Chapter 171: Seoul (6)
A three-digit monster.
An A-rank monster.
This was a monster that even players who had cleared Hard Mode couldn’t confidently claim victory against. It was the strongest monster in a typical sense, one that had killed countless people in Taesan’s previous life.
“Oh no…”
As the monster appeared, people trembled. Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk turned pale and quickly retreated.
“T-That…”
The others were simply terrified by its overwhelming power. But those two, having seen many strong beings, could roughly gauge the monster’s strength.
They knew it was a foe they couldn’t possibly resist.
It was a monster of a level rarely seen in the labyrinth.
To them, the monster before them seemed on par with the top leaders of the Guide of Sin.
It was praiseworthy that they hadn’t lost their fighting spirit and were still gripping their weapons.
Everyone backed away in fear.
And Taesan calmly observed the monster.
‘An A-rank monster.’
It was about time one appeared.
A monster capable of contending with someone who had cleared Hard Mode.
But he was stronger than that now.
Taesan walked towards the monster. Kang Jun-hyuk hastily called out to him.
“Hyung, that monster is…”
“I know.”
An A-rank monster couldn’t stop him now. The higher beings would know that as well. So they must have used some trick.
Taesan had a guess what that trick was.
[You face an opponent difficult to defeat.]
[Desire for Battle has been activated.]
[Proof of Limits has been activated.]
[Contempt for the Strong has been activated.]
[Demigod Theory has been activated.]
[Giant Killer has been activated.]
Boom!
With a series of system notifications, the monster stomped the ground. At that moment, Taesan drew his sword. The monster’s foreleg collided with Taesan’s sword.
Clang!
A storm erupted. The impact of the collision pushed people back.
“Ahhh!”
“Save us!”
Only Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk remained in their positions.
Even they were barely holding on, with their weapons planted in the ground.
“This is…”
Just a simple exchange of blows had sent people flying. And these were not Easy or Normal Mode players, but Hard Mode players.
Feeling the disbelieving gazes of the people, Taesan clicked his tongue.
An A-rank monster had enough power to alter the terrain. Fighting here would likely destroy the city with the shockwaves alone.
“We need to change the location.”
[You have activated Acceleration.]
Boom!
Taesan struck the monster’s chest. The monster slid back, but the rebound force made Taesan frown.
[You have dealt 102 damage to Monster 999.]
It was tough.
He didn’t use his full strength, but to only deal 100 damage…
Taesan stomped the ground again.
He punched the charging monster’s chest, sending it flying.
The monster didn’t go quietly. It raised its foreleg as it flew. Taesan dodged the incoming leg and kicked hard.
“This should do.”
Taesan had pushed the monster far enough from Seoul City Hall. The A-rank monster wasn’t easy to suppress even with Taesan’s stats.
[You have activated Scout.]
[Monster 999]
[Target Specialized]
Target Specialized.
It was a type of monster he hadn’t seen before, but its meaning was clear.
Taesan readied his weapon.
“Let’s get serious.”
The people who had been blown away by the shockwave staggered to their feet and gathered in one place.
“Where is Taesan?”
“He’s gone to fight the monster.”
Lee Taeyeon said calmly.
“It seems he was considerate of us, given the shockwaves.”
“Oh…”
“Thank you, Taesan…”
People sat down and shed tears. Kang Jun-hyuk smiled bitterly.
“Sorry, but I don’t think we have time to be grateful.”
“What?”
The space split open again.
Seeing the crawling monsters, Kim Hwiyeon’s face turned pale.
“Everyone, get up! Return to your positions!”
The fight began again.
Taesan charged at the monster created to kill him. The monster swung its leg to counter.
[You have activated Evasion.]
As the leg was about to touch the sword, its trajectory twisted.
Enemies who had faced Taesan before couldn’t correct the trajectory and suffered.
But this monster was different.
Clunk.
The twisted leg stopped immediately. Then it was pulled back and came flying at Taesan again.
With the surprise attack, Taesan had no choice but to defend. Dodging the swinging leg again, Taesan swung his weapon.
[You have activated Strong Strike.]
As the skill activated, the monster’s color changed.
The ash-colored monster curled up like a turtle. Taesan’s sword struck the monster repeatedly, but except for the piercing damage from the aura, no other damage got through.
[Not immune to attacks, just extreme defense?]
“Hmph.”
Boom!
The curled-up monster stomped the ground. It pounced like a mantis, and Taesan quickly activated Evasion to twist its trajectory.
Crack!
The monster swung its legs, shattering everything around it.
Taesan created distance and cast a spell. The Frost Arrow struck the monster but didn’t cause any significant damage.
“Magic is useless too.”
The ghost chuckled.
[This monster is literally made to kill you.]
It countered Evasion and Strong Strike, had extreme defense, and high resistance to magic. Ground Quake and Leap Attacks likely wouldn’t cause significant damage either.
Moreover, its magic resistance was nearly as high as its defense.
It was a troublesome enemy, but Taesan’s expression remained unchanged.
His skills had the advantage of being unknown to his enemies. He had anticipated that the higher beings would pull such a trick.
Taesan organized the information he had gathered.
The opponent countered the Ability Sword.
It nullified magic, so spirit skills would likely be similar.
Dark magic wouldn’t be very helpful, as it consumed most of his Magi.
He had to reserve Apostolic Transformation until he fully understood the enemy.
‘And I can’t deal proper damage either.’
He could only inflict about 100 to 200 damage.
The A-rank monster Taesan remembered had around 200,000 to 300,000 health.
This monster seemed specialized in defense, so its health could be even higher.
Simply put, he needed to land thousands of successful hits.
‘It’s not impossible.’
Taesan had once defeated an S-rank monster with over a million health using an attack power of around 50.
With enough time, it was possible. That was why the system judged the opponent as difficult but not impossible to defeat.
The problem lay elsewhere.
Taesan glanced around.
He could hear the sounds of intense fighting near City Hall. People were battling additional monsters.
Given the strength of the monsters, they wouldn’t last long.
This was literally a race against time. The outcome depended on whether Taesan defeated the monster first or if the people were annihilated by the monsters.
Taesan’s eyes darkened.
The monster was clearly designed to counter everything he had.
But that didn’t mean Taesan couldn’t win.
Taesan began to analyze the monster’s information thoroughly.
The mantis-shaped monster showed no visible weaknesses. It had extreme defense that blocked Strong Strike, and its resistance to magic was absurdly high.
The monster was an A-rank monster. However, except for its strength and speed, all its abilities were beyond A-rank. Even those two aspects weren’t particularly weak.
The monster was practically perfect.
That was the part that bothered Taesan.
A perfect monster couldn’t exist. Even the most versatile offensive monsters had the weakness of low health.
So the monster before him must have a weakness too.
The question was, what was it?
The monster charged.
Crash!
Taesan blocked and kept thinking. He combined the numerous pieces of information and strategies he had acquired to find the answer.
‘The monster’s shape.’
The monster resembled a mantis.
And all the insect-type monsters Taesan had faced had one common weakness.
Taesan, having finished his thoughts, stomped the ground.
The monster swung its leg. Taesan raised his sword.
Clang!
A heavy sensation traveled through the sword.
Taesan pulled on the end of the monster’s leg.
His strength was superior to the monster’s. The monster’s body was pulled toward Taesan. He struck the joint of the monster’s leg.
Clang!
It was the loudest sound so far. The monster’s body staggered greatly.
[You have dealt 702 damage to Monster 999.]
Seeing the significantly increased damage, Taesan was convinced.
This monster’s joints were weak.
All the insect-type monsters Taesan had faced were like this. They had hard exoskeletons that resisted most attacks, but their joints had low defense, making them easy to target.
This monster was no different.
Taesan dodged between the monster’s legs and swung his sword. The monster’s joint buckled, and it fell.
The monster swung its forelegs wildly, trying to grab Taesan. He deflected them all with his sword, stomped on the joint of a hind leg, and yanked hard.
Crack.
The hind leg made a troubling sound as it started to break. Just as Taesan applied more force to tear off the joint, a massive power descended upon the mantis.
Taesan responded immediately.
[You have activated Apostolic Transformation [Rakiratath].]
[You have activated Apostle Slayer.]
A great presence and power enveloped Taesan. He gripped the monster’s leg even tighter. But the monster violently shook its leg.
Taesan had to retreat against the overwhelming force.
He stared at the monster.
The monster exuded a presence on a completely different level than before.
[Oh… This is really something.]
The ghost murmured in disbelief. It wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
[The higher beings have bestowed power upon that monster to kill you. And it’s quite substantial.]
The bestowed power acted as a sort of barrier around the monster’s joints.
“Can they use it like that?”
[This is new to me too. Maybe because they’re higher beings, their manipulation of power is unique.]
“But it looks strange.”
The monster shook its head continuously as if it had a tic. Its leg movements were also oddly awkward, like wearing ill-fitting clothes.
[It’s probably struggling to maintain that power, unlike you who legitimately earned it.]
Taesan stomped the ground.
The monster swung its foreleg to counter.
But the movement was awkward. The attack was a beat too slow, allowing Taesan to dodge easily and slip between the legs.
He aimed his sword at the joint as before.
Clang!
But the sword didn’t penetrate.
It felt like striking solid iron.
Taesan realized why the bestowed power concentrated on the joints.
The monster’s power level was similar to Taesan’s Apostolic Transformation. With equal power, targeting the joints should have been an effective strategy.
But because the power concentrated on the joints, Taesan couldn’t break through.
The monster swung its leg at Taesan.
The attack was clumsy, easily dodged by a simple twist of his body.
The ghost chuckled.
[It’s half-broken. Seems like it was forcefully made just to buy time. What will you do? Attacking the joints seems impossible now.]
Taesan’s expression remained unchanged.
It wasn’t uncommon for opponents to reinforce their weaknesses.
He had faced numerous monsters and dozens of different creatures.
All had their own weaknesses. Some even hid or reinforced them.
And Taesan had defeated them all.
If one weakness was gone, he would find another. Taesan clenched his fist.
[You have activated The Deer that Walks the Wind Path.]