ACT 9 Mystery of the Labyrinth

After Ark fell into the h.e.l.l, the night and day had changed four times.  In reality, that would be over 32 hours.

In the meantime, Andel and the a.s.sa.s.sins did not leave the resurrection place.

In some cases chaotic players who revived there sent them strange looks, but Andel did not pay them any attention.

Nevertheless, Andel quite enjoyed those times.

“That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Ark finally revealed that he is just a coward. He should be quite irritated by now? If a candidate was unable to connect for more than a day…….they would connect and check out the situation. But it is impossible.  Once you caught my eye, you’re dead.”

However, Andel was only human and he wouldn’t risk his life for revenge.  When it was time to eat a meal he ate and slept.

After a satisfying 40 hours, Andel eventually logged out of his unit and stretched while yawning.

“I’m not going to be here for a day. Okay?”

“Of course.”

Next to him the a.s.sa.s.sin nodded.

The a.s.sa.s.sins were camped in front of the quartermaster and were alternating between sleeping and guarding.  At one time there were always two people awake, so it would be no problem if Ark suddenly revived.

“Usually the request is only for a month, but if you request it then we will guard this place for a year until it is complete.”

“Okay, I’ll believe you.”

Andel gave a satisfied look and cut the connection.

“When I see the technology of the foreigners, it sure is weird.”

An a.s.sa.s.sin muttered as Andel disappeared from sight.

However, NPCs can’t really worry. The system does not allow for curiosity in the NPC.

After Andel disappeared, the a.s.sa.s.sins went back to staring at the resurrection point.

Gawking gawking

At that time, there were people staring from the woods.

He carefully looked at the a.s.sa.s.sins before running through the forest.

The small feet squeezed his body between tall trees as he looked back. He looked around restlessly and repeated the pattern.

It was like a breathtaking (?) scene from a spy movie as he arrived at the cabin on the hill.

“Whoa, a broke into a sweat at what I found.”

After he entered the cabin, the small figure took off his hood.

The visage of the small figure was that of the hobbit, Sid.

During the time that Ark was falling into the h.e.l.l, Lorenzo fled to the cabin unharmed.

After explaining the situation to Sid, they were waiting for Ark to contact them at the cabin.

The anxious Lorenzo quickly approached.

“So? Do you have any news about older brother?”

Ark had gone with Lorenzo to kill the thieves and had protected him when the a.s.sa.s.sin threw a dagger at Lorenzo.  Of course, it was because of the quest.

However, as a NPC Lorenzo was naive and felt that he owed a considerable debt to Ark.

Since that day, Lorenzo had referred to Ark as his older brother.

Sid shook his head with a dark countenance.

“Not yet. No one has seen Ark in Cairo.”

“After retreating, did he get defeated by those guys?”

“Well I think so.”

“d.a.m.n! Because of me…….!”

Lorenzo exploded with rage as he hit the desk.  He suddenly asked.

“But they’re using a strange technique.  After a serious injury they could teleport to the Quartermaster. As older brother is a foreigner would he also be able to do that?”

“That’s the problem…….”

Sid replied ambiguously with a pained face.

Andel and the a.s.sa.s.sins were waiting for Ark at the resurrection place.

That meant that Ark was certainly dead.

It was impossible to wait at the Quartermaster for a person who wasn’t dead.  Perhaps Ark did not revive because he guessed such a situation.

‘He was called Andel? I don’t know what the relationship is between him and Ark-nim but it must be bad. It was such that he even waited at the resurrection point. Does that mean he will quit the game?’

Sid couldn’t tell if Ark had done the same thing to Andel.

In any case, their interaction wasn’t very good.

With Andel and the a.s.sa.s.sins guarding the quartermaster, Ark couldn’t even connect to the game.  And Sid had no way of knowing how long it would last.

‘I wish I had Ark’s phone number so it would be a little better…….’

Sid sighed in frustration.

Thump, thump, thump!

Suddenly sounds were heard from the door, banging into something.

The surprised Sid and Lorenzo exchanged nervous glances.

‘Is it them? Did those guys follow us back here?’

Lorenzo who imagined the worst approached the door and lifted his sword.

“I can’t do it.  Sid please escape to the back door while I try to block them.

“Ha, but ………”

“There’s no time to argue. Listen to what I have to say? I owe my life to big brother. He asked me for a favour and I don’t want to break it. Because I care about the fellow, please hurry while I buy time.”

Lorenzo spoke in a low voice during the touching scene.

All of a sudden, an object entered through the bottom of the door. It was a shadow that was creeping forward. Lorenzo quickly raised his sword while Sid raised his hands and shouted.

“Wait! It……..! ”

Saek saek saek!

At the sight of the object, Sid lifted his voice in welcome.  It was the surprisingly long tongue of Ark’s belt…….No, it was a snake.

Lorenzo looked at Sid, embarra.s.sed.

“What, what! This snake is?”

“It’s not just a snake. This snake is Ark’s pet.”

“What?” Older brother’s? In addition to the bat and skull?”

“Yes! And if this snake is back…..that mean Ark-nim is out there!”

Sid hugged the snake.

Snake expressed his happiness by twining around Sid’s body- but the hobbit was too short- and climbed on top of the table. And he started vomiting out items from his mouth.

After a long time.  Items were stacked on top of the table.

Snake began squirming his body and making a weird shape.

What is it doing? Sid stared blankly before he realised.

“It’s a letter! It must be a message from Ark-nim!”

Sid took out a piece of paper and pen and wrote down what the snake produced.

For Sid.

Sid. I am alive for the time being.

Due to the circ.u.mstance, for the time being I won’t be able to go there. So I will send Snake on my behalf in the future.

Snake will give you items to organize and please send any required items to me through Snake.

I need food and potions from the store and well as repair boxes.

Also please send paper and a pen.

“……So I have to organize the items and sell the j.a.ptem …….As expected from Ark-nim……!”

Sid muttered with a tired expression.

Then. That was the solution that Ark came up with for his worries about j.a.ptem.

Ark finally found an exit through a small drain that led to the outside.

It was 10cm in diameter, and although many snakes wouldn’t be able to pa.s.s through Ark had an insane idea.  Therefore he placed all the items he needed to sell in Snake and sent it to the cabin where Sid was hiding with Lorenzo.

“Anyway that’s it.  It’s all done.  If Ark-nim is alive then you don’t have to worry about a.s.sa.s.sins for the time being.  Bah, morons. So even if it takes a while wait for me there……. ”

Sid collected the items from Snake while he was moved to tears and had to wipe his runny nose.

Then he put the hood back on and sneaked into Cairo using the [Lie] scroll.  He organized the j.a.ptem and came back with Ark’s required items which Snake swallowed.

“Snake, be careful!”

Ssak ssak ssak!

Snake nodded and with eyes filled with duty, crawled to the ground.

“Park So-mi ssi”

“Yes,”

Hyun-woo requested after being asked by the reception.  He was approached by the staff who extended a statement

“This is the full 5,210,000 won. Would you like to pay it with a card? ”

“Eh, 5,210,000 won?”

Ark asked again with a surprised expression.

“Up until last month, it was just over 4,500,000 won?”

“The expenses went up a little this month. Didn’t you see the letter of information?”

The staff held out the letter of information.

He read the list that the hospital typed that showed the treatment for each patient.

But the bottom line was that the hospital bills were raised due to inflation.  Finally, the hospital was also succ.u.mbing to the inflation surge.

In fact, the talk about raising hospital bills occurred a few months ago.

However, public opinion had been blocking it.

‘The dangers of health care privatization are revealed.’

”Is the patient sealed to a chair? ‘

A current events program was broadcasted every day, and the parent organizations for the opposition against hospital privatization was shown as well.

But in the end it was decided to raise the hospital bills.

Although, frankly Hyun-woo did not expect the hospital costs to stay the same.  Whether it is a game or reality, everything relies on power.

The hospital had a vested interest while the people who opposed raising hospital bills were mostly poor.

Isn’t it clear which group would win when the two of them clashed? The government which was supposed to stand with the people decided in the end to privatize health care and turn a blind eye to the common people.

………..When was it?

It was the same story when the government first talked about privatizing public enterprises.

The people of the Republic of Korea aren’t stupid.

Of course, there was many invested in opposing the privatization and more than 100,000 partic.i.p.ated in protests by lighting a candle.

Although he didn’t partic.i.p.ate in the protests, the majority of ordinary people supported them. It was clearly a public sentiment. But the government was unshaken and did not side with public sentiment.

Rather, they presented the candlelight protests as violent demonstrations and used it to push privatization.

Of course, the Government pushed it but the problem was also caused by people who didn’t care …….was?

It is quite common for the public sentiment to change quickly.

It was a suitable word.  But they public sentiment doesn’t mean much to people with money and power.  It did not mean the poor.  It was a sad world for people who aren’t favoured.

For people like Hyun-woo, they have no power and no choice but to live with the climbing costs.

“How much?”

Hyun-Woo sighed as the staff replied with an irate expression.

“5,210,000 won?”

‘d.a.m.n it, selling the Fire Slayer would barely cover this month’s bills.’

When he first checked his account it felt like he was walking on clouds.

However, after paying for a variety of utilities as well as rent, food and medical bills his original balance of 14,000,000 won went down to 5,000,000 won.  Well, he did have a surplus of ten million won.

‘Ok, this month is black’

Hyun-woo tried to soothe himself as he headed to the 2nd floor.

When he arrived at the 2nd floor rehabilitation centre, he immediately saw his mother through the gla.s.s windows.  When he saw her with the professional therapists taking one step forward, his depressed mood became much better.

‘She’s already doing walking practice! ‘

On the other hand, it increased his motivation to work harder to make money.

“That…….that’s right.  Money is important.

The good reason for the Government privatizing health care was to improve the quality of the medical services.

Fortunately, that promise was kept.

Under private management, the healthcare service definitely improved.  At the state-of-the-art rehabilitation centre, his mother received one on one treatment with a profession therapist in accordance with management.  From exercise to eating.

Thanks to that, his mother’s illness was rapidly taking a turn for the better.

And unless Hyun-woo fell behind in the hospital bills, then such care would continue.

Hyun-woo still remembered the hospital scene from a while ago.

Because the hospital bill wasn’t paid in advance, an old man was kicked out from the hospital……..

‘Something like that can’t happen to my mother.’

Hyun-woo thought with clench teeth.

He wanted his mother to have confidence to live a whole life. But he had to shoulder his mum’s responsibility.

That thought was stronger than anything else in his head.  He wanted her to devote herself to the treatment without worrying. It was Hyun-woo’s only wish.

His mother laughed as she saw Hyun-woo from inside the gla.s.s window. Hyun-woo waved his hand as he lost his stiff expression.

Rehabilitation was so difficult that a healthy person wouldn’t be able to imagine.

Yet his mother never once said it was difficult.

Hyun-Woo was actually the one that suffered most at the thought.

‘No, I don’t have it that hard.’

Hyun-woo wasn’t suffering at all compared to his mother.

‘Yes, now I can laugh in front of my mother because of New World. New World is the last remaining hope for me. New World is something I can never give up on. Not even what Andel or Alan think……..even if I have to crawl from the bottom up because of them, it isn’t possible for me to give up! If you disturb me then I’ll crawl up and step on you! I’ll show you the spirit of a poor person.’

Hyun-woo sat on a couch in the clinic and came up with an idea.

‘To do this, I need to quickly find a way through the entrance of the underground world…….. ‘

Three days had pa.s.sed since Hyun-woo entered the underground labyrinth.  There was some trouble at first but now he has adapted and his level rose to 93.  If it wasn’t for the stench then it would be a pretty decent hunting ground.

‘But, it isn’t money.’

That’s a problem.

So far, Hyun-woo had gained an average of 20~30 gold per day.

But he needed to earn a lot more if Hyun-woo wanted to earn the minimum necessary to maintain his life.

However, the items from the underground labyrinth could contribute to that.

The item drop rate is high even for a skeleton that doesn’t appear frequently and takes a while to hunt.  In addition, he couldn’t ignore the outgoing money he spends on food and repair boxes.

‘Although I have a surplus in my bank account right now, it will become more difficult in the future.  I also have to search the underground world for the fragment of the Three Marvels…..’

However, he still hadn’t found the clues to enter that world.

He had already explored the 1, 2, and 3rd floors of the labyrinth. However, the completion rate of the map using the cartography skill was 99.9%. He couldn’t enter that s.p.a.ce because the iron doors are blocking it.

‘What is the alternative? As for the riddle? ‘

Ark sighed and took out a memo pad from his pocket. On the notes were maps drawn of the underground h.e.l.l.

It was a maze of intertwined pathways. He had found dozens of hidden wormholes during the investigation but he still hadn’t even guessed the answer to the riddle.  In addition, there was no possibility of a hidden pa.s.sageway because the map’s completion rate was 99.9%.

“Did you wait long?’

“Oh, mother!”

At that time, the door to the therapy room opened and his mother came out with the nurse.

Hyun-woo stood up and sat his mother on the couch.

His mother wiped off the sweat as she laughed.

“But what were you thinking so hard about? Are you studying something these days?”

“Oh, no. Just……..”

“What is it? Let’s see.”

His mother nodded as she browsed through the notes.

“Ah, the dot-line puzzles you do when you’re bored.”

“Yes? Dot-line puzzle? ”

“Yes, if you draw a line between the two points then the puzzle will be complete. Isn’t that it? I did them quite often in the past……ho ho ho, when we were dating your father sometimes made me those puzzles. He did the thing by hiding a heart pattern. Looks like its hand-drawn? Still, the person giving such puzzles must be spoiling you. Somehow, it is good to see.”

Hyun-woo looked at the map with puzzled eyes.

Dot-line puzzle? “Was that visible?’

He tried to visualize it as he listened to his mother’s speech.

Hyun-woo drew almost the entire map of the underground labyrinth and he had also marked the location of the wormholes with a dot.  It would form a picture.

“Ara? Just as it is?’

Without thinking, Ark tilted his head as he connected a point with another point. Ark felt something strange so he laid the maps of the 1st to 3rd floor over each other and poked through the wormhole with a felt pen.

So, if you drill holes through all the wormholes on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors then a figure will be made?

It is none other than …….the three triangles overlapping shown on the iron doors!

At the moment, a single thought flashed through Hyun-woo’s head.

-This place was sealed in accordance with the ancient vow.

If you can’t understand these words, there is no possibility of pa.s.sing through to where I sleep.

A person with purpose could wake me up.

A person who makes the pilgrimage here with pride and speaks my name with respect will be able to cross………..

Those words were written on the iron doors.

Those who don’t know this place can’t enter.

‘The first hint means that I must learn the terrain of the labyrinth completely.’

Hyun-Woo had thought of this so he drew a map and carried it around as he studied it. However, the second and third questions on the riddle were still unanswered.  But unexpected his mother had unravelled that.

‘A person with a purpose. That means if I want to enter the underground world, Ark has to say this! If I intentionally say this as I walk the labyrinth, a route might be discovered.  And I have to speak as I pilgrimage along the markings! ‘

The markings were the wormholes that littered the underground labyrinth.

‘ Pil, if I intentionally make the pilgrimage and express at the end of the wormhole then it might become clear! No, I can’t think beyond that. Oh G.o.d, it was so simple yet I was unaware for three days.

Now Hyun-woo could confidently entered New World. Nevertheless, he had lost three days contemplating the mystery and he also wasted time playing Tetris and Go stop with his mother.

Once you become familiar with the game, it was a trap.

After being too used to the game, he made every problem a.s.sociated with the game and made it more difficult than it was.  However, his mother doesn’t know about New World.  Just as she said, it’s just what it looks like.

The original puzzle for those searching for an answer was not visible to the corporation.

Hyun-woo grasped his mother’s hands and shouted.

“Mother! Mother has saved Ark!”

“What?” What do you mean, all of a sudden? Who is Ark?  One of you foreign looking friends?”

“There is such a person.  It is my alter ego.  ”

Alter ego? You, no way …….did you get a girlfriend or something?”

“No, it’s more precious than a girlfriend. Ark.”

Hyun-woo answered with a laugh.

“Now, let’s get started?”

After coming back from the hospital, Ark immediately connected with the game.

A dim light spread as the familiar dirty landscape of the labyrinth appeared.

“Are you feeling fine, master?”

Dedric asked with a dubious expression once he was summoned.

Dedric, do you want to get out of here soon?”

“What?” If we can leave, but …. ”

“Huhuhu, do not worry. We’ll leave soon.”

Ark said confidently and opened his map window.

Before connecting, he had already thought about where to start from.

‘It is clockwise from the far right end. I was told to express respect and make a pilgrimage so I have to move in the right direction.  If that doesn’t work then try again from the opposite direction.’

Ark immediately smashed the skull of a skeleton and ran across the underground labyrinth.  He was already tired of fighting skeletons.  But he also didn’t want anything new.

When a wormhole appeared while Ark was battling, he used Riposte and jumped down the hole. No matter how many skeletons appeared, if you jump down the wormhole then the chase was removed and battle ended.

‘Now it is imperative to confirm the answer to the riddle! ‘

When he jumped down the wormhole, he immediately moved to a new area.

He unfolded his map and using his cartography skills confirmed that if you connect a wormhole to another one with a straight line then the location corresponded to the middle part.  The probability that it was the correct answer increased.

‘The next wormhole is about 20 meters from here.’

Ark immediately moved to the next wormhole and plunged.  He did this about 20 times, before Ark finally returned to the original wormhole he plunged through. Unfortunately, all the filth had acc.u.mulated on Ark’s body that he arrived with a bad stench.  His summons was the same.

In trying not to repeat the same mistakes, he grabbed Dedric and Skull when he entered the wormhole so they were also filthy.

“What the h.e.l.l are you doing? Are you crazy? Why do you keep on plunging into dirty water?”

“You’re noisy, without fail this will surely be the last time!”

Before Dedric could speak, Ark plunged into the first wormhole again.

It was at that time. When he jumped into the wormhole he heard a whirring sound and something felt different from the previous times.

Until now, the time it takes to go through the wormhole is a maximum of 10 seconds but this time felt longer.  Up, down, sideways … ….he was sucked in until it suddenly dropped him somewhere.

Kwajik, warururu!

Ark cried out as he fell to the bottom but quickly sat up and checked his surroundings.

‘As expected, this is the first time I’ve seen this!’

At that time, a bright sound rang out and a message window popped up.

-You have completed ‘h.e.l.l’s underground labyrinth.’

{Knowledge of Ancient Relics +15, Intelligence +10 and Fame increased by 30}

-You have completed the map of ‘h.e.l.l’s underground Labyrinth ‘ with a perfect 100% completion rate.

Painting a map of the underground labyrinth is now possible.

{Experience + 1000}

Ark was now sure that he had found the correct answer.

The place where Ark fell was a huge cavern.

It was a hidden room in the underground labyrinth with a huge amount of bones and skeletons piled up.  It was an impossible place to find even when he was exploring every corner of the sewers! When he looked to the back, he saw that he was on the other side of the iron doors.

He had finally pa.s.sed through those doors.

‘Somewhere here will be the entrance to the underground world! ‘

Ark stood up and scanned around.  The cave mouth was wide open on the right side.

‘I wonder what kind of species lives in such a horrible place? Ara? But what is this?’

Ark’s excitement subsided as he explored the cave. There was still one unexpected hurdle remaining.

The cave entrance was blocked by a thick steel door.  Fortunately, next to the iron door was a lever like stick that could open the door depending on its use, but the tip of the lever was broken.

”I can’t pull this lever. So what is the alternative way? ‘

Ark made a frustrated face.

Dudududu, ttadak, ttadadak!

Suddenly, the floor started to shake like there was an earthquake.

At the same time, a black object rose from the ground and started attracting the bones together until an object was formed.  And in the blink of an eye it s...o...b..lled to a huge size.

There was a huge chunk of skulls and bones moving through the air.

“Ugh, more bones?”

Dedric gave a cry of distress as a warning message appeared.

-The boss monster ‘Kraken’ has appeared!

‘Boss monster! ‘

He reflexively used Eyes of the Cat to display its information.

It was a level 150 boss monster!

While Ark was so puzzled at the situation that he couldn’t think, something elongated sprung from the Kraken’s body.

Hundreds of bones were attached to form a giant scythe! Ark felt an eerie aura as he rolled across the floor to the pile of bones.

It was formed from bone fragments all over the place.

‘d.a.m.n, I never thought there would be a boss monster here when I finally solved the riddle. But I didn’t come here to die. Anyway, this plan of desperation means I either strike first or die.

Ark drew his sword and rushed to the kraken.

“Dark blade!”

Double bang!

The violent roar of smashed bones was heard everywhere.  The kraken was pushed and stumbled backwards. The shape reflected the Kraken’s nature.

Kuo oooo!

The kraken trembled and lifted all the bones connected to his arm up.

Scythe, spear, sword ………it a.s.sembled weapons of all shapes made out of bone and shot them towards Ark.  The attack approached at the same time from four or five different directions! But Ark had experienced that attack countless times when fighting against the skeletons.

Once again there was no reason to panic.

‘It has returned!’

Ark rotated his body with his right foot and stabbed with his sword.

Putt putt POW!

The counter hit the spot where the kraken’s arms were still growing.

Because it was made of bone, when hit with the counter it shattered and fell to the ground without force.  Of course, Ark was. .h.i.t three or four times but he only lost 150 health.

‘Okay, this guy. The damage of the boss wasn’t that strong.

By the way, the speed was surprisingly slow and easily crushed. Although the level was high, the difficulty was on the low side.  I could easily win! ‘

“Dedric, Skull! Plan B! ”

The opponent was a boss monster.

You don’t need to use a complex operation.

The two summons moved to the different sides to keep the kraken’s attention on them while Ark launched a counterattack.

He struck a flying arm, destroyed it and counter attacked many times.  It didn’t take long for Ark to realise that there was something strange about the a.s.sault.

‘What, this guy? ‘

Although he hit it a number of times, the kraken did not lose any vitality.

Not only that. Because the fight wasn’t that difficult he forgot for a while and after using Eyes of the Cat, he realised that no weakness was indicated.

‘What happened? Why is there no damage?’

There was something strange. However, Ark avoided the Kraken’s offensive and just continued attacking for the time being.

In fact, there was no other way.  So after a few minutes of violent attacks, there was a gap in the bones which showed a black shape.

A red dot on the black shape indicated the place to bombard with attacks.

Now Ark was able to understand the situation.

‘I see. This guy is like the jellyfish and the slime.  The bones were a suit of armour and if I remove all the bones at the gap then I can attack! This won’t be so difficult!’

Ark narrowed the distance and used Dark Blade on the black stone.

No, as soon as he tried the Kraken turned its body around.  At the same time, it released an intense gust of air and Ark was pushed back several meters.  Thanks to that, the Dark Blade missed.

However, to Ark it was ludicrous as he snorted.

“The bones that grow move pretty slowly but when its weakness is exposed then it moves pretty fast.  But to no avail. Because I’ll continue to attack until every bone disappears!”

However, that was Ark’s mistake.

Just as Ark was swinging his sword, the floor vibrated and the bones floated in the air.  And like the first time, it was attracted like a magnet to the kraken.

Because it grew some bones, the bone armour was even thicker than before.  In addition, the attacking bones were many times thicker and its speed had also increased.

Soeeeeee! Double bang!

“What, what’s this …!”

Ark avoided the attack by rolling on the ground while looking confused.

He had struggled for 10 minutes only for the situation to repeat itself.  He destroyed the bone armour with his sword and then the kraken would quickly reform it.  And the number of repeats also made the kraken bigger and stronger.

“This is ridiculous! How are you supposed to win against this guy?”

Profanities burst from Ark’s mouth.

Indeed, the bones were joined together.  If the kraken was able to keep on infinitely grow the bones, did he have to fight and turn all those bones to powder? Even if Ark disagreed with the fight, in these conditions it would take 3 nights, ten four days than 5 nights and 6 days to fight for an unknown outcome.

‘There is a limit to avoidance. When the nucleus is shown, a storm is summoned and pushes you back so there is no way to approach.  When it is such a shape then even Blade Storm wouldn’t be useful.  But there might be a strategy.  Is there a way to get to the nucleus without activating the storm?’

Ark who was desperately thinking suddenly thought of Skull.

‘Come to think of it……’

In fact, Ark couldn’t grasp where Skull was.

Because there were bones rolling around, it was hard to distinguish between the bones and skulls.

Unlike Dedric whose attacks were unsuccessful, Skull’s attacks had hit several times.  In other words, even the kraken couldn’t distinguish between the bones and skeletons.

Then an idea came to Ark’s head.

‘Bone? Skull? Oh I see, I see. There is a reason for me to approach! ‘

At that thought, Ark stepped forward and swung his sword before withdrawing.

He confirmed that his remaining mana was only 300. A dangerous number.

“Blessing of the Sea Spirit!”

Ark activated Adelaine’s Necklace which increased defense by 40% and restored 500 mana.

Now his remaining mana was 800! It was enough to take the risk.

‘When using Blade Storm, it is fast but I don’t know how long it may take from now on.’ So now is the time to conserve mana! ‘

“Dedric, you too! Cancel summon!”

“What? Why?”

Dedric sent him a bewildered look.

Ark who had reduced mana consumption to a minimum went back to attacking.

He shattered the bones with his sword and the scattered all over the place.

“Dark blade!”

Ark narrowed the distance without delay and shot off a Dark Blade at the body of the kraken.

A violent roar burst out of the bone armour as it split in half. Eventually, the appearance of the kraken was shown between the split bones.  He figured that rotating the kraken’s body was a normal process to produce a storm.

That moment was a chance for Ark which he aimed at straight away!

“It is now! Skull, cancel summon and resummon!”

While Ark was caught in the storm, Skull was summoned to his hand.

Ark held his posture by concentrating power in his left foot before throwing Skull with all his strength. And shortly after the storm the kraken repaired his bone armour again and Ark approached.

As the kraken started forming a sword, it flinched.

At the same time, the 100% vitality of the kraken was finally reduced by 1%.

‘It’s a success! ‘

Ark clenched his fist and cried out.

This was the strategy that Ark was aiming for.

The kraken will continue to repair the bone armour.

The ingredients were the pile of stacked bones and skulls.  If so, wasn’t Ark’s summon made of the same material?

Therefore, Ark delivered a big blow and the moment the kraken tried to repair his bone armour, Skull was thrown at the nucleus of the kraken.  And the stupid kraken couldn’t discern between skulls and used it to make the armour.

Skull was attached right next to the nucleus!

Therefore, the kraken was being attacked from inside his bone armour.  Skull’s damage wasn’t very high but if it bit from the inside then it still dealt damage. Plus the kraken had similar characteristics to the Jellyfish and slime as the nucleus has low defense.

After Skull bit the nucleus, the kraken’s health was visibly reduced. There was no way to stop Skull’s attack inside the kraken.

The armour used to protect itself is now biting and tearing.

‘Now my remaining mana is 600.  The only Skull consumes mana then it should last for 10 minutes.  I have no choice but to wish that Skull kills the kraken during that time!’

Kuo oooo!

The kraken roared from the painful attacks all over the place.

However, Ark had to abandon his attacks and just concentrate on avoidance.  In addition, the kraken glimpsed the incoming damage and just attacked harder.

The kraken was revealing a much faster time than expected.

In just 5 minutes.

From Skull’s onslaught, the kraken was already in a critical condition.

The kraken couldn’t maintain the bony armour covering his body, and it fell to the floor as he began to lose power.  And the view showed the sight of Skull crazily biting the black nucleus.

“Got it, thank you. Skull, now back off”

Ttadak! Ttak ttak ttak!

Skull, whose mouth was full biting the flesh of the kraken, got off and spat it out.

At the same time, Ark poured the rest of his mana into his sword for his last attack.

“Dark blade!”

The sword disappeared into darkness and suddenly appeared in front of the kraken.

Intense sound effects showed there was a critical hit.

Kuo oooo!

The health finally reached zero and the kraken started convulsing before exploding in a storm of light. The storm scattered the bones in every direction.

-Your level has risen.

“Skull! Yes we won thanks to you!”

Ttak ttak ttak! Ttak, ttak ttak ttak!

Skull looked towards the sky.

……….It was laughing.

Ark turned his head and stroked the skull.  It was a weird fellow, but still a boss monster.

It dropped a lot of booty.  As expected, where the kraken had disappeared was a black sword plunged into the ground.

“Eh? This, this is ……! ”

Ark’s mouth opened as he confirmed the information.

Saw blade (Cursed)

A long time ago, the spines of the bodies dumped in h.e.l.l was used to make this sword.  The kraken which rules the underground labyrinth absorbed it into its body where a strong curse was applied.

{The stats cannot be determined until the curse is released}

It wasn’t an ordinary weapon.

It was made out of a person’s sharpened spinal bones.  But somehow it was a good shape.

The reason for Ark’s surprise was the curse on the item.  Curse weapons, Lancel’s sword which made Dedric evolve was also a cursed weapon.

“Purification Restoration!”

Ark immediately used the skill and watched in antic.i.p.ation.

[Saw blade (Magic Sword)Weapon type: One-handed sword

Durability: 70

Attack: 23~25

Weight: 25

User restriction: Dark Attribute

Level: 80

In the past, the one year old Monarch who built Cairo used the spinal bones of those who opposed him to make this sword. At the time, it was ambushed by a group of barbarians and abandoned at the bottom of the h.e.l.l in Cairo, where it was imbued by an immortal spirit with a mysterious power.  Unfortunately, it was absorbed by the kraken where a grudge was formed and it suffered for a long time.

If someone killed the kraken and liberated the soul of the sword than he would be thankful to you.]

-The special effect of this magic sword once a day:  The master of the Magic Sword can summon ‘Warwick’ once a day.

“As expected, it is a magic sword!”

He naturally cheered.

Ever since Dedric evolved underwater using Lancel’s Sword, Ark had frantically been searching for information on the magic sword.

Because the bat evolved, he was able to experience how much Dedric changed.  However, he still couldn’t find information on magic swords.

And he did not have any expectations to find a magic sword in this place…….!

Saw blade, it was a cool name.

‘Could the Saw Blade evolve Skull instead of Dedric?’

If possible, he hoped so.

Dedric who was already evolved now had a high utilization rate.

On the other hand, thanks to the stats, skills and ability to walk of Skull, its utilization was gradually disappearing.  In the old days you could use it as a shield, now the monsters were higher level that Skull couldn’t really last against them.

‘I’ll experiment immediately. What kind of guy will appear?’

“Snap!”

A m.u.f.fled sound was suddenly heard from his waist.

While Ark had been investigating the sword, Snake had automatically started peering at other items and seemed to have found something.

Something seemed to be shining from the Kraken’s bone gap.  Snake extended its tongue to receive praise from Ark.  At that moment Snake’s tongue got stuck.

“Kkaek, kkaek kkaek kkaek!

“Ara? Snake! Are you ok?”

Ark started tugging at Snake’s tongue.

Then the bones scattered and something was pulled out.

It is………..

“What, what the?” This is?”

Ark muttered with a foolish expression.

TO BE CONTINUED