Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Return as Much as Received
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“…….”
Kang Jae-ho stared blankly ahead with a dazed expression.
He couldn’t believe it.
The two formidable bosses of the Shadow Syndicate had tucked tail and fled at the mere mention of “Gi So-yul.”
“Ugh.”
His abdomen throbbed with pain.
His skin was swollen and puffy.
Skeletons wielding swords right in front of his eyes.
Boneil, was it?
The spot where that damned skeleton had kicked him felt fractured.
“Fuck.”
*Ptooey.*
Kang Jae-ho spat out dark red blood along with his curse.
Then he thought.
‘How the hell did it come to this?’
It had been a plan with no variables.
No matter how bizarre a dungeon they’d cleared, the guy was just an E-rank mercenary.
But they had two A-ranks and five hunters D-rank and above.
Yet.
‘Impossible.’
The guy had taken on all five of them alone.
Right.
To be honest, things had gone wrong from that moment.
“Khkhkh.”
Laughter burst out.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he had to.
His judgment had been wrong.
He’d underestimated Hunter Joo Dong-hoon.
And he’d put too much faith in the Shadow Syndicate.
Worse still, what made it even more humiliating was.
Five minutes had passed since the bosses fled, and Gi So-yul still hadn’t shown up.
‘We got properly screwed.’
He admitted it cleanly.
His mistakes and shortcomings.
That was why he assessed the situation even more coldly.
As long as he was alive, the fight wasn’t over.
‘If I tangle with that guy like this, I’ll lose for sure.’
Joo Dong-hoon was definitely strong.
He seemed to have absorbed the power of that mysterious “fortuitous encounter” faster than expected.
‘But he’s got that stupid sense of justice.’
He’d reacted to the F-rank porters for sure.
When he’d threatened the porters, the guy had stepped forward without a word.
A pure innocence not yet tainted by this rotten society.
Kang Jae-ho’s eyes gleamed as he shouted.
“What are you all doing? Move! Send those damned skeletons back to the grave!”
“B-but! The skeletons are too strong!”
Someone talked back.
Kang Jae-ho was dumbfounded.
“Shut up! You wanna just stand there and die? If you want to live, move! Move, I said! Or I’ll kill you myself!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“No choice! Let’s keep fighting!”
The hunters were mentally and physically exhausted from the overwhelming power gap, but they didn’t give up.
They’d realized it.
Giving up here meant death.
‘And I’ll use the chaos to...’
The corner of Kang Jae-ho’s mouth twitched up.
In his view were the two awkwardly standing porter siblings.
‘Take them hostage.’
The last resort for a terrorist with nothing to lose.
Kang Jae-ho planned to stage a hostage crisis.
* * *
“Keep trying, you’re trying hard.”
I looked ahead while controlling the skeletons.
*Whoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!*
Kang Jae-ho’s group unleashed strikes at the five bone minions.
Their attacks were desperate.
They were putting everything into it, each blow filled with killing intent.
Thrashing about to survive, no doubt.
“…….”
It was bitter.
Why were humans so desperate to devour each other?
Was it the brutal reality of this era laid bare ever since “hunters” appeared?
And humans gained that primal “power”?
It was regrettable.
Just ten years ago, things had seemed so peaceful...
Ah, no?
Had the world always been rotten?
Come to think of it, even back then.
There were people who profited off human lives...
Anyway.
“Boneil.”
I called Boneil.
*Creak!*
He nodded in response instead of speaking.
Truth be told, I’d noticed it earlier.
Where Kang Jae-ho’s gaze was directed.
What scheme he had in mind.
How pitiful.
Did he think a hostage stunt would work with my forces numbering five?
“Deal with it.”
*Tat-tat-tat!*
Boneil raised his sword and moved to cut off Kang Jae-ho’s path.
*Whoosh!*
He swung indiscriminately at him.
“Uh?”
Kang Jae-ho freaked out and reflexively raised his arm.
An instinctive defense.
*Splat!*
His arm was severed.
A flood of blood poured onto the sandy floor.
“Gaaah! Graaaah!”
He screamed, body trembling.
I watched with an expressionless face.
Sympathy?
No way that’d happen.
He’d definitely aimed for my life.
So he had to pay the price.
What if I’d been weak?
If I hadn’t met the old man or awakened?
Would they have spared me?
‘No chance.’
This was just self-defense.
In this harsh world, to climb to the top ranks, you had to steel your heart.
‘The rest are the same.’
I gestured at the skeletons.
[‘Bone5’ uses the skill, Fire Ball (Lv.1).]
*Fwoosh!*
Boneoh summoned a fireball once more.
He still had plenty of energy left.
“D-dodge!”
“Don’t let it touch you! Get as far away as possible!”
“W-what about the party leader?”
“You worried about that now? Find your own way to survive!”
The charging hunters pulled back.
‘Jeez...’
A fresh wave of emotion hit me.
Five seasoned hunters completely outmatched by my bones.
I’d grown so much in such a short time.
“Time to wrap this up?”
*Pa-pa-pa-pak!*
The remaining skeletons moved.
Boneil thrust his spear, Bonesam fired arrows.
And Bone-sa used his shield as a weapon for a body slam.
“Gaaah!”
“Urk!”
The hunters, scattered at distances, couldn’t withstand the focused barrage.
Boneil’s spear was fierce, Bonesam’s bow precise.
“It hurts! It hurts!”
“Damn it!”
They collapsed one by one, clutching fatal wounds.
The end of the battle.
*Shing!*
Boneil shook off his sword and walked toward the hunters.
They cowered at his menacing skeletal gaze.
“D-don’t come closer!”
“S-spare us! We’re sorry! It was all that bastard Kang Jae-ho’s orders!”
“H-hey! Think about it again! We’re fellow dungeon survivors, aren’t we?”
The hunters blabbered at me.
But my gaze didn’t waver.
‘If they’d been good guys from the start, they wouldn’t have joined the Shadow Syndicate.’
*Whoosh!*
Boneil swung his sword impassively.
*Splat! Slash!*
Two hunters with throats slit dropped dead.
Instant kills.
“Gasp, huff?”
The remaining hunters backed away, dripping blood.
But Boneil advanced mercilessly.
*Stab!*
“Guh, guhuk!”
The blade sank smoothly into one hunter’s chest.
His heart pierced like a skewer.
The guy shuddered, feeling the cold metal throughout his body.
“Ahk, ahh... Ahuk!”
His face twisted in agony.
*Slash!*
Boneil pulled out the sword, granting him the mercy of death.
“Two left now?”
I murmured slowly.
Five minus three dead left two.
“You bastard!”
Then Kang Jae-ho rose with his remaining arm gripping his sword.
“You think I’ll just take this lying down?!”
He charged at the porters with all his might.
But.
*Splat!*
Boneil’s greatsword swept across his legs as if anticipating it.
“Gaaaaah!”
*Roll roll.*
Having lost both legs after his arm, Kang Jae-ho tumbled, losing balance.
He writhed, limbs trembling.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
“You fucking dog. Why! Why of all people did you have to show up in front of me!”
*Step, step.*
I approached him slowly.
And grabbed his remaining arm.
“What’re you saying? You’re the one who showed up in front of me.”
“Grhuk!”
At my simple reply, Kang Jae-ho could only groan, no answer.
He had nothing to say.
He’d revealed his intentions first and got beaten for it.
“You damn shit! Stop screwing around. Just... kill me!”
“Kill you?”
I shook my head.
“Sorry, but you don’t get to die easy.”
“What?”
“Even when you go, you pay for what you did, right?”
*Drag drag drag.*
I pulled him by the arm.
“You... you bastard?”
Kang Jae-ho’s eyes widened.
He’d figured out my intent.
[The seal of the Ancient Desert Scorpion King requires a sacrifice to be released.]
[Place the sacrifice on the two engraved magic circles.]
[The sacrifice must be a living hunter F-rank or higher.]
That’s right.
I planned to use him as the dungeon’s sacrifice.
Just like they’d intended for the porters.
“Hahaha, you understand the charm of killing two birds with one stone. No need for extra mental training, I see.”
The old man, who’d been watching with hands behind his back, laughed heartily.
He smiled with great satisfaction at my judgment.
‘I have to do it right, elder.’
“Of course, of course! Well done!”
Leaving the old man’s praise behind, I kept dragging him.
“You crazy bastard! Just kill me! Kill me, I said!”
“Shut up. Who’d want to?”
*Thud!*
As I placed Kang Jae-ho on the altar, the engraved pattern lit up.
“Hng, grhuk.”
Boneil placed the last one on the altar too.
[Sacrifice offered.]
[Judging conditions.]
My heart felt heavy.
Normally, with a dungeon like this, I’d have backed out without clearing.
I didn’t like that rewards required someone’s sacrifice.
‘But.’
To become a ranker, I needed firm standards.
And my standard was simple and clear.
‘Return as much as received.’
Repay favors received.
Avenge grudges incurred.
If someone aimed for my life?
I’d take theirs in return.
It might be tough, but it was a weight I had to bear to become a ranker.
[Conditions met.]
[The seal, dormant for ages, is released!]
*Flash!*
Pillar of pure white light erupted from both altars.
The two sacrifices vanished without a trace.
“Farewell. If there’s a next life, live kindly.”
It was the end for criminals who’d forced sacrifices on others.
I shook the blood off my hands.
‘Come to think of it.’
A question arose.
Why hasn’t Gi So-yul come?
The Shadow Syndicate guys had yelled “Gi So-yul’s here!” and bolted.
Truth be told, I felt like I owed her another debt.
Without her, I’d have had to fight two A-ranks.
I might’ve ended up as the sacrifice on that altar.
“Whew.”
My mind was a mess.
I’d promised to explain the fortuitous encounter, but hadn’t decided how.
The escaped Shadow Syndicate was a headache too.
I’d probably need protection.
But joining some group? No thanks.
‘Power brings problems, huh.’
As I rubbed my stiff neck muscles with hands in pockets.
*Rumble!*
The ground shook then.
“Kyaa!”
“N-necromancer sir! Up ahead!”
The porter siblings gaped and shouted.
A message popped up simultaneously.
[*Ding!*]
[Stage: Ancient Desert Scorpion King]
[The Ancient Desert Scorpion King has been released from its seal.]
[The scorpion king’s rage, forced into slumber for ages, pierces the heavens.]
[Defeat the target.]
“Oh, right... That guy.”
Thoughts later.
First, deal with the boss in front of me.