Chapter 44
It’s been five days since I entered the sixth stage .
And I’ve already tried 30 times .
Maybe they didn’t create this stage so that it can be cleared .
It might be a stage that the Managers created for their own entertainment and find joy from watching the survivors getting trampled over .
It seemed like there were several Managers behind the clouds who were laughing at me .
I’ve experienced several tough stages, but this was the first stage where I felt an ill intent .
“Why only me?”
Whenever I had the time, I asked for advice from people that already completed this stage .
I asked how they managed to clear this dumb stage .
All of the replies were the same .
“You don’t have to do anything . ”
Bullshit .
If I don’t do anything, then the only other option that I have is to lose .
And it wasn’t a peaceful defeat since I would be able to feel pain .
Their advice didn’t help me one bit .
After that, I spent a lot of time by myself researching .
There were times when I would rush in with determination to bring down the giant .
Other times I would continuously dodge their attacks until the timer hit zero .
Currently, I thought these two methods were the only methods I could use to clear the stage .
I grabbed my sword and bow and walked in with the intent of clearing this stage .
The giant looked at me with a lonely expression .
I couldn’t really feel sorry for it even though I’ve seen it several times already .
After thinking about how many times they cut me down, it made it harder for me to feel that way .
The counter caught on fire .
At the same time, the giant grabbed their sword and I spoke .
“Isn’t it enough? Please move aside . ”
“…That’s impossible . ”
The giant answered in a way that said they weren’t going to change their mind .
Their eyes looked determined and it looked like they weren’t going to move away .
However, they might be expecting something else deep inside .
There’s a saying that one is able to look into the opponent’s heart by crossing swords and without exchanging any words .
I think I just experienced that .
While fighting, I saw an odd illusion .
The coliseum was a castle and the chained up giant was sitting on a throne .
And around them, there were a lot of subjects that were bowing to them .
I vividly experienced this illusion in my dream .
For two days, I kept on dreaming about how the giant kept on destroying me .
But on the third day, I started dreaming about something else .
I was the king in that place .
It was a land that didn’t have any vassals that supported the king and only had subjects .
Despite of sitting on a throne, which represented authority, my heart was empty .
As the king, I punished the enemies for the subjects .
I had absolute power and whenever I returned victoriously, that’s when the subjects cheered .
The throne that I was sitting in was nothing more than an empty shell .
I was able to keep this false crown by swinging my large sword and protecting my subjects .
I was really angry at myself .
No, I was mad at the giant’s actions to be exact .
In my opinion, I think they were an evil group that didn’t deserve to be protected .
The only reason why they made the giant the king was for their own protection .
Surprisingly, the giant shed a tear after seeing the dead subjects .
It was an emotion I just couldn’t understand .
I would’ve felt satisfied and cheered after seeing the downfall of those despicable humans .
Why was this giant crying for them?
They could throw away the responsibilities they had as the king and live freely .
After losing what I had to protect, I stood on top of the castle, which was now in ruins .
The solitude that I felt was a feeling that was difficult for me to even imagine .
When the loneliness started to subside, revenge filled the giant’s heart .
Despite of being the only one left in the city, they were waiting for the day they would sit on the throne again .
They said they would use their sword against the ones that put this land in this state .
I didn’t know why the giant was in this current situation, but .
I knew that they were definitely doing this for their subjects .
I spoke with a hardened expression .
“They didn’t deserve protection . ”
The giant refused to have any conversations during battle, but for the first time, they flinched .
I guess they caught on to the fact that I was talking about the time when they ruled over the land as the king .
“You already knew about it . They were afraid of the attacks from other countries and they used you as a shield, so why?”
“…Yes . I already knew of it . ”
The giant smiled .
The helmet showed their face and for the first time, I saw them smile .
“Despite of the fact that the throne had no meaning, I ascended and sat on it . ”
“I don’t understand . In my point of view . ”
I shook my head .
I grabbed the sword’s handle and pointed at the giant .
“You’ve been chained up and imprisoned here . Is this for them too?”
The giant smiled once again and didn’t answer .
I jumped up high and brought my sword down .
I succeeded in putting a small injury on his cheek .
Swoosh, swoosh .
I’ve seen enough of their attacks that I was able to dodge them by looking at them .
It felt like I’ve gained an enormous amount of experience by putting my life on the line and repeating the battle several times .
Boom!!
I easily dodge the attack when it hit the ground .
No matter how strong the opponent is, with enough experience, new methods are bound to be created .
The giant was having a hard time catching me and were shocked by it .
“Grr . ”
When I use the mana strengthening skill, I tend to use it on weapons .
I pushed aside my usual fighting methods and use a different method .
It was using the mana on my entire body and strengthening it .
I was pretty satisfied with the result .
My movements suddenly became fast and it actually took quite a while to get used to it .
In this condition, I would be able to increase my chance of dodging .
In this tiring game of catch, for the first time, I had the advantage .
“Five minutes remaining . ”
When compared to the first time, this was amazing progress since I managed to dodge for five minutes .
However, I couldn’t be satisfied with just this .
I would have to dodge for the remaining five minutes in order to clear this stage .
My senses were changing within seconds .
“I’m able to see through all of your attacks . No matter how you attack next time, I’ll make sure to dodge it . ”
Now that I was able to relax a bit, the sorrow that filled within me was released by provoking the giant .
However, the perseverance was just as strong as the giant’s iron wall, so I wasn’t able to scratch that .
“Rooooooooar!!!”
The giant loudly roared .
Even though I quickly covered my ears, it entered my ears and it started ringing inside my head .
It was so loud that it shook the ground .
The giant stopped crying and struck the sword into the ground .
The giant suddenly clapped their hands together .
The giant extended his hand out towards me, but it wasn’t enough to reach me .
Instead, they created an odd shape with their fingers .
They carefully bent their fingers as if they were preparing something and then straightened them again .
Grrrrrrr .
I was standing on the bleachers and I heard something boiling beneath me .
It was getting nearer at a fast rate .
I knew I had to get away and right when I was about to distance myself .
“Rooooooooar!!”
It was decapitated so badly that my arm was barely hanging on to my body .
I thought completely cutting it off was a lot better since it was barely attached .
When blood started pouring out, I started feeling light-headed .
I couldn’t endure this since I would die within two minutes due to excessive bleeding .
In order to stop my body from losing more blood, I used mana to delay it for a little bit .
Grrrrrrrrr .
I heard it again .
Dodging it was easy if you know that it was coming up from the ground .
It was to jump as high as you can .
With that thought in mind, I gathered all of my energy and jumped .
The giant looked at me with a blank expression after seeing me jump higher than him .
The giant might be imagining themselves attacking me right after I land .
Hm?
The giant was maintaining the same shape with their hands .
There was no way to attack me with the magic they just used .
Grrrrrrr!!
As I expected, a rock shot out of the area that I was just standing in .
However, it didn’t stop there . It kept on building on top of each other as if it were creating a tower .
The stone was now where I was .
It immediately started attacking me .
“Ack!!”
It wasn’t difficult to dodge the attack mid-air .
It might be different if I had wings, but changing my position was the difficult part .
The stone landed on the ground and seconds later, jumped right back up .
I couldn’t dodge it this time .
It cut deep into my side .
“Gah!!”
The short time that I was in the air felt really long .
“Damn . ”
I just happened to land right in front of the giant .
The injury was really serious, so running wasn’t an option .
“2:43 minutes remaining . ”
Should I be satisfied by the fact that I hit a new record?
For the first time, I had three minutes left .
I also found out that the giant was able to control the ground at will .
“…You did well . ”
The giant softly spoke as if I was a student .
I was honestly a little bit happy about the fact that the giant acknowledged me .
“I really thought you were going to fail this time . ”
I felt bitter and maybe it was because they hurt my pride .
But I wasn’t thinking about giving up now .
I was able to come this far because I attempted several of times .
That’s why I probably believed that this defeat would become the stepping stone in my growth .
No, I had to believe it .
My mind needed something to depend on and I was able to obtain it after attempting this stage many times .
It was a sense of accomplishment .
I hit another record .
Even a second was good .
If it decreased every second, then the timer will eventually hit zero .
I was also able to acknowledge the fact that I was getting stronger as I continuously fought the giant .
I raised my index finger .
“I’ll be back . You’ll eventually get tired of me . ”
“…Come anytime . ”
Boom!!
My 31st try also ended in me surrendering to the giant .
But this wasn’t the first time I fell flat on my face .
Again and again .
Humans are able to grow tremendously after they fall and get back up again .
Let’s not let go of this strand of hope .
<Stage Six #3> End .
Staff :
Jen (TL)
Kuhaku (PR)
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