Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Climbing the Mythic Tower as an Administrator Using Cheat Skills (56)
[You have been afflicted with the Status Abnormality: Attack Power Reduction.]
[You have been afflicted with the Status Abnormality: Defense Reduction.]
[You have resisted the Status Abnormality: Fear.]
[You have resisted the Status Abnormality: Confusion.]
Kim Moo-saeng stared at the system messages floating before his eyes, shock washing over him.
“Damn it—just one sentence and two mental-type skills nearly got through?”
He knew it already.
The skill Dragon Roar—it was essentially the same as his own Intimidation.
[Grrrkakaka, if your ‘will’ had been just a shade weaker, it would’ve ended right there, Kim Moo-saeng.]
If not for all the Stats he’d accumulated so far.
If not for the buffer that Robust Bone had given him.
His vision would have gone black, his body refusing his commands.
Like when he first faced Slayken, he would’ve been caught between heaven and earth, devoured.
And weren’t Attack Power Reduction and Defense Reduction already in effect?
‘At least a two-Grade Level difference…. The stat gap is unmistakable.’
Even a normal dragon had to be considered vastly superior to him in raw ability.
If it had been an Ancient Dragon….
“Wait, why are you so pleased about this, Wash? You could’ve at least mentioned it wasn’t a Lesser Dragon beforehand—”
[Disappear.]
Whoooosh—
Five fireballs materialized in empty air along with the Blue Dragon’s voice.
Calling them fireballs was generous.
Each one was the size of heavy machinery!
“This cursed—a Blue Dragon should normally use lightning—”
Moo-saeng launched himself upward with all his strength, executing evasive maneuvers.
Movement speed was already boosted by 5% through his passive traits, and he wore Chita Boots besides….
“Damn it, argh!”
He couldn’t escape the blast radius entirely.
Counting himself lucky that only the shockwave caught him, he saw that the ground around the impact crater had been reduced to scorched earth.
“Phew….”
At least he’d survived that round.
But there was no time to catch his breath.
Flap, flap, flap—
By the time he heard the massive wingbeats, three more fireballs were already hovering in front of the Blue Dragon’s maw.
[Let’s see how much longer you can keep dodging.]
The moment Moo-saeng heard the dragon’s dry, measured voice, he shouted back.
The dragon’s magical attacks were unmistakably a tremendous threat.
But the greatest threat?
“You! Acting so proud while refusing to fight on equal ground?”
[…What?]
“Look at you, pouring that much mana just to swat a single human. Hardly befitting a dragon. If you’ve got any pride, come down here.”
Flight.
Not the kind of lesser dragon that burned through flight time—something boundless.
‘The Ancient Dragons fly indefinitely, or so Wash said. Even ordinary dragons can stay airborne well beyond the time limit.’
Even if there were restrictions, they’d fly longer than two hours—the quest’s time limit.
Meaning he’d fail the quest. Meaning death.
He had to force it down somehow.
He had to make it plant its feet on solid ground—and yet—!
[…How absurd. You think a dragon would fall for such transparent provocation?]
The dragon wasn’t a fool.
There was no chance it would land just because it heard some insult—no ‘I shall meet you on fair terms’ nonsense.
“Tsk, yeah, I figured as much.”
[Such arrogant vermin. I’ll grind you to dust—not even bone meal will remain.]
“Damn it—!”
Moo-saeng ran forward again.
It had taken roughly fifteen minutes to locate the dragon.
[Time remaining: 01:44:55]
To achieve the Normal Condition, he needed to finish within one hour and forty-five minutes.
‘But to clear the Additional Condition too….’
Of course, that wasn’t Kim Moo-saeng’s real objective.
‘I have to finish this in fourteen minutes and fifty seconds.’
A constraint imposed by the Additional Condition.
The dragon would never descend.
No matter how hard Kim Moo-saeng thrashed about, the dragon hovered at an altitude he could never reach—so how was he supposed to bring it down?
‘This is maddening. First…….’
Watching three more fireballs plummet toward him, Kim Moo-saeng bolted forward.
His direction: the dense Coniferous Forest.
It was a tactical choice—at least the woods would offer better concealment than open ground.
Even as he ran, his hands moved with feverish precision.
As a Dungeon Sherpa, Kim Moo-saeng never let his hands fall idle, whatever the circumstance.
* * *
The Blue Dragon let out a scoff.
[Do you not understand that sight sees only the surface?]
Running into the Coniferous Forest to hide yourself?
How pathetically shallow.
Flutter, flutter, flutter—! The dragon took to the air, weaving magic as it flew.
Heat Detection.
The dragon’s vision shifted, as though peering through an infrared lens.
Kim Moo-saeng appeared vividly before it—a bright yellow-white dot moving through the forest.
‘……But the trees will certainly hamper my aim somewhat. Then……’
The dragon’s gaze fixed on a point slightly ahead of where Kim Moo-saeng was running.
Flame Explosion would serve well enough, but in a dense forest, it becomes unwieldy.
Yet the dragon’s fire magic was hardly limited to mere explosive spheres.
Whoooosh—!
The yellow dot stumbled and lurched backward in panic.
A wall of flame had erupted directly in his path.
No—he wasn’t merely retreating. Now the yellow dot was fleeing outright.
The dragon was raising a Fire Wall and moving it forward with Blaze.
Left, forward, right, then slightly back…….
Chasing the fleeing Kim Moo-saeng with walls of fire seemed promising at first.
But the dragon soon frowned, displeased.
[……So he attempts to confuse his trajectory amid this.]
The creature had assumed mindless flight.
Yet it seemed the human understood Heat Detection—and was deliberately disrupting his own thermal signature.
[Hmph. Pathetic, little human.]
A sudden gust.
The wall of fire vanished.
In its place, something formless shot from the dragon—a blade of wind.
Condensed and spinning, it tore indiscriminately through the conifer branches, hurtling toward Kim Moo-saeng.
Damn it—dragon or not! The human’s bitter curse actually brought the dragon considerable satisfaction.
Yet only briefly.
The dragon’s expression grew serious once more.
Satisfied? Simply because it had driven a mere human back?
A primitive, insignificant creature had invaded its domain and dared show hostility—and now it was fleeing. Nothing more.
It deserved to be torn to shreds, not merely herded away.
‘I could fell every tree here without difficulty……. But how tedious.’
What truly infuriated the dragon was the human’s speed.
This forest was surely new to him.
Yet somehow, he kept bolting toward zones where the thickest, tallest trees stood.
Always positioning himself behind obstacles that fell precisely between the dragon and himself—as though……
As though calculated to rob the Whirl Wind Cutter of its strength?
[Surely that cannot be. One mere human…….]
A flicker of doubt.
But irritation burned far brighter than doubt.
Flutter—! Flutter—! Flutter—!
The dragon accelerated, closing the distance a fraction more.
Then it would unleash its Breath.
No more fumbling with half-hearted spells.
To finish this tiresome creature completely, it needed to draw its Breath.
Following that arrogant creature through the Coniferous Forest — a direct pursuit would be quick.
One Breath from the Blue Dragon would end it all.
[Huh!?]
Whoooooosh——!
But in that instant, the Blue Dragon’s eyes went wide as it wrenched its neck around.
A sudden threat from behind — something had breached its Mana Barrier!?
The Blue Dragon immediately deactivated its Heat Detection spell and switched to normal vision.
Something undetectable by temperature had already flown to within reach of its face.
[What in the—. An insect?]
Watching two small silver-gray insects, the dragon recoiled in confusion.
There was no time to analyze these unknown creatures.
To the dragon they were utterly insignificant, yet the Wooden Barrel one of them carried sloshed with liquid——.
Splash——!
[Gck!? Poison? A human!?]
The moment it recognized the danger, it had to execute an evasive maneuver, banking hard through the air.
The venom missed the dragon’s eyes by inches.
But every ambush demands its price.
[How dare you!]
Crackle-crackle-crackle—— Snap-snap-snap——!
Chain Lightning exploded from the Blue Dragon’s eyes, incinerating both of Kim Moo-saeng’s Guardians in an instant.
Watching the two insects blacken and plummet, the Blue Dragon steadied its ragged breathing.
[Running while preparing such tricks, human? Did you really think such things could work on me, human!?]
“Well, yeah, that’s the whole point — isn’t that why you test it? If you want to complain, at least let me rub it in your eyes first, and then maybe I’d feel a little better——.”
[Silence!]
Fire. Wind. And lightning too.
Burning whirlwinds began rising from every corner of the Coniferous Forest.
The dragon’s intent was clear — to seal off every escape route Kim Moo-saeng might take.
Furious as the fluttering of its own wings, and yet still — a dragon was a dragon.
It never descended close to the ground.
It would not land.
It maintained the same altitude as when they had first met.
‘Those insect tricks suggest no ranged capabilities or flight ability. If that’s true, then time is my ally…….’
It did not let its guard down.
The Blue Dragon knew this truth as well.
Humans were a species weak beyond measure, and yet among them were those called Dragon Slayers — beings to be reckoned with.
[There will be no escape left, human. And now you will simply…….]
Crackle, snap, pop-pop-pop-pop——!
As the whirlwind of flame sealed off the routes, electrical energy began accumulating in its chest and slowly migrating upward.
The moment the surge of lightning reached its jaws, it would reactivate Heat Detection, locate Kim Moo-saeng, and unleash its Breath.
And the Blue Dragon’s Breath, equipped even with target-tracking function, would completely incinerate the arrogant human——
At that point.
[Hmph! More impertinent tricks——.]
The Blue Dragon felt it.
Behind itself once more — an intruder breaching its Mana Barrier had returned.
It wheeled around, about to incinerate the silver-gray insects again, when——
[Kye-kye-kye-kye. So that’s it. You haven’t turned Heat Detection back on yet, have you? Just as Kim Moo-saeng said.]
The Blue Dragon beheld it.
Hovering behind it, at a height slightly greater than its own, was a yellow duck.
[-W-what!?]
Not an insect.
It spoke.
It posed no threat whatsoever.
Yet the Blue Dragon’s eyes went perfectly round.
[N-no, no, no, no, this can’t be——. How could——. This is——.]
Unable to form words, its trembling jaw could only manage a quavering mumble.
A shock so profound that even a High-Order Lifeform could not respond immediately.
‘How was one supposed to comprehend the Grade Level of such a being?’
Wash, as if understanding perfectly well, quacked loudly and spoke.
[Honestly, you’re such a primitive human. Using me as bait like that.]
Then it wagged its bill at the Blue Dragon.
More precisely, he’d pointed his beak at the space behind the Blue Dragon.
“Stupid lizard, watch your back.”
It wasn’t Wash’s warning that did it.
The Blue Dragon felt it in that same instant, spinning around by pure instinct.
Another creature had pierced through the Mana Barrier!?
This time something approached from below, cutting across the diagonal——
“Caught you.”
It was a man.
From his eyes blazed a crimson aura, erupting in violent waves.
───────────……!!!!
Kim Moo-saeng’s Venom Fang burrowed deep into the Blue Dragon’s wing joint.
“Kyyyyeeeeeeee-!”
The dragon’s shriek tore through the air, raw and piercing.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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