Chapter 40 …
Jihad Black.
He was the ruler of the Western Forest.
More precisely, he had been the ruler.
None of the monsters in the forest could withstand his overwhelming presence, and the citizens of the nearby city feared his very existence.
A worst-of-the-worst, most dreadful forest that permitted no one to even approach.
That was what the Western Forest—once ruled by Jihad Black—had been like.
…Until a monstrous man appeared.
To think I have to hide out in a place like this…
Jihad could not accept that reality.
He, who had once sat upon a glorious throne, was now forced to hide in this decaying underground.
But what choice did he have?
That monster was still alive, and the day they met again, even this underground refuge would not be safe.
Perhaps because he was originally a goblin,
he adapted to reality relatively quickly and soon found a measure of stability.
Time passed, and just as he was gradually getting used to life here—
Hmm…
Jihad felt bored.
Because he had hidden himself too well, he no longer encountered any new lifeforms.
In the beginning, he would occasionally go outside, but after establishing excellent species, even that became unnecessary.
If he went out and took risks for no reason, troublesome things might happen.
As he continued living such a safe life, he began to forget what he had originally intended to do.
It felt like he was forgetting something important…
Ah, whatever.
Jihad brushed it off.
100 years?
No—he had probably spent 150 years living like this.
He had fully adapted.
He had become a man who could take anything in stride!
However, perhaps even that had its limits—recently, Jihad had been feeling strange.
It’s suffocating. Too suffocating!
Living here gave him stability, but he could do nothing about the deep boredom rising from within his chest.
Occasionally creating new undead as a hobby was somewhat fun, but it wasn’t enough to quench this dreadful thirst.
Should I go out for once?
Enough time had passed—wouldn’t it be fine?
No… better not take unnecessary risks.
But it’s so boring…
Boredom made his body sluggish and his mind restless.
Just as he had been agonizing over what to do for several years—
[Someone is entering the hideout.]
“What? Someone’s coming in?”
Jihad doubted his ears at the voice that suddenly rang out while he sat absentmindedly.
This was a hideout he had painstakingly concealed to escape that monster.
In fact, no one had found it for hundreds of years. So when he heard someone was entering, he was extremely tense at first.
Could it be… that guy?
Even while thinking it couldn’t be, he still felt uneasy.
So he began chanting a spell as he waited—
—and the moment he saw the human man who appeared in the hideout,
Ah.
His anxiety washed away.
It was someone he had never seen before.
Relief that it wasn’t him passed, and curiosity bloomed in its place.
At the same time, a strange excitement rose within him.
I’ve got a new toy!
A being had appeared that would bring fresh amusement to this boring life!
And that toy was… peculiar.
[I don’t sense an explorer’s aura… yet multiple energies are mixed together. What a strange existence.]
The strength he sensed wasn’t that great, but the energy was something he had never felt before—
It was like several different energies were harmoniously blended together. The sensation was refreshingly shocking.
Perfect to play with as a test subject.
He could turn him into a corpse and play with it,
or test its durability with all kinds of curses.
If he got bored, he could just make him into undead.
Whatever the case, this would free him from his dull routine for years.
I should subdue him without damaging him too much.
So he planned to capture the toy using monsters so it wouldn’t get too hurt.
At this stage, he did not think any variables could arise.
This was the nest he had lived in for hundreds of years.
There was nothing here he didn’t know.
Yes… that’s what he thought.
Until the toy disappeared from his sight.
[A mark is created.]
Sss—
[…?]
Before he could process the unknown message and the chilling sensation behind his back.
Realizing the situation belatedly, Jihad moved quickly.
Whoosh—BOOM!
[Corpse Manipulation activates.]
[Trait ‘Swift Hands’ greatly increases speed.]
[Corpse Explosion activates.]
[Trait ‘Swift Hands’ greatly increases speed.]
He instantly hurled the monsters beside him toward the toy—no, toward the insolent human—and detonated them.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Unless one knew beforehand, it was a speed impossible to react to with the naked eye.
But the human was not hit.
Before he knew it, the man had already retreated far away.
[…Like a damn rat.]
Though he spoke calmly, Jihad was inwardly flustered.
[Your vital point has been struck. Status effect ‘Bleeding’ activates.]
When the hell did he stab me?
In that brief moment, not only had the human widened the distance and dodged—he had secretly struck a vital point.
It was speed that was hard to believe came from a swordsman.
What followed was even more absurd.
Step. Whoosh—
BOOM!
The human’s footwork as he lightly stepped in was strange.
He clearly seemed to be rushing in quickly, but when Jihad launched corpses, the man was farther back than expected.
If he appeared to move slowly and Jihad threw late, he would suddenly rush in quickly.
Why won’t he get hit?!
A bizarre phenomenon where perception and reality were reversed.
Has there ever been a human with abilities like this?
Even Jihad, who had lived for centuries, had never heard of such a human.
At first he thought multiple energies were mixed…
—but now he even wondered if the man was a mix of multiple races.
BOOM! BOOM!
[Grr…!]
Watching Jihad swing corpses around in agitation, Dohyun smirked.
The free-form control that resembled telekinesis and explosions with power rivaling a fire mage.
It was the classic demolition necromancer—certainly troublesome at close range.
But it meant nothing if the attacks didn’t land.
Stab—
[Vital point struck. Status effect ‘Bleeding’ activates.]
[Attack hits. Target enters ‘Bleeding’ state.]
Close in and stab.
If corpses flew in, widen the distance.
Then hover as if closing in again—
and once the gap closed, thrust the sword.
When Bleeding was on cooldown, he stabbed with the assassin’s dagger.
Sometimes, if lucky, the dagger’s bleed triggered and stacked damage.
More astonishingly, even when undead were sent to surround him and detonated—
he slipped away with ghostlike movement and seized spatial control.
Jihad grew furious at the relentless hit-and-run play executed with overwhelming multitasking ability.
[You insolent…!]
There was a reason ranged dealers particularly hated assassins.
Assassins never fought head-on.
They struck and retreated, stacking status effects and slowly grinding away at one’s patience.
Of course, Dohyun still lacked the full skill set for true assassin play…
but—
[What the hell is that movement?! Why can’t I hit you at all?!]
Dohyun’s strange movement and evasion made it possible.
And that wasn’t all.
[Trait ‘Hero’ blocks mental contamination.]
[Curse Orb effect is nullified.]
No matter what dark vision or curses he used, that bizarre ability nullified everything.
Watching the flustered Jihad, Dohyun smiled faintly.
As expected—it works.
If you asked players what made fighting Kaiser the hardest,
seven out of ten would give the same answer:
—Movement.
Unlike PC games where you just clicked a mouse, VR movement involved countless mind games and far higher difficulty.
But with high agility, sensory stats, and VR’s ability to surpass human physical limits, it was possible—once you adapted.
And the ones who did this as naturally as breathing were the so-called veterans.
It was actually harder to find a high-ranker with bad movement.
So why had Kaiser’s movement become legendary?
Simple.
Because Kaiser’s movement was different from the norm.
The essence of movement lay in mind games.
Even rankers reacted with dynamic vision—but there were limits, so prediction always came into play.
Kaiser—Dohyun—focused on that.
Sometimes only his upper body stopped.
Sometimes only his lower body.
Sometimes he pretended to stop, then burst forward explosively.
Sometimes he feigned a fast entry, relaxed his strength, and moved half a beat later.
Movements impossible under real-world physics and human limits.
But in Demrock and GodOS, where such limits were loosened—
it was possible.
Just absurdly difficult.
Even the simple act of moving one hand up and down while moving the other side to side was hard for most humans.
Add stop patterns in between?
Let alone controlling the entire body independently.
It was something only Dohyun could do.
Even Kkukkudak said he couldn’t.
One of the strongest physiques Dohyun had ever seen had raised both hands in surrender.
That was why Kaiser was called a once-in-a-generation genius.
Because in mind games, he had several times more options than others.
Unlike the previous instinct-driven monsters, this boss understood mind games.
—and Dohyun’s prediction landed perfectly.
I can see it.
What he was trying to do.
Where he was aiming.
How the surrounding undead were attempting to encircle him.
Everything was visible to Dohyun.
If he twisted his timing by just half a beat—
Jihad could never reach him.
Like chasing a mirage.
BOOM! BOOOOM!
[Grr… you damn fly of a bastard!]
And in situations like this, the opponent almost always chose the same method.
Thud.
[Heh… foolish fool. Happy without realizing you’re being herded like a fly.]
One massive finishing blow.
A trump card to overturn the battle.
Seeing Dohyun backed against the wall with nowhere left to retreat, Jihad sneered.
His face was hidden by the robe, but the signature goblin malice was surely visible.
[Secret dungeon boss ‘Jihad Black’ uses Grand Corpse Explosion.]
[Trait ‘Swift Hands’ increases casting speed.]
Grand Corpse Explosion—
the flower of demolition necromancers.
A flashy skill that detonated all undead at once.
Since the damage stacked, under the right conditions it could unleash devastating burst damage over a wide area.
BOOOOOOM—!!
The undead exploded simultaneously, violently shaking the cave.
The blast swallowed the entire wall.
As ringing filled his ears, Jihad clicked his tongue.
Dozens of undead had been used in that explosion.
Many of them were carefully crafted specimens.
Even a troll wouldn’t survive that.
[I intended to handle you gently as a rare test subject… but you hastened your own death.]
Jihad did not doubt Dohyun’s death.
It had been his strongest attack.
Losing the toy and valuable materials was regrettable—
but still satisfying to properly punish that annoying pest.
[The mark disappears.]
“…?”
Before he could process the strange message—
—he sensed a presence behind him.
Instinctively turning around—
he saw it.
Dohyun.
Holding his sword forward, lips curling into a faint smile.
“Blew your big move already?
If you used it—then you should take the hit.”
[…Ah.]
Checkmate.
