“Orc Lord! Fight me!”

“Grwarrrrr!”

In my years fighting the Orc Lord over and over again, I learned that the spawn locations of the fourteen orc minions were limited. The moment I entered the room, I immediately identified which spawn pattern that the orcs were in, and charged towards the orc closest to me.

Because of the Orc Lord’s skill, Warcry, it was impossible to kill the boss while ignoring the orc minions. Consequently, it was important to quickly take care of the minions first. The Orc Lord’s attacks hurt no matter what, but when he used Warcry alone, his defense also decreased by 50 percent. From that, it was obvious that it was necessary to kill all the minions before he used his unique skill.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“Grwarrrrr!”

“Human!”

“Fast!”

By this time, I could send the trash mob orc heads flying by just slashing with my weapon. It was one of the pros of using a glaive. It could stab, but it was more powerful when used to slash. Plus, the Orc Lord’s Glaive was a rare-grade item, so it was on a whole other level compared to the wooden spear I used to have.

“Grwaaaaarrrrr!”

Once he saw his minions drop like flies, the Orc Lord stretched his back and began to roar. He was using Warcry! However, I had already cut down more than half the orcs.

“You won’t have a chance to!”

One more, one more! My body moved exactly like I had calculated. Like a farmer harvesting his crops, I quickly cut down the orcs’ heads. With the slight speed bonus from the Orc Lord’s Boots, it seemed even easier to reach my goal. When the Orc Lord finally finished his Warcry, there were no orc minions left in the room.

[Orc Lord used Warcry! It cleansed itself of all negative status effects. Because there are no orc minions in range, the Orc Lord’s attack power has increased by 100% and defense has lowered by 50%. It temporarily becomes super-armored.]

“Grwaaaarrrr! You dare!”

“I’ve heard that line over a thousand times already!” I retorted.

I charged toward the super-armored Orc Lord without hesitation. By this point, I knew the Orc Lord’s attack patterns in and out, and I could make a decision on what to do next in my sleep. In truth, the fight was already over when I cut down all the orc minions.

Why was that? Well, a super-armored monster ignored incoming attacks and focused on its own attacks. However, this had its disadvantages. Since the Orc Lord no longer stopped and worked on defending, it could end up taking more damage than usual

As a result, it was much easier for me to land a critical hit, which dealt more than double the usual damage and sometimes even damaged the boss permanently. Of course, it was easier for the Orc Lord to deal critical damage to others under the super-armor effect, but all I had to do was not get hit.

Like now!

“Haaap!”

“Grwarrrr!”

[Critical Hit! You dealt a deadly blow!]

As I rolled on the ground to dodge its attack, I swung my glaive and cut its Achilles tendon. Since the Orc Lord was in its super-armored state, it kept charging forward regardless of the damage that was dealt. As a result, its wound only became worse. When its super-armor state ended, it would face unimaginable pain.

“HUMAAAAN!”

“Even if you don’t tell me, both the heavens and my cute sister know I’m human!”

As the Orc Lord charged forward recklessly, I continuously attacked with my glaive from the back. When it hit the wall and stopped, I slashed down on the monster’s back and jumped back.

“You will not escape alive!”

Here it comes! The Orc Lord raised its glaive and black mana began to gather around it with a ringing sound. It was the skill that drove me mad with jealousy every time I saw it: Sword Blast! My years of battling the Orc Lord had not been in vain as I had figured out the time it took to charge the skill and all the possible angles and directions it could go. I slid to the side, dodging the Sword Blast with ease. Using the small opening the Orc Lord had after using Sword Blast, I stabbed my glaive through its belly.

“Grwarrrr!”

“Whoops, that was close.”

The Orc Lord was now thrashing about randomly, so I quickly distanced myself from it. At least ten minutes had passed since the battle began, but the Orc Lord still seemed healthy as it roared incessantly. If there was a difference between the games my school friends played and the dungeon, it was the lack of a HP bar in the dungeon for monsters. No matter how much I wished for it, I couldn’t see how much HP the enemy monsters had left.

“DIE, HUMAAAAN!”

The Sword Blast was always followed by random thrashing. It swung its arms and legs everywhere and made a complete mess of the surroundings. This attack pattern gave off powerful vibrations and powerful blows, which easily disrupted even the most well-organized parties. I couldn’t find a good solution to this part of the battle even after fighting it close to a thousand times. If I approached it now trying to attack, I could die with a single misstep. When the Orc Lord was also under the super-armor effect, the damage done couldn’t be described with words alone. 

“DIEEE!”

“Would you jump into a charging bulldozer because someone told you to?” I taunted.

“DIEEE!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll kill you, just wait a little.”

Thankfully, it wasn’t difficult to dodge its random movements. There was a rhythm that I fell into. When it started thrashing about, I just had to run back. If it chased after me, I just had to draw circles around it as I retreated. Because the room was rather large, none of this was hard to do. Additionally, after this phase ended, the Orc Lord was going to stand in place and draw its breath for a little while.

This was the best chance to counterattack.

“DIEEE!” I screamed.

I conveniently ignored the fact that I had made fun of its speech earlier as I charged toward the Orc Lord shouting the same thing. In my hands were the Orc Lord’s Glaive. My target was… its thigh!

Crack!

“Arrrrrghhhhhh!”

“Alright, it went in!”

The super-armor state had already ended, so the Orc Lord dropped its weapon in pain and wrapped its arms around its thigh. Another thing that I had learned throughout these years was that when the Orc Lord received damage that surpassed a certain threshold, it dropped its weapon. This was another great chance to attack. Excited, I stabbed my glaive through the other thigh.

[Critical Hit!]

With a little luck, I even got a critical hit! This was great because whenever the Orc Lord received a large amount of damage while it had its weapon dropped, it would just fall in place. It would then faint and stay unconscious for a period of time. I had won. This battle was mine!

“Haaaaap!”

The Orc Lord’s throat was at the perfect height, so I aimed my glaive at it. Although I couldn’t pierce through it, I still dealt damage. Of course, I wouldn’t be satisfied with just one attack. I stabbed it with my glaive a couple more times. Then, a thick stream of blood exploded out.

Excitement rose within me and I forgot to control myself so I stabbed its throat one more time. It was then that the Orc Lord opened its eyes.

“Kuaaaaa!”

[Orc Lord used Warcry! It cleansed itself of all negative status effects. Because there are no orc minions in range, the Orc Lord’s attack power increased by 100% and defense lowered by 50%. It has temporarily become super-armored.]

“Damn! Ugh!”

It swung its fist and hit me. With just one blow, I flew back as my HP dropped tremendously. Thankfully, I did not hit the wall and just fell on the ground.

[Your HP has fallen below 30 percent. You are in need of urgent treatment.]

“Agh, damn it…!”

Blood flowed out of my body at an astonishing pace and I couldn’t move my body immediately.  Judging from the immense amount of pain I was feeling, I knew that I would have definitely died if I didn’t have the Orc Lord’s defensive armor equipped.

“DIEEEEE!”

It was charging! I summoned all the strength I had left and struggled up. My legs were shaking from the effort it took. It truly wasn’t easy to recover from a blow from the Orc Lord’s fist.

“HUMAN, THIS IS THE END!”

“Ugh!”

I hurriedly took out a potion from my inventory and drank it. Once my HP recovered a little, it would become easier to move. However, the message I received was not the one I was expecting.

[You used a Power Potion. Your strength will increase by 10 for 15 seconds.]

“Damn!”

I had accidentally taken out the wrong potion, so now I was stuck facing him directly with dangerously low HP. I didn’t have the time to drink an HP potion anymore, and my legs weren’t fully recovered. Moving out of the way was impossible at this point.

Although this isn’t what I had planned…

I tightly gripped my glaive and looked forward. The Orc Lord was charging toward me in a straight line with its eyes glowing red. Its eyes were burning with love and the glaive in its hands were full of passion. It was truly the worst love confession I could ever imagine getting.

I took a deep breath, “Whew… let’s do this.”

Underestimating my spearmanship because it was only considered mid-rank would be a foolish thing to do. After all, what I had learned could not be described by ranks like low and mid. It was a technique passed down from my ancestors. Their breath still lived on in it! I had to be faster than lightning, stronger than a dragon, grander than Mt. Tai [1], and more delicate than the ocean! This was…

“DIE!”

“DIE!”

Well, it actually didn’t have a name! Useless thoughts ran through my head as the Orc Lord rapidly approached me and I thrusted my glaive toward the Orc Lord’s chest. If it could survive this, then I would be the one to die!

Squelch!

I heard a sound. My attack had definitely hit its mark. The question was whether it died or not. Because my eyes were shut, I couldn’t see if it was dead or if I was about to die. In that instant, everything became quiet as if all sounds in the world had disappeared. The emptiness reminded me of turning off the TV in the middle of the night.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

“Ugh!”

The Orc Lord’s face was right in front of me. When I pulled out my glaive and stepped back, the Orc Lord fell down with a thud. I blinked. Ah…could this be?

…Did I succeed?

[A Grand Accomplishment! You have defeated the Floor Master, Orc Lord, alone! Amazing!]

[You have obtained the title ‘Orc Lord Slayer.’ All stats have permanently increased by 1. This effect will apply even if the title is not equipped.]

[You have become Bronze Rank 6. Congratulations.]

[You have defeated the Orc Lord alone. You have obtained the special reward, Orc Lord’s Pauldron.]

[You have obtained 1,000 gold.]

[Choose your reward.]

1. A mountain of cultural and historical significance in China. It is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal  ☜