Chapter 33
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Through the Screams, to the Kingdom (1)
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About thirty minutes had passed since I'd greeted Ma Dongpal.
The expedition team's initial excitement, which had flared up the moment they confirmed I was the Hunter Kim Hanul, had cooled down considerably.
They were about to embark on a gate expedition.
They couldn't stay focused on a single Hunter forever.
Thanks to that, I was able to talk to Asha.
“You don’t seem very surprised.”
Indeed, while the Aegis Guild members were showing their curiosity, Asha had kept her distance, focusing on her own tasks.
In a way, she should have been the most surprised of all.
Asha, who was inspecting her suit, looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
“Hm? Why would I be surprised?”
“You were staying neutral just a few days ago.”
It was my first stream in a while.
While the viewers were split fifty-fifty, arguing over whether I was the rumored super rookie.
She was the only one who remained neutral.
“Ah.”
A smile touched Asha's sky-blue eyes.
“I believed you were the Hunter Kim Hanul, you know? I just stayed neutral on the stream. If I’d taken a side in that situation, it would’ve made things awkward for the other half.”
I was a little surprised.
Asha was known for her tomboyish image.
But meeting her like this, I realized she was more thoughtful than I'd expected.
Come to think of it, the viewer who always analyzed the situation most calmly whenever I played MonMonMak was 'Bald is the Strongest'.
“Still, it’s amazing. With skills like that, why were you playing a crappy game like MonMonMak?”
“…”
“A ‘no comment’ won’t work here. We’re having a proper fan meeting after the expedition is over.”
Asha said in a playful voice.
But before I could answer,
“Alright, that’s enough chatter. Everyone, get ready. The rift is opening!”
Ma Dongpal's booming voice came from the other side.
The hyper, schoolgirl-like excitement he’d shown when he greeted me was gone.
He had returned to being a charismatic guild leader.
Crackle!
Indeed, the dimensional rift that had opened in the middle of the clearing began to react.
The rift was a slender oval, about five meters in diameter.
A blue, sparking mist crept out from it.
“Prepare for battle! We’re moving in the pre-assigned formation. Kang Hanjun, are you just going to stand there spacing out?! You’re the only one who’s out of position!”
Ma Dongpal roared.
As if to surround the writhing rift in the center of the clearing,
A dozen or so Hunters took their designated positions and assumed combat stances.
I, too, drew the Emperor's Remnant with one hand and stood beside Asha.
“Nice sword.”
Asha commented with a grin.
She was holding a mana rifle, capable of condensing mana and firing it like a bullet.
Judging by the scope, it was a model capable of sniping.
“Your mana gun is nice too.”
“Thanks. The boss told you your position, right?”
I nodded.
My role was to move around the battlefield and join in wherever support was needed.
Fzzt!
A much denser magical mist spread out from the rift.
It was on a completely different level from the faint aura I'd felt at the E-rank gate.
So much so that my skin prickled where the mist touched it.
The gate would probably open and monsters would pour out within five minutes.
‘So this is what an A-rank monster is like. Such an intimidating presence even before it emerges…’
It was then.
Thump!
‘Sage?’
The Sage, still invisible and attached to me, bumped its body against my head.
It seemed quite urgent.
‘What is it?’
[Acquired hidden information about the gate through Special Analysis.]
The moment I checked the information that followed,
[The target gate has been altered by an 'Interference'. The monster currently waiting inside the rift is the 'Tunneling Fly'.]
My eyes widened.
Interference?
It was an unfamiliar term, but there was a more important problem at hand.
Tunneling Flies.
These were not 'monsters for making hundred-unit armies'.
As soon as I confirmed this, I immediately looked around.
The Hunters were scattered.
They were spread out, ready to surround and annihilate the monster as soon as it appeared.
Normally, this would be the correct approach.
A dense formation is inefficient when taking on a large monster.
But if it's Tunneling Flies, that's a different story.
“Asha.”
I called out to Asha, who was on standby behind me.
“Hm? What is it, CrappyGame?”
“Could you use your gate-scouting skill one more time? I think something inside the gate has changed.”
“Changed? That can’t be. When I checked a few days ago, it was definitely…”
Asha's expression was one of disbelief.
But seeing my serious demeanor, she cast the skill without another word.
For a moment, something resembling runic characters appeared in Asha's sky-blue eyes.
“...Huh?”
A moment later, she gasped.
Seeing her reaction, I knew there was no more time to wait and see.
“Guild Leader!”
“Hm? What is it, Hunter Kim Hanul? Wh-whoa? You shouldn’t be moving yet!”
Ma Dongpal turned with a puzzled look, which turned to alarm as I strode toward him.
But I ignored his reaction, walked up to him, looked up, and spoke.
“We need to change the formation.”
“What?”
“Group the Hunters so they can cover each other. They need to be in teams of at least two.”
What on earth is he talking about.
That was the look on Ma Dongpal's face.
“Group the Hunters to fight a large monster? That’s incredibly inefficient…”
“It’s Tunneling Flies in the gate.”
“What? Why would Tunneling Flies be in there…”
“You have to trust me.”
Ma Dongpal’s face hardened.
He finally understood the meaning of my words.
“That can’t be right. It’s different from the gate information we have.”
“No, CrappyGame is right. We have to change the formation, boss.”
“Asha…?”
Asha, who had run over after me, added breathlessly.
A look of consternation crossed the Aegis Guild leader’s eyes.
At a time when monsters could emerge at any moment.
Changing the formation rashly was obviously not an easy decision.
But if, as I said, a swarm of Tunneling Flies was in the gate, the guild members in their current positions would be helpless.
‘Conversely, even if I’m wrong, no lives will be at risk.’
The current formation was, after all, only for an ‘efficient’ hunt.
A decrease in efficiency would only mean the raid takes a little longer.
The deliberation didn't last long.
“Ah, hell. If Hunter Kim Hanul and the kid are both saying it, then of course I have to trust you and change it.”
Ma Dongpal wasn't foolish enough to weigh his pride against the lives of his guild members.
“Everyone, listen up! Change of formation. Reassemble in Formation D! Formation D!”
His mana-infused voice echoed across the field.
“Sir?”
“Formation D, all of a sudden?”
“No time. Just do it.”
At his growling voice, the members didn't argue further.
In an instant, the Hunters grouped up in twos and threes, taking positions to cover each other.
“Asha, you stick with Hunter Kim Hanul. I’ll go with the rookies.”
With that, Ma Dongpal joined the visibly nervous Hunters.
And I took a brown bead from the bracelet on my wrist.
I inserted it into the slot at the end of my sword's hilt.
[Ready to use Remnant Copy.]
If the Sage was right, Odolph would be useless in this situation.
It was better for me to absorb his ability and fight directly.
“Just a few days ago, when I last checked, there was no sign of anything unusual.”
Asha's voice came from behind me.
When I turned, she was biting her lip, looking quite shocked.
“Did I see it wrong? Is my skill faulty?”
No.
Her Eyes of the Scales were not wrong.
The monsters that were supposed to be in the gate weren't them.
Considering the nature of Tunneling Flies, the gate must have had an 'original owner'.
And it probably still exists.
Crackle!
And finally, the shimmering rift in the air began to expand into a large circle.
The rift had quickly become a gate over ten meters in diameter.
“The gate is opening! Prepare for battle!”
Ma Dongpal's voice boomed.
Taking his words as a signal,
Krr-crackle!
The gate opened, and monsters began to pour out.
At first glance, it looked like a raging black whirlwind.
But.
“Th-that’s…”
Looking closer, they were monsters about a meter long.
Bugs so grotesque they made your hair stand on end, like giant fruit flies.
“Ugh.”
Asha grimaced.
Ma Dongpal let out a thunderous shout.
“Tunneling Flies! Cover each other! Don’t you dare show your backs to those things!”
Tunneling Flies.
They were D-rank.
Individually, they were only one rank above goblins.
But when more than a thousand of them formed a swarm, it was a different story.
Bzzzzzz!
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Snap out of it! They’re nothing on their own!”
The first swarm of flies from the gate clashed with the Hunters.
As expected, their individual combat power was negligible.
Fwoosh!
Crunch!
In an instant, dozens of flies were burned, smashed by fists, or riddled with bullets, falling to the ground.
But for every one that fell,
“Ah, shit! There are too many of them!”
“Anyone with fire abilities, pour all your mana into it!”
No, an even greater number of bugs swarmed toward the Hunters to replace the ones that were killed.
Bang!
Thwack!
Asha, beside me, also aimed her mana gun and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Her marksmanship was excellent.
Each time she pulled the trigger, one of the fruit flies buzzing through the air exploded.
And I,
Whoosh!
swung the Emperor's Remnant at a monster that flew in, aiming for the back of her head.
It was a clumsy upward slash.
Gripping the hilt tightly, from bottom right to top left.
I swung diagonally upwards.
The tip of the sword caught the carapace near the Tunneling Fly's abdomen.
Rrrrip!
The sharp blade tore through chitin and sliced through flesh.
The sensation of cutting through sticky jelly traveled up my arm as the gliding fly was bisected, spewing green blood.
Splat!
A foul-smelling liquid rained down on my head.
Any later and it would have been dangerous.
Asha, splattered with blood, gave a calm nod.
“Thanks.”
Though she was A-rank, she was ultimately non-combat personnel.
Nevertheless, this Russian Hunter was remarkably calm and composed.
“I almost got a sudden death sentence there.”
The moment you allow one to approach from behind,
the Tunneling Fly latches onto your back and injects its stinger into your body.
Once injected with its poison, you wither away and die.
That's why having a partner to watch your back is essential.
“Aaargh! My back! It’s on my back!”
Just then, a Hunter had exposed his back.
A giant fruit fly was latched onto him.
However,
“-------!”
Smash!
With a beastly roar, the fruit fly that was about to sting him exploded into a shower of blood.
[Guardian's Advent - Forest Stance]
Standing there was a beast that looked like a cross between a bear and a human.
The 4th ranked Hunter in Korea, and the one and only shapeshifting enhancement-type Hunter.
Ma Dongpal.
He extended a hand to the fallen guild member and growled.
“Get up, you punk. Don’t let these damn bugs scare you.”
“Th-thank you!”
I watched the Hunter get up, grabbing the densely furred bear paw.
My gaze widened, taking in the clearing where a battle of attrition was being waged.
Krrrrunch!
Amidst the acrid smell of gunpowder and the foul stench, thankfully, not a single Hunter had fallen.
Despite the emergency, they were handling it well.
At this rate, the Aegis Guild wouldn't collapse anytime soon.
However.
‘The gate isn’t closing.’
I stared at the gate, which was completely surrounded by a black swarm of bugs.
Swarms of flies were endlessly pouring out of the gate at regular intervals.
Bang!
Did she read my mind?
Asha, who was slowing the flies' approach with a barrage from her mana gun, spoke up.
“That’s not a simple gate.”
Perhaps because she was using a skill contracted with a Divine Seat, her eyes held unreadable characters.
“It’s a fusion-type gate.”
A gate disappears after it has released all the monsters it contains.
But a fusion-type is different.
It's fused with a dungeon, meaning until you enter the rift and clear the boss,
the gate will not close.
“I’ll go. Me and the old man should be enough.”
Asha said.
Her sky-blue eyes were filled with determination.
It seemed she felt responsible for the current situation because her prediction had been wrong.
“I’ll go too.”
Asha's expression wavered.
“There’s no need. I called you here to carry you. Not to clean up the mess I made.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t come here just to get carried.”
I continued, looking at the gate engulfed by the swarm.
“There’s something I want, and I came here to get it.”
“Something you want?”
“Yes.”
Asha thought for a moment before nodding.
“Alright. Keep up.”
And as she took the lead, shooting down incoming flies, I carefully rolled a purple bead.
Poof!
The mist cleared, revealing a goblin.
Its lopsided eyes turned toward me, as if it had just been woken up.
I pointed to the swarms of flies filling the sky and said,
“Farm as much as you can without getting noticed. Once things here are sorted out, hide the mana stones and return to the Lord's Castle.”
“Kiruk?”
Gono tilted its head.
Its expression seemed to ask,
‘Farming?’
Yes, farming.
Can't just let all those flying mana stone clusters go to waste, can we?
“Gotta grab them while you can. Right, Gono?”
“Kiruk.”
Now fully awake, Gono stretched its snout into a wide grin and nodded.
* * *
“Go kill the boss?”
Ma Dongpal, who had been slaughtering bugs, readily nodded.
“Sounds good. Then let’s have Hunter Hanul-nim, me, and Asha. The three of us will go. Yongtae!”
A booming call.
“Yes, Guild Leader.”
A Hunter who had been bashing Tunneling Flies with a large staff ran over.
“Command the others and just hold the line like you are now. I’m going to kill the boss of this bug swarm.”
“Understood.”
The Hunter called Yongtae bowed and rejoined the guild members.
And Ma Dongpal's eyes, the whites now stained black, turned to me.
Looking at those eyes, he seemed a bit like… a puppy.
A really bulked-up puppy.
His fans called him 'Mably,' and now I could kind of see why.
“Let’s go.”
With that, Mably began to charge forward.
A single bear, rushing toward the gate.
Smash!
Flies swarmed in, as if to guard the gate, but they were instantly turned to pulp by the giant bear's paws.
Asha and I followed behind him.
Treading on the pulped carcasses of the insectoid monsters.
Killing the bugs that aimed for the back of our heads, we soon found ourselves in front of the gate.
“Grrr.”
Ma Dongpal stared at the gate with feral eyes, then threw his massive body in without hesitation.
I, too, threw myself into the gate.
Thud-thud-thud!
Immediately after, I tumbled to the ground.
Unlike a dungeon, a fusion-type gate led directly to another world just one step across.
Thanks to that, I couldn't stop my forward momentum.
“It’s a tunnel.”
Asha said, illuminating the area with the light attached to her mana rifle.
We had entered a dark tunnel, about three meters in diameter.
The bugs that had swarmed outside the gate were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, damp air and an unidentifiable stench filled my nostrils.
Fwump.
And right after the Sage attached to my side moved,
[Beholder Sage casts 'Spy'. Acquired partial information on the monsters present in the dungeon.]
Beyond the musty darkness of the passage,
[Amur Queen Ant]
I had finally found what I was looking for.