Episode 214 Status Ailments (3)
* * *
The strategy picked up speed.
Places with established answers—that is, countermeasures for status ailments—were no longer a problem at all.
Sophia didn't worry about the possibility of a delay or the possibility of the fight dragging on.
She trusted Sanghyeon, and so the fight proceeded without incident. She even yawned in the middle of it.
With Sanghyeon's consent, Sophia systematically organized the strategy details.
It had been discussed beforehand, and Sanghyeon didn't have any particular objections either.
After all, when conducting a strategy with someone, one is bound to show off their skill repertoire.
Therefore, writing down which skills were used in which situations wasn't a huge burden.
Rather, she saw it as an element that could appeal to the Nobility Guild. Also,
considering Frederic Villain's personality and policies, he wasn't the type to go around bragging.
She thought it would serve as important reference material for him.
Since Sanghyeon would ultimately take a share of the results once the strategy was organized, it would be quite lucrative in terms of income as well.
Just then.
The battle, which had been proceeding smoothly as a ghost slaughter, took a slight turn.
A completely different type of monster appeared, acting like a middle gatekeeper. Its name was Stone Killer.
As the name suggested, it was a rock-shaped golem. However, there was no prior information about this creature.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“A true swordsman judges things by clashing swords. That is when you decide if it’s okay. Here I go!”
Yet, Sanghyeon charged at Stone Killer without any hesitation.
The words he had just spoken reflected the attitude Sanghyeon always maintained when entering dungeons or gates.
Ultimately, one cannot know anything without fighting. Information gathering is also an element achieved through combat.
Unless he intended to ignore Stone Killer and pass by, a fight was unavoidable.
He opened fire with a Full Bash.
As he instantly closed the 15-meter distance with a frontal charge, Stone Killer flinched and froze in place. It was because
Sanghyeon’s location had suddenly become so close, as if time had been skipped.
Of course, the surprise stopped there. With his solid body, he was no match for a petty intruder.
But then…
*Pow!
* *Ugh…*
The moment Sanghyeon's Full Bash struck, Stone Killer felt a change in his body.
It was a paralysis.
And it lasted for quite a while, rendering him completely helpless, leaving him with nothing but wide-open eyes.
"Wow, it's just a rock, isn't it?"
Sanghyeon laughed.
He hadn't expected Full Bash to cause a paralysis, but it was indeed a rock with significantly lower resistance.
It seemed to be a creature specialized solely in physical defense.
While it would take ages to defeat a guy like this with basic sword attacks, it was easy to take down with skills.
Of course, it would still take quite a while because of its high base durability—its HP.
He didn't waste his energy unnecessarily.
It wasn't the kind of creature with the toughness to fall easily just from a few sword thrusts while paralyzed.
So, he waited patiently for the status effect to wear off while looking for the appropriate next move.
The 3-second paralysis ended, followed by a 1-second freeze.
Just in case, he tried inflicting physical damage while it was frozen, but Stone Killer remained unharmed.
“So, for now, it seems Stun and Freeze aren’t triggers.”
He continued to steadily extend the combo.
This was to test the Silence effect, which only activates when Full Bash is extended four times in a row.
Having confirmed that its skill resistance was extremely low, he took a relaxed approach, putting one hand in his pocket in the middle of the combo.
Sophia, watching from behind, was momentarily shocked.
She was worried that an unexpected situation might occur. The Stone Killer exuded that much intimidation.
“Haaam…”
Time passed along with a yawn.
Only after experiencing the hellish 4-second Stun and Freeze combo four times—a whopping 16 seconds—was it finally over.
Pss!
Silence was cast on the Stone Killer.
The next moment.
Crack! Crunch! Crunch!
Sanghyeon saw cracks forming all over the Stone Killer’s body.
So, without a second thought, he struck with the blade of his sword. There was no need to even use a skill.
Crash!
At that, the Stone Killer’s body, which had looked strong and massive, crumbled like a sandcastle.
Sanghyun smiled as he looked back.
“The Stone Killer is a guy you catch with silence. Make sure to wrap it up. Say, ‘Silence is the answer to a stupid rock.’”
The strategy had ended far too simply.
Sophia nodded, her eyes unfocused as if entranced, and summarized the details.
But right then.
Sanghyun gestured in the air.
A dark red aura enveloped the air, and soon the dead Stone Killer could be seen being reassembled.
It was as if time had been turned back, and the Stone Killer was returning to its original form.
The Undead Revive skill.
Since the battles had been mostly ghost-focused, there had been no need to revive anyone; this was the first "opening ceremony" (?) for Upper Moon.
The effect was certain.
The Stone Killer was revived exactly as it had been facing her just moments ago.
It consumed a significant amount of mana, and the skill was structured to continuously consume 1 mana per second.
It would be a lie to say it wasn't a burden at all, but since there was a means of mana recovery, it wasn't a major concern.
Besides, if managing mana seemed like it would be a struggle, she could simply discard it without hesitation.
It wasn't like she had a pact of eternal subordination with a minion or anything like that.
"Wait a minute. Did you just use a Necromancy skill? Do you have an artifact like that? No, how did this…?"
Seeing the scene unfolding before her eyes, Sophia could no longer hide her surprised expression.
Necromancy is a minor ability within the realm of magic, heavily focused on extreme darkness. Even
for a typical mage player, it was very difficult to awaken to Necromancy.
Necromancy is a path one can only reach by following the dark magic route from the very beginning and seeing the depths of darkness.
However, Sang-hyun was not a mage with that kind of disposition; moreover, he was a swordsman who focused on physical combat. For someone like him
to wield necromancy was akin to saying a slim obese person or a handsome ugly man.
It meant that coexistence was impossible because they had opposite personalities.
“Yes, I happened to get the skill by chance.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I do think that sometimes, too.”
Sang-hyun joked.
He was able to wield this ability because he obtained a valuable artifact from the Ashtaros Dungeon.
By securing high-level dungeons like this and obtaining the first clear or probabilistic rewards, one
creates a massive differentiation that is incomparable to others.
It is something that wouldn't even be possible without the ability to take on the challenge or the connections.
However, thanks to his abilities and connections, Sang-hyun was able to go to the Ashtaros Dungeon and thus came to use the Undead Revive skill.
Meanwhile, Sang-hyun picked up the reward that had fallen where the Stone Golem had died.
It was a talisman.
A Silver-grade talisman, an artifact that anyone would deem a mere junk.
Knowing it would be returned anyway, Sang-hyun tossed it to Sophia nonchalantly and said,
"Shall I give you this talisman? It dropped from the Stone Golem."
Sophia examined the talisman.
However, the moment she saw the options, her desire to possess it vanished immediately. Not
only were the options mediocre, but there was also a condition that using this talisman meant one could not equip any other talismans.
"No, it's fine. I can't exactly tell you to use it, but you can take it anyway." Sure enough, the
talisman was returned to Sophia. Acting as if she had absolutely no interest, she took notes on the details of the battle just now.
In the meantime,
Sang-hyun naturally turned around and began to eat the talisman.
The option that forced one talisman to be equipped meant nothing to Sang-hyun. I can just eat it, right?
'Damn it.'
Sang-hyun cursed inwardly as he looked at the materialized food.
Perhaps because it was an artifact obtained from the Stone Killer, the food manifested as stone. He had to eat stone.
'Is this even
working?' There was no time to hesitate.
Time did not stop while he was eating the materialized food.
To Sophia's eyes, it appeared as if Sanghyeon was momentarily spacing out.
Therefore, if the meal took too long, there was a possibility of witnessing a strange sight.
'Damn it. Damn it.'
Sanghyeon shoved the stones in the bowl into his mouth indiscriminately.
This was not actually eating. The texture and sensation were the same, but he wasn't eating real stone.
So, he decided to try eating it no matter what. Even if a few teeth broke and the taste of stone lingered on his tongue, he had to swallow it, whether by chewing or whatever.
"Ugh…"
With every chew, every touch of the tongue, and every breath, the distinctive, indistinct musty smell of stone surged up.
Nevertheless, he finally finished consuming it, and the content that had been a useless option of the talisman was reborn meaningfully.
『Breath of Nature – Stone』
■ Skill Level: Tier 1 (0.0%)
■ Skill Introduction: Uses mana to disguise yourself as a stone.
Rock Golem-type monsters recognize the skill user as one of their own kind and may not even perceive your presence.
However, you do not actually turn into stone; you merely transform into a form resembling a stone.
'Well, this is decent enough as a tailored skill.'
Sanghyeon wore a satisfied expression.
With this skill, he could deceive Rock Golem-type monsters like Stone Killers.
Then, it would be entirely possible to unilaterally kill them. A strategic advantage was possible.
“Let’s go! We’ve come quite a distance. If we don’t get stuck too hard ahead, we might even make it to the end.”
Sang-hyun strode ahead, leading Sophia.
Holding the master key of various status ailments, conquering the gate was no problem.
The gate, which had been hell for other players, was, for Sang-hyun, the scene of a showcase.
* * *
At that moment.
“Phew. Phew.”
Shin Tae-ri was training in the soft light, with only a single light illuminating the center of the training ground turned on.
She usually trained alone and never allowed outsiders to observe, but today was an exception.
Jo Jin-ho was there.
He was the only person in the guild with whom Shin Tae-ri was on informal terms.
The other was Kim Mi-so, who was currently overseas rather than in Korea.
Lately, she had been so focused on dungeon raids that she hadn't been in contact with Kim Mi-so for quite some time.
As Shin Tae-ri walked toward the observation seats to catch her breath, Jo Jin-ho handed her a towel and spoke.
“You’re quite the tough one. Don’t you get exhausted training for 12 hours a day, and doing nothing but repetitive drills?”
“I don’t want to become an assassin with flaws. I don’t want to look sloppy.”
“What really provoked you? Is it because of Mr. Shin Sang-hyun?”
“Well… I suppose so.”
Shin Tae-ri nodded.
Shin Tae-ri had always taken pride in her skills as an assassin. At least, that was the case until she met Sang-hyun.
However, after meeting Sang-hyun and having her weaknesses read or countered by him, her perspective changed.
She realized she was still an incomplete assassin with many gaps to fill. Sang-hyun was the first to give her that stimulus.
Moreover, there was a difference between Sang-hyun and herself that could be compared by the objective numerical value of "level. "
She could not accept the fact that she had shown a weakness to someone with a much lower level than herself.
Even considering that Sang-hyun’s skill was indeed formidable, she couldn’t help but feel hurt.
'We agreed to spar regularly once a week…'
Sang-hyun, who had clearly promised that, hasn’t contacted her lately for some reason.
Why could it be? Is he busy?
Or is he keeping his distance because he feels there is nothing left for him to learn or gain?
Aside from wanting to meet, compete, and show him how much he has changed,
there was one more strange emotion whose meaning even she herself was confused about.
It was a peculiar feeling that made her heart race whenever she thought of Sang-hyun. What on earth was this feeling?
Shin Tae-ri wanted to know.
