NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26
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How should I describe Koo Sang-seop?
Maybe a bat-like figure? Or someone who lurks for opportunities? He wasn’t outright evil, but there was something about him that reeked of ambition and desire to climb higher by any means. He became a cornerstone of a massive plan to topple the Gwangmyeong Society in cahoots with the organization that helped the Rat Man—[The Prodigals of Heresy]. Just so you know, the disaster in the sewers was just a part of that grand scheme.
On the bright side, even though he was affiliated with the Gwangmyeong Society in the novel, he still seemed to belong to another clan for now, maybe?
‘Is there a chance he’s a namesake?
That’s the thought that came to mind first. But just how rare is the name Koo Sang-seop among hunters, especially in Gyeongsang Province?
‘It’s probably him.’
Odds were high—actually, I’d say nearly 99%—that it was the original Koo Sang-seop himself. And right now, Koo Sang-seop needed to be taken out.
‘Otherwise, the Gwangmyeong Society will collapse.’
The fall of the Gwangmyeong Society, which held up Busan, would easily lead to chaos.
‘What a golden opportunity. A chance to kill.’
Considering the fact he would end up affiliated with Gwangmyeong Society, it was essential to deal with him before that happened. Once he joined them, it would be harder to handle him.
‘He’s not exactly an impressive hunter.’
Sure, he’s not useless, but he was just decent enough as a hunter. If I remember correctly, he’d become a C-class hunter in two years. Honestly, he was just a minor character I barely recalled since he was only briefly taken advantage of.
‘A C-class hunter should be able to handle an orc solo.’
That means I should still consider him closer to a D-class. The other two were around the same level, but the problem was whether I could take them down.
‘Impossible.’
I couldn’t guarantee I could beat an orc alone, let alone deal with three of them at once!
‘I could run away.’
If all I could do was run, I thought about just ambushing once, running, then healing up with weak regeneration and attacking again? But that felt way too risky. If I got caught even once, it would be game over, and there’s no way I could kill Koo Sang-seop that way.
‘I bet he’d escape before that.’
In the novel, hunters carried consumables as a lifeline. Even if they weren’t the instant-heal kind like those in other games, potions could heal wounds and fatigue over time. And if they were well-prepared hunters, they might even have a Short-distance Teleportation Scroll. Even if I took him down with a hit, they’d be able to escape using their items.
‘…What should I do?’
In a way, I didn’t want to kill the other hunters. My target was Koo Sang-seop, not any of the other hunters.
‘It’d be great if I could separate him from the others.’
But could I really break apart such a closely-knit team?
‘Doubtful. But taking on all three is impossible.’
So I had to think of a way to scatter them.
***
“Well, today was another bust.”
“I was hoping with the Vice Team Leader here, but…”
After searching all day, not only did we not find Alpha, but we couldn’t even track down what we suspected to be another Worg. Maybe the split in the first two teams wouldn’t yield any results either, but Team 3 came up empty. We didn’t find any trace of them by the time we disbanded.
“Gu Jin-ha, can we talk for a second?”
Hong Yu-ri nudged the Team Leader.
“What’s up?”
Not here? What did she mean by “not here”? The Team Leader immediately frowned at her words.
“So are you saying Alpha is already gone from Jirisan?”
“He left a long time ago.”
“…This is insane.”
Her words left no room for doubt. The B-rank tracking skill she had could follow even the tiniest trace.
“Think about it. Alpha must have evolved, right? He wouldn’t have shrunk in size. Hiding that bulk isn’t easy. Have you seen any bodies or blood that might be connected to the Worg?”
“…….”
No matter how bad it got, we should have found at least footprints. There was no way he had been doing nothing during all that time.
“Right. In fact, I was holding out hope….”
Alpha wasn’t something stuck in Jirisan. Unlike the ‘Purple Black Tiger’, it wasn’t like he wouldn’t come down the mountain out of his own will. It was puzzling that after days of searching, we found not a single trace.
“…Even so, it’s strange. Where could he have gone? A being that size must have stood out. There’s no way he just vanished.”
“I don’t know. But what I am sure of is that he’s not in this mountain. Or maybe he’s been hiding and hibernating.”
“Hibernating in April? Even for a monster?”
“That’s the only possibility there, isn’t it? Unless you want to go back up again.”
The Team Leader smirked at Hong Yu-ri, who pointed at the mountain.
“That’s crazy. We definitely didn’t search the entire Jirisan today, right?”
“Dumbass. You’d know without doing it!”
Hong Yu-ri crossed her arms and sighed heavily.
“Has it been about a week? The last trace of Alpha was at Beopgyeongsa, right?”
“Yeah. At Beopgyeongsa, Euna got ambushed and nearly died.”
“Then let’s only visit Beopgyeongsa tomorrow. That should still be within my tracking range.”
“How about heading there now?”
“Ugh, give me a break! I just got here. Let’s rest! Rest! I can’t push people like this. This jerk is a workaholic, you know?”
At Hong Yu-ri’s reasonable complaint, the Team Leader shrugged his shoulders.
“Honestly, it’s just like Jeon Woo-taek and these hunters. Why are they all so messed up?”
‘I don’t think you’re in a position to say that.’
Although it was a different context, hearing that from Hong Yu-ri was genuinely hard to bear.
“Fine. Let’s go down. We’ll come back tomorrow.”
As the Team Leader took out the car keys, Hong Yu-ri scoffed.
“Change your car already. What is that thing, a couple of years old? You were driving that even back when I was in Team 2.”
“I did change it.”
“Which idiot replaces it with the exact same model? What’s so great about the XT16?”
“It’s the 2069 model. It just came out this year. And you, miss, have a ‘couch license’, right? You’ve never even driven a car!”
“Yeah, but it’s still an XT16~”
“…Sigh.”
***
“Time’s up.”
He tapped his wrist. His watch was already indicating 7 PM.
“…What? Is it really that late?”
“Yeah. It’s time to go. Today’s search ends here. Just being first here feels like a privilege.”
How much money had we poured into this clan to preemptively claim the dungeon? A whopping 1 billion. Even after spending all the money we accumulated, we barely managed to secure three days. And that was only possible thanks to clan support.
“—Wait. I think something’s coming.”
“What’s coming?”
“Dumbass. What else would it be? Monsters!”
“…Crap. This one looks big? Isn’t it better to skedaddle?”
At the archer’s words, the warrior shook his head.
“Hey, if it’s coming anyway, we might as well take it down, right? One orc won’t take long. Worst-case scenario, ten minutes. The other clans will come in two days. Tomorrow will be the end of our monopoly here.”
“Still, we’re pushing it…”
The archer didn’t look too keen, but Sang-seop nodded.
“Let’s do it. How long could it possibly take for one orc? We just need to be out by 8 PM.”
“…Alright. Just this one, okay?”
“What, are you scared?”
The grumbling archer pointed in the direction, and the warrior stood firm, ready to face whatever came.
“—Here it comes.”
After counting to ten, the silhouette of the orc began to emerge. It charged in a frenzy as if searching for something. Probably hungry. Or was it just my imagination? The orc looked confused for a moment, as if it didn’t understand what was happening.
“Battle Axe? Be careful.”
“If it hits, sure. But such things are usually easy to dodge.”
“…Okay, ready!”
The orc heaved its massive axe and brought it down in one swift motion, sending rocks flying everywhere that hit the warrior.
“Guuuuuu!”
The warrior dodged the orc’s charge, but stumbled backward as if something had tripped him. ‘Did my legs give out?!’
The orc’s fist slammed into the warrior’s head. He went flying but managed to endure somehow. It was his nearly 200 health points that held him up. But while he barely survived, his steel helmet was utterly crushed. Without the helmet, his skull would have been smashed to bits. That thought sent a chill down his spine.
‘Phew. I can’t afford to take another hit.’
He quickly tossed aside the crumpled helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow. The orc, unfazed, was ready to finish him, but the archer’s arrow found its mark, striking the orc’s leather armor. The orc glared angrily, switching targets.
The archer skillfully dodged away while Sang-seop discarded his bow and pulled out a short sword from his secondary gear.
“…What are you doing?! Focus!”
“Crap!”
With the orc and the warrior competing for distance, the warrior quickly tore off a potion’s cork and drank deeply.
“Phew!”
It wasn’t immediate, but soon he’d recover. The warrior counted to ten, catching his breath.
“Alright! Switch!”
As the warrior shouted, Sang-seop nodded. He could perform the tank role clumsily, but he wasn’t as seasoned as a true warrior. Even just that brief engagement left his shoulder sore. He hadn’t properly absorbed the shock. The warrior, slightly refreshed from the potion, lunged back at the orc. Sang-seop immediately darted to retrieve his bow, but the weapon wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“…What the?”
“Sang-seop! What are you doing?!”
“I can’t find my bow! Damn it, where did it go?”
“Stop fooling around! Get back in!”
Despite the archer’s loud shout, Sang-seop, half-frantic, gripped his short sword again. He had no time to look for his lost weapon. He had to play support, at the very least. But at that moment.
“Koooook?!
A strange sound came as three Kobolds blocked the way. They looked like they were trembling with fear, but suddenly charged at Sang-seop. One of them even had…
“My bow?! What the hell?!”
Fire lit in his eyes. A Kobold snatched his weapon? He’d usually dispatch them in an instant, but the situation was not ideal. An orc and now three Kobolds?
“Add?! That stupid Koo Sang-seop!”
“I didn’t do it!”
“Shut it! You idiot!”
Add—meaning ‘to add’. It referred to a situation where you unexpectedly faced additional enemies during a fight. The most logical choice in any Add situation was, of course, to retreat.
“Run! We’re already screwed! Get out! Run!”
“Damn it!”
The warrior who had momentarily dealt with the orc create a distance and fished a scroll out from his pocket. Naturally, the orc didn’t allow him to escape easily and followed closely behind, the warrior barely parrying the orc’s heavy Battle Axe with his shield. Even so, the shield buckled under the force.
“Dammit!”
He had to escape. The warrior rolled on the ground just as the orc’s axe barely missed his head. The moment the second strike was about to fall, the warrior was enveloped in light and vanished. Naturally, the orc would focus on the nearby archer once the warrior disappeared.
“The aggro is on me…!”
With the archer also having successfully activated a scroll to escape, the orc let out a furious roar upon seeing both vanish before its eyes.
“Kooohhhhh!”
Now free from the pesky Kobolds, Sang-seop desperately reached for a scroll but at that moment, something unknown snatched the scroll out of his hands.
That unknown something—was a four-legged beast. A black-furred wolf. Not a threatening monster, but its appearance sparked fear in humans, making it well-known. Naturally, Sang-seop knew the name of that monster.
“Shit, why is a Worg here?!”
***
‘Dumbass.’
It was impossible for me to scatter them—then I’d have to rely on other monsters’ help. With that in mind, I quickly put it into action and teased the orc I found using the skill.
“Kooohhh!”
Honestly, I was almost scared as it came thundering after me, but with agility under 200, it would be impossible for it to catch me. Of course, I could say that because I had skills. Leaving the warrior blocking the straight path, I turned a corner and used Stealth, disappearing from the orc’s view. Naturally, the orc infuriated, followed along the path, and the outcome—
“Battle Axe? Be careful.”
“If it hits, it’s terrifying, but this kind is usually easy to dodge.”
It appeared the orc already knew its approach—the battle was still on.
‘As expected.’
I couldn’t help but smile as I swept the warrior’s leg with tentacle appendages. I aimed to knock him down, but his strength was unexpectedly great, causing me to only wobble his balance.
‘A bit unfortunate…’
This would push the orc to fight better. As the warrior started to lose balance, an arrow from the archer hit the orc. The furious orc lunged at the archer, but Koo Sang-seop unsheathed his short sword.
‘Throwing the bow?’
He was scratching an itch. Koo Sang-seop, leaving behind his discarded bow, sought other targets.
‘That’s a bit much for orcs.’
I needed something weaker. Bingo! It wasn’t my detection; my lesser sense of smell had picked up the scent. Three of them—I’d smelled these before.
‘Kobolds?!’
These were the Kobolds I had encountered when I first entered the dungeon. Originally four, but after I killed one, the numbers matched up. I quickly approached and-
“Heeeek!”
Right in front of the fleeing ones, I used the fear skill. The Kobolds froze, holding Koo Sang-seop’s bow in their hands as if they couldn’t think of running away.
‘Honestly, I thought about breaking it…’
But this would probably make them angrier. The bewildered Kobolds looked up at me, their expressions saying, ‘Are we getting a reprieve?’
“Kreeek—Kwaaaaak!”
Shouting loudly, they turned and fled, tears streaming down their faces. …In the midst of it all, I felt a bit sorry for the one that tripped over a rock. I maintained an adequate distance while chasing them, herding them toward the area where Koo Sang-seop’s group was fighting. The Kobolds looked for another escape route, but I had already hidden myself and blocked their exit. Since they were panicking as Kobolds, I was sure they’d still catch my scent, even if they couldn’t see me.
‘To be precise, it was the smell of Kobold blood.’
As I expected, their eyes swirled around until they inevitably charged at Koo Sang-seop.
‘Alright.’
Successfully cornering the Kobolds with nowhere to run, they lunged at Koo Sang-seop. One Kobold’s head was severed, falling dead by Koo Sang-seop’s short sword, but they did not stop. For the Kobolds, despite Koo Sang-seop being a hunter, I was being perceived as far more frightening.
‘…Two have escaped.’
Meanwhile, the archer and warrior had successfully activated their scrolls to flee. Following that, Koo Sang-seop, still battling off a Kobold, pulled out a scroll. I seized that instant without hesitation.
‘Now’s my chance!’
As he pulled out the scroll, I stacked my skill and snatched it away. Koo Sang-seop’s face was shocked, but he wasn’t such an idiot that he wouldn’t notice my presence, even after losing the scroll. I dispelled Stealth and revealed myself.
For a brief moment, silence ensued. And then.
“What the hell?! Why is a Worg here?!”
“Kooh! Kook!”
“Rwoooo!”
On the sides, two Kobolds with bows and spears. Behind them, was an angry orc. And in the front stood a Worg, blocking the path.
This couldn’t be a worse situation—at least not from their perspective.
—Koo Sang-seop, sorry, but you’re going to need to leave the stage early.
“Kreeek.”
The low howl of the wolf echoed through the cave.
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