Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Undying Loyal Subject
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"Ugh, that was seriously close to death."
Jeong-hyeon stuck out his tongue as he plummeted toward the ground.
It was a situation where anyone would have thought his death was certain.
But the reason he'd survived that worst possible moment was actually something very simple.
His C-Rank trait, Useful Mana Sensitivity.
Up until now, the only way Jeong-hyeon had used this trait was to observe how mages cast their spells. But this time, he'd hastily gathered mana and barely managed to erect a crude barrier in front of his torso.
'Thought Acceleration pairs way better with magic than I expected.'
Magic was ultimately a battle of time.
Whoever cast faster, whoever struck first and responded better.
In that sense, Jeong-hyeon's Thought Acceleration was practically cheating.
Without it this time, he wouldn't have even gotten the barrier up before the mana moved and the attack hit him.
Of course, he knew full well that would've resulted in him being bisected.
Up to the point of blocking the Mana Bolt, Jun-won might have noticed his Mana Sensitivity, but since it wouldn't have been lethal even if it hit, he'd let it slide. This time was different.
Better to reveal traits after surviving.
What good were they if he was dead?
That's why he'd thrown up the barrier in a desperate bid for survival first and foremost. Luckily, it had all happened so suddenly that even Jun-won didn't seem to have caught on properly.
All around were just stunned looks of 'How is that guy still alive?'
Having overcome the crisis, Jeong-hyeon's task was simple.
Kill that dumbstruck king doll standing there.
He launched the dagger in his hand straight into the air.
It might lack power and precision compared to throwing from the ground, but waiting to land risked the mage doll pulling some other trick.
'That guy's not dodging this anyway.'
And Jeong-hyeon was confident it would be enough.
*Whish—*
Even compared to a ground-based throw, his dagger was still vicious.
*Creak—*
Only then did the king doll slowly turn its head toward the incoming dagger.
Jeong-hyeon and the hunters had traded blows with the dolls several times by now, but in absolute terms, it had all happened in an incredibly short span.
The doll's reaction speed wasn't all that slow by those standards.
Precise enough to match its D-Rank level, one might say.
*Thunk—*
With a crisp sound, the dagger pierced straight through the doll's head.
It wasn't just the blade—the hilt sank in deep, up to the first knuckle of his fingers.
Against other dolls, this attack wouldn't have inflicted such damage, but the king doll apparently didn't have great durability either.
And that was the end of it.
"Huh?"
Ga-yoon and Sun-il, at the forefront of the razor-sharp exchanges where failing to dodge meant instant death, looked shocked.
The dolls that had been fiercely clashing with them until moments ago froze in place, as if their power source had been cut.
The blue glow flickering in their sunken eye sockets indeed faded away smoothly, so it wasn't far off the mark.
All the dolls stopped moving.
The healer swept away by the mana wave, the mage—every last one.
Moments later, they began crumbling from the limbs outward, dissolving into dust.
"Hoo..."
Jeong-hyeon, who had closed in on the king by now, let out a sigh.
There had been a few hairy moments along the way, but fortunately, he'd taken down the king quickly.
"Hunter Han Jeong-hyeon, are you alright?"
Jun-won, who had helped him escape those crises, rushed over in a hurry.
He inspected Jeong-hyeon's torso, which looked like it had taken a direct Mana Strike hit.
The leather armor was torn, with a bit of blood seeping out, but it wasn't a serious wound.
In truth, even that was already healing fast thanks to Jeong-hyeon's natural regeneration.
"How..."
Jun-won was startled to see the injury was far lighter than expected.
A Mana Bolt could be withstood if the leather armor was good quality.
But a Mana Strike would tear through even chainmail, leaving major wounds.
Jeong-hyeon gave an awkward smile in response.
"Well... got lucky with the dagger. Glad I didn't die."
"Man... really lucky. That was way too dangerous."
Only then did Jun-won check the daggers lined across Jeong-hyeon's chest and abdomen.
Sure enough, several around the wound area were badly bent.
'Truth is, the daggers nearly made it worse.'
If the barrier had formed, the daggers would've shattered first.
Without the barrier, even if his body hadn't been cleaved, the daggers would've caused severe injuries.
In any case, Jeong-hyeon clicked his tongue as he looked down at the damaged daggers.
He didn't need as many now that Black auto-retrieved, but still.
'These things cost a fortune each!'
They were bought with his hard-earned blood money, so it stung.
Maybe Doil could repair them if he took them back.
As he thought that, the other hunters gathered around him.
"You okay?"
"How could you even think of assassinating the king? You could've gotten us all killed!"
From a normal perspective, having the king kill the king was recklessly suicidal, so the party members grumbled at him.
Of course, it came from genuine worry rather than the initial hostility, so it didn't bother him much.
"Sorry. Seemed doable."
But Jeong-hyeon had his reasons for being confident.
He wouldn't have launched a suicidal special assault otherwise.
The king's sloppy movements had played a big part in his decision to take it down personally.
The initial dagger at Ji-woon the healer, the half-hearted checks in between—they were embarrassingly amateur compared to Jeong-hyeon's attacks.
And beyond throwing daggers, it did nothing else.
Most tellingly, it didn't even have a mace, despite being a backup weapon.
Putting it all together, the king doll screamed one thing to Jeong-hyeon.
'This guy's got nothing but Throwing Skill?'
The dolls seemed to copy the weapons and traits of the hunters they faced.
But in Jeong-hyeon's case?
Could they really copy all seven traits, synergies and all?
That doubt had him watching the king's moves from the start.
Even if the highest was just C-Rank, combinations of multiple traits and synergies were devastating.
If they copied his exactly and even boosted them a bit, the difficulty would've been hopeless.
But Jeong-hyeon's trait, 「Trait Shop」, was EX-Rank.
Literally outside the system.
So the copying dolls could only snag his Throwing Skill—one D-Rank skill was meager defense in a fight swarming with B-Ranks.
Jeong-hyeon had climbed this far not because of one strong trait, but because he could leverage their combinations.
And in the end, his guess hit the mark perfectly, clearing the mission at a difficulty that felt almost anticlimactic for the king alone.
'Huh?'
But soon Jeong-hyeon tilted his head.
After the king died, the king doll had crumbled to dust too.
Yet its daggers remained where it had vanished.
'What about the others?'
"Jeong-hyeon, what's wrong?"
Checking around just in case, Jeong-hyeon scanned hurriedly.
The nearby mage and healer had fully vanished, weapons included.
Then the tank and melee DPS?
The moment he turned to the distant frontline where they'd fought—
A chill ran up Jeong-hyeon's spine.
"Why hasn't that one disappeared?"
"Huh?"
At his urgent question, everyone looked over.
The melee DPS doll was still there, intact.
"Yeah, everything else is gone... why that one..."
To Jeong-hyeon, who knew everything, the gate had been a breeze. To the others, it was far tougher than average.
So they'd naturally assumed it was cleared.
No clear message, no artifact reward yet.
Maybe that doll was the artifact?
Too optimistic, given the ominous vibe.
The mission wasn't over.
And as if confirming his gut, an alert popped up.
[SUDDEN COIN QUEST: 'Undying Loyal Subject' ACTIVATED
The king is dead, but his loyal subject, consumed by grudge, lives on.
The subject's powerful grudge has inherited its comrades' abilities.
In the king's name, lay the loyal subject to rest.
Objective: Silence the Enraged Doll
Reward: 5 Coins]
"It's not over yet!"
Jeong-hyeon shouted.
Snapping to attention, Jun-won and the hunters hastily reformed ranks toward the melee DPS doll.
Really not over?
They clung to that doubt, but Jeong-hyeon—who they'd proven himself by slaying the king—led, and instinct followed.
As they tensed, glaring at the doll's back—
*Creak—*
Its head rotated 180 degrees.
Unlike the prior blue glow, its eyes now blazed red.
"Isn't this a bit much?"
"Yeah."
Sun-il grumbled, Ga-yoon chiming in.
But their trembling voices betrayed more than mere complaint.
They'd experienced the dolls' difficulty firsthand more than anyone.
Phase two meant it was clearly stronger than the first wave—worry was natural.
"Still, just one this time... we'll manage somehow."
Even Jun-won, steadying the group as leader, didn't look confident.
Jeong-hyeon couldn't gauge its attack pattern either.
With his EX-Rank traits, clearing had been easy—otherwise, impossible difficulty.
Slightly buffed over hunters, but those buffs accumulated to unbeatable defeat.
Plus, suspiciously, it was giving them prep time.
'What the hell is it planning?'
If it had charged right at phase start, he'd chalk it up to lacking skill.
This leisurely wait was more unnerving.
*Creak-creak—*
As if toying with their tension, the doll twisted each joint until fully facing them.
How long did that lopsided tension last?
Finally, the doll made its first move.
"What?"
"What the...!"
Jeong-hyeon and Jun-won cried out in shock.
Not a charge or swing with its ferocious axe.
Jeong-hyeon tensed every muscle beyond limit, screaming inwardly.
'No, this is straight-up bullshit!'
Truth be told, seeing the quest, he'd half-wondered, really half-wondered.
But he never dreamed it'd actually happen.
*Pa-pa-pa-bam—*
"Fuck!"
Sun-il, facing sudden Mana Bolts incoming, blocked with his shield instead of dodging.
Felt as potent as the mage doll's spells.
A melee DPS casting magic?
Jeong-hyeon, with his own seven traits, faced a multi-trait foe for the first time.
And his honest take?
'No, this is just thuggish cheating, right?'