Chapter 96: Nightmare, 7th Floor (3)

A statue.

The moment I entered Stage 5, the first thing that caught my eye was an enormous statue.

It resembled some kind of colossal warrior, with a bow clutched in one hand.

The statue stood near the door leading to the next stage.

I turned around.

Something else lay on the floor beside the doorway through which I had just entered.

‘A bow...?’

A bow and six arrows.

They had simply been left there on the ground.

This time, the Tower had provided a bow instead of swords.

More importantly, the atmosphere was different from that of the previous stages.

There wasn’t a single arrow hole anywhere in the cavern walls.

The only things present were the statue and the bow.

Once I had finished examining the chamber, I released the time stop.

I approached the weapon and reached for it.

Sixth Sense gave no warning.

The instant I picked up the bow—

Snap.

A red line suddenly appeared across the center of the cavern floor.

It divided the chamber neatly into two halves.

“...?”

What was this supposed to mean?

A red line.

Was I forbidden from crossing it?

The statue had changed as well.

Several red dots had appeared across its body.

Its arms, legs, heart, and head.

Six dots in total.

[0/6]

The number appeared above the statue’s head.

I looked from the bow in my hand to the statue.

Six red dots on the statue.

Six arrows on the floor.

It wasn’t difficult to interpret what the Tower wanted me to do.

‘Shoot them?’

It was obvious.

I was supposed to fire the arrows and strike the red marks on the statue.

The red line probably meant I had to shoot from behind it without crossing.

This stage had placed me on the attacking side rather than the dodging side.

All right.

I understood the rules perfectly.

There was only one problem.

I didn’t know how to shoot a bow.

That was a serious obstacle.

The distance between the red line and the statue was roughly fifty meters.

Each red dot was no larger than a person’s palm.

There was no chance I could hit one.

I had played around with archery a few times on Floor 1, mostly for amusement, so it wasn’t as though I had never fired a bow before.

But {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} hitting a target from dozens of meters away?

Absolutely not.

I wasn’t remotely skilled enough.

‘Archery? Seriously?’

Frowning, I tried to think of another solution.

What if I used a magic skill instead of an arrow to strike the dots?

That probably wouldn’t work.

The rules clearly required me to hit them with the bow.

I didn’t know what penalty breaking those rules might incur, but at the very least, the stage was unlikely to count it as a success.

...I might as well try.

I gathered the bow and arrows, then walked up to the red line.

Standing directly behind it, I nocked the first arrow.

I slowly drew the bowstring and aimed at the red dot on the statue’s chest.

Twang!

The arrow flew with considerable force.

And missed the statue entirely.

It struck the ground nearby and vanished at once.

[0/6]

The number above the statue remained unchanged.

Apparently, the counter would only increase if I actually hit one of the targets.

The fact that the arrow had disappeared also meant I probably had only six attempts.

One chance per arrow.

What would happen if I failed to hit any of them?

Suppressing my unease, I prepared the second shot.

I did my best to account for the trajectory of the first arrow and adjusted my aim.

Twang!

Once again, I aimed for the mark on the statue’s chest.

Once again, I failed even to hit the statue itself.

“...”

After only two attempts, the truth became painfully obvious.

This wasn’t going to work.

It was far more difficult than I had expected.

At this rate, I wouldn’t land a single shot.

With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I picked up the third arrow.

‘Demon King.’

I called out to him.

‘Do you know how to use a bow? Give me some advice.’

Even a few pointers about the angle would help.

He was a Demon King, after all.

Surely he possessed at least some experience with archery.

The Demon King remained silent.

I pressed him.

‘If I fail here, you die with me. Are you seriously not going to help?’

Only then did he respond.

—We know nothing of archery either.

‘...’

—Put some effort into it. How can you fail to land even a single shot?

He was genuinely useless.

I sighed and drew the bowstring again.

The third arrow missed as well.

The fourth followed.

Another miss.

The fifth arrow at least struck the statue’s foot, only to ricochet away.

But in the end, I failed to hit even one of the red dots.

One arrow remained.

“Fuck.”

What would happen if I missed every target?

Would the stage simply declare my failure?

Would the door remain closed, trapping me here forever?

Since I was probably doomed either way, I decided to experiment.

Instead of firing the final arrow, I launched a Light Bullet at one of the red dots.

Pop!

[0/6]

The counter did not change.

As expected, that didn’t work.

I looked down at the red line.

Carefully, I extended one foot across it.

Sixth Sense did not react.

Nothing happened when I stepped beyond the boundary.

I approached the statue.

There was a red dot on its left leg.

Standing directly in front of it, I raised the bow, aimed, and released my final arrow.

Ping!

The arrow struck the red dot and bounced away.

I checked the counter.

[0/6]

No change.

Just as I had suspected, the hit didn’t count because I had crossed the red line before shooting.

‘I’m screwed...’

I had wasted all six arrows.

I tensed, waiting to see what would happen next.

The red dots on the statue vanished.

At the same moment, new red dots appeared on both of my arms.

“...?”

What the hell?

Rrrrrumble...

With a sudden roar, the statue began to move.

I flinched and stepped back.

The statue raised its bow, drew the string, and aimed directly at me.

Red energy gathered along the bow and condensed into the shape of an arrow.

KABOOM!

I hurled myself to the side.

A gigantic Light Arrow struck the floor and exploded.

So now the statue was attacking me?

It drew its bow again.

For the moment, I retaliated.

I stopped time, completed the required Mental Concentration, and fired a fully charged Destruction Ray.

The beam tore a massive hole through the statue’s torso.

It tilted to one side and collapsed.

‘...Is that it?’

Was fighting the statue merely the penalty for missing the targets?

I stared at the fallen figure, hoping the stage had ended.

Then—

Rrrrrumble...

I frowned.

The statue rose again.

Its shattered body began to regenerate.

Within moments, it had returned to its original condition and was drawing its bowstring once more.

Before it could fire, I struck first with Flame Strike.

KAAABOOOOM!

The fireballs blasted the statue into pieces.

But the fragments rose into the air.

They gathered together and restored the statue to perfect condition yet again.

I destroyed it several more times after that.

Its combat ability wasn’t particularly impressive, so bringing it down was easy.

Every time it fell, however, it immediately regenerated and aimed its bow at me again.

I tried disrupting the regeneration process.

I bombarded it with magic until its body was reduced to little more than dust.

It made no difference.

The statue always returned.

I stopped time.

It possessed no core like the Floor 3 boss.

Nor did it have an obvious weakness like the Frozen Hydra.

No matter how many times I destroyed it, it regenerated endlessly.

‘How am I supposed to kill this thing?’

That was when something caught my attention.

The red dots on my arms.

...Come to think of it, what were they for?

Why had the dots transferred from the statue to my body?

‘...’

No way.

I released time.

Rolling up my trousers, I checked my legs.

Red dots had appeared there as well.

I lifted my shirt and examined my chest.

There was another dot over my heart.

Both arms.

Both legs.

Heart.

Head.

The marks had transferred to exactly the same places they had occupied on the statue.

I couldn’t see my own forehead, but there was almost certainly one there too.

Another arrow came flying toward me.

This time, instead of destroying the statue, I allowed it to continue firing.

I kept dodging the Light Arrows and watched its movements carefully.

Every arrow was aimed specifically at my right arm.

More precisely, each one targeted the red dot on my right arm.

‘Wait...’

An ominous possibility occurred to me.

Surely not.

Did this stage continue until I allowed myself to be hit?

Because I had failed to strike the statue’s six targets, was the punishment that I had to receive six hits in return?

It made sense.

So what was I supposed to do?

Stand still and let that thing shoot me?

‘That’s brutal...’

But there was no other apparent solution.

If I continued dodging, the fight would simply repeat forever.

I needed to find a way out.

...Screw it.

I would test the theory.

I stopped dodging and extended my right arm.

“Come on.”

The statue drew its bowstring.

I activated Skin Hardening.

Then I layered Aura Blade over my right arm, reinforcing it as much as possible.

BOOM!

None of it mattered.

The Light Arrow tore straight through my right arm and blew it apart.

“Aaaagh...!”

White-hot agony flooded my body.

The scream escaped before I could stop it.

But I had already lost an arm once during the Floor 4 Hidden stage, so I regained control almost immediately.

[0/5]

“...!”

I looked at the number above the statue.

It had changed.

Six had become five.

So my suspicion had been correct.

‘I really have to take all six hits.’

I stopped time.

The pain vanished with the frozen world.

Catching my breath, I organized my thoughts.

The right arm had been counted.

Five targets remained.

‘The head is the problem.’

The arms, legs, and heart were manageable.

Thanks to the effects of the Frozen Hydra’s blood, damage below the neck wouldn’t kill me, no matter how severe it was.

But my head was different.

After enduring the first shot, I knew there was no realistic way to defend against the Light Arrow.

If it struck my head directly, my skull would be blown apart.

Instant death.

There had to be another way.

As I searched desperately for a solution, an idea occurred to me.

‘What if I let it graze the mark and then dodge?’

I didn’t know precisely how the stage determined whether a hit counted.

But if contact with the red dot was enough, then perhaps I could allow the arrow to touch the target and escape before it passed completely through me.

I only needed to time it correctly.

Stop time at the moment of impact.

Then use Teleportation.

It was worth trying.

I released time.

Drip. Drip.

Blood poured from the remains of my right arm.

Perhaps because of the Frozen Hydra’s regenerative power, the bleeding soon slowed.

Biting down on my lip against the pain, I focused on the statue.

It was preparing to fire again.

This time, I held out my left arm.

I concentrated every nerve on the approaching shot.

Focus.

Focus...

The statue released the arrow.

‘Now!’

I stopped time.

The Light Arrow froze in place, its tip barely embedded in the red dot on my left arm.

...Success.

At least for the moment.

I completed Mental Concentration.

The instant I allowed time to resume, I activated Teleportation.

[0/4]

I checked the number above the statue.

It had decreased again.

‘Yes...!’

The method had worked.

Unlike my right arm, my left remained attached.

Only a chunk of flesh had been torn away.

Damn it.

I should have tried this from the beginning.

I had lost my right arm for nothing.

Regardless, I used the same method for the remaining targets.

I continued dodging until Teleportation’s cooldown ended, then moved on to the next body part.

Right leg.

Left leg.

Heart.

I cleared them one after another.

[0/1]

Only one target remained.

My head.

A single mistake would kill me.

I had to be extremely careful.

‘Stopping too early is fine.’

If I stopped time too soon and the arrow failed to make contact, I could simply try again.

But if I waited too long, I would die instantly.

There was no reason to push the timing.

‘Now.’

The final arrow flew toward me.

I stopped time.

Its tip hung directly in front of my forehead.

...Had it touched me?

I thought it had.

The instant I released time, I Teleported.

Trickle.

A sharp pain cut across my forehead, and blood streamed down my face.

Yes.

It had definitely connected.

I wiped the blood away and shook it from my hand.

The wound must have been deeper than I thought, judging by how heavily it was bleeding.

Still, as long as I was alive, it didn’t matter.

[0/0]

The counter above the statue reached zero.

Rrrrrumble...

The statue began to collapse on its own.

This time, it did not regenerate.

“Whew...”

I exhaled and sank to the floor.

That had been exhausting.

Utterly exhausting.

I examined my missing right arm.

‘...Is it growing back?’

The arm had been destroyed below the joint.

The severed stump was bubbling and frothing, and a new limb appeared to be forming little by little.

It was a fairly disgusting sight.

The Frozen Hydra’s blood enhanced my regenerative abilities, but until now, I hadn’t known whether it could restore an entirely severed body part.

Rapid Regeneration would have healed the injury immediately.

However...

I decided to wait.

This was a useful opportunity to test the limits of the Hydra’s blood.

Even if natural regeneration took some time, there was no reason to waste Rapid Regeneration and trigger its twenty-four-hour cooldown.

The pain was severe, but pain could be endured.

Conserving the skill was more important.

Rrrrrumble...

The door leading to the next stage opened.

I remained where I was and continued waiting.

As time passed, a new arm slowly grew from the stump.

It took approximately thirty minutes for the right arm to regenerate completely.

I flexed my fingers and rotated the limb.

It moved perfectly, as though it had never been severed.

“Good.”

I had learned something valuable about the extent of the Frozen Hydra’s regenerative power.

The process must have consumed a considerable amount of energy, because I was suddenly starving.

I retrieved food from Subspace.

I unwrapped a chocolate bar and ate it, then drank some water and cleaned the blood from my body as best I could.

Once I had finished resting and replenishing my energy, I approached the open doorway.

The chamber beyond was bathed in red.

It stood in stark contrast to the previous caverns, all of which had been illuminated by blue torchlight.

‘The boss?’

The atmosphere certainly suggested it.

This was probably the final stage.

So why did I feel so uneasy?

Was it because I had reached this point with relatively little difficulty?

A persistent feeling warned me that one last vicious trick was still waiting.

Unable to shake that sense of foreboding, I stepped through the door.