Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: First Awakening in the Dome
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“The kids the Association’s raising are seriously scary, even without awakening. They’ve got this total special forces vibe.”
I’d been worried when a spike pig suddenly charged from behind, but the kids had handled it perfectly.
Fighting monsters with guns is no easy feat, yet they pulled it off.
Kwak Ji-min, who’d glanced back while dealing with the front-line monsters to watch the kids fight so fiercely, let out an impressed sigh.
With the two kids leading the charge and taking down foes, the others’ morale shot up, and they started moving boldly. Their coordination was way sharper than any adults’.
“That’s what I’m saying. From what I can tell, the Association’s drilling them pretty hard. Kinda heartbreaking, though. They could train them after awakening and it wouldn’t be too late...”
Kwak Ji-min clucked her tongue, feeling sorry for the kids who were so capable at such a young age.
“Everyone, just a little more! Push through a bit further and we’ll hit the boss room! You’ve all done amazing—you were so cool!”
After breaking through the spike pigs charging like they wanted to kill us, we’d arrived at what looked like the boss room.
To boost morale, Kwak Ji-min flashed a warm smile and patted one kid on the head.
At her words, the kids—who’d been tense as could be—seemed to relax, only to burst into loud sobs right after.
Mostly the ones tackling a gate for the first time broke down, exhausted. Their bodies and minds were hitting their limits. Everything felt ragged.
“Waaah! It’s so scary! I’d rather just die! I can’t take it anymore!”
No wonder they’d stopped the experimental drug doses lately.
They’d finally gotten out, only to end up holding guns and facing monsters out for their lives.
It was terrifying. They had no idea how they’d ended up here. They’d fallen out of favor with the orphanage director and gotten sent off for adoption, they’d heard.
They’d hoped for a warm family, but instead, they’d landed in some weird place, getting constant shots, puking, shitting themselves, and fighting.
They said they’d thank us once they became proper hunters, but they didn’t want to be hunters.
“Well, yeah, it’s a scary spot for kids, even with B-rank Hunters escorting us. The Association’s going too far.”
“Waaah!”
A few hunters hugged the weeping kids. Unaccustomed to the warmth after so long, the children wailed even louder.
Yi Sae-byeok didn’t cry but wedged herself in, clinging along with them.
“Still, kids... the boss room’s right there, so quiet down. Mess up and more monsters could swarm us!”
“Sniff, hic. It’s scary! Protect me, sis!”
“Waaah!”
“Ah, come on. Please.”
It started with pity, but dragging around kids throwing tantrums in a crisis was grating on her nerves inevitably.
The supervisor’s repeated warnings about these complainers being whiny kids rang in her ears now. Obvious for their age, but it doubled her irritation anyway.
Outside the gate or back at Association HQ, she could’ve soothed them gently, but why right in front of the boss room?
Leaving them behind worried her; bringing them along felt like a death sentence for at least one.
Standing there with noisy, clinging kids felt like she’d gone from monster-hunting hunter to daycare teacher.
Should she console them one by one?
“Sigh...”
“You look seriously pissed off.”
Suddenly, a girl approached Kwak Ji-min. It was Yi Sae-byeok, who’d felt enough human warmth in the D-rank hunter’s arms and stepped out to take stock.
“I’ll watch the kids. I get you’re annoyed, but hide it before it hurts me too. Go neutralize the boss.”
Click. Yi Sae-byeok chambered a round and tapped Kwak Ji-min’s shoulder.
“How can I leave you? It’s dangerous.”
“Think you can’t handle the boss without me? I’m B-rank, y’know—boost that confidence. But for variables, here’s Seol Do-yoon.”
Yi Sae-byeok grabbed the arm of Seol Do-yoon, who’d been idly observing, and handed her over to Kwak Ji-min.
Bang!
To grab the crying kids’ attention, Yi Sae-byeok fired into the wall.
“Quit whining! The hunter bros and sis’ll buy McDonald’s after we’re done—just hang in there!”
“Huh?”
“Shut up and they’ll throw in ice cream too! Let’s zip it!”
Shockingly, every kid went dead silent.
“Ice cream?”
“With chocolate dip?”
“Y-Yeah! I’ll buy it all! C’mon, kids, let’s push a little more!”
One of the C-rank hunters seized the moment to cheer them on.
Everyone gripped their weapons in front of the boss room, wiping tears and grinning wide at the thought of ice cream.
As Kwak Ji-min stood speechless at the little girl’s commanding presence, someone tapped her arm.
“Go while they’re quiet. They actually listen to Yi Sae-byeok.”
“Can we really leave them...?”
“She’s strong—trust her. No dragging it out and we’ll be fine.”
“You coming along?”
As they headed into the boss room, the girl called Seol Do-yoon tagged along casually.
“From those spike pigs charging from behind, this isn’t an E-rank gate—it’s D-rank.”
“So?”
Seol Do-yoon didn’t answer, just peeked into the boss room.
No door, dome-shaped interior.
After a close look, Seol Do-yoon spotted the tile-like cracks in the floor and tiny holes in the walls.
She picked up a rock and tossed it at the floor. Spikes shot out from all sides, embedding in the ground.
“See? You’d be in deep shit without me.”
D-ranks have a lot of classic traps.
Seol Do-yoon smiled prettily and climbed the wall, stepping on the embedded spikes.
The hallmark of hunters who’d succeeded in second awakening and even gotten ranked was their lack of combat experience.
They’d mostly gotten cocky with sudden powers, flailing wildly, only to get hit by enemies’ pattern shifts or gate traps.
Ordinary folk handed powers overnight couldn’t help being a bit clueless when thrown into gates.
Gates didn’t pop up often—just once a month, super weak ones—so even high-rankers didn’t know how to use their abilities well.
The hunters hesitated, then followed Seol Do-yoon up the dome-shaped boss room walls.
“Hey, kid. No boss in sight—what now? Hiding?”
“Boss monsters’ physical traits resemble the grunt monsters we fought upfront. For me, the spike pig’s four eyes and back spikes stand out most.”
“What about four legs, two ears?”
“That’s exactly what they mean by no knack for it.”
Perched on a long spike, Seol Do-yoon gazed into the distance.
No sign of the presumed boss or its four eyes—just spikes everywhere.
Considering spike pigs always carried spines on their backs, one hypothesis emerged.
This was an advanced pattern variant.
“Since the boss isn’t attacking properly and just defending, this gate’s emission-type.”
“Emission-type?”
Seol Do-yoon’s mostly smooth brow furrowed ever so slightly at the hunter asking about gate details. Just for a split second.
“...It refers to gates whose goal is releasing grunt monsters into the outside world.”
No time for more explanation.
Seol Do-yoon yanked a spike and drew an inside-out spike pig on the wall.
The rough sketch was eerily precise.
“Could I borrow a bow?”
She held out her hand to one of the D-rank archer hunters.
From earlier, the pale-skinned, pretty girl smiling as she unraveled things had drawn eyes. The D-rank archer nodded like mesmerized and handed over bow and arrows.
Seated at a spike’s tip, Seol Do-yoon raised the bow high, drew the string. Toward a spot slightly off the dome’s center. The arrow flew and lodged there.
Emission-type open gates could be handled without brutal fights if you played it smart.
“Dig into where the arrow’s stuck—high chance of a monster core there.”
Every boss had a sparkling crystal called a ‘monster core’ inside. Extract it, and the boss lost its ability to self-replicate endlessly and spawn minions.
“But... looks like a ceiling. How do we breach it?”
“...”
Seol Do-yoon smiled silently for a moment.
Even with awakening and good powers, no combat experience meant limits.
New hunters blindly trusted their magic-like sudden abilities, hating effort or study, so they underutilized in gates.
Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!
Click! Boom!
Sounds of spike pigs attacking outside, and Yi Sae-byeok handling them big-time.
“I’ll extract the monster core and come back, so watch the kids outside.”
“How can we leave you...”
Waaah!
Kids’ cries echoed from outside, making Kwak Ji-min cluck her tongue.
Climbing the ceiling did look easier for that light, agile kid.
“You sure? One slip and you’re dead.”
“Don’t worry—handle the outside.”
Kwak Ji-min bit her lip, lacking confidence in navigating spikes embedded in the ceiling.
Always looked up to as B-rank, she had ability confidence—till this humbling moment.
As Seol Do-yoon said, gunshots and cries outside signaled kid danger, so hunters all pulled out.
Messing up could trigger floor spikes, killing a kid.
Alone in the boss room, Seol Do-yoon lightly hopped spikes, darting toward the ceiling nimbly.
Climbing wall spikes was easy enough, but grabbing and traversing ceiling ones was tricky.
After a brief think, Seol Do-yoon pulled the hunter’s bow she’d borrowed, tying its tip firmly with spare rope.
Adding a hook to the arrow tip, she drew the string again and shot at the ceiling.
Not solid rock, so the arrow sank in deep.
“?”
But the penetration differed—stronger impact than the first shot.
Climbing the rope, Seol Do-yoon raised her hand.
Recalling the first awakening self-test from interviews, she tried it.
Focusing strength in her hand, faint veins rose on her knuckles, and dark blue mana swirled faintly around it.
“Oh, I awakened.”
She’d succeeded in first awakening.