Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Rock Spider Assault
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Jeonga looked up at the ceiling and shouted.
Rock Spiders didn't just come from the ground like humans would, of course.
Proving that point, the first attack came from above.
"I'll aim for between its eyes first!"
Ping—
She loosed an arrow into the pitch-black darkness, too fast for ordinary eyes to even track.
Her level had gone up, and her aim was much cleaner than before. The arrow's speed was nothing to scoff at now, either.
"Kieek!"
It hit.
But not exactly between the eyes, as she'd declared.
She'd struck one of the eyes nearby. It seemed to hurt badly, but the rest of its eyes burned even brighter.
Its movements didn't seem hampered at all.
In the end, she'd only succeeded in stoking the spider's rage further.
Jeonga might just be the biggest victim in this party.
Thanks to Sunhyeong's laziness, they were only facing the mismatched foes.
In any case, while Jeong-hyeon was lost in those thoughts, the spiders drew closer by the second.
"Jeong-hyeon, get ready for impact!"
"Got it!"
Sunhyeong raised his shield and called out without looking back.
Rock Spiders were nicknamed "Head Hunters."
They'd drop from above their prey and sever the neck in one swift strike.
It wasn't a surprise attack this time, but their basic instincts hadn't changed.
Jeonga's second arrow hit a leg, but not the third one.
Hitting a specific leg on a target moving at that speed was no easy task to begin with.
A Rock Spider soon appeared above Sunhyeong's head, coiling its body before diving straight down.
Boom—
The clash of spider and steel was unbelievable.
Its razor-sharp chelicerae scraped against the shield, sending sparks flying.
This much was expected.
Now came the rehearsed sequence of maneuvers.
"Hup!"
Priority one: shake off the spider clinging to the shield.
Jeong-hyeon swung his mace with all his might at its third leg, loosening the spider's grip.
The moment he felt it give, Sunhyeong slammed his shield into the ground, dislodging the spider.
"Sang-su!"
"Okay!"
At Sunhyeong's call, a flash of light streaked in from behind.
Sang-su's lightning magic.
Zzzap.
It had passed awfully close to Jeong-hyeon, but that had to be his imagination.
Even Rock Spiders, with their relatively high lightning resistance compared to other monsters, couldn't fully shrug off electricity as living creatures.
"Kigigik—"
The spider writhed on its back in agony.
But it showed no signs of dying anytime soon.
"It won't die from that?"
Sang-su sounded a bit surprised as he fired off another spell.
Only after the follow-up did the Rock Spider slowly curl its legs and perish.
The smell of burning flesh filled the narrow cave.
Jeong-hyeon turned his gaze from the spider to Sang-su, who'd just unleashed two lightning bolts in quick succession.
'Got some mana to spare?'
Mages usually traded sustainability for raw firepower.
Casting spells drained a ton of mental energy, and their absolute mana pools weren't generous.
That was why they said mages needed as much innate talent as traits.
It was common knowledge that mages held back on spells once the battle tipped in their favor.
Even when Sunhyeong or Jeong-hyeon could finish things off with strikes, here was Sang-su showing off his firepower subtly.
He clearly had some skill to him.
'Well, Jeongjin Guild wouldn't scout just anyone. Huh?'
As those thoughts crossed his mind, Jeong-hyeon felt a twinge of doubt.
The moment he'd confirmed the kill, their eyes had met.
Sang-su hadn't looked away. Instead, he'd flashed a smug grin.
'Look at this guy.'
Had catching that first spider solo boosted his confidence?
That glint in his eye suggested the near-miss on Jeong-hyeon hadn't been pure chance, either.
It screamed, 'Bet you can't do this.'
Jeong-hyeon shook his head.
A D-rank getting competitive with an F-rank like that was pathetic enough on its own.
His skills weren't half-bad, but pathetic was pathetic.
To Jeong-hyeon—who'd endured killing intent from Jucheol and Hee-su—it was trivial.
"Ooh~ Sang-su, you've improved, huh?"
"Hahaha, yeah, I got some tips from Senior Chae Jun-won."
"Chae Jun-won? That B-rank mage from Jeongjin?"
"Yeah, he's the one who scouted me, and since we're both mages..."
Sang-su was beaming ear-to-ear, basking in even Jeonga's praise.
To physical fighters, mages were pure fantasy.
Their flashy displays alone were something else, fighting on a whole different mechanic even as fellow hunters.
Hadn't Jeong-hyeon himself been awed by Hee-su's magic at first?
'If he just stuck to doing his job, he'd be a decent guy.'
Leaving the puffed-up Sang-su behind, Jeong-hyeon drew his utility knife and approached the Rock Spider.
Sunhyeong sidled up quietly.
"Where do you harvest Rock Spiders?"
"The claws are popular, then the belly shell. Females have poison sacs too, but this one's male."
"Belly? Isn't there tougher stuff elsewhere?"
"Well... according to the foreman, the shape's no good for gear... too bulky too."
"Ah, got it."
He questioned it briefly but nodded at Jeong-hyeon's answer.
Rock Spider carapaces were tough, no doubt.
Even where Jeong-hyeon had smashed with his mace, it was only scarred, not shattered.
But who would wear gear from something this grotesque?
Demand existed, but the price-to-volume ratio sucked.
"Speaking of, you seem way stronger since your level-up. You spotted it first earlier too—these things have a nasty rep, but you nailed the weak spot and it just folded."
Jeong-hyeon's hand paused mid-extraction of a claw.
Had Sunhyeong, fighting beside him, pieced it together?
A lot had happened mid-fight, but objectively, it was a short time.
Jeong-hyeon had his excuse ready, though.
"Ah, I've been practicing on corpses. I know exactly where to hit to make 'em collapse now."
"As expected, you're a hard worker, Jeong-hyeon. Zombies and skeletons too?"
"You bet. Even splurged on new gear. This stuff's no joke."
Jeong-hyeon rolled his shoulders demonstratively.
Gear made a difference—it wasn't nonsense.
He hadn't gone all-out yet, but Doil's equipment was incredible.
Unlike stiff rentals, it felt like casual clothes—exaggeration aside.
Yet it supported joints firmly, easing exertion and reducing freak injury risks.
Sunhyeong's eyes lit up as he eyed Jeong-hyeon's armor.
"No wonder it looks premium. Taedan orc leather, right? Where'd you get it?"
As a tank, Sunhyeong favored metal armor.
He wore a mix now: half chainmail, half leather.
Quality leather hinted at metal quality too.
Asking the source was fair.
"You know the Association workshop?"
"Workshop...? Oh..."
The fire in Sunhyeong's eyes dimmed fast at Jeong-hyeon's answer.
Any hunter with experience had heard of it.
Mostly bad things, though.
Sunhyeong was probably cursing himself for asking, figuring it was cheap crap.
"You're no ordinary guy. Most hit up online or shops."
"Ran short on cash."
Sunhyeong now looked at Jeong-hyeon with pity.
"Let's make bank today anyway."
"......? Yeah, sure."
He wondered why the pitying stare, but the money motive was spot-on, so Jeong-hyeon nodded.
Sunhyeong stepped back to let him focus, then started humming.
"Shall we~ tear~ apart~ this Ro~ck Spi~der~"
A single Rock Spider fetched around 800,000 won.
Riskier than zombies or skeletons, but the payout dwarfed them.
Plus,
'Rock Spiders aren't half-bad.'
These were the weaker ones compared to deeper in, but he'd handled their moves with ease.
'Boss mob might be tough.'
The boss info from before entry flashed by, but he brushed it off.
They weren't delving that deep this hunt.
Otherwise, they'd turn tail without a glimpse.
More importantly,
'Time to test this out.'
Jeong-hyeon glanced at the daggers on his belt.
He'd brushed off questions about bringing so many with a vague "been practicing throws."
Truth was, he'd gotten the D-rank trait—and planned to practice here, no time before.
"See, I show off my magic and they freak out? My proficiency's better than they thought."
"Yeah, yeah, you're amazing."
Behind him, Sang-su was still regaling Jeonga with his tales.
Jeong-hyeon smirked.
Wonder if he'd boast so boldly after daggers started flying.
***
Rock Spiders weren't just ugly—their every move grated on the nerves.
Scrape-scrape—
Like that distant scrabbling approach.
For Jeong-hyeon, who sensed presences far sharper than others, it was especially irksome.
Might as well be nails on a chalkboard.
Not just the attacking spiders—the cave echoed with distant skitters too. Stress levels were off the charts.
'Three this time?'
The numbers were up.
So far, lone stragglers had come one by one.
"They're coming. Three this time."
"Everyone, get ready!"
They'd questioned it at first, but now the party took Jeong-hyeon's word as gospel.
Even Sang-su prepped his magic without a peep when alerted.
To him, Jeong-hyeon was now a premium radar—or a money-duplicator.
But things were about to change.
Three up close was pushing it.
Telling them to target the third leg sounded easy, but their ferocity made clean hits rare.
They needed to preempt one.
"Huh? Using a dagger?"
Jeonga noticed Jeong-hyeon gripping his mace in one hand, drawing a dagger with the other.
"Yeah, haven't done much so far. Just backing you up, Jeonga."
"Well, any contribution's good—even with daggers."
Sang-su sniped whenever he spotted an opening.
Ignoring him, Jeong-hyeon watched Jeonga nock her arrow and readied his throw.
He couldn't quantify Throwing Skill's range or corrections yet, but he had a feel.
Throw like this, and it'd arc that way, embed like so.
'If that adaptation ticket fed me that nightmare pain for this little, I'd file a complaint.'
Jeong-hyeon shuddered, recalling the adaptation ticket's agony.
It reshaped the body to fit traits, pure pain.
Like his sense traits, Throwing Skill was etched into him naturally.
'30m, 25m, 20m...'
He counted distances silently.
He could hit now, but first throws deserved visual confirmation.
Plus, following Jeonga's shot was tactical.
"Legs this time!"
Ping—
Jeonga's arrow flew first, as expected.
Early shots had whiffed narrowly, but she'd adapted—the arrows closed in on the told weak spot: the third leg.
And this time,
"Kiririk!"
"Hit!"
It sank perfectly into the junction of third leg and body.
The spider, scampering across the ceiling, couldn't withstand the nerve shock and tumbled, flailing.
It'd stay down about ten seconds.
Plenty of time for a finisher.
Confirming it, Jeong-hyeon hurled the dagger.
Whoosh—
A whistle rivaling an arrow.
Slicing air and shadow, the dagger
Thunk—
"Kik?"
"Huh?"
tore straight between the eyes, hilt-deep no less.
The spider dropped dead on impact,
Thud.
With a cheery chime to boot.
[You have acquired 1 coin.]
"What the—how...? Urk!"
Sunhyeong, slow on the uptake, braced his shield just as the second spider closed in.
Jeong-hyeon, shaking off the one on his shield, was the most stunned.
'This... is D-rank?'
D-rank's effect was beyond expectations.