Chapter 135

Crowding the pavilion were three hundred 'Polluted Lifeforms'. But I knew that wasn't the end.

'I have to save as much stamina as possible.'

This place wasn't called the Leveling Shrine for nothing. I had to survive this place for a very long time and keep hunting the 'Polluted Lifeforms'.

I equipped an item.

[Noah's Helm]

Known to be the helmet that Noah, once called The Gale, enjoyed wearing in his youth. After weathering many fierce battles, it has become imbued with a special power.

Defense: -15

Effect:

Hostility quantity control.

Equip restriction:

Can only be worn inside a dungeon

Level requirement: 30

Cannot be equipped in conjunction with a magician-exclusive item

It lowered defense by a whopping 15. In terms of armor, this item was the worst, a piece of trash that actually increased the damage you received.

'But not here.'

The key point was that Noah's Helm had the effect of 'Hostility quantity control', an ability that would limit the aggro the wearer received.

'I'll be getting ten hostile enemies at a time.'

Be it three hundred, or three thousand, only ten monsters would show an inclination to attack me. That meant I only needed to pay attention to just ten monsters at any given time.

'If I only need to keep those ten in my view…'

I didn't need to worry about getting attacked by any others. That would massively reduce my mental strain and minimize the occurrence of variables.

[Registering the effect of 'Noah's Helm'.]

[Registering the 'Hostility quantity control' effect.]

[!] marks appeared over the heads of exactly ten Polluted Lifeforms. They had recognized me as a target to attack; I had automatically aggroed them.

Isabel's ego was awake, but silent. If I had to guess, she was probably racking her brain to figure out how to save me.

In any case, I was only being attacked by ten Polluted Lifeforms at a time. That was step number one—getting rid of any unpredictable variables in a mass hunt. This was the starting point.

I spoke to Isabel. "When challenging a situation that looks impossible to clear, there are a few things you can abuse."

First: OP items.

Second: pots.

Third: talent.

And fourth: luck.

Typically, these were the big four.

Ten Polluted Lifeforms came stumbling towards me at a slightly quicker pace, their bodies grotesquely contorted. Some of them had freakishly twisted arms and legs, almost like broken jointed dolls.

Grrrrk–!

The zombies approached me while producing a chilling sound.

"According to the results of my observation, they have high DPS but low defense."

They looked terrifying, but they were fundamentally 'humanoid' monsters, and humanoid monsters often had the fatal weakness of the 'head'.

"And they have a fatal weakness."

I swung Isabel at the Polluted Lifeform closest to me, not with the edge but the flat of the blade.

Bam!

A dull sound rang out.

(Hey, you jerk! What do you think you're doing?! You're killing my dignity here!)

Isabel was a sword, but she was a sword with attack power higher than any club out there. As a transcendent grade item, her attack power was the best you could get in the early game, even higher than 'Asura', the 'King of Swords'.

One of the zombies flailed an arm at me. I dodged it adroitly. After taking two steps back, I swung Isabel hard at another zombie's head.

(You… YOU! YOU BULLY OF A HUSBAND…!)

I got the sense that Isabel was shrieking in my head. She was screaming something like 'I'm not a CLUB!' but it couldn't be helped.

"Sorry, Isabel."

Her damage was definitely higher for 'cutting' attacks, or 'piercing'. Attacks that could maximize Isabel's attack power were way more favorable when it came to damage.

'Dodge.'

Their attacks weren't all that complicated, limited to moves like flailing their arms, biting, or scratching with their claws.

'I can… read their movements better than expected.'

I only needed to pay attention to ten zombies, so I didn't kill them. I struck zombie after zombie with Isabel.

Bam!

I used Isabel's blade as a club.

One, two, three, four.

'Good.'

The goal wasn't to kill them, but to just hit them.

[The movements of the 'Polluted Lifeforms' have been visibly dulled.]

All the zombies I hit in the head became slower. They became afflicted with the 'sluggish' status condition, which made them far easier to hunt.

I conveyed information to the Guardians while pretending that I was talking to Isabel.

"I'll restrict the enemies using the ability of Noah's Helm…"

Afterwards—

"And after hindering their movements…"

I would hunt them. I had to finish them off swiftly, because the moment I killed one, another Polluted Lifeform in good condition would start attacking me. With this many enemies around me, I would be constantly attacked by 'ten'.

"I have to kill them swiftly."

And while doing so, I had to keep tabs on my location. If I messed up and fell off the Gyeonghoeru, I would be killed by the Carnivore Mermaids. I needed to pay close attention to my location in preparation for the next aggroed zombies.

'There.'

I found a decent location, a good spot to hunt the next wave. It was a good distance away from the 'shore'. After finding the optimal spot with Observer's Eye, it was now time to use Isabel's edge rather than the flat of the blade.

"Only—"

In order to hunt them quickly, I had to undertake some amount of damage. It was inevitable if I wanted to cut down this hobbled group as quickly as possible, before fresh ones got to me.

"For the sake of speed, I'll need to sacrifice my body."

Crunch!

One of them bit into my side.

'It's okay.'

I let it attack me on purpose. I was armed with the Great Orc Warrior set right now. It did hurt quite a bit, but it wasn't unbearable.

'I'll cut the flesh to save the bone.'

I drew forth strength within me to unleash the reincarnation of Sword Path Tracing and Excellent Strike fused by Isabel's innate authority.

[Using the innate ability Sword of Insight.]

[Sword of Insight]

An advanced innate ability created by combining and pooling the merits of Excellent Strike and Sword Path Tracing in one place. No matter the situation, it will lock onto the enemy's weakness and deliver a powerful attack at the most vulnerable point.

My sword pierced the zombies precisely in their foreheads. I went all in on attack, not even thinking about defense. This place couldn't be cleared if you paid attention to that to begin with, at least not alone. I had to give up on defense.

Isabel's attack power and Sword of Insight's weakness homing didn't betray my expectations.

[Registering the additional effect of 'Legolas' Ring'.]

I was wearing a whole eight Legolas' Rings right now.

[Legolas' Ring]

A ring made by refining a 'topaz' that holds a mysterious power.

Defense: 1

Effect: 2% attack damage HP absorption.

________

Each one gave me 2% damage absorption. With eight rings, I was absorbing a total of 16% attack damage.

[Using the innate ability Sword of Insight.]

I pierced right through their foreheads again, during which one zombie dealt a heavy scratch to my arm.

[Absorbing HP.]

[Absorbing HP.]

I was OK.

[Using Healing Potion.]

[Using Healing Potion.]

The slotted Healing Potions and the absorption ability of my Legolas' Rings made it so I didn't need to pay attention to defense.

It took just twenty seconds to hunt ten zombies.

'It's… faster than I thought?'

It seemed I had underestimated Isabel's attack power too much. I was hunting them quickly, but there was a downside to all this.

[EXP cannot be acquired.]

[Items cannot be dropped.]

I couldn't get EXP or items. That was because I, an Observer, was doing 'direct hunting'.

'But I didn't come here for EXP or items anyway.'

Right now, I was showing the Guardians. I was showing them the worth of the content that was me, what kind of Playing I could show them. I came here to show them that in person, knowing exactly that the penalty of my class would apply.

I continued to hunt.

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

The flat of Isabel's blade swung out as a club, showing off excellent attack power the entire time.

[The 'Nameless Observer' continues to observe.]

[The 'Conductor of Sound' is awed.]

[The 'White Hunter' is surprised by your fighting spirit.]

[The 'Courageous Lion King' is excited.]

[The 'Barrier of Blue Light' finds your Playing method difficult to understand.]

Five Guardians sent messages about my eccentric Playing. My Playing was surely incomprehensible to the Barrier of Blue Light, a Guardian who valued 'defense' or 'safety'. It didn't seem like they particularly liked this method, either.

'Can't be helped.'

It was impossible to satisfy every Guardian the same way. All I could do was switch up the Playing to make it suit the time and place and capture the hearts of the majority.

Isabel shrieked again.

(I'm not a club, darn it!!!)

She wasn't a club, but her striking power was better than any club. She was very good. A very good club.

As the beating continued, Isabel's voice became weirder and weirder.

(I-I can't take any more!)

(No-Nooo!)

(I-I said I can't take any more, you jerk!)

Interspersed between her shrieks were moans so faint I could only hear them by listening carefully. It was like she was groaning.

'What's wrong with her?'

I had no idea, but I kept hunting. And after a while, after I hunted about ninety Polluted Lifeforms, I found out why.

[Isabel's ego has arbitrarily awakened a sealed innate ability.]

The transcendent item Isabel arbitrarily unlocked her own innate ability. This could happen?

[The innate ability Beat 'em, Beat 'em, Beat 'em Harder has been unlocked.]

I doubted my ears for a moment.

'The innate ability name…?'

I'd never heard of such a name. 'Beat 'em, Beat 'em, Beat 'em Harder'? For an innate ability possessed by a transcendent item, it really fell short on gravitas.

I heard Isabel sigh.

(In-In the end… it-it… was exposed.) I could feel her almost crying. (Take responsibility, you meanie. My dignity… my authority…!)

With that, Isabel's ego fell asleep again.

[Beat 'em, Beat 'em, Beat 'em Harder]

One of the innate abilities sealed by Isabel herself. Isabel has an extremely insular disposition towards martial arts or abilities other than 'swordsmanship'. An innate ability that Isabel herself denied and forcefully sealed, Beat 'em, Beat 'em, Beat 'em Harder has a focus on 'striking as a blunt weapon'.

+70% damage when striking with the flat of Isabel's blade

+14% attack speed when striking with the flat of Isabel's blade

+7% combo damage when striking with the flat of Isabel's blade

Now, I understood.

'A sword that cursed its own talent. Such a thing existed?'

Apparently, the ability to 'beat' was a shameful thing for a sword. At least, that was what Isabel thought. But the effects the ability came with were incredible.

'Wow…'

Sheer damage was increased by 70%, with a 14% increase in attack speed. How could there be a sword with such ridiculous striking power?

'And if I combo it…'

Each additional attack would add a whopping 7% damage. The first combo would give 7%, the second 14%, the third 21%. And if I reached a ten combo?

'That's +70%.'

That was 70% in addition to the base 70% damage increase.

'It's an insane effect.'

Wasn't this way too ridiculous an innate ability to seal just for dignity's sake? This ability would push any sword into the ultimate club. Why did she seal such a thing? In any case, she was one stubborn sword.

[Using Isabel's innate ability Beat 'em, Beat 'em, Beat 'em Harder]

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

My attacks were far faster and heavier than before.

Isabel resumed shrieking again, her cries mixed with low groans.

(Haah…! No, not like this…! NOT LIKE THIS, I SAID!)

What the, she wasn't actually asleep, just pretending that she was? I ignored her screams. She was incredibly effective (as a club).

'This is…'

It was much easier than I thought. I became more and more used to hunting the Polluted Lifeforms. I picked up their movements far better than before, and was able to accurately strike their weak points.

'They're way weaker than I expected.'

Both from Isabel's innate ability unlocking and my ability to adapt to the situation, the fight felt much easier. I was drenched head to toe in blood, but I recovered everything, so I didn't actually take any damage. I was level 32, and they were level 33. The fact I was hunting three hundred monsters one level higher than me… didn't feel very burdensome.

'It's different from the strat.'

I became certain that even without the strategy, I would have been able to easily hunt these guys.

'Which means…'

I needed to change my plans a little. No, I needed a full-on revision. I decided to ditch the scenario I'd been drawing out so far and display even more overwhelming force in the picture I'd be drawing ahead, to crush the zombies with overwhelming strength. That was how I would clear this place, the Gyeonghoeru. That was my number one goal.

'Wait.'

But then, a slightly different method occurred to me.

'Could something like this work, too?'

I decided to try.

____