Chapter 126

Chapter 126: Break Spot - (5)

‘I see it.’

Sanghyun held his breath.

Jay, having mistaken the illusion for reality due to the energy scan, began gathering energy to fire a Ki Cannon.

The illusion moved according to Sanghyun’s will, drawing Jay’s attention. It looked just like Sanghyun to anyone watching.

‘Just a bit more.’

Sanghyun, having approached right behind Jay, completely hid his presence.

Even though the perfect opportunity had arrived, he didn’t strike immediately. He wanted to finish Jay in a single blow.

If he struck too hastily, he might fail to eliminate him, turning the fight into a prolonged battle of attrition.

‘If I destabilize him right before he releases the energy, Jay himself will become a massive bomb.’

That was Sanghyun’s plan.

To shatter Jay’s stability, which was sustained by energy itself! In other words, to make him collapse on his own.

Wuuung! Wuuung! Wuuung!

“Keuk keuk keuk.”

Perhaps thinking Sanghyun was too scared to attack, Jay let out a satisfied chuckle.

Viiing!

And then, when only a second—no, even less—remained until he reached maximum output!

Kuaaa!

Sanghyun deployed the Blade of Ruin, aiming for Jay’s right elbow just before he could fire the Ki Cannon.

Shuuk!

With a squelching sensation, Sanghyun’s greatsword pierced deep into the inside of Jay’s elbow.

At the same time, Sanghyun forcefully released as much mana as he could into Jay’s body.

He wasn’t a mage-type player, so it wasn’t easy, but he could still release a small amount of mana.

And that was enough.

What Sanghyun wanted was for his mana to trigger a rejection reaction inside Jay’s body.

The next moment.

Kugugu! Kugugugu!

The Ki Cannon, which should have been fired forward, stopped in place as the energy sphere remained static.

Jay’s expression turned deathly pale.

It was the look of someone who had pulled the pin on a grenade, only to drop it at their own feet.

“……!”

Recognizing the signs of imminent explosion, Sanghyun immediately activated Song of the Sword.

His body rapidly turned into a golden statue, becoming invulnerable to any external force.

However.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwaang!

Jay, whose body had essentially become the fuse for his own explosion, faced the exact opposite fate of Sanghyun.

In his invincible state, Sanghyun could clearly see everything.

The explosion, instead of bursting outward, surged inward, consuming Jay from the inside out.

The situation ended in an instant.

Sanghyun, who had become invulnerable, remained unscathed.

Jay, on the other hand, was left standing in place, tattered and broken—not by willpower, but in a daze.

“……”

Releasing his invincibility, Sanghyun immediately pressed the Madness Slayer Blade against Jay’s throat.

Then, grabbing Jay’s hair, he yanked his head back roughly.

“Sorry. I’m in a hurry.”

Swaaak!

Without even a chance to scream, Jay became a headless ghost.

In less than thirty seconds, all three of Ivan’s carefully selected minions had been wiped out.

<Uwaaaah! Jaaaaaay!>

Ivan’s anguished scream rang out.

It was a sorrowful cry, as if he had lost everything in the world, his voice echoing with sheer despair.

At that moment.

‘It’s here.’

A smile formed on his lips.

The new title had been activated.

The reason it was sealed was simple.

The celestial being who had contracted and sponsored Ivan was attempting to abandon him.

In other words, they were severing their interest in him out of sheer frustration. They had deemed him a lost cause.

However, a celestial contract didn’t simply vanish just because the contractor died or the relationship ended.

Instead, the celestial being would attempt to find a new contractor—something that could only benefit Sanghyun.

‘First, I’ll finish off Ivan.’

Sanghyun stood in the center of the temple, looking up into the air with a composed demeanor.

Then, he closed his eyes.

He wouldn’t be fighting Ivan with his sword.

Ivan was a spirit.

If Sanghyun fought him, it wouldn’t be a physical battle but a mental one—a battle of the mind.

‘Everything is ready.’

His mind was calm.

If he killed Ivan, he would not only receive the special privilege of skill synthesis but also gain significant resistance to mental attacks.

<I can’t stand this! Uwaaaaaah!>

Flash!

A furious Ivan descended.

A massive sphere, glowing with a crimson-black light, appeared in the sky like the eye of a demon.

Sanghyun slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he locked eyes with the demonic sphere, his entire body went cold.

‘Come in. I dare you.’

Everything was set.

As Ivan’s monstrous power attempted to invade his mind, Sanghyun calmly accepted it.

When the dark crimson energy that had engulfed Sanghyun disappeared and his vision cleared.

He found himself in a completely different space, far from the temple.

It was a place filled with Ivan’s countless tormented minions, all struggling in agony.

It was like witnessing hell itself.

Horrifying experiments were being conducted endlessly on monstrous beings, forcefully tearing their bodies apart and stitching them back together.

Unknown substances were being injected into living bodies in horrific trials.

It was reminiscent of the inhumane experiments conducted during World War II.

A shiver ran down Sanghyun’s spine.

He felt an overwhelming weight dragging his emotions to their lowest depths, his pupils trembling violently.

Not because it was unfamiliar.

But because the sheer weight of the emotions within this space, created by Ivan, was completely crushing him.

The situation where emotions and fear were forcibly injected was something that couldn't be resolved with Recovery or Swift Purification.

This was not an illusion or a debuff but a real space of memory that existed within Ivan's mind.

It could neither be erased nor ignored.

‘Your wicked pranks are nothing more than a trivial part of the memories from my past life.’

Sanghyun brushed away the murkiness of his encroaching mind and soon regained his usual composure.

Then, he recalled the memories he had been deliberately avoiding, pretending as if they didn’t exist.

It was the year 2040 of his past life.

From that point onward, not a single day had been peaceful, filled instead with countless tragedies, massacres, and scenes of horrific carnage.

Memories he never wanted to awaken, those he only wished to bury, resurfaced on their own.

A little later.

"Ah…?"

The more Ivan struggled to consume Sanghyun, the more he found himself being devoured instead, leaving him flustered.

A method where all of a human’s negative emotions were bundled up like a gift package and shoved in at once!

It was the same method Ivan had always used to turn countless monsters in this dungeon into his loyal servants.

But it didn’t work on Sanghyun.

For a moment, he entertained the illusion that it might, but it was fleeting.

The situation had reversed.

The one being suppressed was Ivan.

A massive storm of nightmares, originating from Sanghyun, violently tore through Ivan’s mental realm.

And within it, Ivan saw—

A slaughterhouse where concepts like the dignity of life had long been stripped away, leaving only endless cycles of killing and being killed.

People devouring people, monsters devouring monsters—those were actually the 'cuter' aspects of it.

Humans who, desperate to survive, sacrificed their children and parents, pushing them into the abyss before fleeing themselves.

Lovers who whispered words of love moments before, only to betray each other at the first sign of crisis.

It was beyond words.

There was no such thing as rock bottom; there was only the endless descent into deeper despair.

And the source of all this was Sanghyun.

In other words, the emotions and experiences Sanghyun had endured were now being fully transmitted to Ivan.

The weight of that horror and despair was too overwhelming for Ivan, who had been merely toying with monsters.

"How… How is this happening…?"

The unbearable, extreme despair was transmitted to Ivan entirely through Sanghyun’s mind.

Even if he wanted to turn away and reject it, Sanghyun’s memories seeped into him like they were his own—utterly dreadful.

"What… What on earth happened to this human? Who was I even trying to consume?"

Sanghyun’s emotions and memories felt like—

The toxic fumes rising from the bottom of a colossal garbage dump, drenched in all kinds of filth.

Too much had happened to Sanghyun, and each time, he lost more of his laughter and composure.

At some point, he had become a complete loner, living a life of absolute distrust.

Then—

Hwaaaaaah.

All of Sanghyun’s countless memories coalesced into one and transformed into the shape of a massive demon.

Even looking up at it, Ivan couldn’t grasp its full form.

"Ah… Ah…"

Ivan lost his will to fight.

No, the moment he laid eyes on the demon, his very will to resist vanished entirely, independent of his own thoughts.

Only one thought remained.

He had messed with the wrong person.

Thinking of Sanghyun as an insignificant intruder and dismissing him—it was Ivan's own arrogance being judged.

"Is this a dream?"

At some point—

The ‘demon’ of Sanghyun, which had filled the entire space of memories, came charging toward Ivan at a terrifying speed.

With the space itself coiled around him, there was nowhere to run or disappear.

All that remained was a vacant expression with a gaping mouth.

Crack! Ssshhh! Slash! Swooosh!

Ivan was shredded like paper under the demon’s grasp.

"……."

Hundreds, thousands of fragments of Ivan’s spirit body scattered in the wind, his face frozen in blank disbelief.

The depth of Sanghyun’s emotions and mind was far too heavy and cold for such a young and reckless spirit to endure.

A defeat that had been inevitable from the very start!

Thus, Ivan was annihilated.

"Phew, it’s over."

The moment the system message announcing his level-up appeared, Sanghyun’s brief ‘outburst’ that had been sinking into the abyss came to an end.

It wasn’t a pleasant experience.

But since it wasn’t a memory he wished to avoid, he resurfaced the vivid recollections of his past life.

Current level: 165.

Since arriving at the Dotonbori River Break Spot Dungeon, he had gained an incredible 15 levels solely through solo hunting!

"If I told anyone about this, they’d probably beat me up for being a fraud."

And they really would.

Gaining 15 levels in less than a day was something most people would deem impossible.

Only a minuscule number of players knew how to monopolize an experience-farming location like this.

Even on a global scale—

The number of players who could single-handedly conquer a dungeon far above their level was probably around 100.

It was that rare and special of a class, and Sanghyun himself was part of that elite group.

‘Only I can pull this off.’

He summarized his thoughts plainly.

And it was the truth.

Only because he had regressed was this possible.

And in the future, there would be many more of these unfair—but fortunate for Sanghyun—monopolization opportunities.

Then—

"Oh-ho."

A Constellation who had bet on a mere dungeon monster instead of a player.

An unfortunate existence was now being dragged along as a sacrifice.

And in this one-sided relationship, the one in control?

It was none other than Sanghyun himself.