Chapter 48 : Sweep
Chapter 48: Sweep
“Hup!”
Peueok!
When the headless body of the mantis monster staggered and collapsed with a thud, Baek Woohyun was forcefully kicking away a charging stag beetle monster.
Since he kicked somewhat diagonally to the side just as he had deflected the mantis monster’s forelegs earlier, the stag beetle monster flew far away, unable to overcome its charging momentum.
However, even in a situation where he killed one creature in an instant and sent another flying far away, he was not given even a moment’s respite.
This was because there were still over a dozen more monsters targeting him.
=Sseusseuseut-!
A large centipede monster covered Baek Woohyun while gnashing its face full of teeth. It was a charge that revealed its utterly disgusting appearance in full.
Baek Woohyun deflected it by spinning around like dancing, then thrust his dagger toward the centipede monster’s body. Since the attack contained centrifugal force as well, the carapace was easily pierced.
The blade embedded itself with a kwadeuk! sound, and as if he’d been waiting, he kicked off the ground while gripping the dagger tightly.
Kwajijijik!
=Sseut! Sseuseut!
Since he had run forward with the blade embedded, what would become of the centipede monster was obvious.
The creature with its body torn lengthwise wriggled while dripping green slime in streams. It was a sight made even more horrific by its hideous appearance.
However, he couldn’t split it completely in half. This was because three bee monsters launched an aerial assault on Baek Woohyun. And even simultaneously from above his head and both sides at that.
Even before a combined attack that seemed to have no way to avoid, Baek Woohyun calmly responded.
“─!”
Taat!
Having launched his body into the air, Baek Woohyun twisted his body forcefully. Not only that, he even drew another military dagger from his waist and thrust it out.
Thus, the two military daggers precisely grazed the thin wings of the bee monsters even as he avoided the attacks.
They say a bee’s wing flaps occur over two hundred times per second—if a sharp blade were to touch that, one could tell without saying what would happen.
Soon, wing fragments scattered through the air with a pasasak sound.
“……”
After the bee monsters with torn wings crashed down as they were, Baek Woohyun leisurely planted his feet on the ground.
Only then did the stag beetle monster that had been sent flying far away charge toward him again, but the situation was different from before when he had no choice but to send it away without killing it.
He calmly grabbed the stag beetle monster’s horn and trampled and snapped it in one motion. The grotesquely distorted horn broke and green slime spurted out.
The time it took for Baek Woohyun to kill six monsters like this was merely a few dozen seconds!
At this level, it was almost like things went crash bang and everything was dead.
What was even more terrifying was that this series of actions continued like dancing without a hint of hesitation. Despite it being a chaotic battle surrounded by dozens of enemies.
It was truly combat that could only be shown by dominating the battlefield itself.
-Kya~ This is it~
-Bugs are really disgusting
-How did he just dodge in midair?
-Thought he was doing circus tricks ㄷㄷ
“Everyone saw clearly, right? This is why I said the evaluation of Hackphysical can’t end with just one thing: insane physical ability.”
-? Suddenly?
-Surprise worship moment here
-So random kekekeke
-But if you don’t end it with that, what do?
“Vision that grasps the battlefield during chaotic combat, judgment that always makes the right decision in urgent situations, and combat sense revealed at every moment. If I were to list his strengths, it would truly never end.”
“You’re saying we shouldn’t lump all that together under the single word ‘physical ability.'”
“Exactly! Of course that’s easier to accept, but when you examine it in detail, it becomes even more amazing, you know?”
-That’s true ㅇㅇ;
-Combat sense is crazy for real
-Seems like someone who properly learned this stuff somewhere
-Kids like this are the ones who become Colosseum rankers
***
=Kyaaaak!
Seogeok!
Elite monsters that popped up here and there were likewise instantly dismantled. To the degree that there seemed to be no difference at all from normal entities.
Well, when they just appeared and were all torn to shreds the moment they faced Baek Woohyun, where exactly could one feel a difference?
At best, one could only tell they were slightly bigger and scarier looking. Even that got buried by bugs that had even more polarizing reactions.
“Phew…”
[Level has increased!]
[You have obtained 1 supernatural ability point!]
Since it was combat that began with the intent to sweep, the indiscriminate massacre regardless of normal or elite continued for quite a long time.
Enough that his level increased once more despite having already leveled up once while moving to find Lee Yujin earlier.
However, one had to consider that this was still the early stages so it was a point when his level was low. If his level had been higher, it would have been impossible no matter what.
Uuuung-
Having quickly finished selecting elements, Baek Woohyun heard a strange sound coming from the forest.
It was a sound as if the entire Ashen Forest was sobbing and crying. Or perhaps the entire Reverse World was trembling with rage.
Moreover, the anomaly didn’t stop there. Soon after, the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Kugugugugung!
It was an even greater tremor than when the veteran awakener who had faced Baek Woohyun earlier drove forth [Wave of Earth].
If back then only some of the area around the awakener shook, now almost this entire region was shaking. Violently enough that an ordinary person couldn’t even stand.
Then soon the ground split open as if exploding, and a massive black form surged upward.
=Kreureureureuk!
Sseuk!
What finally revealed itself was a giant scorpion monster. With each pincer spanning several meters, and a body and tail the size of an entire building standing upright.
From the creature overflowed dignity befitting a mid-sized Reverse World boss entity. Even just looking at the poison stinger swaying above its head made that clear.
On the day one got hit by that thing, they wouldn’t die from poisoning but from having their body pierced through.
“……”
Having confirmed the giant scorpion monster, Baek Woohyun glanced at his military dagger. The size difference was such that he couldn’t think it would work at all.
Of course, the military dagger also had a blade about twenty centimeters long, but compared to the building-sized giant scorpion monster, it was no different from a drop in the bucket.
Even if he stabbed with this, he wouldn’t be able to properly pierce even the carapace. To injure the flesh inside, he would need to suffer to the extent of completely removing the carapace.
‘There’s no particular need to do that.’
He could do it if he tried, but Baek Woohyun didn’t feel it was particularly necessary. It wasn’t as if he had no other weapons.
Having made his decision, the necklace glowed faintly, and soon two longswords suddenly rose from the shadows. They were the weapons he had put into <Shadow Storage> earlier.
Having dropped the military dagger into the still-open <Shadow Storage>, he gripped the two longswords standing upright as if asking to be grabbed in both hands.
“Phuuuu-”
As could be seen from how he was using the chain scythe right now, Baek Woohyun had used various weapons without discrimination since ‘that place.’
So many weapons that it would be faster to find weapons he hadn’t handled than to count the weapons he had handled.
And having used so many weapons, one of the three types of weapons he came to prefer, considering them most suited to himself, was twin swords.
‘Though it’s third place.’
Baek Woohyun looked at the enemy he had to kill from now on, the giant scorpion monster, with cold eyes.
‘Against an enemy of this level, it’s sufficient.’
=Kreureureureuk!
The giant scorpion monster let out a roar as massive as its bulk and thrust out a pincer. It was a movement as if trying to snatch up Baek Woohyun in one motion.
However, regardless of the creature’s intentions, if Baek Woohyun were caught by that massive pincer, it was clear it wouldn’t end at merely being caught.
He would meet one of two endings: being crushed or being split in two.
‘Good.’
Having calmly observed the pincer’s trajectory, Baek Woohyun took a large step forward. It looked as if he was jumping into the pincer with his own feet.
Naturally, the giant scorpion monster didn’t just watch this happen. The creature closed its pincer so forcefully it made a kwajaak! sound, as if things had worked out perfectly.
It was a motion where the intent to instantly split in two whatever was between the pincers was clearly felt.
However, Baek Woohyun’s waist wasn’t split in two. This was because right before the pincer closed, he had already lowered his body close to the ground.
“……”
Baek Woohyun remained indifferent even to the pincer passing dangerously close above his head. This was because he had confidence from the start that it wouldn’t hit.
While crouched as he was, he twisted his body and swung his sword, and the fiercely advancing blade precisely traced the gap between the pincer’s carapace segments.
Rather than cutting through in one stroke, it was an attack with the feeling of just leaving a sword mark for later.
Only after the blade traced the carapace did the giant scorpion monster realize nothing was caught in its pincer, and filled with rage, it slammed down its pincer.
Kuung-
When the pincer, with each claw almost as large as a person’s torso, struck down on the ground, a heavy resonance spread to the surroundings.
If anything had been underneath, it would surely have been mashed to pulp!
Of course, that’s only if Baek Woohyun had remained in that spot.
Since Baek Woohyun had already retreated one step ahead to a range where the pincer’s attack couldn’t reach, the giant scorpion monster’s attack merely dented the ground.
Kuung! Seogeok!
=Kreureuk!
“……”
To the giant scorpion monster’s attacks that continued afterward as well, Baek Woohyun continued a similar response.
Meaning he dodged dangerously by a hair’s breadth while gradually, bit by bit, carving sword marks into the gaps where carapace segments connected.
It would be fair to say he was slowly but surely, step by step, ‘hunting’ the giant scorpion monster.
The wounds that were like cracks at first became unmistakably clear after cutting about five times. It was natural since even the thickest carapace had been cut in the same spot repeatedly.
Simultaneously, the giant scorpion monster, whose rage had risen to the top of its head due to Baek Woohyun constantly dodging this way and that, let out a roar.
Well, how could it not be angry when a creature the size of a mouse’s droppings kept being hard to catch and annoyingly darted around?
=Kreureureureuk!
The giant scorpion monster aimed at Baek Woohyun with its most powerful weapon, the poison stinger tail.
The poison stinger tail fell as if shot from above to below with a sswaeaek! sound. It was several times faster than swinging the pincers.
However, even this ended up embedded in the ground, missing Baek Woohyun by a hair’s breadth.
Even the subsequent irritable pulling and swinging of the poison stinger tail was entirely meaningless, only cutting through empty air.
“─!”
The moment Baek Woohyun strode toward the giant scorpion monster was right then. He didn’t miss the opening revealed as all attacks went astray and stabbed.
Taking a deep breath, he swung the two swords with all his might in succession. This time as well, it was an attack aimed at the area where he had carved wounds.
The gap in the carapace that had already been cut several times couldn’t withstand his swords swung with sincerity.
When the first sword cut, the carapace split and flesh was revealed, and when the second sword cut, even the flesh tore and liquid like slime spurted out.
=Kreureuk?!
Ignoring the giant scorpion monster’s startled reaction to its pincer being cut off by more than half, Baek Woohyun continued his actions.
Meaning he dug in even deeper and swung the two swords once again toward the wound marks he had left on the other, still intact pincer.
The swords he thrust easily split the pincer’s carapace then severed even the flesh inside. To the degree that the pincer cut off by more than half dangled limply.
Essentially both pincers had been neutralized.
=Kreureureureuk!
Sswaeaek!
The giant scorpion monster with tattered pincers aimed at Baek Woohyun with its still intact poison stinger tail.
The poison stinger tail plunging down like a shot!
However, if there had been anyone else present, they wouldn’t have considered the giant scorpion monster’s judgment very wise.
What would be different about hastily attempting again an attack that had already been avoided once?
Baek Woohyun avoided the poison stinger tail with just a light step backward, and the poison stinger tail that missed him ended up forlornly stuck in the ground as before.
After that, an extremely one-sided hunt continued.
Baek Woohyun cutting, and the giant scorpion monster being cut.
It was a natural result if one thought about it. What could the giant scorpion monster with neutralized pincers do?
At best it could charge directly using its size, or slam down its poison stinger tail, but both of these had no way of working on Baek Woohyun…
‘Easy.’
It was an overly simple fight, but it wasn’t particularly strange.
Just thinking about the characteristics of insect-type monsters made that clear.
That they had many individuals but low individual strength was no exception for boss entities either. Meaning this giant scorpion monster was also weaker than typical boss entities.
One might wonder, ‘Then shouldn’t there at least be many of them?’ but the answer to that was simple.
‘Because this isn’t yet a fully-formed mid-sized Reverse World.’
If it had properly grown to mid-size, there wouldn’t have been just one scorpion monster as the boss entity. At minimum, three would have appeared.
In fact, when Baek Woohyun swept this Reverse World in ‘that place,’ the number of giant scorpion monsters that appeared as boss entities was three.
Here there was one, meaning it was essentially a small-sized Reverse World boss, and an insect-type entity at that.
In many ways, it was a situation where he had no choice but to easily claim victory.