Goblin Market (4)
“Yoon!”
“Damn it, I only came for a drink and now this! Buffs, please!”
The warrior-type hunter among the two charged forward while the mage-type woman retreated, drawing her staff. Even under the crushing pressure of Lee Hyun’s presence, their reactions were swift and professional—exactly what one would expect from a major guild.
Flash!
The crystal orb at the tip of the staff blazed with light. Jung Ra-hee, the mage, was a blessing specialist who focused primarily on support magic.
Blessing: Strength has been granted!
Immunity Enhancement has been granted!
Defense Amplification has been granted!
……
Though slightly tipsy, Jung Ra-hee had pre-memorized her spells. In an instant, five buffs layered themselves onto Yoon Gi-hoon.
BOOM!
Yoon Gi-hoon brought his sword down with full force and succeeded in cleaving through the white tidal wave.
“All flash, no substance. Nothing special……!”
“Not bad. Let’s see if you can block this as well.”
Crack!
Lee Hyun snapped his fingers. The shattered fragments of the wave connected in midair like a spiderweb. Then—
CRASH! CRASH! CRRRRRASH……!
Every fragment transformed into a bolt of lightning and slammed into the ground. Yoon Gi-hoon was forced to endure the relentless bombardment alone.
“Ghh……!”
More than a dozen shockwaves hammered him in the span of a single breath. He failed to block them all and was sent flying backward, taking the full brunt of the assault. His armor shattered in seconds, reduced to rags. Burn marks and scorch wounds covered his body.
Jung Ra-hee’s situation was no better.
Wall of Exorcism rises high!
She poured every drop of her mana into the staff, summoning a curtain of light to block the incoming lightning bolts. But—
CRASH!
“Kyaaah!”
The smaller bolts twisted into spirals mid-flight and pierced straight through the wall. The level of mana control on display was nothing short of miraculous—possible only through both profound understanding and innate talent.
‘This… this won’t work!’
Jung Ra-hee clenched her teeth as another lightning whip lashed toward her side. Her opponent was a sorcerer whose strength she could barely fathom. Worse, her body had grown strangely heavy since the fight began, her judgment clouded, and even her blessings felt weaker than usual.
‘He can interfere with my mana control without any difficulty. He’s at least a Ranker—maybe even a High-Ranker. Someone I can’t possibly handle!’
Misinterpreting the effects of the layered curses filling the space, she made her decision. At her feet lay a long wooden case—the item her guild master had been tasked with delivering. She had been ordered to protect it at all costs, but—
‘I have to survive first!’
Disciplinary action could wait. Escaping this place came first.
BOOM!
Jung Ra-hee kicked the case with all her strength. The staff inside flew out and landed in her hand—a heavy, stone-carved rod with an amethyst embedded at its tip.
◈ Type: Two-handed Weapon, Magic Tool
◈ Origin: Stonehenge's Rune Ritual
Many artifacts bearing rune inscriptions had been excavated from the Stonehenge ruins. Restored from those fragments, the staff had once served as a ritual tool of the ancient Celts—ideal for reading the stars and commanding mana. Even Britain had designated it a national treasure, keeping it under tight guard in the British Museum. Yet through unknown channels it had reached the black market, and Blue Dog had secretly acquired it on behalf of the Myeongga family.
Jung Ra-hee was one of Guild Master Heo Jae-woon’s direct subordinates—a Ranker of the Myeongga faction. The moment the staff touched her hands, it released a powerful surge of mana.
Zzzzzzzt!
‘Got it!’
A triumphant smile spread across Jung Ra-hee’s lips. If she layered buffs with this, Yoon Gi-hoon’s strength would rise several stages at once.
“Pointless.”
But Lee Hyun was a born hunter who had survived far more battlefields than she could imagine.
Combat Sense (B) detects suspicious movement from Player: Jung Ra-hee!
Crack!
Heeding the warning from Combat Sense, Lee Hyun snapped his fingers again and traced a downward line with his index finger.
Golden Arhat's Mask activated. Curses woven into rings of lightning.
Lightning rings linked into chains. New magic Chain of Lightning created.
Lightning affinity greatly increased.
The net of lightning hanging in the air grew sharper and more solid, taking the shape of chains. A technique born from the curse chains he had used before.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
Five chains, tips rigid and sharp, plunged toward Jung Ra-hee’s head.
“Hup……!”
She desperately stacked shields, but the chains struck from different angles. One pierced through a weak point and buried itself in her left calf.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Zap-zap-zap!
Entered Electrocution state. Resistance greatly reduced.
Various curses pour in, compounding status ailments.
Jung Ra-hee’s body convulsed violently. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed. The true terror of the lightning chains lay in the flood of curses they carried. Simply resisting the lightning attribute was not enough—the tsunami of curses that followed was far deadlier.
The Rune Staff slipped from her lifeless fingers and clattered to the ground. Two additional chains shot out, coiled around the staff, and delivered it straight into Lee Hyun’s hands.
Tap.
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!!
The moment Lee Hyun grasped the staff, his mana circuits opened wide. His total mana surged, its purity sharpened, and the flow became far more natural.
◈ Mana sensitivity greatly increased. Mana affinity greatly increased.
◈ Magic comprehension greatly increased.
◈ While equipped, Rune Magic may be used. Learn Rune Magic separately.
‘So this is what ordinary mages feel like.’
「Kekeke. Rune script, is it? The combination method might mesh surprisingly well with curse inscriptions.」
Just like the Darkling’s Footsteps, the Myeongga family kept handing him excellent items every time they met. Lee Hyun smiled coldly and struck the ground with the Rune Staff.
BOOOOOOM!
A ripple of pure white light spread across the floor. Yoon Gi-hoon, still reeling from the lightning barrage, was struck again and sent tumbling. The newly formed lightning chains wrapped around him, dragging him down.
Thud!
In the end, Yoon Gi-hoon knelt exactly as Lee Hyun had ordered. Beside him sat Jung Ra-hee, already long dead, in the same posture. Lee Hyun showed no particular reaction to the corpse.
‘……A m-monster.’
Han Hyun-soo watched everything with trembling eyes.
‘Even inside a sealed room, two Myeongga hunters—including a Ranker—taken down this easily…… and now the Rune Staff……!’
He knew better than anyone the staff’s true power; he had been the one to acquire it. Depending on its use, it was a treasure nearly on par with a holy relic. And now it had fallen into the hands of this monster. He didn’t even want to imagine the catastrophe that would follow.
‘……What about the Myeongga family, then?’
Han Hyun-soo’s mind raced. There was no way this monster would return the staff willingly. After what had been done to the Myeongga hunters, reconciliation was impossible. Would the Myeongga family let him—the middleman—walk away?
“Quite useful.”
Lee Hyun’s casual remark jolted Han Hyun-soo back to attention.
“I-I’m glad it meets your approval. It seems to have finally found its rightful owner.”
“Indeed.”
Even flattery elicited no reaction. To this monster, even a national treasure was merely another tool to carry around.
“So this was the gift Chairman Feng intended to give me?”
“……Pardon? Ah, yes! That’s correct!”
Han Hyun-soo was confused at first, but then he recalled what Lee Hyun had said upon first appearing.
—Something about being sent by Chairman Feng……
—Ignoring Feng Jinghao’s orders to meet someone, only to find these brats instead.
Every word matched the reports his subordinates had given. It all seemed orchestrated by Feng Jinghao……
‘Damn it! He pushed everything onto us!’
Han Hyun-soo concluded that Feng Jinghao, having missed the auction, had sent this monster to retrieve the staff. The monster himself appeared unaware of the full story—or simply didn’t care. Now Han Hyun-soo knew exactly where he stood.
‘……I should cause as much chaos as possible and flee the country. That’s the only answer.’
Since he would inevitably clash with the Myeongga family, he needed to find safety overseas. Lee Hyun watched the man’s expression and smiled coldly. He had deliberately guided Han Hyun-soo’s thoughts in this direction.
‘If he thought a little deeper, he’d notice several contradictions in my words…… but he’s in no state to reach that conclusion.’
Of course, he needed to seal that judgment completely.
“Strange, though.”
“Y-Yes, Elder……?”
“Why would my gift be in the hands of these small fry?”
Han Hyun-soo’s face went deathly pale. Rational thought had already abandoned him; his only instinct was to make excuses. Then something inside his mind whispered the perfect answer.
“I-I’m sorry! I told them it was forbidden because it belonged to the master, but they insisted…… They said they could handle Chairman Feng’s errand boy themselves and demanded I hand it over……!”
Curse Inscription: Brainwashing Suggestion is in effect.
“Errand boy?”
Lee Hyun’s eyebrows twitched as if genuinely angered. Han Hyun-soo pressed his forehead to the floor again.
“I’m sorry! But please understand my sincerity! I truly wanted to protect that gift above all else!”
“So you knew the gift’s identity and tried to intercept it.”
Relief washed over Han Hyun-soo as Lee Hyun’s fury turned toward the Myeongga family. Lee Hyun, meanwhile, smiled inwardly. The perfect justification had finally been created. Even if the Cartel later investigated the truth, Han Hyun-soo would testify exactly as desired.
‘Once he’s served his purpose, I can simply dispose of him.’
The stage was set. Only one thing remained.
‘It would be a waste to take the gift alone. I should send a small present to the Myeongga family as well.’
Perhaps because he had immersed himself too deeply in the role of Zeus’s apostle, every thought that surfaced felt perfectly in character. Lee Hyun slowly raised his right index finger and crooked it.
Clatter-clatter!
The lightning chains stiffened and began to rise. The unconscious Yoon Gi-hoon slowly stood up.
“Ugh……? Huh? Wha……!”
Yoon Gi-hoon regained consciousness only to freeze in terror. His body moved on its own, like a puppet on strings. Even when he tried to scream, no sound came out. To him, the goblin mask on Lee Hyun’s face looked like a demon risen from hell.
“Want to live?”
“U-uuuugh……!”
Yoon Gi-hoon nodded frantically, drooling. The sight of Jung Ra-hee’s corpse sitting beside him was grotesque.
“Then run. Don’t look back. Run straight to your leader.”
“……!!”
The chains loosened. Yoon Gi-hoon bolted outside in a panic. Lee Hyun’s gaze followed him indifferently.
* * *
Yoon Gi-hoon ran like a madman. Even with his stamina and mana completely depleted, he kept going. The terror that the demon would devour him the moment he stopped dominated his mind.
Status Ailment: Obsessive Compulsion is eroding the mind.
“What’s wrong with you? Where’s Jung? And where’s the Rune Staff?”
The colleague who greeted Yoon Gi-hoon tilted his head when he saw only one person return. The most important item—the Rune Staff—was also missing.
“What’s going on?”
“The rookie’s here?”
“Why are you alone? Did something happen?”
At that moment, every hunter inside the warehouse turned toward Yoon Gi-hoon. Guild Master Heo Jae-woon was among them. Yoon Gi-hoon tried to shout a warning about the demon, but—
“Hey! You!”
Suddenly his nearby colleagues pointed at him and scrambled backward. Yoon Gi-hoon was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed his own hands glowing with pure white light.
It looked exactly like that monster’s white lightning……!
His thoughts ended there. Light burst from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
New magic White Tide strikes!
CRRRRRRRASH!
RUMBLE……!!
The warehouse housing the Myeongga guild members exploded in a blinding white flash.