Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Awakening
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This ability.
What some called a skill varied wildly from person to person.
It wasn't just the types of abilities, either.
Even among the countless hunters, those with similar abilities differed in their talents and individual strengths.
The moment of awakening and the sensations that came with it were all unique as well.
Kaang!
I recalled something I'd seen in a column once while diligently swinging my pickaxe.
"Awakening? I just woke up one day and it happened."
"I've been doing kendo since before. I was training as usual when I felt my body changing."
"I was cosplaying as a magical girl when real magic suddenly shot out. I was shocked!"
"The feeling of awakening? My friend said it hurt, but for me, it was great. Ecstatic, like an orgasm. Oh, was that too risqué?"
Even just looking back at famous hunters' interviews made it clear this world was a luck-based trash game.
Kaaang! Kang!
That said, there was no need to view it so negatively.
Life was all about luck anyway.
And I happened to be pretty lucky myself.
'If I do it, it's romance; if someone else does, it's adultery.'
Come to think of it, the original protagonist didn't live a completely unfortunate life either.
He had a rough go, sure.
But this body had exceptional talent as a hunter.
The protagonist buff was in full effect.
'If he hadn't already been mentally broken by twenty-eight, that is.'
If he hadn't had women stolen from him left and right, if he hadn't suffered every humiliation at the hands of Golden Suns, he could've lived a perfectly normal life.
And why not? The original protagonist's awakening abilities numbered three.
The first was Clairvoyance.
A straight-up A-rank ability to see through people and objects.
The second was Presence Concealment.
An A-rank stealth-type skill that could fool even other hunters' attention depending on the user's proficiency.
The third was Sensory Manipulation.
An S-rank ability to control the five senses of humans and other living beings—the poster child for adult games.
Considering top S-rank hunters usually had at most two skills, calling the original protagonist blessed by this world wasn't an exaggeration.
To emphasize again, he just got them after he was already ruined, so he couldn't use them properly...
All three abilities had incredible versatility, allowing a hunter to fill various roles and missions.
Watching NTR guys bang the heroine while peeping like this pathetic cuck protagonist, or sneaking up with Presence Concealment to sniff lewd scents—that was just wasting good skills.
I had no intention of doing that.
I didn't want to become some moron sex toy boosting the heroine's pleasure with Sensory Manipulation as she got NTR'd.
When the protagonist turned into a Sensory Manipulation blanket for a fully corrupted heroine, it made my stomach churn...
I had zero intention of living like the original protagonist, consumed by an inferiority complex.
Rumble!
With that resolve, just as I was moving a heap of mined mana crystals.
"Over here!"
An Ji-ho called out to me.
"Everyone, come here!"
To be precise, he was calling all guild members.
Murmur murmur.
The mere five people looked confused, buzzing noisily.
'That's...'
I wasn't much different.
A gate loomed right in front of us.
A gate inside a gate—a double gate.
"We should report this to the Management Bureau, right?"
An Ji-ho asked, looking around at the guild members.
"If you discover and report a gate first, there's a reward, yeah?"
"A double gate should give even more?"
The Lunar Guild members, who usually mined mana crystals and backed up other hunters(?), exchanged opinions.
"Why not challenge it ourselves? We can't keep rotting our abilities doing menial chores forever. This is our chance."
One man advocated for tackling it.
It was Jung Il-hoon, who'd been leering at An Ji-ho's wife, Lee Soo-jung.
With his sleazy face and actions, Jung Il-hoon persuaded his comrades, talking about life-changing reversals.
"It's just an E-rank gate. The five of us are enough."
Of course, I wasn't counted in the headcount.
"But it's a double gate. Isn't it too dangerous? It's illegal too, and it could tarnish the guild's reputation."
"It won't be easy, sure. But think about it, Ji-ho hyung."
"Hmm..."
"This is like monopolizing a gate without the Bureau knowing. Just the mana crystals and byproducts from there could grow our guild by two or three ranks."
Jung Il-hoon pressed An Ji-ho like he was coaching him, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime shot.
"We're already well-regarded. No need to risk it..."
"Hah, fuck. Ji-ho hyung!"
Suddenly snapping, he soured the mood.
"What good is recognition for mining skills? We're hunters too! You wanna keep wiping other people's asses and live at the bottom forever?!"
With no experience or skill, I silently watched their argument.
Honestly, it didn't sit right with me.
Just hearing "double gate" gave me a bad feeling.
There better not be a temple altar with massive statues beyond that gate.
Especially the biggest one grinning and flashing pretty teeth—that vibe.
Unaware of my unease, the Lunar Guild decided to raid the double gate.
"Excuse me."
I politely raised my hand toward them.
"Do I have to go in with you?"
Jung Il-hoon flashed a friendly smile.
"Of course."
"..."
"Don't worry too much. We won't make you fight monsters. Just carry the luggage."
In the end, I had no choice but to follow them into the double gate.
Fuck.
If anything happens, you're all gonna get beaten into submission.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ An hour after entering the double gate.
Fortunately, no statues with pretty teeth appeared.
The gate's interior didn't resemble a temple at all.
"If anything, it feels like a labyrinth..."
It was completely different from the grim image Kang Woojin had feared.
But on the flip side, the situation wasn't great.
"Gaaah!"
A man screamed.
His right arm, which had dropped its weapon, bore a long gash, blood pouring endlessly from a wound so deep the bone was visible.
"Soo-jung! Heal Uncle Cheol-woo!"
An Ji-ho swiftly issued orders.
Though he was reduced to mining mana crystals now, he'd once raided towers.
He had experience.
"It's from behind, Il-hoon! Yun-gi, cover Il-hoon! I'll take the front!"
The guild's strongest, he fully demonstrated his B-rank hunter prowess.
Kishishit!
Even so, there were way too many monsters.
Kieeeek!
They barely held in the cramped space.
"We're fucked."
Kang Woojin muttered under his breath, gripping his pickaxe tightly in one hand.
He urgently kicked a Black Rabbit sneaking up on him.
Ppak!
As time passed, things worsened.
Uncle Cheol-woo's absence.
Crappy weapons meant only for self-defense.
Despite coordinating under harsh conditions, the monsters outnumbered what they could handle.
Kiiik!
Finally, monsters broke their formation, surrounding the hunters and turning it into chaos.
Kang Woojin in the rear wasn't spared.
Ppak! Puk!
Leading with superior physique and athleticism, he resisted as best he could, but he couldn't dodge bullets from blind spots.
Ppeok!
A dull thud echoed as he was clubbed in the head and collapsed.
"Keruk!"
The goblin that downed him licked its lips gleefully.
"Woojin-ah!"
An Ji-ho, who had just sliced a centipede-like monster, desperately called out, but he didn't stir.
No time to worry.
"Urk!"
With defeat looming, they had one option left.
"Break the encirclement and run for the exit! I'll cover the rear!"
Panting raggedly, An Ji-ho resolved to sacrifice for his guildmates.
But right then.
Swish.
Kang Woojin, thought knocked out, slowly rose.
"...Fuck, how many bastards do I have left to catch and crush."
Muttering something incomprehensible.
Pinggrr! Tak!
He casually kicked up the fallen pickaxe and caught it mid-air.
Acrobatic finesse.
Gripping it, he turned with dilated pupils and swung without hesitation.
Paak!
One horizontal swing bisected the prior goblin perfectly.
Thud thud!
His reflexes were unreal now, eyes in the back of his head.
"W-Woojin, you..."
An Ji-ho and the Lunar Guild hunters stared in shock.
But the surprise didn't end there.
Kang Woojin, face blank like possessed, shot forward like an arrow.
Paak! Pat!
Weaving through monsters, he butchered them with his pickaxe.
"T-That's impossible..."
Jung Il-hoon was dumbfounded.
"That's not a normal person's movement. Did Woojin awaken...?"
Though trying to assess calmly, An Ji-ho felt the same.
Drip.
His head wound reopened from the exertion, blood trickling down his face.
But he ignored it, instinctively using his abilities.
Swoosh!
Vanishing like smoke from the monsters' sight, he snuck behind one and slammed his pickaxe down.
"Kaaak!"
The Owl Bear roared in agony.
With its nape pierced, it thrashed wildly.
Amplified pain from Kang Woojin's Sensory Manipulation made it rampage, crushing smaller monsters heedlessly.
Kwang! Kkang!
Yet Kang Woojin clung on, driving the pickaxe deeper.
Puuk!
Blood sprayed like a fountain.
And.
Thud!
Finally, it fell.
The double gate's interior fell deathly silent.
"..."
Kang Woojin, lost in trance, slowly let go of consciousness.
Still astride the Owl Bear.
Soon after, when he opened his eyes again, he was in a hospital bed.