Chapter 32 - Results of Training
Chapter 32 - Results of Training
032
Surprisingly, ghosts exist in this world.
When a person dies, if their soul does not go to the afterlife and remains on earth, it becomes a ghost.
Among adventurers, they are called ghost-type monsters, and people are extremely reluctant to encounter them.
This is because those bastards have no physical form, so killing them requires magic or techniques utilizing mana.
"I can't use magic, though."
Unless I misheard, Changgwi must be a ghost as well.
"Ah, it seems you are mistaken. Changgwi is not a standard ghost-type monster."
"What do you mean by that...?"
"Unlike ghost types composed of mana, Changgwi have a living physical body."
The ecology of Changgwi described by the receptionist was astonishing!
A Changgwi is a monster born when a person eaten by a beast like a tiger harbors deep resentment.
Looking at this point alone, they are no different from mere ghosts, but these things latch onto living people and mutate into a single monster.
The body that has become the host of a Changgwi wanders mountain paths, seeking out another victim to attack and increasing its own kind.
And in the end, it sacrifices itself to wild beasts to end its life.
"There has been too much increase in beasts that have tasted human flesh."
This is probably because of the adventurers' boom.
Following the explosively increased requests lately, the number of adventurers has grown immensely, and adventurers who went to mountains or forests must have been eaten by beasts and turned into Changgwi.
It's a phenomenon that couldn't be seen barely a year ago. What on earth is happening these days...?
"If you head east from the city, about four Changgwi will be wandering around. Kill them and bring back their cut-off ears, please."
"Yep. But what's the reward...?"
"At 10 bronze coins per head, it comes out to about 40."
The price is very cheap. In cases like this, the request is usually easy.
"Cheap, right? Actually, it's because the Changgwi are near the city. The price has no choice but to be cheap. You won't even need transportation costs."
Then shouldn't I go alone? To build up one's skills, one has to do solo play sometimes.
After accepting the request, I ran straight to Karl.
"Karl. I picked up a request, and I think I can handle this one by myself."
"Is that so."
"Yep!"
"Then go ahead and come back. Afterward, you just need to tell me what kind of things happened."
"Yep!"
"And I need to mate with me."
"Yep.... Huh, what?"
I think I misheard that last part.
The request form contained more information than I thought.
Ranging from locations to strategies for dealing with things called Hogui.
It seemed packed with all sorts of useful information.
It was immense information, enough to make me regret not having learned how to read until now.
"So they're roughly around here."
Finding them by looking at the writing was much faster than hearing explanations in words.
It was natural if it was natural. Because following what was written in text would be better than asking people for directions and setting off.
"Uuuugh-so uuuunfaaaair.... aaaaagh....."
Suddenly, a voice that made one's mood droop just by hearing it started to seep in little by little from somewhere.
You know how it is, right? That feeling of getting depressed in tandem when you're next to a depressed person.
That's exactly the feeling. What a truly grievance-laden voice. Just how unfairly must they have died to make a sound like that?
'Just by looking at them, those are the guys.'
They were bastards wearing unnatural, doll-like expressionless faces that didn't look human at all.
Having bumped into things here and there, their bodies were covered in wounds, and every single fingernail was missing, leaving their fingers stained with blood.
Their bodies moved very sluggishly, just like zombies. The difference between them and those things was that these bastards fought intelligently rather than out of pure instinct.
'Wait, I heard there were four, but there are five.'
Another one had increased in the meantime!
They truly are scary bastards. If left alone, their numbers might swell explosively.
But no such thing will happen. Because yours truly has arrived.
"Yiaap!"
I quickly popped out of the bushes with a battle cry.
A surprise attack is bound to work unless there is an extraordinary gap in skill.
Therefore, it was no surprise that I smashed the head of the Hogui, which was bulkier than me, with my morning star.
"Gheoouk!"
Its head was already caved in from a single blow, but that wasn't enough.
Violently pulling out the spikes embedded in its scalp, I struck its head down once more.
-Kwajik!
The bastard seemed to have died from the first strike, but I struck it repeatedly to turn its head completely into mush.
"What the fuuuu...?"
"It's the underworld messenger, you bastards!"
Since you kicked the bucket, you should go quietly to the underworld; why remain in this world and harm people?
Incomprehensible bastards. I quickly approached and kicked the Changgwi squarely in the belly with my combat boots with a Ppeong!
"Kaeek!"
Blood poured from its mouth. Even if a ghost possessed it, the flesh belonged to a human, so naturally the blood was red too.
- Ppagaak!
Before the bastard could come to its senses, my metal gauntlet pulverized its jaws. Every single tooth broke and pattered down.
"Maximum effectiveness."
There was no need to beat it again with the morning star. After slapping its face once more with the gauntlet to cave in its visage, I looked at the next target.
"Uuuuug-g-uuuul...!"
"Shut the fuuuuuck up!"
- Peoeok!
The morning star jammed right into the bastard's snout.
As vicious and sharp spikes were embedded in it, stabbing attacks were also effective maneuvers.
It couldn't be said to be as fatal as a blade, but it could still make a nose or lips dangle loosely.
"Guaaack!"
"Piss off!"
As expected, after roughly pulling out the spikes and completely fucking up its face, I struck it squarely on the face to shatter it.
"Stoooop! Plleeeease!"
Given how they killed others so much, can they not stand being killed themselves?
The bastards groaned and bared their teeth at me.
Since I had been grabbing one, I had closed the distance quite a bit... Well, now? That would be a bad choice.
"Aaack!"
The bastard probably tried to bite my neck, but before that, I successfully blocked it with an arm wrapped in an iron gauntlet.
Judging by the crack sound I heard, its teeth seem to have snapped.
"How does iron taste?"
It must taste fishy. And right inside your mouth, at that.
Nothing more to see here. The bastard suffering is somewhat of a spectacle worth watching, but I've got work to do.
"It huuuuurts so baaaad!"
"Of course it hurts because I hit you to hurt, you moron!"
After striking its temple with the gauntlet, I broke its legs with the morning star, causing groans to burst from its mouth.
Mm, sounds nice. These guys harmed people, so this is fair game.
'Let's finish this guy quickly and move on to the next target.'
There's no need to laboriously swing the morning star at a fallen opponent.
Just like stepping on a can, you just lift your foot and stomp hard on their face.
I heard somewhere that the most lethal power a person without technique can output is precisely this trampling—namely, 'stomping'.
Indeed, that's right. After stamping on it several times, the bastard's movements stopped. Wondering what was up, I lifted my foot, and chunks of flesh stuck tightly to my combat boot and peeled off.
"Hmm."
I can wash it off by the waterside later.
Is that guy the only one left now?
'Let's finish up quickly and take a break in the afternoon.'
Ah, come to think of it, they told me to cut off their ears and bring them.
I smashed their heads with a morning star, so would there even be any intact body parts left?
Well... if worst comes to worst, I can just cut off their fingers and take them.
"The liiiiving.... the liiiiiving!"
The remaining guy looked like he had died recently.
Because his attire was cleaner than the other fellows.
Above all, though it was partially obscured and hard to see well, he was holding a well-maintained jackknife.
'It rains frequently in this forest... If you're holding a knife like that, it'll rust in no time.'
Meaning it's true that he died recently.
"I'll make you like me toooooo!"
The knife Changgwi was extremely fast, unlike the sluggish bastards.
The bastard, surging in with perfect timing, accurately slashed a long schwing across my abdomen with his knife.
"...!"
But I have quilted armor that can withstand a few knife slashes.
Ha. This is why armor is great.
"You should use a stab, not a slash."
If it were a stab, it might have truly been able to kill me.
Because with enough strength, you can pierce through quilted armor.
"The liiiiiving!"
"Shut the hell up!"
Straightening my posture again, I tried to swing, but fat chance of that.
If an attack misses, unless you're faster than the opponent, you have to be prepared to take a beating once.
One hit, certain kill. That's the adventurer's rule.
This Changgwi doesn't seem to know that, so I suppose I must teach him with my morning star.
"Gheoreuk."
- Ppagaak!
A strike of the morning star, gripped firmly with both hands and brought down with all my might!
The head was smashed in an instant. It was crushed so realistically that even someone completely ignorant of anatomy would realize he was dead.
"Done."
Things went slightly off-script compared to what I thought, but mission accomplished anyway.
Since it's a mission completed without Karl's help, it feels all the more deeply touching.
'A corpse is indeed a corpse after all.'
Even if they borrow the flesh of a living person, since a dead soul has entered, they say it hardens as time passes.
This story is also written in the request form. And it's the reason why I took on this request alone.
"Alright. I'll roughly cut off their ears and hea—..."
- Paat!
At that moment, an arrow flew from somewhere and embedded itself in my shoulder.
"Gotcha! You corpse bastard. I'll send you off to the underworld!"
Hold on a second.
I'm not a Changgwi, am I?