Yu-Seong imitated ‘Flame Emperor’ Lin Xiao Nuo’s attack strategy, which was briefly mentioned in the original novel. Perhaps, that was why he was sure that this method would succeed even though he had never experimented with it before. And because he was busy running in the dungeon, he could not measure the exact time himself but he was still confident that his record would definitely be faster than Lin Xiao Nuo, who was a psychic-type player.
‘Because Lin Xiao Nuo didn’t put all his skills into strengthening his physical abilities like how Rachel did.’
On the other hand, Yu-Seong was an all-rounded player and his entire body naturally strengthened whenever he leveled up. This applied even if he did not have related skills. Thus, he was bound to be faster than Lin Xiao Nuo even if he used the same method.
However, above all, there was a separate fact that excited Yu-Seong.
‘At least, at this moment, I’m ahead of Kim Do-Jin.’
In fact, it didn’t matter that the record so far was better than Lin Xiao Nuo. The important thing for Yu-Seong was that even Lin Xiao Nuo would be kneeling down after being overwhelmingly defeated by Do-Jin in the national competition that would be held in about six years. In the end, the one who was originally decided to be this world’s protagonist was Kim Do-Jin.
And, at least for this moment, Yu-Seong was ahead of Kim Do-Jin. It wasn’t something big, but Yu-Seong was aware of the origin of this strange feeling.
‘For some reason, I’m feeling a little competitive…’
At first, Yu-Seong thought it would be okay even if he didn’t achieve a good record. However, after having a record that was already this outstanding, he changed his mind, thinking that it would be nice if he did well after all.
No, even though he didn't know what would come next after coming this far, Yu-Seong became eager to set a better record than Kim Do-Jin. At least in a place like the Goblin Fortress, where it was advantageous for him.
Perhaps, thanks to the stylish skill that he had activated on the way after burning the entire dungeon, his condition felt exceptionally good.
‘I want to win against him…at least once.’
Thoughts soon led to action. Entering the boss room, the basement of Goblin Fortress, Yu-Seong began to run forward and cut through the green grass that rose above the stone floor for some reason.
In this world, the dungeon’s boss rooms were usually divided into two forms. The first was the boss room’s fundamental basic form where the boss appeared in front as soon as the player entered. The second form was a kind of passage that required the player to run to the place where the boss was even after entering. Yu-Seong had to continue running as the Goblin Fortress belonged to the latter. That was another reason why Goblin Fortress’ clear time was usually longer than that of normal second-rank dungeons.
‘I can’t even set fire here.’
A one-way narrow passage kept going deeper and deeper underground. Of course, if Yu-Seong set fire carelessly, he would have no choice but to die in this dark and narrow place. There was no place to escape.
‘Did it take an hour for the Flame Emperor to enter the boss room and then more than two and a half hours until the final clear?’
Thus, the Flame Emperor’s final clear time went over 3 hours and 30 minutes. It was because, after entering the boss room, having the flame property as his main attack ability had somewhat hindered him. Of course, this was not a problem for Yu-Seong at all.
Yu-Seong was an all-rounder-type hunter. He could demonstrate his ability through skills such as Magic Spear, but fundamentally, his physical abilities were not weak compared to other physical-type players. Well, actually, he was proud of the fact that he had a much better physical ability compared to others in his rank and level, perhaps because of the constant training and the characteristics of an Irregular.
‘Currently, I’ve reached rank-E level 93.’
Yu-Seong’s level had risen by two so far, and this was right after gaining the experience point from burning the entire field of Goblin Fortress. Overall, the increase he had achieved in a short time was remarkable. Thus, Yu-Seong thought his physical combat ability was not lacking compared to a rank D, level 20 player.
After dealing with the elite monsters—the Goblin Assault Crew and three Goblin archers—alone in less than five minutes on the passage, Yu-Seong continued to run forward without pausing to take a breath.
‘Kim Do-Jin would have taken less than 3 minutes.’
It wasn’t just a guess. In the original novel’s narrative, there was a part where Do-Jin casually slaughtered a group of Goblin Fortress’ Elite Monsters in 2 to 3 minutes. This was the first event that showed Do-Jin’s overwhelming fighting ability, which had him recognized by people in South Korea and in the world.
Until now, the time difference between Yu-Seong’s and Do-Jin’s arrival at the boss room entrance was about 30 minutes. It was safe to say that if he was delayed 10 times in this situation, than Yu-Seong would be overshadowed by Do-Jin’s record.
Yu-Seong’s senses were also sending similar signals.
‘In general, I encountered the group of elite monsters on the way down the passage around five times. If I meet elite monsters more than six times before even seeing the boss, it would be difficult for me to break Kim Do-Jin’s record.’
No, the time difference may be too great for him to even dream of getting close to the record. In other words, Yu-Seong had enough chances to break the record if he met less elite monsters.
‘Certainly, this would only be within this Goblin Fortress…’
It was an opportunity that may never come again. So far, Yu-Seong was going down the underground passage at high speed. During that, he faced a total of five battles. Then, he felt the rather steep ground flattening out. He was approaching the end of the underground passage, which felt quite long before. There was only a very short distance left, but he had information that there would be no more groups of Elite Goblins encountering him from now on.
Although he knew future information, Yu-Seong did not enter this room without any investigation. Like everyone else who challenged dungeon racing, he also conducted a thorough preliminary investigation, which was why he had this knowledge in the first place.
‘In the end, I’ve done the average number of battles. At least, it comforts me that I’ve leveled up at the end and sped up a little.’
Just a little further and Yu-Seong would be able to meet Goblin Fortress’s boss monster, Hobgoblin. There was only one more hurdle to overcome before that.
‘The Crossroads of Choice.’
Yu-Seong stopped for a while, then looked at the two forked paths in front of him.
‘It’ll be okay to say that I’m still about 20 minutes ahead of Kim Do-Jin so far.’
It was an estimated figure, but Yu-Seong’s thoughts were rather accurate. He had taken 1 hour and 15 minutes to arrive at the Crossroads of Choice. Kim Do-Jin had taken 1 hour and 36 minutes to reach the same place.
‘There are two roads, and both sides are bound to reach the boss room.’
Yu-Seong had already found out through preliminary investigation that there were no other pitfalls. However, there was one peculiarity.
‘The left passage is extremely far away. It is said that it takes at least 50 minutes for a D-rank physical-type hunter to run with all his might.’
It would truly be a long journey around the boss room. It was a path Yu-Seong didn't really want to choose when he had to set a record doing the dungeon racing. However, there existed an advantage for the left passage.
‘There would be no elite monsters appearing. All I have to do is to run.’
In other words, there were no variables.
‘On the other hand, the right passage is short but there are a lot of Elite Monster groups.’
If anyone wanted to set a record and was confident in fighting power, they would usually choose the right path. Yu-Seong was also confident that he would make a pretty good record if he chose the right path.
‘However, I won’t be able to break Kim Do-Jin’s record.’
If he chose the right passage, Yu-Seong would meet at least ten Elite Goblin groups. In fact, that meant the match against Kim Do-Jin would be considered as a game over.
‘Which way should I choose?’
Yu-Seong quickly glanced at the two passages. After a short silence of less than ten seconds, he made a decision and took a step forward.
***
The two reporters, Park Jin-Hwan and Kim Jin-Young, continued to check the stopwatch without meaning to while filming various angles of Yu-Seong making his way through the boss room. Currently, Yu-Seong’s record had passed over 1 hour and 15 minutes and was heading towards 16 minutes.
Observing Yu-Seong, who stopped in front of the Crossroads of Choice, Jin-Young smiled in a somewhat relaxed way. He said, “I guess it’s up to here. Even if he’s definitely superior to the Flame Emperor, it would be hard for him to break Kim Do-Jin’s record.”
“…”
But instead of agreeing to his words as Jin-Young expected, Park Jin-Hwan simply kept his mouth shut and kept his eyes on the monitor.
“Reporter Park?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“What?”
Thinking about Jin-Hwan’s words for a while, Jin-Young smiled bitterly and said, “I admit that Choi Yu-Seong is amazing. If I try to recall the names of the players who can hunt as fast as him who’s an E-rank—not even D-rank—there are only about ten people coming to mind. But still, Kim Do-Jin is overwhelming in battle. Whichever path Choi Yu-Seong picks, he’s bound to catch up.”
“Sure.”
Jin-Young suddenly felt suspicious of Jin-Hwan, who answered indifferently while watching the monitor video that displayed the inside the dungeon being taken with a drone.
‘Is there something on the monitor?’
The question only lingered for a while because Yu-Seong took steps forward. At least for that moment, Jin-Young—who had somewhat lowered his expectations—had no choice but to draw attention back to the monitor.
‘Which path are you going to choose, Choi Yu-Seong?’
It was a choice between the left path, which was long but stable, and the right path, which was full of variables but short. Jin-Young inwardly hoped Yu-Seong would choose the right passage. He was certain that Yu-Seong would do just that if he was greedy for the record.
‘If he still has more hidden abilities, he’ll probably show it this time.’
Jin-Hwan’s expectations were understandable. Yu-Seong was still hiding something. In fact, Jin-Young could also tell that for a fact.
“Ah…!”
However, the moment Yu-Seong stepped forward, Jin-Young had no choice but to unconsciously sigh. He felt ashamed after checking the young man’s path.
‘He’s going toward the left passage.’
It was the long and stable road Yu-Seong had chosen. This meant that he had given up breaking Kim Do-Jin’s record.
‘Tch, it’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped.’
By the time Jin-Young smacked his lips with regret, Jin-Hwan—who was still staring through the monitor while controlling the drone—had a sparkle in his eyes. When something hazy flowed out of Yu-Seong’s hand and began to crawl on the wall, Jin-Hwan asked, “Reporter Kim. Can you see that?”
“Huh. But what skill is that?”
It was a form of skill that Jin-Young had never seen before. At first glance, it was not intended for combat. Above all, Yu-Seong was not running even though he had just entered the left passage. Naturally, questions turned into curiosity and then expectations.
‘What if Choi Yu-Seong hasn’t given up yet?’
What if that action meant something, something that they couldn’t predict until now?! Gripping the drone’s controller tightly, Jin-Young was also looking at Yu-Seong as if falling in love with his appearance.
Then, to the amazing scenery that soon unfolded, the two reporters had no choice but to open their eyes very wide for the first time in their lives. Jin-Young, who had declared Yu-Seong’s game over previously, was shouting loudly once again. “Holy, god damn! What the heck, Choi Yu-Seong!”
Kim Jin-Young was planning to designate today as his most surprising day of the year.