Chapter 45: The Fruit of Patience is Too Bitter to Bear (2)**

Chapter 45

– ?

– ???

– What?

– What is that?

– Is that gigantic thing really a plant monster? Seriously?

– What did I just see…

The chat was instantly filled with shock and disbelief. Even the caster was so astonished that he stood up from his seat.

[What is that? A plant monster growing to the size of a skyscraper! This is something I’ve never seen in my life!]

While everyone was unable to identify the plant, the commentator finally recognized it.

[Could that be… Forghinae?]

– What?

– What did you say?

– Porsche… what?

– Didn’t you say pro-gamer?

[Forghinae! The giant plant monster that nearly brought Brazil to ruin long ago!]

[Ah!]

Finally, some viewers, including the caster, reacted as if they understood.

– Whoa?

– Are you talking about that legendary man-eating plant?

– Wasn’t it killed back then?

– Why is it here? What the heck?

[Curious why it’s here? So am I! I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now either….]

Watching the commentator raise his voice for the first time in a while, Jang Seungwook muttered to himself.

“As expected of a veteran hunter. He recognized it right away.”

Kim Jincheol was once one of the top hunters in South Korea. He hadn’t taken the main commentator spot on the country’s top program for nothing. Jang Seungwook raised his voice to give instructions to the PD in front of him.

“Play the prepared video now. Also, send the information about Forghinae to the commentators.”

“Yes.”

The main PD followed the instructions. While the video was being prepared in the monitoring room, the caster, who had received the information, began explaining to the viewers.

[We have received information about Forghinae from the production team. Let me explain it to you….]

The summary of the explanation was as follows: About 150 years ago, a plant monster suddenly appeared in the heart of the Amazon, devouring everything alive around it. Within a few kilometers of where it grew, not a single blade of grass remained. Over 3 million people were killed by Forghinae, and more than 2,000 hunters sent to kill it died or went missing. Even after it was killed, the area around its roots still suffers from severe famine.

[Forghinae, still holding the title of ‘The Strongest Plant Monster in Earth’s History.’ We have a video of the disaster it caused 150 years ago. Let’s watch it together.]

The TV then played scenes of the original Forghinae’s rampage from 150 years ago. It swallowed everything, including humans, animals, and trees, into the mouth at the center of its flower-like head. Hunters were crushed by its thick stems or wrapped in vines and eaten alive.

– Whoa….

– Unbelievable…

– It’s a disaster incarnate….

– Are they really expecting the preliminaries to deal with that?

– This is too much….

Viewers, shocked, began to worry about the preliminaries. The caster quickly addressed their concerns.

[Many viewers are worried about the preliminary participants. Fortunately, the Forghinae in the underground of the mountain is a fake, created using genes extracted from the original Forghinae’s stem. It is much smaller and less destructive than the original!]

– Oh, I see.

– So it’s smaller than the real one?

– It’s already ridiculously big. How big was the original?

– Even the fake one seems unbeatable….

Jang Seungwook, watching the still-shocked chat, chuckled.

“Of course, they can’t beat it. It wasn’t put there to be defeated.”

The production team isn’t evil. They don’t want contestants to die needlessly in impossible situations.

“That Forghinae is there to wreak havoc just before the helicopter arrives in three days.”

On the final day, they planned to provoke Forghinae to destroy everything from the underground to the mountain ridge. This would force the participants, who had been hiding in various spots on the mountain, to move up. As they climbed, they would inevitably encounter each other, leading to intense and entertaining scenes for the viewers.

“In other words, this secret passage was a dud. It’s unfortunate for Kim Jinsung.”

Jang Seungwook thought as he watched the monitor. Kim Jinsung was fighting more desperately than ever.

—

**Crash! Crash!**

Every time Forghinae’s stems struck near Kim Jinsung, it sounded like an 8-ton truck with a broken steering wheel crashing into a wall at full speed. The ground where Kim Jinsung stood was dented with each impact.

“Damn, this is crazy.”

Kim Jinsung, narrowly dodging every attack, gritted his teeth. He was giving it his all.

“I can’t even hide with ‘Shadow Hiding’…!”

Kim Jinsung realized how much he had relied on his ‘Shadow Hiding’ skill. The monster detected him even when he hid in the shadows, making it pointless to waste mana on the skill.

**Crash!**

“Yikes!”

Kim Jinsung jumped and spun in the air to dodge another stem attack. Even a stuntman wouldn’t spin this much during a shoot. But Kim Jinsung had no choice. With multiple stems attacking, he had to twist his body in the air to avoid all the attacks.

Of course, he wasn’t just dodging. He occasionally counterattacked with his sword. When he swung, he did manage to cut the stems. Unlike his fight with the Twin-Headed Ogre, the monster’s skin wasn’t impenetrable.

But the problem was,

“Damn! It’s too thick to cut through in one go!”

Even when he was sure he had made a deep cut, he only managed to slice halfway through the thick plant stem.

“Will this skill work?”

After dodging all the attacks again, Kim Jinsung used a skill during a counterattack window.

—

▷ Draw: Quickly draw and slash your sword from its sheath, dealing 200% damage. Consumes 100 mana.

—

He had unlocked two new skill slots while hunting defensive soldiers after the wildfire. One when he got ‘Shadow Hiding’ and another after hunting someone with the ‘Location Tracking’ trait. This ‘Draw’ skill was a lucky find while hunting another defensive soldier after the wildfire. It was a perfect ‘one-hit kill’ skill.

Kim Jinsung’s sword, sheathed, was swiftly drawn and slashed at the giant stem before him.

**Slash.**

“I cut it!”

It was close, but the stem was perfectly severed and fell deep into the ground.

“This works! But… there are too many of them!”

Kim Jinsung looked around Forghinae. He saw more than 100 writhing stems. To cut them all down, he would need at least 10,000 MP.

“…What?”

His eyes widened as the giant flower head opened its mouth, releasing an enormous amount of powder. The powder covered the entire area around where Kim Jinsung stood, making it impossible to dodge.

“Damn it…!”

Kim Jinsung bit his lip. With the continuous attacks from the plant stems, he couldn’t use ‘Shadow Hiding’ to avoid the powder.

“No choice.”

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Unstoppable Charge.’

▶ Your agility stat increases by 20% for 1 minute.

▶ You become immune to physical status conditions.

—

Just before the powder touched him, Kim Jinsung used the ‘Unstoppable Charge’ skill to make himself immune. The powder covered his entire body, and a notification appeared.

—

▶ You are immune to the ‘Blindness’ status condition due to physical status immunity.

—

“Wow… That was close.”

Seeing the notification, Kim Jinsung felt relieved. He was already using all his energy to dodge the attacks. If he had been blinded, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid even one stem attack. His body would have ended up like the shattered rocks scattered in the pits.

“No choice. Since I’ve used the skill, I need to counterattack now.”

Having used 100 MP for ‘Unstoppable Charge,’ he needed to make a significant counterattack within the 1-minute window when his agility was increased by 20%. Otherwise, using the mana would feel like a waste.

“I remember ditching ‘One-Hit Kill’ for the ‘Nullify’ skill back then.”

It was during a fight against more than 15 defensive soldiers. Lacking enough points to unlock a skill slot, Kim Jinsung had to abandon ‘One-Hit Kill’ and take one skill. He chose ‘Nullify’ because he believed removing all buffs and mana from the opponent before attacking would deal more damage than using ‘One-Hit Kill.’ He had to give up ‘Earthquake’ and ‘Cooling’ as well, thinking ‘Cooling’ could be replaced by the ‘Confusion’ skill he already had.

“Especially against a stronger monster like this, the ‘Nullify’ skill will shine.”

Higher-level dungeon monsters usually have many buffs. Boss monsters are particularly notorious for this. Some A-level dungeon bosses even had immunity to magic and ranged physical attacks.

“Let’s use ‘Nullify’ and then attack the central stem.”

Kim Jinsung quickly strategized on how to reach the thick central stem.

**Whoosh-!**

Multiple plant stems attacked Kim Jinsung again. He immediately used a skill.

**Crash!**

Three stems struck where he had been standing, but only a small straw scarecrow lay there.

“Now!”

Using the ‘Disguise Clone’ skill, Kim Jinsung became invisible for 5 seconds. While Forghinae focused on the scarecrow, he jumped with all his might. Forghinae noticed and tried to move its stems, but Kim Jinsung had already reached the central stem. Near Forghinae’s head, he extended his palm and used a skill.

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Nullify.’

—

Kim Jinsung saw the thick mana shield covering Forghinae’s body disappear. He used his remaining skills.

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Poison Powder.’

▶ You have used the skill ‘Petrification Powder.’

—

Green and gray powders sprayed from his palms, covering Forghinae’s head. But nothing happened.

“Damn it!”

Kim Jinsung inwardly cursed. He had hoped the powders would work after using ‘Nullify,’ but they didn’t. It felt like a waste of the skill slots he had unlocked.

“But I still have one more move!”

He used another skill.

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Confusion.’

—

The black mana from his palm spread over Forghinae’s head. Suddenly, the giant flower head began to sway weakly.

“It worked!”

Kim Jinsung cheered inwardly. The attacking stems started to flail aimlessly, indicating they were confused.

“Now!”

Using a nearby stem as a stepping stone, he jumped again. His body flew rapidly towards the thick central stem supporting the giant flower.