Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Zero-Sum Game (2)
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“You seem to have good luck with monsters, Han-gyeol. I heard you even found an oasis not long ago.”
I wasn't sure if I should call this good luck or bad.
As the ground shook, Cho-ah leaped up into a tree.
Having handed over all the calorie bars, Cho-ah popped a water candy into her mouth.
“I can help if you want.”
“I refuse.”
“Really?”
“Just take care of the trolls around the boss.”
“Did you know? The spinal fluid of a Twin-Headed Troll is a little different from other trolls. Actually, what troll expedition teams are really after isn't just any old spinal fluid.”
People are all the same; they want a big score.
They prefer to earn ten years' salary in one go rather than over the course of ten years.
It's no coincidence that gambling and lotteries are businesses that never fail.
The spinal fluid of a Twin-Headed Troll is a key ingredient for elixirs.
There are exactly two consumable items that are highly prized among Hunters.
One is the elixir, and the other is Cheongsimhwan.
Elixirs are items that restore health, while Cheongsimhwan—not the traditional kind—is an item that restores mana.
“You can get about 300 mL of spinal fluid from a Twin-Headed Troll. But with my skills, I can extract up to 500 mL.”
When I made the deal with Park Si-woo, there was no mention of a Twin-Headed Troll's spinal fluid.
The appearance rate for a Twin-Headed Troll was quite low, at 5%.
Park Si-woo probably never imagined a Twin-Headed Troll would actually show up.
In other words, the spinal fluid from killing that thing was all mine.
“Thirty percent. Isn't that a fair deal?”
“Why on earth did you even come here?”
Perched on a branch, Cho-ah swung her legs.
Cho-ah grinned at me.
You think you can win me over with a smile like that?
She seemed to be treating this dungeon like a stroll in the park.
Damn it, I'll let it slide because she's cute!
As the Twin-Headed Troll fully awoke, the surrounding trolls began to gather.
A Giant Troll usually has four or five Guardian Trolls around it, but since this was a rare boss, the number of Guardian Trolls was significantly higher.
“Fine, do whatever you want.”
Grabbing the branch, Cho-ah spun her body around once and dropped to the ground below.
Leaving the Guardian Trolls to her, I turned my eyes toward the Twin-Headed Troll.
The fully awakened beast slammed its fist into the ground.
Several massive trees toppled over, trunks and all, from the force of that single punch.
I ran up the trunk of a fallen tree.
Four eyes met mine.
Compared to other large monsters, Giant Trolls had a slow attack speed.
I matched its height and launched an attack at the Twin-Headed Troll.
I failed to sever its arm, but I succeeded in wounding it.
The gouged-out flesh was reattaching in an instant.
The Twin-Headed Troll's regeneration speed was about twice as fast as a Giant Troll's.
“This is no joke.”
Its regeneration was far faster than the speed at which I could cut off its arm.
The Twin-Headed Troll let out a scream, and the nearby earth trembled.
Dozens of tree roots burst through the ground.
At the flick of its finger, the tree roots all turned toward me.
The roots, all aimed at one spot, collided with each other, creating a sound like a bomb exploding.
“Han-gyeol? Are you alive?”
Cho-ah's voice came from between the gaps in the tangled roots.
The tree roots were one with the Twin-Headed Troll.
This meant the roots also possessed a regenerative ability similar to the troll's.
Judging that cutting them would be useless, I had made the right call to find a gap and dodge.
I was wedged between the roots, but not so tightly that I couldn't get out.
I used Angervadil to cut through the tree roots and escaped before they could regenerate.
“What about the guardians?”
“They're going to die.”
What does she mean, 'going to die'? Either they're dead or they're not.
I sliced through a tree root that was lunging for Cho-ah from behind.
Part of the severed root regenerated and targeted Cho-ah again.
Cho-ah reached out and grabbed the tree root.
At that moment, the root aiming for Cho-ah's neck abruptly stopped moving.
The twitching root convulsed and then fell limp.
“Oh my, it looks like that hurt.”
Don't act so nonchalant! You're the one who did that!
Together, Cho-ah and I escaped the area tangled with tree roots.
The recent attack had left the surrounding area half-devastated.
“Did I ever tell you which god I serve?”
“No.”
“It’s Moros.”
He was Moros, the god of doom, said to be one of the children borne by Nyx, the goddess of the night.
Whether he was truly the god of doom was something that needed verification.
It was probably a pseudonym anyway.
In reality, I couldn't feel any tangible power from the god's name Cho-ah mentioned.
I just gave a slight nod and descended to the ground with Cho-ah.
“What are you going to do about that?”
Cho-ah pointed at the Twin-Headed Troll.
I had already attacked it several times, but my attack speed couldn't keep up with its recovery speed.
With Cho-ah's help, I could probably kill the boss with ease.
Of course, I had no intention of doing that.
All I had asked of Cho-ah was to handle the Guardian Trolls around the Twin-Headed Troll.
“I’ll take care of it myself.”
The tree roots hovering above us fell toward me and Cho-ah.
I couldn't see Cho-ah, but I figured she had dodged on her own.
I cut through the regenerating roots and climbed upward.
[The aura of the god Soter blesses you.]
[Blessing, Stage 4, is activated.]
[All stats increase.]
When I fought the Transcendent Yoo Ji-han, he was stronger than I am now.
Yoo Ji-han had been serious, and if it weren't for the Oath of Promise, I might have actually died.
Even if I had half-killed him, I knew better than anyone that he wasn't the type to give up over something like that.
I climbed up near the Twin-Headed Troll's neck and got into position.
“What you can do…”
Every troll has an ‘Essence of Life’ in its chest, which is as vital as a heart.
No matter how special the boss was, as long as it was a troll, that fact remained unchanged.
Imbued with mana, the Sky Sword glowed blue, leaving afterimages with every slash.
I sliced off all the troll's fingers and aimed for the chest where the essence was located.
“I can do, too!”
The Sky Sword plunged into the troll's chest, instantly piercing its Essence of Life.
Feeling its essence shatter, the Twin-Headed Troll made a final, desperate struggle.
Four eyes, weeping tears of blood, turned to me.
The remaining tree roots and the troll's fist closed in.
Using the falling debris as a foothold, I reset my stance.
“It's not over yet!”
As I swung my sword, the roots, along with one of the Twin-Headed Troll's arms and its other neck, were severed.
Silence fell over the entire forest.
A moment later, the body of the Twin-Headed Troll, missing an arm and a head, fell backward and collapsed.
“Hah, hah, ugh…”
As soon as my feet touched the ground, my stomach churned.
I grabbed onto an unbroken tree and gasped for breath.
‘This is insane!’
My heart felt like it was about to explode.
I wouldn't have even dared to try this without the Stage 4 buff from Soter's blessing.
When he fought me, the Transcendent Yoo Ji-han had used the forms of the Sail Sword Style so effortlessly.
From what I saw back then, he didn't even seem out of breath after using it.
‘Damn it! Just how much of a monster is that guy?!’
No, maybe I should be phrasing it differently.
Just how much of a monster did I create?
“That was amazing.”
Cho-ah peeked out from behind a tree where she had been hiding.
My head was so dizzy that I could barely hear her.
Cho-ah approached and wrapped her arms around me in an embrace.
“You did well.”
That was the last thing I remembered.
* * *
I fought through a throbbing headache and opened my eyes.
“Are you awake?”
When I opened my eyes, I saw Cho-ah looking down at me.
It seemed I had passed out right after that.
“You said you wanted to test your skills, but was your real goal suicide?”
Defeating the Twin-Headed Troll didn't make the remaining trolls disappear.
If I had been alone, I might have been killed by the nearby trolls.
While I was out, Cho-ah had cleared out the surrounding area.
Even if she had hidden the evidence behind the trees, I could tell that much.
I figured it would be polite to pretend I didn't know.
“Haha.”
I laughed awkwardly and sat up.
Even after coming to my senses, I felt bad for using her lap as a pillow, so I got up quickly.
“A glass bottle?”
Unlike the other glass bottles, this one was filled with a black liquid.
“The spinal fluid of the Twin-Headed Troll.”
Giant Trolls usually just had more spinal fluid than regular trolls, but nothing special.
In comparison, the Twin-Headed Troll's spinal fluid was a different color altogether.
“You did well. But please, don't overdo it next time.”
At Cho-ah's smile, I smiled back quietly.
* * *
The Cockatrice Farm was a dungeon located near Donghaksa Valley in Chungnam.
The area around the valley was currently off-limits to the public.
After negotiations, the two guilds had decided to use a nearby condominium as their base camp.
The atmosphere inside the condo was not just quiet, but chillingly so.
They had gathered in the first-floor event hall for their final meeting.
The problem arose not long after the meeting began.
“What? You want to pick a team leader?”
“This is a three-strikes dungeon. Besides, we have two guilds conducting a joint expedition. It would be a problem if the dungeon run failed due to internal conflict, wouldn't it?”
Joo Seo-hye scowled at the remark from Jung Ho-il, a Hunter from the Raon Guild.
“Think of it as a formality. Our guild won't cause any harm to your guild inside the dungeon.”
“Hah. Is this bastard crazy?”
Joo Seo-hye crossed her arms, annoyed.
Unlike the relatively free-spirited Aria Guild, the Hunters from the Raon Guild seemed to have a clear, established hierarchy.
‘I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.’
Thanks to that, it wasn't hard to figure out who was orchestrating this situation.
The man standing silently at the very back.
‘Was his name Han Jong-ho?’
He was the head of the Raon Guild's side for this expedition.
In comparison, we didn't really have anyone you could call a leader.
To put it simply, this was a power struggle.
It was childish, but for both sides, it was an important issue they couldn't concede.
“Are you trying to start a power struggle before we even enter the dungeon? I'm against it!”
“Oh? So you wouldn't mind if our Team Leader Han took on the role of leader for this expedition?”
“You son of a bitch, are you insane? The Raon Guild and the Aria Guild are partners, nothing more. One isn't above the other. I'd rather die than work under you guys!”
It seemed her personality, the one that had challenged Park Si-woo, hadn't gone anywhere. Joo Seo-hye stubbornly said everything on her mind.
A few Aria Guild Hunters agreed with Joo Seo-hye, and the argument continued.
“Let me be clear. We have no reason to listen to anyone other than Team Leader Han.”
“Ugh, what's the point of saying that now? Do you people not even have a concept of prior reporting? You should have coordinated this beforehand!”
“We decided today that we needed a leader.”
At Jung Ho-il's shameless attitude, Joo Seo-hye sighed as if she was dumbfounded.
Decided today, my ass. It was obvious they had deliberately withheld the report as part of their plan.
“Hey! You two idiots over there. Don't just stand there, say something to that blockhead!”
Idiots? That's harsh.
Joo Seo-hye's verbal arrow was aimed at me and Han Seong-cheol.
Han Seong-cheol, a Hunter in his early thirties, had joined the expedition on Seo Ji-hoon's recommendation.
‘Come to think of it, I didn't get to talk to him properly at the last meeting.’
I had heard about him from Park Si-woo, but hearing about someone and seeing them in person were two different things.
For a brief moment, everyone's eyes turned to Han Seong-cheol.
“But if we were to pick a leader, who would it be?”
“Huh? Well, that would be…”
Unlike the Raon Guild, which had their team leader, our side had three Hunters of a similar caliber.
At Han Seong-cheol's words, Joo Seo-hye's eyes flickered for a moment.
“O-obviously, it's me.”
“I'll do it.”
I cut Joo Seo-hye off and raised my hand.
Han Seong-cheol turned his head to look at me and said.
“I'm also interested in being the leader.”
One thing was crystal clear.
‘What a mess.’