Chapter 164: Welcome to Monster’s Canyon

Episode 164

“…Huh?”

Dante couldn’t help but ask back.

What Alopsky had just said was that absurd.

But Alopsky, continuing his explanation, was full of confidence.

“It’s exactly as I said. I’ll handle all five of them. Until then, all you need to do is hold out in the three lanes.”

“…Do you think that’s possible?”

“It is. Come here, everyone.”

Kim Jinsung led the others to where the map of ‘Monster’s Canyon’ was spread out.

“Here’s my plan. Everyone except me, stand in a lane.”

“Four people? Not three?”

“Yes. That’s the only way we can hold out against Juan or Luca. I think Teams 7 and 8 can handle Juan.

The two of you can hold off one of them, right?”

“Of course!”

“What a ridiculous question…”

The members of Teams 7 and 8 retorted, their pride slightly hurt by the implication that they couldn’t even handle a 2 vs 1 situation.

“And Teams 4 and 5 can mark the other two. Dante?”

“Yes?”

“Can you handle Juan or Luca alone? Not defeat them, but just hold them off safely.”

“Holding them off is definitely possible. Even Juan or Luca wouldn’t be able to easily push past me while I’m under the tower’s protection.”

“Then that’s settled.”

Kim Jinsung picked up a pen and drew a circle larger than the combined area of the two jungles.

“Just hold out in your lanes, and I’ll clear all the jungle monsters on both sides and then come to help you once I’m strong enough.

After all the lanes are pushed, we’ll end the game quickly without giving them any time to recover.”

“…Do you think that’s possible?”

(TLN: my guy created the support role in this universe)

Dante asked skeptically, and Kim Jinsung replied,

“It’s the only way we can win. You know, right? I’m practically the only hope for our team.”

“That’s true, but…”

Everyone agreed, and Kim Jinsung declared,

“Trust me. I’ll lead the Red Team to victory.”

A faint smile appeared on his face as he finished speaking.

It was a smile that somehow reassured the other Red Team members.

* * *

– Welcome to Monster’s Canyon.

With the in-game announcement, the ten participants, summoned to ‘Monster’s Canyon’, all rushed out of their Base.

The commentators started their broadcast, watching the scene unfold.

[You’ve all been waiting for a long time! We’ll now begin the live broadcast of the second round of the newbie showdown, the team battle.]

[There are no unusual movements from either team yet.]

As the commentator said, both teams were spread out across the canyon, watching for any potential group attacks from the opponent.

[It seems like there won’t be any incidents until the Minions spawn.]

[Then let’s analyze the strengths of both teams. What do you think?]

Thomas, the caster, asked, and Daniel, the commentator, began explaining the information he had prepared beforehand.

[First of all, the Blue Team, with Juan and Luca, definitely has the advantage. I predict they’ll put Juan and Luca in the lanes and try to dominate with brute force.]

[Even in the actual ROL game, it’s difficult for the enemy jungler to move freely if the laners are strong.]

[That’s right. A strong laning phase allows you to push the enemy under their tower and then roam the jungle.]

[So you predict that the Blue Team will focus on a strong laning phase. What about the Red Team?]

[Well… I think it all depends on where Alopsky, the only reliable member of the Red Team, will be positioned. It seems likely that he’ll be in the mid lane, which is the most important lane…]

– Minions have spawned.

[…Ah, the Minions have spawned. Everyone is moving to their positions.]

The commentators carefully observed the movements of both teams on the monitors.

After confirming that everyone was in their lanes, they first looked for Alopsky’s location.

[…Ah, Alopsky is starting in the jungle, not in a lane!]

[This is a bit unexpected. The jungle is a very difficult position to play if all the lanes are losing…]

[And the opponent has two junglers! Wouldn’t it be difficult for the Red Team to gain an advantage in the jungle?]

[It’s highly likely. Even Alopsky would struggle to handle two Triunfo Clan hunters at the same time.]

As the commentators were pessimistically analyzing the Red Team’s positions,

Dante, the newest member of Hunter Team 4, reported to Kim Jinsung, who was waiting for the jungle monsters to spawn.

– The enemy top laner is Gian from Team 3.

– The enemy mid laner is Juan.

– The enemy bot laner is Luca.

Kim Jinsung nodded after hearing the reports from the other team members.

“As expected, the enemy is aiming for a strong laning phase.”

Their intention was clear from the fact that they had placed their three strongest members in the three lanes.

“Then let’s stick to the plan we made. Teams 7 and 8, please handle Juan in the mid lane.”

– Yes, sir.

– Got it.

“And Team 5 will take Top, Team 4 will take Bot.”

Dante asked in surprise,

– You want me to go Bot? Not Top against Team 3?

“Yes. Since our goal is to hold out, there’s no need for you to go Top and have a pride contest. And wouldn’t you be able to hold off Luca more easily than Hans?”

– …Alright.

Dante agreed and immediately started moving towards the bottom lane.

Kim Jinsung watched Dante stand in the bottom lane against Luca and thought to himself,

‘This is the only way to prevent him from recklessly trying to win.’

If he had placed Dante in the top lane, he would have probably tried to defeat Gian, his rival, and pushed forward.

And if he died due to the enemy jungler’s intervention, the top tower would fall before Kim Jinsung could even grow strong enough.

That couldn’t happen.

Even if they were losing in the laning phase, they had to survive and hold out for Kim Jinsung’s plan to work.

That’s why he had deliberately placed Dante against Luca. Dante wouldn’t try to push aggressively against Luca.

‘The positions are set. Now it’s all up to me.’

As he thought to himself, a giant figure suddenly appeared before him.

It had appeared through a warp magic circle…

‘It’s a Giant Stone Golem.’

It looked almost identical to the giant golem he had encountered in the level 10 demon world dungeon.

‘I hope its actual attack power isn’t the same as that golem…’

If its physical stats were the same as that golem, it would be impossible for him to win in his current state, with his stats suppressed.

But his worries were unfounded.

‘…It’s so slow?’

The Stone Golem’s attack speed was incredibly slow, almost making him yawn.

He could easily dodge its attacks, even with only 6% of his normal abilities.

‘…Ah!’

He dodged an attack effortlessly and noticed something as he looked at the golem’s fist.

‘It’s wearing hunter handcuffs!’

The moment he saw the familiar handcuffs on the golem’s wrists and ankles, he understood why its attack speed was so slow.

‘They put hunter handcuffs on it to adjust its stats so we can handle it.’

So they could hunt it even at low levels.

He dodged the golem’s attacks and counterattacked occasionally.

Each of his Vital Point Strikes shattered one of the golem’s limbs.

He finally crushed the head of the golem, which was now just a torso, and a system window appeared before him.

– You have gained 100% experience.

– Level up!

– Acquired Mana Buff.

– Mana Buff: Grants 4 Mana regeneration per second + 2% of maximum Mana.

Current Level: 2

HP: 200

MP: 191

※ Your current physical abilities are being suppressed. You can only use 7% of your normal abilities.

—

‘Ah, right. He said I’d get a Mana Buff for a certain amount of time after defeating this monster.’

He recalled Dante’s explanation and cleared the system window.

‘…Huh? What’s this?’

He was momentarily confused when he saw another notification window still remaining.

But he quickly realized what it was and chuckled.

‘Ah, this is my personal notification window.’

He thought to himself and read the notification.

—

▶ You have defeated a monster.

▶ Acquired 300 Beast Karma Points.

▶ You have already acquired the opponent’s trait ‘Rock Giant’.

—

His eyes sparkled with interest.

‘The description is exactly the same as the golem I encountered in the level 10 demon world dungeon.’

The Beast Karma Points and the trait name were identical to when he had defeated the giant golem back then.

Could it be that they were using the Stone Golems from actual dungeons in this round?

‘…Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m gaining Beast Karma Points either way.’

He didn’t want to think too deeply about it and cleared the notification window.

He thought to himself as he moved towards a giant Twin-Headed Ogre nearby,

‘Come to think of it, I defeated it without using any basic skills.’

His gaze shifted to the bottom right corner of the screen.

—

※ Basic Skills

– Smite: Deals 500 fixed damage to monsters. Has a 45-second cooldown.

– Teleport: Teleports to an allied monster or structure. Has a 300-second cooldown.

—

‘He said using Smite would make it much easier to kill monsters.’

Dante had said it was the most essential skill for jungling.

That’s why he had chosen it, but he had forgotten to use it because he was so used to defeating monsters with Vital Point Strikes.

‘Let’s try using it this time.’

He charged towards the Twin-Headed Ogre, dodged its attacks, and extended both his hands.

He used Vital Point Strike with one hand and Smite with the other, placing his palms on the ogre’s two heads.

**Thud!**

Both heads were crushed at once. The ogre’s massive body collapsed to the ground.

—

– You have gained 40% experience.

▶ You have defeated a monster.

▶ Acquired 130 Beast Karma Points.

▶ You have already acquired the opponent’s trait ‘Mutant Ogre’s Strength’.

—

He cleared all the notification windows and thought to himself,

‘Let’s level up as quickly as possible by killing monsters like this.’

As he was about to move to find another monster,

– Aaaargh!!

A loud scream from one of his teammates suddenly came through the speaker installed in his helmet.

—