Just Another Hunt
Thud—
“N-No way….”
Lee Min-seong collapsed to his knees on the cold sand, splattered in blood.
At his feet lay a pathetically crumpled shield, tossed aside haphazardly.
I stared at him impassively before spitting out the hunter I'd been holding in my mouth. Ptui—
Splat—rolllll—
The hunter tumbled across the sand several times but showed no further movement.
He lay limp where he'd landed, utterly still.
He'd stopped breathing long ago.
“N-No way… No way….”
Lee Min-seong repeated the same words like a man lost to the world.
Around him were more hunters strewn across the sand just like the first one—tossed aside carelessly.
They, too, had already drawn their last breaths.
Yes. Now, the only ones left alive here were me and Lee Min-seong.
Shii——
Sssslither—I approached right up to his face, but he didn't even twitch.
Did he lack the strength to flee? Or had he given up entirely?
I watched him mutter “No way” over and over for a moment.
This was the first time I'd seen the guy who always strutted around so arrogantly looking like this.
A strange pleasure bubbled up from deep in my gut.
I suppressed the smirk tugging at my lips and quietly flicked my tongue.
Don't forget.
This isn't revenge.
It's just a hunt, like always.
No room for personal grudges in a simple hunt.
“No way… No way….”
Watching him mumble only made me wonder what exactly was so unbelievable.
I felt a sudden urge to use telepathic speech and blurt it out.
At the very least, I wanted to tell him who I was.
That the lowly porter he'd despised so much—the unawakened day-laborer Yu Jun-young—was standing before him now.
To declare it proudly and repay every humiliation I'd endured back then.
No, not just repay it—double it, triple it, tenfold.
Even though I'd just resolved otherwise, this intense impulse overwhelmed me.
I hadn't realized it, but those experiences had left deeper scars on me than I'd thought.
This isn't revenge.
Wasting emotions on a worm like this was pointless.
It's just a simple hunt.
That was my resolution from the moment I first spotted Lee Min-seong.
I had no intention of breaking my own promise.
“I-I… the one who's going to become the strongest hunter someday… N-No way.”
I glanced down at his tiny mutterings.
Squish—he stared only at the sand, head bowed.
Looking at him, it hit me anew.
Lee Min-seong was this small.
Back when I was a porter, he seemed so huge.
But now? He looked pathetically tiny.
Had he shrunk since then?
No, I've grown.
In every sense—physical or otherwise.
I watched him mumble for a bit longer, then crackkk— opened my jaws wide.
Only then did Lee Min-seong finally react.
“Hiiik—! No! Nooooo! I don't want to die!”
Scrambling—he dragged his unresponsive body backward across the sand on his butt.
I watched him retreat from me impassively.
“I, the one who's going to become the strongest hunter—! I can't die like this, like thiiiis—!!!”
Thud—
Something bumped into Lee Min-seong's back as he scrambled away.
He whipped his head around reflexively, only to see a comrade's corpse cooling rapidly.
“Hiiik!!”
Letting out a pathetic scream, Lee Min-seong crawled in another direction.
Squish squish—he churned through the sinking sand relentlessly.
Blood stained the trail he left behind.
And in every direction he fled, more cooling hunter corpses lay.
“Hi, hiiik—!!!”
I quietly flicked my tongue at his repeated pathetic screams.
This wasn't revenge—just a hunt. Still, seeing the prey like this was quite satisfying.
I've seen enough.
Shii——
I opened my jaws again.
Letting out a scream that might have been a death cry, Lee Min-seong bolted upright and fled.
But he didn't get far before splat—he collapsed again.
It was almost pitiful, how he tried to rise and run once more.
Sp-Save—!
Crunch—
The familiar taste of blood.
And the screams echoing in my mouth.
I quietly worked my jaws.
One old grudge from the past had vanished like this.
And…
You have won against multiple hunters.
Your stats have increased.
Due to the intense battle, some skills have grown.
Tail Strike skill rank has increased.
Current: Tail Strike A↑
Charge skill rank has increased.
Current: Charge A↑
I was about to check the status window at the familiar, calm notifications when—
The temporary connection to the Labyrinth Will has been severed.
The temporary Floor Boss authority has been revoked.
Your boosted stats have reverted to normal.
Your body, pushed beyond limits, suffers severe backlash.
Agony ripped through my entire body.
Kuugh—!!!
It was an unprecedented shock, more intense than anything I'd felt before.
A tearing pain from deep inside, as if something was ripping me apart.
Before I could even check my hunt's rewards or feel any joy, I could only scream.
Overexertion beyond limits harms the body.
Limit Break skill rank has increased.
Current: Limit Break A↑
Tenacity A activates.
More status window alerts rang out, but I couldn't process them.
I vaguely heard that Tenacity had activated amid it all, but the pain didn't lessen.
My mind just sharpened.
Passing out from the excruciating agony probably wouldn't be ideal.
But at this level, blacking out might be a mercy.
Contrasting the body-wracking torment, my increasingly clear mind had me writhing and screaming silently.
Damn you, Labyrinth Will…!
The brief power had been intoxicatingly sweet, but the backlash was brutal.
It might seem a light price for rank-transcending strength, but this kind of pain? I never wanted to feel it again.
Damn it…! No matter what, this is the last time!
In the midst of the hellish agony, I vowed once more.
The searing pain that had battered my body gradually ebbed after a long while.
I hadn't taken any wounds, so even my robust Regeneration offered little help now.
As the pain finally subsided, I slowly raised my body.
With the torment gone, I could finally breathe easy.
Still, the lingering afterache made my eyes narrow slightly.
My thrashing had turned the area around me into a total mess.
I frowned, scanning the surroundings briefly, then moved.
Part of me wanted to collapse and rest, but this was a gate site.
Hunter traffic was heavy here—it was odd none had come during the fight.
I had no desire to linger and tangle with more.
I'd planned to head straight to the next floor, but changed my mind.
Better to rest on the familiar 29th floor than plunge blindly into the unknown 30th.
No physical wounds, but the mental fatigue from the agony was immense.
I absolutely never wanted to accept the Labyrinth Will again.
I should have heeded my instincts from the start.
Never ignore them again.
More than that, this fight taught me plenty.
About magic, specifically.
I'd heard plenty of stories as a porter, but this was my first time seeing it for real.
Not just seeing—taking it head-on.
The power of magic, experienced firsthand, exceeded my imagination.
If a mere C-rank hunter wields that much power, what about higher ranks?
Magic skills grow stronger with rank, so I couldn't even guess at an elite's spells.
I definitely need to learn magic.
I'd been working on it since before, laying foundations with Mana Manipulation, but no further progress.
I'd pondered methods, but without the core skill itself, effort alone fell short.
So, what's the fastest way for me to learn magic?
Learning from someone would be ideal, but who teaches magic to a monster like me?
Unrealistic.
Without a teacher, skill books were an option… but could I even use one?
With a status window, probably—but skill books were rare; only a few hit the market yearly, regardless of type.
Not feasible.
Then, only one way left.
Besides those, I knew a solid method for new skills.
Like acquiring Magic Eye—devouring another monster's magic stone.
Normally, magic stones don't grant skills.
If they did, hunters would be overflowing with them.
So, I figured my Magic Eye came from a monster-specific trait.
But not entirely—predatory monsters would hoard skills otherwise.
Thus, it was my personal trait.
I had a hunch why.
Gluttony.
The skill boosting digestion efficiency and energy storage.
Devouring magic stones likely owed to it.
Probably compounded with others, like Limit Break.
Whatever the case, I could absorb skills via magic stones.
Only once so far, so not certain—but worth trying.
My next target was set.
Hunt magic-using monsters.
Rare as hunter mages, but not in this Desert Zone.
[Skeleton Mage]
Not common on 29th or 30th, but deeper in, they appeared often.
They'd be my prey.
* * *
The next day, I'd recovered somewhat from yesterday's fatigue and set out.
The Labyrinth Will pain lingered like an afterimage, but not debilitating.
Truly, never again.
The gate site from yesterday's hunt was still a wreck.
Hunters had gathered, investigating the scene.
I considered fighting but shook it off.
Aftereffects still lingered.
Plus, the commanding hunter was no joke—B-rank at least.
Looked like Association dispatch; they worked diligently.
No path to victory, even scheming.
With Labyrinth Will again? Maybe—but pass.
Even then, win rate under 20%.
Time to find another gate quietly.
A distant one was mercifully empty.
I crossed immediately.
30th floor.