Chapter 23

[1 minute until the battle begins. Please complete your preparations quickly.]

Huff!

A giant dog with a body that looked to be about 3 meters in size.

A monster with black fur tinged with red appeared from the magic circle.

Grrr!

The Hell Beast, still in the preparation phase, could not attack yet and only growled, revealing its massive fangs and drooling, as if it considered Carpe to be a delicious prey.

"Three heads and it would be a complete Cerberus, this thing."

-Actually, there is a real Cerberus. Think of the Hell Beast as a low-quality version of it. A pretty low-quality version.

The Hell Beast, fitting for a monster that inhabits hell, possessed a fire attribute, allowing it to withstand the scorching heat of hell.

-On the other hand, that also means it has a clear weakness. Come on, get ready.

"Moohyang, can you cast a spell on my weapon? Ice attribute."

"Kyoow!"

In response to Carpe's words, Moohyang briefly answered and spun in the air.

Then, a cold aura began to envelop Carpe's sword.

[The Servant is using Spell of Eight.]

[The weapon is granted an ice attribute. It will last for 5 minutes.]

Moohyang's skill, 'Spell of Eight (Spell of Eight).'

An impressive 8-star skill, it was a comprehensive skill that allowed the user to freely handle eight types of elemental magic.

It had two main functions.

First, it increased magic damage for the eight elements—fire, water, lightning, ice, grass, light, darkness, and mind—and allowed the user to learn higher-level magic of the corresponding element without penalty.

Second, it could imbue one of the eight elements to the target's weapon.

The attribute granted to Carpe was the second ability.

And this time, Carpe cast a buff skill on his weapon.

"Striking."

[Striking is applied to Green Skin Slayer.]

[Physical damage of the weapon increases by 20%.]

[Striking (Striking) Lv. 1 – 3-star]

- A buff skill that increases physical damage to the target's weapon.

- As the skill level increases, physical damage increases, and the number of targets that can be buffed also increases.

Lv. 1: Physical damage increases by 20%.

Lv. 3: Physical damage increases by 40%. Can be applied to up to two targets.

Lv. 5: Physical damage increases by 60%. Can be applied to up to three targets.

Lv. 10 (Master): Physical damage increases by 100%. Magic damage increases by 30%. Can be applied to up to eight targets.

This was the first time Carpe used the combat-type buff skill he obtained after changing his class to a Magic Overlord.

"Hmm."

The preparation time ended as the enchantment was completed. A pleasant tension gripped his body.

[The battle will start soon. 5 seconds, 4 seconds...]

[Battle start!]

"Raaaaa!"

The Hell Beast, as soon as the battle began, enveloped its body in flames and charged at Carpe with full force.

Inferno Dash.

A technique that had turned many players gray at the beginning of the game, it was a skill that symbolized the Hell Beast and was part of its opening pattern.

Now, with so many strategy videos available, everyone was prepared for this pattern, but occasionally, even players who knew about it couldn't avoid the attack due to its speed.

Swish!

Of course, this didn't apply to Carpe.

With his current agility, boosted by various titles and item effects, it was over 40.

Carpe easily dodged the attack by twisting his body.

-Well, there's no need to give you separate advice.

He hadn't watched any strategy videos or heard the pattern explained by the Demon Lord.

"This guy is weak, isn't he?"

It was simply that the Hell Beast was too weak compared to Carpe.

Just that, nothing more.

"Grrr!"

Perhaps because Carpe had dodged so easily, the Hell Beast took a deep breath at its spot. This was the preparation for its ultimate skill, 'Inferno Breath.'

"What, is this advertising that it wants to die? Using such a big skill right in front of me?"

As the Hell Beast inhaled, its head tilted slightly.

At the same time, its throat was clearly exposed. Seizing this opportunity, Carpe dashed at full speed and plunged into the Hell Beast's body.

"?!"

The Hell Beast was taken aback by Carpe's speed, which was much faster than expected, but the breath was already building up in its throat.

It was too late to stop.

Thud!

Carpe's sword accurately pierced the Hell Beast's throat.

[You have attacked a critical point! Critical hit! The target's defense and attribute resistance are significantly ignored.]

[The weapon has been granted an ice attribute. It deals 50% additional damage to fire-attribute enemies.]

The Hell Beast let out a terrible scream as the critical hit ignored its defense and the attribute damage increased.

"Kueeeeee!"

Furthermore, it couldn't spit out or swallow the fire breath that was about to be released due to the throat being pierced!

This triggered another additional damage effect.

[The effect of the skill 'Elemental Mastery' increases attribute damage by 10%.]

This was the effect of the Elemental Mastery skill Carpe obtained after changing his class to a Magic Overlord.

And finally.

[The effect of the title 'One Hit to the Lord' adds 10% damage to the first attack.]

"Kueeeeee?!"

A legendary gauntlet and a hero-grade sword.

A symphony of buff skills and elemental damage.

Combined with the title effect and critical hit, all these elements created a synergistic effect, producing an astonishing result.

Splat!

The Hell Beast's breath reversed, starting to burn its insides.

Unfortunately, with its attribute resistance significantly reduced, it couldn't withstand the flames it had created.

Ding.

[You have defeated the Hell Beast.]

The Hell Beast.

A nightmare for beginners and a wall of despair, it was a boss monster in the beginner zone.

Thud!

The hellhound, unable to put up a proper fight, fell to the ground.

"Ah, I wasn't supposed to end it like this."

Carpe sighed in regret.

He had wanted to test various things and enjoy the rare boss monster.

But his body reacted before his mind due to the exposed weakness.

-...Are you some kind of wild beast? When you see a weakness, you just pounce on it.

"It was a mistake. Hmm. At least, I wanted to test the Elemental Arrow in different types."

-Well, there will be plenty of opportunities. Let's gather the loot first.

"Alright."

Carpe nodded and headed towards the Hell Beast's corpse.

The monster soon turned gray and disappeared, leaving behind two items.

[Skin of the Hell Hound]

[Category: Leather, Processing Material]

[Grade: Rare]

[The skin of the Hell Beast, the lowest-level monster in hell. However, it is a rare material because it is hard to find on the continent.]

[Essence of Hell Fire]

[Category: Magic Material]

[Grade: Rare]

[A rare core found in the body of the Hell Beast. It can be used for various purposes.]

"Disappointing. No equipment?"

-The Hell Beast doesn't drop equipment. Actually, the drop rate is so low that getting two items is already very good.

"Really?"

It seems I was just lucky.

Come to think of it, I also heard someone outside the cave say they were buying essences at a high price.

"Seems like crafting materials. I should keep them."

Although it was a skill that hadn't been fully researched yet, it might come in handy with 'Magic Engineering.'

"Is this it, then?"

Just as Carpe was about to enter the right portal, he heard a voice.

"Huh?"

-You should take everything you can.

"Huh?"

Confused by the cryptic words, Carpe blinked.

If it was about gathering loot, he had already finished.

-Remember where the Hell Beast was summoned? There, where the magic circle was.

Carpe's head turned reflexively at the Demon Lord's words.

-Dig there.

"Whoa... seriously?"

-Yeah. It's a hidden reward. An Easter egg.

"I'll dig right away!"

Carpe hurriedly ran to the magic circle where the Hell Beast had appeared.

The spot where the Hell Beast was summoned still faintly showed the traces of the magic circle.

"But, what should I dig with? Do I need to dig deep?"

-Not really deep. The ground is soft, so you can dig with your hands.

"I guess I have no choice."

He thought about using his sword, but the blade was too narrow and would be less efficient than his hands.

Just as Carpe bent down,

"Kyoow!"

Moohyang ran over and started digging the ground.

Carpe couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"Moohyang, I'm grateful, but digging with those small feet will take all day..."

-...She's digging well.

"Really?"

Moohyang dug at an astonishing speed.

So fast that even an adult man with a shovel couldn't keep up!

"Is this a digging skill?"

-There's no such skill.

"True. It's amazing. A racial trait?"

-Anyway, it's good. It'll come out soon.

As the Demon Lord said, about 3 minutes later, an old box popped out of the ground.

"Wow, there's something here. Is this a famous Easter egg?"

-Not really. I found it myself.

"......Impressive. How did you think to dig here?"

-I was a bit crazy back then...

The box, which had no lock, was opened.

Inside were a moderate amount of gold and quite a few potions.

[You have obtained 40 gold.]

[You have obtained 10 Beginner HP Potions and 5 Beginner MP Potions.]

[You have obtained a Beginner's Elixir of Strength (Bound).]

"Elixir?!"

-Haha. Isn't it great? It's a beginner zone exclusive elixir that can only be consumed by players level 10 and below.

"Awesome. I'll drink it right away."

Carpe immediately opened the elixir and drank it.

It tasted similar to strawberry juice, and as soon as he finished, a notification appeared.

[Your Strength stat has permanently increased by 1.]

-Now that you've finished, let's go back. There's really nothing left.

"Hmm. Hey, bro."

-...No. Really nothing.

"Wouldn't it be possible to find something else if we dig the rest of the ground?"

-It's not there!

"Have you dug all the ground here?"

-Not really, but...

"Then it must be there. Go, Moohyang!"

"Kyoow! Nyoo~!"

-Crazy...

About 30 minutes later,

Surprisingly, they found another box, and Carpe was able to increase his Agility by one.

The Demon Lord, who had been holding his head and saying, "Is this really working?" was an added bonus.

* * *

At that moment, at the dungeon entrance.

"Man, it's really hard to find party members. Should we just go in by ourselves?"

"Did you already forget how we got chewed up like gum when we went in with just the two of us yesterday? Find some party members properly."

"Yesterday, we were just too relaxed... Ah, I get it. I get it, so don't look at me like that."

Lakan, who had been scolded by his party member, sighed.

"Still, I should have lured that clumsy guy in the rare armor earlier."

He looked like a beginner, but he was playing solo.

He must have gotten lucky and found a rare armor, but unfortunately, the Hell Beast wasn't a monster that could be taken down with just one rare armor.

He would surely die after not lasting long.

"Ah, the more I think about it, the more regretful... What's going on? Why is it so noisy?"

It was usually a noisy place, but not to this extent.

Lakan looked around and soon found the source of the commotion.

The monument where time attack records were recorded. There was a commotion near it.

"Is this even possible?"

"Are these guys not doing their job properly? What, this is the second bug in the Hell Beast dungeon!"

"Bug?"

Was there a bug in Lase?

Lakan tilted his head and approached the monument, wondering what had caused such a fuss.

But the moment Lakan checked the monument, he couldn't help but exclaim the same thing.

"No way, this is ridiculous!"

1st Place ??? - 9 seconds

A 9-second record was engraved on the solo play 1st place.

A 10-star player who had become strong through luck.