Chapter 5

 

However, he couldn’t completely pierce the flesh.

The creature’s skin was thick, and the level difference was more than double.

But that didn’t matter.

Suho wanted this creature to last as long as possible.

Whoosh!

The creature swung its axe at Suho, who bent his waist to dodge it.

Then, like a spring, he bounced up and slashed at its inner ribs.

Slash!

Again, the wound wasn’t deep.

The thick skin was the cause.

But Suho didn’t care and continued to move, slashing with his sword.

Swish!

He cut the flesh again.

Stab!

He pierced the flesh again.

He repeated this many times.

No, dozens of times.

Suho never moved widely.

He just circled around the creature, inflicting wounds on its body.

The creature grew more and more enraged, desperately trying to catch Suho as if playing a game of tag.

But no attack ever touched Suho.

The smell of blood filled the air.

Combined with the surrounding humidity, it mixed with the creature’s sweat, creating a stench.

But Suho, as if it were nothing, provoked the panting creature further.

“Is that all?”

“Grrrr…”

Monsters didn’t understand human language.

But it seemed to understand what Suho was saying.

Provocation wasn’t limited to words.

The enraged creature roared again and swung its axe at Suho.

But once again, its movements were large and clumsy.

Suho easily twisted his body to dodge the axe and thrust his Beginner’s Sword like a spear into the gap.

Finally, the creature’s thigh skin, which seemed impenetrable, tore like cloth, inflicting a fatal puncture wound.

Splat!

Suho quickly withdrew his sword.

Blood spurted like a fountain from the creature’s pierced thigh.

At that moment,

 

 

The Thrust skill, which had been B-rank, was upgraded to A-rank.

As a result, the piercing power of Basic Swordsmanship increased by 50%.

Yes.

Things are finally falling into place.

But the joy was brief. Suho erased his smile and focused on his attack.

And that was just the beginning.

Suho circled the creature again and used Thrust once more.

Thanks to the upgraded Thrust skill, it was much easier to pierce the creature’s body this time.

“Graaahhh!!”

The Hobgoblin Chief roared in excruciating pain.

And that roar turned into Fear.

The roar was Fear itself, and boss monsters’ Fear often had special options.

However, this time, it only irritated his ears; nothing else happened.

It was expected.

Fear effects only apply once.

Suho smiled grimly, thinking,

‘Once overcome, Fear cannot take hold again.’

From that point on, Suho began making holes in the creature’s body like a bullfighter.

After dozens of times, the creature was riddled with holes, bleeding profusely.

Thud!

Finally, it fell to one knee.

But it wasn’t dead.

Of course, it wasn’t.

Suho had deliberately avoided all its vital points.

Standing before the fallen creature, Suho flicked the blood off his blade and said,

“Light of Healing.”

 

 

Light of Healing.

A basic skill for healers that heals a designated area.

The wound on his left hand from breaking the Fear effect had long healed.

And he hadn’t been hit by any of the Hobgoblin Chief’s attacks.

Still, he used Light of Healing—for the injured Hobgoblin Chief.

‘You can’t die just yet.’

It was exactly as it seemed.

Suho had a skill he wanted to acquire from the creature.

It was a skill that would become increasingly difficult to obtain later, so he had to get it now, no matter how tedious it was.

However, the Hobgoblin Chief didn’t understand this.

Thus, it felt puzzled by Suho, who was healing it.

Why is he healing me?

At that moment, the Hobgoblin Chief met Suho’s gaze.

Suho’s eyes were dry and devoid of any sadistic cruelty or pity.

As a beast true to its instincts, the hobgoblin could understand the emotion in Suho’s eyes.

Boredom.

It was boredom.

Additionally, there was an impersonal indifference as if it were being treated as a mere tool.

This realization sent chills down the hobgoblin’s spine.

Once Suho had healed it to some extent, he picked up his sword again.

“Alright, let’s start again.”

Bang!

To provoke it, Suho kicked the hobgoblin’s chest, knocking it over.

“Kraaaah!!”

The enraged hobgoblin charged at Suho again.

 

***

 

How much time had passed?

Despite the considerable time that had passed, the hobgoblin was still alive.

There was only one reason for this.

“Light of Healing.”

It was because of the healing skill Suho used.

It took quite a bit of time, but there were noticeable results.

The levels of Basic Swordsmanship, Basic Footwork, and Parrying had all been upgraded to A-rank.

And.

“Hiiick!!”

When Suho raised his hand to use Light of Healing, the Hobgoblin Chief visibly showed fear.

Finally, the wild nature of the Hobgoblin Chief had been broken.

But it still wasn’t enough.

Suho continued to use Light of Healing on the creature despite its fear.

Then, after healing it sufficiently, he kicked it in the chest again, knocking it down.

Crash!

The creature fell.

At this point, the creature should spring up like a spring and charge at him again.

But.

Tremble, tremble…

Surprisingly, the Hobgoblin Chief no longer charged at Suho.

Instead, it remained on the ground, curled up, trembling.

Its wild nature had not only been broken, but it had lost its will to fight.

Seeing this, Suho laughed.

‘This should be enough.’

Breaking a monster’s wild nature is not an easy task.

Especially if the target is a boss monster.

But Suho had done it.

The method was simple.

There’s no match for pain. Constant physical harm until the wild nature breaks.

Of course, this method doesn’t work for all monsters, but it worked for this one.

Although its species was just a goblin, it had the traits of a boss monster, including strong mental fortitude and robust health.

‘The lacking stamina can be supplemented with healing skills.’

Suho approached the now non-aggressive Hobgoblin Chief and nudged it with his foot.

Then he met its eyes.

Immediately, the trembling Hobgoblin Chief bowed its head and curled up even more.

At that moment,

 

 

Finally.

He had succeeded in acquiring one of the must-have skills, Intimidation.

Intimidation is a skill that can suppress the opponent’s spirit at will, depending on the wielder’s intent.

‘Moreover, it also acts as a protective skill against various mental attacks.’

That’s why he wanted to obtain it.

A person with innate charisma has a mental fortitude that’s hard to break.

Therefore, the Intimidation skill heavily relies on natural talent.

‘Of course, you can also learn it through clever means like I did.’

So, he needed to acquire it as quickly as possible.

As the game progresses, monsters’ wild natures become so strong that they’d rather die than be broken.

With the Intimidation skill in hand, Suho picked up his sword again.

Now it was time to finish things.

But even at the final stage, there was one more thing to gain.

So Suho gripped his sword with both hands, steadied his breathing, and without hesitation, slashed at the creature’s neck.

Slash!

The creature’s head was cleanly severed.

This was thanks to the significantly increased cutting power of his swordsmanship skill, now at A-rank.

At that moment,

 

 

Suho smiled at the notification.

Another skill he wanted to obtain from the hobgoblin: the Decapitation skill, which adds additional options when decapitating.

‘With this, my business here is done.’

The moment the Hobgoblin Chief’s head hit the ground,

 

 

He leveled up.

It was due to the rewards for slaying the Hobgoblin Chief, clearing the gate, and being selected as MVP.

Along with the system notifications, a portal leading outside opened in front of him.

But the notifications didn’t end there.

 

 

Special rewards for reaching double digits in levels were given.

The rewards included 5 bonus stats, a new skill, and a rank-up for all Healer-exclusive skills.

Although the only Healer skill he had at this stage was Light of Healing, this was enough for now.

Suho nodded at the notifications.

‘Finally, I’ve obtained Cure.’

Cure is a skill specialized in treating diseases, and when fully developed, it can even cure the All Poison that had once driven Suho to death.

Thus, it was the most welcome skill among all.

Suho distributed the bonus stats he had acquired among Strength, Stamina, and Magic, then closed his status window.

Instead of entering the portal immediately, he stabbed the Hobgoblin Chief’s heart.

He felt a hard texture at the tip of his sword.

It was a magic stone.

‘Quite large.’

Judging by its size, it was at least a C-rank.

After collecting the magic stone and other materials, Suho slowly walked toward the exit portal.

‘By now, they should be outside the entrance, right?’

Now he knew this wasn’t a dream but reality.

So he wanted to see the face of the person who was once closest to him.