Chapter 14
Chapter 14
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Hellhound Den Onslaught
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Leveling up and the bonus bumped my Stamina stat by 3 all at once, making my body feel lighter.
After fighting like that for a few minutes, something felt off. Usually, they circled around me, keeping their distance as they fought, but today they charged in with total disregard for their lives. It was great for me since I needed to rack up the numbers, but their behavior was completely different from normal.
Looking around, I spotted injured or young ones inside the cave. They were protecting their comrades.
Even as monsters, it was truly something to respect. But I couldn't just leave them be. To them, humans were nothing but prey.
In fact, minor damages had already cropped up in nearby farms and villages—that's why hunters like me were here. If we let them run loose, the casualties would skyrocket.
After dealing with about twenty, all that remained were the ones in the cave. I hunched over and squeezed into the ridiculously cramped space, considering their size and numbers. The pups bared their tiny teeth and growled as I—not their mother—entered. My hand froze for a split second, but it was necessary, so I put them down painlessly.
With the battle over, I surveyed the area. Hellhound corpses piled up like mountains, blood splattered everywhere.
Now I had to haul the bodies to the checkpoint. It was closer than the resort, but with this many, I'd need at least five round trips. Collecting the corpses would take longer than the hunt itself, but since I hadn't brought porters or hired a specialist crew, there was no helping it.
I tightly bound the hunted hellhounds with rope, slung them over my back, and climbed the mountain. After running for about ten minutes, I reached the checkpoint with its storage unit. I unlocked the container door with the electronic key, dumped the hellhounds inside, then headed back to the den I'd just cleared.
A guttural "Kuuuung!" rang out as hellhounds burst forth. Their glowing red eyes cut through the darkness. They'd probably witnessed someone devastate their den and slaughter the pups. And with the thick hellhound blood stench clinging to me, I was unmistakably their mortal enemy.
But my level and stats had gone up, and the Keen Senses skill was second nature now. Their attacks were plain as day.
I shaped my hand like a claw and smacked the head of the one lunging at me.
Just hours ago, I'd let them sink their teeth into me, but no longer. Now, their fangs never even grazed me.
The moment I got back to the hellhound den, I took down another eight. I'd just hauled one batch to the checkpoint, but the pile of corpses here had actually grown. Tonight, I'd be sprinting across these mountains till dawn.
* * *
I kept shuttling between the checkpoint and the hellhound den until daybreak. By the time morning approached, the room-sized container was packed full, blood trickling out from under the door.
I'd bagged fifty-four in the fourth night alone, bringing my total score to 74. Before we set out, Choi Cheolmin had barely hit 40, so I'd already overtaken him.
This bet was in the bag. I hung back leisurely at the checkpoint, waiting for the bureau officials.
A bit after the morning sun rose, an Awakener Bureau official and the hunter guarding the checkpoint rolled up in a mountain vehicle about the size of a golf cart. Its compact build looked perfect for the narrow trails.
"Welcome."
I tossed the key to the official stepping out of the vehicle as a greeting. It was the same guy who'd lent me the key yesterday.
"You must've had a rough night."
Word must've spread by now, because he didn't bat an eye at my blood-soaked state.
"Got any food or drinks?"
"Yeah, here you go."
He pulled bread and milk from the car, then headed for the container.
"Watch out. Stuff's gonna spill when you open it."
"Yeah?"
The instant he paused mid-open and turned at my warning, the neatly stacked hellhound corpses I'd piled up avalanched toward the door.
I kicked off the ground and yanked him back by the collar. He wouldn't die buried under hellhound bodies, but a civilian could still get hurt.
"You took down all these by yourself?"
The bureau official, now sprawled on the ground, pointed at the corpses with a trembling finger.
"Found their den. I'm heading out now."
I shoved the bread and milk into my mouth and turned back toward the mountain.
"You're not going to the resort?"
He yelped in surprise as I veered into the woods instead of the resort path.
"Nah, only a few days left, right? Gotta keep hunting. I'll be back soon—clear out the storage for me."
He clearly hadn't expected me to head out hunting again. He stared at me blankly for a moment before snapping to and pulling out his phone to call in a transport helicopter.
I roamed for a few hours, picking off scattered hellhound packs, but nothing like last night's big group. Still, I was so far ahead in numbers that I took it slow, wrapping up around lunchtime back at the resort. Morning's take: twelve. Not bad, considering no dens.
The resort was deserted—prime hunting hours for the other hunters. No buffet service, so I lined up instant ramen cups with water poured in and ran frozen meals through all four microwaves in a row.
No one around meant no prying eyes, so I crammed ramen and dumplings into my mouth nonstop. Stockpiling energy was crucial, so eating was part of the fight for me.
Munching ramen, I pulled up my status window.
----------------------------------------------------
Name: Lee Jiseok
Class: Unemployed
Level: 10
Strength 32, Stamina 32, Agility 27, Intelligence 15, HP 320, Mana 118
Skills: Regeneration E, Sturdy Body F, Resilient Mind E, Poison Resistance E, Keen Senses C
----------------------------------------------------
I'd hit level 10 and snagged a C-rank skill. Just wrap up this subjugation mission without a hitch, and I could rank up to E-Rank Hunter.
Strength and Stamina were already past 30, Agility closing in. I'd surpassed E-Rank Hunter stats, matching D-Rank territory. Watching my abilities climb felt like payback for all the suffering in my past life—damn good mood.
I finished eating with the status window as my side dish and took a nap.
Slept about five hours, came back down, and the restaurant was packed.
"Hyung!"
Sanghun spotted me first and came rushing over in a panic.
"Saw the scoreboard! How'd you do it in one day?"
Sanghun practically vibrated with excitement as he grilled me. It was my bet, but he was more pumped than I was.
"Found a den. Cleared it out."
"I'm almost caught up—just a bit more."
"A bit more?"
I'd been ahead when I went to bed. What the hell?
"Yeah, Choi Cheolmin racked up a ton too. But his score spiked hard while his party did worse than yesterday—looks like they funneled points to him. And you didn't bring porters, right? They dragged a few along."
I checked the app scoreboard after hearing that. Choi Cheolmin was up 42 to 105 total. I had 86, so still a solid 19-point lead.
"Well, well."
My competitive fire lit up. Guess I'd been too lax with that daytime nap.
"Thanks for the tip."
I thanked Sanghun for the intel and dug into my meal. From here on, rest would be minimal—or skipped till the final day—so I needed to pack in more food.
The buffet had cleared out already, so I hauled entire serving trays over and got to work. Chewing and swallowing alone took ages, but it cut down on separate rest and eating time. Worth it.
Wrapped up the hour-long feast and left the restaurant. I'd devoured every scrap left in the buffet, but my real-time digestion compression kept my gut only slightly bloated. By the time I started up the mountain, it was flat again.
Like yesterday, I plunged into the darkening mountain in search of hellhound dens.
Farther and deeper into the mountains from the resort, I started hunting hellhounds. The terrain got steeper—hunters rarely came this way.
I dropped every one in sight, hitting about ten when I found another den.
Usually, adults head out night-hunting and leave the dens empty, so you'd typically find only the small or sickly ones left behind, like yesterday's. But this den had adults standing guard around it.
Just from the sentry duty, you could tell their intelligence wasn't goblin-level low.
On top of that, these hellhounds were bigger than any I'd hunted so far. The others had been large-dog sized, but some here looked like small horses.
Hellhounds native to gates are way larger than these and incomparably stronger in combat. They're D-Rank beasts no F-Rank Awakener could dare face. But breeding in Earth's mana-free environment shrank them down.
Whatever these had scavenged, they'd bulked up—but still tiny compared to the gate originals.
I approached the sentries openly, no hiding.
The first to spot me let out a howl, alerting its denmates to the intruder.
The howl echoed across the mountain. Once done, they didn't charge one by one—instead, they formed up like a proper formation and surrounded me.
If they weren't running, I couldn't be happier.
Ignoring the encirclement, I walked straight toward the nearest hellhound. Their formation shifted to track me, then in a flash, they all lunged.
I'd tensed up expecting size meant speed, but it didn't.
I swung at the first attacker. Figured one hit would do it, but despite its bulk, it nimbly twisted its head to deflect. Long gashes raked across its face from my fingers—not lethal. It whipped its wounded head back and thrust its fangs at me.
I followed with a left hook straight to its torso. Airborne, it couldn't dodge—my fist connected, slamming its body to the ground with a drum-like burst.
But I'd spent too much time on that one. Four more rushed in from all sides at once. Their necks were weak points—instant disable on a hit—so I only blocked the head strikes with my arm.
They latched onto my arm, leg, and waist, shaking their heads like a dog mauling a toy, trying to rip the flesh free. Luckily, nothing tore off clean, but their bite force dwarfed the smaller ones'. Their teeth dug deeper by the second.