Chapter 43
Chapter 43:Extreme Annihilation
[' NeverGivesUp' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—I think Mu-yeong might actually be the world's first to get this quest? Holy cow
—I didn't even know a quest like this existed lol
—I mean, who actually finishes all of the Village Chief's requests anyway lol
—For real, the rewards are pathetic but the grind is insane
—I cleared it ten times and one time he told me to go gather logs, I was absolutely done lol
['Crown' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—I've played this game a good while and I've never once heard of a two-hundred-year-old albino snake. Lol. It's not even in the monster compendium??
—Maybe because it's undiscovered?
—Isn't it probably a monster that only spawns after certain conditions are met?
—Yeah there are some like that
—About four have been discovered up until now, and now here comes another one lol
Everyone was buzzing with excitement over a monster that had never once been found before.
A massive, pure-white snake that had lived for two hundred years.
Anyone could see it was a new boss monster.
Everyone had their guesses about its size and attack patterns, but Mu-yeong had locked onto one word and one word only.
First discovery... if I upload the hunt to Newtube, this'll blow up.
The atmosphere was great right from the start.
Mu-yeong immediately accepted the quest.
"I'll head to the back mountain and look into what's there."
"I'm truly grateful......! I do hope the mystery gets solved this time."
"It might take a while this time around, so you don't need to wait up for me."
"Ah....... Right. Understood."
The Village Chief smiled awkwardly.
He clearly didn't believe a word Mu-yeong said.
—The Village Chief isn't falling for it anymore lol
—I bet he's counting the seconds in his head until Mu-yeong comes back lol
—He's seen the exact same thing twenty times—if he still got fooled, that wouldn't even be human anymore lol
—For real, he's probably just staring wide-eyed waiting for Mu-yeong to return.
"Ah, and according to the villagers, the body length should be at least five meters. Please do be careful."
"Don't worry. I'll be off, then."
Mu-yeong slowly walked away from the Village Chief.
He set off toward the mountain alongside Yu Ye-rin and opened the minimap.
The yellow circle had expanded to an entirely different scale than before.
"The range for this quest is the entire mountain."
"The entire mountain? That's going to be incredibly hard to search, isn't it?"
"Before we head out, we should figure out where to start looking. Going in blindly would be too inefficient."
"Hmm....... They said it's a snake, so maybe we should think about where it might be?"
['SnakeHunter' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Back in my hunting days I caught all sorts of things, and snakes like cool, damp areas. You find them a lot in gaps under rocks too.
—So we should be looking for somewhere with almost no sunlight?
—Snakes are cold-blooded so they do need to bask in the sun
—But is there a place that gets sunlight but is also cool and damp?
—Near water, maybe? That'd be perfect.
Near water.
Even Mu-yeong thought that was the most likely area.
He quickly scanned the map and spotted a large valley near the mountain's peak.
"This looks like the most promising spot. It is a boss monster of sorts—there's no way it'd be sitting somewhere in the middle of the mountain."
"Oh! There's a big cliff behind it too, so something really does feel like it's there!"
"If there's a cave there, it'd be the perfect den."
"Should we head straight there? I've got a feeling about this one."
Mu-yeong and Yu Ye-rin nodded at the same time and broke into a run.
About twenty minutes passed.
As they followed the stream upward, they came across marks where something enormous had swept along the ground.
Mu-yeong knelt on one knee and examined the tracks.
"The body is incredibly thick. It looks like even two grown men wrapping their arms around it wouldn't be enough."
"Right. If the girth is this size, the total length has to be closer to ten meters, not five."
"The villagers probably never saw the full body, that's why."
"Hmm, it seems a good bit larger than I expected. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this........."
—For real, this doesn't feel like a boss that belongs in a Beginner Village
—I'm more curious about the level lol
—At this size, I'd say at least twenty, wouldn't you?
—Mu-yeong is level twelve and Yu Ye-rin is fifteen—can they even take it on?
—It's a special boss, you think it's doable? It'll be way stronger than a normal boss lol
"We won't know until we see it. Let's just go."
They continued following the trail up toward the stream.
.
.
.
.
Shwoooaaash!
Near a cliff where a waterfall roared as it came crashing down.
Mu-yeong and Yu Ye-rin came to a stop.
"The trail ends here."
"This is definitely the spot. There hasn't been a single bird call for a while now."
"It might be watching us even as we speak........."
"It seems skilled at concealing its presence. Be careful."
—Kyaaaaaaak!
In that moment, a high, piercing shriek shook the entire mountain.
Simultaneously, a massive snake pushed its head out from behind the waterfall.
A combination of pure-white scales and bright-yellow eyes.
There was no doubt. It was that creature.
"Mu-yeong. That level is........."
"A bit on the high side."
[LV25 Alice]
—LOL WHAT
—25?????? lmaooo
—What is a level twenty-five doing in a Beginner Village
—We are so cooked lol
—Run first, ask questions later. This is way too high lol
Twenty-five.
A level where both Mu-yeong and Yu Ye-rin would take ninety percent reduced damage.
This wasn't a number to take lightly.
And for good reason.
Ssssssss!
When the boss slithered fully into the open—
It was so enormous that for a moment, one could mistake it for a mythical serpent.
Yu Ye-rin broke into a cold sweat.
"......Mu-yeong, there's absolutely no way, right? I genuinely think even a graze would kill us."
She stepped back and took a defensive stance.
At the same moment, the creature opened its mouth wide.
Venom as white as its scales launched straight at Mu-yeong.
A predictable attack, easily dodged—but the result was not something to take lightly.
Tsssssss.......
The rock behind them began to melt.
It was a highly concentrated acid.
If it touched them, armor or no armor, it would kill in a single hit.
—What the hell is that
—I guarantee you it's a one-hit kill lol
—If it melts a rock, how concentrated does that stuff have to be lol
—This is genuinely insane lol
"Let's spread out and dodge for now. Nothing good will come of staying clustered together."
"Yes!"
Mu-yeong and Yu Ye-rin split apart.
The boss monster turned its head toward Mu-yeong and spat venom in rapid succession.
Shk shk shk shk shk!
—It's not single shots, it's a machine gun lol
—Even a single drop hitting you and it's instant death lol
—Run run run lol
—Stop and you die lol
—Death Race ON lol
When it hit rock, the rock dissolved.
When it hit dirt, it turned the earth jet black.
The corrosion even filled the air with a nauseating stench.
First, I need to figure out what attacks it has.
What else was there besides the venom spray?
A body slam? A tail whip?
Mu-yeong edged closer, trying to bait out different attack patterns.
Just as its focus shifted—Yu Ye-rin leapt powerfully into the air.
"Let me land a hit!"
Her iron sword, properly equipped and readied, was suffused with a crimson glow.
Far deeper than when they had sparred.
"Twenty-Four-Form Plum Blossom Sword Art!"
A faint fragrance of plum blossoms drifted through the air.
She flew up to within range of the boss's head and swung her arm with full force.
"Plum Blossom Blood Rain!"
Kaaang!
A sound impossible to believe came from sword clashing with scales.
It seemed she had channeled at least eighty percent of her energy output—but the result was shocking.
"The HP....... didn't move at all?"
Not a single scratch.
—As expected from a special boss
—Not even a flinch lol
—This is a genuine crisis
—With ninety percent damage reduction, it'd be weirder if it did damage lol
—This is really impossible lol
She did deal damage.
Mu-yeong had seen it.
In the instant Yu Ye-rin struck, the boss's HP had dropped by about one-hundredth.
But its regeneration seemed high enough to close that gap almost immediately.
—Kyaaaaaaak!
The snake let out a shriek even sharper than before and slammed its tail into the ground.
Kuung!
Fragments of stone exploded in every direction.
Some flew straight at Yu Ye-rin, who had not yet landed from the air.
Her HP plummeted.
—Holy shit lol it's just melting
—That's from getting hit by those tiny chunks? How is so much HP disappearing?
—There's genuinely no winning this
—Just run
—Impossible
"I'll land a few hits first and then decide."
['RunForYourLife' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—How about you level up first and retry? Boss monsters have tens of times more HP than players and base defense on top of that—they're hard to break through.
—For real, this is a whole different league from unequipped Yu Ye-rin
—I'd say bring at least five more levels minimum.
—Five? lol go grind to twenty first
—There's no time limit on the quest anyway so take it slow
—Dying here will just give you unnecessary EXP loss
['AbsolutelyCannotWin' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—I know the special move you showed earlier is strong, but this genuinely is not happening lol. Even at full power, getting it below half HP would be rough—cutting it by ten percent might even be a stretch??
"I've been wondering for a while—what exactly is everyone calling my special move?"
—That move you used to one-shot Yu Ye-rin
—I think even that won't work here
—That looked like it was at stage six, but even at extreme stage I don't think it'd work
—I'm not even asking to kill it. Just pierce one scale and I'll give you credit lol
—Yeah let's just try hitting it once first
From the reactions, it seemed they thought the Heavenly Demon Three Swords, First Form was his special move.
There was no underestimation quite like that.
Mu-yeong smiled faintly and charged straight at the boss.
—Kuung!
He dodged the tail slamming down once more.
He leapt and landed on top of it.
—Wait—
—Is he actually going for it?
—He seems a bit too confident, doesn't he?
—Even so, a level twenty-five special boss is a different story lol
—I swear, if he shaves off even ten percent HP I will do a naked backflip lol
—Why would you do that, you lunatic lol
First, I sprint straight for the head.
The step of a ghost.
Ghost Stride.
Pushed to its extreme stage, Mu-yeong's feet blurred out of focus.
Without pausing, he drew Internal Energy from his Dantian to its absolute limit.
Damage reduction? Then I just have to hit it more.
Kwaaaah!
A devastating energy enveloped the wooden sword completely.
The way it surged and swelled as if alive was deeply uncanny.
No words were needed—the viewers could already feel it.
That the sheer power was on an entirely different level compared to when he faced Yu Ye-rin.
—?
—???
—What is this?
—Wait—
—This is even more than before?
—Is this extreme stage???
—Nah, it still won't work lol
"Watch carefully."
Mu-yeong vanished in an instant.
When he reappeared, he was directly in front of the boss's forehead.
"The difference between stage five and extreme stage."
Heavenly Demon Three Swords, First Form.
Extreme Annihilation Strike.
Ten-consecutive slash.
Kwakwakwakwang!!!
A thunderous explosion beyond all comparison.
The air shook and the earth trembled.
Trees bent like reeds in the shockwave, and some were wrenched from the ground entirely.
The chat went still at the sight beyond anyone's imagination.
When everyone had gone speechless, the view gradually cleared.
Standing there was Mu-yeong, his foot planted on a boss with its head cleaved clean in half.
"......."
"......."
A scene that felt as though time itself had stopped.
It was a donation notification that broke the silence first.
['AbsolutelyCannotWin' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Are you genuinely out of your mind?