Chapter 39
Mines only explode when you step on them.
The path of the Pig Three Brothers had no trigger points for the mines. They only activated if deliberately pressed.
Kieeeek!
The lead Wild Boar turned into a skewer. The ones following slammed on the brakes in panic, but their momentum carried them forward. They tangled into a chaotic mess.
Kuueeeek! Kuueeeek!
Screams erupted from between their tusks. Seo Wonseok immediately broke into a full sprint.
Even as he ran himself, control was tricky. It was because of the level up. Having surpassed level 20, Seo Wonseok was now a proper Hunter.
With this much Agility, weaving through the spikes is child's play.
He swiftly hurled himself toward the boars. Right after, Blood Collection Stickers rained down on the Pig Three Brothers like a shower. However, coated in Red Slime, they were hard to spot with the naked eye. That was why Seo Wonseok had leaped to his position. He didn't want them spotting his trump card, the Blood Collection Sticker.
He activated the Blood Collection Sticker's ability.
By the way, he'd bought extras since it seemed like he'd need a lot.
Thanks to that, his Credit account was starving again...
The smiley stickers plumped up like barnacles fattened on flesh.
Of course, with the boars the size of houses, this number of stickers would barely kill them— it was a close call.
The effect of the Golden Die is applied.
Die shows ‘5’, so acquisition items are increased by 1.5x.
Blood flowed up the spikes, defying gravity in a bizarre spectacle.
Keeeek! Kkeeeek! Kkeeek...
The boars gradually lost strength.
Finally, heads thudded to the ground. The Pig Three Brothers were practically mummies. It had all happened in an instant.
“……”
“……”
“Hoo…”
Seo Wonseok used Hemo's fins to retrieve the Blood Collection Stickers. Their large bodies meant a lot of blood. Hemo's storage space would expand nicely.
Glancing back, Jeong Hamin and Han Biyeol looked utterly stunned.
It was a cheat hunt possible only under cover of darkness. Seo Wonseok wanted to hide the fact that he lacked proper combat skills.
These monsters were taken down with Hunter Store purchases, after all.
“……”
“……”
Hm?
The respawn time is taking too long?
“Hup.”
His head spun suddenly.
Ah, damn. He'd shown off too much. Come to think of it, he had chronic anemia. With contractual subordinates nearby,
he felt like he might collapse. If things went south, he'd scrape against the spikes. Seo Wonseok pulled out the Blood Mirror.
Puk.
Using it as a staff, he stabbed it into a boar's corpse to steady his wobbling balance.
Can't get too cocky just because I leveled up.
Reflecting, he lifted his head.
There, the two hunters stared at him, their eye sockets noticeably wider than before…
Wild Boars kept spawning one after another. I handled the beasts in similar fashion.
I made full use of the forest's thick darkness, sending Hemo crawling along the ground.
The moment a beast entered range.
Keeeek!
Hemo detonated the mine in sync.
By this method, I'd identified five types of mines so far.
Spicy level 1: Vine Mine.
Level 2: Fly Hell Mine.
Level 3: Spike Mine.
Level 4: Poison Spray Mine.
…Let's stop there.
“Hoo.”
After running for a good while, we'd made solid progress. EXP poured in generously. It'd been ages since I'd sweated for my own EXP.
As we advanced, the pressure from the massive ancient tree grew heavier in real time.
Like an umbrella for a giant. Even dying, it exuded a chilling presence.
I suddenly glanced back.
“……”
“……”
Why have these guys been so quiet?
They're blatantly icing me out.
Just then, Jeong Hamin spoke up first, as if seizing the moment.
“Hey, Seo Hunter… that thing earlier.”
“What?”
“When you finished the boars and stabbed your sword in…”
Ah.
The move I'd made from exhaustion.
Jeong Hamin hemmed and hawed before continuing.
“Was that some kinda ritual or ceremony?”
“Aren't those the same thing?”
“Not like that…”
“It was meaningless.”
“……Meaningless to crucify a dead beast?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Silence fell again.
Chirrp, chirrp.
Crickets provided the serene backdrop—until a discordant note intruded.
We all turned toward the sound in unison.
A human shadow staggered down a bend in the path, panting heavily. He looked familiar to me and the two thugs. The hunter's features were too distinctive.
“Hunters, huh.”
It was the North Ocean Guild Master. Namgung Hyunil leaned on a rock with his hand, stumbling forward.
“Haa… I heard voices and hoped… Thank God, really.”
Namgung Hyunil was a wreck. His state was as pitiful as a white deer. How was he even walking? His left eyepatch looked the most intact.
“Damn! Those fairies… our entire North Ocean… everyone… lost!”
The head of the No. 5 guild was suddenly rambling deliriously.
“……”
“……”
“……”
We three exchanged quiet glances.
These two hunters had realized something while fighting alongside me.
Besides, Namgung Hyunil's awakening ability was an open secret in Hunter society.
“Seo Hunter.”
Jeong Hamin brushed past me.
“Seo Hunter's power isn't great for subduing foes, so we'll take the spotlight here!”
“No blood.”
Jeong Hamin grinned slyly.
“We'll do our best.”
Jeong Hamin gripped his short crossbow in both hands. Han Biyeol silently drew his curved sword.
“……Damn it.”
Namgung Hyunil squinted his remaining right eye.
Right then, presences of three people surrounded us. Namgung Hyunil's subordinates hidden in the brush.
“How…”
I cut him off.
“Eyepatch is on the wrong side.”
“……!”
“And a guild master who robs people in gates wouldn't whine like you.”
Namgung Hyunil's awakening was Doppelganger.
A rare special ability to summon a clone.
And that doppelganger was the key to conquering the Greenbelt Gate.
“Capture alive.”
My order dropped, and the R&Y hunters struck the North Ocean guild members.
Until now, I'd hunted the Wild Boars myself.
—No blood.
Citing what seemed a reasonable rationale.
But depending on the listener, it could come off as self-serving logic.
Especially from R&Y, who recruited without background checks? They could've turned it around: "What bullshit is that? Cocky bastard—kill him."
Even if it were true.
Hunters on Han Biyeol or Jeong Hamin's level
would've timed it perfectly, slitting throats without a drop of blood. That's how skilled they were.
Yet,
I'd personally exterminated every Wild Boar I saw, anemia be damned…
Because I didn't want these two scumbags looking down on me.
And to subtly assert my authority when I needed them.
All my bloody effort was groundwork to gaslight these two hunters.
And I'd seen the payoff just now.
“……Urk……”
“Quit whining.”
Namgung Hyunil.
More precisely, his doppelganger—pinned under Jeong Hamin.
R&Y really only picks lunatics.
Of course, the doppelganger output only about a third of the original's power.
I knew that from a past-life interview excerpt.
Hunter bravado, probably.
Even factoring everything in, R&Y hunters were exceptional. No denying it.
Undeniably.
I scanned the surroundings.
“……”
The landscape had changed in a flash.
Trees within a 30-meter radius lay felled like dominoes.
As if a meteor had struck only around us.
Clashes between top guilds like R&Y and North Ocean were localized disasters.
If B-to-A rank does this much…
How strong were the higher ones? I didn't even know my brother's full potential.
I won't end up like this, right?
I still lacked combat skills.
As a stopgap, I drained enemy blood with Blood Collection Stickers,
but they were useless against large beasts.
Even against mid-tier Wild Boars, it was touch-and-go.
For common golems, the stickers were worthless.
Cheat hunting would expose me fast.
To achieve my grand plan,
I needed to hone my skills as a Hunter.
Levels, gear, skills.
All three.
Seeing it firsthand left me deflated yet fired up.
The thrill of being in the hunters' arena.
The ambition to flip the rotten Hunter society using them.
Despite their trash personalities, R&Y hunters fueled my drive.
Suddenly, EXP feels even more urgent.
My gaze drifted to Han Biyeol. He casually restrained two North Ocean hunters.
That works?
No ropes—just pressing their shoulders barehanded.
I tossed him a line.
“Better tie them up, no?”
“……? Why bother?”
Ah, right. With that strength, no need for items like Blood Collection Sticker.
As I fumbled for words,
“Normal ropes? They'd snap 'em easy.”
Han Biyeol fidgeted before adding,
“Better to pin 'em myself. This is my show. You don't get to micromanage…”
“Good call.”
“Huh?”
I shifted my gaze to Jeong Hamin.
He smirked down at the doppelganger with narrowed eyes.
“You're North Ocean's guild master too, right? Act with some dignity.”
“You think you'll get away with this?!”
“Yeah. Pretty sure we will.”
Jeong Hamin prodded the doppelganger's cheek with his crossbow tip threateningly.
“Without you?”
“……Ha.”
The doppelganger let out a hollow laugh.
“What a lame threat. ‘Without you’ to a doppelganger? R&Y casts a wide net, but skips brains?”
“Damn, you nailed it. I'm no scholar—better at punching holes in heads than using mine. Wanna test?”
“Go ahead. Handle the fallout yourself.”
He might actually shoot.
Can't let that happen.
Not complacency about saving him.
This Namgung Hyunil doppelganger was core to conquering Greenbelt.
“I've been watching.”
I cut in.
“In combat, you keep holding back.”
“……? And who're you?”
Zero interest or expectation in his eyes. As a major guild head, low-rank scrubs like me didn't register.
I pressed coldly.
“If I could make a perfect clone, I'd charge without hesitation. Pure offense, no defense—most threatening tactic.”
Hit the mark.
Would he bite?
I need answers to live—and clear the gate.
“……That's… a habit from fighting as the original… carries over to the clone…”
Gotcha.