat..."
Baelson squeezed out his final words before losing consciousness.
"No, what on earth is...! Don't worry! I'm here!"
The situation deteriorated in an instant.
It was the worst possible outcome, born from the subconscious complacency that we could easily clear it because it was a C-Class Gate.
‘Baelson is retired... Melanie and the Saintess are engaged... but... does it even matter?’
Everything was futile before such overwhelming physical force.
Thump.
By the time the Troll King finally landed on the ground without us having achieved any meaningful results, I was gauging the timing to activate Demonization.
‘I guess it’s good that the clear condition appeared right in front of us.’
Looking on the bright side, a shortcut for a high-speed clear had opened up.
Melanie, the Saintess, and I exchanged glances, preparing for a coordinated attack.
"I! The Darkness Warrior will not forgive you... Guh-hek...!"
Min-su charged at the Troll King alone, only to be swatted into a nearby boulder by a flick of her hand.
"Oh my, oh my. Did I go too far? Well, it should be fine. That is my 'right,' after all."
Every time the Troll King spoke, the surrounding forest shook and the air vibrated.
Her hideously large feet were like dolmens, and her hands looked like they were made of shipping containers.
‘This is what an intelligent being is like?’
To be capable of conversation and to seek us out first.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
She quickly approached the rock where Kim Min-su was embedded and picked him up.
She had slammed him so deep into the rock that the boulder itself came along as she lifted him.
[Activating Demonization! The Root of Greed reveals itself!]
If the protagonist dies, the quest ends.
I immediately lunged forward to save Kim Min-su.
‘No matter how strong she is, she’s still C-Class.’
Thinking that dragging this out would be disadvantageous, I was about to shatter the Troll King's ankle when—
"Mmm, you're exactly my style. I found you, my love! First, let's have a kiss to seal the deal! Mwaaaaaah~~"
"Aaaaaaaagh! Kuaaaaaaaagh! Please! Please don't! Don't come any closer! Stop it! I'm going to die! I'll kill you! My first kiiiiiiiiisssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
We all saw it.
The sight of Troll King Who's Amanda's lips stretching out.
And those protruding lips covering Kim Min-su's face as if they were tentacles.
"...What exactly am I looking at right now?"
Melanie stood there with her jaw dropped at the shocking scene.
"A camera... I should have brought a camera... No... it wouldn't work inside a Gate anyway... Can't Divine Power... record things...? It's useless..."
The Saintess was experiencing a crisis of faith in her own power.
"...What kind of dog-shit situation is this?"
I deactivated Demonization and just stood there, watching the scene unfold.
"One isn't enough, so three in a row! Mwah, mwah, mwaaaaaah!"
"Save me! Baek Tae-yang! Melanie! Baelson! Saintess! Please save me... Kuaaaaagh! Don't come closer! Don't do iiiiiiiit!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
With every kiss, Kim Min-su's face was sucked into her(?) lips as if being vacuumed.
The background music was Min-su's screams.
The genre was a Troll's love.
It seemed we had entered yet another nonsensical Gate.