Chapter 27

* * *

He had returned from around 920 monsters at the tower, but suddenly, the quest was marked as completed.

‘What’s going on?’

Seong Jihan looked down below the tower, specifically at the spot where he had used the Flashing sky thunder steps.

‘It must be because of that.’

Flashing sky thunder steps was the ultimate magic that allowed him to jump great distances at once by transforming his body into lightning just before taking off. The distinctive feature of this technique was the explosive current that surged just before his feet left the ground.

However, a portion of that current still remained in the ground where he had passed through.

Seeing this, Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.

‘It only happened because I still haven’t mastered the technique.’

Originally, when he took off, the current that had spread into the earth should have gathered entirely around him. But since he had triggered the Nameless Divine Arts through the three dantians rather than using it as a skill, the power that had spread into the ground hadn’t gathered perfectly.

‘I’ll need time to practice.’

He’d completed the quest thanks to that, but it was nothing more than unexpected luck from a martial artist’s perspective.

Recognizing his own shortcomings, Seong Jihan patiently awaited the next linked quest.

[You’ve been rewarded with 3,000 achievement points.]

[You’ve unlocked the linked quest ‘The origin of the zombies (2)’.]

Kurrurrur-

The ground shook violently, causing the zombies that had been relentlessly charging to suddenly stop in their tracks.

Grrr… Rrrr…

The zombie voices that had been echoing across the battlefield abruptly cut off.

A deep silence fell over the land beyond the tower, as well as the other towers, mirroring the situation.

Viewers watching the broadcast were thrown into confusion.

– ????? What’s happening?

– I’m seeing something like this in a zombie map for the first time.

– Is it a Bug?

– Is this on Battle Net? If this is real, isn’t it a monumental event??

Just then.

Kugugugung!

The ground split open, and a massive hand thrust upward.

Each finger was so gigantic that they almost reached the height of the tower. The hand was made of black steel.

From the center of the palm, a mouth formed, and a mournful melody began to resonate, one that could shake the entire battlefield.

Ooohh-!

“…Wha!”

“What in the world is this…?”

The players participating in the game, as well as the viewers watching, were chilled to the bone by the eerie sound.

And then, the horde of zombies began to be sucked into the colossal hand.

Crunch! Squelch!

The hand crushed and kneaded the zombies.

Even though the bones and flesh of the zombies were torn apart with a horrifying noise as they fell to the ground, the fragments of the fallen zombies reassembled into the black hand and gradually formed a massive figure.

And before long, the black hand created ‘something’.

“No… That’s…”

Golden Light’s voice trembled.

A gigantic abomination made of a mix of the blood, flesh, and bones of various creatures.

“Why is a monster like a Flesh Golem, usually seen at Gold-level, here?”

The grotesque form, created by the haphazard assembly of zombie fragments, robbed onlookers of any sense of reality.

And it wasn’t just one.

Crunch-thud! Crunch-thud!

The black hand created a total of seven sections of the Flesh Golem.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

After emitting a sinister laughter, the hand disappeared into the ground once again.

[You’ve cleared the Defense map, ’10 Towers,’.]

[Bonus Quest has been unlocked.]

Despite there still being seven towers left standing, a message appeared, indicating that all the towers had cleared their missions.

-Bonus Quest?

-There was something like that on the Bronze map?

[Halt the advance of the Flesh Golems created by the ‘Black Hand,’ an apostle of destruction. You can narrow the power gap by utilizing the blessing of the Crystal!]

[Reward – Experience & GP tripled upon mission completion.]

The reward for the bonus mission was straightforward.

Three times the original reward.

‘Crystal gives its blessing?’

‘Then… is it worth trying?’

Since they would consider it a clear regardless, the bonus mission was worth a shot without any hesitation.

As players prepared themselves for battle with determination, something different appeared on Seong Jihan’s quest messages.

[Linked Quest – Origin of the Zombies (2)]

[Defeat the Flesh Golems without the aid of the Crystal.]

[Reward – Achievement Points 10,000 / Crystal Fragment]

‘Defeat the Flesh Golems without the aid of the Crystal?’

Seong Jihan couldn’t help but chuckle at the mission, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Is this really a mission meant to be cleared?

‘So there must be Crystal fragments in the reward.’ Other than epic quests related to survival maps, additional rewards beyond achievement points were rare.

Seong Jihan gazed at the approaching Flesh Golems from a distance.

Thump, thump, thump.

The seven sections of Flesh Golems created by the black hand were rapidly approaching the seven towers.

With each step they took, fragments of what used to be human rained down disgustingly. Even seeing it again was repulsive.

Meanwhile, Golden Light approached Seong Jihan, his tongue held in awe of the Flesh Golems’ grandeur.

“Heh… that looks like it’s not going to be easy. Seong Jihan, you should quickly get buffed.”

“…”

Despite Golden Light’s words, Seong Jihan remained silent, focused on observing the Flesh Golems.

His viewers began to speculate about his behavior.

– Seong Jihan seems hesitant, he might back out of this haha.

– If he doesn’t get 1st place, won’t he reveal his status window?

– What is he thinking??????

– Realistically, how could a Bronze League player handle a Gold League sub-boss? We should just ignore this

– he’s already shaking.

The viewers’ thoughts were correct. Even with the Crystal’s buff, could they really suppress that gigantic monster?

It would be tough.

‘Seong Jihan, even though it’s you, that might be difficult.’

There was a chance Jihan was getting ready to die. If he had any ambition as a streamer, he might’ve been thinking of how to die while leaving the best impression possible.

As Golden light was sorting through his thoughts, Seong Jihan spoke in a low voice.

“I don’t need buff.”

“…Huh?”

Seong Jihan, briefly responding to Golden Light’s words, invoked the power of the Samdanjeon.

* * *

Flesh Golem.

Even players in the Gold League would find it difficult to defeat this powerful monster individually if their levels were insufficient.

Being an undead-summoned monster, it had the ability to continuously regenerate as long as the core in its body wasn’t destroyed. Moreover, the fragments of corpses embedded in its body weren’t pleasant, making each individual part of the creature equivalent to a sub-boss-level monster.

While Seong Jihan had transcended the Bronze tier, facing the Flesh Golem was still a challenge.

‘If I couldn’t use the Nameless Divine Arts again, it would have been impossible.’

But now, even if it wasn’t perfect, he could use the martial arts.

He could kill it.

Crackling electricity spread from Seong Jihan’s feet.

Reacting to his intense aura, Golden Light, who had been standing nearby, quickly moved away.

“What’s… this?”

“I will take care of this alone.”

Nameless Divine Arts footwork technique Flashing sky thunder steps

As Seong Jihan lifted his foot, deep footprints were imprinted on the tower’s top.

Puff-

His body turned into light and disappeared.

“Wha- what?!”

Golden Light looked around in bewilderment, and his face turned to astonishment.

Seong Jihan was suddenly hovering above the head of the approaching Flesh Golem.

Even Golden Light, once a Gold-tier player, couldn’t grasp it—Seong Jihan’s instantaneous divine technique.

On top of the Flesh Golem’s head, Seong Jihan held his Chamado high.

‘Even though I gained Force and my class is Mage and Support, it’s all just means to become stronger.’

All of it was merely a way to enhance his strength.

Seong Jihan condensed the power of his three dantians into his sword.

Zing-

Perhaps due to continuously using an incomplete martial art that he hadn’t properly acquired, his entire body was wracked with pain, but…

‘It’s bearable.’

Enduring the pain, Seong Jihan unleashed his martial art.

Nameless Divine Arts The Triad of Martial Mastery: Mount Tai Suppression

Triad of Martial Mastery was a martial arts technique modeled after Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Despite its grand name, it was essentially no different from the basic principles of the Nameless Divine Arts.

Heaven cleaves vertically, Earth cleaves horizontally, and Man pierces.

Truly the most fundamental of fundamentals.

The third tier among the three tiers.

Yet, it was the foundation of the Nameless Divine Arts.

The Triad of Martial Mastery followed these principles. And the Mount Tai Suppression that Seong Jihan executed was simple as a move.

Despite its grandiose intention to crush Mount Tai, in reality, it was just a vertical cleaving motion. However, when taken to the extreme, the story changed.

Swoosh!

As he brought down his sword, the giant’s strides towards the tower abruptly halted.

Compared to the Golem’s size, this swing was nothing less than an ant’s strike, but it was enough.

The Golem couldn’t take a single step more.

And soon.

Crash-

From the head to the lower body of the Flesh Golem, its entire form split in half.

Countless pieces of flesh gathered, and the heart, the core of the Flesh Golem, also split into pieces.

Afterwards, as Seong Jihan landed on the ground…

Rumble-!

The earth split apart.

Not content with merely vanquishing the giant, he left a scar on the earth—a transcendent strike of the utmost power.

This was the The Triad of Martial Mastery: Mount Tai Suppression

* * *

Seong Jihan’s expression wasn’t exactly pleasant.

‘The control over my power is still not as free as I’d like.’

He should have only cut the Flesh Golem, but the aftershock of his power reached even below it.

It was an incomplete Mount Tai Suppression.

However, this was something others wouldn’t know.

“…”

Behind Seong Jihan, a chilly silence settled.

Thump.

Drip-drip-

Maseid dropped the ball he was playing with.

“Huh… huh.”

Golden Light lost his composure.

‘What… did I just witness?’

Seong Jihan’s execution of a single sword technique.

It was a simple motion.

Simply putting his body into gravity, bringing the sword down.

Rather, what had come before, the technique of becoming a lightning bolt and ascending to the sky, was more impressive.

However…

The result of his strike made even that seem forgettable.

When the light converged on Seong Jihan’s sword and it struck down on the Flesh Golem.

Golden Light felt as though he, too, had been torn apart.

Badump! Badump!

His heart raced as if going mad, and the sound of its beating seemed to reach his ears.

Excitement and fear’s footsteps.

‘Did I…did I experience that alone… or not?’

He barely turned his head to look at Maseid.

Wearing bright sportswear, Maseid was drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Golden Light was certain.

Even the emotionless soccer troll’s reaction was telling enough.

That strike made anyone who was a ‘living being’ feel fear.

“…”

Streamer Golden Light stared at the Flesh Golem disassembling into a pile of corpses after losing its core.

“Ah!”

In a moment, he regained his senses and hastily turned his gaze to his chat window.

Countless viewers flooded in to see Seong Jihan’s performance.

Perhaps due to being just as astounded, the chat momentarily went quiet, as if lagging.

After a while.

– What did I just witness?

– A Bronze player? Against a Flesh Golem? In a single strike?

– It’s a bug! A bug player!!!!!!!!

Although the viewers’ responses of disbelief flooded the chat, Golden Light merely shook his head softly.

‘You have to witness in person to understand what happened right now.’

Seong Jihan’s strike was on a different level from what could be seen on the screen.

The sensation of feeling as if his body was also being torn apart.

The feeling of his entire body stiffening, with only his heart beating fiercely.

An experience he hadn’t felt even during his time in the Gold League.

‘This feeling… It’s my first time.’

Fear, despair, anticipation, yearning.

Numerous emotions mixed in his chest.

As a Warrior, he thought that, no matter how many lives he lived, he wouldn’t be able to catch up with Jihan…

‘You… You’re the person who will become the greatest.’

Next, the emotion that seized Golden Light’s heart was…

‘I want to know more about you. I want to capture you on my screen, I want to take your picture.’

As a streamer, it was the expectation and desire to capture the person who would become the ultimate star.

With a hazy gaze, Streamer Golden Light looked at Seong Jihan.

Woo-soo-soo-

Because the Flesh Golem was so huge, fragments of its body were still falling, but the spot where Seong Jihan stood with both feet was completely distinct from that eerie scene.

It seemed as if he alone existed in a different world.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

Is what I’m capturing now not the present of a player who will become a legend in the future? That was the kind of thought it was.

[You’ve cleared the Bonus mission.]

[Your Experience points and GP reward has been tripled.]

[Logging out in a moment.]

Although a message appeared saying the first-place reward would be tripled, Golden Light was more disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to capture Seong Jihan anymore.

‘Parting like this.’

As Golden Light looked at Seong Jihan with a regretful gaze…

Blink!

Suddenly, Seong Jihan’s figure disappeared, only to reappear on top of the tower.

More precisely…

“Hmm…”

In front of Maseid, who had been placing a soccer ball on his foot.