Chapter 31: The Two-Headed Smiling Ghost
[You inflicted 7,696 damage]
[You gained 1 level in <Precise Throw>.]
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<Miniboss >
LV45 <Smiling Ghost>
MP: [6,666/21,000]
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Seeing the Smiling Ghost's life almost at its end, slippery as it was, with so many attacking it, eventually, some would hit, and now its life was nearly over.
Meanwhile, just by being scared, even without receiving any direct attack, it continued losing 1 HP every 10 seconds at least.
At this point, 2 shadow clones disappeared just from that.
'Almost there...' Tanaka thought as he saw the Smiling Ghost reaching a clone and draining all its MP, causing the clone to vanish. In turn, Tanaka went blank as everything the clone experienced was transferred to him.
"Damn it!" He exclaimed, "Go to hell!"
Two chains shot out from each of his hands, speeding toward the Smiling Ghost.
Each clone followed his lead, but instead of using four chains at once, they used two. After all, they didn't have the MP regeneration he had.
In an instant, the sound of chains echoed in the air.
"Kiiigihiiiiiiiiiighiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
Emitting a sharp and terrifying sound, the Smiling Ghost, sensing the threat of the chains, fled toward the sky.
However, the chains held it as if they had a life of their own.
When the first chain from one of the clones wrapped around the Smiling Ghost's feet, the other chains quickly followed, entwining the ghostly body, tightening, making a creaking sound mixed with the sound of chains, draining its MP until the ghost simply exploded into a curtain of dark smoke.
[You gained 43,350 EXP!]
[You gained 1 level in <Critical Strike>.]
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[You obtained <Soul Stone – Rank C+> x1]
[You obtained <Recovery Potion – Rank D+> x2]
[You obtained <Skill Book: Phantasmal Elevation – Rank B> x1]
[You obtained 150,000 ryō]
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"Finally..." Tanaka took a deep breath.
After calming down, he closed his eyes for a moment, then brought out the skill book that caught his interest.
When the option to learn it appeared, he clicked confirm.
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[You obtained the skill: [Phantasmal Elevation!]]
[[Phantasmal Elevation] (Active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0% / 25MP]
Awaken the ability to float like a ghost, rising above the ground with the lightness of a feather.
Effects and restrictions:
1: Increases movement speed by 70% during flight, turning gravity into a mere suggestion.
2: Evasion increased by 40% while in the skies, allowing the user to dodge dangers with the agility of a ghost.
3: Altitude limit of 20 meters above the ground, providing an aerial view of the battle below.
4: MP consumption is increased by 20% while the user floats, reflecting the effort needed to stay airborne.
5: Environments with strong winds make flight difficult, reducing movement speed by 30% against the wind.
6: Maximum supported weight: 60 kilograms. Exceeding this limit causes the user to lose the lightness needed to stay airborne.
7: During the day or in highly illuminated areas, the skill loses half of its effectiveness, making flight less agile and evasion less efficient.
Cost: 50MP per minute while the skill is active.
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"... I can't use this right now." Tanaka murmured.
Considering the weight of his own armor combined with his, this skill was out of the question for him. However, his shadow clones were a completely different story...
With this in mind, he dispelled all the shadow clones, then created another 40 shadow clones, who immediately used the chains to attack the ghosts and drain their MP.
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After another round of slaughtering 100 ghosts, the Smiling Ghost finally appeared. Without wasting any time, Tanaka used his chains to immobilize the miniboss, eliminating it with ease—very different from the previous battle.
"I hate this dungeon!" Tanaka exclaimed in frustration.
As he observed from the top of a building, his shadow clones flew around like specters in the air. For the first time, he felt a twinge of envy towards the shadow clones, as they didn't need to worry about weight restrictions.
Curiously, the way they floated, almost like real ghosts, was slightly unsettling. But not enough to trigger his phobia of ghosts, so he was fine with it...
Actually, he wasn't entirely comfortable. He would prefer his clones to fly in a different manner, something less ghostly than that rigid and linear floating, which only reminded him even more of a wandering spirit.
But there was a spark of hope. This was just the skill at level 1. Not all ghosts float like that—some move lying down, almost as if they're swimming in the air. When he levels up the skill, maybe he'll be able to do the same.
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[You leveled up!]
After killing another 200 ghosts, the ghosts began to disappear as a larger ghost, approximately 5 meters tall, took shape.
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<Elite Miniboss>
LV50 <Two-Headed Smiling Ghost>
MP: [67,200/67,200]
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Pale, he murmured, "Can I curse?"
If this monster was already scary enough before, now it was terrifying!
And the fact that it was just one elite miniboss, and not two like in the zombie dungeon, didn't help much, as it seemed like two elite minibosses in one.
"Holy shit! Screw this whole damn thing!!!"
The one who shouted was one of the clones that, of its own accord, dispelled itself after yelling.
"..."
With that happening, Tanaka, who had almost recovered thanks to the mind of a gamer, went pale again.
The worst part was that this wasn't the only shadow clone of his that did this; two others did the same.
[You gained 1 level in <Phantasmal Elevation>.]
The fact that this leveled up his skill didn't make him feel any better.
The only advantage he had was that, before he had a mental breakdown due to fear, the mind of a gamer kicked in. Otherwise, he'd be screwed right now.
'I wasn't so happy about getting this skill...' Tanaka murmured as his face regained some color.
Pointing his hands in the direction of the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost, he decided to attack, wanting to end this quickly. Soon, four chains shot out, two from each hand.
The shadow clones that managed to persist did the same.
"What?"
Tanaka's expression once again turned grim. The Two-Headed Smiling Ghost simply brought one of its arms to the eye of the left head and inserted its thin, skeletal fingers into the eye in a bloody and horrific manner, pulling it out.
Smiling, the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost crushed the eye in its hand.
Then, it simply vanished and reappeared in front of one of the shadow clones, extending its hands toward the clone's eye, instantly piercing the shadow clone's head, seemingly wanting to steal the clone's eye since it destroyed one of its own.
"Ahhhhh!"
Screaming, his shadow clone didn't last long before disappearing.
Confused, but still smiling, the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost simply flew at an astounding speed, leaving a smoky trail as it flew, appearing in front of the next shadow clone, which didn't even have time to use its chains before meeting the same fate as the previous clone.
MP: [62,200/67,200]
The destruction of one of its eyes caused the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost to lose 5,000 MP. It was just a theory, but Tanaka believed that if he were caught and had his eye stolen, it was possible that the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost would recover the lost MP.
Forming hand seals, Tanaka created 5 shadow clones. With them by his side, they all began to create chains that shot towards the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost.
"Shishishi~~"
Making deep, echoing shrill sounds, the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost turned to look in his direction, easily dodging the shadow clones' chains, then extended its hand and ripped out the right eye of the right head.
"Damn it!"
Tanaka jumped back, as did the shadow clones, anticipating what the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost was going to do.
However, contrary to what he could imagine, the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost appeared behind him, only 2 meters away.
The simple shock he felt made him lose nearly a thousand HP.
It was worse to see it for himself than to receive the shadow clone's memories. This horrendous ghost made him go as white as a sheet, while his heart pounded furiously before calming down. It was ridiculous how much his heart sped up and slowed down. It almost seemed like the mind of a gamer was playing tricks on him, making him calm and then scared.
However, at some point, he became numb, and this happened in a fraction of a second. Somehow, this cleared his mind, and he was able to think rationally, coming up with an idea that would help him in that moment. So, he extended his hand as he turned and used the power of Psychokinesis, holding the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost in place.
"Haha, since you have no weight, it means I can also use this skill on you at will!" Laughing nervously, Tanaka began to squeeze it, while the previous clones he had created didn't survive, disappearing one after the other.
"EeEEeeeHaaAAHHh!!!"
While being held, the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost started to emit horrifying screams, making Tanaka's hair stand on end.
However, he didn't waver and continued to hold it with his powers, and soon the distant clones approached and began attacking it.
The screams and struggle of the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost continued until the last moment of its miserable life...
[You gained 409,000 EXP!]
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[You obtained <Soul Stone – Rank A-> x1]
[You obtained <Recovery Potion – Rank B> x4]
[You obtained <Eye of the Two-Headed Smiling Ghost - Rank B> x2]
[You obtained 600,000 ryō]
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Sitting on the ground, Tanaka felt mentally exhausted. Even though the mind of a gamer eased this, what he had gone through still hammered in his head for some time.
Seeing other ghosts beginning to appear, he stood up, then quickly ran while killing some ghosts along the way until he reached his house. Entering the special room, he dispelled the shadow clones, ignoring the warnings that appeared in the process, then extended his hand and said, "Leave the dungeon."
'Screw this, I'm not continuing!'