Chapter 72: Chapter 72

The third wave’s moon bears.

Leaving aside the fact that they were level 150, there were just too many of them.

“Are you okay?! There are so many!”

Yeo Min-ji hurriedly took a stance and shouted as she unleashed her most damaging skill, Extinction Fist, into the abdomen of a charging moon bear.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re fine…?”

There were too many of them.

There were hundreds of them visible to the naked eye.

If only their levels and stats weren’t adjusted to 150, she would have been able to hunt this many and more.

Of course, she was managing with items, but it wasn’t enough to hunt such a large number.

The same was true for Jeong-hoon, but he had a trump card left.

‘Shall I use it now?’

===

[Stat Amplification Ring (One-Time Use)]

-Type: Ring

-Grade: Epic

-Special Ability (1): When the ring’s magic power is drawn out, the wearer’s all stats are temporarily increased by 50%.

-Special Ability (2): All of the opponent’s abilities and damage from attacks are reduced by 50%.

-Once used, the ring can no longer be used.

===

An item obtained from opening the Unknown Box.

Honestly, it wasn’t an incredibly amazing item, but it was an item that Jeong-hoon desperately needed.

Because he knew that a situation like this would happen.

Jeong-hoon focused his magic power on the ring he was wearing on his index finger.

The jewel of the ring turned red, and he immediately released its power.

[All stats are increased by 50%.]

[50% damage reduction is applied.]

[The time limit is ‘1 hour’.]

For one hour, all of his stats increased by 50%, becoming ‘225’.

“A stat amplification item?!”

Yeo Min-ji immediately recognized the change in Jeong-hoon’s aura.

To think that she would be able to witness the use of a stat amplification item, which was said to be nearly impossible to obtain, up close.

Where on earth did he get such an item?

“It’s not that rare since it’s a one-time use.”

Jeong-hoon said nonchalantly and started hunting the swarming moon bears.

“Let’s join in too!”

Ha-jin, who was watching from behind, also drew his sword and slashed at the charging moon bears.

“Kuwaa!”

“Damn it! It doesn’t die in one hit.”

Ha-jin cursed and continued to swing his sword.

At that moment, two moon bears charged at Ha-jin.

“Watch out!”

Yeo Min-ji blocked the moon bears that were heading towards Ha-jin.

Thus, the hunt began, and as time passed, the corpses of the moon bears piled up.

Of course, Jeong-hoon had hunted more than 80% of them alone.

When he had hunted around 400-500 of them, the users finally joined in.

“Hey! We need to catch them quickly too!”

While Jeong-hoon and Yeo Min-ji were beating up the remaining moon bears, the users hurriedly joined in and dealt with the rest.

[The 3rd Monster Wave has ended.]

[Current base damage: 0.256%]

The base’s damage was 0.25%.

It was over a quarter of the 1% limit.

‘At this rate, we can definitely defend it.’

The last one was a level 170 boss.

[Gyeonggi Uijeongbu 1% damage! The siege ends!]

[Chungbuk Cheongju 1% damage! The siege ends!]

[Gyeongnam Geoje 1% damage! The siege ends!]

[Jeonbuk Gunsan 1% damage! The siege ends!]

[Gyeonggi Paju 1% damage! The siege ends!]

…

Countless notifications popped up as the third wave ended.

[All regions in South Korea except Seoul have been annihilated.]

“What? Only Seoul is left?”

“Does that mean if we don’t protect Seoul, South Korea is finished…?”

The users’ faces were filled with dismay.

They never dreamed that all regions except Seoul would collapse in the third wave.

‘Originally, Seoul should have been finished too.’

South Korea would end without even seeing the fourth wave.

It was the same for other countries.

How could they move so meticulously in an event that was originally composed of PC cafe users?

Jeong-hoon knew that no country had successfully defended the siege in this event.

The event was a complete failure.

It was the cause of the Earth suffering from all sorts of natural disasters.

“Are you okay?”

Yeo Min-ji approached Jeong-hoon and checked his body.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Jeong-hoon’s body was the same as before the battle.

There wasn’t even a single scratch.

This was because he had used the epic-grade Intermediate Healing to heal himself.

Unaware of this, Yeo Min-ji clicked her tongue.

“…Anyone else wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.”

No matter how much you used a stat amplification item, it was impossible for one person to handle hundreds of level 150 moon bears alone.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

At that moment, the sound of applause filled Namsan.

And the NPC Ling Ling appeared in the air as a hologram.

“I’m so glad I’m in charge of the Korean server. I never imagined you’d perfectly block the third wave.”

The users were startled by the sudden appearance of the event NPC.

“Who is that NPC?”

“What? Why is she appearing there?”

“Is the siege over?”

Ling Ling chuckled, seemingly pleased with the users’ reactions.

“The siege isn’t over yet. I came here to make you all a proposition.”

Ling Ling’s gaze subtly shifted towards Jeong-hoon.

He was the one who contributed the most to this siege.

[4th Wave difficulty increased]

A large holographic message appeared next to Ling Ling.

“Increased difficulty?”

“You’re going to make it even harder than it is now?”

The users muttered in disbelief.

As if expecting such a reaction, Ling Ling added,

“If you succeed, I’ll give you a very special reward. Rewards you won’t regret.”

Then, the rewards appeared in a list.

An upgrade from the current job class, unique-grade weapons and armor, skill books containing rare skills, and even boxes filled with tens of thousands of gold.

The users’ eyes sparkled as they saw the rewards.

“Are you really going to give us those?”

“Wow… That’s crazy.”

“Does that mean I can go straight from rare to epic grade?”

The rewards were too tempting to refuse.

They had joined late anyway, so it was difficult to expect a high ranking.

It was better to raise the difficulty and get the rewards instead.

“So, what do you say? Will you do it? For your reference, the rewards are random.”

The users looked at each other and nodded.

“We’ll do it.”

“Me too!”

“We definitely have to do it!”

As the majority accepted the proposal, Ling Ling’s lips curled up into a wide smile.

At the same time, Jeong-hoon’s face hardened slightly.

‘So you’re going to make the bet happen this way?’

“Good. Then let’s start right away!”

Ling Ling snapped her fingers and disappeared.

[The difficulty of the 4th Monster Wave has increased.]

[The 4th Monster Wave begins.]

As the fourth wave began, a giant gate, unlike anything they had seen before, was created.

A monster slowly emerged from the gate.

[Lv.175 Dragonia]

A monster in the form of a giant dragon.

The users were speechless at the sight of Dragonia’s majesty.

“Dragonia…?”

Yeo Min-ji’s face also hardened.

Originally, Dragonia’s level was 420.

Even rankers over level 400 didn’t dare challenge it recklessly, so the number of Dragonias defeated so far could be counted on one hand.

And now, Dragonia had appeared, its level lowered to 175.

“Why Dragonia of all things…?”

The users were well aware of Dragonia’s infamy.

The reason lay in the ability it used.

‘Extinction.’

Users hit by Extinction would be left with only 1% of their health, magic power, and divine power.

Moreover, for 30 seconds, recovery was restricted, making it impossible to recover even with potions or skills.

It was literally a broken ability.

So unless you had a skill to nullify the ability, it was wise to give up on the Dragonia strategy.

“B-But, maybe it won’t use Extinction…?”

The only fortunate thing was that Dragonia’s level was currently 175.

Even at level 420, it didn’t use Extinction often, so there was a possibility it wouldn’t use it at level 175.

“Yeah! We’ll overwhelm it with numbers!”

No matter how strong Dragonia was, it wouldn’t be able to handle a multitude of users.

They gathered in parties and moved to attack Dragonia.

“Damn humans!”

Dragonia opened its mouth wide and prepared to breathe fire.

“B-Breath attack!”

“Barrier! Barrier!”

They couldn’t let Dragonia use its breath attack.

Not only did they have to defeat it, but they also had to protect the base from damage.

The mages hurriedly deployed a barrier with a radius of 500 meters around Namsan.

And Dragonia unleashed its prepared breath.

[Dragonia uses ‘Breath’.]

The breath attack hit the barrier.

Crash!

The barrier couldn’t withstand the breath attack and shattered.

But it wasn’t completely ineffective.

Since it was a level 175 breath attack, it was somewhat absorbed by the overlapping barriers, and the remaining fragments scattered around.

[The base is being destroyed!]

[Damage: 0.261%]

“Attack!”

It had just used its breath attack, so it would take time for it to use the next one.

The users launched a total attack to pressure Dragonia in the meantime.

But then…

[Dragonia uses ‘Extinction’.]

[Everyone’s health, magic power, and divine power are reduced to 1%.]

[Recovery is impossible for 30 seconds.]

The users were hit by Extinction, and all their health, magic power, and divine power were reduced to 1%.

The skills they had prepared disappeared due to lack of magic power, and healing couldn’t be done for 30 seconds due to the recovery restriction.

The users’ faces turned pale.

“This is crazy!”

“Its level was reduced to 175?! Why is it using Extinction?!”

Dragonia looked satisfied with the users’ reactions and unleashed a shockwave.

The users, left with only 1% of their health, couldn’t withstand the shockwave and disappeared on the spot.

They were dead.

“Dodge!”

Since they were under the effect of Extinction, they had to avoid Dragonia for 30 seconds.

“What about the base?!”

[The base is being destroyed!]

[Damage: 0.282%]

The more Dragonia rampaged, the faster the base’s damage increased.

At this rate, 1% would be reached soon.

At that moment, a user stepped forward.

It was none other than Jeong-hoon.

‘Even though I was hit by Extinction, I still have 50% left, so it’s okay.’

Jeong-hoon’s body was currently under the effect of the Stat Amplification Ring.

Even though he was hit by Extinction, it nullified 50% of the effect, so Jeong-hoon still had half of his health remaining.

“Huh? Isn’t that the martial artist who was with Yeo Min-ji?”

“What is he trying to do alone?”

The users who were running away from Dragonia looked at Jeong-hoon with bewildered faces.

‘Dragonia, I can hunt you down.’

Jeong-hoon had experience defeating Dragonia.

Therefore, he knew better than anyone that it was nothing special as long as he was careful of Extinction.

‘Its weakness is its defense.’

Dragonia wasn’t a real dragon.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was a monster that failed to become a dragon due to a mutation.

It possessed powerful abilities, but its defense was correspondingly low.

Well, relatively lower than those in the 400 level range.

It was still tougher than those in the mid to late 300 level range.

However, the current Dragonia was level 175.

Jeong-hoon, with his amplified stats, was confident he could kill it in an instant.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

Jeong-hoon drew his bowstring.

“What? It’s an inferior species.”

Anima glanced at the giant Dragonia and lost interest.

“You insolent creature!”

Dragonia shouted in anger.

Dragon Fear.

The dragon species could sense each other’s energy.

So its inferiority complex exploded at the appearance of Anima.

“What a noisy creature.”

Anima raised its short arms and pretended to cover its ears.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

Jeong-hoon drew the bowstring.

Jeong-hoon had experienced several trials and errors to figure out Dragonia’s weakness and how to attack it.

He finally released the drawn bowstring, and the arrow shot out.

The arrow hit Dragonia near its left chest.

“Kaaaagh!”

Dragonia screamed as the arrow pierced it.

[Debuff, ‘All Stats Decreased by 1%’ activated.]

[Dragonia is incapacitated for 7 seconds.]

[All of Dragonia’s abilities are sealed for 10 seconds.]

One of Anima’s abilities, a random debuff with a low activation probability, had been triggered.

“The probability is really low.”

Wasn’t this the first time the debuff had been triggered?

Honestly, he had forgotten that it even had a debuff option.

Furthermore, the black flames hadn’t flared up even once since Uradon.

Even if it was 0.1%, wasn’t this too unlucky?

As Jeong-hoon muttered softly, Anima blushed and yelled.

“Hey! It’s pretty good for not being enhanced!”

Anima had only evolved from Unique to Legendary grade, but currently, it hadn’t been enhanced at all.

In fact, enhancing Anima at its current level was impossible.

To enhance Anima, Legendary Enhancement Stones were needed, but the problem was that there were hardly any of these stones, and the enhancement success rate was so low that no users even attempted it.

Well, he would solve this problem soon too.

“Who said anything?”

“Your expression was totally cursing me.”

“Must be your imagination.”

Jeong-hoon drew his bowstring again.

“How dare you chatter in front of me… How far do you intend to insult me?!”

It shouted at Jeong-hoon with bloodshot eyes.

But Jeong-hoon knew it was directed at Anima.

Dragonia had been rejected by dragons as an inferior species.

“Stop making noise and just die.”

Jeong-hoon released the drawn bowstring, and the arrow struck the same spot as before.

“Kaaagh!”

It screamed and tried to twist its body, but it was frozen and couldn’t move.

Jeong-hoon repeatedly shot arrows.

When nine arrows had been embedded, Dragonia crashed to the ground.

————