Chapter 4: Nightmare, 1st Floor (3)

Following the path, I eventually reached level ground again.

Something lay ahead.

All kinds of weapons had been arranged across the top of a long, flat boulder.

I approached and examined them.

Swords, spears, axes, maces, shields, bows, crossbows, whips... It was like an entire weapons shop had been laid out before me, with nothing missing.

Was I supposed to choose whatever I wanted?

‘Why are they suddenly being so generous?’

I stared down the passage that continued beyond the weapons.

They had tossed me a single sword and forced me to struggle through everything up to this point, yet now they were handing out weapons like candy?

Rather than making me grateful, it only made me anxious about what they had prepared next.

For the time being, I selected a few weapons.

A sword-and-shield combination was obviously the best choice, wasn’t it?

There was no point in taking weapons I didn’t know how to use properly.

I discarded the sword and spear I had been carrying, then took a new sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

With every muscle in my body drawn taut, I continued forward.

The passage gradually widened.

At its end lay an enormous cavern, much like the one I had encountered at the very beginning.

The only difference was that the minerals embedded in the walls, which had previously glowed white, now pulsed with a crimson light, filling the cavern with an ominous atmosphere.

It looked like a boss room from a video game.

Something stood alone at the center of the cavern.

I stopped time and studied it.

A sigh escaped me the moment I saw it.

Fuck. What the hell is that now...?

A knight clad from head to toe in plate armor stood there, gripping an enormous mace in one hand.

After confirming that nothing else was lurking in the cavern, I released the time stop.

Kerrrk—

The creature let out the same distinctly unpleasant cry as the other goblins.

It was a goblin?

Its physique was nothing like theirs.

The Goblin Knight began striding toward me, each step long and heavy.

The steel boots of its armor clanged against the ground, the sound echoing throughout the cavern.

I stopped time again.

All right. Think.

How am I supposed to fight that thing?

It was an enemy completely encased in armor.

There was no way I could inflict any real damage with a sword.

I recalled something I had once seen in a historical documentary about how medieval knights actually fought.

When facing an opponent in plate armor, the usual method was to wrestle them to the ground and stab through the gaps between the plates.

‘There is absolutely no way that’s going to work.’

Now that it had drawn closer, it looked even larger than I had first thought.

It had to be at least two meters tall.

Wrestle around on the ground with that monster?

That wasn’t a combat technique.

It was a suicide technique.

Even so, it remained true that the only way to injure it was to target the gaps in its armor.

I had no choice but to find some way to strike them.

‘But where exactly are those gaps?’

The visor slit, the joints... places like that, probably.

I would have to figure it out during the fight.

The strategy itself was simple.

Dodge or block every attack, then counter.

It was the same method that had already worked against six goblins.

I released the time stop.

The Goblin Knight had been walking toward me when it suddenly burst forward with astonishing speed.

“...!”

I had already grown accustomed to the speed of the goblins I had fought so far.

This caught me completely off guard.

I sliced time.

The mace was already descending toward my head. Dodging looked impossible, so I raised the shield instead.

CRASH!

A deafening crack rang out, and a tremendous shock tore through the arm holding the shield.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Unable to withstand the impact, I was hurled backward and sent tumbling across the ground.

I scrambled to my feet and stopped time.

‘What kind of strength is that...?!’

I immediately realized that my assessment had been wrong.

The wooden shield had shattered into pieces from a single blow.

That kind of brute force couldn’t be blocked.

I had to dodge.

Dodging was my only option.

I released time and, despite the pain throbbing through every part of my body, threw the ruined shield aside and ran.

My arm wasn’t broken, was it?

My forearm and ribs ached fiercely, but nothing seemed to be fractured.

SKREEEE—!

The Goblin Knight shrieked and charged after me.

The knowledge that being caught meant death kept my body moving.

It was faster than I had expected and far, far stronger than I had imagined.

But running forever wouldn’t solve anything.

I had to evade its attacks and counter if I wanted to bring it down.

The distance between us narrowed.

Steeling myself, I turned and faced the Goblin Knight head-on.

I sliced time again.

The Goblin Knight’s arm slowly began to rise.

Judging by the angle, it was preparing a diagonal downward strike.

I began to evade, twisting my upper body to the left.

The mace descended along the path I had predicted... but even then, it was fast.

Worse still, the weapon it wielded was a morningstar—a massive iron sphere covered in thick spikes.

Its bulky head made it even harder to avoid than a sword.

Whoosh!

The displaced air lashed across my face.

I barely managed to evade the blow.

I prepared to counter.

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind, but no matter how I considered it, there was only one obvious weakness.

‘I have to aim for the visor slit.’

The narrow opening in the helmet through which the creature could see.

I leveled my sword at the Goblin Knight’s helmet and stopped time.

Once a thrust was already in motion, Time Slicing didn’t allow me to make fine adjustments to its trajectory.

That made striking such a narrow opening with precision incredibly difficult.

But I had to succeed.

It was my only chance.

I gathered every shred of concentration I possessed and drove the sword forward.

CLANG!

I missed.

The blade failed to enter the visor slit and scraped across the helmet just above it.

Of course it wasn’t going to be easy.

I immediately pulled back.

The mace swept after me with enough force to smash my waist in half, forcing me to retreat again.

The spikes of the morningstar caught my shirt and tore through the fabric as they passed.

Damn it. I can’t even regain my balance...

I continued stumbling backward, desperately scrambling to avoid the Goblin Knight’s relentless assault.

One clean hit, and it would all be over.

The mace grazed my hair and clipped the tip of my ear.

The sharp sting told me that it had torn away some skin, but that was still better than having my skull crushed.

After evading five or six swings, I finally managed to regain my footing and searched for another chance to counter.

I ducked beneath the mace and rushed inward, closing the distance between us.

Sword aimed at the helmet.

Time stop.

I’ll keep trying until I land it.

I was closer this time than before.

The tip of the blade was nearer to the visor slit, which had to improve my chances.

I focused everything I had, released time, and thrust the sword forward with all my strength in that same instant.

The blade caught briefly against the armor before slipping through the visor slit and plunging deep inside.

SKREEEEEEEK—!

A piercing shriek tore through the cavern.

I got it...!

Shit.

The Goblin Knight convulsed violently, and its fist was already flying straight toward my skull.

It was too late to dodge.

I threw up my arms and braced myself as best I could.

A dizzying, skull-rattling impact struck me, and my body was launched through the air.

Somewhere amid the chaos, acting almost entirely on instinct, my mind screamed at me to get away from the Goblin Knight.

I let myself tumble across the ground, rolling again and again.

EEEEEEE—

What is that?

Tinnitus?

I stopped rolling and tried to push myself upright, only for a delayed surge of agony to tear through my arm.

I looked down.

My right arm was bent at an unnatural angle.

Broken.

“...!”

It hurts.

It hurts so fucking much...!

I bit down hard on my lip.

There was barely any strength left in my left arm either, but I managed to plant it against the ground and force my upper body upright.

After gathering my wits, I looked toward the place where the Goblin Knight had been standing.

Fortunately, it didn’t appear to be in any condition to worry about me either.

It staggered aimlessly, the sword still lodged deep inside its helmet.

Thud.

Then it collapsed.

I had felt the blade sink deeply.

Had it pierced its brain?

“Ngh...”

Drenched in cold sweat, I struggled unsteadily to my feet.

Is it dead?

I stumbled toward the fallen Goblin Knight and examined it.

It didn’t move.

But no clear message appeared.

Thinking that perhaps it wasn’t completely dead, I reached for the sword lodged in its helmet with my left hand, the only one that still worked.

Twang!

The instant my fingers closed around the hilt, a sound reached my ears.

The chilling snap of a taut bowstring being released.

I stopped time on pure reflex.

A short distance ahead—

A goblin I had failed to notice was lying prone in a corner of the cavern, aiming an oversized crossbow directly at me.

And there, frozen in midair mere inches from my abdomen, was a bolt.

...What the hell is that thing?

There had definitely been nothing in the cavern besides the Goblin Knight.

My thoughts ground to a halt.

I had stopped time at the very last instant before impact.

I can’t dodge this.

For all practical purposes, it had already hit me.

At this distance, avoiding it was physically impossible.

Not unless I could move at the speed of light.

I had been completely certain that the Goblin Knight was the final boss.

So what the hell was this?

Panic began to seize me before I forced myself to think clearly again.

‘What do I do?’

If I release time now, the bolt will go straight through my stomach.

...That’s going to hurt, isn’t it?

Of course it’s going to fucking hurt.

Probably much worse than a broken arm.

And pain aside, I’ll die.

If this continues, I’m going to die.

There was only one path left.

Kill the Crossbow Goblin before it killed me.

If that thing was truly the final enemy, the clear message should appear as soon as I killed it.

They had explicitly said that all injuries would be healed upon successfully clearing the floor.

That was the only gamble worth taking.

Yeah.

I have to do it.

I didn’t claw my way this far just to die like some pathetic joke.

Take the bolt.

Sprint toward the Crossbow Goblin.

Kill it.

An arrow through the stomach doesn’t kill someone instantly, right?

Eventually, sure.

But the important part was that it wouldn’t happen immediately.

The Crossbow Goblin was no more than ten meters away.

It would only take a few seconds to close the distance and drive the sword into it.

...But can I actually endure the pain?

A bolt punching through my stomach?

Me?

Could I endure that agony and still run all the way over there?

The mere thought of it made my head spin.

Whether it was even physically possible was a serious question.

‘I’m losing my mind.’

Steel yourself...

I have to steel myself.

Think of it as though the fate of all humanity is resting on my shoulders.

Ah, but no matter how I think about it, this is just—

No.

Do it.

I can do it.

All right...

Here goes.

Am I really doing this?

After one final, desperate attempt to gather my courage, I released the time stop.

Thunk!

A burst of searing agony exploded through me.

Every thought in my head vanished instantly.

The only thing I had been thinking when I released time was that I needed to run, but my body collapsed of its own accord.

“...!”

I stopped time again.

The tidal wave of pain that had bleached my mind white vanished in an instant.

When time was stopped, the pain in my body stopped as well.

Of course, it would all come flooding back the moment I released it.

‘Motherfucker.’

The bolt had punched clean through my abdomen.

The curse escaped me without conscious thought.

Endure that and move?

Impossible.

This is insane.

I can’t do it.

This isn’t something willpower can overcome.

I can’t.

I won’t.

I remained like that for a moment before abruptly coming back to my senses.

So what?

If I can’t do it, am I supposed to give up?

Just lie here and die?

Kill it.

Even if I die, I’m taking that thing with me.

I braced myself and released the time stop.

Excruciating agony crashed over my consciousness.

“Gkh... ugh...”

I couldn’t even breathe.

The pain was so intense that tears sprang to my eyes.

The wound burned as though a red-hot iron had been driven through my flesh, while icy chills crawled up my spine.

I clenched my molars until they felt ready to crack and dragged myself upright, inch by agonizing inch.

Somehow, I managed to seize the sword.

Through my wavering, unsteady vision, I saw the goblin.

It was trying to load another bolt into the crossbow.

If that one struck me as well, I wouldn’t survive.

The desperate awareness of danger, my raw instinct for survival, and the furious certainty that I would kill that thing all tangled together, forcing my legs to move.

I ran, every step making it feel as though my stomach were being ripped apart.

If I hesitated for even a second, I would collapse.

Somehow—impossibly—I remained on my feet and closed the distance until I was right on top of the goblin.

It had been frantically loading the crossbow, but it abandoned the attempt to fire and tried to flee.

I wrung out the last of my strength and hurled myself at it.

I drove the sword into the goblin’s back and fell to the ground with it.

SKREEEK—

Half out of my mind, I hacked and stabbed at its body in a wild, uncontrolled frenzy.

In the midst of it, the goblin drew a dagger and plunged it into my neck.

“Gak.”

Whether that had been its final death throe or not, it stopped struggling afterward.

But my own consciousness was already fading.

Ah...

Am I dying?

But come on.

After everything I went through, at least tell me it’s over.

Why hasn’t the clear message appeared...?

I don’t know anymore.

I just want to rest.

“...”

[You have successfully cleared Nightmare difficulty, Floor 1.]

[Status Window and Communication Channel are now unlocked.]

[Absorbing the Power of the Floor.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

[Level has increased.]

***

[Level has increased.]

[You are the first to clear Nightmare difficulty, Floor 1.]

[Floor 1 Hidden Route is now unlocked.]

[Transferring to the Reward Room.]