Part 7
“Ugh… That stench…”
Upon reaching the center where the mountain of garbage stood, Mincheol grimaced even more deeply.
The stench seemed worse than when he had visited in the past.
“Are you all right, Boss…?”
Seeing Yugeon’s expression remain unchanged, Mincheol clicked his tongue in amazement.
How could he remain so calm amid a stench that made even breathing difficult?
This is nothing.
Before his regression, Yugeon had lived in a ruined world.
He had eaten and slept in places overflowing with rotting corpses.
Compared to those places, the mountain of garbage smelled almost fragrant.
“Mincheol, let’s summon the Boss.”
“Yes, sir.”
HMMMM—!
At Yugeon’s command, Mincheol raised his hammer without hesitation.
Earth Shatter
BOOOOM—!
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
Mincheol activated the skill and slammed his hammer into the ground.
As it had on Floor 23, the ground began shaking violently with a deafening roar.
Earth Shatter also had a taunting effect, making it the perfect skill for drawing out Boss Monsters.
RRRUMBLE.
THUMP!
As Earth Shatter caused the ground to tremble, an enormous Giant Toad emerged from the towering mountain of garbage in the distance.
【Lv. 5】 Pukel
The enormous Giant Toad opened its mouth wide and blinked.
Pukel was a monster belonging to the toad family.
SHRAAAK.
The Boss Monster of Floor 5 immediately began summoning its offspring.
“Boss, leave this one to me!”
TAP-TAP-TAP!
Mincheol readjusted his grip on his hammer and charged forward.
In truth, there was no need for him to act so imposing.
Mincheol was Level 50. There was no possibility of him losing to a mere Level 5 Boss Monster.
Even the superior strength of a Boss Monster couldn’t overcome such an extreme difference in levels.
WHOOSH—!
BOOM!
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!
Mincheol leaped into the air and brought down his hammer.
The resulting shock wave spread in every direction, causing all the summoned offspring to explode at once.
THUD.
HISSSSS—
Pukel finally began spewing poisonous smoke.
“Not a chance!”
Explosive Pressure
BANG—!
As the poisonous smoke spread in every direction, Mincheol planted his shield firmly on the ground.
He immediately struck the back of the shield with his hammer, releasing an enormous burst of pressure.
Then—
WHIRL.
TAP-TAP-TAP!
Mincheol retrieved his shield and charged toward Pukel at high speed.
GAPE—
WHOOSH—!
Pukel opened its enormous mouth and launched its tongue at him.
It looked exactly like a toad attempting to catch a fly.
Heaven-Turning Shatter
WHIRL—!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Mincheol leaped into the air and spun fiercely, hammering his way along the Boss Monster’s tongue.
“SKREEEEEE!”
With its tongue crushed, Pukel shrieked and began thrashing violently.
Whether from agony or rage, it went completely berserk.
“Just die quietly.”
After crushing its tongue and closing the distance, Mincheol readjusted his grip on the hammer directly above Pukel’s head.
Then—
WHOOSH—!
BOOOOM—!
CRUNCH!
He brought the hammer down and burst Pukel’s head with a single blow.
THUUUD.
“I’ve dealt with it, Boss.”
“Good work.”
Mincheol approached Yugeon with a smile.
In truth, he felt slightly embarrassed that it had taken him so long.
Yugeon had killed Drogas in an instant.
Meanwhile, it had taken Mincheol several dozen seconds to defeat a mere Level 5 Boss Monster.
Hmm… I was planning to deliver the final blow myself.
Contrary to Mincheol’s smile, Yugeon inwardly lamented the missed opportunity.
Pukel was Level 5.
As for Yugeon’s current level—
【Lv. 4】
He was Level 4.
He was exactly one level below Pukel.
Pukel would have made an excellent sparring partner, so it was unfortunate that Mincheol had killed it.
“Should I only retrieve its Mana Stone as well?”
“No. This time, take the Poison Sac too.”
Pukel’s hide wasn’t particularly useful, but its Poison Sac had many applications.
It was especially sought after by Awakened who specialized in poison.
“I’ll search the mountain of garbage and retrieve the item I need.”
“Yes, sir.”
SQUELCH. SQUELCH.
Sticky noises rose with every step as Yugeon climbed the mountain of garbage.
All kinds of filth and refuse had mixed, becoming even stickier than glue.
I figured out where the item was while Mincheol fought the Boss.
SWOOSH.
Upon reaching the middle of the garbage mountain, Yugeon thrust his hand into the filth without hesitation.
Then—
GRAB.
PULL—!
He pulled out a weapon.
【Item: Rusty Old Scrap Sword】
Grade: Common
Category: Weapon
SCRAPE.
After confirming the item, Yugeon immediately descended the mountain of garbage.
“Is that what you were looking for?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Mincheol scratched his cheek and tilted his head.
The entire blade was rusted, and the hilt was broken.
It was quite literally garbage.
Even ordinary swords usually had descriptions attached to them, yet this scrap sword didn’t possess so much as a short description.
“You look curious about why I searched for this.”
“Yes. No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand why you would take that thing. It doesn’t look usable as a weapon.”
“Not in its current state.”
“?”
WHOOSH!
CRUNCH!
Yugeon destroyed the sword without hesitation.
It had already decayed beyond repair, so a powerful strike from his palm reduced it to fragments.
Then—
SHIIIIING—
A tremendous light erupted as the shattered remains of the sword began reconstructing themselves.
Even the first person to obtain this sword never knew it possessed such a secret.
The sword’s original owner had thrown it away in the [Cultivation Chamber] on Floor 57 while disposing of his trash.
The scrap sword had fallen into a cultivation solution capable of dissolving objects and was ultimately reborn in a new form.
【Item: Godslaying Sword】
Grade: Mythic
Category: Weapon
There was once a man who asked whether even a god could die.
The sage answered nothing and merely pointed toward a sword.
The foolish laughed when they saw it, while the wise remained silent.
When divine blood stained the earth, no one ever dared to ask that question again.
—Weapon Trait—
Indestructible
“From this moment forward, I am your master.”
Yugeon smiled as he took possession of the sword.
Before his regression, how desperately had he longed to obtain this sword?
When he fought against the gods, he had sorely needed it.
However, before his regression, the Godslaying Sword had belonged to another Awakened.
That man had even been annihilated along with the sword, making it impossible to recover.
But now, the Godslaying Sword had finally fallen into Yugeon’s hands.
***
CLATTER.
“What the hell did he do here…?”
Hwang Mungi stared at the canyon with his mouth hanging open, carrying the twenty pickaxes he had brought with him.
He had entered after being told that all the monsters had been eliminated.
Yet the entire canyon was in ruins, as though it had been bombarded.
There was even an enormous hole in the ground.
“That hole looks as if a Giant Worm came bursting out.”
Fortunately, only the hole remained.
No monsters emerged from it.
“Whew… I never should’ve accepted this deal…”
CLATTER.
Hwang Mungi sighed and picked up one of the pickaxes.
When he had finished his military service, he had sworn never to touch another pickaxe again…
Yet here he was, holding one once more.
“That bastard… He didn’t give me this job because he knew I was a combat engineer, did he?”
Grumbling, Hwang Mungi began digging through the canyon.
***
[Breaking news. Yesterday morning, an incident occurred in the [Stagnant Pool] on Zone 1, Floor 4, when the Level 88 Boss Monster Baroden appeared.]
[Baroden caused numerous casualties. An individual believed to be a Great Star appeared, eliminated the monster, and then disappeared.]
[We’ll now connect with reporter Kim Munjeong at the scene.]
[Yes, this is reporter Kim Munjeong at the scene. Behind me, the surviving Awakened are currently receiving treatment under the Association’s supervision. We’ll now speak with some of the Awakened who witnessed the incident.]
—It’s true! Someone suddenly appeared and killed Baroden in one hit! There wasn’t even a fight. He attacked once, and the monster simply collapsed.
—I didn’t get a proper look at his face. However, since he spoke Korean, I don’t think he was a foreigner. He was an Awakened I’d never seen before.
—People are speculating that he was a Great Star, but I’m not sure. I’m a huge fan of the Great Stars, so I know the faces of all ten of them… but I’d never seen that man before.
—The strangest part was that he didn’t take any of the monster materials. Even Baroden’s materials alone must be worth an incredible amount… He simply told us to take them and left.
“Don’t tell me…”
Mincheol tilted his head as he watched the news.
Someone had killed Baroden in one blow…?
He felt a sudden sense of déjà vu.
Baroden was a Fragment of the Abyss.
It wasn’t an ordinary Floor Boss but a Rift Boss.
It wasn’t merely a powerful monster. It was an existence considered almost impossible to kill.
Even a Great Star can’t defeat a Fragment of the Abyss.
That was why even the Great Stars fled whenever a Fragment of the Abyss appeared.
Fragments of the Abyss weren’t immortal, but their level of strength was fundamentally different.
Several years ago, one of the Great Stars had formed a party and attempted to defeat a Fragment of the Abyss.
The result had been disastrous.
Ten minutes.
In a mere ten minutes, the Great Star and every other member of the party had been killed.
And that had only been a Level 70 Fragment of the Abyss.
Yet someone killed a Level 88 Fragment of the Abyss in one blow?
Someone immediately came to Mincheol’s mind.
Just then—
DING-DONG.
Mincheol flinched at the sound of the doorbell, startled out of his thoughts.
“Yes! I’m coming, Boss!”
Regaining his senses, Mincheol hurried to the front door and opened it.
Han Yugeon was the only guest expected today.
SWING!
“Come in, Boss.”
Smiling, Mincheol welcomed Yugeon inside.
Today was finally the day his mother would be treated.
Yugeon had said he needed a few materials and had briefly gone somewhere to retrieve them.