Chapter 48
What kind of hybrid abomination was that?
There was no way I couldn’t understand what those five colors meant.
It seemed the boss possessed all the abilities of the golems that had appeared so far.
- Our workshop’s masterpiece, “Titan,” possesses 99% physical damage immunity, 99% magic damage immunity, complete immunity to damage below a certain threshold, one revival, and finally, unstoppable movementtt… Employees are once again advised to respond with cautionnn…
Was this a home shopping ad?
After hearing the overly kind announcement, I opened the shop window.
\[Special Draw! (5,000P)\]
Performs a special draw. The prize list is as follows. All probabilities are equal.
- Skill Effect 300% Scroll
- Ability Nullification Part
- Great Incineration Switch
\[Ability Nullification Part\]
Nullifies all abilities of one golem. Can be used by bringing the part into contact with the golem.
This was the first thing that came to mind the moment I saw the boss.
Ability nullification.
So this was meant to be used on that thing.
Points Owned: 21,500P
With the points I currently had, I could try the draw four times.
Since the probabilities were equal, the chance of getting Ability Nullification was one in three.
I stopped time for a moment and calculated the odds.
‘The chance of not getting it even once in four tries is…’
16 out of 81.
Less than 20%.
In other words, the chance of me drawing Ability Nullification was over 80%.
High.
It was definitely high, but…
The problem was that if I failed to draw Ability Nullification, there was no way to defeat that boss.
If it had 99% immunity to both physical and magic damage, that meant it was immune to 99% of all damage.
On top of that, it ignored damage below a certain threshold and even revived once.
It was basically invincible.
There was no way to kill it.
‘80 percent, huh…’
When my life and death were on the line, that probability didn’t feel purely reassuring.
But this was kind of ridiculous.
So in the end, the final part relied on nothing but pure luck?
‘…Surely I’ll get it once.’
If it didn’t come out, then the Tower was seriously rigging this.
\[You have purchased “Special Draw! (5,000P)”.\]
I released time stop and immediately started the draw.
Tiriririri—
A roulette wheel began spinning in front of me.
The effects were pointlessly long.
The boss was still moving, so the result should have just appeared immediately, but the roulette kept spinning.
I tried stopping time once.
Of course, the spinning roulette also froze.
Cursing the Tower internally, I released time again.
Not a single tiny detail lacked malice, huh…
\[You won “Skill Effect 300% Scroll”!\]
“…!”
The result appeared after wasting ten whole seconds.
A scroll fell from midair.
Without any time to hesitate, I immediately started the next draw.
It was fine.
I still had three tries left.
\[You have purchased “Special Draw! (5,000P)”.\]
Tiriririri—
\[You won “Skill Effect 300% Scroll”!\]
Another scroll fell from midair.
…It was fine.
I still had two.
Two whole tries left.
\[You have purchased “Special Draw! (5,000P)”.\]
Tiriririri—
\[You won “Great Incineration Switch”!\]
“You motherfu—”
A curse almost burst out of my mouth.
A switch with a red button fell from midair.
I stopped time for a moment.
No, seriously, don’t do this shit.
Don’t do this.
My mind started going faint, and it became difficult to calm myself down.
‘Phewww…’
Now I had only one chance left.
If I failed to draw it, it was over.
Everything depended on a one-in-three chance.
My life, and the fate of the world.
‘Here goes.’
I steeled myself and released time stop.
\[You have purchased “Special Draw! (5,000P)”.\]
Tiriririri—
The roulette spun.
‘Please.’
Please.
No, please.
How could it not appear once in four tries?
If it didn’t appear, that wouldn’t make any sense.
I stared at the spinning roulette with desperate eyes.
And then…
\[You won “Skill Effect 300% Scroll”!\]
“…”
I stopped time right there.
My thoughts stopped too.
No matter how long I stared at the result window, nothing changed.
…No.
No, seriously.
Can this really happen?
It was 80%.
A whole 80%.
How the hell did I fail to hit that…?
It was a reality I couldn’t accept at all.
‘This is rigged.’
It was definitely rigged.
Huh?
Tower, you rigged this, didn’t you, you fucking bastard?
I felt like I was genuinely going insane.
The unfairness surged up inside me.
Soon, despair and emptiness took over my head.
…I had failed.
The clear had failed.
The result had already been decided.
Without Ability Nullification, there was no way to defeat that boss.
Just because I couldn’t beat a mere 20% chance, it had come to this.
Because I lacked just that much luck, I would die, and the world would end.
I never imagined it would end in such a stupid way, not even because of the penalty.
‘Fuck…’
Inside stopped time, I just stood there blankly.
If it had been a 20% chance of success and I’d missed it, I wouldn’t even feel this wronged.
But this was…
Ha…
After standing there blankly for a long while, I thought,
‘…Is there another way?’
There wasn’t.
How could I defeat that invincible boss?
Still, unable to give up, I desperately continued thinking.
The items I had just drawn came to mind.
\[Skill Effect 300% Scroll\]
Select one skill of any type and increase its effect to 300%. Can be used by tearing the scroll. Stackable.
\[Great Incineration Switch\]
Press the button and perform a Great Incineration. Powerful flames will destroy all golems. Of course, you too!
Three Skill Effect 300% Scrolls.
And the Great Incineration Switch.
They were all useless.
What could I do even if I tripled a skill’s effect?
The boss was invincible with 99% damage immunity.
…Huh?
Wait a second.
What if I used all three 300% scrolls on Destruction Ray?
Since they stacked, that would make the damage a whopping 27 times higher.
Add in my 50% magic damage increase.
No, if I raised it by 20% more with the remaining points, that would be 70%.
Then the total would be 45.9 times.
Even if the boss reduced 99% of the damage…
It would still take 45.9% of the original damage!
If it was Destruction Ray, maybe that much damage alone would be enough to kill the boss.
But just as that thought reached me, I quickly fell into despair again.
Fuck, what good is killing it…?
That bastard revives once.
By the time Destruction Ray’s cooldown came back, the boss would have already exited.
It had unstoppable movement, so I couldn’t slow it down either.
Or maybe…
\[You have purchased “Slow (50P)”.\]
\[You have purchased “Stop (100P)”.\]
I released time stop and bought Slow and Stop with my remaining points.
I hadn’t directly checked whether Slow and Stop worked against unstoppable movement, so I held on to a tiny bit of hope, but…
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The boss kept moving just fine without even the slightest pause.
Fuck.
Kwaaaaang!
I fired Flame Strike at it as if venting my anger.
Pli also clung to the boss and bit down hard on its head, but it didn’t even leave a scratch.
I stopped time again.
\[Great Incineration Switch\]
Press the button and perform a Great Incineration. Powerful flames will destroy all golems. Of course, you too!
The other item I had drawn.
…Would this kill the boss too?
It said it destroyed all golems, so maybe it could destroy the boss regardless of its abilities.
But what good would that do if it worked?
I would die too.
‘…’
That was when, suddenly…
A ridiculous thought flashed through my mind.
\[Skill: Rapid Regeneration (Rare+)\]
Consumes all currently remaining Willpower and temporarily amplifies the body’s regeneration beyond its limit according to the amount consumed.
Type: Physical
Willpower Cost: All remaining Willpower
Cooldown: 24 hours
Rapid Regeneration.
The skill I had obtained as a reward from Floor 3.
I didn’t know exactly what Great Incineration would do, but… anyway, it meant the flames would burn both me and the golems to a crisp, right?
If I used all three 300% Effect Scrolls on Rapid Regeneration, the regeneration effect would become 27 times stronger.
I had never used Rapid Regeneration even once yet.
I didn’t know how effective it was.
But it was Rare+ grade, and it was a healing skill that consumed all of my Willpower.
Its effect should definitely be excellent.
And I would multiply that by 27.
If it was that much, maybe I could survive the Great Incineration without dying instantly…?
If the boss died from the Great Incineration, and the clear ended when the boss died.
And if I could stay alive even a little longer than the boss…
When my thoughts reached that point, I laughed bitterly inside.
‘You crazy bastard.’
Was this right?
Was this even possible?
But whether it was possible or not wasn’t the issue.
Right now, I had no other method.
Other than this one faint possibility I had come up with.
I had no choice but to try.
Even so, it was such a crazy thing to do that I spent a long time thinking whether there was any other way.
The conclusion was, again, no.
…Fine.
Let’s give it a shot.
Nothing would be solved by keeping time stopped forever.
I released time.
I immediately picked up the scrolls that had fallen on the floor, tore them, and used them.
\[You have used “Skill Effect 300% Scroll” on “Rapid Regeneration (Rare+)”.\]
\[You have used “Skill Effect 300% Scroll” on “Rapid Regeneration (Rare+)”.\]
\[You have used “Skill Effect 300% Scroll” on “Rapid Regeneration (Rare+)”.\]
The boss had reached the middle of Course 2.
I stared at the boss while fiddling with the switch in my hand.
“…”
I heard that burning pain was the most painful kind of pain.
This was probably going to hurt like absolute hell, right…?
I placed my slightly trembling thumb over the button.
Just as I was about to press it, I sighed and summoned Diul.
“Diul, do you have anything…? Any ability that can deal with that boss?”
I felt Diul looking at me with a slightly pitiful emotion.
Yeah…
If you don’t, then forget it.
I sent Diul back and placed my finger over the button again.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
I faced the boss walking toward me head-on.
I laughed like I had lost my mind.
Screw it.
If I couldn’t endure it and died, at least it would be a flashy death.
“…Let’s see if we both die.”
I pressed the button.
Wiiiiiiing.
Then, along with a mechanical sound, the ceiling opened.
The entire ceiling was packed with complex machinery that emerged all at once.
One thing I could tell was that countless things like flamethrower nozzles were aiming downward.
Sixth Sense rang its alarm like it was screaming that I was one step away from death.
The moment I felt that, I used Rapid Regeneration, now boosted 27 times over.
I immediately stopped time afterward, refilled all my Willpower, and activated Skin Hardening too.
‘Pli!’
On top of that, I had Pli wrap around my body, and I even used the ice dagger I had been saving on myself.
At the same time, my entire vision was dyed red.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa!
Pli and the ice that had covered my body evaporated in an instant.
There was nothing but fire everywhere.
‘Aaaaaah…!’
It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts.
All I could do was feel an indescribably horrifying pain while flailing my body, then I stopped time.
Once I escaped the pain, I could finally think properly.
…I couldn’t believe it.
I couldn’t believe pain like that existed in this world.
Broken bones and arrows lodged in my stomach were nothing compared to what I had just felt.
After being unable to escape the shock for a long while, I finally regained my focus.
Let’s do it…
All in one go.
Stopping time would only make it like getting beaten slowly.
I released time again.
“…!”
The pain sizzled through my brain.
Crimson flames.
And my body endlessly regenerating within them.
I turned to ash in an instant, then fresh flesh grew back in an instant, over and over.
Through my dizzying consciousness, I could see the boss golem too.
The boss, already melting, was reviving once.
But while I was regenerating endlessly, that was the end for it.
Unable to endure even for a moment, it soon melted again.
Was the pain so intense that my brain had broken?
When I saw the message appear before my eyes, I laughed.
I…
Won…
\[Nightmare difficulty Floor 4 has been cleared.\]
\[The power of the floor is absorbed.\]
\[Level has increased.\]
\[Level has increased.\]
\[Level has increased.\]
.
.
.
\[Level has increased.\]
\[You are the first to clear Nightmare difficulty Floor 4.\]
\[Floor 4 hidden route has been unlocked.\]
\[Moving to the reward room.\]