Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Fateful Day
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Chapter 54
"Everyone, good work!"
Could a sewage treatment plant ever feel this eco-friendly?
Finally escaping the 'Cockroach Sewer,' Jeong-hyeon ripped off his gas mask and shouted.
Of course, the taciturn team's atmosphere hadn't changed much.
While the others remained silent as ever, the warhammer hunter walking beside Jeong-hyeon suddenly spoke up.
Mr. Park, or something like that.
"How many years?"
"Pardon?"
It was just two syllables, but.
Blocked by the gas mask, Jeong-hyeon hadn't caught it properly, so Dae-hoon explained from the side.
"He's asking how many years you've been a hunter."
"Ah, it's been about two months now."
"Two months?"
'This guy's got a cool demeanor.'
However, contrary to what Jeong-hyeon felt, it was truly rare for the stoic Mr. Park to react this much.
A hunter who'd only been at it for two months was smashing cockroaches like that?
Even those who boasted of their vast experience often couldn't last a week in the sewers before fleeing.
"Trait?"
Mr. Park asked once more.
"Uh......"
Jeong-hyeon hesitated, wondering if he should answer.
But in the meantime, everyone's gazes had turned to him and Mr. Park.
"Come on, why ask an unregistered hunter something like that? He must have his reasons."
Sensing Jeong-hyeon's discomfort, Dae-hoon cut in.
He was just as curious, though.
"Still, it's impressive. The way you throw those daggers, you seem at least E-Rank Level 4. But your senses are sharp, and you handle the mace well too."
"Haha, I practice really hard."
"Well, practice is key, after all."
Dae-hoon nodded.
Of course, he didn't take Jeong-hyeon's words at face value.
He figured it had to be a high rank incomparable to theirs, but he just wasn't the type to pry into someone else's secrets.
"Anyway, here. Thanks to you."
Dae-hoon collected the containers from each team member and handed them to Jeong-hyeon.
Containers filled with cockroach essence.
After madly racing through the sewers following Dae-hoon and the team, they'd filled two per person for a total of sixteen.
That came to a whopping 4,800 in raw value.
Even that was only because they ran out of containers later and had to leave corpses behind—the number they'd slain was truly astronomical.
Knowing it was just essence, Jeong-hyeon still shuddered as he took the containers.
Under the sunlight, the sight of the thick green goo brought back nightmare visions from the sewers.
He'd thought he'd adapted somewhat, but once outside, it all came flooding back.
Seeing that, Dae-hoon burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, you were catching them as well as us in there. Anyway, hunting with you was fun today."
"Ugh, yeah. For me too."
"You sure you don't want more for the split? I feel kinda bad."
"It's fine. I didn't do much."
Dae-hoon tried to give him an extra container of essence, but Jeong-hyeon refused.
They'd all participated diligently without complaint, and more importantly, he liked these people.
They offered him more from the hunt payout too, but he turned it down for the same reason.
Truth be told, even without greed, his share of essence alone was worth 600, plus separate cockroach bounties and government subsidies.
By earnings, it was a huge score.
But Jeong-hyeon's expression wasn't all smiles.
'Coins don't pay much here.'
A measly 8 coins.
For Jeong-hyeon soloing nearly 100 cockroaches, it felt pitiful.
Why was that?
First, cockroach drop rates were bizarrely low.
Mostly in the low 20% range, dipping to 10% at worst.
Plus, there was the 「Trait Shop」 limitation Jeong-hyeon had overlooked.
[- The more you hunt the same type of monster, the lower the coin drop rate from that monster becomes.]
Hunting the same monster repeatedly reduced coin acquisition chances accordingly.
'The last fights had 9% ones.'
Likely a measure to prevent massacring low-difficulty gates relative to his level, but in effect, cockroaches and Jeong-hyeon's 「Trait Shop」 were a bad match.
"Hit us up anytime you want to hunt together. The team liked you too."
"Yeah, I'll contact you if there's a chance."
Of course, while he said that in front of Dae-hoon and the others,
'I swear I won't step into another quantity-grind gate like this!'
It was also why he was seething inside.
And that frustration led Jeong-hyeon to one resolution.
He currently had 15 coins.
But he had no intention of squandering the coins he'd painstakingly scraped together through near-death struggles.
He at least deserved to feel the thrill of a gacha pull once!
'I won't open the shop until I have 30 coins.'
On the way home, Jeong-hyeon's eyes blazed.
15 coins would surely melt away like snow under summer sun anyway.
Better to save up a big sum and invest at once!
Just looking at the C-Rank movement speed trait brazenly occupying a slot in the list made his blood boil.
And that day, seven new ratings appeared on Jeong-hyeon's profile.
- Sewer Foreman (5/5): A hunter you can trust to hunt with. Even if he really has multiple traits, I'd believe it. Awesome!
- Park (5/5)
- Kim Bro (5/5)
- Sewer Hammer (5/5)
- WishICouldRipCockroachWings (5/5)
- Sewer Healer (5/5)
- WishCockroachesWouldBurn (5/5)
***
"Kekeke......"
A month later, the fateful day arrived.
[Current Coins: 35]
Jeong-hyeon had successfully amassed 35 coins.
Seeing the grand number under the shop list, he couldn't help but tear up.
"The hell I went through to gather these......"
To get here, he'd cleared four Level 4 gates!
They'd been smooth hunts without incidents, so no life-threatening risks.
But to Jeong-hyeon, who'd been dragged through near-death mishaps before, they felt dull.
And in that time, he'd realized,
'I've just been insanely lucky with coins so far.'
Demon possessed or incarnation of bad luck or whatever, his luck had actually been good.
Hadn't he cleared several hidden achievements?
Plus sudden quests.
Risk and coin yields were proportional.
Without side income, repeating safe hunts made even the same rates feel grindy for coins.
But that was all in the past now.
Now, it was time for him to cash in his rewards.
[Equippable Slots (5/5)
「Decent Combat Sense」(E, Lv.3)
「Markedly Agile Movement」(D, Lv.2)
「Slight Enhancement of Physical Abilities」(E, Lv.3)
「Fairly Sharp Throwing Skill」(D, Lv.2)
「Stealth that Fools Goblin Eyes」(E, Lv.2)
Storage Slots (0/8)
Current Active Trait Synergies: 『The Best Defense is Evasion』(E), 『Without Eyes to See, That's Assassination』(E)」
Even dull hunts steadily built proficiency experience.
It was just dull by Jeong-hyeon's standards—average for normal hunters.
As a result, combat sense and physical ability passives rose to Level 3.
Stealth trait hit Level 2 too.
Level 4 gates made low-rank traits level up nicely.
With five traits synergizing into massive efficiency for Level 4 gates, that's why he went in.
E-Rank Levels 2-3 in a Level 4 gate?
Normally, extremely risky.
'Combat sense and physicals feel noticeably better, and stealth's cooldown reduction is great.'
Stealth was honestly tricky to use.
Until higher ranks, it couldn't fully fool Level 4 monsters' eyes, and cooldown was long post-use.
So, only once per fight at start.
But at Level 2, cooldown dropped noticeably.
With aggressive use, twice per fight—efficiency jumped.
Plus, daggers neatly displayed in his room corner.
Now doubled to twenty.
Ten felt short, so he'd bought more from Doil's forge.
- For Level 4 gates, marium starts falling short. How about doranium? Much better quality.
As usual, swayed by Doil's words, doranium daggers from Doranum Gate.
Twice the price of his usuals: 1,400 each.
Ironically felt like a loss despite the bargain, but what could he do?
Once seen, he had to buy, tears streaming from regret.
A third of his savings vanished in a chunk.
- You must be making good money?
At least Yu-jeong's less hostile attitude was a gain.
Though to get that, he'd bluntly told her she'd improved a lot.
"But that's not important now!"
Proficiency levels?
Money?
Connections?
Whatever.
Right now, Jeong-hyeon had 35 coins for the trait shop.
A jackpot could reverse his life, right?
"Money shot" wasn't just real-world slang.
'Trait list.'
As always, five lines unfurled before his eyes.
Nothing special since last check.
[「Excellent Movement Speed」(C, Lv.1), 4C]
Except the one shining garishly in copper frame.
Sighing deeply at its overwhelming presence, surprisingly,
[You have purchased 「Excellent Movement Speed」(C, Lv.1).]
He bought the movement speed trait he'd always scorned.
Splurged 4 coins!
He had his reasons.
'This damn system clearly only shows crap I skip.'
Honestly, movement speed had appeared way too often.
Especially the shock of F, E, Ds flooding before.
When the system toys with you, exploit the gaps.
Buy this C-Rank movement speed, and maybe the system thinks:
Gasp, have I been played all this time?
Maybe this hunter desperately needs movement speed?
What a mind games master......
Of course, not that detailed, but enough to confuse any algorithm.
"Better. From now on, hoard every movement speed. S-Rank? Possible."
Even movement speed, rank is king—C-Rank was fine, S-Rank would rock.
Though 7 coins for S-Rank would make hands shake.
Now 31 coins left.
"Refresh."
Jeong-hyeon's month-long grind fueled the gamble.