Leveling Up Alone

“Damn it! Fire Fist!”

Bam!

“Earthquake!”

The Hunters unleashed their strongest skills regardless of whether they were melee or ranged DPS.

Boom! Booom! Boom!

“Gwuooooh!” The Troll roared in agony as it was forced down to one knee by the barrage of attacks.

The Hunters’ attacks were very effective, but it was nowhere near enough to bring down the Troll through its innate regeneration. The Troll soon stood up and swung its wooden club at the Hunters.

“Avoid it!”

“You’re dead if you get hit by that!”

The melee DPS Hunters spread out in all directions.

‘I won’t let you! Restrain!’ Han-Yeol threw his chain, and it wrapped itself around the Troll’s arm, letting him successfully restrain the monster.

“He did it! Everyone, attack!”

“Earthquake!”

“Fire Arrow!”

The ranged DPS Hunters, who were safe on the back lines, unleashed a flurry of attacks at the Troll when Han-Yeol managed to restrain it. However, it was impossible for Han-Yeol to continue restraining the Troll for a long period of time given his current stats.

‘Keuh!’ Han-Yeol groaned.

Not only was it important for Han-Yeol to use Restrain on the Troll at crucial moments, he also had to release it at the right time for his own safety; the Troll could pull him over to it by using sufficient strength to yank him off his feet.

Shwwiiiik!

Han-Yeol released and withdrew his chain, then immediately used another skill. ‘Chain Smite!’

Shwiiik… Bam!

Han-Yeol joined the fray, attacking the Troll alongside the DPS Hunters. The Troll crouched and protected its face while waiting for an opportunity to attack.

“Hahaha! How does it taste, you monster?!”

One of the Hunters concluded that the Troll was on its last legs from their relentless attack, then decided to ignore the safety protocols the party had with the intent of showing off his abilities. It was basic common sense for any Hunter to not stay within the attack radius of a monster, but that very Hunter decided to ignore common sense.

“Grwaaaaah!” The Troll roared loudly. Suddenly, it swung its wooden club, having lain in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.

“Huh?” The Hunter exclaimed in confusion.

Bam!

“Kuheok!”

The DPS, who had remained overconfidently in front of the Troll in an attempt to deal the finishing blow, was struck by the Troll’s club as it found an opportunity to strike back. After being hit, the Hunter staggered backward and was left stunned.

Hunters had inhuman regenerative abilities and vitality compared to average humans, but that was completely insignificant when compared to the regenerative abilities and vitality of a Troll.

“Cheol-Jin has been caught!”

“Damn it!”

The Onyx Party was left in a state of emergency.

***

Han-Yeol dashed toward Cheol-Jin, the hunter who had been hit by the Troll, and quickly checked his condition. He thought, ‘Phew… That’s a relief.’

The Hunter had survived being hit by the Troll’s wooden club, having managed to protect his body with a barrier just before impact. His quick thinking had managed to save his life. He seemed to have sustained quite a few injuries, but fortunately for him, they were still within the scope of Han-Yeol’s healing ability. Of course, the injuries he had sustained were critical enough to have been lethal if there were no Healers or healing potions present in the party.

The situation further deteriorated after Cheol-Jin was put out of commission, however.

The strategy they had chosen this time was for the party leader, Ji-Pyung, to keep one of the Trolls busy while the seven other Hunters quickly took care of the other one. However, that was where they faced a serious problem.

“Damn it! No one else can tank in front!” Ji-Pyung cursed.

Ji-Pyung had initially planned the hunt based on credible information he had obtained, which had provided a route where Trolls only showed up one by one. That was the reason why the DPS who had come with him this time did not have any survivability skills such as evasion or tanking, and all three of their skills were offensive skills.

He had been very flustered when two Trolls popped up while they were hunting in a one-Tank party composition, but he had made a wise decision to split up the Trolls by taunting one away from the party. However, the problem was that the Hunters he had recruited this time were too hopelessly inexperienced to deal with such a sudden turn of events.

“Poison Ambush!”

Sukeok!

A melee DPS launched a surprise attack from behind the Troll, stabbing it with a poison dagger.

‘Dumbass! Trolls have some of the highest poison resistance among monsters! You’re just going to agitate it further!’ Han-Yeol thought in frustration.

He was very surprised by what he had just seen. How could these Hunters not even be aware of the Trolls’ resistances when they had come to hunt these monsters? It was also funny that nobody seemed to have found anything wrong with what the melee DPS had just done, as if they had no idea what the problem was.

“Gruuuuowwwh

!” The Troll roared in anger.

“Huh? Eh? Ehhh?!” The melee DPS Hunter was perplexed.

He had been expecting the Troll to stagger like other monsters because of the poison he used, and had already been confident of his victory the moment he stabbed his poison dagger into the back of its neck. Let alone staggering, however, the Troll seemed to have just become even more enraged.

Whoosh!

The Troll swung its wooden club at the Hunter, and as he was in mid-air, he could not avoid the attack.

Swoosh!

Right at the moment when the Troll’s wooden club was about to hit the Hunter, his body suddenly turned into black smoke.

“Damn it, to think poison doesn’t work against it!” the Hunter grumbled in frustration.

The black smoke was a shadow clone he had summoned, which he had been controlling from the safety of the back lines. The Troll was now even more enraged after hitting nothing with its wooden club. It stomped its feet in anger, and its eyes turned red.

“Watch out! It’s become enraged!”

Monsters tended to enter an enraged state after being angered past a certain limit. Nobody knew the exact figures, but it was estimated that monsters would become at least 50% stronger in that state.

“We’re screwed! Damn it!”

The situation spiraled out of control, as the Troll had become enraged while Cheol-Jin, one of their main damage dealers, was out of commission.

‘How hopeless… Really…’ Han-Yeol sighed inwardly before extending his left hand. ‘Restrain!’ He threw his chain worth 2.1 billion won, using Restrain on the enraged Troll.

Shhhwiiik!

The chain with a claw attached to its end flew in an arc before striking the Troll.

Clang!

‘Huh?!’ Han-Yeol thought in surprise. The enraged Troll seemed to have been expecting the attack, as it easily deflected his mana-infused chain. Han-Yeol thought, ‘So you’re not going to go down without a fight.”

Woooong…

“Cough! Cough!”

Han-Yeol had been using Heal on Cheol-Jin with his right hand while throwing his chain with his left hand. In short, the enraged Troll was fighting against only five Hunters at that moment.

“T-The chain didn’t work?!”

“Damn it, how are we supposed to fight against it now?”

The Hunters’ morale was greatly weakened.

‘I guess I have no choice,’ Han-Yeol thought as he stopped using Heal on Cheol-Jin. Fortunately, Cheol-Jin was no longer in danger due to the Heal.

‘I have no choice but to start getting serious now,’ Han-Yeol thought. He extended his chain, letting the claw hang down, then spun it around. He used Mana Control to accumulate mana in his body, then slowly infused that mana into his chain. As he filled it with his mana, the weapon began to emit a threatening glow.

Then…

‘Chain Smite!’ Han-Yeol threw his chain with all his might.

Shhwwiiiik!

He decided to forgo using Restrain the way he always did, and instead chose to attack the Troll directly with Chain Smite. The chain flew toward the Troll in an arc once again.

The Troll seemed to have been expecting the attack, as it readied its wooden club before swinging it against the incoming chain. However, there was no way Han-Yeol would be stupid enough to try an attack that had just failed again the same way.

Han-Yeol drew his revolver and aimed it at the Troll’s face, then fired using a skill. ‘Marksmanship.’

Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!

“Grwuoh!” The Troll roared in agony.

It would be difficult for Han-Yeol to hit a target precisely so many times without his skills, but his Marksmanship skill gave him assistance and boosted his accuracy. He was able to land four of the six shots he had fired at the Troll’s face due to the accuracy boost the skill gave him.

The Troll, having only been focused on the incoming chain, flailed its arms around wildly as it felt the sharp pain of several small objects suddenly hitting it in the face. It covered its face with both hands due to the sudden pain.

Whoooosh… Bam!

“Grwuuuooh!” The Troll roared in agony once more.

Han-Yeol’s chain slammed into the Troll’s side. It would not have hurt the monster much if it were just an ordinary chain, but it was no such thing. After all, Han-Yeol had paid 2.1 billion won to have it specially crafted. The mana-infused chain’s attack was nothing to scoff at, as it packed quite a punch.

Thud!

The Troll fell down on its side after being struck by the chain.

“The monster is down! Attack!”

“F-Fire Fist!”

“Earthquake!”

The Hunters were briefly stunned when the attack of a Healer/Supporter hybrid, whom they had expected would be of no help when it came to dealing damage, was the one to bring the strong and sturdy Troll down to the ground. However, the Hunters’ instincts kicked in when they saw the Troll fall over, and they unleashed their strongest skills against the monster.

Boooom! Booom! Boooom!

“Grwwuooooh!” The Troll roared in agony, before using its rage-amplified strength to withstand the attacks and stand back up.

“Not on my watch!” Han-Yeol yelled as he threw his chain once again. ‘Chain Smite!’

Shwiiiik… Bam!

“Grwuuuooh!” The Troll roared in agony once again.

There was no reason for Han-Yeol to stand around and watch as the Troll tried to get back on its feet; as such, he immediately used Chain Smite against the monster. The Troll that had been struggling to slowly get back up found itself on the floor once again when Han-Yeol’s chain struck the arm it was using to support itself.

“A-Attack! Keep attacking!”

“Dancing Sword!”

“Ultimate Strike!”

The melee DPS used up their mana and unleashed a barrage of attacks against the Troll.

“Lightning Enchant!”

Afterward, Hwan, who was the key party member when it came to dealing decisive blows against the Trolls, infused lightning into his spear and stabbed it deep into the Troll’s chest. The spear pierced right into the center of the Troll’s heart.

Puuuuk! Bzzzzzzzzzt!

The Troll tried to defend against the spear aimed at its chest, but the continuous barrage from the other Hunters prevented it from moving fast enough to keep the weapon from digging deep into its heart.

“Grwuuooooohh!” The Troll screamed in agony as the spear pierced through it, unleashing a fierce lightning strike that fried it from within.

Thud…

Then, the Troll’s arms fell helplessly to the ground with a thud.

“W-We won!”

“The Troll is down!”

“We won against a Troll… even without a Tank!”

The Hunters were dumbfounded at their victory, unable to believe what had just happened. However, the situation was not resolved yet.

“Ji-Pyung!” Hwan shouted as he ran toward the party leader, who was tanking the other Troll alone.

“Oh right! Over there!”

The Hunters had briefly forgotten that there was still another Troll, as they had been drunk on their victory. Han-Yeol and Hwan were already on the other side helping Ji-Pyung by the time they realized what was going on.

“H-Hurry up!”

“Let’s go!”

The Hunters slowly gathered one by one behind Ji-Pyung, who was still busy tanking the remaining Troll. The Troll fought fiercely against the whole party, but it was no match against the Hunters, who had been able to bring down an enraged Troll even in the absence of a Tank.

Bzzzzzzt!

“Gwuooo…” The Troll let out a final groan.

As Han-Yeol’s chain bound up the Troll, Hwan precisely stabbed it through the lower right of its chest where its heart was located. The Troll’s dark black eyes rolled back and turned white, as the monster spasmed uncontrollably and fell backward.

“W-We won!”

“We fought against two Trolls and won!”

“Alright!”

The party was in high spirits after winning a desperate and seemingly hopeless battle against two Trolls.

Ding!

[Your level has risen.]

‘Yes!’ Han-Yeol rejoiced inwardly when his level went up. He then brought up his status screen. ‘Status.’

Name: Lee Han-Yeol

Level: 23

Points: 5

STR: 58

VIT: 56

AGI: 48

MAG: 59

LCK: 10

Skills: Dismember (D), Sword Mastery (C), Walking (C), Mana Control (D), Mana Mastery (E), Power Strike (C), Mana Shield (D), Sixth Sense (D), Restrain (D), Body Strengthening (E), Mana Eyes (E), Heal (A), Jumping (D), Stab (D), Dagger Mastery (F), Chain Mastery (C), Infinite Library (M), Shield Bash (D), Fire Attribute (E), Mana Explosion (D), Chain Smite (D), Marksmanship (E).

As usual, he had received five bonus stat points after leveling up. He invested one stat point into each stat except for LCK. He had intended to invest the last remaining bonus stat point into MAG, but decided to invest it into AGI instead; as his AGI stat was at 49, putting the last remaining bonus stat point into it would make it a perfect 50.

‘Hooo…’ Han-Yeol closed his eyes as he felt the familiar sensation of his fatigue dissipating and his body lightening after distributing his bonus stat points.