Chapter 42

Solo Clear – Chapter 42: Life After Returning #5, Stage Six

After the community became a mess, all they talked about that day was the Nightmare stage .
However, it calmed down after that day .
It’s because the people that did normal mode didn’t have any information about it .

“It’s expensive . ”

I gave up on finding out what the Nightmare stage was about .
That place was nothing more than a mode that was more difficult than the normal mode .
Instead, I decided to invest my time in researching things that I thought would be helpful to me .
Like potions that had gave me a buff or an item that had the ability to increase the stat of a weapon .
I was having fun looking through a live online auction website that posted items .

“How well does it perform?”

He talked as if he was asking himself .
The potions had different effects and they all had different colors and below them, there were information written about them .
There were basic effects like offensive effects and defensive effects . There were also potions that increased the resistance effects .
There was another potion that provided both effects, but that was pretty expensive .

“I’ll first pick out a couple . ”

Money wasn’t the only payment method .
They also accept Geny, which can be obtained from the stage .
However, in this case, they require both sides to meet in order to process the transaction .

Beep!!

After sending a purchase request, the seller contacts me through my cellphone .
The message that I received within minutes said that they wanted to meet at the subway entrance .
After wearing the clothes that were scattered on the floor, I exited the motel .

“I’m currently creating a weapon . Once I’m done with it, I’ll send you a picture of it . ”

The manager from the appraisal office sent me a message every day to reassure me .
According to him, everything was going as planned and said that I would be able to receive my pay within 15 days .
I had to live without a place for 15 days .

I arrived on time .
We sent another text to each other to make sure that we both arrived .
I didn’t bother trying to hide my face, but the alchemist was trying to hide theirs .
They were also very cautious when handing over the item .

“Where’s the Geny?”

I opened my inventory and took out the Geny .
A money that contained Geny appeared .
After the alchemist received the bag, they placed it in their inventory and checked the amount .
They nodded to confirm .

“There’s a lot of scammers these days . There are those that even ask for a discount after meeting . ”

I didn’t even ask, but the alchemist started explaining .
They hide their faces because of the alchemy skill that they have .
It seemed like they’ve been bothered by clans and management because they wanted to recruit them .
There’s a good amount that kidnaps them .

“If we stay here any longer, they might follow us . Thank you for purchasing . Please let me know if you would like to purchase again . ”

After saying that, the alchemist quickly walked away .
I checked the remaining Geny in my inventory .
I exchanged the Geny for money and used it to buy a potion today so I didn’t have much left .

“I’m pretty sure I’ve killed a good amount of monsters . ”

I couldn’t even count how many I’ve killed .
However, even if you kill a monster within the stage, it didn’t mean that you obtain Geny every time .
You can sell the item that you obtain from the monster or get paid by taking up quests on the request board .
After I left the fifth stage, I didn’t take care of the items that I obtained from there .
I have never checked the request board either .
“I think selling the green quartz was the most fun . ”

It was a simple trade, but the first stage left the best impression .
In the end, after realizing that I was the only one that survived after that stage, a frown appeared on my face .

“…No . I wonder if Byung Chul is alive as well . ”

During the first stage, Kim Byung Chul wasn’t part of the Undead group that I killed .
There was hope that he was still alive .
I even remembered his clan’s name, which was Wounded Ones .
I decided to look into it later .

My next location was a building that a group of blacksmiths borrowed in order to do business .
Since I already made reservations, I walked past the lobby on the first floor and immediately headed to the second floor .
The second floor had many rooms and I walked into the room that had number three written on it .
When I walked in, a blacksmith was waiting for me .

“Hello . ”

A very healthy male in his late-20’s greeted me .
A bandana was tied around his head and he was only wearing his work pants .
The sweat that rolled down his body made him look manly .

“Hello . ”

I also greeted him by bowing .
I looked around the room .


It was so large that it was a waste for one person to use it all .
I had an idea of how blacksmiths were actually treated in the real world .

“You’re here to strengthen a Rank Five weapon, correct?”
“Yes . ”
“Wow, it must mean that you’re strong if you’re able to wield a Rank Five weapon . I’m jealous . ”
“…Is that so?”
“There are many high-ranked survivors that wield Rank Four weapons and there’s no reason for them to make any requests to us . Rank Five weapons are very rare . ”

As I was listening to their explanation, I took out the Adamantium Sword .
As soon as they saw the sword, the small amount of doubt that was in their eyes disappeared .
They kept on staring at the tip as if they couldn’t believe it .

“Ha ha ha . This is awesome . Wow, where did you get this? I’ve never seen a sword shaped like this before . ”
“Someone gave it to me . As a present . ”

When I mentioned that I got it as a gift, they were at a loss for word and remained silent .
They inspected my expression and scratched their cheek .

“You must be pretty rich…receiving something like this as a gift . ”

The blacksmith’s mischievous voice turned into a whisper .

“I made a mistake . It’s a quest reward . ”
“I…I knew it . Ha ha . ”

He was so curious about it that I explained again on how I obtained the sword .
Thankfully, it seemed like he calmed down a bit, but he treated me more cautiously than before .

“I’ll give you a strengthening stone . ”
“I…it’s fine . It’s better to use what we have, so we’ll just use that . ”
“But the stone is pretty expensive so . ”
“I’m thankful with just being able to touch a Rank Five weapon . ”

Blacksmiths train their skills by strengthening an item .
The more they strengthen, the value of the item increases .
Instead of paying him for his work, they strengthened the weapon for free .
Through this, they were able to train themselves .

Clank, clank!!

Even though he was beating it hard with a hammer, the sword didn’t look any different .
During the process, the blacksmith wiped his sweat with a towel and resumed .

“It’ll increase by eight points . If it goes over 10, it’s possible that it may break . What would you like to do?”
“Make it to the point where it won’t break . ”

After 10 minutes, the blacksmith put on a satisfied smile and returned the sword to me .
The strengthening effect didn’t make much of a difference, but the performance definitely increased .

“I’ll stop again next time . ”
“Oh, are you leaving already? You can stay for a while . ”

I declined his offer to stay longer and walked out of the room .
In the current condition, I’ve finished the necessary inspection .
The next location that I headed to was the tunnel .

I could’ve enjoyed the time that I had in the real world, but in the end, I came back here .
I was only on the sixth stage .
There are rumors that those doing the Normal mode are already going for the 23rd stage .

“Please select between Normal and Nightmare . ”

What I said to the Manager must’ve helped because they asked me to choose the level of difficulty .
I picked Nightmare without any hesitation .
After experiencing the fifth stage, doing the Normal mode was way too easy for me .
On top of that, I had a bit of information regarding the sixth stage’s Nightmare mode .

Choi In Hyuk .
The student that I met at the warehouse shared his information to everyone without any hesitation .
It included information regarding the sixth stage .

“It’s the same type before fighting the boss . However, you cannot clear it just by taking down your opponent and enduring it . Since the boss didn’t really have the will to fight, enduring it wasn’t such a big issue . ”

It didn’t seem like they were lying .
On top of that, others commented on it, so the information was pretty reliable .

“Ha ha ha, even after their chains have been broken, they didn’t wield their sword . ”
“Are there still people that haven’t cleared that stage yet? It’s a stage you can clear just by sucking on your thumb . ”

Their comments served as a confirmation to prove that their information was real .
I chose Nightmare mode .

“You’ll be entering the sixth stage’s Nightmare mode . ”

Tap!
I arrived at a coliseum that was placed in a desolate desert .
Other than that, nothing else existed within that place .
While enduring the grains of sand that was flying in the air, I entered the coliseum .

“A place to seal the enemy that the human race will eventually encounter . In order to survive in the future, you must endure the battle with this opponent . ”

After drinking the potion that I purchased, I walked through the entrance .
As I passed through the door, a giant with chains all over its body was tied down .
Their armor was so weak that with one touch, all of it might fall apart .
Their body was so frail that I couldn’t tell which was their bone and which was their skin .
There was a large sword next to them, but it didn’t look like they had the strength to wield it .
The injuries that they got from the war still haven’t healed .

“Ah…”

They let out a sigh .
They managed to raise their head and look my way .
Their eyes looked so pure that it was hard to believe that they were the one that would destroy the human race .

“… . . ”

They continued looking my way without saying anything .
They were just observing to see when the battle was going to start .

“…Branch . ”

They gathered up their energy and managed to say branch .
It was odd how their hands and feet were trembling .
Even though they didn’t do anything, their breathing was heavy .

“…I waited a long time . Over 100…no, I’ve waited over 1000 years . It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten who I was waiting for . ”

The giant spoke really sadly .
It was so sad that my heart was aching .

“You’re the one that’s going to kill mankind . Meeting you means that my battle with you is approaching . ”

Clank!! Clank!! Clank!!

The giant purposely pulled the chain that was on its body .
I just stood there and watched them break the chain .

“Nothing lasts forever in a world that’s been created, so we’ll be destroying that . Even if we lose, we won’t stop . ”

Clank!!

After breaking the chain, they stood up .
Black smoke rose between the openings of the armor they were wearing .
The giant grabbed the sword that was beside them .

“The King of the Giants, Groll . I’ll show my respect to the one that will become the king of everyone one day . ”

Fwoosh!!

Even though I saw them cutting the ground with their large sword, I couldn’t react .
It was as if what they said had some sort of spell on it, because I couldn’t move away from my current position .
My limbs were cut off .
It happened so suddenly that I couldn’t feel any pain .

[Remaining HP: 1]
“Since you haven’t endured it for 10 minutes, you’ll be moved to the outside of the coliseum . ”

<Life After Returning #5, Stage Six> End .