Solo Clear Chapter 43

With this, it'll be the fourth time since I've entered the coliseum.
At first, I was eliminated because my body was cut in half.
Next, I was eliminated because I was crushed by the giant's hand.
During my third attempt, I managed to dodge their attacks, but in the end, they caught me.

The victor was decided within minutes, so I couldn't feel any pain.
Before my fourth attempt, I couldn't help but think about it near the entrance of the coliseum.
This is the first time I've been defeated like this.
It felt like the fear that I felt in battle was slowly filling my mind.

"I have no choice but to do it."

The fact that I didn't die made me feel better.
No, I was honestly confused whether it was a good thing.

Clank!!

The iron entrance opened and I entered the coliseum.
Just like before, the giant was enveloped in chains, but now, that didn't seem enough.
Before fighting, Groll broke the chains and was prepared to fight.

"Haaaa."

Their sigh was colder than the winter wind and it blew against my skin.

The sun wasn't warm enough to get rid of this cold.
Ice started forming on the gear that I was wearing.

"Please go easy on me."

I built up the courage to ask my opponent to go easy on me.
I didn't feel embarra.s.sed for saying it.
I've already lost three times to this giant to keep my pride.
Making up excuses to my loss only made me look like a coward.

The giant didn't say anything.
The long conversation that we had in the beginning seemed like a dream.
They only said what they wanted to say and ended the conversation.

It seemed like they didn't have the intention to listen to what I had to say.
They wielded the large sword once again.
The sword was as big as them, but how were they able to wield it with such a frail body?
It was like a riddle to me, but I wasn't given the time to solve it.

"The 10-minute challenge will begin."

I didn't notice at first, but a countdown appeared on top of the coliseum.
Fire was used to display the time and it notified that I needed to endure it for that long in order to keep living.
They only allowed me to see that time right before the battle.
Once the battle starts, I won't be given the opportunity to even glance at it because I'll be busy dodging.

Clank!!

They cut the ground this time too.
The floor plates that were installed within the coliseum were destroyed and three small pieces were gathered together and formed a wave.
At the start of the battle, I would deal with their attack based on the pattern that I saw.

Shall we try?

I took the Adamantium Sword that was strengthened.
If I added my strength and mana, then I'll be able to release a power that can split a large army into two.
It was worth trying.
Up till now, I've only thought about dodging their attack and for the first time, I decided to attack.

The mana was reacting to my emotions.
A blue energy enveloped the sword just like before.

Clank!!

The giant's sword and mine clashed.
Their heavy attack made my hands tremble and weakened my knees, which caused me to be pushed back.

Bam!!

I wasn't able to endure their attack and it flew into the air.
All the muscles in my body started aching and it was like it was telling me that I made the wrong decision.
This was the first time my heart started racing this fast.

Oh…it really hurts.

It would've been better if it ended instantly without any pain just like before.

As I flew into the air and was in the process of falling to the ground, I looked at my hand.
My fingers didn't look like my fingers because they were twisted in different directions.
I only used a small portion of my strength, but it was so painful that there weren't any words to describe it.

"Roaaaaaar!!"

The giant extended their left hand to try and grab me.
There was still time before my body would hit the floor, but they were already near me.

Crack!!

I added mana to my legs and kicked the hand that was going to grab me.
The distance between me and the giant was small, but thanks to that, I was able to land safely on the ground.
I started cracking my twisted fingers.

It was difficult to place the twisted fingers back to its place.
I just grabbed it and twisted it back into place.

"Gahhh!"

After fixing my index finger, I didn't think about grabbing my thumb.
On top of that, I had to do my best to dodge the giant's next attack.

Fwoos.h.!.+

I barely managed to dodge their attack, but I almost fell because of the strong wind that came after.
I took out a bow and arrow from my inventory.
It was hard to balance because of my thumb, but it was a long-distance attack that was advantageous to me.
Even though I haven't used it after the fourth stage, my body remembered how to use it.
I wasn't able to target the vital points, but I was able to hit them.
However, despite of them getting hit by several arrows, they didn't seem bothered by it and that was the problem.

"Grrrr!!"

The giant raised the sword just like the first time.
They were trying to attack by bringing the sword straight down.
It was more like they were trying to crush me rather than slas.h.i.+ng me.

Boom.

1/5th of the coliseum was easily destroyed through this one attack.
After seeing how easily the bleachers were destroyed, I wiped off the sweat that was rolling down my forehead.
d.a.m.n it, no way I'm going down that easily.

As time pa.s.sed, my senses became sharper.
I was getting used to the giant's attacks.

Fwoos.h.!.+

"Ack!!"

While I was boasting a bit, the giant threw something and it caused my legs to be cut into pieces.
When I checked what it was, it was a broken piece from the bleacher.
The giant threw that.
It flew so fast that my senses weren't able to recognize the attack.
The so called King of the Giant was probably controlled by the Managers for a long time and have weakened as time pa.s.sed.
But, they were still strong.

If I were to fight him when he's in perfect condition, one minute probably would've felt really long.

They could definitely destroy the human race.

I think I now understood why they had the potential to wipe out mankind.
If a couple of them were released, then for how long could the world endure it?

"Ha ha ha."

I started laughing as if I had lost my mind.
The giant approached me and inspected.

"Not…yet."

Since my legs were a mess, I couldn't run away.

I was waiting for them to finish me off.

Boom!!!

"Since you haven't endured it for 10 minutes, you'll be moved to the outside of the coliseum."

I didn't want to see how they were going to finish me off.
However, seeing as how it was over with one attack, they probably crushed me.

…Let's stop.

Whether they crushed me, slashed me or ripped my limbs apart.
It didn't matter.
Once I was moved to the outside of the coliseum, my body was recovered.
It didn't matter if I tried again, but the fear inside my heart hindered me.

Let's stop here today.

It was too much to keep trying after so many failures.
It felt like I would've seen all of this again if I fell asleep and dreamed about it.
I avoided the desert wind and sat in front of the entrance.
I took out the blanket that I used during the first stage.
Since it was such a small alley, this was enough to stop the sand from entering.

In order to fill my hunger, I took out the chocolate bar and the milk that was in my inventory.
I took a bite and started chewing.
It didn't taste any different from before so I didn't think much of it.
Ah…chocolate is sweet and that was it.
There wasn't anything else I could do here other than entering the coliseum.
Trying to explore the bare desert was a dangerous thing to do since there wasn't anything safe about it.
I wasn't sure if the Return Amulet was broken or if it was something else.

"x.x.x: The sixth stage's Nightmare mode is pretty difficult."

Through the friend system, I told the other people that I met before.

"Choi In Hyuk: That's not possible. The giant there didn't do anything."
"x.x.x: Just leaving them alone would probably kill them and if they did move, they couldn't do much."
"x.x.x: If you met the giant, then you'll just pa.s.s it."

I wondered whether the giant they met and the giant that I met were different creatures.
I didn't know why they were aggressively attacking me.

I had to try again after I wake up, so I wasn't sure what to do.
I checked the timer before pa.s.sing out and saw that only three minutes had pa.s.sed.
I tried not to think about it, but my eyes slowly started looking at the fingers and the legs that were attacked.
They were healed, but it seemed like they were still injured.
I wasn't sure how long my mentality could endure it.

"Why am I the only one going through this trouble?"

It was odd how I would face some sort of difficulty in every stage.
It would be weird if things worked out without any issues.
If I think about what was said to me, there could've been room to make a deal.
Instead of using my skills, I wondered how it would work out if I just talked things out.
That's how powerful the giant was.
Despite of me attacking with my sword and arrow, they weren't really affected by it.

Oh, there's that too.

I took out the lance from my inventory and it was the same one that I used last time when I was close to killing a Manager.
After it used up all of its power, it lost its form.
It was similar to a branch that was attached to a tree.
The Great Spirit answered that this was the lance's original form.

"…A branch."

The giant told me that I had a branch.
I thought that maybe that's what the giant was referring to when it mentioned that.

"Gahhh!"

Despite of its form, they still had a habit of eating my mana.
I felt pain as soon as I touched it and it was trying to obtain all of my mana.

"How much mana do you have to eat in order to become a lance again?"

Then, I saw it flinch slightly.

I heard from the Great Spirit that it tends to be dependent on others.
I couldn't help but question about whether I really saw the weapon flinch.
In the end, I acted like I didn't see it and moved on.

"Don't be upset. Weapons should know their place. Weapons like you that collect mana from their owners is something only bad weapons do."

Zaaaap!!

It released electricity as if it was mad.
It seemed like I shouldn't acknowledge the fact that this weapon depends on their owner to get mana.

"Okay, okay. Stop growling and calm down. I'm exhausted so there's no point in fighting with you."

I wasn't planning on babying it.

They have to depend on others, so there's no reason to be nice.
The outcome was great after I threw it that one time, but that was it.

"I'll leave you as is since I've taken you out, so if you have nothing else to do, think of a way to finish it without putting me in pain."

I was feeling weary and ended up falling asleep.

End.

Staff :
Jen (TL)
Kuhaku (PR)