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"I\'ll return the knight to you." 

Jae-sung frowned at Sol\'s words. There had to be a condition and sure enough, Sol laid out his.

"That is, if you can take one attack from me and remain standing."

The conditions were easy considering that Sol was only 2nd Mortal Awakening and had no access to ranked skills. But was that all to it? 

Jae-sung\'s frown turned tighter and he probed Sol for more answers.

"What if I can\'t block your attack?"

"Leave the forest."

"That\'s it..?"

It was becoming increasingly suspicious. For a moment, Jae-sung wondered if Sol was unaware of the power gap between them.

\'No, he might be planning an underhanded trick to end this.\' 

A twisted grin appeared on Jae-sung\'s face.

"Shall we play a game then?"

If Sol was planning an underhanded trick, then Jae-sung just needed to make sure that cheating wasn\'t possible.

Sol understood Jae-sung\'s intention. But he was in no mood to entertain him. Jae-sung took Sol\'s silence as an agreement and explained.

"If I block your attack, you will hand over Sir Baratos and all the hostages you have. Additionally, you will answer 3 of my questions. If I\'m unable to block your attack, I\'ll leave the Forest of Silence."

➤[ Gamer System Exclusive skill \'Game\' (Rank: ???) Activated ]

➤[ Calculating the rewards and risks ]

➤[ Adjusting parameters ]

➤[ Scales adjusted ]

➤[ Failure to block ??? one attack: Jae-sung must leave the Forest of Silence. Entry into the forest is prohibited for 1 month. ]

➤[ Successful defense from ??? one attack: ??? will hand over the hostages and answer Jae-sung\'s question. ]

"I\'m ready. You can come anytime."

Jae-sung wasn\'t being overconfident. Although he didn\'t know what Sol was hiding, the system associated Sol\'s danger level with white color and Sol was 4 ranks lower than him.

In these conditions, it was more difficult to lose than securing the victory.

\'Even if I lose, Sir Klein and Lady Setsuna aren\'t bound by the Game. They can continue the investigation without me.\' 

His plan was foolproof.

"Use Limit Break"

"What?"

"The skill you used while fighting Griffin and raiding the Orc tribe, use it."

Saying so, Sol stabbed his sword into the ground. He left it behind and walked ahead. Then he stood roughly 50 meters away from Jae-sung.

Jae-sung\'s eyes sharpened at the unexpected warning. But he didn\'t argue.

"Limit Break"

An overwhelming pressure burst into the surroundings. Azure white flames wrapped around Jae-sung as if it was his armor. 

➤[ All stats will be raised by 300% for the next 5 minutes ]

➤[ (+) will be applied to all skills ]

➤[ Recovery will be boosted for the next 5 minutes ]

Limit Break had more benefits than what the system showed. For one, Jae-sung\'s cognitive ability multiplied many folds in this state. 

For him, the time was stretched to its limit. A second felt like a minute. He could see everything in slow motion. This was why he saw what had happened next clearly.

0.012 second

Sol took an item out of the black pouch at his waist. It was a mantis egg case, carrying roughly 500 eggs. He was holding 5 of them and had another 18 in the black pouch. 

3.124 second

\'He crushed those egg sacks?\' 

Suddenly, Jae-sung\'s instincts started blaring alarms. It was telling him: Escape. However, the Danger level of Sol hadn\'t changed. 

5.537 second.

Sol took a martial stance and spoke with his right fist pulled back. 

"It\'s partly my fault, so in return, I\'ll leave some advice: If you want to live..."

Then, Sol punched the air.

"Dodge"

[ Danger Level: ??? (White) ]

↓

[ Danger Level: ??? (Red) ]

5.561 second

[ Danger Level: ??? (Red) ]

↓

[ Danger Level: ??? (Black) ]

5.585 second

➤[ WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ]

[ Danger Level: ??? (Purple) ]

Jae-sung was able to see a new Danger color the moment it appeared thanks to his hyper-fast cognitive senses. But it was no time to celebrate. 

If Black Color meant guaranteed death, he couldn\'t even fathom what a higher danger level color meant.

5.671 second

\'As if I\'m giving up here! There is no Game that can\'t be beaten!\'

Jae-sung activated all of his defense and support skills while crossing his arms above his chest.

\'Voiceless incantation. Mind Activation. Parallel Mind. Skill Harmony.\'

His cognitive senses became even faster and he could now activate skills without voice activation.

Skill Harmony was the next system-exclusive skill Jae-sung gained when he reached level 50 after completing the quest of killing the Griffin. It increased the probability of activating a Synchronized skill depending on luck stat.

\'Invest all free stats into Luck.\'

➤[ LUCK (+35) ]

5.681 second

\'Eight Trigram. Shield of Boreas.\' 

A massive magic circle appeared on the ground and formed a transparent cube around him. The winds picked up and wrapped him in their gentle embrace. 

➤[ Eight Trigram (F+) and Shield of Boreas (F+) have Synchronized ]

➤[ Synchronized Skill: Four Direction Feng Shui (E+) ]

[ Danger Level: ??? (Purple) ]

Despite gaining a skill that could block a full-strength attack from a Peak Grandmaster, the relative power gap between them remained changed. 

However, Jae-sung hadn\'t used all his cards just yet.

5.689 second

\'Diamond skin. Earth Wyvern Scales.\'

➤[ Diamond Skin (F+) and Earth Wyvern Scales (E+) have Synchronized ]

➤[ Synchronized Skill: Lesser Earth Dragon Scale (D) ]

\'A D-rank skill! It can block a Saint rank attack!\'

His skin turned darker and hardened, becoming tougher than adamantium. 

Yet, the Danger level color remained Purple.

5.695 second

\'Darkness Cocoon.\'

The shadows jumped out of the ground, pulling the darkness with them and encased Jae-sung inside them.

➤[ Skill Harmony bestows its blessings ]

➤[ Lesser Earth Dragon Scale (D), Four Direction Feng Shui (E+), Darkness Cocoon (D+) have Synchronized ]

➤[ Synchronized Skill: Saint Darkness Armor (D+++) ]

The ground cracked and wisps of darkness blew from it. It stuck to Jae-sung and weaved into his skin, becoming a pitch-black living armor.

Jae-sung looked like a knight from hell with azure white flames peeking through the gap in his monstrous black armor.

5.715 second

\'A (D+++) skill!? With this, I can block attacks from multiple Peak 5-star Saint ranks at onc….\'

➤[ Result: You have failed to block ??? attack ]

\'Huh....? What happened?\'

Jae-sung\'s eyes widened at the system message. \'I failed? But I didn\'t feel different. Was it a mental attack?\' 

5.851 second

➤[ Game Over ]

Spurt!

Suddenly, Jae-sung\'s arms lost their strength and limped.

\'H-how…\'

It took him a moment to realize that his arms were missing and his entire torso had been blown away.

6.019 second

BOOOOOOMMM!!!

An ear-shattering explosion erupted. Similar to the shockwave, the gales thrashed a second after Sol\'s attack. It was as if the world had lagged. The blades of wind cut through everything that touched them, blowing trees and terrain alike. 

The sheer magnitude of the blast created a vacuum. Massive swirling winds gushed in to fill the gap and resulted in an updraft. 

Pitter—! Patter—!

And then the rain fell.

…

..

.

A few seconds later

"Tell me I\'m dreaming," Jae-sung uttered while in his soul form. "A physical attack did… \'that\'? No, was it the wind pressure from a physical attack...?"

His corpse was on the ground, missing its entire abdomen, under a light rain that started because of Sol\'s punch.

Jae-sung nevertheless wasn\'t looking at the corpse or Sol. His gaze was transfixed at the destruction a single fist brought.

"He wasn\'t bluffing when he meant that I can\'t block a single attack from him."

Behind Jae-sung\'s back, as far as he could see, was a chaotic and disorienting sight filled with fallen trees, scattered debris, scorched marks, and upturned land. 

It was as if a storm, no, an Apocalypse had passed through the forest and laid destruction unto it.

Half-astonished, half-afraid Jae-sung clicked on the [Continue Playing] option. But suddenly, the golden system interface turned red.

➤[ WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ]

➤[ GaMEr-sySteM iS bEIng haCkED ]