CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 35: SURPRISE, MOTHERFU-

Zaen didn’t wait for the countdown and immediately jumped towards the membrane-like windows. With one slash of the Boning Sword, he broke the window, but then he hesitated.

The task said this is a different country.

He thought as he looked down the window. As expected, he couldn’t see the ground there. If he jumped outside from the side, he could land on the ground or he could land in a valley, depending on where the bus was.

"6... 5... 4..."

The countdown brought him back to his senses. Finally, he took a deep breath, clenched his jaw, and jumped outside.

"3... 2... 1..."

Zaen rolled on the ground and barely got up when a loud explosion shook the ground. The shockwave spread in ripples everywhere, shaking and even snapping some trees.

As for the bus, only its wheels and base remained intact. The humanoid creature was nowhere to be seen, but its flesh was scattered everywhere. However, the flames from the explosion were actively devouring it.

[Massive damage dealt!]

[Total damage dealt: 6,418]

[(Lvl 20) Bus 357’s HP: 1,484/15,000]

"Even that wasn’t enough?"

He was stunned. Such a strong explosion could easily demolish a 100-floor building, but couldn’t kill an anomaly?

Zaen struggled to get back on his feet. While he was comparatively unharmed from the explosion, jumping out of a high-speed bus did a number on him.

His sword arm had broken and was useless, just like his left leg. He also felt the warm blood oozing from his head, and who knew what other injuries he had.

[The anomaly is on fire.]

[You have inflicted Burn on the anomaly.]

[Total damage dealt: 12]

[Total damage dealt: 5]

[Total damage dealt: 16]

The flames didn’t stop the anomaly from gathering its ’flesh’. Soon, it had recreated its humanoid form and was standing right in front of Zaen.

If someone saw them, they wouldn’t guess that the human had more HP than the monster. That thought infuriated Zaen. It felt like the anomaly had taken that form just to mock him.

"Haha!"

His fury turned to laughter when he realized the anomaly was a few hits away from death. Sure, it was mocking him, but that’s all it did. Not like it could kill him.

He poured a vial of blood sealant onto his head and forced himself to stand up. Pain? Broken bones? He could deal with it all.

[Berserk activated.]

[Your sanity has dropped to critical levels!]

[Berserk negates the negative effects of losing sanity.]

[Physical pain will be negated for the skill duration.]

The skill didn’t heal his broken bones, but the pain negation was enough for him to fight, although he was a bit wobbly.

Meanwhile, the anomaly once again used bone-saw like structure to attack him. But this time, Zaen didn’t bother blocking them. Instead of being pushed back, he kept advancing and jumped towards the anomaly.

Instead of dodging or striking, the fleshy anomaly expanded and made a wall of flesh, ready to swallow Zaen. Before he knew it, several dark black tentacles formed and struck him everywhere.

[HP -2920]

[HP: 1,102/4,900]

[You’ve been affected by Hemorrhage.]

[You’re bleeding severely. You’ll lose 490 HP/second for the next 10 seconds.]

Blood shot out of his mouth as the tentacles turned his insides into a mess. The pain was negated by [Berserk], but it wouldn’t stop the bleeding.

This bastard! No wonder it was so confident.

His first instinct was to use the sealant again, but the different name of the status effect made him hesitate. After all, he only had a little over two seconds to make a decision before he died from bleeding.

Anyone would have panicked in that situation, but Zaen... was smiling?

He grabbed the capsule from the inventory and swallowed it with his blood. The anomaly tilted its head as if wondering why Zaen didn’t die.

[Exp capsule consumed!]

[You have leveled up!]

[Current level: 15]

[All injuries have been healed.]

[All status effects have been negated.]

[HP has been restored to the max.]

[HP: 6,200/6,200]

"Surprise, motherfucker!"

At that moment, Zaen regretted being blind more than ever. What he wouldn’t have given to see the anomaly’s expression!

He wasn’t a fool to lunge at the anomaly thoughtlessly. Sure, he didn’t expect the creature to cause such a huge amount of damage to him in seconds, but he knew he could use the exp capsule if things went south.

The tentacles still buried in his torso were forcibly shoved out. Not only did the holes in his body disappear, but the bloodstains were also gone.

Even his clothes were spotless, as good as new. It was the same situation as what had happened after he cleared the first task.

Did the capsule do this?

The only difference was that the task was yet to be completed.

But not for long.

Before the anomaly could get away, Zaen raised his two beloved weapons and slammed them against the anomaly like it was a drum.

[Walking Stick dealt 473 critical damage to the Bus 357.]

[Boning Sword dealt 622 critical damage to the Bus 357.]

[Weakness targeted. 1.5x bonus damage dealt!]

Two hits later, a series of familiar notifications flashed before him.

[Scenario Boss: Bus 357 killed! Exp +2,000]

[Exp: 2,000/1,600] (Note: Please proceed with advancement to continue leveling up.)

[Congratulations, Player!]

[You have gained 5 spin point(s) for slaying a C-rank anomaly for the first time!]

[Task completed!]

[You have gained 2 spin point(s)]

[You have received a loot box.]

[All items within the scenario space have been stored in the inventory.]

Zaen’s feet touched the ground as the anomaly got turned to dust. Yet, he wasn’t all that happy.

First, he didn’t get another EXP capsule for completing the scenario, and second, his exp counter was locked.

"Proceed with advancement? What does it mean?"

As he was about to open the [Task] page to see if something had changed, darkness swallowed him.

[Task completion confirmed.]

[Teleporting the player back to the origin location.]