Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Break Spot - (2)

"Kuhk!"

The clone was caught in a complete summoning.

With Recovery already used, there was no way to counter it.

『Over Psychedelic』

『Rising Airflow』

Immediately entering an awakened state, Sanghyun also utilized the Rising Air Current skill, which he hadn’t used before.

Whooong!

The clone’s body, caught in the air current, floated into the sky.

When the body is forcibly pulled against one's will, as with complete summoning,

The balance between the physical and mental states usually collapses. The focus required to resist skills crumbles.

So, even a skill like Rising Airflow, which normally wouldn't have worked, managed to take hold due to the turbulence of the complete summoning.

"Waaah!"

Like a chicken flapping before slaughter, the clone struggled midair as Sanghyun unleashed a four-hit Rising Air Current combo.

Though it didn’t extend the airborne effect, it was a preemptive measure to stack four Weakness Enhancement hits.

"Damn iiiiiiit...!"

The clone’s scream of rage echoed.

Because the air current wrapped around its entire body, moving freely became difficult, making it look ridiculous.

'It could use Death Touch on me as soon as it learns it. That would complicate things again.'

Sanghyun continued to think ahead.

From the moment a skill was used,

He had to anticipate the boomerang effect of the clone using it in return.

'It hasn’t learned Sacrifice yet. And if it copied me thoroughly...'

Its weak point would be the abdomen.

Sanghyun strategically kept his abdomen exposed in combat.

In fact, he often used it as bait. The most recent victim was Park Juntae from the Utopia Guild.

Park had gone for Sanghyun’s obvious weak point, only to be counterattacked and struck down on the spot.

'Just as you know me well, I know you just as well.'

The moment a smile appeared on Sanghyun’s lips—

『Crushing Airflow』

"Kuhk!"

A fierce downward air current formed, pressing down on the clone’s entire body with immense force.

The effect was similar to a sudden gravity increase, making escape nearly impossible.

The clone fell faster than expected, caught completely off guard by the Crushing Airflow.

There was too much it hadn’t learned yet.

Sanghyun had anticipated and prepared for a diverse set of skills, yet he still had more hidden cards.

The clone’s fatal mistake was underestimating Sanghyun’s complete grasp of this Break Spot dungeon.

Its wings were clipped, its fall inevitable.

And in the extension of that uncontrollable descent, what entered the clone’s field of view was—

A towering greatsword, waiting like a sharp guillotine to skewer its prey from the sky.

"...Son of a—"

The clone cursed.

Caught between the rising and crushing airflows, it had completely lost balance and had no way to resist.

If the clone had learned Sanghyun’s defensive techniques, the outcome might have been different.

But since entering this dungeon, Sanghyun had never used his defensive skills.

Instead, he had relied solely on his basic greatsword defense techniques. That was all the clone had learned.

As its falling speed increased,

A rising force was added to the piercing attack of the berserk sword.

The clone’s solar plexus was brutally impaled.

Puuuk!

"Kuaaaagh!"

A scream rang out.

Not just a cry of pain, but a howl of agony that seemed to come from the depths of its very bones.

"This is why the laws of physics are terrifying."

Bwoong. Bwoong.

"Aaargh! Kuaaaagh!"

Sanghyun watched as the clone, impaled like a skewer on his greatsword, writhed in agony and shook the blade violently.

Still alive, but utterly skewered.

Anyone with a weak stomach would find the sight unbearably brutal.

How many times in life does one witness a person flailing on the end of a greatsword? Likely never.

"In the end, a clone is just a clone. It can’t create what it hasn’t seen. That’s your limit."

"Kuaaaagh, damn it! You bastard!"

"Even if you’re my enemy, watching someone with my face suffer like this is a bit much."

"It’s not over yet! It’s not over!"

The clone struggled desperately.

But it was still nothing more than prey, impaled and writhing in vain.

He applied a stun immediately.

Normally, due to skill resistance and concentration, the stun wouldn’t have worked, but now it landed cleanly.

Recovery’s cooldown hadn’t reset yet, making Sanghyun’s calculations even simpler.

"The more you endure, the more painful it gets. Give up, and you’ll die quickly."

After giving a final warning,

Sanghyun drove the greatsword into the ground, preparing to slice the clone in half while it was still alive.

Pulling the sword out and attacking again would have been inefficient.

His plan was simple: push through with brute force and cleave the body in two.

Chwaaaak. Chwaaaak.

"Kuaaaagh!"

A scream followed immediately.

As expected.

The clone was being sliced in half, alive, from the solar plexus down.

There was no way it could endure such agony.

Even as it tried to resist with all its might, it couldn’t prevent its body from being ‘cut,’ just as Sanghyun had said.

"I told you, giving up would be easier."

With an indifferent expression, Sanghyun extended Demon Bash.

The clone, completely consumed by pain, was no longer aware of what was happening.

Crack. Creak. Crunch.

The chilling sounds of bones being ground by the greatsword echoed.

A gruesome, merciless sound.

"Kuaaargh!"

With a face turned crimson, the clone let out a deep, guttural cry, its expression resembling a balloon on the verge of bursting.

In my past life, I had seen countless grotesque sights like this. So, I felt no particular emotion.

Sanghyun dismembered the clone’s body like a silent butcher meticulously stripping flesh from bone.

It was a ridiculous sight—killing himself—but that did not affect his hands.

Squish! Squish!

“Huaaaah!”

The clone, who had reached the limit where sheer grit and tenacity could no longer sustain him, let out a sorrowful scream.

And in the next moment—

Slaaash…!

The scene that unfolded was exactly what Sanghyun wanted, yet at the same time, it was the most brutal sight imaginable.

“It’s over.”

The clone had been split in half.

A red vertical line started from the solar plexus and stretched up to the crown of the head, serving as the dividing mark.

Like flower petals unfolding to the sides, the left half of the face fell to the left, and the right half to the right.

It was grotesque, pure and simple.

No matter how many times one had seen such a sight, it was an unpleasant experience that only became more disturbing the longer one looked.

“I should consider this as killing the demon inside me. If I don’t think that way, I’ll have nightmares for days.”

Sanghyun’s expression grew solemn as he looked at the clone’s face, its eyes wide open in death.

No matter how much he tried to get used to it, the sight of killing himself was something he could never truly become accustomed to.

Of course, thinking about the reward made him smile as if nothing had happened.

Sanghyun picked up the book that had dropped from the clone and muttered the name displayed in the information window.

“Skill Enhancement Tome.”

He had obtained the reward he wanted.

But then—

“Huh?”

The book he thought was a single volume suddenly split into two, making Sanghyun doubt his own eyes. What was happening?

“Ah. Since tomes are considered artifacts, I guess I received an extra Skill Enhancement Tome as a special bonus.”

“I think so too. Sometimes, I have trouble gauging my own strength.”

Sanghyun chuckled as he examined the books once more.

“I need to use them strategically. The Supreme Grade for main skills, the Low Grade for sub-skills.”

He had already planned how to use the Supreme Grade before even coming here.

However, due to a selfish desire to save the best surprise for last, he decided to use the ‘Skill Enhancement Tome - Low Grade’ first.

The skill Sanghyun chose was Recovery.

Inflicting status ailments was fun.

But being on the receiving end brought forth an uncontrollable rage from deep within.

That’s why Sanghyun wanted to strengthen his means of immediate intervention against status effects.

“No risk, no reward.”

With his confirmation, the enhancement was completed instantly.

“The complete immunity duration increased from 5 to 6 seconds. The cooldown decreased from 30 to 24 seconds.”

This was a satisfactory improvement.

Considering the 6-second immunity gained after using Recovery, the gap without its effects was now only 18 seconds. Before enhancement, it had been 25 seconds.

“This fixes a major weakness. Now, should I strengthen my ultimate skill, Crushing Blade?”

What still left Sanghyun unsatisfied was his ability to land a one-hit kill.

Currently, he was using Crushing Blade with Weakness Amplification and the  Sage’s Whisper stacked on top.

Of course, even as it was, it already had incredible destructive power.

But Sanghyun’s ambition reached far beyond.

Although his current level was only 154, he wanted his momentary burst damage to exceed even level 300 players—or higher.

Higher, stronger!

To achieve that, he needed to modify Shattering Sword so that it could be used more frequently.

And the means to do so was skill enhancement.

A golden opportunity had arrived.

“Let’s make it even stronger!”

With a heartfelt prayer, Sanghyun pressed the confirmation button.

Immediately, the skill name Crushing Blade dissolved like dust—

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Golden letters formed anew, replacing the old name with something different.

“Blade of Ruin?”

“The skill no longer consumes 90% of my mana but instead takes 20% of my stamina. Plus, it guarantees maximum critical damage, meaning Thunder Strike will also trigger 100% of the time.”

Now, he understood why the skill’s name had changed from Crushing to Ruin.

The burden was significantly reduced while the instant damage output was dramatically increased!

Blade of Ruin was the perfect skill, bringing him one step closer to the one-hit kill concept he had always dreamed of.