Everlast Ruins
"...Wow, they really made this to kill people, huh."
I muttered blankly as I smeared a potion along my side.
The spot where the arrowhead had struck and been pulled out healed almost instantly, but the shock of being hit for the first time was no joke.
Just when I was getting confident after deliberately triggering traps and dodging them well enough—
two arrows suddenly shot out together.
I knew such a pattern existed, of course, but I didn't know when it would appear…
Thwack!
"Uwah! Aaaagh!"
I managed to dodge one arrow, but the other buried itself deep in my side.
For an instant, the pain was so intense it blacked out my vision.
[Status Ailment: "Severe Pain" has been inflicted.]
Whoa, so this is what it feels like?
The "Severe Pain" status ailment slows movements and disrupts concentration, making it hard to activate skills that require focus.
But the "Severe Pain" I was feeling wasn't just a status effect—it was literally so agonizing that I could barely breathe, let alone cast a skill.
Well, I guess that means it's being perfectly applied!
At that very moment, as I writhed in agony—
[Fate "Mercenary Gladiator" resists the status ailment "Severe Pain."]
The pain instantly subsided.
As if guided by instinct, I straightened up and grabbed hold of the arrow lodged in my side.
Next moment—
"Urgh!"
Schk.
I yanked it out—smoothly and decisively, even to my own surprise.
Ting.
"...?"
I stared dumbly at the arrow rolling on the floor before snapping back to reality. I opened my inventory and hurriedly applied a hemostatic.
'Right. I had the Gladiator trait.'
Back in my days as a slave gladiator, I never bled this much, so I'd never used it—but this trait, resistance to bleeding injuries, was unique to the gladiator class.
Also known as the "Fast Adrenaline" trait.
It adjusts adrenaline efficiency in crisis situations to rapidly reduce pain.
As a card's rank increases, additional special abilities like this are unlocked.
Well, at C-rank, it's just this "Fast Adrenaline."
"Even with the trait, it still hurts like hell."
After pulling out the arrow and finishing slathering on a healing potion, I carefully stowed the remaining vials in my inventory.
Being able to store leftover potions like this—that's one thing that differs from the original game.
'Nice, I can actually ration them.'
I didn't have an infinite supply, so wasting them wasn't an option.
Anyway…
'So, the arrow pattern's getting more complex now?'
That meant the dungeon's guardians would start appearing soon.
By overall dungeon progress, I'd say I was just under 20% in.
'In the game it took about ten minutes to get here, but it feels like I've been at it for two hours.'
Can't be helped.
It was a game back then. This time, it's not.
So naturally, I had to advance as safely as possible.
'Which means—it's time to test that skill.'
The moment I took a step forward—
Ziiing—
The magic circle drawn on the ceiling reacted.
It sensed my movement and began to glow with a dangerous red light.
'Two arrows again?'
As if answering my thought, arrow slits opened on both sides.
'In that case—'
I activated Request of the Gale—and at the same time, another skill.
I instantly felt my inventory grow lighter.
…Maybe just my imagination?
[Evasion Skill: Request of the Gale]
[Defense Skill: Request of Gold Ingots]
Swish!
I narrowly dodged one arrow that came for my shoulder.
But—
Shhk!
The other one—aimed for my legs—wasn't so easy.
It was positioned at just the right angle to strike my shin.
That's exactly why I needed this skill.
Request of Gold Ingots.
Tsssss…
A sensation of hardening spread from my fingertips and toes.
It felt as though my skin was turning to stone—solid and unyielding.
A faint golden sheen glimmered across the back of my hand.
That was the effect of the skill Request of Gold Ingots.
'The most mercenary-like skill there is.'
And honestly, one that made me shudder to use.
Twaang!
The arrow should have pierced my leg—but instead, it bounced off with a metallic clang.
Only a shallow cut remained on my shin.
My skin hadn't just withstood the impact—it repelled it.
That was the power of this skill.
"Damn, that's some serious defense."
[Defense Skill] A skill exclusive to the Mercenary Gladiator. Consumes gold coins to negate incoming damage. The amount of gold consumed scales geometrically with the amount of damage prevented. There are no time restrictions on use.
In short, it's a skill that burns your money to cast an absolute defense.
So straightforward that no further explanation is needed.
"Capitalism be praised."
There's not even a cooldown!
[Skill usage has incurred a cost.]
[4.75 gold coins deducted!]
As long as I had money, I could tank arrows like that and only get a scratch!
Once activated, my entire skin hardened like armor—no need for control.
'And I don't even feel the pain?'
So no flinching, either!
Totally broken, right? Absolute profit!
'Absolute profit, my ass!'
I wanted to slap the sweet little voice in my head.
Read the fine print!
[The gold consumption scales geometrically with the damage negated.]
Not linear.
Not squared.
Geometric.
Meaning—the more damage I blocked, the more my gold cost skyrocketed exponentially.
Sure, it was 4.75 gold now, but later? It could be tens of thousands.
Maybe even hundreds of millions of gold coins.
'Just to block a single hit?!'
As the game's scenario progressed, the strength of the enemies I'd face would increase accordingly—
and that's exactly how this "balance" worked out.
There's absolutely no way I can afford this cost.
Once you're past level 20, you'd probably go bankrupt in a single use.
If you don't have enough gold coins, the remaining difference gets taken directly as damage.
A truly double-edged skill.
'It's only useful in the early stages.'
And now that I'm well past that stage, it's become a last-resort skill for me.
The section made entirely of traps is about to end, and the guardians will soon appear.
It'll be something I can use in a truly critical situation.
So for now, I need to master how to use it properly before moving on.
[Using this skill will incur a cost.]
[8.75 gold coins have been deducted!]
...Should I just seal this thing right now?
Am I seriously going to go bankrupt just clearing this dungeon?
The first trap-only section of the dungeon "Sealed Passage of the Tomb Ruins" finally came to an end.
During that time, I'd practically mastered the art of dodging arrows.
Thanks to that, I gained a very clear understanding of "The Gale's Commission."
And as for "The Gold Ingot Commission"…
"178.85 coins."
That was the exact number of gold coins I'd spent getting through the first section.
"Ughhh!"
My hard-earned money!
All that bleeding I tried to avoid—turned into liquid gold flowing away!
Looking at the visibly thinner bundle of gold coins, I couldn't help but groan.
Worked like a dog, spent like one too.
'Still, it can't be helped.'
Right now, I needed to use every skill I had and grow as quickly as possible.
I had to prepare for actual combat.
'The guardians are about to show up.'
I steadied my breathing and stepped forward.
Srrng.
The Ordinary Steel Sword slid out from my waist.
Until now, I'd only fought lifeless traps—dodging, blocking, surviving.
'But from here on out, I have to attack back.'
The real enemies appear.
'If I can't kill them, I die.'
The weight of the steel filling my palm made that reality crystal clear.
As I stepped past the invisible threshold, holding both torch and sword—
KWAUUUUUUUUNG!
A violent metallic roar erupted from the darkness.
Its owner soon revealed itself from within the shadows—
A humanoid monstrosity forged from half steel and half clay.
Its eyes gleamed an eerie blue light.
This was the guardian of the dungeon—the Puppet Warrior.
I swallowed dryly.
'That presence… it's vicious.'
But there was no reason to cower.
The Puppet Warriors in this sealed area ran on weakened protective magic—
In other words, downgraded versions.
Proof of that: even after it unleashed a suppression skill, Howling, no status effects triggered on me.
No reason to hesitate.
'Level-wise, it's only around 12 or 13.'
More than enough of a gap to overturn.
"…Alright, let's do this."
As I activated my skill, I kicked off the ground and charged forward.
This time I used the first form of Haewoo Swordsmanship—
The very technique I'd used when dueling Marquis Reut.
[Offensive Skill: Sword Strike, First Form]
Kwagagagagak!
Our blades clashed, shrieking with sharp metallic friction.
Then I moved instinctively—
Dodging direct confrontation, turning the enemy's strength against him.
That was the essence of Flow Redirection, the principle I'd learned from my duel with Marquis Reut.
The additional effect woven into the sword technique activated seamlessly.
Swish.
I deflected the warrior's sword and dashed into its guard.
The next instant, my heavy fist slammed squarely into its torso.
[Offensive Skill: Straight Punch, Short Form]
Thud…!
No mana used, yet the impact was powerful enough to send it flying backward.
"Tch."
But I loosened my wrist with a quiet click of my tongue.
Because as my swordsmanship's hit-point guidance flashed across my senses, I realized something.
"Failure. Total failure."
The attack had looked good—but it hadn't done any real damage.
"Grrrrrr…"
The Puppet Warrior rose unscathed, proving my point.
In other words, Flow Redirection hadn't triggered properly.
Back when I fought the Marquis, if I'd countered his force with a full 100 percent—
'Now it's maybe 7? 8 at best?'
Efficiency scraping the floor.
There were several reasons why.
'First, there's no sword-type affinity bonus when fighting monsters.'
'Second, their attack patterns are random, so hit-point targeting is unreliable.'
And most importantly—
'…This isn't a duel where knocking away the opponent's sword ends the fight.'
This wasn't a duel. It was a battle.
A fight to the death against a monster intent on killing me.
So the very purpose of redirecting its power had to change.
'This time, it's not about deflecting the sword—it's about breaking it and cutting off the head.'
When our blades met, I'd aimed for its neck.
But the path never opened.
There was no clear timing or movement route to strike the neck cleanly—so I had to give it up.
'That's my current limit.'
Failing to deal a critical hit made that plain as day.
...I needed growth.
Not just my own growth, of course—
'But the growth of the Haewoo Swordsmanship itself.'
At that moment, I deeply understood—
I had to feed experience into the S-rank sword art I possessed.