Chapter 156: Chapter 156

The old man was watching Jeong-hoon’s hunt from a distance.

‘Hmm, he’s quite skilled, isn’t he?’

He thought it would end quickly because Jeong-hoon was a level 203 martial artist, but Jeong-hoon was sweeping through the monsters.

His swordsmanship was precise and sharp, beyond what one would expect from a martial artist.

Just by watching, he could tell how much Jeong-hoon had trained in swordsmanship.

‘Amazing. A non-warrior wielding such swordsmanship.’

Swish.

“Kreeek!”

Every time Jeong-hoon swung his sword, a monster’s head fell to the ground.

‘He’s targeting their vital points with uncanny accuracy.’

He beheaded those whose necks were their weak points and pierced the abdomens of those whose abdomens were their weak points.

‘He has tremendous experience hunting monsters.’

It was a strategy that was impossible without countless real-life experiences.

He was only level 203, so where did he gain such experience?

Swish.

“Keurgh!”

Amazing.

The old man chuckled at the sight of him overwhelming the monsters without showing any signs of fatigue.

‘It’s like watching myself in my prime.’

Jeong-hoon’s swordsmanship was reminiscent of his own when he was considered to have reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

Currently, he had discarded everything, including his name, so those days were meaningless, but still.

‘Maybe this guy can take it.’

The old man fiddled with a necklace.

A precious rune he couldn’t bear to part with even after discarding his name, family, and everything else.

If he passed all the trials he set, he would hand it over without hesitation.

That’s what he had been holding onto it for all this time.

* * *

[3rd Form: Extinction activates.]

Extinction activated, instantly piercing through the monster’s neck.

‘It’s over.’

There wasn’t a single monster left alive.

The ground was filled with corpses, emitting a bloody stench.

He had slaughtered hundreds of them, leaving barely any space to step.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

At that moment, the old man appeared, clapping his hands.

“You’ve passed the first trial.”

As he snapped his fingers, the corpses piled on the ground disappeared instantly.

At the same time, the strong stench of blood also vanished completely.

“Then let’s move on to the second stage right away.”

“Hmm? You can take a short break if you want.”

“I don’t have time for that.”

If things went according to schedule, James Marcus would have obtained the hint about the Legendary rune by now.

‘It’s an additional reward given to this year’s league MVP.’

A global superstar.

James Marcus was this year’s league MVP.

So if he delayed any longer, James Marcus would arrive here.

They wouldn’t run into each other because they were on different servers, but he wanted to eliminate even the slightest possibility of it being taken away.

“You’re quite impatient. Then, as you wish, let’s start the second trial.”

The old man snapped his fingers again.

Five knights, equipped with helmets and armor, appeared out of nowhere.

Was it another extermination?

But the knights didn’t approach Jeong-hoon and instead headed to their assigned positions.

“Hmm?”

Jeong-hoon tilted his head in confusion.

What kind of trial was this that they were moving to different places?

His question was soon answered.

As the last, fifth knight stopped, walls piled up in front of him.

“This stage is a maze. The trial is to navigate through the maze and defeat all the knights stationed within.”

“Is it allowed to break the walls?”

The Nameless Warrior shook his head.

“No, that’s not allowed.”

A holographic window appeared in front of him.

Ten flame icons were blazing brightly in the window.

“Are those counts?”

“Correct. Every time you fail to choose the correct path, one of those flames will go out.”

“I guess if all ten go out, it’s an automatic failure.”

“You catch on quick. Then shall we start right away?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, good luck.”

With those words, the old man disappeared again.

‘The maze looks too complicated, and only ten chances…’

Anima frowned.

This was because there were three choices from the entrance of the maze.

The probability was 33.3%.

The probability of being wrong was 66.6%.

In a situation where he had to rely purely on luck, ten counts were too harsh.

“It’s okay.”

But Jeong-hoon’s face was very relaxed.

This was because he had a way to solve the maze.

‘He said we can’t break it, right?’

Honestly, if he could break the maze, it would be a quick solution, but since there was a restriction, he had to use a different method.

Jeong-hoon immediately opened the achievement shop and purchased a scan map.

[Scanning the entire space of the Nameless Warrior.]

This scan was taken from a top-down perspective.

So it would be the same for this maze.

‘Oh! I see the answer!’

As Anima said, the scanned map clearly showed the solution to the maze.

Among the first three choices, the correct answer was the right one.

Jeong-hoon chose the right path.

Naturally, the result was correct.

The other two paths had traps that reduced the count with an X mark, but the right path led to the next set of choices.

But this time, there were four choices.

A mere 25% probability.

‘It’s the first one on the left.’

Jeong-hoon smoothly transitioned to the next stage, once again choosing the correct path.

After selecting the correct path for the fifth choice, a knight stood before him, drawing his sword from its sheath.

Shing-

As the knight aimed his well-sharpened sword at Jeong-hoon, Jeong-hoon also drew Leviathan.

[Lv.250 Crusader]

A level 250 Crusader.

‘I can’t activate Blackfield.’

He had already activated it once while hunting monsters, so there was a slight cooldown.

However, it wasn’t a difficult opponent.

He was well-versed in the characteristics of Crusaders.

Jeong-hoon used his movement technique to close in on the knight.

The knight swung his sword at Jeong-hoon.

[Crusader uses ‘Destruction: Slash’.]

The Crusader imbued his sword with sword energy and slashed downwards.

Jeong-hoon angled Leviathan and deflected the knight’s sword to the side.

Clang! Screech!

With a sharp clash, the Crusader’s sword was deflected to the side by Jeong-hoon’s Leviathan.

The Crusader immediately slashed diagonally.

But Jeong-hoon ducked, and as the knight’s opening was exposed, Jeong-hoon stabbed the Crusader’s neck.

[3rd Form: Extinction activates.]

With Extinction activated, the Crusader’s neck was pierced through.

“Cough!”

With a final scream, the Crusader’s body went limp.

Four knights remained.

As he fell, four choices appeared in front of him.

The correct answer was the furthest right.

Jeong-hoon chose the correct answer and moved forward.

* * *

The old man was once again observing from a distance.

He was watching Jeong-hoon’s progress with a dumbfounded expression.

‘This is absurd.’

This trial wasn’t simply about strength and luck.

The restriction of not breaking the walls was the reason for that.

And once again, Jeong-hoon had satisfied the old man.

He had taken out a map, scanned the maze, and found only the correct paths.

The problem was that he had easily defeated the knights he had painstakingly created.

And he did it three times in a row, without exceeding five moves.

‘He’s truly remarkable…’

These were knights at the level of 250-300.

And yet, a level 203 martial artist was overwhelming them.

‘It’s over.’

The remaining knights would probably also fall to this martial artist.

And his prediction was spot on.

“Cough!”

The fourth knight’s neck was pierced before he could properly face Jeong-hoon, and after a while, the last fifth knight’s neck was also sliced, ending the trial quickly.

‘Where did such a guy come from?’

The corners of the old man’s mouth were now raised so high they almost reached his ears.

The final trial.

If he passed this trial, the rune would belong to this martial artist.

* * *

He passed the maze’s finish point.

The walls disappeared, and the old man appeared.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Once again, he appeared clapping his hands.

The smile on his face showed that he was quite pleased with Jeong-hoon’s strategy.

“Hehe, you used your head.”

“Yes. I didn’t think I could pass with just luck.”

“I see. Then shall we proceed to the final trial right away?”

“Yes.”

As Jeong-hoon nodded, the old man snapped his fingers.

A sword appeared in front of him and floated in the air.

The old man grabbed the sword’s hilt.

“The final trial is to defeat me.”

“You’re not going to make it easy, are you?”

“Hehe, it’s a Legendary-grade rune after all. I can’t just hand over a rune I cherished in my lifetime so easily.”

[Lv.370 Nameless Warrior]

The old man’s level was displayed before the final trial began.

His level was a whopping 370.

‘Why do all the trials have to be like this?’

Jeong-hoon drew Leviathan.

“Shall we start right away?”

The old man frowned and shook his head.

“No, put your sword down.”

“Put my sword down?”

“Yes. You’re a martial artist, not a warrior, right? But you haven’t shown anything as a martial artist yet.”

“Wow, now you’re restricting weapon use for a level 203? You’re more petty than I thought.”

“If you have complaints, give up and leave.”

So he’s the one in power, huh?

Jeong-hoon obediently put Leviathan back into his inventory.

“I just have to defeat you, right?”

“Yes. It’s a dull sword, so it should be manageable.”

“Alright.”

Sword versus fist.

It was a situation where the old man had the advantage no matter how you looked at it, but Jeong-hoon didn’t even entertain the thought of losing for a single second.

[Blackfield activates.]

[All stats are increased by 1.5 times.]

[Due to the effect of Blackfield, all stats of monsters within the area are decreased by 10%.]

The ground turned black as the old man entered the Blackfield’s area.

The old man glanced at the ground with curious eyes and spoke.

“I saw it before, but you use an interesting ability.”

“Not yet.”

[All stats are increased by 15%.]

[20% damage reduction is applied.]

[The time limit is ‘1 hour’.]

He used the Stat Amplification ring.

[‘Poison Attack’ activation probability is increased by 4% for 1 hour.]

And on top of that, he used the Guardian of Märchen.

Fully buffed, Jeong-hoon activated his movement technique.

As he quickly moved and arrived in front of the old man, the old man grinned.

‘Level truly can’t be trusted. How can this be the movement of a level 203?’

Movements that far surpassed level 203.

Jeong-hoon threw a punch.

His fist was imbued with the energy of the Underworld King.

Underworld King Fist Technique, 1st Form.

The old man parried the punch with his left hand, which wasn’t holding the sword.

He precisely struck Jeong-hoon’s wrist, so no damage was inflicted.

The old man then tried to kick Jeong-hoon’s shin.

But Jeong-hoon read his next move, slightly pulled his leg back to dodge, and punched the old man’s right side.

Bam!

This time, it landed squarely on his side.

[Nameless Warrior uses ‘Iron Guard’.]

The old man endured the Underworld King Fist Technique by using a skill.

Whoosh!

The old man immediately slashed his sword downwards.

Jeong-hoon used his movement technique to retreat from the sharp sword strike.

The old man grinned at his quick footwork.

“You use an interesting movement technique. Then, I shall too.”

[Nameless Warrior uses ‘Moonlight Steps’.]

The old man quickly moved his feet and closed in on Jeong-hoon.

As Jeong-hoon threw a punch, he dodged it with a step and slashed Jeong-hoon’s side.

A stinging pain was felt.

[Uses Advanced Healing]

Jeong-hoon quickly cast Advanced Healing and then struck the old man’s left abdomen with his fist.

However, it couldn’t penetrate the body strengthened by Iron Guard.

“You’re still far off.”

At that moment, Jeong-hoon grabbed the old man’s right wrist, which was holding the sword.

The strike to the abdomen was a setup to grab his wrist.

“What?!”

His face was filled with surprise, as if he hadn’t expected his wrist to be grabbed.

“Then let’s begin.”

Jeong-hoon grinned and started pummeling him with his free hand.

‘What kind of grip strength is this?!’

The old man tried to shake Jeong-hoon off, but his gripped hand showed no signs of loosening.

Helplessly, the old man also countered with his fists.

Thus began a brawl.

However, as time passed, the old man was the one being pushed back.

‘This is unbelievable!’

He didn’t know what trickery was used, but the damage was penetrating his Iron Guard.

The Underworld King Fist Technique combined with poison damage caused immense pain.

If this continued, he would be the one defeated.

‘Alright! Then try to break through this too!’

[The Nameless Warrior uses ‘Hell’s Fury’.]

The old man’s body turned crimson.

A physical enhancement skill that increases overall attack and defense.

“It’s useless.”

Jeong-hoon’s lips curled into a smirk.

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique, which was at the 1st Form, had now been activated up to the 4th Form.

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique had an option to ignore defense, so it was a pointless effort.

Bam!

He continued to pummel the old man.

Jeong-hoon was also being beaten all over his body, starting from his face, but the power of Advanced Healing was tremendous.

This was because he used healing every time he got hit, maintaining his health above 90%.

Bam! Bam!

Before long, the Underworld King’s Fist Technique had reached the 5th Form.

The old man was in agony from the increased destructive power.

“Cough! S-Stop! I give up!”

In the end, he couldn’t hold on and shouted his surrender.

———