Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Within just a single day, Korea was turned upside down.
After an intensive sweep by Union-dispatched Slayers and the police, eight werewolves were successfully hunted down.
Of those, six were killed by Slayers and two by the military.
However, the price was steep, eight Slayers were killed, and over thirty soldiers and police officers were either dead or severely injured.
<“Seoul Serial Killer Revealed to Be a Monster!”>
<“New Monster: Werewolf. Seoul Citizens Lose Sleep in Fear.”>
<“Residents Near Mountains Advised to Stay Indoors After Dark.”>
The problem was, everyone believed this wasn’t all of them.
There were likely more werewolves out there.
In the distant past, tigers were the creatures that struck fear into people’s hearts, so much so that a saying existed: “Tiger danger rivals that of illness or demons.”
Now, in modern society, werewolves had become the new tigers.
“Who can even walk around at night anymore? It’s terrifying.”
“Still, statistically speaking, the odds of meeting a werewolf are near zero.”
That was true, statistically.
Out of ten million people living in Seoul, fewer than ten had been attacked by werewolves.
But statistics were cold comfort to those living near the mountains.
Those people lived in real, constant fear, and property values around forested districts plummeted.
“Well, at least weapons work on them… looks like the military’s preparing a large-scale cleanup.”
If modern weapons worked, that meant even soldiers and police could hunt them, not just Slayers.
The public’s expectations were high, and they were right.
As time went on, the number of werewolves steadily increased.
The military launched a nationwide sweep operation, while the Slayers’ participation remained low.
The reason?
Slaying werewolves wasn’t easy. They were fast, agile, and only appeared at night.
Some experts even theorized that they were monsters that only spawned after dark.
Despite these challenges, werewolves dropped Green Stones, not Yellow Stones.
That made them low-profit targets.
It was far more efficient to hunt Trolls or Twin-Headed Trolls instead, even though Trolls had annoying regeneration, they weren’t nearly as deadly as werewolves.
In short, the time-to-reward ratio for werewolf slaying was terrible.
Thus, the military took full control of the cleanup.
At first, results were excellent, the army even bragged publicly about their achievements.
Civilian casualties dropped to zero, and the public’s fear began to fade.
Then came disaster.
<“Shocking: 2,000 Soldiers Dead Nationwide.”>
<“2,000 Dead, 4,000 Injured — Catastrophic Casualties.”>
Over 6,000 military personnel became casualties across the nation.
The entire country plunged into grief and fear.
But the real horror was what followed.
<“Old Monster Wave Laws Still Apply? Evidence Suggests Yes.”>
<“Korean Union Launches Official Investigation.”>
A rule had been discovered during the Monster Wave incident:
Monsters killed by modern weapons would respawn the next day.
That rule, it turned out, also applied to the werewolves.
The Korean Union confirmed it as fact, the respawn phenomenon wasn’t limited to Monster Waves.
And now it was clear why 2,000 soldiers had died overnight, the very same monsters they’d killed had respawned stronger.
❋ ❋ ❋
The government and military were harshly criticized.
From their perspective, it was unfair.
A monster had appeared. It could be killed with modern weapons.
To protect civilians, the government had sealed off the affected zones and launched large-scale sweeps.
At first, it went well, the people even praised the army’s performance.
But once it was revealed that werewolves respawned after being killed with modern weapons, everything fell apart.
Thousands of soldiers dead or injured, and now, public outrage.
It was a lose-lose situation:
Do nothing, get blamed.
Take action, still get blamed.
Online discussions exploded.
— “Heard werewolves get crazy strong under a full moon…”
— “Yeah, under the full moon, they drop Yellow Stones instead of Green Stones.”
— “Honestly, Yellow or Green, it’s just a billion-won difference. Better to fight them when they’re weaker.”
The new revelation was shocking:
Under a full moon, werewolves grew significantly stronger, and instead of Green Stones, they dropped Yellow Stones.
Until now, no monster in the field had ever dropped Yellow Stones.
The only way to get one was by clearing a Hidden Dungeon, found and opened by a Trapper.
But Trappers were incredibly rare, even rarer were guilds capable of actually clearing Hidden Dungeons.
For reference, Hyunseok alone possessed 300 Yellow Stones,
while the entire nation of Korea had circulated only about 200 in total.
That alone proved just how rare and valuable they were.
Backed by public pressure and practical necessity, the government and military transferred operational authority to the Slayers.
From the Monster Wave crisis to this new Werewolf incident, the Slayers’ influence and bargaining power had grown tremendously.
The Korean Union, supported by public opinion, took the lead in negotiations.
Under the new arrangement:
Park Sunghyung said,
“Remember during the first Monster Wave? The army and Slayers worked together, reduced the numbers step by step, and eventually stopped the Orc wave easily.”
Hyunseok nodded.
“Right. Military firepower helps a lot.”
Sunghyung smiled.
“This is good news overall. Werewolves are less dangerous than the Monster Wave, and their behavior’s been analyzed. Sure, we’ll have casualties, but the government’s offering heavy rewards and compensation. It’s worth doing. What about you?”
Hyunseok replied,
“Myunghoon says he found a Dungeon.”
“Got it.”
Sunghyung didn’t insist that Hyunseok join the werewolf hunts.
They weren’t profitable, too much risk for too little reward.
Sure, full moon nights offered Yellow Stones, but it was still more efficient to clear a Normal Dungeon with Myunghoon instead.
Hyunseok asked quietly,
“Still… under the full moon, those things get strong enough to drop Yellow Stones. What happens then? If the Slayers push too hard, won’t we see massive casualties?”
“We’ll suspend all slaying on full moon nights,” Sunghyung replied. “It’s too dangerous. The army’s planning a large-scale extermination for that period. Even if they respawn the next day, they’ll be much weaker.”
Hyunseok clicked his tongue.
“If only we could lure them all into one place, I could wipe them out myself.”
To most, these were horrifying monsters, but to Hyunseok, they looked like walking two-billion-won items.
While two billion wasn’t an astronomical amount to him, it was far from small change either.
He knew that if he hit properly, even a normal werewolf could be slain in one strike.
Even the full-moon variant, maybe two or three hits at most.
Two or three punches for two billion won? Not a bad deal at all.
After all, werewolves were second only to Cyclopes and Giant Turtles in ranking,
the strongest field monsters capable of dropping Yellow Stones.
If I take the whole Inha Guild and wipe them out, the EXP would skyrocket.
It would be mutually beneficial, he’d get rare items, and his guildmates would level up fast.
Sunghyung murmured,
“That’s… actually a brilliant idea. Lure the monsters in one place… why didn’t we think of that sooner?”
❋ ❋ ❋
Impact Control and Power Control were both Active Skills.
That meant, as long as Hyunseok’s M/P (Mana Points) allowed, he could keep using them indefinitely, grinding their levels higher.
Both skills only applied when attacking an actual enemy and generating recoil force,
but lately, Hyunseok had been addicted to leveling them up.
Meanwhile, Myunghoon’s Search skill had evolved to Green-grade, surpassing even the top-tier level.
Now he could distinguish between Training Dungeons and Normal Dungeons, a rare ability.
Hyunseok had concluded that to reach Green-grade skill level, a Slayer needed at least 200 in base stats.
Though unconfirmed, he’d noticed that when he acquired the Advanced Heal Skillbook, his stats had already surpassed 200, granting him Green-grade Healing.
Myunghoon, however, had a long way to go, but unlike most Slayers, he had invested all his bonus stats into Search rather than combat.
A true oddball, few Slayers would ever do such a thing.
But thanks to that, he now had a Green-grade Search skill and could easily find Training Dungeons.
“Alright,” Hyunseok said. “Get ready. Once Seyoung and I level up, we’ll fulfill the clear conditions.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Inha Guild members responded jokingly.
They’d been nervous at first, but by now, they were getting used to it.
Yeonsu blushed furiously.
“Uh… Minseo, could you back off a bit?”
They were already fifty centimeters apart, but she still asked for more space.
Minseo frowned playfully.
“You always hate being near me.”
“N-no, it’s not that… my wife will kill me.”
“How would she know? We’re inside a Dungeon.”
“Still…”
Minseo chuckled.
He was a strong, reliable man during hunts, but outside of battle, he was almost cute.
He really was the type to be terrified of his wife.
Pyeonghwa smiled softly while Hyunseok said,
“Prepare yourselves.”
Minseo and Pyeonghwa took their positions behind Yeonsu,
and so did Myunghoon.
Even though Yeonsu was tall and broad-shouldered, three people couldn’t exactly hide behind him comfortably.
Myunghoon even squeezed into the middle, the safest spot.
Jongwon yelled,
“Hey! You damn Pinocchio! What are you doing hiding there?”
Myunghoon shouted back,
“Because the boss monster’s scary! It’s strong! And I’m delicate!”
“You won’t even die from one hit, idiot!”
“If it lands a Critical Shot, I will!”
“You can dodge partially, can’t you? If it glances off, you’ll live! Then someone’ll heal you! Now get out there, you wooden dummy!”
Hyunseok stopped punching the stone slab mid-practice and burst into laughter.
Myunghoon was just putting on an act, when the boss actually appeared, he’d react instantly and do his job.
Right now, though, it was all just for fun.
(End of Chapter 60)
Thank you for reading All Stat Slayer! Your feedback and support help keep Hyunseok’s journey alive, every comment, rating, or word of encouragement fuels the next level-up.
Stay tuned, the grind has only just begun.
— Translated by Prime Works —