บท 36: Chapter 36
The underground 7th floor of the Conqueror's Tomb was a massive crypt covered with gold along its floors and walls.
'We're here.'
Drag-
"Heal."
After kindly using Heal once more on tied-up guildies, JiHan looked at the large golden statue in front of the crypt's wall, which was of a middle-aged man atop a horse holding a splendid bow and looking into the distance.
Although it was just a statue, it emanated a strong sense of charisma.
Soon, a majestic voice began echoing out of the golden statue and spreading through the crypt.
WHOOM-!
[Welcome, intruder.]
The voice seemed happy to greet intruders who had broken into the deepest floor of the Conqueror's Tomb.
[Gold's essence is to be stolen, whether it be stealing from someone or having it stolen from you.]
The conqueror's statue raised his bow.
Rumble-!
The door behind the statue opened, revealing a mountain of gold.
[Plunderer, if you show respect to me, I'll give you what you want.]
As soon as the golden statue finished speaking, a silver light glowed from the golden floor of the crypt, and the gold surrounding the statue flowed away, revealing four small, silver platforms that could just barely hold one person each.
'This is why four people are absolutely necessary.
Other than requiring every party member to survive, completing the 7th floor underground was rather easy. Each party member had to stand on a silver platform and bow deeply each time the golden statue aimed its arrow at them.
It was basically a bonus quest.
Swoosh!
JiHan let go of his rope, and the three guildies rolled along the ground as if they were logs.
- How is he thinking of making them bow?
- They should be grinding their teeth, hahaha.
- Is he going to use Telekinesis on them?
- There's no way. There's quite some distance.
Viewers thought JiHan's power was Telekinesis, so they were curious about how he was thinking of overcoming that obstacle.
No matter how special JiHan's power was, could he make them bow from such a distance?
Contrary to their opinions and curiosity, JiHan already thought of it as being cleared.
'My Force should work on them if it's just from this distance.'
Bowing was a complex motion, but he'd completely immobilized the guildies through Acupuncture, so if he used Force, he thought he should be able to make them do it.
Tap, tap-
The three guildies began walking like marionettes.
- It seems like it's working…
- Is there something he can't do? Lol.
- I'm really curious about his status window. What ability is it?
As soon as JiHan and the guildies stepped on the silver platforms, the conqueror's statue moved.
[Start.]
Slide-
The conqueror's statue aimed the tip of his arrow at the party member on the far left.
Tap!
The Black Eagle Guild Warrior kneeled as if someone had pushed him down.
The motion was a bit awkward, but JiHan's Force managed to bend him into something like a bow.
[Good.]
- Hahahaha
- Yay~ 1st place again~!
- Nothing… happened…!
[Next.]
The arrow pointed at the Mage on the far right.
Thump!
The Mage finished his bow more naturally than the Warrior had.
[Next.]
The Archer next to JiHan performed a bow that was so perfect that it was indistinguishable from someone willingly doing it.
- Is it my imagination, or is his control getting better? The Warrior bowed as if he were a log.
- You're not imagining things.
Lastly, the conqueror's statue aimed his arrow at JiHan.
[Next.]
'It's over.' JiHan bowed to clear the dungeon.
The conqueror's statue made a satisfied smile.
[Good. You may enter.]
With that, the final mission of the 7th underground floor was cleared very easily.
- Even his party members betraying him didn't work.
- So, are they going to level up by freeloading?
- Sweet, hahaha.
- But why hasn't he finished it?
Once you passed through the door, the dungeon was conquered, and the game would end.
Despite that, JiHan was standing there as if he'd been nailed to the spot.
- You're right. What is he doing?
- At this rate, he might lose 1st place… No, he won't. The runner-up just entered the 4th floor.
- What insane speed! He could even take a nap.
While the viewers were questioning his actions, JiHan sighed at the quest that had appeared before him.
"Haa…"
[Hidden Quest]
- Pay proper respect to the conqueror's statue.
[Reward: 5,000 achievement points / Conqueror's Arrow]
'Proper respect?' Does that mean the bow I performed earlier wasn't enough?
JiHan recalled what the conqueror's statue had said.
[Gold's essence is to be stolen, whether it be stealing from someone or having it stolen from you.]
The conqueror had welcomed plunderers.
'The conqueror is the plunderer among plunderers, after all.'
What kind of respect could he show to such a person?
JiHan looked at the statue. It was made of such magnificent gold that it could rival the gold in the room behind it.
No, it was even shinier than the rest of the gold, and what was particularly noticeable was that the arrow it used exuded a strong aura and seemed to be too big for the scale of the statue.
From a human perspective, it looked like a spear.
Logically, the most valuable thing there wasn't the piles of gold bars or the golden statue of the horseman. The most valuable thing was that arrow.
'And if the reward for the hidden quest is the arrow…'
What did he have to do for it?
The answer was already there—he had to make the statue shoot the arrow.
'There are 5,000 achievement points on the line, so this won't be easy.'
Since such an amazing arrow was a reward, the difficulty didn't matter. He had to clear the quest, no matter how.
'Okay… first…'
Sung JiHan used Force to pull the Mage to him.
Grab-
The Mage, who was dragged to JiHan's right hand, was overtaken by a bad premonition.
'Wh-what's going on?!'
Even though he'd lost his chance for the million, he thought he would at least level up thanks to JiHan finishing 1st, but things were taking a strange turn.
"Supreme Plunderer…"
[Supreme Plunderer? Are you talking about me?]
"Yes. I'll show proper respect."
Swoosh!
JiHan threw the Mage toward the conqueror's statue.
"Aaahhh!"
Just when the Mage's body was about to hit the golden horse…
Crunch!
The horse opened his mouth and swallowed the Mage, eliminating him and making him vanish.
- What???
- Why is he doing this when he could just clear it?
- Has he lost his mind?
The viewers had been about to leave because they thought the game was over.
[What are you doing?] The conqueror's statue also seemed confused.
However, JiHan pointed at the statue's arrow with a calm expression on his face.
"The most valuable thing here… isn't all the gold behind that door. It's your arrow."
[Oh…?]
The statue sounded excited at the thought of JiHan trying to take the arrow for some reason.
"So I'm going to take it."
Swoosh-
JiHan gripped the sword he'd taken from the Warrior and declared, "Taking the most valuable thing is how I will show my respect to you, Supreme Plunderer."
[…]
"This is the plunderer's way."
* * *
[Hahahahaha!]
Rumble-!
A laugh echoed through the underground 7th floor.
The neatly piled-up gold behind the statue began cascading down and scattering all over the place, but nobody there was interested in it.
[When you bowed, I thought you were just a petty tomb raider…]
Swoosh-
The statue pointed his bow at JiHan with a completely different atmosphere from when it had made them bow.
The statue's aura suppressed the atmosphere.
[A discerning eye for figuring out the value of things and the desire to steal such things through force. Admirable.]
Explosive energy poured out from the tip of the arrow, and it was soon engulfed in white flames.
The heat gathering around the arrow was tremendous—hot enough to melt the gold bars underneath the horse's hooves.
[Just as you said, that's the plunderer's way! It reminds me of the old days. Yes, you've shown proper respect!]
Creak-
The bowstring reached maximum draw.
[That's why I'll bestow the 'Phoenix Arrow' upon you!]
Befitting its grandiose name, the heat emanating from the arrow filled the entire area.
The statue was saying, 'Grab it if you can.'
Fwoosh-!
The arrow hadn't even left the bowstring yet, but the Warrior and the Archer caught fire and began to burn.
If things went on like that, those two would soon die and vanish.
'I really don't care if they die.'
The problem was that JiHan was holding the Warrior's sword. If he died, the sword would be summoned back with him.
Even he would have a hard time blocking the Phoenix Arrow with his bare hands.
'Geez. Is this something that's even supposed to be completed?'
He'd been surprised when he saw the flesh golems appearing on a defense map, but the situation he was facing was much worse than that.
Not even a Gold League Warrior would be able to block that arrow.
'Once the arrow leaves the bowstring, I won't be able to block it.'
He didn't have much time.
The floor was turning into a sea of fire. If the Warrior died, the weapon would also disappear.
JiHan's sharp gaze focused on the bowstring.
'I need to move first.'
He poured all of his energy into the sword and used Force, which was a mixture of Divine Power and Magic Power, as he also used Ki.
The energies of the three elixir fields intertwined, and the sword looked like it would explode at any moment.
Finally, JiHan used the technique he had been building up to.
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