Chapter 43

Solo Clear – Chapter 43: Stage Six #2

With this, it’ll be the fourth time since I’ve entered the coliseum .
At first, I was eliminated because my body was cut in half .
Next, I was eliminated because I was crushed by the giant’s hand .
During my third attempt, I managed to dodge their attacks, but in the end, they caught me .

The victor was decided within minutes, so I couldn’t feel any pain .
Before my fourth attempt, I couldn’t help but think about it near the entrance of the coliseum .
This is the first time I’ve been defeated like this .
It felt like the fear that I felt in battle was slowly filling my mind .

“I have no choice but to do it . ”

The fact that I didn’t die made me feel better .
No, I was honestly confused whether it was a good thing .

Clank!!

The iron entrance opened and I entered the coliseum .
Just like before, the giant was enveloped in chains, but now, that didn’t seem enough .
Before fighting, Groll broke the chains and was prepared to fight .

“Haaaa . ”

Their sigh was colder than the winter wind and it blew against my skin .

The sun wasn’t warm enough to get rid of this cold .
Ice started forming on the gear that I was wearing .

“Please go easy on me . ”

I built up the courage to ask my opponent to go easy on me .
I didn’t feel embarrassed for saying it .
I’ve already lost three times to this giant to keep my pride .
Making up excuses to my loss only made me look like a coward .

The giant didn’t say anything .
The long conversation that we had in the beginning seemed like a dream .
They only said what they wanted to say and ended the conversation .

It seemed like they didn’t have the intention to listen to what I had to say .
They wielded the large sword once again .
The sword was as big as them, but how were they able to wield it with such a frail body?
It was like a riddle to me, but I wasn’t given the time to solve it .

“The 10-minute challenge will begin . ”

I didn’t notice at first, but a countdown appeared on top of the coliseum .
Fire was used to display the time and it notified that I needed to endure it for that long in order to keep living .
They only allowed me to see that time right before the battle .
Once the battle starts, I won’t be given the opportunity to even glance at it because I’ll be busy dodging .

Clank!!

They cut the ground this time too .
The floor plates that were installed within the coliseum were destroyed and three small pieces were gathered together and formed a wave .
At the start of the battle, I would deal with their attack based on the pattern that I saw .

Shall we try?

I took the Adamantium Sword that was strengthened .
If I added my strength and mana, then I’ll be able to release a power that can split a large army into two .
It was worth trying .
Up till now, I’ve only thought about dodging their attack and for the first time, I decided to attack .

The mana was reacting to my emotions .
A blue energy enveloped the sword just like before .

Clank!!

The giant’s sword and mine clashed .
Their heavy attack made my hands tremble and weakened my knees, which caused me to be pushed back .

Bam!!

I wasn’t able to endure their attack and it flew into the air .
All the muscles in my body started aching and it was like it was telling me that I made the wrong decision .
This was the first time my heart started racing this fast .

Oh…it really hurts .

It would’ve been better if it ended instantly without any pain just like before .

As I flew into the air and was in the process of falling to the ground, I looked at my hand .
My fingers didn’t look like my fingers because they were twisted in different directions .
I only used a small portion of my strength, but it was so painful that there weren’t any words to describe it .

“Roaaaaaar!!”

The giant extended their left hand to try and grab me .
There was still time before my body would hit the floor, but they were already near me .

Crack!!

I added mana to my legs and kicked the hand that was going to grab me .
The distance between me and the giant was small, but thanks to that, I was able to land safely on the ground .
I started cracking my twisted fingers .

It was difficult to place the twisted fingers back to its place .
I just grabbed it and twisted it back into place .

“Gahhh!”

After fixing my index finger, I didn’t think about grabbing my thumb .
On top of that, I had to do my best to dodge the giant’s next attack .

Fwoosh!!

I barely managed to dodge their attack, but I almost fell because of the strong wind that came after .
I took out a bow and arrow from my inventory .
It was hard to balance because of my thumb, but it was a long-distance attack that was advantageous to me .
Even though I haven’t used it after the fourth stage, my body remembered how to use it .
I wasn’t able to target the vital points, but I was able to hit them .
However, despite of them getting hit by several arrows, they didn’t seem bothered by it and that was the problem .

“Grrrr!!”

The giant raised the sword just like the first time .
They were trying to attack by bringing the sword straight down .
It was more like they were trying to crush me rather than slashing me .

Boom .

1/5th of the coliseum was easily destroyed through this one attack .
After seeing how easily the bleachers were destroyed, I wiped off the sweat that was rolling down my forehead .
Damn it, no way I’m going down that easily .

As time passed, my senses became sharper .
I was getting used to the giant’s attacks .

Fwoosh!!

“Ack!!”

While I was boasting a bit, the giant threw something and it caused my legs to be cut into pieces .
When I checked what it was, it was a broken piece from the bleacher .
The giant threw that .
It flew so fast that my senses weren’t able to recognize the attack .
The so called King of the Giant was probably controlled by the Managers for a long time and have weakened as time passed .
But, they were still strong .

If I were to fight him when he’s in perfect condition, one minute probably would’ve felt really long .

They could definitely destroy the human race .

I think I now understood why they had the potential to wipe out mankind .
If a couple of them were released, then for how long could the world endure it?

“Ha ha ha . ”

I started laughing as if I had lost my mind .
The giant approached me and inspected .

“Not…yet . ”

Since my legs were a mess, I couldn’t run away .

I was waiting for them to finish me off .

Boom!!!

“Since you haven’t endured it for 10 minutes, you’ll be moved to the outside of the coliseum . ”

I didn’t want to see how they were going to finish me off .
However, seeing as how it was over with one attack, they probably crushed me .

…Let’s stop .

Whether they crushed me, slashed me or ripped my limbs apart .
It didn’t matter .
Once I was moved to the outside of the coliseum, my body was recovered .
It didn’t matter if I tried again, but the fear inside my heart hindered me .

Let’s stop here today .

It was too much to keep trying after so many failures .
It felt like I would’ve seen all of this again if I fell asleep and dreamed about it .
I avoided the desert wind and sat in front of the entrance .
I took out the blanket that I used during the first stage .
Since it was such a small alley, this was enough to stop the sand from entering .

In order to fill my hunger, I took out the chocolate bar and the milk that was in my inventory .
I took a bite and started chewing .
It didn’t taste any different from before so I didn’t think much of it .
Ah…chocolate is sweet and that was it .
There wasn’t anything else I could do here other than entering the coliseum .
Trying to explore the bare desert was a dangerous thing to do since there wasn’t anything safe about it .
I wasn’t sure if the Return Amulet was broken or if it was something else .

“XXX: The sixth stage’s Nightmare mode is pretty difficult . ”

Through the friend system, I told the other people that I met before .

“Choi In Hyuk: That’s not possible . The giant there didn’t do anything . ”
“XXX: Just leaving them alone would probably kill them and if they did move, they couldn’t do much . ”
“XXX: If you met the giant, then you’ll just pass it . ”

I wondered whether the giant they met and the giant that I met were different creatures .
I didn’t know why they were aggressively attacking me .

I had to try again after I wake up, so I wasn’t sure what to do .
I checked the timer before passing out and saw that only three minutes had passed .
I tried not to think about it, but my eyes slowly started looking at the fingers and the legs that were attacked .
They were healed, but it seemed like they were still injured .
I wasn’t sure how long my mentality could endure it .

“Why am I the only one going through this trouble?”

It was odd how I would face some sort of difficulty in every stage .
It would be weird if things worked out without any issues .
If I think about what was said to me, there could’ve been room to make a deal .
Instead of using my skills, I wondered how it would work out if I just talked things out .
That’s how powerful the giant was .
Despite of me attacking with my sword and arrow, they weren’t really affected by it .

Oh, there’s that too .

I took out the lance from my inventory and it was the same one that I used last time when I was close to killing a Manager .
After it used up all of its power, it lost its form .
It was similar to a branch that was attached to a tree .
The Great Spirit answered that this was the lance’s original form .

“…A branch . ”

The giant told me that I had a branch .
I thought that maybe that’s what the giant was referring to when it mentioned that .

“Gahhh!”

Despite of its form, they still had a habit of eating my mana .
I felt pain as soon as I touched it and it was trying to obtain all of my mana .

“How much mana do you have to eat in order to become a lance again?”

Then, I saw it flinch slightly .

“… . ”

I heard from the Great Spirit that it tends to be dependent on others .
I couldn’t help but question about whether I really saw the weapon flinch .
In the end, I acted like I didn’t see it and moved on .

“Don’t be upset . Weapons should know their place . Weapons like you that collect mana from their owners is something only bad weapons do . ”

Zaaaap!!

It released electricity as if it was mad .
It seemed like I shouldn’t acknowledge the fact that this weapon depends on their owner to get mana .

“Okay, okay . Stop growling and calm down . I’m exhausted so there’s no point in fighting with you . ”

I wasn’t planning on babying it .

They have to depend on others, so there’s no reason to be nice .
The outcome was great after I threw it that one time, but that was it .

“I’ll leave you as is since I’ve taken you out, so if you have nothing else to do, think of a way to finish it without putting me in pain . ”

I was feeling weary and ended up falling asleep .