Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Hyenas (1)
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"Kuaaaahhh!"
Six Ant-horns burst from the bushes simultaneously.
Seeing that two of them were exceptionally large, it seemed there were 'Elders' mixed in.
"Hmph."
He took a short breath, tightening his grip on the spear.
He focused his mind on the left side of his chest.
-Vwooom!
The Seongheun blazed with a blue light.
An intense power surged through his entire body.
"Krrrk!"
An Elder Ant-horn charged sharply from the left.
His body moved naturally, following the spearmanship passed down from Lee Shin-hyeok.
-Crack!
"Kieeeeeek!"
He shoved the spear shaft into the Elder Ant-horn's maw. Its sharp jaws snapped shut, threatening to break the shaft.
"Don't you dare!"
Crunch!
He twisted the spear shaft and simultaneously stomped his heel down, crushing the Ant-horn's head.
The Ant-horn's carapace, which couldn't even be pierced by bullets, shattered and caved in from a simple kick.
'Good.'
His body felt as light as a feather.
The muscles all over his body seemed to writhe as if they were alive.
"Kirrrrk!"
He dodged an attack from behind by ducking slightly, then grabbed the hind leg of the Ant-horn as it passed over his head.
"Keek?!"
The Ant-horn struggled, seemingly flustered.
"Hup!"
He threw the captured Ant-horn straight into the pack.
Kieeeeeek!
The Ant-horn flew like a cannonball, colliding with the others and sending them tumbling to the ground.
'As expected, my physical specs are on a completely different level from a typical 1-Star Awakened.'
The average weight of an Ant-horn is around 80 kg.
Unless you were an Awakened of Taurus, lifting the weight of two sacks of rice with one hand and throwing it like a cannonball was no easy feat.
Especially for an Awakened who was still only 1-Star.
'It's not just my physical specs that are monstrous.'
The true power of the Lyra Seongheun was revealed when it was activated with mana.
-Crackle, crackle!
A brilliant burst of light erupted from his left chest, and blue lightning coursed over his body.
"...I guess I still can't do it like I did back then."
When he had received Vega's blessing.
Unlike the storm of blue lightning that had raged around him then, now it was just a tiny spark hopping around his body, like a Pikachu that hadn't eaten in three days using Thunderbolt.
"Tsk."
You can't expect to be full from the first spoonful.
Besides, wasn't the whole reason he came here to grow this lightning to the same scale as when he received the blessing?
"Krrrk!"
"Kiaaaaaah!"
The tangled, tumbling Ant-horns let out furious shrieks and charged.
'I'll deal with stray thoughts later.'
Right now, I need to focus on the battle.
He fiercely thrust his spear, mimicking the movements of Lee Shin-hyeok etched into his mind.
* * *
In the sticky, humid forest.
The charred corpses of Ant-horns lay scattered in a clearing created by burning bushes.
A pungent smell stung his nostrils.
"Ha, how much is all this worth?"
Oh-jin rummaged through the corpses, placing the Seong'yuseok he collected into a sack.
The heft he felt from the palm-sized sack.
It was a pleasant weight that made the corners of his mouth curl up on their own.
'Is this about 800,000 won worth?'
800,000 won from just three hours of hunting.
And since he'd come in without a party, there was no need to split the money.
It made the 200,000 to 300,000 won he used to earn a day from his life-threatening antics feel utterly pointless.
"No wonder everyone's so crazy about becoming an Awakened."
He'd once heard on the news about people who gathered in front of the gate to the Seongso every day, praying to be chosen by a Constellation. He could understand their feelings a little now.
'Though, considering the death rate for the Awakened, it's not all sunshine and rainbows.'
But who cares.
Money has always been more valuable than life.
"Anyway... it's true what they say, real combat is the best training for the Seongheun."
Crackle, crackle!
Oh-jin's eyes gleamed as he lightly generated lightning at his fingertips.
In just three hours, creating lightning with his Seongheun had become quite natural.
'I don't know if I'm just fast, or if everyone is like this.'
There were no other Awakened with the Lyra Seongheun, so he couldn't make a direct comparison.
Oh-jin, who had been spinning the lightning at his fingertips into a small ball, soon turned around.
'Well, I'll find out eventually.'
Though Oh-jin didn't know it.
If someone else had partied with him, they would have been so shocked their eyes would have popped out.
The higher the 'rank' of a Seongheun, the stronger its power, but the harder it is to increase its proficiency.
Even an Apostle of the Zodiac takes days to manifest their Seongheun, so for him, an Apostle of Polaris, to freely manifest his in just a few hours was, by common sense, impossible.
—But.
He had accomplished the impossible.
Without even realizing he was an anomaly.
"Now, then."
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and scanned his surroundings.
He held the spear in his hand instead of slinging it on his back.
'The Ant-horns' movements are definitely strange.'
Unlike their usual behavior of forming packs centered around a single Elder, the Ant-horn packs he encountered today often had two or more Elders together.
This meant there was a 'superior species' controlling the Elders.
"The problem is, I don't know where it's holed up..."
He had tried to find it himself, but it seemed he would have to use another method.
"Good thing I brought this just in case."
Oh-jin unzipped his sling bag and took out a rectangular blood pack.
It was a 'tool of the trade' that he found useful when acting like he was injured.
'It's pig's blood, not human blood, but...'
It probably wouldn't be a problem.
Ant-horns weren't picky eaters when it came to humans or animals.
-Splish!
He tore open the blood pack and poured it on the ground.
He climbed a nearby tree and hid himself.
-Rustle, rustle, rustle!
'That's it.'
A short while after spreading the blood, he heard the rustling of bushes and saw a pack of Ant-horns swarming in.
There were about twenty of them.
And at their center—
'Found it.'
Was a black-carapaced Ant-horn the size of a tiger.
It was clearly different from the normal red-carapaced Ant-horns at a single glance.
Just as the Association had predicted, a variant had appeared.
'I'll end this quickly.'
No matter how powerful the Lyra Seongheun was, a protracted battle against more than twenty of them would be difficult.
A swift and decisive battle.
He had to take care of the variant in three minutes, tops.
"Ssssp."
Standing on the tree, he took a short, sharp breath.
Thump.
His heart pulsed, sending a thrilling shiver down his spine.
The Seongheun carved on his left chest emitted a glow.
-Crackle!
Blazing blue lightning.
And—
'...What is this?'
His vision suddenly darkened, as if black storm clouds had covered the sky.
In the deep darkness, all he could see was the variant Ant-horn.
'Was it always this dark here?'
He didn't know.
Before he could continue that thought, his body moved first.
-Thwack!
He kicked off the tree and launched himself into the air.
He pointed the spearhead down, putting his entire body weight into it.
Bzzzzzzzt!!!
Lightning gathered on the spearhead.
Unlike before, the flickering blue lightning was now mixed with a blackish darkness.
[Activating 《Naknoe (Lightning Strike) Lv1》.]
KRA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KOOM!!!
The spear of lightning fell like a meteor.
The spear pierced through the variant Ant-horn's back and dug into the ground.
The repulsive smell of burning flesh filled the air.
"Huh? What the?"
One shot?
It really died in one shot?
Although it was a decisive sneak attack, Oh-jin was taken aback, not expecting a 'variant' Ant-horn to die instantly from a single blow.
"Kiiiiiing!"
"Krrr-hung!"
With the variant dead, the surrounding Ant-horns fell into chaos, spinning in place before turning to flee.
"H-Hey! Wait a minute!"
Not expecting the Ant-horn pack to fall apart so easily, Oh-jin couldn't even give chase and just shouted urgently.
"If you're gonna run, cough up your Seong'yuseok first, you bastards!!!"
The Seong'yuseok from a single Ant-horn was worth about 20,000 won.
That was enough for three whole Whopper meals.
"Damn it!"
Fwump!
He tried to pull out the spear and give chase, but it was stuck too deep in the ground to come out easily.
In the end,
"Ugh."
Oh-jin sighed and gave up the pursuit.
'It's a waste, but well, I did catch the variant.'
Variants don't appear often, so its Seong'yuseok should fetch at least a million won.
"Hehehe."
Just the thought of it made him laugh.
The moment he turned to collect the Seong'yuseok,
-Crackle!!
"Keuk!"
He felt a tingling sensation in his left chest.
He quickly looked down and saw the Lyra Seongheun emitting a brilliant light.
'Huh? Could this be...?'
Zzzzzzt!
Another line was drawn next to the glowing Seongheun.
-Ting!
[The 'Lyra Seongheun' has been elevated to 2-Star!]
A clear bell-like sound rang out as a blue message window appeared before his eyes.
"Ha."
A dry laugh escaped Oh-jin's lips.
To think he'd reach 2-Star in a single day, let alone a week.
'Does this even make sense?'
He'd expected to level up quickly since his Seongheun was overflowing with mana, but to reach 2-Star in a day...
"This doesn't mean I'll be 3-Star in a week, does it?"
If that happened, he wouldn't need to rack his brain over some scam or whatever.
Reaching 3-Star in a week was something only a true regressor could do.
In fact, even reaching 2-Star was an absurd speed.
'It usually takes about six months to reach 2-Star.'
Of course, that was mostly because of a lack of mana in the Seongheun, but even considering that, his speed was phenomenal.
"2-Star, huh."
He gripped his spear and swung it lightly.
Whoosh! Woong!!
Even though he just swung it lightly, the sound of the air being torn apart echoed.
He could feel that his body had become much more agile and powerful than when he was 1-Star.
'Good.'
This is more than enough for today's haul.
"I should hurry up, collect the stone, and head back."
He hummed a tune as he approached the variant's corpse.
Thinking that today he'd order a Guinness Whopper instead of a regular one.
-Rustle.
Just then, a nearby bush rustled.
'What is it?'
The ones that ran away wouldn't be crazy enough to come back.
His eyes sharpened as he gripped his spear.
"Oh, what's this? Its carapace is black?"
"Whew~ Hey, buddy! Did you catch a variant?"
A duo with menacing faces emerged from the bushes.
Bulging muscles were visible through their worn-out armor.
"Wow, even for an Ant-horn, to take down a variant by yourself... you're pretty skilled, buddy."
"We're 3-Star Apostles of Canes Venatici. Nice to meet ya~"
Despite their appearances, the two approached Oh-jin with friendly smiles.
Oh-jin's eyes narrowed.
'These bastards.'
It was obvious they weren't approaching with good intentions.
Frankly, it might be prejudice, but for someone with a face that looked like it had been dragged across asphalt to not be a robber was, in its own way, a crime.
'There's no way 3-Stars would come to a low-level gate like this... Were they after the variant?'
If so.
They wouldn't just let him be after seeing him dismantling the variant's corpse.
Awakened were the type to turn into robbers at the drop of a hat, after all.
"Hmm..."
One of the approaching men bent down slightly and sniffed the air.
Like a hound tracking its prey.
"Whew, you must've used a ton of mana to catch this variant."
"Hehe. Then you must be a little tired, huh?"
"Right? It's not like some 4 or 5-Star Awakened is gonna show up here."
The two whispered to each other in low voices.
'I don't need to hear you to know what you're saying, you idiots.'
Oh-jin clicked his tongue.
"But thinking about it, this is a bit weird, isn't it? We wiped out an Ant-horn pack over there a while ago. Didn't you just pick off the ones that ran away?"
"Oh-ho, so that's what happened? Tsk, tsk, this won't do."
The two drew their swords, their lips twisting into smirks.
'Just as I thought.'
They were robbers, alright.
'...Well, this can't be helped.'
Oh-jin sighed and quickly dropped to his knees.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know!"
"Huh?"
"What?"
The two men were actually taken aback by Oh-jin's unhesitating kneeling.
He paid them no mind.
Oh-jin prostrated himself, rubbing his hands together.
"I-I'll give it to you!!!"
"Kuhahahaha! This young man is very reasonable!"
One of the men burst out laughing and took a step forward.
As he was about to pass Oh-jin and approach the variant's corpse lying on the ground—
"Ah, that's not what I meant I'd give you."
He gripped his spear and viciously stabbed the man in the back.
The armor shattered as the sharp spear pierced through his body.
"Keoheok! Keok!!"
"Say hello to your dead mother for me."
"Damn it!"
The other man urgently swung his sword and charged.
He spun the spear that was impaling the man to block the sword.
The man, now a human-kebab shield, screamed.
"Wh-Wha?"
Thwack!
Unable to stop the momentum of his swing, the man split his partner's head in two.
"What the hell are you doing!!!"
Oh-jin's eyes widened at the unbelievable sight as he screamed!
"You killed your own comrade!!!"
"Y-You son of a bitch!!"
"What would your dead mother think if she saw this!!!!"
"Shut the hell up, you bastard!! My mom's still alive and well, what are you talking about!!"
"Don't lie!!!"
He roared fiercely!
"I saw your mother die with my own two eyes, how dare you lie to me!!!"
"What the fuck are you talking about!!! She's alive!!!"
"Accept reality!!"
"Accept what, you crazy bastard!!"
"Your mother is dead!! She's no longer in this world!!!"
And that's not a lie!!