Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: The Merrillium Vein
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Chapter 128
Chapter 128
'As expected, C-Rank Level 5 is starting to hit its limits.'
Various synergies had stacked up, and especially after his movement trait rose to B-Rank recently, his Throwing Skill had grown even stronger—but it was still just C-Rank Level 5.
It wasn't to the point where he couldn't hunt, but in a Mission Gate, it was ambiguous to expect the kind of overwhelming power he'd show in a Level 4 or 5 standard gate.
There was an extra slot available in his storage anyway, and since it seemed like it'd rise to B-Rank soon, he wasn't too worried.
And Jeong-hyeon had gained another reliable trump card just recently.
The shocking effect he'd obtained after activating the golem's core.
It was the daggers' homing function.
Normally, physical time constraints would limit it to minor adjustments, but for Jeong-hyeon with Thought Acceleration, it was an unparalleled cheat ability.
"Wait a second, three daggers...?"
Deok-jin freaked out and tried to stop Jeong-hyeon.
He could somehow throw one while avoiding allies, but from the look of it now, he was about to hurl three at once.
No matter how high one's Throwing Skill, he'd never heard of anyone throwing three daggers at once outside of movies.
Maybe the orc dodging his attack earlier had made him lose his self-control?
'Is it some kind of anger management issue or what?'
Of course, to Jeong-hyeon—who wasn't losing control but rather getting excited—it was an utterly absurd thought.
Four would be too much, but three was plenty doable.
That was Jeong-hyeon's conclusion after receiving the Onyx Daggers and practicing all day in the association's testing room.
At a glance, with Won-ho and U-yeong blocking, the gap might seem narrow, but that was just from others' perspectives.
He hesitated to use projectiles due to the risk of accidentally hitting allies from a control slip-up, but with certainty, there was more than enough space—overflowing, even.
Honestly, the two standing in a line had factored in their combat spacing, so what were three daggers? A hundred could pass through.
"Daggers incoming. Frontline, hold position!"
A simple heads-up like this prevented any ally from getting hit by stray blades.
*Whish-*
As if he'd thrown just one, the three daggers flew with identical whooshes.
That alone proved Jeong-hyeon's control was perfect.
'Try dodging this.'
They were already close enough that he couldn't see but could clearly sense the cave orcs' movements.
Perhaps from dodging Black earlier, they didn't panic much and straightforwardly adjusted their paths to evade the incoming daggers.
Impressive senses for monsters.
If they weren't Onyx Daggers, Jeong-hyeon would've struggled quite a bit.
In the slowed time of Thought Acceleration, he could feel their leisure.
They probably didn't think they could be hit at all.
'Yeah, dodge like that. Hitting you is all I need.'
Twisting angles midway might just give them room to dodge.
What Jeong-hyeon aimed for was the moment the distance between daggers and orcs narrowed to about 3 meters.
Considering the speed of the charging foes, it was a short range even knowing it was coming.
The Onyx Daggers, which had looked like straight-line flights like normal ones, suddenly veered sharply.
If someone saw it from Jeong-hyeon's view, it might look like the orcs were leaping toward the daggers themselves.
"Quee-!"
*Thuk-*
And for an ordinary person not seeing that, they'd have witnessed three cave orcs tumbling simultaneously the instant Jeong-hyeon threw.
"One left. You can handle that much, right?"
All pierced from jaw to brain, so even if twitching now, they were as good as dead.
At Jeong-hyeon's calm briefing, not only the rear hunters who'd watched but even the frontline ones looked baffled.
"How...?"
He'd thought throwing three daggers meant sacrificing one to thin numbers without giving escape.
Astonishing enough to hit tight gaps, but who could've imagined each targeting separately?
"Queeeek!"
But the enraged surviving cave orc, having lost its comrades in a flash, gave no such opening to the hunters.
"Charge!"
U-yeong blocked the orc's rush with his shield.
Four would've been heavy, but alone, he deflected it easily.
Especially since cave orcs differed greatly from standard orcs.
'Skinnier than I thought.'
Only now, under lantern light, did Jeong-hyeon properly see the cave orc.
Typical orcs evoked hulking, muscular warriors taller than adult men by a head.
But cave orcs, perhaps from scarce food, dim light, and harsh conditions, looked entirely different.
Pale, almost translucent skin; degenerated tiny eyes; oversized ears and noses for sound and smell.
At around 170cm, skinny frames with no muscle to speak of.
Naturally, crude shortswords or iron rods instead of clubs or axes.
Purely by appearance, far more grotesque than orcs.
"Won-ho!"
"Okay!"
Still, that made them easier for close-combat specialists.
U-yeong deftly bounced the orc toward an easy attack angle for Won-ho using his shield.
Won-ho then swung his axe wide at the cave orc's neck.
"Quek!"
Even at Level 3, A-Rank was A-Rank.
Won-ho's axe didn't just sever the neck—it embedded in the cave wall.
Less muscle than average orcs made it easier, but still monstrous strength.
Jeong-hyeon calmly noted, though.
"You need better force control. Can't have the axe stuck in the wall."
"Got it."
Hunting wasn't a strength contest.
With great power came precise control—or even kobolds could kill you.
Mistakes of a fresh Level 3 hunter.
Won-ho nodded while retrieving his axe.
Soon after, the hunters marveled again.
"Wow... I'm running out of surprise at this point. How'd you do that?"
Three cave orcs dead side-by-side in the same spot.
Killing three with three daggers was impressive, but all hitting the exact same vital spot was near-miraculous.
Jeong-hyeon pulled daggers from their necks and replied.
"It's the gear."
True enough.
"Sheesh..."
U-yeong, helping extract a dagger and handing it over, shook his head.
Casual words, but the feat was no joke.
Having been coldly rebuffed earlier when asking rank, he gave up prying.
Everyone had circumstances, and surviving with profit was win enough.
Advancing further revealed the chamber where cave orcs had dwelled.
"My god, all this Merrillium?"
"Looks like it."
As expected of Vice Guild members—they spotted ore instantly.
"This is Merrillium?"
Jeong-hyeon looked around, tilting his head.
He'd seen photos of Merrillium gear, though not real.
Characteristic faint green sheen.
But the chamber walls showed no green, let alone light green ore.
U-yeong laughed heartily, clearing it up.
"Haha, we know a thing or two better than you, Hunter. See these silver veins?"
"Ah, yeah."
Jeong-hyeon nodded.
Plenty of silver veins.
"Raw Merrillium ore. It gains the green tint only after processing."
"Huh."
Now he got why the party was so shocked.
The silver ore U-yeong pointed out nearly covered the chamber.
Considering Merrillium's price, an insane amount.
"Mind if we mine a bit before going? Won't if it hinders clearing, of course."
"Sure, go ahead."
Jeong-hyeon nodded readily to hesitant U-yeong.
Vice Guild bought this gate partly for internal Merrillium mining.
Plus, in mine gates, mined ore counted as monster drops—no bulk issues.
'They all pop out at clear anyway.'
Only issue: mining noise drawing monsters.
But not a big deal.
"I'll handle monsters, so mine as much as you want."
5% of Merrillium sales proceeds.
Stipulated in his contract with Vice Guild as compensation.
No cut for him? Better to clear fast.
But passing up reward? Especially for Jeong-hyeon, no way.
"I'll stand guard with you."
Won-ho stepped forward.
Chamber had three passages besides theirs.
Even Jeong-hyeon couldn't cover all alone.
But Jeong-hyeon shook his head firmly.
"Nope. Can't spare hands for guard when we want max yield. You mine too, Won-ho."
"But... call if needed."
Won-ho yielded after hesitation.
Original plan: two mining, rest guarding for safety.
But after seeing Jeong-hyeon's prowess...
Other members unpacked tools without protest.
They felt it too.
Better to mine fast and push than idle on pointless guard.
Roles assigned(?), Jeong-hyeon curiously watched first-time gate mining.
He'd asked Vice Guild Leader Park Geun-hwa about it.
- Uh... do you mine with pickaxes in gates?
Even buying for Merrillium, mining in limited manpower Mission Gate seemed nuts.
Anyone'd question sanity.
But Geun-hwa had looked at him like he'd said something ridiculous.
- No way. What era do you think this is?
As Geun-hwa explained, Vice Guild members pulled large awls from bags.
Gate mining used those tools.
'Who'd guess you'd use that?'
Jeong-hyeon blushed, embarrassed at his silly question to Geun-hwa.
Awl-like, but insanely expensive—infused with earth spirit stones and earth mage enchants.
Usage simple.
Jam into ore vein.
*Bang-*
Small sound for result—ore chunk separates neatly, drops.
Not brute pickaxing as he'd imagined.
Low effort too, so even non-U-yeong/Won-ho hunters mined easily.
Less noise/vibration than traditional, but not zero.
'They're coming.'
To vibration/sound-sensitive cave monsters, it was like advertising enemies.
Watching party mine, Jeong-hyeon moved to rightmost passage.
'How does he even know?'
To Vice Guild members watching amid work, it was tongue-protruding.
What senses detect monsters through this noise/vibration?
But they didn't know.
Incredible as it seemed, Jeong-hyeon was far more monstrous than they thought.