Ch.3Monster Rush (3)

I pointed my sword at the Owl, who bared its teeth and growled lowly.

The battle of nerves between us was extremely brief, and combat began immediately.

The Owl was the first to make a move.

It charged at me quickly, as if to sweep away an annoying insect.

CRASH!!

With just a swing of its front paw, the tree where I had been standing moments ago was destroyed and collapsed, while the ground shattered, sending up clouds of dust.

A force that would have killed me instantly had I not dodged in time.

However, unlike the Owl’s attack, the sword I swung while dodging was blocked by its thick hide, failing to inflict a deep wound.

‘If I take even one hit from the opponent, it’s game over, while my attacks barely leave a scratch that it doesn’t even need to worry about.’

To think this monster appeared in what was supposed to be a tutorial event—even when turned into reality, a bad game was still a bad game.

Despite this desperate situation, a smile never left my face.

That smile contained the madness of battle, the thirst for victory, and a gamer’s competitive spirit.

“No-hit clear, why not give it a try.”

After making this simple declaration toward the beast, I gripped my sword and began to move in earnest.

The creature swung its front paw again, wary of my approach.

Thud!

A predictable attack. I lowered my stance faster than the beast, avoiding its attack.

Simultaneously, I struck again, slashing at its now defenseless front paw.

As my sword cut across the already shallow wound, a deeper gash was carved into the creature’s body.

“Let’s see how much you can ignore.”

And so the real battle began.

* * *

Right now, the Owl was confused.

Clearly, the Owl had only come to catch a flying insect in its territory.

Yes, an insect.

What stood before the Owl was merely an annoying insect.

Yet, no matter how much it swung its paws to catch the insect, the creature simply wouldn’t die.

The Owl pondered why the insect wouldn’t die.

Was the insect bigger than itself?

No, it was small. Not even half its size.

Was the insect stronger than itself?

No, it was weak. The insect’s thin arms made the Owl wonder if they could use any strength at all.

Was the insect faster than itself?

It was quite fast, but the Owl was confident it was much faster.

No matter how it thought about it, there was no reason it couldn’t catch the insect.

Yet the insect not only refused to die but kept moving and tried to hunt the Owl.

As a result, the Owl’s front paws were slashed repeatedly, and small wounds accumulated all over its body.

The Owl was born a king, the master of Delon’s Forest.

Therefore, for the Owl, hunting was something it did, never something done to it.

So, it was enraged by the fact that it was being hunted.

“■■■■■—–!!!”

A roar filled with nothing but rage, all reason gone.

That roar clearly contained the will to kill the insect, Frey.

* * *

The battle structure was quite monotonous.

When it attacked, I dodged and squeezed in as many counterattacks as possible.

When I attacked, it took the hits directly while launching attacks at me.

The beast was clearly stronger than me. But because of that, it didn’t know how to fight.

The Owl was naturally strong. Just a slight movement of its front paws was enough to kill its enemies one-sidedly.

As a result, the Owl’s fighting style had become one that relied on overwhelming with raw physical power.

‘It probably hasn’t even experienced anything worth calling a battle before.’

Ironically, this meant the beast’s actual combat technique lagged behind even me, who had just picked up a sword for the first time.

Thanks to this, just as I was gaining the upper hand, I heard the beast’s roar.

“■■■■■—–!!!”

With its roar, the beast’s black fur, which had a purple tint, began to turn red.

All reason disappeared from its eyes, filled with rage.

And in the next moment, it charged at me faster than before and swung its front paw.

I sensed it was too late to dodge. I tried to protect myself with my sword while jumping slightly to lift my body into the air.

Since simple defense was impossible, I judged it better to take the hit and be thrown away.

“Kugh..!”

The moment the beast’s attack hit my sword, an enormous impact traveled through my arms that were supporting the blade.

BOOM!!!

In an instant, I was sent flying by the beast’s paw and crashed into a nearby tree.

“Kuhak..!”

Blood spewed from my mouth, and my consciousness grew faint. I forcibly held onto my fading consciousness and assessed the situation.

“Berserk, huh… This is why I hate beast-type monsters…”

Berserk was a skill that evaporated reason in exchange for greatly increasing physical abilities.

‘It’s not something you see often.’

It’s a skill possessed only by some berserkers and a very small number of beast-type monsters, but I never expected to see it here.

From the moment I fell here, I felt like I truly had terrible luck.

“Tsk… There goes my no-hit clear…”

I muttered lightly, but the situation wasn’t good.

Every part of my forcibly raised body screamed in pain. Fortunately, nothing felt broken, but my entire body ached from just that single blow.

Moreover, the sword I had used for defense was completely shattered, leaving only the handle.

Such power from paws that should have been unable to exert full strength due to being slashed by my sword.

“What am I… supposed to do…”

Slowly, cold sweat trickled down.

For the first time, the word “defeat” flashed through my mind, but I ignored it and looked ahead.

At that moment, the beast, confirming I was still alive, charged again. A high-speed, straight-line charge without any technique.

As soon as I saw it, I immediately ducked and rolled on the ground. Almost simultaneously, the Owl passed right above my head.

The gust created by its passing made my hair flutter.

‘Does it think it’s a dump truck or something?’

Clearly, as much as the beast had lost its reason, its attacks had become even simpler and more reckless than before.

But in exchange, it had become faster and more powerful, making it impossible for me to even think about counterattacking.

‘My sword is broken anyway… Keeping my distance and dodging is the best option.’

After discarding the now useless sword handle, I began to move while keeping an eye on the beast’s position.

My goal was to endure until the beast’s Berserk wore off. And to do that, maintaining distance from it was essential.

“Let’s play a game of tag, shall we?”

No sooner had I finished speaking than the beast charged at me again.

* * *

BOOM!!

BOOM!

BOOM!!!

With each of the Owl’s charges, trees in its path were destroyed. The surrounding area had long since been reduced to a wasteland by repeated charges.

“Haa… Haa…”

One misstep and I would end up like those fallen trees on the ground.

I focused all my attention on the beast, reading its next attack.

‘Left? No, right…!’

The beast, which had been circling around me quickly, watched for an opening, then created confusion in my timing before charging at me again.

“Damn…!”

I hurriedly twisted my body, barely avoiding the attack.

At first, the beast had just been circling mindlessly, but at some point, it began to circle around me and engage in a battle of wits.

‘Even without reason, it can still learn…’

The beast wasn’t good at psychological warfare. It still had no reason.

If I had to describe it, it was like adding “wait” to a situation where there was only “charge.”

That alone wasn’t much. It should have been something it could naturally do. But considering the difference in strength between us, even that created tremendous psychological pressure.

The limit was approaching, not physically but mentally.

‘When does Berserk end?’

My mental strength was gradually drying up, and I felt the limits of my concentration. The more this happened, the more I hoped for an end to this cursed game of tag.

My thoughts drifted elsewhere, and my reactions slowed.

BOOM!!

Because of that, I noticed the signs of the beast’s charge too late.

A fatal, even hopeless, mistake.

Belatedly, I moved my body to survive.

‘Too late…!’

At that moment, a change occurred in the beast’s fur.

Its red-tinged fur began to turn purple again.

At the same time, its speed, which had been difficult to counter, gradually slowed.

Slash!

The attack that should have hit me directly merely grazed my shoulder.

“Haa… Haa…”

Blood flowed from my grazed shoulder, but that wasn’t important.

For now, just feeling alive was satisfying enough.

“I really thought I was going to die…”

The beast, having stopped its charge, looked at me. Covered in wounds and with its Berserk ended, it no longer emanated the same pressure as before.

Above all, its front paws, which it had been using as if they were its specialty, were completely ruined from the excessive movements during its Berserk state.

“Grrrr…”

It seemed the beast had similar thoughts to mine.

“What, think you have a chance because I don’t have a weapon either?”

Well, the Owl wasn’t completely wrong. Right now, I had no weapon in my hands.

But the beast seemed to have missed one thing.

“There’s a weapon right here.”

Just because I was only dodging the beast’s attacks didn’t mean I was dodging mindlessly without any thought.

As a result, my fatigue accumulated several times faster, but since I survived, it could be considered my success.

“I was worried you might have stepped on it while passing by.”

I picked up a sword from the body of the slave merchant lying right next to me.

I smiled at the sword, which fortunately didn’t appear to be badly damaged.

“Let’s end this, I’m tired.”

“—!!!!”

At my words, the beast let out a sound that could no longer be called a cry and charged at me.

But unable to use its front paws and with little strength left due to the side effects of Berserk, it was no longer a threat.

Slash.

I swung my sword and cut off its neck.

Thud!

Soon after, the beast’s massive body, with its neck severed, collapsed to the side like a cut string, and I too collapsed beside it in exhaustion.

“I’m dying of fatigue…”

I’m tired.

Every part of my body screams for rest.

To the extent that if another one appeared, I’d be fine with just dying.

“Let’s rest. Just a little.”

I wanted to pass out, but I couldn’t be completely defenseless in a place where monsters could appear at any time.

Still, just as I was about to relax and rest a bit…

[★Congratulations on Clearing the Tutorial★]

Something impossible to ignore appeared before my eyes.

“What is this now…”