Dungeon Predator (WN)

Kang Oh encountered Komor Lizardmen on the 52th floor too. However, there were way more warriors and shamans here, as well as a few named warriors.

[You have discovered the Komor Lizardman, Wukal.]

[It is a named monster.]

'Gluttony will last another 5 minutes.'

Fortunately, Kang Oh had discovered them first, not the other way around.

Whir!

Kang Oh began to charge a Crescent Moon Slash. 5 seconds later, he unleashed a fully charged attack.

Crescent Moon Slash!

Bam!

The silver aura flew through the center of the group.

"An enemy!"

"It's that black guy over there!"

"Shaks, give us power!" A Lizardman Shaman swung its staff, which was covered in all sorts of feathers.

Forebears' Courage!

This made the Lizardmen even faster.

Kang Oh charged in. His power was amplified by Gluttony and Devil Trigger, so there was nothing to fear!

"Huahp!"

Whenever he swung Demon Sword Ubist, huge shards of light would fall from the Lizardmens' bodies.

"He's strong!"

The Komor Lizardmen quickly backed off. Then, the named Lizardman, Wukal, stepped forward.

"Out of my way. I'll take him on!" A giant scimitar rested on Wukal's shoulder.

"Quit wasting time and come at me all at once!" Kang Oh beckoned them.

"You're so arrogant for a lesser life form!" Wukal swung its scimitar downwards, and Kang Oh swung Ubist to the side.

Clang!

A sharp, metallic 'clang' rang out, and their blades emitted sparks. However, Wukal's scimitar was the one that was pushed away.

"Heot." Wukal looked shocked. 'To think a human would overpower me!'

"What did I tell you!? Come at me all at once, you stupid lizards!" Kang Oh yelled, and stabbed Wukal's chest. 'Gluttony's on right now!'

"Ugh!"

Sparks danced across his jet-black blade.

Lightning Breath!

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

"Kyaruuu!" Wukal's eyes turned white and his body shook. It smelled like his body was burning.

"Protect the captain!"

The Lizardmen that'd retreated quickly closed the distance.

"Shaks!" The Shamans swung their staffs.

Primitive Vitality!

Lightning Skin!

Wukal, who'd taken fatal damage, was being healed, and the lightning began to dissipate.

'As I thought, I have to take out the shamans first.' Kang Oh's eyes gleamed, and he waited for his opportunity.

"Die!"

"Get away from the captain!"

Kang Oh was attacked from behind, the sides, and front simultaneously.

At that moment...

Abyss Transfer!

Kang Oh's body sunk into the darkness beneath his feet.

Bam, bam, bam!

The Lizardman Warriors' weapons missed, leaving scars in the ground.

"Where did he go?"

"Find him!"

"Captain, are you... Ugh!"

While the rest looked around, one Lizardman touched Wukal, but was electrified in the process.

"I'm over here!" Kang Oh reappeared in-between the shamans.

The Lizardman Shamans were taken by complete surprise. 'Why are you there?'

Slash!

Kang Oh swung Demon Sword Ubist in a wide arc, allowing him to slice through both shamans simultaneously! One of the Lizardman Shamans swung its staff. The other swung its tail. However, Ubist was much, much faster.

Swish.

"Urgh."

"Ugh."

A ton of shards fell from their body, and Kang Oh relentlessly attacked them.

'There it is.'

His Hyper Intuition had pinpointed the shamans' weak points.

Slash! Slash!

The tip of his blade sliced through one shaman's throat and another shaman's heart.

Stab, stab!

Red shards of light exploded from their wounds! Meanwhile, the Lizardman Warriors rushed over to assist their comrades.

'I have enough time to kill both of you!'

Abyss Claw!

The jet-black aura raked through the shamans.

"Stop!"

"You bastard!"

'That's all you ever say. If you were in my position, would you stop!?' Kang Oh snorted and swung his sword once more.

'Let's finish this with a... Tempest Tiger!'

The golden tiger trampled on the shamans' faces.

Bam! Bam!

[You have defeated a Komor Lizardman Shaman.]

[You have defeated a Komor Lizardman Shaman.]

[Gluttony is active.]

[Stats have been stolen.]

[Magic +1]

[Mental +1]

Now, only the Lizardman Warriors were left. The shamans were dead, and Wukal was hanging by a thread.

'3 minutes is more than enough time.'

He only had 3 minutes left on Gluttony. However, it was plenty of time to kill 5 Lizardman Warriors.

* * *

Gluttony had ended. Kang Oh had also deactivated Devil Trigger. In spite of that, Kang Oh continued to hunt the Lizardmen.

Though he couldn't completely overwhelm them like he could while Gluttony and Devil Trigger were active, he was still strong without them.

Kang Oh killed all the Lizardmen on the 52th floor, obtained the key from the final monster, and then immediately headed for the next floor.

'I don't know how the other teams are doing, so I'll have to go as far as I can!'

The 53th floor was a huge room, which only contained one monster.

[You have discovered the Komor Lizard King, Heckar.]

[It is a named monster.]

It wore a feathered hat like a chieftain, and it was more than 3 meters tall.

Heckar's face looked just like a T-Rex. However, that was where the similarities ended. A T-Rex's arms were extremely short, but Heckar's arms were so thin and long that they touched the floor.

Its tail was longer and thicker than a normal Lizardman, and there was a round weight attached to the end of it. Though it didn't wield a weapon, it wore metal gloves on both hands.

'Is it a Fighter? It looks like a mid-boss.'

Named monsters had ranks too. Some named monsters were closer to normal monsters, while others were closer to bosses. Heckar was clearly the latter.

It looked like it was around level 450.

Kang Oh strode forward. Heckar clenched its fists and got ready to fight like a professional boxer.

Bam! Bam!

It moved its tail up and down, causing the weight at the end of it to smack the ground. It was as if it were telling him to attack.

'You want me to attack? You got it!' Kang Oh approached it, but before his blade even got in range, Heckar swung its fist.

Swish!

His face felt cold, so Kang Oh immediately ducked.

Swoosh!

Heckar's fist passed over his head. Kang Oh planned on closing in when it withdrew its fist. As expected, Heckar pulled its fist back. Then, Kang Oh rushed in.

At that moment...

A quick hook came flying at him. It wasn't its fist, but its tail.

"Heot!"

Kang Oh preferred his head whole, thank you very much. If he got hit by that, then his head would crack like a dropped watermelon. He quickly rolled onto the floor.

Then, Heckar punched him again. It wasn't easy to dodge its fist while he was rolling on the ground. Thus, he protected himself with Ubist.

Clang!

Its fist struck the center of his blade.

"Ugh."

Heckar's power was tremendous. Kang Oh's body was slightly pushed into the ground.

'I have to stand up ASAP.'

If he stayed on the ground, then he'd be on the receiving end of things. Kang Oh suddenly stood up and swung his sword at Heckar.

Slash!

A white line followed his blade!

Heckar swung his fist at the incoming blade.

Fire Fist!

It was exactly as advertised. Heckar's fist caught fire and crashed into Ubist.

Bam!

Both sides were pushed away. Kang Oh quickly balanced himself and attacked once more.

Then...

An uppercut came flying at him. Kang Oh's chin felt cold, so he quickly turned his body.

Whoosh!

Heckar's fist grazed his nose, creating incredible wind pressure. It immediately followed up with its tail.

Swoosh!

The weight fiercely flew at him like a wrecking ball.

"Tch." Kang Oh retreated.

Swish! Swish!

This time, Heckar approached Kang Oh while swinging its lengthy arms like spears!

* * *

GBS conference room.

"Holy crap." Jin Cheol was truly shocked.

Was it because of Kang Oh's duel with Heckar? Absolutely not. Jin Cheol was completely focused on Marco's monitor.

'As expected of the Great Explorer! He truly lives up to his name!'

Why was he so surprised by Blue Sky? It was simple.

Blue Sky had easily gotten through the maze, which was so large and complex that he thought they'd spend the entire day looking for the exit. They also fought the Komor Lizardmen at the same time.

Using their experience as explorers, the six team members stayed together, found the right path, and even made it to the exit. It was truly a moving sight.

What's even more surprising was the fact that they got through the 52th floor's maze, which looked even worse than the previous floor's. They even got through it before Strong Punch's team! In other words, Marco's team got to the 53th floor after Kang Oh did.

"At this point, I have no idea who'll win," Yoon Mi said.

Originally, they believed it was a fight between Kang Oh and Strong Punch. However, Blue Sky, which they assumed had dropped out of the race, had miraculously gotten the lead.

"Yeah. It looks like Strong Punch will reach the 53rd floor soon."

Once he did, Kang Oh, Strong Punch, and Marco would all be in 1st place. However, Marco had the biggest advantage. Why? Because he had five teammates with him.

"Mr. Kang Oh. No, God Kang Oh. You can do it!"

"Mr. Kang Oh, please win!"

Those betting on Kang Oh clasped their hands in prayer.

"It's a miracle!"

"That's right!"

The few that'd bet on Marco or Strong Punch yelled.

"It looks like we have no idea who'll win now," Yoon Mi said.

"About that idea you were talking about," Jin Cheol said.

It was obvious what he was thinking. They'd worked together for how many years already?

"You're referring to my idea of letting the viewers vote on the winner? I'll collaborate with the other writers and get it ready."

"Mm. It would've been amazing if they could bet real money on it like a horse race..." Jin Cheol looked disappointed.

"That'd be the end of GBS."

"I'm just saying." Jin Cheol shrugged his shoulders, unable to erase the disappointment on his face.

* * *

Heckar's arms were like spears. They had long range, were powerful, and came right at you in a straight line.

'But an arm can't become a spear.' Kang Oh switched from Ubist to Blood.

If he wanted to respond to Heckar's quick, powerful attacks, then a lighter, one-handed sword like Blood would be much more effective.

Swoosh!

Heckar threw a punch at him. Kang Oh turned his body, avoiding the punch, and then quickly swung Blood. He was aiming for its arm, which wasn't protected by armor!

The length of its arm was an advantage, but also a disadvantage at the same time.

Swish.

Blood passed through its arm, causing it to burst with shards of light.

Heckar furrowed its brow and swung its fist even faster, even stronger than before. Repeatedly at that!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Kang Oh was confident in his dodging ability. After all, he knew where Heckar was aiming via his Hyper Intuition.

He softly swished around like a willow tree. Heckar couldn't hit him; it was as if he were missing on purpose. At the same time, Kang Oh swung his sword. None of his attacks missed.

Ultimately, Kang Oh gained the advantage, even though Heckar, with his long reach, was the one who was supposed to be at an advantage.

Hoo!

Heckar snorted and then rushed at Kang Oh. It had realized that attacking from afar was pointless, so it closed in.

"C'mon!"

Kang Oh welcomed it. Melee combat was his specialty, after all.

Heckar punched several times.

Infinite Punches!

This skill allowed the user to crazily swing their arms and turn anything in range into a fine paste!

However, opportunity lies within danger. Kang Oh's Hyper Intuition noticed that Heckar had left both of its sides open.

'It's safe in the eye of the storm.'

Kang Oh didn't dare retreat; in fact, he advanced.

A short while later...

Heckar's fist came flying at Kang Oh like a downpour of rain.