Chapter 113 – Mirror Which Breaks Down The Boundaries (3)

“H-how…?”

The Rock Giant stuttered in confusion.

Stone Break was a slash that crushed the enemy in one hit.

Therefore, when used against a human, the expected result was to crush them like a bug.

But…

Just how?!

How did a human block its attack so effortlessly?

It could only draw one conclusion.

“The swordsman there isn’t the strongest one. Right. It was you.”

With that assumption, the Rock Giant arrived at the correct answer.

It was hard to believe, but the abilities of the humans from outside of the Tower were beyond what the Rock Giant had expected.

“Well, I am stronger than him.”

Jin-hyuk shrugged.

“…”

Chun Yuseong made a face that clearly expressed his hatred of that statement but didn’t protest. He had been saved by Jin-hyuk, after all.

The Rock Giant then changed its question.

“How can a human be this strong? No… you man, have you come from ‘Murim’? Or are you someone from the ‘Imperial’ side?”

Either Murim or the Empire.

Well, it would be logical to think that.

Among humans, no one else could challenge the 10th floor on their own if not for them.

There were quite a few talented and strong people in the Murim. They belonged to factions such as the Forces of Justice, Forces of Evil, and the Demonic Sect.

Similarly, the Imperials had also built up a reasonably strong force.

“You are quite sharp for a stone head, but no. Weren’t you ever told to not judge people on your prejudices?”

“Did you call me a stone head?”

“Yes. Your whole body is rock, and your head is of granite and basalt, right?”

He was a rock giant, so he had to be made of that.

Well, it didn’t matter.

“How dare you say such nonsense to me?!”

The rock giant was enraged.

At the same time, lines in the shape of a chessboard began to take shape on the ground.

It was a board-type skill that could only be used by a few boss monsters.

[Sanctuary]
‘Finally, the first phase begins.’

Jin-hyuk relaxed his arms and legs. The boss on the 10th floor had two main phases, and the first was to fight on this board.

Its attacks also varied depending on the color of the board. Whether or not one could respond appropriately to Sanctuary is the crucial aspect determining the outcome.’

Watch out for things on the first, second, or third floors?

If he had to pick a floor to advise other players, it would be this one.

‘Let’s try to take it step by step.’

The most critical information had already been extracted through Eye of Gluttony.

[Copy Condition: The Rock Giant possesses one of the absolute abilities, ‘ Invincible’. Unless it is an absolute judgment skill of a class, you won’t be able to break through its iron wall. If you can overcome the opponent by crossing that wall, you can copy the unique ability of the opponent.]
[However, the active usage time of the Invincible ability is shortened.]
He couldn’t check the full details of the status window because of the large gap between them. At least he could see the copy conditions, however.

It was the easiest one thus far.

If the enemy was too strong, he needed to knock them down.

With that, he would be able to get the ability.

Woong!

The board engulfed the whole area, and he could feel the air change.

Unknown magic added dampness to the wind.

Everything he saw from here on out was within the realm of [Sanctuary].

“Die.”

The Rock Giant proclaimed.

A yellow light shone on the square that Jin-hyuk stood on.

Exactly 0.3 seconds later.

Psss!

A streak of lightning fell from the sky.

It was a lightning strike that fell so fast and accurately that no one could possibly react to it.

But…

Jin-hyuk, who should have been obliterated, suffered no wounds as ice crystals had appeared over his head and blocked the lightning.

“You… reacted to that?”

Within such a brief moment? That made no sense!

In contrast to the shocked giant, Jin-hyuk was rather laid back.

“There is one thing you have misunderstood…”

The board told him in advance where and what would come. And if you knew what came, it didn’t matter if he had 10 seconds or 0.3 seconds.

“Avoiding or blocking is a piece of cake.”

It was easy with the set patterns. What other notice did he even need?

“Can’t we just move on to the second phase without losing energy? I want to take a shower since I don’t like sweating too much.”

All he had done today was wash his face with strawberry-scented soap.

It was different from the one he usually used.

“Don’t be too cocky just because you dodged once. It is only a fluke.

“If that makes you feel better, then sure, try more.”

Jin-hyuk said in reply.

Of course, the Rock Giant wasn’t a boss that would simply fall for that kind of provocation.

[Additional magic power has been infused into the Sanctuary!]

The board fully bloomed thanks to the boss monster’s magic.

All of the sections of the board shone at once. The lights were so colorful that it was pleasing to see as countless skills exploded on the ground.

Kukuku!

Kwakwang!

Bang!

It was like fireworks had exploded on the ground as blades of ice jutted up.

It was like a chain reaction.

Once one was triggered, the other traps were also activated.

There was no longer anything like a pattern here. The attacks came randomly with no set variations and focused on taking down its prey.

[Lv6 ‘Sword Demon Emperor’s Steps’ activated!]
Jin-hyuk immediately moved around like a squirrel in a storm.

Finding rules and patterns in irregularities was the virtue of a veteran.

His body began to move in search of a path without him even having to do anything.

The attacks were aimed at his blind spots and tried to induce a wrong step, but it didn’t matter.

If the opponent reads two moves ahead, then you should read three moves ahead.

If they could read three, then you read five.

Tuk!

Kwang!

An area he avoided exploded.

Tat!

Chik!

Jin-hyuk’s movements were at the level of being on par with the Gods, such was the extent of his clean movement.

Of course, from the point of view of an observer, he was beyond common sense.

Eventually, Jin-hyuk, who had leisurely avoided everything, reached the Rock Giant.

He had no wounds on him.

His breathing was calm as well.

“If you do any more, you will lose. Isn’t it time for you to realize that?”

The enormous chess board skill was a powerful area of effect attack but had the disadvantage of draining massive amounts of magic.

And if it was using it blindly like it was now, even a boss monster would eventually run out.

“… right. I don’t think I can catch the annoying flies with such things.”

The Rock Giant waves its hand again.

[Sanctuary is being closed]
The lines on the floor vanished, and the first phase ended.

Unlike the first phase, the leisurely feeling around the Rock Giant had vanished.

It now acknowledged that its opponent wasn’t easy prey.

And…

“How much more has he grown in this time?”

Chun Yuseong, who had watched all of this, bit his tongue.

It had only been 24 hours!

Everyone had the same amount of time.

But…

Even though they had spent the same amount of time, even though he had nearly killed himself to train.

How did Jin-hyuk show even more growth?

Their gap was now so vast that he couldn’t even touch his fingertips.

[The second phase, ‘Brawl,’ begins]
[Only one survivor of the 1:1 fight can escape from this place.]
As the second phase started, Jin-hyuk pulled out another item from his subspace inventory.

It was a red liquid inside a barrier that was marked with runes.

The Blood of Medusa.

Originally, any of Medusa’s body parts taken out of the temple would lose their power. An exception was made if it was sealed inside a barrier.

‘There are very few players who use barriers as their profession, and there are no players like me who can combine three or more barriers.’

This method was known to only very few.

Of course, it wasn’t easy to even approach a monster who could turn you to stone and deal with it methodically.

However, there were more than 3,000 types of attack patterns that the Rock Giant could use. The pattern also changed with each encounter.

‘The worst part is that there is only one gap for each pattern.’

In other words, he only had one chance per turn.

And any mistake would lead to failure.

This meant that everything he did needed to be perfect.

Not only using the Blood of Medusa at the right timing but to escape alive as well.

“Phew…”

Jin-hyuk exhaled.

In line with the sound of his heart, he checked the rhythm he had memorized.

One step, and then another.

If possible, he had to move lightly and quickly. The moment his breathing became normal…

Step.

Jin-hyuk entered his opponent’s range.

“Oh. You come close to me. I will acknowledge that you have a great spirit of challenge.”

The eyes of the Rock Giant seemed to smile, and making eye contact was enough to make his skin tingle.

It would have been difficult to bear if [Mental Barrier] wasn’t being used.

The sense of intimidation from the 10th-floor boss monster was that terrifying.

But…

“Challenger is a term used when one goes for something difficult. This is a level I can enjoy and finish.”

Jin-hyuk still didn’t look all that tense.

Well, this was expected.

No matter how many bosses there were to frustrate the players, they were simply obstacles.

For Jin-hyuk, who had seen the end of the Tower, this was just one of the many tasks he had to complete.

“… I decided. From now on, I will do my best to rip that mouth off!”

The Rock Giant pulled out a new sword.

It had three different jewels embedded in it.

[Rock Giant activates Lv18 ‘Will of the Rock’!]
[Attack power and attack speed increased by 15% for 10 minutes]
[All skills possessed by the caster increase by one level!]
With the appearance of these status windows, the real battle began/

The Rock Giant approached.

Despite its five-meter size, its movement looked calm, like flowing water.

The distance between them was narrowed in an instant.

The great sword in the Rock Giant’s hand bridged the space.

Woong

A blow that would have damaged his ears was avoided by Jin-hyuk.

But…

Kwakwakwang!

A large shockwave followed the slash, and the ground below began to crack like a dried tortoise shell.

[Red Jewel’ Curse of Heat’ is activated!]

Unlike when it had attacked Chun Yuseong, the sword’s attack power had increased due to the gem set on it.

‘This much power even if I avoided it?’