12 Royal Death
Woosh-!
Sung-jin neared the Spider Queen fast, and he ran so quickly that it didn't seem like he was hurt. However, that wasn't true at all. But he just ignored it and continued.
'I have to use the same strategy as when I fought the Spider King. But I don't think it's going to be as easy.'
He thought as he scrambled his head around to find a good solution. He was worried about the health he had left. And the fact that the Spider Queen stats were doubled meant just blocking one of her attacks could spell a disaster.
'I don't really have any choices. It's do-or-die. So I just need to stop worrying and just yolo it.'
Sung-jin slowed his pace again; after he had rallied himself up, he remembered about something he hadn't looked at for a while.
"Status Window."
He said aloud, opening his stats.
-Status Window
Name: Sung-jin | Level: 11 | Age: 20 | Title: Dark Apostle | First Generation
Strength: 10
Vitality: 10
Agility: 50
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 10
Stat Points: 10
Skills:
Night Slash: Dark Type
Titles:
Dark Apostle: Lvl 1 [Exp: 4%]
[Effect: 5% exp gain]
[Effect: 10% damage gain. Dark Type skills only]
'That's right! I have leveled up a few times since last I checked—'
He got happy when he saw he had stat points to use. But he couldn't allocate them in peace before he got interrupted
"Ahh!"
He exclaimed while stopping up completely in place. If he had just run a few inches more, he would have been hit by the Spider Queen's web.
"Wait a bit, please!"
He begged the spider for a break, but it didn't seem she cared much.
'Okay, I just have to do it quickly!'
Sung-jin ran away from the Spider, trying to buy some time.
'I won't spend my points on Agility this time; I need to balance my build a bit. If I use them on Vitality, my health regen will be faster, but health regen doesn't equal strength. So it's pretty much useless—'
He stopped his thoughts for a bit and took a deep breath before continuing.
'But Dexterity… That's the one! If I spend points there, my Assassin-type abilities will get stronger, and I can do more damage.'
He thought of his genius observation, but he quickly wondered if that was actually a good idea.
'Is Night Slash an Assassin-type skill? I never bothered to check, and I always assumed it just worked.'
Sung-jin tried to think back to when he first got the skill back in the tutorial, but he couldn't remember it clear enough, so he decided to open his skills menu again.
"Skills."
-Skills
Night Slash:
With dark mist coated around his weapons, the first Demon King used this skill to eradicate the humans that dared to approach him under the first Great Demon War. After the war and the Demon King's disappearance, this skill was lost. Only to be found in history books.
Effect:
Dark, Assassin-type
50% damage gain to all monsters and humans.
Ten mana consumptions every second the skill is applied.
Bonus: 50% damage gain if the opponent is humanoid.
"It is! Nice!"
He exclaimed, making a joyful sound. And only shortly after he found out about his skill being an Assassin-type ability, he didn't waste any time and applied all the points he had left onto Dexterity.
"Good! So this is my stats now."
He opened his status window one last time before continuing his fight with the Spider Queen.
-Status Window
Name: Sung-jin | Level: 11 | Age: 20 | Title: Dark Apostle | First Generation
Strength: 10
Vitality: 10
Agility: 50
Dexterity: 20
Intelligence: 10
Stat Points: 0
Skills:
Night Slash: Dark Type
Titles:
Dark Apostle: Lvl 1 [Exp: 4%]
[Effect: 5% exp gain]
[Effect: 10% damage gain. Dark Type skills only]
'That should give me a little boost. Now I just have to figure out how I get onto the Spider Queen's abdomen.'
Sung-jin couldn't think of any good way to attack the Spider Queen. The plan he had, was to kill it like how he did with the Spider King. But under the break he took to allocate his points, he noticed that the Spider Queen had an annoying trait.
'Last time I conquered this dungeon, the Spider Queen wasn't so focused, and she lost track of the players often. But now, it's like she never loses eye contact with me. Could it be because I'm soloing it? Or is there something I'm missing?'
He tried to find out about the strange abnormality of the Spider Queen.
'The problem with the Spider Queen focusing me is that she will be able to dodge me if I attack. And her being faster than me means I'm not able to surprise her.'
He scratched his head in frustration. No matter what he did, he couldn't find any reason.
'This world is supposed to mimic a game, so there must be a game mechanic I'm missing. If she just wasn't so mad at me, I might—'
He stopped mid-thought abruptly, and he replayed the last sentence back in his head.
'If she wasn't so mad at me… That's right! She probably focuses on me because she thinks I'm the murderer… Well, I am. But that's not the point.'
His brain began to work at high speed again, and he quickly made a new plan.
'Spiders have bad eyesight, so they can't see me well. Spiders hunt their prey through their incredible sensory organs and small hairs on their bodies, which allows them to feel and smell things.'
Sung-jin looked down his body and saw that his clothes were smeared with the spider eggs' nasty stuff. And he quickly put two and two together.
'She can probably smell me—'
He couldn't think his thoughts through quick enough and rolled onto the ground losing his footing. The Spider Queen has had enough of Sung-jin running around like a madman, so she began to attack him again. But this time, she used her speed to get up close and attack with her fangs.
"Awk!"
He exclaimed, recovering his balance fast before the Spider Queen could attack him again. He continued to think of his plan as he was dodging the continuous attacks from the spider.
'She probably thinks that the one who has the smell of her babies is the killer. So she might aggro them first. That means if I throw my clothes away…'
Sung-jin couldn't make himself say the sentence through, and the realization of throwing his clothes away being the best solution made him flinch.
Swash-!
[22 Damage Taken]
"Ahh! Damn it!"
The Spider Queen attacked him at the perfect time, just as he flinched. She managed to graze his cheek, but Sung-jin got his knife in-between the Spider Queens fangs and him just in time.
"Ahhh! Go away!"
He yelled. They got stuck in a deadlock, and none of them seemed to budge an inch.
'At this rate, I will definitely get eaten!'
Sung-jin thought that his destiny was set, and he could only stare in the big mouth that would soon engulf him.
'No! I just have to wriggle my way out and throw away my clothes. It doesn't matter how embarrassing it is; no one can see me either way.'
He used the last strength he had left and pulled his knife away from the Spider Queen, making her quickly bite at him. But Sung-jin was prepared, and he quickly rolled to the side, dodging the attack.
"Now is the time!"
He ran as far away from the Spider Queen as he could before she began to chase after him. He quickly took off his clothes until nothing was left but his underwear, and he threw it on the ground in front of him.
'Please, if I'm not correct on this one, I'm going to die!'
He begged the higher beings for mercy as he could see the Spider Queen rapidly decreasing the distance between them. He took a few steps back and prayed.
Crackle-!
"Yes!"
Sung-jin said aloud. The Spider Queen had drilled her fangs into the clothes that were on the ground. And now she couldn't move because her fangs were stuck in the ground.
"I'm still alive!"
He exclaimed, looking up to the higher beings and thanking them.
Skreee-!
The Spider Queen's blood-curdling scream reverberated through the dungeon again, but it sounded a bit sad this time. She tried to get her fangs out, but they got buried too deep into the ground.
'This outcome was unexpected, but now I just need to finish this pest off before my luck runs out.'
Sung-jin did not calculate the way the Spider Queen was stuck in the ground, but he didn't think about it, and he quickly took his knife in his hand and quickly ran towards the Spider Queen; he leaped into the air just like when he fought the Spider King, and aimed for the spider's abdomen when he fell.
"Let's finish this! Night Slash!"
He said, activating his skill.
Skreee-!
The Spider Queen continued to cry out its pain as Sung-jin was attacking it.
[48 Damage Given]
[51 Damage Given]
[45 Damage Given]
[41 Damage Given]
Skreee-!
It didn't take long before the crying died down, and the Spider Queen fell to the ground.
Ding-!
-System: Dungeon boss 'Spider Queen' defeated.
-System: Congrats Player. You leveled up!
