Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Hug Me (5)
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Jin Yu-han had turned into a complete moron.
The moment I slammed a soccer kick right into that bastard's face, something must've gone wrong with his brain.
Even a 'Highest Recovery Potion' couldn't fix it.
"Uhe, butterfly."
Training Team 1 abandoned Jin Yu-han.
They banded together around the No. 2 guy, dreaming of rebellion.
I could tell just from the way they glared at me.
'You think you're getting out of here alive?'
It was ridiculous.
The toughest guy in Team 1, Jin Yu-han, had lost his mind to my spinless shot, and now the weaklings who'd just been spamming skills from behind him thought they could pull off a coup against me?
These idiots had some real talent for comedy.
I figured they deserved a spot in a comedy club or something.
Even the moron Jin Yu-han still had his uses.
To the other hunters, he was just a useless idiot, but not to me.
'He can play the fool in my place.'
Ever heard of "first strike wins"?
Hit first, and you win.
Creating an incident works the same way.
When logic won't convince them, just set the stage and watch.
That's first strike wins.
"Yu-han."
I was the one who'd turned Jin Yu-han into a moron.
But he had no idea.
"Do you know what this is?"
"Ch-chocolate bar!"
I gently coaxed and pampered the idiot Jin Yu-han.
In the end, I became the person closest to him.
Just a few days ago, he'd been perfectly fine...
Now he was dumb enough to sell his soul for a single chocolate bar.
"There are a ton of these inside the eastern cave. Wanna go get some?"
"Y-yeah! I wanna go!"
For a chocolate bar, Jin Yu-han even ventured into the eastern cave where the boss monster lurked.
He safely retrieved what I'd hidden there, clutching three chocolate bars in his hand.
"Boss monster...!"
Panic spread among the hunters.
They never dreamed the moron Jin Yu-han would cause this much trouble.
"Not Park Sun-woo, but Jin Yu-han...?"
"That fucker’s still a pain in the ass even as a retard!"
"What the hell was Team 1 doing, not keeping that guy in check?!"
I was completely off the suspect list.
No one doubted me anymore.
All I had to do was sit back at the fortress, watch the show, and munch on some rice cakes.
'And while I'm at it, wipe out all of Team 1.'
I had no intention of letting Jin Yu-han or any of the Training Team 1 hunters live.
Those bastards had plotted to kill me.
Why the hell should I let them go?
'Gotta put what I learned to immediate use for the full effect.'
I set up my own scheme in return.
Using the boss monster, 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior,' I'd wipe out Team 1 entirely.
This whole plan stemmed from a simple reversal: 'Why bother hunting down the boss myself?'
'Why should I go to the trouble? Just lure the bastard here.'
I equipped my shield and leaped down from the fortress wall.
"Tanks, follow me!"
Keeping an eye on Team 1's movements, I charged toward the Merfolk Warrior.
Could I withstand its attacks?
Me, a mere F-Rank Hunter?
'Let's find out.'
I'd swapped to a brand-new shield and geared up properly.
I was several times tougher than before.
And that wasn't all—my stats were insanely high too.
'I can block it.'
In conquering the Tower's dungeons, a tank's durability was key.
If the frontline tank couldn't hold the aggro, hunting was impossible.
"Unlike those who massacred our kin, you look different." The 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior' raised its trident straight.
I slammed my shield into its spear with all my might.
Kwang-!
"I am a great warrior of Atlantis! Even in the face of death, I will not yield! I'll take at least one more with me! Come at me!" "Kuh!"
A heavy force transmitted through the shield.
It was on another level from any monster I'd faced before.
If the dungeons below floor 10 were just coffee, from 10 and up, it was top-shelf liquor.
'But I'm holding.'
'Indestructible' didn't activate.
That meant the damage wasn't lethal.
I'd met the first condition for the hunt.
Confidence surged that I could tank it.
Now the second condition—ranged DPS firepower—took center stage.
The tanks who'd caught up late formed a defensive line.
It was called a phalanx, but really, they were just surrounding it to pull aggro off me anytime, anywhere.
"Fine, come on then!"
I activated 'Area Taunt'.
Locking the 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior's gaze on me.
And then skills rained down on it.
The ranged dealers unleashed their maximum firepower.
"Kill it! Take down the boss monster!"
"Like it or not, if we don't catch that thing, we're all dead! Fireeee!"
Supporters' 'Heals' piled up on me steadily.
Any wounds healed almost instantly.
"Annoying like crabs!" "Crab bastards?"
"I said crab bastards!" The Merfolk Warrior swung its trident like a windmill.
As it spun, it blocked all the ranged dealers' skills.
Some even bounced back.
"Stop! Stop it!"
The tanks wailed as blind skills hit them.
Friendlies' skills hurt more than the boss's attacks.
'Now's the chance!'
I deliberately threw myself at the Merfolk Warrior.
And got flung back with full force.
What I did best: getting launched.
"Park Sun-woo!"
One of the tanks shouted.
A guy whose name I barely remembered.
His voice couldn't catch my body.
I shot toward the fortress like a cannonball.
'Break!'
I curled into a ball.
Minimizing air resistance to preserve momentum.
With the intent to shatter the fortress outright, I rammed the wall with my body.
Kwaang-!
"Wha-what?!"
The fortress that could've withstood hundreds of thousands of hits from 'Blue Lobsters' and 'Green Crabs' crumbled helplessly.
Courtesy of the collab between the 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior' and Park Sun-woo.
The wall collapsed.
Hunters atop it tumbled awkwardly.
The boss didn't miss the opening.
Chwaak-!
"Kwaaak!"
"B-block it!"
Blood sprayed from the swung trident.
Tanks flew back defenselessly.
"Kuhuhu, weaklings! Clustered like anchovies!" The 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior' swept aside the surrounding tanks and plunged straight into the fortress.
Ranged dealers and supporters clustered together.
To the boss, it must've looked like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
That's when someone pulled out a potion.
A yellowish one.
The Team 3 leader smashed the bottle on the ground.
Jjang-!
Yellow liquid oozed from the shattered glass shards.
In that instant, the 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior' staggered.
"Th-this smell..." Jjang-! Jjang-!
Kwajik-!
Potions shattering everywhere.
It was the 'King Anchovy Fish Sauce' I'd distributed.
⚙ ITEM INFO ⚙ [King Anchovy Fish Sauce] ─ Provokes disgust in aquatic-dwelling monsters. ─ Grants immunity to attacks from fish-type monsters for 1 minute.
The perfect item for a floor 10 dungeon.
I'd bottled the 'King Anchovy Fish Sauce' for emergencies and handed it out.
'To everyone except Team 1.'
The boss monster lost its mind.
What it thought was a buffet turned out to be a roach-infested warehouse—enough to make anyone freak out.
Of course, I left them an escape route.
"No, why?!"
I hadn't given any to Team 1 members.
From the 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior's perspective, Training Team 1 was the only tasty meal around.
"I'll kill those bastards at least!" The warrior leaped forward.
Its old wound reopened, blood seeping out.
Yet it charged at the humans without stopping.
I could feel the rage.
Blood tears streamed from its reddened eyes.
It had entered phase 2.
"...Looks like this fucking smell pissed it off even more!"
Team 3's leader pinched his nose and yelled.
His normal voice was grating enough, but the nasal whine made it worse.
"Pour everything you've got right now! This is our chance!"
Team 3 leader's command rang out.
I dug through the rubble and stood up.
"Die, you trash!" The 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior' was stabbing its trident into Training Team 1.
"Kuhuk...!"
I'd called all the tanks to follow, but one from Training Team 1 had stayed holed up in the fortress.
Impaled like a chicken on a spit, he died instantly.
No time to mourn him.
To survive, we had to go all-out on the boss.
Kwang-! Kwang-!
Beams of light poured down relentlessly.
Like a bombing run.
Training Team 1 hunters exposed defenselessly in the midst.
"Fuck, stop! Stoooop!"
Even hearing screams bordering on wails, the other hunters didn't care.
They sacrificed Team 1 as bait to attack the 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior'.
The perfect opportunity.
A once-in-a-lifetime chance to take down the floor 10 boss.
No hunter would pass it up.
'Especially since it's a dungeon you can never return to, if you miss it.'
Floor 10, 20, 30...
Every tenth floor was one-and-done.
Clear and survive, or fail and die—no in-between.
Clearance was all but guaranteed now.
Thanks to Jin Yu-han screwing things up.
But the flow wasn't bad?
'Not like we're buddies anyway.'
Everything was going exactly as I'd planned.
Clear out Training Team 1 while silencing the other hunters at the same time...
Best of both worlds.
Hit the ditch and catch a crawfish too.
"Die! Feel the wrath of Atlantis!" Training Team 1 was wiped out.
Jin Yu-han too.
'He held out a bit, but facing a boss solo was impossible.'
All other hunters survived unscathed.
The long, grueling floor 10 conquest—and boss raid—was finally drawing to a close.
"Kieeeek!"
I doused myself in oil and set it ablaze.
And chugged a big swig of 'King Anchovy Fish Sauce'.
Arms and legs spread wide, toward the 'Wounded Merfolk Warrior'.
Hug me.