Chapter 144: Friendly Rival - (6)
“Wow……”
It was rare for Do Kyungsoo to let out an exclamation, but his mouth opened in awe.
He already knew that Sanghyun had the ability to isolate space, having witnessed it during the Phase 1 battle.
But he hadn’t imagined that Sanghyun could utilize it like this.
A method where, after overlapping spaces with the opponent while isolated, he would intentionally cancel the isolation to attack!
Seiz had only recognized Sanghyun’s subspace isolation and failed to predict anything beyond that, getting caught completely off guard.
“How does it feel to have one arm?”
Paah!
Sanghyun kicked the sword that Seiz had dropped with all his might.
The greatsword flew far away and vanished from view.
Both Seiz and Do Kyungsoo stood dazed for a moment, seemingly unable to process the unexpected situation.
“……!”
The first to snap back to his senses was Do Kyungsoo.
Realizing that this was when Seiz was at his weakest, he kicked off the ground and charged in.
A swordsman without a sword was nothing more than a hunk of flesh.
Kuwoong!
Do Kyungsoo closed the distance and slammed straight into Seiz.
It was a calculated risk since Seiz had no weapon. At most, he could only use his two hands.
“Keugh!”
As Seiz lost balance and was pushed backward, Do Kyungsoo swung his sword in fury.
Blood spattered from where the blade passed, leaving wounds on Seiz’s previously smooth skin.
“I don’t miss my chance!”
Do Kyungsoo’s voice rang out, filled with venom.
Sanghyun also took this chance to attack Seiz from behind, who was distracted by Kyungsoo.
Being attacked from both directions without even a single weapon in hand, Seiz appeared utterly vulnerable.
But at that very moment—
Swaat!
Seiz’s eyes turned red.
Then, in the blink of an eye, black smoke enveloped his right shoulder, and an unbelievable transformation occurred.
Jwaaaaak!
The entire arm, which had vanished below the severed right shoulder, regenerated instantly.
Then, as if following Seiz’s will, his fingers and hand disappeared, and his entire arm transformed into a long blade.
‘Biological weaponization? That’s not an ability one sees every day……’
While Sanghyun was still grasping the situation, Seiz was already launching a counterattack on Do Kyungsoo.
In a state of awakening that far surpassed his previous berserk state, Seiz was on an entirely different level than before.
Kagaga! Kagang! Kaguaguag!
With rapid and relentless movement, Seiz overwhelmed Do Kyungsoo in an all-out assault.
He focused his attacks near the previously injured shoulder, and Do Kyungsoo exposed an opening.
Forced to retreat, his defense started skewing excessively upward.
‘This is bad.’
By the time Sanghyun realized the danger, Seiz had already targeted the exact weak spot Sanghyun had identified.
In the end—
Srrrk!
A deep red line formed along Do Kyungsoo’s side as a wound pierced through his ironclad defense.
“Kraak!”
Even from Sanghyun’s perspective, it was a severe wound. Not fatal, but it rendered Kyungsoo unable to launch any offensive.
If a healer like Lee Gah Hee were nearby, he could’ve recovered within minutes and rejoined the fight.
But for now, he had no choice but to rely on the potions he brought. Even with fervent drinking, it would take over ten minutes.
‘He didn’t intend it, but Seiz used a major skill just to take Kyungsoo out of the fight.’
That recent berserk transformation didn’t seem like a passive ability.
Sanghyun believed it was a precious ultimate awakening skill, like his own Over Psychedelic or Do Kyungsoo’s Sword Demon – Sword God.
In any case, that turn had passed thanks to Kyungsoo’s “sacrifice.” It was a chance—albeit a painful one.
『Over Psychedelic』
As the cooldown ended, Sanghyun activated the skill and entered his awakening state.
There was no room left for retreat.
Now that even Do Kyungsoo had left the battlefield due to an unexpected injury, Sanghyun had to finish this on his own.
The slugfest began.
Seiz fought to eliminate the lone remaining nuisance.
Sanghyun fought to protect Do Kyungsoo and take down Seiz.
It was a true duel to the death, with no room to back down.
“Damn it.”
Meanwhile, Do Kyungsoo was relentlessly chugging recovery potions.
But healing required absolute time.
If drinking potions led to instant healing, Players wouldn’t be dying so often.
He was worried Sanghyun would struggle against Seiz in berserk mode—but that concern proved unfounded.
‘His reactions are way sharper than my Psychedelic. He’s perfectly syncing with Seiz’s attacks.’
Do Kyungsoo admired how Sanghyun wasn’t just holding his own—he was starting to gain the upper hand.
Sanghyun not only kept up with Seiz’s lightning-fast movements, but also anticipated attacks with sharp insight.
Even during the back-and-forth exchanges of traps and counters, the balance remained intact.
Usually, a slugfest with constant attack-defense switching would break the body’s balance and create openings.
But Sanghyun kept hammering attacks with precision while maintaining solid defense.
His stability was impressive—even higher than Kyungsoo’s, by Kyungsoo’s own judgment.
‘That kind of poise comes from years of battlefield experience. He should’ve been charging forward like this from the beginning.’
What Kyungsoo thought now matched what other named Players had been thinking while watching Sanghyun until now.
That’s why named Players like Jo Jinho, Shin Taeri, Kim Miso, Han Hyunjeong, and Lee Sehwa were all confused.
Sanghyun had only broken free from being a baggage carrier and started living as a Player less than two months ago.
The level of growth Sanghyun had achieved in just under two months of being a Player was hard to believe.
At that moment—
After countless tries, Sanghyun finally succeeded in causing stiffness with a full bash, and began his combo.
Srrrk! Srrrk! Shwaaaak!
It was the result of relentless persistence.
Boss monsters like Seiz naturally had high skill resistance, so chances of status effects landing were low.
Silence was out of the question, and even things like stiffness, knockback, or airborne effects rarely worked.
There weren’t many samples, but—
According to Player Union statistics, the average base skill resistance of large-scale dungeon bosses was 80%.
If they had innate buff effects, the resistance chance could go even higher. Even 90% was possible.
Even if one attempts a status effect ten times, it will fail nine of those times. And even that one success doesn’t last long.
That’s why persistence—pushing until it lands—is crucial, and Sanghyun finally did it.
Full Bash’s stiffness followed by freezing.
He extended the timing as long as possible, activating the skill just 0.1 seconds before the previous effect ended!
And just as the effects were about to wear off, he used another crafty trick to link another status effect!
Even though Seiz had a buff that reduced status effect durations by 50%, Sanghyun perfectly restrained him for over 10 seconds.
During that time, Seiz was a sitting duck, helpless against Sanghyun’s attacks.
Sanghyun wasted none of the status duration and delivered continuous damage in perfectly timed strikes—it was an artful assault.
‘Shin Sanghyun is a mutant. A completely unexpected existence who appeared when no one anticipated him.’
It became clear.
Sanghyun wasn’t a player in the process of becoming complete. He was already complete.
At least in terms of combat, there was nothing Kyungsoo could advise or correct.
That level of mastery already existed within Sanghyun, and Kyungsoo recognized it precisely.
‘If Shin Sanghyun actually takes this guy down…?’
That would change a lot of people’s minds. Not just Kyungsoo’s, but also the perspective of everyone watching.
‘The fact that I want to root for him even more now… that’s kind of funny.’
A complicated emotion—happy to see a rival emerge, yet unable to welcome it fully, but still wanting to cheer him on.
Do Kyungsoo let out a hollow laugh at the unfamiliar feeling.
Despite everything, he wanted Sanghyun to win.
A rising rookie to challenge the legacy of the five named swordmasters! It was something he had always hoped for.
* * *
‘I need to go all in.’
As the remaining time before Sanghyun would be forcefully ejected from the dungeon due to the debuff dropped to the single digits—
His sense of urgency grew.
The bigger problem was that Seiz was growing stronger.
Due to the nature of a Berserker, the lower his HP dropped, the more his physical abilities skyrocketed.
‘Let’s keep it simple. If my all-in doesn’t work, I can just stall and get booted out by the timer.’
He cast aside the fear of risk if his gambit failed.
If the move didn’t kill Seiz, it didn’t matter anyway—it would be a failed run.
After that, he could just drag out the remaining time without fighting and let the debuff kick him out.
‘If I trade one of my Undying skill’s three coins to take that bastard’s life once, that’s a huge win!’
Having gone through multiple back-and-forth exchanges, Sanghyun now abandoned all thoughts of defense and charged forward in earnest.
‘Isn’t it too early for this?’
Do Kyungsoo’s expression stiffened as he watched. He was filled with worry for Sanghyun.
But his recovery was still too slow, and he was in no condition to help directly.
Speaking up to give advice could just cause confusion, so he kept silent.
Whoosh!
Sanghyun dodged Seiz’s vicious horizontal greatsword swing—not with a skill, but with pure movement.
Using a skill, after all, took up precious time. So he didn’t even waste that much.
Of course, since he didn’t use a skill for defense or evasion, a single mistake would send him to the afterlife.
『Updraft』
Sanghyun slipped into a gap and released Updraft.
He hadn’t expected an airborne effect from the start.
Vwoom!
But both of Seiz’s heels lifted about a hand-span off the ground before dropping back down.
It wasn’t a full status effect, but a partial resistance—an anomaly that occurred when resistance was incomplete.
Sanghyun didn’t miss that window.
『Whisper of the Sage』
『Blade of Ruin』
There was no time to build up the 4-stat buff from Weak Point Amplification, so he directly activated Blade of Ruin.
A single strike was what mattered now.
“You sly bastard!”
‘What a glowing compliment.’
As Sanghyun pressed in deeply with his attack, Seiz countered with a matching number of strikes.
Clang!
The two greatswords crossed briefly at a single point, then moved toward the targets each one aimed for.
Thwuck!
Sanghyun’s greatsword pierced Seiz’s regenerated right shoulder.
Thump!
Seiz’s greatsword aimed for Sanghyun’s abdomen, where a vulnerable spot was clearly visible.
『Sacrifice』
But Seiz’s decisive blow failed.
The abdomen, reinforced by Sacrifice, hardened with a dull thud, blocking Seiz’s strike.
“Guh!”
Seiz’s regenerated right shoulder was weaker than other areas, so the injury was severe.
Even so, he cast aside his attachment to the failed first strike and immediately launched another attack.
Just like he did with Kyungsoo earlier, he unleashed a flurry of strikes to push Sanghyun back.
Though the shoulder wound was significant, he judged that the payoff from going after Sanghyun was greater.
Kugwagwagwa!
Just as the rampaging Seiz tried to overwhelm Sanghyun with consecutive strikes!
『Song of the Sword』
Sanghyun activated his ultimate card that granted complete invincibility and nullified all attacks.
At that moment—
The killing intent that had blanketed the battlefield faded from Seiz, and Sanghyun’s murderous aura began to fill its place.
The first and possibly final—
Beginning of a massive counterattack.