Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

Creak—CRAAAACK!

A massive, tree-like monster, an Ent, swung its enormous branch-like arms at me. The upward strike, sweeping from below, ripped out the gnarled roots buried deep in the ground.

Even its basic attack patterns covered a terrifyingly wide area, nearly reaching the edges of the battlefield. The roots, sharp as blades yet uneven and rugged, wouldn’t just leave a cut if they struck—they’d tear flesh apart.

It was only an Elite-grade monster, but this was a high-level dungeon from the latest expansion pack. Even the vanguard players would need hours to adapt to its standard patterns and figure out how to counter its special phases.

TAP!

I easily dodged the sweeping roots and leaped onto the monster’s trunk before it could retract its attack. My body lifted slightly into the air as I swung my sword in rapid succession.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

A faint blue aura trailed behind my blade—an effect I hadn’t seen before. This was a swordsman’s core technique, a skill with properties similar to Starlight Slash. But the energy swirling around my sword now was anything but ordinary.

WUUUUUM! BANG! BANG! BANG!

—GRAAAAGH!

The blue-tinged sword aura tore through the Ent’s magically reinforced bark as if it were nothing. Huge chunks of its branches were severed, and rotting leaves rained down.

With a sharp turn, I slashed diagonally, pouring even more power into the attack.

CRACK!

In an instant, my blade burrowed nearly one-third of the way into the Ent’s massive trunk.

CRUNCH!

As I ripped it free, a gaping black wound was left in its wake, exposing its vulnerable inner flesh.

How long had it been since the fight started? Only a few dozen seconds?

Even with a four-player party, shaving down this 200 million HP first boss would normally take considerable time.

Yet the monster’s current status—

[First Named Boss]
[Lv. 60 – Enraged Branch]
[HP: 120,044,127 / 200,000,000 (61%)]

“…Damn.”

Seeing the numbers laid out made it even clearer.

The Master’s power could turn even an Elite Dungeon boss into nothing more than a fodder-tier enemy.

This really took me back.

Back when I was a Hero, monsters of this level were nothing but warm-up exercises.

Still, this is a game, right? Shouldn’t the difficulty be a little higher? If it keeps going like this, things will get boring pretty quickly. Well… at least let it stay easy until I fix this world.

I wove between the violently swinging branches, cutting through them effortlessly.

With mana enhancing my body, even the Ent’s ferocious strikes seemed like slow-motion attacks to my eyes.

BANG!