Ark

ACT 2 Falling from a cliff and meeting an ironic fate

“Slime’s Time, NO1!”

Ark used the skill reflexively. The crevasse was a gap where the end couldn’t be seen. Thanks to the cold and low satiety, if he fell in this state then he would be torn apart. But Ark had a way of saving himself. Slime’s Time invalidated 100% of physical damage so he wouldn’t receive any falling damage! Ark’s body was covered with a yellow slime once he used the skill. In that state Ark struggled to reach Deimos. Since he couldn’t release the summon, he had no choice but to catch Deimos. And just as Ark grabbed Deimos, they approached the ground.

Tting! Tting! Tting!

Ark hit the ground and bumped around liked a water balloon. He bounced three or four times before properly landing on the ground.

“Huk huk huk, I’m alive……..!”

His entire body was soaked in sweat. He had fallen from a height of 100 metres before. But falling suddenly was different from calculating it in advance. At one point Ark really thought it was the end.

“What a stupid bag of bones!”

Dedric naturally starting telling Deimos off. But it was only for a short moment before he flinched and turned to Ark.

“Come to think of it, the mouse! What happened to the mouse meat?”

“The mouse meat………”

Ark sighed and shook his head. A soulless expression spread over Dedric’s face. But afterwards Ark laughed and opened his hand.

“Of course I grabbed it tightly.”

“M-Master. You scared me. Sob…..I was surprised.”

Dedric had been moved to tears. That guy……..he was really starving. Ark had learned Survival Cooking. Thanks to that there had never been a time he made them starve, even if he had to forcefully feed them. Even if he beat them up, he would always feed them. In reality, Ark knew better than anyone the sorrow of missing meals and starving. That’s why he never used taking away food as a punishment.

“Huhuhu. Why are you so surprised?”

“Aing, I don’t know. Master is hateful. Quickly give me the soup.”

Dedric immediately dropped the charm after he was reassured.

Clack clack clack clack!

Deimos also visibly brightened as he approached. Even the undead could feel hunger. Ark took out his pot while his pets stared at him encouragingly. It was the precious food. Ark carefully created a dish using various spices and purified water. Then with a flash, the dish was completed in the pot.

“Oooooooh!”

Ark and his pets simultaneously exclaimed. He knew that Nursing would have special effects if he was sincere. But he never knew that could be applied to Survival Cooking. Since he always had abundant ingredients, there was no need to take care when cooking so he never discovered it.

‘But it is only one dish that can be eaten together. And the number of dishes we can eat together is limited to 10. If I cooked 10 of the a le carte dishes then a lot of stats would be applied!’

If he hadn’t been placed in this situation then he would’ve never discovered the information. It was information that could be used even when he had abundant ingredients. Ark was also grateful that his satiety increased.

“The leg is mine! Touch it and die!”

“Ack, so mean! Then give me the left hind leg!”

Clack clack clack, ssak ssak ssak!

Ark and his summons childishly rushed to obtain as much meat as possible. After eating their satiety and body temperature increased by 10%. But now their hunger became even more intense. And they became gloomy as they were faced with the reality.

“Now we have to find something again before our satiety decreases…….”

Ark looked around with concern. The sky high ice walls blocked the wind so luckily the chill was not that severe. However, the situation was still not good. Once again food…….he had to find found in the crevasse underneath the snowy mountains. And he had to navigate the tangled maze of crevasses. Rock climbing and climbing an ice wall was entirely different.

“Master, are we going to starve here and die?”

Dedric murmured in a gloomy voice.

“…….Let’s look for a way while we still have physical strength.”

Honestly, he thought there was no more possible ways. But it wasn’t possible to just sit down and wait. Ark and his summons walked along the crevasses for the moment.

Kkururuk.

How far did they walk? After appeasing their stomachs, once again the sound of hunger was heard. When he checked, their satiety had reached 50%.

‘Damn, we only reached this far…….’

Ark breathed out a sigh.

Ssak ssak? Ssak ssak ssak?

Ark noticed as Snake suddenly raised its head. Then it crawled down from his waist and squeezed between an ice gorge.

“Eh? Snake, where are you going?”

Ark followed behind it with a befuddled look. He squeezed through the narrow opening and an information window suddenly appeared.

‘A hidden dungeon!’

Ark’s eyes shone brightly. Although there were some ominous words in the information window, Ark just welcomed the news of a dungeon. A dungeon that no one had discovered yet! Who knows what treasures would be hidden here? In addition, the entrance of the dungeon was covered in entangled plants. In other words, it was growing plants. Ark who desperately needed ingredients had found an oasis in a desert.

‘I also got addition skill points!’

Ark was in such a good mood that he felt like screaming.

“Oh, is this place warmer than the crevasse?”

Clack clack clack clack!

Dedric muttered and his and Deimos’ face started to look alive again. Because the crevasse and cave blocked off the wind, it felt like they were in an igloo. Of course, the ice cave was still cold but it couldn’t compare to the temperatures outside. Its effect showed immediately. The speed at which their body temperature was falling started to slow down.

‘But satiety is still in a dangerous state. I have to seek food first. Since the entrance is cool, I might be able to find some suitable herbs or berries.’

As expected there were several small fruits stuck to the vines.

‘That’s it. If I gather everything from the cave then I don’t have to worry about starving and dying for the moment. Once I find an exit then I’ll be able to descend the mountain!’

Ark collected the fruit and looked at his waist.

“Okay, Snake. You can hold this for the moment……..eh?”

His waist was empty. Ark realised that Snake had yet to come back.

“Dedric, Deimos, where is Snake?”

“Snake? I don’t know. Wasn’t it just here before?”

Clack clack clack?

Dedric and Deimos just shook their heads. Ark had an uneasy feeling. Snake had moved without any commands and found the cave. Then it should have returned to Ark as soon as he entered the cave. But instead of coming back, it just disappeared without saying a word. Snake only had 50 health. Because Snake was normally attached to his waist, he never had to worry about it but if Snake ran into a monster then it would die instantly with one shot! Of course, monsters that attacks a snake were rare but he couldn’t summon his pets here. If Snake died then he wouldn’t be able to use one bag.

“Snake! Where are you?”

Ark cried out as he plunged into the cave.

Ssak? Ssak ssak……..!

He had run 100 metres. Then he heard Snake’s voice from the cave walls. He looked up to see that Snake was hanging over several branches.  Ark let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew…….what are you doing in this place by yourself? You disappeared all of a sudden.”

It was at that time. Some black shadows quickly emerged from a side passage. Ark jumped and stepped back. But the shadows running through the darkness didn’t even head towards Ark. They didn’t grasp the situation and aimed straight for Snake! Ark shouted in an urgent voice.

“Huk, Snake! Hold still and don’t move! Slide!”

Ark slid along the floor and made a side kick.

Thanks to the power of the kick, the monster fell over backwards. The shadow that rushed towards Snake was a weasel like monster. While the monsters was frozen, Snake tumbled down and wrapped around Ark’s waist.

“Eyes of the Cat!”

Ark used the skill to check the monster’s information. Once he saw the name he understood why they attacked Snake first, unlike other monsters. The name of the monster was the Ice Mongoose. The mongoose was famous for eating snakes. Although Snake was raised by Ark among humans, it instinctively knew that the mongoose was its natural enemy. When the mongooses appeared, Snake buried its face in Ark’s chest and trembled.  In such a situation, Snake wasn’t the only one that would feel fear. Thinking of the mongoose as the cute animal that was raised in a zoo was a big mistake. Its size was 5 metres tall! It was to the extent that it almost reached the ceiling of the cave. It also had sharpened fangs and fearsome claws that could knock out a polar bear.

‘Level 250……….’

Ark was currently level 200. With his dark attribute bonus, he was level 240. It was a similar level. But because of his body temperature and satiety, Ark had a significant penalty applied to his stats and attack speed. Unless it was one, he couldn’t guarantee the odds against several of them. But…………..

“Meat!”

Ark grinned widely and shouted. And it was followed by Dedric’s loud cheers.

“Big meat! It is heaps bigger than the mouse!”

The mongoose flinched and revealed its fangs as they approached.

“Jackpot. Master! Let’s catch it and eat it quickly! There’s four of them, enough for each of us!”

Good. I’ll use some one of them to make a soup while the rest will be a roast!”

Clack clack clack clack!

Ark and his summons drooled as they ran forward. Thanks to their hunger, Ark and his summons only saw the level 250 monster as meat.

“Now, shall I do a performance test?”

Ark removed something from his bag. It shone with a peculiar light. It was Gwisal’s sword that he received from Isabel! He was level 190 when he came to the different dimension but he hadn’t had a chance to use it yet. The legendary sword that was said to have cut thousands of demons shone with an eerie light.

Kyaaaaak!

When the distance was narrowed, the mongoose immediately swung its sharp claws. Ark angled the sword to block before attacking. And he ended up cutting from the top to the bottom. As it cut across the mongoose’s body, Ark was covered in goose bumps.

‘W-what the, this feeling is?’

Thanks to the nice strike, the mongoose immediately lost 15% of its health. It did approximately 300 damage considering that it was a level 250 monster! If it was Lancel’s Sword then it would normally be a critical hit. But he wasn’t astounded at the attack power. It was a rare sword so he expected that much. It was the ‘cutting taste’ that Ark found unexpected.

Saaaaak, the feeling of the two-handed sword cutting through the leather was incredible! The very real impression of cutting through the skin with a razor was delivered to his fingertips. It was impossible not to feel good at the sensation of cutting meat, but Ark sensed that Gwisal’s sword was not that simple. Words could not express the feeling of freshness! It was as if all the cells of the body was peeled along with the sword.

‘This is a rare sword……..!”

A slow smile spread on Ark’s face as he enjoyed the sword. Ark quickly became obsessed with the magic of Gwisal’s sword.

‘Now I understand why people strangle themselves trying to get a rare sword.  After using this sword, a magic sword will feel like I’m swinging a club.’

The sword shone after it attacked the mongoose. Ark then rotated his body like a spin top and swung his sword.

Chiing!

Lancel’s Sword made a cracking sound when it delivered a critical hit but Gwisal’s sword just vibrated. At the same time the hot, pleasant sensation was felt through his fingertips!

‘This feeling…….is crazy.’

Ark swung his sword like a man possessed at the mongoose. Of course, even Gwisal’s sword had a weakness. Since it was a two-handed sword, the attack speed was slower. And since the sword was so big, it was hard to achieve the centre of gravity to do a kick after swinging it.In addition, due to the nature of a two-handed sword, it was difficult to obtain the accuracy needed for a critical hit. But despite its shortcomings, it was several times stronger than Lancel’s sword.

Saaaaak, chiing!

Every sparkle of the sword decreased the mongoose’s health. Dedric and Deimos also felt no anxiety and were facing the mongoose leisurely.

“Hehehe, do these guys just look strong?”

Dedric giggled as he flew around the cave.

“Do you think you can catch me using such movements?”

Clack clack clack clack!

Deimos also blocked the mongoose’s attack using his shield and sometimes even counter-attacked. These changes was because of his pet’s experience. After Ark entered Nagaran, a lot of their opponents were assassins. And the user, not to mention the NPC humanoid assassins had fairly high intelligence. Of course their strategies and attack patterns were very complicated. Ark and his summons had been dealing with such enemies for the past month. Since they were now dealing with normal monsters, their attack patterns were easily seen through. Ark also faced a large degree of difficulty in the red wilderness. Moreover, Ark and his pets’ goals was to eat the mongoose meat.

“Dedric, use the darkness to attack the mongoose from the rear! Deimos, defensive stance on the side!”

“Yes!”

After the command, the summons couldn’t even be compared to before. As soon as he finished, Dedric crashed into the mongoose from behind who flinched and ran forward. The mongoose was forced to run towards Ark thanks to Deimos using his shield to block the side. A great opportunity! Ark used Dark Dance to strike two concentrated attacks. The mongoose who already had its health lowered with split in half.

‘That’s it, now for the two remaining, but with this much then it will be an easy victory!’

“A-2 plan! It’s a concentrated attack!”

Ark and his summons cornered the remaining mongooses with a wave attack. And after just a few moments, the mongooses fell when Gwisal’s sword cut their throats.

“That’s it. Not it is time to eat!”

Dedric drooled as he flew towards the body of a mongoose. Suddenly a red shape ran into the cave at an incredible pace. Deimos saw it first and stood in front of Dedric holding his shield. A massive ringing sound shook the cave while Deimos was thrown back. Ark was surprised and flinched as he retreated.

Grrrrrrr!

A mongoose was walking in front of him. But it wasn’t a conventional mongoose. This mongoose was bigger than the others and covered with red hair! When he checked it was level 300. 50 levels higher than the other mongooses.

‘This guy is a special monster!’

Ark’s eyes lit up. He had met such monsters several times before this. The body of the monster was usually bigger than the others and it would have a different clothing or skin colour. Special monsters such as this would make a light gleam in a monster hunter’s eyes. Since the level and stats were so high and their bodies so big, it wasn’t easy to catch them. But they had a high probability of dropping deluxe items.

‘Meeting a special monster in a place like this……..!”

Ark swallowed his saliva and stared at the body of the red mongoose.

“That face and those bones……..you would look good roasted whole!”

Dedric said as he rushed towards it from the darkness. At that moment red flames emerged as the mongoose opened its mouth.

“Wah! F-fire! H-hot!”

Dedric screamed and flapped his tail as it was set on fire.

‘T-this……!’

Dedric said had a lot of health so it wasn’t a big problem. But Deimos couldn’t withstand the mongoose’s attack with his shield. Once engulfed in flames then he would instantly die. He wouldn’t be able to summon Deimos even after 24 hours had passed. However, the larger problem was that Ark would receive damage when Deimos died. Deimos had a steady growth and his current health was 1,800. 50% of that was 900 damage. The damage was 30% of Ark’s health which would be catastrophic. Ark wrapped his mantle around him and jumped into the fire. It was the 50% fire resistant Veil of Fire! Ark shouted and stuck Gwisal’s sword into the mouth of the mongoose who was radiating flames.

Chiing, the mongoose wobbled and retreated.

“Deimos, withdraw to the back.”

Clack clack clack! Clack clack clack clack! Deimos retreated from the flames after Ark came in and saved him.

‘This cave is too narrow.  If he uses the same fire attack then Dedric and Deimos won’t have room to dodge. The attacks will be fatal to my pets since they don’t have any fire resistance.’

Moreover, Dedric and Deimos had already lost 15% of their health. If they were hit by the flames one more time than they would quickly fall into a critical condition. And if one of them died then Ark would receive extra damage from the forced recall.

“Dedric, Deimos, you guys retreat far away.”

“What? Master……..you’re going to fight along?”

Dedric had been rubbing his tail on the ice.

“You guys will be no help anyway.”

“But Master………”

Dedric looked at him with restless eyes but left. In this situation Ark couldn’t afford to relax. They had taken down four mongooses relatively easy. He hadn’t expected any other monsters to come out immediately so he hadn’t paid attention to his health. Therefore his current health was only 30%. Ark grabbed his sword bag tightly.

‘If its 1-on-1 then the odds are in my favour!’

Kkuaaaa!

At that time, the mongoose who had waited for an opportunity rushed towards him. Ark swung his sword in a circular motion. Using the circular motion, he counterattacked on its chest.

“Riposte!”

-Tung, a dull ringing sound was heard as the mongoose retreated. Ark continuously attacked until he eventually took a break and grasped his sword bag.

‘My health isn’t enough. I have to pay more attention to defense than attack.’

Gwisal’s sword had a slow attack speed. That means there was a lot of gaps in his attack.

‘I can fight at close range with Lancel’s sword and I can also switch back and forth between taekwondo. But Gwisal’s character is completely different. Since it uses both hands, the attack range is narrow and the response time to an enemy’s counter-attack is quite slow. The long sword is a disadvantage in close range battles. If I’m tempted by that exhilarating feeling  then I have no choice but to accept receiving considerable damage.’

It was something he realised when facing the mongoose. It was easy to be mistaken because of the overwhelming attack, but the two-handed sword was a defensive weapon. If he had a sword in one hand and machine gun in the other then both were cannons. In order to take advantage of the long sword, he must keep a distance and attack. Since the attack speed was slow, there was a considerable delay. Ark reached that conclusive and changed his stance. He took a defense posture instead of an attack posture.

Kyaaak, kyaak!

The mongoose rushed forward swinging its arms. Ark angled the sword and received the attack.

‘Indeed……….the attack rarely reaches.’

Using Gwisal’s sword to defend was an excellent choice. The only defense skill that Ark learned was ‘Parry.’ If successful, the skill was attack as well as defend. Thanks to his intermediate sword attack, parry hit x4! The defense applied was 45~60% while the damage dealt was 180~240! It was the same standards as warriors who used a steel shield. It wasn’t a perfect defense of course, but it was possible to reduce a considerable amount of damage. Ark used Parry to defend before using Riposte. In a matter of minutes, Ark reduced the mongoose’s health by 70%. But in the process Ark also lost 10% of his health.

‘I received 10% damage while I dealt 70% so if I maintain this then it is possible to win!’

That’s what Ark was thinking. While he was attacking and counter-attacking, the mongoose was also thinking.  It hopped back and started spewing fire. Ark lost 10% of his health and was in a critical condition.

‘This damn mongoose……..it noticed my weak point!’

Of course he couldn’t block the flames with his sword. The flame resistance cloak only reduced the damage by 50%. And it wasn’t possible to do a counter-attack.

“If it continues like this then it won’t be possible. Victory or defeat! Demonic Opening!”

Ark shouted as he lifted Gwisal’s sword.

Kiyaaaaak!

Gwisal’s sword trembled and the appalling sound of a ghost’s wail emerged from the sword. After the ghosts emerged they stuck onto the sword. It was as if the ghosts’ form had been tattooed on the blade. It was the special option of Gwisal’s sword that increased damage by 20% in exchange for his health, Demonic Opening! Since he was in a critical condition, adrenaline also activated. His damage, critical hit, evasion and reaction rate all increased dramatically! He felt an incredible surge of power that made he want to pounce and tear off some flesh.

“Take this, Dark blade!”

Kkiyaaaaak, chiing!

Every time he swung the sword, the ghosts would wail and the mongoose would have its health decreased by a large amount. The overwhelming attack exceeded the monster’s defense. The mongoose who fell into a critical condition shrieked and tried to turn around. Then it began to flee at a tremendous rate. Ark quickly chased it. Demonic Opening was a double-edged sword. His attack increased explosively but he would lose 5 health every second. Since he only had 300 health left, he could only last 1 minute. 40 seconds had already passed so he only had 100 health left. If he failed to kill it in 20 seconds then he would be devoured by the ghosts. Gwisal’s sword noticed that Ark didn’t have a lot of health left. The monster engraved on the blade started to climb up his arm.

“The remaining time is 15 seconds……..if I can’t knock it down then I’ll die!’

“Sprint!”

Ark explosively dashed forward like he was in a race and narrowed the distance. And when he reached the corner, the mongoose suddenly turned around.

‘Huk, was luring me its plan?’

If Ark couldn’t knock it down in one blow the he would be vulnerable to a counterattack. However it was too late to stop.

‘If I can’t kill it then I’ll die!’

Ark clenched his teeth and swung his sword. A sharp scream as well as the ghost’s wail shook the cave. The mongoose’s body was split in half and a message window quickly appeared.

‘A rare two-handed sword only skill?’

But he couldn’t relax while reading the information window.

“Demonic Opening off!”

When Ark quickly raised his voice, the ghostly pattern that had almost reached his heart scattered like powder. He only had 7.1 seconds left until all his health was gone.

‘Phew……This isn’t a skill that I can use too excessively.’

“Wah……..!”

Deimos and Dedric approached while Dedric let out a sound of admiration.

“Master, somehow you were very cool.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you eat your fill so you don’t have to flatter me.”

“Hehehe, you noticed?”

“Anyway, you guys also suffered fighting on an empty stomach. I’ll let you eat as much as possible.”

“As expected from Master. Did you know? I really do respect Master.”

Normally they made an uproar when he forced them to eat food. Now the summons were aware of the important of food after starving. Sometimes it might be necessary to make them starve…….

‘Well ,they haven’t complained about food after their re-training at Lancel Village so it shouldn’t be necessary.’

Ark began to collect the loot from the normal mongooses while Dedric laughed. As expected from a beast monster, the items that dropped were quite trivial. In New World, there was a casual relationship between the type of monster and the items they would drop. In other words, humanoid monsters wouldn’t drop leather or meat. Instead they had a high probability of dropping weapons and armour. On the other hand, it was hard to find weapons or armour from a beast animal. Of course, that didn’t mean there was zero chance of it dropping. In the case of man-eating animals, sometimes they won’t digest the items and would drop armour or weapons. But the odds were so low that it was atrocious. Leather, meat and bone was the most that he expected to drop.

‘Still it is lucky that I found a lot of ingredients.’

Ark swept up the items and walked towards the special monster. The special monster had a high probability of dropping deluxe items.  Since it was killed by being cut in two, there was a high probability that it would drop the best item. Ark excitedly searched the mongoose’s body.

“Huk, t-this is……?”

The item that the mongoose dropped was a deep red bead. Ark had seen a similar item before. It was the Shining Slime Essence that dropped previously. Ark looked at the information with a trembling heart.

‘As expected, this is an immortality pill. In addition……..’

There were at least 7 different types of immortality pills! Then wouldn’t the effects be tremendous? He got an extravagant effect just from his one Slime’s Immortality Pill. Of course, the Slime’s Essence had a B rating. The mongoose only had a D rating so the effect would be smaller. But it was a different story if there were 7 types. That meant he could get a bonus 7 times. And if he collected everything then a set bonus would be applied.

‘If I gather everything then it would be even better than the Slime’s Immortality Pill. In addition, I wandered the snowy mountains for several days without seeing one mongoose. That means all the mongooses are gathered in this cave. If I wander around this cave then I might find the remaining essences. The problem is the remaining ingredients…….’

Ark quickly put the essence in a pot and heated it up. Soon a black smoke rose and a red lump of jelly was made. Just as before, a new message window popped up registering a new recipe.

Ark’s face was a little bit disappointed after he checked the recipe. The ingredients necessary were easily available in the area. And the maximum number required was 20. It might have a lower potency than expected. However Ark shook his head.

‘No, I don’t know if the difficulty of gathering ingredients for the Slime’s Immortality Pill was unusual. I can check the efficiency after I make it. The ingredients can’t be bought and there will still be a bonus effect no matter the efficiency.’

Ark started to gather the desired ingredients. Collecting the ingredients was a cinch. There were quite a few of the snow crystals in the crevasses. And he was able to recover the Seolmocho from the bushes surrounding the cave. He could obtain purified water anywhere by putting snow into his pot. And just as he was about to make the immortality pill.

“Master, when are you going to give the meal?”

“Wait a moment. I’ll quickly create this……..”

Ark confidently said before he jumped and stopped his movements.

‘Wait? Am I just going to blindly make this?’

He had forgotten in the excitement of finding the essence. Making the immortality pill was difficult and time-consuming work……He needed to stir the pot, adjust the fire and wait for it to mature before it was completed. It took him 72 hours to create the Slime’s Immortality Pill! It had a lower rating but it would still probably take some time.

‘While I’m doing that, I won’t be able to create other dishes.’

That was the problem. It wasn’t possible to use the pot until the immortality pill was completed. While he was blindly waiting, everyone would starve and die. Ark started sweating at the thought.

‘I almost made a huge mistake.’

Ark immediately made a mongoose soup full of ingredients.

“There’s plenty of ingredients so you can eat this by yourself.”

Dedric was tired of being hungry and poured the soup made with new ingredients straight down his throat. Fortunately, the mongoose soup was a food that gave a good effect.

“Hah, hah…….now I don’t need to eat anymore.”

Dedric rubbed his protruding belly as he looked at the food information window. It was a good food to eat in the ice cave.

‘Okay, I have a lot of ingredients. Once I gather the herbs and meat and cook a lot of dishes then I can start the immortality pill.’

Ark created one dish for each of them and ate it on the spot. In order to collect the rest of the ingredients and kill the remaining mongoose, he started exploring the cave.

“Look in every corner of the cave for a special monster! Ah, before that…….Snake, from now on don’t go wandering off without my permission. Understood?”

Ark didn’t forget to pay attention to Snake.

Ssak ssak ssak……. Ssak ssak ssak!

But Snake’s reaction was a bit odd. Although it paid attention to Ark, Snake kept on looking around the cave with restless eyes. In the beginning he thought it was worried about the mongoose who was its natural enemy. But when Ark thought about it, the reason might not be so simple. If it knew about its enemy then why did Snake go into the cave by itself?

”Wait? Is that the reason?’

Was Snake being influenced by the skill ‘Stalking?’ Stalking was Snake’s special skill which allowed it to find items in the surroundings. There was a possibility that it instinctively knew an item was hidden in the cave.

‘That’s right. Snake’s stalking skill allows it to easily find items hidden in dungeons!”

Ark’s pupils turned to gold at the crazy idea. Ark asked in a friendly voice.

“Snake, are you attracted to something?”

Ssak ssak ssak!

Snake nodded its head and waited.

“Okay, please guide me. I’ll go where you point.”

Ark headed in the direction that Snake’s tongue pointed to. Every time he turned the corner, there was a group of mongooses gathered together. They ranged from 3-10 mongooses. But Ark wasn’t worried now that his satiety was full. But it was impossible to deal with ten.

“Dedric, scout ahead.”

“Yes!”

Ark beat a suitable number of mongooses and moved forward. The scale of the ice caves was bigger than he thought. Although he didn’t look everywhere, it still took some time to head in the right direction. However Ark didn’t feel bored.

“Just like the snowy mountains, the scenery here is also beautiful.”

Ark fell into a trance at the sight of the ice cave. The rocks and ice tangled together to make a huge ravine. A breathtaking ice bridge hung over it. There were ice pillars several metres thick that lined the bridge. When the light came in from the distant gap in the ceiling and reflected off the pillars, it looked like a cascade of coloured light was shining around the cave. It felt like a crystal palace from a fairy tale.

“Hmm, I’m glad I came here…….’

Ark then used his cartographer skill to confirm the dungeon map. He had walked almost a straight line from the entrance. In the meantime, he killed hundreds of mongooses so the meat was piled up in his bag. He had enough extra food stockpiled for emergencies.

‘How big is this cave?’

Ark was thinking this when he suddenly stopped. When he followed the exceptionally long passage, a square block of ice appeared. He looked around the area but there was no other way past the barrier.

“Then this is the destination?”

Snake licked its tongue and indicated the opposite wall. Ark tilted his head and explored the barrier. It seemed that something was behind the barrier. It was an object with a shape like a mountain. But one side of the ice was uneven and he couldn’t grasp the correct shape.

‘There must be something……..what on earth?’

Ark lowered his head closer and used his sleeve to wipe off some of the fog. However, he could still only see the silhouette of the object. Then, something suddenly moved from behind the barrier. It was a huge object shaped like a mountain. At the top of the object a red light sparkled. He felt a familiar sensation in his body.

‘Monster!’

When Ark’s head rose, flames wrapped around the object’s body. Then it rushed towards Ark at an incredible speed. Ark became startled and quickly dodged. At the same time, the barrier broke with a large roar. Ice powder scattered as a mongoose was released.

Kkuaaaa!

The cave echoed with the roar of the huge mongoose. A red warning message floated in front of Ark.

‘B-Boss monster!’

Ark let out a scream of distress as he rolled along the ground. It had a 10 metre tall body with 5 different tails. It had two red eye and one white eye on its forehead. The 3 eyes rolled around and focused on Ark. It opened its mouth a laughed. The gaping mouth revealed jagged fangs. It looked like it wanted to grasp Ark between its fangs and take a bite out of him.

“Huk!”

Ark quickly raised his body and stood up.

Pababababa, beonduk!

It brandished its claws and made a challenging posture. Thanks to the impact of the claws hitting the ground, Ark once again fell and slid 10 metres.

‘It is difficult to fight on this slippery ice!’

Ark tried to raise his body as Galgashi attacked him again.

Clack clack clack! Clack clack clack clack!

Deimos held out the shield as he came running. However…………….slippery! Deimos tumbled down and hit his head on the ice.

“Master!”

At the moment, Dedric used Dark Dash to crash into Galgashi. At the same time, Ark moved sideways using Slide. Although Galgashi tried to step on him, its accuracy was lower in the dark. Thanks to that, Ark was barely able to dodge it. Ark managed to draw is sword and stand in the correct posture.

“It’s sudden, but a boss is always welcomed!”

The boss was an item to Ark. A boss monster would drop a minimum of 1 or more magic items. In addition, the experience was also fabulous. Therefore there was no reason for him to avoid it.

‘Level 400……..it is slightly unreasonable………’

Its level was a lot higher than the special mongoose he fought earlier. Ark’s current level was 202. With the dark attribute bonus he was level 241. That was a 160 level difference (Author wrote 60 but that must be a mistake). But Ark’s ability was quite high compared to users of the same level. And he could also use Gwisal’s sword. He couldn’t guarantee a victory but it might be possible if he tried.

‘The problem is not the level but the location.’

The floor was very slippery ice. He could stand but it was difficult to move quickly. On the other hand, Galgashi used its claws to dig into the ground and move quickly. Ark felt the overwhelming speed difference straight away.

‘But I can use Slide without any restrictions no matter the terrain. And Galgashi is also a mongoose. I’ve roughly learned their attack patterns after fighting them. If I combine them then I might be able to reduce the speed gap.’

“Slide!”

Ark used slide and began to attack Galgashi like what he envisioned. As expected, Galgashi’s attack pattern wasn’t that different from the mongooses’. The attack consisted of rushing and trying to bit or jumping all over and using its claws. Ark predicted the orbit using Galgashi’s preliminary movements and used slide to dodge it. Kakakakak, Galgashi’s claws scraped the ice every time. Gradually the ice disappeared, revealing the rocky ground. Thanks to that, Deimos was also able to join the battle. However the one that showed outstanding skills in this environment was Dedric.

“Take this. You big fat mongoose!”

Dedric taunted Galgashi who immediately got angry and jumped up.  Dedric avoided the attack by flying lower. And Ark and Deimos waited for the moment Galgashi landed to launch an assault. They aimed for the moment it stiffened upon landing. Galgashi staggered and couldn’t fight back properly.

‘If it continues like this then I’ll win!”

Ark was inwardly convinced of his victory.

Roaaaaar!

Galgashi roared with fury and lifted one tail. When it struck the ground, the ground started shaking and something he never imagined happened.

Kwajijijik!

Sparks rose all over the ground.

“What, what the?” Lightning damage?’

All his movements became slower, like a video was being slowed down. While his arms and legs couldn’t move, Galgashi took advantage and ran up to him.

Snap, Ark flew through the air and hit the ground with a large impact. He felt dizzy. The wide area magic had a range of 10 metres and lasted for 3 minutes. And every 30 seconds for 3 minutes, there was a 50% chance of receiving an unknown status. ‘Shock’ would simply cause extra damage. But the penalty applied to his movements because of stun would be fatal in a boss attack.With one move, the battle completely changed. The spark just had to touch him and it would trigger that state. Thanks to the sparks, Ark had no access to Galgashi.

‘But it is not impossible!’

“Deimos, transform!”

Deimos quickly changed into the saw blade after Ark’s command. If Galgashi used his lightning magic then Deimos would be useful. Ark used the saw blade to avoid the sparks and attack. Dedric flying in the air was also unaffected by the lightning.  However, lightning was not the only damage Galgashi had. He hit the floor with a different tail and this time an intense storm was caused. The wind grazed his skin and spilt blood.

‘Wide area wind magic?’

It became quite the spectacle as time passed. Galgashi didn’t use the wide area wind magic to just attack. The storm also whirled around Galgashi and deflected the whip. In addition, wind magic was fatal to flying creatures.

“Ugh!”

Dedric’s health was steadily decreased by the wind. Galgashi tormented Ark with a variety of magic. It had 5 tails with different properties and every time a tail was used, a different type of magic would occur. The damage from the magic was not that great. But the problem was the states there were triggered by the magic every time! If he was hit with ice magic then his movements would slow down, while earth magic would activate stun.

‘Oh my god, this really is a terrible boss………’

There was no way for Ark to deal with Galgashi!

Ark couldn’t even attack properly and fell into a critical condition.

“No, I can’t keep it up for much longer. It’s regrettable but I have to live.’

It took him a few days to get here. If he died then he would be revived at a village near the red wilderness. Then it would take a few days to get back to the cave. No, there was no guarantee that Ark would be able to find the cave again in East Moon. He might even have to give up on the immortality pill set. Ark made a decision and turned his body around. The entrance was narrow and long. If he escaped through there then the boss wouldn’t be able to follow. But his opponent was a boss monster. It wouldn’t give up its prey so easily. Galgashi noticed Ark’s intent and jumped forward. Galgashi jumped over 10 metres and landed in front of Ark with exposed fangs.

“T-this……!”

When Ark became confused, Snake shot out from his waist onto the ground. At that moment, Galgashi’s eyes focused on Snake. It instinctively forgot about attacking Ark. Galgashi reflexively went for Snake.

Ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak!

Snake moved across and floor and shouted (?).

‘Dad, I’ll lead it away so run!’ Ark seemed to hear. Snake showed impressive loyalty to its Master by facing against its natural enemy…….Ark ran away without looking back.

“Sprint!”

He shared his food with his summons on the snowy mountain. So why? The situation was different. He didn’t mind if he died on the snowy mountains but here was different. Since there was no guarantee he could find the cave again, Ark had to live no matter what. But he had no intention of giving up his snake bag.

“Dedric, grab Snake!”

“Eh? Why would I?”

“If Snake dies then I’ll let you starve!”

Ark’s threat worked. Dedric swallowed and quickly grabbed Snake. Galgashi who had its food taken away immediately emitted light and used wind magic, but Dedric used acrobatic movements to dodge most of the damage. Then Galgashi’s eyes focused on Ark.

Galgashi used its tail again and its whole body was engulfed in flames. Then the projectile flew towards Ark at an incredible pace. It was the same magic used to break the barrier. It was impossible to avoid so Ark turned around and held up his sword. Instantaneously, an intense shock was felt. But it was fortunate that Galgashi used fire magic. Ark’s mantle gave him a 50% fire resistance. Thanks to that, the fire damage was halved and he didn’t receive any abnormal states. And he slipped and slid towards the entrance due to Galgashi’s strike.

“Master, I’ve saved it. Will you give rice?”

Meanwhile, Dedric had also flew towards the entrance with Snake.

“Well done. Now let’s get out of here!”

Ark stood up, grabbed Snake and ran down the narrow passage.

Keuaaaaang!

The sound of Galgashi banging could be heard from the ice wall behind him. However, it wasn’t possible to catch Ark unless it was a mole.

“Damn, what’s with that guy?”

Ark let out a burst of anger when he reached the entrance of the cave. It was the first time he met a boss where he didn’t have any answers about how to defeat it. Ark needed to do two things in the dungeon. He had to complete the immortality pill set and find another exit out of the crevasse. In other words, if the boss wasn’t protecting an exit then there was no reason to fight it. But it was the first boss monster he encountered since Colossus in Lancel Village.

‘I should catch it no matter what!’

Ark had no intention of leaving the ice caves even if he found the exit. He had to kill all the special monsters to complete the set. And since the ice caves were huge, he assumed that it had a large number of mongooses. If he completed the immortality set then Ark might be able to deal with the boss.

‘There’s just one chance. Next time there is no guarantee that I can escape like before. I have to be definitely sure of my victory before facing it again.’

But would raising his level really allow him to succeed? If it was just levels then Ark could somehow face Galgashi. The problem was the various magic with different attributes that it could use. No matter how much he raised his level, it would be meaningless if he couldn’t deal with the magic.

‘Is there another way?’

But he couldn’t think of an answer to his concerns.

‘I guess I have no choice but to raise my level.’

Ark decided to leave the problem of the boss for the moment. Fighting the boss had taken a lot out of him. Ark took out his pot and made soups using all the meat. After securing the food, he earnestly started the immortality pill creation process.

‘Now shall I get started?’

First was the mongoose essence. Then he added all the other ingredients until colourful halos emerged from the pot and a message window appeared.

Since it had a low rating, the time taken to create it was only 12 hours. Fortunately, the mixing and crystallization process only took 1 hour each. Ark finished the whole process and carefully placed the covered pot in a corner. The remaining time was 10 hours so he just had to wait. Ark stacked the mongoose soup on the ground and said.

“Dedric, guard it carefully. I’ll be sleeping for a while.”

“I understand.”

“Don’t just eat tons of food. Deimos, watch Dedric.”

Clack clack clack clack.

Deimos nodded. In here it was impossible to release his pets. The summons just had to wait in that one spot while Ark left the game. Fortunately, it didn’t consume mana so Ark didn’t have to worry about that. However, it would be a problem if there was a surprise attack by the mongooses. That was the reason he went back to the entrance of the cave. So Ark placed a sentry in front of the pot and exited the game. After he slept and exercised in reality, the immortality pill had been completed.

Ark gulped and looked at it with expectant eyes. Ark who checked the information gave an easy laugh. Ark had been contemplating how to beat Galgashi but now he thought he was a fool.

“Ha, I see. That’s it. Catching Galgashi will be easy!”

Ark once again realized how deceptive the game was. If there was a problem then there would be a key in the area to solve it. It was the same for New World as well. The way to take down the invincible Galgashi was present in the Mongoose’s Immortality Pill information.

“Okay, I see what you mean. If I collect all the immortality pills then defeating Galgashi won’t be a problem.

Ark laughed and raised his body.

“Now, let’s go and gather some immortality pills. Into the dungeon!”