Ju-ddak's Quest and Conspiracy (2)
What exactly is a monster? At their core, they're enemies that threaten peace—a swirling mass of wicked thoughts and malice. Unless they're some transcendent being, they're basically just villains. They should obviously be charging straight at me to kill me, yet for some reason these ones refuse to fight. It wasn't like this back when I was the hero. Did their behavior change somehow after crossing over to Earth? Some kind of hunter-friendly patch? Or maybe they've just been beaten so badly by hunters that they bolt the moment they see a human. Yeah, that has to be it!
I glanced around. Sure enough, hunters were gathered in small groups nearby, sparring with goblins. But the goblins were rushing the hunters the instant they burst out of the gate. Okay, so that's not it.... It wasn't because they'd been beaten too much after all.
Maybe I should ask the Pa-ttaks.
Elsa is roughly B-class, and both D-class Porter and HunterYaKaeYo have posted plenty of verified field reports, so they should get the idea. Maybe I'd get a meaningful answer?
The Pa-ttaks were completely clueless, and searching the gallery turned up nothing about monsters refusing to fight. Maybe it really was because I wasn't putting in enough effort? Should I chase after them desperately, appealing for them to fight me harder? Fine. I'd unleash all the aggro I'd been pulling in the gallery right here!
“Goblins!!! Please don’t run away!!!! I don’t have any equipment or skills! Just let me hit you once! Just once!”
“Kyeeeeeek!”
The goblins were scattering in every direction to avoid the red-haired man. They had been certain he was gone forever. So why was he here? The goblins remembered it with crystal clarity—that red hair, that face, that voice, even the way he walked. His very existence was a terror engraved into the DNA of every monster. That man! It was the Hero-goblin!!!
“Hey, look over there....”
“What?”
Two hunters who had been focused on training turned their heads toward Ju-ddak.
“The goblins... they’re running away from that hunter....”
“Dude! Stop bullshitting. How could such aggressive monsters do that?”
Hunter 1 nudged Hunter 2 as he answered.
“Hey! Rookies! Pay attention! Turning your back in real combat leads straight to death!”
Instructor Gorg, who had been teaching the new hunters, was running out of patience.
“No, that’s not it, Instructor Gorg! That red-haired hunter... something’s weird about him!”
What Hunter 2 said was true. An unbelievable scene was unfolding right before the instructor’s eyes. Dozens of goblins were fleeing. The one chasing them was a red-haired man. No matter how much the man shouted or cursed or did anything, the goblins wouldn’t even look at him. Their eyes were strange from the start. It was the look of someone facing an existence they must never confront. It was unmistakably the expression that appears when terror reaches its absolute peak.
“Instructor. Have you ever seen anything like that?”
Hunter 2 asked the thoughtful instructor. It was common to see hunters chasing monsters. But these goblins hadn’t even tried to fight.
“No. Never.”
“Then... what is that?”
“So even Instructor Gorg isn’t at that level yet!”
“I have heard of it, though.”
“I knew you would, Instructor!!”
“It’s a skill called ‘Fear Aura’ that rarely awakens in those above B-class.”
“Hah... N-no way....”
“Yes. It’s an incredible skill that instills extreme terror in anyone who makes eye contact. I’ve only heard rumors about it.”
“A power like that...!”
“However, that skill is meant for single targets. Even a master could only affect about five people at once!”
“So that means that man is...??”
“An awakened of a far higher grade than we can imagine....”
“Whoa!!”
But there was no way such an awakened existed.... The instructor suddenly began to question his entire life as a hunter.
“But why would an awakened of that caliber be in a gate like this?”
“Probably for pleasure.”
“Sorry?”
“The pleasure of driving dozens of targets into terror with his own power! Look at his face. And listen to the man’s voice.”
The rookie hunters perked up their ears. Ju-ddak’s cries of “Please fight me!!” echoed everywhere.
“Now you understand. With shouts like that, he must be feeling immense pleasure.”
“You’re saying a hunter of that rank actually exists?!”
“If you’re confident, go ask that hunter his rank yourself.”
“!!!!”
The two rookies froze on the spot. The sudden thought that the Fear Aura might spread to them too had flashed through their minds.
“Rookies. This will definitely be a very good lesson for you.”
“A lesson? What do you mean?”
“That hunter definitely won’t stop there. After driving the goblins into terror, he’ll deliver a miserable end.”
“So we should pay attention to his abilities!”
Hunter 1 answered.
“You catch on quick, rookie. Look. That hunter has stopped chasing.”
Just as the instructor said, the red-haired hunter stood still, catching his breath.
“Ordinary greenhorns would think that hunter is simply tired from all the running.”
“Then... does that mean he’s preparing a skill?”
The moment Hunter 2 spoke, the red-haired hunter slowly bent down.
“Watch that stance carefully. Not a single opening. It’s a remarkable level.”
“!!!!”
And then the hunter placed his hand on the ground and quietly picked up a single stone.
“No way! Is he about to use that skill?!”
“Instructor Gorg! If my guess is right....”
“Exactly! Rookie! But using that skill here is far too dangerous!! Just what level has that hunter reached....”
Having finished preparing, the red-haired hunter pulled his arm all the way back, stone in hand.
“It’s really starting!! Everyone brace for heavy impact!!”
“Yes sir!!”
The rookies hid behind trees. Then the astonishing scene unfolded.
Whoosh! Thud!
The stone thrown by the red-haired hunter struck a goblin square in the back of the head. The goblin staggered and then collapsed with a thud.
“Huh...? Instructor?!”
“....”
Amazingly, the red-haired hunter hadn’t used any skill at all. He simply picked up a rock and chucked it. That was the entire scene in one sentence. The instructor was thrown into utter confusion. The conclusion he eventually reached was shocking. That red-haired hunter was just trash, and he had mistaken the man for some hidden master.
“What? He just threw a rock?”
“Was the instructor’s eye mistaken?”
“No way.... The instructor isn’t an idiot who can’t tell the difference between a skill and throwing a rock.”
The rookies’ whispers were slowly turning the instructor into a complete fool. No! If this continued, his dignity and authority as an instructor would crumble!!! It was the greatest crisis of his life.
“Heh.... So that’s what it was....”
First, he rubbed his nose and made an expression like he understood everything. Then the instructor thought frantically.
“Instructor! Didn’t that hunter just throw a rock?”
Yes. He did. But he couldn’t admit that.
“Ah.... It seems I expected too much from you all. It must still be too much for you to follow that speed....”
“!!!!”
“That hunter... clearly used the skill 82 times in succession.”
“82 times in a row?!?!”
“Is that even possible???”
“To rookies like you it probably just looked like he was throwing rocks.... But I saw it. That hunter’s speed.”
“As expected of Instructor Gorg!!!”
“Rookies! It’ll take you a hundred years to reach that level!! All we can do is train diligently!”
“Train diligently!!”
This would do it! They bought it! Who would have thought he could escape the crisis like this? Only after seeing the thoroughly inspired faces of the rookies could Instructor Gorg finally relax. Without realizing what kind of disaster would befall him later...
Those damn goblins! They were the first monsters to put me through this dog-training routine.
“What’s wrong with my face?”
The goblins might seem like they’re just screaming “kyeeeeek!” mindlessly, but there’s meaning hidden inside. It means they have a simple language system of their own. If I roughly translate what they were shouting, it would be something like “That face! Run!!”
“Do I look that scary? Back in the other world people called me handsome. They ran away just from seeing my face?”
It was a question I couldn’t easily answer. And this Ju-ddak’s task! I thought it would be an easy quest, but it was anything but. I never dreamed the monsters would run away instead of fighting. Catching a single goblin was this hard?
First Task
📍 Objective: Defeat any 5 monsters
🎁 Reward: Hunter Gallery Icon, Voting Function
📊 Progress: 1/5
Still, it seemed the genes for Korea’s traditional folk game of stone-throwing hadn’t gone anywhere. A reinforced rock +15. The most time-honored weapon of humanity and an excellent means of communication.
“Why would I need a C-class weapon? Just smash them with a rock.”
One rock throw equals one goblin kill. Not a bad exchange rate. Assuming I actually hit them all, of course.
“If I want to have fun with my hunter buddies, I have no choice. Guess I’ll just have to throw more rocks.”
Alright then. Shall I become a human catapult?