Chapter 28

EP.28 Lizard Lair (5)

Gimmick.

While it is commonly known as a trick or deception, in the context of dungeon raids or boss hunts, it refers to a pattern or mechanism.

It's not just about setting up a formation and attacking; the raid is completed when certain conditions are met.

Grizzly Drake was a gimmick boss.

With overwhelming durability, it could defend against all physical attacks, and with the dungeon's buff effect, it could ignore all magical attacks.

In other words, the monster's inherent strength wasn't this powerful.

It was receiving additional structural power from the dungeon, surpassing the strength of a typical A-rank monster.

'What should I do?'

To defeat a gimmick boss, one must understand the pattern or the method of raiding.

If this monster had appeared in the original work,

I would have known the method to defeat it.

I had almost memorized the patterns of dungeon bosses.

However, the academy's underground dungeon only appeared at the beginning and then disappeared.

I had barely figured out how to enter the middle section, let alone the method to defeat the boss.

But the dungeon boss.

Grizzly Drake, a gimmick boss.

Could I find a way to deal with it…?

My mind had been a blank for a long time.

-Grurrr…!!

Grizzly Drake, having nullified an attack, rose to its feet.

Anyone could predict what it would do next.

A movement that seemed like a death sentence.

In the face of a future that was all too easy to predict,

The faces of my party members were filled with despair.

Failure.

Those two words were hammered into my chest like nails.

After falling into this world,

Things had gone well according to my plan, and unexpected good fortune had come my way… I had been somewhat elated.

I thought no one knew this world better than I did, and that I could work more effectively with the main characters to resolve events.

There would be no crisis.

That arrogant certainty had unknowingly taken root deep in my heart.

And at the end of it all,

There was regret that had grown to an uncontrollable size.

I had put everyone in danger.

The painful reality kept piercing a corner of my heart.

-Grurrr! Grurrr…!!

“Gasp…!!”

But I couldn't just stand there.

If I had misjudged, I had to find the right path again.

If I had messed up, I had to correct it.

This was no longer a world of novels or games.

It was reality.

I couldn't let my arrogance lead to their deaths.

Gripping my faltering heart, I took a fighting stance again.

Squeezing out all the strength left in my body, I charged at Grizzly Drake.

I couldn't use [Strengthen] anymore.

The 1-hour cooldown hadn't reset.

So, I had to rely on my endurance and strength.

It was a predictable action, but

I had to do it.

“Gah, Ahh-!!”

“Jae-Hyun-!! No…!!”

Along with Kim Chae-Eun's desperate voice,

I felt the flesh on my shoulder being completely torn off.

Due to the head-on collision with Grizzly Drake, its sharp teeth had pierced my body.

Using a sword was now impossible.

The pain and numbness on my left side made it impossible to wield the sword with both hands.

I could use the sword with one hand, but it would make me even more vulnerable.

“Do Jae-Hyun! Damn it-!!”

Park Jin-Woo, filled with anger, charged at me.

Had he grown attached to me during our battles?

He seemed very upset by what had happened to me.

“Quick, quick, cast magic…!!”

“…”

Not only Kim Chae-Eun, but also Kang Ju-Yeon and Moon Ga-Eun.

Knowing it was meaningless, they aimed their attacks at Grizzly Drake again.

‘I, a nobleman. I’m going to die in a poetic way…’

Despite the dizziness from excessive bleeding and pain, I couldn't help but laugh.

Grizzly Drake, which had bitten my left shoulder, opened its mouth again.

This time, its mouth was aimed at my head.

If I didn't dodge,

Its teeth would tear off my head.

The scene felt like slow motion.

But then,

A flash of inspiration struck me.

‘Teeth?’

Boom-!!

Grizzly Drake's mouth shattered a corner of the dungeon.

Thanks to the temporary boost from [Agile Movement],

I managed to dodge the attack aimed at my face.

Though I was crushed by its claws,

I managed to save my life.

More importantly, the thought that had just come to me.

Teeth.

The sharp teeth that had bitten my shoulder.

And I had a rune that could enhance them.

‘Sturdy Teeth.’

[Sturdy Teeth] is not just a rune for biting like an animal.

When you bite with your teeth,

It can reduce the target's durability.

A rune that supports the user's durability and destroys the target's durability.

As soon as I realized this, I shouted,

“Park Jin-Woo! When I bite this guy, attack the wounded spot!”

“What? What the hell are you talking about…”

“No time to explain! Moon Ga-Eun, you too!”

“Y-Yes!”

Since it was a gimmick boss with the dungeon's buff,

The mages' attacks were meaningless.

Magical attacks were nullified.

The only effective attacks came from Park Jin-Woo, me, and Moon Ga-Eun.

I quickly strengthened my teeth and bit the monster's shoulder.

My [Sturdy Teeth] was currently at level 3.

At this level, it could reduce 20 points of durability.

I didn't know Grizzly Drake's durability, but 20 points were a significant number.

“Die…!!”

The shoulder I bit.

Park Jin-Woo's sword and Moon Ga-Eun's shots hit the spot accurately.

-Grurrrah…!!!

Grizzly Drake, caught off guard, went berserk.

But the effect wasn't as significant as I had hoped.

Compared to before,

It did take a hit, but it wasn't enough to defeat it.

The monster, seemingly irritated, twisted its body and attacked me and Park Jin-Woo.

Another wave of pain washed over me.

“Gah…!!”

“Phew! This guy is really fast, man.”

Grizzly Drake, unlike the Sizzling Salamander or Toxin Iguana, didn't have special abilities.

But its strength, speed, and durability were far superior.

Extreme physical enhancement.

That was Grizzly Drake's ability.

It seemed like a monster that had upgraded the physical strengths of all the monsters in the dungeon.

Therefore, if we failed an attack,

We had to take the corresponding hit.

“Do Jae-Hyun, is this right?”

“Let's try it one more time. If we don't, we'll all die.”

“…That's true.”

I regained my balance and charged at the monster again.

Interestingly, this was assisted by [Quadruped Combat].

While hunting Sizzling Salamanders in the middle section of the dungeon, I had obtained runes I hadn't gotten before, including [Quadruped Combat].

I never thought I, a human, would use such a rune, but the situation to utilize it came quickly.

Indeed, it was good to have runes.

“Park Jin-Woo, Moon Ga-Eun! Now!”

I charged at Grizzly Drake again…

This time, I bit its leg.

The subsequent attacks from my party members.

Unfortunately, the effect was still minimal.

We were thrown to the dungeon floor again due to the counterattack.

‘Damn… The durability is too high.’

Cursing came naturally.

Grizzly Drake's durability was too high, even for an A-rank monster.

Probably because it received rune support for its physical attributes, excluding special abilities.

Was there really no way to defeat it?

I kept asking myself in my confused mind.

‘A way to defeat it, a way to defeat it.’

A way to defeat it…

- …Therefore, no matter how strong a monster's defensive runes and durability are, the location of the mana stone is a weakness. We can conclude this. That's all for today's class.

…existed.

On the day I went to invite Kang Ju-Yeon to the party,

The professor in the [History and Information of Monsters] class said,

The weakness of a monster is the location of the mana stone.

While this is a well-known fact among Holders, it is almost ineffective in practice.

Finding the precise location of the mana stone during a battle is nearly impossible, and the durability of monsters is usually not high enough to make such a complex weakness practical.

‘But Grizzly Drake is different.’

It is a special boss monster with overwhelming durability and related runes protecting its entire body.

Finding a spot that could be a weakness and attacking it would have a significant effect.

Moreover, the durability reduction effect of [Sturdy Teeth].

If I could apply this to the part of the body where the mana stone is located, subsequent attacks would be several times more effective.

“Park Jin-Woo! Sword…!!”

I urgently called out to Park Jin-Woo, who was lying on the ground.

My body was almost worn out, and I had no weapon.

“Damn. I'm never going to a dungeon with you again.”

Despite cursing, Park Jin-Woo threw me the sword.

I gathered all my remaining strength.

Receiving potions from Kim Chae-Eun and Kang Ju-Yeon, who were now close, I launched an attack.

“Die…!!”

I charged at Grizzly Drake.

Adrenaline, secreted to the extreme, moved my body.

The monster's mouth opened again, but…

I quickly lowered my head and went for the planned spot.

The location of the mana stone was near the collarbone.

I bit the mana stone area.

With my only moving right arm, I raised the sword and stabbed it.

‘And…’

The weapon I had saved until the very end.

Because I had never succeeded in using it before…

I couldn't bring myself to use it.

To activate it,

I poured all my remaining mana into the sword in my right hand.

Sss, Sss, Paah-!!

The mana pouring into the sword.

A single decisive strike created by that energy.

It erupted from the center of the monster's body.

Piercing through the solid durability and the dungeon's buff, it exploded.

The situation was too urgent to use the activation condition, 'incantation,' but fortunately, the heavens were on my side.

-Gr, Grurah…!! Ahh…!!!

And the dungeon was filled with

Grizzly Drake's cry of pain.

The first sound we had heard since entering the boss room.

A bizarre and chilling sound.

“Ha… Sounds great.”

But to me,

It was the most refreshing sound.

It was the roar that contained the end of the wretched lizard that had pushed us to the brink of death.

[You have successfully raided an unexplored dungeon for the first time! All of the Holder's abilities increase by 2.]

[The sealed rest room in the boss room is revealed. The dungeon's eerie atmosphere temporarily disappears.]

[The relentless waves of swords, like the tide, never miss their target. Your sword will continue to strike the enemy's vital points. Your understanding of the Wave Sword Technique has sharply increased.]

[The level of the rune has increased.]

[You have obtained the ultimate skill of the Wave Sword Technique rune, 'Wave Thousand Swords.' The skill usage is limited due to the abnormal acquisition beyond the limit.]

And I fell to the ground,

Losing consciousness completely.