The Automatic Rooting Range Is Too Wide - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Auto Looting Range Too Wide Episode 17

Episode 17: Looks Like It Might Work (3)

* * *

“The importance of mental strength cannot be emphasized enough, no matter how many times I repeat it.”

Kelly looked at Malcolm Bernard with a somewhat fed-up expression.

He had been going on and on about mental strength this whole time.

In Kelly’s mind, Malcolm Bernard had already transformed from a mysterious and great world ranker into a tedious person who harped on about mental strength.

“No matter how steadfast a person may appear, their will often breaks when they actually climb the Tower.”

Click-

Malcolm Bernard placed his hands on his crossed legs as he spoke.

Though he showed a somewhat disappointing side, Kelly’s face flushed slightly at his aristocratic bearing.

“Traps that leave you dying in horrible condition, monsters that eat people alive, or encounters with awakeners far superior to oneself, and so on. For countless reasons.”

The Tower was not only dangerous but also a place of fierce competition.

Countless awakeners gave up climbing for just as many different reasons.

“When such situations arise, whether you can reignite your will without being discouraged or not. I believe this is the most important quality of an awakener.”

This time, even Corner couldn’t find fault with Malcolm Bernard’s statement.

Malcolm Bernard was a hero who had awakened to save people from a terrible inferno.

“What particularly discourages awakeners is encountering powerful monsters. The despair of realizing that even using all their abilities won’t work, combined with the fear of death.”

Malcolm Bernard gazed into the air as if recalling something.

“Even I nearly had my will broken. Without the help of my acquaintances, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome it.”

* * *

Despite venting his anger, Mincheol’s mind was working extremely coldly.

The Phantom Knight was a monster far stronger than Mincheol. He couldn’t win by simply letting emotions drive his body.

‘Throwing doesn’t work. I have to fight in close combat.’

This time, Mincheol moved first. Gripping his one-handed sword and small shield, he charged toward the Phantom Knight.

As soon as Mincheol approached, the Phantom Knight thrust its spear. A clean strike without any unnecessary movements aimed at Mincheol’s face.

‘Not a chance!’

Having seen it once, he could deal with it.

Crack-

Mincheol deflected the incoming spear thrust with his one-handed sword and closed the distance.

Or rather, he tried to close it.

As soon as he deflected the spear, a second attack came flying. It was a rapid combo with almost no time gap.

Mincheol raised his small shield to block the thrust.

With a heavy impact, his body was pushed backward. The distance he had worked to close widened again.

【Activating ‘Power Strike’!】

Mincheol immediately kicked off the ground. His body that had been flying backward shot forward again.

This time, Mincheol swung down his one-handed sword to finally cut through the Phantom Knight’s body.

At that moment, the Phantom Knight’s spear spun once.

Bang-

It knocked away Mincheol’s one-handed sword and struck his side with the opposite end.

Mincheol blocked the attack with his shield. But once again, he couldn’t withstand the impact and was only pushed back.

‘Damn it.’

Mincheol glared at the Phantom Knight with annoyed eyes.

The Phantom Knight was thoroughly maintaining the distance advantageous to its spear.

It could attack from there, but he couldn’t attack back.

Unless he could close this gap, Mincheol had no chance of winning.

‘Ugh!’

The Phantom Knight’s combo attacks poured down.

Every attack was fast and precise. Each time he deflected and blocked attacks, the bones in his forearms ached sharply.

‘It’s like facing an iron wall.’

Not only in strength and speed, but even in technique, the opponent had the advantage.

He couldn’t see any openings at all. This was the first time he had felt so powerless while fighting a monster.

Even in this desperate situation, Mincheol’s eyes remained alive.

Because he still had a means to turn the situation around.

If he used the additional function, he could punch a hole beneath the Phantom Knight’s feet at any time.

No matter how superior the Phantom Knight was to Mincheol, he could create an opening.

‘Now!’

Mincheol used the additional function, timing it with the Phantom Knight’s spear thrust.

A cube-shaped hole opened beneath the Phantom Knight’s feet.

But just before the hole opened, the Phantom Knight’s foot moved away from that spot.

‘What?’

His confusion was brief, and he activated the additional function again to disrupt its balance.

But the Phantom Knight avoided the spots where holes would open as if it could read Mincheol’s thoughts.

When the same thing happened twice, Mincheol had no choice but to realize.

‘This bastard… it’s reading my gaze and dodging?’

To use the additional function, he had no choice but to stare at the target point.

The Phantom Knight was using this to figure out where the holes would open.

‘It countered it like this?’

To think the additional function he thought was invincible would be blocked so futilely.

But there was no time to be shocked.

The Phantom Knight hadn’t stopped attacking even while avoiding the additional function.

Whoosh-

The Phantom Knight’s spear thrust flew like an arrow. Mincheol gritted his teeth and parried the attack.

‘It’s really damn strong!’

It was too strong, even for being strong. The problem was that he couldn’t even run away.

Mincheol glanced at the stairs. The entrance was now surrounded by something like smoke.

Just like in games when the entrance gets blocked once a boss battle starts.

‘I can’t run away.’

To survive, he had to defeat the Phantom Knight. But he couldn’t see a way to win.

‘No, don’t give up. Malcolm Bernard said so. No matter how desperate it gets, don’t give up and keep resisting. Then a new path will appear.’

Mincheol ignited his fighting spirit. He tried to forget his despair.

Perhaps thanks to that.

‘The Phantom Knight is much stronger than me. It even countered the additional function.’

His mind gradually began to work.

‘But every time I used the additional function, the Phantom Knight’s combos noticeably slowed down.’

As he calmly caught his breath, the Phantom Knight’s weaknesses began to catch his eye one by one.

‘It means it can’t focus on attacking because it’s wary of the additional function. It’s not invincible either. It has limits.’

His mind raced. In this moment, all of Mincheol’s thinking was focused solely on combat.

‘To use the additional function, I need to prevent it from reading my gaze.’

‘I need to induce a chaotic battle. No matter how skilled the Phantom Knight is, it can’t read my gaze in a complex situation.’

Malcolm Bernard was definitely a world-class awakener.

Following his advice, a ‘new path’ really began to appear.

‘But when it’s hard enough just to get close, how do I induce a chaotic battle?’

Even while thinking, spear strikes flew at him. Mincheol deflected them with his one-handed sword and blocked with his shield.

The moment he blocked with his shield, his body was pushed back again. Mincheol maintained his balance while stepping backward.

‘I shouldn’t block. It only disrupts my balance.’

‘I need to deflect the attacks. That’s the only way to maintain my center.’

Mincheol glanced at his shield.

Usually it was a reliable friend, but right now when he needed to deflect attacks, it was just cumbersome.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.

It was so simple that he hadn’t thought of it until now. So dangerous that he hesitated to execute it.

‘But it’s worth trying.’

Mincheol threw his shield at the Phantom Knight.

Not expecting him to abandon his shield, the Phantom Knight couldn’t dodge and blocked it with his spear shaft.

While the Phantom Knight hesitated, Mincheol opened his inventory and pulled out a hand axe.

One-handed sword and hand axe.

Abandoning his shield to choose dual weapons was an illogical choice by any standard.

Mincheol himself was aware of how insane his choice was.

“I’m crazy too!”

Mincheol shouted roughly and charged at the Phantom Knight.

In the meantime, the Phantom Knight corrected his stance and thrust his spear.

Having abandoned his shield, Mincheol could no longer block the Phantom Knight’s attacks.

No, even if he could block, he wouldn’t have. Blocking would only push his body backward.

To move forward, he had to deflect the attacks. Only then could he close the distance and induce close combat.

Mincheol swung his one-handed sword to deflect the spear. He also deflected the following consecutive attack with his hand axe.

It might have been his imagination, but the Phantom Knight’s eye flames seemed to grow larger. As if surprised.

‘I’m sick of seeing your attacks already!’

Having adapted to the attacks, dealing with them wasn’t difficult.

Mincheol deflected the Phantom Knight’s attacks in succession while closing the distance.

No matter how skilled the Phantom Knight was, thrusting with a spear at this distance was impossible.

‘You’ll need to create distance, right?’

As Mincheol expected, the Phantom Knight jumped back to create distance.

At that moment, Mincheol activated his additional function.

A hole opened where the Phantom Knight was about to land, breaking his balance.

In that instant.

Swoosh-.

Mincheol threw his hand axe with all his strength.

With the sound of tearing air, the hand axe flew toward the Phantom Knight’s neck.

‘I won!’

The moment he was certain of victory, the Phantom Knight’s body disappeared.

The exact same situation as when he nearly died.

By the time he felt danger, the Phantom Knight had already appeared right in front of him.

Without time to swing his one-handed sword, the Phantom Knight thrust his spear.

Mincheol reflexively opened a hole beneath the Phantom Knight’s feet.

But the Phantom Knight’s stance didn’t waver.

The additional function could only create openings when the enemy didn’t expect it.

Since the Phantom Knight expected Mincheol to create a hole and thrust accordingly, he couldn’t twist the trajectory like before.

‘Shit.’

The lightning-fast strike pierced through Mincheol’s chest.

* * *

Red blood splattered.

But the Phantom Knight’s spear tip was piercing empty air, not Mincheol.

Just before the spear could penetrate, Mincheol had opened a hole beneath his own back foot.

As his body tilted backward, he bent his waist back. Thanks to this, the spear blade scraped against his armor and shot upward once again.

-….

The Phantom Knight slowly lowered his head.

Before he knew it, Mincheol’s one-handed sword was embedded in the spine exposed beneath the breastplate.

“How’s that? Got a taste of your own medicine?”

Mincheol had thought that if he pressed the Phantom Knight, he would definitely use the technique from earlier.

This was Mincheol’s true aim.

He opened a hole beneath his own feet to dodge the attack while simultaneously landing a strike.

“I won, you bastard.”

Mincheol pushed the one-handed sword deeper, completely shattering the spine. The Phantom Knight’s upper body fell backward.

Mincheol wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

He hadn’t noticed while concentrating due to excitement, but now that it was over, he realized he had done something crazy.

“Did I lose my mind for a moment? Why did I throw away my shield and act like an idiot?”

Mincheol grumbled as he picked up his shield.

“But why aren’t any messages appearing? I won with such difficulty, surely there isn’t no reward…”

-Nameless challenger, you are magnificent.

“Ahhh!”

Mincheol jumped back in shock.

When he carefully turned his head toward the sound, he saw the Phantom Knight lying on the ground, looking at him.

“Uh… hello?”

-Though I have declined, to achieve victory against me. It is my regret that I could not meet a genius like you in life.

“A genius? Me?”

Mincheol asked back with a face that said this was news to him.

He had never been told he had talent in his life. Not in studies, and not in arts or sports either.

He had only received evaluations that he was similar to others or slightly lacking.

-No amount of praise would be sufficient. You were truly magnificent.

“Excuse me?”

-At the same time, I am grateful. For stopping this terrible time.

“Hey?”

No matter how much he asked, no answer came back.

Only then did Mincheol realize that the Phantom Knight was only reciting predetermined lines.

There was no way what such a guy said could be proper words. Mincheol made a disappointed expression.

“Of course. As if I could be a genius.

-Originally, the condition for passing the test is to block my attacks for more than 100 exchanges.

“What? I just had to survive?”

Mincheol made an incredulous expression.

If that was the case, there was no need to take risks. His one-handed sword and shield would have been enough.

“Damn, I suffered for nothing.”

-But you defeated me. Though it doesn’t compare to even a speck of my living days, you have defeated the pinnacle of the Continent.

“Yes, yes.”

-The existing reward is not fitting for you. You are the one qualified to inherit my techniques.

At that moment, messages appeared before Mincheol’s eyes.

【You have passed the test of Hidden Boss ‘Phantom Knight’!】

【You have cleared Hidden Stage ‘Dunwall Ducal Family’s Banquet Hall’!】

【You have been recognized as the successor of Hidden Boss ‘Phantom Knight’!】

【Hidden Piece is unlocked! Existing rewards are changed!】

【’Dunwall Ducal Family’s Secret Memory Stone’ is changed to ‘Duke Cardmos Dunwall’s Secret Memory Stone’!】

Along with the message, a notebook-sized stone tablet appeared before Mincheol’s eyes.

The stone tablet was densely embedded with characters made of gemstones.

【Duke Cadmos Dunwall’s Secret Memory Stone】

-Grade: Legendary

-Description: A memory stone containing the memories of Duke Cadmos Dunwall. You can acquire his knowledge each time you clear quests step by step.

Legendary.

The moment he confirmed the grade, a thrill ran through his entire body.

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