I should've known I'd lost consciousness for about half an hour. It's a good thing I was able to drink one low-grade Healing Potion just a few seconds before the impact of the explosion that knocked me to temporary sleep. My HP bar is currently at 100. My body did receive a higher physical damage by the shockwave even though the painful feeling isn't as bad as a harpy’s kick to my stomach. The black smoke is still surrounding me. Even after wiping my face with my sleeve, I think the soot from the explosion will still be visible on some parts of my face. But how I look isn't important right now.
Suddenly, I hear a crack in my shield. I put it down to see how badly damaged it is. Luckily, it's just a medium-sized crack though I must be careful in using it against the final Beast. I somewhat digitally put the shield back into my storage. Once the black smoke has finally dispersed completely, I see almost the entire inner playground has been covered with charcoal-like patterns of blast waves caused by my Explosion Potion.
While looking around to see how much damage that kind of potion has done, I see five burned bodies which I instinctively know they all belong to the harpies that attacked me. Bones that resemble wings of a bird are the proof of identifying their charred appearances. It's an odd feeling that I'm staring at the lifeless burnt corpses in a calm manner.
I get that it's a must for Slayers to kill the Beasts, but it's very odd for me to see this kind of scene with a calm mind right now. I start to wonder if I'm about to feel indifferent. And if I do, it's uncomfortable because I’ve been a non-combat Slayer this whole time. I might start to think that I'm emotionally changing into someone else.
I’m about to immerse myself into deep thoughts about whether or not this is natural for Slayers to change their feelings into impassiveness. But as usual, I'm interrupted when the harpies’ five charred bodies disappear digitally into thin air; obviously they're put into the Guideline’s storage. A second later, the notification makes the usual ‘ding’ sound that has me paying attention to its messages about my profile update.
[You have slayed five Harpies, which are E-rank Beasts, at the same time.]
[You have earned 12420XP due to using the low-grade Explosion Potion on them.]
[Your overall profile has been updated due to your level being renewed.]
[Name: Kang Joo-yeon]
[Level: 7]
[Title: Memory Reader; Tenacious Slayer]
[Class: Healer]
[Subclass: Druid]
[HP: 740]
[MP: 60]
Oh no…I forgot my HP will become full again after renewing my level. Then again, I would've hit a ‘0’ in my HP if I didn't have any additional HP input. Anyway, I better choose carefully on when to consume my three healing potions.
[You have achieved a new title in your profile.]
[The skill {Lightning Control} has been officially activated due to the participant being able to get a second title on the same day.]
So it was dormant in the first place, huh? I wonder why…never mind. I'll test out this lightning magic I've got right now.
As I inwardly say [Activate {Lightning Control} Skill], a surge of lightning sparks around me. The next thing I realize is the lightning magic is hurting me like what I've experienced during my trial from Old Man Amergin. The feeling of unbearable pain makes me grit my teeth for the next several seconds. One of my eyes is able to see my HP bar going down a lot. I've to scream [Deactivate] to stop the dangerous skill from somewhat killing me. Once the lightning magic is “turned off” within my body, I see my HP bar being at 620. Then, I read the pop-up messages of the Guideline regarding the ‘Lightning Control’ skill.
[Warning: Your current rank is making you be invulnerable while using the {Lightning Control} skill.]
What the…
[It's possible that the continuous usage of this skill will result in lowering your HP at a fast rate.]
That's unfair!
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
[Please defeat the Final Beast to go to the next rank that'll let you use this skill without lowering your HP.]
“Hey, old man! I don't remember using a magic skill endangers the user’s life!”
And here I am thinking I'm immune to the lightning seeing how I survived being struck by it once at that trial. The saying of “third time’s the charm” isn't gonna be true for me since I really need my HP to be as high as possible. Thus, I drink one low-grade Healing Potion that has the bar saying 720.
“Great…now I only have two left…”
I must be making a shocked look as I notice my MP is at 50, and that there's the word which the letters are almost too small to read. It says “Cooldown for each MP: 10 mins” above the bar. I guess it makes sense because the skill I use requires my mana output, but five minutes is too long to refill one mana power. As if I can't get any more surprises from the Guideline, its reminder appears in this notification.
[Time limit: 25 minutes 59 seconds]
Just when I’m about to suspect that Old Man Amergin is the one writing these notifications all this time, I hear a rumbling. Actually, I hear consecutive rumblings as the ground I'm standing on begins to shake violently. After I endure in keeping my balance for several seconds, the ground stops shaking. Then, I hear a loud roar coming nearby. This is gonna sound crazy, but…
That roar sounds robotic!
Without thinking in finding out the exact location of this monster, I quickly run towards the entrance door, exiting the indoor playground just in time as something huge squashes the whole place in a split second. It's miraculous how my instinct to get out of there has saved me. Another cloud of black smoke has me choking for more breaths.
Alas, I see two glowing golden eyes looking at me. The eyes slowly move upwards amidst the smoked surroundings. Some moments later, I don't know if it's because of the half-moonlight appearing now or the walls of this theme park glowing brighter than ever, but I can only care about the colossal monster right in front of me. Its full appearance is finally revealed when the smoke has again dispersed completely.
“Hey, hey…you can't be serious, gramps…”
It's an unbelievable sight to be seeing a bronze robot standing at around thirty meters tall. This robot could stomp all of the giant black scorpions at the Sanction Zone. Then, I see something above its head. Words are shown in the same digital notification like what the Guideline has. Come to think of it, I just remembered they were also shown above the heads of the kobolds and harpie briefly before I slayed them. Now, this notification has additional info about this Beast. In fact, it's the FINAL Beast.
[Talos the Bronze Titan - D-rank]
[You have a 40% chance of slaying the Final Beast of this Spontaneous Labyrinth.]
[Please remember to use the mentioned options if you want to withdraw from the Special Mission.]
A little too late to give me a heads-up because I see the giant robot is about to swoop its left arm towards me. With the notifications close and out of my sight on time, I somehow am able to jump backwards at an appropriate distance. Its left hand slams the spot where I was standing a moment ago. The hand leaves a huge imprint on the ground as if the ground itself is made of dough; long cracks form around it.
I waste no time to not stare at the damage it has left behind. I turn around and run as fast as I can. I'm lucky, besides making sure I ate a full course meal an hour before I left the hospital, that I've chosen to put the majority of the points into the ‘Endurance’ stat; otherwise, I would've feel exhausted by now after fighting two groups of Beasts which I had to run away from before.
I've got no idea on where to hide because a few seconds later, the robot is right behind my back. Each of its hands trying to grab me. Its legs stomps on any lamp posts it encounters along the walkway area I'm at. In front of my line of sight are rows of benches and an outdoor stage. It's the Golden Stage, the theme park’s other main attraction. Once I reach the stage, I quickly hide behind the closed curtains.
I know I can't hide in here for long, but I need to check what I can use from the Guideline’s storage. Sure I've got my Explosion Potions, but that monster’s body is entirely made of metal, quite durable against explosives unlike Beasts with non-metal bodies.
I inwardly say [Open Storage] to see if I've any other weapons other than Jung-han's iron shield, but to no avail, there's nothing except the body parts of the harpies and leftover ones from the kobolds. But then, I stare at the claws and talons of both species of Beasts along with the word [Stockpile] that's written in a sort of tabbed page placed at the screen’s above area. There are other written tabs next to the [Stockpile], but I've got no time to find out because the robot's hand just smashed a huge area of the stage.
I'm standing several meters away from the impact, but I'm not taking any chances to take my own sweet time in searching every content of the Guideline. My eyes scan the digital page, and finally, something particular catches my attention. It seems to be that I own a druid oak. Actually, I see like a few dozen of them being stored in this kind of special storage. I wonder if the reason the Guideline never mentions that I've so many druid oaks is because they're not ingredients for potions. If not, the old man must've slipped these materials in the Guideline without informing me about their existence. As I think about the reason he didn't let me know about the other content pages, the roof above me has been blown off; or more like, the bronze robot rips it off like it's made of paper.
Without a second to lose, I run away as quickly as I can be from the stage. Ten minutes later, I find myself standing in front of the theme park's huge rocking boat ride. Hearing another robotic roar has got me hiding inside the boat. I’ve to lie down flat on the floor boards so that I don't get seen by the robot that easily. I waste no time in getting to craft some weapons. Well, I can only think of doing enough damage to the robot if I keep hitting a part of its body at the same spot, preferably the head if I'm able to.
It's obvious that I can't make swords because A) I don't have skilled swordsmanship like Ms Han, B) I wanna save the druid oaks, since swords require a long handle, as many as I can for a more compatible material, and C) it takes one whole minute to make each throwing dagger. Thus, I inwardly decide to [Proceed to Craft] these items into throwing knives.
[1. Harpy’s Talons - 12 Parts]
[2. Kobold's Claws - 12 Parts]
[3. Druid Oaks - 12 Short Pieces]
[Crafting of twelve E-grade Throwing Knives duration: 12 minutes]
I have to be quiet and stay still for the next twelve minutes. I could attack it with my lightning magic, but I'm still at my F-rank status. I don't know what level I should be to become an E-rank. Wait…that robot is D-rank according to its title written above its head. Also should I really go for a 40% chance in taking it down for good? What if I’m unable to because I'm a F-rank…
Anxiety and doubt starts to overwhelm my mind even though I keep reminding myself to stay calm. As for the chance of defeating this final Beast written in that notification, I subconsciously agree that if it said I've got a 60% chance to win, I wouldn't feel this much panic now. As my mind starts to get more confused and reconsider in choosing an option of leaving this Spontaneous Labyrinth, the boat ride starts to move.
It initially moves slowly, but the sound of creaking mechanical parts has let me know that it's not a man-made technical malfunction like that carousel's sudden music playing. The boat ride eventually gets swung faster. My hands have to grab hold of the seats’ safety bar. Alas, I can hear and see the whole boat ride get easily detached from the bolts holding it to a main metal pole. This swinging motion I'm experiencing now is definitely not because of the pole. The giant robot has found me. Its head appears right above me. The golden eyes stare at me, and I stare back at its face with the feeling of fear resonating within me.