"Whoa!"
Clack!
"...!"
Four successful parries in a row.
...Though that last one had been a close call.
I understood the timing. Since his attacks changed every time, the parry timing wasn’t fixed, but as long as I calculated the speed at which it closed in, there was no problem.
"How...! How the hell are you blocking them in such a pathetic stance—!!"
The real problem was that my body couldn’t keep up with my calculations and cheats.
"Well... yeah."
"What...?"
I didn’t know why this was working either.
I was genuinely just forcing myself to swing my sword and shield at the right moment.
Rather than swinging them, it was closer to simply sticking them out in front of me.
"Sorry about that."
"Human!!"
If I were that boar, I’d probably be pissed too.
My form was undoubtedly pathetic, yet somehow he couldn’t even graze me.
I was deflecting all his attacks with the exact stance that the masters of the Infinite Regression Gallery had cursed at and sighed over. I almost felt bad for him.
‘But I still parried them, didn’t I?’
Results were all that mattered in this world.
Whoosh—!
‘That makes five.’
I tightened my grip as I watched him charge at me with his face twisted in fury.
Red light burst from the tip of his bluish dagger. Having swung countless times already, I extended my sword at precisely the perfect moment.
Clack!!
The instant the light overlapped with the circle, my sword struck the dagger dead-on.
I had no follow-up technique, nor any technique that could break that dagger, but I could completely neutralize his attacks.
"What trick are you using, human?! How can a lowly creature like you see through every one of my attacks?!"
‘Now for the special pattern.’
I swallowed at the sight of him barking away so passionately.
According to the wiki, he would attempt an attack with a large windup.
‘A body slam? Or will he switch to a kick?’
From what I had seen so far, he only fought hand-to-hand, so he probably wouldn’t use some magical technique.
Which meant the boar’s options were limited.
Since the wiki had specifically called it a ‘large movement,’ he wouldn’t use cheap tricks like throwing his dagger or flinging sand.
At least not until he started a new count of five.
Scrape... scrape...
Grinding his teeth, he dragged his feet as he backed away.
Why was he putting distance between us? This wasn’t going to turn out to be one of those situations where he could actually attack from range, was it?
"I’ll kill you...!"
‘Here it comes.’
Thud...! Thud...! Thud—!!
Once he finished speaking, he glared wildly and charged at me.
He was much faster than before—so fast that the vibrations shaking the arena traveled through the ground to reach me.
Clench...!
"Uoooooh—!!"
He brought both fists to his waist and slightly lowered his upper body.
A little clumsy, but savage. He charged like he intended to clear away the obstacle in front of him.
‘So it is that one.’
How was I supposed to parry that? Could I stop it by striking it with a wooden sword?
Even blocking it head-on with my shield didn’t seem safe.
Flash.
Red light leaked out from his entire body.
The light and circle were incomparably larger than anything before.
‘I absolutely can’t block that.’
I might get the timing right, but I was certain I couldn’t deflect that.
-If this attack is countered, the enemy enters a brief groggy state.
‘It doesn’t have to be a parry.’
What were the conditions for countering it?
What other method could I use to stop that attack?
Thump! Thump!
My heart pounded at the sight of him drawing closer, his expression so vicious it made me feel like I’d never be able to eat pork again.
A hulking figure I had to crane my neck to look up at was charging toward me with the eyes of a man staring down his mortal enemy.
‘...Don’t panic.’
Parrying that would be impossible, but I knew exactly the ‘timing’ at which it would reach me.
I just had to take it slowly.
According to the wiki, the pattern would repeat anyway.
I could parry his normal attacks, so I just needed to experiment step by step to see how far the conditions for countering went.
"Uooooooooh!!"
"...!"
When he came right up to me, he suddenly raised his hands over his head.
I had naturally assumed it would be a body slam, but contrary to my expectations, he raised his daggers.
Seeing the two daggers pointed at me as if he intended to carve my body into an X, I tensed my toes.
‘Now...!!’
The instant the red light completely overlapped with the circle, I threw myself sideways to evade.
Thump...!
‘What about the groggy state?!’
I rolled across the sand and immediately turned my gaze toward him.
Regardless of the result, I had no intention of attacking this time.
I needed to calculate in advance how much time I would be given to attack, and how he would react afterward.
‘With my skills, what good would swinging this wooden sword a few times do?’
I needed to know exactly how much I could attack him if I wanted to clear this boar—and the twentieth floor.
"So you weren’t a human after all. You were a rat."
"..."
I frowned as he slowly turned around after slashing empty air.
I had probably failed to counter the pattern.
He was breathing heavily, but he didn’t look groggy.
"What, were you scared and ran away this time? Why don’t you try blocking it with those pathetic skills of yours?"
"Yeah, go ahead and taunt me for the rest of your life. You still won’t be able to catch me."
"..."
At his words, I cupped my hands around my mouth like a megaphone.
Try blocking it? Why would I?
It might take a while to win, but this was a fight I would never lose.
"Keep barking like a pig getting its throat slit for all eternity. Let’s see if I ever fall for it."
"You bastard...!!"
"Oh, you didn’t understand?"
"What did you say...?"
"Oink, oink!"
"Uwaaaaaah—!"
For the record, that was how you taunted someone.
*
Clack—!!
"Whew..."
I roughly wiped away the beads of sweat trickling down my forehead.
A laugh slipped out at the sight of the boar, completely driven mad by rage.
‘Thanks. I’m farming experience like crazy because of you.’
Had I parried him more than thirty times by now?
None of his attacks worked on me in the slightest.
The first few had actually been more dangerous. As I became accustomed to parrying, my defense grew more and more solid.
"Huff, huff...!!"
Meanwhile, blinded by rage, he was exhausting himself even faster by putting all his emotions into every attack.
"Tired already? Is that it?"
"What the hell are you...?"
"Just an ordinary person with no abilities?"
I smirked and shrugged at him.
I had meant it sincerely, but for some reason his face twisted in fury.
I genuinely had no abilities at all. I was only following the wiki’s assistance.
‘I still haven’t seen the groggy state even once, but...’
Honestly, I wasn’t too worried about it.
Compared to that boar, I still had plenty of stamina left.
I just stood still and waited for him to charge, then clicked parry in time with the red light.
I would open up some distance, then click shield-parry against the bastard as he ground his teeth and came at me again.
Based on my experience on the tenth floor, if I repeated this endlessly, he would eventually collapse first.
Clack!!
"Oops."
"Again!! Agaaaaaain!!"
That made four again.
Block one more, and the special pattern would begin.
‘The special pattern has definitely weakened too...’
The attack he used every sixth strike had slowed down considerably.
The red light erupting from his body was much fainter than it had been at the start.
‘This time, I’ll deflect it.’
Of course, his attacks changed little by little, but that didn’t matter as long as I got the timing right.
"Humaaan!!!"
"I’m not going anywhere, so don’t worry."
I gave a hollow laugh at the sight of his hand trembling around the dagger.
At some point, the sky had turned orange.
I didn’t know whether that much time had really passed, or whether it had simply been time for the sun to set in the first place.
I had been exchanging blows without pause, so I couldn’t tell how long I had been here.
Dash!
"This time, I’ll kill you for sure!!"
"Why are you so angry?"
That much stress couldn’t be good for his health.
Flash—
I raised my shield as I looked at the boar with pity.
I had built up enough experience with my sword, so now I was diligently trying to parry with my shield too.
Clack!!
The shield met the dagger at the right moment and deflected his attack.
His arm veered aside from the failed attack, and as he lost his balance and staggered, I lightly stepped back.
A parry gave me a very brief window to attack, but I didn’t want to get caught trying an attack I wasn’t skilled enough to pull off, so I focused solely on parrying.
‘Five done.’
I would deflect this special pattern.
Honestly, I wasn’t scared at all anymore.
He was a complete pushover... no, I had become completely familiar with his attacks, so I couldn’t imagine myself being defeated.
"Again... again with that pathetic stance!!"
"Quit playing the same recording. Don’t you have anything else to say?"
"Shut up...!!"
Smack—!
I blinked as he lost his temper and struck his own thigh.
I didn’t think I was particularly skilled, but was getting beaten by a newbie a few times really enough to make him this insanely furious?
"He’s just weak himself..."
"Uwaaaaaah—!!"
Clench!
As he charged at my starting signal, I raised my wooden sword.
Every attack wasn’t the same, but it didn’t matter what attack he used.
The attack patterns I had watched countless times were now completely organized in my head.
Flash—!
‘That looks murderous.’
The boar came right up to me, leapt, and looked down at me from midair.
He clenched the dagger in his right hand hard enough to break it, gritting his teeth as he tried to kill me.
‘Now.’
Clang—!!
"Oh!"
"...!"
The wooden sword I swung half a beat ahead of his attack struck directly atop his fist.
Was he tired from all his previous attacks, or had my parry timing been perfect?
The impact forced his hand open, and the dagger flew far away, all the way to the colosseum wall.
As he landed belatedly and looked around in panic, I put all my strength into my grip.
‘I don’t know if this is a groggy state or whatever, but...!’
I had gained enough experience now. It was about time I headed back to the safehouse.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I gripped the wooden sword tightly and swung it at him.
Smack—!!
"Hah."
I had aimed precisely for his neck.
And just as intended, the wooden sword struck the side of his neck.
"Hu...man...!!"
‘Doesn’t he look way too fine?’
It was sharp, but perhaps the wooden sword hadn’t cut him because it was made of wood. Or perhaps my attack was too pathetic to cut him in the first place.
──There was just one problem.
Clench...!!
"Did you think... that something this weak could kill me—!!"
He had grabbed my wooden sword and was applying enough force to break it.
‘It won’t come out...!!’
I gritted my teeth and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge. I tried to push him over instead, but he didn’t move an inch.
Creak.
Then a faint sound came from the wooden sword.
‘No way...’
Creak... crack!!
The wooden sword I had swung without rest for a week.
The wooden sword that had deflected the arrows on the fifteenth floor and endured dozens of parries.
‘Fuck...!!’
My thousand-TP wooden sword, as precious as my life, had finally reached the end of its lifespan.
Dash!
I hurriedly let go of the wooden sword and retreated a good distance.
He clutched his neck as though the blow had not been completely without effect, but I had lost my only means of attack.
‘...What do I do?’
His face was colored with rage and humiliation.
The way he stared at me made it seem as if he were saying, ‘You’re the first person to ever attack me...!’
"That was a good fight. How about we call it a draw?"
"Shut your mouth!!"
"Thought so."
I had generously offered, despite having landed more attacks and blocked more attacks than he had...
"I need neither pride nor anything else. The very fact that I allowed the likes of you to attack me is enough to make me despair..."
"...What?"
"I will utterly crush you in the manner of our warriors...!"
"For fuck’s sake...!"
He threw aside the knuckle dagger on his left hand... then suddenly tore off his clothes. Not just his top, but his pants too.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
Raw and beastlike, he gritted his teeth, looked to the sky, and let out a full-throated... bark.
Flash—!!
‘It’s appearing already?’
He had not even begun attacking yet, but a light incomparably brighter than before burst out.
If this were a game, it felt like the screen would be flashing red to tell me that I was in extreme danger.
Thump...!
"...Crazy."
As I watched the light slowly shrink toward the circle, he suddenly put his hands on the ground.
He was literally on all fours... snorting madly, as though he had recovered the memories of his distant ancestors.
‘That’s definitely several times more threatening, but...’
Charging at me like that seemed much scarier than swinging daggers around with that giant body.
"Squeeeeeal!!"
"That really is a fucking pig...!!"
He was faster than when he ran on two legs.
I frowned as I watched the red light gradually align with the circle.
‘Can I stop that with my shield?’
The pattern had abruptly changed. It was probably right to see this as a desperate final pattern.
My head was a mess. How was I supposed to block that? Could I even block it? How long would it keep repeating?
‘Just get the timing right...!’
He came right up to me without slowing down.
I had no idea where or how I should strike him, but thinking I had to hit him somehow, I swung my shield-bearing left arm wide.
Smaaaaaack—!!
"Kuh...!"
Craaaash!
The edge of my shield struck his head exactly. It struck him, but I collided with him head-on and was sent flying all the way into the wall.
‘My waist...’
My lower back had collapsed.
I could force myself to stand, but I didn’t think I could jump sideways or throw myself out of the way anymore.
Instinctively, I knew that propping myself against the wall and walking was my limit.
‘I need to attack now...!!’
The boar was lying on the ground in pain, perhaps suffering a concussion.
I needed to rush over and attack him right away, but I had no weapon. My shield had also been sent flying far away by that impact.
‘Damn it...’
I hoped he would die just like that, but there was no way he would.
He would get back up soon enough and charge at me again.
I needed to find some way, any way, but I couldn’t see a path forward at all.
‘The wiki isn’t reacting either.’
As I gritted my teeth and looked around, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do...
"...Ah."
Within arm’s reach lay the knuckle dagger he had been holding.
The dagger I had knocked away when I first deflected the special pattern was now beside me.
"Hu...man...!"
"Fuck..."
I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again as he staggered back onto all fours.
Running away was impossible.
Subduing him or parrying him barehanded was impossible too.
The only option I had left was—
‘God, I really want to die.’
To struggle somehow with that weapon sticking out from inside his pants.
‘...It’s still warm.’
Of course it was. He had kept gripping it in his hand and attacking with it.
So there was nothing particularly strange about it being warm, but...
Swish.
"Come at me, you filthy bastard...!!"
I bit my lip against the tears welling up for some reason and shouted with all my sincerity.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register