Trial count: attempt five hundred and ten.
The moment I entered the room with the Treasure Chest, I activated <Provocation> without a second thought.
"Guoooooooooooooooooooooooh!!"
The Bugbears’ roars thundered through the chamber, echoing off the stone walls. It was a sound I had heard more times than I could possibly count.
"Idiots."
I started by provoking Bugbear A and Bugbear B, the two closest to me. They immediately charged, attempting to pincer me from both sides. I dropped into a low crouch at the very last second, and with a wet squelch, they slashed right into each other.
"Looks like you missed, you pieces of trash."
"Gugaaaaaaa!!"
I hit Bugbear A and Bugbear B with <Provocation> again. Both monsters charged me with reckless, singular focus. Monitoring their movements, I leaped forward. Bugbear C and Bugbear D were blocking my path, so I planted a hand on Bugbear C’s head and somersaulted over them.
As a result, the attacks from Bugbear A and B slammed directly into C and D.
"Gau!"
The Bugbears that took the brunt of the hits collapsed backward with heavy thuds.
Perfect. Everything was going according to plan.
"Come on, you trash. Is that all you've got?"
This time, I unleashed <Provocation> on the entire group. They converged on me as one, all trying to occupy the same space to get a piece of me. Because they were bunched together in such a tight space, their attacks were doomed to collide.
As I danced through their onslaught, their missed swings struck their comrades, resulting in an endless cycle of friendly fire.
"I’m over here."
I pointed a finger and used <Provocation>. A Bugbear whipped around and swung its massive arm with everything it had. I ducked, and the blow buried itself in another Bugbear.
The monster seemed to realize it had just struck an ally and momentarily tried to regain its composure to stop the assault. I wasn't about to let that happen. I forced out another attack by using <Provocation> again, dodging at the last possible millisecond.
The blow landed squarely on a different Bugbear instead. By skillfully weaving <Provocation> into my movements, I forced them into a state of constant, bloody infighting.
"What's the matter? Can't even hit a target this big?"
I kept taunting them. The Bugbears rose to the bait every single time. Evading them wasn't even difficult anymore; I had seen these patterns thousands of times, and they were burned into my retinas. I knew exactly which blow was coming and precisely how to move to evade it. I could read their movements as easily as breathing.
Before I knew it, only one Bugbear remained.
The final survivor was covered in blood from the numerous hits it had sustained from its own kind. It stood frozen in place, seemingly paralyzed by exhaustion or a loss of the will to fight.
"Hey. No resting. You're trash, remember?"
"Guaaaaaaaah!!"
Driven by <Provocation>, the Bugbear lunged at me one last time. I used the bare minimum movement to sidestep the attack and stuck my leg out. The creature tripped and went sprawling across the floor with a spectacular crash. It didn't get back up. It had already lost consciousness.
"Phew."
I let out a long, heavy breath. Relief hit me first, followed only later by a slow-burning surge of triumph.
"Hell yes!"
I pumped my fist in the air, celebrating with everything I had left in me.
On my five hundred and tenth attempt, I had finally cleared the room of the ten Bugbears.