Chapter 36

“That crazy son of a b****... So, you’d rather we all die together than work together?”

To them, Do-hyeon didn’t appear to be in his right mind.

Well, honestly, he had planned to finish them off the moment the dungeon was cleared.

In any case, after the raid, they would be weakened, and in such a situation, with superior numbers, they had a high chance of winning.

But whatever the case, that was a concern for later.

For now, wasn’t it more natural to choose the option that guaranteed survival?

“Who said we’re all going to die together?”

“...What?”

“Do you even know what your ‘Selfish Defense’ skill blocks?”

“Of course, it blocks physical attacks...”

‘Selfish Defense.’

A skill that ignores all physical attacks until a certain amount of magical damage is received once activated.

A paper-thin defense that was useless against mages, but overpowered when only facing physical damage dealers.

That’s why bringing a mage was always essential in these raids.

It wasn’t about the mage’s firepower, but the fact that they made the dungeon beatable.

“So, here’s the question.”

At this moment, Do-hyeon thought.

“How do you think status effect damage is categorized?”

“You... You can’t be serious...?”

Bastardsword’s face turned pale as if he had realized something.

But soon, he shook his head in denial.

“No way. A swordsman wouldn’t have a status effect ability.”

“Yeah, a swordsman doesn’t.”

That part was true.

Swordsmen didn’t have skills that inflicted status effects.

There were other useful status-inducing skills and equipment, but none that applied direct damage through a status effect.

But Do-hyeon wasn’t a swordsman.

*Srrng-*.

When Do-hyeon pulled something from his pocket and grinned, Bastardsword’s face froze in shock.

A short dagger, about 80 cm long.

“T-That’s an assassin’s dagger! How the hell did you...?”

“Is it because it’s your friend’s? You recognized it right away.”

“That’s impossible! Did it drop? No, more importantly, how can you even use that?”

It was the rare+ grade dagger he had obtained from AssassinBoy.

A dagger with the ‘Bleed’ effect. His friend knew that option well.

Since they had kept it a secret that AssassinBoy had dropped the dagger, he hadn’t even considered the possibility.

And even if he had considered it, he wouldn’t have thought that a swordsman could wield a dagger.

His head was still a mess, but that was all.

“Pfft... Puhahaha!”

As soon as Bastardsword grasped the situation, he burst into laughter.

Kiik! Kiik!

As the elite soldiers found an opening and swung their spears, he didn’t bother defending but instead continued to laugh.

It wasn’t until his HP dropped to 60% from rolling on the ground that he stopped, speaking in a mocking tone.

“Bleed? That’s your brilliant plan? If Bleed could finish this, we wouldn’t even need mages. We’d just hire assassins or thieves.”

“...”

“The tricky thing about Bleed is that it causes anemia if it lasts too long. It’s not something you use for damage. Haha.”

Bastardsword’s grin became more sinister as he chuckled.

“You idiot. Yeah, let’s all die together.”

“...”

“Hey! Don’t bother blocking! Just die already. This bastard’s going down with us anyway.”

“What the hell are you... Ah, screw it!”

The paladin, who had hesitated for a moment at the order to die, threw his shield to the ground.

Yeah, it wasn’t just them who would die.

Thinking that way made it feel less unfair.

Hell, the other guy had better gear, so if he dropped his items, wouldn’t he suffer more?

The thought of causing him a loss was satisfying enough.

‘We can even claim we were the ones who killed him.’

It gave them a good excuse to explain things to AssassinBoy, so this wasn’t a bad outcome.

That’s what they believed.

“15 points in Strength. 5 points in Perception.”

Thud.

[The difference in stats is overwhelming. The effect of the Assassin’s Dagger is activated.]

[The opponent’s Perception is high. Bleed is triggered.]

[You have inflicted the ‘Bleed’ status effect. Due to the overwhelming stat difference, the damage is significantly increased.]

[You struck the heart precisely. The effect of Bleed is amplified.]

[HP has fallen below 50%.]

“Huh...?”

Before he even realized, the dagger had pierced his heart.

As soon as it struck, Bleed activated, and his HP started to drop at a ridiculous speed.

In front of him, the goblin chief swung its fists in fury, while behind him, an even more terrifying monster drew closer.

Since it had come to this...

‘Might as well die to the boss.’

He had long since tossed his shield away.

His HP had already dropped below 30%, so it seemed like the wisest choice.

But.

“I won’t let you.”

Do-hyeon, now standing right in front of him, chuckled.

“Ah...”

He no longer even had the right to choose how he would die.

Grinding his teeth, the paladin shouted in defiance.

“You son of a b****, do you even know which guild I’m from...!”

But those words were never finished.

Thud.

Do-hyeon, who had already closed the distance, calmly thrust his dagger into him.

As the blade pierced his carotid artery, the paladin grasped his neck, gasping for air.

In front of him, system messages began to appear.

[The difference in stats is overwhelming. The effect of the Assassin’s Dagger is activated.]

[You have inflicted the ‘Bleed’ status effect. Due to the overwhelming stat difference, the damage is significantly increased.]

[You struck a vital point precisely. The effect of Bleed is amplified.]

[HP has fallen below 20%.]

‘What the...’

Just like Bastardsword, his HP was dropping at an absurd rate.

Now he understood why Bastardsword had screamed in shock.

The damage was so overpowered that calling it a hack didn’t seem far off.

Even as he panicked, his HP continued to plummet, and it took only a few seconds for him to reach the point of death.

[You have killed Player ‘OmazingPaladin.’]

[Player ‘OmazingPaladin’ was confirmed as a ‘Evil’. This is recognized as self-defense, and your Karma has not increased.]

Clang—

Thud!

The paladin’s shield dropped to the ground as his figure disappeared, and the goblin chief pounded the ground in frustration.

Do-hyeon smiled in satisfaction.

‘The damage hit harder than I thought.’

Well, of course, it did.

[Player: Kaiser]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 2,290 / 2,500]

[MP: 410 / 650]

[Stamina: 260 / 350]

[Class: Final Adventurer ]

[Titles (3)]

– Max Affinity from the Start?

– First Slayer

– Throne of Time Attack

[Stats]

Remaining Points: 36

Thanks to investing a bold 15 points in Strength, he now possessed a total of 88 Strength.

Strength that even a level 24 player couldn’t withstand. With stats like these, it was no wonder Bleed dealt such devastating damage.

However, even accounting for that, the damage had been absurd. And there was a reason for that.

[Bleed]

– Grade: Rare

– Restriction: Thief Class

– Description: A thief who uses various tools to confuse and disorient the enemy.

Those who fought against such thieves could not help but bleed.

– Effect: After using a skill, the next attack that hits will inflict the ‘Bleed’ status effect for 10 seconds.

If there is a significant difference in stats between the user and the target, the effect may be reduced. The duration and damage may also be adjusted.

– Cooldown: 15 seconds

This was the rare skill, *Bleed*, that he had obtained from a random skill draw.

‘I had a feeling, but I didn’t expect it to actually stack.’

Normally, the same status effect wouldn’t stack.

That was the common rule.

If it did, then curse users would be the strongest in the game.

But this rule only applied to skills of the same class.

If a Curse Master’s Weaken skill and an Earth Mage’s Slow skill overlapped and one was negated, wouldn’t one of them feel cheated?

For that reason, God of Savior allowed effects to stack up to a certain number of times if they were from different classes.

And that was the problem.

‘They never expected an assassin’s weapon to trigger a thief’s skill.’

Maybe this was a tactic left in place for Weapon Masters to use.

After all, a thief wielding an assassin’s weapon was still just a thief. The AI probably decided this much was fine.

But what could be done now?

‘It’s all good for me.’

Do-hyeon was the only player who could wield every class’s weapons and skills.