Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Fallen Hunter (2)
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# 88
The newly opened path was nothing but pitch-black darkness. Even lighting a torch yielded no effect, as the light was devoured by the shadows.
Rokan could make out the outlines of things to some extent thanks to his Night Vision, but anyone else would have had to battle the terror of the dark.
The long tunnel stretched on endlessly.
“We’re here.”
At the end of that prolonged darkness, they encountered a massive silhouette. Its sheer overwhelming presence was enough to make anyone swallow hard involuntarily and tense up.
[Gigantic XX’s XXX][Lv ?]
Even its name and level didn’t display properly. The question marks meant it was a being of unimaginable strength, so any ordinary user would naturally flee in fear.
‘They’re full of shit.’
But the opponent was Rokan. Instead of running, he scoffed and stepped into the creature’s domain.
Krook.
The monster turned its massive, muscular body.
Its bloodthirsty eyes fixed on Rokan as if to devour him, but Rokan pressed forward with a dismissive expression.
[Unyielding Will activates.]
[Resisting all negative mental effects.]
Everything changed in that instant.
Kuk.
What slowly approached wasn’t a colossal beast. It was just a single tiny monster, barely 50 centimeters tall—something you’d call a goblin.
The gigantic beast had been an illusion created by this thing’s magic.
“Strike!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Rokan swung his battle axe. He split its head open before it could even resist.
Without the resistance from Unyielding Will, he might have struggled to distinguish between the real body and illusions, potentially leaving him open to one-sided attacks. But now that the ruse was exposed, the creature was no match for Rokan.
“Are you alright!”
At that moment, the two mercenaries finally emerged from the tunnel, arriving late.
They bore wounds here and there from what must have been fierce battles, but given their levels, none seemed fatal.
Rokan treated them with bandages, raising his First Aid proficiency against them, then proceeded deeper inside.
“Whew, we’ve finally reached this damn place.”
What came into view for Rokan and the two mercenaries were dozens of holes.
Entrances enchanted with very special magic.
Entrances that spanned three whole floors.
“Wait here.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Rokan headed straight for one of the entrances in a line.
Swoosh.
“Damn. A dud. No way it’d be a hit on the first try.”
He was sucked inside, only to reappear at an entrance on the second floor.
Each entrance was connected to another.
And only one among them was the “real entrance” leading to the next area.
“Wonder how long it’ll take this time…”
If every entrance was linked, it shouldn’t take that long in theory.
You just had to enter the ones you hadn’t tried yet, one by one.
Even with around a hundred entrances, fifty tries should find the real one.
But Rokan acted strangely. He turned back and entered the same entrance he’d just exited.
Swoosh.
Sucked in again, he emerged at yet another entrance, not the original one.
Each time he entered an entrance, the connections reset.
In other words, progress was impossible until he hit the one-in-dozens chance.
That was precisely why Rokan had come prepared with tents, food, and camping gear.
And so, Rokan stayed rooted there for five whole days.
* * *
Ziiing.
‘Ah, finally!’
A novel sensation after a full five days.
Rokan nearly teared up upon finally finding the real entrance.
He’d braced for one or two days, but he hadn’t expected his luck to be this bad!
On the third day, he’d even considered giving up, but persistence got him through the fourth, and stubbornness the fifth.
“Summon.”
In contrast, the mercenaries’ entry was a breeze. Once Rokan entered and summoned them, they appeared instantly without needing to find the real entrance themselves.
He felt a twinge of unfairness, but if they’d had to search on their own, it might’ve taken ten days or more. He swallowed his irritation.
“Alright, time to earn your keep.”
Staying five days had racked up a massive bill for them.
48 gold a day meant over 200 gold total.
Hiring users might’ve cost just 10-20 gold, but there was no choice. They were too weak.
They probably would’ve died before even triggering the first trap.
‘No need to share titles either.’
Plus, partying up to finish this would dilute the first-clear title effects. Loot distribution could turn messy too.
Better to pay up, hire NPC mercenaries, and solo the rewards for peace of mind.
“Miyuki, take point.”
“Yes, leave it to me.”
At Rokan’s order, she advanced about five meters ahead to scout for traps.
As a Pathfinder branching from the Thief class, she could dismantle any trap with ease.
This ruin’s traps were only level 170 at most.
No way a level 10 higher expert like her would falter.
“Done.”
Following her as she swiftly detected and disarmed traps, they cleared the trap-filled path after just 200-300 meters.
Next up was Gouki.
“Gouki, gather all those and run them over there.”
“Yes.”
The plaza ahead was packed with Poison Slimes—slimes with a poison effect.
Level 160 wasn’t high, but they slowed movement on contact, stacking with each additional slime, making them dangerous even for Rokan.
“Area Taunt! Charge!”
But Gouki handled it simply. He cast Area Taunt to agro all the slimes, then bolted in one direction.
His base speed outpaced the slimes, so he lured them without getting caught. Meanwhile, Rokan and Miyuki crossed the plaza.
After reaching the next area and summoning Gouki, he reappeared poisoned, his body turned deep blue.
“Damn!”
NPC mercenaries returned to the guild on death, but wasting such expensive hires just on kiting slimes was unacceptable.
Rokan quickly used antidote herbs and bandages to heal him, then gave them their final orders.
“Got it.”
“We’ll do it.”
The mercenaries’ faces weren’t thrilled, but it couldn’t be helped. Clearing this required their sacrifice.
They knew it too, grimacing but complying—their “deaths” registered as knockouts for return, so no real refusal.
If the game added that level of realism, no one would hire mercenaries.
With agreement reached, the three advanced slowly.
Rumble.
Rokan triggered the mechanism, and with a roar, the stone wall parted.
A colossal space appeared.
Beyond it, like a colosseum, sat a throne where a madman cloaked entirely in green light perched.
“Kuhuhuhuhu!”
[Mad Wizard Intoxicated by Corrupted Power][Lv 175]
Corruption addiction.
The symptoms shown by those overexposed to corrupted power.
“Soon enough, I would’ve come for you myself, yet you went through the trouble of coming all this way.”
Had it originally been human? Or half-elf?
Its grotesquely mutated form made even its original race unrecognizable as it grinned chillingly at Rokan.
It slammed its green-energized staff into the ground and took a few steps forward.
“Well, using you as a sacrifice to show the resisters what happens is fine too!”
Screeech.
At that instant, with a rusty metallic groan, the caged monsters were freed.
Sharfin monsters, baring saw-like teeth and snarling viciously, broke from their bars and unleashed their madness.
“Kill them!”
Boom.
It struck the ground with its staff again, unleashing corrupted power that the charging monsters absorbed, amplifying their inner rage even further.
‘How dare these things…’
“Kraaaaaargh!”
Rokan wasn’t one to indulge such feeble madness.
His roar, infused with the Force, extinguished the light in the charging Sharfins’ eyes, freezing them in place.
“To position!”
At Rokan’s shout, Gouki and Miyuki dashed to one side of the colosseum.
The Sharfins regained their senses in the interim, but their earlier ferocity was gone.
“Come at me!”
No need for three to handle these. Rokan rampaged in place of the two cornered mercenaries.
Even buffed by corrupted power, their base level was merely 150. Like post-meal exercise, Rokan tore their bones from flesh effortlessly, without skills.
“Next!”
He turned arrogantly to the corrupted wizard.
He itched to Leaf Attack up and smash its skull, but the colosseum was barrier-sealed by corrupted power.
No direct harm until its power waned.
‘Four more waves to go, huh?’
They had to endure four more waves total up to that point.
“Insolent fool. Try blocking this!”
Bang! Bang!
The wizard irritably slammed its staff, spewing more corrupted power.
Even more energy than before flowed into the cages, starting the second wave.
“Punks! Bring it!”
[Starving Dire Wolf Controlled by Corruption][Lv 162]
Wolves this time. The corrupted power amplified beasts terrifyingly, but a mere 10-level boost wasn’t enough for Rokan.
Each battle axe swing flayed their tough hides whole; staff strikes snapped bones, leaving them immobile.
Even as nearly a hundred swarmed, Rokan mixed in skills sparingly to conserve stamina.
“Grr! Let’s see you block this!”
Growl!
Lions next—or rather, Tigal monsters resembling lions. Rokan’s reaction remained nonchalant.
“Dog or cat, same difference.”
Fierce beasts to others, mere strays to him.
Their numbers posed the only issue, but methodically culling them while life steal kept his HP above 97%, he shattered the third wave.
“That all you got, you uglier-than-an-orc bastard!”
At that moment of demolishing the third wave, Rokan taunted it.
The green-tinged, corrupted figure flushed red with fury. Even as a madman, its mutated face was a complex.
“I’ll end you proper! This is the last!”
Whoooosh. Flash!
How much power had it gathered? A massive surge of corrupted energy, enough to pale its body, shot into the cages.
With it, every remaining monster poured out at once, rampaging madly.
Ones meant for fourth and fifth waves, all summoned by Rokan’s taunt.
[Half-Elf Controlled by Corruption][Lv 182]
[Orc Controlled by Corruption][Lv 183]
They hadn’t directly absorbed the power. More like mental domination.
Half-elves and orcs, mentally broken from prolonged torment under it, stimulated by corruption into berserkers.
Craving only slaughter and revenge!
“Gouki!”
Rokan, calmly bearing their malice alone, bellowed for Gouki. The plan began.