[Have you been waiting long? If you’re ready, we’ll start the game now!]

At the angel’s call, a message popped up.

[Wave 1]

[Players: 4,608 vs. Skeletons: 9,216]

[The next wave will start in 30 minutes.]

“Skeletons?”

Upon seeing the opponent, some players scoffed.

“Must be easy since it’s the first wave.”

Even though nearly 10,000 skeletons had appeared as enemies, the players were not intimidated.

Would a cat ever be scared, no matter how many mice showed up?

Perhaps in the past, but nowadays, skeletons were like mice in front of a cat.

Not a single player here was below Master rank after all.

“Skeletons? Really?”

“They’re underestimating us.”

“Even if the number of skeletons is three times, no, five times the number of players, it won’t be a problem.”

People laughed as if they were facing goblins, but Ryu Min’s expression remained unchanged.

He knew this wasn’t the end.

And sure enough—

[To balance the game, a special rule will be applied for 30 minutes.]

[The special rule for Wave 1 is revealed.]

<Special Rule: Physical damage dealt to skeletons is reduced by 70%.>

As the new message appeared, the players’ faces shifted.

“What the… What is this!?”

“Damage reduced by 70%?”

“Are they out of their minds?”

“No one told us about this kind of rule!”

In simple terms, an enemy that should die in one hit now requires three.

Skeletons that were initially weak now seemed as tough as diamonds.

While many were panicking, Ryu Min and his Death Church followers remained calm—they had expected this.

‘This is exactly what the angels wanted. They just want to see players panic.’

They were probably laughing up in heaven at the confusion. But Ryu Min didn’t care.

‘Even if physical damage were reduced by 99%, skeletons are still one-shots for me.’

As Ryu Min confidently looked ahead, the monsters were summoned.

Clatter, clatter.

Thousands of skeletons quickly filled the plains.

Though the sight caused some players to hesitate, that was short-lived.

“Come on, we can’t let ourselves be scared by these weaklings!”

“Let’s go!”

“Uwaaah!”

Perhaps embarrassed by their initial hesitation, the players, filled with morale, charged into the skeletons.

Boom! Bam!

Clang! Clang!

Crash! Thud!

Skills flew between the monsters and players.

There was no need to worry about friendly fire since they were in a party and couldn’t harm each other.

“Don’t hold back! Attack freely since we can’t hurt each other!”

While their confidence was high, the skeletons were tougher than expected.

Bones that should have shattered with one hit took two or three strikes, thanks to the special rule.

This led to a few players struggling.

“These guys should’ve died from a normal attack!”

“What the hell, this is ridiculous!”

It took a skill attack just to kill them in one blow.

But only the melee fighters seemed to be struggling. The mages in the back were calm.

“Fireball coming through! It’s hot, so watch out… Oh wait, never mind, you don’t need to!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

For them, the skeletons were still nothing more than trash mobs.

After all, the damage reduction only applied to physical attacks.

‘This wave is perfect for mages to rack up contributions.’

Ryu Min grinned as he swung his scythe toward the charging skeletons.

Crackle!

With one swing, twenty skeletons turned to dust.

Thanks to the wide reach of his [Thanatos’ Black Scythe], a god-tier weapon, such feats were possible.

“What the… what just happened?”

“They all turned to dust in an instant!”

The players looked back and finally saw it.

Ryu Min’s scythe had expanded like the hand of a giant, sweeping across the battlefield.

Crunch! Smash!

Crack! Zap!

Every time he swung, dozens of skeletons were wiped out.

After ten swings, hundreds had fallen, and after a hundred swings, thousands had disappeared.

“Is the damage reduction even working?”

“They’re getting wiped out in a single blow!”

“His damage must be off the charts.”

“Unbelievable…”

Some players watched in awe as the skeletons were cleared out.

The scene was so overwhelming it made them forget about their own battles.

[Time until the next wave: 00:24:20]

[Remaining monsters: 97]

When the players checked the quest progress window, they were speechless.

It had only been five minutes, and fewer than 100 monsters remained.

Crack!

But those last skeletons were cleared out in less than five seconds.

[There are no monsters left on the field.]

[Players deceased: 0]

[Please wait for the next wave.]

The skeleton remains scattered across the plains had disappeared without a trace.

Only the players remained, laughing helplessly at the situation.

“How many did you manage to take down?”

“I only got five…”

“Wow, you did better than me. I only killed three.”

“Half the monsters were taken down by the Black Scythe alone.”

“First place for contributions is locked down, huh?”

“Since it’s a party, couldn’t he have left some for us?”

Ignoring the murmuring players, Ryu Min turned to find Min Juri.

“There you are. Seo Arin, too.”

“Ah… Black Scythe-nim.”

Both Min Juri and Seo Arin looked at him, their faces filled with awe.

“You’re amazing. Taking down so many on your own…”

“It’s nothing. By the way, I came for some buffs.”

“Oh! I should have come to you earlier. I’ll cast them right away.”

Min Juri quickly cast three buffs on Ryu Min.

While buffs weren’t really necessary for him, it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

‘Just in case an archangel shows up like last time.’

Ryu Min was making sure to prepare for using the Demon’s Blessing skill by receiving buffs in advance.

Twenty-five minutes later, the second wave began.

[Wave 2]

[Players: 4,608 vs. Gargoyles: 9,216]

[The next wave will start in 30 minutes.]

[To balance the game, a special rule will be applied for 30 minutes.]

[The special rule for Wave 2 is revealed.]

<Special Rule: Gargoyles’ movement speed is doubled.>

This time, the enemies were gargoyles, generally considered weaker than skeletons.

‘But if their movement speed is doubled, it’s a different story.’

There’s a saying that the best defense is a good offense, but in truth, the best defense is evasion.

If you avoid an attack, you take zero damage. Speed meant they could attack first as well.

In other words, underestimating double speed could be a huge mistake.

Hyung_Otaku

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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