THUD—! THUD—! THUD—!
The boss charged with its massive body, shaking the earth.
It was so fast that I wondered how such speed could come from that enormous bulk.
“It’s coming! Scatter!”
At my shout, the party scattered in perfect order.
Even as I fled, I remembered to tell them the plan.
“It’s after me! I’ll draw as much of its attention as I can, so attack it in the meantime!”
“Are you sure? What’s your evidence?!”
“A System message! It’s similar to how I could see the boss’s location from far away...!”
“GROOOOAR!”
As if to prove my words, the creature ignored everyone else and charged with its eyes fixed solely on me.
“See?!”
That spared me the rest of the explanation, and I sprinted away to escape its pursuit.
“I’m going on ahead!”
A heavy THUD! rang out behind me soon afterward.
Without even looking back, I could vividly picture its fist slamming into the ground.
“We should hurry too! We have to make use of the opportunity Si-hyeon created for us!”
And so began a chase with one pursuer following another.
The creature chased me, and my companions chased the creature that was hell-bent on catching me.
THUD!
Whenever I thought I had gained some distance and turned to check, the earth inevitably shook again.
Each time, the fierce pressure of the wind rising behind my back made my blood run cold.
‘One hit. If even one hits me, I’ll die instantly before healing can matter.’
Behind me, footsteps shook the ground without pause. Farther back, my companions’ battle cries rang out just as ceaselessly.
It was an Asura’s battlefield.
‘If we didn’t have the Swamp Snowshoes....’
The Swamp Snowshoes shone in the midst of that chase.
Without them, it would have caught me long ago.
They marked the boundary between life and death.
As I focused on fleeing, Kim hyung’s and Park Jin-seong’s shouts suddenly rang out.
“Now! Thrust─!”
“Haaah!”
THUNK!
Thunk? That was a strange sound, nothing like what I had expected.
Before I could even look back at the ominous sound, I heard both men.
“This is crazy! What kind of hide is this...?!”
“Our swords won’t go in, Si-hyeon!”
I glanced over my shoulder at their words, and only then did its two legs come back into view.
I had thought they were merely thick, but layer upon layer of hard keratin covered them.
‘It’s huge and fast, and now swords won’t penetrate its hide. This is a problem.’
Because it was so enormous, the upper portions not covered in keratin were too high for our blades to reach.
For Kim hyung and Park Jin-seong, who had spent all their time repeatedly running lower floors and chopping down Goblins, this was something they had never encountered.
I issued new instructions to the two visibly flustered men.
“Forget thrusting and slash instead! The wounds don’t need to be deep! Even tiny scratches are fine, so give it as many wounds as possible!”
“You have a plan, right?!”
“Yes!”
Saying it twice would only be nagging.
I always had a plan ready.
No, even if I didn’t, I had to make one whenever the existing plan failed.
If only to survive.
‘If a direct approach won’t work...!’
Then I had no choice but to use a trick.
“But first, I need you to do something, hyung! Squeeze out every drop of Mana and use Flash Cleave as many times as you can! Remember, you don’t need to overdo it! We’re increasing the number of shallow wounds!”
“Any wound will do?!”
“That’s enough!”
“Got it. I’ll do it!”
Kim hyung gritted his teeth and adjusted his grip on the sword.
The groundwork was nearly complete.
I continued concentrating on dodging the creature’s attacks while the two spent a long while carving shallow wounds into both its legs.
“Si-hyeon! I only have one Flash Cleave left! Is this enough?!”
Blood was seeping from all over its legs.
There were more than ten such wounds visible at a glance.
That was more than enough.
Just then, something small and pitch-black swam through the shallow water and brushed past me.
“One’s already here.”
I had diligently sown the seeds. Now it was time to reap the harvest.
I drew the dagger I had borrowed from Kim hyung and carefully kept tucked against my chest.
My target was....
Me.
SLICE.
The dagger in my right hand traced a long line over a blue vein in my left forearm.
The wound wasn’t deep, but it bled heavily. Blood soon ran down my forearm and dripped to the water below.
“Wh-what?! What are you doing, Kim Si-hyeon?!”
“Si-hyeon!”
My companions were startled by the sudden act of self-harm.
I wanted to explain why, but I didn’t have the time.
“I’ll explain later! Everyone, get back!”
For once, they seemed unsure and hesitated as they withdrew.
That was enough.
What mattered now wasn’t how much they trusted me. It was that they obeyed even when they couldn’t.
“You bastard! Over here!”
I deliberately lured the creature into the deepest part of the swamp, into the darkest, murkiest pool.
Until then, the water had reached no higher than my knees even at its deepest, but it suddenly deepened until it rose to my chest.
It was dangerous for me, but to the gigantic creature, the depth meant nothing.
The creature seemed to know that too, because it licked its lips and followed me in.
The sight drew a sneer from me.
“Look at you following so eagerly.”
Drip. Drip.
Guided by gravity, the blood streamed down in a thin red line.
What difference could a few drops of blood make in this vast swamp? Yet they did.
The creatures I was summoning would rush in at the scent of even a single drop of fresh blood.
“Wait, on the bottom...!”
“Leeches! They’re Bloodsucking Leeches!”
The two voices confirmed that my plan had worked perfectly.
They belonged to Park Jin-seong and Kim hyung.
‘It worked.’
My wound was confined to my left forearm, but the creature had far more than one or two.
I could already see a swarm of Bloodsucking Leeches drawn by the scent of blood converging on the boss’s legs.
The creature still seemed unaware of what was happening to its legs.
It was simply blinded by rage and gluttony.
The sight was so ridiculous that a smile spread across my lips.
“It must’ve been nice when you were eating.”
But those good times were over.
“Now it’s your turn to be eaten.”
This place would be its grave.
***
The swarm of Bloodsucking Leeches poured in, dyeing the water’s surface black.
They looked like a cluster of frogspawn I had seen by a pond as a child.
No, since they were moving, should I call them a school of tadpoles?
They were so sensitive to blood that some had already climbed up my legs to drink from my arm, but that was no problem.
‘Healing Touch.’
A single use of the imprinted healing Skill erased the wound completely without leaving even a scar.
Now the boss was the only one bleeding here.
The result soon appeared before my eyes.
“GROAR! GROOOOAR!”
The swarm of Bloodsucking Leeches clung tightly to the boss’s small wounds—no, even its scratches—and gorged themselves on its blood.
They certainly lived up to their reputation.
“Huh. You cut your own arm just to lure in the Bloodsucking Leeches... You’re starting to scare me. Really.”
Kim hyung muttered as though appalled, but I shrugged and cut him off.
“I only did it because I knew the heal would work. Still, don’t let your guard down. It isn’t over yet. We have to stop it from pulling off the Bloodsucking Leeches.”
As the situation turned in our favor, my companions’ tones grew much more relaxed.
“Mr. Kim, your wish is my command.”
“Understood. Then I’ll focus on interfering rather than attacking.”
“I have plenty of Mana, so don’t worry about injuries! Ah, but don’t get hit on purpose, everyone.”
The boss was helpless before the combined assault of humans and the swarm of Bloodsucking Leeches.
“You bastard!”
Kim hyung’s blade traced a half-moon with his battle cry.
No matter how much the creature struggled, the number of wounds on its body only increased.
Of course, every new wound was quickly covered by a pitch-black swarm of Bloodsucking Leeches.
The creature had ignored the Bloodsucking Leeches at first, but it seemed to realize the gravity of the situation. Soon, it focused more on removing them than on us.
That freed our hands and feet completely, allowing us to add wounds to its body with ease.
Like a swamp that dragged someone deeper the more they struggled, the creature had no visible path of escape.
“Grrrr....”
After a while, the boss’s movements had slowed visibly from losing so much blood.
Victory seemed close enough to grasp.
“We’re almost there! Just a little more!”
The instant I finished speaking, the creature roared violently.
GROOOOOOOOAR—!
It was impossible to tell whether the cry was a scream of pain or a battle shout.
My instincts screamed a warning.
Something was wrong.
“...!”
The creature raised both arms as though cheering.
Then it slammed both arms into the ground with all its might.
CRAAAAASH—!
Water exploded into the air.
With a thunderous noise, a wave rose outward from the creature.
A wave in a swamp.
It should have been impossible, but that was what it looked like.
“Drive your swords into the ground—!”
Polite speech was a luxury.
As I shouted, I drove my sword deep into the ground.
“Shit...!”
Kim hyung’s curse was swallowed by the sound of a SPLASH.
Muddy water swept over my entire body.
The force was so great that even standing on three legs with my sword as support, I nearly toppled and was swept away.
“Pwah!”
After the current passed, I hurriedly rose and checked on my companions first.
‘The others...!’
Fortunately, both men who had followed my instructions were safe.
The severity differed, but they had only rolled across the ground a few times.
The problem was Kim Min-ju, who had nothing to use as a support.
“Min-ju!”
“Uegh! Ugh!”
Her eyes, nose, and mouth were caked in mud, and she was too disoriented to do anything but retch up the muddy water she had swallowed.
If she was attacked in that state, there wouldn’t be enough left of her to recover a single bone.
‘Thank goodness the boss is only focused on attacking me....’
A red message window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
[Warning: ‘Ruler of the Swamp’ has entered a Berserk State. It will no longer distinguish between the Gaze Target and other enemies and will indiscriminately attack all enemies.]
“...!”
“Grrk!”
The creature’s gaze immediately shifted.
Kim Min-ju stood at the end of it.
It intended to target her while she was defenseless.
“No!”
Park Jin-seong shouted urgently when he realized what was happening.
Kim hyung and Park Jin-seong were already running toward Kim Min-ju.
I followed at full speed to help them.
‘Damn it. It was easier when it only watched me....’
At that very moment, the creature targeting Kim Min-ju abruptly changed direction.
It moved faster than at any other point I had seen.
Our gazes collided in midair.
“...!”
An eye as large as a human head—its gaze—was fixed entirely on me.
“Grrrrk...!”
I had thought it was nothing more than an enormous lump of flesh blinded by gluttony.
But for the first time, intelligence flashed in its two eyes.
‘I’ve been had!’
An icy chill ran down my spine.
Kim Min-ju had never been its target.
She had merely been bait to draw me in.
All that remained was checkmate, with no path of escape.
The momentum from chasing the creature at full speed drove me toward certain death.
WHOOM─!
An enormous hand tore through the air as it smashed toward me.
My vision filled with green.
Death approached.
Blocking it had never been possible, and it was too late to dodge.
There was only one way to survive.
‘Cut...!’
The hand before me, the murderous intent within it, and even the uninvited guest waiting at the end.
‘I just have to cut through them all.’
But how? Healing Touch was imprinted in my Shadow Imprint Slot, so I couldn’t expect any help from a Skill.
My talent was the only thing I could trust now.
‘I can do it. No, I have to.’
My senses expanded. Time seemed to slow as I cleared every stray thought from my mind and focused entirely on the single sword in my hand.
‘Flash Cleave’ had been erased, and only a lingering echo of its sensation remained in my mind, but that was enough.
‘I probably can’t copy it perfectly.’
But I could still imitate it.
Shadow Mimic?
What was that about stepping on a shadow and imprinting it?
I couldn’t do it without that?
What a joke.
I had always done this without any of that.
‘I’ll show you.’
I would show the System how I had survived even without it.
I swung my sword and cut.
Without the System’s help, I followed the trajectory my body remembered.
‘Here.’
[Unrecorded Technique detected. Generating new Skill ‘Flash’.]
For an instant, a message swept past my eyes as a faint cluster of light formed at the tip of my sword.
Then a streak of light bloomed at its end.
FLASH—!
The momentary light faded, and its cleanly severed forearm flew through the air.
My vision was stained scarlet.
“GROOOOOOAR—!”
Wasn’t imitation said to be the mother of creation?
I had gone beyond imitation to understanding, then beyond understanding to creation.
A sword that belonged to me alone.
‘I did it...!’
An electrifying thrill ran through me.
My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and a lingering sensation remained in my fingertips.
But the battle wasn’t over yet.
The creature writhed in pain, then drew its uninjured arm far back.
As though it intended to put every last bit of strength into striking me.
‘You won’t fool me twice.’
It was an obvious feint.
I could practically hear the creature’s petty schemes turning in its head.
The real attack would come from somewhere else.
For example....
‘Its head.’
Sure enough, the creature opened its maw wide.
Its mouth and throat were so enormous and deep that I wondered whether a pit leading to hell could look any different.
It intended to send me straight to hell with that maw.
‘I knew it!’
I didn’t dodge.
Instead, I aimed my sword at its maw and took a bold step forward.
“It’s over.”
FLASH!
Another flash blazed.
A diagonal line remained where the razor-sharp streak of light had passed.
It ran from the creature’s stinking maw, which it had thrust forward to swallow me, all the way to the crown of its head.
SPLURT!
Its head split cleanly in half along that line.
Blood poured down like rain, soaking my entire body, and the massive body collapsed into two halves.
THUD—!
Water surged upward once more with a deafening sound.
“Haa....”
At last, only the sound of my breathing remained in the silent swamp.
I couldn’t have felt more relieved.
This miserable kidnapping event was finally over.
“You crazy bastard! You actually killed it! You killed this monster!”
Kim hyung was the first to run over, laughing as he smacked my shoulder hard.
“Haa... We’re alive.”
With the tension gone, Park Jin-seong tossed aside his sword and shield, then sat down and laughed.
Beside him, Kim Min-ju had recovered at some point and was staring at me with a strange look in her eyes.
“How did you... You... Who in the world are you?”
I merely gave her a faint smile.
Who was I? It was a strange question.
“I don’t know. For now, someone who survived this fucked-up place? Is there anything more important than that?”
She let out a ‘Pfft’ and burst into laughter.
“That’s true too.”
She had seemed oddly wary of me ever since I used Healing Touch, but now she finally appeared to relax.
“But... isn’t it about time something popped up?”
Perhaps it had been waiting for us to enjoy our victory.
As if answering my call, messages slid into view.
[‘Ruler of the Swamp’ defeated!]
[Tower’s Guidance: Mission to defeat ‘Ruler of the Swamp’ complete.]
[Time Taken: 5 minutes 39 seconds.]
[Special Mission ‘Ruler’s Wrath’ Swift Defeat Condition achieved!]
[Mission Summary]
▶ Time Taken: S+
▶ Contribution: S+
▶ Overall Rating: EX
“Oh.”
The S ratings were impressive, but the ‘EX,’ which flashed as though it alone had been written in glitter, seemed even more extraordinary.
‘Is it going to give me something amazing? It should, right? With a score like this.’
Everything had been going perfectly until then.
But what came next was strange.
[Feat exceeding the anticipated clear parameters confirmed.]
“Hmm?”
[Recalibrating rewards according to the Reward System.]
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly without realizing it.
Something... unexpected was happening.