Chapter 50: Phase 2

Chapter 50

At the end of the secret passage, there was a sinkhole.

“……”

Kim Jinsung stood at the edge, silently looking down. Below him, numerous entities with immense amounts of mana were writhing. They were likely the plant stems of Forghinae.

“This time, I have to see it through to the end.”

It was already the sixth day since the preliminaries had started. The time was now noon. Considering he had fought almost all day the last time, he would likely have to fight until sunset again. In other words, if he failed this time, he would have to give up the hunt and prepare for the escape the next day.

“I’m ready.”

He had acquired good traits and skills the previous night, had a good sleep in the secret passage, and had eaten well for both dinner and breakfast. He had also completed the necessary hunts for the ‘Animal Transformation’ skill. He checked the potions in his pocket one last time. There was nothing more to prepare.

“Alright… Let’s go!”

Kim Jinsung jumped into the sinkhole, diving straight down to the bottom. He heard the sound of plant stems narrowly missing him and hitting the walls, but he managed to land safely at the bottom.

**Roar…!**

A chilling sound emanated from Forghinae’s massive mouth. At the same time, numerous plant stems started flying towards Kim Jinsung. He immediately used a skill.

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Animal Transformation.’

—

At the same time, Kim Jinsung transformed into a black, four-legged animal. It was an animal—no, a monster—that any surviving player would recognize: the Dark Hound.

—

▶ You have transformed into a ‘Dark Hound.’

▷ Stat changes: Agility increased by 20%, other stats decreased by 20%.

—

As the notification appeared, Kim Jinsung, now a Dark Hound, leaped away. A plant stem struck the spot where he had been standing with a thud. Kim Jinsung focused on dodging all the attacks. Although the situation was the same as before, his increased agility made it much easier to dodge the attacks this time.

“I’m glad I can transform into monsters.”

Honestly, if he couldn’t transform into monsters, the ‘Animal Transformation’ skill would have been useless. The mountain ridge was full of monsters, and it was rare to see any animals. But Kim Jinsung quickly realized he could transform into monsters, and from that point on, he didn’t even glance at any animals he encountered.

“I wonder why that guy didn’t think to transform into a monster.”

Even a three-year-old knows that monsters have much higher physical stats than animals. If his opponent yesterday had kept transforming into monsters instead of animals, the fight would have been much harder.

“Well, whatever the reason, the ‘Animal Transformation’ skill is mine now.”

“I’ve never seen a monster on this island as fast as this Dark Hound.”

**Thud!**

Kim Jinsung dodged another fierce plant stem attack. The stems kept coming, but he wasn’t afraid anymore. As a Dark Hound, he was confident he wouldn’t get hit even once. But if dodging plant stems was all it took, he wouldn’t have struggled so much before.

“Blinding Powder!”

He saw an enormous amount of powder being sprayed from Forghinae’s massive mouth. Just before the powder reached him, Kim Jinsung used a skill.

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Unstoppable Charge.’

▶ Agility increased by 20% for 1 minute.

▶ You are immune to physical status conditions.

▶ You are immune to the ‘Blinding’ status condition.

—

“Now’s the time.”

As soon as he used the skill, Kim Jinsung jumped towards Forghinae’s head. He had learned from the previous fight that Forghinae didn’t attack with its stems while spraying powder. Reaching the head, he used two more skills in quick succession.

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Nullify.’

▶ You have used the skill ‘Confusion.’

—

Forghinae’s massive head began to sway weakly, confirming it was affected by the confusion skill. Kim Jinsung reverted to his human form and grabbed the hilt of his sheathed sword.

—

▶ You have used the skill ‘Draw.’

—

Kim Jinsung’s sword, enveloped in black mana, swung towards the central stem at lightning speed. The black mana transformed into fire properties as it slashed through.

**Slash!**

**Whoosh!**

The deeply cut central stem began to burn with fire mana. Landing on the opposite side, Kim Jinsung transformed back into a Dark Hound and hoped for the best.

“Please, let it work, please!”

A few seconds later, Forghinae’s head stopped swaying. The confusion skill had ended. Forghinae swung its stems again to attack Kim Jinsung, who dodged while keeping his eyes on the wound on the central stem.

“It doesn’t seem to be regenerating.”

Kim Jinsung wasn’t mistaken. The wound was still burning, preventing it from healing like before.

“It seems plant monsters are weak to fire.”

It made sense, but he had been worried that it might not work because Forghinae was such a massive and powerful boss monster. But now he had confirmed that fire attacks were effective.

“If I keep attacking before the fire goes out, I can win!”

With newfound hope, Kim Jinsung continued dodging the stem attacks, waiting for the right moment. When a larger number of stems attacked simultaneously, he used the ‘Disguise Clone’ skill and charged. It was the right decision. He managed to use ‘Nullify’ and ‘Confusion’ again without being attacked by the stems.

Using the ‘Draw’ skill, Kim Jinsung slashed the central stem with his fire-covered sword again.

**Slash!**

The wound, unable to heal due to the fire, was cut even deeper, and the dying embers reignited into a roaring flame.

“Alright! One more cut and…!”

Seeing that only about a third of the central stem was still attached, Kim Jinsung squeezed out the last of his mana. He didn’t want to wait for another opportunity; he wanted to end it now.

“Die!”

Falling to the opposite side, Kim Jinsung used the ‘Draw’ skill again. The black mana surrounding his sword shot forward in a crescent shape.

The crescent of Magi flew straight towards the wound on the central stem.

**Slash!**

With a tearing sound, the remaining part of the central stem was completely severed.

“I did it!!”

As Kim Jinsung cheered, he saw Forghinae’s massive flower head fall helplessly into the deep central hole.

—

“Wow!”

“He did it!”

“He won!!!”

“Kim Jinsung! Kim Jinsung! Kim Jinsung! Kim Jinsung! Kim Jinsung!”

“Did he really win this?!”

“What did I just witness…?”

The chat was filled with cheers and shock.

[He did it! He cut it! Kim Jinsung has cut through Forghinae’s thick central stem!]

[Hah… hahaha! I can’t believe it. I’m at a loss for words. Hahaha…!]

[Can you believe it, folks? I can’t! Kim Jinsung has defeated the legendary plant monster Forghinae all by himself!]

The caster stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs, while the commentator, still in shock, could only laugh.

“Wow!”

“Kim Jinsung survived!”

“Hooray! This is huge!”

“Where’s the YouTube editor? Upload this as soon as it’s done! Forget about reviewing it!”

The staff also erupted in cheers at Kim Jinsung’s victory. The executives here were probably the people on Earth who wanted Kim Jinsung to survive the most.

“Focus!!”

At that moment, Baek Jun’s stern voice rang out from behind. Everyone turned around in surprise, but Baek Jun remained focused on the monitor.

“It’s not over yet.”

His words made everyone instinctively look back at the monitor.

“…What?”

“No way?”

“What’s happening?!”

They all exclaimed in shock. They saw something rapidly growing from the severed central stem of Forghinae.

– ?

– ???

– Something’s growing again?

– Is it not dead?

– Isn’t that a flower bud?

The reactions of the cheering viewers also changed in an instant. Meanwhile, the rapidly growing flower bud began to bloom, revealing dark black petals instead of the previous white ones. As he watched, Baek Jun thought to himself.

‘150 years ago, many hunters were caught off guard and perished due to an unexpected second phase transformation.’

There were records of Forghinae transforming into a form with large black petals back then as well.

‘Now is the crucial part. No matter how skilled Kim Jinsung is, he likely didn’t anticipate a second phase.’

With a tense expression, Baek Jun continued to watch Kim Jinsung on the monitor.

—

“…Oh my God.”

Kim Jinsung felt like screaming in frustration. He was sure he had defeated Forghinae by cutting off its head, but now there was this new black flower.

‘This isn’t a game! How can a living creature have a second phase?!’

In RPG games, it’s common for bosses to have multiple phases, but in reality, Kim Jinsung had never heard of or seen anything like this.

**Roar!!**

A much louder and more ominous sound emanated from the newly formed black flower’s central mouth. At the same time, it sprayed an enormous amount of powder.

“Damn it!”

Seeing the increased amount of powder, Kim Jinsung didn’t hesitate to use the ‘Unstoppable Charge’ skill, not even thinking about conserving mana. Moments later, the powder covered his entire body.

‘What…?!’

Kim Jinsung was taken aback. His eyelids began to droop. He quickly realized why through the notification that appeared.

—

▶ You have entered a ‘Sleep’ state.

—

‘Damn it! It’s not blinding powder?’

He had used the skill thinking it was the usual blinding powder, but it was a new pattern: sleep powder. Sleep powder was a mental status effect, so ‘Unstoppable Charge’ couldn’t make him immune to it.

‘This is bad!’

Feeling the danger, Kim Jinsung instinctively reacted. He quickly drank a status recovery potion and attempted to transform into a Dark Hound and jump as high as possible. But he was a second too late.

**Thud!**

“Ugh…!”

The second it took to drink the potion was fatal. A plant stem struck Kim Jinsung, sending him flying. Gritting his teeth, he tried to twist his body in mid-air to land safely. But at that critical moment, roots burst from the ground.

**Thud! Thud!**

“Ugh…!”

Hit by the rising roots, Kim Jinsung spat blood and began to fall helplessly. Unfortunately, he was falling into the deep central hole.

—

– Oh no…!

– Ah…!

[Ah!]

[Oh…!]

“Ahhh!”

“No!”

“Oh no… it’s over.”

Viewers, commentators, and staff all let out groans of despair.

“Of all places, he had to fall into that hole…”

“Isn’t there no camera down there?”

“Yes. Every time we set one up, Forghinae’s roots destroy it…”

The staff, watching the central hole where Kim Jinsung had fallen, looked on with despair. Even Baek Jun had a disappointed expression.

‘Of all places, he had to fall where Forghinae’s roots are…’

This made Kim Jinsung’s chances of survival extremely slim. While the living roots’ attacks were dangerous, there was an even bigger problem.

‘The bottom where the roots are is likely completely engulfed in Magi.’

All monsters possess Magi. The presence of Magi in their bodies is the main difference between them and ordinary animals. Generally, animal-type monsters have a lot of Magi concentrated in their brains and hearts. For a plant monster like Forghinae, the brain is likely the newly grown black flower, and the heart is the root that supports the entire stem.

‘The problem is that Forghinae’s Magi is extraordinary.’

Even though this Forghinae was much weaker than the original 150 years ago due to genetic modification, it still possessed an overwhelming amount of Magi that an ordinary human body couldn’t withstand. And Kim Jinsung had fallen into the source of that Magi.

—