Chapter 98: Maroon Hill (2)

Two spikes were attached to Tomone's tail.

Whoosh.

Tomone violently swung its tail, producing a dull, weighty sound. 'Is this what it feels like to have an iron mace flying towards you?'

Asu ducked immediately, and Tomone's tail passed harmlessly over her head.

"Iyahp!"

Asu aimed for Tomone's body, swinging her sword from right to left.

Swish.

Smack.

One of its legs blocked her attack.

'As I thought, this won't be easy.'

Her eyes glinted.

She was level 68 while Tomone was level 100.

If they had been fighting one on one, then Asu would have lost 100%.

But with Kang Oh distracting it, she was able to fight it on even ground.

'I can do this!'

Asu was fired up.

Another one of Tomone's legs came flying towards her face. The stinger at the end of the leg glimmered.

Swish.

Asu slightly turned her head and dodged the stinger; she then countered with a sword thrust.

Honorable Strike!

Stab!

Her sword struck Tomone's shell.

As a byproduct of her skill, white feathers flew through the air.

'I've finally done some damage.'

Asu smiled.

At that moment, Tomone moved its tail in a downward motion as if it were swatting away an annoying mosquito.

Asu avoided its attack and rushed to the side.

Bang!

Tomone's tail struck the ground, but nothing more.

"Let's go!" Asu cried out, and dashed towards Tomone once more.

* * *

The Red Centipede, Tomone, had a lot of HP, but that was it. Its attack pattern was exceedingly simple.

It would either spew venom, head-butt, or attack with its awl-like legs.

Once he'd gotten used to its attack pattern, Kang Oh was able to deal damage with ease.

After she'd landed her first attack, Asu continued to deal damage as well.

Ultimately...!

The 1st phase was over, and they were moving onto the 2nd phase.

Kyaaaah!

Tomone shrieked and burrowed into the ground.

"Come over here," Kang Oh said.

He wanted Tomone to spring up from one location, not two.

Asu immediately ran over to him.

"The ground will shake before it unburrows. That's when we run," Kang Oh said.

Asu nodded her head.

Rat-a-tat-tat.

Speak of the devil. The ground shook.

"It's here."

Kang Oh grabbed Asu's hand and began to run.

'Not yet...'

Kang Oh ran until he felt a chill beneath his feet.

'Now!'

Hyper Intuition warned him.

Kang Oh and Asu stopped.

"Get ready to attack. It'll pop out soon."

"Understood."

Spurt!

Tomone popped out, causing rocks and lumps of dirt to fly everywhere.

"Let's go!"

Kang Oh and Asu dashed towards Tomone.

It was still partway in the ground.

Kyakya!

Tomone threatened them with a shriek.

"Asu, focus on its legs. I'll take care of the body."

"Understood."

Tomone swung several of its legs simultaneously.

Asu swung her sword as quick as the wind.

Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Her sword and its legs clashed.

Meanwhile, Kang Oh swung downwards at its red body, unleashing a Darkness Strike!

Boom!

The jet-black wave pounced on Tomone's body.

'One more time!'

Kang Oh lifted his sword once more.

Swish!

The tip of his sword scraped Tomone's shell, going 'Bam!' and exploding in shards of light.

"Wow."

Asu was amazed by Kang Oh's first blow, as well as his follow-up strike.

Then, Tomone spewed its venom.

"Dodge."

Kang Oh and Asu dodged in separate directions.

Hiss.

Black smoke rose from the ground.

"Attack again!"

Kang Oh and Asu moved in perfect rhythm. They would retreat and attack like an ebbing and rising tide.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Whack! Whack! Whack!

Kang Oh and Asu didn't let up and attacked continuously.

Ultimately, Tomone burrowed back into the ground.

"Over here."

Kang Oh and Asu grouped together once more.

"Good job. Just keep doing that."

Kang Oh gave her a thumbs up.

"Ok, Oppa."

Asu smiled.

Rat-a-tat-tat.

The ground shook once more.

Kang Oh and Asu retreated, and then attacked once Tomone surfaced.

Soon after, Tomone retreated back into the ground.

This process repeated several times, and soon enough, Tomone's HP was almost fully depleted.

Whack!

Kang Oh sliced its body as if he were chopping firewood.

Then...

[The Red Centipede, Tomone's HP has dropped below 10%.]

[It has become berserk.]

Kya!

Tomone's eyes glowed.

Once it fully surfaced, it charged towards Kang Oh with the speed of a locomotive.

"Let's finish this."

Kang Oh dashed towards Tomone.

The distance between the two shortened gradually.

Kang Oh was the first to strike.

"Hahp!"

He leaped up and swung downwards.

Snap.

His sword struck the top of its head.

Bam!

The berserk Tomone shrieked and head-butted Kang Oh.

Kang Oh protected himself with his demon sword.

Bang!

He could feel the force behind the blow; his sword hand shook slightly.

'As expected of Berserk! But it's still not enough!'

Kang Oh stepped back and then rushed forward, swinging his sword along the way.

He swung his sword twice, carving an X pattern onto Tomone's shell.

Tomone spewed its venom again.

Kang Oh threw his body to the side and dodged the venom. He assumed the proper form and then used Slash.

A white line followed the path of his sword!

Crack!

His sword cracked Tomone's shell; black shards fell like leaves.

'Fang Bearing Blade' had activated; his strike ignored Tomone's defenses and had inflicted a critical hit.

In the end...

Thud.

Tomone's giant body fell to the ground.

[You have defeated the Red Centipede, Tomone.]

"Hoo."

Kang Oh caught his breath and looked at the resulting chaos.

There was venom everywhere as if the area was sprayed with paint. The ground was filled with holes and the trees were completely destroyed as well.

"Good work."

Asu smiled.

"We did it together."

Kang Oh smiled too.

"You're right. I did work hard! It was fun too."

"Let's see if our hard work paid off."

"Ok."

The Red Centipede, Tomone, had dropped two items.

One of them was pants with a minimum level requirement of 100, and the other was a soul that slightly increased one's poison resistance.

"Guess not."

"Yeah."

Asu angrily nodded her head.

"Which one do you want?" Kang Oh asked.

"The pants. It matches my style. I don't really want to eat a soul that came from a centipede," Asu said.

"Ok."

Kang Oh lifted the soul.

[Red Centipede's Soul]

The soul of a monster centipede that has long since lived in the Maroon Hill. Slightly increases poison resistance.

Rank: B

He ate the soul in a single bite.

[You have consumed the Red Centipede's Soul.]

[Poison Resistance has increased by 0.02%.]

"What does it taste like?" Asu asked with beady eyes.

Although she didn't want to eat it herself, it seemed like she wanted to know what it tasted like.

"What does it taste like..."

'The soul tastes like a strawberry, but it wouldn't be fun if I told her that now would it?'

Kang Oh grinned.

"Have you tried raw liver before?"

He expected her to go 'Raw liver? Bleh!' and grimace.

However...

"Yes, I've tried it before. It's delicious. So it tasted like raw liver."

Asu licked her lips.

"Uh, yeah. You're a female idol, but you've eaten raw liver before?"

His little sister, Mina, couldn't stand the sight of raw liver. Even the gluttonous Yura couldn't eat raw liver.

But Asu had no problems with raw liver whatsoever.

"Of course. Don't you know how tasty it is? I eat all sorts of food!"

"How about beef intestines?"

"I like them!"

"Hmm. You... like drinking, don't you?"

"What do you think?" Asu retorted.

"You really love alcohol and you drink a lot."

"Ding ding ding! I get drunk from a single can of beer."

"Me too."

Kang Oh rarely drank alcohol.

When his father was still alive, he had pulled a prank on him and made him drink alcohol. Kang Oh could still remember immediately blacking out after drinking it.

"Hoo, hoo. I could tell from first glance that you're not good with alcohol," Asu laughed and said.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Asu firmly replied.

"Anyway, let's get going. We gotta finish our mission."

"Let's go!"

Kang Oh and Asu headed for the top of the hill.

* * *

Kang Oh and Asu safely reached the top of Maroon Hill.

"Wow!"

Asu was amazed by the sight.

It was a field below, and a sunset above. The turquoise grass was tinged by the red sunset and struck a mysterious figure.

Of course, the best part of all this was the rainbow sunset in the sky.

The rainbow sunset consisted of various shades of red and yellow; it was quite the beautiful sight.

The word 'beautiful' was truly fitting here.

"It's nice."

Asu relaxed and enjoyed the view.

"It is."

Kang Oh enjoyed the view too.

'The reason people are so crazy about Arth is because of moments like this.'

Although it was a game, Kang Oh was nonetheless amazed by the beautiful sight.

Asu kept her eyes forward and said, "Hoo, it was a good idea to join this program. At first, I wondered whether I should quit or not."

"Why?" Kang Oh asked.

"One of the cast members was changed halfway through. That person's kind of hard to deal with."

That 'hard to deal with' person was definitely Yoon Se Hwa.

But Kang Oh didn't ask her what happened between them nor did he ask why their relationship was strained.

He asked something else instead.

"Then why didn't you quit?"

"I really love my work as an idol, and I love playing this game too. But this program lets me do both at the same time, so... I'm going to keep doing it."

Her last statement was a promise.

"Good thinking. If you don't do the things you enjoy, then you'll get sick. Plus, you can't just avoid that person forever."

"You're right. I'm not going to hold back! To be honest, I let her have a piece of my mind before I came here."

Asu smiled.

"Good job!"

Kang Oh gave her a thumbs up.

"Now then, shall we go back?"

They'd completed their mission of recording the sight of the rainbow sunset, so now all they had to do was return to the studio and finish up their shoot.

"Ok."

The two descended the hill and logged off.