Chapter 79
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Slaying the Taker
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While the Taker was testing whether it could breach my barricade, everyone living in my base came outside.
"Whoa... So that's a Taker? It looks absolutely disgusting..."
"If things like that are wandering around out there, regular Awakeners are pretty much dead meat."
Yejin and Sohee shared their impressions as they stared at the Taker.
"Um... That monster can't get inside, right?"
Miyeong, standing next to Sohee, asked me in a worried voice.
"I'm checking right now, but the barricade's durability hasn't dropped at all, so it definitely can't get in. As long as you stay inside here, you should be safe?"
"Really? That's a relief then."
Then Ha Dongseok approached me.
"If it's safe inside here, I think we should just stay put. Taking on a monster like that would be suicidal."
With its massive frame over 5 meters tall and grotesque appearance straight out of a horror flick, he figured it was best to hunker down safely in the base and wait out the Zombie Wave.
That would be the logical thinking for ordinary people.
Of course, they'd naturally conclude that passing time in a secure base was the way to go.
But,
"You all just sit back and watch."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to take care of that thing."
I pointed at the Taker rampaging in front of the barricade. Everyone who heard and saw me reacted with shock, trying to talk me out of it.
"Oppa, you're really going to take that thing down?"
"This seems like a bad idea... Isn't it too reckless?"
"Jaehwan-ssi, I don't think there's any need to put yourself in danger."
It was heartwarming to see them trying to stop me out of genuine concern.
"Don't worry. Just watch from here. That thing's nothing."
I waved lightly to everyone and headed out beyond the barricade.
To the people here, the Taker might look like some impossible monster, but in the other world, I'd slain countless bizarre creatures like it.
They shouldn't be worrying about me—they should be pitying that Taker, which wouldn't last much longer.
As I stepped outside, nearby zombies had gathered, drawn by the noise of the Taker's rampage.
Thankfully, there weren't many regular zombies, so no need for mid-tier spells or higher. I pulled a sword from my Subspace and sliced through all their necks.
The sword was enchanted with Mana Drain, so every time a zombie was cut down, it absorbed all their demonic energy.
As I cleared the zombies alone, I suddenly noticed a dark shadow falling over the ground where I stood. I leaped to the side, and a massive fist slammed into the spot I'd just vacated.
-BOOM!-
"I was just about to get to you anyway. Hold your horses a bit."
The Taker, which had been throwing a tantrum trying to break into the barricade, spotted me taking out regular zombies nearby and lunged with its attack.
Realizing its fist had missed, the Taker raised its other fist and smashed down hard where I was.
-BOOM!-
Its power matched its size—the ground cracked, and a thunderous roar echoed out.
A regular Awakener hit directly by that fist would probably shatter to pieces and die instantly. Even Ha Dongseok, with the next highest strength here after me, would have to dodge it at all costs.
Even in my current state, taking that fist head-on would be risky, so after evading its follow-up, I dashed up onto its fist.
All I had to do was climb to its neck and sever head from body, right?
To do that, I needed to get close, so I mounted its fist and scrambled up its arm.
My plan was to go from arm to shoulder and slash its throat with my sword. Sure, one swing might not cut clean through, but repeated strikes would eventually send its head tumbling.
I was hurrying up its arm toward the shoulder when suddenly my legs got stuck, immobilized by something.
Wondering what the hell, I looked down to see a human hand protruding from the Taker's skin, gripping my right leg.
What the...? Those weren't just grotesque accessories for show?
While my legs were pinned, another hand burst from its skin and grabbed my left leg too.
I figured I could just rip them off with brute force, but surprisingly, their grip was no joke. I pride myself on my strength, yet those hands showed no sign of letting go.
No good—I was about to slice them all off with my sword when a dark shadow fell over me again.
Looking up, I saw the Taker's fist hurtling down toward me.
It was holding me with the hands on its skin while aiming to crush me directly with its fist.
-BOOM!-
"Oppa!"
"What the hell!"
"Jaehwan-ssi!!"
The voices of the people watching my fight with the Taker carried their worry. They must've thought I'd been smashed flat by that last fist.
But I wasn't going down that easy.
I severed all the hands gripping my legs with my sword and leaped down under the Taker's body to dodge the fist.
I thought it'd be quick work, but those hands on its skin were making it tricky to climb up and decapitate it.
Realizing it hadn't killed me with that attack, the Taker opened its maw and let out a massive roar.
-KRAAAAAARGH!-
At that, even more hands began sprouting one by one across its skin. In less than 10 seconds, its body was covered in human hands, with human ears poking out between them—a true abomination.
It had probably multiplied the hands to prevent me from climbing its body and slashing its neck like before. With that many, slipping through unscathed seemed impossible.
"Haa... Guess the sword won't cut it anymore. Fine, plan B."
Realizing I couldn't use the sword effectively, I stored it back in my Subspace.
In the meantime, the Taker must've heard me moving—it charged toward me and raised its fist high before slamming it down.
Or at least, it tried to.
If its arm had still been attached, that is.
-Kr, Krerrr?-
Without eyes, the Taker couldn't see itself, but some weird instinct must've tipped it off, because a bewildered sound escaped its mouth.
And for good reason—it had tried to smash me with its fist, but that arm was no longer attached to its body.
Spotting it raise its fist, I'd immediately unleashed Devouring Dread. A massive black beast's maw formed, ripping off the Taker's arm as it swung at me and devouring it completely.
I'd originally planned to erase its entire body with Devouring Dread, but incredibly, even though it couldn't see it coming, the Taker twisted slightly to evade.
It didn't dodge perfectly—losing an arm in the process—but evading my magic attack at all was impressive.
"Dodged that? But this ends it."
Aiming at the confused Taker, unsure how its arm had vanished, I cast Devouring Dread once more. It tried tilting its body sideways like before to dodge.
Of course, once is luck—twice is impossible.
Unlike before, I manually controlled it this time, tracking its sidestep and clamping down on its head.
The Taker thrashed in resistance after being bitten, but it was over the moment those jaws closed.
-Kwachik!-
The black beast's jaws from Devouring Dread tore the Taker's head from its body, swallowed it whole, and converted it entirely to demonic energy for absorption.
Just in case it could still move without its head, I approached cautiously, placed my hand on the headless body, and activated Mana Drain.
Luckily, losing its head had killed it outright—a flood of demonic energy poured into me via Mana Drain.
What the...? This thing?
One single monster packing over 2,000 demonic energy?
I'd thought using Devouring Dread twice had burned through my reserves, but this haul more than made up for it.
Probably because it's a mutant zombie meant for post-Awakener fights, loaded with extra demonic energy?
Either way, great news for me.
Taking it down netted a whopping 800 Coins in one go.
This thing's basically a walking treasure chest.
Just handing out Coins and demonic energy like candy.
With this, I should roam as far as possible today, hunting Takers.
No one else can go out anyway, avoiding them—so it's prime solo hunting time for me.
Right then, I felt a signal from the emergency beacons I'd given out for when they needed help.
I'd distributed them to the Haedong Faction and Guro Apartment—both were calling for me now.
What for? Obvious.
I'll handle things here first, then go hunting.
After slaying the Taker, Jaehwan said nothing and dashed off elsewhere in an instant.
Everyone in his base who had watched the fight was stunned speechless by what they'd witnessed.
They couldn't even follow what had happened.
They could track Jaehwan dodging attacks and climbing its body. They saw him nearly get caught by its hands too.
The problem was everything after.
Jaehwan somehow ditched his sword and stood there like he was inviting an attack. As the Taker raised its arm to strike, the arm suddenly tore off and vanished completely.
Not just that—the next moment, its head ripped free and evaporated in midair.
And when Jaehwan touched the corpse, it withered away instantly.
The whole sequence was a chain of incomprehensible phenomena to them.
"What the hell is that guy... What did he even do? Yejin-unnie, do you know anything?"
In the stunned silence, Sohee spoke first.
"No... He hasn't told me a thing."
Yejin answered that she didn't know.
'It looked kinda like how he wiped out that zombie horde last time... Is Oppa really a magician or something? Nothing else explains it.'
As Yejin lied and pondered alone, Sohee thought along similar lines.
'That black hole thing at the elementary school before... That guy's definitely got some power we don't. No idea what it is, though.'
Not just them—everyone was lost in thought after witnessing the unbelievable from Jaehwan. But they all shared one conclusion: 'Jaehwan has some special power no one else does.'
No one knew exactly what it was.