The sun set. Seeing the sun was down, Seo Jun-ho turned off his Vita and got up. 

“Yawn. It’s about time now.”

Leufs were monsters with the appearance of a flower, but anatomically, they were the complete opposite of a flower. 

To start with, the beautiful petals were on their feet with the stem pointing upwards. And the thick and tough stems coiled together into a humanoid form. That was the monster called Leuf.

“In a dark night like today, I swear they look just like people.”

That was why their nickname was Flower Ghost. 

With his sharpened senses, Jun-ho closed his eyes and honed in on his hearing. It was time to test the results of his training. 

Crrrk, crack.

He heard the ground behind him shift. 

During the day, Leufs burrowed themselves into the ground and attracted their prey by keeping only the flowers above ground. That’s why Jun-ho only walked on the dirt path, avoiding the flowers. 

If you carelessly walk around a Leuf, you’ll find yourself tied up by vines and pulled into the ground in an instant.

He wasn’t safe because it was nighttime. On the contrary, when the moon shone, they came out from the ground to actively hunt their prey.

“Leufs. They have high defense thanks to their hard and tough vines, but…”

They were slow and had a clear weakness. The flowers on their feet. That was the weakness of a Leuf.

“Only two of ‘em? What a lukewarm greeting.”

Jun-ho still had his eyes closed, but his razor-sharp senses told him everything that was going on.

One to the left, another on the right.

After getting a full picture of his surroundings, he grabbed both ends of the spear before charging towards his left.

Crack, wha-cha!

A Leuf swung its arms like a whip towards the human charging at it. 

It’s coming.

Feeling the flow of air change in front of him, he stuck the spear into the ground and jumped high like an olympic athlete. 

Woooosh!

With a single jump, Jun-ho obtained two strategic advantages. One, he perfectly avoided the Leuf’s attack. And two… 

1.5 meters.

He secured the optimal distance for his spear. And the Leuf had an opening in his defense from having just attacked. 

Fwoosh!

Jun-ho spun his body around, sweeping the ground with his spear. 

Shash! The Leuf got one of its legs torn apart, making it lose balance. 

Now.

With all his might, Jun-ho slammed into the Leuf’s chest with his shoulder. Thump! The Leuf fell, making a heavy sound. 

Is it about two steps back?

Step, step.

Jun-ho casually took a few steps back. And right on cue, the knife-like arm of the Leuf swung right across the spot he was just standing on. 

I’m in tip-top shape today.

With a super-wide smile, Jun-ho shifted his grip on the spear to the center of the pole. At the same time, he heated up his magic circuit. 

“I don’t think I can control the power output. It’s my first time using it in real combat.”

Before he even finished his sentence, the temperature around him started dropping.

K-kk-crack!

A Frost energy coated the tip of Jun-ho’s spear as he opened his eyes back up, finally adjusted to the dark. 

“……”

Jun-ho stared at his spear. 

It looks exactly like the one the Frost Queen used.

That was unavoidable. The skill he was using was a power he obtained from the Frost Queen. 

“What an odd feeling.”

It was hard to verbalize the feeling of fighting with the skill of an opponent who he fought to the death.

That’s enough sentimentality. Time to check this baby’s firepower.

He tested out the Frost skill in the training center plenty of times. However, he never tried it out against an actual monster before. So, this would be the first time he would be seeing the actual strength of the Frost skill.

Pheeew!

The Leuf that had fallen to the floor shot its arm out without any warning. Jun-ho ducked down a bit, barely avoiding the attack. 

Tchew! The Leuf’s attack clipped a few strands of his hair. In the same instant, his biceps tensed up. 

“Heave ho!”

He thrusted the spear with great force, piercing through the air. 

K-kk-crack! Shatter!

He attacked twice with the spear in rapid succession, perfectly hitting the Leuf’s flower on its feet. The petals froze the instant it came into contact with the frost spear, and the second hit completely shattered the flower into countless ice crystals. 

– “……!”

Unable to make any noise, the Leuf thrashed in pain. It flapped around like a fish on a cutting board before going limp.

“…It died? Already?”

Jun-ho couldn’t believe it. He did attack its weak point, but Leufs were creatures famed for being hard to kill due to their toughness. But it died after just two hits? 

Jun-ho looked back at his spear, which radiated a blood-chilling energy. 

Isn’t this… A little too effective?

Freezing then smashing it. It was the most effective method for breaking the flowers. 

But I don’t think I can continuously use this.

The short battle just now had already drained a fifth of his magic.

Let’s try using slightly less magic this time.

That would decrease the power a bit, but it would extend the active time of the skill. 

After collecting his thoughts, he looked at the remaining Leuf. It slowly walked over to Jun-ho with both its arms coiled into a sharp weapon.  

“Double spears? That’s pretty cool!”

As if it liked Jun-ho’s approval, the Leuf shot both of its sharp arms towards him. 

Woosh, woosh! Jun-ho gently spun his spear, blocking the Leuf’s attack.

Kling, klang!

Though the Leuf possessed a sharper weapon, Jun-ho was far more proficient at combat. 

The failed attack made the Leuf pull its arms back and retreat a bit. Jun-ho didn’t miss that opportunity. He slid his hand down the spear, gripping the bottom of the pole. By adding momentum through a spin, he swung the spear like a bat. 

Crack! 

The spear hit the temple of the Leuf, letting out a loud noise akin to chopping wood.

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

A normal person would have died from that strike, but the Leuf simply shrugged it off. However, the attack did anger the Leuf, making it violently thrash its viney arms around. 

Too slow.

Leufs were extremely tough monsters, but there’s no way a strike to the head would leave it unharmed. Its attacks have gotten much slower. 

After dodging the attacks with some light footwork, Jun-ho unleashed a counterattack.

K-kk-crack! 

He swung the spear, hitting the Leuf’s temple in the exact same spot. 

“A flower also dies when its stem gets snapped.” 

Again and again, he repeatedly hit the Leuf’s temple with his spear. 

Crack, crack, kk-crack!

Unable to withstand the impact any longer, the Leuf’s head got chopped in half. 

After his extended battle with the Leuf, he observed his surroundings, still tense. 

“…That’s what I thought. There’s no way it would end after just two of them. It’s an Uncleared Gate, after all.”

Thud, thump.

Four new Leufs burrowed out from the ground, slowly walking towards him. 

A monster wave.

It referred to a phenomenon where monsters appeared non-stop like a wave.

“I wonder. How many waves will crash ashore this time?”

Woosh, fwoosh.

Jun-ho casually spun his spear around, waiting for the Leufs to get closer. He had yet to even break a single sweat.

* * *

In the garden swallowed up by darkness, a horde of mysterious creatures chased someone. 

An attack from the left, three from the back, two from the front…

Surrounded, Jun-ho became irritated after confirming all the attacks headed towards him.

“Fucking stop already, you bastards!”

Finally caving into his anger, he swore loudly as he swung his spear with his right arm and raised his left arm. 

Ch-ch-chuk! 

In an instant, a thick ice shield formed on his left arm, blocking the barrage of attacks from the Leufs. 

Cra-ack! 

The ice shield blocked a total of twelve attacks before it shattered into pieces. 

“Kugh.”

Taking advantage of the smokescreen created by the ice fragments, Jun-ho focused his magic onto his legs, boosting himself off the ground. It was uncharacteristic of him, always preaching the importance of using your magic conservatively, but that was how dire the situation was.

Fwoosh!

In his landing spot, there were Leufs, ready to shower him in a flurry of sharp attacks. He tried to avoid it to the best of his abilities, but his left shoulder was grazed while his right hip started bleeding.

“What kind of a bullshit pattern is this?!”

Jun-ho laughed to himself when he only saw two Leufs appear at first. When four Leufs appeared after that, he even put on a goofy smile. However, he felt that things were amiss when eight Leufs popped up. 

There’s no way they’re doubling every time I clear a wave, right? Pssh, that’d be ridiculous.

But reality was a cruel mistress. His bad premonition hit the bullseye. 

“Goddammit. Why am I always right about these things.”

On the 4th wave, 16 Leufs popped up. And before he could even gather his breath, without anyone even asking for them, another 32 Leufs popped up. 

“Huff, puff…”

After two grueling hours of combat, he was completely out of breath. If he had slacked off on endurance training, his body would have turned into swiss cheese by now. 

I can’t believe I’m at the end of the rope from only fighting against Leufs. When I get back, I’m doubling my training regimen.

Fully on edge, Jun-ho scouted the area. Ironically, now that both his stamina and will have reached their limit, his combat sense was at its highest. As if his body was stuck in a tight space, all his senses were on maximum alert. 

“…Phew.”

Thanks to that, he was able to empty his head of distracting thoughts, and his focus was as sharp as a pin. If he lost his focus for even a fraction of a second, he could become dead meat. 

It’s coming.

Jun-ho’s body moved elegantly. With refined movements that didn’t waste a single bit of stamina, he started dodging the rain-like barrage of attacks. Of course, just dodging would be uncharacteristic of him.

Shwooosh! 

He thrusted his spear with all his speed, strength, and anger, blowing apart four Leufs’s heads. 

“Kugh!”

As a result, magic drained out of his body. For a moment, his face even turned white. Unfortunately for him, there were still 15 Leufs remaining.

“…I can’t stop now.”

It’s not like he had a choice. If he couldn’t fight anymore, only death awaited him.

With all his might, Jun-ho gripped the spear, which had become slippery from being drenched in sweat. It’ll take time and all his stamina, but he had to take care of all these bastards. 

If I run away to that maze over there, it’ll temporarily make my life easy, but…

There was no way of knowing what traps awaited him, and the maze would only give him a narrow corridor to fight the monsters. The maze was the optimal battlefield for creatures like Leufs, which had high defense and could extend their arms out to attack. 

I need to throw a Hail Mary.

Prepared to make his final gamble, Jun-ho stomped the ground while letting out a deep breath.

“Hi-yah!”

In an instant, two-thirds of his remaining magic vanished.

Ch-ch-chujuk!

An ice spear that disregarded efficiency for maximum destructive force glimmered in the moonlight. 

Thirty seconds. I can’t hold it any longer than that.

That was the maximum amount of time he could hold this form. 

Racing against the clock, Jun-ho charged forward without a thought. 

Slash!

The spear that was reinforced with the Frost skill was far sharper than your average weapon. As proof, the tip of the spear was able to cut down Leufs like they were made of tofu. 

Jun-ho stared down at all the attacks that were headed his way. 

…It’s impossible for me to fight while avoiding all those attacks.

He was skilled enough, but he didn’t have the time. He only had 25 seconds remaining… now only 24 seconds. 

Not wasting any time, Jun-ho made a bold decision.

Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree.

It’s a saying from Sun Tzu, meaning there are circumstances where short-term objectives must be sacrificed in order to gain the long-term goal. 

So, Jun-ho pushed forward, disregarding any non-lethal attacks. 

Whish! Splatter!

From his arms, thighs, and back, blood spurted out like a fountain. However, his reckless charge allowed him to take down 9 Leufs in just 30 seconds. 

“Huff… Puff, huff…”

Any spectator would applaud his skills, but unfortunately for Jun-ho, there was no audience. Instead, he stood alone, drenched in blood and sweat from having achieved such a feat. 

Kk-krrk.

Jun-ho placed his shaky hands on his wounds.

This should stop me from losing any more blood.

Only six enemies remaining. 

His breath smelled sweet, and his arms and legs wouldn’t stop shaking. However, Jun-ho was not about to throw in the towel. 

I have… The One Who Opens Spring. If I can just hold out for a bit, I can win.

The One Who Opens Spring had the effect of increasing one’s Magic and Stamina regeneration by 500%. 

Jun-ho gripped his spear tight once again, looking around at the Leufs that had surrounded him.

“…Come at me.”

As if they had understood his words, the 6 Leufs simultaneously launched an attack on Jun-ho.