Chapter 63
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Enraged Kaiza
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"Hmm, my brother-in-law was kind of... what’s the word? Overly anxious? That sort of style. He always seemed to carry the weight of the world's worries on his shoulders alone. 'To protect the world, you need stamina,' he'd say, lugging around this huge bag stuffed with rocks."
"Rocks...? Pfft. Puhahaha! Couldn't he at least carry something useful instead of rocks!"
"Eun-an, why don't you tell the kid some old stories? You've been wandering around so gloomily despite your age— I thought I was gonna burst from frustration. Was he always like that?"
"Oh, really?"
The three of them, now chatting freely, spent the late night hours sharing long-buried tales from the past, enjoying each other's company until they finally drifted off to sleep together.
The next day.
"Ru-ri, there are a total of 50 gates you'll need to clear. Five are B-rank, seven are C-rank, and the rest are low-rank. Even though the gate ranks are low, they're tricky ones that even high-rank hunters struggle to clear, so please be careful."
"Don't worry!"
"Your assigned team includes Baek Eun-an, making five in total. Jin Mi-seon requested to join too, but given the circumstances, we've asked her to tackle high-rank gates instead."
"Ah, I see."
Han Seung-woo gave the other hunters accompanying Lee Ru-ri one final reminder.
"As I mentioned before, everyone else should wait outside the gates and focus entirely on Ru-ri's support."
"Got it."
"Then we'll see each other the day before the Inex Gate raid."
"I'll wrap this up as fast as possible."
"Understood."
Yang Jeong-hyun, who had hurried after them, handed some documents to Baek Eun-an and said to Lee Ru-ri,
"Ru-ri, be careful out there. Call us right away if anything happens! Got it?"
"Yes!"
Lee Ru-ri waved energetically to the group seeing her off and climbed into the car.
"Ru-ri, you hungry?"
"Not yet. How about everyone else?"
"We're fine. We can stop at a rest area if we get peckish on the way."
"Okay."
The car set off, and Lee Ru-ri reopened the files Han Seung-woo had given her, reviewing the peculiarities of the uncleared gates.
'The reason even high-rank hunters fail... there must be quasi-boss monsters. But failing low-rank gates too? That's seriously weird.'
About an hour into the drive, they arrived at the first gate near Incheon Bupyeong Station.
It had been a week since it spawned, yet it still hadn't been cleared.
"It's low-rank, so it should be quick. Thank you for waiting just a bit!"
"Be careful in there. Call for backup immediately if there's any trouble."
"Ru-ri, stay safe."
"Yes, Aunt. I'll be right back!"
Lee Ru-ri steadied her breathing, slowly entered the gate, and immediately summoned Janyeong.
"Janyeong."
―You called, my lady?
"Can you check out the beings in this place?"
―300 nameless ones, and one other.
"Just as I thought. How strong is that other one?"
Janyeong seemed to ponder for a moment.
―A troublesome one, in human terms.
"Even for you?"
―No.
"Good. Same as always, then!"
―Understood.
Lee Ru-ri and Janyeong dispatched the monsters in an instant.
The quasi-boss Janyeong mentioned was an A-rank monster called the Steel Moose.
Its lower body looked a bit frail, but its upper body resembled a massive, armored fortress.
After maxing out its favorability in a flash and taking it down, a notification popped up that Superhuman Strength had leveled up.
"Superhuman Strength hit level 4 already. +25% physical attack power—not bad at all. Janyeong, I'll be calling on you a lot for a while. That cool?"
―Understood.
Lee Ru-ri dismissed Janyeong, gathered the loot, and exited the gate.
The guildmates waiting outside rushed to the entrance with astonished looks.
"Even high-rank hunters couldn't clear this low-rank gate, but a C-rank hunter did it this fast? How?"
"It's... gotta be thanks to her reawakening."
"Incredible! At this rate, she might return sooner than we think?"
"It's just low-rank. We've got a long way to go, so let's hurry."
Lee Ru-ri's group quickly headed to the next gate coordinates.
The low-rank gates were cleared in short order.
As expected, A-rank or higher quasi-bosses were lying in wait in the low-rank gates.
She dispatched them effortlessly with Janyeong's help and pressed on steadily.
It didn't take long to clear the gates themselves, but traveling from one to the next ate up considerable time.
On nights when they had to stay over, she made sure to clear as many nearby normal gates as possible.
And on the third day.
After finishing a meal near Mokpo Port, Lee Ru-ri's group headed to their next target gate.
This gate near Mokpo Port was the fourth of the five B-rank gates.
"No issues so far, so this should be fine too. Don't worry too much—relax nearby!"
"Be careful."
"Yes!"
Lee Ru-ri strode confidently into the gate.
"Janyeong."
―Yes.
"What's the situation here?"
Janyeong pondered briefly.
―2,000 nameless ones. And one with a name.
"What? Suddenly?"
―You'll meet it at the farthest end.
"Ha, Janyeong can't attack named ones... But seriously, why's a special-grade popping up in a normal gate all of a sudden? Aren't those only in hidden gates?"
―Shall I ask Lady Keres?
"No, I need to see it myself first. Janyeong, just handle what you can for now."
―Understood.
Lee Ru-ri and Janyeong swiftly cleared the regular monsters.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud.
"That sound... doesn't feel good. Janyeong, head back for now."
―Understood.
Lee Ru-ri steadied her muscles, activated Superhuman Strength and Radiance, assumed an attack stance, and slowly advanced toward the source of the noise.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud.
Something was charging— the sound growing distant then near, over and over.
As the galloping drew quite close, she extended the hand holding her slowly raised sword to check the monster's info.
A(H) ― Enraged Kaiza : Current Favorability <0>
'No way... ha... This is insane. Why the hell is a special-grade in a normal gate? No wonder it's failing.'
She racked her brain over this sudden mess with no answers in sight, when the charging sound abruptly stopped.
'It's spotted me. I'll do my best alone first—if it doesn't work, I'll call for help no matter what.'
Lee Ru-ri steeled herself, gripped her stance, and prepared to face the monster head-on.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud.
―Kraaaaaargh!
The monster named Kaiza charged at Lee Ru-ri, its head to waist engulfed in blazing flames that whipped around like a lion's mane.
'It looks seriously pissed... or is that just my imagination?'
Kaiza barreled toward her at tremendous speed, stretching its chest wide open like it was loosening up.
Lee Ru-ri watched its odd behavior when suddenly something whooshed toward her—she dodged on instinct.
"Whoa, that was close."
―Death is the only punishment for disturbing my long slumber.
"That's a misunderstanding. I didn't wake you."
Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud.
Whoosh!
Kaiza closed in even nearer, repeating the exact same motion. On closer inspection, it was a transparent arrow laced with chilling energy.
To deduce Kaiza's attack pattern, Lee Ru-ri kept kiting it at a distance.
She timed that split-second window when it loosed the invisible arrow.
'Now.'
Lee Ru-ri thrust the Spear of Lament into Kaiza's chest as fast as she could.
Kaiza's HP dropped by 0.2 percent.
"Tougher than I thought."
While she hesitated, Kaiza fired another arrow.
Lee Ru-ri failed to dodge fully this time, and an intense chill surged from her grazed shoulder.
"Not invisible... it was ice."
The cold spread from her shoulder to her fingertips in an instant.
Her fingertips were turning purple.
"Dragging this out... it'll just hurt me."
Kaiza noticed her movements slowing from the chill and stopped charging. Instead, it thrust its hand skyward, then whipped it down fiercely.
A whip wreathed in frost materialized in Kaiza's grasp.
Kaiza slammed the frost whip into the ground with all its might.
The struck spot turned into slick, mirrored ice.
"My body's... so heavy."
―I'll freeze your soul as well.
Lee Ru-ri realized she needed backup before it got worse.
Recalling searing heat, she aimed her dagger at Kaiza and murmured low.
"Manifest."
―Kraaaaaaargh!
A crack split the gate floor, and a Drayger erupted from it with a furious roar.
"Haa, Drayger. I'm freezing here."
―To dare make my master shiver in the cold.
The Drayger snorted massively.
Its heat eased the chill enveloping Lee Ru-ri bit by bit.
"I was gonna handle it solo... but cold's my kryptonite."
Lee Ru-ri grinned sheepishly and cast Superhuman Strength and Radiance on the Drayger.
―How are you so endlessly frail?
"Ugh, whatever. Help me out."
―Hahahahaha.
The Drayger boomed with laughter and unfurled its enormous wings.
As the Drayger's massive fireballs clashed with Kaiza's frost whip, snow began softly piling up inside the gate like midwinter.
Lee Ru-ri aided the Drayger, stabbing the Spear of Lament into Kaiza's chest to pressure it relentlessly.
When Kaiza's HP dipped to around 7 percent.
"Kaiza, let's talk this out."
―No words for a sinner.
"Keep this up, and you might actually die."
―Then kill me!
The Drayger, gazing steadily at Kaiza, spoke to Lee Ru-ri.
―Yet this hardly seems a place for a named one to slumber.
"Same thought here. Why exactly did Kaiza end up in a normal gate?"
Seizing the moment they conversed, Kaiza attacked again.
The Drayger blocked without countering and asked Lee Ru-ri,
―If you intend to contract it, killing won't do.
"Right. Wonder if there's another way."
The Drayger and Ru-ri focused solely on defense to preserve Kaiza's remaining HP while brainstorming.
"Enraged Kaiza... Enraged... Rage?"
―Something clicked, I see.
To break Kaiza's morale, the Drayger soared high and summoned its Drayger legion.
It drained Lee Ru-ri's black mana heavily, corrupting the Bewitched Draygers pitch-black as they awaited her command.
"Kaiza, I want to hear it. Why are you so angry?"
Kaiza seemed to hesitate.
If the Bewitched Draygers attacked in unison, Kaiza stood no chance.
―Why angry? I regained peace after eons. And it was you lot who plunged me back into rage.
"I said from the start—that's a misunderstanding. I'm just here to check the situation."
―But... I overlooked something. Human, how can you speak with me?