Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Promotion Exam (3)
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Village of Verdant Faith
Grade: Common
Rank: B-
Type: Extermination
A forest renowned for its beauty is brimming with lush greenery, where a single race lives hidden from prying eyes. They worship their god and sustain themselves by killing and devouring any visitors to the woods. Annihilate these followers of an ugly deity.
Objective: Eliminate the goblin tribe faithful to their god (0/127)
Success: Rewards distributed based on performance
Failure: Death
As we entered the dungeon, the world flipped upside down, revealing a forest overflowing with the fresh scent of nature before our eyes.
The dungeon type was extermination—the most common variety. All you had to do was kill every monster inside.
It wasn't overly difficult, nor was it a cakewalk. A perfectly average dungeon setup. The moment we stepped in, we quickly fell into formation.
Just as we'd planned beforehand: Ma Dong-won and I up front, Kim Woo-rim in the middle, and Lee Ji-ah and Seok Woon holding the rear.
A classic 2-1-2 formation. Solid textbook stuff, nothing fancy.
But it didn't suit this dungeon. It worked great for raid-style boss takedowns, but against hordes of enemies like this, it actually became a hindrance.
"Extermination type, huh. Let's switch formations. Ma Dong-won and Shin Juha, stay on the front line. Lee Ji-ah, take center. Kim Woo-rim and I will cover the rear. Front and back lines, keep an eye on the flanks at your discretion."
Truth be told, I knew next to nothing about formations. I'd have to have actually tried setting one up in my life to know anything about them. How many times had I, someone who'd spent a lifetime soloing goblins in the Tutorial, ever fought in a team?
So I unquestioningly followed Seok Woon's orders—the most experienced one among us.
There's that saying about how any group of five people will always have at least one troll. Luckily, our team showed no signs of that.
Lucky break.
No one seemed low-skill either.
Lee Ji-ah pulled her weight as a buffer alone, and while Kim Woo-rim lacked raw power, the manic glint in his eyes suggested he wasn't weak.
Ma Dong-won looked reliably tanky just standing there, and Seok Woon was a seasoned pro, having cleared countless dungeons as a government hunter.
As for me? Already beyond E- rank, no issues there.
With a good feeling that this exam would be a breeze, we pressed onward.
The forest was eerily silent. No bird calls, no rustling wind—just quiet that ratcheted up our tension.
Not knowing when or where enemies might pop out, we all stayed on edge... until about ten minutes in.
Rustle.
The enemies finally showed.
"Left side. At least five."
Seok Woon, our archer, pinpointed the sound in a flash and readied himself. Moments later, the bushes erupted, and six goblins burst into view.
"Everyone, attack!"
I charged right in, drawing Myriad Changes—already shifted into sword form—and slashing at the foes.
Pity the Frostfire Sword had snapped against those steel bastards, but with ownership at 14%, I could now project items up to high B-rank onto Myriad Changes. No problem there.
Hell, I'd projected an even better blade than the Frostfire Sword, so I didn't miss it anymore.
As Ma Dong-won and I surged forward to block the goblins, Lee Ji-ah's murmur from behind applied her buffs.
Ceremony of Courage
All physical stats +3!
Selfless Devotion [Rare-A-]
All buff effects increased by 1.5x!
A roughly 4.5 stat boost across the board. Laughable compared to the buffs from Saintess candidate Min Chorang, but for newbie hunters, this was solid.
Typically, bumping a single stat by 5 was considered generous. And this hit all physical stats? At least Rare-grade buff skill.
Just low level keeping the gains modest.
Lee Ji-ah must have some serious backing.
I'd figured she was special since she was tackling a three-rank promotion, but owning a buff skill this strong? That screamed promising guild recruit.
Anyway, buffs riding high, I dove in. Goblins—monsters I'd slain to death in my past life.
Of course, these were leagues above Tutorial trash in rank and level, but same species all the same.
"Come at me!!!"
Ma Dong-won's taunt skill fired off, and all six goblins' eyes went blood-red as they swarmed him.
Area aggro with debuffs to boot.
Tank's packing heat too?
What the hell? An elite squad?
Most newbie hunters lacked proper skills beyond their uniques.
Made sense. Even low-grade skillbooks were pricey, and skills gained through repetition were usually low-grade/low-rank.
Standard F-rank tanks barely mustered a basic single-target taunt... Had we lucked out in team draw?
"Nice! Shin Juha, let's wrap this up!"
Kim Woo-rim from the rear grabbed his spear and lunged at the goblins, eyes alight with thrill and joy.
"Rear's on me! No other goblins around!"
Seok Woon loosed a skill—three arrows crackling with faint lightning—dropping the lead goblin charging Ma Dong-won.
I charged in, impressed. If Kim Woo-rim showed a skill too, everyone here had at least one high-grade move.
And sure enough, his spear flowed like water, piercing a goblin's skull in one fluid strike.
Martial arts lineage skill!
What the...?
At this point, even I felt uneasy about celebrating. A team of mostly unaffiliated rookies, and everyone had solid skills?
Not top-tier by any means—Rare-grade at best. But even those cost billions baseline.
Utterly out of reach for F-ranks scraping by on daily wages.
Lucky skillbook drops?
Possible, sure.
I shoved the nagging doubt aside and focused on the goblin barreling toward me, cutting it down.
No Solar Mana needed. Pure physicals handled these chumps fine now.
As its dagger arced for my throat, Flowing Water Sword activated—my blade deflected the strike and severed its neck in one motion.
Dead without a scream. By the time I'd felled another, all six were down.
Kim Woo-rim two, Seok Woon two, me two. Dealers splitting evenly.
"Whew~ Solid. Dealers exceeding expectations. Especially Kim Woo-rim's spearmanship—artistic! Martial arts skill, right? Man, we're cruising! Haha!"
Kim Woo-rim seized his moment to brag, like he'd been waiting.
"As expected of big bro! This here's Flowing Spear Arts—Rare-grade, C-rank certified! You have no idea the grind to snag it. Anyway, it's a fluid style focused on water-like suppleness!"
I quietly eyed Kim Woo-rim and the team. They oohed and aahed, hyping him up like it was their own skill.
No awkwardness. Pure genuine awe, like first-timers seeing such a move.
Am I overreacting from all the bad luck lately?
The unease lingered, but learning their chops eased my tension. Kim Woo-rim's brag kicked off a round of skill-sharing, excitement bubbling up.
Everyone boasted theirs, eyes eventually landing on me.
"Hm... Guess Shin Juha doesn't have any skills."
"Yeah, haven't seen him use any."
"Oh! But that swordwork was slick. Was that a skill? The way he parried attacks!"
"Yeah! I saw it too. Blocking daggers with his sword!"
I nodded quietly. Flowing Water Sword? Fine to reveal. Never assumed they wouldn't notice.
They gushed again, chattering like it was theirs. Only when Seok Woon snapped everyone back to focus did the chatter die.
"Alright! Quick clear, then drinks? I know this killer pork belly and soju spot. Post-workout meat there?~ Heaven!"
"Ooh, big bro's got ideas!"
"I'm in. E- promotions are in the bag anyway. Might as well bond over drinks! We're all hunters now!"
"Drinks sound good, chit-chat's fine, but focus up."
The cheery vibe held strong, tension hitting rock bottom inversely.
And so we advanced for the next push.
With all teams inside the dungeon, only three safety personnel remained—ostensibly as backup for emergencies.
Two who'd already bonded slipped off under the pretense of a bathroom break, leaving the lone holdout to lift his bowed head.
"Heh heh heh."
A laugh dripping malice. Turning, the man—Moon Kang-woon—eyed the dungeon entrance ahead, its dark ripples churning.
The one Shin Juha had entered. Grinning wickedly, he pulled something from his pocket.
"You damn bastard."
Teeth grinding, he pictured Shin Juha's face. The punk who'd demolished a lifetime of power, strength, connections.
He'd love to rip him limb from limb personally, but as a non-Awakened, entering a dungeon was suicide.
So he'd schemed alternatives. Used Cheongsung's pull to rig the exam pairings, keeping Shin Juha from teaming with Seo Mi-na.
No repeating mistakes.
Next, he'd bribed a disposable daily-wage safety grunt, donned a fake face molded from the guy's, and played the part while biding time.
And now, the finale of his revenge.
Moon Kang-woon's eyes gleamed at the pitch-black stone in his hand.
Item: Rampage Stone [Rare-SS]. Illegal item—use on a dungeon, and its grade and rank spike randomly.
Impossible for a fallen man like him to obtain normally, but Cheongsung's young master provided support, and his dwindling network delivered.
His plan complete.
Without hesitation, Moon Kang-woon hurled the Rampage Stone into Shin Juha's dungeon.
Kr-r-rumble!!
As the dungeon went berserk, unstable energies surging wildly, he slipped out of the Association.