Chapter 449: Flag Search (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 449: Flag Search (4)
Flick—
Kang Hyun-woo lightly flicked the blood from his sword.
Watching him, Wi Ryeong-ah was left utterly speechless.
Dozens of monster carcasses were strewn haphazardly before her, and she had seen with her own eyes how Kang Hyun-woo had dealt with them.
‘...He’s strong. Incredibly so.’
With just a single sword, he had slaughtered the monsters that came rushing at him in a pack.
Moreover, in the midst of that chaotic battle, not a single sword mark was left on the surrounding trees.
Even thinking back on it, his swordsmanship was so precise and beautiful it drew gasps of admiration.
Ting—
「You have defeated a Black Wolf.」
「You have defeated a Shadow Stalker.」
「You have defeated a Vampire Deer.」
「You have defeated an Echo Ghost.」
「You have defeated a Phantom Mole.」
「You have defeated an Apollesia Spider.」
˙
˙
˙
「You have acquired a large amount of Lua.」
Ting—
「The Constellation, ‘Dweller of the Swamp,’ smiles at the exhilarating slaughter.」
「The Constellation, ‘Dweller of the Swamp,’ sponsors you 3,000 WP.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ praises your refined swordsmanship, befitting of her knight.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ sponsors you 3,000 WP.」
Kang Hyun-woo swiped away the screen that filled his vision.
But another message, one he couldn't ignore, appeared before him.
Ting—
「The Constellation, ‘Nightmare of Southern France,’ is watching you.」
「The Constellation, ‘Nightmare of Southern France,’ bestows upon you the ‘Mark of the Hunt (B-).’」
「The first effect of ‘Mark of the Hunt (B-)’ activates.」
「The target's location is now constantly revealed.」
After reading the message, Kang Hyun-woo let out an involuntary, dry laugh. It was a blatant declaration that he had been chosen as the next prey.
And though he didn't know the exact location, he could still clearly feel the unabashed killing intent.
If I follow this aura, I'll probably find him.
Kang Hyun-woo sheathed his sword and dismissed the screen as before.
“Miss Wi Ryeong-ah?”
At his call, Wi Ryeong-ah, who had been hiding behind a tree, slowly stepped out.
Thanks to the potion, most of her wounds were gone, but she had recovered almost none of her spiritual power, making her effectively useless in a fight.
“...You can call me Miss Wi.”
“Then I'll call you Miss Wi. The mine isn't far, so let's hurry.”
Wi Ryeong-ah nodded and once again grabbed onto Kang Hyun-woo’s clothes.
Grip...!
She tightened her hold, afraid of letting go.
Kang Hyun-woo let out a small chuckle at the sight.
In truth, he didn't need to take her all the way to the finish line. He could have just lent her 500 WP and let her drop out of the test.
But he didn't.
The reason was simple.
He wanted her to feel even more indebted to him.
The two of them cut through the forest, heading toward the mine. The closer they got to the finish line, the more monsters poured out in droves, but Kang Hyun-woo swung his sword without batting an eye.
However, from Wi Ryeong-ah's perspective, the situation felt strangely unnatural.
Not only had a Constellation's avatar appeared in the 5th Floor test, but the number of monsters was also excessively high.
It was hard to see this as a normal test.
‘Could it be...’
Ting—
「The Constellation, ‘Nightmare of Southern France,’ is watching you.」
「The Constellation, ‘Nightmare of Southern France,’ bestows upon you the ‘Mark of the Hunt (B-).’」
「The third effect of ‘Mark of the Hunt (B-)’ activates.」
「Temporarily blocks the target's vision.」
“Gah?!”
In that instant, Wi Ryeong-ah's vision was completely consumed by darkness. At her shrill scream, Kang Hyun-woo quickly turned his head.
“Miss Wi?”
“I-I can't see...”
“...What?”
Wi Ryeong-ah collapsed to the ground, trembling.
For someone who had just been hovering on the brink of death, this sudden blindness was an unbearable terror.
Kang Hyun-woo sighed at the sight.
‘Trying to kill two birds with one stone, huh...’
Tsk.
Just like a Constellation, disgustingly greedy.
After a moment's thought, Kang Hyun-woo scratched the back of his head.
“Haa... Excuse me.”
“Y-Yes? W-Wait, are you leaving... Gyaah?!”
Kang Hyun-woo picked Wi Ryeong-ah up in his arms.
Suddenly held in the arms of a strange man, Wi Ryeong-ah was speechless. She could only squeeze her eyes shut and move her lips soundlessly.
Ting—
「The Goddess's Blessing has confirmed contact with a female.」
「Misfortune is coming.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ frowns.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ states that patience is one of the virtues a knight must possess.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ scolds you, saying that even if you cannot protect your chastity, you should at least know how to maintain your principles.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’...」
Skip.
Kang Hyun-woo dismissed the screen with a smooth, natural motion.
As if angered by this, Ishtar sent a flurry of messages, but Kang Hyun-woo didn't even blink.
Ting—
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ acknowledges you as a true man's man.」
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ sponsors you 1,000 WP.」
「The Constellation, ‘Dweller of the Swamp,’ scoffs at the ‘Saintess of Uruk.’」
「The Constellation, ‘Dweller of the Swamp,’ sponsors you 1,000 WP.」
“U-Um... Young Master Kang...?”
“Shh. You might bite your tongue, so try not to talk.”
“What? What do you mean... Kyaaak?!!”
Fwoosh—!!
Kang Hyun-woo immediately kicked off the ground and leaped into the trees. The vast forest came into view at a glance.
And in the distance, he could see the mine, located near the mountainside.
Fwip—!
Using the branches as footholds, Kang Hyun-woo launched himself forward, and the surrounding scenery blurred past.
Overwhelmed by a speed she had never experienced before, Wi Ryeong-ah gasped and desperately hugged his neck.
Even so, Kang Hyun-woo continued his thoughts calmly.
‘Wi Ryeong-ah's blindness is, nine times out of ten, because of the Mark of the Hunt.’
A moment ago, he too had received the first mark.
If things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before he lost his sight as well. He judged it would be far more efficient to carry her and run to the finish line as quickly as possible.
Of course, there was a good reason he made such a decision, even if it meant enduring the penalty of the Goddess's Blessing.
‘I can't let Ishtar drag me around forever.’
To Kang Hyun-woo, Ishtar was a kind of shield.
As long as she was by his side, most Constellations wouldn't dare offer him a contract.
Those beings called Constellations generally have immense pride.
It wasn't uncommon for them to hold a grudge and retaliate just because a mere player rejected their offer.
But with Ishtar around, such incidents could be prevented.
No matter how much she toyed with players or how naturally empty-headed she was, she was still undeniably a supreme deity from Mesopotamian mythology.
The problem was, if he let himself be dragged along by her whims, he was bound to get entangled in troublesome affairs that would be hard to handle later on.
That said, he couldn't expect protection from the ‘Dancing Destroyer’ or the ‘Dweller of the Swamp’.
Unlike Ishtar, they hadn't offered him a contract.
Their interest could vanish at any moment.
‘But what exactly does "misfortune is coming" mean...?!’
Crack—!
At that moment, the branch Kang Hyun-woo stepped on snapped, and the two of them plummeted downwards together.
“Kyaaak?!!”
To make matters worse, the tree was dozens of meters tall, and below wasn't soft earth but a bed of sharp gravel.
A normal person would have died instantly from a concussion and ruptured organs upon impact.
Even for a player, on these lower floors, breaking a bone was a certainty.
Considering the murderous difficulty of this test, a fracture meant either elimination or death.
‘...So this is what "misfortune" meant?’
Tap—
Kang Hyun-woo used the empty air as a foothold to correct his posture.
It was the Sky-Treading Steps, a technique he'd developed based on the enlightenment he gained from his fight with Dermier.
Of course, he couldn't maintain it for long.
He could have used the Levitation spell, but he wanted to grow accustomed to the wondrous sensation of the boundary between Heaven and Earth blurring, as if he were superimposing himself onto the world.
“Y-Young Master Kang...? What just happened...?”
“I missed a step. My apologies.”
As if to reassure her, Kang Hyun-woo lightly patted Wi Ryeong-ah's head before leaping forward again.
From what just happened, he was able to grasp the exact meaning of the misfortune.
‘A power that determines causality?’
Realistically, it was impossible for a branch to break just from him stepping on it.
Just as even a rotten old tree wouldn't break from a speck of dust landing on it.
But the moment his foot touched it, the branch had snapped in half as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
It was as if the outcome of ‘breaking’ had been determined even before he stepped on it.
‘A tricky mechanism.’
Even as he thought this, Kang Hyun-woo's expression was relaxed.
This was because the worst-case scenario he had imagined was the misfortune being relative.
In truth, the recent situation was no big deal for him. Even if he had fallen, he wouldn't have been injured at all.
But what if an S-rank monster had suddenly popped out of the forest?
Of course, since it was a B-rank curse, there had to be a limit to the causality it could interfere with, so that was likely impossible.
In short, the important point was whether the misfortune brought by the curse was actually a threat to him.
‘I was hoping Lelia's Little Key would repel it, but I guess it's not a typical curse.’
In any case, he realized that the misfortune from the Goddess's Blessing was manageable as long as he was reasonably careful.
Thanks to this, there was no hesitation in his movements.
But that, too, was short-lived.
Ting—
「The Constellation, ‘Nightmare of Southern France,’ is watching you.」
「The Constellation, ‘Nightmare of Southern France,’ bestows upon you the ‘Mark of the Hunt (B-).’」
「The second effect of ‘Mark of the Hunt (B-)’ activates.」
「The target's field of vision narrows.」
As he felt a heart-piercing killing intent and gaze, darkness crept into Kang Hyun-woo's vision.
Seeing his field of vision shrink by nearly half, Kang Hyun-woo stopped on a tree branch and stared in the direction the gaze had come from.
Beneath the thick clouds, a golden glint of light, imbued with an adamantine aura, flickered.
‘...Found you.’
The bastard wasn't hiding.
On a treeless mountainside, it revealed itself completely, as if taunting its opponent.
“Um, did something happen...?”
“Well, it's nothing major...”
A fighting spirit flared in Kang Hyun-woo's eyes.
“It seems running away is no longer an option.”
“Wh-What?!”
He had planned to run straight to the finish line, but considering the interval between the first and second marks, it was obvious he would lose his sight completely before he got there.
Of course, even if he couldn't see, it wouldn't be a major problem since he could use magic and his qi sense.
But to ignore such a blatant provocation wouldn't be the picture his audience wanted to see.
Ting—
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ wishes for you to respond to the provocation of the ‘Nightmare of Southern France.’」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ says she wants the pelt of that insolent beast as tribute.」
「The Constellation, ‘Dweller of the Swamp,’ urges you to hunt.」
Ting—
「A special mission has occurred.」
「Hunt Reversal – Subjugation
You are the prey.
However, a hunter must always be prepared to be hunted.
It is time to let your opponent know the tagger has changed.
Condition: Subjugate the avatar of the ‘Nightmare of Southern France’
Success Reward: 10,000 WP, a gift from a Constellation
Failure Penalty: -」