Chapter 26: Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 26

‘The sounds are coming from the same place?’

It seemed a monster was attacking a woman, but despite hearing her screams, Kim Jinsung didn’t quicken his pace. Instead, he cautiously moved through the darkening forest and only reached the source of the noise after five minutes.

Fortunately, the woman was still alive.

Woooaahhh!

Bang! Bang!

“Kyaaah!”

A large monster was swinging a thick club at a woman in her twenties hiding between large rocks. Kim Jinsung immediately recognized the monster.

‘A Minotaur!’

The legendary monster with the head of a bull, only found in B-grade dungeons or higher, typically appears as the final boss in Colosseum preliminaries. Yet here it was, far from the mountain summit.

‘It’s as big as a Twin-Headed Ogre?’

Moreover, the Minotaur’s muscular body seemed even more formidable.

But Kim Jinsung wasn’t afraid.

He had already reached a level where he could easily defeat a Twin-Headed Ogre.

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

Kim Jinsung waited for the right moment when the Minotaur was completely turned away from him and charged.

Slash!

The Minotaur roared in pain from the deep cut on its back.

Assessing the wound, Kim Jinsung thought,

‘Its skin is weaker than the Twin-Headed Ogre’s.’

The Minotaur immediately counterattacked.

Woooaahhh!

With a roar, the Minotaur charged with its large horns, putting all its strength into the attack.

Kim Jinsung leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the charge.

Crack! The trees behind where Kim Jinsung had been standing were smashed to pieces.

He looked at the wreckage and wiped his brow.

‘It’s much faster!’

If his agility hadn’t increased from the traits gained by hunting monsters all day, he would never have dodged that charge.

He felt fortunate to have encountered the slower Twin-Headed Ogre first.

‘I can’t match its speed…’

Feeling instinctively that he had little chance in a speed contest, Kim Jinsung decided to block the Minotaur’s attacks directly.

As he raised his long sword with both hands to block the club,

Thud!

A loud impact sounded between the two weapons.

Safely stepping back, Kim Jinsung nodded.

‘The Twin-Headed Ogre is a bit stronger…’

Now he knew exactly how to fight.

He wouldn’t dodge; he’d face it head-on.

‘Should I fight with all my strength?’

Kim Jinsung activated the ‘Indomitable Will’ skill and took a defensive stance again.

As the club was deflected by his raised sword, Kim Jinsung used the ‘One-Hit Kill’ skill to counterattack.

Slash! A deep cut appeared on the Minotaur’s left flank.

Woooaahhh!

The Minotaur, in pain, didn’t stop attacking.

Kim Jinsung blocked all its attacks and struck back whenever he saw an opening, inflicting large wounds.

Meanwhile, the woman who had been on the brink of death at the hands of the Minotaur was…

“Incredible…!”

Her eyes widened in astonishment.

It was surprising enough that he was facing it alone, but he was even dominating the fight!

‘Could someone with such skills really participate in this program?’

Colosseum typically doesn’t feature exceptionally strong contenders.

It’s a matter of balance.

If one person sweeps the competition and wins too easily, it’s the worst outcome for the producers.

That’s what happened in Season 4. It was ruined because of a participant named Yoo Jun-ho, who was then known as South Korea’s most promising talent.

“This is amazing—!”

To the woman watching, Kim Jinsung appeared like Yoo Jun-ho from Season 4. Her gaze was fixed not on the battle scene, but on Kim Jinsung.

…Ah! This isn’t the time…

She soon snapped back to reality, put down the bag she was carrying, and began to frantically search for something.

Meanwhile, the battle between the two was slowly drawing to a close.

Unlike Kim Jinsung, who hadn’t been hit even once, the Minotaur had steadily accumulated large wounds and had noticeably slowed down due to excessive blood loss, showing signs of anemia.

Kim Jinsung wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.

Slash!

Finally, the Minotaur, having one of its legs severed, lost its balance and fell.

Kim Jinsung immediately leaped towards the head of the Minotaur.

Swoosh.

Kim Jinsung’s attack, using the One-Hit Kill skill, cleanly decapitated the Minotaur’s neck.

The giant muscular body collapsed without a head, and at the same time, a notification window appeared before Kim Jinsung’s eyes.

You have defeated a monster.

You have gained 50 Beast Karma points.

You have acquired the trait ‘Divinely Resilient Body’ from the defeated monster.

▷ Divinely Resilient Body: Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Defense permanently increase by 20.

‘Due to the trait Divinely Resilient Body, Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Defense have increased by 20.’

You can acquire the monster’s skill ‘Unstoppable Charge.’

▷ Unstoppable Charge: For 1 minute, Agility increases by 20%, and you become immune to all physical status abnormalities. Consumes 100 mana.

▶ Would you like to delete an existing skill to acquire ‘Unstoppable Charge’?

“Great!”

Kim Jinsung was inwardly delighted.

The rewards were enormous, even compared to when he had defeated the Twin-Headed Ogre.

Especially the ‘Unstoppable Charge’ skill seemed very useful.

‘Immunity to all physical status abnormalities? That’s almost no different from taking a status abnormality potion, right?’

It was a bit disappointing that it couldn’t prevent mental status abnormalities.

But considering the price of potions that only protect against physical status abnormalities in the market…

‘It’s definitely not to be discarded.’

Without hesitation, Kim Jinsung acquired the ‘Unstoppable Charge’ skill, discarding his existing ‘Entangle’ skill.

“Excuse me…”

At that moment, a woman’s voice came from between the rocks.

Kim Jinsung turned to see her bowing deeply.

“Thank you so much for saving me! But, I’m really sorry to ask, could you help me just one more time?”

The woman pointed to her ankle with a very troubled face.

“My ankle is stuck between the rocks… I’m really sorry. Just once more, please…”

The woman pleaded with a pitiful voice.

Kim Jinsung, who had been silently watching, eventually approached with a resigned expression.

As Kim Jinsung drew closer, the woman suddenly sat down, wincing in pain.

“Ah… my ankle hurts so much…”

As she did so, she leaned her upper body towards Kim Jinsung.

Her cleavage naturally became exposed to Kim Jinsung’s view.

The same image was broadcast on the TV screen.

– Wow

– Oh sh*t

– Sister, I’m dying lololol

The chat went wild. Of course, it wasn’t just the chat that was in an uproar.

“The instant viewership rate is going up~.”

“Then zoom in more.”

Following the PD’s instruction, the cameraman began to blatantly focus on the woman’s chest area.

Then a female PD beside him chided him.

“Isn’t zooming in like that a bit too blatant?”

“No, the ratings are going up! It’s a thoroughly business-minded directive! Ahem.”

The PD made an excuse, and Baek Jun, the representative watching from behind, chuckled lightly.

‘Well, sometimes you have to throw in scenes like this to keep the viewers happy…’

In truth, such exposure was nothing. There had been many instances during live broadcasts where participants, caught up in the moment, engaged in sexual activities on camera.

This was possible because the Colosseum Survival was strictly for adults, only viewable by those over the age of 18.

‘But now…’

Baek Jun’s gaze shifted from the monitor broadcasting the explicit scene to the one beside it, which was now showing Kim Jinsung approaching the woman.

*****

“Which ankle is it?”

The woman pointed to her left when Kim Jinsung asked.

“Here, my left ankle…”

Thump.

The woman’s eyes bulged.

Kim Jinsung had suddenly stabbed her neck with a knife.

The woman, with a pierced neck, asked with her eyes, ‘Why?’

Kim Jinsung answered,

“I saw you. You deliberately trapped your ankle there.”

“!”

“And I saw you eagerly grabbing something from your bag and slipping it into your back pocket.”

Kim Jinsung continued with a murderous look in his eyes,

“Instead of helping me, you were preparing something while waiting for the fight to end, trying to lure me in.”

There was only one answer.

She would have surely ambushed him when he reached for her ankle.

“Die.”

Slash!

With a cold voice, Kim Jinsung’s sword arced through the air.

Simultaneously, the woman’s head flew off and landed behind her.

And then, another notification window appeared before him.

You have defeated a villain.

You have gained 10 Beast Karma points.

▶ You have acquired the comprehensive trait ‘Born Thief.’

▷ Born Thief: You gain the following traits and permanently stored skills:

– Steal: Agility increases by 100% for 0.5 seconds. Consumes 50 mana.

– Sneak: Removes the sound of your footsteps for 5 minutes. Consumes 50 mana.

– Wall Climb: Makes your palms sticky, allowing you to cling to walls for 5 minutes. Consumes 50 mana.

– Permanently increases Agility by 10.

‘A comprehensive trait?’

Kim Jinsung’s eyes widened at this new type of trait.

It seemed that the word ‘comprehensive’ was used because it included three skills and a trait that increased physical ability.

‘Do comprehensive traits not overlap with existing skills?’

Because the word ‘permanently stored’ was written in front of the skill names, and no notification window popped up asking if he wanted to delete an existing skill despite acquiring the comprehensive trait.

He tried using the ‘Sneak’ skill to see if it worked properly. Since there was no sound of footsteps, it seemed to have been activated correctly.

‘This is sweet!’

This meant that he could use the skills ‘Steal,’ ‘Sneak,’ and ‘Wall Climb’ for life without ever deleting them.

It was a jackpot.

‘Great! Let’s not forget to collect the loot.’

Kim Jinsung checked the waist of the headless woman.

In her back pocket, he noticed several colored glass bottles, presumably for throwing.

They weren’t red for HP or blue for MP, so they definitely weren’t healing potions.

‘She was planning to throw these at me for a surprise attack.’

It was indeed an excellent decision to deal with her immediately.

Kim Jinsung collected all the glass bottles and began to put them in his backpack.

***

At the very moment Kim Jinsung beheaded the woman.

– Tasty…

– That’s right!

– Phew~ I thought she was going to get him…

– Noooooo

– Sister!!!!

“Nice!”

“Wow, he’s so cold-hearted?”

“Ah…”

“Why are you disappointed?”

“Me, when did I?”

The chat and everyone in the control room showed a variety of reactions.

Baek Jun also reacted, and he was among those who were pleased.

While feeling satisfied, he looked at another profile on his desk.

Name: Lee Young-eun

Age: 25

Height: 162cm

Status: Forced laborer

Special note: Was working in a monster danger zone under 17 charges of theft and contract killing.

Nickname: ‘Venomous Femme Fatale.’