Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: Russia Expedition (3)
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“What the hell is this…!”
Bong Jae-young hurriedly assumed a battle stance.
No matter how much of a womanizer he was or how oddly he handled things.
He was still a world rank 101 hunter.
The crimson aura he unleashed immediately enveloped his body.
“You damn bitch! Did you trick me?”
He shouted while scanning his surroundings.
“Everyone, get into combat ready positions!”
“What are those?”
Asura Im Su-jin muttered as her eyes turned pitch black.
The hunters who had appeared at the Russian woman’s gesture.
Their eyes somehow resembled those of the test subjects locked in the iron cages.
“That’s…”
It was then that the Russian woman smirked.
“Something you’re about to feel for yourselves.”
Sss! Sss!
The creatures spun toward them at tremendous speed.
“Okay.”
I nodded.
‘Let’s see what it feels like.’
At the same time, I slammed my staff into the ground.
[Skill: ‘Skeleton Lord Summon’ (S-Grade) used.]
[60 stamina consumed.]
This time, I summoned a total of six.
Bone One, Sun, Kaden, Bone Five, Dana, Bone Eight.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Bones erupted from the ground, each grabbing their tools and forming ranks.
“Kid.”
The old man said.
The old man floating in midair examined the enemies with a grave expression.
“This isn’t just suspicion anymore. It’s certainty.”
‘Yes?’
“That Dugogu I mentioned earlier. The one that bastard Tang Huipyeong used.”
‘That’s right.’
“It’s definitely that Malicious Gu he created.”
Malicious Gu.
Just the name sounded vicious.
“Be careful, kid. In the past, our world nearly fell to ruin because of that one Malicious Gu… Let me tell you how dangerous it is.”
Whoosh!
While the old man was speaking, one of them charged straight at me.
Boom!
An enormous explosion rang out, accompanied by a shockwave that made my skin tingle.
Destructive power beyond imagination.
Bone Eight, who had blocked it, was sent flying and tumbling away.
All the plants Kwon So-ye had spread everywhere were shredded.
We were momentarily speechless at the incredible sight.
“So, in your world’s terms…”
The old man continued muttering.
“It makes even guys who aren’t even C-rank produce that kind of power at the cost of their life force.”
- Grrrrk!
The creature that landed its attack let out a strange noise as it glared back at us.
Like some ghost from a horror movie.
“Do you know what’s even scarier?”
‘What?’
“With just the Malicious Gu, you can create thousands, even tens of thousands of those monsters.”
* * *
“Haaap!”
Bong Jae-young thrust his iron fist toward the monster.
Boom!
With the explosive sound, the monster’s abdomen was pierced.
But the things were tenacious.
They didn’t die easily.
“Fuck.”
Even with its gut ripped open, the monster wrapped itself around him with its hands and feet.
Bong Jae-young spat out a curse as he glared at it.
Soon after.
Woooong!
The monster’s skin turned crimson.
Boom!
It self-detonated with an enormous blast.
“Damn it.”
Bong Jae-young emerged from the billowing dust cloud.
His skin was slightly singed, but it was as tough as iron.
“These guys are annoying as hell.”
There were five monsters in total.
He looked around for another, but.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ones he could have handled had already exploded.
“Liege, we’ve taken care of the remaining four.”
Whoosh! Slash!
Sun and the other skeletons had already finished them off.
The Russian woman had also sensed the tide turning and fled.
“…”
Bong Jae-young furrowed his brow.
‘Joo Dong-hoon…’
His combat prowess was decent.
But honestly, it didn’t sit well with him.
- No way you’re calling that woman a frail survivor while leaving her behind, right?
- Hmm, I thought a ranker would have better judgment, but you need to sharpen your eye some more.
Joo Dong-hoon’s words still echoed in his ears.
‘Insolent punk.’
No matter how strong he was.
A newbie who had just entered the ranker tiers.
Was that any way to talk to a senior in the industry?
He admitted it was his mistake thinking the woman he pitied was actually a Tricker.
He owned that.
‘But.’
If he hadn’t taken the lead and gone there, would they have even discovered this place?
All roads lead to Seoul, right?
‘Damn it.’
Something had been grating on him ever since.
Even Kwon So-ye and Im Su-jin, who had followed him respectfully before coming here, now seemed to look down on him slightly.
‘I’ll show you.’
Bong Jae-young clenched his fist.
Dungeons weren’t something you judged on a single moment.
They were about synthesizing countless decisions to produce results.
And he was confident.
Confident he judged better than the punk in front of him.
* * *
“Dong-hoon, she got away.”
Sss!
Gi So-yul emerged from the shadows, breathing heavily as she spoke.
The Russian woman’s speed after revealing her power was beyond imagination.
“She’s not particularly skilled in stealth arts, but she was too fast. Worried about a second trap, I just got a rough direction and pulled back.”
“You did well.”
I nodded.
Of course, it would’ve been nice to catch her if possible.
- Don’t chase. Blindly following is exactly what they want.
- If my guess is right… it’s exactly the same as that bastard Tang Huipyeong’s tricks. He’s a dangerous one.
- Of course, he ended up as a handful of ashes in my hands. But even I had to expend quite a bit of power in the process. Better to handle this shrewdly than recklessly like before.
The old man, who seemed to know something, advised against it.
“Hmm.”
Gi So-yul stroked her chin.
“With speed that can outrun me at rank 151, and a Russian ranker… only one comes to mind.”
“Tima.”
She nodded as I answered.
“Right. You know your stuff.”
“Ranker studies, you know. I’ve been cramming like crazy for years.”
Thunder Step Tima.
Current rank 110 Russian ranker.
I’d heard the nickname came from footsteps as fast as lightning.
Also known as the younger sister of The Ruthless, Jima, rank 79.
“That seals it.”
The Ruthless Jima and Warlord Andrey were rankers from the Russian mafia “Gotham.”
This dungeon being connected to Gotham had gone from suspicion to certainty.
“Gotham.”
Their actions started to come into focus.
Iron cages.
Test subjects locked inside.
And the Malicious Gu the old man mentioned.
“This is exactly like grabbing people before they come of age and locking them up.”
“…”
Gi So-yul grimaced at the horrific thought.
“No way… because adults awaken unique abilities?”
“Yeah. If they get something useful, the mafia takes them in and raises them. Otherwise, they turn them into those things for combat fodder.”
“Crazy.”
The kind of thing only movie villains would do.
But sometimes.
Reality pulls off things even more unreal than movies.
It was then.
“Damn it!”
Boom!
Bong Jae-young slammed his iron fist into the ground in frustration.
“That fucking bitch. No matter how I think about it, I won’t feel better until I rip her apart.”
His face red, he huffed and puffed.
Im Su-jin, unable to stand it, stepped forward.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“What?”
“No matter how pissed you are, you can’t act like a thug with allies around.”
“What did you say?”
Steam practically poured from Bong Jae-young’s nostrils.
“And you’ve been treating me and So-ye like your underlings. We’re official Association members. We volunteered for this expedition because we were curious about the new high ranker who popped up.”
Ho.
I’d thought it was about to blow any second.
I watched the erupting conflict with intrigued eyes.
‘Makes sense.’
Asura Im Su-jin was a ranker too.
A national treasure hunter in the world’s top 1,000.
No matter how much higher Bong Jae-young’s rank was, there was no reason to put up with being treated like baggage.
‘She’s straightforward, alright.’
Why did Im Su-jin’s verbal smackdown feel so refreshing?
Of course, Bong Jae-young probably felt choked up.
“What did you just say, you bitch?”
“Did I say anything wrong? You were grinning like an idiot next to that Russian bitch. And now? You need to rip her apart to feel better? Even elementary schoolers have more complex thinking than that. Kids these days are way smarter.”
“You, you damn bitch!”
Finally, Bong Jae-young, red-faced and unable to hold back, reared back his fist.
“Um, is anyone there…?”
Rustle!
The sound of footsteps crunching through bushes came from afar.
“What?”
Bong Jae-young withdrew his fist, frowning.
“We’re survivors! We heard the noise and came!”
“Here too! We’re here too!”
One by one.
People began appearing.
“Hmm.”
The old man spun 360 degrees in midair again, then nodded.
“Missed the fun show. Looks like these are real survivors.”
Survivors…?
“Yeah.”
The old man grinned.
“That Poison Fog you unleashed earlier is stuffing its face with that Malicious Gu fart. The survivors drifting inside it are coming to their senses and gathering here one by one.”
Survivors adrift in the dungeon.
They were the ones gathering.
* * *
“Lalala.”
Murung Do-won, atop the hill.
Kim Jin-ah hummed a tune while gazing at the splendid framework of the building being assembled piece by piece.
“This is practically a new city development project.”
Normally, setting up a new city development plan involves a ton of complicated procedures.
The developer proposes a development zone to the governor, mayor, or Minister of Land, etc.
Once approved, the urban development zone is designated, and plans are drawn up.
Landowner consent is required, unions formed, implementation plans made, etc.
With all the tangled interests, it takes forever.
But.
Not this time.
“It’s all~ our land~”
A single workshop creating a flashy new city.
Overseen by the dwarf Demir, former authority of an entire world.
“Hehe, this is fun.”
Lately, her life was pure bliss.
Ever since the workshop master, Joo Dong-hoon, returned.
Seeing her dreams come true one by one, how could she not be happy?
Of course, as the workshop grew.
And the things to handle multiplied.
She was busier than ten bodies could manage.
“Let’s see~”
Humming, she pulled out her smart notepad.
They’d already posted recruitment notices for top talent.
Demir Workshop’s postings were naturally huge news in the hunter world.
[Rank 78 establishes Demir Workshop—About to take off?]
[Demir Workshop recruitment! Vice Master Kim Jin-ah: “Promise industry-best treatment!” Massive competition expected!]
[Current rankers: Two. Rank 78 Master and Rank 151 Dark Emperor Gi So-yul. Dark Emperor’s popularity expected to boost applications.]
The notices had turned into articles, naturally promoting them.
It’d be weirder if people didn’t flock.
“Hmm.”
Kim Jin-ah lined up the endless stack of applications via program.
First, by rank.
‘No way a ranker applied, right?’
No matter how hot the workshop was.
Rankers were rankers.
Sky-high egos.
The only way to snag one was scouting with overwhelmingly better terms.
That’s why Ki Pa-rang flipped out when Dark Emperor joined.
“Indeed.”
Kim Jin-ah slowly scrolled through the documents from the hilltop.
Then.
“Huh?”
Her eyes went wide.
[Applicant List]
[#1. Rank 80, Thunderclap Phloa]
[#2. Rank 905, Absolute Matchless Maximilian]
[#3. Rank 908, Guide Kapu]
[#4. S-Grade Hunter, Park Sung-tae]
[#5. S-Grade Hunter, Kang Ji-hoon]
….
Ignoring the countless S-Grades for now.
‘Rankers?’
Three rankers had applied.
‘And what?’
Rank 80?
Thunderclap Phloa, the hero of Germany?
“Whaaat? What’s this?”
In the end, Kim Jin-ah let out a bizarre squeak.