Now Is the Cheapest

‘Strike the last blow leisurely.’

You need time to kill it leisurely. According to the guides, a grace period of at least 15 minutes is necessary. Otherwise, another transformation will occur in the creature.

‘Let’s land one more hit and then wait.’

At the very instant Kim Hyuk-jin’s steel sword targeted the troll’s left eye—

[‘The Valiant Lion King’ wishes to assist you.]

He hesitated for a moment. But it was already too late to withdraw the sword. The tip touched the troll’s left eye.

[‘The Valiant Lion King’ gifts you ‘Exceptional Strength’.]

[Due to the application of ‘Exceptional Strength’, your attack power will increase by 100% for the next strike.]

Kim Hyuk-jin made his decision instantly.

‘Damn it.’

That Valiant Lion King. He must have been waiting for this moment, probably grinning and saying [Now, show me your bravery]. If I ever kill a guardian, he will be the first. Kim Hyuk-jin thought so.

‘It’s too late now.’

The final blow landed. Without the luxury of time, an overly powerful attack had been delivered. Now the retaliation of the creature would begin. He realized this even before retrieving his sword.

‘I have to run.’

Poof!

The steel sword pierced the magic troll’s left eye.

Thud!

And an arrow out of nowhere penetrated the magic troll’s forehead.

Someone’s voice could be heard.

“It’s done!”

A man who had been knocked out near the troll fired an arrow. His name was Jang Hyun-su. He received a bow as a random weapon and handled it quite well. In fact, he had woken up from his ‘faint’ state some time ago.

[If you come to your senses, don’t do anything, just stay still. That’s what your brother said.]

Jang Hyun-su also heard it. Until now, he had been too scared to move, lying there. If he accidentally attracted the aggro, he would be the one to die. While praying that the man would somehow defeat the troll, what felt like a tremendous amount of time had passed. Then, he could see it.

‘Huh? This is crazy. It’s almost defeated.’

The monster that even Ma Sang-hyun failed to capture was nearly hunted by this seemingly unremarkable man. The existence of a player more powerful than Ma Sang-hyun was unthinkable.

‘Is it truly the end?’

It was really the end. If this creature was defeated, the tutorial would be over. As the urge to survive was satisfied, another greed began to smolder.

‘If I can land the final blow…!’

That’s right. Even just landing the final blow would yield a lot of rewards. Even if not all of it, at least more than half could be his. That’s what he thought.

‘Just because that little guy told me to stay still doesn’t mean I really have to, right?’

If he said he didn’t hear it, that would be the end of it. Or he could say he impulsively helped because the other man looked in danger. There were plenty of excuses.

[Using skill. ‘Reinforced Arrow’.]

The arrow flew. The troll had a huge body. The target was large. This time, fortune favored him as it struck precisely in the forehead.

‘It’s a success!’

The final blow was delivered successfully. The troll staggered. The boss monster of the tutorial, ‘Magic Troll’, seemed to disappear just like that.

‘I defeated the boss monster! I did it!’

He might become even more powerful than Ma Sang-hyun. His heart started pounding.

‘The reward! What will the reward be?’

He couldn’t help smiling at the thought of the reward. It felt as though he was receiving a rightful compensation for this damn hardship. He had vanquished a boss monster. As Kim Hyuk-jin rushed over, he asked:

“Why did you do it?”

It wasn’t over with just the last blow. This man had now made a mistake.

“It seems that you landed the final blow, after all.”

The magic troll began to change. Simultaneously, notifications started coming in.

“If you want to live, run. I can’t save you.”

The gaze of the magic troll turned toward Jang Hyun-su. Against the plans of the Valiant Lion King, the aggro shifted to Jang Hyun-su.

* * *

Kang Sun-hwa glanced at Kim Hyuk-jin while pouring stamina potions into people’s mouths. Kim Hyuk-jin, gasping for breath, had been fighting the ‘Magic Troll’ for over an hour.

‘It’s been over an hour.’

During that time, Kang Sun-hwa continued to administer potions to several people, not forgetting to give a warning.

‘Luckily, it seems like no one is dead.’

There was one person left.

‘I just have to feed one more person.’

The last person remaining. She carefully moved toward Ma Sang-hyun. She laid down the unconscious Ma Sang-hyun and slightly opened his mouth to start pouring the potion in.

[‘The Scales Maiden’ is pleased with your virtuous actions.]

[‘The Scales Maiden’ wishes to grant you a tutorial privilege.]

[‘The Scales Maiden’ gifts you the tutorial skill ‘Platinum Shield’.]

She administered the second potion to Ma Sang-hyun, same age as Kim Hyuk-jin, without paying much attention to the skill itself.

“Sir. Please, come to your senses.”

Eventually, Ma Sang-hyun began to regain consciousness.

* * *

There was a reason for slowly delivering the final blow. If the magic troll is killed in one hit, it enters ‘Berserk State’. A state of extreme excitement. It’s a monster that I couldn’t possibly defeat even if I fly or crawl, not in the state I am now. It’s a monster that needs to be taken down slowly, with surplus time.

KEEEEER!

The green body of the magic troll began to turn red. Veins started sprouting throughout its body.

[Boss Monster. The Magic Troll’s reasoning begins to deteriorate.]

[Boss Monster. The Magic Troll enters Berserk State.]

[Boss Monster. As The Magic Troll loses its reasoning, the boss monster zone deactivates.]

I said to her.

“Sun-hwa.”

“Yes?”

“Run.”

I started running first.

KEEEEER!

The magic troll began to charge at the archer who had delivered the last blow to it.

‘Is it good luck or bad fortune?’

I couldn’t tell. There was no time to judge. I didn’t even look back. A troll in berserk state. A mere graze could kill you.

The reddened troll grabbed the archer by the ankle and lifted him upside down.

“Ugh, AAAAHHH!”

The troll repeatedly smashed the archer to the left and then to the right.

Thump! Thump!

The archer’s screams faded along with the sounds. I knew what was happening behind me without needing to look. The sound told everything.

‘That must be… instant death.’

There was no time to offer condolences or prayers. The movements of the berserk creature were faster than those of the Lycanthropes. Hurriedly, I activated the description of the escalator.

──────────

[Escalator Leading to the 1st Floor]

The D-tower’s sub-boss field. Escalator to 1st floor. It can move up to 15 people at a time.

Cooldown: There is no cooldown for the down escalator.

──────────

“Run faster!”

I navigated using the escalator to move to the 1st floor. The boss monster zone was deactivated. No territory for the boss monster. At any cost, I needed to flee. There wasn’t enough time to care about the people lying on the 2nd floor. I had no idea what was happening up there. I only hoped they could survive on their own.

I bit my lip slightly.

‘A variable.’

I had failed to consider that. I couldn’t know everything unless I was a deity. I learned from experience this time. Now that I’ve learned from it, I should include such variables in my calculations. The tricks of the guardians. Their entertainment. All of these things must be included in strategy and calculations. I definitely learned my lesson.

“Oh, brother. What’s happening?”

“There’s no time to explain, just run.”

There was no time for explanations. I had to flee first. This damn D-tower, how on earth is it constructed, the escalators weren’t continuously connected. The down escalator was a bit far off.

‘No, that’s not it.’

There’s an elevator. Fortunately, it’s right on the 1st floor. But I couldn’t activate the description window. It didn’t work. It’s not safe now. Who knows when a crazed troll might come down and smash my head.

“Let’s go. To the stairs.”

I caught sight of the stairs.

“Just need to go down to B2.”

Sun-hwa followed me closely. I opened the emergency door. We ran down the emergency stairs. B2. Only I had heard it, ‘Extra Safety Zone. D-tower B2 Parking Lot’.

But then—Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!—heavy footsteps resounded. They were like those of a dinosaur.

‘Damn it!’

How could such a behemoth over two meters tall move so fast? It was as if an earthquake had struck on the stairs.

‘We need to run faster.’

Now that it had finished its business on the 2nd floor, it was targeting me and giving chase. Currently on B1. I grabbed Sun-hwa’s body. Sun-hwa had tremendous resilience, but her physical strength was not that great.

“Run faster!”

I grabbed Sun-hwa’s thin wrist. I desperately pulled her along. Even though Sun-hwa fell, there was no time to care.

‘She won’t get hurt from this.’

With a body that remained unscathed from a goblin’s blade, she wouldn’t sustain serious injuries from me dragging her roughly. A mere scrape at worst would be far better than being pulverized by a berserk troll.

Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!

My breath rose to my throat.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The creature’s footsteps closed in on me.

The growling of its breath reached my ears.

‘Why does it feel like B2 is so far away?’

A sign indicating the way to B2 became visible. I ran fervently. Toward B2. Toward the safety zone. The door leading to B2 appeared.

It was a fire door. A press-to-open structure. I pressed and opened the door. In that moment, the magic troll had caught up right behind me.

“Oh, brother!”

Berserk state. The deranged troll with only its sclera visible swung its fist.

KWANG!

A sound like an exploding bomb erupted.

‘Damn.’

The fire door crumpled like paper. It was lucky that I ducked my head, otherwise, I would have been sent to the other world. My hair stood on end.

‘Why on earth are there two layers to the fire door?’

I had to open another fire door to get to the B2 parking lot. Why was the fire door so heavy that day? I opened the door.

A chilling feeling came over me. The creature was raising its fist again from behind. I couldn’t explain it, but I could picture it. A tingly sensation was on the back of my head.

‘Definitely.’

I could feel it. Although I couldn’t see it with my eyes, I could see it. I could see the trajectory of the creature’s fist. And at the end of the trajectory, imagined in my head, was my own head.

[The system recognizes a critical situation.]

[‘Tutorial Field Boss Monster’s ‘special situation’ and ‘exceptional encounter’ are confirmed.]

[A latent talent. The ‘Unique Ability’ engraved on your body is forcibly awakened.]

Special encounter. Latent talent. Unique ability. I heard nothing.

[Unique Ability. ‘Ultra-Sensory’ is forcibly activated.]

I couldn’t heed the alert. However, ‘Ultra-Sensory’ vividly illustrated the situation behind me in my mind. I could see without looking.

The swinging fist of the troll. Where the end of that fist was aimed. How fast it was moving. It all painted naturally. To avoid that fist, what I should do, and how I should behave as if I were a highly trained individual, it was all clear. More than a dozen scenarios. All drawn in an instant.

The result.

‘I can’t avoid it.’

There was nowhere to escape to. No matter how I moved. No matter how I dodged. No matter how I blocked. At the end of every action was my death.

I had an intuition.

‘I’m going to die.’

The fear of death filled my head. At that moment. Yes, in that brief 0.1 second of time. It felt extended. The unique ability, ‘Ultra-Sensory,’ declared my death.

But then, in that instant, a miracle happened.