Chapter 105
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Park Si-woo (2)
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The Hunters moved the instant Park Si-woo gave the word.
A path like a highway opened up before the Yeongno.
My feet felt incredibly light as I ran.
It was a buff skill cast by the Raon Guild.
Unlike Han Jong-ho, Jin Sang-hyuk seemed to be the type who could separate his personal feelings from his duties.
—By the way, what happened to Song Eun-young?
Park Si-woo's voice reached me as I was running hard.
—Didn't Soo-hyun tell you?
—I've been busy, so I haven't been in touch. Did you hand her over to Choi Soo-hyun?
—Well, yeah. He's a better option than me, since I'm hard to reach.
I quickly scanned the comments in the community where Eun-young and Choi Soo-hyun had been talking.
[03. Song Eun-young, read this. 8 days ago]
Views: 421
Author: Choi Soo-hyun
If you read this, comment
└ Song Eun-young (Follower) ??
└ Choi Soo-hyun (Follower) ?
└ Song Eun-young (Follower) ??? Who are you??
└ Choi Soo-hyun (Follower) You alive?
└ Song Eun-young (Follower) Of course I'm alive, I'm writing a comment. What, you think I'd be dead?
└ Choi Soo-hyun (Follower) Judging by the way you talk, you seem healthy.
It was no secret that most of the comments were like this.
And to top it off, there was Choi Soo-hyun's comment teasing Eun-young, who'd said she wanted kimchi-jjigae, by saying he was eating it right now.
And these are my followers!
They're really having fun, aren't they?
All of this happened while I was struggling my way through the Tower with Lee Eun-hee.
Choi Jae-hyung, who had been listening to my conversation with Park Si-woo on Channel 1, chimed in.
—Speaking of which, there was a rumor that Choi Soo-hyun is leaving the Association. Is that true?
—Tsk, who are you to interrupt when adults are talking?
—Who's an adult! So, is it true?
—Looks like you're allowed to talk now?
—Uh, well... I got annoyed and bailed.
Something to be proud of, you punk.
This Choi Jae-hyung kid definitely wasn't normal either.
—Is Choi Soo-hyun really leaving the Association?
Choi Soo-hyun's resignation wasn't just a simple resignation.
It meant he had aligned himself with some faction.
—Soo-hyun hasn't quit yet?
—Why are you asking me! I'm the one who asked you! You weren't listening to me at all, were you?
Choi Soo-hyun became a follower of the god Soter shortly after I took my aptitude test.
Choi Jae-hyung stubbornly pressed the question.
—Who on earth recruited Choi Soo-hyun?
—You were eavesdropping on my conversation with Park Si-woo, and you're asking that?
—Why are you picking a fight... Ah. Huh. Why would he join such a nobody...
That bastard.
Seeing as his voice cut off, he must have broadcast that by mistake.
A nobody!
Huh?
Just you wait until this raid is over!
—Ahem, that's unexpected.
—If you were trying to piss me off on purpose, I'll praise you for a job well done.
—Choi Jae-hyung, don't be so obvious.
—Yes, sir. Understood.
At Park Si-woo's single command, Jae-hyung shut his mouth.
—Oh, and don't worry too much about Eun-young.
Park Si-woo was still bothered by having lost Eun-young at the amusement park.
'By the way, if the Transcendent Yoo Ji-han and Park Si-woo fought, who would win?'
I tried to picture the fight in my head, but I couldn't get a clear image.
"Han-gyeol! Above you!"
"Whoa! You bastard!"
A shadow fell over me, and the Yeongno's tail came flying down.
The massive tail slammed into the ground.
Cho-ah, a few other Hunters, and I leaped up to avoid the tail.
It seemed to have realized that simple harassment was useless.
Having landed on its body, I balanced myself and swung my sword lightly.
The attack flew, stirring up the wind, and succeeded in shattering the scales on its cheek.
One by one, the Hunters swarmed near the Yeongno.
—Cycle buffs, support Hunters fall back. Who's on defense?
—I will.
As Park Si-woo arrived last, Choi Jae-hyung raised his left hand high.
For someone who said he'd brought a shield, there was no shield in his hand.
Instead, he wore a black glove on his left hand, adorned with a large brooch.
When he infused it with mana, the form of a large shield appeared from his left hand.
It looked like an incredibly convenient item.
Grrrrr.
The furious Yeongno glared down.
The dark clouds grew thicker, and the Yeongno's horns flashed.
Countless bolts of lightning rained down from the sky toward the Hunters.
"Hmph, something like this is nothing!"
Choi Jae-hyung held his shield up high.
The shield's form expanded, protecting the nearby Hunters from the lightning.
With a thunderous roar, the lightning struck the shield.
Myself and a few other damage dealers drew our weapons and slowly waited for the right moment.
—Now.
At Park Si-woo's signal, Choi Jae-hyung withdrew the shield.
Some lightning remained, but it posed no major threat.
As soon as the shield vanished, I and a few other Hunters launched our attacks.
An explosion erupted on one side of its massive body.
—Damage team, upper right. Tanks, continue rear support. Anyone on the support team with crowd control?
—I can.
—Wait for my signal.
Standing in the very center of the Hunters, Park Si-woo issued various commands.
Strictly speaking, this raid wasn't a standard, planned assault.
It was closer to a hastily formed attack party, created because their individual goals aligned.
'At least, until the boss is dealt with.'
The longer the fight dragged on, the more precise Park Si-woo's command became.
—Use AoE and evade, don't go in too deep. Pull back! Tanks, advance...
A scale that had been embedded in the Yeongno's body targeted a Hunter suspended in mid-air.
Park Si-woo swung his lightsaber.
The projected blade sliced the scale in two, causing it to fall.
"Ah, uh... thank you."
Park Si-woo turned his head slightly and resumed relaying the situation.
It was the first time I'd seen Park Si-woo talk this much since I met him.
"I'll go down and help."
Cho-ah pushed off the Yeongno's body with her arm and leaped down.
I flicked my fingers, switching to Channel 1.
—Hey! Why aren't you giving me orders? Give me an order!
—You're on your own. The boss said not to bother him because he's busy.
The one who answered me was Kang-woo.
I deflected the incoming scales and looked down.
Dokkaebis and Imugis were gathering.
—So mean! Hmm. Ah, I'm gonna fall back to support, so please cover the gap.
—What? All of a sudden? Hey!
—You told me to do whatever I want!
—That didn't mean you should just desert your post... Ah, yes. Understood. Dammit, do whatever you want!
The moment permission was granted, I descended.
Another Hunter quickly filled the spot I'd left.
I swung my sword, systematically cutting down the Dokkaebis.
[The energy of the god Soter blesses you.]
[Stage 5 Protection activates.]
"What are you plotting?"
"I'm not plotting anything."
I jumped onto a serpent's body and plunged my sword into its neck.
Another Dokkaebi charged at me with a sword.
I spun around and sliced its neck.
Seeing this, Cho-ah's expression darkened.
It wasn't just Cho-ah whose expression had hardened.
I slung my sword over my shoulder and grinned.
"What's with that guy?"
"I think they said he was a Hunter from the Aria Guild. He's not a big name, is he?"
"Just how many did he kill by himself?"
"That guy... I've heard of him. A Hunter in Park Si-woo's circle. They say he became a B-rank at an absurd speed."
The Hunters muttered amongst themselves as they saw the neatly dispatched monsters.
As long as the boss is alive, Guardians will continue to be summoned at regular intervals.
Therefore, it was much more effective to use crowd control skills to tie them down and keep them occupied for as long as possible.
In that case, you'd need Hunters focused exclusively on the Guardians.
The standard method is to wipe them out quickly before their cooldown resets. That way, the forces tied up with the Guardians can be redirected to the boss.
Everyone knew this, but in reality, not a game, there were few who could actually pull it off.
Where three people had initially been assigned to the Guardians, now I was the only one left.
'Executor's Sword,' one of the traits of the god Soter, grants a buff effect that grows stronger the more you kill a specific group of enemies.
After a few cooldown cycles, I could feel my speed at annihilating the Guardians increasing.
'Still...'
Strangely, I wasn't satisfied.
I knew the reason better than anyone. When the Librarian borrowed my body, I had experienced the absolute limit of what I could do.
Having experienced that limit, I realized just how far I still had to go.
I imbued my Sky Sword with mana, and the bloodstains on the blade flew off.
"How long do we have to keep this up?"
Jin Sang-hyuk, who had pulled back slightly from the front line, clicked his tongue.
He threw off the cloak he was wearing and gripped his bastard sword with both hands.
The Yeongno's lightning struck down at Jin Sang-hyuk as he took his stance, but other Raon Guild Hunters nearby quickly blocked it.
Park Si-woo, watching the situation from a short distance away, calmly continued to give orders.
—Pull back.
At that single command, the Hunters who were driving their blades into the Yeongno quickly retreated.
A white magic circle appeared, centered on Jin Sang-hyuk.
As he raised his bastard sword high, the magic circle rose with it.
"That bastard... ah, that guy was a Transcendent?"
"Of course."
Choi Jae-hyung, who had approached at some point, shrugged with his arms crossed.
Choi Jae-hyung glanced at the monster corpses behind me with a disgusted look on his face.
"He may not look like much, but he's our vice-director. Though, of course, Director Kang is stronger."
"Pick one, is that a compliment or an insult?"
There was still some time before the Guardians' spawn cooldown was up.
He had clearly come down knowing that.
Kroooom.
A wave of mana pulsed out from Jin Sang-hyuk, and soon, the form of a giant knight appeared above the magic circle.
There was a reason Transcendents were treated so well.
As beings who had surpassed their limits, transcending even a single stat created an enormous difference.
'And that's not all.'
The price of a Taboo wasn't so cheap.
Transcendents could use unique skills called Transcendence State and Transcendence Arts.
It was even said that a fight between two Transcendents of similar skill was decided not by their ability, but by the power of their Transcendence Arts.
That giant suit of armor was a type of Transcendence Art.
When Jin Sang-hyuk moved his greatsword, the giant moved its own massive greatsword in tandem.
With a single blow, a huge gash was left on the Yeongno's body, and black blood splattered.
Since a bleeding damage-over-time debuff had already been applied by another Hunter, the damage was doubled.
The armor Jin Sang-hyuk had created and the Yeongno engaged in a contest of strength.
Not missing the opportunity, the other Hunters quickly closed in on the Yeongno.
I took a step back and gripped my Sky Sword with both hands.
—Teach me.
—What?
—That sword style you practice every night.
—I told you last time, this sword...
—Then show me. It should be fine if I just learn by watching over your shoulder, right?
Luciel chose to show me the sword style instead of teaching it.
Needless to say, I had never used that sword style after seeing it.
'Though it's more accurate to say I had completely forgotten about it.'
It was a sword style that had half-faded from my memory since that day.
At least, until that guy who borrowed my body showed it to me.
I hadn't seen that sword style with my own eyes very often. Even Luciel, who always seemed to practice it with a sense of regret, had never used it in a real fight.
I don't know if he ever perfected it.
'Something's different.'
The sword style that guy showed me and the one I saw from Luciel were similar, yet there was a subtle difference.
I drew up my mana and took a stance.
The armor summoned by Jin Sang-hyuk was slowly being pushed back.
"This is..."
"Danger!"
A few Hunters clinging to the Yeongno were caught in danger, unable to retreat.
I swung the sword I had raised high downward.
Kwwaaaaang!
My attack shot out, taking the place of the vanished armor, and collided with the Yeongno.