The More the Healer Gets Hit the Stronger He Become

29 – Huh?

Swish-!

Before his mind could make a judgment, his hand moved first.

The bowstring, which had been tightly drawn throughout the ascent of the mountain, trembled.

The performance of the Longbow, which ‘minimized’ the resistance of the wind, was excellent.

Despite the fierce wind at the mountain summit, the arrow, empowered by a strong force, flew in a straight line, tearing through the owl bear’s hide.

Kraaack-!!

“Huh?”

Blood streamed from the owl bear’s chest, torn into a cross shape by the four blades attached to the arrowhead.

Even at a glance, it was quite a deep wound.

Gangwoo couldn’t hide his astonishment at the power surpassing expectations.

“Is the arrow… better than I thought?”

Was the reason the price was set at 40 points per arrow due to this performance?

Swish-! Swish-!

Regardless, he couldn’t miss this opportunity. Continuously shooting arrows, Gangwoo bit his tongue.

‘Why are they so fast?’

Despite its massive size, there was no chance for mockery as the arrow kept missing.

Frustrated by the arrows constantly going astray, he clenched his teeth, pulled the bowstring, but the result was the same.

Kraaah-!!

Still, the fortunate thing was that he seemed too preoccupied dodging arrows to muster the courage to charge.

‘Just need to buy time….’

Even in this moment, as he dodged arrows, blood continued to flow from the arrow-pierced right chest.

The nearby floor was flooded with blood, like a broken tap.

‘Monster bastard.’

It was bewildering that, despite being on the verge of collapse and bleeding profusely, he still moved with the same agility as at the beginning. Nevertheless, he was a living monster. If his bleeding persisted, he would be in danger too.

Just buy time. So, if he drained his stamina, victory would be his in this fight.

‘Carefully, carefully.’

Whoosh-! Whoosh-!

Suppressing urgency, it was time to carefully shoot arrows, step by step.

Krrr.

“Huh?”

A chill ran down his spine.

If it seemed like the gaze of the desperate Owl Bear had changed from just evading, was it his own illusion?

As Kang-woo hesitated with instinctive intuition, lo and behold. The Owl Bear, with its turned eyes, forcefully slammed the ground.

“W-What…!”

Kang-woo, who had been firing arrows with a vengeful determination, faced an indescribable fear as the three-meter giant approached at a rapid pace, emitting an atmosphere that could tear him apart at any moment.

Whoosh-.

Backtracking, Kangwoo unexpectedly shot an arrow.

Owlbear, floating in the air, faced an unavoidable situation.

Whooooosh-!!

The arrowhead deeply pierced Owlbear’s thigh as it flew towards him.

“Crazy!”

Despite the imminent agony, Owlbear didn’t let out a scream. His eyes were solely filled with determination to annihilate the target before him.

Evading was impossible.

Kangwoo, with the collision imminent, swiftly drew a longbow from the pocket dimension ring.

Then, fiercely lifting the shield that hung on his forearm above his head.

Kwaaang-!!

A thunderous clash of metal resonated loudly throughout the area.

“aaargh-!”

Leaving long marks on the ground, Kangwoo slid dangerously close to the cliff edge, barely managing to halt his body.

Both hands holding the Kite Shield trembled violently. His arms, fully subjected to Owlbear’s force, burst with veins, turning crimson.

Beep-beep-beep-.

Ringing in his ears, his body trembled uncontrollably.

“Th-the sacred touch.”

Struggling, Kangwoo barely regained his senses in the warm glow that enveloped his body after managing to use his abilities.

“I, I…”

The ringing that had been deafening in his ears began to fade away.

Kang Woo blankly surveyed the front.

Bushes, bent low from the massive serpent’s passage, now lay limp due to the ground’s pressure and the force of the wind.

Amidst the slowly settling sandstorm, a wounded Owl Bear was seen vomiting blood.

“Did we really… stop it?”

To think that this unbelievable sight before him was created solely by himself and the Owl Bear.

Just that fact alone was shocking, but even more unbelievable was how, despite blocking such an immense attack, their bodies remained unbelievably unharmed.

Remember the sick orc he encountered on the 10th floor?

Despite defending with all his might, he ended up with twisted arms and bones sticking out, a serious injury.

But now.

Blocking the Owl Bear’s attack, which he thought was stronger than the sick orc’s, and all that happened was a burst blood vessel.

Cough-!!

No, it wasn’t merely blocking.

Seeing the Owl Bear expelling blood while hunching over, it was clear that the recent collision had dealt a tremendous shock to the Owl Bear.

After encountering the sick orc on the 10th floor.

From the 11th to the 19th floor, Kang Woo had never faced a large monster in any trial.

‘They were just weaklings like skeleton soldiers or wild boars…’

So when he realized that his opponent on the 20th floor was an Owl Bear, he naturally thought that a head-on confrontation would be futile, drawing on the experience of the fight with the sick orc in the past.

He had forgotten. His physical strength now was more than double what it was when he faced the sick orc.

Crackle, crackle.

The staggering Owl Bear ignited the flames of revenge against its enemy.

He showed no intention of stopping the attack as long as his breath didn’t cease.

‘In my current state.’

Staggering, Kang Woo pulled out Morning Star from the spatial ring as he faced the approaching Owlbear.

[Sacred Morning Star Strength +4]

One step, two steps.

When they entered each other’s striking distance.

Kwaaa!

“Yaaa!”

Owlbear’s sharp claws clashed with Kang Woo’s Morning Star in mid-air.

Kwaaang-!!

A tremendous roar fearfully engulfed the entire area.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang-!!

The formidable force that had been concentrated in one point exploded along with an immense shockwave.

Whiiiing.

The fierce wind swept through the mountainous region.

Kwoong.

[Trial complete.]

[Contribution measurement for rewards will begin.]

The winner was Kang Woo.

[Trial Completion Reward 1,300 Points]

[Monsters Defeated 1⨉220 Points]

[Cleared the trial with a short message.]

[Great achievement. All rewards are doubled.]

[Total reward points: 3,040.]

“Insane….”

Kang Woo, arriving at the safe zone, blankly looked down at his hand.

Even though his palm was torn and his forearm ached from the recent battle, he felt no pain.

“With just one blow… wow….”

Not only did he fend off the extending claws of Owl Bear, but the sensation of delving into its chest lingered vividly.

“This is insane, right?”

Insane. Is this insanity? The same words repeated themselves.

To the extent that he couldn’t come to his senses due to the aftermath of the battle. For Kang Woo, the previous fight was truly shocking.

[Strength: 41.6 +(4)]

He knew his strength was high. It couldn’t be unknown. The status window clearly displayed the figure.

Looking only at strength, he had thought he could contend with a 40th-floor Awakened One.

But still, Kang Woo didn’t exactly know the extent of his power.

That was because he wasn’t given the time or opportunity.

Encountering Nol on the 11th floor. A single strike with the shield and it was over.

Encountering the skeleton on the 12th floor? A punch, and the bones crumbled.

On the 13th floor, a giant wild boar? Unable to confront the surging crowd, it simply paralyzed them with a paralysis toxin, selectively plucking the immobilized ones and extracting their fangs.

The blade-wielding wolf on the 14th floor? A single punch was enough.

15th floor, 16th floor, 17th floor, 18th floor, 19th floor….

Most encounters with monsters capable of a face-to-face showdown were resolved with just one punch.

Every time, just one punch—luckily, two punches at most if you were fortunate, and it would collapse with a thud.

But where was the time to test and adapt to the strengthened power?

He knew the strength stat was high. However, it was just a statistic. Kang-woo, who had never experienced a direct collision, didn’t truly understand his full strength, and that was the problem.

Knowing that the 20th-floor monster was an Owlbear, he had preemptively panicked, realizing that a direct confrontation would be impossible.

Still unable to recover from the shock of the final battle with the Owlbear.

“This is insane….”

No other exclamations came to mind.

After a while, what snapped Kang-woo out of his daze, as he blankly stared at his blood-soaked hands, was the murmurs starting to emerge from the surroundings.

“Isn’t that person ‘that person’?”

“That person? For something like that, they seem too ordinary?”

“I saw it, that person was transported alone. Said they cleared the 19th-floor trial.”

“Even if it’s a boss room, they might have lost all their teammates…. It’s possible.”

“Huh? That person is ‘that person’?”

“What’s going on over there?”

The once quiet safe zone rapidly turned noisy.

Seeing people whispering and pointing at him in the distance, Kang-woo hastily opened his shop.

‘Safe Zone Exclusive Sub Tent!!’

Needless attention was declined.

***

[You have challenged the twenty-first trial.]

“Anyway, he really likes caves.”

Starting from the first trial, the background is always a cave whenever there’s a gap.

Kangwoo, who was licking his lips, took a deep breath.

“Beat them all.”

Kangwoo, who challenged the 21st trial alone, couldn’t hide the excitement that filled his entire face.

It’s now the day after clearing the 20th trial.

Kangwoo was so eager to test his strength that he didn’t even take a day off and was ready to challenge the trial immediately.

“I bought plenty of water and food. Even if it takes ten days, I’m fine.”

The spatial ring was indeed great.

It allowed him to freely gather food without being constrained by weight.

“Now. Come on, mission.”

Was there another time when he waited for a mission with such an excited heart?

Gathering his hands, Kangwoo, waiting for the system’s words, smiled brightly at the approaching mechanical sound.

[Mission: Defeat the boss monster.]

[When the mission is accomplished, the trial will end.]

“Boss monster?!”

Joy overwhelmed Kangwoo, and he let out a scream.

No, how did he know that Kangwoo had prayed for a somewhat giant monster to appear and challenge him directly?

“hehehehe.”

Thud. Thud.

As Kangwoo clasped his hands together and pressed down, he swiftly turned his head.

Rotate the ankles a bit, twist the waist a bit…

With a light jump in place, Kangwoo covered his upper body menacingly with a shield as the system sounded for the last time.

[The trial is about to begin.]

“hehehehe. I wonder who it is.”

Inside the cave with a conspicuous high ceiling, there was still no monster in sight.

With a shield in his left hand and a sacred morning star in his right, Kangwoo cautiously advanced.

“A bit stuffy, isn’t it?”

Was it because of the cave? Despite the high ceiling, the air felt stifling. Could it be a bit lacking in oxygen?

It was at that moment when he felt an unfamiliar side effect that he had not experienced in previous trials set in caves.

Squelch.

There was a squelching sensation under his right foot.

“What?”

Kangwoo, who had confirmed that there was nothing in front of him, lifted his right foot in bewilderment.

But…

“Huh?”

The foot firmly stuck to the ground wouldn’t budge.

It was as if it had been glued down with Bond.

“What the…”

Tch.

Kangwoo, using strength, stepped back and checked the ground.

“Thread?”

So thin and white that you wouldn’t notice unless you looked closely.

The thread was stretched long on the ground where Kangwoo had stepped.

“What kind of thread has adhesive power…”

As Kangwoo continued his thoughts, he stiffened.

“Damn it!”

Kangwoo raised the shield menacingly above his head.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

Long threads shot towards Kangwoo.

White threads with strong adhesive power.

The only monster that operated in caves while using such threads as weapons was the Tunnel Spider.

“Tunnel Spider!!”

As the attack futilely returned, silence fell around.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

Spiders hanging from white threads descended in unison from the ceiling.

“Even with a rough estimate, there were over a hundred.”

Kang Woo spat out a curse.

Trial of the 21st Floor. This trial’s maximum capacity was 10 people.