Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: The Giant Scorpion's Counterattack
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Cheon Sang-ho was the type to trust his instincts.
He had chosen the left tunnel because it gave off an unusual vibe.
Even as he traversed the pitch-black depths where not a single ray of light penetrated, his steps remained steady.
His senses, sharpened by stats and skills, compensated for his lack of sight, mapping the tunnel's structure clearly in his mind.
“Over there.”
Cheon Sang-ho detected a presence far ahead.
No human would be in a place like this, so he assumed it belonged to the giant scorpion.
To prevent it from escaping again, he broke into a sprint.
After running deep into the tunnel for some time, he sensed another presence closing in from behind.
It was approaching with clear murderous intent, so without hesitation, he swung his sword.
“This is…….”
What his blade cleaved in two resembled the giant scorpion closely in appearance.
But there was a huge difference in size.
Unlike the giant scorpion, the one attacking from behind was only about a meter long.
Larger than a normal scorpion, but hardly a threat compared to the giant one.
“No way, one of its offspring?”
Unable to see, Cheon Sang-ho reached down to touch the corpse and examine its form more closely.
He bent over, hand extended toward the ground, but stopped midway.
“……Looks like I picked the wrong path after all.”
While he had cut down one, countless more scorpions had taken positions along the tunnel walls.
Even a rough count put them at thousands.
Individually, they weren't much of a threat, but in such overwhelming numbers, it was a different story.
Cheon Sang-ho now had to face a horde in a situation where sight was useless.
“So this isn't just an escape route—it's its nest.”
The thousands of scorpions swarmed around him like ants hunting prey.
It was less like scorpions and more like a pack of insects closing in on food.
“As expected of monsters—their thinking is different.”
Humans or animals usually sacrifice themselves to protect their young.
In contrast, the giant scorpion sent its offspring to the front lines to protect itself.
It only looked like a scorpion; its behavior was pure monster.
“Let’s see, roughly over eight thousand?”
For one creature to produce this many young alone was a terrifying reproductive feat.
Cheon Sang-ho imagined what would happen if these offspring grew to match their parent.
“Hmm.”
A horrifying vision flashed in his mind, drawing a pained groan from his lips.
Despite the dire situation, Cheon Sang-ho felt no tension or fear.
He had faced countless battles under worse conditions.
His only concern was that he wouldn't have time to help Kang Jin-hyuk.
“It’ll take a while to wipe them all out…… I wonder if Kang Jin-hyuk can hold out alone.”
He couldn't let even one escape, so he planned to focus on clearing this side.
He didn't feel like he would lose, but it would eat up a lot of time.
Could Kang Jin-hyuk fight the giant scorpion for that long?
After a quick mental simulation, Cheon Sang-ho nodded with a relieved expression.
“That guy can handle it without me.”
It was Kang Jin-hyuk who had figured out the giant scorpion's traits and countered them.
Cheon Sang-ho trusted his skill and sharp eyes—enough that facing the giant scorpion alone wouldn't be an issue.
“Still, better not take chances. I should hurry.”
He sharpened his senses, confirming no other humans were nearby.
After double-checking that only the scorpions were present, he pulled a second sword from his inventory.
One in each hand.
Dual-wielding was his true fighting style.
But he only used it in uncontrollable dangers or when no one was watching.
Every hunter kept an ace or two hidden, so he normally fought with just one sword.
“Hup.”
As the scorpions rained down like a storm, Cheon Sang-ho held his breath and swung both swords at terrifying speed.
Then, as the horde hesitated, he caught his breath and prepared for the next wave.
* * *
Even with Kang Jin-hyuk's flashlight illuminating the tunnel, nothing was visible.
After walking for so long with no change in sight, it meant either the giant scorpion had fled at tremendous speed, or it hadn't come this way at all.
Hoping for the former, Kang Jin-hyuk pressed on.
After another tens of minutes, something finally appeared in the flashlight's beam.
It didn't look like the giant scorpion, but it was too striking to ignore.
“What the hell is all this?”
Kang Jin-hyuk saw countless corpses.
Various monster types lay half-eaten, scattered on the ground.
Revulsed but determined to investigate, he held his breath and examined the remains one by one.
“Just as I thought.”
None of the monster corpses had mana stones left.
Even the ones that looked half-chewed and discarded were the same.
Kang Jin-hyuk realized the giant scorpion hadn't eaten them out of hunger—it had consumed them to replenish power from their mana stones.
The reason was obvious.
It had expended a lot of energy blocking attacks from him and Cheon Sang-ho, so it was restoring itself before fighting again.
“With this many eaten, its strength must be mostly back.”
The leftover corpses here proved the giant scorpion was in this tunnel too.
Unlike their first fight, he was alone now.
But Kang Jin-hyuk didn't feel disadvantaged.
His baseball bat's MP was fully charged at 100%, enough to pour into Aura and pierce the giant scorpion's shield.
“Still, where did it get this many monsters from?”
As he surveyed the scene, a question arose.
The giant scorpion had been confined to the city for a long time, unable to move elsewhere.
Storing this many monsters in the tunnel was suspicious.
“Doesn't look kidnapped either.”
Kang Jin-hyuk focused on a corpse—likely an orc—with intact limbs but no mana stone.
It bore clear signs of resistance.
The fresh blood suggested it had struggled right up to being eaten.
If captured as prey, it would have been paralyzed or killed with venom first—no such traces.
“No way monsters appeared around here?”
If true, the giant scorpion choosing this as a hideout wasn't coincidence.
Whether it anticipated outbreaks or sensed them, who knew.
What mattered now was that the giant scorpion had the intelligence to handle crises adeptly.
“And after devouring this many, it's still nowhere in sight…….”
It was lying in wait somewhere.
Kang Jin-hyuk saw no other reason for it to hide.
He had thought it just fled blindly, but it had prepared a counterattack.
“Fine, let's do this properly.”
The giant scorpion surely knew he wouldn't back down.
Wondering what countermeasures it had set, Kang Jin-hyuk walked past the monster graveyard to see for himself.
After investing another fifteen minutes, he knew he had reached the end.
The flashlight revealed not a continuing passage, but a vast open space like a sports arena.
“To prepare facilities like this underground…… Impressive skills.”
Setting aside admiration for the setup, Kang Jin-hyuk focused on the foe ahead.
“Not ambushing from hiding? Facing me head-on?”
The giant scorpion waited in the prepared arena like a champion.
Kang Jin-hyuk spotted the claw Cheon Sang-ho had severed, now reattached to its body.
“Didn't know it had regeneration too.”
Whether innate or from mana stones, he couldn't tell yet.
To find out, he'd have to rip off the claw again.
He set down the flashlight, pulled out a flare, and fired it skyward.
Made from monster corpses, it burst overhead, flooding the area with bright light.
The giant scorpion didn't flinch despite the explosion right above.
Impressed by its nerve, Kang Jin-hyuk gripped the bat with both hands.
“Let's see how long that guts holds.”
He ignited Aura and charged at the giant scorpion in one burst.
The moment he entered range, he swung the bat.
Not full power—just a probing strike.
The casual swing struck the giant scorpion's head squarely.
Crush.
A hollow sensation, like smashing an empty box, traveled up the bat to his hands.
Expecting a shield deflection, Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't hide his shock.
“What the…….”
Behind the crushed head, he saw it was hollow inside.
Realizing what that meant took a moment.
“No way?”
He understood the fake giant scorpion's purpose just as claws erupted from the ground.
Kang Jin-hyuk swung desperately, clashing head-on with the claw.
Boom!
A shockwave blasted outward, hurling him back.
Barely regaining balance, he let out an incredulous chuckle.
“Using the molted shell like that?”
At this point, it wasn't just smart—it was cunning.
With the ambush failed, the giant scorpion emerged from the ground.
Thanks to the nearby exoskeleton, Kang Jin-hyuk could see how much larger it had grown.
The change wasn't just size.
The golden shield protecting its exoskeleton gleamed far brighter than before.
Kang Jin-hyuk was certain it wasn't mere color.
When bat met claw earlier, the recoil had been double the norm.
Not from swinging hard.
This single clash revealed the giant scorpion had undergone some transformation.