Chapter 51 …
“—Does this even make sense…?”
Jihad couldn’t believe the scene before his eyes.
Kraaah!
[You have successfully parried!]
[You deflect the attack.]
The sight of Dohyun effortlessly avoiding or deflecting every attack from an enraged Karuk was utterly unfamiliar.
It was as if he knew exactly what attack was coming, reacting without the slightest error.
He didn’t even seem to be moving particularly fast, yet every attack was blocked.
Screech—Thud!
And he even managed to thrust attacks into every opening that appeared.
Kuaaah!
[Hidden Field Boss “Goblin Warlord Karuk” uses “Ruthless Strike.”]
Karuk, enraged, tried to land a desperate strike on Dohyun trapped against the wall during a moment without a parry—but that was exactly what Dohyun had planned.
Thud, swoosh—
Just as the axe came down to crush his skull, Dohyun quickly rolled off by stepping briefly on the wall to gain momentum, dodging the blow.
[Uses Charging Slash.]
Landing a foot, he immediately performed a diagonal backward charging slash, positioning himself in Karuk’s blind spot. In an instant, the positions flipped—Dohyun went from disadvantage to advantage.
Thwack! Paf-paf!
He plunged his greatsword into Karuk’s side and followed up with a barrage of punches. The brutal sounds of impact echoed throughout the lair.
“…So that’s what hit me.”
Jihad squinted, unable to watch, but also feeling relief. Seeing it from a third-person perspective made him realize why he had suffered before.
“…No wonder I lost…”
Now he could see how Dohyun had set it up so that defeat was inevitable: provoking the opponent with parries and peculiar movements, driving him against a wall, baiting the use of a special move, then countering.
Dohyun absorbed the opponent’s ultimate attack while delivering the most powerful strike in return. Seeing it now, everything made sense. The only difference was that Dohyun executed the moves himself instead of vanishing like he did when Jihad fought him—principle remained the same.
“…Is he really human?”
Even as his master, Jihad had to wonder. Not only did he avoid and deflect every strike, but he also used the enemy’s psychology flawlessly.
At that moment, Jihad sincerely thought:
“…Good thing I didn’t resist more.”
What if he had stubbornly fought back? Would Karuk have ended up in his place?
The thought sent chills down his spine. From now on, he’d obey orders, pick up loot properly, and avoid trouble.
[+2 Loyalty]
“Huh? Suddenly?”
Even though he hadn’t done anything, the sudden loyalty boost surprised Dohyun—but his movements remained precise as ever.
Whoosh—Crack!
Even while flustered, he avoided Karuk’s double-bladed axe, stepped on the grounded axe to force Karuk to crouch, and delivered a soccer kick. Dohyun then tossed the “Honest Axe of God’s Iron” from his inventory.
Whoosh—
Karuk casually tilted his head to avoid it, a hidden field boss or not. But it was bait.
Thud!
[Effect of “Assassin’s Dagger” activates. Goblin Warlord Karuk suffers the ‘Bleeding’ status.]
[Bleeding skill activates.]
He had thrown the dagger into Karuk’s still-beating heart. Luckily, the effect stacked, dealing continuous bleeding damage. Karuk screamed as HP drained.
[Hidden Field Boss “Goblin Warlord Karuk” HP is at 30%.]
[Special trait “Warlord” activates.]
[Goblin Warlord Karuk enters Combat Continuation state.]
Phase 2 had begun.
“…Warlord! Be careful—no, he’ll handle it, yeah.”
Jihad started to shout but trailed off, nodding.
Warlord trait? That was dangerous.
It was an upgraded version of Berserker Rage. While it didn’t debuff opponents, it greatly increased the user’s stats—and nullified any effect of pain, removing openings caused by injuries.
[Due to Berserker trait, Karuk’s physical abilities increase.]
[Due to Physical Enhancement trait, physical abilities are strengthened.]
And that wasn’t all. Combined with the Warlord trait, which grows stronger as HP decreases, plus Physical Enhancement, Karuk became a monster who grew more dangerous the closer he was to death.
Whoosh—Swoosh—
Kraaah!
“…Of course.”
No matter how fast or strong he became, Dohyun still couldn’t be hit. Openings from pain? They didn’t matter. Attacks didn’t create exploitable gaps just because Karuk felt pain.
Thud—!
[Bleeding activates.]
Karuk was slowly, surely being hunted. He realized Dohyun was no mere nuisance but a predator only when death approached.
[Hidden Field Boss “Goblin Warlord Karuk” HP below 5%.]
[Goblin Warlord Karuk suffers ‘Bleeding’ status.]
His body slowly cooled as blood drained, and facing death, Karuk understood:
Gurgle…
From the start, he had been nothing but prey. Just as his victims always struggled to survive in front of him, he too had fought for his life. Feeling his body cease to move, Karuk stood still and closed his eyes.
[Hidden Field Boss “Goblin Warlord Karuk” defeated.]
[First-time Hidden Field Boss “Warriors’ Habitat” cleared; rewards amplified.]
[Hidden Field “Warriors’ Habitat” Boss “Goblin Warlord Karuk” Essence Orb appears.]
[Recorded in the Adventure Log.]
[Mastery of swordsmanship increased dramatically through extreme use of the sword.]
[Swordsmanship skill level increased to LV12.]
[Sword-related attack damage increased by 11%.]
[Level up achieved.]
[Graduation level reached; Graduation Quest generated.]
[Continental Trial…]
[Recording ends.]
“Whoa…”
Dizzy from the flood of messages, Dohyun stuck his tongue out but smiled.
‘Level up and swordsmanship mastery!’
It made sense. He reached the target level and increased the sword skill that had been slow to rise. Using parries to the extreme had granted massive skill XP.
[Guardian Jihad Black leveled up.]
[Jihad Black]
[Title: Hero-Class Named Guardian]
[Type: Goblin]
[Level: LV6]
[Loyalty: 23/100]
[Traits: Lineage, Cursed Mage, Necromancer, Quick Hands]
[Guardian Traits: Weak-Strong-Weak-Strong, Opportunist]
[Description: Survivor of a fallen clan. Jihad, inheriting excellent lineage, has lived hundreds of years as a goblin but now serves as a human’s guardian.]
[Most abilities sealed due to low level.]
[Usable Skills: 1]
Summon Undead
Not only Dohyun’s level increased; Jihad also leveled up, reaching LV6 explosively in the Hidden Field.
‘Guardians cap at 70, right?’
Unlike players whose max level is 100, guardians max out at 70. More XP is required, making them slower to level, but divine beasts at level 70 still rival level 100 players.
‘Even though he didn’t personally kill anything, this counts as rapid leveling.’
For some reason, loyalty increased to 23—stabilizing his bond. Dohyun shifted his attention to the essence orb.
‘This should drop equipment, right?’
Rewards from killing Jihad would return to him, but now a decent drop from a melee-type boss was expected. Dohyun restrained his urge to collect it immediately.
[Quest Chain “Warlord’s Trial” completed.]
[Side Quest “Trial of the Warriors” completed.]
[Reviewing test results.]
[Exceeded original conditions of “Blood Battle” trial; all trials completed with exceptional results, rewards greatly increased.]
[Rewards: 200 gold, massive XP, 2 Intermediate Skill Draw Tickets, Karuk’s Leather Armor set.]
“Awesome…”
The side quest rewards far exceeded expectations—2 Intermediate Skill Draw Tickets! Previously, he would have fretted over rare skills, but now:
“Ah, me, the man with the Eyes of Truth…”
Thanks to his cheat-like “Eyes of Truth.”
“…Here we go again. I don’t wanna watch.”
With tears of gratitude, Dohyun ignored Jihad covering his eyes, and prepared the tickets.
[Use Intermediate Skill Draw Ticket?]
“Yeah.”
Ten cards flew out, shimmering slightly brighter than low-tier tickets.
[Eye of Truth activates.]
Still, the ratio was brutal: 7 brown, 3 silver. Rare, but not easy to pull.
‘No wonder I kept failing draws before.’
Now confident, Dohyun reached out and drew the second silver card. Silver light filled his vision beautifully.
