Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Blood Cave Hyenas
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“What's wrong?”
She brushed her cheek with her hand under Woojin's steady gaze.
“Ah, nothing. It's nothing.”
'With Luen here, I can get Ulldin's elf blood too.'
That meant he had secured both of the ultra-rare materials.
'Now for the rest of the ingredients...'
Woojin checked his quest window.
'Luckily, the others are easier to obtain. Some might even be up on the exchange.'
“Ugh... Now I just want to head back to the village.”
But there was something he had to do first.
The conquest of the Blood Cave.
'Not just the time attack, but I need to settle things with those Genesis Unit bastards before heading to the Central Continent.'
“And...”
One of the hatching materials.
He could get a black spider's leg there too.
“Let's go.”
Woojin started walking.
“You're sure about this?”
“Y-yes, of course. We'll meet at the Blood Cave entrance.”
Hato of the Blanc Clan nodded repeatedly, his face tense.
'Damn... will he show?'
He stared at the cave entrance in the distance, praying desperately.
'He'll come, right...?'
All sorts of doubts flooded his mind.
'Damn it... why would he come? I wouldn't either. It's obviously a trap...'
He glanced at the man standing beside him.
'But I can't report mission failure now... This is driving me crazy. Who knew Colson was with Genesis Unit.'
Colson Pawen.
He was a top 200 ranker on the continent leaderboard.
But Hato feared him not just for his rank.
'A monstrous freak. Rose to ranker in just two years since starting.'
That's what made him famous.
His abnormal growth speed.
No way that came solely from dungeon clears and monster hunts.
Clank—
Colson's gauntlet caught his eye.
Bloodstains still caked on the gloves.
He could clean them easily, but he deliberately left the blood on his weapon.
That blood was proof of his growth.
'Human Butcher.'
Unlike the beginner zone of the Dark Forest, things changed once you crossed to the Central Continent.
One of them: PK experience gains.
Ironically, players gave far more exp than monsters.
That's why some leveled up through PK instead of tower raids.
'With that monster stepping up, the Blood Cave will go quiet.'
In the Dark Forest, the Blood Cave was the only place like the Central Continent—where you could gain exp from PK, but also lose it on death.
No matter how skilled the cave's veterans were, none could beat Colson.
“What?”
“Ah...! Nothing, sir.”
Hato bowed his head hastily as their eyes met.
'Hoo... thought my heart was gonna explode.'
Just his gaze made his legs shake.
'Please be there. If that monster catches you, it's game over, no questions asked.'
Hato had no doubt.
“There's a path like this...”
Luen looked at Woojin in surprise at the narrow passage between the rocks.
“Let's go in.”
As he stepped inside,
“...Huh?”
Woojin sensed something off.
'I leveled up?'
When he hunted Sig Elric, his level was definitely 25.
Now it was 30.
'In that world, runes applied but hunting monsters didn't give exp...'
If it did, he'd have leveled up killing the gray wolf.
'What is this?'
Was there something exp-related among what he'd gained?
'No way... that?'
Then he recalled the fight with Ratan.
When he bit into the gem embedded in Ratan's heart.
The strange dissonance when he crushed the gem.
'Luen said that gem was like Ratan's heart.'
And he'd consumed it.
Strength is memory.
Like how Raoul's essence held his memories...
Maybe the memories in Ratan's heart converted to exp in the game.
👤 Name:Khan
⚔ Class:Warrior
⭐ Level:30
📊 Total Points:395
🎯 Remaining Points:0
🔹 Traits:Adventurer, Solitude, Dragon Slayer, Indomitable, Swiftness, Presence, Five Elements, Tenacious Life
🏆 Titles:[Swift Hunter], [Master of Attributes]
🎓 Specialization:Soul Engraving (1/1)
🔒 Engraving:Imperfect Essence of Sarbandin
'As expected... no Magic Power in the stats.'
Game limitations?
Like quest conditions unviewable in the other world but visible here, some things possible there weren't here.
As Woojin allocated his new points, he noticed something else odd.
A new trait he'd never seen.
'What's this?'
“......Level up's nice, but no more risking my life like that.”
Great to get the trait, but the description made him shudder at how close he'd come to death.
“Shh.”
As they walked the underground passage, Woojin spotted an old marker and signaled Luen behind him.
“Boss room as soon as we exit here.”
Luen nodded tensely.
“Problem's the players at the boss room entrance. As you know, this is the only place in Dark Forest where killing's allowed.”
Gulp.
He heard her swallow dryly.
“Inside are guys addicted to the thrill of killing. Could be ten, twenty... or over a hundred. No one knows.”
Luen knew why he was saying this.
“Protect yourself. Weak resolve like last time won't let you survive.”
“......Understood.”
She gripped her bow tighter.
Clank.
Woojin opened the passage gap.
Compared to other dungeons, clear times were much longer.
Not just monster hunts—PK was possible too.
'Plenty of people must attack time attack parties on purpose.'
Breaking through that to beat the boss wouldn't be easy.
'20-minute range... with the others in the 40s, that guy's a real monster.'
The more Woojin saw the board, the more interested he got in Keruga.
The biggest hurdle waiting on the Central Continent.
“But first...”
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Where'd you come from?!”
Woojin muttered lowly toward the gathered players at the boss room.
Whoosh—!!!
Daggers flew at him simultaneously.
Clang—!!!
Woojin deflected them.
“Gotta clear these guys first.”
Hyenas.
That's what they called those who preyed on adventurers in the Blood Cave.
All their faces were masked.
Simple reason.
To hide their crimes and cleverly alter traces to dodge revenge.
With unknown faces, victims had to track battle traces for payback.
'To fake traces, they all use the same weapons and basic skills.'
Unique skills like his Dragon Heaven would expose them instantly.
'Just basic skills and common Parta weapons.'
Step back, and they were just scrubs stuck in the beginner zone.
Nothing special.
Kaboooom—!!!!
Woojin's sword spat white lightning, cleanly severing the nearest man's throat.
“...!!!”
He could sense the shock in their masked eyes without seeing.
Bam—!!!
He kicked the headless corpse hard.
The accomplishment effect was intriguing but not hugely meaningful.
Most got it crossing to the Central Continent where PK unlocked.
'Mass slaughter's impossible there anyway.'
Exceptions existed.
One player held back until high level, then went on a rampage.
'Slaughter Ghost' Jangryeong.
'Jangryeong killed 50 on his first Central Continent murder spree, right?'
As the alert rang, Woojin rose slowly, stepping on the fallen corpse.
“One, two, three, four...”
He scanned the hyenas surrounding him.
“That beginner zone record's getting broken today.”
“What?”
“Don't worry about it. Just means you're all dying.”
Woojin eyed the board.
Unlike instance dungeons, the multi-party Blood Cave showed boss respawn timers separately.
Time until first respawn after entry didn't count toward time attack.
'10 minutes 30 seconds left.'
“Luen, we end this in 10 minutes.”
Not just their lives—he needed the time attack rewards too.
Swoosh—!!!
In that instant, a sharp arrow whistled past him.
“Gah!!!”
With a dull scream, the lead hyena's body floated up from the impact, then slammed down.
Crunch—!!!
The arrow pierced him and embedded in the wall.
The wind-enchanted arrow kept spinning like a drill even in the stone.
“......Kill these bastards!!!”
Rumble...
As the hyenas charged, Luen nocked another arrow.
Swoosh—!!!!
She answered with arrows.
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