Normal Run 2380
Even after prioritizing Defense as much as possible, five hits is the limit.
I do not know whether those are his Basic Attacks or whether he is using Ultimate Attacks one after another, but if I die before even taking ten hits…….
Can I actually beat him?
More importantly, can I even touch that bastard once?
. . . . . .
Normal Run 2877
After beating me this many times, could he not let his guard down at least once?
How has he managed to stop me from getting close every single time?
. . . . . .
Normal Run 3345
Was this what he meant when he said he would fight with everything he had?
After seeing it this many times, there is no way that attack is a Basic Attack.
There is no such thing as a Basic Attack that hits me no matter where I dodge.
Still, is it not cheating to spam Ultimate Attacks without any Cooldown?
. . . . . .
Normal Run 3987
Should I give up?
Do I really have to give up on that door?
Normal Run 3988
If I was going to give up on returning home, I should have done it long ago.
Of course, every time I enter, that bastard asks whether I have changed my mind.
Again and again.
Even so, my mind has not changed yet.
It would be ridiculous to change my mind now.
. . . . . .
Normal Run 4151
Watching the old man bring up the map again like some automated machine made me want to buy it.
So I simply went through the usual process and asked about it, but for a moment I wondered whether I was dreaming.
No, even accounting for the price increasing because the difficulty went up, is this not too expensive?
How can a map cost one million [Maru Stones]?
I do not remember exactly how much it cost when I heard the price before, but I am sure it was nowhere near this expensive.
. . . . . .
Normal Run 4323
The [Notebook].
Could something be written in the [Notebook]?
Normal Run 4324
What the old man said when I showed him the [Notebook] before keeps bothering me, so I cannot even bring myself to open it.
He only said it once.
I forget everything else, yet I remember strange things like that.
What a useless memory.
Normal Run 4325
It would only be once.
That would not count as relying on it, would it?
Normal Run 4326
It only records what I thought and experienced anyway, so opening it probably would not accomplish anything.
Even after seeing what that bastard's attacks were like myself, I could not understand them at all, so the [Notebook] would obviously contain the same thing.
Does that mean all I have left is throwing myself at the problem over and over again?
. . . . . .
Normal Run 4523
Of everything I have encountered here, the only thing without a clearly defined physical form was the simple act of scattering Mana.
Which means the boss's attack is nothing more than scattering Mana, and I have been dying to something as simple as that.
What the hell do you mean, Ultimate Attack, you crazy bastard?
Normal Run 4524
If it is simply spreading Mana outward, I can redirect it with Mana of the same attribute.
So I just have to look at the color of his Mana and use Attribute Magic that matches it?
You finally give me advice that is actually useful.
Seriously, old man.
Normal Run 4525
Even knowing the theory, countering it with the correct timing was not easy.
I have to succeed this time.
Normal Run 4526
It worked.
Only once, but seeing that bastard look surprised was incredibly satisfying.
Thanks to that, I also learned that he has other attacks.
……Is that actually a good thing?
. . . . . .
Normal Run 4528
I successfully countered it several times in a row.
And that bastard finally used a proper Magic Attack against me.
At last.
Normal Run 4529
I finally managed to get close to him.
Then I died because, from the position where I was trying to attack, I could not see his next attack coming.
Normal Run 4530
Still disgustingly tough.
At least that boss's toughness does not seem to have increased the way the other bosses' did.
That is one small mercy.
If Normal Mode had made him even tougher, this would have been a lot harder.
Not that it is not already incredibly hard.
. . . . . .
Normal Run 4767
Just a little more.
Really.
Just a little more.
. . . . . .
Normal Run 4871
It is not as though he ever said he would only use Magic, but if he goes this long without using a weapon and then suddenly pulls one out…….
…….
Haah…….
Fuck.
Normal Run 4872
If your body got bigger, at least have the decency to become slower.
He is absurdly huge, yet he is still ridiculously fast.
. . . . . .
Normal Run 4978
That bastard called the King is genuinely unfair.
His Physical Attack Resistance is high, his Magic Attack Resistance is high, and even his basic Health and Defense are absurdly high.
It is not as though his Attack is low either, and he does not have any particular weakness.
Judging from the fact that he has never used Health recovery or any kind of healing ability, he probably does not possess one, but there is no telling when he might suddenly reveal, "Actually, I had one all along."
Because of that, my equipment choices are severely restricted, and the battles themselves drag on for an incredibly long time.
Still, this is better than when I had absolutely no idea how to clear him.
Back then, all I did was wear down my shields and Health while waiting for the moment I would die.
I just wish I could see how much Health he has left.
Normal Run 4979
Boss patterns usually change according to their remaining Health, but since I cannot see any information about the enemy, all I can do is estimate based on how long the battle has lasted.
No matter how much I attack, only his behavior changes. His appearance barely seems different between the beginning and the end, which makes it even harder to tell.
I have absolutely no idea when his Health will finally run out.
It feels like running a marathon with no finish line.
If after all this effort it turns out that he actually has infinite Health, or every one of my attacks only deals 1 Damage…….
……No.
No matter how insane the game company is, surely they would not actually do that.
What would be the point of making a game that cannot be cleared?
Normal Run 4980
Thinking about it carefully, I should be grateful he does not have a Minion Summoning Pattern.
If he had that too, these fights would take even longer and become more than twice as difficult to clear.
Especially if he used that Mana-bursting attack while I was dealing with the Minions……
Normal Run 4981
Every spell the boss uses is either Magic I learned through Skills or Magic used by the bosses on the upper floors.
There is not a single spell I do not recognize.
I watched carefully because I thought he might use some new Magic, but he only repeats things I have already seen.
Why?
Was he not supposed to be the source, the origin, of all Magic or something like that?
Did that simply mean he can use more kinds of Magic than anyone else?
Normal Run 4982
If merely watching and fighting someone was enough to learn their techniques, I would be using Swordsmanship by now.
Is that bastard making fun of me?
Before coming here, the only blades I ever had any reason to hold were razors, scissors, box cutters, and kitchen knives.
How the hell would I suddenly know Swordsmanship?
Normal Run 4983
Come to think of it, I have not shaved even once since coming here.
Why is my face still as smooth as though I shaved yesterday?
. . . . . .
Normal Run 5001
I want to give up too, but the map is absurdly expensive.
It feels like I might finally be able to afford it soon.
Or maybe not.
If I pay that insane price and the only [Final Door] or whatever it shows is the one on floor 100…….
Then I suppose I will grab the old man by the collar.
I cannot actually kill him unless he revives like the woman does. Otherwise, my own life would effectively become finite.
I just hope grabbing him by the collar does not give him a heart attack.
. . . . . .
Normal Run 5151
That bastard looks strangely desperate.
Is his Health finally getting low?
Normal Run 5152
Before, he looked careless because he underestimated me.
Now, openings are appearing because he is acting impatiently.
He has definitely lost some of his composure.
If things continue like this, I can kill him for certain.
Now that I have confirmed his Health is not infinite, that is enough.
Normal Run 5153
Anyone could tell that he made a mistake.
He realized it too, and now he is flustered and saying all kinds of things, but they are nothing more than excuses.
If he is at the point where he feels the need to make excuses to an enemy for making a mistake, I can probably assume he is near the end, right?
What remains might still be a lot from my perspective, but compared to everything I have already worn away, it should not be much.
. . . . . .
Normal Run 5264
This should finally be the last……
Normal Run 5265
What was that at the end?
It looked like self-destruction.
Normal Run 5266
It was not self-destruction, but he definitely used an enormous amount of power.
His pitch-black hair turned completely white in an instant.
His eyes were still blood-red, as though they were bloodshot.
No, this time they really did look bloodshot. Bright red veins appeared across the whites of his eyes.
Is this the final Phase?
Normal Run 5267
I forgot about Physical Enhancement.
His Health should already be near empty…….
Surely he is not going to start healing himself now, right?
. . . . . .
Normal Run 5309
Really.
Truly.
It is over.
The King has fallen.
That was genuinely fucking awful.
Seriously, what an absolute nightmare.
Let us never meet again.
Please.
“Haah, haah, haah…….”
The instant the flashing light in the King's eyes disappeared, I collapsed to the floor.
CLATTER.
Everything I had been holding slipped from my hands.
“Haah, haah, haah…….”
Slowly.
I tried to steady my ragged breathing, but it refused to calm down.
Even with my body pressed firmly against the floor, every part of me trembled.
There was nothing that was not shaking.
The entire room reeked of blood, and I could not even tell whether it belonged to me or that bastard.
My head spun badly enough that I wondered if I might simply die like this, so I hurriedly checked my condition.
<Health : 12%>
<Mana : 1% >
.
.
.
<Status Effects - Bleeding[00:01:10], Anemia[00:09:59], Internal Injury(Damaged Organs - Trachea, Lungs, Esophagus, Stomach, Pancreas……(More))[01:01:07]>
“Inventory.”
Fortunately, I still had several [Status Effect Removal Potions].
I hurriedly drank three in succession, then checked the Status Window again.
<Status Effects - None>
The trembling stopped.
The dizziness and the throbbing pain in my head disappeared as well.
They certainly worked.
“Ha.”
If this were reality, there was no way I could recover this quickly.
Moments like this made it painfully obvious that I was inside a game.
Or perhaps this was an extraordinarily vivid, endlessly long dream.
Right.
There was no way this could be reality.
That was why the woman and I kept coming back to life no matter how many times we died.
That was why enemies I had killed kept appearing again.
So……
“…….”
There was no reason to feel guilty because a game NPC died.
She was not truly alive anyway.
I……
I was not the one who killed her.
I had not expected that bastard to kill her.
She had not really died.
She had come back to life.
“Haah…….”
The moment I reached toward my shield and sword, I sensed someone's presence behind me.
“D-Did he die?”
“Yes.”
I picked up my weapons, stood, and turned around.
The woman was approaching me with a brilliant smile.
Before she could get any closer—
before she could reach the door first—
I turned around again and ran toward it.
“H-Huh? W-Wait! Wait for me!”
I put my shield into my Inventory and stretched out the hand that had been holding it.
The time I wanted.
The place I wanted.
The exact appearance of that place.
Since I had been asleep when I was brought here, I did not know the precise time, but I at least remembered the date.
Likewise, since I had been sleeping at home, I remembered what the place looked like.
If I had to remember the title of every book on the bookshelf, that would be difficult.
But unless I needed that much detail, this absolutely had to work.
With a desperate desire for it to succeed……
BANG!
A vivid blue window and brilliant white letters appeared before my eyes.
<CAUTION!>
<You have not fulfilled the requirements to use the ‘Door of the Will.’>
“What?”
Why?
Despite the message saying I could not use it, the door before me was radiating brilliant blue light.
“Fuck.”
Had that robot bastard lied to me?
I never should have trusted him.
Then again, he was an enemy. Even if I had done what he wanted, it had been strange for him to simply tell me the truth.
Easy Mode and Normal Mode had been completely different.
I was the idiot for assuming the method of using the door would remain the same.
BANG!
“Wait! Do you even know how to use that door?”
<Normal Mode Cleared>
“To use that door, you have to think of the time and place you want the door to take you……”
Pretending to explain, the woman subtly placed her hand against the door.
“Like this……”
I turned my head.
One of her feet was already beyond the doorway.
Why?
<Automatically entering Hard Mode.>
Why the hell can she use it when I cannot?