A not-so pointless struggle.

Jack-Ó-Lantern is a carved lantern, commonly made from a pumpkin to celebrate Halloween.

Formally, this creature had more than 1 name, it was more famous for being Will-Ó-Wisp or Jack-Ó-Lantern, they were the same despite having 2 different folklore dedicated to it.

Will-Ó-Wisp was the name given to Will, a blacksmith who was so wicked that even with a second chance given by Saint Peter at the gates of heaven, he continued leading a very bad life causing those around him misfortune. He was rejected from heaven and was fated to roam the world forever. The Devil provided the poor soul with a single coal to keep himself warm. However, despite being pitied by even the devil himself, Will continued his wicked ways even as a spirit, using the coal as bait to lure foolish travelers into the marshes. Hence Will-Ó-Wisp was born, under the category of ghosts, spirits, and fairies

Jack-Ó-Lantern on the other hand, was a name given to a human named Jack. Jack had managed to deceive the devil multiple times, trapping him with the usage of crucifix and cross. However, due to Jack's notorious nature, upon his death, he too was denied entry to the gates of heaven. Because of this, he had no choice but to free the devil and asked for a place in hell. The devil rejected him for revenge and instead allowed him to have an ember of fire from the depths of hell wander in the eternal darkness. Jack picked up a pumpkin he found along the way and carved it out, allowing the flames of hell to burn inside it, and have it act as a lantern where he walked eternally through the night.

These 2 fabled tales went hand in hand due to how similar the premise of the story was:

Dealing with the devil in desperation.

However, it was still determined that both characters were the very same person, even though they were folklore from different parts of the earth.

So was it Jack or Will who roamed the earth eternally?

**

[Lee Jeong-Hun's POV]

Jack-Ó-Lantern?

What is this? There wasn't any boss of a Lich King caliber in my previous runs. Now there's a ridiculously strong boss in front of me.

The named monster in front has its name bordered in crimson red.

Which meant he has a higher level than me. So, now what?

I gripped my sword tightly, expecting to engage in combat at any time.

The pumpkin head must have seen me as he started cackling out of nowhere before he mocked me in a deep, low voice.

"Brave for a human. But for all that bravado, only for you to freeze before a Lich King? Pathetic."

Jack-Ó-Lantern's appearance was very similar to how the modern illustration showed. A monster with a boney figure wrapped in bandages. On top of that, covering his entire body was a deep black robe that covered everything from his shoulder to his feet. His hands were the only thing that showed up, holding onto a heavy-looking scythe that was at least 1.5 bigger and taller than him.

He looked exactly like the grim reaper if you replaced its head with a flaming pumpkin.

I whispered under my breath, hoping to get more information about this creature.

"Skill: Observe"

[Jack-Ó-Lantern] - Lv. ???

Information is not available.

Level ???

What in the world is happening? This has not happened before during my class selection. How am I supposed to proceed?

"Checking my stats won't work."

"?!?" How____

"Since I'm a being that's way above you mortals, it's only natural."

"How___"

At that moment, I tried to ask a question, and Pumpkinhead's scythe disappeared.

*THINKTHHH*

"Hoooooo, you could block that at such a distance, hm?"

Pumpkinhead's heavy scythe struck directly forward, in front of me, only for me to barely block it with my sword, yet the sharp edges sank deep into my left shoulder.

HP: 7980/9000 --> 2015/9000

"!"

"So let's see how long you can stand against me."

Jack-Ó-Lantern smiled grimly as he raised his scythe off my shoulder and began grabbing it with both of his hands.

**

Upon being released from being impaled, Jeong-Hun immediately took off, his blood dripping in large quantities while his sword still stuck to his hand like glue.

On the other hand, Jack, not wasting a second, starts mowing down everything in sight, slashing everything around him.

The statues, the walls, the paintings, everything was cut in half, and he was not about to stop any time soon.

Jeong-Hun on the other hand, retreated to one of the other rooms to hide from the pumpkinhead.

Whispering under his breath, he uttered the words needed to summon a spirit to aid him.

"Come mosquito, I need your help."

Immediately, a small faint glowing light emerged from the dark, brightening a portion of the room, and went straight for Lee Jeong-Hun.

As how one would expect a fairy to look, a female fairy appeared. But her expression was that of how a child would pout.

Immediately, she started sprouting what could only be described as nags at Jeong-Hun, probably due to being called a mosquito. Though the spirit sounded grumpy, she complied with Jeong-Hun's request, healing the deep cut with magic.

HP: 2015/9000 --> 3113/9000

Then just as how he was able to pinpoint where Jack was going to strike, Jeong-Hun immediately grabbed the spirit with his hands and rolled forward.

The wall that was behind him previously was sliced in half and was destroyed in an instant.

"Shit!"

Jeong-Hun was only able to heal a portion of his health before being disrupted, causing the summoned spirit to be canceled, returning her back to the spirit world.

"No matter how quiet you are, activating a magic spell is enough for me to reveal your position."

Jeong-Hun grabbed his sword and immediately started exchanging blows with Jack.

Jack's attacks were fast and very aggressive, striking immediately just as his previous attack landed, making an endless combo from his end.

[Battle Sense] was what kept Jeong-Hun on the edge, being able to see every attack precisely and react accordingly.

But being able to see everything doesn't mean that he was able to fend off all his attacks. In one instance, due to the high rapid movement, Jack was able to feint his attacks and leave another deep cut on Jeong-Hun, this time on his left thigh.

HP: 3113/9000 --> 1232/9000

Jeong-Hun groaned in pain while the Jack-Ó-Lantern floated in the air with his arms crossed.

"That shouldn't be all you can do… You were able to summon the Lich King in your class selection test… I was even able to cross the boundaries to get here. How is this all you can offer me? SHOW ME MORE!!!!"

As Jack-Ó-Lantern spoke with disappointment in his tone, his shoulder slumped, while his gaze fell to the ground, his once well-lit fire in the pumpkin dimmed while his voice carried a heavy sigh. The creature's usually cheerful and sadistic demeanor was drained as he float in midair in silence, engaging in deep thought.

Jeong-Hun took the chance to immediately strike Jack once again like a bull running off to pierce its target.

Jack on the other hand couldn't be bothered as he aimed his scythe once again at his challenger as if he was attempting to swap a fly. The strength behind his attack ended up being too strong for Jeong-Hun to handle as he was sent flying across the room, slamming his back against the wall.

HP: 1232/9000 --> 4/9000 *Warning*

"Oofph!"

With the remaining breath leaving his mouth, Lee Jeong-Hun persisted as he leaned against the wall he landed on as support only for it to slide down to the ground since there wasn't any strength left in his leg for him to stand.

A bright red light flashed all over his sight, indicating that his health is low. Facing ahead with his impaired vision, all he could see was his status. He was not able to see what was in his surrounding. With no other choice, all he could do was check out his current condition.

HP: 4/9000 *Warning*

MP: 1957/2800

<Status Ailment>:

1. Bleeding

2. Blindness

3. Stun

[Warning]: Your health is dropping rapidly, please replenish your health as soon as possible. Failure to comply would result in imminent death.

Jeong-Hun reached for his inventory for the health potion he had saved up in case of emergencies, in an attempt to recover even a little so he could escape from this situation.

But seems like luck wasn't by his side as the moment he got a hold of the bottle, it dropped, spilling all of its content on the ground.

"65 Luck, my ass. Can't even rely on these numbers to save my life."

Jeong-Hun cursed as his eyes stayed glued on a specific number as it dropped another value, signaling his end.

HP: 4/9000 -->1/9000

Jeong-Hun's eyes glanced over at Jack-Ó-Lantern as the boss laid his body defenseless. He was practically wide open for an attack.

With his dying breath, Jeong-Hun forced himself up, summoning every ounce of strength that was left in his body. Gripping onto the Heavenly Demon Sword, his body staggered trying to get ahold of his footing.

"All or nothing."

With nothing to lose, Jeong-Hun lets out a war cry, alerting Jack-Ó-Lantern in the process.

That was when another one of his skills activated.

[Dragonic Blood] Lv. 3/10 Activated

A temporary boost in vitality, strength, and magic.

HP: 0(300)/9000

It seems his relentless willpower gave him the chance he needed.

Bouncing off the ground with his sudden new strength in his arsenal, Jeong-Hun dived straight for Jack-Ó-Lantern and swung his sword once again.

[Phantom Cleave]

A Single Target skill.

Lands an invisible major slash on the target.Can't be seen through the naked eye. As silent as the night, the blade cleaves its target without fail.

Requirement: Intermediate Mastery of Swordsmanship

Duration: Instantly

Skill Cooldown: 7 Minutes

The hidden traits of the skill certainly caught Jack-Ó-Lantern by surprise but still, he wasn't fazed. However, Jeong-Hun was not done, smashing part of the ground, with the help of the dust, he was able to create a small smokescreen, blinding Jack-Ó-Lantern's vision.

Jack-Ó-Lantern was not about to play along with the human's plans. He grabbed his pumpkin head and held the head through the pumpkin's stem, as though holding on to a lantern.

In that instance, the fire in the pumpkin's head blazed afar, clearing the smoke instantly. Still, Jeong-Hun was nowhere to be seen.

Jack-Ó-Lantern placed his head back on his body, and with a twirl, he swung his scythe around his body, which created a perfect sphere with his body standing in the center. Anything that was found within the circle would already have been sliced in half.

However, that wasn't the case for Lee Jeong-Hun.

[Frozen Fang]

A counter-attack skill that initiates after getting hit.

Retaliates with a Cut that mimics that of a Wolf with an additional effect of Freeze. Upon successful hits, the status Frost Bite is applied.

Status Effect: Freeze, Frost Bite

Duration Cooldown: 30 minutes.

The counter-attack caught Jack-Ó-Lantern by surprise, freezing his body in the process.

"Now's my chance!" Jeong-Hun thought, rushing straight for Jack-Ó-Lantern hoping to finish him in an instant.

But the reality was rather harsh.

[Dragonic Blood] Lv. 3/10 Deactivated.

HP: 0/9000

The skill effect was over. But Jeong-Hun finally did achieve what he sought in the first place. Landing a direct hit right in the boss's body.

[Critical Hit]

Jeong-Hun smiled as his life force left his body. Refusing to release his grip on the sword that was embedded within Jack-Ó-Lantern's body. He laughed while flipping off the Pumpkinhead in defiance, ushering these words as his final word.

"Next time, You will be the one in this sorry state." before collapsing on the ground dead.

Jack baffled by this entire event stood still on the ground before he held his hand on the top of his head and laughs maniacally. The flames in the pumpkin ignited alongside his laughter as though the flames were alive, expressing his emotions.

"Truly!! This was why I was summoned here." Jack-Ó-Lantern continued speaking while he looked over the corpse of the supposed human he just killed.

"You... are the key to removing this boredom from me. Only YOU can do it."

Jack kneeled on the ground beside Lee Jeong-Hun as he placed his body in a sitting posture against the wall. From there, he grabbed his pumpkin head once again, this time, placing it directly onto Jeong-Hun's head.

The system that was shut down due to its user's death was now rebooted as a long written amount of text ran in the background.

The user who was supposed to have passed on has his heart started beating again, as the flames from the pumpkinhead began to engulf Jeong-Hun's entire body.

Only a sentence was left.

[Legendary feat was achieved.]