Chapter 45
Creeeak.
The door opened, revealing the boss room.
A gigantic dome.
The enormous stone chamber, reminiscent of the 'Pantheon' built during ancient Rome, was filled with grandeur.
Well-hewn stones rose in orderly tiers, converging in a rounded dome overhead, while sculptures depicting various eras and forms, as if chronicling this monastery's history, had been carved here and there.
And, somewhat eerily, the walls and ceiling were covered in layers of the dead's bones, forming a single work of art.
"It's… such a huge space."
"No kidding."
As we moved forward, I handed the two accessories from my backpack to Han Sohee.
"What's this?"
"Given the situation, I'm lending them to you for now. Whether you sell them or not is still up to you, so put them on for now."
"Much appreciated."
With all our preparations in place, we entered and walked forward across the polished stone floor.
"Ugh. T-there are so many corpses."
"Black Dick, I feel like we came into the wrong place. Shouldn't we turn back while we still can…?"
Distracted by the grandeur and looking only upward, I had not noticed, but when I lowered my gaze, I saw the horrifying truth hidden beneath it.
Corpses lay scattered across the floor. There were enough to show how many people had entered this place full of confidence, only to die.
'At least a thousand. What a grim sight.'
Could the people who entered this place have been ordinary? Of course not. Every one of them must have been confident in their abilities.
Some of them might even have possessed Mythic- or Transcendent-grade abilities.
'The trials cannot be survived through skill alone.'
Luck had to be on your side.
No matter how perfectly you prepared or how hard you tried, you needed enough luck that, to an outside observer, it would look as if some contrived plot convenience had been arranged for you.
Otherwise, there was no way the result could be that only one survivor remained among four billion people.
Even so, fully preparing without giving in to despair was the only struggle available to us humans.
'There it is.'
As we moved among the corpses numbering well over a thousand, we discovered one being that was walking around just as normally as we were.
Although it was cloaked in a robe, the black aura rising from its shoulders like heat haze made it difficult to mistake it for a human at a glance.
「Foolish visitors. So you have set foot in this place…. Do you consider yourselves great as well? Did gaining power make you feel like gods?」
It slowly turned around. Through the folds of its hooded robe, I saw a face so emaciated that it was no different from a skull.
Eyes veined with dark-red blood. Skin dried black. And black smoke issuing from its mouth every time it exhaled.
「Foolish ones. You bring calamity upon yourselves.」
[Raid Boss <Fallen High Priest Bardo> has appeared.]
The fallen priest, who had been holding its hands together as if in prayer, spread both arms wide.
「That wrath has settled upon your heads, and you too shall become part of this place. This shall be your grave! Then! Offer your souls to this altar stained with blood and despair!」
Fwoosh!
The black aura that had been rising like heat haze suddenly spread outward and ran rampant.
"Everyone, move to the corner! Like in the waiting room!"
I shouted as I drew my sword and faced the raid boss striding toward us.
"What? You're going to take that thing alone?"
"Let's fight it together, Mr. Minjun! Eek?!"
Han Sohee, who had already fought the boss here before, quickly grabbed the Saintess and ran toward the wall.
"Huh, huh? Hey! I'm coming too!"
Shin Seoyeon floundered for a moment, then followed the group for the time being.
Once I saw them take up position in the corner, I charged straight at the boss.
As soon as I entered its range, it condensed murky energy in both hands and began firing it at me as if it had been waiting for me.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
「How laughable, outsider! You too shall never escape this eternal prison! You will climb and climb, then tumble down and sink into this abyss, repeating each day forever! And you will howl as you curse the god who created this place!」
"You're so damn noisy."
I dodged the magical projectiles left and right, closed the distance in an instant, and cut through it as I passed.
「Graaagh!」
It turned and fired magic at me again, but not a single attack even grazed my clothes.
My sword, on the other hand, kept cutting through it—once, twice, three times, over and over.
"M-Mr. Minjun, you're amazing!"
The Saintess shouted from a distance while continuously casting heals on me.
Projectiles this slow were easy for anyone who had spent ten years in the Selection Process to dodge, but to those who had only just arrived here, this was an astonishing display of skill.
'At least my weapon is good and my strength is high, so my attacks are dealing proper damage. Thank goodness.'
But the battle had only just begun.
'It should be about time for it to move on to its next phase.'
Raid bosses unveiled new attack patterns each time their health fell below certain thresholds.
As expected, it stopped attacking and raised both arms high into the air.
「How dare a lowly insect oppose me! I shall drench this place in the blood of your soul!」
The ground trembled, and Specters flooded in from all around beyond the walls. I took a step back from the boss, rested my sword on my shoulder, and glanced around.
'Let's see. Two or three hundred, maybe.'
Easy. If it really wanted to get me, it should have summoned around a thousand. I stopped attacking the boss and instead cut down the ghost-like creatures charging at me without hesitation.
「Graaagh….」
「Guh.」
I saw about twenty of them latch onto my companions, but as long as the Saintess was there, it would be difficult for them to deal any meaningful damage.
Fwoosh!
Flames erupted and sword flashes flickered, causing the number of Specters to dwindle in an instant.
After confirming that they were holding their own, I cut down all the Specters clinging to me, then charged back at the boss and unleashed a flurry of attacks.
「Graaagh! Y-you bastard?」
"Hey, stop blabbing and move straight on to the next phase."
Apparently believing that the Specters it had summoned would handle everything, the boss had made no preparations and was helpless against my sudden onslaught.
But perhaps because it was a boss, its severed parts quickly re-formed and healed.
'A lich-type?'
There was probably some sort of energy source hidden somewhere. Exploiting it would make things easier, but with only a handful of us attacking, we had no way to use such a trick.
We would simply have to approach it head-on, overwhelm it with damage, and force it to burn through all the energy it had stored.
「Your efforts are futile! Those who die here will only rise again when they fall!」
'Good. Now it begins.'
I stopped attacking and immediately ran toward where my companions were.
"What? Why are you back? Is it over?"
"No."
The moment I arrived, the ground began shaking as if an earthquake had struck.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble.
"W-what is it this time?! Ow! My head!"
From overhead came a series of clangs as something fell all at once.
"Huh? Are these bones?"
The Saintess, who had been struck on the head just like Shin Seoyeon, widened her eyes and looked ahead. Then her eyes opened even wider.
"Ah…?"
The entire world was filled with bones falling from the sky.
The torrent pouring down reminded me of heavy rain during the summer monsoon season.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat.
It was as if an explosion had sent glass windows cascading from a building: the bones that had been attached to the walls all burst free, filling the air before falling and rolling across the floor.
And then they took shape, forming skeletons.
"……."
A brief silence.
"M-Mr. Minjun."
"Hey, this is way too many."
There were easily ten thousand of them.
The enormous space was filled to the brim with skeletons.
'This is why raids require a minimum of five hundred people.'
A raid comes in two varieties.
Either the boss is insanely strong, or there are an absurd number of minions.
The kind with numerous minions was relatively easier… and this was one of those.
"……."
I glanced at Han Sohee. She was already raising her weapon calmly, as if she had experienced this much before.
In other words, this was the point where her party had fled.
「Go back…. It's not too late….」
「O light, why have you abandoned us?」
And tens of thousands of eyes turned toward us all at once.
Clatter, clatter!
They charged toward us in unison!
"Not so fast!"
Han Sohee and I surged forward and stopped their charge.
But was it because of their sheer numbers?
「We need blood! More!」
「Give us your blood!」
No matter how much we cut them down, there was no end to them. The moment we killed one, another took its place. No—when we killed one, two more pushed into its place.
「Give me your body! Give it to me…! Guh.」
「You'll become one of us! Graaagh!」
They were mindless. They charged in recklessly without considering anything, and no matter how many we cut down, we gradually began to be pushed backward.
"W-what do we do?! We can't retreat any farther!"
"Fuck, even throwing fireballs doesn't end them!"
The endless skeleton army and its ferocity terrified my companions, drawing frightened screams from them.
"Black Dick, do something!"
After confirming that we were being pushed back no matter how quickly I swung my sword, I hurried back to the Saintess and snatched the bomb she was holding.
"Hyaa!"
I threw it with all my strength toward the center of the boss room. Seeing that, Shin Seoyeon shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Everyone, brace yourselves! That bastard threw a bomb!"
"Duck your heads!"
The group prepared for the explosion. But the sound that followed was strangely peaceful.
Pop.
Instead of the enormous explosion we had expected, there was merely the sound of a water balloon bursting, followed by a refreshing gust of wind. Shin Seoyeon, who had crouched down in preparation, stared at me incredulously.
"Hey! You said it was a bomb!"
"There are different kinds of bombs, aren't there?"
"What the fuck are you talking about!"
I gestured around us with my head.
"Huh…?"
A bluish mist had spread throughout the boss room and was now settling. Every undead creature had begun approaching us very, very slowly, its movements unnatural, as if it had frozen in place.
"What's this?"
"If I had to put it simply, it's a frost bomb."
Its drawback was that it worked only on undead, but its effect was outstanding. The enemies' movements had slowed by nearly fifty percent.
"Holy shit, that's awesome!"
"Right?"
This was why preparation was important.
No matter what the enemy brought out, if you could counter it, its attacks became useless.
"…You truly are remarkable."
Han Sohee expressed her admiration as she finished off a slowed skeleton with a single strike.
For the record, the bomb did deal damage as well, and Han Sohee, who could deal 30% additional damage to skeletons through [Achievement], could now kill weakened ones in a single blow.
"As expected, Mr. Minjun!"
Under their sparkling gazes, I casually knocked away the creatures rushing toward us, as if clearing annoying branches from my path.
The skeletons snapped apart and collapsed like icicles breaking.
"So how long does this last?"
"Twenty minutes. We have to finish the fight within twenty minutes."
"Good. Then let's finish it quickly!"
My companions began moving with renewed confidence.
With the enemies slowed, Han Sohee and I could defend against them alone no matter how many pushed forward.
As we blocked the skeletons' approach and cleared them out quickly, Shin Seoyeon kept throwing fireballs toward the raid boss, accumulating explosive damage against it.
'So far, everything is going according to plan.'
The gimmick I knew ended here. That was why I had been able to respond perfectly up to this point, but what came next was the problem.
「This altar, offered up in blood and despair, shall become your grave!」
Fwoooosh!
'Good. Here it comes. What will it be?'
The black aura rose high toward the ceiling, then spread in every direction and covered the entire stone chamber.
[The evil energy gnaws at your mind.]
A sudden headache struck, and my head began throbbing.
My companions all clutched their heads with one hand, while the flame Shin Seoyeon had conjured in her hand abruptly went out.
The interference had forcibly canceled her magic.
That was not all.
[The eerie energy hinders your movements.]
When I looked down because my movements had become awkward, I saw dark-red blood seeping from the stone floor and binding both my legs. It drained my health and restricted my actions.
Of course, a light tap knocked it right off….
Fwoooosh!
[The evil energy gnaws at your mind.]
[The eerie energy hinders your movements.]
The debuffs returned in less than ten seconds.
The difficulty was utterly absurd. At this level, success would have been difficult even with a large number of people.
"E-everyone, hang in there!"
"Whew, I can breathe again. Thanks, Unni."
Having the Saintess here truly was a stroke of genius.
She restored both body and mind endlessly, leaving the enemy's debuffs no chance to take effect.
'Setting aside the technique that binds your ankles, mental attacks are an extremely troublesome ability. If they accumulate, they can drive you insane or make you attack your allies.'
Nothing in the Selection Process was more troublesome than mental collapse.
The fact that it had used such a technique meant this raid was extremely difficult, which in turn meant it would provide excellent rewards.
"Then I'll put my faith in you, Hana."
Tap-tap-tap.
I began running around even more busily, clearing the skeletons as they approached at a sluggish pace.
'One final phase remains.'
A boss could unveil new techniques only three times.
If we endured just one more, it would be over.
By then, the enemy's health would also have fallen below 25%, which meant it was practically as good as dead.
"Agh! That damn thing keeps giving me headaches with its curses?! Just fucking die!"
Boom-boom-boom!
"Die, die, die, die!"
Boom! Boom! Boom-boom-boom!
The Crimson Flame Witch's fireballs, infused with her fury, shattered a dozen skeletons and set Bardo ablaze.
Bardo screamed as the monstrous bombs came flying at intervals of nearly three seconds.
「Graaagh! You wretches! Answer my call and aid your master!」
The line was distinctly different from everything it had said until now.
The boss had begun to panic, which unmistakably meant we had entered the final phase.
But after examining the formation of the magic circle and the movement of the black aura, I furrowed my brow.
'Necromancy? Summoning again?'
As expected, the black energy that had shot toward the ceiling scattered and settled throughout the stone chamber.
'Damn, I've already used the bomb.'
Fwoomp!
Suddenly, something began moving violently among the skeletons. The force of its movement shattered the skeletons and sent their pieces flying through the air.
Then that violent movement shot straight toward us.
Kyaa!
I struck it as hard as I could, countering it and sending it flying away.
Crash!
The thing that went flying after knocking down a dozen skeletons was… a corpse.
"Huh? A zombie…?"
It was a zombie, all right. Not one of the sluggish zombies we knew, but an evolved, running zombie. An undead creature that hungered for the flesh of the living.
The speed, strength, and intelligence of a zombie raised through necromancy depended on how much dark energy had seeped into it. If enough time passed in that state, it would undergo further mutations.
In short, dragging this out was a bad idea.
'Thankfully, they aren't especially strong. They're just nimble.'
The problem was that there appeared to be a thousand of them. In other words, they were the corpses of the players we had seen when we entered this place.
If I had known this would happen, I should have dealt with all the corpses before attacking the boss.
"Sohee, can you handle that side?"
"Don't worry. Their speed is manageable. I'll try not to get in your way."
As she said that, Han Sohee took out her spear and braced it firmly against the raised edge of the stone floor.
Kyaa!
She caught the charging zombie with her spear, then expertly sliced its head off with her sword once it had been skewered.
Grrr.
Some of them had awakened all four limbs and ran around like dogs.
They raced among the skeletons, then flew at us in an instant like cannonballs, and their force was immense.
"Tch."
Those sudden attacks occasionally nearly knocked Han Sohee flat on her back, but the strong(?) Saintess firmly supported her from behind with her strength, so she was no longer pushed back.
Kyaa!
"Not so fast."
Thud. Screech.
For safety's sake, I gathered the women in a corner and stood at the very front, stopping the creatures that charged at us like beasts.
Sometimes I caught one with my left hand and slammed it into the floor with all my strength; when my hands were occupied, I struck it with my shoulder and countered it.
Sshhk!
Some of the cleverer ones occasionally dodged that and latched onto me, biting into my arm….
"Eek! Mr. Minjun! Your blood…!"
"Ah, I'm fine. Just heal me."
It didn't matter if my flesh was torn away and my muscles exposed, since a single heal restored me completely.
Of course, other people could not do this because of the pain… but I had lost fingers and limbs several times, so this level of pain was merely an ordinary part of daily life to me.
'Pain as daily life. No wonder there isn't a single normal human left by the end of the trials.'
I had no idea why the gods of the other world put us through this Selection Process.
In any case, I kept my companions gathered in the corner and held the front line, while Han Sohee covered the gaps.
Meanwhile, Shin Seoyeon finished off the boss.
It was while we were steadily piling up the victory we had planned for that it happened.
[Someone has summoned you.]
'What?'
A notification unlike any I had ever seen suddenly appeared before my eyes.
[A powerful force surrounds you.]
My vision abruptly went dark, my senses temporarily vanished, and then they returned.
When I came to and looked around, I found myself in a room roughly thirty pyeong in size.
It contained no furniture, only a ceiling light overhead and a chair.
There were no windows, nor even a door. A woman radiating pure white light sat in the chair with her legs crossed, staring at me.
"So you're the one they pressured me to register as a resident from a higher dimension."
"Who are you?"
The woman, who had been staring intently at me, curved her lips into a smile. Her mouth moved almost at the exact same time as the notification appeared.
[You have entered the Administrator's Area.]
"Administrator of the Selection Process."