Chapter 35

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 35

Chapter Title: The Counterattacking Kalikan

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It was undoubtedly because Han Seung-woo, an uninvited guest to the hidden boss gate, had entered alongside her.

She also learned that entering a hidden boss gate required filling the gate's training quota at least three times.

Precisely on the fourth entry into a hidden gate, after completing the difficulty increase, she gained access to the boss gate.

Unlike her expectations of facing A-rank or higher monsters, a B-rank beast had appeared that day.

'It's confirmed. I really hate snakes. That Silisk I met back then was so gross.'

The B-rank monster Silisk resembled an anaconda in appearance, but it was at least five times larger.

And the most crucial difference was that its head was a human face.

A pale human face flicking out a forked tongue, constantly trying to strike up a conversation—it was a truly awkward situation that came to mind, sending chills down her spine.

Aside from its utterly horrifying appearance, it was a grateful monster that had upgraded her Poison Needle skill—which was useless against mid-tier or higher beasts—into the Charm skill, which worked well even on them.

After that, she entered three more training gates.

Today, after sweeping through low-rank and D-rank gates to gather materials, she could finally enter a boss gate once again.

'Whew, focus.'

Ru-ri psyched herself up and headed to the first coordinate.

At this point, conquering F-rank and E-rank gates felt like mere basic busywork to fill up her favorability gauge.

Yet the reason she persistently cleared low-rank gates was the anxiety flickering deep within her.

The fear that the perilous situations she'd faced in low-rank gates could engulf other low-rank hunters as well.

The lingering images of hunters vanishing without a trace right before her eyes kept shaking her with unease.

It was also an attempt to curb the unstable gate generation rate.

Normal gates always generated at a consistent speed.

Regardless of how quickly hunters cleared and closed them, their generation rate remained steady.

But ever since the Inex Gate opened and a gate break occurred, the normal gate generation speed had become erratic.

It felt accelerated by about 1.5 times the usual rate.

With the Association announcing re-evaluations of hunters' ranks, most hunters had plunged into training.

This caused major delays in clearing the exploding number of gates.

Though Han Seung-woo's nagging had intensified, this was exactly why he couldn't stop her.

Unlike the two low-rank types, D-rank gates featured a variety of monsters, so occasionally dealing with newly appearing ones required favorability work, which took a bit more time.

Even so, thanks to Ru-ri, the low-rank gates around Seoul were kept impeccably clean every single day, like clockwork.

'If only I could support the provinces too, but Han Seung-woo worries way too much.'

Grumbling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inwardly, she headed to a D-rank gate.

Monsters whose favorability she'd already raised could be dispatched immediately, shortening her D-rank clear times considerably.

On lucky days, she could tackle up to thirty in a single day.

Today, she'd already cleared eighteen low-rank gates.

And this was already her fifth D-rank of the day.

Roll roll roll.

Thud.

"Oh, nice!"

The ogre's boulder-rolling sound, now almost endearing to her ears.

She rushed over in a heartbeat and began collecting tears.

"Just raise the difficulty, and today I'll enter the boss gate."

Clutching her excitement tightly, Ru-ri stepped lightly into the hidden gate waiting room.

"Whew, let's go."

"Mehphis, huh. Tricky one."

Suddenly, she recalled the ordeal of dealing with Mehphis in a normal gate not long ago.

Mehphis was a flying monster that spewed a foul stench.

That stench was the kind that lingered no matter how many days you washed three times a day, turning every passerby's head.

Like the aroma of fermented tofu mixed with aged vinegar.

"Air battle right from the start? Let's test out the new skill I got."

Ru-ri opened her skill window to check the details of her newly acquired skill.

It was a skill she'd obtained from a monster called Rainbow Butterfly—beautiful in form but packing serious attack power.

It seemed to generate flower-shaped winds within a set range for offense.

As Ru-ri assumed a proper attack stance, the Mehphis swarmed around her, spewing their stench.

"Ugh, this smell never gets easier to handle."

Pinching her nose shut, she maximized the distance from the Mehphis.

Then, extending her hand, she shouted.

"Flower Rain!"

A fragrant wind whipped up fiercely in an instant.

Flower-petal-like afterimages rained down on the Mehphis like petals in a storm, overwhelming their stench.

"Is a skill supposed to be this pretty? Feels kinda mismatched for me."

The Mehphis writhed in agony as their own stench was overtaken by the fragrance.

The Charm probability seemed decently high too.

"Pretty useful, I'd say."

Ru-ri dove into fully annihilating the Mehphis.

"Whew, Flower Rain saved my nose, but not my body... Ranged attackers all wiped out, good. I'll open the box later."

She hurried toward the newly opened entrance.

"Peleto? Hmm, first time seeing this one."

With no info on Peleto monsters, she hesitated to move rashly—until the beasts attacked first.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

"That speed?"

The charging Peletos slammed headlong into the entrance wall where Ru-ri stood, heedless of direction.

Bam!

"Crazy!"

—Krrgh, krrgh, kueeeh!

The first Peleto to charge at Ru-ri roared, and the ones watching from afar surged toward her in unison.

"Will Leap work here?"

She tried jumping into the air, but Leap failed.

Abandoning it quickly, she widened the gap from the oncoming Peletos.

Peletos barreled forward at insane speeds, headbutting whatever spot they'd fixated on.

Simple, but even one hit would surely be fatal.

"Too many, and that speed... if only I could do something about it."

Even the upgraded Stealth from Stealth was useless. It only got in the way.

"No choice but AoE attacks, but they're immune to status effects anyway."

Thanks to the Peletos' brute simplicity, status ailments like Charm or Blind had zero effect.

"Ah, what if I Duplicate and spam Flower Rain? Might dodge a few hits."

She swiftly used Duplicate to summon clones of herself, who began unleashing Flower Rain chaotically.

Status effects were minimal, but the AoE damage was solid, and Peletos started dropping one by one.

The clones weren't as agile as the real Ru-ri, so they kept getting smashed and vanishing.

Staying calm, she kept resummoning clones and steadily whittled down the Peletos.

"Ugh, if I see Peletos next time, Flower Rain will handle them. Bit of a workout after so long, but consider it prep."

She strode energetically into the new entrance.

"Why are dolls dancing...?"

Clack clack.

Clatter clatter clatter clatter.

Innumerable dolls swarmed in, freely twisting their limbs.

"Not just overwhelming with numbers...?"

Each time the dolls' shut eyes snapped open, thin needles shot from their hollow sockets toward Ru-ri.

Too late to fully dodge, needles lodged into her limbs here and there, and her strength began to drain.

Sensing something off, she hurriedly opened her status window.

"Look at those stats drop. Duration seems long too. Gotta be careful."

Having met another tricky foe like the Peletos, she refocused on annihilating the dolls.

Flower Rain proved useful against the dolls too.

The wind from the skill blew away most of the needles they fired.

With her clones, drunk on Flower Rain's fragrance, she swept through the dolls until an emergency alert rang out.

"Phew, that was close."

Alert at the top of her status.

"No rest time is a bummer, but let's go."

Psyched up again, she marched into the boss gate.

Fwoosh.

Upon entering, torches flared to life around the boss gate, and at the far end, a vaguely familiar silhouette loomed.

'That physique looks so familiar.'

She closed the distance cautiously until the shape clarified.

Unknowing when it might strike, she tensed fully, ready to counter.

Extending her hand revealed the monster's name.

'Kalikan, got it, but that prefix is different. No favorability built up either.'

In that brief moment of thought, darkness engulfed her vision.

Instinctively escaping the oncoming shadow.

A split-second later, and she'd have been effortlessly pierced by Kalikan's attack.

Even from that distance, the Counterattacking Kalikan had lunged in an instant, aiming for her heart.

Kalikan possessed infinite bone regeneration.

Somehow, this Counterattacking Kalikan looked far more presentable than the Bound Kalikan as Ru-ri assumed a full attack stance.

'Reaction speed is insane. The Kalikan bound by the Drayger was slower than this. Lose focus for a second, and it'll end me. Those regenerating bones are way sharper too.'