I entered Beyond’s 5th floor with Loretta encouraging me. I had no plans of dying, regardless of who my opponent was. If my vitality hit zero in Beyond, I would have to wait a whole month before I could re-enter. It wouldn’t matter how quickly I climbed the dungeon after losing an entire month.

Loretta must have been taking things slowly after declaring that I had two years left, but I was different. I couldn’t simply climb the dungeon for the next two years. I had to work as a Dimensional Mercenary and clear Event Dungeons when they appeared.

Even so, the bastard in front of me was just…morally wrong.

[Kuaaaaaaaaaa!]

[Ghost Orc Lord’s Warcry has rang out! The Ghost Orc Lord has been cleansed of all negative status effects! Its attack power has increased by 50% temporarily and it has become super-armored!]

[Soul Echo has activated! Ghost Orc Lord’s Warcry rings out repeatedly. The Ghost Orc Lord can be affected by Warcry’s effect by up to 10 times.]

A half-transparent Orc Lord shouted as it floated in the air. The dozens of skulls dangling on his glaive also screamed simultaneously. The effect of this bastard’s Warcry had increased because of them. I could see him getting stronger right in front of my very own eyes.

“How many times do you have to multiply your strength before you’re satisfied, you cowardly bastards?!” I screeched indignantly.

[Guooooooo!]

When I entered Beyond’s 5th floor, the first thing I saw was the large hall I was currently in and this Ghost Orc Lord. It was a relief to know that I wouldn’t have to spend several days exploring Beyond, but the fact that I had to face this half-spiritual half-living being was quite stressful.

[Guaaaaaang!]

I cursed vehemently, “Damn it!”

Like a ghost in a horror movie, the Ghost Orc Lord teleported forward repeatedly to approach me. Every time the skulls on his glaive cut through the air, they let out ear-splitting screams, which served to stress me out even more.

“Ugh!”

I quickly rolled backward and dodged the glaive. After cutting a few strands of my hair, the glaive struck the ground, causing a terrifying sound to ring out. At the same time, the entire room rumbled. Feeling strange, I was about to fly up, but before I could do so, I felt my stomach churning and coughed out a mouthful of blood. I took out a potion and gritted my teeth.

“So it doesn’t matter whether I dodge the attack…” I growled.

Really, this boss fight couldn’t be more annoying. The Ghost Orc Lord’s attacks were so powerful that it was difficult to block them. Even if I dodged them, the entire room would shake and damage me. I couldn’t help but pat myself on the back when I remembered my decision to not bring Lotte and Plene.

I could have been able to fly with Lotte and dodge the vibration attack. However, even though the hall was spacious, it wasn’t large enough for her to fly around freely. Peika was out of the question for the same reason.

[Guaaaaa!]

“Argh, I was wondering when it was coming!”

Along with his cry, hundreds of gray ectoplasm arrows shot out from his body. Without a hint of hesitation, I hurriedly summoned Talaria and Sharana to fly up. Right, this bastard was the combination of dozens of Orc Lords and Wraith Queens! I felt more at ease after I told myself that I should have no trouble with this combination.

[Guaaaaaa!]

The reflective property of the walls was gone. Instead, no matter where the Ghost Orc Lord’s attack hit, the room would rumble and deal damage that was proportional to the attack’s force to anyone that was touching the ground. Now that I was flying, that effect had little meaning.

I tried to think about how I could use this property to damage the Ghost Orc Lord, but he was also floating in the air, so there really was nothing I could do.

The hundreds of ectoplasm arrows flew towards me without mercy. Affected by ten stacks of warcries, even a single ectoplasm arrow dealt immense pain. I danced like a fairy to avoid the incoming ectoplasm arrows that also struck the room’s walls and exploded. Immediately, the room shook with an explosive rumble.

The fight had begun unexpectedly, so I ended up giving the Ghost Orc Lord an upper hand. If I didn’t find my rhythm quickly, I would be in danger.

I took a deep breath. “Alright…Kuaaaaang!”

[You have activated Frozen Roar! All enemies in the battlefield have frozen in place. All allies have temporarily become super-armored and have all abilities increased by 50%. Your chance of landing critical hits will double when fighting enemies affected by Frozen Roar.]

A freezing energy descended in the hall. The ectoplasm arrows flying toward me slowed down, and frost appeared on the Ghost Orc Lord’s half-transparent body. Using Sharana’s power, I detonated the ectoplasm arrows one by one and thought about what Floor Master skills to use.

Unfortunately, without enough space to even fly around on Peika, there was no way I could use Gigant Time. I also couldn’t use Gaia Buster as it would strike the entire room with too great a force.

“In that case…ugh. Ruyue!” I shouted.

[Got it!]

The Ghost Orc Lord had already broken out of the ice. I tried to tie him down again with Ruyue’s power, but it was not enough. In the end, I stopped thinking and tightened my grip on my spear.

I yelled out, “As if I only know how to use Floor Master skills to fight. Prepare to die!”

I charged toward the Ghost Orc Lord as I poured more mana into Ruyue and told her to restrain the Ghost Orc Lord more. At the same time, I drank a mana potion and formed chaos flames on my spear. The Ghost Orc Lord let out a horrifying scream as if he wanted to kill me with his scream alone.

[Guaaaaaaaaaa!]

“I don’t have the time to be wasting here, you ghost orc!” I exclaimed.

I dodged his slow-moving glaive and thrust my spear toward his waist area. He may have a spiritual body, but he couldn’t dodge my chaos flames. Although the ice restraining his movements had completely melted away, he was affected by my inextinguishable black flames in exchange.

Maddened by the flames, the Ghost Orc Lord shot out more ectoplasm arrows and launched aura waves by swinging his glaive. The room shook endlessly, damaging me while I was still flying. The vibrations came from the walls, but the sheer force had even spread through the air. Things couldn’t continue like this. It felt like an infinite number of ectoplasm arrows were shooting at me, and I couldn’t continue to let it happen.

“Argh…First, I’ll get rid of this vibration. Ruyue, go back for now!”

When Ruyue left, the Ghost Orc Lord went wild with joy. He charged toward me and swung his giant glaive like a scythe.

I shouted, “Kuaaaaaaang!”

[You have used Crimson Roar. Everything blazes in flames.]

In terms of visuals, nothing could come close to this skill. The entire space blazed and dealt critical fire damage to all targets other than me! The Ghost Orc Lord’s painful scream was especially memorable. The chaos flames expanded their territory as if the blazing space was their home.

[Guaaaaaang!]

At that moment, the Ghost Orc Lord threw his glaive at me. Apparently, even the blazing space couldn’t stop the super-armored state. I sent an aura imbued with chaos flame flying toward him and dodged. The glaive then struck the ground. The entire room rumbled from the shock. That was the end. I sighed in relief.

“So it really was effective.”

Even the words I just said disappeared after a weak vibration. It was impossible to turn the space into a complete vacuum, but my plan must have worked.

Mechanical waves could not travel without a medium. After Crimson Roar burnt up all the air when it activated, the vibrations couldn't travel through the ‘air.’ Of course, this put me in a tough spot as well. Even though I was a level 56 explorer, I couldn’t last long without air.

[Peika, let’s go all out!]

[Got it, Master!]

I raised my spear and held my breath. After concentrating my strength on one point, I charged towards the Ghost Orc Lord with Peika.

“Take this and die! Heroic Strike!”

The Ghost Orc Lord screamed vigorously and charged toward me. Well, since I couldn’t hear him, I only assumed he did.

Plus, his annoying horror movie-like blink skill was active again. If I didn’t focus, I would lose a limb in an instant. I had to land dozens of attacks, but my opponent only had to land one to fatally wound me. Now, there was no air to breathe either. Really, nothing was going my way.

There was nothing more terrifying than fighting a super-armored enemy, but I smiled. A warrior became incandescent when he fought with his life on the line, and a warrior shined the most when he overcame everything and came out victorious!

I flashed my golden Evil Eyes and thrust out my spear that was filled with chaos flames and Heroic Aura. The spear shot past the Ghost Orc Lord’s weapon and pierced his side.

[Kuaaaaaa!]

“Cry louder, you pig ghost!” I shouted to encourage myself and thrust forward again. The chaos flames devoured his entire body.

*

[You have cleared Beyond’s 5th floor. You have obtained the qualification to challenge the First Dungeon’s 56th floor.]

[You have obtained 5 bonus stats. Your maximum HP and MP has increased by 2%.]

[Experience has been added to the skills you frequently use to progress through Beyond’s 5th floor.]

[You have defeated Beyond’s 1st Floor Master, Ghost Orc Lord, alone! You have obtained the title, ‘Ghost Orc Lord Slayer.’ All stats have increased by 1.]

[Choose your reward.]

[1. Echo Ring]

If you’re only going to display one item on the list, don’t tell me to choose! Even as I mentally complained, I quickly picked the reward and ran out of Beyond. After all, even I couldn't survive without air for long.

“Puha!”

The moment I arrived at the Floor Shop, I took a deep breath and breathed out. Loretta looked at me with wide eyes.

“Shin-nim, you succeeded!?” she asked in disbelief.

I still felt out of breath. “Huu, huu…Of course.”

She commented, “You’re really rewriting history.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t get the first reward of being the first to solo fight,” I responded as I looked at the Echo Ring, which was a metallic ring with a transparent jewel.

Loretta retorted, “Shin-nim, Beyond’s explorers are all people who have defeated Floor Masters alone. You are the newest Beyond explorer. Did you really think that the first reward for Beyond’s 1st Floor Master would be untouched?”

“Ahem…” I coughed lightly.

“Although there are only three left now, there were other Beyond explorers in the past. Of course, most of them are now…” she trailed off at the end.

“It’s fine, Loretta.”

A heavy silence descended between us. Loretta smiled awkwardly and turned away. This woman still couldn’t fully believe in me. She was constantly trying to create a ‘reason to run.’ Though I knew she was doing it for me, it wasn’t of any help to me now.

Of course, since Loretta would probably get sad if I said anything, I decided to just look at Echo Ring’s description.

[Echo Ring (Unique)

Durability – 230/230

Equipment Requirement – None

Option – Doubles the effect of all roar type skills.]

I grinned broadly. “Oooh.”

Although it didn’t raise my stats, it was a perfect item that felt like it was practically made for me. As if it had been waiting for the right time, it came out right after I obtained Frozen Roar! Of course, it also represented the unique features that Beyond’s 1st through 5th floors had. I immediately took off my gauntlet and put the ring on my finger.

Loretta slowly approached me as she studied my expression. She was indeed too cute.

“D-Did you get a good item, Shin-nim?” she asked.

I nodded excitedly. “Yeah, it’s a fantastic item, enough to reduce your anxieties about my safety a bit.”

“Stupid, I’d be worried even if you’re armed with a holysword…mmm.”

A bitter smile appeared on my face as I thought about the Luka continent's Hero. Right, I shouldn’t get arrogant. People much stronger than me had fallen helplessly in front of their ‘enemies.’ I couldn’t be happy and self-satisfied after just clearing Beyond’s 5th floor.

To distance myself from Loretta, who was getting dangerously close, I escaped the Floor Shop.

“Alright, Loretta, I’ll be going straight to the 56th floor then!” I shouted with false cheer.

“Eh!? No, stay with me a bit more!” she screeched.

I ran off while yelling, “I don’t have any time to waste!”

“Shi, Shin-nim! B-Before that!”

“See you on the 56th Floor Shop!”

Loretta shouted louder, “Before that, buy a Magic Detector! It’s 150,000 gold!”

I came to a complete stop before dashing back. “…I’ll take one.”

Apparently, the 56th floor had mimics and golems, which were only detectable by using the Magic Detector.

…If you’re just going to sell me an item, don’t make the atmosphere all weird!