NOVEL WEB
Chapter 12
“Ugh...!” The apparition looked down at his own body in disbelief. Two axes had sunk into his chest. “So, this is what it’s like... a frail human body...” Thud. Yongjun’s eyes rolled back into his head, as his body fell backward.
[Enemies to Eliminate: 0]
[Enemies Eliminated: 1]
The quest was over.
[Emergency Quest: “Defeat the Enemy” has been completed.]
[Level up!]
Swish! In that instant, Suho’s exhausted stamina was instantly restored to its peak condition. However, he remained vigilant. Kim Yongjun had been killed, but it was the sword that had controlled his body.
“Ruler’s Authority!” Slice! A single ax fell from the air, severing the arm that was holding the sword.
“Good job! This sword is the apparition’s true form!” As if he had been waiting for this moment, Beru flew over and eagerly lifted the sword held by the deceased hunter. At that moment, a sharp and resonating voice echoed in Beru’s mind.
“Who dares to covet the Monarch of Fang’s sword?”
“Young Monarch, may I devour this sword?”
“W-wait! Shouldn’t we resolve this through conversation?” Suddenly, the voice of the sword became gentle. The sword sensed Beru’s eagerness to consume it.
Meanwhile, Suho was in no position to respond to the ant’s request. The apparition had been dealt with, but the wolves, now without a focal point, were swarming him. However, thanks to the recent level-up, Suho’s health and mana were fully replenished, and all his stats had increased by 1. This improvement made him more agile, and overall more capable than before.
[Steel-Fanged Lycan has been defeated.]
[Steel-Fanged Lycan has been defeated.]
As he took down the attackers one by one, Suho shouted at Beru, “My weapon is too short! Can I use that sword?”
“Who dares...”
“Of course you can! An apparition like this could never taint the Young Monarch’s spirit!”
“Okay!” Suho swiftly took the sword from his hands.
[Item: Obtained “Rakan’s Fang.”]
As if it had been waiting for that moment, the sword apparition let out a fierce cry. “Who dares to covet the Monarch of Fang’s sword?! I will consume your flesh!” A crimson energy surged from the sword and enveloped Suho. But shadows rose from beneath his feet and swallowed the sword. “What, what is this energy?” The bewildered apparition’s voice grew quieter. “This can’t be, the Monarch of Shadow’s...”
The apparition couldn’t believe it. He was the sword of the great Monarch of Fangs. It wasn’t just any ordinary sword, it was a sword created from the King of Beast’s own fang. The existence of a human it couldn’t dominate was utterly unthinkable. Furthermore, the human appeared to be weak at first glance.
“Hmph. Even if the Young Monarch is weak, there’s no way they would be overwhelmed by such an insignificant creature. Do you even know whose bloodline you’re dealing with?” Beru sneered.
“Wh-what did you say? Did you call me an insignificant creature? Take that back...!”
“Hey, quiet down.” Ignoring the apparition’s voice, Suho swung his sword at the wolves it had been controlling, slicing through them without mercy. The sword’s robustness was on a completely different level compared to the axes the wolves had crushed with their steel fangs. “It’s a pretty good weapon, after all.”
“Of course! Whose sword do you think I am!” Amid all this, the apparition displayed its pride.
Despite being thoroughly surrounded, Suho found a bit of breathing room and immediately checked for his rewards. Give me something useful! Stats would be great!
[A completion reward has arrived.]
[Would you like to accept it?] (Y/N)
Yes!
[The following reward will be given.
Reward: “Rune Stone: Storm Slash”]
It’s a skill! It was the best reward for him to receive in his current predicament, and he immediately checked the reward.
[Runestone: Storm Slash
Absorb the skill by breaking the runestone.]
Slice!
[Skill: “Storm Slash” has been learned.]
Upon breaking the runestone, the power of a storm surged through Suho’s body. “This is...?” He instinctively knew how to use this skill and its purpose. Due to the urgent situation at hand, he immediately used the skill.
[Skill: “Storm Slash” has activated.]
In an instant, a fierce wind rushed from Suho’s sword. The blade storm engulfed everything before him, including the wolves.
[Steel-Fanged Lycan has been defeated.]
[Steel-Fanged Lycan has been defeated.]
[Steel-Fanged Lycan has been defeated.]
Numerous messages flashed before his eyes.
“Wow.” Suho was amazed, he had simultaneously downed more than ten wolves with a single skill. Barely surviving the destruction that had been wrought, the remaining terrified wolves scattered in all directions to flee. He had no intention of chasing them further. After using this skill, the mana that had been brimming within him was now completely depleted.
[Skill: Storm Slash Level 1
Active Skill.
Required Mana: 50
The power of the raging wind imbues the sword.
It can attack multiple enemies at once.]
The skill required a substantial amount of mana. However, the effect was equally remarkable. Suho stared at the skill window as if entranced.
Beru couldn’t believe his eyes. “Are you actually impressed by such a skill? Shadow abilities are a thousand, if not a million times more impressive than that!”
“What are you going on about? It’s not the skill. The amazing power was unleashed because I’m such an exceptional sword!” The sword was also rather prideful.
“Both of you, be quiet. This is a historic moment for me. I’ve finally acquired an attack skill.”
“What?!”
“I’m telling you that it’s because of me...!”
Suho ignored the bickering pair and headed back to the miners who were hiding in the distance. “Is everyone okay?”
“Hey, rookie...” One of the miners was in awe of the swordsmanship he had observed, a technique that could conjure a storm of all things. “If you had such a skill, why did you only use it now?”
Oh? Suho didn’t know how to respond to the question. Logically speaking, if he explained that he had learned the new skill during battle, he and the others probably wouldn’t believe it. “Using it once completely drains my mana. That’s why I saved it until the last moment.”
“Oh, wow.”
The miners were even more impressed by that statement. Suho had awakened as a hunter just a few days ago. It was also his first day participating in dungeon work. But he had been waiting until the very end, keeping his true abilities secret, for the right moment to arrive. To them, he felt like a seasoned hunter who had conquered countless gates.
No way. Does that mean everything he’s shown us so far was meticulously planned? Even the running and hiding...?
“You... how much of this was planned?”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind, you don’t need to explain anything. There was no need for us to ask.”
“Anyway, thanks for saving us. If it weren’t for you, we might not have seen tomorrow.”
The miners heaved sighs of relief, finally feeling free from their struggle for survival.
***
The incident at Hanguk University’s dungeon was reported that evening.
“What? The assault team suffered a complete wipeout?”
“In a mere D-grade dungeon?”
“Wasn’t the leader of those hunters a C-rank?”
“What on earth happened?”
Reporters rushed to Hanguk University to uncover the truth behind the incident. However, the miners who had barely survived had already left.
“Allow me to explain.” Of course, Dogyoon was still on duty at the teaching assistant’s office. Thanks to his running skill, he had managed to escape skillfully despite the precarious situation and appeared to be in great condition without a single injury. Good. Now’s the chance to repay my debt to Suho.
He explained everything he knew about the incident in the dungeon to the reporters. In particular, he gave detailed information about Suho’s role in it. He figured it was up to the reporters to believe him or not.
“Huh? An E-rank hunter?”
“A summoner-type hunter? Does that make any sense?”
“In this incident, even a C-rank hunter died. So how could a low-ranking hunter...”
“Excuse me! What’s the problem with an E-rank hunter, or a summoner for that matter? Are you looking down on him because he’s a miner?” Dogyoon grew agitated at their disbelief. “I’m going to post all of your statements on the E-rank hunter community forum right now!”
“Hey, why get upset?”
“Come on, calm down a bit.”
The journalists, sweating nervously due to the teaching assistant’s reaction, began to calm him down gently. Dealing with the E-rank hunter community was quite a challenge for reporters. Due to the large pool of E-rank hunters, there wasn’t a guild that didn’t have one. As a result, the E-rank hunter community had become a hub for all kinds of random information, and if reporters ever got on their bad side, it became quite a hassle for them.
“Ahem. Anyway, this hunter named Sung Suho made the most significant impact, right?”
“By distracting them with summoned creatures, he cut off the arm of the hunter who had turned into a berserker, correct?”
When summarized, Suho had employed a summoner’s fighting strategy. Of course, some reporters perceived that his exceptional close combat skills were a bit too good for a summoner, but they chalked it up to Dogyoon’s favoritism for his painting department students.
“Well, anyway. We’ve got the story.”
That evening, the article was posted on the Internet. It stated that an E-rank hunter had displayed tremendous skills to resolve the incident, but reactions were mixed.
—Summoning magic? And an E-rank at that?
—And I thought it couldn’t get worse
—Are summoning hunters the trend?
—Don’t reporters have anything better to cover these days?
—Anyway, it seems like that E-rank hunter is a summoner. Didn’t he rescue students from there just a few days ago?
—Looks like he used the summoning skill to rescue them back then too. The summoning skill sure is working overtime.
—I’m telling you, summoners are all the rage~
And among the guilds that read the article, a few showed interest in Suho.
“That E-rank kid sure is something, huh?”
“Even if the reporters exaggerated a bit, the point is that he’s got some potential for an E-rank.”
“Isn’t it about time we started hiring a few more rookies to grill?”
“Actually, the collection team did request for more staff.”
“That works out. These days, even E-rank hunters are getting pulled away to various places, so there aren’t many freelancers available for hire.”
“We also need to hire a few E-rank hunters as full-time employees.”
“As full-time employees? Hmm, am I too old-fashioned? E-rank hunters seem more suited for contract or temporary work, don’t you think? Kids these days are lucky, that’s for sure.”
“Ahem. Anyway, I think we should send a job offer to this Sung Suho kid.”
“Let’s do that. How thrilled do you think he’ll be when we give him a call? He’ll look like he’s won the lottery.”
And so, one of South Korea’s largest guilds, the Black Tortoise Guild, extended a full-time job offer to Sung Suho.
To think that a rookie who has just awakened is getting such an incredible opportunity. If other E-rank hunters find out, they’ll be green with envy.
***
A few moments later.
“Come again?” Lee Yeongho, the manager of the Black Tortoise Guild’s second management division couldn’t believe his ears. “He rejected the offer from our guild? The Black Tortoise Guild?”
“I’m afraid so...”
“Does that make any sense to you? A mere E-rank noob has rejected Black Tortoise’s offer? Wait! Do you think the White Tiger Guild took him first?”
“That may be a possibility.”
“Ugh. Yeah, those White Tiger guys can do that easily. But seriously, offering better terms to an E-rank hunter? Isn’t that excessive? Are they swimming in money?” Lee Yeongho could only curse the resources of the White Tiger Guild.