RMS 07

Chapter 7

-Urgh……!

The Dark Knight eventually could not withstand the intruder’s attacks and fell to one knee.

It was already impressive that the Level 100 Dark Knight had lasted this long.

After all, its opponent was a mid-level Awakened close to Level 200.

“Damn, you’re annoyingly persistent.”

The intruder muttered in an exhausted voice, apparently fed up with the Dark Knight’s struggle.

Then he raised his sword to deliver the final blow to the kneeling Dark Knight.

Step-

But at that moment, Han Si-woo began walking toward the intruder.

The intruder glanced at him and spoke with a mocking expression.

“What? You want to fight me?”

A black longsword was already in Han Si-woo’s hand.

As he casually approached the intruder, he said,

“You’re pretty good.”

At those words, the intruder stared at him blankly.

For a moment, he even wondered if Han Si-woo had lost his mind.

“What?”

He had already confirmed that Han Si-woo was only Level 50.

There was a level difference of nearly four times between them, so what was with that relaxed attitude?

Irritation slowly rising inside him, the intruder spoke angrily.

“Wait a moment. I’ll finish this guy first……”

Tap-

At that moment, Han Si-woo lightly stepped on the ground.

Then he leaped.

The resulting burst of sound was anything but light.

BOOM-!

The moment Han Si-woo kicked off the ground, a tremendous roar echoed throughout the cave.

At the deafening sound, the intruder’s eyes widened.

He was even more shocked by the fact that Han Si-woo had already closed the distance and entered his immediate range.

Whoosh-!

Han Si-woo swung his sword in a large upward arc, cutting from bottom to top.

The moment the intruder noticed it, he clenched his teeth.

‘This bastard!?’

Did he really dare attack him?

A nobody who was only Level 50?

His thoughts were brief, and his actions were quick.

The intruder swung his sword at Han Si-woo, who had entered his range.

But at that moment, a notification window appeared before the intruder’s eyes.

[You have invaded the opponent’s domain.]

The moment the notification appeared, the intruder was bewildered.

He suddenly felt as though all the strength had drained from his body.

Clang-!

“Guhk!?”

With a pain that felt as if his palm had been torn apart, his sword was knocked upward.

Wasn’t his opponent just a fool who was only Level 50?

Then how could this be……

Grip-!

Han Si-woo grabbed the intruder by the back of his neck and slammed him to the ground.

The intruder, who had been caught before he could even resist, fell to the floor and desperately grabbed Han Si-woo’s hand around his neck.

He tried to force his hand away, but—

Creak-!

“Khak! Gack……!?”

He could not remove the other man’s hand at all.

Instead, every time he resisted, the grip around his neck slowly tightened, as if telling him not to fight back.

“Gack, gahk……!”

Han Si-woo gave a sinister smile at the sight of the intruder choking helplessly while being held by the neck.

Then he placed the sword in his hand on the ground and said,

“Get some sleep. You must be tired.”

Crack-!

Han Si-woo’s fist slammed directly into the center of the intruder’s face.

With a chilling sound, as if his bones were being crushed, the intruder’s eyes rolled backward behind his eyelids.

Han Si-woo quietly looked down at him before slowly straightening his body.

‘How boring.’

Han Si-woo had put every point he had gained from leveling up into Strength.

As long as his Vitality was enough to keep him from dying while running, that was sufficient. He had no need to use magic for the time being, so putting all his points into Strength was the right choice for making hunting easier.

In the end, including his Transcendent stats, his Strength had reached a whopping 97.

‘If he’s a balanced-type Awakened, even at Level 200, his Strength would be around 150. And if he gets caught in Domain Declaration, it would immediately drop to around 100.’

If their stats were close, the opponent was an easy target for Han Si-woo.

Especially if the opponent was careless.

“Dark Knight, are you still alive?”

-My, my lord! I have failed in my duty as your servant, who should have protected you……

“Just take care of yourself.”

Losing the Dark Knight here would be a waste.

It might seem strange to call it a loss when he had obtained it for just one Soul Stone, but wasn’t taking something away after giving it to someone the cruelest thing of all?

Han Si-woo glanced at the fallen intruder and opened his inventory.

[Lesser Arachnid Thread x7]

Han Si-woo used the miscellaneous items he had picked up and tightly wrapped the intruder.

The Arachnid Thread could take an enormous amount of time to remove once someone got caught in it.

Han Si-woo looked at the intruder, who had become a cocoon with only his face sticking out, and gave a small laugh.

‘This should be enough. Even the strongest guys won’t be able to do anything but roll around.’

The intruder had become a cocoon with only his bloodied face exposed, his eyes rolled back.

Han Si-woo turned his back on the intruder, who had been reduced to quite an ugly state, and started walking.

“Guard him well, Dark Knight. I’ll clear the dungeon and come back out.”

At Han Si-woo’s command, the Dark Knight drew its sword and stood firmly in front of the cocoon.

-Yes, my lord.

When Han Si-woo jumped back to create some distance, two claws stabbed into the ground where he had been standing.

The monster standing directly in front of Han Si-woo was an Old Arachnid.

It was the boss of the Lesser Arachnid Dungeon, an advanced individual whose two front legs had mutated into spike-like weapons.

-Kiiiiit!

After its attack missed, the Old Arachnid’s front leg shot straight toward Han Si-woo.

At the sight, Han Si-woo raised the sword he had been holding loosely.

He seemed to thrust his sword straight toward the incoming front leg.

But then—

Click-

He slightly changed its direction and rotated the sword as if wrapping it around the Old Arachnid’s front leg.

Then the sword came crashing down vertically.

Crack-!

The Old Arachnid’s front leg, struck by the blade as it collided with the ground, broke completely.

After breaking one of the Old Arachnid’s front legs in an instant, Han Si-woo launched himself forward.

-Shaaaak!

The Old Arachnid let out a shrill scream like air escaping and swung its front leg.

But Han Si-woo easily dodged its wild attacks.

While avoiding the attacks, Han Si-woo instantly slipped into its range.

As if it had been waiting for that moment, the Old Arachnid charged at him.

BOOM-!

The Old Arachnid completely crushed Han Si-woo beneath its body.

The Old Arachnid was about the size of a large van, and it had completely flattened Han Si-woo beneath it.

An ordinary person would not have survived and would have died instantly.

-……Kik, kik!

But something about the Old Arachnid seemed strange.

Its intermittent cries, convulsions, and slightly unnatural movements……

Crack-!

The Old Arachnid’s body suddenly split open.

Soon, Han Si-woo emerged from between the divided body of the Old Arachnid, coughing as he walked out.

‘Damn, what a mess.’

The moment the Old Arachnid charged at him, Han Si-woo had lowered his body as much as possible.

Then he spun his body and cut the monster completely in half vertically.

Because he had been between the two halves of the boss’s body, he had not been crushed, but he had been completely covered in its bodily fluids.

Since the monster was not poisonous, there was no danger, but he looked quite filthy.

Even if it had been poisonous, there would have been no problem thanks to his Transcendent Body.

[Han Si-woo (Transcendent) – Lv 60]

[Class – None]

[Title – None]

[Strength – 85 (+18)]

[Vitality – 38 (+12)]

[Mana – 1 (+12)]

[Remaining Points – 8]

‘My level went up by four at once.’

He had been Level 56 before killing the boss, so the amount of experience he had gained was considerable.

Han Si-woo wiped the bodily fluids from his face with his hand and sighed.

He had suffered much worse and filthier situations before his regression, but it still felt unpleasant.

“Acquire.”

A pale smoke rose from the Old Arachnid that had been cut in half.

After first acquiring the token and Soul Stone, along with several other items, he checked what he had obtained.

‘Old Arachnid’s front leg, junk item. Spike Ring.’

[Spike Ring]

[Value – 3]

[Increases weapon attack power by 1~1.]

[A ring made by processing the Old Arachnid’s pincers.]

“Junk.”

He also collected other items, including potions, magic stones, and threads, before moving on.

He had defeated the boss, so it was time to leave.

‘Damn, what the hell is going on…….’

After regaining consciousness, the intruder was visibly bewildered.

And considering his condition, he had every reason to be.

He had become a cocoon and could not use either his hands or feet, leaving him with no way to escape this place.

Of course, he could roll around and somehow get out of here……

Click-!

But the Dark Knight was glaring at him with its gray eyes while pointing its sword at him.

Unable to escape, the intruder was overwhelmed by despair.

‘What the hell did that bastard do? How could someone only Level 50……’

His head was filled with complicated thoughts, but the intruder could not continue thinking.

Footsteps were already approaching from a distance.

Before long, Han Si-woo arrived at the place where the Dark Knight and the intruder were.

“Dark Knight, did he do anything unusual?”

-He stayed still.

Han Si-woo nodded as if relieved and started walking.

Then he crouched down in front of the cocoon and spoke.

“Are you awake?”

“Ugh, huh!”

The intruder’s body flinched at Han Si-woo’s cold voice that pierced his ears.

Still crouching in front of the cocoon, Han Si-woo looked down at the intruder and continued in a cold voice.

“……At your level, this is a pretty bad dungeon to come here just to pick up easy experience. There must be something going on outside, right?”

At Han Si-woo’s words, the cocoon trembled violently.

Realizing that his guess was correct, Han Si-woo gestured to the Dark Knight with his chin.

The Center’s Awakened were probably already waiting outside.

“Dark Knight, pick this up.”

-Yes, my lord.

The Dark Knight lifted the intruder, the cocoon, high into the air as ordered.

Han Si-woo then began walking with the Dark Knight in front.

After being carried by the Dark Knight for quite some time, the intruder suddenly screamed.

“W-Wait! If you let me go, I’ll give you money……”

“Dark Knight, hit him once.”

Thud-!

The intruder screamed as the Dark Knight’s iron fist struck him.

With an indifferent expression, Han Si-woo spoke in a low voice.

“I don’t need money when I don’t even know how you earned it. If you’re innocent, you’ll go to the Center, get questioned, receive a warning, and be released. If you’re guilty, you’ll go to prison. So don’t try to negotiate with me.”

Most unregistered Awakened had something to hide.

Criminals, wanted fugitives, or people with complicated circumstances.

That was why Han Si-woo had no intention of accepting suspicious money.

Whoosh-!

After leaving the dungeon, Han Si-woo breathed in the fresh air.

After smelling the unpleasant dungeon air for so long, the clean air of the park felt especially sweet.

‘If this guy came inside, it means there must have been Center employees outside. Did I take too long to come out?’

But Han Si-woo shook his head.

The Center’s employees were not that irresponsible.

They probably would not leave until they caught their target.

As if proving Han Si-woo’s thoughts, several people came into his view.

“Dark Knight, follow me.”

After giving the order, Han Si-woo walked toward them.

Soon, when he came face-to-face with them, Han Si-woo spoke.

“Are you from the Center?”

“We are. But who are you……?”

Han Si-woo opened his information window and showed it to them.

When they saw his stats, their expressions became strange.

In a world where balanced-type Awakened were preferred, it was difficult for them to understand his heavily Strength-focused stats.

In any case, Han Si-woo continued.

“You’re looking for an unregistered Awakened, right?”

“Yes, we are, but……”

“Good. I was worried I might have come all this way for nothing.”

Han Si-woo turned his head and gestured toward the Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight, which had been walking toward them from a distance, increased its speed and stood beside Han Si-woo.

Han Si-woo poked the intruder’s head with his finger and asked,

“Is this the guy?”

The intruder had been hit by the Dark Knight and was barely conscious.

The Center employees stared blankly at his face before urgently making a radio call to someone.