"...Ker-ruk... Ke-heuk..."
The dying goblin shaman.
"Guu-wook..."
The Minotaur exhaling heavily.
The heavily hunched body of the Minotaur was tightly bound with something resembling a purple rope, and the end of this rope was connected to the shaman's staff.
"...It's fierce."
Sure, I've been killed by that monster before, but that was when I was weaker... and it happened so quickly.
So, I couldn't really gauge its strength...
Facing it now, I can truly feel it.
I can't beat that. Definitely can't.
How strong do I need to be to defeat such a monster without taking a hit in a head-on battle?
Just thinking about it made my head spin.
"As you can see, this is the situation."
Park Cheoljin spoke calmly. Now I understood why he had evacuated the people.
If such a monster was lurking near the base camp, I would have evacuated the people too.
"...Choi Ji-won. Seeing it firsthand, do you think you can win?"
Choi Ji-won hesitated.
Her eyes were busily scanning the Minotaur's body.
"...It's not a good match. Its body is so big, it doesn't look easy to deliver a fatal blow."
Choi Ji-won finally spoke, and her words were far from optimistic.
Even Choi Ji-won, considered the strongest among humans, couldn't guarantee victory.
Once again, I must say, I still can't react to Choi Ji-won's 'sigh'.
If I were to fight the Minotaur, I'd probably last less than 5 seconds, then respawn and mutter a curse.
"What if you, me, and Kim Jun-ho all join forces?"
"...I don't know."
Park Cheoljin, with an urge to say 'I can't fight...', looked desperate.
Just one hit, and I'd respawn, but I couldn't tell him that...
But, isn't it immobilized?
"Can't we just slit its throat since it's currently sealed?"
If Park Cheoljin, Choi Ji-won, and I target its neck simultaneously, we might be able to deliver a fatal blow.
It's not moving around, just sitting there...
If we deliver a full-powered strike to the Minotaur's neck, wouldn't it die?
"...Of course, we thought of that too."
But Park Cheoljin shook his head.
"It's impossible. We've tried everything. Touch it."
"...?"
"Just touch it."
... What? Surely not that massive horned monster?
"It's really okay."
Whether or not I was right, Park Cheoljin pushed me toward that hulking mass of muscle.
"...Really touch it?"
As I approached, the Minotaur let out a low growl, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.
Calm down, Mr. Minotaur. It's not something I want to do...
"Ugh..."
Slowly, my hand reached out, and just as it was about to touch the Minotaur's fur...
Tock.
"...Huh?"
Instead of the stiff fur of the Minotaur, something smooth touched my fingertips.
It felt... like touching glass.
A spherical glass-like barrier was surrounding the Minotaur.
"It's sealed, but at the same time, it's protected. Ji-won, can you break that?"
"...I don't think so."
"Uhm... That's unfortunate."
If we kill the boss, the glass sphere might disappear.
But the purple rope restraining the beast would also vanish.
If we time it perfectly, we might be able to strike the Minotaur... but it would be extremely difficult.
Whoever designed this tower is a real jerk.
They said if we kill the boss, we can all survive using the portal.
But in front of the boss, there's this ridiculously powerful sealed monster? We have to get past that to survive?
I've felt it from the beginning; this tower creates the worst possible scenarios...
"Huh?"
A bad feeling crept up my spine.
My brain ran through the worst-case scenarios... and it all made sense.
"...Mr. Park Cheoljin?"
"My ability is mainly defensive... Huh? Why?"
"How many people know about the boss here?"
"...Including me, four. All trustworthy guys."
"...That's really a relief."
Once again, I must say, this tower induces the worst scenarios. It starts with the golden orb.
Those with deceptive abilities can easily acquire the orb, but consider it from the perspective of an ordinary person with a common ability.
While Choi Ji-won might easily cut through monsters, mutant goblins are incredibly tough for the average person.
It would take several ordinary individuals, having leveled up sufficiently and ready to risk their lives, to barely defeat one.
Imagine about 15 ordinary people risking their lives to barely bring down a mutant goblin.
They'd be rewarded with enough food for about 2 meals for those 15 people, and one or two golden orbs.
What would you think in such a situation?
Once the food is consumed, lives will be at stake again. The person who died from the goblin's blind attack earlier might be me next time.
The leader insists on waiting until everyone has a golden orb.
But there are only 50 golden orbs. Can we get 14 more?
Anxiety turns into mistrust, and suspicion becomes conviction.
Someone who seemed like a comrade just moments ago now looks like a competitor.
The destined future is doom.
It's currently the afternoon of the 6th day.
Even now, somewhere, comrades are probably fighting and killing each other over the orbs.
"...I know that the golden orbs induce mistrust among people. But what does that have to do with the boss?"
Park Cheoljin, the firefighter, questions me.
It seems he doesn't understand what I'm getting at.
"...When the boss is killed, the Minotaur...
"Do you call it a Minotaur? Yes, it'll be released."
"And a portal will appear."
"...!"
"Do you understand now?"
If you kill the boss, a portal appears.
Sure, the Minotaur will be released, but the person who kills the boss can simply enter the portal in front of them.
If you kill the boss... you can survive.
The boss is an old goblin on its last legs. It wouldn't be too hard to kill.
"If I were desperate... I might have killed the boss first."
This tower has set up a really crappy mechanism.
Those who kill the boss can proceed to the next stage.
Of course, everyone else will be left behind... but when humans are cornered, they become selfish.
When someone presses the escape button, disaster begins.
This tower is designed to cause division among people until the very end.
"...Damn it! Does God see us as mere toys?"
Bang!
Unable to contain his anger, Park Cheoljin, the firefighter, strikes a nearby tree trunk.
He's a firefighter who dedicated his life to saving people.
Of course, he's kind... and his compassion for others is much greater than most.
Such a space, filled with malice, must be unbearably unpleasant for someone like Park Cheoljin.
"...Whew. I'll take a break to cool off."
He left the spot, grinding his teeth.
"...Kim Jun-ho. I'll also take a moment to calm down. When emotions run high... my body doesn't cooperate."
"Right?"
Emitting a killer aura, Choi Ji-won also disappeared after caressing her sword.
"...Where did everyone go?"
Now left in this space were...
"Guu-wook..."
The Minotaur, narrowing its eyes, and
"Ke-heuk..."
The elderly goblin, barely breathing.
After a brief hesitation, I cautiously sat beside the goblin shaman.
Oh, look at him, his arm holding the staff is trembling.
"...Sigh."
To be frank, if I regress, that's that.
My goal is to get the rewards from the 0th floor, not to kill the Minotaur.
It's tempting to kill him and get the reward, but I'm not about to bang my head against the impossible.
Plus, there's no immediate need to find a solution.
Next round, and the round after that, there might be a brilliant solution.
If regressing multiple times still seems impossible to defeat the Minotaur?
Then just gulp down a golden orb.
"It's too early to worry about that."
But it's also too early to give up.
There's still time, and there's no guarantee that the environment in the next round will be the same as this one.
As we saw with Kim and the old man, the future can change based on the slightest factors.
And Choi Ji-won seems to trust me somewhat. I don't want to waste the rapport we've built.
I'll regress if I truly hit a dead-end, but until then, I should try everything so I have no regrets. Alright... Let's think. Let's recall the timeline.
"...Hmm."
The Minotaur attacked the construction site around noon on the 7th day. And now, it's the afternoon of the 6th day.
Whether the goblin shaman dies of natural causes or is taken out by someone aiming to escape.
If events unfold as they did in the previous round, he will die tomorrow.
If he's taken out by someone, I can intervene... but if it's a natural death, there's no solution.
Assuming the goblin shaman's cause of death is natural, the remaining time limit is about 20 hours.
Is there a way to kill that massive horned monster within 20 hours...?
"Heuk... Human... I smell a human..."
Hmm... Should I bury him by digging a hole? Maybe Mr. Kim or the old man could do it.
"Human...!"
"...Huh?"
"I need... I need help... Kerk... Kool..."
"...What's this?"
6th day. Afternoon.
The goblin shaman approached and spoke to me.