Chapter 124
I frowned for a moment at the intense light.
I used Time Stop.
Unlike the other rocks, it wasn’t a monster.
Two items were visible within the light.
One was a scroll, and the other was a round, golden ring.
Anyone would recognize it as a Gingoa.
I used Time Release again.
But the moment I used Time Release, the Gingoa in front of my eyes disappeared. It happened in the blink of an eye.
“…?”
A foreign sensation on my head.
As I touched my forehead, a metal ring was on it.
What is this…
Even without looking in a mirror, I immediately grasped what had happened.
“Did the Gingoa put itself on my head?”
With a mix of absurdity and tension, I checked the remaining item, the scroll.
Unrolling the scroll…
Ink writing covered the white paper.
[Sentient being, if you wish to receive the Gingoa’s acknowledgment, swallow the essence of gold.
If you receive the Gingoa’s acknowledgment, the Stone Monkeys will crown you as their king.
If you fail to receive the Gingoa’s acknowledgment, the Gingoa will take your life as the price of your greed.
If the Gingoa is destroyed, one million Stone Monkeys will all awaken.
…What is this now.
I read all the text and thought.
Is receiving the Gingoa’s acknowledgment the Clear Condition for this floor?
To do so, it says to swallow the essence of gold.
Deudeudeuk!
At that moment, the Gingoa on my forehead tightened.
I frowned and fiddled with the Gingoa.
Is it, by any chance, gradually tightening?
Failing to receive its acknowledgment means the Gingoa will take my life… it doesn’t mean it’ll blow my head up, right.
“Fuck.”
I tried to take off the Gingoa forcefully.
Naturally, it didn’t come off.
It wasn’t simply because it was tightly stuck to my forehead, but it felt like some unknown force was at work.
I read the contents of the scroll again.
For now, I had no choice but to do as it said.
But what is the essence of gold?
Where is it anyway… Hmm?
Hearing a faint noise, I turned my gaze toward the bottom of the mountain.
The rocks were breaking on their own one by one, and monkeys were popping out.
Kkigik- Kkigek-
Dozens of monkeys began climbing up the mountain.
I prepared for battle.
I launched a spread Flame Strike toward the swarming monkeys.
Kwaaaaang!
I laid down Scorching Zone and Frost Mist.
I summoned the Light Sword and weaved through the monkeys, slashing them.
Quite a lot swarmed in, but the numbers weren’t overwhelming.
Without using Line of Destruction and Hellfire, which had long Cooldowns, I took care of the monkeys using only other magic.
But fighting wasn’t the difficult part…
I shouldn’t be doing this; I need to solve the Gingoa problem.
Killing all the monkeys wasn’t the end; they kept swarming in by the dozens.
Since the rocks were endless, they kept spawning.
“…?”
At that moment, a peculiar one among the monkeys far away caught my eye.
Unlike the others with silver fur, this one had gold fur.
Uh, is that the one by any chance?
I naturally thought it would be related to the “essence of gold”.
Unlike the monkeys that lunged at me as if their eyes had rolled back, the Golden Monkey didn’t even move and stayed still on one side.
“Diul.”
I stopped fighting, called Diul, and used Stealth.
As my figure disappeared from their sight, the lunging monkeys all paused in unison.
I passed by the monkeys looking around as if searching for me and went down the mountain.
I closely approached the Golden Monkey, which was scratching its head on top of a broken rock.
But as I got within about 30 meters…
Kkigik!
The Golden Monkey looked my way and ran away, startled.
…What? Was I caught?
“Does this one have good senses?”
I had been caught during the 4th Floor hidden stage too, so I didn’t panic.
Seeing that it ran away without even attacking, catching this one must be the right answer, huh?
I immediately chased the fleeing Golden Monkey. As I picked up speed, I released Stealth.
‘It’s incredibly fast.’
But the fleeing Golden Monkey’s speed was faster than I imagined.
A speed on a different level from the other monkeys.
Still, I was a little faster, but… Ugh, how annoying.
The other monkeys began to block my path and interfere.
Without needing to deal with them, I used Leap to go upwards.
Stepping on the Void with Sky-Treading Steps, I sprinted, closely chasing the Golden Monkey.
The distance narrowed again, and I launched Flame Strike at its back, but…
Kwaang! Kwaaang!
The Golden Monkey ran in a zigzag and dodged all the fireballs with amazing agility.
I was slightly dumbfounded.
Does that creature have the Sixth Sense like me or something?
The absurdity didn’t end there.
Suddenly, wings sprouted from the Golden Monkey’s back, and it flew up into the sky.
“Wow.”
It’s not like it’s some chimera.
At that sight, I let out a chuckle and bent my knees.
Do you think you can escape just by being in the air?
Kwaang!
Using Sky-Treading Steps and the Leap Skill simultaneously, I soared high.
Using Sky-Treading Steps in succession, I instantly caught up to the Golden Monkey with explosive leg strength.
The Golden Monkey’s face showed shock as it looked back at me.
Perhaps because it was a monkey, its expressions were clearly human-like.
“Go.”
Chwaak!
I cut off the Golden Monkey’s neck with the Light Sword just like that.
Red blood burst out as the Golden Monkey’s head and body fell separately.
I also followed down.
Landing on the ground, I examined the Golden Monkey’s corpse.
“…”
There’s nothing?
I thought something like the “essence of gold” would come out if I caught it.
Nothing in particular happened.
What is this… What am I supposed to do now?
Deudeudeuk!
At that moment, the Gingoa on my forehead tightened once again.
Even stronger than before.
“Ugh.”
I gritted my teeth at the considerable pain I started to feel.
Before I knew it, monkeys had swarmed around again.
While dealing with the monkeys, I stopped time and thought for a moment.
“Are there more Golden Monkeys?”
Maybe I have to defeat all the Golden Monkeys to get the essence of gold.
By all appearances, this was a time attack.
As time passes, the Gingoa will keep tightening.
Before my head bursts, I have to quickly find the “essence of gold” and swallow it.
I used Time Release.
Without fighting, I went up into the Void again.
Ignoring the monkeys howling angrily below, I searched for the Golden Monkey.
I kept flying around, searching like that, but…
No more Golden Monkeys were seen.
I grew impatient.
I couldn’t figure out what the hell I was supposed to do.
While flying around the Rock Mountain, something came into my view.
“…!”
Midway up the mountain.
There was a cave hidden by the bushes.
With a hopeful expectation, I immediately went down.
I cleared away the monkeys and entered the cave.
Passing through the dark passage, I saw light leaking from within.
“…This is?”
A single gourd bottle was placed atop a large pattern, like a magic circle.
There was no danger reaction from my Sixth Sense.
I carefully approached the gourd bottle.
I picked up the gourd bottle and examined it.
The inside was completely empty.
Kkieeek!
Meanwhile, the monkeys outside followed and entered the Cave.
It’s incredibly annoying, really.
Enduring the headache, I prepared to fight again.
It was the moment one monkey stepped inside the magic circle.
Hwaaaa!
Suddenly, black energy, like a soul, was pulled from the monkey and absorbed into the gourd bottle I was holding.
“…?!”
The monkey instantly shriveled and collapsed.
Seeing that sight, the other monkeys paused and couldn’t step inside the magic circle.
Surprised as well, I looked inside the gourd bottle.
Pitch-black liquid was sloshing inside the gourd bottle.
“What is this?”
What just happened?
I tried to figure out the situation and then it suddenly dawned on me.
‘The “essence of gold”…’
This was it.
I have to bring the Golden Monkey here and have its essence absorbed into the gourd bottle!
Chwarreuk.
I poured the liquid from the gourd bottle onto the floor.
This black liquid, which looked like it would make you sick if you drank it, was clearly not the “essence of gold” to anyone.
The monkeys are blocking the passage.
I fired a Full Charge Line of Destruction to sweep them away at once, then slipped out of the cave.
There was no time.
Before my head gets smashed, I have to quickly drink the “essence of gold”.
I remembered where the Golden Monkey’s corpse lay.
I grabbed the corpse as I ran through the sky and hurriedly returned there.
“Demon Lord, help!”
- Tsk.
Its size was so large that it wasn’t easy to move.
After handing my body over to Ma-wang, I temporarily froze the Golden Monkey’s corpse, floated it in the Void, and flew to the cave.
I was returning with the Golden Monkey to where the gourd bottle was.
I thawed the Golden Monkey’s corpse again and threw it into the magic circle.
But…
“…?”
It was quiet.
The gourd bottle had no reaction.
What, don’t tell me… is it single-use?
“…Right?”
I panicked, then looked back at the monkeys that had swarmed into the cave again.
I summoned Flee and ordered him to drag one over.
Kkigegek!
Flee bit a monkey and dragged it into the magic circle.
Just like before, the gourd bottle reacted and stole the monkey’s energy.
I stared blankly at the black liquid contained in the gourd bottle.
At the ominous thought that brushed past, I swallowed hard.
‘Don’t tell me.’
Don’t tell me… it doesn’t work if it’s dead?
Was I supposed to bring it alive?
Deudeudeuk-
“Aaaagh…!”
At that moment, the Gingoa on my head tightened once again.
A pain like my brain was splitting apart.
Something trickled from my head. It was blood.
I kept Skin Hardening activated, but it was useless.
It dug completely into my flesh and seemed to have almost reached my skull.
I staggered, staring at the Golden Monkey’s corpse.
I tried tapping the Golden Monkey’s head with the gourd bottle and putting the bottle to its mouth, but as expected, there was no reaction.
…Am I fucked?
I used Time Stop for now.
The headache stopped, and I thought with a clearer mind.
Of course, the conclusion that I was fucked didn’t change.
Since it wasn’t like I could revive something that was already dead.
Ah, fuck…
I should have been more careful…
If the opponent ran away as if blatantly telling me to catch and kill it, I should have suspected that from the start.
Just like items drop when you kill a monster in a game, a biased thought process made me assume for a moment that something would come out if I caught the Golden Monkey.
I didn’t particularly feel wronged.
Was this the first or second time Nightmare was so petty and dirty?
It was my fault for not being more pathologically suspicious.
As I checked earlier, there are no more Golden Monkeys.
Probably just the one I killed.
Still, I couldn’t give up like this, so I hurriedly went out of the cave.
Enduring the pressure in my head, I flew around the sky, my eyes burning as I desperately searched for the color gold.
But as expected, there was none.
I stopped time again in the Void.
I could instinctively tell.
If the Gingoa tightens just one more time, it’s over.
“…Demon Lord, what should I do?”
I asked Ma-wang for his opinion.
- Why do you ask? You’re fucked.
Ma-wang copied the elegant expression I often used.
Hah, fuck, fuck, fuck.
Even with the Frozen Hydra’s ability, if my head bursts, I die.
Just when I wondered if it was really over like this…
Suddenly, one thing came to mind.
“Radiant Incarnation.”
[Skill: Radiant Incarnation (Legendary+)]
The skill borrows the power of sacred radiance to turn the physical body into light. While maintaining the skill, you take no damage whatsoever, and omnidirectional movement at the speed of light becomes possible. To cast, 1 hour of Mental Concentration is required. The skill can be maintained for a maximum of 10 minutes.
Category: Magic
Willpower Cost: 5,000 per second
Cooldown: 72 hours
If I use Radiant Incarnation, my body turns into light, and I enter a state where I take no damage whatsoever.
Then the moment the Gingoa tightens again… what if I use “Radiant Incarnation”?
It’s a whopping Legendary+ grade skill, so couldn’t it ignore even this?
There was no other way.
It was an attempt worth trying.
I used Time Release.
And I waited for the Gingoa to tighten one last time.
Since it was a life-ending crisis, my Sixth Sense would definitely react right before.
Time flowed…
Deudeuk!
“…Now!”
The moment Sixth Sense reacted.
I immediately used Time Stop.
After finishing one hour of Mental Concentration, I used “Radiant Incarnation”.
My entire body turned into blinding light.
At the same time…
Kaang!
With the sound of metal clashing, the Gingoa tightened.
And my head wasn’t smashed.
“…I lived!”
This actually worked?
Isn’t this a total fucking cheat?
As I pulled back and looked, the Gingoa, no longer fixed to my forehead that had become light, slipped off.
Bbadeuk! Bbadeudeuk!
The Gingoa floating in the Void didn’t stop tightening on its own and made unstable sounds.
Then…
Pakang!
Eventually, unable to withstand its own power, it was destroyed.
I watched the broken Gingoa fall.
“Ah.”
The text written on the scroll came to mind.
But wait a minute.
If the Gingoa is destroyed…
[If the Gingoa is destroyed, one million Stone Monkeys will all awaken.]
Gugu
I looked down below.
The rocks spread out endlessly were all splitting apart.
Like a silver tsunami, an uncountable number of monkeys covered the surface.