The last Graf started crawling at me by moving dozens of its legs and stiffened joints restlessly. It might have been the fastest speed it could sprint at. Its legs were wading through the blood of its dead fellows as it crept on them, and blood splashed all over as it took steps. It was determined to climb me and stab its gigantic chin into me. I was leaning against the pile of corpses on the side as I was paralyzed. Therefore, it must have thought it was a great opportunity to kill me instead of running away.

[You have used the Ring of Flames.]

The fireball shot straight to the Graf, but it rolled its body before the flame reached its body. The flame dissipated when it hit its shell, and the monster uncurled itself as if nothing had hurt it. It began to move again, but suddenly stopped and its antennae moved limply. Woo Yeon-Hee must have used the skill ‘Confusion.’

“I'll take care of it.”

I heard her over my head as Woo Yeon-Hee was standing on the top of the stacked corpses and looking down at me. She jumped down and rushed toward the Graf. Although the dead bodies’ shells were quite slippery due to blood, she didn’t lose balance. The Graf only responded after she got close, but it was too late as she had sliced off its antennae by the time I could react. Then she distanced away from it right after.

There were dozens of antennae crawling out between corpses like snakes. They belonged to those who had not died yet. Even though those monsters had lost most or all of their limbs, they were still searching for Woo Yeon-Hee instinctively. All they could do was crawl on the target and attempt to strangle, but the severed antennae were still intimidating due to their length.

Woo Yeon-Hee calmly severed each and every antennae before carefully approaching the confused Graf. As I did when I defeated the medium-sized Graf, she went around to its back and thrust a dagger into its throat and pulled it out multiple times. Finally, its head fell to the ground, but she didn’t return right away. She was stuck in the middle of Grafs’ bodies and came back after killing all of them.

[Woo Yeon-Hee has used Physical Healing.]

I struggled but managed to get up, and it felt like tons of shackles were on my neck and limbs. I couldn’t properly raise my head, and the Man Who Overcomes Adversity seemed to be laughing at me as it had not activated.

“Let’s move on,” Woo Yeon-Hee said while supporting me. We had killed more than sixty in this battle. Technically, I swept them by myself as she had not intervened much, and I had not activated any skill.

***

After the three days of hell, I said the same thing that Woo Yeon-Hee had, “Ah, I feel much better.”

I had been drowsy for the past few days and suffered from nightmares. I had hallucinated about the Graf I had encountered in an A-class dungeon in the past, and that one had been called the Ruler. It had a pale face with fiery eyes like the sun. Anyone would panic when looking into its eyes.

Maybe because I had seen my greatest fear in my dreams, my tension towards the F-class boss fight had somewhat subsided. I had confidence that I could do better than I thought as I was fighting like an E-class hunter now.

We checked on ourselves and began moving again. Surprisingly, hours passed since we entered the left side of the interaction but there was not a single attack. It was highly likely that we had taken care of them all. My suspicions were thus confirmed when we arrived at an area with four dungeon boxes. Although this dungeon wasn’t divided by doors, it was perfect to call the area a ‘treasure room.’ Woo Yeon-Hee had the same thought, and her voice was very tense when I stopped.

“It’s the boss fight soon, right?”

The cave gradually narrowed again, and, like where the medium-sized Graf had been, the boss monster would be at the end of the tunnel.

“We haven’t used the Escape Insignia yet,” she said.

It didn’t sound like she was mentioning the insignia because she wanted to head back. In fact, she was happy with our growth compared to our first dungeon. She was nervous but also enjoying the sense of accomplishment.

“Let’s get ready here,” I said.

Woo Yeon-Hee didn’t know why I had chosen this place until she found the dungeon boxes. Then, her face brightened. We spent a day suffering from the first box’s curse, then another day from the second box’s curse. On the third day…

“I’m recharged.”

Woo Yeon-Hee said that to inform me that she could use Phobia Healing again. She began to keep an eye on me from a distance just in case we got a curse again.

[Devi’s Sword has increased by 9.]

[Devi’s Sword: F (9)]

“That’s fine. I’ll open the next box,” I said.

“You’ve got this!” she cheered me on.

[Your Health has increased by 10.]

[Health: F (50)]

Dungeon boxes were so random. They rewarded us with a high figure that could upgrade our stats, but we also needed to remember that they cursed us for two days straight. I sent a signal to her that I was okay and checked my status.

“Status window.”

[Name: Na Seon-Hu

Health: F (50), Strength: E (19), Agility: E (0), Sense: F (63)

Total points: 222

Traits(7), Skills(5), Insignias(3), Items(8)]

[Traits - The Man Who Overcomes Adversity: E (0), Strongman: F (5), Explorer: F (0), Interdiction: F (0), Forerunner: F (0), Gifted: F (0), Collector: F (0)]

[Skills - Odin’s Wrath: F (16), Devi’s Sword: F (9), Gaia’s Will: F (0), Earthquake: F (12), Night Eyes: F (0)]

[Insignias - Escape(F), Liberation(F), Reinforcement(F)]

[Items - Ruler’s Ring (B), Medal of Restraint (E), Earring of Vitality (E), Ring of Flames (E), Clown’s Dagger (E), Blind’s Ring (F), Badge of the Sensitives (F), Protective Gloves (F)]

***

The tunnel narrowed down, and it was only wide enough for six people to walk side by side. There was a long row of stone statues on the side. Contrary to my expectation that there would be a huge space for the boss, only a long corridor awaited us. Woo Yeon-Hee couldn’t even see the head of the statue even when she lifted her head because they were as big as the medium-sized Graf and looked like it.

Shit.

I sensed what this boss fight would be like. In the past, hunters were often defeated or had given up before boss fights because there was nothing they could do when dozens of medium-sized Grafs attacked them at once. They would be crushed to death before they even tried.

“Stay back.”

I sent Woo Yeon-Hee back to the spot where the rows of statues began, then I hit the bottom of the statue with Odin’s Wrath.

BAAAM!!

However, they didn’t move at all. Despite the way they looked, they must have been built with powerful materials or possessed the monster’s actual power. My fist was burning, but it would be much easier to fight the boss if I removed these statues in advance.

The boss must rely on these statues, and that meant it was the one who controlled all the Grafs. Until now, I had assumed the boss would be the Queen but it was likely that it was a Graf Patriarch and I knew that Patriarch itself wasn’t that threatening.

Woo Yeon-Hee was looking at the statue in disbelief as it didn’t have a single crack after the loud bang I made. She seemed to have shuddered in horror as she imagined every worst-case scenario. I said to her, “I should activate the Man Who Overcomes Adversity.”

[You have used the Earring of Vitality.]

[Your Health class has changed.

Change: F → E]

Her face stiffened instantly, and I pointed at her dagger with my chin. Self-harm didn’t activate the Man Who Overcomes Adversity. It may be a flaw that I had to be attacked by another being to use it. She stared at me as if she was asking if I was sure about it. I pointed to my stomach as I had done in the office’s washroom before. Her dagger didn’t tremble like that day, and she slowly but surely stabbed me in the designated area.

“Ugh!”

It felt different from the usual pain as the dagger’s effect aggravated the pain. I collapsed while guarding my abdomen, and my shirt began to redden from the blood. Blood even dripped out of my sleeves to the ground. I waited until I lost enough blood to become disabled to fight. When I felt the chill, a message appeared in my blurred vision.

[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity has been activated.]

[Your injury will be slightly recovered.]

[You will be immune to pain temporarily.]

[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity duration: 0 hours 10 minutes]

Messages popped up quickly, and they were about how my four stats and six traits except for the Man Who Overcomes Adversity and five skills had been upgraded by one class. Then, the secret of Devi’s Sword unfolded.

[Devi’s Sword (Skill)

Effect: It shoots a sharp aura. It can be transferred into Shiva’s Knife.

Class: E(0)

Cooldown time: 5 minutes]

They were simple sentences that I could easily understand, but I had never seen the term ‘transferred’ in the System. Shiva’s Knife! I remembered the battle I had in the past. The corpses had exploded at the time probably due to this skill, and I couldn’t stop laughing when I imagined how the First Virtue, the original owner of the Devi’s Sword in the past, would have viewed the Seventh Evil with disdain. The code name of the Seventh Evil was ‘Shiva the Destroyer’ as his main skill had been Shiva’s Knife.

“Ha!”

Devi’s Knife could change to another skill as it was increased by one class, and those skills that dominated the world were named after each God. So, Devi’s Sword that could be transferred into anything was…AMAZING!