Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Spirit Rage
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Unregistered hunters weren't necessarily F-rank.
It was just that almost everyone assumed they were F-rank.
Suyeon had been one of those people.
When Jin-uk said Jeonghyeon was an amazing unregistered hunter, she'd thought it meant he fought surprisingly well for an F-rank.
She figured it was just the whims of those flashy hunters, Junwon and Jin-uk, who took an interest in him.
The two had a tendency to obsess over weird things.
They'd poured so much effort into those projects, only to fail repeatedly and end up in positions below their talents.
She'd shaken her head, thinking that since they'd hitched their wagon to Chajunwon, they needed to get promoted for her to climb the ranks too—and this time it was a bust.
But now?
All she felt was betrayal, like she'd been played by some ridiculous con.
"Oh! Nice throw again!"
"Damn, how do you hit it every time? My spins keep missing."
Jeonghyeon had finished off the spirit once more.
Suyeon couldn't believe it, even as she diligently enchanted his weapons.
Of course, Jeonghyeon didn't hit every time.
The first one had ended with a lucky shot, but afterward, it usually took two or three throws.
'Even so, that hit rate doesn't make sense.'
If you could take down flying spirits that easily with daggers, the Spirit Forest Gate would be a flawless dream dungeon.
Right now, it felt like they were on a picnic.
But what baffled Suyeon most was how everyone else treated Jeonghyeon.
"Did you level up again or something?"
"For real, this can't be... no way an unregistered level 3 does this."
Even if they found it a bit odd, weren't they still seeing him as F-rank?
Even simply put, Sang-su the hunter was D-rank level 2, and Jeonghyeon was putting on a way better show.
She couldn't fathom where they got the idea he was F-rank.
'I probably shouldn't say this, but... are your eyes messed up or what?'
Suyeon muttered curses under her breath cautiously.
It was that frustrating.
She debated pointing it out but shook her head.
It wouldn't be polite to Jeonghyeon or the others.
Honestly, it was just shocking, not a real problem.
She was the newbie here, not in a position to call it out boldly.
'Honestly, if he throws daggers that well, the mace behind him must be for show. Or it's a total scam!'
She could only hope the world she knew wasn't quite this unfair.
At least the flying spirits meant no need for the mace, which was a relief.
If he was that good with throwing on top of wielding a mace well, she might lose faith in the world.
"Uh, let's keep going."
"Sounds good. Feels like we're gonna make bank today, right Suyeon Hunter?"
"Y-yeah..."
Jeong-ah approached her warmly, oblivious to her turmoil.
Suyeon nodded awkwardly in agreement.
She'd come ready to volunteer her talents for free, but this?
At this rate, they might earn as much as—or more than—a level 4 gate hunt.
Plus, the spirits kept coming at them relentlessly today.
"Wind spirit ahead! Circling at 9 o'clock!"
A gust blew through, and Jeonghyeon called out its position.
The guy even had top-tier senses.
Wind spirits were faint in form, and their speed made them hard to pinpoint, but Jeonghyeon nailed their locations effortlessly.
'If it was a vision-based trait, this would've been tough.'
Jeonghyeon had shifted to relying mostly on other senses over sight at some point.
It was especially handy for spotting hard-to-see monsters like these.
Sang-su's spell spread wide at Jeonghyeon's briefing.
Without precise targeting, widening the area was better.
The slow effect would weaken, but better than nothing.
Hoo—
Jeonghyeon steadied his breath quietly.
Hitting spirits wasn't easy for him either.
He had to throw in peak focus to even graze them, usually.
Fortunately, he'd built up some know-how.
Predict the spirit's seemingly erratic path, wait for it to enter his aimed spot.
When the imaginary point aligned perfectly with the spirit,
Shwick—
He launched the dagger, channeling that sensation through his fingertips.
'Huh? This one feels solid.'
Easy to say, but he'd rarely succeeded so far.
This time, though, a tingle shot up from his dantian the moment he threw.
Like it screamed success.
Jeonghyeon's instincts didn't fail him.
Thud.
The dagger pierced the spirit's core dead center in an instant.
[Proficiency level of 'Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities' (E) has increased from 1 to 2.]
A notification popped up before his eyes.
'Huh?'
It caught Jeonghyeon off guard.
'Well, I've had Physical Enhancement for a while now, so it's not that weird...'
'Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities' dated back to the 'Withered Corpse Hallway' hunt.
He'd used it steadily since, so leveling up now was overdue, really.
It boosted stats so broadly that it probably needed more EXP—that's what he'd vaguely thought.
'Is it linked to that sensation from earlier?'
His gut said the tingle when throwing wasn't unrelated.
Anyway, as his first E-rank trait—though Throwing Skill had overshadowed it lately—it was still top-notch.
He felt his sensory range expand and sharpen immediately.
Natural regen probably boosted too.
And the dagger in his hand felt refreshingly new.
'Is this how it grips?'
Sunhyeong asked as Jeonghyeon stared at it.
"What's up? Threw it too well?"
He couldn't exactly say he'd leveled up proficiency.
Jeonghyeon hesitated, then grinned awkwardly and nodded.
"Yeah, feels like I'm hogging all the kills. What now?"
"No way, this makes hunting easy! Keep it up!"
Sunhyeong replied cheerfully.
That was that.
Even when spirits started coming in pairs, it was no issue.
Suyeon's spot-on support and Jeonghyeon's ripened Throwing Skill—boosted by the level up—hit absurd accuracy.
Slick—
The lightning-enchanted dagger speared the water spirit's core.
The peak focus he'd needed before now felt like default.
Throw intervals shortened dramatically, speeding up the hunt noticeably.
"As expected of Hunter Han Jeonghyeon! You're turning the spirit realm upside down!"
"Whoa... accuracy, sense, speed—pure Han Jeonghyeon magic..."
The party members reacted, now used to his dagger tricks.
Suyeon thought,
'Whatever, I just enchant and they drop. Done.'
She laughed it off half in resignation with the group.
They'd already bagged dozens of spirit stones.
Spirits paid per stone, one per kill—jackpot.
If it kept like this, Suyeon might even want to join permanently.
But then,
"Watch out!"
Whoosh—
Flames erupted around them.
A ferocious blaze unlike before.
The chill mood flipped in a heartbeat, startling everyone as spirits surged from the fires.
Four in total.
Plus more of various elements joining from beyond—ten spirits surrounding them.
A whole different number.
Suyeon grimaced, biting her lip.
'I forgot!'
Distracted by Jeonghyeon's skill and the smooth hunt.
Spirit Rage.
An event triggered probabilistically from killing too many spirits too fast in a spirit realm gate.
Usually, you couldn't hunt enough to trigger it, and Suyeon had figured their specs weren't up to it anyway.
'No, that's for B-level parties and up!'
But no excuse for such a blunder.
Though unspoken, Suyeon was the over-spec member coordinating and leading.
Spirit Rage was tricky for another reason too.
"It's Spirit Rage! Not just the numbers—some switch to melee patterns, so be careful!"
Some ranged/evasive spirits turned close-range.
And airborne, they didn't target tanks predictably.
Random dive-bombs hit front and back indiscriminately.
Even low-tier spirit attacks weren't ignorable for squishy rears.
At Suyeon's call, the party closed ranks.
To let tanky Sunhyeong take most hits.
"I'll slow 'em first!"
Sang-su unleashed an AoE spell.
Slow was key for ranged attacks.
Prep work for the hunt, but
Crackle—
"They're nuts!"
Lightning spirits up front tanked it instead.
No surprise—lightning magic on lightning spirits? Ineffective.
Suyeon's mind raced.
'What now? Should I DPS? No, that'd cause more issues...'
She could handle it somewhat solo.
But then she'd neglect elsewhere.
Jeonghyeon and Jeong-ah's attacks wasted, plus Sunhyeong's tanking relied on her elements so far.
Blame Jeonghyeon's rampage for triggering it—they lacked the power to handle.
'Sigh, I should've reined it in...'
No changing it with sighs.
Minimize damage.
"First, fall b—"
Jeonghyeon's voice cut in.
"Suyeon, max enchant Sunhyeong and Jeong-ah! Sang-su, spells only on chargers!"
Suyeon whipped around, stunned.
Jeonghyeon glared at the hovering spirits, face stone-cold.
"What about you?"
Valid question—Jeonghyeon was top DPS.
Without her enchants, he couldn't dent them much.
Jeonghyeon met her eyes.
Even battle-hardened Suyeon flinched at his aura.
He grinned fiercely.
"I'll handle judging. Can you enchant on request?"
'...What?'
He seemed a totally different person, leaving her flustered.
"What're you planning?"
Instead of answering, Jeonghyeon drew his mace.