Chapter 212: Status Ailnt (1)
They decided to endure the abnormal seizure selectively.
Even though the debuff na looked scary, there were no actual symptoms of the body going out of control.
Shanghyun’s life steal option made it easy to manage his stamina.
And Sophia could handle the seizure by using a debuff-ignoring skill that applied only to herself.
So, they only removed the blindness, which could have been a severely fatal variable in combat. It was an appropriate decision.
“It feels eerie, but for now, I don’t see anything.”
Shanghyun shrugged as he looked around the gate's interior, where nothing was detectable despite the ominous feeling.
“Do you think so?”
Then Sophia let out a small laugh and imdiately initiated a link with Shanghyun.
It was a ntal connection that allowed him to see what she saw and to strike based on that vision.
Since it was structured as Sophia unilaterally helping Shanghyun, it wasn’t classified as a ntal attack.
To use an analogy, it was like Sophia gently holding a magnifying glass in front of him so he could see better.
Because it was only to that extent, Shanghyun didn’t need to worry about being ntally manipulated or hard by her.
Srrrk.
Soon, the link was completed, and the way Shanghyun viewed the world changed entirely.
“…Wow.”
He let out a gasp.
The mountain path that had appeared to be a simple uphill trail now turned into a ghostly paradise through Sophia’s ‘filter’.
The interior of the gate was shaped like a giant mountain. In other words, the only way was to keep climbing.
As they ascended the mountain, various factors like weather conditions were bound to introduce more variables.
And with the ghostly parade in sight, he couldn’t even begin to guess when those things would leap out at them.
To make matters worse, the sky was overcast, and sunlight barely pierced through, giving it the atmosphere of a damp graveyard.
The ghosts that looked human each held weapons.
Though crude, their blades were finely sharpened enough to seem capable of cutting sothing.
Sophia spoke.
“These may be ghosts, but when they strike , it causes actual damage. They eat away at my spiritual energy.”
“The soul dies.”
“Exactly. That expression fits perfectly. Like I ntioned during the briefing, no physical damage accumulates. Instead, there’s ntal damage.”
“Can it be estimated? Like, a way to gauge how much spiritual damage is dealt at a certain point.”
“Quantifying it would make things easier for you, wouldn’t it?”
“That way I can plan hit-and-run strategies. Otherwise, I’ll probably end up playing too cautiously.”
“Wait a second.”
Sophia waved her hand through the air, drawing several lines, and soon a special window appeared for Shanghyun.
Though no na was specified, it was imdiately clear that it was a third concept, not health or mana.
“You can see your spiritual energy now. Once it falls below half, your thoughts will slow down and decision-making becos difficult.”
“Half is the threshold, then.”
“Since I can help you recover spiritual energy, consider 25% as the true threshold. Beyond that, your body and mind will start to disconnect.”
It didn’t quite feel real.
He was used to enduring pain physically, but ntal damage—what exactly did that entail?
A slight fear crept in.
What if it left behind sothing like a phobia or trauma?
Of course, if they fought successfully, that kind of suffering might never occur at all.
“Let’s go.”
Shanghyun began his charge.
In the anti, Sophia used several more skills, making the ghosts appear much clearer than before.
So ghosts looked like they were made of milky white mist, while others were nearly transparent.
“The closer they are to an opaque gray, the stronger they are. The more transparent, the weaker their spiritual energy.”
“Got it!”
Shanghyun targeted the weaker ones first.
Since the ghosts didn’t move quickly, he judged it would be more efficient to reduce their numbers first.
Whoosh!
Srrrk!
“…?”
With one swing of his sword, a ghost shattered like torn tissue paper on the spot.
He hadn’t expected them to die in a single blow—had he overestimated them?
Sophia added an explanation.
“The starting layout is different every ti, but it looks like we got lucky today. The grunts were deployed first.”
“So, there were tis that wasn’t the case?”
“I’ve fought near-boss-level monsters right at the entrance before. A player who casually approached for a scouting run died instantly.”
“Ah…”
Sophia sounded nonchalant, but the slight tremble in the corner of her eye was noticeable.
It seed like there was a story behind it, but he didn’t want to ask. It was definitely sothing painful.
Shanghyun kept slicing through the ghosts using only basic attacks.
Lately, he had grown accustod to using skill-based attacks, so ordinary sword swings felt a bit foreign.
But just as the saying goes that mastery begins with fundantals, Shanghyun had never forgotten that truth.
Rather, he thought of it as a good opportunity to practice—like having excellent punching bags.
Thus, everywhere Shanghyun passed, ghosts turned into well-shredded pieces of tissue and scattered.
The dead ghosts ascended like they were being liberated, turning into a single point of light and heading sowhere into the sky.
It felt strange, as if he were personally helping each one achieve peace.
In that way, the first section passed so easily it almost felt like a casual stroll.
It was a raid completed without a single drop of sweat. Sophia’s face remained fresh and dry as well.
But from the second section onward, the atmosphere completely changed.
This was the point where Shanghyun’s status ailnts would beco truly necessary.
“Screaming.”
Murmuring the na given to this area, Shanghyun took a deep breath.
The section called “Screaming” was a place where thousands of ghosts were piled up in overlapping layers.
There was no detour whatsoever, and they had to pass through a narrow corridor, which made things tricky.
It wasn’t a matter of just cutting down a few ghosts to get through.
Moreover, trying to use skills or swordsmanship from the outside couldn’t break apart the tightly clumped mass of ghosts.
In other words, a brutal scene of plunging into the fray with the ghosts was inevitable.
Shanghyun asked Sophia,
“This is a safe zone, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait here. I’ll go in and clear the way.”
Sophia nodded.
She didn’t ask whether he could do it. They ca into the gate together because she believed he could.
Step, step.
Shanghyun walked forward.
As soon as the ghosts noticed the intruder, they bared their greedy fangs and threatened him.
There was a clear will to bite him the mont he stepped inside and drain all of his spiritual energy.
As he entered, Shanghyun imdiately activated Defensive Sword to trigger a defensive chanism around his body.
And right after that—
『Lightning Sword』
■ Skill Level: Stage 5 (3.2%)
■ Skill Description: (…omitted)
In area attacks, it spreads up to 30 ters; in targeted attacks, it reaches up to 50 ters forward.
Enemies who are struck and fail to resist the skill fall into a “shock” state for 1 second, making them vulnerable to follow-up attacks.
Consus 250 Mana.
He used the Lightning Sword skill, which could inflict the shock status ailnt.
As a single-target attack, it focused on one enemy within 50 ters.
As an area attack, it struck everything within a 30-ter radius with electric currents.
There was just one issue—if used as an area attack, it could also hit the caster.
That’s why Shanghyun chained it with the Sword Song skill.
While it immobilized him, it made him completely invincible, allowing him to be safe inside the electrical storm.
KIAAAHHH…!
The ghosts caught in the current began screaming and collapsing one after another.
They were helplessly succumbing to the only counterasure for the Screaming section: electric shock.
Without electricity, not a single one of these ghosts could be killed.
But with electricity? Not a single one would be left alive. That was exactly what was happening now.
“A swordsman who wields lightning… Guess you could call him a magic swordsman.”
Sophia thought of a fitting term. A swordsman who uses magic—commonly referred to as a magic swordsman.
It wasn’t a common case.
Normally, players developed their talents and traits in one direction, so it was rare for such opposites to coexist.
But Shanghyun had effortlessly created a powerful storm of electricity within the necessary range.
What Sophia was witnessing now was a one-sided massacre.
The ghosts, who couldn’t even be scratched without electricity, were being annihilated.
From here on, every area they would face was like this.
Each could only be cleared using a specific status ailnt. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to move a single step.
That’s why, on previous visits to the gate, they sent in players specialized in various fields to survey the area.
But once areas started appearing that required multiple status ailnts at once, that trick stopped working.
Whiiii…
A cold wind quietly swept through, bringing a hush to the area.
The ghosts that had just been making terrifying noises had all vanished.
But not all of them were gone. At the end of this section stood one creature, like a gatekeeper.
Its na was Beast Ghost.
As the na suggested, it was a beast-type ghost monster. It resembled a jaguar.
GRAAAH!
The Beast Ghost bared its dripping fangs at Shanghyun and Sophia, exuding ferocity.
At that mont—
『Lightning Sword』
BZZZZZT!
The Lightning Sword shot from the tip of Shanghyun’s naless sword, targeting the Beast Ghost as a single enemy.
As a targeted attack, it had no problem hitting sothing exactly 50 ters away.
In the next mont—
GYAAAEEHHH!
The proud roar from monts ago was replaced by a feeble wail as the Beast Ghost collapsed.
Shock was its most critical weakness, and without a chance to resist, it died instantly.
“Man, it was acting all tough for nothing. Sophia, co on over. All clear here.”
Shanghyun turned around and grinned.
Without shock, they wouldn’t have taken a single step in this section.
But now, with just two uses of the Lightning Sword, everything was cleaned up easily.
The only small regret was that he had to use the Sword Song skill with its slightly long cooldown. That was all.
After passing through the Screaming section, the next area they encountered had a similar structure.
It was also a section that had caused them a great deal of trouble in the past.
At first, they couldn’t find a way to get through it at all and made no progress.
This was the Jump section.
But the word “Jump” here didn’t an the god of war.
It referred to “jumping off” as in suicide—jumping from a high place.
GYAAACK…!
KYAACK!
“….”
Shanghyun was at a loss for words as he looked at the parade of ghosts endlessly hurling themselves off the high cliff.
It was terrifying just to watch—so much so that it felt like it could traumatize him.
The ghosts were throwing themselves off a narrow ledge without pause.
If a ghost collided with a person or spirit body at that speed, there was no way to survive even for a mont.
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