"They… Say… Needles!" it roared, smashing through another cage that had served as Jin-woo's cover. "Make... Stronger!" It was bleeding profusely by this point. Its lumbering steps heavier and slower. Its strikes, kicks, and punches no longer carried as much strength. Muscle hanging by threads of skin. Its left leg trailing, buckling with every step, but not enough to stop its wrath and insane struggle to rip him into pieces.
He had kited it for far too long. And while it had been exhausted and forced to move with lethargy, he too was on the precipice of total exhaustion too great to escape. Even his spear had become impossibly heavy. Legs shaking in the struggle to keep his distance and force the Rat Lord into bleeding out or falling face first into puddles of sizzling hazardous waste.
The beast's massive fist swept horizontally, forcing Jin-woo to dive and roll beneath the strike. His bent spear caught against the warped metal around him, nearly tripping him as he scrambled to get up and continue maintaining distance. Gone were the careful strategies. Now it was nothing more than a race to see who would fall from exhaustion first. And neither one of them was willing to be the one to quit everything.
Jin-woo felt his head spin as he was forced to use another ‘Quick Strike’ to slip past another devastating blow. The familiar drain on his mana left him feeling hollow and in burning agony. It had ticked up a few points in the endless battle they had fallen into, but it wasn’t enough to cause any difference in the long run.
[MANA STATUS: 501/1600]
[WARNING: RESERVES CRITICAL]
"Promised..." The beast's voice carried bitter remembrance beneath its fury. "Evolution... Gave... Pain!" It tried to dive towards him repeating the same phrase over and over again.
Another ‘Quick Strike’ was used to dive under what should have been his death.
[MANA STATUS: 381/1600]
[WARNING: RESERVES CRITICAL!!!]
Jin-woo threw up foam and water from the poison rat caverns he had collected and had thoroughly enjoyed previously. Drinking it like it was holy water.
This needed to end. ‘Crimson Madness’ had to only be a few moments away. He threw caution into the wind. He had roughly two quick strikes to dodge left and maybe a single attack with his mana. If he would survive the emptiness of his mana was another whole matter to deal with. Jin-woo resolved to figure out one problem at a time. Future problems for future him. Current problems for current him.
He charged the heaving, lumbering, Rat Lord. A roar escaped him, and it matched him with similar intensity.
Jin-woo feinted right and lunged left. The Rat Lord swung in response, missing him by a hair's breadth. It no longer struck at him with the same incredulous speed it had in the beginning. A ‘Quick Strike’ drove his spear into its exposed left leg. He slammed it into the creature's kneecap, resounding pops and tearing muscle and bone echoed throughout the room. Jin-woo tried to pull his spear out, but found it firmly stuck. Abandoning his only source of range was not part of his plan as he dodged a desperate fist into the ground.
He needed to waste another ‘Quick Strike’ to escape.
Only one left. This was for everything. All the marbles. Both of them beyond the point of exhaustion.
It fell to a knee. Howling, and swinging its fists back and forth. Glowing blue blood pouring out of its massive body from a hundred different injuries. Savaged beyond recognition or repair.
“Cost… Failed… Evolution!” It turned to him and slowly rose to full height. Towering over him as it struggled to stand. His long spear, sticking out of its leg, had bent into a mess from the sheer weight of the Rat Lord.
“Who?” Jin-woo asked. Hoping for a response. He felt like he knew this monster personally after having battled it for what felt like an eternity.
It coiled onto itself preparing for a final charge. “Conclave!” It plodded towards him, swaying left and right barely standing straight. It refused to change tactics, to change patterns. Do anything other than charge forward in mad rage.
There was something honorable in it. Stupid maybe. But honorable in a way that itched a masculine urge he didn’t know he carried. It would be wrong to continue bleeding him dry instead of ending it now in a final exchange. Not that it would require much considering how weak it had become.
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Jin-woo roared as he charged it. He used his last ‘Quick Strike’ to dodge a two-handed grab attempt. Pushed off the metal rod stuck in the Rat Lord’s left knee and bolted himself up towards its face. His hands clawed for purchase, nails bleeding from what felt like concrete muscle and skin. He slammed the four foot metal rod into its eye, ripping out to the other side of its massive head and skull. Only a few inches on either side was exposed.
The massive behemoth took a few more steps, its heavy footfall echoing in the dead silent room. Arms swinging, looking to rend him apart. Body unable to recognize that it no longer had any life to it. A final, pitiful gasp as Jin-woo rode atop its frame escaped its massive maw.
It fell to its knees, his long spear, still in its leg, forcing it to lean to the right. He had to jump off lest he got caught under it and die after he had finally finished it off. Its body thudded into the ground unceremoniously. No trumpets shouted at its death. No one to mourn it.
That was it. Everything was over. Silence waited for him without any trumpets announcing his accomplishments. He could walk out of here into a mob of people and no one would be the wiser to what he had experienced. Jin-woo laid down on the ground, staring at the impossibly tall ceiling. And just accepted it as it was. He was too fatigued to think about the cruelty of this whole dungeon.
What he had been through so far. The endless slog of battles and fur furry. How many had he killed? A hundred? Two hundred Giant Rats? Three hundred? Another thing he added to the growing list of items he knew he would either never be able to figure out, or simply refused to deal with considering how pointless it was. His original mind may have found solace in the fact he had killed such a massive number of enemies, maybe even found some sort of confidence boost, but not him as he was now.
It was simple. His previous fights only served to improve his tactics in the present. That was all of it. Nothing more and nothing less. It hurt that he thought so little of what should have been great trauma.
The system chimed as a long stream of notifications scrolled in his shortened feed.
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[You Have Completed The First Floor Of The Rat King's Paradise!]
[Access To The Second Floor Granted!]
[Access To The External World Granted!]
[Boss Room Cleared!]
[All Remaining Rat Entities (Dungeon Entities) Have Been Eliminated]
[Treasure Chest Access Granted - Requires ‘inspect Dungeon Treasure Menu’ Skill]
[NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKED: Inspect Dungeon Treasure Menu]
[Experience Points Have Been Awarded]
[Mutated Rat Lord (150 XP)x1 + 30 Intelligent Giant Rats (7 Xp)x30]
[PROGRESS TO NEXT LEVEL:1560/2000]
[System Notifications Have Been Logged]
[Please Collect Your Rewards Before Exiting]
[Caution: Second Floor Difficulty - Increased]
[Note: External World Access Point Activated]
The notification hung in Jin-woo's vision for what felt like ages. He was over any sort of dissatisfaction with the amount of experience he was getting. It just was the way it was now. But that didn’t mean it didn’t affect his coming decisions.
“Never again,” he whispered to himself. Considering the amount of times he should have died. The disfigurement, scars, acid burns, and much more he had faced. And the slog of wading through an endless amount of rats. It just wasn’t worth it. Maybe he could gain strength through Power Stones rather than leveling up through battle. Only issue remaining was how to get the resources he needed for his experiments and integrating them.
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[DUNGEON STATUS: FLOOR 1 CLEARED]
[CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SURVIVAL]
[RECOMMENDATION: REST AND RECOVER]
A portal of deep, inviting blue whirred into life. It brightened the low light situation of the room considerably. First real source that seemed too bright, otherwise it was always barely enough. That had to be the way out. Back to the real world. The thing was dead silent. Something in him was disappointed it didn’t whir like a machine of sorts.
He ignored it, focusing on the continued stream of notifications that kept coming.
[COMBAT CONCLUDED!]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 360 XP]
[TREASURE / LOOT SPAWNING...]
[WARNING: Health Critical]
[NOTICE: SEVERE STATUS EFFECTS DETECTED]
[WARNING: Mana Reserves Depleted]
[RECOMMENDATION: SEEK IMMEDIATE RECOVERY]
[STATUS:]
[LEVEL 2: 1560/2000]
[STRENGTH: 16]
[AGILITY: 12]
[VITALITY: 15]
[INTELLIGENCE: 25 (+15)]
[SPIRIT: 12 (+2)]
[MANA: 11/1600]
[AVAILABLE STAT POINTS: ]
[SKILLS TAB: SELECT TO EXPAND]
[ADDITIONAL STAT TYPES UNAVAILABLE CURRENTLY]
That was it. No new skills other than the treasure finding one. That was specifically for dungeons and nothing else. Considering he might never enter another, it was pretty useless.
No new stats to allocate, only a single level within the time he had been fighting for his life. It only made each point that much more significant.
No new weapons. His own had been destroyed beyond recognition, bent, warped and broken in a hundred different ways making them worthless. Good thing the hospital was in great disrepair, giving him an arsenal of metal rods to use as needed. He wondered what it would be like to use the Giant Axe? What would the fire enchantment look like in practical usage? Wouldn’t it be useless in tunnels and tight spaces? Then again, he could carry multiple weapons, he didn’t lack in physical strength apparently.
Jin-woo chuckled, a smile stuck to his face. Eyes drooping and slowly closing as he fell asleep, slumbering within the dungeon. The last thing he remembered thinking about was how hungry he was. It hurt his stomach just to consider it at all.