Kwaahk—!
Something surged up.
At first, he thought it was an illusion.
Or maybe he'd already fallen asleep.
He'd been so tired lately.
Too much on his mind.
Perhaps he had dozed off in an instant from the tension finally releasing. Maybe that's why he was having such a terrible dream. For a moment, he considered the thought.
".......!"
It wasn't an illusion.
And it certainly wasn't a dream.
'What?'
Kim Jangcheol panicked.
A massive stem burst up from beneath the throne, shattering the floor.
Its thickness alone seemed over a meter.
Yet it was flexible. It rose and curled like a gigantic anaconda, twisting around the throne and toward him.
As if it would crush him at any moment!
Thunk!
It happened the instant he sensed danger.
He kicked off the throne with all his might.
His body shot up.
Right after that, a crunching sound came from below.
Did the throne get destroyed? Probably. It had at least offered some uncomfortable sleep up until now. He should get a more ergonomic throne next time.
That was when—
Clack!
"Huh?"
Something wrapped around his ankle.
It yanked him downward with force.
Kwaaaang—!
"......!"
Was he slammed into the ground?
He couldn't even scream.
Did his whole body get shattered?
Was he still alive?
For a moment, everything before his eyes went pitch black.
Then, as his vision returned, the world spun around.
He was dizzy.
A ringing in his ears.
And then came the unfamiliar sensation. Pain. As if every bone in his body had been dislocated. Or like his muscles had been shredded along their fibers.
"...Kgh! Ugh!"
As soon as sensation returned, he pushed himself up. But he couldn't properly rise. His ankle was still caught by that stem from earlier.
He finally got a clear look at the stem's shape.
'This is...'
It wasn't just a tree stem.
A Venus flytrap.
A massive hinge-like structure.
Once it bites down, once you're caught inside, you can never escape—a signature weapon of carnivorous plants.
It was attached to the tip of the stem. And it had clamped tight around his ankle. Like a mouse trap. As if it had no intention of letting go until death.
But the Venus flytrap's shape didn't feel unfamiliar.
He'd seen it somewhere.
Recently, even.
It was—
'…..Second Star Master?'
Right.
The fifteen or so branches the Second Star Master had.
On their ends were those Venus flytraps, sundews, and other carnivorous plant parts. But they hadn't been this huge. They weren't large enough to swallow a person whole.
...Or so he thought.
Kwaahp!
"...!"
The Venus flytrap biting his ankle suddenly opened wide.
Maybe the ankle alone wasn't satisfying enough.
Like the maw of a giant predator, it lunged forward to swallow his entire body whole!
"Hup!"
He reflexively rolled to the side.
Right after, the giant Venus flytrap scraped along the floor, barely missing him. Cold sweat poured out. At the same time, he felt an all-too-familiar sensation again.
That was...
'That Venus flytrap attack—it's the Second Star Master's in-game pattern!'
Only the size and destructive scale had grown.
The pattern itself didn't seem much different.
Which meant...
'Is this really the Second Star Master?'
Why?
How?
Kim Jangcheol quickly retreated, putting distance between them.
At that moment, five more stems shot up from various parts of the hall floor.
Each one obscenely massive. A display of Venus flytraps, sundews, and other deadly carnivorous traps, all aiming at him like enraged vipers.
That confirmed it.
'Yeah, it's the Second Star Master.'
No wonder—he had that odd look in his eyes that day. Just like those professors who try to take credit for other people's research.
'But...how?'
How had it grown so enormous?
He had questions.
But there was no time for answers.
Like bloated udon noodles filling a bowl, the six massive branches that shot up from the ground now completely filled the hall. And in that state, they began to dance a dance of destruction.
Their target, of course, was him.
"Damn it!"
Bo-om—!
It's breaking.
The hall is breaking.
The ceiling is collapsing.
The floor is caving in.
Signs of collapse clearly visible between the fallen pillars.
Amid the unfolding spectacle of destruction in real-time, Second Star Master Planus laughed savagely. And as he felt the sensations coming through his stems, he cheered inwardly.
'....Yes, this power!'
It was thrilling.
A rush of ecstasy.
Indeed, it was good he'd harbored ulterior motives.
Pretending to head down the cliff, then hiding in an unnoticeable spot and stretching roots into the ground—what a brilliant decision!
'I just couldn't let it go...it was too tempting!'
The potato field the Demon King had cultivated with such care.
Soil developed solely for the growth of plants.
The moment he saw it, he lost all reason.
He couldn't walk away.
He couldn't make himself take that step off the cliff.
He stopped.
Crouched in a hidden spot.
And extended his roots into the ground.
Far.
Farther still.
In the direction where nutrients could be felt.
Toward that fertile richness he had thirsted for so long.
Toward the place where the Demon King's castle lay.
He extended his roots underground.
It was a gamble—half expecting to die.
Roots didn't grow for free.
He diverted all nutrients from branches, stems, and carnivorous leaf structures into his roots. His entire body shriveled and withered, as if dying. But with fierce resolve, he endured.
Was it a gamble?
Or was it determination?
At the end of it all, he reached it.
The edge of the potato field.
There, he embedded the tips of his roots in the fertile soil.
That's when it began.
He struggled with everything he had.
It had been hundreds of years since he'd evolved into a carnivorous plant. Drawing sustenance through roots was a foreign concept to him.
But it was already done.
There was no way to retreat.
Wither away, or consume.
In a crisis of life and death, he poured his whole being into absorbing nutrients from the soil through his roots.
And he succeeded.
At first, little by little.
As he grew accustomed, more and more.
Once he became proficient, recklessly.
He sucked up the nutrients from the potato field. Every bit of the nourishment meant for the potatoes was hijacked. The moisture in the soil too.
Not a drop was left behind.
He monopolized it all.
Greedily, ravenously.
And thanks to that, he gained power.
Enough power, now, to overwhelm even the Demon King!
Bang!
The hall collapsed.
A section of the Demon King's castle crumbled.
Explosions of dust bloomed into the air.
Amid the chaos, the Second Star Master's massive branches rampaged without restraint. All fifteen stems surged. They slammed, tore apart, and crushed everything in sight.
And amidst it all, Kim Jangcheol somehow endured.
"Khh…!"
This is insane.
Kim Jangcheol, sweating buckets, launched himself upward.
He leapt off crumbling rubble. Wherever he landed, it collapsed again. His whole body sank downward with the floor. A glimpse of the pitch-black depths below.
If he fell in there, he'd die.
Buried alive under hundreds, thousands of tons of rubble.
".......!"
No thanks.
He leapt again.
Threw himself to the side.
Struggled to escape the collapsing zone.
But it wasn't easy.
Whoooong—!
Had it read his intentions? One of the Second Star Master's massive branches swung horizontally to strike him down.
No—it swept through the entire space!
"....!"
Shit.
Thwack—!
".....Kugh!"
He couldn't dodge it.
There wasn't time.
There wasn't even solid ground to step on.
'Damn it…'
The impact slammed through his entire body.
Like getting hit by an enormous club—his senses went hazy.
But Kim Jangcheol didn't lose consciousness. Even as he flew through the air, he struggled to regain balance. And he thought:
'If only…the floor were just a bit more stable...!'
He could dodge, or counter, if he just had that.
But the location was terrible.
The Demon King's castle, crumbling in real time.
At the center of it, on the verge of being buried alive.
And in this chaos, he had to face the Second Star Master's enlarged area-wide attack patterns.
'Is this...'
Even possible?
Could he, actually do it?
If it were a game, it would've been doable.
He would've died dozens, hundreds of times, and figured out the strategy.
But this wasn't a game.
This was undeniably real.
So—
"...So what!"
Kwaang!
Kim Jangcheol landed on part of the collapsing floor.
And he made up his mind.
There was no answer this way.
Only a counterattack would lead to survival.
Swish!
He scratched the back of his hand.
With vivid pain, blood spurted forth.
At that moment, three massive branches rushed at him.
He charged right toward them.
Kwaahk—!
He rolled. Dodged. Leapt.
Eyes wide open.
Sensing killing intent.
Recalling the Second Star Master's attack patterns. Only the size had changed. The fundamental structure of its attacks remained the same.
What was left was application.
He aimed for the gaps in between.
Sharpened his focus.
He slipped through the gaps. The onslaught surged toward him. He deflected. Sidestepped. Pretended to retreat. Felt the sequence of floor collapses. Soared upward. A falling ceiling. He flipped in the air. Kicked off the ceiling. Dove downward.
There—
Beneath the collapsing base of the Demon King's castle.
In the underground darkness, the Second Star Master's main trunk lurked.
"....!"
He found it.
Its core.
The point where stem and root are connected.
He drew closer. Rapidly. Close enough to reach. Close enough to strike.
'Just a little more…..'
Closer. Close enough to be sure. Harder. He kicked the falling rubble. Gained momentum. Faster. Like he was driving downward. He drilled in.
'Just a little…more!'
Had it realized his intent?
The face on the trunk changed expression.
It panicked.
It scrambled to defend itself.
But it was too late. He was half a beat faster. He knew its patterns. The appearance had changed a bit, but—he had died nineteen times to this very thing.
This time, too—
'Got you!'
He reached out. Blood ran down the back of his hand. He channeled mana into it. Toward the Second Star Master. Toward its core. And unleashed—
Thwack!
"...!"
Did he unleash it?
Did he succeed?
Then why was his mind going numb?
Why was his vision blurring?
Why?
Was he...
Falling, buried under the rubble?
'...Shit.'
Kim Jangcheol finally realized.
He failed.
That decisive blow he tried to feed the Second Star Master—
He must've been struck by the falling debris right before unleashing Bloody Lightning.
That's probably what happened.
'If only...'
Just a little more.
It could've worked.
He could've made it.
But he came up short.
Was it his skill?
No.
Just a bit of luck.
It was only that.
'Goddamn it.'
Endless falling.
Impact after impact.
The sensation of being driven deep underground.
Then, thousands, tens of thousands of tons of stone and ground crashing down on him from above.
".....!"
Oddly enough, he didn't see any life-flashing images.
What engulfed Kim Jangcheol in that moment was darkness.
Only a deafening roar, and darkness.
Pzzzzz!
The blood-soaked lightning he tried to unleash only erupted after the collapse ended, deep within the earth.
It surrounded his unconscious body.
Burning away the rocks and dirt that had been crushing him.
And that unfortunate buried bolt of delayed lightning began to bring an unexpected change to Kim Jangcheol.
[T/L: Read more chapters here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]