Chapter 100: Conclusion of the Dream Match

Episode 100

“……!!”

“No…!”

The stunned spectators leaped from their seats in unison.

The VIPs mirrored their reaction.

It was the first time the entire VIP section, including Hong Hyeonjin and Park Jinwoong, had stood up simultaneously.

Even Oh Byeong-guk, Kang Gyeong-gwon, Baek Jun, and Bin Nasir were on their feet, eyes fixated on the arena, their expressions a mixture of shock and disbelief.

‘This is insane…!’

Baek Jun stared at Shin Woong, his eyes wide with disbelief.

No one had expected him to enhance his physical abilities even further.

**Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!**

A succession of clean cuts resonated through the arena.

He had swung his sword again.

The heads of the clones, along with several Forghenae vines, were cleanly severed.

He was effortlessly cutting through the Forghenae’s tendrils, the same ones he had been desperately blocking and dodging only moments earlier.

‘Kim Jinsung can’t win now.’

Baek Jun anxiously checked the remaining time.

5 minutes and 30 seconds. More than enough time to determine the outcome.

The key was whether Kim Jinsung could endure that remaining time.

‘…No, he can’t.’

He saw Shin Woong, now gradually advancing toward the Forghenae, having cut down all the remaining clones, and his heart sank.

At his current speed, it wouldn’t take even a minute to reach the Forghenae’s main body.

**Slash! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!**

He continued slicing through the incoming vines, steadily closing the distance.

Kim Jinsung, observing the scene, unlike Baek Jun’s worries, was calmly assessing the situation.

‘Judging by his condition, he can’t use his ability anymore. It’s not unlimited.’

He fixed his gaze on Shin Woong’s face.

His eyes were bloodshot, as if on the verge of tears of blood. Looking closely, he saw that the capillaries in his eyes had burst.

And the trails of blood trickling from the corners of his mouth indicated serious internal injuries, a consequence of pushing his ability beyond his limits.

‘Considering that all of his wounds healed every time he used his ability, these symptoms are definitely the after-effects.’

Even the broken ribs Shin Woong had sustained from the vine attack moments ago were perfectly healed.

However, his eyes and the blood trickling from his mouth painted a different picture, one that clearly wasn’t normal.

‘So, all I need to do is endure this state…’

But he couldn’t think of a good strategy.

A quarter of his vines and roots had already been cut down by Shin Woong in less than a minute.

At this rate, Shin Woong would inevitably reach his main body.

The main body of Forghenae was the central vine. If it was severed, it would be over.

‘I need to find a way, and fast. But I’m out of points.’

—

▶ Remaining Beast Karma points: 2,413

—

He had nearly 30,000 points, but after using Skill Enhancement twice and replenishing his depleted mana with the recovery skill while summoning clones, he was down to a mere 2,000.

He couldn’t use Skill Fusion, which cost 5,000 points. He had to overcome this crisis with his existing skills.

‘Hmm…’

He frantically brainstormed, while relentlessly attacking with vines, roots, and status ailment powder.

Time was running out.

Shin Woong, steadily advancing without stopping, had almost reached the main vine.

Then, Shin Woong swung his sword towards the thick main vine with all his might.

**Swoosh.**

The thick vine of the Forghenae was cleanly severed, falling limply. The Forghenae began to wither rapidly.

‘Is it over?’

Shin Woong stared intently at the Forghenae, which had collapsed with a heavy thud and lay motionless.

Then, it vanished as if it had never been there.

Replacing it was a familiar object.

A scarecrow.

‘Damn it!’

Seeing the severed scarecrow, Shin Woong clenched his jaw.

He pivoted, sensing a familiar energy from behind.

Another Forghenae had grown to the ceiling.

‘Persistent bastard…!’

Shin Woong gritted his teeth, preparing to charge towards the new Forghenae.

But he couldn’t move.

He felt the same energy emanating from multiple directions.

‘No way…！’

An ominous premonition flashed through his mind.

His premonition quickly became reality.

“Yikes?!”

“H-How many Forghenaes are there?!”

“This is a nightmare…!”

The audience screamed in terror as ten Forghenaes erupted simultaneously.

“No way…he can create clones of Forghenae?”

Park Jinwoong stared, dumbfounded, muttering to himself.

His assumption was correct.

‘I can use Shadow Clone even while transformed into a Forghenae.’

He hadn’t considered this possibility. He’d never needed to use Shadow Clone while transformed into a monster or animal before.

‘This means I can summon clones of every monster I’ve defeated.’

Kim Jinsung swung numerous vines, not towards Shin Woong, but in a different direction.

**Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!**

The sickening thuds of impact, followed by green slime splattering in all directions, filled the air.

He had just attacked the newly-summoned Quagmire clone.

While creating a diversion with his clones, he’d briefly transformed into Quagmire, created a clone, then transformed back into Forghenae.

**Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!**

A barrage of slicing sounds echoed from the center of the arena.

Shin Woong was tirelessly cutting down the vines from the Forghenae clones.

He was steadily advancing towards the closest Forghenae, one step at a time.

‘I need some distractions to stop him from advancing. Just like before.’

As he thought this,

Two green slime monsters, the regenerated Quagmires, darted towards Shin Woong.

**Swoosh!**

Shin Woong quickly sliced through the Quagmires, severing them in two.

He was about to finish them off by crushing their cores when,

“……!”

Numerous roots erupted from the ground as vines rained down from the ceiling.

Shin Woong was forced to defend, creating an opening for the Quagmires to regenerate.

With their numbers now at four, they again prepared to attack Shin Woong.

‘Okay. Keep this pressure up and unleash the powder.’

Kim Jinsung immediately issued the command to his clones.

All the clones unleashed massive amounts of powder from their mouths.

The powder quickly blanketed the ground around Shin Woong.

“Ugh…!”

For the first time, a look of annoyance crossed his face.

But he had no choice. He had to forcibly activate his ability to dispel the debilitating status ailments.

“Ugh…!”

A white flash illuminated his eyes, and a tear of blood trickled from one of them.

Both his eyes were bloodshot, trembling as if about to burst. He groaned in agony.

Anyone could tell he was in a dire situation.

Kim Jinsung, seeing this,

‘Good! The tide has turned.’

He pressed his advantage, bombarding Shin Woong with relentless attacks from his clones.

He had exhausted almost all of his Beast Karma points summoning those clones.

However, his regeneration rate, now that he was transformed into Forghenae, was significantly boosted.

He saw in the status window that his depleted MP was being rapidly replenished due to the ‘Nutrient Absorption’ trait.

He could now easily summon new clones, even if Shin Woong managed to cut down a few.

All he needed to do was keep Shin Woong away from his main body.

‘…’

Shin Woong, continuously swinging his sword, stared at the Forghenae, the one Kim Jinsung had transformed into.

It was nearly impossible to reach Kim Jinsung now.

Over ten Quagmires had gathered, persistently blocking his path.

‘…At this rate, I’ll die.’

He instinctively sensed the danger.

If this continued, he was certain to perish from mana overload, having exhausted all of his energy on recovering from status ailments.

He was left with one final, desperate gamble.

He bit his lip, eyes wide with determination.

‘I have no choice but to use ‘Mutual Destruction.”

Mutual Destruction.

It was a skill that inflicted massive damage on the opponent by detonating the user’s remaining stats and mana.

After its activation, the user would be left in a near-death state, with all stats reduced to less than 10% for a certain amount of time, MP stuck at 0, and HP reduced to a mere 1 point.

It was a skill only to be used in truly desperate situations.

Shin Woong deemed this moment to be one such situation.

“Ha-aaaaargh!!”

A thunderous roar erupted from his mouth, shaking the entire arena.

His entire body glowed white, and then,

**Booom!**

A massive explosion engulfed the entire arena.

The force of the explosion was so great that even the thick barrier protecting the audience rippled violently.

“Waaah?!”

“Kyaaah!!”

The audience screamed, ducking for cover.

Baek Jun, frantic, barked orders into his headset.

“Raise the barrier to max level! Now!”

Seconds after his command, the barrier thickened.

Thankfully it held, protecting everyone from the explosion.

As the smoke cleared, the arena came back into view.

“…Huh?”

“They’re both down… ?”

“Are they both dead…?”

Kim Jinsung and Shin Woong lay on the ground, covered in blood.

Even the VIPs were craning their necks, trying to discern their conditions.

Baek Jun was briefly startled but sighed in relief after confirming their states.

‘…Thank goodness, they’re both still alive.’

He saw their fingers twitching slightly.

He glanced at the clock.

‘1 minute. If they can hold out for 1 minute, I can save them both.’

Hope flickered in his eyes.

The match, which he had believed Shin Woong would undoubtedly win, now had a high chance of ending in a draw after being reviewed by the judges.

He again directed Jang Seungwook.

“Double-check with the judges, just in case.”

Jang Seungwook nodded and ran towards the judging panel located at the back of the arena.

Baek Jun watched him go, continuing his train of thought.

‘If nothing unexpected happens, it’ll be a draw, and they’ll both survive.’

He had already bribed the judges to ensure a draw in the match between Kim Jinsung and Shin Woong.

They had all agreed without much resistance, so there was little chance they would change their minds now.

‘You’re both too valuable to die. Just a little longer…’

He muttered to himself when,

“Woooow!”

“Shin Woong is up first!”

“Yes! Get up and finish Kim Jinsung off!”

Hearing the roar of the crowd, Baek Jun’s gaze returned to the arena.

He saw Shin Woong struggling to get up.

He watched, his heart in his throat, and shook his head.

‘Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have the strength to walk.’

Shin Woong was barely able to stand.

His body was riddled with wounds, bleeding profusely. The fact that he could even stand was a miracle.

‘Kill, kill him. Now…’

Shin Woong, mustering the last of his strength, began to stumble towards Kim Jinsung.

He would finish him off, no matter what.

Then,

“Grr… Roar…!”

A beastly growl erupted from Kim Jinsung.

He suddenly shot up from the ground.

“……!!”

Shin Woong’s eyes widened.

Kim Jinsung, unlike him, had gotten up looking relatively unscathed.

He began to approach, step by steady step, dragging his bloodied body towards Shin Woong.

‘…Oh my god…!’

Shin Woong couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Kim Jinsung’s condition was clearly no better than his, if not worse.

‘But how can he move so easily…?’

He stared at Kim Jinsung, stunned.

“Roar…!”

Kim Jinsung continued to approach, growling like a beast.

But his bloodshot eyes were different from their usual state.

“Th-that’s…!!”

Someone in the audience shouted, recognizing what they saw.

—

▷ Berserk: Activated when HP drops to 10% or lower. All stats doubled for 10 minutes while losing sanity.

—

(TLN: brooooooo xD this fight is epic)

His eyes were the same as Kang Minhyuk’s when he went berserk in the first preliminary round.

Kim Jinsung, now in a berserk state, was right in front of Shin Woong.

Shin Woong stared up at him blankly.

‘I’m going to die? In a survival program…?’

He stared at the fist flying towards him with vacant eyes, the reality not sinking in.

‘I haven’t even started my revenge…!’

**Thwack!**

Kim Jinsung’s fist connected squarely with Shin Woong’s head, his head exploding like a smashed watermelon.

Shin Woong’s headless body crumpled to the ground.

‘No!’

Baek Jun, clutching his head, desperately checked the timer.

[00:01]

The scoreboard displayed a single second.

—