NOVEL WEB Chapter 55
Chapter 55
[You have defeated a Kobold of the Earth.]
[You have defeated a Kobold of the Earth.]
[You have defeated a Kobold of the Earth.]
[You have defeated a Kobold of the Earth.]
……
Suho flew through the battlefield.
With each swing of his sword, at least two kobolds fell, and his team members only had to handle the few monsters that managed to escape to the sides, intimidated by Suho’s fierce aura.
But they neither panicked nor despaired.
Suho had briefed them on this scenario in advance, and they were simply following the instructions they’d been given beforehand.
“You may start mining as soon as we pass through.”
At Gu Yeonhwa’s guidance, Team Leader Ahn Seongwon immediately issued orders to his team.
“Start!”
“Yes!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The assigned mining team began their work.
They had no electronic tools or heavy machinery.
All they had were shovels and pickaxes.
The reason was simple.
Electronic devices didn’t work inside a Gate.
In addition, a gathering team carefully started collecting byproducts from the monster corpses, particularly the kobolds.
Within about thirty minutes, the mining operation system had stabilized quickly.
Suho continued advancing.
Showing no signs of fatigue, he bulldozed forward, leaving his team in awe.
‘This is the Sword God, Ahn Suho…….’
‘The one who cleared two Sealed Gates by himself…….’
‘Wow, this guy is incredible.’
How much time had passed?
After slaughtering kobolds for more than two hours, Suho finally stopped when two paths appeared before him.
After killing the last kobold, Suho straightened his back and spoke.
“Everyone, gather around.”
“Yes.”
They all gathered at Suho’s call.
Seo Gi-won, who had relatively lower stamina, was slightly out of breath.
It was only natural.
While Suho bulldozed forward, he hadn’t done it entirely alone.
Suho had intentionally let some kobolds pass to the rear.
That way, his teammates could still gain a feel for the battlefield.
Suho spoke.
“You see the fork in the road ahead? Just like I mentioned before.”
“Yes, there’s really a split path.”
“This is where Nexus had to turn back. They tried to press on, but kobolds swarmed out like packs, making further advance impossible.”
“So, do we split up and proceed forward?”
“No, I’ll go in alone.”
“What?”
Explaining as he went, Suho got up and approached the entrance to the right passage, gripping his blood-red sword.
Then, facing the tunnel wall, he swung his sword with all his might.
[Severing Steel has been activated.]
Boom!!
As Severing Steel activated, one side of the tunnel entrance collapsed as if blasted, covering about 20% of the passage.
Suho swung his sword several more times until nearly 90% of the entrance was completely blocked.
Then, after stomping to ensure the debris didn’t budge, he repeated the same process at the opposite entrance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Watching this, the team members quietly swallowed.
‘Who would have thought there’d be someone who could collapse an entrance with a sword swing…….’
‘How strong is he?’
‘Is that even physically possible?’
Eventually, when both entrances were narrowed enough for only one or two kobolds to pass through, Suho turned around and spoke.
“You stay here and guard the right entrance. I’ll head to the left.”
“Wait, this is our plan?”
“Yeah, this is the plan. Honestly, I’d prefer to block one side entirely, but then you wouldn’t get any experience, so I’m leaving it like this. And once I go inside, don’t come looking for me, no matter what happens.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“No matter what happens, just trust me and wait for twelve hours. I’ll be out before twelve hours are up. If I don’t come back after twelve hours, leave without me. Understood?”
Suho was serious.
In this Gate, he needed at least twelve hours to secure everything he wanted.
The team members responded to Suho’s question.
“Understood.”
“Good, see you later then.”
With that, Suho entered the narrow left passage.
He passed through the collapsed rubble…
Boom!!
And once more, he used Severing Steel to completely block the passage.
This would ensure that kobolds couldn’t approach from that direction.
Once Suho disappeared, the team members exchanged glances and spoke up.
“……Will he really be okay?”
“No matter how strong he is, he’s alone…….”
“Is this really the right approach…….”
Seo Gi-won spoke to the anxious team.
“I trust the team leader. Let’s wait and keep our faith.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Seo Gi-won.
No one here doubted Suho’s skill.
***
After sealing the retreat, Suho muttered to himself.
“All right…… time to start again.”
It seemed like he’d cut off his escape and had no way out, a desperate measure of sorts.
But that wasn’t his reason for sealing the left path.
He blocked it to lessen the burden on his team.
Suho was eager for his team members to grow stronger.
That way, he could rely on them more in the future.
Suho raised his head and looked forward.
Kobolds of the Earth, hearing the explosion at the entrance, began appearing one by one, clutching their weapons.
– Kobold of the Earth Lv.72
– Kobold of the Earth Lv.74
– Kobold of the Earth Lv.73
……
Kobolds in the low 70s.
After hunting Ents and Golems close to level 100, these kobolds seemed trivial.
But he couldn’t dismiss them entirely.
After all, the kobolds in the mine were more numerous than expected—no, more than he could have imagined.
‘This place wouldn’t be rated as S-level danger for no reason.’
The Mine of the Kobolds of the Earth might belong to Nexus now, but in the future, the government would end up managing it as a Sealed Gate.
The reason was the sheer number of casualties.
At first glance, the entry requirements—ample participants and a level cap under 1-star—might make it seem easy.
But once faced with the relentless kobold hordes, that notion would quickly vanish.
‘Plus, being inside a mine, stamina is drained all the more with each passing moment.’
Mines posed unexpected variables.
How many modern people had experience entering a mine?
On top of the kobold horde and the environment of a mine, there was another challenge that overshadowed them both—a being known as the ‘Owner of the Mine.’
For this reason, Nexus had handed the Gate back to the government after repeated annihilations of their expedition forces.
But Suho was confident.
Though this place had been a dreaded S-rank Sealed Gate, in the end, hunters had conquered it, and Suho knew all its secrets.
Suho swung his sword toward the approaching kobold.
Slash!
[You have defeated a Kobold of the Earth.]
Suho continued his advance.
***
Six hours later.
After spending half the day mining and gathering, Team Leader Ahn Seongwon finally stretched his back and spoke.
“Everyone, let’s eat!”
“It’s mealtime!”
“Food!”
“Prepare for cooking!”
A much-needed break after half a day.
Ahn Seongwon checked on the team members preparing to cook, then approached the attack team.
“You’re all working hard.”
“Ah, you’re here, Team Leader?”
“By the way, it’s already been half a day. How is everything… is it manageable?”
“Yes. At first, they came in waves, but it’s quieter now.”
Ahn Seongwon marveled at the pile of kobold corpses stacked near the entrance.
“It may be only one or two at a time, but handling this many is no small feat…… As expected, Hunter Ahn’s team is something else.”
“Haha, thank you.”
It was exactly as Ahn Seongwon said.
It had been six hours, yet the attack team was handling the kobolds smoothly.
Their stamina, strengthened through training, played a part, but the structure of the entrance Suho had created was the biggest help.
Gu Yeonhwa thought.
‘Even with just one kobold coming out at a time, we’re this worn out. If they’d come in packs…….’
They wouldn’t have lasted even an hour, let alone six.
Perhaps that’s why.
‘I hope the Team Leader is all right……’
She found herself worrying about Suho’s safety.
It wasn’t that she doubted his skills, but it had been six hours, and he was holding a vulnerable position alone inside.
‘Believe. We just have to trust him.’
Gu Yeonhwa resolved to focus on what she could do.
***
‘I suppose it’s time to meet him.’
Suho rose from his resting place.
Six hours.
He felt he’d waited long enough.
In truth, it had taken him six hours just to instill fear into the kobolds within.
At some point, the kobolds that had been flooding him now hesitated to approach.
There was no point in continuing the hunt.
With the level difference not being large enough to yield significant experience, Suho decided it was time to clear the Gate.
“Grrrr……”
“Grrrk……”
As Suho took slow steps forward, the remaining kobolds retreated, hiding.
Thanks to this, he could walk leisurely ahead until he reached the end of the mine tunnel.
He arrived at a cliff.
Or rather, the point where the kobolds had stopped expanding.
Suho took an item out of his inventory.
It was a flare.
Once fired, it would burst and illuminate a wide area, serving as a makeshift light source.
Suho aimed the flare down into the dark abyss below and fired.
With a whizzing sound, the flare shot out, illuminating patches of the darkness along its path…
Bang!
At its peak, it exploded, lighting up the area like daylight.
And Suho saw it.
The true owner of this mine, sprawled below, fast asleep after feasting its fill.
– Snore… snore…
The creature lay buried among piles of magic stones and other ores.
Suho scaled down the wall quietly, landing softly.
Then, he looked up at the owner of the mine, who was snoring away.
The creature was easily 4-5 meters tall.
Its form was a monstrous blend of an elephant and a bear.
Above its head was inscribed:
– Bulgasari Lv.99
Bulgasari.
Named for its reputed invincibility, it was the monster that had led to this place being designated a Sealed Gate, bringing death and despair to countless hunters.
‘One of the three most fearsome monsters below 1-star.’
Suho summoned the Ghost Shadow Spear.
He enchanted it with holy power and aimed carefully at the sleeping monster’s forehead.
[Throwing Spear activated.]
Whoosh!
The Ghost Shadow Spear flew toward the Bulgasari’s forehead.
But—
Ping!
The spear bounced off with ease.
Though he’d thrown it with all his strength, the spear didn’t leave so much as a scratch on its skin.
Its skin was as hard as steel.
However.
– Grunt? Snort?
The noise was enough to rouse Bulgasari from its slumber.
Rumble—
The awakened Bulgasari began to move.