Chapter 76
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Is This a Mistake Too?
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Is this a mistake too?
“Lizardman Hunter, right? Impressive skills. Taking down that Minos in one hit.”
I had no idea how to respond now that my master had approached and spoken to me directly, protocol be damned.
‘What do I do? I could tell by his voice, but... Ah! Right!’
“Basic.”
I hurriedly mimicked Sesshomaru’s voice. If there was one thing I was confident in, it was my Sesshomaru impression.
This voice actor’s tone was so cool that I’d binged every anime he was in, practicing along for a full decade. Ten years—a time long enough to move mountains. Yet the actor had delivered that same steadfast voice for every character, making my impression damn near perfect.
“...Your way of speaking is a bit unique. Nice voice, though. Anyway, nice to meet you. I’m Park Byung-su, branch chief of Black Bears’ Yeongseong branch.”
“Lizardman Hunter.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s what you call me.”
“Uh... sure.”
The longer I talked, the more my impression would slip, so my words came out short by necessity.
‘Sorry, Master.’
Having safely fooled him, I stepped back a good distance and watched Jin-hyuk hyung and Soo-young noona dismantle the corpse.
Oh, I learned her name on the way in.
Ryu Soo-young. A refreshingly cool name, like the ocean. But personal circumstances had left her with a slightly gloomy air.
Noona had started hunting because her family was in debt.
Lucky enough to awaken after just a month, she still couldn’t afford gate entry fees, so she’d stuck to guard duty and porter work all this time.
Then Black Bears promised steady pay, so she’d risked her life diving into the dungeon.
Lately, there were a lot of people like her. Folks who’d lost homes to monsters or racked up huge debts from injured family members.
They had no choice but to stake their lives against monsters, and it was their blood and sweat that kept society running.
‘No, “running smoothly” might be a stretch. All sorts of side effects are popping up.’
By then, the dismantling was wrapping up. Meanwhile, Master had chatted with the Hongcheon branch chief before approaching me again.
“How do you want to handle combat? You look like a 4-star hunter, so maybe you should take the front?”
“No. EXP. Low.”
I pointed at Master and the Hongcheon branch chief with my finger.
“Need level up. Hunt.”
My clipped speech was starting to sound like some gene-spliced alien freak.
“So you’re saying we should do the hunting? Since you need to level up?”
“Correct.”
Master got it right away, like a pro.
Truth be told, if the Hongcheon branch chief were even halfway decent, I’d have helped him level up ages ago.
But he was a perv with zero skills. So I’d just made him tag along quietly.
‘Master’s the total opposite.’
His skills? I’d seen them firsthand—no need to explain. And his character was top-notch.
If Master got just a bit stronger, clearing this labyrinth would be a breeze.
“For real? Then can I hunt too?”
The oblivious Hongcheon branch chief butted in. I shot him a warning glare.
“No big moves.”
“Huh?”
“You die.”
I laced my words with killing intent and flashed my bandaged left hand. He yelped “Eek!” and nodded frantically.
I could kinda see why he freaked out. In his eyes, I probably looked like a psycho who’d stab his own hand without blinking.
‘Not entirely wrong. Weird voices do echo in my head sometimes.’
At the mention of weird voices, pain shot up from my left hand.
‘Shut it.’
I pressed down hard on the wound, and it went quiet.
‘Heh heh heh. That’s right.’
In my focus on shutting up Leftie, I missed the Hongcheon branch chief’s face twisting in horror.
* * *
‘This is bad. Way crazier than I thought.’
The Hongcheon branch chief shuddered, watching the Lizardman Hunter poke at his wound and smirk.
The guy wasn’t right in the head. A total nutjob. The problem? He was stronger than me.
And this was inside a dungeon. If he snapped and went berserk, there’d be no stopping him.
Humiliating, but I had to play nice.
‘At least I can hunt again. Sucks having to team up with that Park Byung-su prick, though...’
The Hongcheon branch chief approached Park Byung-su.
“Hey, you draw their attention up front for a bit. I’ll wipe ’em out with a big spell.”
“What kinda crazy talk is that? How’m I supposed to handle two alone? We gotta split ’em up.”
“Just hold for a little. You’re good at tanking. Three minutes—no, one minute. Then the big one hits.”
His ‘Fireball’ was decently strong, but it needed a three-minute cast.
Honestly, Cha In-hyeok could’ve stalled that long, but Park Byung-su alone wouldn’t last a minute. No loyalty either.
“So you’re saying I do all the dirty work and you hog the EXP?”
The one landing the crit or killing blow got the bulk of the experience.
“No, I mean...”
“Human. Have some conscience. Whatever—each take one. If it’s too tough, beg that guy.”
“Damn it, we’re guildmates—how can you say that?”
The farter was mad at the fartee, as the Hongcheon branch chief whined about feeling slighted. Park Byung-su turned away like he wasn’t worth the effort.
After trudging ten minutes like that, two more Minos appeared. The Hongcheon branch chief stepped up, bitter as bile.
‘Ugh, damn. I can’t take ’em solo...’
As expected, the Shockwave shook the ground, throwing him off balance. Unlike Park Byung-su, who’d trained his legs steadily, his lower body was weak.
‘Urk!’
He barely regained his footing, but by then the Minos was charging, horns first.
If he’d had any battle sense, he’d have fired a small flame to blind it—but sadly, he lacked that too.
In the end, the Hongcheon branch chief rolled half across the floor to barely dodge.
‘Phew. I’m alive.’
But in dodging, he’d left porter Ryu Soo-young in the path. The Minos barreled straight toward her next.
‘Mommy!’
A mere 1-star hunter, Ryu Soo-young couldn’t block or evade. Then, out of nowhere, Lee Jin-hyuk appeared, shield and axe in hand, blocking her front.
“Ugh. I must be nuts!”
Lee Jin-hyuk grumbled but didn’t run. No—he crouched down tighter. Mana writhed at his feet.
Wooong—
Rooted like a boulder, Lee Jin-hyuk. He’d finally held the line. But the situation was far from good.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Against a 3-star monster, Minos. One hit from those horns would skewer shield, armor—everything.
‘Damn, why am I doing this? Did In-hyeok’s hero crap rub off? Or is this girl just that pretty?’
Lee Jin-hyuk squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the agony. But...
Pffft!!
The sound was a bit different. Then a torrent of blood and flesh rained down on his head.
Splat—
“What the...”
When he opened his eyes, he saw the Minos’s upper body exploded, only its lower half left—and the Lizardman Hunter standing calmly, spear extended.
“You okay?”
“Huh? Y-yeah. Fine... Huh?”
Lee Jin-hyuk couldn’t finish. Level-up notifications flooded in nonstop.
‘What the hell? How?’
He didn’t know. The Minos exploding right in front of him had blasted a ton of mana his way.
A pittance to Cha In-hyeok, barely noticeable—but enough to rocket Lee Jin-hyuk to level 10 in one go.
“Whoa. Jackpot...”
Ryu Soo-young, right behind him, felt it too.
Staring at her status window in a daze, she caught their eyes and bowed her head hastily.
“Th-thank you for saving me.”
“Thank him.”
The Lizardman Hunter pointed at Lee Jin-hyuk.
“Huh?”
“He’s the one who risked his life.”
“Oh...! Th-thank you.”
Ryu Soo-young bowed to Lee Jin-hyuk again. His face flushed as he waved it off.
“N-no problem. I didn’t do much.”
“No, you basically saved me. Thank you. I’ll repay you someday.”
“Uh... Sure. Got it.”
Lee Jin-hyuk grinned awkwardly and turned to the Lizardman Hunter, who gave a subtle thumbs-up.
‘What’s that? Giving me a push?’
Lee Jin-hyuk bowed deeply in thanks. Saved a life and scored a connection—nice.
‘Lucky day. Might even get out of here intact?’
The Lizardman Hunter glanced at him, then approached the Hongcheon branch chief, who was eyeing him instead of helping Park Byung-su.
“Is this a mistake too?”
“Y-yeah. A mistake. Couldn’t be helped. Can’t just tank a charge head-on.”
“Sounds like you don’t care if the porters die.”
“...W-what’s wrong with that? They knew the risks coming in. Voluntarily!”
“I see.”
So porters were expendable, weaklings who knew the danger and came anyway—fair game to die...
Fine.
“Then I won’t care if you die either.”
The Lizardman Hunter fixed the Hongcheon branch chief with an icy glare that sent chills down his spine.
“You came in knowing the risks too.”
“Eek!”
The Hongcheon branch chief’s face burned red, but he couldn’t muster a word. Confused, pissed, but too scared to snap back—must suck.
‘A guy like this running a branch? Sigh. At least we’ve got someone like Master.’
Unlike the Hongcheon branch chief, whose 3-star title felt wasted, Master handled his Minos solo with ease.
Wounds accumulated bit by bit, blood coating his trident. Blood called for blood, leading to death. Perfect hunt.
‘Water-element magic, huh. Guessed from the waves last time, but didn’t expect such fluid mana control.’
Makes sense—Master was one of the original hunters. That meant twenty years of experience.
No way he’d wasted that time; he’d trained relentlessly.
‘Mana mastery included in that training, no doubt.’
The more I learned about Master, the more I respected him. Battling brand-new monsters while constantly honing himself.
Plus, he’d mentored juniors on the side. Just look at Jin-hyuk hyung’s tanking.
‘Probably taught him here. Looks like those two leveled up a bit too...’
At this rate, they could dodge fine without protection—as long as they kept a safe distance.
‘Wait, instead of this—should I funnel EXP to Master?’