[ The system has acknowledged your outstanding swordsmanship and has decided to fully acknowledge your efforts. ]

[ Understanding of the Sword is activated. ]

[ Congratulations! You have mastered Slow Thrust (B). ]

He gained a new skill.

Its name was Slow Thrust. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Obviously, it was an applied version of Slow Cut—and a technique he’d known from the start.

It was just that, because of how it was used, there was almost never a time to use either Slow Cut or Slow Thrust in real combat.

But “almost never” wasn’t the same as “never.” There was a difference between 0 and 1.

‘For situations exactly like this.’

Su-ho immediately began firing off Slow Thrust in rapid succession.

Not long after, a kku-gu-gu-gung! sound rang out, and with a huge roar, the door burst open.

Kurrrrrr!

This time too, the water drained out like unclogging a blocked sewer.

Su-ho took a huge breath again and enjoyed the air in the sealed room like it was loot.

But maybe because he’d come down deeper, or maybe because it was the same pattern repeating, it didn’t feel as refreshing as it had the last time.

Inside the opened door was, as expected, dark again.

“Hey, mutt.”

“Yes.”

Roynan went in right away.

Now he didn’t even ask back—like a veteran diver, he immediately slipped into the water.

There are no monsters, and it’s deeper too. It’s narrow as hell, too. But the structure itself is similar to the room before the one before last?

Su-ho went in right away.

And he could understand what Roynan meant.

‘It’s the exact same structure as the place where I mastered Slow Cut.’

The difference was that the density of the water had gotten even higher.

Move.

Su-ho shoved Roynan aside and used Slow Cut.

[ Slow Cut is activated. ]

Kak!

But the sound was seriously unsatisfying.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes and swung his sword again.

[ Slow Cut is activated. ]

Kak!

As expected.

It was definitely the same power.

But unlike the room where he’d mastered Slow Cut, the damage barely went in.

Part of it was the higher water density restricting his movement, but the door itself had also been reinforced.

‘So this is how you’re going to play it, huh?’

Su-ho sent Roynan away and activated a few more skills.

[ Sword Aura is activated. ]

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Enhance is activated. ]

Thankfully, all three activated.

Then he swung his sword again.

[ Slow Cut is activated. ]

[ Enhance is applied. ]

[ The power of Slow Cut becomes even stronger. ]

Gagagagak!

Stacking Sword Aura, Blessing, and Enhance and swinging his sword—sure enough, even the impact feel changed.

‘So what if you got stronger, you piece of shit.’

Gate.

No—calling it the system would be more accurate, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, System, are you starting to run out of ideas?

Like some cheap game studio that just recolors monsters and raises the level, the best you could come up with was increasing the water density and boosting the door’s durability?

This is basically the exact same thing as Girard’s finger.

Thinking that, Su-ho kept swinging his sword, and—

Kwagwang!!

Ku-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!

This time too, he was able to open the door without much difficulty.

After that, it was the same.

The water drained like a sewer, a new path appeared, and that place was stained with darkness.

“I’ll be back.”

The moment the new path opened, Roynan—who hadn’t been unsummoned and had been waiting behind him—immediately shot inside.

And before long, another reply came back.

But this time too, it was similar.

Narrow and dark and full of water, but the water density was tighter and the door was tougher.

Still, the room’s structure itself was suited for Slow Cut.

Looking at the new door and room, Su-ho’s brow furrowed endlessly.

‘What the hell do you want from me?’

Su-ho decided to call this room—about five meters wide, five meters long, five meters high—the Cut Room.

It was the Cut Room because it was suited for cutting.

Of course, a room where thrusting was the only answer would be called the Thrust Room.

[ Sword Aura is activated. ]

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Enhance is activated. ]

[ Slow Cut is activated. ]

[ Enhance is applied. ]

[ The power of Slow Cut becomes even stronger. ]

The sword swung again.

Sure enough, this time the door’s durability was ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ far tougher than in the previous room.

‘No, at this point it’s not just “reinforced.”’

It felt like it had looked at what he’d suffered through last time and strengthened it by exactly that much more.

‘Same as with Girard—what a consistent pattern.’

So the solution was easy too.

In this place, he just had to pull out stronger damage with things he hadn’t shown yet.

At that moment, a thought briefly came to him.

‘But... how much do I have to show?’

This was a gate he’d never seen even once, so it was hard to predict the end.

So should he show only the bare minimum and keep moving forward?

But if he did that, it was obvious it would drag things out as long as possible by eliminating every favorable possibility for Su-ho, just like with Girard’s finger.

‘Then if I flip it—if I show every card I can show, will the boss room come out right away?’

It seemed like a good method.

It was a gamble that demanded a bit of risk, but it was still more than worth trying.

‘Yeah. Looking at how it’s going, after the Cut Room ends, the Thrust Room is going to turn into this mess too.’

Not a long deliberation.

Su-ho decided to take the risk.

‘If most skills are locked, and I have to use everything I haven’t shown yet....’

After finishing his calculations, Su-ho took items out of his inventory.

The item he pulled out was none other than Gi Seung-hwan.

[ You have consumed Gi Seung-hwan. ]

[ You fully absorb the skill experience contained in Gi Seung-hwan. ]

[ Please select a skill you wish to grow. ]

The target was, of course, Slow Cut.

[ The skill experience of Gi Seung-hwan is absorbed into the Slow Cut skill. ]

[ Absorption complete. ]

Su-ho began consuming Gi Seung-hwan one after another, and after a long stretch of growth work, going through A-rank enhancement—

[ Your understanding of Slow Cut is extremely high. ]

[ The system begins re-evaluating the talent you possess. ]

[ Congratulations! The grade of the Slow Cut skill has been adjusted and has become S-rank. ]

[ The information of Slow Cut has changed, and an additional effect has been created. ]

[ The additional attack power of Slow Cut increases by 50%. ]

In the end, he was able to complete Slow Cut at its final grade.

‘That’s enough for upgrading Slow Cut.’

Then he used another skill.

[ You cannot use Giantification. ]

What he tried was Giantification.

Of course, he planned to increase his size as little as possible and dump everything else into strength enhancement.

But unexpectedly, he couldn’t use Giantification.

‘Even though it’s a self-buff, this one doesn’t work?’

Unbelievable.

It couldn’t be helped.

He couldn’t obsess over what wouldn’t work, so he gave it up quickly and prepared to activate the next skill.

This was essentially the last one.

If he used this, then every measure Su-ho could take here would be finished.

What Su-ho was going to use last was none other than “Point.”

As Su-ho focused his mind, his gaze gathered on a single point on one side of the door.

[ Point is activated. ]

Vacuum Style First Form: Point, which he’d obtained after becoming Shiva’s successor.

The key characteristic of Vacuum Style First Form: Point was that it wasn’t a physical act.

Point was an auxiliary skill that maximized damage dealt to the target by concentrating the strike point.

The moment Point activated, a red hit point appeared on the part Su-ho designated with his eyes.

If he attacked there, any attack would have its damage maximized.

With all preparations complete, Su-ho swung his sword toward the hit point.

[ Slow Cut is activated. ]

[ Enhance is applied. ]

[ The power of Slow Cut becomes even stronger. ]

System notifications.

And then—

Kwaaaaang!!

Ku-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!

Sure enough, with a single blow, the door practically tore apart and fell away, and the water began getting sucked into the opened door.

“Wow.......”

Roynan, who had been silently watching from behind with his breath held, murmured in awe.

When Su-ho looked at him, Roynan snapped back to his senses belatedly and hurried inside.

Su-ho released his skills and waited for the report.

Then this time, a Thrust Room came out.

Reaching the Thrust Room, Su-ho didn’t get angry and didn’t panic, and repeated what he’d done in the Cut Room just before.

[ The skill experience of Gi Seung-hwan is absorbed into the Slow Thrust skill. ]

[ Absorption complete. ]

[ Your understanding of Slow Thrust is extremely high. ]

[ The system begins re-evaluating the talent you possess. ]

[ Congratulations! The grade of the Slow Thrust skill has been adjusted and has become S-rank. ]

[ The information of Slow Thrust has changed, and an additional effect has been created. ]

[ The additional attack power of Slow Thrust increases by 50%. ]

First, he raised the grade of Slow Thrust.

[ Sword Aura is activated. ]

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Enhance is activated. ]

He wrapped himself in the essential buffs.

[ Point is activated. ]

And finished it off with the coup de grâce.

[ Slow Thrust is activated. ]

[ Enhance is applied. ]

[ The power of Slow Thrust becomes even stronger. ]

Kwaaaaang!!

A single thrust.

But its effect was more certain than anything.

Slow Thrust, stacked with everything, made a roar, and in a crude way it punched a massive hole—too big to believe it had been made by a simple thrust—straight through the door.

Kwaaaash kwaaaash kwaaaash......

The water drained.

Watching it, Roynan swallowed hard.

Awe and fear.

Those two things stormed through him like a gale.

“I’ll be back.”

When the water drained and a new path opened, Roynan immediately shot inside.

Su-ho waited patiently too.

What would it be this time?

The same Thrust Room again?

Or a Cut Room?

Either way, neither sounded welcome.

Because this damned underground waterway was starting to get old.

After waiting for quite a while—

- M-Master!! The water suddenly started flowing backward!!

- What?

- I got caught in the torrent—it's shooting upward right now!!

That was when—

Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu—

A massive vibration he could feel from below.

Roynan’s urgent voice.

And not long after—

Pukwaaaaaa!!

“Uwaaaaaa!!”

From the newly opened path, Roynan came tumbling out, screaming, swept along with an enormous volume of water.

“Damn it!”

Su-ho saw the current too late and tried to brace himself, but by then it was already too late.

The flow rate was too fast.

Su-ho immediately unsummoned Roynan and dove again.

Then, swept along by the madly surging torrent, he was shoved past the Thrust Room and all the way back down to the previous Cut Room.

‘I can’t keep getting shoved down!’

Even if you enter a tiger’s den, if you keep your wits you’ll live, they said.

He had to come up with a method, no matter what.

As soon as Su-ho entered the Cut Room, he twisted his body and pressed himself against the broader wall.

The Thrust Room was a straight-line structure, so there was nowhere to avoid the flow, but the Cut Room was wider, so there was a decent amount of space to plant his feet and endure.

Thankfully, he succeeded in sticking to the wall.

That was when it happened.

[ A boss monster has appeared. ]

A boss monster appearance notice popped up out of nowhere, completely unexpected.