NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12
Chapter 12: The Panic Room (2)
—–CROW—–
*The World Tree Labyrinth*
The first dungeon in Billion Saga where the map layout and difficulty are completely randomized.
We were now facing the boss lurking in the deepest part of the labyrinth.
Grooo… Grooo… Grrr…
The Kobold Lord, [Krakushmar].
He was a notorious named monster in this worn-out game, never once defeated.
With a 0.0001% spawn rate, encountering him was rare enough, but the sheer difficulty made everyone give up.
The absurd conditions: you had to fight through a siege of 32 Kobold Archers, while the boss remained hidden in the fog.
Considering the risk and reward, giving up was the logical choice.
But we were different.
Our mindset was to conquer any dungeon, no matter the challenge.
“Sung-Hyeon, trust me and keep going.”
The Kobold Archers were perched on the cliff, showing no signs of coming down.
It would take all day to kill them all, so our strategy was to ignore them and go straight for the boss.
This was our twentieth attempt at this strategy since the dungeon opened.
Nothing was particularly different this time, but…
Having witnessed her passionate control firsthand, I felt a surge of motivation.
With her putting in so much effort, I couldn’t let her down as the main tank.
Focus.
*Clickety-clack!*
I measured the angles as I ran.
Four archers were targeting me.
Da-Hye had intercepted two arrows, so two more were incoming.
These were outside Da-Hye’s field of vision.
*Clang!*
I deflected one arrow and slid under the other.
Then…
[Skill
Leaf Attack, the warrior’s longest-range movement skill.
Once airborne, I wouldn’t be hit by arrows during the descent, lessening the burden on Da-Hye.
I used the momentum of the jump to reach the top of the cliff, then plummeted towards the boss.
*Whoooooosh!*
The sound of rushing wind echoed from the abyss below.
A club, shrouded in fog, suddenly emerged from the depths.
One of Billion Saga’s unwritten rules:
If a large enemy is hiding, it always has a preemptive strike pattern.
I’d been hit by it countless times; it was a one-hit KO.
How do you react to that while already airborne?
This is where the magic words come in.
“PokDaughter! Do it~!”
You yell that and just keep falling.
Then, timed perfectly with the moment the club would hit…
*Ding!*
[Soulmate effect activated. Sharing the effect of
*Whoosh!*
Krakushmar’s club passed harmlessly through my now-invincible body.
See? That’s PokDaughter’s skill.
And a big move is always followed by a big opening.
This moment, when Krakushmar’s armpit was completely exposed…
This was the crux of our strategy.
We finally got this far after twenty attempts.
And our party, lacking a dedicated damage dealer, relied on a one-shot kill pattern.
Just like that Kobold.
Except we’re even more reckless.
[Skill
[Strength increased by 46 for 10 seconds.]
[KimPokDaughter has temporarily empowered the
[Attack power doubled for 5 seconds.]
[KimPokDaughter uses
[Attack power increased by 1.5 times for 5 seconds.]
[KimPokDaughter uses
[Next attack deals double damage. Party members’ experience points will decrease.]
A single thrust, infused with all available buffs.
*Thwack!*
A spray of blood erupted through the fog.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Crack!*
The club, which had flown off earlier, landed a distance away.
Krakushmar’s arm still attached to the handle.
[KwonSungHyeonFighter’s
[You have exploited Krakushmar’s hidden weakness.]
[You are the first to defeat the World Tree Labyrinth boss monster,
[Congratulations! You are the first to clear the World Tree Labyrinth, [Deep Cave Kobold Territory]!]
[Acquiring a massive amount of experience points.]
[Level up!]
Following the flood of system messages, I saw the Kobold Archers fleeing.
“Huh?”
What’s going on?
I just landed one hit; wasn’t the real battle supposed to start now?
I glanced at Park Da-Hye, and she was staring blankly at the screen, mouth agape.
I probably had the same expression.
“Whoa, Sung-Hyeon, what is this?”
“What? Is he dead?”
That notoriously difficult boss died in one hit?
Was the armpit really his weak point, like I suspected?
We stared back at the monitor, desperately searching for…
Concrete proof of the boss monster’s death.
And where the fog had cleared,
We finally found it, shining brilliantly.
[Treasure Chest Imbued with the World Tree’s Essence]
What is going on?
This had only happened a handful of times in my eight years of playing.
First clear of a dungeon.
We’d been focusing solely on the strategy for eight hours, without eating anything.
The window, which had been bright with daylight, was now dark.
A monumental achievement, earned through immense effort and concentration.
A shiver ran down my spine… and exploded at the top of my head.
“Kya! Sung-Hyeon!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaa! PokDaughter! We did it!”
We jumped up, forgetting we were in an apartment, and hugged each other, screaming.
We never imagined we’d actually clear the dungeon we encountered through a 0.0001% chance encounter.
Intoxicated by the thrill of being the first on the server and the sense of accomplishment from clearing a high-difficulty dungeon, we screamed our lungs out.
But in my experience, getting this excited never ends well.
“Whoa… whoa! Wait!”
Park Da-Hye, unable to contain her excitement, charged at me…
“Kya! Oh my!”
I fell backward, along with my chair.
See? That’s PokDaughter’s power.
*Crash!*
**
“Ugh…”
“Oh… I’m so sorry… Sung-Hyeon, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but are you hurt?”
“Me? Um… my arm hurts a little.”
“Let me see.”
Park Da-Hye’s wrist was slightly red where she’d hit it during the fall.
There didn’t seem to be any pain when she moved it, and it wasn’t broken, but it might bruise tomorrow.
“Oh dear…”
I didn’t want to scold her for getting so excited.
Considering the 60 hours we poured into this dungeon and her love for the game, this level of excitement was understandable.
Even I, a twenty-nine-year-old, had lost myself and jumped around like a kid.
But the thought of her slender wrist bruising bothered me.
“Sung-Hyeon… I think I’m okay…”
“No, you’re not. You need an ice pack.”
“R…really? But, more importantly…”
*Gulp.*
Why am I swallowing at a time like this?
The adrenaline from the excitement had vanished in an instant.
The desperate struggle, the unbelievable teamwork, the thrill of victory…
All gone, replaced only by her face.
Park Da-Hye’s face, so close that our noses almost touched, as she lay on top of me.
Why are we in this position?
Oh, I’m holding her wrist, so she can’t get up.
Suddenly, time slowed down.
Were my nerves on edge after eight hours of frame-perfect control?
Or was she under some kind of slow debuff?
Her cheeks flushed with excitement, her bangs damp with sweat…
Her eyes darting around, her lips trembling…
It all played out in slow motion.
Seeing it in slow motion made it even clearer.
The emotion on her face was definitely embarrassment.
How did we end up like this?
It would be even more awkward to get up abruptly.
How do you react in this situation?
Once again, it was time for the magic words.
“Da-Hye.”
“U…uh… Sung-Hyeon… what?”
“Should we order chicken?”
**
“See? See? No one has this, right? We’re the first to get it, right?”
“Of course. We were the first to open that treasure chest.”
“Wow… amazing. If I post this on the community, all three screenshots will blow up, right?”
“Are you going to post them?”
“No? I’m going to keep them to myself. I’m not sharing with anyone. Heehee. I’m going to look at them three times a day.”
Park Da-Hye kept giggling as she looked at the screenshots she’d transferred to her phone.
Even now, after we’d escaped the labyrinth, waited for the chicken delivery, and finished eating.
One screenshot in front of the treasure chest dropped by the boss,
One of the item we got from the chest,
And a commemorative photo of us in front of the boss’s corpse.
Three screenshots in total.
If she posted them on the community, it would be buzzing with our story for a week.
Park Da-Hye’s habit was to hide any first-time acquired items and enjoy them privately.
She called it a collection?
I didn’t quite understand, but it was her way of enjoying things, so I didn’t complain.
It was all thanks to her anyway.
We wouldn’t have even reached the boss without her insane control.
“Stop looking at that and eat more chicken.”
“Hmm… I’m full. Should I have just one more piece? No. I want to rest now. I’m full, warm, and happy~.”
“You were tired too, huh?”
“Wow… how pathetic. You’re the one who suggested chicken, so you lost. Just admit it!”
No, I could have easily lasted another three hours.
I let her win. Really.
So, please don’t look at me with such pity.
“Wow, look at your expression. So smug.”
“It’s called a winner’s grace, Sung-Hyeon, you wouldn’t understand. Heehee, you have to grant me three wishes now, right? No veto power.”
“But I won’t grant anything too unreasonable.”
“I know, I know.”
I was getting curious.
Surely one of her three wishes would be related to gaming equipment? Maybe she’d ask for a new computer or some fancy in-game items.
I couldn’t guess the others.
The only thing I knew Park Da-Hye liked was gaming.
I wondered when she’d make her wishes.
It was entirely up to her, so I couldn’t know, but it probably wouldn’t take long.
Because I’d never seen Park Da-Hye hesitate when it came to things she liked.
Charging headfirst towards her desires was her style.
“Ah~ I’ve decided. My first wish.”
See? Incredibly fast.
Even faster than I expected.
What could it be?
“What is it?”
“This~”
This? This is your wish? I never would have guessed.
I wanted to learn more about Park Da-Hye through her wishes.
But with a wish like this, I was even more clueless now.
* * *
—–CROW—–
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