Unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury to care as the giant stirred again.
The giant moved with blurring speed as usual, with its club raised high. This ti, Sungjun tried to dodge early, to predict the swing, but the beast adjusted.
BOOOOM—
The club swung low in an arc, and the very tip clipped his left side.
CRACK!
Ribs shattered instantly.
"Argh..."
Sungjun’s body hurled through the air, bouncing off cracked stone and sand, coughing blood violently as his vision spun. He could feel the skin along his chest split open. The pain was quite unbearable.
His eyes flicked up just in ti to see the shadow fall.
The titan landed its foot on him.
CRUNCH.
[Resurrection Complete]
[Ti Suspension: 00:10 Seconds Remaining]
[Lives Remaining: 7/9]
Gaaah
He gasped awake with a scream, gripping at his sides before realizing his body was whole again.
Still, seven lives.
"What the fck is just going on?" he growled again, staggering to his feet.
No ti to think.
Only ti to try.
Again.
This ti, Sungjun didn’t rush in head-on. As the countdown began above the frozen giant, he moved behind the monster. "Achilles Tendon... it doesn’t have tendons but..."
He conjured the saber again, letting out a sharp breath. "Let’s see if this works
[00:00]
The monster moved again.
And Sungjun struck first with a clean slash, right into the back of the heel. The blade dug quite deep.
SLIIIICE—
And for the first ti, the giant let out a horrifying ROAR, almost deafening Sungjun, who winced at the sudden roar.
However, the roar was the least of his problems. It’s blood, thick, black, slimy, and foul-slling, gushed out of its legs, sprayed like a geyser straight from the wound, arcing back onto him.
HISSSSSSS
The effect was quite imdiate. As soon as his face was splashed by its blood, his skin started sizzling.
"Arghhaaaaa"
Sungjun scread as agony seared through him, the liquid burning through his flesh like acid. Steam rose from his facial skin as he dropped to the ground. His saber vanished from his hand. His eyes bulged, his mouth agape, and in no ti, his entire face was lted into nothing.
Then, Blackout again.
[1 Life Consud — Resurrection Complete]
[Ti Suspension: 00:10 Seconds Remaining]
[Lives Remaining: 6/9]
He sat up again, coughing reflexively even though his lungs were intact. But his eyes were sharp now.
Because this ti, sothing clicked in his head.
[Lives Remaining: 6/9]
He blinked hard in realization. "Three deaths by stomp. Two by crushing hands. One by that blood, the acid bath. That’s six in total. And yet..."
"Only three types are being counted?" he muttered, his voice hoarse, but steady.
His eyes widened as a whisper escaped him, "It’s the number of distinct ways I’ve died."
The system wasn’t deducting lives for repetition. It was cataloguing deaths by thod.
Three kinds had been ’registered’ so far. And with every death... his mana returned full.
Sungjun chuckled bitterly, brushing dust from his shoulder as he stood again. "So that’s how you want to play it."
The pain from the lting blood still haunted his skin, but the determination in his eyes beca clearer than ever now that he understood it.
While his mind started calculating how to maximize his chances to check its weak points while keeping his remaining lives as high as possible, the ten-second grace period reached the fifth second.
Sungjun tightened the grip around his energy saber. He didn’t hesitate to charge forward again. He circled it once again, closing in before taking his stance.
[00:02... 00:01...]
SLASH!
The blade bit into the tendon again, sa as before. A geyser of black blood erupted into the air.
But Sungjun was already gone, his movent perfectly tid with a body twist and escape from the death-spray zone. A few droplets grazed his sleeve, but the main torrent missed him.
And then, the giant fell.
A satisfying CRASH thundered through the wasteland as the massive form collapsed forward.
Thud
Sungjun didn’t waste ti celebrating and sprinted forward. He then leaped onto the back of the giant and reached its back.
Then, a wild swing of its club ca at him. He ducked and charged forward.
He held steady, sliding forward, boots scraping stone flesh. The nape of its neck ca into view, at last. "I didn’t expect to reach this so fast..."
"Let’s end it," Sungjun growled, the saber in his hands gleaming as he raised it.
However, the monster wasn’t done.
Its left hand, still functional and terrifyingly fast, snapped back and grabbed him mid-lunge.
"No!"
A mont later, pain crushed his every nerve. His bones were crushed like a walnut crushed by a hamr.
And then...
[Resurrection Complete]
[Ti Suspension: 00:10 Seconds Remaining]
[Lives Remaining: 6/9]
He coughed, groaning as he sat up.
But this ti, there was no panic in his eyes. The lives remaining were kept intact.
"Foot stomp. Hand crush. Acid blood..." he whispered, recounting calmly. "I’ve only been truly punished for new mistakes. Yup, my theory is true. And now..."
"Your bad ti has co," he murmured with his eyes narrowing. "You giant..."
After a while;
Snap
Blackout
[Resurrection Complete]
[Ti Suspension: 00:10 Seconds Remaining]
[Lives Remaining: 5/9]
Sungjun sat cross-legged, once more resurrected. The dry wind blew past, unbothered by his death or resurrection.
His bones no longer hurt as much as his pride... But he had no panic or worry on his face. It was completely calm. He opened his eyes slowly, letting out a deep breath. "Five lives," he muttered. "Still five left."
He closed his eyes again, thinking fast. "First, the mana saber is sharp enough to cut through its defenses. Secondly, its Achilles tendon strike is effective enough to bring it down. Thirdly, the giant’s reflex range is insane. The left hand doesn’t seem to let go of the club, whether it stands or falls. But the right hand, it’s got way too much damn flexibility. It can be bent almost like 150 degrees and reach all the way to its lower back."
He took another breath.
A distant part of him wanted to curse the system. But he kept his calmness and let out another deep breath.
Instead, his fingers moved. He swiped his hand through the air and pulled open the Ability list.
Lightning God Armor
Uses Remaining: 2 / 3
Taking a deep breath, he murmured. "20 minutes have passed so far. I have gathered so information. Now, it’s ti to use the second one."
Unlike the mana, the Lightning God Armor didn’t reset. He used it once, and that’s it. He was only left with twice per day.
As the tir struck zero and the giant stirred, Sungjun opened his eyes and stood. "Let’s do this."
He activated the skill.
Lightning God Armor: ENGAGED
After activating the Lightning God Armor, he conjured a blade of focused mana saber in one hand and a mana spear in the other. The double summon consud nearly half his reserves instantly.
"Alright, let’s go this..." He shot forward like a missile.
The giant swung as he approached it.
Sungjun blurred low and slid through its legs, motioning the saber.
SLASH!
He struck its right Achilles tendon clean. Blood gushed, but he vaulted high before it sprayed over him.
The beast wailed, dropping forward with an earth-rattling quake. Sungjun landed on the back of its thighs and ran.
The club thrashed wildly again. He ducked, dashed, and sprinted across its spine.
The neck ca into view, along with its right hand, curling up in the air to capture him.
"Hmpf, predictable..."
Just as the hand lunged, he hurled the energy spear upward, not at the palm, but straight into the wrist.
THUNK!
A jet of steaming blood erupted as the mana spear stabbed deeply into its wrist, but he was already sliding backward to evade that acidic blood.
As it scread, Sungjun couldn’t help but grin. "That’s right, scream, you bastard."
Then...
He sensed sothing, all of a sudden, and a shadow appeared all over him.
He looked up.
His eyes only captured the tip of its club at the last fraction of a second. "Co on," he whispered with blank eyes.
CRACK.
It landed squarely on his head from above like a hamr.
Blackout
He gasped as breath returned like a punch to the chest.
[Resurrection Complete]
[Ti Suspension: 00:10 Seconds Remaining]
[Lives Remaining: 4/9]
He lay there for a mont, blinking at the sky.
"Dammit. I thought it was only its right hand that had incredible flexibility. How can its left hand with a club just twist entirely to hit ? Isn’t this too much?"
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