C122
Mamos couldn’t even believe what he was seeing after he saw it, and he had seen many things before.
The Demon Lord Belial was both his father and mother, the one who created him. He had also seen the myriad of demons around Belial.
The strength of a Ranker wasn’t something that was exceptionally great from Mamos’s point of view. He had grown up seeing power that normal players couldn’t even begin to imagine.
However, there were Rankers, and then there were High-Rankers.
‘This is possible?’
Fwooosh—
Boom—!
Another one.
The [Mana Blast] created another pillar of flame and burnt the body of a charging Big Cow to a black crisp. The Big Cow that was enveloped in the fire struggled for a second before collapsing to the ground with a thud.
It was astonishing. However, the most astonishing thing was the number of [Mana Blasts] that appeared near YuWon.
Fwoosh—
Another one appeared. This was now the thirty-second.
It was already difficult for most High-Rankers to make this much. Although, of course, their destructive power couldn’t really be compared to those of the High-Rankers.
‘Is his mana control that good?’
There were only two criteria to creating [Mana Blasts.]
Firstly, one required a large amount of mana, meaning their stat needed to be high. If one’s mana stat was high, even if they created only one [Mana Blast,] its destructive power would be massive. This was something that could be possible as one took their time to level up and pass tests to climb the Tower.
Secondly, they required a level of control over their mana. However, mana control was a totally different thing. This could only be refined and honed by the players themselves.
An overwhelmingly high mana stat would allow the player to have some level of control over their mana, but YuWon was showing the complete opposite implementation.
“This is unfair.”
Mamos was feeling the same feeling the other players felt when they saw him. This was a true display of overwhelming talent.
Fwoosh—
The thirty-third Mana Blast appeared.
YuWon slowly opened his eyes and looked around at the [Mana Blasts] that were orbiting around him. It was as if he was watching a large group of fireflies or will o’ wisps.
‘Thirty-three.’
When he first started to make the [Mana Blasts,] he had thought that twenty would be the limit. But he had ended up creating thirty-three.
‘It’s not S-rank for nothing.’
Even with the same mana stat, it was true that, depending on one’s level of mana control, the effectiveness and use of the spells would differ quite severely. And the [Master of Mana] skill had significantly amplified his ability to manipulate that mana.
Sensitivity and domination over mana. It was as if mana was willingly following him. It had practically become another sense just as if he was moving his hands or a part of his body.
‘If the Arcane Power stat and the skill combined…’
Fwooosh—
The last one. A total of thirty-four [Mana Blasts] were created.
‘The actual effect doesn’t seem to be additional but multiplicative.’
Vwoong, gwoong—
The thirty-four [Mana Blasts] all intermittently emitted mana. They rained down on the remaining Big Cows.
BOOOOM—!
Bang, bang, bang–!
The cries of the Big Cows were drowned out by the sound of the explosions.
YuWon could feel mana draining out of his body. He had strained himself too much because of his desire to see how many [Mana Blasts] he could create.
‘Ten would’ve been enough.’
Thirty-four [Mana Blasts] were overkill.
[Mana Blast] was a skill with high mana consumption, and it drained more focus per the number created. Although it had the upside of being able to divide one’s power over a large amount of area, the show YuWon put on just now was definitely unnecessary.
After reducing the amount of [Mana Blasts,] YuWon heard a wave of messages.
[You have eliminated a ‘Big Cow.’]
[Heaven-Slaying Star’s completion rate has increased by 0.001%]
[You have eliminated a ‘Big Cow.’]
[Heaven-Slaying Star’s completion rate did not increase.]
[You have eliminated a ‘Big Cow.’]
[Heaven-Slaying Star’s completion rate did not…]
Even while eliminating the Big Cows, the increase in the completion rate was as insignificant as ever.
But as he held onto the hope that the completion rate would one day be filled…
‘It’s nearly there.’
The completion rate had nearly reached the end.
[Completion Rate: 99.994%]
The thousandth position. It was at an incredible number.
The reason he had dragged out the test this long wasn’t just for the test grade.
[Heaven-Slaying Star.] The skill that was obtained after defeating Suruhtra in the Tutorial. Just as it was an A plus-grade skill, the expectation for it was immense. The stats obtained as the completion rate increased weren’t bad either, but this skill was still just ‘incomplete’ for now. Just what would it become after it was completed?
As he didn’t know what the situation would be when he arrived in Britain, YuWon wanted to obtain as much strength as possible.
‘0.006% left.’
It really felt within arm’s reach.
YuWon left the points he had acquired as they were. If he ended up using those, this test would end in an instant.
But it wasn’t time yet.
‘Everyone be patient.’
YuWon stood up and waited for the next stage.
The remaining 0.006% completion rate. If possible, he was planning on filling it before the test ended.
* * *
* * *
“This is easy.”
“Yeah. It’s a complete snooze fest this time as well.”
“Is this test for free?”
The confidence of Team 1 was through the roof.
It was already Stage 12. The number of Big Cows that appeared had already increased to about fifty. Although it was a bit harder compared to the start, blocking this many still wasn’t that hard.
Big Cows were just big—they really weren’t monsters that were hard to hunt.
“But it’ll be hard to get to the twentieth stage.”
“It’ll probably end before that comes.”
“I guess. Even if it’s Kim YuWon, it’ll be hard for him.”
“Our team leader is so smart in this sense. He thought of eliminating Kim YuWon’s team first.”
The first person to come up with the idea was the team leader of Team 1, Mekkel. Before the test started, he contacted the other teams to make a suggestion. It was to eliminate Kim YuWon’s team before anything else.
“Since there’s only one team that can advance to the next floor anyways, it’s natural to eliminate the strongest team first.”
Hearing the others praise him, Mekkel felt proud and prepared for the next stage.
[You have used 200 points.]
[In the next stage, 20 Big Cows will be summoned.]
[The target team is Team 2.]
200 points. Including the bonus points from the stage, that was the points acquired after defeating sixteen Big Cows.
Mekkel wasn’t just a schemer. Even as a player on the 24th Floor, he was quite skilled.
‘It’s about time he gets eliminated.’
Even if it was Kim YuWon, his stamina wasn’t infinite.
The test was constructed in a way where the higher the stage number, the more monsters that needed to be defeated increased. And with the points acquired from defeating these monsters, one could summon many more monsters against another team.
And as the stages went by, Team 2 needed to defeat exponentially more monsters. Even if Kim YuWon was an incredible player, he still wouldn’t be able to kill them all.
‘Still, it’s honestly amazing that he’s survived until now.’
Stage 12.
Kim YuWon’s team had been attacked by all the other teams until now. It was an incredible feat to have survived all that.
[Stage 13 will start.]
The five minute break had ended.
However, the shorter the break, the better it was. Because that would make Kim YuWon’s team bleed out faster.
“Then, let’s go clean up these p—”
It was then…
[Summoning ‘Big Cow.’]
[Summoning ‘Big Cow.’]
[Summoning…]
The same message rang multiple times.
The eyes of the players, including Mekkel’s, went wide.
“Huh?”
They had forgotten about this.
It wasn’t just their team that could summon the Big Cows.
Kim YuWon’s team also could. It was just that it hadn’t happened until now, so they had forgotten about it.
‘He’s started his attack.’
He felt a chill go down his back.
During this long time, Kim YuWon hadn’t summoned Big Cows a single time. Why?
‘Was he attacking the other teams until now?’
Killing one Big Cow gave you five points. Using ten points, one could summon a Big Cow against another team. If Kim YuWon hadn’t spent any points until now, he would’ve amassed an unbelievable amount of points.
“Dammit.” Mekkel became impatient.
Thankfully, the number of summoned Big Cows weren’t that many. About forty-something. If it was only this much, it wasn’t impossible to survive.
“Don’t be scared! This is honestly better!”
Bang—
Mekkel slammed the great ax that he had worn on his back on the ground.
“We can just kill those guys and summon even more monsters against them. Then they’ll definitely die next time!”
This much was definitely bearable.
Up to this point, Mekkel and the other teams all thought the same thing.
* * *
‘They should be able to block this much.’
Forty monsters against each team. That was the number of additional monsters summoned against them.
These Big Cows would become additional points for them, and when that happened, they would summon even more against him.
“I’ve spent all the points.” After finishing his summons, Mamos approached YuWon. “But why so suddenly? You told us not to use any points at the start. I thought you would use all of them at once to attack.”
“This way, the other teams can fight back as well.”
“Fight back?”
YuWon gestured with a nod.
More Big Cows started to get summoned with white lights. By fighting back, he meant this.
“No way… Are you getting them to summon more?”
“The number should increase in the next stage.”
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Not yet.” YuWon approached the charging Big Cows. “I should still see it to the end even if I have to do a bit more.”
[Completion Rate: 99.999%.]
It was getting really close. If he ended the test without completing it, he would regret it terribly. That was why YuWon elected to use this test to the limit.
Dash—
YuWon jumped above the herd of Big Cows.
There were about a thousand of them here.
YuWon jumped into the middle of them and created [Mana Blasts.]
Vwoong, vwoooong—
About a dozen [Mana Blasts] were best for hunting these Big Cows.
Booooom—
“Mooooooo—!”
The Big Cows thrashed around in pain and died without being able to make a sound in the storm of fire.
YuWon used one hand to control the [Mana Blasts] and the other to swing his sword.
Slice, crush—
[You have eliminated a ‘Big Cow.’]
[Heaven-Slaying Star’s completion rate did not increase.]
[You have eliminated a ‘Big Cow.]’
[Heaven-Slaying Star’s completion rate did not…]
The unfortunate messages continued.
In the last stage, not even a 0.001% increase was seen in the completion rate, and it was stuck at 99.999%.
‘Is it really impossible?’
As the hunting went on, his expectation started to die down. The completion rate might have been impossible to increase by hunting these monsters alone.
Boom—!
Sweat started to form on YuWon’s brow as he continued to charge through the herd of Big Cows while firing [Mana Blasts.]
Just how many had he killed during this test? Three thousand? Four thousand? It was hard to keep track of them all. The doubt that it might have been impossible after all this reared its head in YuWon’s mind.
But then…
[Heaven-Slaying Star’s completion rate has increased by 0.001%.]
[Heaven-Slaying Star’s condition has been met.]
[Demonic Body has been obtained.]
[New stat ‘Demonic Energy’ has been implemented.]
[Demonic Energy has increased by 20.]
The message he had been waiting for had finally come.
Tags:
LWTG (Novel)