Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 17 –  Another Addiction

—–CROW—– 

The Tower of Trials had a system very similar to RPG games.

And an indispensable element of RPG games was magic. Magic existed in the Tower of Trials.

Right now, there was a magic wand stored in my inventory. Although it was useless.

However, magic as an element properly appeared from the 3rd floor and above.

Below that, not only could you not find a job change to a magician or obtain magic skills, but you couldn’t even meet monsters that used magic.

But for a mere 2nd-floor field boss to use elemental attacks, where had it sold its conscience?

“Damn it!”

Lobo’s charge, imbued with blazing flames. With my feet bound by Blanca, I could neither evade nor defend.

I tried to twist my body to avoid it, but in the end, my shoulder was badly bitten.

-Whoosh!

A savory smell of burning meat rose from my shoulder, and an unfamiliar burning pain surged.

I remembered a post I saw in the community a long time ago, ‘Let’s find out the ranking of pain.jpg’.

I think the pain of unprepared childbirth was 3rd, and the pain of having limbs severed was 2nd.

And I remembered that the burning pain of being on fire took 1st place. Now that I felt it, it seemed about right.

Damn, it hurt like hell.

But it just hurt. I wouldn’t die from this. And I had no intention of just being roasted like this.

-Crunch!

As if to tear off my entire shoulder, Lobo shook its head with its teeth embedded.

I grabbed Lobo’s face with one hand, and with the strength in my legs, I forced myself to endure the shaking.

Then I stored the frozen shield in my inventory, which was bitten by Blanca’s teeth, and grabbed Lobo’s face with my other hand as well.

“Arghhhhhh!!”

With all my might, I lifted Lobo’s entire body.

Lobo’s eyes shook in bewilderment as it was being held by its shoulder. You bastard, you didn’t expect this, did you?

“This… is the power of 62 strength, you mutt!”

-Thud!

I threw Lobo’s lifted body upside down to the ground. Lobo jumped up and corrected its posture.

And I was faster at taking out a new weapon from my inventory and thrusting it than Lobo was at correcting its posture.

-Stab!

The deeply thrust sword triggered a critical hit and burst with a red effect. It landed properly.

I wanted to finish it off like this, but Blanca, with its blue glint, pounced again from the left.

I reached out my left arm to block it, but I realized that I had put my shield in my inventory.

“Argh, damn it!”

Like an idiot, I had just offered my arm. The cold energy from Blanca’s teeth froze my left arm.

As a sign of frostbite, red spots spread even to areas not directly bitten. And damn it, the sensation was strange.

My left arm quickly became numb. It felt like my arm was gradually disappearing in real time.

“Ugh, you dog…!”

I tried to shake off Blanca by shaking my arm, but my freezing arm didn’t obey.

If burns were painful, frostbite was terrifying. From where Blanca’s teeth had dug in, a crackling- or some kind of sound started.

Was it freezing to the bone? If I pulled Blanca off now, my left arm might come off with it.

I didn’t want to become a one-armed cripple in a place like this.

But damn it, if I just stayed like this, I would just get bitten and die. Screw this, damn it.

-Crunch!

I forcibly pulled my frozen arm, dragging Blanca with it, and then stabbed my sword into its neck.

This time too, a red effect indicating a critical hit burst out. Its defense seemed to be weak in exchange for its high attack power.

I twisted the embedded sword with my wrist. Even with its insides being gouged out, Blanca didn’t let go of my left arm.

So even if it died here, it was going to tear off my arm? You damn dog, you goddamn wolf!

[You have acquired Passive Skill: Frost Resistance Level 1.]

“Huh?”

The moment I saw the blue notification window that appeared before my eyes, the anxiety and pain that had been rushing in vanished cleanly.

Frost Resistance skill. The name was so intuitive that I could roughly guess its effect.

The corners of my mouth automatically rose. At some point, I was grinning without realizing it.

“Alright, you bastard, let’s see who wins.”

Even I thought I was crazy, but it didn’t matter anymore.

****

Blanca’s life didn’t last long after the sword was stuck in its neck.

As soon as Blanca died, Lobo rushed at me as if enraged, but it wasn’t a particularly big threat.

I dragged my battered body and beat Lobo to death, and soon a notification window appeared announcing the field boss clear.

[Clear Reward: You have acquired ‘Wolf King’s Fang’ and ‘Experience’.]

[Maximum Contribution Reward: You have acquired ‘Frost-Imbued Fang’.]

[Last Hit Reward: You have acquired ‘Passive Skill – Flame Resistance’.]

Since it was a field boss, there was no first clear reward, but I obtained a new passive skill.

I had cursed at it for being a mere 2nd-floor field boss using elemental attacks, but seeing the skill I received as a reward, I was convinced.

Resistance passives usually had a late acquisition timing and high acquisition difficulty, so it was common to secure them through item options.

To think I could get two of them at such an early timing. This was a huge stroke of luck.

“No, is it luck?”

I looked down at my tattered left arm, which was dripping with blood.

Even though I poured a lot of potions on it, this wound showed no signs of healing quickly. This was why elemental attacks were tricky.

Without the relevant resistance, not only was the damage greater than normal wounds, but the recovery speed was also very slow unless you had a dedicated potion.

HP: 213/660

In fact, my HP was still like this. The Indomitable skill I had just acquired was already activating.

In terms of overall specs, they were inferior to the Goblin Lord, but I had almost died.

The reasons were simple.

It happened to be a boss type where two made a pair, and their stat distribution was extreme.

Those two variables were fatal to me as a solo player.

Frankly, if a level 15 warrior had tanked for just a moment, I could have won without getting hurt much.

And I had reacted too sensitively to the unfamiliar pain of burns and frostbite.

If I had fought calmly instead of struggling and cursing, the result might have been better.

This wasn’t something to just brush off as luck or misfortune.

I was able to win because of the effort I had accumulated, and I suffered these injuries because the effort I had accumulated was insufficient.

I shouldn’t forget today’s events, and I should remember them as a lesson for the future.

****

After waiting for my arm to heal, I organized the loot in my inventory and returned to the safe zone.

The shepherd girl was already asleep in front of the campfire, breathing softly.

Was it okay to sleep so close to the fire? Wouldn’t she die from inhaling smoke?

“Well, it’s none of my business.”

The shepherd dog called Flanders was also lying flat next to the girl, sleeping, so there probably wouldn’t be any problems.

If there was any danger, that smart dog would do something.

Anyway, I had planned to head straight to the village since I had killed all the wolves… but should I rest first?

I had been deliberately avoiding rest, but honestly, my condition was too bad right now. I had been fighting non-stop for a long time.

I took out a white roll from my inventory and munched on it.

It was a bit ambiguous to sleep, so I thought I would fill my stomach and browse the community.

Of course, I wasn’t going to browse and post nonsense like in the old days, but to gather information.

[Is there really nothing to do on the 22nd floor?]

[Who the hell put a +9 katana on the auction house?]

[Looking for a bow recommendation for the 30th floor]

[The boss gimmick is just f*cking unpleasant]

[Is the difficulty of the 66th floor boss for real?]

I scrolled down the list of posts. I went back in time endlessly and brought up the posts of the early challengers.

All kinds of experiences of the first-generation hunters who risked their lives to challenge the tower in those days remained here.

When I read the contents where the names of famous people, now called S-class hunters or first-generation hunters, were mentioned, I had many thoughts.

They were considered heroes who fell from the sky, but when they first entered the Tower of Trials, they weren’t much different from others.

There were those who stood out from the beginning by obtaining unique or epic classes, and there were those whose mindsets were clearly different at first glance.

But looking at it this way, most of them were just ordinary people.

“…”

But there was no one who wanted to become a low-grade hunter and live an easy life.

My chest itched again for no reason. My tired body was filled with energy.

Even though it was for information gathering, I didn’t really feel like just looking at the community.

“Should I do something?”

So, with the community open, I suddenly started doing calisthenics.

—–CROW—–