Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Lizardman Sanctuary
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Chapter 146
In fact, the list of so-called "Association Response Team Ace Prospects" who would raid the gate alongside Jeong-hyeon had been posted on the HJH Gate Office homepage along with a request letter under the Association's name.
And when Min-ji received the documents from Jeong-hyeon and confirmed them, a text from Nam-sik arrived on his phone as well.
- Hunter Han Jeong-hyeon, I really have urgent circumstances and won't be able to go to Upo Swamp with you the day after tomorrow^^ I'm truly sorry haha
"This guy!"
In the end, all that remained was Jeong-hyeon's surging anger.
'What? Better than Vice Guild? Has Mission Gate clear experience?'
Nam-sik hadn't lied.
- Park Su-chan (A-Rank Toughness, Lv. 3)
Hong Yeon-hee (A-Rank Martial Arts, Lv. 4) Note: Leveled up 1 month ago.
Lee Yun-ho (B-Rank Healing, Lv. 4)
All have 1 Mission Gate clear experience.
And it was exactly the specs as stated.
Better than Vice Guild only in rank.
All had only 1 Mission Gate clear experience.
Of course, it was the result of hunting with an Association S-Rank, just like this time with Jeong-hyeon and Ji-hee.
Still, A-Rank and B-Rank were more than enough to be called prospects.
"Haa..."
But what good was getting angry?
The gate raid was the day after tomorrow, and it was too late to request a member change now.
"Sigh, it's a level 5 gate anyway. What's the worst that could happen?"
On top of that, Jeong-hyeon already had experience clearing gates far beyond level 5.
He was angry at the Association, but this wasn't an impossible clear.
He could somehow manage the clear itself.
Excluding the suffering Jeong-hyeon would endure in the process.
'Someday, I want to ride a proper bus just once...'
Others had plenty of experiences riding buses depending on their daily condition and party members, but why was he always stuck like this?
He'd never even properly ridden a car driven by someone else, let alone a bus.
"For now, delivering the mace to Elder Doil will have to wait."
Originally, he planned to pause hunting until the mace was upgraded with the attribute-less harad.
Doil had said it wouldn't take long.
Regretfully eyeing the mace propped in the corner of his room, Jeong-hyeon's gaze paused on the item beside it.
It was an object that fueled his anger in this infuriating situation.
Through gritted teeth, words heavy with suppressed rage squeezed out one by one.
"Lizardmen won't die easily, that's for sure."
***
That day passed quickly, arriving at the day of the "Lizardman Sanctuary" raid.
When Jeong-hyeon arrived at the gate clad in the new Cursed Armor from Vice Guild, the other party members, Ji-hee, and Association staff were already gathered.
"Hello!"
"Yes. Hello."
Among them, three people stood out, bowing 90 degrees upon seeing Jeong-hyeon.
Checking their faces, they were the party members entering the gate with him.
Normally, he would have told them there was no need to be so formal, but he wasn't in the mood right now.
"By any chance, Section Chief Choi Nam-sik really isn't coming?"
Instead, he approached an Association staff member and asked.
The staffer looked troubled and nodded.
"Yes... He said there's a sudden business trip today."
"Hahaha."
He could only laugh.
Next was Ji-hee.
"Did you bring enough trait suppressants?"
She nodded and pulled out a pill case from her pocket.
The rattling sound suggested plenty.
"Just in case, leave a couple with me."
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, as they say.
Who knew what might happen inside the gate? It felt uneasy having Ji-hee carry them all.
Though, as the rearguard, she was less likely to be in danger than Jeong-hyeon.
Finally, the remaining three entering the gate with them.
"And..."
As Jeong-hyeon seemed about to speak to them, the three quickly exchanged glances and bowed deeply again.
"Please take care of us today!"
'Why are they so disciplined?'
He'd met plenty of troublesome and villainous party members before, but this was the first time any treated him with such deference.
Even Sang-su, who was the same age and called him "hyung," wasn't this intense.
"You don't have to be so formal."
He had no idea what rumors they'd heard.
But they seemed surprised by his reaction and cautiously asked.
"By any chance, is the rumor true that Hunter Han Jeong-hyeon gave Section Chief Dan Jong-woo a proper schooling...?"
"Huh? Ah... well, not exactly schooling, but we did hunt together."
"Gasp!"
"It's real... What do we do..."
He never thought he'd hear Dan Jong-woo's name again.
And understandably so—it was from when he was merely level 3.
His antics had been memorable, and Jeong-hyeon had gotten some revenge, but he hadn't dwelled on it.
Apparently, the Association internally saw it differently.
"So... how exactly did that rumor spread?"
"They say Hunter Han Jeong-hyeon broke Section Chief Dan's finger and healed it for three hours straight..."
"No, before that, you ignored whether he lived or died against the orcs and told him to fend for himself."
"Whoa..."
He got how the story got twisted, but it was heavily exaggerated.
'That guy wouldn't blab about it alone, pride or not...'
Dan Jong-woo probably wouldn't have spread it himself.
Likely the other staff who entered with them back then.
"There seems to be some misunderstanding. It's not accurate."
"They say you made him skin 30 orcs to cheer yourself up?"
"..."
"And that he killed seven orcs with the utility knife for that."
They say the best lies are 90% truth with just 10% fabrication.
He'd brushed it off before, but experiencing it firsthand confirmed it.
Even Ji-hee, listening quietly, looked unsettled.
"..."
"No, Ji-hee. It's not like that."
Denying it without proof fell on deaf ears.
Explaining the full details of what happened?
That would backfire.
The rumors were subtly inflated truths.
For instance, saying he healed Dan every time he self-harmed instead of breaking his finger—what difference would it make?
"What do we do... Even the armor seems to exude a scary aura."
Now even the Cursed Armor he wore reinforced the misconception.
But he couldn't explain that either.
'The creepy aura is real, what can I do...'
Made from Dullahan armor, the Cursed Armor genuinely stimulated primal unease just by looking at it.
Like a long, dark hallway with lights off, or a supposedly cursed jointed doll.
He'd felt it in Vice Guild's underground warehouse, but after airing out, its eerie presence had grown stronger these past few days.
Plus, it had a real A-Rank debuff trait, so claiming the truth would only make Jeong-hyeon seem weirder.
Thanks to that, he could only swallow his rage glaring toward the Association building far in Seoul.
Choi Nam-sik, and those from the orc hunt...
'I'll have to make a scene next time I visit the Association.'
He resolved to set things straight this time.
Unaware his grim expression terrified the party and Ji-hee further.
"By the way... what's with the pickaxe?"
Then, Hong Yeon-hee, the martial arts melee DPS, asked Jeong-hyeon.
Her gaze was fixed on the main pickaxe on his back, opposite the mace.
Definitely not something you'd see near a gate.
A hunter beating monsters with a pickaxe?
No such thing existed.
"Ah, this?"
Jeong-hyeon brightened and pulled out the pickaxe.
Infuriating as it was, he wouldn't miss a chance to change the subject.
"It's an artifact."
"......?"
No one expected a pickaxe to be an artifact, heads tilting.
"Gonna try it on some lizardmen."
"......"
"To relieve stress too. Haha."
But even the pickaxe failed to help.
Each added word made the party members' expressions grow stranger.
"Ahem. Shall we head in then? Ji-hee, take one pill."
Realizing it was hopeless, Jeong-hyeon moved toward the gate without re-shouldering the pickaxe.
"Yes! Got it!"
A resounding response followed from behind.
Voices making clear no one intended to defy him.
'Well, in a way, this might be good...'
In a gate, unity around the leader was the path to survival anyway.
If the party followed well, it was easier for him.
Jeong-hyeon thought, forcing positivity.
***
Needless to say, lizardmen mainly inhabited swamps.
Jeong-hyeon knew well, having entered lizardman gates several times for coins.
Places where mud rose to ankles or even knees—unpleasant for humans.
It greatly affected combat too.
The Lizardman Sanctuary wasn't much different.
"Ugh..."
Tank Su-chan groaned displeased, pulling heavy metal boots from the mud.
Especially burdensome for him with heavy gear.
The others were busy extracting their feet from the swamp.
"Has everyone hunted lizardmen before?"
Jeong-hyeon, least affected by his high agility trait, asked leisurely.
"Yes, a few times in standard gates."
"Me too."
Most had experience—good.
"...I haven't."
Of course, Ji-hee shook her head.
Her past partners were all picky S-Ranks, no need for such harsh environments.
"It's fine. Lizardmen aren't that tricky."
As Jeong-hyeon said.
Lizardmen ranked below equivalent orcs.
No superior weapons or physique.
No swarms like goblins or kobolds either, so not hard to hunt.
Just mind the swamp—unfavorable to humans, favorable to them.
Reassuring Ji-hee, he surveyed surroundings.
Gate name: "Lizardman Sanctuary."
Two possibilities from the name.
'Defense or theft type.'
One like "Dragon's Grave" defense.
Scenario: protect the sanctuary.
The other, rarer: steal specific item from monster village/camp.
Theft was preferable, per his prior thought.
Low difficulty; stealthy hunter could solo.
Of course, getting caught meant fighting a horde.
'Still, I could manage alone if needed.'
Surveying thus, he frowned.
"Looks like defense type, right?"
"I think so too."
He agreed with Yeon-hee.
Their clearing was a small open space.
Surrounded by dense jungle, with an entrance about 10m away.
This alone unclear, but...
'Anyone can see it's screaming defense type.'
A massive tree in the clearing's center.
Multicolored cloths densely tied to its countless branches.
Lizardmen skulls atop deeply embedded branches around it.
"Is that... a necklace?"
A bone necklace—gaudy by lizardman standards—hung on a short protruding trunk branch.
Combined with "Lizardman Sanctuary," the conclusion was simple.
"This seems to be the sanctuary."
The very clearing they stood in.
Tension hung over the silent swamp.