Dungeon.
Without exception, the first time clearing a dungeon took the longest.
The time shortened with each repeated attempt.
A dungeon that took 20 minutes on the first breakthrough could narrow down to somewhere between 13 and 15 minutes by the fifth breakthrough.
That is how much easier a dungeon becomes the more you understand it, and how much harder it is when you do not.
Hyunsoo, who had ordered black-bean noodles and sweet-and-sour pork and then encountered the breaking news, watched Team Korea’s disastrous mistakes, difficulties, and defeat.
After that, Team USA’s footage played.
The difference between the two teams was far too great.
Especially.
Kali.
After Valhalla, the official No. 1 ranker, he was America’s strongest.
Kali, whose level was in the 520s, was known in America as a person capable of conducting unmatched raids.
Stories of him breaking through America’s upper-level dungeons alone had even reached Korea.
And then there was great mage Lund.
[Lund: Brother.]
[Hyunsoo: Block.]
[Lund: Is this Korea’s tragedy of being unable to call one’s own brother Brother?]
[Hyunsoo: ......Where did you even learn that?]
[Lund: Since Brother is Korean, I learned a little Korean too......]
[You have blocked him.]
Lund had once formed a connection with him and claimed to be his younger brother, only to cry after being blocked.
Hyunsoo had blocked him jokingly, but Lund was one of the rare great mages among users.
He used lightning magic and fire-attribute magic appropriately, and his large-scale magic blew away dozens of golems at once.
And then there was Valhalla.
That guy is just broken.
In fact, the news footage showed Kali after he had transformed into White Tiger, then showed Lund’s wide-area magic.
After that, it showed Valhalla’s divine might.
It was simple and strong.
Moreover.
Valhalla’s analytical ability was at a level that defied common sense, and Hyunsoo grew angry as he watched the news.
Even while hiding your strength in the World Championship, you still shine.
Valhalla.
Even while hiding his true power and moving forward, he was intense.
The biggest problem was that four people like that would gather and prepare for the second round.
However.
We can understand it better.
Hunter Paul.
Because he was the captain, Hyunsoo knew several of the representative powers Paul possessed.
A past interview.
I have a power called Dungeon Analysis. The moment I enter a dungeon, I can understand the monsters and the dungeon’s structure, and create an “analysis report.”
Hyunsoo, who recalled that, called Hunter Paul at the time.
And in Hyun’s Forge in the nation of Hyun, he received an analysis report from Paul.
[Iron Golem Lv.493.]
[Combat Golem Lv.501.]
[Transcendent-Type Golem Lv.532.]
The moment Hyunsoo clicked the Iron Golem, he could see it.
A hologram of the Iron Golem unfolded before his eyes.
When he clicked its arm, he heard this.
[It is made from a mixture of steel and mithril, and due to mithril’s characteristics, it is vulnerable to the ice attribute......]
Like this, every single part.
Each time he clicked, he heard its components.
It was a passage that made him realize why Hunter Paul was a master of dungeon hunting.
Moreover, for a “blacksmith,” an “analysis report” containing the method by which the golems had been crafted let him bring out the greatest possible power.
Hyunsoo.
To someone watching, it might have seemed that he joined because he was saddened by Korea’s last place, or because he wanted to lead a comeback victory.
That was not the truth.
Through the analysis report, Hyunsoo had dissected, understood, and studied the Iron Golem and Combat Golem projected as holograms.
He had also done the same to the semi-boss monster, the Transcendent Golem, hundreds of times.
That is why I participated.
I do not fight battles I will lose, and I am confident I can give Korea the gold medal.
And so, after understanding, grasping, and analyzing it through the analysis report, then running dozens of simulations, this was the result.
“Freeze.”
The second Freeze sent the whole world into upheaval.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!
Combat Golems.
Though Hyunsoo was experiencing them for the first time in person, he was familiar with these creatures he had met as holograms, and their status ailment resistance was far superior to the Iron Golems’.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!
They were also fast and could attack like humans.
Clang, clang—
Looking at the two hundred or so frozen Combat Golems, each two meters tall, Hyunsoo put strength into the foot planted on the ground.
The first stage.
If he had wanted to, he could have cut it in one minute.
That was because Hyunsoo had enough power to cut them down.
But if he had done that, Hyunsoo would have tasted defeat in the second round.
Powerful strength was not meant to be activated against weak targets in the first place.
It was meant to be activated against powerful targets.
[The effect of Freeze occurs!]
[The Combat Golems’ defense falls by up to 38%.]
[Critical hit damage against Combat Golems rises by 80%.]
[Destructive Power increases when attacking Combat Golems.]
Hyunsoo, who had already drawn the Twin Dragon Sword back, murmured.
“Cut Them in Two.”
SLAAAAAAAASH!
For an instant, it felt as though space itself had been cut.
With a clean tearing sound, around two hundred Combat Golems were slashed at the same time.
He’s insane......
This is Master Blacksmith Hyun’s power......?
That’s the Cut Them in Two I’ve only heard about!!!?
Hers, Paul, and Kas marveled at the principle of Cut Them in Two, which they had only heard of in stories.
For a moment, it created the illusion that around two hundred Combat Golems had been split into halves.
It was, quite literally, nothing more than an illusion.
[The Combat Golem’s HP falls below 61%.]
[The Combat Golem’s HP falls below 56%.]
[The Combat Golem resists Freeze.]
Hyunsoo heard the notifications.
Their defense and status ailment resistance were extremely high.
He had already analyzed, understood, and grasped all of that.
There was only one thing he had aimed for.
[The Combat Golems’ movement speed and attack speed decrease by 25%.]
Even though they had resisted.
The joints that had already frozen.
The parts that moved their arms.
The parts that moved their legs.
The parts that moved their necks.
The fact was that they had not all melted.
The important thing was that this second stage did not contain only Combat Golems and the Transcendent Golem.
[Semi-boss monster.]
[The Transcendent Golem begins moving.]
[The Transcendent Golem dominates space!]
[The dungeon’s hidden weapons are released!]
If the Transcendent Golem were compared to a user, it would be a trap specialist and a melee class.
The traps in this second stage and various other things hidden within it were under its control.
Creeeeeak—!
[Dungeon weapons are released!]
The ceiling.
The walls.
The ground.
As if a ship were preparing to fire its cannons, hundreds of spear mechanisms simultaneously revealed themselves with a creaking sound.
Hyunsoo faced the one-eyed semi-boss monster, the Transcendent Golem, as it moved forward one step at a time. It stood two meters and thirty centimeters tall.
And the HP of the two hundred or so golems had only been cut by about 50%.
They had at least been slowed, but threats approached from every direction.
At that moment.
“Kas!”
Hyunsoo called Kas.
Kas was a fairly renowned mage in Korea.
—Kas is stepping up. He is one of the strongest mages of the fire-attribute line. You could say they only made it as far as they did in the first round because Kas was there.
—At the time, Kas exhausted all the MP he possessed. He fired large-scale magic in succession and shattered the golems. However, because of the various traps and the dungeon’s weapons, Kas, whose MP was completely exhausted, collapsed from exhaustion.
—Kas is taking out his staff.
—It appears the staff has likely been improved.
—In the first round, he displayed Fire Storm. With Hyun’s help, will he unleash an even stronger Fire Storm?
Then Kas took out a staff made from zelkova wood and cast.
“Slow.”
—Excuse me?
—Has he gone insane?
—......Slow? The one 1st Class mages learn?
The viewers were dumbfounded too.
—Kas panicked lol
—He must’ve mixed up Fire Storm and Slow.
—Can you even mix those up......?
—This is freaking hilarious lol
—Isn’t Slow the power that reduces a single target’s attack speed and movement speed by 25%? What is he supposed to do with that?
—Welp, this is screwed!
However, Kas smiled brightly.
Kas had wanted a staff that “amplified attack power” from Hyunsoo.
But Hyunsoo shook his head.
He suggested making use of the effect of the thousand-year zelkova, one of the materials Paul had brought him.
The effect of the thousand-year zelkova.
[Transforms low-class magic into high-class magic.]
[Slow is selected.]
[Upgraded to 2nd Class.]
[MP is added.]
[Upgraded to 3rd Class.]
[MP is added.]
[Upgraded to 4th Class...]
[To 5th Class...]
Then the artifact Hyunsoo had crafted for him, the Staff of the Thousand-Year Mage, exerted its power.
—Huh......? What is this?
The commentators let out flustered voices.
Normally, when Slow was cast, a small silver snail would dwell in the target and disappear.
But instead of that small snail, a giant golden snail stayed across the entire space before vanishing, and the effect was astonishing.
[All enemies within a 50-meter radius are placed in a slowed state!]
[Movement speed decreases by 40%, and attack speed decreases by 40%.]
[Skill casting time slows!]
The entire radius.
Creeeeeak—
The speed of the spear mechanisms preparing to fire from the ceiling, ground, walls, and elsewhere slowed.
The Combat Golems were also hit with overlapping Slow, becoming roughly 60% slower than at the start, crawling like grubs.
Archer Hers fired arrows in rapid succession at the traps and spear mechanisms that had not yet even launched.
BABABABABABABANG—!
The traps and weapons exploding at high speed rang like an alarm, announcing just how terrifying those who understood and grasped the dungeon could be.
BAAAANG—!
And the Transcendent Golem, whose movement had been 30% faster than high-rankers, could not keep up with Hyunsoo as he charged straight in.
CLAAAAANG—!
The Transcendent Golem was sent flying backward, fragments scattering from its body.
“Kuheeeeeek!”
Right now.
The entire world was watching America’s raid and Korea’s raid side by side.
Team USA’s Transcendent Golem was passing Valhalla, Kali, and the others with overwhelming speed and slamming Lund into the ground.
By contrast.
—He’s crushing it with speed?
Understanding, grasping, and analyzing the dungeon.
Hyunsoo had arranged steps one through seven and was executing them one by one.
Among them, step five came from the structure of the Transcendent Golem, which he had dissected dozens of times.
In the creature’s body, which seemed made of hard minerals, there were especially weak spots.
First, the chest.
CLAAAAANG—!
[Critical hit!!]
[By striking a perfect weakness, critical hit damage is upgraded to X2 times higher than usual and applied!]
[You have dealt 148,012 damage!]
Next, the back of its neck.
CLAAAAANG—!
[Critical hit!!]
[By striking a perfect weakness, critical hit damage is upgraded to X2 times higher than usual and applied!]
[You have dealt 175,012 damage!]
“Kihaaaaaaak!”
Next was the back of its head as it tilted as if about to fall forward.
It was the place where its “core” was hidden, and for a golem, the core acted as the greatest weakness.
CLAAAAANG—!
When Hyunsoo grabbed the sword with both hands and brought it down, the notification rang out.
[Unconditional One-Kill.]
[When attacking once, X3 damage is applied!!]
[By striking a perfect weakness, damage is upgraded to X2 times higher than usual and applied!]
[Unconditional One-Kill and perfect weakness create synergy!]
[20% damage is added!]
“Kiheeeeeeeek!”
On top of that, because of Hunter Paul, Hyunsoo was around 20% stronger than before.
[You have dealt 1,451,901 damage!!]
That was step five.
Hyunsoo prepared step six.
[The Transcendent Golem’s HP falls below 50%.]
[Warning.]
[The Transcendent Golem releases powerful energy!!]
Six.
A tremendous power gathered in the single eye of the golem as it raised its body with a flash.
Wooooong—!
The laser that had once split everything with a single ray of light.
However, it was slow.
That was because Kas’s Slow had settled over it, restricting its skill casting time.
Using that moment, Hyunsoo stretched out one arm and recited in a powerful, low voice.
“Kneel before me.”
At that moment.
Bzzzzzzzzzt—
Clack—!
The final step, seven, began to complete itself.
The Transcendent Golem, which had condensed all its energy, raised its head, and its single eye turned black, already sinking into a state of absolute domination.
Seven.
Kas, Paul, and Hers, who had already memorized it, reacted.
“Get dooooown!!”
The moment the three people threw themselves flat at the same time.
Bzzzzzzzzzt—!
[Golem’s Rage.]
[A laser that deals 2400% damage cuts through everything!!]
KWAAAAANG!
The purple laser swept past every Combat Golem.
Srrrrk—
BOOOOOOM!
[208 Combat Golems vanish.]
With step seven completed, every golem split in half and scattered.
—......!
—......!
—......!?
The commentators could not stop marveling at the chain of coordination that had flowed like water.
—That was insane.
And the viewers erupted into a massive upheaval.
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