12. Floor 3 Trial(2)
<Stage 1>
[Opponent]
▶[Salamander Unit] x2
[Reward]
▶Revealed upon clearing the trial.
[Beginning the Stage 1 trial.]
RUMBLE.
The gate on the far side of the colosseum rose upward, and fourteen Lizardmen advanced in an orderly formation.
"Vanguard!"
"Understood!"
Tanks specializing in shields, spearmen positioned in the middle, and shamans at the rear.
They moved in perfect unison, as though they had fought more than once or twice.
It was beyond comparison not only with the Floor 2 undead, which had no command structure at all, but with the kobolds of Floor 1 or the goblins of the tutorial, who had looked clumsy.
'It's been a while.'
Seeing them, Lee Jin-hyeok smiled.
'A Salamander Unit.'
The Salamander Unit.
A unit named after the salamander, the lower fire spirit shaped like a lizard.
'Normally it should be the Gecko Unit, which ranks below this.'
Normally the enemy in the Stage 1 trial was a single 'Gecko Unit' made up of Lizardman criminals.
They receive no professional training, have not even cleared the Tower's tutorial, and consist of only five members.
Which is why players who have only just come to Floor 3 can face them without pressure.
But the enemy now was a Salamander Unit, considerably well trained even among the Lizardmen.
Not quite the 'elite guard' that protects the Lord, the palace, or important nobles, but regular soldiers who have at least cleared Floor 5 or above.
And not one of those units, but two.
And a Salamander Unit is made up of seven, not five.
By raw numbers alone, an increase from five to fourteen.
And on top of that, they were overwhelming in every respect, in individual skill, teamwork, level, and stats.
"One against many, is it."
[Constellation <King of Muspell> clenches its fist.]
"I've had my fill of that."
"......!"
His movements were neither fast nor slow.
But they were strange.
Strange enough that even knowing he was coming, they could barely block him.
Movement that seemed to escape reality itself.
'What is this?'
'Why...... why is he so hard to react to?'
While Lee Jin-hyeok leapt over the four vanguard shield-bearers, arrows made of lava flew in from the two mages behind them.
"I knew you would move that way!"
"Surround him! Quickly!"
When he dodged the arrows, the eight Lizardmen around him thrust their swords out as one.
The sight of it resembled an enormous reptile opening its mouth.
Their blades served the role of sharp fangs and molars.
It seemed impossible to break out of the combined attack of two formally trained Salamander Units.
'A good combined attack. But.'
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> marvels at the Lizardmen's coordinated movements.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> snorts.]
'it isn't a real reptile's mouth.'
The paths of the blades flying in from every direction were vividly clear to his eyes.
'I can't dodge them all.'
Swish.
'Then I minimize the surface area that gets hit.'
[Activating the skill <Imugi's Blood>.]
SHRRRRK—!
Black scales rose on Lee Jin-hyeok's skin and soon began covering the surface of his armor as well.
"Wh, what is this!"
"Ssshk?!"
CLANG!
The Lizardmen's blades bounced off uselessly.
It was because Lee Jin-hyeok had deliberately blocked them at an angle.
[Constellation <Serpent That Encircles the World> watches you with interest.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> cannot contain its astonishment at your strength.]
"H, how?"
"He should be a player who just came up to Floor 3."
FLASH!
Along with the appearance of the black scales, Lee Jin-hyeok's pupils split vertically and shone yellow.
Meeting them, the Lizardmen's bodies froze for an instant.
Like rats before a cat or a snake.
Flinch.
Lee Jin-hyeok did not miss that opening and drove in between the Lizardmen's blades.
"We have to stop him!"
"We're going in!"
When Lee Jin-hyeok broke through the sword-wielding Lizardmen, the ones holding shields in front charged at him again.
THWACK!
Lee Jin-hyeok merely threw a fist at the ones rushing him.
His enormous Strength stat crumpled their shields and sent the shield-bearers flying off into the distance at the same time.
An empty result.
As a result, Lee Jin-hyeok reached the two mage Lizardmen at the rear.
'In any battle or war.'
Swish.
'you wreck the buffers, the healers, and the mages first.'
"Sh, sshk!"
"Now!"
But the Lizardman mages had made preparations of their own.
<Lava Wall>
A wall of lava blocked the space between Lee Jin-hyeok and them.
But whether their magic unfolded or not, Lee Jin-hyeok did not slow down and simply kept running.
The chill of <Eternal Frost>, plus the magic resistance amplified by <Imugi's Blood>.
Magic they had thrown together on the spot was something he could ignore and charge through.
"This brute......!"
Before long, a hand covered the face of one of the Lizardman mages.
GRIP—!
THUD!
Lee Jin-hyeok drove the head of one Lizardman mage straight into the ground.
Thanks to the <Adaptive Gloves> layered on like skin, and the scales, the impact was greater still.
His opponent could only pass out on the spot.
"Sshk!"
The other mage Lizardman beside him frantically chanted in runic script, but it was a futile act.
The instant one face was driven into the ground, Lee Jin-hyeok's foot struck the other's face.
THWAAACK—!
[You have knocked out the Lizardman <Maokaok>.]
[You have knocked out the Lizardman <Rekukuhok>.]
"The mages went down that easily......"
"What are you doing?"
Looking at the Lizardmen who stood there in confusion, Lee Jin-hyeok crooked a finger.
"Come at me."
***
THWAAACK—!
THWACK!
What unfolded next was a very clean scene of a beating.
One blow per bastard.
Having awakened a new power, Lee Jin-hyeok did not even use his main weapon, the sword.
He simply walked up to the Lizardmen and knocked them out cleanly.
THWACK...... THWACK!
"There's no way!"
"How is this...... how......!"
The Lizardmen watched their fellow unit members fall like leaves in an autumn wind and denied reality, but it was useless.
The things simply took one blow each, fairly, and went down.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is moved by your mercy!]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> sponsors you with 1,000 points.]
'Mercy, is it. I suppose you could see it that way.'
Ordinary players kill every Lizardman that appears in Stage 1 of the Floor 3 trial.
But the strong, who know the Floor 3 trial well and have skill to spare, do not kill the Lizardmen.
'It's for the sake of relations with the Lizardmen.'
Lizardmen are belligerent by nature, but being living creatures, they do not want death.
So sparing these things now meant he could build friendly relations when he entered Floor 3.
'You never know.'
Swish.
'One of these ones might do great things later.'
On top of that, the accumulated reward for subduing them was higher than for killing them.
This was a trial that proved a challenger's 'strength.'
That subduing the same opponent is several times harder than killing them was a fact even a child knew.
'And I can score points with <Eternal Flame> while I'm at it.'
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> nods at your mercy.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> furrows its brow at your softness.]
"They are not monsters. They are a fellow species and players like us, so there is no need to go out of my way to kill them."
"Ughhh...... sshk."
FLOP.
The moment the unit commander, who had held out to the end, collapsed, a message rang out again.
[You have subdued all enemies and passed the Stage 1 trial!]
[You have cleared the Main Quest <Challenger of Fire>.]
[You have satisfied the objective of a <Star Decree>.]
[You have acquired 10,000 points.]
There had been some who thought Lee Jin-hyeok might pass Stage 1.
Because the performances he had shown until now were extraordinary things.
But no one imagined he would show 'a display this overwhelming.'
Not a Gecko Unit thrown together out of criminals and rebels, but two full Salamander Units.
And he had subdued such enemies bare-handed, without even employing a sword.
That he would be this strong was something no Constellation and no Lizardman had predicted.
[A number of Constellations take note of you.]
As such, the attention of countless Constellations inevitably converged on this place.
[After clearing the trial, you may enter Floor 3.]
[Or you may challenge further.]
Lee Jin-hyeok looked at the Lizardman Lord, Kukokawik.
He was calmly setting the next opponent.
But to Lee Jin-hyeok, who knew him, it was plain to see.
'He's rattled. He didn't expect me to pass Stage 1 this easily.'
Someone like him would have felt it.
Whose scales those were, merging with and covering Lee Jin-hyeok's armor.
He would have seen it.
Lee Jin-hyeok's pupils, and his own soldiers who feared them.
And now he would know.
Lee Jin-hyeok.
That he possessed 'some power able to dominate reptiles.'
'He'll be worried I'll skip the next stage and go straight up to Floor 3.'
Swish.
'Given his character, that means he'll set the next trial to the lowest difficulty.'
It was not the picture Lee Jin-hyeok wanted, but it could not be helped.
Kukokawik had always been the sort for whom safety came first.
By nature, gaining one advantage sometimes meant giving up another.
Running every trial of <Challenger of Fire> at the highest difficulty would have been ideal, but it was not realistically possible.
[Constellation <Serpent That Encircles the World> involves itself in Player <Lee Jin-hyeok>'s Main Quest.]
[Constellation <Serpent That Encircles the World> adjusts the trial difficulty at its own discretion.]
[A Constellation's power is intervening. The player cannot refuse this.]
[*Upon refusal, the <Challenger of Fire> trial is processed as complete at once, and you are moved to Floor 3.]
'......!'
<Serpent That Encircles the World>.
Its true name, Jǫrmungandr.
Vast enough to encircle the world, exactly as its Constellation name said, and one of the most powerful Constellations ruling reptilian monsters such as the Lizardmen.
'I knew it kept the Lizardman Lord as a Follower, but.'
Intervening this suddenly was something Lee Jin-hyeok himself had not expected.
"Ss, sshk!?"
Judging by his expression and the situation, Kukokawik himself looked enormously flustered as well.
'Don't tell me?'
The grounds were far too thin to know the exact reason it was raising the difficulty.
But he had a guess.
'Does it mean to test whether I really use the Imugi's power?'
Raising the trial difficulty had to be a ploy to draw more of Lee Jin-hyeok's power out.
The intent was not particularly kind, but it was a situation that benefited Lee Jin-hyeok.
<Serpent That Encircles the World> was an enormous Constellation with the Constellation ruling Floor 3 beneath its feet.
If it intervened directly, the difficulty would go far higher than anything a mere Lizardman Lord could adjust.
'This is an opportunity.'
Before the regression, the version of him at this same point would have complained that the trial had only gotten harder for nothing, but now it was different.
Because he was confident he could break through any obstacle that came and extract the maximum reward.
'But.'
Lee Jin-hyeok smiled.
'will the Constellations think the same? I wonder.'
The other Constellations would not be certain that Lee Jin-hyeok 'would definitely challenge it.'
<Serpent That Encircles the World> itself would feel the same.
From Lee Jin-hyeok's position there was no reason to go out of his way to take a trial he had already passed.
Was that why?
[Constellation <Serpent That Encircles the World> hands down a new Star Decree.]
<Serpent That Encircles the World>, this one, had handed down a Star Decree itself.
<Star Decree>
▶Objective: Pass Stage 2 of the Floor 3 trial.
▶Reward: All of the following are obtained.
1) 5,000 points.
2) <Scale of the Ancient Fire Dragon>
'<Scale of the Ancient Fire Dragon>, is it. A genuine scale of the dragon race, now extinct.'
A material item from which a single fragment could produce an item of astronomical value.
It was declaring it would give this as a reward simply for passing the Stage 2 trial.
'The original quest reward, and now a Star Decree on top.'
Rewards were pouring in.
"Hmm......"
Even so, Lee Jin-hyeok pretended to deliberate, furrowing his brow and folding his arms.
"I don't know what a <Scale of the Ancient Fire Dragon> is, but."
Swish.
"staking my life for 5,000 points is a bit much, isn't it? When I don't even know what trials lie ahead."
[Constellation <King of Muspell> adds 2,000 points to the Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> adds 1,000 points to the Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> adds the item <Small Ember of Ruin> to the Star Decree.]
Sure enough.
The Constellations who wanted to see Lee Jin-hyeok's challenge began adding rewards to the Star Decree, every last one of them.
Was it because what they wanted was so clear?
Or because they had virtually no fear of being wiped out or going fully bankrupt?
From Lee Jin-hyeok's position, Constellations were easier to handle than humans.
"The trial."
Looking at the rewards, swollen as far as they would swell, Lee Jin-hyeok nodded.
"I'll take it."