The Gardener in a Hunter World

Disclaimer: This is an edited MTL. Thus, I can’t guarantee that my editing to be proficient. But I hope you enjoy this story with me. If there are any corrections, it is highly encourage to leave a comment.

The area near Mt. Jiri has been a dangerous place where access is prohibited since the first dungeon was opened.

This is because monsters broke out due to a number of unfavorable factors.

The government has been at a standstill for years with no clear guidelines given due to massive damage.

Hunters preferred to receive quests with clear goals and perform stable hunting rather than struggling with reinforced monsters pouring out of numerous gates.

Thus, 10 years later, Mt. Jiri had become a paradise for monsters.

In Jeonnam, District 9.

All the land that was supposed to be filled with farmland was discolored in purple.

The place that should serve as Korea’s breadbasket is completely ruined.

It has been a while since it happened, but the government was quiet and did not inform the Hunters.

This is because the Elder Lich and Undead broke out due to the wrong initial response.

In order to get rid of them, a large-scale bombing of the area had to be carried out, but no one was able to come forward.

Government officials slowly looked around District 9 and talked.

“We must bomb it now. The contaminated land is getting bigger and bigger. If it goes like this…”

“If we were to bomb all that wide land, we would need an enormous number of shells. I don’t know if I can request it from the US.”

“The United States is going to run out of ammunition stock these days. Hundreds of dungeons have opened in the central region.”

Hundreds of dungeons are indeed on the American scale.

The ominous point is that the situation in the US is a bit better than that of China or India.

The dungeons opened for one day in both countries are not even recorded.

“How about asking the Hunters for help instead?”

“Hunters are reluctant to come around here. As you know, there are so many Liches.”

“Neither us nor hunters are prepared for mental attacks, including curses. It would be okay if there are few artifacts that will protect them.”

“I’m going crazy. We have no choice but to wait until the shells arrive. If only we had suppressed them earlier.”

“This is spilled water, so there is nothing we can do about it. The only option is to use mortars to block the outskirts of the contaminated area. When it comes to Liches, at least 120mm will have to be mobilized.”

“Even if it works on the lich, the elder lich is the problem.”

At that moment, a bizarre sound resounded near Mt. Jiri.

—This is our land! Death to all who disturb our rest!

Government officials frowned upon hearing the screams that sounded like scraping iron.

“What kind of bullshit is it talking about, Won?”

“It sounds like all living things are going to die.”

“Hey, is that the Elder Lich’s voice? I thought it was some kind of metal scraping.”

“Unless we destroy the life source of the Elder Lich, Liches and Undead will continue to exist. That is the problem.”

Since the source is somewhere in Mt. Jiri, there was no guarantee that bombing would destroy it.

The way to solve this troublesome problem is to mobilize a small number of elite hunters to search Mt. Jiri at once.

For example, Han SeungHyeok and Seo HyeJin are reinforced with some hunters to form a team.

But it was impossible.

The former is missing, and the latter is just wandering around the dungeon day and night to find Han SeungHyeok.

The three public officials looked for various ways but canceled all of them after they realized that it was not feasible.

“Wow, that’s the only way. Let’s get rid of the lich by firing precision guns at the perimeter. At least we have to stop the spread of the contaminated area.”

***

When Yoo Ji-Ha was playing with Beom by the tree, Theradrone Knight bought a leaf plate with his subordinates.

[Yellow Herb Extract]

It was similar to the green herb extract they brought before.

But what is he going to do with this?

Even if there is ink, it is useless without runewords.

As if waiting for that moment, a yellow runeword appeared from the tree.

“Good timing.”

[Purification. Let your land be restored to its original state.]

“Well…”

It sounds like a really good runeword, but where can he use it?

The contaminated land of the forest was purified through a simple method of shoveling.

‘Let’s try it first.’

When he took out a feather pen and the infinite magic book and wrote down rune words, the scroll was completed.

[Scroll of Harmony: Purification. Bring back the state of the polluted land.]

‘It looks good, but where is it used?’

Is he supposed to go into the dungeon and use it?

He decided to check it out later and made a few more scrolls.

But Beom, who was staring at him from the side, covered the book and tapped Yoo Ji-Ha’s thigh with his front foot.

“Huh? Why?”

Wow.

Crying low and spreading the paws seems to be asking for them to play together.

Yoo Ji-Ha followed him to the cave.

After he disappeared, Theradrone Knight instructed his subordinates to lift the Infinite Spellbook and tore the pages and turn it around.

Withdraw, withdraw!

He has to get rid of it before the forest’s worker returns.

The Theradrones took the scroll and fled to the hole in the ground.

***

The Mt. Jiri area was a very dangerous place where civilians as well as the military and police were prohibited from entering.

Byeokso-ryeong shelter, which would have been full of hikers in the past, had a gloomy atmosphere due to the early morning fog.

Numerous undead roamed around, and sometimes unknown monsters howled.

The ruler of this area was an Elder Lich, which was a Disaster-grade monster.

He was a very dangerous guy who would spit out a fatal curse over a wide area, underestimate his skinny body, and life force will be suck in close combat.

However, what made him a true disaster grade was his ability to pollute the surrounding land and raise the undead.

kaaaaaaa-

Woo Woo Woo-

Countless Bone Knights, Liches, and Ghouls arose and wandered everywhere.

But suddenly, a blue gate opened in the air.

It was much larger than the gates that normal humans can see.

—What’s going on!

Before the Elder Lich could command any of his servants, huge horns and claws protruded from the gate.

Theradrone Knight.

In Yoo Ji-Ha’s Forest in dream, it was the size of a walnut, but in reality, it was a monster that overwhelms monstrous creatures.

His golden body was barely able to get out of the gate.

A few hasty ghouls rushed in with their teeth exposed, but when it spread its carapace and wings, they were blown away by the shockwave.

Kurreung—

The shock waves spread and the trees around it fell.

When the Elder Lich discovered it, it was shocked.

—The cursed tree’s servants have appeared!

A gigantic fireball erupted from the staff held in its bare hands.

However, the Theradrone Knight grabbed the fireball with its tongs and extinguished it.

More than 90% of elemental resistance won’t cause damage, so blocking is a possibility.

The knight scratched the ground with its front paws and began to charge with its horns in front.

As the giant moved, it felt as if an earthquake had occurred.

The monster blocking his way was swept away as if it were leaves.

Blue lightning bolted out of the Elder Lich’s staff in various directions, but it could not penetrate the carapace and scattered in all directions.

Puck, sharp horns pierced the Elder Lich’s abdomen.

—Kyaaaaaaaaa!

Dozens of monsters were swept away by the Knight’s attack and fell to the bottom of the mountain, and the Elder Lich fell to sleep with a groaning scream.

At that moment, a lightning bolt was emitted from the knight’s horns and tongs that colored the white sky.

A thick pillar of lightning whirled up and went up to the sky.

The Elder Lich could not withstand the formidable damage and was scattered all over the place as ashes.

—I Cursed you worker of the tree! Even if it’s you, you won’t be able to defeat all of my men! I will surely come back to life!

Is that true?

Hundreds of Theradrones appeared behind the Theradrone Knights flapping their wings.

It was smaller than the Knight, but it was huge enough to resemble any other building.

—Find it.

At the command resounding in their unconscious, the Theradrones moved in a hurry.

Horror-grade undead were not their opponents.

Dozens of knights seen in one rush were shattered and fell.

The Liches cast all kinds of curses, but it didn’t work for them at all.

Eventually, monsters began to gather around him.

It was a huge number that was evenly mixed from danger-grade to horror-grade.

If the hunters had to deal with them, it would have to be at least a few hundred.

However, one of the Theradrone Warriors’ shock wave attacks flew them into dust.

The wind swept away the trees, and the surroundings became open, but they did not know.

Scroll of Harmony.

The Theradrone knight who brought it between the carapace carefully tore the scroll.

The yellow ether spread all around.

The ground that has turned purple, gradually returned to its original color.

However, the Theradrones did not stop and slaughtered the monsters around Mt. Jiri.

It was when the northeastern part of Jiri was cleared that government officials understood the full extent of the situation.

“Oh my gosh.”

“What the hell happened?”

The ground, which had obviously been discolored purple until yesterday, has returned to its original state.

This earthy smell was what they remembered.

The three officials looked around, escorted by soldiers, and found that there were no monsters.

What the hell happened here?

While they were bewildered, a huge insect engulfed in golden light flew into the sky.

The CIA’s Hunter intelligence officer quickly snapped a picture of him.

“There are no such monsters on record.”

“Isn’t that the least disaster grade level?”

“I do not know. Maybe more than that.”

“Certainly, an extinction grade.”

“It’s a mystery why that extinction-grade monster restored this land to its original state.”

“Wait, you can’t be sure that these monsters did it.”

“Then who did it? That tremendous work that wiped out thousands of monsters and purged the contaminated land around it?”

“That’s…”

The intelligence officer listened to their conversation and remained silent.

That monster does not exist in the official records, but it is listed on the secret bulletin board of Hunternet.

Theradrone.

This is a myth grade monster that was confirmed when the first dungeon was opened.

But it was so small he couldn’t be sure.

“You can’t hide this. A report must be made to the VIP.”

As a senior official in the secretariat said so, the soldier from the Joint Chiefs of Staff sighed.

“I can’t help it. There was a riot like that, but there’s no way people wouldn’t know. Let’s think good. Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to beg America?”

‘“It’s a good thing… It will depend on what their purpose.”

“I hope it has a good purpose. Now, from now on, you will have to move fast.”

When the three left the scene in a car, the army was sent in and closed the area.

***

Rumors spread among hunters that unidentified monsters wiped out the monsters in the northeastern area of Mt. Jiri and purged the surrounding area.

Most of the hunters did not believe the rumors.

This is because they know how many monsters there are in Mt. Jiri area.

Some hunters even scoffed at the government for spreading false rumors.

Since no one has the courage to go there and check it out anyway, they think it was announced to the media to appease the public mind.

However, local details were reported in the evening news of OBS.

Yoo Ji-Ha went to SeongHo’s house to play and had dinner together.

—It can be really surprising. Theradrone. The Myth grade monster that appeared when the first dungeon was opened reappeared. They annihilated the monsters in the northeastern part of Mt. Jiri and purged the contaminated land.

On TV, local videos and photos of the Theradrone came out proudly.

“The Theradrone… They are great guys.”

“Did there ever been such monsters there? Why didn’t we know it?”

SeongHo muttered while scooping the soup with a spoon, and Jumi tilted her head.

“They were probably hiding it, that’s what the higher-ups do.”

“I heard there was even an Elder Lich, but if they had to put hunters all together.”

“It will be difficult to resist on our own, perhaps.”

Yoo Ji-Ha went to the kitchen to pick up a water bottle and was surprised when he saw the TV.

‘What, why are they here?’

The golden insect had the same appearance as Theradrone Knight.

Except for being incredibly large.

‘Maybe they…’

At this point, it can only be viewed as 100%.

The Theradrones in the dream have appeared in reality in some way.

Anyway, he never imagined it would be that big.

In his dream, the largest Theradrone Knight was about the size of a walnut.

Yoo Ji-Ha sat quietly and ate his meal.

He thinks he should have a serious conversation with these guys.