Chapter 61 The First Return. the First Wave (2)

61. The First Return. The First Wave (2) "A Duel?"

"It's a Basic Skill. You should be able to use it too."

"It wasn't in my skills..."

"There are a few unlisted skills. Duel is one of them."

"You seem to know everything."

Kang Jun-hyeok muttered with a face full of admiration. Lee Tae-yeon tilted her head.

"What kind of skill is it?"

"A skill that lets two people fight. No one can interfere except for the two parties. It can only be initiated if the other side accepts."

Taesan pointed the tip of his sword at Kang Jun-hyeok.

"In other words, if you accept, it will be a fight between just the two of us."

"Uh..."

Kang Jun-hyeok stepped back with a reluctant expression.

"Is there any point in me fighting you?"

The difference in their Stats was too great. He couldn't even follow Kang Taesan's movements; he wouldn't be able to learn anything by fighting in his current state.

"That's why there's a sentence after it, isn't there?"

Taesan said lightly.

"The duel takes place with both parties in an equal state. It's a duel where all Stats, Attack Power, and Defense Power are matched to the weaker opponent. In this fight, you and I are equals."

"What about skills?"

"I won't use any Active Skills."

It wasn't perfect, but the conditions were almost the same. The only differences were experience and proficiency.

"You don't have the right to refuse. Accept."

"Well, alright."

Kang Jun-hyeok's eyes lit up as he accepted.

[Duel established.]

[Kang Jun-hyeok and Kang Taesan begin their Duel.]

"By the way, can you die from this?"

"You would die in a normal duel, but this is a conditional duel. You won't die even if your Health runs out."

"That's good."

Kang Jun-hyeok steadied his breathing and drew his sword. He took a stance and glared at Taesan. 'If our stats are the same, I have a good chance of winning.'

Taesan was monstrously strong. It wasn't just that his Stats were high and he had many skills; his senses and movements were likely excellent as well. But he wasn't bad either.

No, he considered himself more than good enough. His confidence had only grown stronger as he broke through the Labyrinth. He intended to prove to Taesan with this duel that he wasn't weak, that he was plenty strong.

Kang Jun-hyeok saw this as a kind of opportunity, and that thought was written on his face. Seeing the excited look on Kang Jun-hyeok's face, Taesan laughed to himself.

"Here I come."

While Lee Tae-yeon watched blankly, Kang Jun-hyeok charged forward with a confident face. He brought his sword down in a swift motion. It was a decent enough move.

At this level, he would almost never lose to a Player with similar Stats. Taesan moved his sword.

Clang.

The tips of their swords met. Taesan twisted his wrist. Taesan's sword smoothly scraped against the blade of Kang Jun-hyeok's sword and slid past.

A wound was drawn on Kang Jun-hyeok's forearm.

[8 Damage to Kang Jun-hyeok.]

"...Huh?"

Kang Jun-hyeok flinched. He looked down at his forearm. A fairly deep cut was bleeding.

"Huh, what?"

"Continuing."

Taesan moved his sword. The dazed Kang Jun-hyeok hastily blocked. The blades clashed.

Taesan pulled his wrist back. The blades ground against each other. As soon as his sword tip was free, he thrust.

Stab.

Kang Jun-hyeok's shoulder was pierced.

"Aren't you going to block?"

Taesan spoke languidly as he moved his body. Kang Jun-hyeok's expression hardened. He clenched his teeth and roused all the senses in his body to defend.

Kagagak.

But he couldn't block it. As if it were a living creature, the sword ignored Kang Jun-hyeok's defense and cut him down. In an instant, his entire body was covered in wounds, large and small.

"What, what the..."

Kang Jun-hyeok couldn't accept it. Their Stats were equal. He knew that because he had blocked the first attack without a problem.

But he couldn't block any of the subsequent attacks at all. Even when he focused his mind and tried to block, the blade would somehow slice through his flesh.

"Why is there such a difference..."

"Because Stats and skills aren't everything."

Taesan drew a diagonal line. Kang Jun-hyeok hastily blocked. The moment their blades met, Taesan lowered his stance and dove for Kang Jun-hyeok's lower body.

As his body moved, his sword smoothly slipped past Kang Jun-hyeok's, and his thigh was cut.

"You're weak."

Kang Jun-hyeok clenched his teeth. The moment he tried to kick Taesan, his knee was stomped on, stopping him. The moment he raised his arm to strike Taesan with the pommel, his wrist was grabbed and subdued.

He was then tripped and thrown to the ground. Taesan swung his sword down.

Slam.

It struck the ground right next to Kang Jun-hyeok's face. Taesan pulled his sword out and spoke languidly.

"Senses, judgment, the ability to exploit momentary openings. Big differences arise from those kinds of physical factors. You're not weak, but you're still far too lacking. Not enough to survive in Alone Mode. Besides, you can't even handle your own Stats properly yet, can you?"

They had gained the otherworldly power of Stats. They had obtained the strength to shatter the earth and make the seas explode without any training. Since it wasn't a power they had made their own through training, they were bound to be unskilled in delivering force and in their movements.

Perfect control of the body could only be achieved through endless physical training, but Kang Jun-hyeok didn't seem to have done any.

"Still, for such a difference to come from something like that..."

"It's not just 'something like that.' It's a very big difference."

Taesan kicked Kang Jun-hyeok. He let out a choking sound and clutched his stomach.

"It's not over yet. Get up."

Kang Jun-hyeok, his face flushed, grabbed his sword. Thirty minutes later, a battered Kang Jun-hyeok collapsed.

[Kang Taesan is victorious.]

"Are you starting to get a feel for it? What level you're at."

"Yes. To a damn frustrating degree."

Kang Jun-hyeok spat out in a listless voice. He hadn't dealt a single point of Damage. All of his attacks were blocked, while all of Taesan's attacks landed.

His confidence was so shattered that it had turned to self-loathing.

"Even I'm not that outstanding compared to the Named Monsters in the Labyrinth."

Taesan had won against them based on skills and information, not by overwhelming them with his movements.

"Confidence is good. But know your limits. At your current level, you wouldn't be able to pass where that thing is waiting, let alone the 2nd Floor's Trial of Rakiratas."

To see oneself objectively. It was absolutely necessary to survive. Kang Jun-hyeok was finished.

Taesan pointed at Lee Tae-yeon. She jumped in surprise, having been watching blankly.

"...Me?"

With a tearful face, she hesitated as she approached.

[Duel request. This duel will be fought with both parties in an equal state.]

[Duel begin.]

[Lee Tae-yeon and Kang Taesan begin their Duel.]

"I, I don't have to do this. I know very well that I'm weak, so I don't think I'll ever cross the line."

"Your problem is the other way around. You have too little confidence."

Lee Tae-yeon and Kang Jun-hyeok were of similar skill, but they had completely opposite problems. Lee Tae-yeon was a coward. That was an undeniable truth.

It was thanks to that she had survived until the end, but conversely, it meant she had thrown away even things she could have easily obtained. Her personality was suppressing her potential. Taesan readily approached and swung his sword down.

Lee Tae-yeon let out a shriek and blocked it.

"Try to respond."

"Hiiieek!"

Against Taesan's sword, she moved haphazardly to block. There was no composure on her face, but her movements were efficient. If even the slightest hesitation had mixed in, she would have been pierced and hit, but she somehow managed to block.

Taesan suddenly lunged forward and reached out. Lee Tae-yeon let out a shout like a scream, slapping his hand away and throwing a punch. Taesan grabbed her wrist, spun her around, and threw her.

"Ugh!"

Watching her fly through the air and land in a heap, Taesan shook his wrist.

"How was it?"

"...Wow."

Lee Tae-yeon dusted herself off and staggered up. She looked down at her hand with a strange expression. She had made a move she thought herself incapable of.

"You're not as weak as you think."

If she had truly been just a coward, she would not have been able to clear the Labyrinth. She had the potential to become stronger than she was now.

"Of course, confidence is good, but you can't get too reckless. If your instincts tell you something's not right, you have to pull back immediately. There's no right answer."

Even Taesan himself had to bet on probabilities to break through Alone Mode, so he had no choice but to trust his instincts. What he was teaching them was how to increase their chances of survival and how to become stronger. After his rough instruction was over, Taesan began sharing information.

"You guys don't have Deflection and Counter yet, do you? You probably didn't have the luxury before, but it's good to learn them now. Depending on how you use them, they're skills you can use until the very end."

Along with skills, he taught them how to survive. He didn't tell them the perfect counter-strategies, but he gave them basic hints. Both Kang Jun-hyeok and Lee Tae-yeon listened with serious expressions.

"That's all for now. You can tell the others."

"...Thank you."

Kang Jun-hyeok expressed his gratitude with a serious face.

"I'll hear that after you've survived until the end. Both you and Lee Tae-yeon. Don't die."

His words were calm but earnest. Both of them looked up at Taesan with slightly touched expressions.

Taesan flinched.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No, it's just... your words were warmer than I expected. I thought you were a very cold person."

"Would a cold guy give you all that information?"

"Haha."

Kang Jun-hyeok scratched his head. It wasn't the information, but his usual tone and indifferent attitude that had given him that impression. And that was something Taesan himself was not aware of.

To him, these were all people who had died. And most of them would die again. No matter how hard he tried to save them, it wouldn't change.

The Easy or Normal Mode Players would die just from the aftermath of a fight. It was an unconscious attitude of not getting emotionally invested from the start. Lee Tae-yeon changed the subject.

"By the way, what's happening inside?"

Six hours had already passed. In another six hours, the thing called a Wave would begin.

"I don't know. We'll have to go and see."

Taesan stood up indifferently.

"Hooo."

Kim Hwi-yeon clutched her head as if in pain. She had been given a private room due to the importance of her role, but if she had her way, she wanted to drop everything.

"This is driving me crazy..."

"How's it going?"

At the voice from behind her, she hastily put some distance between them. She swallowed and smiled.

"When did you come in?"

"It's better to keep the window closed. If your Stats are high, you can just break through."

Taesan was standing by the window, looking at her.

"I see."

Hwi-yeon muttered softly. She found Taesan slightly uncomfortable. She knew he wasn't hostile to her and that he wasn't a bad person, but his indifferent attitude and the way he calmly killed people scared her a little.

She hid her feelings and opened her mouth. That attitude was visible to Taesan, but he didn't bother pointing it out.

"First, since they said they're coming from four directions, I'm planning to divide and deploy our forces. There were people who resisted and got angry, asking why they had to do it, but what could I do? They ended up following in the end."

"You're going to block them from inside?"

"No." Hwi-yeon shook her head.

"I think it's best to block them from the outside, so we'll go out before the quest starts."

A Wave.

She didn't know what it was, but judging by the word, it meant enemies were going to invade. Inside City Hall was far too cramped for a hundred thousand people to move around. In that case, she thought it would be better to go outside and respond in a wide-open space.

And that was the correct answer. Hwi-yeon had deployed people in this way in her previous world as well. Thanks to that, quite a few people were able to survive.

'I think about twenty thousand people survived.' It was a decent survival rate. Taesan opened his mouth.

"Leave one of those directions to me."

"Pardon?"

"I'm saying I'll handle it. Divert those people elsewhere."

"Uh, uh uh... Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I'm saying it because I'll be fine."

A complicated emotion flickered across Hwi-yeon's face. She silently bowed her head.

"Thank you. ...Thank you so much."

"Let's just focus on seeing each other alive."

Time passed.

The people waited without a word. Some bit their lips and chewed on their nails. There were those who went mad, but they were quickly subdued.

And so, six hours passed. The monsters showed themselves. Watching them approach from beyond his line of sight, Taesan gripped his sword.

Leveling up through battle