Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 12: Star, Tutorial (5)

[Current number of viewers in this channel is ??.]

[Current number of deities showing deep interest in this channel is ??.]

[Many deities crave for a more brilliant spectacle than this.]

[Many deities marvel over the player who has been quickly overcoming the Tutorial.]

‘What on earth…?’ Woo Hye-Bin thought. She could not maintain her composure due to the messages that had continuously begun to fill her gaze mere moments before.

Ever since the Dungeons and Gates opened, she had begun hearing about beings called Celestials. Still, she had just been an ordinary middle schooler until a few days earlier. Those had just been stories of another world.

However, messages saying those deities were surprised and shocked kept on appearing. She was surprised to see them the whole time.

‘Well, I’m just doing what Mister told me to do, and I’m still dumbfounded… People watching this will make it worse.’

Technically, it was difficult to think of Celestials as ‘people,’ but that did not matter to Hye-Bin. At that moment, she was just happy that she could help Chang-Sun, who was truly responsible for the astounding achievement.

[The Skill ‘Gale Dash’ has been activated.]

Krrrr―!

Kieee!!

Kwikwikwi!!

Stirring up the sand beneath her feet, Hye-Bin ran forward. A large number of monsters trailed behind her. However, each one of them had a half-vacant expression.

[The Charm Rune has successfully bewitched a ‘Rotten Zombie’.]

[The Charm Rune has successfully bewitched a ‘Decomposing Ghoul.’]

...

[Many monsters perceive you as tasty prey!]

After ‘modifying’ Hye-Bin’s brand, the first thing Chang-Sun had ordered her to do was to engrave a Charm Rune on her palm. Afterward, he had told her to run through the monsters. In other words, he had instructed her to become monster bait.

He had told her not to worry about the aftermath. No matter how many monsters she successfully attracted, he would wipe out all of them. He even added that her <Talent> lay in escaping.

Just like that, the first skill Hye-Bin acquired with Chang-Sun’s help was [Gale Dash]. With that skill active, most monsters could not lay a single claw on her.

She found her <Talent> extremely fascinating. Ever since childhood, she had always been called a ‘sports klutz’, so she had never even dreamed of joining the track and field team.

However, as Chang-Sun had said, she had a talent for escaping, which undoubtedly made her effective at her task. In an incredibly short time, she was able to attract all the monsters along the route by running from the second sector to the fourth, and finally toward the location where the boss monster lay in wait.

When she led the monsters to the agreed-on spot, Chang-Sun would jump in and take them all out… Just as he was doing now.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

Just as Chang-Sun instructed, Hye-Bin added all of her additional stats to [Agility] whenever she leveled up. She literally poured all her stat points into it, and as time passed, her body grew lighter and lighter. She was simply using the experience points she had gained from party play, so she had no complaints.

Rather, she marveled as she watched Chang-Sun’s one-sided massacre, thinking that was how she was supposed to fight. She unconsciously learned a lot from the display.

Chang-Sun naturally displayed fighting skill that looked almost as if it came out of a video with CGI effects. He cut off a zombie’s limbs and kicked its body far away before the monster detonated itself, then knocked down a ghoul twice his size with judo before separating its head from its body.

[Eliminated ‘Rotten Zombie’!]

Thud!

As the last undead’s head fell to the ground, Chang-Sun landed beside it without making a sound and asked Hye-Bin, “Is this the last one?”

Hye-Bin replied, “Yes. As you requested, I attracted every monster within a three-hundred-meter radius.”

“What about the preparations?” Chang-Sun asked.

“It’s all done. I even checked to see if it works properly,” Hye-Bin replied.

“Then run away as far as you can. A monster will soon appear, and you can’t deal with this one by running after contact,” Chang-Sun said.

“Okay!” Hye-Bin replied. She had never once suffered a loss from listening to Chang-Sun; thus, she decided to run as quickly as she could away from him.

If things went according to plan, the boss monster of the fifth sector, the final boss of this Dungeon, would soon make an appearance.

It was at that moment…

Booom!

Suddenly, an immense shadow descended from the sky, and the world itself seemed to tremble as if a bomb had detonated.

[The final boss monster, the ‘Decaying Plague Spider’, has appeared!]

Kieee!

The boss monster was as big as a three-story apartment. It was a truly horrific creature roughly in the shape of a spider, but made of corpses. It looked as if countless rotting zombies and ghouls had been stitched together haphazardly, their limbs flailing and mouths emitting terrible screeches.

The stench emanated by the monster was so foul, it was enough to render Hye-Bin half-unconscious, even though she was five hundred meters away from where the boss monster had landed.

‘Toxin…!’

On top of that, the toxin mixed into the stench was strong. Even though it was Chang-Sun who was fighting the monster, Hye-Bin still wondered how he could possibly hunt such a thing.

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ flicks his tongue and looks forward to your new insights.]

Meanwhile, Chang-Sun firmly gripped [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] and opened his [Viper Eyes] wide.

[The Effect ‘Lesser Toxin Resistance’ has been activated.]

[The Effect ‘Lesser Toxin Resistance’ has been activated.]

...

[The level of ‘Lesser Toxin Resistance’ has increased!]

[The accumulated fire energy defeats the penetrating toxin!]

Chang-Sun’s lips twitched as he saw that [Lesser Toxin Resistance] was working properly. He had leveled it up by making it to the fifth sector in one attempt. He had gone through a great deal of trouble to do so, as well. Whenever he felt hungry, he had chewed on the Bloody Mamba’s meat to force the skill’s level to increase.

All of that had been a preparation to fight the final boss monster, the Decaying Plague Spider.

‘The toxin this guy emits makes it impossible for anyone to reach.’

The Sariras of Fire that steadily accumulated inside his body had finally lit the ‘ember’ within Chang-Sun, which was a great help to him.

[Achievement unlocked!]

“Source of the Purification Fire Lit by 666 Sariras of Fire.”

Reward: Enhancement of the fire attribute, Stamina +5.

‘Purification Fire’ was the power of fire among the eight elemental powers that composed the Eight Trigrams. It symbolized the purest fire energy. It was the true name of the ‘ember’ Chang-Sun had aimed to obtain, and it had already begun to infuse Chang-Sun’s mana with its energy.

Even if some toxin remained that could not be filtered by [Lesser Toxin Resistance], it would be burned away completely by the flames. Consequently, that meant Chang-Sun was the Plague Spider’s natural enemy!

Pounce―!

Chang-Sun leaped off the ground, slashing through the Plague Spider’s leg. The Explosion Runes he had carved into his weapon activated once again.

Rumble―!

Kieee!

The Plague Spider let out an eerie cry as a chunk of its leg, which was thicker than a human torso, fell away. It raised its other leg high and stabbed it toward where Chang-Sun was.

Thud!

However, that spot was already empty, as Chang-Sun had moved quickly to target another area. [Viper Eye] had shown him a weakness in the monster’s left shoulder.

“If you succeed in igniting the ember, you need to turn it into a powerful, unstoppable. So, what ‘kindling’ could make that happen?”

While Chang-Sun had been in the Underworld, the <Fallen Star> had posed that question while giving him a hint about lighting the fire in the Eight Trigrams Brazier. In response, he had immediately thought of one particular method.

‘The most useful ‘kindling’… would be deadly toxins.’

Thus, Chang-Sun had to gather the toxic organs of each boss monster from the five sectors:

The Bloody Mamba’s Poisonous Fang.

The Flame Tiger’s Flame Toxin Claw.

The Ice Kite’s Ice Toxin Beak.

The Underground Scorpion’s Stinger.

And the last was…

‘The Plague Spider’s Toxin Sac.’

All five ingredients had to be obtained to light the fire in the Eight Trigrams Brazier. It was the key to opening the gate on the road to attaining the [Impervious Body]. Chang-Sun had already gathered four of them as he passed through the sectors, and now, only one remained.

‘The location of the toxin sac was… beside the heart for sure!’

As the thought passed through Chang-Sun’s mind, his blade bit deep into the spot next to the Plague Spider’s heart. The Explosion Rune activated in a violent burst of energy.

Boom, boom, boom!

However, as if Chang-Sun had hit a hard boulder, his attack bounced off the spider with recoil that made him feel as if his wrist would shatter. Only a few pieces of flesh fell off the boss, leaving behind traces of soot on its lightly scratched exoskeleton.

[The attack failed!]

‘Indeed, it's tough.’

Chang-Sun knew that Plague Spiders were created by combining several undead into one. In Arcadia, such monsters were considered particularly tricky enemies to hunt. Even [Viper Eyes] only highlighted it in yellow, which indicated a ‘recommended spot to attack’, as opposed to red, which indicated a ‘vital point’.

Swoosh!

Chang-Sun took a deep breath, unconsciously gritting his teeth as he rapidly took a step back. The Plague Spider’s front leg pierced through the spot where he had just been, narrowly missing him.

As a result, a large opening appeared. Chang-Sun attacked once again, penetrating deep inside and aiming for the joints in the spider’s armored carapace. If he could not break the shell, he had to aim for the gaps in between instead.

Clash!

However, the joints themselves were so tough that they deflected his blade, rendering the dagger useless. It turned out that there was an inner layer of armor beneath the spider’s carapace.

[Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] was extremely sharp and tough, allowing it to leave a scratch on the surface. Otherwise, the blade would already have been ruined.

Squirt!

The Plague Spider spat fluid from its mouth, but Chang-Sun swiftly rolled across the ground to evade it. The fluid struck the ground, rapidly melting it away in a plume of white smoke. It seemed that the spider even had horrifically powerful acid.

‘In the end, will I have to go with that plan?’

It was impossible for Chang-Sun to kill the spider at the level he had attained in just over three days. He could withstand the toxin in the air, but if the spider spat acid at him, that would be different, as he had not had the opportunity to acquire acid resistance.

It was truly fortunate that Chang-Sun had prepared something for just such a contingency with Hye-Bin. That was why Hye-Bin had attracted all the monsters to the area for Chang-Sun to exterminate them.

Despite that, he had attempted another solo raid regardless. However, it seemed he had been acting with reckless bravado.

After arriving at that conclusion, Chang-Sun quickly moved, taking a step back and hurriedly leaving the area.

[Retreating from the area!]

[The ‘Decaying Plague Spider’ is all riled up. It expresses strong hatred for the person who killed its children.]

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

As if to say ‘you’re not going anywhere’, the Plague Spider swiftly moved its huge body, running toward Chang-Sun. Each time its legs struck the earth, it left a hole, as acid began to melt the ground itself. The sheer potency of its acid scorched the ground black.

However, the left side of its body suddenly sank into the ground, preventing it from chasing after Chang-Sun any longer.

It was a trap!

[The ‘Decaying Plague Spider’ falls into your trap!]

[The ‘Decaying Plague Spider’ squirms, trying to escape the trap!]

[An ‘Explosion Rune’ has been activated.]

[The ‘Decaying Plague Spider’ sustains damage!]

[It has entered the ‘Burning’ state.]

[A Piercing Rune’ has been activated.]

[The ‘Decaying Plague Spider’ sustains damage!]

[It has entered the ‘Bleeding’ state.]

...

[Achievement unlocked!]

“Caught a Rat in a Trap.”

Reward: Intelligence +5, Skill ‘Lesser Trap Installation’.

Dozens of bone spears crafted by Chang-Sun lined the bottom of the trap, and its walls were densely packed with runes. The moment the Plague Spider fell into the trap, the Explosion Runes within triggered a chain reaction, quickly weakening its shell. Afterward, the bone spears, which were engraved with Piercing Runes, were able to penetrate the shell and damage the Plague Spider.

Kieeee!

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ bursts into uproarious laughter at the gruesome trap you have made.]

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ laughs, pitying the spider floundering in the trap. ]

O―! Oo―!

Kieee!

Screaming and crying in pain, the Plague Spider managed to climb out of the trap with much difficulty.

However, the trap’s narrow opening forced the spider to be struck by a chain of explosions, the intensely hot blaze dyeing its shell scarlet. The undead on the spider’s outer shell caught fire, wailing sorrowfully.

Little did the spider know that the trap was just the beginning.

Chang-Sun slashed down hard with [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], slicing through a taut rope next to his foot. Huge log spears swung down from between the large trees and smashed into the Plague Spider.

Boom!

The Plague Spider’s two right legs were smashed to a pulp, causing rotten meat to fly through the air. New log spears continued to swing toward it.

[The ‘Decaying Plague Spider’ falls into the second trap!]

[The level of the Skill ‘Lesser Trap Installation’ has increased!]

Pow!

Pow!

Chang-Sun had predicted the Plague Spider’s route based on what he knew of its habits. Then, he had installed a total of six traps that would activate consecutively.

After the onslaught of swinging log spears, the third trap was a rain of bone arrows, and the fourth was the Explosion Runes engraved on them, which detonated soon afterward. The fifth trap was a swamp that engulfed the Plague Spider’s entire body. Each of those traps hit the spider in quick succession, followed closely after by the final trap.

Right above the swampy terrain, several large piles of dried grass prepared by Chang-Sun beforehand were set ablaze, falling onto the boss.

Whoosh!

[The level of the Skill ‘Lesser Trap Installation’ has increased!]

[The level of the Skill ‘Lesser Trap Installation’ has increased!]

...

As a result, the Plague Spider was set on fire, and excruciating pain coursed through its body as its outer shell began to melt.

Kie! Kiee!

It felt that it had to do something. Somehow, it managed to escape from the swampy ground, trying to get as far from Chang-Sun as possible.

However, it was already too late. A good hunter would never miss such a golden opportunity.

Pah―!

Leaping out from amid the trees, Chang-Sun pounced on the Plague Spider again. Unlike the first time it had appeared, the monster was covered with red spots. There were simply too many vital points to attack.

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