Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Part-Time Job (4)
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"Oh dear, oh dear. Our Il-hoon boy☆ has gone and caused a huge mess~."
Kim Chang-sik muttered to himself casually, narrowing his eyes.
As a freelance hunter, his record wasn't the greatest, but he'd reached S-rank purely on his innate mana and abilities. Even in this situation, he remained composed.
"What now~?"
Of course, he couldn't handle that horde of monsters alone.
Not with the dungeon boss right in front of him and the other hunters.
All Kim Chang-sik could do was protect himself.
'But I can't just abandon these fine men either.'
Caught in an unexpected dilemma, he hesitated to make a snap decision.
Krugugrugugru!
It was a powder keg ready to explode.
"Kraaaaaah!"
The ground trembled from the monster legion's advance, their roars spurring everyone into action.
"How are we supposed to... deal with all this..."
But even a glance at An Ji-ho, mumbling dazedly, told the story.
His mind wasn't working right.
Reason had shut down, leaving only the primal instinct to survive.
Death was closing in.
Everyone wanted to bolt right then and there, escape as fast as humanly possible.
They all felt it.
"J-Ji-ho..."
"W-What do we do now..."
One might think hunters, who staked their lives on the job, were overreacting.
But deaths or disasters during dungeon raids were surprisingly rare in this world.
Raids demanded meticulous preparation, just like the name implied.
Securing escape routes was Hunter 101.
But Jung Il-hoon's sudden betrayal had sandwiched the Lunar Guild between monsters front and back, cutting off all paths.
"Groooooar!"
Right on cue, the dungeon boss awakened.
Thud!
Startled from sleep by her minions' chaos, the Forest Queen emerged before them, proudly displaying her massive, beautiful antlers.
"A deer...?"
Yoo Harin, facing the beast, felt chills at its overwhelming presence and majesty despite herself.
For starters, it was huge.
The size of something out of a monster movie.
"L-Let's run!"
"Run where?!"
"W-What do we do, Ji-ho?!"
Thus, the group floundered, unable to decide on a course of action.
Inside the dungeon.
And outside it too, where these once-proud Awakened were crumbling into desperation.
Swish.
Seizing the chaos, Jung Il-hoon slipped away stealthily.
'Die, all of you.'
But the moment he took a step, a chilling voice rang out low.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Blocking his path was none other than Kang Woojin.
Shiiik!
Appearing like a ghost, he swung the military knife he'd prepared earlier.
Splurt!
Jung Il-hoon's leg flew clean off.
"Gaaaaah?!"
His agonized scream was just icing on the cake.
"Got some guts. Wrecking everything and thinking you can just sneak off alone?"
Kang Woojin gripped his dagger tighter, his voice ice-cold.
"W-Woojin-ah..."
Cynthia stared at him, trembling, unable to finish her sentence.
"Don't worry. Forgot what my ability is? We'll all make it out alive."
"Y-Yeah..."
Kang Woojin ruffled her hair playfully, snapping her out of it.
"Uwaaaah! M-My leg—!"
Jung Il-hoon snapped everyone else back to reality.
"You fucking bastard!"
Seeing him writhe in pain, the group regained their senses one by one.
"Heal him, Sia. Just enough to stop the bleeding."
"Huh? Oh, right...!"
At Kang Woojin's request, Cynthia channeled her mana and began treating Jung Il-hoon's wound.
"Our Woojin boy☆ has some moves. Didn't think you'd slice him without a second thought~."
Kim Chang-sik approached the pair, adding his two cents.
"Not killing him~?"
"Can't just kill your man, hyung. Besides, he's useless like that anyway."
"Worried about me? Woojin boy☆? How touching~."
Kang Woojin and Kim Chang-sik chuckled in unison.
"Honestly, there's another reason."
"What?"
"Considering Il-hoon's spending habits on women, I doubt he bought that artifact on his own salary."
Kang Woojin was spot on.
Even the cheapest artifacts cost tens of millions of won.
"If Il-hoon boy☆ couldn't swing it, there's a backer involved?"
"Probably Hwamyeong Guild. If we fail, they're next in line to claim this gate."
Sure enough, the ones backing Jung Il-hoon were the Hwamyeong Guild.
Squeak!
Suddenly, a leopard-shaped beast monster leaped from the bushes, pouncing on the pair.
Slash!
Kang Woojin swung his dagger without even looking.
The leopard's headless body tumbled limply, purple blood spraying everywhere.
"Anyway, we'll talk later, hyung."
Kang Woojin shook the blood off his dagger and continued.
"And Ji-ho hyung."
An Ji-ho approached him, voice shaky.
"What're you planning, Woojin-ah...?"
A few, including An Ji-ho, knew Kang Woojin's skills.
They couldn't deny his major role in Lunar Guild's growth.
His judgment was worth hearing.
"Simple. We came to take down the boss, right? Stick to the plan—handle it with the guild."
Gripping his knife anew, Kang Woojin eyed the monster horde.
"I'll hold these guys off. As long as I can."
His offer to buy time solo stunned the group.
"Wouldn't that role suit me better, Woojin boy☆?"
Kim Chang-sik asked.
"Hyung, you're not built for one-vs-many brawls. Help take the boss down quick with the others."
Kang Woojin shook his head, dismissing it.
"Hey! Woo-chin, you're insane?!"
"No! Don't, Woojin-ah!"
Yoo Harin and Cynthia tried to stop him, faces pale, but there was no time for debate.
"I've seen 14,000,605 futures."
Kang Woojin grinned, quoting a famous movie line.
"This is the only way we all survive."
All lies, of course.
But Yoo Harin and Cynthia, unable to question his "fake" ability, bit their lips hard.
Rustle!
With that, Kang Woojin plunged into the horde nearing 200 strong.
'Didn't want to play hero.'
He'd wanted to stay the hidden powerhouse nerd, but he straightened his dagger and sliced a centipede monster vertically from head to tail.
'Still, this is the surefire way.'
If he held the horde, the others could handle the boss.
"Fucking loads of 'em."
Covered in centipede fluids, Kang Woojin locked onto his next target.
About two hundred monsters converging from all sides.
All C-to-B-rank threats.
The silver lining? They didn't coordinate.
'One by one. Steady, one at a time.'
Using Presence Concealment intermittently, he ghosted through them, striking weak points.
Stab! Slash—!
A monkey monster lost both arms to his dagger, flipping belly-up.
"Keeek!"
Kang Woojin stomped its gut without hesitation and jammed the blade into its throat.
Sploooosh!
Purple blood gushed skyward briefly.
"Kaaak!"
"Kyaaak!"
Its kin bared fangs, charging wildly from all directions.
"..."
Kang Woojin hurled his dagger at the red-eyed monkeys perched in trees.
Thunk!
It embedded perfectly between one's eyes with a dull thud.
Despite countless hides dulled its edge, the tip remained sharp.
Sharp enough to pierce skull.
Thud.
The corpse toppled from the branch, and its "friends" swarmed airborne.
"..."
Fresh knife in hand, Kang Woojin crouched low, adjusting stance.
Kwaaaaaang!
A roar erupted immediately.
Krugugrugugru!
The forest battlefield quaked nonstop.
The Forest Queen's side was hectic too.
But Kang Woojin, at the epicenter of a sea of blood and corpses, outscaled them in sheer ferocity.
"Huff, haa!"
Panting raggedly, he scanned left and right.
'Three knives left...'
Should've invested everything in gear, not that it'd mattered—he'd expected no big fights.
Cursing past himself, he caught his breath.
Thud!
A pair of Owl Bears from that double gate lunged, swiping paws.
"...!"
Claws grazed past by a hair, shredding his clothes.
Whirr! Thud!
Kang Woojin reverse-gripped and plunged into the first's nape.
"Kraaaaaah—!"
Boosting its pain with Sensory Manipulation was a bonus.
Thump! Thump!
The berserk Owl Bear collapsed soon after.
"Uwoooo!"
The survivor roared furiously.
"What? Mad I killed your girlfriend?"
"Uwoooo!"
"Your girl's a smoke show, asshole—!"
Kang Woojin sent the male to join her.
Thus, he racked up unprecedented feats solo—but no rest came.
'Next...'
Another explosion rocked the area.
Crack! Boom!
Trees toppled from impacts; the lush forest turned to carnage amid blood and screams.
'...Next.'
How much time passed?
Weaving through the horde, Kang Woojin swung endlessly.
Kill.
Kill, and kill again.
Purple monster blood coated him head to toe long ago.
When a knife's teeth dulled or tip blunted, he swapped it.
'Just this one left...'
On death's doorstep, he sank into the flow, mind blank in a trance.
Clairvoyance tracked numbers and distances.
Presence Concealment enabled beast-outpacing strikes.
Sensory Manipulation ravaged the horde.
Suppressing sight and hearing, amplifying tiny wounds into fatal gaps.
"Gyaack?!"
Like now.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Monsters thrashed as if mortally wounded from scratches, exposing throats easily.
Stab!
Kang Woojin severed necks without pause.
Mastering his arsenal, he seemed unstoppable.
But.
"Ngh!"
His accumulating wounds had limits.
Stamina drained, mana bottomed out.
Clang!
And the last knife snapped.
Losing his final weapon rippled his eyes.
"...!"
No time to dwell—he ripped a leg from a dead poison centipede.
Crunch!
No hilt made it awkward, but beggars couldn't be choosers; his fight shifted gears.
'Lost too much blood...?'
Head spinning, standing took effort.
Yet dozens of monsters remained.
Cornered, he gritted teeth.
"Come on."
Raising the venomous tip straight.
"Fuckers, come on."
Bracing for a last stand.
And then.
Shaaa!
The heavy forest air lightened.
Not just air.
Mana flows shifted; nearby monsters' momentum crumbled.
'...They finally got the boss.'
An Ji-ho's team had slain it.
Leaderless, the horde faltered, bodies quivering in confusion.
Question marks might as well float over their heads as they glanced around bewildered.
"Woojin-ah! Woojin-ah!"
"Hey! Woo-chin, you alive?!"
In that split-second gap, his comrades rushed over.
And.
Finally reaching Kang Woojin, the dozen hunters froze in horror at the unexpected sight.