Ren was starting to regret his decision. In the distance, through the damp, mist-laden forest, a colossal silhouette entered his sight, bigger than any bear he had ever seen.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a massive heap of gray-and-red fur, curled up peacefully on a bed of leaves, like some oversized pillow resting in the silent woods.
But no one would have guessed that this seemingly harmless creature was the Bear King, the mini-boss of the entire region.
Ren had only come to Bear Forest to gather a few materials and take down some regular monsters. He had never intended to venture this deep.
He had no idea if, at his current speed, he could even outrun the beast's inevitable frenzy.
If only he hadn't made a sound. If only he'd been more cautious. Maybe activating his [Stealth] skill would have been enough to escape its sight. Things could have ended before they even began.
But now… it was far too late to turn back.
The massive mound of fur stirred. A deep, guttural roar reverberated like rolling boulders through the forest. The Bear King slowly rose onto its hind legs, its looming shadow blotting out the glimmers of light filtering through the canopy.
Eight meters. A full eight meters tall, enough to make saplings look like twigs. Its long arms swept through the air, revealing hooked claws curved like blood-soaked scythes.
Compared to Ren's slender frame… he was nothing but a fragile reed before a warhammer.
Then came the roar, a shattering bellow that ripped through the fog. The entire forest trembled, branches crashing down in cascades.
The Bear King charged. A mountain of muscle tearing up earth and stone, thundering straight for the fool who dared disturb its golden slumber.
Its colossal steps pounded the ground like war hammers, shaking the woods with deafening force.
Each time its claws swept sideways, trunks as thick as a grown man's thigh splintered like rotten twigs.
Ren threw every ounce of speed and strength into his legs, muscles straining to the brink, as he dashed toward the cluster of massive trees growing tightly together.
He hoped the narrow gaps between those trunks would slow the beast's relentless pursuit.
The pounding of its steps roared like unending thunder, shaking the earth beneath him. Each swipe of its claws sent soil and timber exploding into the air, silent detonations ripping through the dense forest.
Three stacked HP bars hovered above the monster's head, an omen of death. With that monstrous frame, Ren knew its vitality wasn't just immense, it also meant sky-high damage resistance.
But the most terrifying thing wasn't its durability. It was the sheer, overwhelming power it commanded. Every strike was a killing blow. If it landed even one… Ren doubted he'd rise again.
Can I still run? The thought flashed through his mind as he slipped past a thick trunk, sweat streaking down his temple.
But the answer came just as quickly, heavy in his chest: No. Not because his legs couldn't carry him… but because he refused to just run.
Ren gritted his teeth, eyes hardening with resolve. He wanted more than survival.
He wanted to kill this mini-boss.
To return empty-handed after gambling his life… what meaning would that have?
Ren drew a deep breath, fingers tightening around his sword hilt until his knuckles turned bone white. His breath came ragged, heart hammering, but in his eyes… a flame had ignited.
The Bear, blocked by massive trees, roared in frenzy,a battle cry that sent leaves cascading like rain.
It swung its colossal paws, claws slicing the air and smashing into unlucky trunks, making them quake violently before bursting into shards.
In that chaos, Ren seized his chance, hugging tight to a trunk, slipping behind the towering beast.
Windslash quivered in his grip as it cut through the air, steel flashing silver, carving across dense fur and thick hide, leaving a long slash, shallow enough to sting with disappointment.
A crimson number floated up, pitifully small, just as Ren had expected. Useless…
Instinct snapped him back. Ren spun, sliding across the leafy ground, narrowly evading the titanic paw crashing down where he'd stood.
A thunderous CRASH! shattered the air, wood splintering as the Bear's claws shredded a massive trunk inches from Ren.
Jaw clenched, sweat dripping, Ren inhaled sharply. His feet danced, light as whispers over the earth, crouching low to dodge the beast's second sweeping strike.
The ground erupted beneath his boots.
A fleeting gap opened. Ren drove his right foot back, anchoring into a solid stance. His blade tilted upward, aimed straight for the bare chest peeking through the matted fur, his eyes glinting like steel.
[Stap]
Ren triggered the Sword Skill. The blade blazed with its signature aura, bursting forth like a streak of azure fire tearing through the forest gloom, thrusting straight into the Bear's chest.
A clean hit. The damage was higher this time… but still nothing more than a droplet in the ocean. Its wall of HP barely budged.
The Bear froze for half a heartbeat… then erupted in a deafening roar, its eyes blazing crimson like twin coals. The world seemed to quake with its furious breath.
Ren stepped back, as far as he could, knowing the Bear King's attack range was too wide, he feared being struck from some blind angle.
His eyes darted around. It seemed the Bear King's roar had driven off most of the surrounding monsters. That was good, it meant he could focus solely on this fight.
The battle dragged on for nearly an hour. Ren felt as if time had stretched into eternity, each passing minute pressing down on him like a boulder.
The Bear King's thick fur was now riddled with ragged cuts, matted with dark crimson blood that shimmered into broken pixels whenever it moved, as if it were cloaked in a tattered mantle after a hellish war.
Three health bars had floated above its head; now, one was gone. The second had sunk past halfway, but it still looked unbearably long to someone gasping for breath like Ren.
And he was no better. His arms were numb as though shattered, shoulders aching from the endless swings of his blade.
His chest burned as if glowing coals had been stuffed inside, every breath scorching down to the depths of his lungs.
A crushing dizziness wrapped tight around his mind. Red warning alerts flickered relentlessly at the corner of his interface, a cruel reminder that he'd been far past his limit for some time now.
Even so, the monster before him had lost some of its savage vigor. Its legs bent slightly, jaws parting as it heaved ragged breaths, sending clouds of white steam curling through the damp, cold air.
Its frenzied swipes had grown heavy and sluggish, each downward smash shaking the forest floor like a war hammer pounding into the earth.
Ren had tried everything to turn the tide. He used poison, the only low-grade vials he could afford, coating his blade, but the Bear King's resistance was far stronger than expected; they barely made a difference.
He had even risked using honey to distract it, and for a fleeting second, hope flickered when its crimson eyes wavered.
But the moment its massive health bar was chipped away, the beast's madness surged anew, drowning out everything else.
"No turning back…" Ren clenched his trembling hands around the hilt, cold sweat beading down his brow.
Yet his gaze never wavered from his foe. To flee now… would render all his struggle meaningless. There was no choice but forward.
His icy-blue eyes locked onto the Bear King's ember-red gaze.
For a heartbeat, they challenged each other in silence. Ren exhaled, a long breath carrying every ounce of fatigue from the battle, and then he shot forward, an arrow ripping through the wind.
Soil exploded underfoot, steel sang, and the battlefield lay in ruin: colossal trees hacked apart, roots torn up, a carpet of rotten leaves crushed into a strange, chaotic blend.
All for a single life-or-death duel.
Ren pressed his speed to the limit. He slid between two massive claw swipes, feeling the wind shriek past his ear as they shredded the air, cleaving through a massive log behind him.
In that razor-thin instant between life and death, Ren twisted his wrist and slashed, fast as lightning, into the old wound along the Bear King's flank.
Steel carved through the dark fur, biting deep into raw crimson flesh, drawing a roar of agony from the colossal beast.
Without waiting for retaliation, Ren slipped away, using the towering trunks as natural barriers. Each swipe of its claws made the earth quake, but Ren circled it relentlessly, maintaining just enough distance, waiting for the opening.
"Just keep going… just keep going…" he whispered, breath ragged, heartbeat hammering in his chest.
Every slash that followed struck the same spot, driving deeper into the existing wound.
Again and again, until his muscles screamed, until it felt like his body would tear apart...but he didn't stop.
The beast's blood sprayed, breaking into glowing crimson pixels that swirled through the air like winter snow tainted in blood.
Finally, a small effect icon shimmered on the Bear King's health bar: [Bleed].
The Bear King roared in agony, staggering. The second health bar drained fast, until it shattered into silver fragments and vanished into the air.
Now, only one final bar remained… but Ren's body was near collapse, his legs trembling as though they could no longer hold him.