The More the Healer Gets Hit the Stronger He Become

35 – The Twenty-Ninth Trial (2)

The only path led to the cave, the habitat of the slimes.

Ki-ooooo!!

“These insane bastards!!”

Rushing through that passage like a madman, Kangwoo realized how absurd the idea of sprinting through this corridor with just a jingling shield was.

Clang!

The slimes, creeping slowly across the ceiling, weren’t doing so because they couldn’t move faster. It was simply because the intruder was right in front of them, always within reach.

Otherwise—

Ki-ooooh!

The inexplicable behavior of the slimes relentlessly following at a terrifying speed from behind was beyond comprehension.

“aaargh!!”

The distance Kangwoo covered in his sprint was instantly diminished by a single jump from the slime.

But Kangwoo’s ordeal wasn’t only the slimes chasing him.

Thunk!

A slime, previously clinging to the ceiling, leaped onto Kangwoo’s shield.

Introducing the Slime Acid Rain.

Sssss—

As the slime landed on the shield, the kite shield, seemingly made of steel, melted in real-time.

Continuing like this, the once sturdy steel shield transforming into hole-riddled scrap metal was just a matter of time.

“aaargh!!”

Even as Kangwoo ran, sweat streaming down his face, he vigorously shook the shield raised above his head.

Fortunately, the slime ruthlessly parted ways with the shield, but relief was still a distant prospect.

Thud! Thwung- Thud, Thud!!

Slimes ready to jump down from the cave ceiling were still abundantly present.

Sssquish-

‘This is a real insane ordeal!’

No matter how far he ran, the cave seemed endless.

It felt like at least 20 minutes had passed, considering the perception.

Thud! Thwung!

The hand holding the shield trembled under the relentless attacks of the slimes.

Even though he managed to shake off the slimes falling onto the shield, it wasn’t strange that the shield might shatter if this continued.

‘If the shield breaks, it’s truly over.’

The moment the shield became useless, he had to endure the slime’s flesh-melting acid attacks while advancing. All this with only three high-level healing potions and three intermediate healing potions.

When the shield broke, injuries would exponentially increase throughout the body.

If the boss monster didn’t appear before all the potions were used up, then…

This trial would end in failure.

“This damn cave, why is it so loooong!!”

Kangwoo muttered while crossing the infuriatingly long cave.

In this trial where physical attacks were utterly useless against these crazily resilient slimes, he pondered on how to survive.

Kangwoo currently faced two problems.

The limited usage (barely three times) of the explosion skill, the only magical attack to kill slimes.

Using the explosive skill in this narrow passage has a high probability of causing the cave to collapse, burying those guys along with it.

To kill the slime, one must use the explosive skill. However, using the explosive skill causes the cave to collapse, leading to one’s own death as well.

Wow.

Thus, how should this problem be resolved?

Indeed, Rain, driven by the formidable survival instinct, pondered.

– [Mission: Defeat the Boss Monster.]

The voice of the system that was heard before the trial began.

Certainly, the system instructed to defeat the ‘Boss Monster.’

This meant that completing the ‘mission’ required killing only the ‘Boss Monster.’

The number of times the explosive skill could be used was three. Pour all of that onto the Boss Monster.

That was Rain’s plan, devised until now while risking his life.

Well, the cave might collapse as a result of the explosions, but what did it matter?

When the cave starts to collapse, he would be moved to the safe zone due to the trial’s termination.

If there was one thing that bothered him, it was the assumption that the Boss Monster could withstand all three explosive attacks, but…

“I’m goinngggg-!!”

Rain shouted with determination, trying to shake off the anxiety that lingered in a corner of his heart.

It was excessive speculation to assume that the Boss Monster of this trial could endure the explosive skill that even the Boss Monsters he had encountered so far couldn’t withstand twice.

Tuwung! Tung! Tung!

The plan was perfect.

If he could reach the location of the Boss Monster without using a single drop of magic power, this trial would be over.

So.

It was the moment to pray for the shield to withstand the slime’s attacks until then, the moment to pray for the boss monster to appear before the shield was broken.

Thud-

A dull shock was felt in the muddy ground at the same time.

“Ugghhh-“

Unspeakable agony surged up through the muddy ground.

There was no need to turn around and check.

The slimes that had persistently chased Kang Woo finally narrowed the distance.

“Ugghhh-“

As if proving his 44 strength, Kang Woo rarely passed through trials without a single injury.

Always tearing his flesh and shedding blood. He knew how much blood a human could shed.

Repeatedly getting hurt, healing, and thinking he had become numb to pain.

Until the moment he received the slime’s attack.

Scream-

“aaahhh-!!”

Kang Woo screamed at the sensation of his flesh melting away.

It felt like someone was scraping the burning muddy ground with sharp stones.

Intense pain that seemed to shatter the mind in an instant.

But the slime’s attacks were just beginning now.

Thud! Thwack! Thud-thud-!!

A dull shock surged along with intense pain.

Back, arms, buttocks, legs…

The entire body, excluding the torso protected by the breastplate, mercilessly dissolved in the powerful acidic slime.

“Screaaam-!!”

The overlapping agony left the mind distant.

“Ho, holy….”

In an attempt to escape this torment, Kangwoo explosively released his anger, habitually reaching for healing potions.

“Damn it-!”

To survive, he couldn’t afford to use even a single drop of magic power in this trial.

To definitively defeat the boss monster, he had to use all the magic power he possessed and unleash the explosive skill.

“Gruuuh, gruuuh-“

From Noble mtl dot com

Kangwoo plunged through the slime-filled cave, bathed in the green light of the slime.

Swoosh- swoosh!

Slimes fell from the ceiling.

Splat- splat! Splat!!

Even with slime attacks persisting on his back.

Kangwoo mechanically moved his legs, pounding the ground.

“Gruuuh-“

With each step, his entire body screamed.

He wanted to end this endless pain right away.

But they couldn’t stop.

The moment they stopped, those persistent slimes would instantly surround the intruder, dissolving them without a trace.

Yeah, stopping wasn’t an option.

So then…

[Intermediate Healing Potion]

Would it be okay to take a sip of this?

At some point, the pulsing of blood vessels flowing through the legs became noticeable.

Flesh melted, dripping, and bleeding began.

“So, maybe one potion…”

Before he knew it, an intermediate healing potion found its way into Kangwoo’s grasp.

Feeling the firm texture of the potion.

Two egos clashed in a debate.

“Isn’t one okay? We still have three superior and two intermediate potions left. What’s the big deal?”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting now? Do you know when this cave will end? It feels like we’ve been running for about 20 minutes. 20 minutes? It’s only been exactly 10 minutes now. In this situation, when do you think we’ll encounter the boss? And you’re already chugging potions? Are you an idiot?!”

“If it’s been 10 minutes, that’s still quite a run, isn’t it? What’s Kangwoo’s agility right now? If this cave is long, how much longer could it be? We’ll probably meet the boss soon! Will you take responsibility if the kid collapses before that?”

“Yeah, we’ve run quite a bit, I admit that. But I don’t think we can keep running like this in the future. Even now, we’re not even at half of our original speed. The slower we go, the more often we’ll have to endure slime attacks. With these wounds, using potions to meet the boss is a gamble. It’s faster to use up all the potions, heal with magic, and meet the boss with depleted mana.”

“No, what’s this guy talking about?”

“…Endure. I know it’s tough, but endure. We’ve come this far through all that suffering. We can’t be defeated by those slimes.”

Yeah, he couldn’t be defeated here.

Kangwoo, gripping the potion tightly, moved his legs.

Sssquish-

Whether it was the sludge of the slime melting away the leather boots or the sensation of the cold cave floor beneath his feet, Kangwoo could feel it.

Still, Kangwoo moved his legs.

Splat! Squelch!

Was his physical condition deteriorating significantly while hesitating over the weak contemplation of using a potion?

Squelch-

His body swayed and tilted with the slime’s body slam.

Thud!

Kangwoo quickly regained his balance as he stepped forward with the next foot.

It was dangerous. If he had fallen here, all the effort he had put into enduring this pain would have been in vain.

From now on, he had to stay alert.

Kangwoo pledged as he moved his legs.

How far had he run like this?

The speed had slowed to the point where it was no different from walking, with injuries piling up and overlapping.

Splat! Squelch! Splat! Splat! Splat!

The frequency of slimes slamming their bodies from behind had become noticeably less frequent.

Stagger.

His body swayed again. How many times was this now?

It felt like blood was draining out of his brain with each repeated bleeding. His mind was blank, and his vision blurred.

Sssquish-

The entire body, excluding the upper body protected by the breastplate, was covered in flesh that melted and clung, dyed in a deep crimson.

Resembling a blood deity adorned in armor.

Kangwoo, who hadn’t stopped running until he was about to be surrounded by slimes, finally burst through the crowd.

Throughout the relentless run, he poured the potions he held tightly, as if in conflict, down his throat before being cornered by the slimes.

“Gah- Huk-“

The life essence flowed down his throat, invigorating his body.

As the wounds were still wounds, the improvement was only marginal, but it was enough.

Power surged into the legs pounding the ground.

It felt like he could run a little more.

And so, Kangwoo ran and ran. Only when it became truly unbearable did he start emptying one bottle of potion at a time.

Starting with intermediate potions, then half a bottle of high-grade potions.

By the time there were only two bottles of high-grade healing potions left, the basic kite shield transformed into a lump of scrap metal.

Unable to withstand the continuous attacks of the slimes, it turned into a sieve.

Mockery or perhaps it was their attack pattern.

The slimes hanging from the ceiling only descended after Kangwoo arrived beneath, dropping from the ceiling.

The first attack always charged towards Kangwoo.

While the kite shield had protected him until then, now the situation was different with the broken shield tucked into the spatial ring.

There was no means to block the jumping slime’s attack anymore.

Thus, Kangwoo abandoned defense and charged forward.

The slime’s mucus flowed down through the helmet, streaming over his face and shoulders.

Chiiiiik-

The speed at which wounds were inflicted increased dramatically compared to when there was a shield.

Slowly, amidst the endlessly repeating pain, the mind wore away.

‘Why am I even running….’

I want to stop.

When the footsteps gradually slowed down.

Thak. Thak.

Running and running, a dead-end appeared in the cave where the end was never in sight.

It happened when there was only half a bottle left of the precious high-level healing potion.

“Keuk, Kkuheuk- Kkuheuheu-!”

For some reason, laughter burst out.

There is an end to this damn cave.

At the end of the cave with a large chamber.

There, eagerly awaited, was the boss monster of this trial, the monster of ordeal.