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Chapter 85: Human Hunter (5)
12.
The 2nd floor of the Prince’s Tomb.
What awaited the adventurers there was a dense jungle and a suffocating silence.
That silence was not a welcome sight for the adventurers.
It was natural.
This was the Mystic Gate, a world where monsters couldn’t help but target the adventurers who entered.
But it was silent?
That meant they couldn’t sense the monsters approaching or even their presence.
Swish!
“Nepenthes.”
The cause of the silence on the 2nd floor of the Prince’s Tomb this time was the plant monster, Nepenthes.
It was a nightmare of a monster for adventurers.
First of all, as the term “plant monster” implied, Nepenthes was a flower.
A giant flower with sharp teeth that would bite down on its prey with all its might when they came near.
Its power was enough to chew through most steel.
Of course, among monsters, especially in Yellow-rank Mystic Gates, there were many monsters with that kind of power.
Rustle…
But Nepenthes made no sound.
It was literally a flower.
Flowers didn’t make sounds, and even if they did, it would just be the sound of the jungle.
It was impossible to notice its presence until you saw it directly.
Moreover, this was a jungle.
All the sounds they heard were essentially no different from the sounds Nepenthes made.
“We’re lucky.”
But in front of that sight, the El Pam party, including Divo, breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t empty bravado.
Everyone knew that Nepenthes was a very troublesome monster.
“We won’t have to fight without the boss.”
But for the El Pam party without El Pam, the most troublesome thing was engaging in large-scale battles.
On the other hand, if they could just locate the Nepenthes, they could find the next exit without fighting.
Of course, that wasn’t easy.
“We learned how to deal with Nepenthes.”
The reason the El Pam party could be confident was because they knew the strategy.
“From the boss.”
El Pam had taught them how to deal with Nepenthes and other unique monsters.
Whenever he had time.
Countless times.
And he didn’t just teach them casually.
El Pam taught them thoroughly, and for El Pam, the level of thoroughness was enough to drive ordinary adventurers crazy.
Thanks to that.
Rustle!
“There’s a Nepenthes over there.”
The El Pam party was able to quickly proceed with the 2nd floor of the Prince’s Tomb even without El Pam.
There were no problems in the process.
There were no significant battles.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
Passing through quietly without a fight was, in a way, more difficult than fighting.
“I hope the boss is okay.”
The biggest concern was El Pam.
“He’ll be fine, won’t he? Better than us?”
Of course, they weren’t unaware of El Pam’s abilities.
“Right. Most adventurers wouldn’t even be a threat to him.”
“Adventurers aren’t the problem. The problem is the assassins.”
But the existence of the assassins made the El Pam party’s minds complicated and uneasy.
“We can’t even fathom what kind of beings they are.”
The only thing they knew about the assassins was that they were the best assassin group in Maple World.
That’s why it was even more troublesome.
If they didn’t know the assassins, they couldn’t imagine El Pam fighting them.
In the end, there was only one thing they could trust.
“If the boss said so, he must have a way to deal with the assassins, right?”
13.
It was the second day.
‘I’ve hunted all the adventurers.’
The time it took El Pam to eliminate all the adventurers on the 1st floor of the Prince’s Tomb.
‘Only the assassins are left.’
However, the assassins were an exception.
At the moment, El Pam hadn’t eliminated a single assassin.
It wasn’t strange.
‘They’re amazing indeed.’
The assassins hadn’t earned their reputation as the best assassins in the Nihal Desert for many years just by luck.
Despite having many enemies due to the nature of their organization, they remained the best in the Nihal Desert because of their unique organizational methods and outstanding skills.
‘They’ve completely hidden their presence.’
Among them, the assassins’ most outstanding ability was their stealth.
‘It’s the Dark Sight skill.’
What made it possible was the thief skill, Dark Sight.
In fact, the Dark Sight skill itself wasn’t that great.
Rather, it was a 1st circle thief skill that allowed them to hide in the shadows.
And it wasn’t actually a very useful skill.
‘It only hides their appearance in the shadows.’
It was only a skill to hide their appearance, not their traces.
Sounds, smells, and so on remained.
That was why.
‘But it’s different when assassins use it.’
The reason the assassins became the best was.
‘They have no sound or smell.’
With their innate talent and special training, they were colorless and odorless beings.
‘When they reach a high level, they can walk on desert sand without leaving footprints.’
Even when they moved quickly, it was difficult to gauge their sound.
‘Unless it’s an enclosed space.’
The reason he had sensed the presence of the assassins during his conversation with Prince Kashan was because it was an enclosed space.
No matter how great an assassin was, their presence would be somewhat revealed in such a limited environment.
In other words, it was impossible to detect the presence of assassins in a place like this, full of all sorts of smells and noises.
‘I can’t find them.’
Not even El Pam could.
‘I can’t see them even with clairvoyance.’
It was impossible to find the assassins who were deliberately hiding with his abilities.
Naturally, if he couldn’t see them, he couldn’t hunt them either.
Of course, El Pam hadn’t come here without knowing that.
‘Well, it’s not a problem.’
He had prepared a definite countermeasure.
‘That’s why I settled the matter on the 1st floor.’
That was why El Pam was on the 1st floor.
‘Then I should start.’
Naturally, El Pam took out the card he had prepared.
14.
It was the sixth day.
“The exit.”
Divo and his party, who had entered the 2nd floor, found the entrance to the 3rd floor, the final stage.
It was an incredibly fast pace.
Even Divo and his party hadn’t expected it.
“The markings were accurate.”
The reason they were able to find the exit so quickly was thanks to the markings left by those who came before them.
Moreover, the markings were clear and accurate.
It was something rarely seen in the Mystic Gate.
Those who left markings in the Mystic Gate usually entered with a purpose.
Most adventurers didn’t leave any traces.
In the first place, markings were something you prepared for the next adventurer after you died.
Many adventurers considered such things taboo.
That was why the markings here were accurate.
“It’s fitting for the Prince’s Tomb.”
Since it was the Prince’s Tomb, if the prince died, a follow-up team would inevitably come to find his remains.
In fact, many follow-up teams had come. It was natural that there were traces everywhere.
“But they all died on the 3rd floor.”
In other words, even though everyone had come to the 2nd floor relatively safely, conserving their strength, they had met their deaths on the 3rd floor.
In other words, the door in front of them was a door to hell.
“Now, let’s decide.”
And now, Divo and his party, with only four members left, had to decide.
“Are we going in or not?”
Whether to enter without El Pam or not.
Logically, it was right to wait for El Pam.
That would increase their chances of survival.
“First of all, let me be clear, the boss told us to keep going.”
But El Pam had never told his companions to only clear up to the 2nd floor.
It could have been because he didn’t expect them to clear the 2nd floor so quickly, but that wasn’t important.
El Pam was their leader, and if the leader said to keep going, then they should keep going.
Of course, as mentioned before, if they valued their lives, waiting for El Pam here was the best option.
That was why.
“But the boss isn’t here, so it’s a majority vote.”
Divo asked for their opinions.
“Let’s just do a simple show of hands. Those who want to go in, raise your hands.”
And at his words, everyone revealed their opinions.
Divo, Kiri, and Minerv raised their hands.
They showed their willingness to follow their leader’s orders even if it meant facing death.
The exception was Ralph, just one person.
“I want to explore the 2nd floor a bit more.”
“Explore? Why?”
The reason was simple.
“There might be something worth money, right? Nepenthes aren’t easy monsters either.”
There was a chance to make more money.
In other words, that was all there was to it.
“Hey, the prince will be worth more. The base reward is a golden elephant.”
At Divo’s words, Ralph nodded and then raised his hand.
Everyone decided to follow El Pam’s orders.
It wasn’t strange.
“You guys aren’t even hesitating a little? Huh? Even though you might die?”
“We would have died without the boss. We follow his orders unconditionally.”
“If the leader tells us to do it, we have to do it. That’s the best way to survive.”
El Pam had shown amazing abilities so far.
Of course, everyone knew.
“Now, let’s all get ready to die.”
That beyond this exit was truly dangerous.
That they could die at any moment. But there was no hesitation.
“We’ll go on the count of three. Don’t say anything uncool like ‘Wait!’ or ‘Stop!’ in the middle. Okay? Now, let’s go in. One, two…”
Just as Divo was about to step into the exit.
“Wait.”
“Oh, come on! Hey! Who is it? Who said that uncool nonsense… Huh?”
At that moment, he appeared.
“Boss?”
El Pam revealed himself.
Everyone turned their heads in surprise and looked at El Pam.
El Pam’s appearance was calm.
So calm that it was disconcerting to those who saw him.
“No, boss? When did you get here?”
“I just entered the 2nd floor.”
“Just now?”
“About 30 minutes ago.”
Everyone was even more surprised by his next words.
They had taken days to get here, and he had covered the same distance in just 30 minutes?
“I came easily thanks to the markings you left.”
They had left the markings for El Pam, but the distance of 30 minutes was only achievable by running.
Running through a place full of Nepenthes, those monstrous plants, even with markings?
It was hard to believe.
Of course, the hardest thing to believe was this.
“Wait, does that mean you’ve taken care of everything?”
El Pam had defeated that enormous number of enemies and come here.
“Even the assassins?”
And among them were assassins, no less?
“I couldn’t handle the assassins.”
“What?”
Everyone was surprised again by El Pam’s answer to that question.
“You couldn’t catch them?”
“Not a single one. It’s almost impossible to find assassins once they’ve hidden in the field.”
It was a chilling statement.
It meant that the surviving assassins were now targeting them.
‘Even the boss is having a hard time?’
El Pam’s companions were even more chilled by the fact that even El Pam couldn’t do anything about it.
‘It’s dangerous.’
It was a truly terrible situation.
But no one expressed that terror.
“Those bastards, the moment I see them, I’ll smash their heads in with this polearm. Don’t worry!”
“Right. It’ll be much easier to deal with them with five of us.”
“This is when a gun is useful. Just watch me put a hole in those assassins’ heads.”
“Don’t assassins have a lot of valuables on them?”
They willingly expressed their confidence, and seeing his companions like that, El Pam said,
“It doesn’t matter. They can’t come to the 2nd floor anyway.”
“What? What do you mean they can’t come to the 2nd floor?”
“What makes assassins scary is their Dark Sight skill, which allows them to hide in the shadows. But there’s a moment when they absolutely can’t use that skill.”
“A moment? Ah!”
“Yes, the moment they cross over to the 2nd floor, they’re inevitably defenseless.”
The reason El Pam had settled the matter on the 1st floor.
“And my companions were already active on the 2nd floor.”
El Pam sending Divo and his companions to the 2nd floor was also for the same purpose.
Chasing El Pam to the 2nd floor was a huge risk, and his companions were already beyond the 2nd floor?
It was a situation that would make the assassins’ calculations complicated.
“It’s not easy to take that kind of risk just to go to the 2nd floor, not even the 3rd.”
Moreover, entering the 2nd floor wasn’t the end.
Of course, El Pam knew one more factor.
“It’s fortunate that it’s Nepenthes here.”
‘I already knew, but…’
Nepenthes was the worst monster for assassins.
Even if they hid in the shadows, if there was a Nepenthes nearby, they would inevitably be bitten.
That was also El Pam’s aim.
Of course, El Pam knew.
“But they’ll move if time passes.”
All of this was just buying time.
And that was enough.
“So we’ll clear the 3rd floor before then.”
With that, El Pam stepped towards the 3rd floor.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]