Chapter 156 - Chapter 156 (1/2)

Creak, creak!

The stone statue began moving as weird creaking noises came out from its various joints. Jin-Woo glared at this 'creature'.

There were several differences between this guy and the other stone statues, but the biggest one had to be the wings attached to its back, which made it look somewhat like an angel.

Indeed, this guy was the only one among the statues designed to resemble an angel. Not just any angel either, but one with six wings on its back, too.

The angel statue slowly stood up from its sitting position and straightened its bent back. As it turned out, it was over three metres tall.

Paht!

Jin-Woo quickly retreated and summoned the second shortsword into his other hand, before lowering his stance to get ready.

When he made up his mind to fight against that thing, every single strand of sensory receptors on his body awakened in full; every part of himself, from his mind to all corners of his body, had become fully optimised for the upcoming battle.

'…..'

However, the angel statue showed no signs of wiping that smile off its face, even though it must've clearly sensed Jin-Woo's desire to fight. That smile was so disgusting and unnatural that it sent a shiver down his spine.

The angel statue took a look at the stone tablet damaged by the shortsword and simply tossed it away, as if it meant nothing to the 'creature'.

….As if, it was doing the most obvious thing in the world.

Crack!

The stone tablet clattered on the floor and shattered into countless pieces. The angel statue stiffly laughed as it took in the sight of the now-useless tablet.

"....Hahaha."

Jin-Woo narrowed his eyes.

'So, from the very beginning.....'

Just then, he realised that there was no meaning behind them from the very beginning. That stone tablet, and the so-called laws written on it, none of them meant anything.

'If not, there's no way that thing would've treated it so recklessly.'

In that case, just what exactly was this place? And what did this thing want from him?

'And....'

All those quests, levelling up, instant dungeon keys, etc. All those strange events that took place after he left this temple – what did they even signify?

Finally, an opportunity to get the answers for all of his burning questions had come. When he thought like that...

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump!!

His heart began madly pounding away in his chest. Usually, it beat in a regular rhythmic pulse most of the time. But now, right at this moment, it shook and rumbled and revved harder than a race car's engine.

'This thing knows everything.'

Jin-Woo didn't lower his vigilance and threw out a question in a low voice.

"Were you the one calling me here?"

Jin-Woo was asking about what the statue's relationship with his System was through that question.

"That's correct."

The angel statue moved its individual fingers before carrying on.

"You have done well to get here."

Next up, its neck. The 'creature' rotated its head from side to side.

Creeeak.

Creak.

The d*mn thing was busy loosening itself. It didn't take a genius to tell why it was loosening up like that.

Now normally, Jin-Woo wouldn't hesitate to get the first strike in when finding himself in a situation like this one. However, he was making an exception this time.

He had far too many questions to ask this angel statue and didn't want to end the little conversation that he got going here.

Jin-Woo threw out another question.

"Are you a monster?"

The waves of magic energy being emitted from the angel statue were certainly different from the ones emitted by the regular monsters.

However, meaning behind the term 'monster' was simply created by humans for their own convenience. If that term was used to denote a true monster, then yes, that statue was without a doubt, a real 'monster'.

A stone statue that could speak and move around – where would anyone even hope to find a monster more monster-ish than that?

So, what Jin-Woo wanted to find out here was whether this thing was in cahoots with the regular monsters or not.

Craaack.

Creak.

The angel statue bent down to loosen up its back before standing straight up again.

"That's the wrong question to ask."

".....?"

"Rather than asking what I am, you should be asking what you are, instead."

Jin-Woo was frozen for a brief moment there, but he couldn't stay flustered for long.

Clap!

The sound of the angel statue clapping its hands wiped all distracting thoughts out of his head.

"Well, then. This will be your final test."

The smile was long gone from the angel statue's face as it finally finished loosening up.

"If you still manage to stand on two feet by the end of the test, then everything you wished to know will be revealed to you. That...."

The angel statue snapped its fingers, and almost immediately, a red glow appeared within the eyes of the countless stone statues within the temple.

"....Will be my reward to you."

It was then.

Every single head of the stone statues densely packed into this chamber all snapped in Jin-Woo's direction.

Thud.

And they all uniformly stepped off their pedestals.

Clack!

All the statues raised the weapons in their grasp.

Jin-Woo swept his gaze around the stone statues. Even if they were puppets, they still seemed quite tough opponents to deal with. He actually almost died several times because of them in the past, too, didn't he?

Jin-Woo remained calm as he summoned out his Shadow Soldiers.

'Come out.'

But, then....

Tti-ring!

[For the duration of the final test, all of your Class-specific skills have been sealed.]

[Usage of various potions and the Store's functions have been prohibited, and status recovery effects from levelling up and quest completion bonuses will be inapplicable during the duration of the test.]

[You can not exist this chamber until the end of the final test.]

'What??'

Jin-Woo's forehead creased up as mechanical beeps continued to go 'Tti-ring, tti-ring' in his ears, but even those lasted for only a short while. Because the stone statues had begun sprinting towards him right then.

Their movements were eerily silent, yet also incredibly fast as well. This was on a whole new level compared to back when he faced down hundreds of 'knights' during the Class Advancement test.

'Oh, so you want to play it like this, is that it?'

All the hidden cards he had come prepared with, just in case – various potions, quest rewards, etc. – had become useless in one fell swoop. The System had been with Jin-Woo ever since the beginning, and knew how he operated the best.

'In that case, I shall overcome this with nothing but my own power!'

Jin-Woo firmed up his resolve and gripped his shortswords even tighter.

The easiest way to get out of this dangerous situation was to eliminate the main body enabling the stone statues to move. And that would be the angel statue. However, he'd not be able to get what he wanted if the angel statue was killed off. So, that would have to be consigned as the final resort for now.

For the time being, he decided to go along with this 'test' thing the statue talked about.

'And that is why, I....'

….That was why he never stopped getting stronger right up until now.

He never once stopped polishing his skill levels, just so he could achieve everything he aimed for regardless of what sort of situations tried to hinder him.

Fuu-whoop-!

Jin-Woo spat out white-hot air from his nostrils and mouth.

The things he initially couldn't see, the stuff he had missed when he first set foot in this place began entering his field of vision. His naked eyes could chase the movements of the stone statues that looked like instant teleportation to him back then.

'From my left.'

His shortsword blocked the spear of the stone statue stabbing forward from his left.

CLANG!!

'Left, again.'