Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Resurrected
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Hong Si-jun raised both arms, accepting death, and in that moment, his mind grew calm.
It saddened him to leave Gyu Yeon-su behind, but thrashing about in an unavoidable situation would only weigh down his heart further.
Im Hyeji had told him.
To trust her and die.
But he didn't really trust her.
Unless there was some absurd skill like a full-party resurrection that saved everyone, turning this situation around was next to impossible.
He had no choice but to admit it.
Li Hei-an had prepared perfectly.
She'd spent two years messing around on Mars, and he couldn't deny that her efforts—or lack thereof—had paid off.
To think she'd use a buff that raised the monsters' grades by one step.
Even if it required sacrificing 150 people, it was hard to believe such a buff was possible.
And the magic circle enveloping the entire area must have amplified its effect.
He'd been careless.
No, careless wasn't the right word.
It was just unexpected.
Hong Si-jun had made his own meticulous preparations.
He'd secretly contacted the Hunter Association to assemble SSS-grade hunters without alerting Li Hei-an, timing it so that even if she noticed, the battle would already be underway. They were positioned to swoop in and tighten the encirclement once the fight around Mars began.
All his main force inside Mars had to do was hold Li Hei-an with the S-grade monsters and buy time.
That was why he hadn't shared Li Hei-an's intel with hunters from other parties.
There might be Chinese spies among them, but if things went according to plan, it was a straightforward, low-risk mission.
Yet everything had gone perfectly wrong.
The other hunters were all dead, and even Hong Si-jun faced his end.
He'd roamed dungeons for years, but never had he accepted death with such peace.
Whenever even a sliver of hope appeared, he'd seize it, squeeze every ounce of strength, and somehow pull off a miracle. But today, no such thread existed.
SS-grade monsters.
Even colossal walls for SSS-grade hunters.
Alone, he might be able to take one.
If he went all out, he was confident he could overwhelm it.
But this wasn't a one-on-one tag match.
Swarms of monsters surrounded the SS-grades, and A-grades had filled the gaps left by the depleted S-grades.
The enhanced SS-grades hadn't even fully committed.
No big skills, just steadily gnawing away at the hunters.
Even when Im Hyeji rejected his last-ditch plan—not really a plan—to have her and Gyu Yeon-su escape and bide their time for revenge, his heart remained calm.
It was an improvised desperation move with slim chances anyway.
With that, he closed his eyes.
Closed them... and opened them.
"...?"
Resurrected.
Resurrected?
I died?
He remembered briefly closing his eyes from the pain.
But the gap in memory didn't feel like just a blink.
One thing was clear: this wasn't a dream.
He was alive.
Not a scratch on him, stamina fully restored.
In his vision, the dead hunters were coming back to life.
As everyone looked around in stunned confusion.
"Watch out!"
The urgent voice in his ear snapped him back.
This was still the battlefield.
And the monsters that had killed them once were still alive.
Blue flames shot toward them.
The flames were blocked by a mana shield from a quick-reacting mage.
"M-my mana shield blocked an SS-grade monster's attack?!"
Hong Si-jun recognized the face.
It was his guild's mage.
A decently skilled one.
A mage whose main attack skill was A-grade.
Naturally, his mana shield was just a basic self-defense spell to protect himself from C-grade AoE attacks.
Yet it blocked an SS-grade monster's main skill?
"My skill... it's SS-grade now?"
"What? What's going on?"
"It's because of Resurrection."
"Crazy... Check your status windows."
Normally, Hong Si-jun would have yelled.
Battle's not over—what are you doing?
Enemies right there—time for status checks?
He despised complacency in combat most of all; it was incredibly dangerous and foolish.
But now, even he opened his status window.
"..."
Unbelievable.
He wondered if he was seeing it wrong.
He'd thought it wasn't a dream, but if it wasn't, this scene defied belief.
But there was no time to space out.
He had 300 seconds.
He couldn't waste this dreamlike moment staring blankly during the clearly stated time limit.
"Haaah!"
His body felt incredibly light.
With SS-grade stamina alone, he could've been an undying warrior sweeping monsters from the front lines in any dungeon.
Layered with Battle Thirst—which grew stronger and tougher the more damage he took and enemies he felled—he'd thought himself the tankiest and strongest among SSS-grade hunters.
Arrogance.
SSS-grade stamina transcended those limits.
Whoosh—
The enemy's attacks looked laughably slow.
Even from an SS-grade monster.
He instinctively dodged, then lightly twisted to take a graze.
A minor wound.
Now SSS-grade Battle Thirst massively boosted his defense and attack.
Greatsword Warriors grew stronger as stamina dropped.
Amusingly, SS-grade Battle Thirst preserved those boosted defense and attack gains even after stamina recovery.
One regret: his attack skills were underwhelming.
If even one support attack skill had been S or SS-grade instead of A or D, he could've soloed S-grade dungeons for sure.
Time to prove it.
Whirrr—
His greatsword spun like a top, shredding surrounding monsters.
The blade extended by mana sliced through B-grades and S-grades alike, no ID checks needed—anything in the way got torn apart.
And amid them, he thrust into the approaching SS-grade's heart.
Krunch!!!
The greatsword pierced the heart without resistance.
Squeezing extreme mana to spike attack power momentarily was effortless now with SS-grade mana backing it.
Thrills ran through him.
Endless vitality surged, paired with the pouring 'Heavenly Waves,' letting him hunt monsters without even breathing.
And it wasn't just him.
His wife Gyu Yeon-su's summons dominated dozens of monsters, flaunting monstrous strength.
They were winning.
Less than 150 seconds left.
But an eternity.
So leisurely he could yawn.
Hong Si-jun's gaze turned to Li Hei-an.
Her face under the robe was twisted like she'd bitten into shit.
Wait for it.
He cleaved through waves of hundreds of blocking monsters, advancing.
No worries about his back.
The other hunters, now each SS-grade powerhouses, were competing to snag even one more kill.
Better to behead the SSS-grade prize than squabble over scraps.
"Eek!"
Li Hei-an's face hardened.
She fumbled something from her robes, tossed it, and muttered.
At the same time, reapers manifested toward the throats of the revived 150 civilians.
"...!"
She hadn't realized the sacrifices lived.
Hard to rescue amid the monsters, despair settled back in.
No time to save them.
The reaper's scythe claimed the 150 once more.
No time for regret.
Killing them again meant she was up to something.
"Kekeke. Too late. Before you reach me, my secondary magic circle will activate!!"
Hong Si-jun scanned around at her words.
The glowing, spent magic circle wouldn't trigger even soaked in blood.
But her confident tone hinted at something.
And then he saw.
The things she'd thrown rolling nearby.
Mana stones.
Glinting, faintly leaking mana.
'Mana stones!!'
Hong Si-jun charged full throttle.
60 seconds left.
He had to dispel the anxiety of her activating a circle with mana stones first.
If her buff ended, Im Hyeji's miracle faded, and her turn came again...
No future then.
Even the incoming outer hunters would be at risk.
His all-out greatsword.
Finally embedded in Li Hei-an's heart.
Li Hei-an, who'd bet everything on the circle and given up fleeing, stared past him in disbelief, muttering.
"Why... why isn't it activating..."
Hong Si-jun's buff faded.
The miracle of 300 seconds for all ended.
It was enough.
More than enough—overflowing.
Buff gone didn't mean strength vanished.
Stamina still brimmed.
Remaining monsters: few.
Thud.
Li Hei-an's life snuffed out.
Waaaaaaaaah—!!!
With the miracle, victory flipped.