Chapter 15 : Hidden Piece

A bloodthirsty cry echoed across the battlefield.

He blocked the Goblin Warlord’s attack.

-Claaang!

Another powerful shockwave from the shield in his hand washed over Dooyoon.

The situation itself was no different from before, but.

Suddenly, the Goblin Warlord, who had started talking on its own, began to speak to Dooyoon at will.

[Attempting to resonate with the Boss Monster, ‘Goblin Warlord’.]

[Warning! Mind is contaminated.]

[Skill, ‘Magic Resistance (C)’ activates.]

‘What the.’

A familiar aura and sensation.

The familiar experience he had felt with the Great Slime on the 1st floor had come to Dooyoon.

“Keruk! I don’t kill friends! But my body moves on its own! I can’t help it!”

“What do you want me to do about it.”

“Kill me before I kill you! I’ll just revive again anyway, Keruk!”

Putting aside his bewildered feelings.

Dooyoon once again raised his shield and blocked the Goblin Warlord’s attack.

-Kwaang!

Nothing had changed.

The Goblin Warlord was still ferocious, and Dooyoon had to kill it to clear the floor.

“Kerrreuk! Something feels strange! Now that I can talk to the newbie, I feel like memories I’d forgotten are coming back!”

‘What kind of feeling is that.’

Dooyoon, who was merely an ordinary human, couldn’t possibly know the complex inner workings of a boss mob.

Dooyoon gritted his teeth, glared at the Goblin Warlord, and began to read his own attack turn.

-Thwack!

“Keruk?!”

The Goblin Warlord, startled by the sudden pain, stopped its attack.

It was because Dooyoon had stomped on the Goblin Warlord’s exposed foot with all his might.

And in that moment.

“My mind is clearing! Keruk! Yes, that was it! I am a valiant Green Skin! I desire a fair duel with the newbie!”

“…What?”

After trying to overwhelm him with numbers until now, it spoke with considerable confidence.

“It’s certain! Newbie! Let’s have a fair fight, Keruk! That’s the condition for ‘graduation’!!”

Graduation.

At the sudden news of a hidden piece, Dooyoon looked at the Goblin Warlord in bewilderment.

The Goblin Warlord, still consumed by madness, was staring at him.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Keruk! There’s no other way if you don’t believe me! But please, trust me this once!”

The boss mob, the Goblin Warlord, was asking the hunter, Dooyoon, for his trust.

Could there be a more absurd situation?

Dooyoon first dodged the charging Goblin Warlord by leaping backward.

-Thump!

Dooyoon, who had lightly created distance, looked back.

He could see the hunters, ready to intervene in the situation at any moment.

“Wait a moment!”

Dooyoon had no choice but to stop them.

“I have to do this alone!”

Could he make them understand properly?

At least for now, it was impossible.

It seemed more effective to talk about the reward rather than give a proper explanation.

“The hidden piece! I think I found it!”

Leaving the bewildered hunters behind, Dooyoon once again faced the Goblin Warlord.

“Are you sure.”

“Keruk! I’m sure! My heart! My soul is crying out! It desires a soul duel with a strong newbie!”

Leaving the Goblin Warlord, who was excitedly shouting on its own, Dooyoon briefly assessed its combat power.

‘Can I defeat it alone?’

It didn’t seem impossible.

If he just focused, he could definitely seize victory.

‘Then.’

Dooyoon, having finished his calculations in an instant, immediately put his plan into action.

“If this doesn’t work, I’m really going to ‘goroshi’ you.”

“Keruk! Bad words!”

“Alright, I get it, so is there anything else?”

“Something else! Keruk! It’s difficult directly, but I can help you a bit with words!”

“What words.”

“That shield! If it blocks my attacks a little longer, it’ll break, Keruk!”

The Goblin Warlord, briefing Dooyoon on the shield’s durability, which even he didn’t know.

Was this the kind of help it meant?

Dooyoon, immediately accepting the feedback, shifted his strategy from unconditional defense to evasion.

“Aaat, if you turn that way, it’s dangerous, Keruk!”

“I’m right-handed, newbie! It’s safer to aim for a left-sided attack!”

A kind tone, but not-so-kind movements.

To avoid losing concentration amidst that incongruity, he continuously twisted his body to dodge the attacks.

‘This is manageable.’

Indeed, GreenUgly’s advice was proving quite effective.

“Keruk! Slowly, slowly, my body is tiring! The end is near..!”

No being’s stamina is infinite.

Goblins, whose racial stats were inherently inferior to humans, were on the less efficient side in terms of stamina.

The Goblin Warlord, being a mutant and strange, had been relentlessly attacking until now.

-Thwack!

“Keruk! A good hit!”

He landed another kick to its exposed abdomen.

The Goblin Warlord, taking two steps back, replied in a satisfied voice.

‘I’m getting dizzy.’

But since its stamina was also depleted, he should be able to settle the score soon.

A duel where both sides were focused on each other.

Dooyoon decided to slowly reveal the card he had hidden.

[ Acidic Digestive Fluid (D)]

A skill acquired from the Great Slime on the 1st floor.

An attack imbued with strong acid surged towards the Goblin Warlord.

“Keruk?! Wha, what is this!”

“A skill I got on the 1st floor.”

“Aah, is this what you gained through ‘resonance’, Keruk! Amazing! And hot! It’s hooot!”

The Goblin Warlord dodged the immediate attack, but couldn’t avoid the acidic mucus that splattered as a follow-up.

Dooyoon’s skill, splattered onto its green skin, began to melt the Goblin Warlord’s flesh.

Due to the sudden pain, the Goblin Warlord’s posture momentarily crumbled.

Dooyoon didn’t miss that moment and immediately unleashed a barrage of attacks.

“Keruk?! To hide such a move! As expected of the despicable newbie I acknowledged!”

“Look who’s talking.”

Dooyoon pressed on, feeling a sense of injustice.

“Keruk! Amazing!”

As the Goblin Warlord became increasingly battered, Dooyoon briefly caught his breath.

He could feel his stamina draining significantly with just one skill usage.

“So, that graduation thing. Do you think you can do it?”

“Aah…! The ancestral Green Skins are calling me! It’s certain! I definitely came to this tower for righteous honor!”

A boss mob’s graduation signifies a hidden piece.

Dooyoon’s heart pounded with positive emotions.

‘Well, even if it doesn’t work out.’

Clearing the 2nd floor meant he would grow, and that fact wouldn’t change.

Dooyoon resolved to do his best until the very end.

“Huh.”

And the hunters watching the spectacle let out hollow laughs.

“He said hidden piece.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m pretty sure I heard that.”

“I heard it too.”

“No matter how unusual Dooyoon-ssi’s skills are, how could he find a hidden piece hidden in the tower? Is it just a coincidence?”

“Who knows.”

Jo Harin looked at Han Jihyuk with a resentful gaze.

Han Jihyuk felt just as wronged.

As a floor to clear, it was only the 2nd floor.

Even though it hadn’t been long since he became a hunter–

His potential rank was S.

His activities within the tower were as free as if he were in his own home, and his combat proficiency was also extremely high.

“They say there’s something like that these days, a regressor? Could Dooyoon-ssi be something like that? Maybe he was an SSSSS-rank

hunter before he died.”

“Harin-ah, that’s not like you.”

Han Jihyuk expressed his concern as Jo Harin’s state was gradually becoming similar to Jung Ahyeon’s.

It was an unfitting appearance for her, who usually approached everything with a rational mindset.

“Do we just have to accept this as it is?”

“I guess so. When has the situation inside the tower ever gone according to our wishes?”

“At this rate, he’s just going to clear it alone, isn’t he?”

“It seems so. There’s no need for us to be here.”

Usually, when one first arrives on a floor, they are often too terrified to even attack properly.

But Dooyoon was, as expected, different.

“If he can grow on his own without much help, that’s good for us too.”

Currently, the progress of South Korean hunters, including Jo Harin, was completely stalled.

It was due to a situation that was still too overwhelming and burdensome for Dooyoon to understand.

“So cool…”

Cha Yoonha looked at Jung Ahyeon, who was watching Dooyoon’s battle in a daze, with a peculiar gaze.

“You’re drooling.”

“Eh?”

Startled by those words, Jung Ahyeon wiped her mouth, but nothing was there.

Jung Ahyeon, realizing she had been tricked, glared at Cha Yoonha resentfully.

“Aah! Why are you like that!”

“You’re practically oozing honey.”

Jo Harin, watching the scene with a disapproving look, turned her gaze back to the battlefield.

-Chiiik!

The Goblin Warlord, its body melting in various places due to Dooyoon’s skill, was panting and blocking attacks.

It was called blocking, but the boss mob’s condition was already reaching its limit.

“It’ll be over soon.”

“If we report this too, it’s going to cause quite a stir.”

“The Association seems to want to keep things as quiet as possible, but Dooyoon-ssi is too conspicuous.”

The Association seeks to protect hunters, but the world is very interested in hunters.

It meant that they would experience many exhausting things not only inside the tower but also externally.

“We have to help him from the side.”

“We should.”

And so.

-Thrust!

Finally, the Goblin Warlord, its stomach pierced by Dooyoon’s strike, flinched and looked at him.

“Keoheok! Keruk, that was a good attack…”

“Are you satisfied now?”

A strange sense of discomfort brushed past Dooyoon, but he now knew that he shouldn’t look at boss mobs from a human perspective.

“Satisfied, kekeruk. I feel it. The ancestors are, calling, me…”

The Goblin Warlord’s focus blurred.

It meant that the clear was truly not far off.

‘My hidden piece?’

Dooyoon, not knowing how it would be delivered, anxiously pressed the Goblin Warlord.

“Hey. Don’t close your eyes.”

“Keruk, ancestors…”

“Fck. Leave the reward and go! My hidden piece!”

A vein throbbed on Dooyoon’s forehead.

After all the trouble he’d gone through, was it just going to leave empty-handed like this?

Graduation.

He knew very well that boss mobs were obsessed with that word.

Then, if he fulfilled the conditions and granted its wish, shouldn’t he get something out of it?

Dooyoon’s gaze naturally drifted to the Goblin Warlord’s hand.

A high-quality curved sword, which looked good for swinging, caught his eye.

-Snatch!

“Ke, Keruk?”

“Hand this over.”

“New. Newbie. What are you doing! This is my exclusive wea…”

“Where do you think you’re going empty-handed? Is it over just because you graduate?”

Dooyoon decided inwardly.

This strong and sturdy weapon was indeed the hidden piece that suited him.

“I choose you.”

He snatched the curved sword from the hand of the already exhausted Goblin Warlord.

A comfortable fit in his hand.

He was sure.

This was a ‘hidden piece weapon’ that the tower had arranged for him from the beginning.

“Ah.”

The Goblin Warlord looked at the curved sword in Dooyoon’s hand with a desolate gaze, but.

-Tiring!

[Challenger, ‘Kim Dooyoon’ has defeated the Boss Monster ‘Goblin Warlord’!]

Soon, its breath completely stopped, signaling its ‘graduation’.

‘It was a good fight.’

He didn’t know if it had achieved that graduation thing or whatever, but anyway, good was good, right?

[Condition met! After a fair fight with the Goblin Warlord, you have emerged victorious.]

[The ‘Master of the Tower’ watches you with a pleased gaze.]

[Acquired Hidden Piece, ‘Goblin Warlord’s Curved Sword’.]

“Oh.”

A bright light suddenly flashed, and it seeped into Dooyoon’s body.

“What is it.”

He didn’t feel anything immediately.

It seemed to have descended in the form of a reward.

“…Dooyoon-ah.”

At the voice calling from behind, Dooyoon’s head turned.

“Yes?”

“Did you just, snatch its weapon?”

“Yes. I think so. It says this is the hidden piece?”

“…What is this.”

In all his life, he had never heard of a hunter snatching a weapon from a boss mob.

But Dooyoon had been walking a path where common sense didn’t apply from the very beginning.

“Congratulations on clearing the 2nd floor.”

Skipping the process where he should have been painstakingly growing with the support of the hunters.

Dooyoon announced that the situation was concluded with a refreshing smile.

After a short while.

Dooyoon, who had caught his breath, met the gazes of the hunters who were looking at him with meaningful eyes.

“Dooyoon-ah, so what you said earlier…”

“Ah.”

Dooyoon, understanding the meaning of the question, immediately got to the point.

“When I caught the Goblin Warlord earlier, it said the condition for the hidden piece was met.”

“Then, did you really get the hidden piece?”

“I need to check the exact details, but for now. I think I got it. The status window said so too.”

“Huh, well.”

The hunters felt a sense of disconnect as they looked at Dooyoon, who still seemed unfazed.

Since he still had little experience as a hunter, there was a high probability that he didn’t know what ‘hidden piece’ meant.

Originally, the probability of finding a hidden piece was extremely low.

Not only was it difficult to figure out the conditions hidden by the tower, but it was even harder to obtain because there wasn’t just one or two hunters climbing.

And more importantly than that.

‘Magic Stone.’

Goods obtained as hidden pieces could be taken outside the tower.

This was one of the reasons why the whole world was currently focused on conquering the tower.

“That, by any chance, can you receive it now?”

When Han Jihyuk asked cautiously, Dooyoon immediately opened the reward tab and checked the contents of the hidden piece.

[Claiming the reward.]

[ Small Amount of Magic Stones x1]

[Goblin Warlord’s Curved Sword (S)]

[Due to meeting the hidden piece condition, you acquire a large amount of experience!]

[Lv.2 → Lv.4]

“…Woah.”

The sheer amount of rewards, difficult to take in at a glance, assaulted Dooyoon’s eyes.

“…How is it?”

“I think it’s amazing.”

Thinking about returning to the Association with the reward details.

A pleasant smile spread across Dooyoon’s face.