Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Hop Goblin Annihilation
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Boom—
Ten blazing spears slammed into the wall of shields held by the hobgoblins.
The deafening roar rang in their ears, and the explosion briefly obscured their vision, but the damage to the hobgoblins was minimal.
Not a single one bore any visible wounds. The only disruption was to their orderly shield line and the spear tips packed tightly between them.
"Kirrr!"
If anything, the impact only fueled the hobgoblins' rage, their angry snarls growing louder.
Moments later, bolts fired from the crossbows behind them.
Swoosh—
The hunters' position was fixed, after all.
They figured that firing nearly ten bolts from various angles would surely inflict some damage.
But as the fireball explosion cleared and vision returned...
"Kigi—?"
One hobgoblin at the front, raising its shield again, tilted its head.
Something had appeared out of nowhere where nothing had been before.
And before it could even identify what it was—
Crack—
It smashed straight into the hobgoblin's face.
Even clad in heavy armor with its head protected by a helmet and faceguard, the impact was beyond what it could withstand.
The creature didn't even scream as it flew backward, knocking over two spear-wielding hobgoblins behind it and even clipping a few archers at the rear.
But the hobgoblins' sudden calamity didn't end there.
Crack—Thud—
The grotesque sound of the first hobgoblin's faceguard and facial bones shattering echoed several more times.
"Kiee!"
Each time it rang out, another hobgoblin collapsed, unable to endure.
The one who had pierced the goblin defensive line was, naturally, Ye-rin.
Using ghostly body techniques, she dove into their midst and laid out five of them in an instant.
"Crazy..."
Ji-myeong, watching it all, let out a rough exclamation.
Even if the hobgoblin formation had briefly crumbled, the gap wasn't large.
And the creatures weren't stupid—they moved quickly to repair the breach.
To exploit that opening, she had to charge in right as Sung-jun's Fire Spear struck.
Not only that, but the explosion blinded everyone equally, hobgoblins and Ye-rin alike.
Without instinctive reflexes to dodge flashing spear tips and incoming bolts, Ye-rin would have taken fatal damage instead.
Above all, it took incredible courage to leap into that gap in the first place.
Honestly, Ji-myeong could topple five hobgoblins in a flash amid their ranks with his current skills, but he wouldn't have dreamed of attempting it.
There were things in the world you simply couldn't fathom until you saw them.
'So Han Jeong-hyeon Hunter's providing cover?'
With Ye-rin plunging into the enemy's center like that, covering fire was essential.
Ji-myeong finally understood why Jeong-hyeon had drawn his daggers.
Sung-jun creates a breach in their defense, Ye-rin slips through.
Jeong-hyeon provides cover to let her dismantle their formation effectively.
It was a tactic requiring exceptional individual skills and unshakeable trust in each other.
Their bond must be rock-solid.
'Now I get it.'
Ji-myeong thought he instantly grasped why Jeong-hyeon drew so much industry attention.
But Jeong-hyeon lightly surpassed even that revised expectation.
'No daggers flying?'
Even as Ye-rin swung her fists and legs again, no daggers appeared as Ji-myeong anticipated.
Swoosh—
No, he definitely heard them flying.
That meant Jeong-hyeon was throwing them in a direction Ji-myeong couldn't see.
Reflexively scanning around, Ji-myeong was stunned.
'What the hell?'
The daggers were indeed flying diligently.
Just not in the direction or path Ji-myeong had expected.
Daggers were straight-line weapons, of course.
Bows could arc over distances, but daggers were thrown weapons.
Covering obstacles greatly reduced their utility.
So Ji-myeong naturally assumed he'd aim for the major breach Ye-rin had created.
Instead, Jeong-hyeon targeted the opposite side—not her left flank, but the far right.
Pounded.
It wasn't the aptest term for Throwing Skill, but it fit now.
What else could describe that sight?
And here emerged the second reason for Ji-myeong's shock.
'Throwing three daggers at once...? No, how the hell?'
When Jeong-hyeon drew three daggers, Ji-myeong thought it was just to throw them in quick succession.
Who could predict he'd hurl them simultaneously?
Few hunters even used Throwing Skill traits, let alone with such proficiency—he'd never even heard of it.
Somehow harmonizing, the daggers sailed high over the hobgoblins' heads before plummeting onto the crossbow wielders' skulls.
Pure magic.
No other word for it.
Swoooosh—
He unleashed nine daggers in a flash, every one hitting true without a miss.
The right flank neared total collapse before the left one Ye-rin had directly shattered, a testament to how despairing Jeong-hyeon's Throwing Skill felt to the hobgoblins.
Imagine: daggers targeting only archers from above.
Even intelligent hobgoblins couldn't have anticipated that.
With both flanks routed, the momentum tilted absurdly to one side.
"Charge!"
Jeong-hyeon, now wielding a pickaxe instead of daggers, thrust it forward and shouted.
Won-ho led with shield and axe, barreling straight in.
Boom—
His A-Rank Level 4 Strength Enhancement easily shattered the disorganized hobgoblin formation.
Ji-myeong followed, beheading two hobgoblins with a single stroke.
They should have put up a fight normally, but they'd already lost the will to battle.
'What the hell is this party?'
From his early days as a hunter to his time in the Somyeong Guild.
In his not-insubstantial career, Ji-myeong had never felt this way.
Was there a gate this lineup couldn't clear?
After countless near-death scrapes in raids, it felt unreal.
But Jeong-hyeon gave him no time to process.
Kablooey—
'What now?'
No lightning mage in the party.
Monsters using traits had been confirmed, but none showed signs of magic.
Yet this was unmistakably the thunder of a lightning spell.
And it came from the right, where Jeong-hyeon had dashed.
Glancing that way, Ji-myeong froze mid-motion.
It was insanely risky amid hobgoblins, but they gaped at the same sight, so no harm came.
Kablooey—
"My God..."
Like exaggerated comic effects, hobgoblins flew into the air with each boom.
Jeong-hyeon was the cause, of course.
Every pickaxe swing unleashed a roar, sending hobgoblins along its path flying.
Was this really another hunter?
Senses far beyond his own.
Inexplicable Throwing Skill wizardry.
Power to scatter armored hobgoblins like ragdolls.
As Ji-myeong reeled from the impossible feats—
Crack—
Won-ho, having crushed a hobgoblin skull with his axe, glanced over and said.
"Just accept the boss is on another level. You'll freak out constantly otherwise and can't fight."
Sage advice bordering on truth.
With Ye-rin and Jeong-hyeon rampaging on both sides, even against hobgoblins, the fight wrapped up swiftly.
Ji-myeong even chuckled at their final desperation.
"Kigigigi!"
One let out a pathetic wail before turning tail.
The survivors followed suit.
Hunters fleeing monsters? Common.
Monsters fleeing hunters? Unheard of.
But mocking the goblins felt awkward.
'I'd run too...'
Any creature would instinctively sense the overwhelming gap.
Jeong-hyeon, naturally, didn't let them escape.
The system might watch anyway, but still.
"Where do you think you're going!"
He blocked the entrance they'd burst from, smashing a nearby one with his pickaxe.
With retreat cut off, the hobgoblins had no options.
Jeong-hyeon up front, Ye-rin and Won-ho behind—they fell in seconds.
The 40 hobgoblins—Level 6 troublemakers dubbed goblin kings—wiped out without a proper counter.
"Perfect warm-up."
"Hope the second floor's the same."
The two culprits casually brushed blood and flesh from their bodies and weapons while chatting.
"Hahaha."
Ji-myeong laughed again at the exchange.
Who else called 40 hobgoblins a warm-up?
He took Won-ho's advice to heart.
Like some comic parody, surrender brought peace.
"Ji-myeong, Sung-jun, everyone okay?"
"Yeah. You guys are... incredible."
Jeong-hyeon checked on the newcomers.
Ji-myeong just grinned silently, while Sung-jun nodded vigorously, stammering.
As a self-proclaimed Jeong-hyeon fan, his awe ran deeper.
What about Hwi-gon, the other first-timer?
'That guy's say he's fine even on death's door.'
No need to ask him separately.
Instead, Jeong-hyeon asked something else.
"What's supposed to spawn on the second floor in that Triang... whatever?"
"Uh... Triangle stats say orcs have the highest probability on floor two..."
Even Hwi-gon seemed stunned by Jeong-hyeon's performance, mumbling vaguely.
Hearing orcs were likely on the second floor, Jeong-hyeon's expression hardened.
'Huh?'
It was sudden for his usual nonchalance, puzzling Ji-myeong.
Orcs outclassed goblins conventionally, but that was ordinary.
He couldn't guess why Jeong-hyeon—who treated hobgoblins like snacks—reacted to orcs.
Jeong-hyeon had his reasons, though.
The Nagran Orcs that killed his parents came from Level 6 gates.
And the 'Tower of Repentance' was one such.
Not all Level 6 orcs were Nagran, but the association was inevitable.
Creak—
Then, the sealed stone door slid open with a grind.
As expected, stairs led upward.
"First floor down easy. Let's head to the second."
Jeong-hyeon smiled as if nothing happened and took the lead up the stairs.