Chapter 136: Large-Scale Raid - (5)
What was in the lamp wasn’t oil, but holy water.
For the undead witch, it was like poison—an element on the opposite side of compatibility that broke down all her bodily defenses.
The holy water that properly fell on her head and shoulders made the witch's flesh tender.
Needless to say, it made her body as soft as raw meat.
‘This sewer is a path toward the Lighthouse of the Holy Spirit. That’s why it has various traps.’
Words from Do Kyungsoo that were like blood and flesh! He might not remember now, but still, it was valuable knowledge.
‘Now I just need to aim for the shoulders.’
The calculation became easier.
The parts soaked in holy water were just like rusted weapons—perfect for cutting off. In other words, perfect for killing.
The witch seemed to recognize that fact too.
Her entire body trembled as she began singing with a crazed expression. It was the witch’s song.
Crack, crk.
In an instant, Sanghyun’s body froze. Even though he had resistance, the power was still overwhelming.
『Passion』
He immediately broke free from the freezing.
The witch wasn’t surprised.
That’s because she had already seen Sanghyun break free using Passion the last time she froze him.
So, instead, she sang an even stronger song imbued with greater mental force. This time, he wouldn't be able to resist.
Tap. Crackle.
As soon as Sanghyun took two steps forward, his body froze again.
It was a familiar sensation, but no matter how used to it one was, the stiffening of the entire body was always an unpleasant feeling.
『Rapid Purification』
This time, he broke the freeze using the Rapid Purification skill linked to his Recovery Ring.
Its cooldown was 9 minutes and 30 seconds, so he rarely used it, but in times like this, it was useful.
Shhhk.
The freezing melted away instantly.
Sanghyun's demon-slaying sword, now fully powered, traced a horizontal path as it began flying toward the witch.
The witch, already driven into a corner, had no way to escape.
Unfortunately for her, who specialized in freezing, she didn’t have magic like spatial teleportation.
For magic-type monsters or players, it was the worst-case scenario: being cut off from retreat.
Screech. Screeeeech!
The witch’s expression darkened.
Had she ever encountered an intruder who could so easily neutralize her overwhelming power of cold?
Never. Not once.
But Sanghyun, as if he had already finished all his calculations, didn’t look the least bit shaken.
“You’re dead next time, got it?”
Screeeeech!
The witch gathered all her strength and sang her final song at Sanghyun. It was truly her last stand.
Her power was so strong that even she herself began to freeze partially.
『Recovery』
But there was a problem.
Before she began singing her final song, Sanghyun had already cast the Recovery skill in advance.
Six seconds of total immunity.
Within that period, not even a permanent freeze—let alone a full freeze—could be applied.
This was the moment the witch got caught in her own trap, unable to keep up with Sanghyun's ever one-step-ahead responses.
‘I was even considering resetting my skills if things got bad, but she’s so untested that her learning ability is pathetic.’
Sanghyun scoffed.
Part of him wondered if he was being too relaxed, but he couldn't deny that this ease came from genuine confidence.
Screeeeeeech!
The witch screamed in desperation, refusing to die as she let out her final wail toward Sanghyun.
But the demon-slaying sword was already at her neck, and she had no means left.
Though she sang with a sorrowful heart, Sanghyun, who had entered full immunity, remained unaffected.
Slash!
The witch’s head flew off in one swift strike.
And so, the head of the gatekeeper who had been firmly guarding the sewer flew into the air.
She hadn’t expected to die without even putting up a proper fight—a perfectly executed suppression.
The witch hadn’t landed a single proper blow on Sanghyun. All she did was focus on freezing.
[You have eliminated the Frozen Witch and acquired a unique essence, learning the skill ‘Witch Hunt’.]
[This unique essence is a limited bonus given only to the first 100 conquerors, according to the system's engraving.]
“Yes, this is it.”
He got the reward he wanted.
This wasn’t the only dungeon of this type in the world. In fact, many were exact copies.
Just like how dungeons often get “reused” in games.
Even the creator of the system didn’t create every element from scratch.
In any case, Sanghyun was happy to obtain a rare skill available only to the first 100 players.
『Witch Hunt』
■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)
■ Skill Description: Against undead-type mage monsters, the following effect is applied:
All buffs such as beneficial effects and damage amplification from the target are ignored.
Then, the final base damage is reduced by 50%.
This is a passive skill, so it consumes no stamina or mana.
“So it's a counter to mages. If it adjusts this much, it’s practically telling Frozen Witches or Frozen Mages to die, huh?”
Sanghyun grinned.
What that meant was—
If an undead mage’s damage was 100,
And it increased to 200 due to buffs and amplification effects, Witch Hunt would first reduce that back to 100.
Then it would apply the 50% damage reduction, resulting in only 50 damage taken.
Even if they unleashed an attack with earth-gathered energy capable of devastating power, the damage he’d take would still be 50.
“Since it’s a passive, I don’t even need to think about it. This is great. Is this what it means to be one of the first conquerors?!”
He clenched his fists with strength.
From a game’s perspective—
It felt like he was advancing faster than everyone else and claiming rewards others couldn’t.
Naturally, he felt no guilt.
He had the confidence to use these privileges better than anyone else in the world.
“This necklace… is this for real?”
Sanghyun checked the unique-grade necklace Artifact he acquired from the dead witch.
He had high hopes for its stats, but it wasn’t even close to replacing the Cold Necklace he had equipped earlier.
Another player might have sold the overlapping, underwhelming Artifact for cheap.
But Sanghyun could consume it, converting it into something far more valuable.
An exchange where he eats a useless Artifact to gain a useful skill!
It was a method only Sanghyun could perform in this world.
"Hmm. I guess this one needs some focus. It’s not syncing in one go."
Sanghyun, who was about to consume the ‘Cursed Witch’s Necklace’ obtained from the witch, paused, feeling a strong sense of discomfort.
There were Artifacts like this.
Those with an intensely evil nature, or ones so deeply cursed that the lingering energy of the dead had to dissipate first.
In such cases, forcing it down wasn’t wise—waiting for the right time and trying again was better.
Sanghyun packed the necklace away for now and turned his gaze behind him.
Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk were fighting desperately to stop the undead horde approaching him.
They had fought so intensely that piles of beast corpses now blocked over 70% of the rear corridor.
"You dumbasses! Blocking your own path like this just makes our attack easier, you know?"
"Junhyuk! It’s seasoned with holy power! Take out that Ghoul King first!"
"Understood!"
‘They’re doing great.’
Sanghyun looked on at the rear battle with satisfaction.
Of course, he had handled the front with sharp strategy and clever tactics—
But so had Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk. The two used their respective attributes—holy power and electricity—precisely and efficiently.
For Lee Gah Hee, the term ‘combat healer’ seemed more fitting than simply ‘healer.’
She had a remarkable grasp on how to weaponize her holy power, typically associated with healing.
She could even imbue her power with reversed attributes when needed to use it as an opposing force.
It almost felt like a waste for her to be part of the Player Union. And that her official title was just "scout team staff" came as a surprise.
‘Maybe she’s just using the Player Union as a stepping stone for her career.’
He couldn’t help but think she might have such ambitions.
‘Jung Junhyuk’s quite a talent too.’
Sanghyun also rated Junhyuk highly.
Though his personality was gentle, given the right conditions to go wild, he seemed more potent than even Lee Sehwa.
The electric element had even greater scalability than flame in close-combat scenarios.
On top of that, while flame had elemental weaknesses to freezing, electricity had no such major counters.
‘They’re both doing well, but we can’t spend forever clearing the rear. Time to sweep them out.’
He gripped the Demon-Slaying Sword again.
The two had been smartly stalling the undead forces by intentionally creating a bottleneck.
But now that the most troublesome foe—the Frozen Witch—was dead, it was time to clean up.
With the front cleared—
All that remained for Sanghyun was to massacre the remaining beasts, none of whom could withstand his blade.
Meanwhile—
The tide of battle changed completely once Sanghyun joined in.
Thanks to the two covering him solidly, Sanghyun charged into the horde of undead.
With the Demon-Slaying Sword in hand, he spun in 360 degrees, cutting down enemies in a graceful yet terrifying display.
It was like a blender.
Having many enemies packed tightly into a narrow space actually made the slaughter easier for Sanghyun.
‘I’ve never seen someone take out a mid-boss like it’s nothing. And this isn’t even a low-level dungeon.’
‘Just what kind of battle did he have to finish so early and get here already?’
Both Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk were baffled.
The title ‘boss monster’ wasn’t given lightly. It signified difficulty and danger.
Yet Sanghyun had quickly taken care of not only the Frozen Mage, but even the Frozen Witch.
Calling that luck would be a serious understatement.
It was clearly skill—but how did he solo a mid-boss monster typically tackled by 3 to 4 players?
That was a mystery neither of them could solve. Simply because they had never done such a thing themselves.
"Looks like there’s nothing left for us to do."
"Right? We used every trick we could to narrow the space and survive, but Sanghyun didn’t even need to."
Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk laughed in disbelief, watching Sanghyun go full ‘one-man army.’
A few aggressive beasts did manage to scratch him, but not even a slight groan came from him.
"I can at least support with healing from range, so I’ll provide some healing aid."
"I’ll finish off any that are still breathing."
"Got it!"
Lee Gah Hee moved toward Sanghyun.
No matter how fiercely he fought, she figured there was no way Sanghyun’s stamina hadn’t been depleted.
That was the nature of a swordsman.
The more attacks they took—
The more the damage accumulated—the faster they lost stamina and energy. That’s what healers were for.
So, naturally, Lee Gah Hee positioned herself safely and sent out a pulse of healing imbued with holy energy toward Sanghyun.
It was a heavy dose of healing, meant to fill any lacking stamina to the brim.
But—
‘…It bounced?’
Something unbelievable happened.
Sanghyun’s body rejected the healing!
That meant, in other words, that his health was already at maximum and needed no recovery.
‘What is he, some kind of vampire swordsman? How the hell is he maintaining full health so perfectly?’
Sanghyun’s condition was beyond common sense.
Lee Gah Hee’s jaw dropped and refused to close for a while.
The white healing aura floated lonely in the air, waiting for a new recipient to appear.
‘Just… what is he…?’
From their very first encounter, Player Shin Sanghyun had been full of question marks. Now, a giant one had appeared.