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chapter 83
Tap—!
Just moments ago, Hanbit had narrowly avoided the golem’s attack and swiftly moved far away.
Even if the others bought him time, it couldn’t last long.
He had to achieve the objective as quickly as possible.
Tap—!
The compass in his hand was still glowing.
At most, there were about ten minutes left before this effect ended.
He had to move as fast as possible.
Pop—!
The light emitted from the compass was pointing toward one of the collapsed buildings.
Running outside the golem’s field of vision, Hanbit quickly reached the target location.
Thud—
Fragments of the building slowly fell to the ground.
Slipping inside, he approached a half-destroyed wardrobe.
Crunch—!
When he tore the door off, a small box placed on the lower shelf came into view.
Inside it lay a single orange stone, smaller than a fist.
“Good.”
The Guardian Golem was powerful, but just as importantly, it required management.
That was why safety devices to shut it down were always hidden nearby.
You could say they were three power buttons corresponding to the golem’s three cores.
Kwa-gwa-gwang—!
Loud noises were still echoing from the golem’s direction.
It seemed the two of them had gained some experience after repeating death so many times.
“First one.”
Hanbit reached out and grabbed the orange stone.
Srrk—
The moment he touched it, its color slowly faded away.
Turning his head, he saw that the golem had stopped moving.
However, that rest did not last long.
Pajik—!
Sparks flew from the golem’s chest.
Confirming that one of the cores had gone dark, Hanbit sent a message to the two of them.
[2 left. It won’t take long, so hang in there a bit more.]
Bang—!
Moments later, their battle resumed.
“Next is… over there.”
Hanbit hurried toward the next location indicated by the light.
Since it wasn’t very far, he was able to find the second stone quickly as well.
Srrk—
As the color drained from the stone, the golem froze once more.
The light in another chest core went out in the same way.
Pop—!
The compass emitted its final beam of light.
The direction was the leaning clock tower at the center of the ruins.
It was quite far, and the remaining time was barely a minute at most.
Tap—!
Kicking off the ground, Hanbit rushed through the ruins.
Perhaps thanks to the effector, his movements felt even sharper than before.
But reaching the clock tower safely was another matter entirely.
Srrk—
As he ran between buildings, a massive shadow fell over his head.
It landed on the ground before Hanbit could arrive.
Kwa-gwa-gwang—!
The suddenly appearing golem fixed its gaze precisely on Hanbit.
It felt as though it didn’t care about anyone else.
“Black Dragon-nim!”
“Black Dragon!”
As the aggro shifted, a startled Avantgarde and Kim Jaeha came running after him.
Hanbit himself was just as flustered.
‘Did they add some kind of AI?’
The golem moved as if it were protecting the final stone.
No matter which past case he recalled, this was a situation that had never occurred.
Boom—!
Taking a step forward, the golem swung its arm at Hanbit.
It was undoubtedly fast, but not fast enough for Hanbit to fail to read its movement.
The problem was the aggro still locked firmly onto him.
If he ran straight like this, it was obvious the golem would catch up.
Whoosh—!
Avantgarde leapt up and resumed his attack.
Whoof—!
“Ugh!”
The golem shook him off with a single swing of its arm.
Its gaze never left Hanbit.
Srrk—
At some point, the light from the compass had completely disappeared.
“Hoo.”
Hanbit had memorized the exact location of the final stone.
The problem was figuring out how to reach that nearby target.
Worse still, if the golem destroyed the clock tower, the situation could become even more complicated.
Tap—!
After organizing his thoughts, Hanbit kicked off the ground in the opposite direction of the clock tower.
Bang—!
At the same time, the golem smashed the ground and followed after him.
Avantgarde and Kim Jaeha also changed direction and ran.
Whoof—!
The golem quickly caught up and swung its fist.
Hanbit dodged each attack a split second early, deliberately luring it along.
Bang—!
Kwa-gwang—!
The golem rampaged as if berserk, destroying everything around it.
Moving away from the clock tower was the right choice.
“Black Dragon-nim!”
Avantgarde ran right alongside him.
Kim Jaeha was sprinting hard behind them.
“I think there’s a position where the aggro gets pulled. I’ll try to confirm it!”
Avantgarde sharply changed direction and ran the other way.
Charging straight ahead, he reached an abandoned building some distance from the clock tower.
At that moment—
Bang—!
The golem kicked off the ground with tremendous force and lunged forward.
It reached Avantgarde in an instant.
Whoof—!
A punch swung far faster than before.
Unable to dodge it, Avantgarde was struck head-on and died.
“It seems it’s only up to that building.”
Revived, Avantgarde quickly returned to his position.
The excitement on his face showed no sign of fading.
Drdrdr—!
With its target gone, the golem started running back toward them.
Its speed was clearly slower than when it headed toward the clock tower.
“You two keep drawing its attention here.”
Hanbit made his decision and spoke to them.
“Understood!”
“I’ll try the same thing as before.”
Avantgarde, full of bravado, and Kim Jaeha, calmly tightening his grip on the hammer.
After dragging things out for several minutes already, neither of them hesitated.
Kwa-gwa-gwa—!
The golem charged forward, tearing up the ground, and threw a punch.
Tap—!
The twin blades in Avantgarde’s hands as he leapt upward.
Dozens of yellow threads flickered around them.
‘He’s using that skill.’
Thread Swordsmanship was a difficult technique.
Among non-hidden skills, it ranked among the most challenging.
That also meant its future potential was extremely high.
“Hup!”
Kim Jaeha slipped in toward the legs and smashed the ground, carving away the terrain.
It was clear how they had been dealing with the golem.
For someone lacking in raw power, it was a very effective method.
‘Maybe I should try it too.’
Pulling back slightly, Hanbit slowly edged closer to the clock tower.
The golem, steadily and sharply swinging its fists, still wasn’t paying him any attention.
“This far is fine.”
Hanbit reached a low wall on the outskirts of the ruins.
The golem’s gaze still hadn’t reached him.
But the moment he stepped inside, it would immediately give chase.
Kwa-gwang—!
Yellow threads scattered through the fight, accompanied by booming impacts.
The battle to draw the golem’s attention continued relentlessly.
Whoof—!
Flare—!
Wind gathering around the blade mixed harmoniously with raging flames.
Once.
He needed one single strike, stronger than ever before.
Thud—
Hanbit climbed atop a pile of debris.
It was the perfect height to clearly see the center of the ruins.
“Far. Too far.”
He turned his gaze to the top of the clock tower.
It was a distance he couldn’t reach by simply running while ignoring the golem’s pursuit.
There was only one method.
“Fire Burst.”
Boom—!
Hanbit cast magic toward the center of the ruins.
The strengthened explosion was enough to collapse abandoned buildings and piles of rubble.
“Fire Burst.”
The next spell flew a bit farther.
It shattered the obstacles blocking the clock tower at close range.
Boom—!
After the final fireball exploded, Hanbit looked out over the cleared view.
Thanks to the golem having already destroyed everything nearby, the area around the clock tower was spotless.
With the preparations done, Hanbit opened his character status window.
[Black Dragon – Lv.49]
[Title: None]
Strength: 52
Agility: 55
Intelligence: 52
Vitality: 35
Remaining Stat Points: 36
‘Good thing I saved them.’
The reason he hadn’t spent stat points immediately upon receiving them was for situations like this.
Just like now.
Slick—
Moving his finger, Hanbit quickly allocated points to the necessary stats.
[Black Dragon – Lv.49]
[Title: None]
Strength: 57
Agility: 60
Intelligence: 58
Vitality: 55
Remaining Stat Points: 0
Unlike before, he invested a full 20 points into Vitality at once.
That alone showed how difficult this situation was.
Whoof—!
The fiery wind wrapping around his sword was strong enough to affect the surroundings.
Steadying his stance, Hanbit looked at the golem fighting in the distance.
Then he began walking from the debris toward the center of the ruins.
Whoosh—!
At the same time, the golem’s gaze snapped toward him.
It moved in an instant.
Bang—!
Once again, the golem smashed the ground as it leapt.
It appeared above his head in the blink of an eye.
Kwa-gwa-gwang—!
Slamming the ground, the golem destroyed everything around it.
Only Hanbit, who had prepared in advance, remained standing amid the dust.
“Fire Burst.”
Boom—!
Hanbit stretched out his hand and fired magic at the golem’s face.
In response, its assault grew even more ferocious.
Bang—! Bang—!
Attacks flew in wildly, using both hands and feet.
A massively swung fist slammed into the ground right after.
Bang—!
Dodging through the dust, Hanbit leapt high into the air.
Landing on its wrist, he sprinted up to its shoulder.
Thud—
As the golem rose to its full height, Hanbit’s field of view climbed with it.
Reaching out, he cast magic once more.
“Fire Burst!”
Boom—!
The explosion struck the golem’s face, producing thick black smoke.
Gripping his sword again, Hanbit kicked off and leapt high into the air.
‘Here it comes.’
The golem quickly regained its sight and twisted its torso.
Then it hurled a fist packed with immense power straight at him.
Whoof—!
The massive fist filled his vision in an instant.
But Hanbit’s movement was just a bit faster.
Whoof—!
Swinging his sword in a wide arc, a blade of wind mixed with flames shot out like a storm.
It collided head-on with the golem’s charging fist.
Bang—!
The exploding impact created a tremendous shockwave.
Taking the full brunt of it at point-blank range, Hanbit was blown violently away.
“Black Dragon!”
“Black Dragon-nim!”
Whoof—!
The shouts of the two grew distant in an instant.
Hanbit’s body tore through the air like a bullet.
Gripping his sword tightly, he adjusted his direction little by little with all his strength.
“Fire Burst!”
Boom—!
Just before reaching the clock tower,
he fired magic at the wall to slow himself as much as possible.
Thanks to his stats, the backlash from elemental manifestation was reduced, but it still required immense concentration.
Kwa-gwa-gwang—!
Piercing through the tower’s midsection, his body rolled across the ground with a heavy impact.
Without the Vitality investment, he would have died long ago.
“There.”
Perhaps because the interior was twisted, the top of the clock tower was clearly visible.
Bang—!
At that moment, a huge shadow fell as the ground shook again.
Above, the golem with glowing red eyes was descending.
Tap—!
Though it was moving at a speed hard to even react to, Hanbit remained calm.
The falling direction, angle, and force—
By judging these factors, he could calculate a tiny opening.
Kwa-gwa-gwa—!
The golem crashed to the ground with massive force.
Hanbit, pressed tightly against the outer edge, survived by just a few steps.
‘Damn, that was close.’
Somehow alive, he slipped out of the dust.
At the top of the clock tower, barely maintaining its shape amid total collapse,
a half-open box was dangling from the remaining wall.
Inside, the orange stone was clearly visible.
Thud—
The revived golem’s red eyes locked onto Hanbit again.
But in this space, the advantage was actually his.
Tap—!
Hanbit began running through the broken debris.
The golem attacked with its massive arms.
Boom—! Ku-gung—!
The thick piles of rubble interfered with its attacks.
Weaving through the gaps, Hanbit quickly leapt up to the golem’s shoulder.
Drdk—
At that moment, the box fully opened as it slipped loose.
Seeing the stone roll free, Hanbit kicked off hard.
Tap—!
Propelled into the air, he reached out his hand.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch the falling stone—
Whoof—!
A gigantic hand shot up from below.
Kreeek—!
Anticipating the attack, Hanbit twisted his sword to reduce its force.
His body was flung away, but that too was part of the calculation.
“Hup!”
Letting the recoil carry him, Hanbit flew through the air.
Perhaps due to the earlier impact, the stone was also bouncing upward.
Kwa-gwa-gwa—!
The golem swung another punch upward from below.
The overwhelming attack reached his feet in an instant.
But—
Tap—!
This time, Hanbit’s hand was faster.
“Got it!”
In a fleeting moment.
By an even narrower margin, he snatched the stone.
And when he turned his head downward—
Whoof—!
A massive fist filled his vision, accompanied by violent wind.
The fist froze as if petrified.
“Wow, that was close.”
Thud—
Landing naturally atop the fist, Hanbit let out a sigh of relief.
Srrk—
Looking down, he saw the final core’s light vanish from the golem’s chest.
An alarm sounded, and a message arrived immediately after.
[The unreleased area is being liberated due to conditions being met.]
