Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Frontline Rampage
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Kang Jin-hyuk headed toward Titan's defensive line alongside the other hunters whom the secretary had persuaded.
Titan's executives frowned upon spotting the sudden swarm of hunters.
To the executives, who had wanted to handle everything with Titan's own strength, these hunters coming to help were unwelcome intruders.
“Who ordered you to bring these people here?”
“It was the Guild Master's command.”
Hearing the secretary's response, the executives wore displeased expressions.
They wanted to send them packing, but they couldn't defy the Guild Master's orders.
Even though the executives held the real power, ignoring a command from Seo Sang-ho—the symbol of Titan and an S-rank Hunter—was out of the question.
In the end, one of the executives reluctantly issued orders to the guild members.
“Tch, let them in.”
Thanks to the guild members holding the defensive line stepping aside to the left and right, a path opened up.
Kang Jin-hyuk and the hunters slipped quickly through the gap.
As the secretary tried to follow them in, the executive who had cleared the way tossed a confirming question her way.
“This really came from the Guild Master, right?”
“……Of course.”
The secretary answered with feigned composure, but inwardly, she was already dreading the written apology and pay cut she'd face later.
She had used the Guild Master's name without permission, so she might have to live off instant noodles for at least three months.
“I'll take my leave now.”
The secretary gave a quick bow before hurrying off.
The hunters she had recruited for help, along with Kang Jin-hyuk, weren't far away, awaiting her instructions.
Spotting them, the secretary joined up and immediately began dispatching the hunters to appropriate positions.
Melee skill-focused hunters went to the front line with the tanks.
Magic-type hunters provided bombardment support from the rear.
And those with support skills were asked to bolster the middle lines.
All the other hunters took their assigned positions, but despite being a cleric upon job change, Kang Jin-hyuk headed not to the middle but to the front line.
Spotting this, the secretary hurried over to him.
“Wait a moment. Are you really planning to step up to the front?”
“Why ask something so obvious?”
The secretary barely suppressed the urge to retort that nothing about this seemed obvious.
A cleric job, yet ignoring support duties to charge at monsters?
After debating whether to press the issue, she let out a small sigh.
She couldn't waste time on one hunter in this dire situation.
“……Do as you please. But if you don't meet the quota on this counter, there'll be no pay.”
With those cold words, the secretary held out a device that resembled a pocket watch.
“What's this thing for?”
“It measures the mana from monsters you've hunted and accumulates it as points.”
For example, a goblin counted as 1 point, an orc as 3 points.
Hunting 100 goblins and 3 orcs would register 109 points on the counter.
Titan was already actively using this recently developed tool to prevent cheating.
“The average score for front-line hunters right now is 82 points. If you want compensation, score higher than that.”
“Aren't you being a bit too strict just with me?”
“I was looking to bring supports, not dealers.”
The secretary had a point.
Setting aside his cleric job, Kang Jin-hyuk was just your run-of-the-mill D-rank Hunter.
She couldn't promise high pay to such a hunter without conditions.
“Just don't be shocked when you see the report later.”
As Kang Jin-hyuk took the counter with confident flair, the secretary sneered inwardly.
No matter how hard he tried, he was a cleric, not a specialized dealer.
She couldn't understand why Seo Sang-ho rated this guy so highly.
“I look forward to the results.”
Once the secretary left and he was alone, Kang Jin-hyuk pocketed the counter in his pants.
She had departed with a smile, but he knew it was all for show.
Kang Jin-hyuk vowed to make her deeply regret underestimating him.
“I didn't want to use this if I could help it.”
With a reluctant expression, Kang Jin-hyuk pulled a stamina amplification potion from his inventory.
It granted more than double his usual vitality, but the terrifying side effect was utter exhaustion the next day.
Kang Jin-hyuk downed the potion from the brown vial in one gulp.
Facing a monster horde with a body worn out from a week of overwork left him no choice.
“Ugh…… This stuff's terrible for your health, but damn, it's potent.”
The taste was awful, but the effect was undeniable.
The moment the potion hit his stomach, his head cleared sharply, and strength surged through his body.
Kang Jin-hyuk began unleashing his borrowed vigor at the front line.
His bat, swung in a full-powered arc with full force, clashed against the club of an ogre targeting the hunters.
Amid a massive impact, what shattered into pieces wasn't Kang Jin-hyuk's slender arm, but the ogre's club.
“Ugh?”
The ogre stared dumbly at its broken club.
It couldn't believe its prized club had been smashed by this puny human not even reaching its waist.
The nearby hunters were just as stunned.
“What the? That guy?”
“Is that even possible with a bat?”
The feat that even an A-rank Hunter might struggle with was possible for Kang Jin-hyuk thanks to his week of training with Lucia.
Thanks to hunting monsters nonstop for that week, his level had reached a whopping 140.
Of course, level-wise, he was barely scraping B-rank territory, insufficient against an ogre.
But Kang Jin-hyuk had the effect of [Holy Power Application – Stage 3].
With holy power coursing through his body, his physical abilities were greatly enhanced.
As long as his MP didn't run dry, Kang Jin-hyuk's stats could surpass even an A-rank Hunter.
“Good thing I stocked up on potions beforehand.”
Normally, the association limited potion sales per person to control supply.
But the black market organization dealing with Kang Jin-hyuk was different.
For a modest fee, he could buy over 100 potions.
Right now, Kang Jin-hyuk had 1,529 mana potions on hand.
His mana wouldn't bottom out until his stomach gave up.
“How long are you gonna stare at that busted club?!”
Kicking off the ground, Kang Jin-hyuk leaped high enough to reach the ogre's head with a stationary jump.
Only then did the ogre tear its gaze from the club and try to move.
But it was too late.
Kang Jin-hyuk's swinging bat exploded the ogre's head like a bursting balloon.
The ogre's massive body, now headless, collapsed to the ground amid a cloud of dust.
“Hup.”
Landing atop the ogre's corpse, Kang Jin-hyuk pulled out the counter to check his score.
“An ogre gives 12 points, huh. Guess I just need six more.”
Ignoring the astonished hunters around him, Kang Jin-hyuk moved toward his next target.
“Since pay's based on kills, better to fight where there are plenty of witnesses.”
Kang Jin-hyuk didn't trust Titan.
Even if the counter worked fine, they might pull some trick later.
To prevent any excuses, he figured fighting in the most crowded spots to gather witnesses was best.
“Let's see…… That area seems pretty chaotic.”
Seeking the most populated spots naturally led him to crisis zones.
Powerful monsters rampaging against hordes of hunters.
Those became Kang Jin-hyuk's prime prey.
Gulping down mana potions nonstop, Kang Jin-hyuk rampaged freely.
No matter how tough the monster's hide, it couldn't withstand his aura-wrapped bat swings.
Before he knew it, the counter's score had long surpassed 82 points.
“He one-shots what A-rank Hunters were barely holding off……”
“What kind of guy is he?”
As he felled the monsters plaguing them one by one, hunters' attention gradually turned to him.
While marveling at Kang Jin-hyuk's skills, they also harbored doubts.
“I can't believe I never knew about a hunter with skills like that.”
“First time seeing him today.”
“Doesn't seem to be on the A-rank Hunter list, at least.”
Once you started standing out as a hunter, like it or not, you drew eyes.
But there was hardly any info on Kang Jin-hyuk.
Just a few weeks ago, he was a D-rank Hunter no one cared about.
His recent feats? Helping Titan protect a cleric—that was it.
Even that hadn't spread because Titan's executives had clamped down on info, keeping his face unknown.
Those who knew Kang Jin-hyuk's name and face precisely were the hunters from that raid.
And Ahn Do-yoon, who had gotten smacked and knocked out by him.
“That bastard, when did he get this……”
Watching Kang Jin-hyuk from afar, Ahn Do-yoon rubbed his jaw.
Seeing him go wild made the spot where he'd been hit throb again.
“Why does that punk keep popping up in my sight?!”
Ahn Do-yoon didn't know how Kang Jin-hyuk had grown this strong in such a short time.
Not knowing his methods made the guy's existence even more irritating.
“I'm scraping by, barely leveling up while risking my life, and that guy's doing what exactly?!”
Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't have found some special hunting ground frequented by monsters.
Ahn Do-yoon knew he hardly even left his house, let alone hunted.
He had secretly investigated him to get revenge for the humiliation.
“Damn it!”
The thought 'Maybe it's a talent gap?' surged with bitter resentment.
He couldn't stand losing to a guy like that.
Every time hunters marveled at Kang Jin-hyuk's exploits, it drove him mad with injustice.
“Who's fault is it that I got kicked from vice guild master?”
Ahn Do-yoon couldn't tolerate Kang Jin-hyuk thriving.
If he had fallen low, that guy should crawl in the dirt too.
This was his only chance to make it happen.
With that thought, Ahn Do-yoon snapped, letting reason slip.
By the time a nearby colleague noticed his odd behavior, it was too late.
Ahn Do-yoon gripped his sword with both hands and charged, eyes locked on Kang Jin-hyuk's back.
Right after slaying a monster—the moment he'd be most off-guard.
That's what Ahn Do-yoon aimed for.
Even with mountains of onlookers, entertaining such a reckless idea showed how cornered he was mentally.
Abandoned by the executives who once backed him and treated as dead weight by the Guild Master, he couldn't endure his situation.
Ahn Do-yoon blamed everything on Kang Jin-hyuk and swung his sword in a burst of rage.
When he saw his own sword cleaved in two, that rage turned entirely to regret.