Chapter 54: Displaying Skills - (4)
‘Spearn have an advantage in the early montum battle. They’ve taken the most ideal formation.’
Sanghyun watched as the two players, spears aid forward, charged at him like rampaging rhinos.
Their eyes, locked solely on Sanghyun, glead with murderous intent.
Of course, they were rely exuding killing intent in their own way, but to Sanghyun, it felt like nothing more than empty bravado.
‘They must’ve had quite a bit of fun up until now.’
There were too many openings—far too many.
They had likely been using this sa team composition for a long ti, so their reckless tactics had been effective thus far.
The advantage of team play is that when coordination and synergy are on point, the destructive power can be explosive beyond imagination.
However, the downside is that individual weaknesses often get concealed within team play.
Small mistakes or missteps tend to be buried within the team’s synergy, going unnoticed.
For these guys, who were probably used to luring in players and stabbing them in the back, refining and improving their tactics was likely never even considered.
‘In an all-out lee, even debuffers hesitate to use their skills recklessly, so this is fine.’
Nurically, he was at a clear disadvantage, but in reality, this was a one-on-two battle.
The rest were either watching or maneuvering to find a new angle of attack.
This was the blind spot of team play. Nurical superiority didn’t necessarily translate to situational superiority at every mont.
Sanghyun analyzed the trajectory of the oncoming spears and found the most suitable counterasure.
It was a combination technique using the greatsword’s Knockback Burst.
The goal wasn’t to land a direct attack with the greatsword. It was to trigger a knockback effect.
“You’ve got a pretty face!”
“Let’s have so fun before we sell you off!”
The two players, who had already envisioned their victory a hundred tis over in their minds, lunged at Sanghyun with their spears.
“Hoo!”
With a sharp breath, Sanghyun lightly evaded their attacks.
They had definitely used skills to thrust their spears quickly, but Sanghyun’s response was even faster.
‘The vanguard is the most important. Seeing your skills, at least I can be sure I won’t die here.’
Sanghyun smirked inwardly.
『Knockback Burst』
Then, he swung his greatsword, striking them in the abdon.
“Haaat!”
As expected of experienced players, they imdiately switched to a defensive stance and blocked the greatsword.
Blocking was the right move.
Tiiing!
But the knockback effect activated, sending the two of them flying backward in unison.
『Full Charge』
By that ti, Sanghyun had already prepared Full Charge.
He had calculated the exact mont they would be knocked back and tid his follow-up attack to take their lives.
Swish! Splat!
With the power of Full Charge, Sanghyun dashed forward and severed one of their necks in a single stroke. Then, as he retrieved his greatsword, he took the remaining one’s head as well.
Both of them lost their lives in the path of his sword—one on the strike, one on the return.
“……”
Silence blanketed the entire warehouse. The two players had been killed far too cleanly.
Everyone had considered the possibility of soone dying. No one had been overly optimistic about a complete victory.
But no one had expected two of their own to be killed at the very start of the fight.
The deceased themselves had been the least prepared for it. They had charged in with full confidence that they could handle this.
“Now it’s one versus eight, guys.”
Sanghyun lowered his greatsword, its edge dripping with blood.
[The Dark Hunter claims that it is incomprehensible how Sanghyun remains calm despite such overwhelming disadvantage.]
[The Owner of the Unquenchable Fla declares that those who do not even have the backing of a ager constellation deserve to die.]
[The God of Studying asserts that Sanghyun’s actions have a 98.4% probability of being legally justified.]
‘One who nitpicks everything, one who blindly supports , and one who enjoys numbers. They all have their quirks.’
Sanghyun smiled as he read the ssages flooding in from the constellations.
The Dark Hunter was always irritating him in so way.
His relationships with the constellations had the potential to create many unpredictable variables in the future.
The fact that the Dark Hunter seed to be constantly observing him was sothing Sanghyun couldn’t ignore.
[The Owner of the Unquenchable Fla is willing to grant you the qualification to challenge the 【State of No Mind】 title trial.]
[To pass the 【State of No Mind】 trial, you must win this battle without being hit by a single physical attack.]
‘So, a one-versus-many battle in an isolated space was the recipe for this title? I didn’t see this coming.’
Sanghyun tightened his grip on his greatsword.
In his past life, he had never had even a minor connection with the Owner of the Unquenchable Fla, making this an entirely new experience.
It was a pleasant surprise.
Even an F-rank title could have a wide variety of uses.
Checking the ssage, he found that the 【State of No Mind】 title was rated A-rank.
‘Crazy! No, that just ans my opponents are that much trickier.’
Sanghyun suppressed his excitent.
Regardless, thanks to the constellation, he now had a clear motivation to win this title. This was a prize he could not afford to give up.
Weeee. Weeee.
In the anti, several debuff skills had landed on Sanghyun.
His Skill Resistance wasn’t high enough yet to completely nullify them.
‘Slowed movent and defense reduction to amplify damage? A textbook debuff strategy. Annoying.’
Feeling a heavy pressure weighing down on his shoulders, Sanghyun frowned slightly.
The urge to remove the debuffs with Recovery was strong, but he held back.
Considering Recovery’s cooldown was one factor, but more importantly, he needed to get used to these debuffs.
In higher-level dungeons, exposure to debuffs would be a daily occurrence.
If he treated them like ankle weights and tried to shake them off every ti, he would struggle to adapt.
◎ Slow
◎ Mobility reduced by 35%. Duration: 1 minute.
◎ Weakness
◎ Damage taken increased by 29%. Duration: 30 seconds.
‘Once three more debuffs stack up, I can use Psychedelic to nullify them almost completely.’
His calculations were already complete.
“Debuffs are in! Kill him!”
As expected, the mont he entered a debuffed state, three swordsn who had been waiting for an opening charged at him.
An assassin player was circling around the warehouse in a wide arc.
Sanghyun tracked the assassin’s movent with his peripheral vision.
It was a re sidelong glance, but it was more than enough to follow their trajectory.
『Defensive Sword』
Sanghyun activated Defensive Sword and found a path to block all three incoming strikes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Each attack rang with a different sound.
The three swordsn had divided their attack paths into high, mid, and low strikes.
Clang!
Thanks to that, the defensive barrier of Defensive, which had taken damage evenly, cracked and shattered.
◎ Vision Blocked
◎ Loss of Peripheral Vision. Lasts for 3 seconds.
‘This is quite serious.’
Sanghyun checked the additional debuff and his expression darkened.
The debuff players had a well-structured skill composition. It was enough to make him think that this group might be the core force of their team.
‘Not yet.’
Sanghyun resisted the urge to use a recovery skill multiple tis and remained composed, focusing solely on defense.
The opponents were three swordsn specialized in close combat, supported by two buffers.
The enemies’ attack power kept rising, while he was continuously suppressed and overwheld. He was also outnumbered.
So, for now, Sanghyun decided to counter with steadfast defense instead of an aggressive offensive.
‘The biggest weakness of their composition is the lack of a mage.’
There was a reason behind his judgnt.
They didn’t have a mage who could provide suppression from a distance.
Because of that, even if he stuck to defense, the chances of being hit by an unexpected attack were extrely low.
Anyway, the three swordsn blocked the front path, so the only routes available for an assassin player were the sides or the back.
With this setup, even the assassin was no longer an unpredictable variable.
"Crush him!"
"This bastard’s scared!"
Convinced that Sanghyun had beco passive in the face of their offense, the enemies raised their voices.
To Sanghyun, this was a strategic defense, but to them, it appeared as if he was terrified.
"Let's cook him up!"
"We'll make sure to avenge the two who died!"
Each of them spouted nonsense as they increased the intensity of their attacks.
"……"
anwhile, Sanghyun remained silent, focusing solely on enduring and defending.
It wasn’t just about victory—Sanghyun was determined to achieve a flawless victory without taking any hits.
For nearly five minutes, Sanghyun blocked their attacks with all his strength.
The most troubleso aspect was the assassin attempting to strike from behind while his vision was obscured.
Unfortunately for them, the weak link in their group was the assassin player. He lacked decisiveness.
During his defense, Sanghyun managed to analyze not only the debuffers’ skills but also the types of buffs used by the buffers.
He had now accounted for every possible scenario.
Of course, until his calculations were complete, he had to focus so intensely that he could barely breathe.
‘Constellations and their ridiculous preferences…’
Because of the requirent to remain unhard, he couldn’t afford to sacrifice any ground strategically, making the fight even tougher.
Sanghyun’s eyes sharpened as he examined the full extent of the debuffs the enemy had applied.
Now was the perfect ti to use his recovery skill. If he removed all debuffs now, he would have at least 30 seconds of freedom.
The mont Sanghyun had been waiting for—the hunting ti—began now, for the next 30 seconds.
『Recovery』
『Psychedelic』
As soon as Recovery erased all the debuffs, Sanghyun imdiately activated Psychedelic.
‘Ah!’
In that mont, he let out a gasp, overwheld by an unexpected thrill.
Though it was technically an enemy skill, being freed from all restrictions made Psychedelic’s effects feel even stronger than usual.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Ugh! Argh! Wh-What?!"
"Kuhak!"
"Wh-What the hell?!"
As Sanghyun, who had only been defending, suddenly unleashed a full-scale counterattack, the swordsn panicked.
Since Recovery had instantly erased all his debuffs, his movents had beco significantly faster from his opponents’ perspective.
With the addition of the Psychedelic effect, his speed beca almost supernatural, as if he had rged with the wind itself.
The weight shackles had long since been removed—now, all that was left was to ignite the boosters he had saved up!
『Acceleration』
Adding Acceleration on top of everything was the finishing touch.
Now, Sanghyun, who had already reached peak concentration and montum, maximized his mobility with the acceleration skill.
"Huh……?"
And then, the foremost swordsman sensed the change in Sanghyun.
His eyes widened in shock as he realized Sanghyun’s movent speed had more than doubled from what he had expected.
"Here."
At that mont, the swordsman understood.
Just a mont ago, Sanghyun had been within a calculable distance—but now, he had already flashed past him.
Swish!
And then, he saw it.
His own neatly severed cervical spine, exposed in midair.
As his head spun in the air, his vision alternated between the sky and the ground repeatedly.
‘Was he always this kind of monster…?’
Before the full force of Sanghyun’s unleashed attacks, he was utterly powerless. He had been taken down in a single strike.
Despite having bathed his sword in the blood of many players, all of that experience was aningless against Sanghyun.
And then—
Swish! Swish!
"Ugh!"
"Aaargh!"
In his fading vision, he saw his two comrades, each losing their left and right arms in perfect symtry.
The three swordsn who were supposed to suppress Sanghyun’s mobility in close combat had disappeared in an instant.
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