CHAPTER 58
Three Quads. A Game in Turmoil
—Clang! Screeech!
Even as Seowoon's bizarrely curved strikes came flying in, the knight managed to block three of them. Watching this, Ki-chan couldn't help but acknowledge their opponent's skill—and his formidable mental fortitude.
But Seowoon's hand eventually slipped past the trembling sword—shaken by earlier magical impacts—and tore through the knight's chestplate.
As blood spurted from the knight's chest, Ki-chan and Lyle unleashed their next spells.
The knight's face, hidden under his helmet, was twisted in frustration.
He had fought countless foes in his life, but never had he been pushed so far by someone fighting barehanded.
There were martial artists in his world too.
But not one among them had ever denied him control over spacing like this—not one had ever kept him locked in so tightly.
Each time he stepped back, Seowoon advanced one step.
Whenever he tried to force Seowoon back, that wickedly bent hand came flying at his thigh.
Just one successful strike had torn through his armor and ripped his chest open.
A hit like that to the legs—and it would all be over.
—Clang!
He twisted his longsword to block and barely protected his lower half, but a growing sense of pressure loomed.
He'd once earned the title of Sword Emperor using only a longsword.
And now, he was experiencing something completely new—and it was shaking him.
The sight of two mages casting spells behind Seowoon only amplified the pressure.
—Boom!
A stone wall erupted from the ground, launching the knight into the air.
As he rose, a Wind Hammer struck his head—blasting his helmet off.
With all the storm of emotion exposed in his face, the knight saw Seowoon's hand flying straight for his throat.
—Clang!
Even midair, thrown off balance, the knight protected his vitals and crashed to the ground—only to bounce up like a spring-loaded doll.
A gentle light shimmered around him. His torn armor began to mend.
Seowoon's expression tightened.
The knight kept glancing past him at the two behind—ready to strike the moment an opening appeared.
Even from a distance, it felt like they were still trapped inside his range.
"Phew."
As Seowoon steadied his breath and subtly moved to block the knight's line of sight to the others, the knight, understanding his intent, exhaled deeply and refocused on him.
Seowoon cast Gale Step to quickly close the gap, and the knight charged in without yielding.
"Kaire Barrier."
Simultaneously, two Ice Lances formed above Seowoon's shoulders and flew at the knight.
—Crash! Crash!
Sure enough, the knight's swift and fluid swordplay shattered the lances before they could reach him.
"Even that thin armor doesn't so much as frost over... This guy's no joke."
—Clang!
The close-range clash resumed—Seowoon trying to close in, and the knight doing everything to stop him and sever his throat.
Barely managing to block with both hands, Seowoon began to frown.
Now that the knight had gone fully defensive, he couldn't reduce the one-step gap between them no matter what.
—Boom!
Another wall erupted under the knight's feet and launched him into the air.
But this time, the knight was ready.
Using the rising wall's force, he twisted midair and flipped back—like a gymnast leaping off a vault.
—Tap tap!
Seowoon dashed up the wall using Gale Step and quickly followed after the knight, who had just flipped midair.
—Clang! Clang!
Even while exchanging blows in midair, the knight never lost composure.
—Claaang!
After a brief clash, the knight used both hands to slam his sword downward, pushing Seowoon away.
Their current stats made it clear—Seowoon couldn't beat the knight in a contest of raw strength.
As Seowoon was pushed back, the knight stabbed his now blazing red sword into the ground.
"Shit!"
Seowoon quickly leapt away, but fiery energy surged from the blade into the ground and rushed toward him.
As the red flames erupted and engulfed him, Seowoon struck back with a powerful Limitless Fist technique.
His robe turned to rags, and his skin burned black—but he barely fought his way through the flames.
Just as he emerged, the knight appeared again—sword raised high.
—CRASH!
Seowoon barely managed to cross his arms and block, but the blow made his legs buckle.
The pain radiating through his arms told him—if not for the Kaire Barrier, they would've snapped like twigs.
—Whoosh! BOOM!
A Fire Burst and another Wind Hammer flew in and blasted the knight away before he could press the advantage.
Even while being thrown, the knight rolled smoothly and rose again, cutting down the incoming spells and charging at Seowoon once more.
—"This is it. Get ready!"
At Seowoon's voice command, Ki-chan gritted his teeth and focused.
The knight charged in again, slashing downward.
Seowoon narrowly dodged back, and in that moment—his body split into multiple forms.
The knight's eyes flicked around—trying to spot the real one.
—Shhk!
One of the clones lunged—and was instantly decapitated.
That was the signal.
Ki-chan triggered the spell he had been holding.
Mirror Illumination.
A powerful wave of mana distorted the space around them, creating a hall-of-mirrors illusion.
Dozens of Seowoons, all reflections, charged the lone knight from every direction.
And for the first time—Seowoon saw a flicker of panic in the knight's eyes.
—Clang! Smash!
The knight swung his sword at incredible speed, cutting down the reflections, glass-like illusions shattering all around.
Seowoon's real form slipped in close—and reached out with his bone-reinforced hand.
At the very last second, the knight's eyes locked directly onto him.
He ignored all defense and thrust his sword straight at Seowoon.
"If I dodge, I die."
Grinding his teeth, Seowoon poured his entire focus into a counter technique—layered into the strike with his reinforced hand.
—CRACK!
In the instant their attacks clashed, all of Seowoon's reflections shattered like glass and rained down around them.
"Hyung!!!"
The knight's sword had pierced straight through Seowoon's right chest, tearing through his shoulder guard and protruding out the back.
And yet—the knight dropped his sword and collapsed backward.
The stab wound had seared Seowoon's flesh bright red, leaking pus and blood. The pain threatened to overwhelm his senses.
The knight, watching Seowoon's twisted expression of pain, opened his mouth—but coughed instead.
"Kuhh!"
Blood spilled with the cough. Instead of lashing out, he chose to speak.
"Craig Gino... That's my name."
Though his voice was hoarse from damage to his throat, it was still intelligible.
"Jin Seowoon," Seowoon replied, a trickle of blood running down his chin.
It didn't matter if it was pride, sentimentality, or pointless etiquette in the face of death.
He'd gambled everything on this battle. And somehow, there was a sense of respect—of camaraderie.
"You're... surprisingly young. If it hadn't been 3-on-1... I might've walked away with more."
Now helmetless, the knight's face showed deep lines of age.
Greyed beard. Faintly silver hair. Seowoon nodded solemnly.
In this world, gaining something through battle—not just items—wasn't a lie.
"If it hadn't been... I might be the one lying here instead."
"Is that so? Maybe... Interesting..."
And with that, the knight's head slumped, and a stream of blood trickled from his neck.
"Hyung..."
Still processing the strange afterglow of battle, Seowoon stood frozen, staring at the spot where the knight had vanished.
It was still a place where enemies could appear at any moment.
It was such a shame there was no time to soak in the emotions.
Seowoon's body staggered and collapsed to the ground as he yanked out the sword embedded in his chest and hastily began to stop the bleeding.
Even as he pulled the blade out, Lyle was already glowing his hands with healing magic, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead as his mana rapidly drained.
Once the wound was sufficiently healed, Seowoon quickly opened the chest.
[Craig's Sword – A family heirloom passed down through the lineage of Craig Zino, a knight of the Khaern Empire.][Toka's Ring – A ring that significantly increases magic resistance.][Desert Stone – A stone infused with the energy of the Desert of Bulga.][Damaged Obsidian Cuirass – A lightweight chestplate that increases agility by 30%. Currently broken and nonfunctional.]
Other pieces of obsidian armor were inside as well, but none had bonus options like the cuirass.
After shoving the chest full of weapons and armor into his subspace inventory, Seowoon's eyes caught a blue-tinted jewel the size of a fist.
[Ding! You have acquired the Sky Enhancement Stone. Would you like to use it?]
The notification for a first-time item echoed after so long, and Seowoon handed the gem to Ki-chan.
"This… this is what I think it is, right?"
"Oh! You struck gold."
Ki-chan quickly accepted the enhancement stone, registered it in his item list, then passed it to Lyle.
"My teacher once told me about it. An enhancement stone created through the ultimate alchemy, capable of permanently strengthening weapons or armor."
Ki-chan took the stone back and added, "Sky Enhancement Stones are famous for their high success rates and excellent bonus options. If you sold it, you'd easily get 5 billion won."
Seowoon, startled, carefully caught the stone as Ki-chan casually tossed it back.
"How much did you say?"
"About five billion. Not certain, but I heard the last Earth Enhancement Stone sold for around three billion. Honestly, it's not even that expensive for what it does."
Seowoon's jaw dropped at the idea that five billion won wasn't considered a high price.
Seeing his expression, Ki-chan gave a wry smile.
"This item is, as Lyle said, a result of ultimate alchemy. But it's practically only useful for players. Since it's not needed by NPCs, it only circulates among players, so the market value doesn't skyrocket."
"I see…"
"But apparently, if you use it in Cloyd and enhance an item, its upgraded attributes carry over into the real world. It's like getting a double enhancement from a single stone."
It was a paradox—and an opportunity—unique to the Cloyd Survival game.
Normally, if a player didn't have enough coins, items would lose their effects once taken into reality. But this kind of item ignored that rule.
Even the left-hand techniques Seowoon learned from Jang Docheon shared the same contradiction.
Through that nameless secret art, Seowoon had grown his inner energy at a remarkable pace.
In Cloyd, death wasn't always permanent.
So why was the inner energy Seowoon accumulated from the vitality of the dead permanent?
He didn't know.
It was just one of the many paradoxes of Cloyd Survival.
And the existence of the enhancement stone once again stirred Seowoon's faint sense of unease.
"It's strange, right? On the forums, they call these 'jump-rule items.' There are quite a few paradoxical items like this. But they usually come with side effects."
"Side effects?"
"Eh… just try it. I don't have any leftover items anyway."
Ki-chan raised a shabby staff that looked far inferior to the one he previously used.
When Seowoon looked at the enhancement stone and then at Hamit, Hamit shivered.
"Don't even think of using that damned rock on me. I'm not ready to die yet."
Die? No way…
"Wait. The item can break?"
Ki-chan smiled.
"Every enchantment carries a risk. If it fails, not only does the enhancement stone vanish, but the item does too."
Now it all made sense.
Seowoon pulled the bow from his back and used the enhancement stone.
[Would you like to enhance the Black Kaier Bow?]
The moment he pressed [Yes], a blue light flowed from the enhancement stone and into the bow.
As the light faded and the stone shattered—
[Ding! Enhancement successful. Black Kaier Bow has been enhanced with additional options.][Enhanced Black Kaier Bow – A bow made from Black Kaier's horn, now blessed by the Sky Enhancement Stone. Arrow speed increased by 70%.]
The original 15% boost in arrow speed had now become 70%.
Having just fought a life-or-death sniper duel, Seowoon understood better than anyone what that difference meant.
"That happened with just one enhancement?"
"Did it work well?"
"The option increased fivefold."
"Wow."
Even Ki-chan, seeing an enhancement firsthand for the first time, was surprised.
He knew exactly what it meant for option values to increase five times.
Slipping the enhanced bow onto his back, Seowoon picked up Craig's sword.
[Ding! This item is locked.]
"Huh? It's locked?"
Once again, Ki-chan answered.
"Some items are like that. Lock-type items can only be used after purchasing with coins. Usually, they're information-based items."
He sort of understood, sort of didn't.
"Whatever. It's not like I absolutely need it. Let's get moving."
The group exited the Forest of Hardship.
It was a great ambush spot, but battles in the woods attracted too much attention. They could easily become targets for multiple quads.
After running for a while, they stopped in a terrain surrounded by sand dunes.
"At least the view's blocked here."
"Take a break. I'll stand guard first."
Seowoon climbed the tallest ridge and crouched low to scout the surroundings.
The desert nights were chilly, so Ki-chan and Lyle pulled out a bowling ball-sized reddish stone and lay beside it to rest.
"If we didn't have the Desert Stone, this would be tough."
The Desert Stone, which they got from the Black Knight's chest, emitted a steady wave of heat just by existing.
Thanks to that, they could retain body heat and rest relatively comfortably.
Each day in the desert had been filled with tension.
Even when they found places with good visibility cover, sand dunes could shift overnight. Sandstorms would blow in and enemies would test them with long-range magic and probing attacks.
The desert's cold nights and scorching days steadily wore down their stamina.
"Ugh… that's refreshing."
Under the blazing sun, Ki-chan sprawled on the ground as the Ice Snake he had cast melted slowly. Lyle clung happily to its tail, enjoying the chill.
"We can't stay here long."
Seowoon's warning made the two look up at him like stubborn children begging for five more minutes.
If it were normal desert heat, they could've easily handled it with ice magic.
But this wasn't just any desert. It was the battlefield of a life-or-death survival game.
Casting magic carelessly and creating mana fluctuations was a dangerous gamble, so they had to endure the daytime heat as best they could.
Occasionally, when combat broke out, they'd use ice magic like this to enjoy brief moments of relief.
Unlike Seowoon, who had high internal energy, the others were more affected by the temperature swings.
"Just a moment."
With that, Seowoon climbed the nearby dune ridge to scout, while Ki-chan and Lyle exchanged tired smiles.
Day 33 of the game. It had already been 19 days since they entered the desert.
Survivors: 68/400
Lyle → Horis (Killed with magic)Ki-chan → Strill (Killed with magic)Seowoon → Rillus (Killed with martial arts)
Seeing the number 68 still left, Seowoon felt this game was dragging on unusually long.
"Still 68 people…"
Just as he thought that, a new alert rang in his mind.
[Ding! One-third of the game has passed. Transitioning to Map Phase 2. Please beware of the field collapse.]
Startled by the unexpected message, Seowoon looked down the ridge. Ki-chan and Lyle were looking back up at him.
Seowoon ran down and gave Ki-chan a questioning look.
"This is new to me too."
As the two looked confused, Lyle shouted.
"The field—it's collapsing!"
Their faces twisted into grimaces as they checked the map.
The field collapse zone was rapidly shrinking from the center of the map.
"Hy-hyung! The speed—"
Even without saying it, it was obvious.
The collapse was at least ten times faster than normal.
"Run!"
Ki-chan and Lyle quickly summoned their airboards and shot forward, kicking up sand as they launched toward the map's center. Seowoon used Gale Step and dashed in the lead.
Though the sand swallowed his ankles with each step, he left behind only the faintest footprints—his lightfoot technique had clearly improved again, but no one mentioned it.
"Hyung! To the left!"
The moment the team voice came through, Seowoon turned his head to see a team of three, each from a different quad, giving them cautious glances as they ran.
Though still some distance away, it was obvious they were all heading for the same place.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]
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