Chapter 6. Boy Becomes a Dungeon Explorer (6)
“Kuaaaaa! Humans, I’ll take care of you at once!”
“Tankers go take its aggro! Miss Shuna, stand by so you can take their place at any time!”
“Orc Lord you bastard, it won’t be so easy this time!”
“I-I’ll do my best!”
“Everyone else, start taking care of the other orcs!”
“Even if you don’t say that, Mr. Kang Shin’s on his fourth orc!”
Perhaps because we had experience coordinating before, the battle this time went much smoother. The man named Paul wielded his shield proficiently and blocked the Orc Lord, and the rest of us took care of the orcs more quickly than before.
“Kuaaaa!”
[Orc Lord used Warcry! It cleanses itself of all negative status effects. Because there are no orc minions in range, Orc Lord’s attack power increases by 100% and defense lowers by 50%. It temporarily becomes super-armored.]
“Paul!”
“I know, I can take it!”
Even though Orc Lord used Warcry again, Paul was prepared for it and did not die like before. He skillfully dodged its attacks and pushed it back with his shield. Palludia also looked on with her eyes opened wide as she furiously cast heal after heal.
“We’ll sweep from the left!”
“There’s an orc archer!”
“It’s shooting!”
“Oppa, your side is open!”
“You just pay attention to that glaive coming at you from behind.”
We communicated to each other continuously as we defeated the orcs one by one. As a result of our hard-fought effort, we were able to take care of all fourteen orcs without suffering a single casualty. Paul was also still holding his ground against the Orc Lord.
“Alright! We’ll start going after the Orc Lord now!”
Just like we had planned before, we took turns and attacked the Orc Lord. Although the Orc Lord turned its attention to the one that dealt a blow, we quickly weaved out afterwards and Paul redrew its aggro with his shield blow. It was just like tanking and dealing damage in an online game.
“Haap!”
“Kuaak!”
“Kuk, Mister Kang Shin, your attacks are so strong that it’s hard to retake the Orc Lord’s focus!”
“S-Sorry, I’ll be lighter next time.”
“Hmph, as expected, Orc is no good!”
““Miss Palludia, just focus on your healing!””
“Hiing...”
Because the other party members took the initiative to silence Palludia when she lashed out at me, she could only swallow her words and focus on healing. Serves you right!
Sometime after we started to attack the Orc Lord, just as we were thinking it should fall soon, the Orc Lord suddenly let out an eerie shriek.
“KUAAAAAA!”
[Orc Lord used Warcry! It cleanses itself of all negative status effects. Because there are no orc minions in range, Orc Lord’s attack power increases by 100% and defense lowers by 50%. It temporarily becomes super-armored.]
“What!?”
Everyone fell back. Only Paul was capable of withstanding the Orc Lord’s attack under its normal condition. With its attack power doubled, even he couldn’t speak for certain.
“I will kill all you humans!”
The Orc Lord put strength into its glaive. In that instant, I saw a black aura gathering on the glaive’s blade. It was similar to some of the skills the other party members used. Could that be mana? So that’s qi! Although I knew how dangerous it was to get worked up, I couldn’t help it.
“It’s dangerous! Everyone fall back!”
“It’s useless! Guaaaaaa!”
It held its glaive horizontally and cleaved through the air. Surprisingly, the mana gathered on the glaive followed the glaive’s trajectory and shot forward. It was like a game character using a sword blast.
“You’ll die if you get hit! Everyone run!”
“Uwoooooh!”
Everyone scattered frantically. Although I wanted to run as well, I caught sight of Palludia who was standing in place frozen.
“What are you doing, run!”
“M-My feet won’t move...”
“You won’t really die anyways! What are you afraid of!?”
“T-Then it’s fine if I die!”
“What!? Last time, you said something about a week being important!”
Ugh, there was no time to argue! I quickly rushed to her, grabbed her in my embrace and flung my body. Right afterwards, I sensed my hairs being pulled as I fell to the ground with Palludia. Dust went in my mouth and I felt a strong sense of disgust.
“Mister Kang Shin, Miss Palludia! Are you okay!?”
“W-We’re alive!”
“Cough cough...”
Because it was still dangerous, I got up in a hurry. I still held Palludia as I ran back as fast as I could. The Orc Lord let out a bloodcurdling cry as it chased after us.
“Now!”
“Got it!”
Two archers aimed at the Orc Lord’s eyes. Although one missed, the other correctly pierced through the Orc Lord’s right eye. The Orc Lord then held its eye and cried out miserably.
“Kuaaaaaa!”
“H-How long are you going to hug me, Orc!”
“I’m not hugging you because I want to!”
Setting the Orc Lord’s cry as the background music, I threw Palludia down on the ground. Even until the end, she did not say thanks. Her bottom hit the ground and she glared at me with teary eyes. I couldn’t feel more satisfied. Who cares if you’re pretty? I wouldn’t want a truck-load of irritating brats like you!
“Orc, you meanie!”
“Shut it, you mean bit... person.”
I considered calling her a b*tch, but it seemed wrong to curse at a girl, so I toned it down. Even so, she seemed to be shocked. As we were about to fight, Ellos shouted at us from afar.
“It’s not the time have a lover’s quarrel! We have to quickly finish it off!”
““It’s not a lover’s quarrel!””
We glared at each other one last time then split. I went toward the Orc Lord, she went toward the safer backline to focus on her healing. Although the Orc Lord used its sword blast move again, we were able to dodge it, having seen it before. In fact, right after it used the sword blast attack, it left itself wide open for attack.
In the end, the Orc Lord fell, its throat pierced by the spear I had put all my strength into.
“Kuk, strong humans... good... fight...”
“This bastard’s acting cool at the end.”
Watching the Orc Lord annoying me until the end, I kicked its head. The Orc Lord didn’t manage to finish what it was saying and fainted. Everyone else clapped and told me I did a great job. Immediately afterwards, flashes of light surged out from our body. This was the fifth time it had happened – a level up.
[You reached level 6. You obtained the qualification to enter the 6th floor.]
[You obtained 5 bonus stats.]
[You obtained 1,000 gold. It is distributed evenly amongst party members. You received 100 gold.]
[Rewards will be distributed in order of contribution.]
[Kang Shin-nim’s contribution is the highest. Choose your reward.]
Ah, I see. Just like in games, it seemed boss monsters dropped several items. Additionally, because my contribution was the highest, I was the first one to choose a reward. A boss fight really was different.
Before I looked at the list of rewards, I eyed the other party members. Everyone simply nodded in agreement.
“We acknowledge your contribution. You should rightly be the first one to choose!”
“It would indeed have been hard without you. I can’t believe they expect anyone to beat this thing. I understand why some people have been stuck for over 10 years.”
“Everyone worked hard, but you worked the hardest. You dealt the most damage too.”
“Agreed. You were cool, oppa.”
... Eh, why did I feel like crying? How long had it been since anyone has complimented me? My father rarely complimented when we trained. Before I raised my intelligence, my grades at school weren’t good, so teachers never complimented me either.
My mother didn’t acknowledge anywhere below my head to be her son. Even my sister acted awkward around me. Because I felt like crying, I desperately held it in.
“T-Then I will...”
Because this felt like Palludia’s time to interrupt, I glanced at her, but she simply gave a light humph and said nothing. Smiling, I looked at the list of rewards.
[ 1. Orc Lord’s Glaive
. Power Earring
. Rescue Balm
. Power Potion
. Steel Boots
. Steel Shield
. 200 Gold
. Muscle Compressing Elixir
. Fireball Magic Book
. Mana Potion]
At first glance, only number 1, the Orc Lord’s Glaive, seemed to be a rare item. Considering its sheer size, it could easily be considered a spear. It indeed looked very nice to have, but...
. Muscle Compressing Elixir
The moment I saw it, I reached out and touched it. Then, a small, black pill appeared in my hands. I instinctively examined its info.
[Muscle Compressing Elixir (Rare)
When consumed, the body’s muscles will be compressed to be more shapely and strong. The muscle size will decrease, but their strength and dexterity will increase. It is the ideal item for a warrior. However, if one does not have enough muscles, it will have little effect. In fact, it may deal permanent damage to the body.]
“T-This is it.”
I muttered unconsciously. Although Ellos who was 2nd in contribution stared at me with confused eyes, seeing that the best item was still on the list, I did not care. Muscle Compressing Elixir! This was it!
“Thank you, God!”
I finally found a way to put these overly grown muscles to rest! I thanked God I never paid attention to the jeers and let out tears of joy. Everyone else was looking at me like I was crazy.
Well, although I had expected it to some extent, just eating one elixir didn’t make me slender. However, I did feel that my body’s width had decreased by a bit. At the same time, an alert popped up in front of my eyes.
[Your muscles become compressed, making them more powerful and dexterous. Both strength and dexterity stat permanently increases by 1.]
“Great, great.”
Unlike the saying you couldn’t be content after one cup of beer, I was very content. I finally found a way to reduce my muscles.
‘I’ll first climb to the 10th floor and obtain a mana cultivation method. Then, I’ll just go around looking for more Muscle Compressing Elixirs!’