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n117. Hidden Boss Mimic = ? (3)

nAfter leaving the dungeon, I jumped up into the air by kicking the ground below my feet.

nEven for a simple jump, it was important that I controlled how much force I outputted.

nAnyone could probably tell from the amount of strength stats I had, as a lack of control could cause me to waste a lot of time coming back down to the ground.

nJust as Ho Yeong said, the level 39 portal wasn’t that far away.

nIt was a distance I could cover in a single leap.

nI looked towards Jong Ho and spoke.

n“Ah…. It can’t be helped. Don’t misunderstand.”

n“Huh? What?”

n“Hey! You sure I won’t fall?”

n“No. It can’t be helped though. Just stay still for a bit?”

n“Why are you hugging me tight! It’s creepy! Go away!”

n“Oho! Are we not brothers! Bro! It’ll only take a second.”

n“What do you mean brothers! Siblings aren’t supposed to be this affectionate towards each oth… AHH!”

nHugging Jong Ho tightly, I jumped up into the air.

nI was able to move quickly thanks to my 3 million strength stat, but Jong Ho could not.

nIt was to be expected, since he invested most of his stats on stamina.

nJumping like this to move around was the most efficient method of travel to hunt.

nI didn’t really like this method though.

nSince he had never traveled this fast before, he let out a strange scream.

nHis strange cry for help didn’t last long, however.

nIt was because we had arrived at the level 39 dungeon in the blink of an eye.

n“Whew! Hey, before you pull a stunt like that, let me know first.”

n“Time is?”

n“Gold.”

n“Okay. Let’s go in.”

n“Are we going to do the same thing to get to the level 40 dungeon?”

n“Is there another way?”

n“Ah…. I have goosebumps.”

n****

n“Yeah! That’s right! This is a real dungeon.”

nUnlike the level 38 dungeon where I felt claustrophobic due to the narrow passage, the level 39 dungeon’s interior made me cheer out loud.

nOut of all the dungeons I’ve seen so far, this dungeon was the largest.

nLike cracks in an iceberg, the floor had crevices here and there.

nIf I did fall into the crevices between red ground, I had a feeling that it would lead to the demonic realm.

nThat’s how deep and dark each crevice was.

nThe walls had rocks that glowed in many bright colors embedded in them.

nIf these stones were processed, they wouldn’t lose to any precious gems found on Earth in terms of the beautiful colors they gave out.

nI was lost for a moment in the beauty the dungeon had.

nJong Ho spoke.

n“What do you mean it’s good that the dungeon is large. It just means that it’ll take longer to clear it.”

n“Even so, the last dungeon was too much. It was so cramped, I felt trapped.”

n“Is that so? Well, how do you wanna go about this? Like usual, from the direction of 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock?”

n“Hm… No. I can see everything from here.”

n“Ah, is that so?”

n“Will hyung-nim wait here?”

n“Are you gonna draw all their aggro and bring them to me?”

n“Yes. There aren’t that many monsters here. About 20 or so?”

n“Then go ahead. But you know that magical attacks don’t work on them? Before you draw all their aggro, kill one or two before you do so. There’s a possibility that these monsters are different from what we’ve faced before.”

n“As expected. You really are a pro. Understood!”

n“Stop teasing me and get going!”

n“Yes!”

n****

n“Kirick! Kiririck!”

n“Kirick. Kirick.”

n“Huh?”

nI ran towards where they were.

nI could immediately see their forms.

nThere were two of them.

nHowever, I felt as though I’ve seen them before.

nEye of Insight skill informed me that they were called Jewel Goat.

nIt also allowed me to see their weaknesses, which was their head and two legs.

n“Where have I seen them before….”

n“Kiri!”

nThe Jewel Goats did not give me much time to think, as they charged at me with drool spilling out as soon as they saw me.

nWhen the spittle hit the floor, it gave off white smoke.

n‘Is it the same poison as the one that the Poison Naga gave off when I defeated it?’

nJust in case, I casted Mana Shield, Iron Skin, and Holy Block.

nUnless my enemy was a hidden boss like the archmage Lich King, they could not get through my Mana Shield.

nOn top of that, since I was wearing Titan Boots, I was immune to all forms of status effects.

nBeing poisoned was included in the list of immunities.

nHowever, by some unknown instinct, I wanted to avoid that toxic liquid at all cost.

nThe Jewel Goat came close and exhaled black smoke out of its nostrils.

nAfterwards, it raised a halberd roughly 2m in size above its head.

nThe halberd was similar to the walls of the dungeon, with many gems embedded in it.

nI could see great destructive force that was hidden behind its beauty.

n“KIRIIICK!”

nA crevice opened up where I stood due to its attack.

nIt was only 1m wide.

nIt seemed that all those crevices were caused by these Jewel Goats.

nThe new crevice was smaller than the others though.

nThe two Jewel Goats began to charge me again once more.

nLooking at them, I immediately remembered.

n“I remember! You arrogant goats that walk on two legs!”

n“Kiri!”

nIt was in the level 1 dungeon.

nThey looked identical to the Black Goat that I met in the first dungeon I entered after becoming an Awakened.

nThey were of the same size, and even the weapons they used were halberds.

nThe only differences were that it had greater destructive capability and spat out poison.

nUsing Eye of Insight, I was able to see that those two legs that were far too weak to support the rest of the body was their weaknesses.

nI had felt instinctively that their legs were the weak points when I fought against the Black Goats as well.

nUsing Frost Orb, I had prevented them from moving by attacking their legs.

nI felt that despite them being monsters from the level 39 dungeon, they would be easy to face.

n“Walking on two legs don’t suit you monsters. Walk on four!”

nI used Formless Sword Aura with my Butcher’s Sword and swung at their legs.

nAfter swinging my sword, it sounded as if the air was being cut.

nIt meant that I swung the sword faster than the speed of sound, breaking the sound barrier.

n“KIIII!”

nThe monsters had raised their halberds to attack me when I had gotten near them to strike with my sword.

nHowever…

nThey weren’t able to even perceive their legs being cut off.

nWith that kind of attack, it was to be expected.

nTheir massive bodies fell to the ground.

nWith their legs that had supported their massive weight gone, they couldn’t help but fall.

nThey also dropped their halberds next to their heads.

nThe only thing left to do was to smash their heads in.

n“Kind of a let down for being a dungeon level 39 monster. Isn’t that so?”

n“Kirick!”

n“Right…. Even the look in your eyes are the same as what I saw before. It was a look that made me hesitate for a bit.”

n“Kirick!”

nDespite falling on the floor, they swung their halberds to try killing me till the very end.

nBut…. I am a bit weaker now. A lot weaker!

nTheir eyes were strained red, and the air that came out of their noses were enough to shake the ground.

nI swung down my sword onto their heads without a moment of hesitation.

nI thought to myself that they were a lot easier than what I had expected.

nHowever, as if to prove me wrong, things became more complicated immediately.

nThe Jewel Goat’s body exploded all of a sudden, covering the area nearby its corpse with green thick smog.

nIt was too flashy to just call it a visual effect caused by their deaths.

nI distanced myself and observed the effect from far away.

nAfter the brief moment, the smog began to melt both the walls and floors that it came in contact with.

nIt even melted the gems embedded in the walls, melting down into a pool of colors.

nOn top of that, it melted a hole in the ground, similar to the other crevices already there. The hole seemed go down without end.

n“So it’s trying to deal damage even after death? That seems quite dangerous.”

nThe corpse exploded, expelling toxic liquid in roughly a 10m circle.

nDue to two of them exploding near each other, I couldn’t tell the exact distance each explosion covered separately.

nLeaving their corpses behind, I ran towards the red dots.

nI had said that I would bring the monsters to Jong Ho, but after finding out that they explode, I couldn’t do so anymore.

nI did not have any skills that gave shields to others.

nI used the same method to take down another Jewel Goat and confirmed that the poison smug covered a 10m distance.

nThat made me conclude that it was the best to grab all their aggro and take them out in one go.

nAnd just in case, it was probably best to not get them anywhere near Jong Ho.

nBefore I drew all their aggro, I headed to Jong Ho to let him know of the current situation first.

n“Oh. You came back?”

n“Yes.”

n“What. Are the monsters here stealthed as well? Why don’t I see any?”

n“No. You know the Black Goats that appear in the level 1 dungeon?”

n“Of course. That’s obvious. I think I spent two entire months hunting them.”

n“It seems that enemies called Jewel Goats that look exactly like Black Goats appear in this dungeon.”

n“Yeah.”

n“But when they die, they explode, expelling toxic fumes.”

n“…..”

n“The reason why the floor has holes is because of that poison.”

n“Is that so?”

n“Yes. I think it’s better for me to solo clear this level 39 dungeon.”

n“Yeah. Doesn’t matter to me. As long as I’m in the dungeon, I get experience either way.”

n“Yes. Since there aren’t that many monsters, it won’t be of much help to you in gathering stat points.”

n“Alright, I get it. Go ahead.”

n“Yes. If you see any green smog, cast shields on yourself. It’s poison. And use spells like Meteor with massive spell effects to signal me.”

n“Okay.”

n“I’ll be going then.”

n“Alright.”

n****

n“Kiii.” “Kirick!”

nI gathered all the remaining Jewel Goats in the dungeon.

nI tried to cut apart one of their bodies to prevent an explosion of their corpse, but it was impossible.

nNo matter the method I used to defeat them, they would explode regardless on death.

nIf magical attacks worked on them, I would at least be able to encase them in Iceberg.

nHowever, thanks to their special passive, hunting them was easy.

nWhen I grouped them up, I just had to kill one of them to take the rest out.

nAfter all, exploding one of them would melt the rest.

nAfter they perished, they would behind a huge hole where they once stood.

n“It’s the same with the level 38 dungeon. Are these dungeons not going to drop any bloodstones? Or do I have to travel down this hole to pick up the stones?”

nFor some strange reason, both Iron Golems and Jewel Goats did not drop any bloodstones.

nThis wasn’t the case with all the monsters I’ve met up till this point.

nThe drop rate wasn’t high, but they did drop at a certain rate.

nSince money wasn’t really important to me, it didn’t matter that much.

nHowever, it did leave me a bit disappointed.

nAfter taking down all the monsters I’ve grouped up, I spun around on the spot to see if there were any I had missed.

n“I think I’ve got them all.”

nJust like that, I was about to head to the entrance where Jong Ho was.

nBefore I jumped up into the air, I heard a sound that sent shivers up my spine behind me.

nIt was the sound of hooves.

nThe sound of a gem embedded halberd dragging across the ground could be heard.

n“What. Are there still Jewel Goats left?”

nI turned around and saw that a Jewel Goat was standing there.

nNo.

nA massive hidden boss named Goat King was before me.

n“Guess I’ll be setting up a tent in front of this dungeon.”

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