Chapter 47
A scream like the dying cry of a beast violently struck the narrow cavern.
The Black-Mane Ogre's legs were completely torn apart.
It had lost all reason.
Every time blood poured from its ruined knees, the creature transformed its pain into rage and swung its weapon wildly.
CRASH! BOOOOM!
The massive piece of steel smashed through the dirt walls and tore apart the ground.
Rock fragments exploded in every direction like shotgun pellets.
The monster's breathing became rough and metallic.
Its bloodshot eyes had lost focus.
Only one thought remained inside them.
Crush the human in front of it.
But Chaeho didn't retreat.
Instead, he tightened his grip on his sword in the middle of the dust and lowered his stance.
Its pattern is dead.
Extreme rage.
It gave the beast terrifying destructive power.
But at the same time, it made its movements obvious.
There were no more feints.
No defensive movements.
Only simple attacks meant to destroy everything within sight.
Chaeho watched the huge piece of steel rushing toward him through the dust.
He stopped breathing.
[Time Slow].
The world seemed to sink into thick liquid.
The blunt weapon tearing through the air approached in slow motion.
Chaeho let the horrifying mass pass directly in front of his face.
With only the smallest twist of his body, he slipped outside its path.
The resulting wind struck his face.
But his feet remained firmly planted.
He deactivated the skill.
Less than a second later...
He activated it again.
Slow.
Normal.
Slow.
Normal.
Repeatedly switching the skill on and off placed enormous strain on his mind.
But there was no better way to dissect every movement of the monster.
Inside the slowed world, the ogre's body was revealed piece by piece.
Its chest muscles were swollen enough to burst.
Its torn knees trembled as they struggled to support its weight.
And covering the outer surface of its skin was a faint but dense layer of energy.
There.
Chaeho's gaze moved beneath the ogre's armpit.
Every time it raised both arms for a large attack, dense mana swirled around that area before spreading throughout its body.
That was the central point maintaining its abnormally tough hide and defensive power.
The sword hadn't been failing simply because the creature's skin was tough.
Mana flowing from that point covered its body like invisible armor.
The monitoring room had fallen completely silent.
The situation in Zone Three shown on the main screen looked like hell itself.
Dust filled the screen.
Fragments of rock exploded everywhere.
Attacks powerful enough to completely destroy a person continued without pause.
Yet Chaeho, standing in the middle of it all, was unbelievably unharmed.
"Is he insane? He's avoiding all of that?"
One staff member muttered while leaning toward the screen.
It was exactly as he said.
Chaeho wasn't running.
Instead, he repeatedly slipped dangerously close to the monster, avoiding its attacks by the width of a sheet of paper.
He lowered his body to avoid horizontal swings.
He twisted his ankle and redirected his body away from downward strikes.
There wasn't a single wasted movement.
It almost looked like he and the monster had practiced this dance together hundreds of times.
"That's B-rank! Not some C-rank monster, but a mutated B-rank! How can anyone have reflexes like that? Even an A-rank hunter specialized in agility couldn't move like that!"
The control-room supervisor grabbed his head.
What they were witnessing was directly destroying everything the Hunter Association considered common sense.
A candidate whose history included D-rank was standing directly against a berserk B-rank monster.
"Evaluator Moon! Shouldn't we intervene? If he makes even one mistake, he's going to die instantly!"
The supervisor urgently turned toward Moon Gihyeok.
Moon Gihyeok didn't answer.
His arms remained crossed while his gaze stayed fixed on Chaeho's feet.
A deep crease formed between his eyebrows.
Those aren't reflexes.
This isn't something reflexes alone could solve.
Moon Gihyeok had fought countless real battles.
He could see what was happening.
Chaeho wasn't waiting to see the monster's attack before moving.
Before its arm even rose, he was reading tiny signs such as the expansion of its muscles and the shift in its center of gravity.
Then he moved first.
And he wasn't escaping completely outside the monster's attack range.
He was maintaining the perfect distance for a counterattack while steadily draining the monster's stamina.
"Keep the rescue team approaching."
Moon Gihyeok's voice sounded rough.
"But don't shout at him through the speakers right now."
"What? But according to regulations..."
"He's not only defending."
Moon Gihyeok narrowed his eyes.
"He's setting bait."
The staff turned toward the screen again with blank expressions.
On the display, Chaeho suddenly lowered his sword and stepped directly in front of the ogre.
