Kill the Hero

No player believed that hunting monsters would be an easy task. In fact, they usually entered dungeons with a good understanding of the dangers and the probability of death.

Usually, the courage of those players who hunted monsters that were never successfully hunted before, like the Needle Snake, could not be understood by most people.

To not freeze when overwhelmed by despair in the moment of death, but to instead have the courage to scream in its face and fight with all your might.

But there were cases when even this bravery could be shaken.

When they lose a fight?

No.

When they saw their allies being consumed and killed one by one in front of them, that was when the players truly felt the horror of the dungeon.

“Uh…”

This was the situation that Jin Young-ho found himself in. Wearing heavy armor that was almost double his size, Jin Young-ho was a tank. It was the tank’s duty to be the closest to monsters  and as such they usually needed to be even more courageous and resolved than the other players.

And Jin Young-ho’s courage was exemplary.

The moment the Needle Snake rallied, the moment most of the surrounding players grew fearful and fled, he instead chose to attack it, to give the other’s time to escape.

It was a sublime example of his great courage.

Gulp!

However his courage couldn’t help but waver when he saw the other attacking players be gobbled up or poisoned.

Shua!

Soon, the Needle Snake started approaching him and Jin Young-ho’s courage went away altogether.

‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’

He cursed the fact that he would have to feel the pain of being crushed and melted in the stomach of a monster. He couldn’t even expect to be rescued because everyone was afraid of the snake’s poison.

“Ah! Help me! Anyone, save me! I don’t want to die! Ahhh!”

He eventually screamed in despair, but no one came to help him.

“Kuk!”

The poison the Needle Snake emitted first caused the afflicted players to suffer from vomiting, dizziness and paralysis before causing death. Making it hard for the players to fight back after they inhaled it.

Ssss!

The Needle Snake had great confidence in its poison as it leisurely approached its prey, not feeling threatened at all.

It was at that moment.

Puk!

With the sound of something piercing into flesh, one of the Needle Snake’s red spikes once again entered its body.

Kya?

The surprised Needle Snake turned its head in the direction that the spike came from. Standing there was a player who wore a skeleton mask over his face and in his hands was another red spike.

Puk!

A second needle also entered the body of it’s owner. Where the spikes were inserted were not just random spots on the snake’s body, but were instead the holes from which the spikes had been shot from in the first place.

Kya!

It was an attack that the tough skin of the snake could not protect against.

[The Needle Snake has been afflicted with Blood Poison.]

A notification popped up, showing that the attacks were indeed effective. Additionally, the Needle Snake’s poison clearly had no effect on the attacking player.

This was clear evidence that the player was indeed Kim Woo-jin and no one else.

[The Power of Apophis has been activated.]

[You are immune to the Needle Snake’s poison.]

[The Needle Snakes poison has accumulated in your body and increased the strength of Blood Poison.]

No other player in the world could move so freely within such a deadly poison.

Puk!

After taking another spike from his inventory, he once again reunited it with its rightful owner.

It seemed as though he intended to make the needle-less Needle Snake, full of spikes once again.

Needless to say, the Needle Snake wouldn’t just lay there and let him do as he wished.

Kya!

The snake dived toward Kim Woo-jin who put another spike into it, as though he was arranging a bouquet of flowers. The Needle Snake’s body shook and Kim Woo-jin used this chance to run toward its head, reaching into his inventory.

Upon reaching its triangular head, he stabbed the needle in his hand into the Needle Snake’s right eye.

Puk!

There was a gut wrenching sound.

Shaaaa!

A scream filled with pain and anger burst forth from the snake’s mouth as Kim Woo-jin easily retreated from its body.

The real fight was about to begin.

Kung!

The Needle Snake slammed its body on the ground and started to writhe back and forth as if it was trying to get the spikes out of its body.

Kwakwa!

As the snake rolled around, the red bamboo forest was decimated, even rocks and the roots of the bamboo were pulled up. After 30 seconds, an empty plot of land about the size of a school playground was created. Only then did the snake stop writhing.

Shaa! Shaa!

The snake panted slightly. Though it had just started fighting Kim Woo-jin, it hadn’t had time to recover from the fight with the players before.

As it was exhausted, its aura began to weaken, its focus was starting to wane and the range of its poison fog was also reduced.

Puk!

Kim Woo-jin inserted another spike into its body.

Kya!

The snake roared in anger as it was unable to stop this pesky prey. Suddenly, with its one remaining eye, it saw a black Orc skeleton appear, holding a red spike.

Boom!

The skeleton started running towards the Needle Snake.

‘Damn it!’

Ahn Young-jun, the leader of the Needle Snake hunting team, had his face in his hands.

‘It’s over.’

Right now it was hard for him to hide his despair, after all it was a natural reaction.

“How many survived?”

“I don’t know. Everyone is scattered right now.”

“About how much?”

“About thirty people…”

Ahn Young-jun’s snake hunting team had consisted of 71 players. Now, only about 30 of them were still alive and the number could still be less.

“What about those who are still in the poisonous gas?”

“You want to save them? They’re practically dead already.”

Even if they manage to save those players, their numbers wouldn’t surpass 50. If the total number of players on the second floor were combined, there would be 60 of them at most.

Even more bad news was constantly being reported.

“The loss of tanks was heavy.”

“They are the ones who are the least likely to escape the poisonous gas.”

The tanks who stood at the forefront of the battle had suffered the most as a result.

“The next battle will be even more difficult without tanks.”

Fighting such a monster without tank players to absorb damage, was like going to war while naked.

This meant that it would be much harder for them to obtain good results even if they fought with all their might.

It was basically game over.

“Fuck!”

“Fuck!”

The situation was so bad that Ahn Young-jun couldn’t help but curse twice.

It was at this time that someone gave a report.

“There is a player fighting the Needle Snake right now!”

“What?!”

The news was unbelievable and it soon spread among the survivors.

“Does that make sense?”

“What bullshit are you saying?”

Of course no one believed it.

“It’s suicide to go into that poison gas.”

Fighting the Needle snake within a cloud of poison was difficult to imagine.

“Go and take a look! Watch it from a distance!”

Of course, since the Needle Snake’s poison was colorless and odorless one would never be able to tell if one was within its boundaries.

“Ne-, the Needle Snake is running away!”

“What!?”

As it was being pressured in battle once again, the Needle Snake decided to run away.