Chapter 12: Scared Sword

The chains, engraved with golden geometric patterns, were clearly no ordinary object.

Despite his extreme panic, Paul couldn’t resist taking a screenshot of the dangerous visual.

‘This is a collector’s item…!’

But he couldn’t just enjoy this situation.

The chains connected to him were pulled taut, their length reaching exactly to the threshold of the boss room.

It was as if they were saying the boss monster’s range of movement ended right there.

This was a problem Paul hadn’t anticipated.

In fact, it was something quite obvious if he thought about it… but the current situation itself had excited him, and on top of that, the sudden start of the time attack had prevented him from realizing it sooner.

The game’s principle that ‘a dungeon boss cannot leave its designated area’.

“What should I do…”

Paul felt like he was about to cry.

Just a moment ago when he received the dream-like quest, he felt like he had the whole world… now he felt as if he’d been thrown into a pit of despair.

Even in this situation, time was passing quickly.

In that short time, 5 minutes had already passed.

The remaining time was now 25 minutes.

Knowing it was useless, Paul stood outside the door and pulled the boss monster’s arm with all his might.

Clang—! Jingle!

No matter how hard he pulled, the chains just grew tauter, showing no sign of breaking.

He even went behind the boss monster and pushed its back with all his strength, but that too was useless.

Wondering if he could perhaps cut the shackles, Paul took a sword out of his bag.

It was arguably the best sword he owned.

Clang, clang!

He struck the golden chains repeatedly, but it only damaged the sword’s blade and rapidly decreased its durability, leaving no mark on the chains.

It seemed physical attacks like this were ineffective.

What to do? Oblivious to Paul’s feelings, the boss monster just stood blankly by the doorway.

He looked as if he had given up rather quickly.

‘Hmph…! You said you wanted to leave with me!’

Seeing that, Paul felt a surge of emotion.

But he quickly swallowed that feeling and just stomped his feet in place.

‘What do I do? What do I do?’

He had to think. Calm down.

One thing he could be sure of was that this was a clearable quest.

Probably. Since it was a Unique Quest, the base difficulty would be higher than others, but!

Still, they said the system doesn’t give quests that are impossible to succeed.

…The problem was that success and failure were determined by the player’s level. Anyway! The point was that there was a way to succeed if he did something right.

Paul brought up the quest window once more to check the details.

There must be a clue.

They wouldn’t have written it out so long for no reason.

After reading the quest details about three times with fiery eyes.

Paul’s gaze stopped at a certain part.

‘Lasis, who held such questions, has given you a single chance.’

When he first read this, he thought the ‘chance’ written here referred to the quest itself.

But what if that wasn’t it?

It might be that it gave him a different, physical chance separately.

Paul immediately began to check his own status window.

Usually in these situations, the answer could be found by searching the skill window, titles, or the bag (inventory).

Because in <Arcana Chronicles>, the gods would give a specific item, a title, or if not that, a buff in the name of a blessing in situations like this.

‘First, no title, no blessing…’

All that was left was an item.

It was when he had just brought the bag on his back forward to check inside.

Thump.

Suddenly, the boss monster pushed Paul out the door.

As he awkwardly stumbled out of the boss room, the boss monster said something to him.

[■■.]

He didn’t know what it was saying, but based on the situation and the feeling, it seemed to be telling him to go alone.

Paul scowled.

He frowned as hard as he could, but his round, gentle features didn’t turn fierce.

The intensity of the dungeon’s shaking was growing stronger.

Paul checked the remaining time.

<00:16:43>

There was really no time left now.

Paul pointed a finger at the boss monster.

“I’m not going alone, you know?!”

[■■■■■ ■■, ■■ ■■ ■ ■■!]

“You just wait! I’m definitely going to get out of here with you!”

Paul turned the bag he was wearing upside down.

Rattle—.

A surprisingly large amount of items poured out from the small bag.

Paul preferred things to be a bit more realistic, so he used his inventory linked to a bag instead of a system window.

Thanks to that, when he turned the bag upside down in a situation like this, the contents poured out.

There were miscellaneous items, potions, food, and even books.

There were also a few weapons, and among them, one caught Paul’s eye.

It was a sword that held a faint light.

“Ah! This…”

Paul exclaimed and picked up the rusted sword that was emitting a faint light.

As he grabbed the sword, its information popped up.

[Worn-out Sword]

Classification: Weapon

Grade: F

Durability: 1/1

Attack Power: 10~20

Description: A rusted and chipped, worn-out sword. It looks like it will break after one use.

(Cannot be repaired)

“This… I picked it up on the way down because it looked kind of special…?”

He had a habit of picking up any dropped item first, so he had kept this sword in that context.

Had he picked up the item when he passed by a group of humanoid undead?

The weapons they were holding looked just like this, so that was probably it.

As Paul gripped the sword, a system message appeared as if to say this was the answer.

[System: Currently proceeding with [King of the Forgotten].]

[System: A hidden condition has been met, and the hidden effect of the [Worn-out Sword] is revealed!]

At the same time, a warm light flowed from the sword and flashed, and the description of the [Worn-out Sword] changed.

[Sacred Sword]

Classification: Weapon

Grade: ?

Durability: ?

Information: Originally a rusted and chipped, worn-out sword, but it has been blessed by a god and imbued with sacred power. This is the will of the god. Use it correctly. If you do so, this sword can cut through anything until the god’s will is fulfilled, and it will not break.

※ This is a quest item.

Paul was well aware that he was lucky, but at times like this, he thought it was really, really good!

Blessed characters are the best!

And then he suddenly felt a chill.

It was because he had the ominous thought that if he had discarded this sword as a junk item on his way here, this quest would have definitely failed.

But this would do.

“…I think I can manage with this!”

Paul smiled as brightly as when he had shouted ‘Let’s go together’ a moment ago, gripping the sword with both hands and raising it high.

Clang!

After that, it was smooth sailing.

The sword in Paul’s hand cut through the chains of light as easily as if it were cutting paper.

Of course, he didn’t forget to meticulously take about twenty screenshots before cutting them.

As soon as the last chain was cut, the sword shattered into pieces and disappeared into particles of light, as if its mission was complete.

That sight was just as surprising, but in the meantime, time was still flowing.

Now, there were only 10 minutes left.

Paul grabbed the boss monster’s hand and started running like crazy.

He couldn’t have been more thankful at that moment for the fact that he was the fastest race in <Arcana Chronicles>.

Rumble—!

The dungeon continued to shake.

Boulders and snowballs continuously fell from the ceiling, blocking their path, and sometimes monsters they hadn’t dealt with reappeared, but whenever that happened, the monsters would be about to charge at Paul, only to be surprised by the boss monster following him and retreat.

‘Wow! Isn’t the boss monster a total free pass?!’

The sight of them clearing the way on their own was nothing short of amazing.

Before he knew it, as he ran up the stairs to the 3rd floor, Paul chattered on and on.

“Once we get out of here, let’s go to my place!”

“We have to take a boat from here…! Have you ever been on a boat?”

“I get seasick too!”

“But the sea is so pretty!”

“I’ll teach you how to read too!”

“Where I live, there’s a teacher who can teach Arcanan so even goblins can learn!”

“Wow, I’m so excited! Let’s go on a trip together! I know a super pretty place! I may not look like it, but I’m a really good travel guide! I’ll do it for you for free!”

“And, and what else should we do…!”

He was out of breath and was starting to run out of stamina.

His health and hunger were rapidly decreasing due to the strenuous movement.

Paul took out a comprehensive potion and gulped it down like water.

<00:02:50>

2 minutes and 50 seconds left.

The path the two of them had passed had already collapsed, making it impossible to go back even if they wanted to.

Not that he had any intention of going back!

Paul was anxious watching the time rapidly ticking away in the corner of his vision, but for some reason, he couldn’t stop smiling.

It was because this current situation was just so much fun.

When else would he get to have such a thrilling experience?

Plus, the cool warmth filling one of his hands felt good!

The dungeon entrance was right before his eyes.

<00:01:24>

Just getting out of here would be the end of it.

The quest would be a success, and he would go outside with him.

…But perhaps he had rejoiced too soon; in an earth-shattering tremor, even stronger than before, as if it were the final one, Paul, who had been running well, suddenly tripped and fell.

He lost his grip on the hand he was holding and slammed face-first into the floor.