Chapter 100 : Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Attack (2)

In truth, Edgar, having ingested the ‘Improved Enhancement Drug’ provided by Raven, was a surprisingly tricky boss.

Even in his human form, it was insanely difficult to find a turn to attack unless he let his guard down, and once you managed to exploit that, he wasn't a complete idiot, so he wouldn't fall for it a second time.

On top of that, even in his monster form, his ability to use mana related to ‘light’ remained, so while the precision was a bit lower, he continuously fired something like a mana-piercing death cannon with much higher power.

‘...It’s a huge relief that the precision has dropped, though.’

For me, whose stats were so poor that any attack, whether in human or monster form, would be a critical hit if it grazed me, it was better for it to be easier to dodge.

That way, it was much more convenient not just for me to dodge, but also when I had to ‘control’ someone.

“Why is controlling necessary in the first place?!”

Said the horse I was currently riding... no.

Seo Ah-in let out a shriek.

I had just picked her up on my escape route.

It seemed she had come looking for me because it was obvious something unusual was happening around her.

Well, anyone would wonder what kind of crazy thing was happening if a person’s body suddenly ‘exploded’ and turned into an ominous black mist.

So, as soon as I saw her, I got on her back and told her to go.

“May I ask why you did that...?”

“My physical abilities are lacking. If I run around on my own two feet, I’ll eventually be caught by that monster over there.”

“...So the conclusion you reached was for me to carry you and run around? There should be a limit to how crazy your ideas are?!”

“Would you call me a revolutionary who breaks the mold of thought?”

As Seo Ah-in muttered something about how the end of almost every revolution is the gallows, I gave her a smirk and looked at Edgar, who was chasing us at a terrifying speed from behind.

Due to the influence of the dense fog around, his intellect would be further degenerating and his mutation would be accelerating.

“Hmm.”

And that was actually the biggest problem.

The fact that Lina had exploded and turned into a black fog that covered the surroundings was the main culprit for drastically raising the boss fight's difficulty.

His intellect might have dropped, but the increase in his stats beyond that was monstrous.

It was practically a state where he was receiving an infinite supply of health and defense within the fog.

In other words, with the means currently available in this vicinity, I couldn't even scratch him.

If I called over Cornelius, who was probably hunting the Demonic Beasts running rampant outside the city, I could land some effective hits, but in this environment, it wouldn't mean much anyway.

He would just regenerate quickly.

“Then what should we do?”

“What do you mean.”

Fortunately.

We had a cheat key we could use in a situation like this.

“We have to leave it to luck.”

***

Lee Si-yeong was frozen, unable to move an inch.

Originally, she had been quietly in her lodgings when she heard the news of a commotion at the colosseum where Kim Gyu-sik's tournament was being held, and she had rushed out.

No matter what, she was a guild master. She couldn't just sit back and suck her thumb when a guild member was in danger.

And as soon as she arrived at the colosseum.

She couldn't move a single step from that spot.

“...”

The surroundings were covered in a darkness devoid of light. The nauseating afterscent of mana from her dreams.

It smelled of demons.

Memories she could never forget were being unleashed inside her head.

Memories that she had intentionally put into a drawer in a corner of her mind and locked away.

[-Ah! Seong-jin! Take--- and go! Quickly!]

[ Dammit! What about mother! And father! ]

[ We’ll buy time, so hurry! Don’t worry about us! ]

Splattering blood. A crumbling house. A burning family photo.

Images buried on the other side of the hill of thoughts were reviving all at once.

It was hard to breathe. Her legs gave out. The fear of being ‘hunted’ was creeping up.

“...Hah, heok, heok...”

She stood up, staggering and leaning against a wall.

The only thought that consumed her entire mind was that she had to get away from here.

Until a familiar voice broke through the darkness.

“Hey. Pink Mage. What are you doing.”

“...”

She stared blankly at the other person with unfocused eyes.

Who was it? Who was this person?

As she was barely rummaging through her mind, which was as tangled as a ball of yarn, the other person reached out their hand.

She instinctively tried to step back, but the other person was faster at grabbing her.

“--!”

And before she could scream, the other person pulled her into a sudden embrace.

Warmth spread throughout her body.

“...”

“...”

They stayed like that for a long, long time.

As if trying to melt her fear with his own heat.

Just like her parents had done when she was young.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

And, by the time that question was clearly registered in her mind.

Lee Si-yeong realized that Kim Gyu-sik’s face was right in front of hers.

“You, w-w-what, what, what are you doing! Get off-!”

That was the most her whitened consciousness could assemble into a sentence.

There was no mirror, but just from the heat flushing her face, it was clear what state she was in.

Yet the person who had put her in that state had no change in expression.

“Good. If you’ve come to your senses, I need your cooperation. The situation is a bit urgent.”

“C-cooperation?”

“There’s a guy whose head I need to smash right now.”

“Huh?”

“Seo Ah-in is probably leading him on the run right now, so we need to go help quickly.”

“...Hey. Wait a minute. Explain it to me step by step.”

“No time for that.”

Saying so, Kim Gyu-sik took something out from his pocket.

Looking closely, it was a ring.

He offered it to her with a serious expression.

...Looking at the size, it was an item that would fit perfectly on her ring finger.

Hmm.

Uh.

So that was it.

“...Hey. No. I think it’s not, but. It’s not, right?”

“What nonsense are you spouting. Put your mana into this.”

“...”

I thought so.

As Lee Si-yeong grumbled and channeled her mana into the ring, it soon began to glow with a blue light.

“Yes. This is it. Thanks!”

And Kim Gyu-sik, who put it on his finger, disappeared in an instant with a beaming smile, unlike before.

Did he cause all that commotion earlier just for this one thing?

“...”

It suddenly felt like everything was foolish, but.

Lee Si-yeong rubbed her still-warm body and sighed.

One thing was for sure.

This warmth was not unpleasant.

***

[ Jewel of Ruin (Activated) ]

[ You can steal a portion of a nearby target's stats. The amount stolen is proportional to the amount of mana invested in this equipment. Stealing is limited to once per target. ]

[ Current Stolen Amount: 30% ]

[Kim Gyu-sik]

[Lv.38] [Guardian Angel Buff Active]

[ Strength: 20

Agility: 20

Endurance: 20

Stamina: 20

Luck: 1(+540)

Mana: 12

Remaining Points: 0 ]

Yeeeees.

I intercepted Lee Si-yeong at the perfect time and ripped off her stats.

It was a clean achievement born from perfect schedule management and route memorization.

[ 1 Skill Share slot for target ‘Lee Si-yeong’ has been opened. ]

“...”

This was an unexpected achievement for me too.

Why is a slot opening here...?

“Mr. Gyu-siiiiik! It looks like you’ve somehow managed to hook another one, but could you stop fishing and help me--!”

As I was having that thought, Seo Ah-in, who was running away with Edgar on her tail, pleaded for my help in an urgent voice.

No, but you're holding up better than I thought.

Of course, I left this girl as bait alone because I was confident she would hold out, but I didn't expect her to be completely unscathed.

“...”

After giving Seo Ah-in, who was glaring at me as if to kill me, a dry laugh, I led her to lure Edgar back this way.

The way he charged at us fiercely as soon as he saw us made me wonder if this was what bullfighting felt like.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“Attack and kill him.”

“...Yes. Heard you loud and clear.”

While Seo Ah-in muttered in a dumbfounded voice, we exited the colosseum and a wide-open field appeared before us.

Well, with this, the preparations were all done.

I prepared the ‘gun’.

“But that thing, what on earth is it used for? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t look like a gun...”

“Ah, this?”

I smirked and raised the gun.

Well, the mechanism was like a gun in that you shoot something to hit a target.

But its exact purpose was less that and more...

“A syringe... no, a spray. Something like that?”

“...No intention of explaining?”

“Nope.”

There was no time for that either.

Edgar was charging out from inside the colosseum, collapsing all the buildings in his path.

-!

-!!!

As soon as he charged towards us, black stems poured out from the body of the thing that now looked more like a bundle of tentacles than a human.

If even one of those hit, I would be contaminated, but.

[ Parry ]

I dealt with it with a perfectly timed parry.

His specs had risen to a point where it was becoming difficult to block or dodge his attacks head-on.

“If, I, keep, deflecting, this, like this, that guy, won't be able to take it, and will, charge, this way, you see?”

I continued speaking while parrying all the attacks that flew in from time to time.

Seo Ah-in’s gaze, as she watched me erase attacks coming from 13 directions at once with just a few swings of my arm, was like she was looking at an alien.

“Now you’re starting to seem less and less human...”

“So, the moment, he approaches, hit me, with all your might. Got it?”

“What? Hit you, Mr. Gyu-sik?”

“Yes. Upwards.”

Hearing my words, Seo Ah-in looked at me with an expression that asked what was the point of that, but she soon seemed to have made up her mind and gripped her sword tightly.

“Well. If not now, when else would I get a chance to hit Mr. Gyu-sik.”

“...”

The direction of her resolve seemed a little strange, but.

-!!

In the meantime, feeling frustrated that all his attacks were being erased, Edgar began to charge this way just as I had said.

He probably intended to get in close and ‘devour’ me whole instead of using ranged projectile attacks.

And this pattern was exactly what I had been waiting for.

I intentionally gave up one arm. Edgar opened his mouth wide and bit it.

“Now!”

Timed with my words, Seo Ah-in’s sword, swung like a baseball player’s bat, struck me.

Now.

This was the important part.

“...!”

I widened my eyes and matched the timing.

Conqueror, objectively...

And.

The ridiculously high luck stat that could even twist cause and effect if it was ‘something I wished for’ began to work.

To deal with an enemy who was invincible in the dark fog covering the ‘ground’.

The first step was to get out of there.

So, I had to go up to the sky.

[ Luck Roll successful! ]

[ The world helps you! ]

“Huh?”

Seo Ah-in’s soft voice struck my ears.

And I, along with Edgar who was biting my body, simultaneously shot up into the sky as if a rocket had been attached to us.

At the phenomenon that completely ignored the laws of physics, I could see Seo Ah-in’s jaw drop.

“...No. Does this even make sense?”

Yes. It does.

All hail the luck cheat key.

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