Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
Twenty minutes had passed since Defense started and I could no longer kill the monsters with one hit now. It was time to enter stage two. “Ripped Advance.” This skill lasted for 24 hours, so I decided to use this one before using Warrior’s Brave Spirit and Howl of the Wolf.
==[Ripped Advance has been activated.
All Stats are now doubled for the next 24 hours. (Only base stat points will be increased.)
Once this skill deactivates, you will lose 0-100 Stat points.]==
Slash!
“Grah!”
I was one-hit killing the monsters again. I smiled as I brought up my partial Stats Menu.
==[HP: 29,291,200/29,291,200 MP: 1,069,600/1,069,600
Strength: 64,708+ 5,007 Agility: 30,202 Vitality: 54,402
Willpower: 10,336 Intelligence: 8,856
Unassigned Stat Points: 2,397]==
My STR was now way over 60,000, meaning my ATT was probably the highest in the entire world. I did wish my Shaman Ko points were doubled too, in case I ever needed to activate Shaman Ko’s Will, but I didn’t really mind much.
Then, at the forty-minute mark, the monsters were once again still standing after one attack. It was time for stage three. “Warrior’s Brave Spirit.”
==[Warrior’s Brave Spirit Level 2 has been activated.
For 2 hours, ATT increases by 25%, CRIT rate by 2%, CRIT damage by 100%, movement speed by 10% and attack speed by 5%.
For 2 hours, Indomitable Spirit is in effect. (Indomitable Spirit decreases incoming damage by 12%, increases DEF and MDEF by 10%.
Fatigue does not rise while this skill is in effect.]==
With my attack increased by 25%, I was once again one-hit killing the monsters. A little while longer, stronger monsters had now appeared. “Summon: Sand Warriors!”
My Sand Warriors would have 20% of my current combat abilities. They would be strong enough to aid me even without this place being a desert terrain. I worked in tandem with my two Sand Warriors, finishing off the monsters they attacked. The one-hour mark had passed now ,and still the monsters hadn’t started to stack yet. I kept killing them before they could.
“Howl of the Wolf.” This was still on Insane difficulty, however and soon I had to use my last buff skill. The way I and my Sand Warriors cut down the monsters before us actually reminded me of the shredder I used to man over at my factory job. We pretty much tore at the monsters relentlessly with our spears.
Again, more resilient monsters were starting to appear, but I wasn’t worried. I still had my secret weapon, the Reversal Prodigy. I was attacking enough for it to activate and make all of my attacks critical hits. With the King-Emperor’s Commitment and the Avatar of Revenge, my CRIT damage was over 2000%. No monster could ever stand up against me for very long. If they did, I just used Fissure to slow them down and finish them off. If they still started to stack, I used Judge’s Gavel to push the monsters away with the sheer force of the blow.
==[Judge’s Gavel has gained a level.]==
I smirked. It had finally gained a level, after all this time.
“Back up,” I commanded and the Sand Warriors moved behind me. With my increased Stats, I wanted to take on all the monsters on my own. “Bring it on!”
—
The entire crowd watched the first lane in silence. It may as well have been a library, save for a few whispering to each other.
“Wow… what’s the time now?”
“It’s been thirty minutes since it started.”
“Holy…and he’s still one-hitting the monsters.”
“Seriously. Look at all those critical hits. Who does that?”
“Look, eight just went off in a row. Did you see that?”
“Yeah. I see why now everyone’s been calling him the First Emperor,” one man said when his friend beside him tapped him on the elbow.
“Hey, look over there. Zulova looks like he was just fed a spoonful of dog crap.”
“Not just him. Look at the La Griffe guys. They look even worse.”
“I know, right? Serves them right.”
The Mercenary Corps supporters were elated as Lee Jiwon continued to mow down the wave of monsters, but as Lee Jiwon was still one-hit killing the monsters after the 60-minute mark, the joy was soon replaced with shock. They all expected Lee Jiwon to last this long on the first Site, but to still one-hit kill all of those monsters was just too hard to accept. He was supposed to be a deva that started around the same time as everyone else, but it was like he had a three-year head start.
Zulova took this the hardest. He believed that before Lee Jiwon appeared, he had no one to fear as one of the Seven Monarchs. “So… he wasn’t arrogant at all.” Zulova had misjudged Lee Jiwon from the start. Even though the one-hit kill parade was now just about over, Zulova and the La Griffe officers watched Lee Jiwon in despair. They were going to be defeated.
—
I stole a glance at the timer in the sky as I continued to slice through the wave of monsters. It had been an hour and forty-seven minutes. Just then, another message appeared.
==[You have gained a level.]==
After reaching level 700, it had taken me a little more than a day of nonstop hunting to gain just one level, but this was EXP heaven. There were so many monsters here that I was gaining EXP like crazy. It was like these monsters yielded more EXP in exchange for not dropping items or golden rings. That was good enough for me!
Just then, Golem monsters started to emerge from the black door. These guys had high DEF. Normally, the strategy would be to kill all the Fire Warriors with high ATT first, but I shifted my attention to the Golems instead. If these guys started to stack, it would just get harder for me to clear up the monsters. I could just ignore whatever damage the Fire Warriors did to me and kill them after I dealt with the Golems whenever they appeared. I left the Sand Warriors to hold down the line and began hacking away at the Golems. By now, I was more focused on the EXP than on time.
—
Site 10 of the first lane…
The Karaviki Mercenaries were still on the other nine Sites behind Lee Jiwon, and had started off this Defense wave with heightened focus to try and buy just a few extra seconds for the Mercenary Corps. But now, they were unsure of what to do.
“What’s the time?”
“Two hours and two minutes.”
“Ha… that’s the time La Griffe had on their ninth Site, right?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“And Lee Jiwon did that all on his own?”
“Yup…and it’s looking like he’s…going to do more. Look at him. He’s laughing to himself.”
Lee Jiwon mostly had his back to the Karaviki Mercenaries, but they could occasionally see him smile and laugh as he moved around killing monsters. He was actually having fun. It was like he didn’t want the wave to end.
One mercenary sat down.
“Hey! What are you doing? Get back up!”
“What? He’s going to last about another hour anyway.”
“But still…”
“Master Madun is sitting down, too.”
The other mercenaries turned around, to see that Madun and the other tenth Site mercenaries were either sitting down or leaning on their weapons. They looked at each other before sitting down as well.
“You know, if I knew it’d be like this, I would have brought some popcorn or something.”
“Me too.”
—
The timer had passed two hours and forty-seven minutes. I didn’t need to keep fighting anymore, and Howl of the Wolf had deactivated by now. These monsters were also about five times stronger than all the high-grade dungeon monsters I’d faced so far. They were only going to get stronger but that just made me want to fight more and get more EXP.
“Fissure!” The ground split in front of me again. “Stay behind me and cover my back,” I commanded my Sand Warriors and stepped forward. I slashed and stabbed, no longer caring about defending or dodging. I couldn’t let the wave of monsters stack up.
==[You have gained a level.]==
I haven’t had a second to rest yet, but I wasn’t tired, as long as that message continued to appear.
—
“Was… Lee Jiwon a tank?”
“He was more of dealer than a tank with crazy high ATT.”
“But… look at him.”
“…” Lee Jiwon was just attacking without even giving the attacks that came his way a second glance. He was a tank and dealer rolled up into one. A true Rank 1 player. Zulova and the rest of the crowd just continued to stare in shock.
—
The timer had now passed two hours and fifty-nine minutes. As each minute and second passed, even stronger monsters poured out of the door, as if the system wanted to stop me once and for all.
“But there’s no way I’m giving up on all this EXP now!” I had already beaten La Griffe’s record, but I wanted to set an even higher record, one that they couldn’t possibly reach. I was going to keep going until I dropped dead.
I continued to attack, ignoring the Fire Arrow that struck my leg, or the Fireball that burned my side. Just then, another message appeared.
==[A special 3-hour monster for the Insane Difficulty will now appear.]==
A giant bull lumbered out of the door, giving out a bellow that rattled my bones. It was more than seven meters tall and looked strong and tough. It was definitely going to be hard to stop, but coincidentally, my newly leveled-up skill had just came out of its cooldown!
