I step through the iron door with high expectations... and what smacks me in the face is a heap of absolute nothingness. No lights, no people, no sounds. Just a thick darkness coating the entire space, like those artsy films where you're not sure if the camera broke or if the director's trying to be deep.
I turn this way and that, banging on the door, pulling and pushing like I'm trying to crack open the neighbor's safe, but it doesn't budge. I start thinking this is one of those prank "magic doors" like a knockoff Doraemon gadget—until Veritas, the guy who makes me feel like I'm living with a walking world encyclopedia update, walks straight through the door like it's air, then comes back and tells me:
"This door only lets humans or demi-humans through. Monsters get blocked."
I freeze for three seconds. I want to curse—but nah. Getting in is what matters. Nobody needs to remind me that the door should've had a sign or at least a damn doorbell.
After that… we just stand there. In a cave so silent you can hear my stomach growling in waves from hunger. Twenty minutes. Nothing happens. I start thinking we might need to do some ritual or something—light incense, offer a boiled chicken. I ask Veritas. He frowns, scratches his head, then says he thinks we need to… dig.
Perfect. Off to fight a boss and we didn't bring… a pickaxe.
Veritas runs off somewhere and somehow borrows a mattock—almost as big as me—and starts digging into a massive chunk of Mythril, glowing bright blue like a fairground LED. He's only a few swings in when… something claws its way out.
Humanoid. Bull head. Thin like a winter bamboo. Horns twisted like sickles. An imp.
It opens its mouth—probably about to ask something like "Wanna split it evenly?"—but I, acting on instinct faster than thought, swing my sword and slash across. Its head drops with a plop like a ripe mango, and black blood squirts out like cheap ballpoint ink. I stand there, breathing hard, eyes wide, feeling like some legendary swordsman. But…
Its body still stands. Doesn't fall.
Veritas starts chuckling. He covers his mouth with his hand but the grin is obvious, and he says:
"Uh-oh. I think you just messed up the ritual to summon Balor…"
I'm about to cuss when… the imp's head reattaches. It screams—clearly in pain—then turns and runs off.
No way. No damn way. This is Joon Soo. I don't let storylines go off track.
I raise my crossbow. Fire three bolts. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Each one hits square in the back. The body slumps again, this time… no reattaching.
I exhale in relief.
And then… RRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!
A roar erupts. Like a bull bellowing fused with hell itself screaming in my ears. The ground... starts trembling, like there's a subway train running underneath.
Veritas immediately draws his long sword, eyes sharp, like he's stepping into a battle to the death.
Me?
I sprint behind a chunk of iron ore the size of a truck and take cover. Flash a slick hand signal to Veritas. He glances back, smiles slightly, and ducks into a hiding spot too.
I lean in and whisper to him:
"I'll ambush it. Wait till it gets close…"
And then… glowing red eyes, like twin headlights, appear in the distance, shining right at us. Each heavy footstep pounds the earth. With every stomp, it feels like my heart drops another level.
Balor… is getting closer.
I'm dead serious—when that monster comes into view, then I understand why the quest board had a line saying "For S-rank adventurers only. We take no responsibility for deaths." Are you kidding me? This isn't a regular Minotaur—this is the final boss's final form: full black armor, four times taller than Veritas, wielding a magma sword the size of a small house and a red whip that just looking at makes me feel the heat—like the wrath of my mom when I skipped school.
It steps out, soulless red eyes scanning the place like it's checking for anything to crush. Veritas and I hunker down behind the ore block, our hearts pounding like festival drums. But before we can even form a plan, it suddenly swings that lava whip in a wide arc. I'm not slow to react, but this ain't an action movie. One hit lands square in my gut. I hear a sizzle, like meat hitting a hot grill, then my whole body goes flying. Dirt, rocks, and bright red blood explode everywhere.
Luckily, my inner armor kicks in, leaking blue fluid that saves me by a hair's breadth. The armor's toast now. Me? I'm alive—but gasping like a fish on land.
Veritas takes a full hit too—but that guy's a metaller. Tough as hell. His clothes are ripped, but he's still standing. I swear he's analyzing the molecular structure of the whip right now.
I sit up, cough out some blood, and growl:
"Screw this, we're going all in!"
I flip to serious mode. Suit up in my full black combat armor, dual swords drawn. The glow from the armor reflects off the blades like cold moonlight slicing through shadow. I dash forward like the wind, dodging the massive blade swinging down. I plan to leap onto it, ride it to its face like some badass anime scene… but holy hell, it's hot. Like stepping onto a frying pan. I scream "Oh damn!", tumble off, then rush to its left leg, flip my sword around, and start hammering away.
BANG! BANG! BANG! — I keep pounding, but every strike feels like I'm hitting a national bank vault. Its armor is absurdly thick. I grit my teeth and mutter:
"Damn it, who the hell plays fair wearing armor like this?"
From a distance, Veritas looks at me with critique in his eyes:
"Why don't you slash an X or strike from two sides like in anime?"
I snap back, annoyed for real:
"That flashy crap has no force! One strike at a time HURTS, got it?"
Then I come up with a move — call Veritas for support. He doesn't say a word, just runs to the iron ore vein from earlier, places his hand on it, and… I swear, that scene looks insanely badass. The iron moves like liquid, clinging to Veritas, crawling over him like a living creature to form a spiked, sharp armor. It's like some kind of metal beast is embracing him. Veritas touches it, and the iron transforms into alloy — of course, within the range of transition metals he's mastered.
The two of us charge at the Balor's leg, hacking away like two workers demolishing a bridge.
The Balor goes berserk, trying to swat us away with its sword, but I leap onto its thigh, aiming for the joint where the armor's thinner, and start hammering like a statue sculptor. Veritas clings to the other leg, his hand constantly channeling electricity into the iron, corroding it into rust and weakening the armor significantly. The beast stumbles, slamming into the stone wall, knocking down a whole massive slab of rock. I have to dart and leap to dodge while dragging Veritas out of the collapse.
The Balor crashes to the ground with a BOOM! that shakes the earth.
We think it's dead — but no. It tenses up, lets out a roar like a maddened bull, and… starts healing. Its wounds gradually begin to close.
I shout out:"What the hell — this thing has regen too?!"
It begins hurling stones — like a construction worker gone insane. But not stupid throws — smart ones. It lobs two blocks back-to-back, calculating our dodge path and throwing the second one right at our hiding spot. I'm rolling away while cursing, and Veritas retreats to the ore vein again. He places his hand on it, chanting something I don't understand, waving his fingers like he's inventing his own principles on the fly.
A shard of iron, sharp like a spearhead, detaches and hovers. Veritas flicks his hand — and the shard rockets toward the Balor like artillery, blasting through boulders and stabbing deep into its side.
"BANG!" — Black blood sprays out, and the Balor howls like it's gone rabid. The iron shard doesn't just stab through — it pins the creature to the stone wall behind it, locking it in place.
It thrashes, writhing, blood gushing out… but it's still not dead. The fight's still tight as a drawn bowstring, and I know — if we fall even a second behind, me, Veritas, and this damn world — we'll be crushed to dust...
...After Veritas sees the iron strike works, he goes into a frenzy. No stopping. No breathing. No hesitation. His hands keep touching the ore, pulling out iron needles like industrial syringes and hurling them like Death itself tossing scythes.
At first, the Balor tries to block with its sword and whip — but after the second hit — its left arm gets severed! I even hear the "shnk" — like a watermelon sliced clean by wire. Lava jets shoot from the stump, looking both terrifying and… badass.
I'm standing nearby, bracing my twin swords, eyes wide, jaw dropped like I'm watching a cinema screen."This Veritas guy… is going all in!" — I mumble to myself.
The third strike — the Balor's left thigh explodes like a firecracker. It drops down one knee. I almost rush in to chop its head off, but— wait… what the hell is happening?
The fourth strike — half its face shatters. And that's when I see… its eyes.
This beast — even with half its face scorched — is looking at us not like some animal cornered… but like a beast king that's been humiliated.
And then—
It roars. That roar… holy shit. The walls quake, the ground cracks, and I feel like my ribs are about to split.
The Balor is… expanding. No joke! From forty feet tall, it morphs into something around — I'd guess — thirty-something meters. 120 feet. Jesus.
It punches through the ceiling of the underground floor. Rocks rain down, and the iron supports twist like licorice. And worst of all… it heals. That severed arm regenerates — but now it's not a normal arm — it's a lava arm.
When it grips a lava sword with that lava arm, I can only exhale and mutter:"We're screwed…"
I grit my teeth, eyes bulging:"Damn those quest-givers… you didn't say this Balor turns into a kaiju?! What kind of briefing was that, huh?!"
And Veritas… yeah, he's not backing down either. He looks up at that beast, tall as a mid-rise apartment building, and without saying a word — plunges both hands into the remaining ore.
And I see it… something moving. Black metal, gray iron, rusted steel — all slither and coil like parasitic machines, crawling up and wrapping around him.
Within seconds, I swear to God — a fantasy mecha made of iron, covered in hundreds of razor-sharp spikes, is standing face-to-face with the Balor.
My jaw drops."Am I… watching a fantasy version of Mecha vs Kaiju right now?"
They start punching each other — I mean literal punching. No spells, no fancy tricks. One with a lava fist, the other with a metal one. Every hit shakes the ground. Each blow sends shockwaves smacking into my face. I have to shield myself and back away, yelling:"Hey hey! Don't fight in my direction! I'm not ready to die yet!"
Those two are like gods battling for dominion. And I — Choi Joon Soo, a Korean dude who loves adventure and diving headfirst into danger — can only stand there, mouth wide open, eyes sparkling.
Yeah, the situation's insane. My life's hanging by a thread. But me?
I'm high as hell on the thrill. I swear, I've never seen a fight this damn epic.
Holy shit, now this is what I call a battle.
I swear, if someone asked me to describe this scene in three words — I'd say it straight: peak of peaks.
To the left, Veritas—the platinum-haired kid—sits inside a gigantic suit of armor nearly a hundred feet tall. His entire body is covered in twisted, spiked metal. His shoulders are sharp like the nose of a train, and every step he takes makes the earth tremble as if hit by a magnitude-eight earthquake.And on the other side? A Balor turned Kaiju, its body like a walking volcano. Its skin is rough like lava rock. Its left arm has regenerated into… a blazing molten claw. And that greatsword of its—God help us—is easily thirty meters long, glowing red like freshly forged steel. Just looking at it is enough to feel death breathing down your neck.
Then, like two men who don't give a damn about the world around them, they charge at each other.
BOOM!!!
The first punch—Veritas. His right hand, made of black steel and spiked like a durian, slams straight into the Balor's face. The sound it makes isn't metal-on-metal. It's a miniature explosion. Chunks of molten rock fly everywhere, raining down like fire.
"Holy crap! That punch was insane!" I shout, but in my head I'm thinking, "Do they really have to go this hard?!"
But the Balor… barely flinches. It turns its head. Its left eye—the real one, not just a socket—is sunken in, but that glare is still burning like a raging bull. It swings the molten greatsword upward—slicing a massive line across Veritas's armor. I gasp, thinking the kid's about to be shredded—but no. The armor regenerates instantly. The broken pieces fly back like they're magnetically pulled.
Veritas strikes back. Both fists hammer in rapid succession. The steel spikes tear into the Balor's chest. I hear the screech of metal against magma-rock, along with the stench of burning flesh. The Balor stumbles back. The ground splits beneath its feet.
But before I can celebrate, it lets out another roar—louder, angrier. Then...
It... sucks in fire from the air. I'm not kidding! The lava at its feet rises, surging into its body like it's being devoured by a bottomless hunger. In an instant, the Balor is clad in a second layer of flame armor. Dear God—it's a death-mode Kaiju now.
And then...
It BREATHES FIRE.
A massive column of flame shoots straight at Veritas. I dive behind a nearby boulder, nearly roasted alive. The entire area erupts in flames. The air twists. Stone melts into glass. I can't see Veritas—just blinding red light and a shrieking roar that drills into my ears.
But then… from within the inferno, a shadow begins to emerge. Veritas's armor is scorched and blackened in spots, but he's still standing. The helmet is cracked, but through that crack—I see the kid's eyes. Calm. Focused. Like he's solving a math problem in a lightning round.
He doesn't back down.
He lifts his head... and pulls out a massive alloy spear from the suit. Yeah, he's going big—forget punching, now he's going for a straight-up impalement.
Veritas lunges. Steel spikes unfold like steel petals. The giant spear slices the air—pierces through the Balor's gut. But it doesn't stop there. He twists the spear, cutting from belly to neck like he's filleting a fish. Lava gushes out like blood. The Balor roars, swinging wildly. One swing slices off Veritas's left arm.
"Watch out!!" I scream.
Veritas's armor rotates—then transforms its lower half into a serpentine form. It coils tightly around the Balor."What the hell?!" I shout. "He turned into a fantasy snakebot?!"
At this point, it's not just fighting anymore—it's wrestling. The Balor is slamming and flinging around, while Veritas's suit squeezes like a python, his right fist pounding the monster's head, shoulders, neck. Every strike sounds like a bomb exploding in my ears. All I can do is crawl, dodge, and scream: "CALM DOWN, DAMN IT! I'M STILL HERE!!"
The Balor loses its temper. It jumps. I swear—it actually jumps! A hundred-foot Kaiju leaps straight into the cavern ceiling, then crashes down with a full-body "Atomic Slam". The ground detonates. The floor cracks apart. I'm thrown across the cave, smacking the wall hard. My mouth is full of dirt, but my eyes never leave the battle.
Veritas's armor is mangled—one leg broken, helmet crushed on one side—but he's still standing.Not backing down. Not collapsing. Somehow, Veritas is still in control.
Then... suddenly, his entire armor explodes like a blooming flower, breaking into thousands of tiny shards—each one launched at the Balor like artillery. Every piece is a dagger. Every dagger is coated in a special metal that absorbs fire. The Balor screams. Its body gets riddled with blades.
Veritas—now in partial armor—dashes forward, ending the battle with sheer artistry: he launches into the air, summons a ten-meter tungsten blade with his remaining hand, and slices down diagonally from shoulder to hip.
Silence.
A deep, burning gash. The fire fades.Balor... drops to its knees.
But don't think that's the end.
I know monsters like this don't die that easy. I draw the long sword from my back, grip it tight, and charge. "Veritas, MOVE!!" I yell.
We lock eyes. No words. But we understand.
The next second—I leap onto the Balor's back, stab straight into the glowing fissure on its spine. Fire-blood sprays out. I scream like a warrior from the old world: "DIE, YOU MONSTER!!"
The eruption sends me flying, but it's enough to see: the Balor is losing control. It thrashes, bellows... but it has no strength left.
Veritas looks at me. I nod. The kid knows—It's time...
God, I never expect that Balor still isn't dead! I totally think it's over back then—yet it thrashes like some dying fish, even stronger than before! I just start to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly Veritas—that brat who never thinks about my life—grabs me tight inside that massive suit of armor, like he's planning to turn me into some kind of "battlefield sushi." I really don't like the feeling of being stuffed into that cramped armor. But before I can even complain, the kid throws me right back into the fight again!
Veritas's armor shoots out blinding lights, and then we dash toward the flailing Balor. Its punches feel like they want to crush the heavens and the earth. Everything shakes. The ground beneath our feet cracks apart in chunks. Veritas doesn't give a damn—he locks himself around Balor, not letting the beast get away, no matter how violently it thrashes, roars, and tears everything apart, ripping through his armor piece by piece.
Then, before I even have time to react, Veritas jams his hand into Balor's armor—a thrust that seems to pierce heaven and earth, as if the kid's arm can go through steel and rip out the monster's organs. After that… a strange sphere rolls into Balor's head, right into its brain. I swear, that orb is some kind of freak device—but I don't even have time to think about it. The orb bursts open, and suddenly I'm shoved out, twin swords in hand. "Hard work," huh? Well, I start slashing.
Slash fast, slash hard! Right hand, left hand—each sword hacks at Balor's head like I'm butchering a giant slab of pork. With every strike, I aim straight for the brain of the monster, and it feels like I'm destroying a watermelon. But… damn it, Balor refuses to die. It thrashes harder, furious like a wounded wolf, and I struggle to keep my balance while Veritas's giant armor squeezes me even tighter, nearly choking me.
Black blood, red blood… covers me entirely. I've got only one thought in my head: "This is seriously insane!"
Still, I keep slashing. And slashing. And slashing. The more I slash, the tighter Veritas holds me, and the pain from my wounds numbs out completely. There's nothing left but fighting—fighting—fighting until Balor dies. Its sudden jerks throw me off balance, but I fight on. And then… after about five minutes, I feel it. Balor stops moving. It stops breathing. Its head slumps down. Honestly, I don't know what to say anymore—I just feel this crushing wave of exhaustion crash over me.
Finally, Veritas and I come out. Still alive, still intact, even though we're covered in black blood, armor all scratched up, hair a total mess like we've been swarmed by insects. But I don't care—I just keep pushing myself to walk forward.
Stepping out of that fire-and-stone battlefield, I feel like I've just come out of a life-or-death war. We leave the combat zone behind, no more roaring screams from Balor.
And then there's Governor Jrahen—that short old Dwarf—sitting and waiting for me like he's perfectly on time. I approach him, completely drained, but still twist my mouth enough to strike a deal. "Listen, Veritas and I cleaned out the whole Mythril vein down there for you. Take your solid armor suit and your ore—you know how much effort we put into that. Thanks for paying the full 15 gold coins."
The governor just nods, gives me a look, then says: "You're free to work here anytime. But remember—there's another Balor nest deeper in. Could be more valuable stuff in there."
I only reply with a shake of my head. "No thanks. I'm resting this time. One Balor like that is enough to scramble my brain."
Veritas stands beside me, holding 8 gold coins in his hand, running off without even a backward glance. The kid looks really happy. I watch him go, then turn back to the governor. He's still sitting there, calmly pulling out a book, opening it, and continuing to read the Quran like nothing ever happened.
I just stand there, picking up The Answerer (but I will name it Geojismal Tamjigi) breathing heavily, then walk away.
As I pass the underground mosque, I glance up at it—then keep walking, out into the open.