Chapter 48
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Second Skill (2)
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"......"
From a distance, the onlookers watched Kang Sa-hu's new combat style in stunned silence, not a word passing between them.
The massive scythe shot off in an instant.
And unlike its ferocious flight as it shredded the goblins at blinding speed like a boomerang,
it returned as docilely as a puppy leaping into its owner's arms. The sight made it seem almost alive.
They had encountered countless hunters in B-rank gates, yet few skills had shocked them this much.
"...Now I get why the boss changed up his fighting style."
They hadn't seen many of the Necromancer's spells, but those required prep time and lacked direct killing power.
This stemmed from the inherent limits of spells built from spirits, drawing mana equivalent to qi.
Of course, they couldn't know those details, but even without them, the single skill Sa-hu had just demonstrated made his choice understandable.
But they had no idea that "returning death in rotation" was merely the beginning.
Blink Teleport
Instantly moves 5m forward
Using Blink Teleport, Kang Sa-hu vanished from his spot and reappeared about five meters away in a flash.
Before his feet even touched the ground, he lopped off a goblin's head with the scythe, then blinked again.
'Definitely way more efficient than Necromancer spells. No comparison.'
The skill itself was incredibly useful, but the real boon was the mana cost.
If the mid-to-high-tier Necromancer spell 'Fear Imprint' had cost 100 mana, Blink Teleport took only about 25— a quarter as much.
And that wasn't the only advantage.
Kerak!
Kek!
Kiyak!
After three rapid blinks, Sa-hu landed amid the clustered goblins, reveling once more in the instant-cast convenience of these non-Necromancer skills.
The great scythe, receiving his intent, vibrated its blade with a eager hum.
Great Scythe Thorns
Blade erupts from ground around user
Papapapak!
Sa-hu tapped the ground with the scythe's handle, and centered on him, the blade erupted from the earth.
The spikes pierced and sliced the goblins, greedily drinking their blood.
Kieeeek!
Then, a long howl echoed from the mountain peak.
Kuwoong!
Veins bulging in its eyes, the gate's boss goblin leaped down, kicking up a dust cloud.
Visibility shrouded, Sa-hu calmly tapped the ground again with the scythe, activating Great Scythe Thorns once more.
Papapapapak!
Kiyaaak!
The boss goblin's cry rang from above.
Having witnessed the skill once, it knew evasion meant the sky was its only path—it had jumped high preemptively.
Kiyeee!
A club as thick as a man's leg swung down with full force.
Paaaaang!
The club cleaved the air with a menacing roar.
Bae Deok-ho, watching tensely, nocked an arrow, ready to provide covering fire at a moment's notice.
But his worry proved unfounded as yet another astonishing scene unfolded.
Psychokinesis
Telekinetically manipulates objects
......?!
The club, poised to smash Sa-hu's head like a watermelon, halted dead in midair.
Hanging from its frozen club, the boss goblin stared down at Sa-hu with a dumbstruck expression.
"Hm, low weight limit and short range. But I can compensate for weak skill power with mana, huh..."
Using Psychokinesis in combat for the first time, Sa-hu gauged its capabilities and dropped the club to the ground.
Kukeok!
Pinned to the earth club and all, the boss goblin thrashed futilely.
Now getting a proper look, Sa-hu confirmed its name: Goblin Knight Captain.
"Can't kill it just yet."
While pinning it with Psychokinesis via the club, Sa-hu prepared a Necromancer spell.
He retrieved the soul core pouch from his dimensional storage and summoned cores reduced to pristine white bones.
Kakakakak!
Keeeek!
The summoned bones bound the boss goblin at his command.
With it trussed like a hog in ropes of bone, Sa-hu shrank the scythe to phone size using its special effect [Size Adjustment], then stabbed the blade's tip into its thigh.
Kee, keeok!
The boss goblin screamed, feeling its blood drain through the embedded blade.
But cocooned in layers of bone, it couldn't writhe properly.
The special effect [Unstoppable Bleeding] activated, and even from such a tiny wound, the blood wouldn't clot.
"Drink it slow."
Intentionally limiting [Rapid Bloodsucking], the scythe sipped at a reduced pace.
With the situation handled, Sa-hu returned to the group watching from behind.
"Boss is secured. When it dies and the gate opens, the miners from NIS will come for resources. Let's claim what we can first."
Hunters cleared gates, while the managing organizations harvested the natural resources—an unspoken rule.
Thus, post-boss death and gate breach, NIS "miners" would swarm in.
They'd hunted this gate to secure minerals for Park Ju-hee anyway, so keeping the boss alive was priority.
"......?"
He'd given orders to move out, yet no one spoke or budged, just staring at him. Sa-hu looked back.
"What's wrong?"
Even to his question, silence held until Kang Ji-ye, his only family and thus casual with him, finally spoke.
"O-Oppa. You're really a Necromancer, right?"
"......?"
Flustered by the absurd question from Ji-ye of all people, Sa-hu blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"No, I get getting a weapon. Gates are mysteries, monsters we've never seen pour out—another freakish weapon appearing now isn't that shocking."
She caught her breath and continued.
"But how can you wield a scythe you just got like that?"
"Oh, you mean that."
Thinking her bewilderment was about his scythe mastery, Sa-hu answered flatly.
"Learned it from NewTube."
"......"
Ji-ye gaped in disbelief before sighing deeply.
"Whatever. You're just amazing, oppa."
Sa-hu found her abrupt wrap-up odd but shelved it—priorities elsewhere.
"Everyone, mount up on the hounds."
Sa-hu summoned an extra Giant Hound to even numbers, then ordered the King Forest Lizard—who eyed the weapons reluctantly—to swallow them back.
As it gulped them down with sidelong glances, Ji-ye watched pityingly.
"Oppa, don't you have that dimensional storage skill? Why make King Fori swallow them the hard way?"
"Too small for it."
Ability Absorption could indeed steal skills, but with strict conditions.
One was that absorbed skills reset to initial state—like his dimensional storage, currently convenience store bag-sized.
He could've expanded it with mana if possible, but alas, no such luck.
Ji-ye nodded in understanding, cheering on the laboring King Forest Lizard.
"Any discomfort?"
Sa-hu approached Park Ju-hee, whom he'd neglected amid battle, and asked.
She shook her head.
"N-No... none. I'm fine."
"......?"
Startled by her sudden formality, Sa-hu eyed her.
She turned away, face flushing.
"Ahem. Sorry for being casual until now. I've worked solo so long, and with NIS folks piling on orders I hated despite not liking me... it became habit."
While Sa-hu was away, Ji-ye had subjected her to endless nagging and Confucian indoctrination on respecting elders—gaslit into submission.
The short time had drilled it deep; attempting casual speech triggered Ji-ye's phantom yell in her head: 'Gah! A young punk being rude to elders?!'
Of course, being older than Ji-ye, she'd never been so arrogant or hypocritical in teaching.
Unused to strangers and new environments for so long,
and bombarded nonstop by Ji-ye, frazzled Park Ju-hee hadn't noticed the oddity.
Sa-hu shot Ji-ye a 'what did you do?' glance, but she whistled innocently at the horizon.
"Got it. Mutual respect is key."
Not a bad outcome, Sa-hu accepted her apology gracefully, capping Ji-ye's etiquette bootcamp.
At "mutual respect," shame resurfaced over her past casualness; Park Ju-hee blushed harder, clearing her throat.
Ukkikkikki!
Kang! Kang!
Ukyakyakya!
Kang! Kang! Kang!
The Corpse-Eating Apes mined vigorously, hyping themselves with monkeyish cries.
A Giant Hound patrolling among them, nose twitching, suddenly bolted to a corner upon discovery.
Woong, woongwoong!
The hound barked joyfully at the new find.
Ukk...
Some apes shot it dirty looks for the noise.
"Good boy."
Sa-hu tossed three bone-only soul cores to the ore-sniffing hound, which snapped them up happily.
"You all worked hard too."
Ukkikkikki!
To the apes, he telekinetically distributed four soul cores each via Psychokinesis—more than the hound's share—igniting their enthusiasm as they devoured them.
Lee Yu-rim flashed on "giving three to take four," then shook her head to banish it.
One wrong word now, and the psyched apes might mutiny.
"All this time, just sitting on these resources...!"
Kim Ho-myeong, dreaming of gate resource ventures since awakening, trembled in rage.
"Boss, we absolutely need gate resource rights."
"Agreed."
Sa-hu nodded at the piled ores the apes had mined.
"Problem is, we don't know what properties these have."
Bae Deok-ho tilted his head, eyeing the two ore types.
Mostly black, with scant purple mixed in—but their natures unknown.
"Oh, that's fine."
Park Ju-hee, who'd been nodding at the ores, turned.
"My skill can identify them."
"...Holy."
Bae Deok-ho, who'd been squinting desperately at the unremarkable rocks, dropped his handful in lame defeat.