Chapter 147: Swamp of Despair 1
Translator: – – Editor: – –
The company didn’t open on Friday, and Junhyuk was resting at his home, gathering his thoughts. He didn’t mind going to Dimensional Battlefield that day. Even if he died, he wouldn’t die. However, he was not completely carefree. So far, he had only had a supporting role to the heroes, but this time, he would be a leader in the fight.
In that new battlefield, he could earn a lot more money. Champions usually had high defense, but his attack, especially his new power would crush them.
Junhyuk raised his two longswords: the Blood Rune Sword and the Frozen Rune Sword. The Blood Rune sword had been upgraded, and was now a rare item. He looked at the Frozen Rune Sword and murmured, “Will I be able to upgrade you this time?”
He absolutely needed to do it. Junhyuk knew that and obsessed over it. Once he finished upgrading the sword, he would buy more runes. From then on, he would have to earn a lot more money. He wanted to use that battlefield as a stepping stone for doing so.
Junhyuk swung his swords and returned them. He let go of his anxiety and lay on his bed comfortably. His burner phone rang loudly.
Junhyuk picked it up and heard Sarang’s voice.
“Big brother! It’s tonight at eight o’clock, right?
“Right.”
“You will be leaving soon.”
“Yes.”
“Make a lot more money.”
Junhyuk laughed. She sounds like a wife talking to her husband!
“I will kill as many as possible.”
Not all champions were the same. He had the Spatial Slash, but he wasn’t sure if he could kill Adolphe.
Junhyuk finished talking to Sarang and stayed on his bed with his eyes closed. Soon, it would be time, his first time at the champions-only Dimensional Battlefield.
He had to have fallen asleep, but the white light pounded his cornea, and he appeared in a familiar room. Junhyuk looked at the number on the wall: 23,240G.
Since he had become a champion, his earnings for killing heroes were different.
“This time, each kill is worth 3,000G. I’ll make more.”
Junhyuk looked around and heard a soft voice.
[Welcome to the Swamp of Despair.]
That Dimensional Battlefield was different, and he wanted to stay in the room and find out more about that place. Then, a full suit of armor appeared before him.
[Those without their own armor may wear it.]
Junhyuk inspected the suit. It wasn’t better than an expert’s basic suit of armor, so he summoned Bebe’s Black Armor and inspected everything he had. He owned more equipment now and he was stronger than ever before. Junhyuk gathered his breath, making to go outside.
Suddenly, he heard a voice he had never heard before.
[I will tell you about the Swamp of Despair. This place will group you with two other champions, and you may follow two roads to attack your enemies. Both roads have watchtowers, and it’s a good idea to stay on them.]
He still didn’t understand the situation, so he kept listening intently. That was his first time there, so it would be good for him to have an idea of the place before going into battle.
[Between the roads, you’ll find a swamp. There is a high-ranking magician sealed in that swamp. If you help the magician, you will receive buffs. They may change the flow of the battles ahead, so if you can, you should give the magician the needed help.]
Junhyuk thought the high-ranking magician was just like the dragon, but he didn’t have to kill the magician. Instead, he had to help the person out. It was different from what he had thought, and he wanted to hear more, but the soft voice came back.
[You may exit by the main entrance.]
With that, Junhyuk realized the explanation was over and walked through the door.
[This is the champions-only Dimensional Battlefield. You have unlimited revives, but you will lose 3,000G each time you die. Keep that in your mind and enjoy the battles.]
He thought they were nicer at the champions-only battlefield.
[This Swamp of Despair’s victory prize is a Spatial Bag. Its height, length and width are five meters. Do your best to ensure victory.]
Junhyuk was all ears. The Spatial Bag was normally too expensive for him to get, and they would just give it to the victor. He had to win. He pushed through the door, and the voice declared:
[Champion Junhyuk Lee deployed.]
They didn’t call out a number, but referred to him by his name, and he was very proud to be a champion. He opened the door. There were numerous minions standing there, but they weren’t people minions. They looked like lizards and stood on two feet.
Junhyuk looked at them and murmured, “Lizardmen?”
The battlefield was called a swamp, so the minions were lizards. Junhyuk looked around. He was at the champions-only battlefield, so there had to be other champions there.
He saw some people standing there. They were a head taller than the lizardmen, and Junhyuk walked toward them, analyzing them.
One man had bandages all over him and blue eyes. His eyes told Junhyuk that he had to be someone important. Junhyuk realized the man was also a champion, and he wanted to know more about him. He had to know more about his enemies’ powers, but it was also good to know his allies.
It was easy to tell the other was a champion just by looking at him. He was over three meters tall and broad-shouldered. He was holding a staff with horns on it, and Junhyuk guessed he was some sort of troll. He walked over, and the troll greeted him.
“You must be the new champion.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Junhyuk Lee.”
The troll smiled.
“I’m Kaljaque. We’ll get along fine.”
Kaljaque looked at the man wrapped in bandages, and Junhyuk also looked at him.
“Aktur,” he answered.
Junhyuk looked at them and asked, “It’s my first time at the champions’ battlefield. Can you tell me more about what needs to be done?”
Kaljaque smiled.
“Compared to the Valley of Death, it’s smaller. Take either road and destroy the enemy castle, and it’s over.”
“If you know that, why don’t you do it then?”
Aktur had some nasty things to say about Kaljaque, but he only smiled and didn’t respond. Aktur looked at Junhyuk.
“Fighting itself is simple. I will take one road, and you two go up the other one. Don’t come over to my road,” he said and signaled for the lizardmen. “Follow me.”
Aktur left, and Junhyuk got a little nervous. Allies had to fight together, and Aktur had told him not to go over to his road. He was anxious about that.
“Why is he acting that way?”
Kaljaque answered matter-of-factly, “We’ve lost ten times straight.”
“Ten times straight?!”
“Right, and in the meantime, a champion got killed,” Kaljaque answered.
“Killed?!”
Kaljaque signaled for the lizardmen and said, “He got killed in his hometown. He was a champion… What a senseless death.”
Junhyuk was already aware that he could be killed in South Korea.
Kaljaque continued, “And you are our new member, but you just became a champion. He is not very happy.”
Junhyuk sighed and asked, “What do they mean by ‘help out the high-ranking magician at the swamp?'”
“There will be a message, and you can help the magician out. Just one champion is enough, and they won’t ask you anything difficult. When you help, they will give you a buff, but an enemy champion will also try. You need to stop that champion from helping.”
Junhyuk thought it was some kind of quest. Aktur and Kaljaque didn’t seem fast enough, but he had items that increased his speed, so he should go help out the high-ranking sorcerer.
“Then, I will go with you on that road, and I’ll go help the sorcerer.”
“That’ll work.”
Kaljaque called for a hundred lizardmen and smiled.
“Then, let’s move?”
Junhyuk followed him. Outside, he saw the sky was purple and laughed at it. It was a long road ahead. He followed Kaljaque outside the castle and was shocked when he looked at the roads.
“What is that road?”
There were walls of flame about twenty meters tall on each side of the road, but the road didn’t feel hot at all. Junhyuk wanted to put his hand on it, but Kaljaque stopped him.
“Don’t do it. The flamewall damages champions who touch it. It’s really hot.”
Junhyuk stared at it. He was thinking about pushing the enemy champions into it to deal damage.
“I’ll push the opponents against it.”
“They are thinking the same thing,” Kaljaque said and smiled.
“What are your powers?” Junhyuk asked.
“My powers? Why?”
“I need to know. We must cooperate.”
“You are a strange fellow. Kill your enemy on your own.”
Junhyuk was very surprised. They didn’t cooperate at all. How can they win? They lost ten times straight, so that was the reason. He could end up part of the losing team, and if he lost, he would lose money quickly.
“Tell me about your powers.”
Kaljaque stopped and looked at him.
“Then, I will show you on the way.”
Kaljaque suddenly rushed forward, covering a distance of fifteen meters. Maybe he hasn’t fully developed his power. The distance is short.
He stopped rushing and swung the staff with thorns on it.
Boom, boom, boom!
A three-hit continuous attack. It’s not like Bater’s shockwaves, but it will still deal some heavy damage.
“Graaaaahhl!”
A howl. The howl rang on Junhyuk’s ears, so he frowned and asked, “What kind of power is that?”
“The howling paralyzes the enemy. Enemies within ten meters are paralyzed for three seconds.”
He was powerful enough, and Junhyuk couldn’t believe that they had lost ten times straight. Either the enemy was strong, or his allies didn’t use their powers enough.
Kaljaque looked at him.
“So?”
“Astounding powers.”
“Right? My staff will make cookie dough out of them.”
He didn’t ask why they had lost ten times. Kaljaque was very happy with Junhyuk’s compliments, and Junhyuk figured out how to deal with him. Compliments worked not only on whales, but also on trolls.
Kaljaque rested his staff on his shoulder.
“Just trust me.”
He didn’t ask what powers Junhyuk had, and Junhyuk started getting a headache. He wanted to win prizes, but he was drawing a blank. How can I win with them?
“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Behind my back is the safest place in the universe.”
Kaljaque laughed hard, and Junhyuk wanted to smash the back of his skull, but he didn’t.
