novelburst
Chapter 127
Chapter 127
But that wasn’t all.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
As the ground trembled violently, a sound began to rise in the distance—a sound like crashing waves.
The sound wasn’t that of ocean waves breaking on the shore.
This was “acid”—the corrosive kind found in hydrochloric acid.
That’s why this place was called the Swamp of the Mountain.
Su-ho scanned his surroundings.
There was no place to run.
No place to hide.
No matter how fast someone might be, no one could outrun a deluge of liquid flooding in.
The tide of acid surged toward Su-ho.
CRASHHHHH!
The wave filled the cavern completely.
There was nowhere to escape.
The deluge lasted several seconds before gradually receding, leaving the floor exposed once more.
The surroundings fell silent.
And in the wake of the acid wave, something new appeared—a massive red basalt rock, towering as high as a person.
It stood there like a boulder, though it hadn’t been visible before.
Then, the red basalt began to squirm.
Much like gelatin shifting and wobbling, it started to take on the shape of a person.
Its transformation continued, resembling a combat suit worn by soldiers.
The transformation began at the feet, gradually covering the legs, torso, and finally moving up toward the head.
But what emerged where one might expect a helmet wasn’t a featureless mask.
It was a human face.
Su-ho’s face.
Encased in the red suit, Su-ho revealed only his face and muttered, “Phew, the smell…”
He wrinkled his nose in disgust—not because of the overwhelming tide of acid, but because of the stench that accompanied it.
No wonder.
The “acid” flooding the Swamp of the Mountain wasn’t hydrochloric acid. It was gastric acid, the digestive fluid secreted by stomachs—stomach acid.
Su-ho glanced again at the spot where he had stabbed the wall earlier with his Blood Sword.
The surface wasn’t a typical rocky cave wall but resembled the flesh of a living creature. The "wall" had split, revealing muscular tissue oozing with blood.
Nodding to himself, Su-ho remarked, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a gut-themed gate.”
A gut theme.
That’s exactly what this was.
The Swamp of the Mountain wasn’t an ordinary cave but rather the interior of a colossal living organism.
That explained the wave of stomach acid and the anguished scream that had echoed through the cavern when Su-ho stabbed the wall.
For any living creature, pain in the intestines was particularly excruciating.
As Su-ho surveyed the ceiling, he thought to himself, “This must be inside a Mega Worm, right?”
The Mega Worm was a type of worm-like monster known for its characteristic ability to grow endlessly through feeding.
That’s why a gate with this kind of theme had formed.
When a creature becomes too massive, its interior can be perceived as a battlefield from a certain perspective, thus qualifying it as a gate.
For this reason, the skill Su-ho had shown Jeong Cheol-min as justification for choosing this gate was his Blood Weapon.
The stomach acid of a Mega Worm was potent enough to dissolve even the most robust equipment. Many players had met their ends here, their gear and bodies alike reduced to nothing.
However, Su-ho’s Blood Weapon wasn’t made of ordinary metal. It was a manifestation of his mana, shaped from his very blood.
Thus, the stomach acid of a mere overgrown worm couldn’t harm it.
“Well, if there’s a massive stat gap, even I could be completely dissolved.”
Fortunately, Su-ho’s red-grade mana provided ample protection.
Based on Su-ho’s knowledge, the Mega Worm’s level was at most around the 1-star mark, far from threatening to him.
Having completed his initial survey of the area, Su-ho manipulated his Blood Weapon to extend and cover his entire face.
This wasn’t because he particularly enjoyed wearing a helmet but because he had no desire to endure the stench of stomach acid directly.
“Alright, time to move forward.”
With his equipment secured, Su-ho began walking deeper into the Swamp of the Mountain.
***
– KUUOOOOOOHH!!
CRASHHHHH!!
The tide of acid surged once more.
But Su-ho didn’t dodge or retreat.
Instead, he moved forward deliberately, steadily, like a rhinoceros charging with its horn.
– KUUOOOOOOHH!!
CRASHHHHH!!
The Mega Worm’s cries echoed less frequently now.
But the waves of acid continued to pour out without pause.
It was inevitable.
Su-ho had deliberately sharpened the soles of his shoes and was scraping them against the ground as he walked.
“Man, this thing is such a crybaby,” Su-ho muttered with a faint smirk.
Why was he doing this?
Simple. To provoke it.
The Swamp of the Mountain gate required enduring at least several dozen waves of acid before transitioning to the second phase.
“The first reason this gate is so difficult to clear is the relentless waves of stomach acid.”
With only two people allowed to enter, countless combinations of teams had been tried over the years:
- Tanker and healer.
- Tanker and tanker.
- Tanker and mage.
- Mage and healer.
- Mage and mage.
- Even healer and healer.
Yet nearly all of them had failed.
The waves of acid, corrosive enough to dissolve even the most durable equipment, required top-tier magical defenses. However, very few mages or healers could endure the relentless onslaught of dozens of waves.
It was then.
– KIKIKIKIKIIII!
– KIRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Shrill cries echoed from deeper within.
Monster howls.
Su-ho’s lips curved into a smile.
“Finally,” he said softly.
After enduring countless waves of acid, Su-ho had walked through an endlessly long intestinal corridor.
At last, the guardians of the Swamp of the Mountain, heralds of the second phase, appeared.
– Parasite Lv.107
– Parasite Lv.103
– Parasite Lv.105
…
The guardians of the swamp.
They were none other than Parasites.
Su-ho analyzed the situation.
“The second reason the Swamp of the Mountain is so difficult: after enduring the waves of acid, you’re immediately assaulted by an endless swarm of parasites.”
The creatures that emerged moved like clumps of hair caught in a drain—writhing and flailing.
But upon closer inspection, it became clear how grotesque they were.
As the saying goes, “Life is a comedy from afar, but a tragedy up close.”
Given the immense size of the Mega Worm, it was no surprise that its parasites were equally enormous.
They resembled the parasitic worms found in whales but scaled up to a monstrous degree.
And there were so many of them.
Each parasite was as large as a typical worm monster, and they never traveled alone.
At minimum, they came in groups of ten or more.
Su-ho, who had been advancing with only his bare hands, finally extended his right hand.
The Blood Weapon in his body began to writhe, and soon a massive Blood Sword materialized in his grip.
Without hesitation, Su-ho drove the sword into the wall beside him.
– KUUOOOOOOHH!!
CRASHHHHH!!
The Mega Worm let out another tortured scream as a fresh wave of acid poured forth.
Simultaneously:
– KIAAAAAAA!!
The parasites, enraged by Su-ho’s actions, began to swarm toward him.
Behind them, the tidal wave of stomach acid surged closer.
Watching the chaotic scene unfold, Su-ho smirked and adjusted his stance.
Taking a firm grip on his sword, he prepared to strike.
***
[ Level Up! ]
[ All stats increased by 1. ]
[ You have earned 1 bonus stat. ]
How much time had passed?
After endlessly stabbing the Mega Worm and battling the Parasites, Su-ho’s level finally increased.
Now, Su-ho was level 99.
He invested his bonus stat into stamina before continuing forward.
“Just one more level to reach 100.”
Reaching level 100 would mark a turning point for any player.
At level 100, a player’s traits would evolve into a second-tier form, referred to as the Second Trait.
For Su-ho, this was a moment of great curiosity.
His unique trait, New Blood, was something completely unprecedented, even to him.
“I wonder what form it will take when it evolves?”
Su-ho looked around as he pressed forward.
“Still, this Mega Worm is holding out longer than I expected.”
The Swamp of the Mountain was a sealed gate but not entirely unexplored.
While it had no entry-level restrictions, it was eventually cleared in the distant future by two heavily armored tankers who managed to overcome its challenges.
Thus, Su-ho already knew the general method for clearing this gate.
“The key is to push the Mega Worm to its limits until it forcibly ejects me from its body.”
No creature could tolerate having its internal organs repeatedly stabbed.
The strategy was simple yet effective: continually provoke the Mega Worm by attacking its insides until it had no choice but to expel the player.
To achieve this, Su-ho had sharpened his shoes and kept stabbing relentlessly.
In the past, those tankers who cleared this gate reported that moving around and spreading out the attacks caused more irritation than targeting a single spot repeatedly.
Once again, the Mega Worm roared.
– KUUOOOOOOHH!!
CRASHHHHH!!
Another wave of stomach acid surged forward.
Su-ho, accustomed to this by now, reversed his grip on his sword and drove it into the wall, anchoring himself securely.
The next wave of acid engulfed him entirely.
THUD!!
A heavy impact.
Something collided with Su-ho.
He couldn’t see it.
The waves of acid were murky and opaque, making it impossible to see anything during the surge.
Even with the Original Vampire Effect, which negated the disadvantages of darkness, Su-ho couldn’t overcome this visibility issue.
“What was that?”
Was it a Parasite?
It wasn’t uncommon for Parasites to be swept up by the acid waves and collide with him.
Judging by its size, it seemed plausible.
Gripping the embedded blood sword with his left hand, Su-ho summoned another blood sword into his right hand.
[ Steel Slash Activated. ]
SLASH!
The blade connected with a heavy, solid resistance.
Su-ho was certain he had cut something.
Yet no system notification appeared, meaning he hadn’t defeated an enemy.
The system’s alerts worked regardless of visibility, so the absence of a notification was unusual.
When the acid wave finally subsided, Su-ho saw it.
“Hmm?”
As the acid drained away, something remained on the ground ahead of him.
A shriveled, desiccated form.
It was large.
Half of it had been cleanly severed, with the other half presumably carried away by the acid tide.
“What is this?”
Curiosity piqued, Su-ho halted his movement to examine it closely.
Ordinarily, he would have ignored it and continued forward, but he had been exploring this place for quite some time and had never seen anything like it before.
His eyes widened in recognition.
“This…!”
The object before him was shriveled and hardened, making it difficult to identify at first glance.
But Su-ho knew exactly what it was.
It was a Body Worm (Chechung)—a creature that lived inside the Mega Worm’s body.
“A Body Worm? There are Body Worms here? But why does it look like this?”
Body Worms were not pests but symbiotic organisms that lived harmoniously with massive creatures like the Mega Worm.
They served as internal caretakers, much like the relationship between crocodiles and plover birds.
Su-ho had encountered Body Worms before.
In the mid-to-late stages of the Great Cataclysm, gates featuring massive creatures with interior-themed environments often appeared.
In such cases, the guardians were usually Body Worms rather than external Parasites.
Surveying the shriveled Body Worm and the countless Parasites around him, Su-ho finally realized the true nature of this gate.
“The main objective isn’t the Mega Worm itself.”
The true focus of this gate and its ultimate challenge lay in eradicating the Parasites that had overrun the Mega Worm’s body.
The Swamp of the Mountain’s real conquest lay not in defeating the host but in purging its invaders.