NOVEL WEB Chapter 35
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“In the name of the Father and the Son!”
The monk, Park Yo-han, delivered an uppercut to the lower jaw of the jumping frog. The frog, screeching, toppled over and twitched on the ground, trying to regain its balance.
“In the name of the Holy Spirit!”
The buzz-cut monk didn’t hesitate to stomp the frog, which burst like a balloon.
“Amen―!”
With guts and blood splattered everywhere, a bloodied hand drew a cross with a solemn expression. Watching that holy sight, I thought…
‘This guy is really insane.’
…that’s what crossed my mind.
When we snuck into the temple, he seemed normal, but sure enough, this dude is nuts. The buzz-cut monk nodded with a look of sheer satisfaction, but I couldn’t comprehend that feeling at all.
‘I really don’t want to deal with this.’
What could possibly be satisfying about that? I hoped the presence I sensed was Gu Ma-jun, but unfortunately, it was Park Yo-han. I couldn’t help but be awed by his madness of attacking a monster while drawing a cross, but that was that, and this is this. Why do they say you’ll be cursed for wasting food?
[You have consumed a blue maned jumping frog. Experience and satiety increase.]
Gurrrrgh!
‘If I eat just one more, I’ll level up.’
About 3000 experience points left. Given that I had been wandering around and still couldn’t find Gu Ma-jun…
‘Could it be that he really escaped?’
Maybe he got lucky and teleported out? But that would need a ton of good luck.
‘Wait, then he’s out of the game, right?’
Besides Park Yo-han, I sensed a few more presences. Most likely monks or paladins from the temple.
‘No way out.’
Anyway, I still hadn’t found the scent or presence that I presumed belonged to Gu Ma-jun. Whether he was up to some trick or just had bad luck… But they say to take a step back when in a hurry?
‘I need to chase him while also gaining strength.’
I had to grow in the dungeon. Not just levels, but skills too.
‘…Would I be able to escape if I’m C grade?’
I don’t know. What I do know is that I can’t escape as a D grade.
***
“Wow~ A forest unit? What a jackpot. The representative clan must really be full of idiots to give this away for free?”
“Shut up. Want to get scolded?”
Hong Yu-ri pouted at the team leader’s retort.
“Ah. Gu Jin-ha, that little bastard.”
“We’re not here to hang out. What about the tracking?”
Hong Yu-ri rolled her eyes in discontent and scanned the ground.
“Not yet. We need to find some footprints before we can chase.”
“So, we need to move then.”
“Shall we split up? It doesn’t look too dangerous after all?”
Technically, the dungeon’s difficulty was relatively high. The count of magical signatures I sensed was noteworthy as well. But it was just that those who entered were way too over-leveled for its standards.
“Team Leader #2. What do you suggest?”
Seeing that he was senior in both tenure and rank, I asked the burly man, but he yawned as if uninterested.
“Hey, is it okay if I leave?”
“Why? What are you planning?”
“I can search separately. After all, we’re not just looking for Alpha, right?”
One of the conditions for entering the dungeon was aiding the trapped individuals. It wasn’t mandatory, just a reasonable request to be protected if discovered. Moving together wasn’t the best choice anyway. Considering Alpha’s mobility, it made sense to split up into teams.
“No problem, huh? If it gets tough, this guy could clear the dungeon by himself.”
“Understood. Be careful not to get lost.”
“Am I a kid?”
“……”
“Wow, these guys. They sure know how to keep quiet.”
As I watched the grumbling burly man walk away, the remaining four decided their next move.
“Then let the musclehead do his thing. What about the rest of us?”
“We’d better split into pairs. I can also track, you know.”
As the team leader of Search Team 3, I had magic detection. I hadn’t manifested it as a skill, but I had learned a bit of beast-familiar arts. Though I can’t compare it to Hong Yu-ri’s magic eye.
“Teams?”
“You and Woo Taek. Me and Seong-hoon.”
“Oh~kay. You guys don’t have any complaints, right?”
Seong-hoon, the 2nd team hunter, wore a hopeful expression, while Woo Taek nodded slightly in reluctance.
“Yes. Well… understood.”
“Oh? You don’t seem pleased? I’m giving you 3 seconds. 3. 2…”
“We’ll disperse here and take down Alpha as quickly as possible. We need to regroup outside the dungeon before sunset.”
And so, the dawn’s light saw the three split off trying to find Alpha’s trail.
***
They say where there’s a scent, predators will come. Why? Because sharks swarm when they smell blood, right? But experiencing it was beyond imagination. Honestly, it never even crossed my mind.
‘The prey’s coming right to me?’
An unexpected windfall.
Park Yo-han was also smeared in blood; I wondered what had happened to him. With those stats, he probably took care of things himself. There’s no need to worry about the buzz-cut monk for no reason. I used stealth on them.
[Parrotbeak Caprolan]
[Size 1.66M] [Height 79.4cm] [Weight 91kg]
[Strength 187] [Agility 141] [Stamina 265]
Caprolan (甲土狼).
Since ‘torang’ means hyena, think of it as a hyena in armor.
‘Looks delicious.’
To me, they looked like cooked food. Four of them. The numbers were decent, but I had long surpassed the level where they could give me a hard time.
‘I can’t use ash blight.’
It was regrettable that I couldn’t use a skill I had recently obtained, but if I used it here, who knows what would happen? Regrettably, ash blight is sealed here.
‘Guess I have no choice.’
I charged at the leading Caprolan and crashed into it. But the armor wasn’t just for show; it was tough, making it hard to push through.
‘Is it because they have similar weight?’
The lack of strength and stamina were part of the reason.
Nonetheless, it screamed. The part of contact was devoured by my vicious appetite. The startled Caprolans rushed at me, and I took a step back to create distance.
They couldn’t withstand the momentum and crashed into each other.
“Kkiing!”
Heads collided and swayed.
‘Dumb.’
I ignored the ones that bumped and focused back on the first one.
Exhibited shoulder meat was revealed on the Caprolan that had been attacked. It reminded me just how powerful my vicious appetite skill was.
‘This will be exciting.’
Just by predation, I felt satisfied. But if I reached C rank, I wondered what skill it would turn into?
‘I’m not far off.’
Given how things turned out, the remaining Caprolans couldn’t recklessly charge anymore.
Showing your back in the wild is like saying, ‘Please eat me!’ They didn’t bolt, but they recognized they had chosen the wrong opponent.
“Kkiing! Kkiing!”
They surrendered and turned on their backs. Let them do whatever.
[You have consumed a Parrotbeak Caprolan. Experience and satiety increase.]
[Experience reached maximum capacity. Lv.7 -> Lv.8]
Seeing the hyenas stunned by my sudden level-up, they eventually turned their tails and fled.
‘Why are they running that way?’
Towards where the people are. Well, that’s actually a good thing.
I wanted to watch their fight for a moment, so I decided to keep an eye on them.
***
“Oh no! They’re running away! For real!”
“Vice Team Leader.”
“How far are they gonna run? It’s annoying.”
Hong Yu-ri huffed, waving her hand and dismissing monsters instantly. While it might set ablaze, her amazing magic control kept everything in check.
‘Still amazing.’
The total volume of magic was impressive, but the level of handling was in a different league. Truly a refined skill, befitting someone from the Square.
“That fool probably noticed us, so let’s just run?”
I found traces but didn’t get any closer, rather the distance grew.
“Do you really think running would catch them?”
“What if we don’t run?”
Seeing her angry, Woo Taek secretly sighed. It wasn’t like he didn’t know. It felt like both Euna and Hong Yu-ri had a nurturing vibe. Perhaps they should’ve been baby-sitters or kindergarten teachers instead of hunters.
That felt like it’d be their true calling…
“It’s the ad, right?”
“I don’t care since I’m going to kill them all anyway.”
“But we agreed to leave the byproducts over there, remember? So try not to touch them.”
“Bloody hell! If that crazy wolf gets caught, I’ll roast him good!”
Even saying that, she continued to chase. Woo Taek lifted his gaze to the sky.
‘…Will I catch him by today?’
“Ah! A bug! What the heck is with the bug?!”
Today his worries only deepened.
***
“How dare you, wretched monster!”
A paladin in a white helmet swung a massive battle hammer. The three Caprolans turned in a panic upon spotting them, but the holy knight charged, swinging his absurdly big hammer.
Crack-!
The Caprolan barely evaded, but the ground from where they’d just been standing collapsed like a bomb had gone off. As the grass scattered and dirt fluttered, the holy knight bellowed.
“Do you dare disrespect my divine punishment?”
Furious, the paladin hurled something from his pocket. The elongated stick spun dozens of times in the air before striking the Caprolan’s neck.
“Kkiing!”
Thank goodness it hit with the stick part. If it had struck with the mace, its head would’ve shattered. The paladin watched the fleeing Caprolan with a look of disappointment as he picked up his fallen mace.
“Missed.”
“Your skill was excellent. But right now…”
“Yeah. I know. It’s more important to save my brothers.”
As I spied on the conversation between the monk and the paladin, goosebumps ran down my spine.
[Seong Dae-woon (Human)]
[Height 184.5cm] [Weight 98.8kg]
[Strength 365] [Agility 257] [Stamina 288] [Magic 196]
The paladin’s brute strength rivaled Aranea’s. The problem was that the paladin wasn’t the only one strong, every member of his party was just as powerful.
‘…I should know better than to provoke them.’
Weren’t only the elite supposed to come in? Six of them didn’t seem like a lot, but their individual levels were exceptional.
‘Soon, Park Yo-han will join them.’
Once they’ve secured all the survivors, they would seriously start tackling the dungeon.
‘No matter how long it takes, they’ll find everyone in one or two days.’
For now, it was all about monopolizing. Later, it would be about competition. Until then, I needed to devour as much of the dungeon pie as possible.
‘Gu Ma-jun still hasn’t shown his face.’
At this point, wouldn’t it be the correct assumption that he was rescued?
If he had indeed been rescued at the temple, the temple’s side would handle it—just as I thought that, I sensed another presence close to Park Yo-han’s location.
***
“Oh! Believer! You were here!”
Park Yo-han greeted Gu Ma-jun with a bright smile. I had worried since they’d separated, but he was alive. Truly a first-class believer who would become a brother of the temple!
“Huff! Mo… Monk?”
He looked to be struggling to maintain his posture; exhaustion must be clouding his mind. Plus, he was covered in mud and grass.
‘Hmm… He seems to have outsmarted the monsters!’
This was the human wit he employed to compensate for his lack of strength. With no visible wounds, it seemed his trick had worked well. Park Yo-han draped Gu Ma-jun’s arm over his shoulder to support him.
“Don’t worry! The Lord is watching over us. Gather more strength!”
Park Yo-han’s words buzzed in Gu Ma-jun’s head. Even as Gu Ma-jun forced himself to smile, he didn’t look normal.
It was as if he had forgotten something. But what could he have forgotten? He couldn’t recall at all.
“Grrrah!”
“Just hold on a bit longer, Believer! We’ll get out soon!”
Even with Park Yo-han’s encouraging words, all Gu Ma-jun could do was clutch his head and endure the pain.
―Until the last moment he could exist as Gu Ma-jun.
***
‘Found him.’
The presence detected near Park Yo-han. The scent was hard to catch, but I couldn’t think that Park Yo-han would keep a monster close to him.
“Grrrk.”
Most likely, it’s Gu Ma-jun.
‘Park Yo-han and Gu Ma-jun… I have no choice. This opportunity has come, and I cannot turn it down.’
There’s a risk. But if I don’t do it now, then when? I didn’t want to fight a madman, yet there are times when you must do what you’ve got to do.
‘I will incapacitate Park Yo-han and kill Gu Ma-jun in the meantime.’
Gu Ma-jun’s regeneration was at most twice. No, if he was in a dungeon, regenerating would be tougher. Once I decided, I couldn’t hesitate.
“Skull Wolf! Believer! Get your act together! We need to fight!”
Even as I shook Gu Ma-jun awake, he couldn’t regain his senses. Park Yo-han leaned against a tree and laid him down as if it was inevitable.
“If you want to kill the believer, you’ll have to get through me first! Filthy beast!”
The monk clenched his fist with a serious expression. Covered in blood and filth, he was reinforcing his resolve, yet…
‘If only he didn’t have a bald head, he would look cool.’
The world was hopelessly prejudiced against looks. But regardless of that, Park Yo-han’s punch was fierce.
‘……!’
His stats were nearing 300 in every area. Not to mention, a significant amount of magic was in every punch. His strengthened body unleashed fists that were terrifyingly fast. They wouldn’t even compare to the punches boxing champions deliver on YouTube or TV.
“So that’s why the believer got hit. Is he a superior race? No, he must be a special breed!”
Special breed—the name for monsters with skills. Not that he visibly used any skills, but it felt like he had used one for sure.
‘There’s some truth to that.’
He actually dodged due to insight and intuition.
“Grrr―”
Park Yo-han’s fist slashed through the air again. With magic and strength nearing 300, I was knocked back, crashing against a tree that nearly collapsed under me.
“Grrrk!”
Even with nullified pain, I found it hard to breathe. Just one hit packed extreme power. The only reason I didn’t faint was I kept my eyes on his fist until the very end.
‘Why?’
Why couldn’t I dodge? Was it a speed I couldn’t escape? No, I should have been able to. ─But, why?
‘His skill!’
If I recalled correctly, Park Yo-han held me down with magic when I tried to escape.
Thanks to that, I was unable to escape and was caught in a crisis. Had it not been in the dungeon, I would have died right there. Right. I remembered that magic had grabbed my ankle, and I remembered that.
‘But.’
As high as 290’s magic, could it possibly not have alerted me until it grabbed my ankle?
‘Is that even possible?’
Park Yo-han’s agility was 318. Quite high. But wasn’t I the one who faced Aranea with a 438 agility? Why couldn’t I see Park Yo-han’s punches?
‘What exactly is going on?’
I don’t know. I just know that he has some kind of skill—that was the only certainty.
‘Is it just speed that’s increased?’
Was it a kind similar to Gu Ma-jun’s acceleration?
“Damn you!”
Park Yo-han’s fists continued to rain down. The kicks mixed in between made it all the more troublesome. I couldn’t find an opportunity to counter against a barrage like that.
‘His agility is 318, but it’s not just that!’
With magic on top of that, battling him was an entirely different beast. I thought defeating Park Yo-han wouldn’t be hard, it would just take more time… I was completely wrong.
‘At least, it’s fortunate that.’
His shoulder twitched, and as his left hand approached, his right began moving as well. All that was just a fake. [Insight] unveiled all his feints. It was tough, but it wasn’t impossible to win. And conversely, from Park Yo-han’s stance…
‘Every single one of my moves is being read.’
No feints were getting past him. This meant that the wolf could see through all my movements.
‘His dynamic vision…!’
He was literally a beast.
In reality, it was my insight and intuition that had seen through his feints, but for Park Yo-han, it was something he couldn’t easily perceive. A monster like this can’t just roam free. Hampered by time, Park Yo-han’s movements shifted to quick and large actions.
“Grrrk.”
It might have been better not to use any feints. That slight motion created a gap between his every attack, allowing my slightly lacking agility to dodge his blows.
‘And now, I understand.’
As his fist came straight at me, I turned my head and bit. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew without a doubt something was coming.
“……!”
It was nothing but magic.
‘So, that’s how I can use it.’
Park Yo-han’s skill wasn’t some impressive space-warping ability nor was it Gu Ma-jun’s acceleration. It was actually a skill I also owned.
‘Stealth.’
I didn’t know its rank or level, but that was what he possessed.
‘I never thought I could use stealth in battle.’
Using stealth to ambush was one thing. It was a refreshing tactical shift.
‘To hide magic with stealth…’
I hadn’t failed to dodge. I surely dodged his fist, but a clump of magic hit me once more. I mistakenly thought that I’d been unable to dodge that attack.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Grrrk―!”
When I had come to save Gu Ma-jun, he’d been moving magic skillfully while pretending to worry.
‘Ha. A wizard, huh?’
Misdirection. A wild beast disguised as a pig. He tried the same trick again to confirm, but this time it didn’t work.
“Ugh!”
Stealth doesn’t work against a vigilant enemy. If you focus just a little more, it’s entirely possible to break that technique.
‘I’ve learned something good.’
This could be useful. And it was about time to wrap up this fight. A magician whose tricks have been revealed must exit the stage.
“…Ugh.”
Finally, Gu Ma-jun lifted his eyelids.
‘This is troublesome.’
His gaze glowed gray.
‘Has all his magic already run out?’
Wasn’t there still time until his regeneration was over? No, that’s not right. Seeing his sorry state, I understood late.
‘He wasn’t meeting monsters; he had just been meeting monsters until he turned into that!’
I misjudged.
He had run out of magic all along.
What Gu Ma-jun had drank wasn’t an item that granted regeneration with magic as the price. Quite the opposite. It had been something that endured to keep it from happening. However, when the floodwaters rise, the dam eventually breaks. In the end, the endlessly regenerating flesh began to overflow and inflate…!
‘It’s already too late. The mutation is complete!’
I wasn’t the only one who sensed that change. Even while confronting, Park Yo-han turned to look at him in shock, realizing ‘that was Gu Ma-jun.’
[The Incomplete Product of Secondary Achievement]—it was a substance that would turn a being into a chimera.
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