WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 37: Example

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It was a statue-shaped monster that radiated golden light from its entire body.

Not an ordinary humanoid statue, either. It had three heads and six arms.

Going by its appearance, it looked like some kind of Golem. If so, it might have a core embedded in its chest, just like the regular mobs.

-Thud!

I kicked off the ground and leaped straight at the statue. Two of its six arms moved.

They spread wide, aiming at the spot I'd jumped toward, like it was about to clap its hands together and swat a fly.

There was no way to dodge in midair, but that was what skills were for.

I used Sword Charge and launched myself forward through the air.

-Thunk!

My sword glowed with the skill effect as it plunged straight into the statue's chest.

Something felt off, though. It looked like an inorganic object, so I'd naturally expected it to feel like stabbing metal, but it felt like flesh.

The shining gold only coated its surface. Beneath it, the thing was made of living flesh with blood flowing through it.

Then I was better off assuming it didn't have a critical core like the Golems.

“Nice.”

Having no obvious weak point might sound like bad news, but this was much better for me.

If it had a core I needed to destroy, the parts I could target would be limited.

Besides, every creature made of flesh and blood had common weak points. Like those three heads up there.

From how my sword had sunk in, its Durability didn't seem all that high either. I could slice every last one off.

-Slash!

I twisted the sword and pulled it out of its chest. Green blood, not red, sprayed out.

It looked poisonous based on the color, but poison or not, it didn't matter much. My Poison Resistance was at a pretty high level by now.

The boss's golden hand came flying at me again. I kicked it hard in the chest and pushed myself backward.

-Bang!

A huge impact rang out, and the boss toppled over. My Strength stat was one thing, but the boss was lighter than I'd expected.

I'd assumed it would be the kind of boss that relied on its massive build and Durability to crush its opponents.

But if it could be knocked over so easily by a kick, it probably wasn't much of a close-combat type.

-Krrrreeek!

The next moment proved my guess right. One of the boss's heads opened its mouth and launched a magic attack.

With a whirring sound like a machine in operation, heat haze rippled through the air before it spewed flames.

“Watch out!”

Kim Jina shouted from a short distance away. She seemed to have noticed how powerful the magic attack was.

The flames definitely felt stronger than the fire attack used by Salamander, the fourth-floor boss.

But Salamander's flames had barely done anything to me.

-Whoosh!

I raised my shield and blocked the stream of fire.

Scorching heat came through the shield, but this wasn't enough to burn my skin.

[Fire Resistance Lv.14]

My Fire Resistance skill, which had reached double digits, protected my body. This much just felt warm.

“That's insane...”

I heard the rude Holy Knight, the party's tank, mutter a curse under his breath.

He looked pretty shocked, but was a tank really going to lose it over something like this?

-Step, step.

I kept my shield raised and walked straight through the flames.

The distance between the boss and me closed in an instant, and the stream of fire soon cut off.

-Krrrreeek.

Another one of the boss's heads made that mechanical sound as it opened its mouth.

This time, it fired a huge ice spike instead of flames.

Fire hadn't worked, so it was trying ice instead.

[Frost Resistance Lv.11]

My Frost Resistance was still lower than my Fire Resistance, so it wasn't a completely bad idea.

But who said I'd just stand there and take it? Did it think my shield was for decoration?

-Bang!

I swung my shield and shattered the incoming ice spike, then slid beneath the boss's feet.

At the same time, I stored my sword and shield in my inventory and switched weapons.

[+5 Brave Warrior's Shortsword]

[+5 Brave Warrior's Shortsword]

I drew the two shortswords I'd gotten while hunting Lizardmen on the third floor.

They weren't weapons I preferred, but this was the perfect time for them.

Watch closely, dual-sword freak.

This is how you use dual swords.

* * *

All six arms and both legs had been cut off, leaving the boss monster flailing around like a roly-poly toy.

I smashed its golden heads with my hammer until they could no longer use magic.

-Bang!

[Clear Reward: You have obtained 'Meteorstone Fragment x3'.]

[Maximum Contribution Reward: You have obtained 'Meteorstone Fragment'.]

I'd gotten so used to seeing messages about being the first to clear something that these simple messages felt refreshing.

The boss was nothing special.

The elemental attacks from its three heads didn't work on me, and neither did its close-combat attacks with six arms.

Even with dual swords I wasn't used to, I crushed it easily. After switching to my hammer, it became even easier.

I hadn't timed it, but the fight was over in just a few minutes. This might have been the fastest clear of this mini-dungeon.

HP: 779/780

The health I'd lost to the magic attacks had almost completely recovered thanks to the [Combat Healing] skill.

“Uh, um... well...”

The three party members, including Kim Jina, stared at me with completely different expressions.

Kim Jinseok, the dual-sword freak Gladiator, rubbed his eyes like he was dreaming.

Kim Jina, the Mage, had her mouth hanging open as she stared at me with sparkling eyes.

Kim Minhyeong, the rude Holy Knight, had gone pale, his jaw trembling.

“Hey.”

Their reactions were kind of funny, so I walked over and spoke to him for no reason.

As if he thought I was about to eat him, Kim Minhyeong jumped back. This guy was surprisingly agile.

“Y-Yes?”

His answer came a beat late, and he was speaking politely now. Someone might think I'd beaten the shit out of him.

“What was that about Jeonbung-i?”

“N-No, nothing, hyung.”

Now I wasn't a Jeonbung-i, I was hyung. Did this guy even know my age?

The mood was right, and he was scared shitless. It was the perfect chance to give him a hard time.

Still, rude as he was, he hadn't actually said or done anything that crossed the line.

When I stepped up to fight the Golems, he'd gestured for me not to, asking if I had a death wish.

His words had been harsh, but I could see it as concern in his own way.

He'd only acted hostile because of male instinct. He wasn't that bad of a guy.

Besides, what right did a bastard like me have to judge whether anyone was good or bad? I was living off the money my mom earned breaking her back.

He seemed to have learned his place, so maybe I'd give him a light lesson.

“You're a tank, right? Raise your shield.”

“Huh? My shield?”

“Yeah. Hold up your shield and put as much strength into it as you can.”

Kim Minhyeong didn't ask twice. He raised his shield as told. His stance was a little awkward.

I tapped his arms and legs with the handle of my hammer, lightly correcting his defensive posture.

It was a stance I'd learned while training in seclusion on the third floor, fighting Lizardmen with only a shield.

Just holding the stance properly let someone withstand impacts better than using most defensive skills.

“Here I come.”

I left Kim Minhyeong standing in that defensive posture and cracked my knuckles.

He'd learned the stance, so now he had to try it in real combat, right?

I sprinted from a short distance away and punched his shield.

-Bang!

“Argh!”

Unable to withstand the impact, Kim Minhyeong flew backward with his shield and crashed onto the floor.

Ah, that felt good.

* * *

Once the boss went down, the dungeon was judged cleared, and we took the portal that appeared to leave.

[You have set a new clear record for Secret Golden Temple (Intermediate).]

Then a system message appeared, and our names were engraved onto the small metal plaque hanging at the dungeon entrance.

I'd had a rough idea already, but I guess it really was the fastest clear.

Setting a record didn't give any special reward, but it still felt good to have accomplished something.

“Wow, we cut the clear time almost in half! I guess that trap was a shortcut to the boss fight.”

Kim Jina was hopping around in excitement again. I'd noticed it earlier too, but she was really expressive.

She was a little like a golden retriever. No matter what happened, she found a reason to be happy.

“Thanks to you, Jinhyeok, we even got to set a record like this. At first, I really thought I was going to die...”

Kim Jina started rambling about how she'd felt when the Golems surrounded her.

She wasn't just expressive. She was also really talkative.

As I listened to Kim Jina chatter on, I suddenly realized we hadn't split the rewards yet.

“Ah, we should divide these up.”

Other than experience and gold, all clear rewards from mini-dungeons went to the party leader.

The rewards given separately to party members with high contribution were an exception, but naturally, those had gone to me.

I'd cleared almost everything by myself, but I didn't want people in the community calling me out for not splitting the rewards.

Besides, other than enough coins to buy Gukbap from a street stall, I wasn't all that interested in the other rewards.

I could just split them four ways, right?

I was looking through the interface for the trade request button when Kim Jina spoke up.

“Ah, about that, Jinhyeok.”

Kim Jina made a proposal I never expected.

Footnotes:

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