novel
| ← Ch.072 | Ch.074 → |
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
The piercing cold made the labyrinth even more intimidating. At that moment, Bowl leapt and kicked Ho Sung from behind.
"Agh!" Ho Sung let out, falling on his face."What the hell was that about!?"
Instead of giving an answer, the doll cackled as if it found the situation too funny.
"... Son of a bitch, " Ho Sung muttered annoyedly, furrowing his brow. At that moment, a massive shadow was cast over them. As Ho Sung looked up, the champion did the same, and they saw the very first monster since entering the labyrinth.
[Death Knight]
Riding an undead, skeletal horse, the knight seemed to be at least five meters tall and was covered in silver armor. The black sword in the knight's hand surged with dark energy. Unlike Ho Sung, who was in a daze, the champion scoffed and said, "It looks just like Bowl, just bigger."
While Bowl cackled at its master's remark, Ho Sung swallowed nervously and asked in a shaky voice,
"W-why can't I see its level? Is that even possible with monsters?"
"Doesn't change anything though, does it?" Min Sung said, glaring at the Death Knight with merciless eyes and walking toward it.
—
Following its master, Bowl also prepared to attack the monster. Meanwhile, Ho Sung watched, pained by his helplessness. In an attempt to stop himself from wallowing in self-pity, he shook his head violently.
'If I wanna be stronger, I have to get outta here alive, ' he thought, glaring at the monster intently while focusing on the situation at hand.
—
Seeing the champion walking toward it, the Death Knight came down from its horse unhurriedly, stretching its neck to the left and right. Then, without hesitation, it charged at Min Sung, its eyes burning with black flames like Bowl's. Shortly after, the knight's black sword and the champion's Orichalcon Dagger came into contact and exploded into massive sparks. A thunderous roar sounded off as the white streaks of lightning and the black aura of the Death's Knight's sword mingled. The ground shook as if there was an earthquake, making it nearly impossible for Ho Sung to stand still. In his eyes, the fight between the champion and the Death Knight was beyond what was possible on Earth, almost as if a god was fighting against the devil.
"Not bad, bonehead. Reminds me of the time when I fought against a young demon, " Min Sung said tauntingly while his dagger grinded against the Death Knight's sword. At that moment, Bowl chanted a spell, and a sword went flying at the Death Knight. However, it was hardly effective as it couldn't even make a dent in the knight's armor.
Startled, Bowl looked toward the knight, who leapt away from the doll and swung its sword. A wave of energy shot out of the blade at the champion. Lowering his dagger, the champion swung it upward, reflecting and scattering the projectile into shards. The impact reached all the way to Ho Sung, who was standing behind the champion in the distance.
"Ugh!" he let out. Despite standing behind a shield, the sheer intensity of the impact cut Ho Sung's shoulder and thigh open. Even the inside of his mouth was cut. Bleeding from his mouth, Ho Sung backed away, appalled by the damage he had received, only to be backed up against the wall of the labyrinth. At that point, the vines that were spread across the wall started to squirm and coil around Ho Sung as if trying to eat him alive.
"What the!?" he let out, jerking away from the wall. At which point, the vines returned to their place. Breathing sharply, Ho Sung looked toward the champion, who seemed to have the upper hand in the battle against the Death Knight.
—
'Tick. Tock. '
Standing in front of the labyrinth entrance, Jan looked down at his digital wristwatch and tapped on it with his index finger. Not only did the device support speech recognition, but it was also capable of providing the situation within the labyrinth to him in real-time.
Then, he wrapped a chain, his personal weapon of choice, around his right arm. Although lusterless, the chain was surging uncontrollably with a blue aura. Paying no attention to it, Jan closed his eyes and let out a long, apprehensive sigh. When he opened his eyes and looked up, he saw the subtle changes in the sky slowly revealing their identity.
—
After taking some time to study the monster's movements, the champion realized that the Death Knight, despite being an Inferno-grade monster, was still nowhere near as powerful as a young demon.
'Think I've seen enough, ' Min Sung said to himself. Then, the champion's Orichalcon Dagger shattered the Death Knight's helmet and its skull within it. After which, the knight fell apart into a stack of bones. Shortly after, the remains of the knight exploded and dropped sets of three items.
[The Death Knight's Sword (Legendary)]
[High-Quality Enchanted Stone x5]
[Black Mithril x20]
Picking up the enchanted stones, Min Sung tossed them at Bowl, who caught every single one of them in midair with its mouth and munched away. Having consumed five enchanted stones in a matter of seconds, the doll started to glow gold, and its level reached well over 1, 800.
Then, Min Sung looked toward Ho Sung, whose level had still been in the lower 300s. He had reached level 350 in the blink of an eye.
"Ho Sung Lee, " Min Sung said, tossing the sword at him. After spinning in the air, the sword lodged itself into the ground. Standing in front of it, Ho Sung stared down at it in a daze for a moment and pulled it out with shaky hands.
[The Death Knight's Sword]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Damage (against small/large monsters respectively): 21 / 24]
[One-Handed]
[Additional Properties: Dexterity +18, Strength +8, Additional Damage +20]
[Material: Iron]
[Enhancement: There's a risk of destroying the item when upgrading beyond +0]
[Durability: Damaged]
[Tradeable with other players]
[Level Requirement: 500]
[Additional Property: Chance to cast 'Hellfire']
Still in a daze, Ho Sung stared blankly at the sword. Meanwhile, after putting the pieces of mithril in his inventory, Min Sung looked around.
—
Holding the Death Knight's Sword, Ho Sung felt his mind going blank.
"A-are you really giving this to me, sir?"
"What do you think I was doing?"
Looking down at the sword in his hand again, Ho Sung replied, "Sir, I can't take this. This sword is invaluable and worth a fortune in the market these days. I-I couldn't dare to even touch such a powerful weapon..."
"Well, I don't need it, " the champion said, looking at Ho Sung with annoyance.
"T-thank you, sir, " Ho Sung replied, staring at the sword in disbelief and putting it in his inventory while suppressing the emotions welling up from within him.
"Why aren't you using it?" Min Sung asked.
"My level isn't high enough yet."
"What's the level requirement for it?"
"It's 500 and above, sir."
"Shouldn't be much longer then."
"... Sir?"
Paying no attention to Ho Sung and his confusion, the champion walked on. On the other hand, Bowl glared fiercely at Ho Sung while following Min Sung. Shuddering, Ho Sung asked, "What's your problem?"
Bowl kicked the dirt toward Ho Sung and said, "Must be nice getting loot without having to work for it."
Ho Sung chuckled dumbfoundedly at that and replied, "Didn't you just hit level 1, 800 after munching on five enchanted stones?"
"Hmph!" Bowl let out. At that moment, the environment started to shift, and Ho Sung and Bowl looked around in confusion.
—
With what sounded like boulders grinding against each other, the environment started to shift. The walls within the labyrinth started to move like cogwheels, sealing the open paths and opening the paths that hadn't been available before. Then, a wave of monsters came flooding out of the newly opened paths, including a half-woman, half-snake beast called Lamia, a Dark Golem, a Fire Cerberus, and a winged monster called Yarvis. Similar to the Death Knight, the monsters' levels weren't visible. At the intimidating sight, Ho Sung tensed up and prepared for battle.
The hellish beasts charged at the champion from all directions. While Ho Sung watched in a daze, a tremendous amount of electrical current started to flow out of the champion's dagger. Startled by the sight, Bowl stood close to Ho Sung.
Then, holding the dagger upside down, the champion drove it into the ground. A bright, white aura started to spread in all directions, its impact shattering the ground. The four monsters trembled as if they were being electrocuted, and soon, the monsters started to fall to the ground one by one. The Lamia met its demise as its arms and head exploded, while the Dark Golem's legs shattered from the impact of the aura. The flames surrounding the Fire Cerberus subsided as it vomited blood, and Yarvis went rolling across the ground with its wings torn off. Glaring fiercely at the three remaining monsters that were still alive, the champion charged toward them. At that moment, the walls started to shift yet again.
—
The ground started to shake as if there was an earthquake. Then while Ho Sung and Bowl struggled to maintain their balance, the walls started to move even faster, closing the path behind the champion, who was in the middle of slicing the Yarvis' throat. While Ho Sung and Bowl stared at the moving wall in a daze, the wall closed their field of view, separating them from the champion.
"... Oh, no. We've been separated, " Ho Sung murmured in despair while a baffled look appeared on Bowl's face.
| ← Ch. 072 | Ch. 074 → |