Chapter 243: Conquering the Kraken (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 243: Conquering the Kraken (5)
In the deep of dawn, before the sun had even risen.
My eyes opened naturally, piercing the darkness.
“……”
It was an old habit.
On days with important events or dungeon raids, I always woke up before sunrise.
What do I do after waking up so early?
Meditation.
It was nothing too grand. I just quietly close my eyes and regulate my breathing.
It’s a way to maintain a calm mind no matter when, where, or what happens.
“Ssssp…”
I inhale as deeply as I can, to my absolute limit.
“Hoooo…”
Then I exhale slowly, very slowly.
As I repeat this, I feel the bustling activity inside my body gradually slow down.
I don’t know if it actually slows down or not, but the feeling itself is what’s important.
It’s only when I achieve a suitable level of tension in this slow, calm state that I can say I’ve reached my best condition.
A state that’s neither too fast nor too slow.
In this state, my body doesn’t tense up from using excessive force, and my mind doesn’t grow lax and careless.
It means I can perceive, act, and give orders with agility, no matter what happens.
“Hoooo.”
I open my eyes as I exhale completely, as if not allowing a single speck of residue to remain in my lungs.
My eyes, now accustomed to the dark, could see my surroundings as if a light were on.
Deciding it was time to get ready, I quietly rose from my spot, only to sense a faint presence behind me.
When I turned my head, I saw Han Ju-yeon, who had been sound asleep on the bed, now sitting up and staring intently at me.
“…You’re awake?”
“Huh? Ah… I’m sorry. I was too drunk yesterday, wasn’t I…?”
Han Ju-yeon hastily covered her grinning face and apologized to me.
Hmm, her actions yesterday certainly warranted an apology.
After pouring herself a full paper cup of strong whiskey and continuing to sip on it, she eventually got completely wasted and passed out on the table.
At first, I was going to give her a piggyback ride to her room… but I had no idea where that was.
So, I just let her sleep on my bed, while I slept on the floor with only a thin blanket.
“You seem like a lightweight. You shouldn’t drink like that from now on.”
“Okay… I’ll keep that in mind. But… were you just meditating?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… you have the same habit as my brother-in-law.”
For a moment, I flinched.
But I wasn’t overly surprised.
Meditation is something any Hunter who values mental discipline does, so what of it?
“Well… I saw Hunter Son Si-woo on TV once saying he enjoys meditation, so I started copying him.”
It was nothing new for Hunters or Hunter aspirants dreaming of becoming S-rank to imitate Son Si-woo.
If he mentioned on TV that he trained a certain way, the very next day it would be dubbed the ‘Son Si-woo Training Method’ and everyone would follow it.
If he mentioned somewhere else how he spent his time before a dungeon raid, it would become the ‘Son Si-woo Routine’ and cause another frenzy.
Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.
“I’m going to wash up and get ready now… Shouldn’t you go get ready too, ma’am?”
“Ah, right. I should.”
At my gentle dismissal, Ju-yeon got up from the bed.
“See you later, then?”
“Yep.”
After seeing her out the door, I immediately showered and got dressed.
I put on clothes over a highly elastic inner suit and then wrapped vital areas with thick leather vambraces and greaves.
A robe over all that, and I was done.
“…I should start paying attention to my gear.”
The materials from low-level dungeons were all mediocre, so I hadn’t bothered, but the time had come to focus on my equipment.
If this job goes well, becoming an A-rank Hunter is practically in the bag.
Since I’ll be stepping up as a high-rank Hunter, I need to have the gear to match.
In high-level dungeons that hover around A-rank difficulty, the quality of one’s equipment becomes just as important as one’s own skill.
Well… I’ll think about that when the time comes.
“Shall we get going?”
It was time to throw myself into the heart of the coming storm.
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In front of the Haenam Surveillance Team base.
When I arrived at the scheduled assembly time, I saw some familiar faces.
Han Ju-hee, wearing a large hat as if to advertise, ‘I am a mage.’
The punk, Kim Tae-yang, leaning with one leg crooked, spitting phlegm against the surveillance post wall.
Namgung Hyeok, leaning against the same wall with his eyes closed, clutching a single sword.
“Familiar faces, indeed.”
All three were just as I remembered.
Kim Tae-yang was still a punk, and our Namgung-hyung was as serious as ever.
As for Han Ju-hee… ah, forget it.
I strode toward them with my long legs and gave a slight bow.
“Good morning, Hunters.”
What could I do?
This body was now B-rank, and they were S-rank.
Han Ju-hee gave a slight nod at the young Hunter’s greeting, while Namgung Hyeok watched me with intrigued eyes.
And Kim Tae-yang…
“Huh? Who’s this brat?”
Ugh.
This bastard, seriously.
“I am Kim Do-jin, here to escort Hunter Han Ju-yeon.”
“Kim Do-jin…? I’ve heard that name somewhere.”
It seemed the name Kim Do-jin had made quite a splash.
For this blockhead, who never stored anything in his brain except things related to women, to be racking his memory at the sound of my name proved it.
The guy looked me up and down with narrowed eyes and started picking a fight.
“The likes of you are escorting her? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
I was wondering when he’d bring that up.
To be honest, I had the same thought when Ju-yeon told me about it yesterday.
Even if her role is a healer and buffer, an S-rank is still an S-rank.
They aren’t so weak as to need protection from a lower-ranked Hunter.
And yet, she had pleaded with me, her hands clasped together.
“I find it strange as well, but Hunter Han Ju-yeon personally designated me.”
At that, he smirked and muttered.
“Heh… so that woman’s taste runs to faces like this?”
A faint trace of jealousy tinged his tone.
The bastard. Looks like he already hit on Ju-yeon and got shot down hard.
Ju-yeon had received many confessions from men since way back.
Perhaps because she seemed so gentle, many of them were of the ‘might-as-well-give-it-a-shot’ variety.
But there was one thing people didn’t know.
Unlike her appearance, Ju-yeon was very decisive about what she liked and disliked.
The expression she made when rejecting a confession was so firm that, in those moments, I often felt like I was looking at Han Ju-hee instead of Han Ju-yeon.
“Oh my, am I the last one to arrive?”
Just as I was in the middle of a non-confrontational confrontation with the punk, the final member, Han Ju-yeon, arrived.
Turning my head toward the voice, I saw she was wearing an outfit I had never seen before.
A pure white dress that reached her ankles.
That must be it.
The top-tier equipment she acquired while active in the United States, the ‘Holy Blessing.’
I’d heard it increased the efficiency of healing and barrier magic directed at oneself or others by 50%.
In her hand, she held a wand about the length of an adult woman’s arm, with a crystal orb at its tip that emitted a faint blue glow.
It was the ‘Wand of Chastity,’ which had an option to increase healing and barrier efficiency by 30% and a Memorize function that allowed the user to cast a pre-stored spell five times a day without an incantation.
How do I know the options on someone else’s equipment so well?
Because I was the one who gifted it to her, of course.
“Uh, um.”
The moment I saw that wand, I felt my breath catch in my throat.
The primary material used to create the Wand of Chastity was the horn of a unicorn, a rare species encountered at an extremely low probability in forested fields.
Unicorn horns were known for their exceptionally high mana conductivity. Wanting to give Ju-yeon a great gift as she took her first steps as a Hunter, I had emptied the guild warehouse of its few horns to have it made.
Thanks to the finest craftsman working with the best materials, the wand’s options were nothing short of fantastic.
However… there was one problem. The material’s properties were brought out so well that the wand came with an absurd wearing condition.
The condition was none other than that the wielder must be a virgin.
“……”
The moment I saw that condition, I tried to destroy the wand.
What kind of crazy brother-in-law gives his sister-in-law a wand that can only be wielded by a virgin?
But ta-da, here I am.
I really didn’t intend to give it to her.
After explaining the situation to Ju-yeon, I was frantically searching for another gift when…
She suddenly asked for that one.
She said she didn’t mind, and that she could just use it until she found a good boyfriend.
I tried to talk her out of it, but as I said, once Ju-yeon sets her mind on something, she rarely lets it go. In the end, I had to place it in her hands.
Considering this wearing condition, only one conclusion could be drawn.
Han Ju-yeon, now in her early to mid-thirties, was…
“Still a virgin…?”
She still hadn’t lost her virginity.
I nearly burst into tears.
Ju-yeon… just how busy have you been all this time…!
“Hm…? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Ju-yeon asked, looking at me with a puzzled expression as I stared at her.
I quickly averted my gaze and shook my head.
“Ah, it’s just… I was thinking the dress really suits you.”
“Right? I was thinking that when I find someone to marry, I might wear this for the wedding. Don’t you think that would be nice?”
Ju-yeon asked for my opinion, fluttering the hem of her dress and gazing at me with a subtle look.
“Ah… that wouldn’t be bad.”
But Ju-yeon.
Don’t you think you need to get a boyfriend first…?
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After a few minor hiccups, we stood atop the defensive wall.
Dozens of mages brought by Han Ju-hee stood there with grim expressions.
To attack the Kraken from the inside, we obviously had to get inside its body.
This presented a problem.
How would we get inside the Kraken?
Compared to the Kraken’s massive body, humans are infinitesimally small. Should we sneak up and throw ourselves into the first hole we see?
That wasn’t an option.
Large monsters are, contrary to expectation, more sensitive to approaching objects.
In fact, a dense web of faint mana threads surrounded the Kraken’s body.
The moment we passed through or touched them, the Kraken would whip its long tentacles like a lash.
Ultimately, to get inside the Kraken, we needed to either divert its attention for a moment or stop its movements.
And for that, we had a suitable card to play: the Magic Tower’s group magic.
“Prepare yourselves.”
At Han Ju-hee’s command, the mages simultaneously drew upon their mana.
Lines began to embroider the empty air with their magic.
Soon, they formed a single magic circle.
Crackle!
Bzzzt!
The moment the magic circle was complete, an immense electric current sparked in all directions.
Then, a single, giant spear materialized above the circle.
Its name was…
「Group Magic」
「Spear of the Thunder God.」
BZZZZZZT!
If ‘A Thousand Bolts of Lightning’ was a spell for mass slaughter, the ‘Spear of the Thunder God’ was a spell for a single, powerful entity.
You could think of it as the hundreds, even thousands, of lightning bolts that had struck down days ago, all concentrated into that single spear.
“Fire.”
RUUUUMBLE…!
The Spear of the Thunder God flew forward with a heavy, roaring sound.
Though the sound was incredibly deep, its speed was like a flash of light.
The moment the Kraken, sensing danger, widened its eyes—
KWAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZK-!
The lightning, which had been compressed into a single spear, burst forth in all directions, electrocuting the massive body.
As black smoke billowed up and the creature’s eyes rolled back slightly—
“Now!”
At Han Ju-hee’s gesture, the five of us floated into the air and shot toward the Kraken at high speed.
The creature’s blackened skin began to return to its original color.
Its regenerative power was truly astonishing.
Watching this, Namgung Hyeok let out a low groan.
“Hmm…! If we had fought it from the outside, it would have been more difficult than I thought.”
He was right. Even for S-rank Hunters, fighting until that ridiculous regenerative ability was exhausted would have been a daunting task.
Closing the distance quickly, we found a large hole that had been blasted open by the electric shock.
Judging by its location, it seemed to be its mouth…
“Let’s go in there.”
The Kraken’s body was almost fully recovered.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, we flew quickly and reached the hole.
Just then, a message window appeared before my eyes.
[You have discovered a hidden dungeon.]
[You have entered ‘The Path to the Kraken’s Heart’.]
…What are you doing here?