Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Riding the Yeti
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The time bought by the flashbang didn't last long.
The yetis had merely been startled by the sudden light and noise.
With their senses honed for tracking prey relying solely on smell, they quickly regained their composure and gave chase.
"What the hell are those things? Why are they so fast?"
Even as Kang Jin-hyuk sprinted with stats surpassing those of an S-rank Hunter, he couldn't shake off the yetis.
As if proving with their bodies that the snow-covered mountain was their domain, the yetis' speed increased over time.
The yetis also boasted incredible stamina, showing no signs of fatigue even after running for so long.
"Should I have just fought them?"
"Since we've decided to run, let's go all the way."
Though she said that, Lucia was actually regretting it a bit herself.
On flat ground, she could have easily outrun those bastards.
But with the snow piled so deep, their feet sank in with every step, wasting stamina needlessly.
Their running speed was only half of normal, leaving her frustrated.
"This won't do."
Unable to hold back, Kang Jin-hyuk turned to look behind them.
Before Lucia could stop him, he swung his baseball bat, unleashing a bolt of lightning.
Boom!
The lightning shot straight ahead, flashing blue and roaring with thunder.
However, the poor visibility prevented it from taking out all the yetis.
At best, it fried a few that had been charging head-on.
"You idiot!"
Lucia punched the back of Kang Jin-hyuk's head as he stood there disappointed.
The blow carried real force, making tears well up in his eyes involuntarily.
"Why'd you hit me? We took out a few thanks to that!"
"What was I supposed to do? Did you think we were running because someone here couldn't take down a single yeti!?"
Lucia grabbed Kang Jin-hyuk by the collar.
"Do you have any idea what happens if you unleash something that reckless in a snowy mountain like this?"
"What happens?"
Kang Jin-hyuk was about to ask what she meant when he felt an ominous vibration underfoot.
With a sinking feeling, he looked back toward where he'd fired the lightning.
"Fuck."
Seeing the wall of snow surging like an angry wave, Kang Jin-hyuk realized the blunder he'd made.
Avalanches were one of the biggest dangers in mountains like this, yet in his haste to escape, he'd completely forgotten that basic fact.
"Run!"
Lucia released his collar and bolted.
"Hey! Wait up!"
Kang Jin-hyuk channeled aura into his legs and dashed forward with all his might.
In trying to lose the yetis, Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia now found themselves pursued by an even greater foe.
As they descended, the avalanche picked up speed, closing the distance faster and faster.
Its velocity had already surpassed even what the yetis could handle.
"Grrrrraaah!"
Even the yetis, who treated the snowy mountain like their own home, looked pathetic before this massive avalanche.
The surviving yetis lost all interest in Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia.
Focused solely on survival, they summoned every ounce of strength and raced toward the base of the mountain.
Spotting some yetis overtaking them, Kang Jin-hyuk's eyes lit up.
"Let's ride those!"
"What?"
"Climb on their backs and escape! At least it'll be faster than us running!"
Just then, another yeti raced by right next to them, and Kang Jin-hyuk reached out.
Grabbing its shoulder, he leaped up and straddled its neck like mounting a horse.
The yeti, single-mindedly focused on fleeing the avalanche, didn't even notice the rider on its back.
"Ugh... these things really fucking stink."
Kang Jin-hyuk pinched his nose and grimaced.
In direct contact, the rotten fish-like stench assaulted his senses vividly.
"Endure it. Just endure."
Only until they escaped the avalanche.
He whipped himself mentally and bore the odor.
"Is that really the only way?"
As Kang Jin-hyuk pulled ahead riding the yeti, Lucia wrestled with the decision.
Her sense of smell, several times keener than a normal person's, made the yeti's stench an excruciating trial.
"Ugh..."
Maybe it'd be better to just get buried in the avalanche.
Glancing back with that thought, she saw the snow barreling toward them with terrifying momentum.
Getting swallowed by that would leave no trace of their bodies.
"I'm gonna kill you when we get down..."
Making a sour face, Lucia pulled a rope from her pocket.
She hurled it at a yeti far ahead.
The rope coiled around its waist like a snake and held firm as Lucia grabbed it and leaped up.
The moment she mounted the yeti's back, the stench nearly made her pass out.
Without the superhuman mental fortitude honed from her adventuring days, she would have fainted on the spot.
"Urk."
She avoided fainting, but couldn't stop the vomit rising in her throat.
The silver lining was that Kang Jin-hyuk, busy fleeing, didn't witness her pathetic display.
Hurling up her breakfast, Lucia burned with murderous intent toward him once more.
"Roooaaar!!"
The lead yeti spotted the cliff and let out a mighty bellow.
Receiving the signal, the yetis didn't slow down—instead, they accelerated even more.
Kang Jin-hyuk instantly grasped what that meant.
"They're going to jump the cliff."
The gap to the other side was about 30 meters.
Impossible for a human, but not entirely out of reach for the yetis' abilities.
The front-runners boldly leaped from the cliff's edge.
The success rate of their life-or-death jumps was roughly 70%.
"Gaaahhh!"
A significant number of yetis plummeted into the abyss, failing to clear the distance.
Kang Jin-hyuk swallowed hard, waiting for his ride to leap.
"I believe in you, yeti. You can do it!"
Buoyed by Kang Jin-hyuk's cheer, the yeti charged and sprang from the cliff.
It stretched its bent legs and soared toward the opposite side, slicing through the wind.
When they'd covered more than half the distance, Kang Jin-hyuk knew instinctively.
This yeti was doomed.
"Damn it!"
Even for it alone, the jump was borderline—with Kang Jin-hyuk's added weight, it was impossible.
Sensing the failure, the yeti flailed its limbs desperately in midair.
As if that would change the outcome. It was fighting for its life.
Clicking his tongue, Kang Jin-hyuk patted the yeti's head.
"Thanks for everything, buddy."
The survivor must survive.
With those parting words, Kang Jin-hyuk stepped on the yeti's back and launched himself toward the opposite cliff.
"Grk?"
By the time the yeti realized something was wrong, it was too late.
Using its back as a springboard, Kang Jin-hyuk flew across and landed safely on the other side.
Lucia, who had arrived first, let out a sigh of disbelief.
"You're one ruthless bastard."
"Self-inflicted. What's the problem?"
The yetis had chased them intending to make them food in the first place.
Using them for survival was fair game—self-defense, even.
"Grrr..."
But only Kang Jin-hyuk saw it that way.
The yetis glared at him with eyes full of loathing, as if he were trash after witnessing their comrade's gruesome end.
"Why are they so pissed?"
"Why don't you ask your own conscience?"
"Hmm... no idea."
Kang Jin-hyuk shrugged nonchalantly.
As if understanding the gesture, the yetis roared and charged.
"Whoa!"
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, Kang Jin-hyuk still swung his baseball bat in retaliation.
The first yeti to slash at him with its claws took a bat to the head and crumpled, skull shattered.
"Haa... let's finish them off."
Lucia drew her bow, targeting the yetis in the rear.
Having reached the highest point on that peak after escaping the avalanche, they no longer had to worry about another one.
Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia unleashed their full power without restraint, proving to the yetis that they hadn't fled due to weakness.
* * *
After wiping out over 30 yetis, Kang Jin-hyuk tossed all their corpses over the cliff.
The reason was simple.
Lucia's stubborn refusal to rest anywhere near due to the overwhelming stench.
Kang Jin-hyuk obliged without complaint.
As he hurled the bodies one by one, he suddenly plopped down on the spot.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
In the heat of the action, he'd smacked his forearm against his eye area.
Since it was already swollen from Lucia's punch, the pain shot straight to his bones.
"Getting mad is one thing, but how do you blacken someone's eye like this?"
Checking his face on his smartphone, the area around his right eye was completely bruised purple.
While Lucia rested elsewhere, Kang Jin-hyuk secretly applied a potion to his face.
Then he flipped his cap backward to hide it as much as possible.
"Urgh."
After dumping the last yetis—and his stench-soaked gloves—over the cliff, he equipped new gloves and walked over to Lucia, who sat perched on a rock.
Spotting him approach, she brushed off her butt and stood.
"All done? Then let's head out."
"...What?"
Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't believe his ears.
"Head out? Now?"
"Yeah, we've gotta hurry before sunset."
"Then why'd you make me dump those bodies!"
"To piss you off."
Kang Jin-hyuk's flushed face showed her plan had worked perfectly.
Without the guilt from causing the avalanche, he might have lost control entirely.
That sense of responsibility for the major fuck-up forced him to rein in his rage.
"Fine, I'm the sinner here."
Arguing further would just stoke his anger, so he hurried on without retort.
"Why the rush? I can take it slow."
Lucia giggled, needling his temper.
Kang Jin-hyuk had already swallowed his anger twice in his mind.
The saying was that murder didn't happen after three swallows, but the lid could still blow.
Lucia seemed to sense it, teasing exactly three times before zipping her lip.
Kang Jin-hyuk, who had been itching for one more to justify snapping, ended up like a dog chasing a chicken—left hanging.
"Ugh."
His blood pressure soared; he felt like clutching his neck.
The only comfort was that their desperate descent meant the mountain's base was near, soothing his boiling guts.
After the cliff jump, the blizzard had died down, and visibility was clear.
Before long, the open vista ahead revealed something that nearly made Kang Jin-hyuk fall over in shock.