Chapter 63

“Chason, what do you think you're doing?”

“... Leave my dad alone.”

“There was no death’s scent left on the ship. But you saw him yourself. He isn't dead, but he isn't alive, either. You're the one who can set your father free.”

“No...!!! You didn't drag me here just to make me do this!”

Woojin's cheek twitched at Chason's outburst.

“... I'm sorry.”

“Then... find another way... Ack?!”

It happened just then.

“Duck.”

Woojin shoved Chason's head down with all his strength and pulled him close.

WHOOSH!

A massive axe swept past, narrowly missing the spot where Chason had stood.

It was Camilo, the third head of the family.

[“You talk far too much with enemies before you.”]

“For a founding family head, you'd think you could wait a little. Some patience you've got...”

Gilbert smirked at Woojin's words.

[“We hardly seem to have anything to discuss.”]

“Father...”

Even in that moment of danger, Harterwin hadn't moved.

Chason stared at him, resentment and sorrow mingling in his eyes.

[“You're distracted.”]

At that instant, Roberto and Flon closed in on either side of Woojin and thrust their swords.

They were incredibly fast. It was too late to parry.

“Hup...!”

[Activating Barrier.]

An opaque shield formed around Woojin.

CRACK!

“...!!!”

But Camilo's axe shattered it in a single blow.

“Master!!!”

Just as the two spirits' swords were about to pierce Woojin—

[Setsuna uses Hardened Skin on you.]

Woojin's skin turned stone gray.

CLANG! CLANG!

His transformed skin deflected the family heads' attacks.

[Activating Phantasmal Barrage.]

[Activating Rapid Fire.]

CRASH!

Setsuna's and Ruen's attacks pierced the family heads as though the two had coordinated them beforehand.

“We did it!”

Setsuna clenched her fist and shouted as dark clouds of dust billowed up.

“Not yet!”

Woojin hurled himself straight into the rising dust.

[Activating Mighty Strike.]

CLANG!

His descending sword struck something solid with a ringing impact.

“Ruen! In the back!”

At his shout, Ruen looked toward Gilbert.

There she saw Minuel, the thirty-first family head, casting something.

[Activating Hawk Eyes.]

Her eyes shone, and an arrow flew from her bowstring toward Minuel at tremendous speed.

[“Grrk!”]

Minuel twisted aside to dodge the incoming arrow.

“Haaaah!”

Woojin poured strength into his sword. With a cracking sound, the shield blocking it shattered.

Dragon Heaven, First Gate — Severance

Woojin swept his sword horizontally at the two family heads who had stood within the vanished shield.

SLASH!

With a sharp surge of electricity, the blade cleaved through both at incredible speed.

FWOOSH!

The fire imbued in the blade spread to them, bursting into flames.

[“Aaargh...!”]

[“Urgh...!”]

They groaned as though in pain, but instead of retreating, they thrust their swords.

[Activating Spirit Channeling.]

▶ Attack Power increases to 1.5 times its original value for 30 seconds.

An orc's soul appeared behind Woojin and vanished. He knocked all the incoming swords aside at once.

[“Gah?!”]

The tremendous force sent the family heads staggering.

“If that's all you've got, you're nothing special.”

[“You... bastard!”]

Camilo darted between the two staggering figures and swung his axe at Woojin.

[Activating Chain Strike.]

Woojin's body blurred as he slipped sideways past Camilo's axe and closed in.

CRASH!

Unlike Acceleration, which merely improved reaction speed, the upgraded Chain Strike assisted with both evasion and counterattacks.

CRASH!

Camilo hastily raised his axe to block Woojin's attack, but with his [Swiftness] trait, Woojin was a little faster.

THUNK!

The sword pierced Camilo's side.

[“Guh...!”]

With the blade buried deep inside him, Camilo shuddered as if electrocuted.

FWOOSH!

Flames rose from the embedded sword and began pouring out from within his body.

[“Aaaaaargh!”]

Listening to Camilo's screams, Woojin twisted the sword and drove it deeper still.

BOOM!

Camilo's body vanished in a burst of flame.

With a dry rustle, the axe he had held fell to the floor and crumbled into ash. The nearby family heads backed away, looking tense.

“Chason. Like I told you, I can annihilate them, but I can't purify them.”

His footsteps echoed as he walked toward Roberto and Flon.

The flames engulfing them had died down. Fortunately, they hadn't been annihilated, but they looked utterly terrified.

“If you care about your predecessors, pick up your sword.”

His blade hissed as he settled into his stance.

[“Aaaaaah!”]

[“Haaah!”]

Realizing they had nowhere left to retreat, the two charged Woojin with cries that sounded like screams.

[Activating Cold Wave.]

A bitter chill filled the room, freezing them both in an instant.

[Activating Sprint.]

Leaving the frozen pair behind, Woojin raced toward Minuel without looking back.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Arrows flew in and shattered the two frozen figures.

[“H-hieek...!”]

Before Minuel could resist, Woojin's sword plunged into the spirit's back.

[“... Gah!”]

With a final scream, Minuel's soul was annihilated.

“Weak.”

Woojin's verdict after subduing the former family heads was cold.

“You're all far too weak.”

The Taikan in the Ice Cave had been stronger.

“Why are you so weak?”

Then Woojin looked at Chason.

“Because they're just the supporting cast.”

“What...?”

“The developer who made this dungeon must be one nasty piece of work.”

[Activating Hungry Brand.]

“Absolutely heartless... Games are supposed to be fun, but they throw this bullshit trial at you.”

Or had an AI made it?

“That would make sense, then.”

▶ Harterwin has been branded.

When Woojin had entered the boss room, his first concern had been whom to brand.

Judging by the situation alone, the obvious choice would have been Gilbert, the founding head.

But while fighting the family heads' souls, he had realized something.

'The black fog isn't just a dungeon where you hunt a boss.'

The true purpose of this dungeon was...

[“Aaaaaaaargh!”]

'A fight between father and son.'

WHOOSH!

Harterwin's greatsword came hurtling toward Woojin.

Unlike those of the family heads he had faced so far, Harterwin's greatsword moved too fast for his eyes to follow.

▶ You steal 1/3 of the target's highest stat (Dexterity).

▶ Your Dexterity increases by 40.

▶ Harterwin's Dexterity decreases by 40.

'His Dexterity was over 100?'

A true genius.

'But...!'

Woojin checked the change in his stats.

▶ Dexterity 50(+20) → 90(+20)

With the rune bonus included, his Dexterity now exceeded 100.

[Your Dexterity has exceeded the level cap.]

[A special adjustment effect activates.]

[The adjustment effect has granted you Trait: Reaction.]

[You have acquired Linked Skill: Piercing Eyes.]

[Trait: Reaction activates.]

▶ Reaction speed against attacks from hostile targets increases by 100% for 5 seconds.

'...?!'

Astonishingly, the path of Harterwin's moving sword appeared before Woojin's eyes like a trailing shadow.

Reading that path, he evaded Harterwin's attack.

Reaction.

A trait obtainable at the level-50 threshold when Dexterity exceeded 100. It predicted enemy attacks and read their trajectories.

Given the initial 20 stat points, reaching 100 required a total of fourteen levels' worth of stat points.

The ability to predict enemy attacks might sound overpowered, but the trait actually came with many restrictions.

Its greatest drawback was that the Dexterity required to use Reaction increased from level 50 onward.

It required 120 up to level 60, then 150 at level 70.

The requirement kept rising in that fashion, making it increasingly burdensome to invest points in Dexterity for [Reaction] as one's level rose.

If they stopped using Reaction, all the points invested in Dexterity would go to waste, so players tended not to raise Dexterity in the first place.

'This is... incredible.'

Woojin had naturally shared that opinion. Stats with clear, visible effects had mattered more.

But the moment he experienced [Reaction], his thinking changed.

[Activating Piercing Eyes.]

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

WHOOSH!

He ducked under Harterwin's sword and sprang another step forward.

[Reaction ends.]

WHOOOSH!

The wind that had seemed frozen struck his face, and everything that had looked slow sped up.

SCRAPE!

With one hand gripping the floor, Woojin slid around behind Harterwin.

[“...!!!”]

Harterwin hastily turned.

THUNK!

But it was already too late.

Woojin drove his sword toward Harterwin with all his strength.

“Ah...”

But at that moment, Woojin realized he had overlooked something.

There was one other person whose Dexterity exceeded 100.

“... Chason?”

Instead of the black smoke that should have emerged when his blade pierced a spirit, red blood streamed down Woojin's sword.

“Father...”

Pushing away the sword embedded in his abdomen, Chason struggled to stand in front of Harterwin.

He staggered, spreading both arms with his back to his father as though to protect him.

“Step aside.”

“I can't... let my father die.”

CLATTER!

Gilbert kicked the fallen [Seawater Sword] across the floor toward Chason.

Chason must have dropped it in his desperate lunge to protect Harterwin.

Gilbert's vile little smile, as though urging him to hurry up and fight, was loathsome.

“... It really is a well-made game.”

Woojin ground his teeth as he looked at Gilbert.

He could scarcely believe this was a program.

“To make someone feel this fucking awful.”

That thought even made him suspect that [Ethan] had modeled it after the other world Woojin had experienced.

After all, Ethan was the one being that had sent him there.

“... Who cares?”

What mattered now was how to resolve the problem before him.

“Chason, stop being an idiot.”

“Even if I am, I can't help it. You want me to stand here and watch my family die? No, you want me to kill my own family?”

Despite Woojin's warning, he shook his head and shouted.

“... I can't do that!”

RUSH!

A fierce current of water surged along Chason's blade.

“Could... you do it?”

It was a cruel question.