Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Second Puppet
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The concept behind the doll that emerged in the second phase was clear enough, even without anyone explaining it.
It used magic, and any ordinary wounds healed almost instantly.
'It’s wielding an axe, so it probably has strength enhancement traits on top of that.'
Based on the quest window’s information, it seemed to have absorbed all the other dolls’ traits except for the King’s Throwing Skill.
And with that alone, the thing was a catastrophic monster.
Putting it simply, wasn’t the quest reward 5 coins? That meant it was more than twice as strong as a Demi Drake.
By pure calculation, it was at least twice the power.
Boom—
“Guhk—”
Sun-il, who blocked the axe head-on to protect Ga-yoon, couldn’t hold and was flung far back.
This pattern had repeated from the start.
Honestly, with a B-Rank toughness trait, getting tossed aside so pathetically by a monster of the same grade was absurd.
It was a scene that clearly showed this guy was a whole rank or more above.
Thud—
Even with Sun-il’s sacrifice letting Ga-yoon swing her axe, it didn’t deal much damage.
The only thing with any effect was Jun-hyeon’s magic, but the doll canceled most of it out with its own spells, so it wasn’t a sharp solution.
‘A mission gate with two phases, and they expect us to take this thing down?’
Jeong-hyeon was a system beneficiary himself, but this was ridiculously unfair.
No, actually, even he had something to say in this situation.
A guy seemingly loaded with three, maybe four traits, rampaging like a maniac.
‘And I’ve got seven—why am I struggling like this?’
Jeong-hyeon, with his seven traits, couldn’t think of a strategy to take it down either.
Sure, his rank was lacking a bit, but this was a team composition fight, so the balance was broken.
But right now, there was no time to gripe about every little detail.
Their tank, Sun-il, was down.
Ga-yoon didn’t seem like she could properly handle that brute until the tank recovered.
‘I’ve got no choice but to step in.’
If no one in the party could tank it head-on, it was better to rely on Jeong-hyeon’s strength: evasion.
He’d had plenty of experience doing just that.
“Fall back!”
He pushed Ga-yoon behind him, swapped his dagger for the mace, and leaped in front of the doll.
Its red eyes locked onto the new hunter in front.
Of course, no words were needed, and the attacks came pouring in immediately.
Fortunately, unlike the mage doll, it didn’t use a variety of spells.
Whether its traits were nerfed or it was spread thin handling melee too, the only magic it used was Mana Bolt.
Jeong-hyeon focused on dodging the axe, taking the Mana Bolts with minimal hits to keep its attention.
It felt much more stable than when Sun-il was tanking.
A proper tank fights by stubbornly holding the front, whether the enemy prioritizes strength or agility.
But if you’re weaker than the opponent?
You just become a disposable shield.
“My god…”
Ji-woon, watching Jeong-hyeon from behind, gaped in shock.
He’d thought the king fight was impressive enough, but did this Jeong-hyeon guy still have more in reserve?
Sun-il might not have fully pulled off his tank role, but he was far from inadequate.
He was a member of the Jeongjin raid team, after all.
The position required stats well above average, plus personal skill and experience.
The red-eyed doll was just an outlier monster.
Yet here he was, holding his own against it—albeit on the defensive.
And he’d only been a hunter for about three months.
“Ji-woon, heal!”
“Y-Yes!”
At Jun-hyeon’s urging, Ji-woon quickly activated his healing trait on Jeong-hyeon.
Healing weakened over distance, so it wasn’t much help for frontline tanking, but Jeong-hyeon’s damage was so light it was enough.
Jun-hyeon, who’d prompted him, kept firing spells without pause.
‘Barely maintaining the status quo now.’
He didn’t show it, but Jun-hyeon was inwardly disappointed.
Jeong-hyeon was performing beyond expectations—honestly, better than anyone here—but even accounting for that, it was a stalemate.
Jeong-hyeon’s stamina wasn’t infinite; eventually, he’d eat a fatal hit.
Could they drop it before then?
Jun-hyeon couldn’t see a way.
He just kept casting because of Jeong-hyeon’s miraculous moves up front.
The other hunters, realizing the skill gap yet sticking to their roles, probably felt the same.
Before long, Jeong-hyeon had become the party’s core.
Scree—
A whoosh like an arrow slicing air.
And with it, an enormous amount of earth erupted from the ground.
It was hard to believe a single axe swing caused this.
‘Screw that 5-coin reward. I don’t need it!’
Suffering like this for just 5 coins?
Ridiculous.
He could hit a level 4 gate, hunt normally, and make that much far easier, safer, and more enjoyably.
He didn’t even need to dodge those axe blades that seemed ready to cleave him anytime.
Luckily, he was still avoiding attacks fine, and his endurance held, but the real issue was their damage output was next to nothing.
Jeong-hyeon’s mace or Ga-yoon’s axe occasionally hit the body or legs, but they healed right up.
In the end, Jeong-hyeon decided to risk a bit more and focus on offense.
“Tank for a sec!”
Sun-il charged in with his shield at Jeong-hyeon’s call.
His role had been minimal while Jeong-hyeon evaded, but there was no substitute when he fell back briefly.
‘Will it work?’
He’d never tested it, but he had to try either way.
It was inefficient, and even with Thought Acceleration, the tight evasion timing made it unusable up front.
But with Sun-il buying a moment, it was worth a shot.
A faint glow rose on the mace’s head.
‘It’s working, sort of…’
Jeong-hyeon was trying to boost the mace’s attack power using his Mana Sensitivity trait.
It wasn’t an element, but adding magic attack power might help a little.
As expected, it drained a ton of mental strength and took time.
That’s why he’d avoided maxing out Mana Sensitivity so far.
Enemies were visible to the eye, and Combat Sense was far more reliable than unfamiliar mana sensing.
‘Mana Bolt’s easy enough with Combat Sense anyway.’
Around then, Sun-il was getting pushed back again, straining to hold until Jeong-hyeon returned.
Dragging it out more would be dangerous.
He hadn’t wrapped the mace in enough mana to satisfy, but Jeong-hyeon charged back at the doll.
Magic Enchantment let you apply situational spells, unlike general magic traits like Mana Sensitivity or elemental ones.
And once enchanted, it didn’t need ongoing mana or mental effort, unlike maintaining general spells yourself.
That’s why Jeong-hyeon handled it himself, even if clumsily, instead of asking Jun-hyeon.
Jun-hyeon was busy blocking the doll’s spells—that was more critical anyway.
So, unlike before, Jeong-hyeon dove into combat with Mana Sensitivity cranked to max.
Crack—
‘It hit!’
The mace swung boldly on entry.
The effect didn’t betray him.
Not dramatic enough to shatter the doll in one blow, but a clear difference from before.
The caved-in thigh didn’t heal easily.
But before he could relax, a red line slashed horizontally across Jeong-hyeon’s body.
Almost simultaneously, the doll swept its axe sideways.
Jeong-hyeon threw himself toward the incoming attack.
The axe cleaved the air where he’d been, swinging far beyond.
He’d nearly lost his head slantwise the first time, caught off guard.
‘Not this time!’
Now, he rolled a full extra turn to dodge.
And smacked its back once more for good measure.
Maintaining Mana Sensitivity tightened his already razor-thin timings a notch more, but he had to stack damage somehow.
‘Huh?’
Evasion and attack chained in an instant.
Rising behind the doll’s back, Jeong-hyeon felt an odd incongruity.
‘What’s that?’
His eyes narrowed.
An extremely thin thread—unseen until now, barely visible even now—clung to the doll’s right arm.
Combat Sense hadn’t picked it up.
The only change was activating Mana Sensitivity.
Was it hyper-tension messing with his senses?
At that moment, his sensitivity caught the doll casting Mana Bolt again.
‘Whoa!’
Mana Sensitivity let him detect enemy spells early—handy.
It synced somewhat with Combat Sense’s attack prediction.
That prediction covered all attacks his senses could perceive, not just physical ones.
‘If I can dodge them all, it’d be useful.’
Of course, knowing ahead didn’t make evasion clean, so limited effect.
But with it active, creating barriers like against Mana Strike was handy.
For this attack, burrowing inside was better.
He’d think about the follow-up axe then.
Jeong-hyeon slammed into the doll’s torso in a flash.
He swung the mace too, but—
Clang—
It blocked with the axe haft.
Still, it got him close enough to see the faint patterns etched on the doll’s smooth body.
‘Definitely there.’
Up close, that strange thread was unmistakable.
And not just the right arm—left arm and both leg joints too.
Four threads total.
On a doll.
Knowing the range was too close against him, the doll shook him off with the haft, not the blade.
Jeong-hyeon leaped back, but something had already lodged deep in his mind.
Like he’d uncovered the doll’s deepest secret.
‘This… might just work.’