Step, step—

"Kghhk, ugh!" Genie groaned as she struggled in Rumad's hold. 

When Rumad walked out of the thick blanket of dust, he looked absolutely terrible. One of his arms had disappeared and he was covered with blood. However, he still looked energetic and ready to fight. 

"How dare…how dare you!" Rumad shouted, eyes bloodshot and dripping with blood and tears. The sight was completely horrific, especially with him holding Genie by the neck.

At this moment, Genie thought that it was over.

'All of the guild members have exhausted their energy... In the end, this raid is a failure, huh?' 

However, it was a relief that two of her guild members were escorting Valen to where Ellie was. 

'It's a relief. We were still able to keep King Varen safe.' 

Genie turned her eyes downwards. She saw Minhyuk spitting out blood from the damage he received from Rumad. 

'Minhyuk. You should run away, you got it?' She thought, expecting her neck to be broken soon. However, all of a sudden, she watched as the wounds on Minhyuk’s body recovered rapidly. Minhyuk stood up the moment his wounds healed.

'H…how...?!' 

The injury that Minhyuk received looked like it was impossible to recover from! No, how could he even stand up so fast?! Once Minhyuk stood up, he looked like he was brand new. With no wounds and injuries at all. Then, he stood behind Rumad with his sword that was filled with sparks.

***

This was the first time that Minhyuk allowed an attack on his body. At that time, he thought, 'That's right, I should just log out like this.' 

Then, he would naturally be able to run away and hide from his friends again. However, he realized that it was very selfish of him. Minhyuk’s friends seemed like they had always been looking for him. Genie even kept on sending him messages.

However, it still did not take away the fact that he was afraid. Back in middle school, he was considered to be an honor student and a good friend. However, he suddenly became fat! Would his friends still accept him like they used to, when he was struggling with this rare disease? Minhyuk ran away before because he was terrified. He was terrified that they would think that he was not the same Minhyuk as before.

However, when Minhyuk met them again, he realized that he had been extremely selfish. At the very least, he could have told them the truth. If he had to be honest with himself, he was afraid of their reactions, so he ran away. Minhyuk continued to lie down on the ground as he thought about a lot of things.  Then, Rumad grabbed Genie's neck. That was when Minhyuk decided to finally stand up. 

'Yeah. If not now…' 

If Minhyuk did not do it now, then he knew he would not be able to show himself in front of his friends anymore. Perhaps he would remain a coward forever, and they would avoid him in the future. So, he used the special ability of the Armor of Immortality.

‘Restore all of my HP and MP.’

[You have used the special ability of the Armor of Immortality.]

[Your HP and MP are recovering at a fast pace.]

Minhyuk’s wounds began to heal and recover at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. Then, he slowly stood up just as Rumad was trying to wring Genie’s neck.

‘I have to protect one of the two great pigs in the mountains!!!’

Minhyuk used Ellie’s Swordsmanship, his sword surging with power. The skill that had evolved and became legendary!

Scattering Sword!

Minhyuk slammed his sword on Rumad’s back.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Unaware of his presence, Rumad remained defenseless as he received the powerful attack from behind. The attack was so painful that he was forced to release his hold on Genie’s neck. Locke took the opportunity to catch her in an embrace and throw their bodies away from Rumad.

Stagger!

Rumad swayed and staggered as blood spurted all over his body. It seemed like his body was still trying to hold on despite receiving such a tremendous blow.

Fwish!

Swiiiish!

Fwooooosh!

Spurt!

“Graaaaaaaa!” Rumad screamed roughly. However, amazingly enough, his body still remained standing. He used all of his strength to reach his remaining hand out and grab his sword.

Shwaa!

His sheer force and determination allowed him to recover his sword. Despite his body being covered with blood, Rumad still turned around and swung his sword at Minhyuk.

[Rumad’s HP has fallen below 30%.]

[Rumad’s Skill: Roar has been triggered.]

[Rumad’s stats will temporarily increase by 1.4x.]

“...Waaa!”

“Goddamn!”

The guild members were struck dumb. Shit! They did not expect that Rumad would have such an ability! Then, Rumad finally struck his sword down on Minhyuk.

Baaaaang!

Claaaang!

Minhyuk held his sword with both hands as he defended against the attack. However, Rumad’s greatsword suddenly let out a violent explosion.

Bang! Bang, bang! Bang!

The bangs of the explosion resounded loudly in the clearing! Minhyuk’s arms trembled as black sword lights poured out from Rumad’s sword.

Shwaaa!

The black sword lights exploded at a close range!

Fwish!

Minhyuk received a horizontal slash on his chest, his body almost cut off in half! Blood started to spurt out from Minhyuk’s chest, but Rumad still continued to attack.

Swish!

Slash!

Fwoosh!

“Urgh! Ack!” Minhyuk groaned loudly, his body trembling and shaking. He was even forced to kneel on one knee from the pain.

Rumad was now sure that the bastard in front of him was going to die. In fact, even the Legend Guild members that were witnessing the scene were also sure that Minhyuk would die. They might not know what Minhyuk’s exact level was, but they knew that it was not high enough. In fact, it was already surprising that he was able to endure Rumad’s strike for that long. But then…

Thud!

…Minhyuk suddenly straightened his folded knee as he stood up straight.

[He Who Overcomes.] 

[Your HP has increased to 1. You are now invincible for 3 seconds.] 

[All of your abilities will increase by 30% for 3 seconds.]

“Gasp!”

“...C, crazy!”

“Is, is he really a person?!”

The members of Legend Guild did not know about the special skill attached to Ellie’s Swordsmanship, that was why they were very shocked.

“Die, die! Goddamn it, for God’s sake, die!” Rumad shouted. He looked like he had seen a ghost as he used all of his strength to attack.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Rumad used all of his remaining strength, smashing on Minhyuk, but Minhyuk still did not fall down. He even used his most powerful skills but none of them left a scratch on Minhyuk’s body. For the first time in his life, Imperial Sword Rumad felt ‘fear’.

“I…I’m begging you, please die!”

That was when Minhyuk used Step. And…

[Sword of Fury]

[Additional 60% attack power for strong lunges and stabs, if a vital strike is successful, the bonus will be 100%.]

…A strong force gathered at the tip of Minhyuk’s sword.

“Ugh, aaaaaack!” Rumad screamed as Minhyuk stepped forward and stabbed him in his stomach. Minhyuk moved so fast that only his afterimage was left.

Stab!

[You have succeeded in stabbing a vital point.]

[100% additional damage!]

Along with the notification, the force that was concentrated on the tip of Minhyuk’s sword exploded.

Baaaaaaaang!

Rumad’s body burst from the powerful explosion as…

Stagger!

…Minhyuk’s body fell down. His remaining HP was exactly 1. He looked up at the sky as he breathed deeply. Then, he spoke slowly, “Phew. You game geeks can’t even hunt him.”

Then he grinned. Genie, Locke and Khan laughed at his absurdity.

Then, Locke asked him, “What’s your level...?”

“221.”

“...”

Everyone around him was left speechless. Then, a series of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[You have hunted the Imperial Sword Rumad.]

[You have acquired the Title: The Man Who Hunted One of the Pinnacle Strong Men.]

[You have gained 200 REP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[...leveled up.]

The sound of the notifications rang continuously in Minhyuk’s ears. However, it did not register at all. He was not really interested in leveling up, after all, it was hard, and his life was going to be at risk. All Minhyuk did was take out a chocolate bar out of his inventory and nibble on it.

[Absorption Conversion]

[You can recover 30~40% of your HP.]

Minhyuk’s wounds began to heal rapidly. None of the people present had seen such an absurd recovery ability. The healing and recovery speed was completely insane!

“Wow. It’s a human troll...” Ace mumbled to himself as he looked at Minhyuk.

Then, Minhyuk sat up and began bandaging himself.

“Bandage!” 

[The bandage has been wrapped perfectly.]

[You have received an additional 5% injury recovery.]

[The recovery time has become faster.]

Minhyuk wrapped his wounds in a bandage and peeled it off after a while. Most of his wounds had already healed the moment the bandage came off. The members of the Legend Guild shook their heads in defeat as if they had no more energy left to spare to feel surprised.

Then, Minhyuk saw the gold and artifacts that fell near Rumad. He approached it and picked them up.

[You have gained 50.2 billion gold.]

[You have acquired the Skill Book: Intangible Sword.]

[You have acquired Rumad’s Demon Sword.]

[You have acquired Rumad’s Golden Treasure Box (Event).]

[Everyone who participated in Rumad’s raid will receive the Golden Treasure Box.]

“Huh?! A golden treasure box!” 

“Ooooooh. Shut the f*ck up!”

“Kyaaa!” 

“I think it’s a reward for all of the raid participants?”

Then, Khan said, “I…I also got it!”

Perhaps the standard for receiving the treasure box was being subjected to Rumad’s Extreme Fear. In other words, it was everyone who was considered to be his enemies.

Genie approached Minhyuk who was already healed and properly stretched. She said, “Hey!”

“...”

“You damn punk.”

“...Yeah.”

Minhyuk nodded in shame. Even if he had ten mouths with him, he still would have nothing to say. Then, Khan and Locke approached them. Khan sighed as he looked at Locke.

‘This punk...’ 

Khan wondered if Locke would say something bad again? After all, Locke was the one that always told them to stop looking for Minhyuk. He even said that he would not care if Minhyuk had been trapped deep underwater. Khan watched as Locke clenched his fists tightly and stomped towards Minhyuk with great momentum.

‘No way. Is he going to beat him up?!’

Then, large droplets of tears fell from Locke’s eyes.

“Waaaaaah. Minhyuk. It’s been a long time. Hwiiiiik!”

“OMG?”

“Eh?”

Khan, Genie and Minhyuk all tilted their heads in confusion. Then, Locke suddenly hugged Minhyuk tightly, soaking his armor in tears!

“Keuhuhuhuhuk!” Locke sobbed loudly and stretched his hands out.

“Ah. Give me your hand Minhyuk.”

“...?”

Minhyuk gave Locke his hands. Locke used Minhyuk’s hands to blow his nose on. He said, “Ah. That feels better.”

“This bitc...”

“Waaaaaah!” Locke began crying again. Minhyuk patted Locke on the back. Of course, he did not forget to rub the mucus on his back.

“Wow. Look at Locke crying...”

“He looks ugly when he cries. So ugly... I hate it.”

Locke stopped crying when he heard those words. He looked at his guild members and harrumphed. Khan, Genie and Minhyuk grinned at this unexpected twist. The air around them had become lighter.

“Let’s check the artifact’s information first and have a reunion later.”

They were not the only ones in this place after all since there were also the other guild members. Minhyuk nodded as he checked the information. He first clicked on the skill book.

(Intangible Sword)

Passive Skill

Rank: Legendary

Requirements: 500 STR, 500 AGI, 400 STM

Mana Required: None

Cooldown: None

Effects:

•The skill allows you to ignore any restrictions and requirements for learning skills.

•The skills can allow you to ignore the limits in numbers.

•The skill gives you a 7-12% chance of ignoring the enemy’s defenses when you’re attacking.

After checking the skill book, Minhyuk also checked the blood-red sword that he had acquired.

(Rumad’s Demon Sword)

Rank: Legendary

Requirements: Warrior, 400 STR, 400 STM

Durability: 40,000 / 40,000

Attacking: 716

Special Abilities:

•An increase of +10% in STR and +12% in STM.

•A greatsword is a large and bulky sword. However, it will become as light and easy to use as a regular sword when equipped.

•Skill: Extreme Fear

•Has a 10%~14% chance of dealing double the damage.