The corpses of hundreds of monsters were giving off a stale, musty stench.
In one hand, the man who had slain the savage monsters—creatures that looked high-level at a glance—held a dagger engraved with the word Hyun.
For the first time in a while, he checked the information of the dagger in his hand.
(Villain’s Dagger)
Grade: Transcendent
Durability: 8000/8000
Attack Power: 737
Restriction: Level 350–500 assassin.
Special Abilities:
·All stats +1.7%.
·Additional damage increases by 50% when assassination skills are activated.
·Critical hit chance increases by 84%.
·Active Skill: Blink.
·Active Skill: Killer’s Slash.
·Passive Skill: Five Daggers.
·Passive Skill: Sixteen Stabs.
·Villain’s Dagger is special.
·It has completed its growth and become whole.
Description: Crafted by Master Blacksmith Hyun for an unnamed dear friend. It was made after understanding and analyzing an assassin’s advantages, and that unnamed dear friend succeeded in raising this dagger to its most perfect stage.
That was right.
The man standing here now was Asura Kabel.
After checking Villain’s Dagger for the first time in a while, he smiled.
What would have happened if he hadn’t given me this dagger that day?
Kabel had been about to set off on a new journey.
He knew it would be harsh, difficult, and that impossible mountains would appear one after another.
That was when—
Along with the blowing wind, Hyunsoo had handed him this dagger.
It was the first gift ever received by a lonely man who had no friends and had never, in all his life, “been given” anything by anyone.
If he had not had this dagger...
I may never have become Asura.
And also—
When he raised the hand holding the dagger, a massive black energy surged around his fingertips.
[Awaken.]
The black energy was sucked into the hundreds of monsters he himself had killed.
A gleam rose in the eyes of the dead creatures, and they slowly lifted themselves up before gathering in front of Kabel.
“Grrrrr.”
“Grrr...”
That was right.
If he had not received that dagger that day, he may never have become Asura—or obtained his “subclass.”
He may never have become the Tyrant’s Representative.
Of course, right now Kabel was merely sleeping with the enemy.
Just then, a whisper arrived for him.
[Hyunsoo: I’m about to start breaking wooden dolls now.]
An interested smile curved Kabel’s lips.
[Hyunsoo: You said if the number of wooden dolls I break can’t reach Valhalla’s, I should give up cleanly, right? Honestly, at first I was a little angry. I thought, why is he underestimating me this much? But after thinking it over, I realized I’d lose far too much if I lost to Valhalla.]
[Hyunsoo: It wasn’t something I should do out of simple competitive spirit. Thank you for making me realize that, Kabel. I’ll message you once the wooden-doll breaking is over.]
Seeing that, Kabel gave a bitter smile.
“...You’re badly mistaken.”
Even while staying here, Kabel heard stories about the nation of Hyun and Hyunsoo.
Because his eyes were everywhere, in preparation for the day the nation of Hyun might fall into danger.
“That isn’t why I sent the invitation...”
The true reason Kabel had sent the invitation—
“See it for yourself, Hyunsoo. See just how much strength you possess.”
It had come from his desire for Hyunsoo to gain confidence.
*****
Hyunsoo understood Kabel’s intention(?) better than anyone.
There’s no one who knows him better than I do.
Feeling grateful instead for that worried heart of his, Hyunsoo gripped the Twin Dragon Sword tightly.
But Kabel, I’m going to pull this off.
And Hyunsoo wanted to make Kabel’s worries amount to nothing.
Instructor Lime is 4%...
Also, he could tell in detail how much damage the target had dealt by looking at the damage amount that appeared.
[Instructor Lime has dealt 9,419 damage.]
That was about it.
“The moment you strike one, it begins.”
As Instructor Lime stood watching with both arms crossed—
Hyunsoo swung the Twin Dragon Sword with all his might.
BOOOOOOM!
At that moment, Instructor Lime’s eyes went wide.
The instant the wooden doll took a direct hit from the massive blade, it went beyond merely shaking. It let out a tremendous roar and cracked open heavily.
CRAAAAACK!
And the amount of damage the wooden doll took from a single blow surpassed common sense.
What am I looking at right now?
The one who was actually bewildered was Hyunsoo.
[You have dealt 45,103 damage.]
[The wooden doll’s durability falls below 80%.]
That had happened from only one strike.
Mercenary King Dante’s Blessing increased everything by 30% while the Twin Dragon Sword was equipped.
Damage, cutting power, attack success rate, even skill damage.
With the Transcendent Elixir added on top of that, the ripple effect surpassed imagination.
To be precise—
It was because there’s nowhere else I could test it as accurately as with wooden dolls.
That was the fact of the matter.
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOM!
Hyunsoo swung to check his impact and speed.
The time it took him to break a wooden doll with five swings of the Twin Dragon Sword—
was only 0.8 seconds.
RUMBLEEE—
Watching the wooden doll collapse, Lime decided that made sense.
“I see! Beginner’s luck is dog luck—a special power must have activated!”
Wahahahaha!
Right, of course. Lime laughed awkwardly as if to say that explained it.
The reason he was laughing awkwardly was because he wanted to deny it.
Why?
Because it could not be understood within common sense!
“No, it didn’t.”
“...”
Hyunsoo had not even triggered critical damage.
And Hyunsoo also possessed powers he had gained from the World Championship, and the only place he had clearly used them so far had been the Owlbear Sanctuary.
One of them revealed itself.
CLAAAAAANG!
[The title Unconditional One-Kill is applied.]
[3x damage is added.]
[Critical Hit!]
Critical damage was generally known to add a certain amount of damage.
At minimum, 40% of one’s damage applied; at maximum, 90% applied.
The combination of Unconditional One-Kill and critical damage was perfect.
KWAAAAAAANG!
[You have dealt 654,031 damage.]
[The wooden doll breaks in one blow.]
On the second attack, the wooden doll was sliced apart in a single strike, and its remains scattered as if it had exploded.
The ground shook along with the tremendous roar, and birds perched in the trees took flight.
FLAP FLAP FLAP!
And Unconditional One-Kill was not the only thing Hyunsoo had obtained.
SLAAAAASH!
The instant he swung once more—
In exchange for Hyunsoo’s Swordsmanship being sealed, the second SSS-grade title he had newly obtained activated.
Unbreakable Blacksmith took effect.
This Unbreakable Blacksmith compensated for a blacksmith’s weakness.
That weakness was the disadvantage that, due to the nature of blacksmiths, they could not pour in enormous damage.
Its effect:
When activated at 6%, 6 consecutive attacks applied.
When activated at 2%, 12 consecutive attacks applied.
[The title Unbreakable Blacksmith is applied.]
[6 consecutive attacks will be performed.]
The third one.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAK!
He had struck only once, but six consecutive attacks landed in the split-second span of 0.2 seconds.
The wooden doll shook violently, as if it had been hit by a machine gun.
And in the end, it was true that it had broken from just one attack.
“What exactly are you, that you can do something like this...?”
Lime asked in bewilderment.
As Hyunsoo drew back the Twin Dragon Sword once again, he recalled what Appraiser William had once told him.
There had been a time when he felt embarrassed to say it himself.
But after the World Championship, it had become certain, and the whole world had acknowledged it.
“I’m a Master Blacksmith.”
KWAAAAAAANG!
With another strike, this time, the wooden doll was torn out by the roots.
Coincidentally, it was the moment Unconditional One-Kill activated again.
KWAAAAANG!
KWAAAAAAANG!
KWAAAAANG!
Watching the massive timer that had begun turning above his head, Hyunsoo rampaged in every direction.
Sometimes—
SLAAAAASH!
He smashed down from above as if chopping downward.
[You have destroyed a wooden doll.]
Sometimes, he split one apart from the side.
FWAAAAAAK!
[You have destroyed a wooden doll.]
And of course—
The action he took the most was planting strength into both thighs and striking indiscriminately.
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOOM!
This was a place reserved exclusively for high-level users, a place where only a tiny fraction of high-rankers could reveal their true worth.
And there, Hyunsoo was revealing tremendous true worth.
It’s beyond what I imagined!
That gave Hyunsoo boiling adrenaline.
And as the number of wooden dolls lying around him continued to increase—
BOOOOOOM—
Every time a massive tremor rang out, more instructors gathered.
They stared in a daze.
There are countless people who collapse while trying to reach a place they can never touch.
The instructors, who had spoken as if they had seen many people break down, now had faces full of astonishment.
And they were people who knew how to recognize that they had misspoken.
“Amazing! Truly amazing!”
“To think I’d see such an incredible sight!”
“Go, go on! Hurry and go!”
Where?
KWAAAAAAANG!
As Hyunsoo cut down another one, he wondered what they meant, and at that moment, an instructor pointed at the sky.
They were telling Hyunsoo to reach the sky.
BAAAAAANG!
Leaving the pile of wooden dolls around him behind, Hyunsoo shot forward.
Arriving once more amid the wooden dolls, he checked the time that had passed.
[1 minute 27 seconds elapsed.]
There was still time to spare.
But he himself had no awareness of exactly how many he had broken.
Only—
[You have consumed stamina at a rapid rate.]
There was probably nothing harder than running at full speed within a fixed amount of time.
Just like that, the forearms of both his arms gripping the great blade were trembling, and his legs were shaking.
His breathing had become unstable, and his breath had climbed all the way to his throat.
It was the end result of someone who had failed to regulate himself.
If it were Valhalla, he would have maintained calm breathing even in this moment.
Did that mean Hyunsoo could not compare to him?
No.
[You demonstrate extreme mental strength.]
[You acquire 1 Will.]
Hyunsoo did not have what Valhalla had, and Valhalla did not have what Hyunsoo had.
He should have collapsed, but he did not. He stood firm.
Even with his breath surging up, he broke them until the very end.
KWAAAAAAANG!
His speed had clearly slowed.
But he continued breaking them.
“Ten seconds left.”
“It’s almost over.”
Under the instructors’ astonished gazes, Hyunsoo remembered that he could activate a skill only “once” in this place.
[1 minute 53 seconds elapsed.]
The instructors thought he would no longer be able to record a meaningful number.
Just as they had when they first met Hyunsoo.
It was their second misjudgment.
[1 minute 56 seconds elapsed.]
While colliding with the wooden dolls, Hyunsoo had learned that these things could not be moved by force.
The principle of Gathering did not activate on them.
But as he looked at the wooden dolls that remained endlessly, standing firm, he drew back the Twin Dragon Sword.
[1 minute 57 seconds elapsed.]
“What about his mysterious power?”
“Is this his final strike?!”
Then Hyunsoo put strength into his rear foot and pronounced his final sentence.
“Cut Them in Two.”
SLAAAAAAAASH!
At that moment, the instructors fell into the illusion that the world itself had been cut.
And along with the clean sound of cutting, nothing happened for a brief while.
The reason—
was because this skill’s name was Cut Them in Two.
Srrrrrr—
More than dozens of wooden dolls collapsed at once.
And Hyunsoo realized he had made one mistake.
“I should’ve used Peerless...”
Because it had been such an urgent situation, he had failed to follow through on the thought that “Peerless would be more effective here.”
How many did Valhalla cut down again?
He thought that because he had made many mistakes.
And the most important thing was the difference between Valhalla’s number and his own.
“Huff, huff.”
As Hyunsoo knelt on one knee, panting heavily, an alert came.
[The challenge ends.]
Soon, another alert sounded.
[The previous record holder achieved 104.]
104? Then how many did I get?
And soon, he heard it.
[You have achieved 201.]
“...!”
That was the moment his fist clenched tight.
This was the moment he had overwhelmingly surpassed Valhalla.
And the alert finally bestowed a gift, as if congratulating him for reaching the sky.
[You are the first to reach the reward according to the set number.]
[You acquire the title Wooden Doll Massacrer.]
It was a one-of-a-kind title that even Valhalla had failed to obtain.
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