Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 36 – Warrior-bro

—–CROW—– 

Although we defeated the Golem without much trouble, the three of them were honestly not very impressive.

It’s natural that their specs and attack power are lower than mine, so I’m not going to criticize that.

It’s just that their skills, aside from specs, weren’t great.  I’m not sure about Kim Jinah, the mage, but the two at the front are the problem.

First, the level 45 Gladiator, Kim Jinseok.

Even if there’s a separate tank, how can you use dual swords as your weapon?

I also practiced various weapon techniques on the 3rd floor, including the technique of using two swords simultaneously.

And after a short time, I concluded that it had no practical use and gave up.  Dual swords are a useless technique.

Leaving aside the demerit of having to give up a shield, there simply aren’t many situations where you can effectively utilize two swords at once.

You might think that having two swords doubles your attack patterns and allows for flashy combos, but that’s just an illusion.

On the contrary, your movements become much more monotonous than using a single sword with both hands.

With a two-handed sword, you can unleash endless combos just by smoothly moving your wrists and elbows.

But to perform combos with dual swords, you have to twist your whole body and make a fuss just to barely manage something.

I also tried to find ways to maximize the use of swords in both hands, but the final result was quite ridiculous.

The most efficient way was to dedicate one sword for attacking and the other solely for defense.

In other words, dual swords are an inferior version of sword and shield.

Of course, there’s also the method of using two swords of different lengths to perform unpredictable attacks.

But then, it would be more unpredictable and allow for more diverse attacks to use a one-handed axe instead of a sword.

Moreover, the dual swords Kim Jinseok uses are two identical longswords.

If he used two short swords, there might have been some advantages, but he doesn’t even do that.

The funny thing is that Kim Jinseok carries a small shield.

He said he switches to sword and shield when he has to give up dealing damage and tank depending on the situation, but it’s just absurd.

Moving on, the level 44 condescending Paladin.

This guy is definitely carrying the hammer for decoration.

Focusing on tanking itself isn’t bad, but he never extends his hand even in situations where he could land an effective hit with the hammer.

He just keeps blocking with his shield in one hand. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to discard the hammer and use a two-handed shield?

I could even understand if what he was holding in one hand was not a hammer, but a hammer-shaped wand.

And finally, the common problem of both of them.

They use too many skills.

Of course, you have to use skills a lot to increase proficiency, but even considering that, they use skills unnecessarily.

Mastery skills automatically move your body to perform the technique when you make a specific motion.

In other words, once you use a skill, you can’t change the motion midway.

It’s fortunate that there was only one Golem, but what would they do if another one suddenly appeared and intervened?

Besides that, all their movements during combat are incredibly careless, too numerous to list.

A fighting style that takes it for granted that party members will cover their weaknesses.

You could sugarcoat it and call it trust, but I only see the weakness of being vulnerable to variables.

Is this purely because I’m a solo player?

I don’t know.

**

After that, Golems periodically appeared one by one, blocking our path.

Each time, the three of them used their combinations to defeat the Golems, and the rewards were quite substantial.

[Festival Coin]

[Meteor Stone Fragment]

[Golem’s Golden Fragment]

This time, one Golem dropped three items.  Kim Jinah was very happy to hear about the dropped items.

“Wow, another fragment? This is our third one, this is amazing.”

“Is that a lot?”

“Yes, usually in dungeons of this level, the main drops are 2~3 fragments when you catch the boss.”

She jumped up and down, saying we were very lucky to have already gotten 3 even before catching the boss.

“Do you have a luck buff or something?  Why are we getting so many?”

Ah, come to think of it, I hadn’t thought of that.  I always have a luck buff because I eat White Troll meat for every meal.

When I told Kim Jinah about that, she made a fuss, saying that’s probably why we were getting so many drops.

She even called me a luck totem and squealed, saying she was so glad she came in with me.

“Jinhyuk, you don’t have to do anything today. Just by giving us your luck buff, you’ve done your part! No, two people’s worth!”

The condescending Paladin made an uncomfortable expression, but I naturally ignored him.  So what?

I understand why he’s being unpleasant, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept it all.

I’m letting it slide because he hasn’t crossed the line, but if he keeps being condescending, I won’t be able to hold back.

A while later, as I was walking through the dungeon with the excited Kim Jinah, something unexpected happened.

– *Rumble!*

The ground of the ruins began to shake.  It was similar to when a Golem appeared, but the scale was strangely large.

The Paladin quickly raised his shield and hammer, and Kim Jinseok also raised his dual swords…  Ugh, dual swords make me sigh every time I see them.

Anyway.  Since we didn’t know where the monsters would appear from, we took positions surrounding Kim Jinah in the center.

– *Crack!*

The shaking ground soon cracked with a loud noise.

And from the cracked ground, a large hand emerged. It looked similar to the hands of the Golems we had fought so far.

That wasn’t all.  One by one, Golem hands rose from the ground and slowly surrounded us.

The same Golems we’ve been fighting so far, let’s see, one, two, three, four, five, six… quite a lot.

“Wh-what is this… a trap?  The strategy guides didn’t mention this!”

Kim Jinah was flustered by the large number of Golems.  As expected, she can’t make proper judgments when something unexpected happens.

The Trial Tower has been completely conquered for over 10 years, but the festival mini-dungeons are different.

Since the event itself is only held for a short period every three years, strategies haven’t been established.

Even if some information has been released, special systems like this that are rarely triggered wouldn’t be known.

“Jinah, hide behind me!”

The Paladin pulled the flustered Kim Jinah and raised his shield. This guy is trying to look cool even in this situation.

Isn’t this a situation where the tank should be leading the way?  What’s he trying to do by staying there?

No, wait, this is perfect.  Just stay there hiding behind your shield.

– *Step.*

I fiddled with my sword for a moment and stepped forward.  Then the condescending Paladin suddenly raised his voice.

“What are you doing, Warrior-bro?!  Are you crazy and want to die?!”

Oh, what? He wants me to hide behind him too?  Despite being condescending, is he unexpectedly not a bad guy?

“I won’t die, so shut up, Paladin-fag.”

I chuckled and took out a heavy iron ball from my inventory.

**

Throwing has been one of my main attack methods since the 1st floor.

As someone might say, for me, a Warrior-bro who has been soloing, I desperately needed a ranged attack method, no matter what.

The iron ball in my hand is an item obtainable on the 6th floor, a trash item that wouldn’t fetch much even if I sold it at a shop.

But combined with my honed [Throwing] skill, it becomes a much stronger attack method than most weapons.

The opponent is a Golem, large in size but lacking intelligence, and even has a clear weak point, the core in its chest.

The core’s durability is about the level of two of Kim Jinah’s Magic Missiles.

I don’t know exactly how strong Kim Jinah is, but judging from the average level of the party, I can roughly guess.

I put strength into my shoulders and threw the iron ball in my right hand with all my might.

– *Boom!*

With a sound like a bomb exploding, the Golem’s chest containing the core was completely shattered.

As expected, my throwing is stronger than Kim Jinah’s magic attack.

I put the sword I was fiddling with back and took out a few more iron balls I had prepared in my inventory.

– *Boom! Boom! Boom!*

Every time I threw an iron ball, a Golem went down.

It’s supposed to be recommended level 40~50, but maybe because they’re just small fry, they’re incredibly weak. The core’s durability is too low.

It’s hard to destroy it in one shot unless I throw with all my might, and what I’m throwing is not a stone but an iron ball, but still.

I could have easily cleared this solo.

[Who dares to cause a ruckus in my temple!]

As I smashed all the Golems that crawled out of the ground, a system message suddenly appeared before my eyes.

From the crack where the Golems’ hands emerged, something like a statue made entirely of gold crawled out.

[BOSS – Ruler of Fragmented Gold]

It was the mini-dungeon boss I had briefly seen in the open community. I drew my sword again.

“B-Boss! Let’s fight too, quickly!”

“No, it’s fine, just stay there.”

I waved my hand at Kim Jinah, who was trying to join in belatedly. What help would they be now?

You don’t need to help, just watch.

How a solo Warrior-bro fights.

—–CROW—–