Chapter 11
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: First Gate Hunting (1)
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After the briefing ended, fifteen minutes later, the Gate hunt officially began.
Having formed up in advance based on their class characteristics, they crossed through the Gate one by one, with the Knight class member boasting high defense, Kim Ho-myeong, taking the lead.
Wooong-
Stepping through the Gate, which floated in the air like a water mirror, they were met with a humid, sweltering tropical rainforest.
The long-sleeved shirts and pants they'd worn to avoid bug bites during the briefing were instantly soaked with sweat.
"Phew—now the real thing starts."
Bae Deok-ho muttered as he flapped his clothes.
As Kang Ji-ye crossed last, the Gate hovering in the air vanished as if it had been waiting.
At that moment, Kim Ho-myeong, who had been at the front on point, suddenly raised his shield to block ahead.
Thud!
"W-What?! Already?!"
"Be careful. It looks like they've spotted us."
As Kang Sa-hu spoke calmly, Bae Deok-ho shut his mouth.
Kang Sa-hu glanced at Bae Deok-ho, who was shocked at the sudden attack, but quickly looked away.
In the meantime, Lee Yu-rim had already drawn her dagger and struck the Forest Lizard that had bounced off Kim Ho-myeong's shield.
Kek.
The lizard's neck was severed in one strike.
The decapitated lizard flailed its legs before going limp.
But that was just the beginning—lizards the size of full-grown Jindo dogs began climbing down from the trees around them.
"Damn. We've been surrounded."
"Everyone, watch yourselves!"
Kim Ho-myeong and Lee Yu-rim shouted in turn, and at the sound, the lizards that had been staring blankly opened their mouths wide.
Shwaak!
"Eek! What the hell is that?!"
"Tongues."
"Argh, seriously!"
Kang Ji-ye glared at Kang Sa-hu for his snarky response to a question that didn't need answering, but she ducked in alarm as tongues lashed out from all directions.
Yet Kang Sa-hu stood unmoved, as if the onslaught of tongues didn't faze him at all.
"Oppa, what are you doing?!"
As Kang Ji-ye yelled in surprise,
Due to the high humidity and temperature, the Giant Hounds in 'Zombie' state are decaying faster.
Forest Lizard resists becoming a 'Soul Core'.
You can force the use of 'Soul Core', but it will affect potential and durability.
five zombie Giant Hounds appeared around Kang Sa-hu in an instant.
Clack clack!
Kek!
Before they could even react to the sudden arrival of the Giant Hounds, the Forest Lizards that had been bitten by their tongues screamed.
The ones clinging to the trees were yanked down by their tongues and crashed to the ground.
Splat!
Before the rolling lizards could recover, Lee Yu-rim moved like the wind and slit their throats.
Meanwhile, arrows from Bae Deok-ho pierced the lizards' foreheads with pinpoint accuracy.
"An F-rank Gate is about this level, huh..."
Lee Yu-rim calmly assessed the monsters' strength after decapitating one effortlessly.
It had been sudden and startling, but cutting their necks wasn't difficult.
Kang Sa-hu stared at the messages floating before his eyes.
Gazing at a dead Forest Lizard's corpse, he could see a faint blue energy swirling faintly.
As he reached out toward it and thought of using the Soul Core skill, the energy coalesced into a marble-sized orb and floated into his hand.
While the Giant Hound's Soul Core was the size of a game marble, the Forest Lizard's was much smaller, like a BB pellet.
Focusing on the Soul Core brought up information, just like with the Giant Hound's.
Kang Sa-hu made a subtle face at the Soul Core's performance, which was vastly inferior to the Giant Hound's.
"Oppa! More are coming!"
Kang Ji-ye's urgent shout reached his ears as he pondered.
Sure enough, more Forest Lizards were crawling through the dense trees.
"A-All right, let's do this!"
"Don't get complacent just because they look easy!"
Kim Ho-myeong replied sharply to Bae Deok-ho's lighthearted cheer, raising his shield straight to block the Forest Lizards' attacks.
Thud thud thud!
The shield rang out like rain on sheet metal as it withstood the barrage.
But the attacks weren't strong; Kim Ho-myeong maintained his guard effortlessly.
Kang Sa-hu looked over each party member one by one.
Everyone was highly skilled, and the monsters were weak opponents.
Still, being their first time coordinating, they all felt a bit disjointed, moving somewhat independently.
Especially Bae Deok-ho—he seemed to be hiding something, never once using the qi or mana that Hunters employed during attacks, which caught Kang Sa-hu's attention.
But he decided not to pry into personal secrets or minor details.
"If it's all right, may I take the lead a bit?"
As Kang Sa-hu spoke, all eyes turned to him.
They didn't show it, but they'd all been inwardly hoping he'd use his ability after seeing the Giant Hounds summoned.
Of course, Kang Ji-ye, who knew him as family and understood Necromancers, wasn't thrilled.
"Oppa, you gonna use magic? You need spirits for that."
She whispered worriedly so only he could hear, but he shook his head.
"No, I can use mana too. Plus, there's something I want to test this time."
Kang Ji-ye looked at him in surprise at his calm, relaxed reply.
Come to think of it, Kang Sa-hu hadn't shown a hint of surprise or panic since entering the Gate and facing these unfamiliar monsters.
Not even tension—he'd even had the leisure to tease her when she was startled midway.
"...Yeah. I know your Necromancer Society nickname inside out. I was worrying too much."
Kang Ji-ye grinned, referencing his Necromancer Society moniker, and Kang Sa-hu chuckled.
"These don't look stronger than those dogs. I know they're a rank higher. Using them would definitely give us an edge easily. But."
Lee Yu-rim said while wary of the approaching Forest Lizards.
Kim Ho-myeong and Bae Deok-ho watched Kang Sa-hu, waiting for his move.
"Kang Sa-hu Hunter just said he'd step up. Does that mean you'll take command, assigning positions and giving orders?"
Kang Sa-hu nodded at Kim Ho-myeong's question.
"Yes, exactly."
Kim Ho-myeong's eyebrow twitched at the clear answer, but he gripped his shield firmly without further comment.
"Alright, let's try that. So, what do we do?"
As Bae Deok-ho prompted him to give orders, Kang Sa-hu issued instructions without hesitation.
"We've already refined our positions to near perfection after much deliberation. It won't change much. But for me to use my abilities freely, everyone should move to that tree."
The spot he pointed to was a massive tree with tangled roots forming a cave-like hollow.
"If Bae Deok-ho, Lee Yu-rim, and Ji-ye take cover inside the roots, it'll be much easier for Kim Ho-myeong to protect us."
"Hold on. I'm fighting too."
Lee Yu-rim stepped forward, bristling at being sidelined from combat.
Kang Sa-hu gave her a puzzled look.
"Of course you are?"
"...Huh? But earlier you said to hide in the tree roots..."
As she faltered at his baffled retort, he explained.
"These things climb trees to move around, don't they? Can't let your guard down inside."
"Ah, got it!"
Bae Deok-ho smacked his fist into his palm in realization.
"From inside the root cave, you and Kang Ji-ye provide safe ranged attacks and healing, while Lee Yu-rim handles any that get close, holding steady?"
"Exactly."
"...Not a bad plan."
Kim Ho-myeong, who had listened quietly, nodded, and the others followed suit.
"But breaking through to get there will take time."
Kim Ho-myeong glanced ahead, recalling the horde of Forest Lizards clinging to the trees like ticks.
There, countless Forest Lizards lay fallen, being torn apart by Giant Hounds.
"......"
"I-Indeed. Being E-rank makes a difference—these F-rank lizards aren't even a match."
"Can't say they're unconditionally stronger. Climate and terrain actually put them at a disadvantage right now."
As Bae Deok-ho examined the Giant Hounds at Kang Sa-hu's words,
They truly couldn't climb trees, a disadvantage.
But they overcame it by biting and yanking down lizards when they extended their tongues to attack.
However, as Kang Sa-hu said, after several attacks, their shoulders, paws, or torn hides exposed muscle.
In the humid heat, their already ragged bodies began rotting, bones showing through.
"Th-Those dogs... aren't they gonna die like this?"
Kang Sa-hu shook his head at Kim Ho-myeong's alarmed question.
"They're already dead. They're just delaying their rest."
"What does that—... Never mind. Our skills defy common sense anyway."
Kim Ho-myeong cut off the explanation, signaling it was fine, and ended the talk.
"Then let's move out."
At Kang Sa-hu's words, the group fell into line and advanced.
Moving to the tree roots made things far easier than before.
No—far more comfortable.
Pssht!
Kuwek.
Bae Deok-ho nailed an arrow right between the eyes of a slowly approaching Forest Lizard, killing it instantly, then made a sour face.
"...At this rate, am I pulling my weight?"
"Doesn't look like it."
Kim Ho-myeong replied to his mutter, his shield casually lowered to the side.
The two men stared at Kang Sa-hu's back as he stood guard outside the root cave, scanning the surroundings.
"What an incredible power. Necromancer, huh..."
With the safe zone secured per his orders, the others had little to do.
They just listened to the occasional screams of distant Forest Lizards, occasionally cleaning up any that slipped past the Giant Hounds toward the roots.
"The number of summons he can control seems limited... But if he had proper summons, he could be a one-man army."
Right now, he was just fighting with five rotting Giant Hounds, but they could sense his tremendous potential.
If he summoned proper humanoid summons and equipped them with weapons and armor?
It would be an army's worth of power.
"Whoa, a one-man army."
Bae Deok-ho shuddered dramatically, echoing Kim Ho-myeong's words.
Exaggerated or not, the fear was real.
"Why'd someone like that get a provisional rank? Potential-wise, he might even surpass those overseas S-rank Awakeners on NewTube."
Kim Ho-myeong snorted softly at Bae Deok-ho's mutter.
'You misunderstand what 'Ex' means.'
Having memorized countless English words and acronyms in school, Kim Ho-myeong knew how many meanings 'Ex' had.
The one Bae Deok-ho meant was 'Extra'—additional, like an extra or bit actor.
But Kim Ho-myeong knew another meaning entirely.
'Extraordinary...'
Unusual, amazing, rare, extraordinary, remarkable.
Gazing at Kang Sa-hu, who stood firm like a tree, Kim Ho-myeong's eyes held complex emotions.