Chapter 41 - Chapter 43

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 43

Chapter Title: Rock Ghost

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KRAAAAA!

The monster let out a roar.

Was it because of its sheer size? Just the cry from its maw whipped up a fierce gust of wind that tugged at our cheeks. The piercing screech slammed straight into our eardrums like a physical blow.

'Tch, it's only a stage-four beast, but the gap is this wide? Trials really get a shitty ramp-up in difficulty.'

As the roar faded, everyone's faces turned dazed. We could feel it in our bones—this thing was on a whole different level from anything we'd fought before.

"H-Hey, Dickhead. Why'd you bring that along? Eek! Sis, it just looked right at us!"

It was all because of its stomach acid. This monster's acid was special. It could dissolve and break down metal or jewels alike, so starting from the fifth rest area, people were selling it as alchemy material.

"Everyone, get ready for battle."

"Huh? Fight that? Fuck this, let's just run! It can't chase us outside!"

Then what was the point of summoning it in the first place?

Shing!

I pulled a longsword from my inventory, gripped it tight, and charged.

"Hey, Dickhead?! Damn it!"

I tossed the sword dangling annoyingly from my belt to the floor.

'Holy attributes only work on dark-attribute mobs.'

On the flip side, dark attributes dealt bonus damage to every attribute type.

This thing was earth- and fire-attribute, and physical damage barely scratched it, so if we wanted to take it down, this crude weapon was our only option.

Of course, I didn't need to take it down myself.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Feeling the air shudder from the monster's massive arm swings, I shouted,

"Song Ha-na! Take Shin Seo-yeon and fall back to protect her! Shin Seo-yeon, get ready for sustained DPS!"

"Fuck, you think that'll work? It looks stupid strong!"

"Don't worry! It will! Lay down the damage and just kite it! I'll handle the rest!"

It was too much for me alone. Not with our current gear, anyway.

But if an S-Rank mage—one of the top five DPS dealers among S-Ranks, the Crimson Flame Witch—unloaded her burst, that changed everything.

"Screw it, whatever! Die!"

Whoosh!

Red flames erupted from Shin Seo-yeon's hands, coiling around the Rock Ghost whose attention was fixed on me.

KRAAAAACK!

The beast screamed. It twisted wildly, frantically batting at the flames clinging to its body.

'...Rock Ghosts have fire resistance.'

Not full [Immunity] where it took zero damage, but it had strong resistance. Most fire attacks wouldn't even register.

KRREEE!

Yet right now, it was in agony.

A power befitting the Crimson Flame Witch.

With mana stats over five times a normal person's and the transcendent [Primordial Flame] ability, even a resistant beast's body was starting to melt.

The eternal blaze that burned infinitely until the user reclaimed it was now stuck to the Rock Ghost, relentlessly scorching and melting it.

That was why the aggro wouldn't drop.

"Dickhead, save me! Kyaaah!"

Boom!

'Normally, aggro should splash to the nearest target or whoever's hindering it.'

Like it had a blood feud, it doggedly pursued only Shin Seo-yeon. She barely dodged thanks to the height difference, but she was soon cornered, on the verge of being grabbed.

"Uh, uh."

"Seo-yeon, what are you doing? Run!"

The Saintess yelled why she was just standing there.

"I-I... my body..."

But after sprinting full-tilt, Shin Seo-yeon's breathing was ragged, her legs trembling from the terror of death she'd never faced before.

The quick-witted Saintess hurriedly used [Recovery Authority] to snap her out of it, but it was already too late.

The monster's claw was right in front of the trapped girl.

"Ah..."

Fortunately, I reached her just in time, dropped my sword, scooped her up princess-style, and bolted.

BOOM!

True to its rock-crushing grip, the spot where Shin Seo-yeon had stood was gouged out like a backhoe scoop.

"You okay?"

"M-Min-jun... sniff. Why'd you take so long?!"

She must've been scared. For the tough Shin Seo-yeon to be trembling and on the verge of tears.

"It's almost done. Just hang on a bit longer."

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The 5-meter-tall, alien-like Rock Ghost was still hot on our heels, desperate to grab Shin Seo-yeon. Even with most of its body wreathed in red flames, its movements were frighteningly agile.

'It can endure lava-level heat with its sky-high fire resistance and stamina. Even in the fourth trial, it's top three among regular mobs for toughness.'

The [Mountainous Region] quest was to take down just this one, and it usually took two to three hundred in a party to hunt it.

Practically a semi-raid boss.

'Feels like we need to hold out another minute.'

Whoosh!

"Kyaaah!"

"Calm down. Stay still."

"O-Okay."

With Shin Seo-yeon clinging tight, I dodged the Rock Ghost's swift grabs left and right while carrying her.

No matter how high my stats, getting caught in those claws would be dangerous.

'I can dodge for a minute, sure...'

But kiting too much might shift the aggro elsewhere. Even now, the Saintess was healing us both.

And even if not, did I really want the hassle of running around?

"Seo-yeon, wrap your arms tight around my neck."

"H-Huh? What for?"

I swiftly drew the dagger from my belt and stabbed deep into the back of my hand. Then I spun around to face the Rock Ghost closing in.

"W-What are you doing? You're not giving up, right?"

"Who knows."

"D-Don't freak me out. You're not the type to die in a place like this. Right? You've got tons of stuff you wanna do, stuff you haven't tried."

Grrr.

"H-Hey, Dickhead? You listening?"

Anxious, our Crimson Flame Witch shook me wildly while clinging on.

"Eh, no real reason to keep dodging. It's a pain."

"D-Don't say that. You still gotta fuck me more. There are positions and plays we haven't tried. Tell me anything. Whatever you want, I'll make it happen somehow! So let's live, okay?"

"Oh, for real?"

Our Crimson Flame Witch was offering anything? Tempting.

"You promising?"

"I promise! I'd do anything if you asked!"

Whoosh! The Rock Ghost's massive arm swung at us. Shin Seo-yeon squeezed her eyes shut and hugged me tight as I casually sidestepped.

BOOM!

Its fist smashed into the banquet hall wall, shattering the aqueduct there and spraying water everywhere.

And bursting through the water droplets from the dark tunnel at the aqueduct's end came something enormous.

Splash!

A colossal water leech, 2 meters thick and 20 meters long.

KUAAAAACK!

The Lakeworm, riled by the scent of my blood, shot out and clamped onto the Rock Ghost's nape.

Crunch!

KRAAAAACK!

The Rock Ghost toppled backward, sending rock shards flying. I retreated to a safe distance and watched the two beasts clash.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Rock Ghost thrashed to break free.

The Lakeworm coiled like a serpent, trying to devour it.

Physical damage didn't work on it, yet the Rock Ghost was pinned helpless.

The size gap was too vast. The 20-meter Lakeworm was a writhing mass of muscle with insane strength.

No way a mere 6-meter humanoid could shrug it off.

KRAAAAK!

Bang bang bang bang boom!

"Seo-yeon, you can douse the flames now."

"H-Huh? It's over?"

The Rock Ghost's skin and muscles were already badly burned. And as I said earlier, the Lakeworm's bulk was overwhelming.

No matter how tough the Rock Ghost was, its flame-ravaged body couldn't withstand the Lakeworm's mauling.

KRREE...

Finally, the strength drained from the Rock Ghost's limbs, its arms going limp. The Lakeworm wasted no time, ripping into its tough head.

"Seo-yeon, stay here."

"Okay."

"Everyone else, hold position."

I quietly approached the Rock Ghost without disturbing the feeding Lakeworm, then hacked at the same spot repeatedly with my dark-attribute axe, slicing open its belly and pulling out an organ.

[Pouch Containing Rock Ghost's Stomach Acid]

An organ bigger than a human head. I carefully extracted it without spilling the contents and returned. The women wrinkled their noses in disgust but couldn't hide their curiosity.

"What's that?"

"Looks dangerous. What're you gonna use it for?"

I held out my hand to Song Ha-na.

"Explanation later. First, hand over what I told you to grab on the way up."

"Oh, the soulstones?"

I carefully dropped the junk stones from specters into the acid pouch one by one.

"Huh? What's that? Opal?"

Shin Seo-yeon, who'd been a wreck moments ago, perked up after the Saintess's mental healing, her eyes lighting up at the sparkle.

"Nah, it's not."

"It totally is! You said only junk drops down there!"

"This is the junk."

She wouldn't believe me no matter what. As I went to drop the last soulstone in, she grabbed my wrist with a greedy look.

"Don't. Gimme one. Pleeease, Min-juuun."

"..."

"Just one! One!"

Her face was pure avarice—hard to believe she'd just cheated death. If a dragon polymorphed into human form, it'd look just like this.

"Fine. But in exchange for that promise you made earlier? Make it two favors."

"Huh? Did I say that?"

Like they say, she went in honest but came out a liar. Shin Seo-yeon blinked innocently, playing dumb.

"Then no stone for you."

"Hmph, whatever. You ate ghosts down there anyway, right? We can grab more on the way."

"Suit yourself. But if you break promises and do whatever, I won't grab any more for you. You're on your own."

"Eek."

As I tried to drop the soulstone in, she grabbed my wrist again.

"F-Fine, two favors. Happy?"

With two favors owed from Shin Seo-yeon, I gripped the pouch's top and peered inside.

The faintly visible contents bubbled as the soulstones dissolved.

'Rock Ghost acid is super special—essential for various magic effects.'

This item I was making was the same. I beckoned the watching women.

"Everyone, scour the area and grab anything that looks like a holy relic."

"Holy relic? Is there stuff like that here?"

"Yeah. Gold and fancy-looking works."

"Oh, I know what you mean!"

Shin Seo-yeon, our human dowsing rod, dashed off and returned with an armful.

This place was once a renowned monastery.

Blessed items were everywhere. I picked the legit ones and dropped them into the pouch.

Hiss...

The pouch's contents glowed blue.

Smoke rose like dry ice over the liquid—finally complete.

"What is it?"

"Well, if I had to name it... a bomb. Perfect for undead."

It didn't deal massive damage, but for our small raid party, it perfectly filled a key gap.

"Whoa, a bomb?! Min-jun, you're amazing! You saw this in the rest area shop, right?"

"Haha, yeah, something like that."

Shin Seo-yeon eyed me suspiciously, Song Ha-na looked puzzled, but I brushed it off with a bright smile to the beaming Saintess.

Anyway, our raid boss tool was ready. I picked up the longsword I'd tossed earlier, sheathed it, and said,

"Let's go."

"Okay. But Dickhead, where are we even headed?"

Oh right—I hadn't told the party the plan yet.

They seemed ready to follow blindly regardless.

Better explain now.

"We're going to take down this dungeon's final boss."

Everyone's eyes went wide.

"Huh?"

"Dickhead, you nuts?!"

The Saintess seemed unfazed, but Shin Seo-yeon—fresh off near-death—was seriously opposed. I'd counted on Song Ha-na backing me to smooth things over.

"Hold up. You and me, talk alone."

Song Ha-na stormed off to a side room, exuding menace. Huh? As I stood there blankly, she came back, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me along.

Then she said,

"Drop the raid. We can't take this boss."

Her eyes swirled with complex emotions.

One look, and I had a pretty good idea what was going on.

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