Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Chain Armor
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Young-jin clutched his side, gasping for breath.
‘Who the hell were those guys?’
Rip-!
Young-jin tore off a piece of his clothing and wrapped it tightly around his waist.
It wouldn't be enough to stop the bleeding from the deep gash in his side, but it would keep the wound from opening further.
Swoosh-!
"Kiyaaaa!"
"Guh…!"
A harpy dove from the sky, somersaulting in the air to carve claw marks into Young-jin's shoulder before ascending again.
In his normal condition, he would have snatched the harpy out of the air and torn its wings off in an instant, but right now, Young-jin's vision was so blurry he could barely see.
‘I’ve lost too much blood….’
Young-jin clutched his side.
"Haa… I managed to escape, but…."
Young-jin hid in a narrow ravine, leaning against the rock for a moment.
He had gotten away from the three mysterious figures, but he hadn't completely escaped yet.
This was inside a dungeon.
Unless he found a way out, he would eventually be caught.
The problem was, he didn't know where the entrance was.
He'd been brought in unconscious and knew nothing about the dungeon's layout.
"Hey… do you know how to get out of here?"
Young-jin asked, looking at the chain wrapped around his arm.
The chain was embedded with a mana stone that emitted a faint red glow.
He asked on the off chance it might work, but of course, there was no reply.
"It's only a matter of time before they catch me if I stay here…."
Young-jin took slow, deep breaths, gathering his mana.
He couldn't heal the wound completely, but he had to stop it from worsening or getting infected.
Focusing his mind as much as he could, he concentrated his mana on the injury.
"Hoo… hoo…."
Slowly, the bleeding stopped.
As it did, Young-jin tightened the cloth, applying more pressure to the wound.
It stung and ached, but if he lost any more blood, he wouldn't even have the strength to run.
He kept his focus.
Fsssh-.
Young-jin's mana began to seep from his torn flesh like a mist, glowing faintly.
Unaware of this, Young-jin continued to circulate his mana to heal the wound.
Clank-!
The chain, which had undone itself, fell to the ground.
Then, it began to move, slithering like a snake.
Clink-.
Clank-.
The chain snaked its way up Young-jin's body.
His legs, waist, chest, neck.
Soon, it had enveloped his entire body.
And the red mana stone positioned at his chest greedily absorbed the misty mana lingering around him.
Flash-!
The red mana stone emitted a brilliant light.
The dazzling flash bleached the surroundings white.
Young-jin's eyes shot open!
"Ah…!"
It was the same feeling he'd had when he first awakened.
That sensation of unfamiliar emotions, energy, and knowledge pouring into him—he was feeling it all over again.
Shhhk-!
Young-jin rose to his feet.
A power different from before.
Ever since his lesson receiving mana from Do-jae, Young-jin had felt a constant sense of disharmony.
He thought of it as being like when food gets stuck in the healed socket of an extracted wisdom tooth.
It was a kind of mana that didn't hurt or feel strange most of the time, but once you noticed it, it became endlessly irritating.
But now, it was different.
All his mana felt as if it had always been there, familiar and natural.
Clink- Clank-.
"It’s like his…."
Young-jin clenched and unclenched his fists, examining his new form.
Black chains were wrapped around his entire body.
Just as Do-jae wore armor made of stone, he now wore armor made of chains.
"Golem Armor…."
Power surged through him.
His body felt more refreshed than after a full night's sleep, and his mind was clearer than ever.
Everything looked brighter, and he could hear sounds from far away.
With light footwork, Young-jin scaled the ravine.
Tap- Tap-!
Just two kicks off the wall.
Young-jin leaped up the more than 20-meter-high gorge in two bounds.
A moment later.
Th-thump-.
"A monster…?"
The boss of the group that had kidnapped Young-jin appeared and asked.
The man kept his distance, drawing a dagger.
"Who are you? Who ordered my death?"
"Shim Young-jin?"
Startled, the boss lowered his weapon.
He then gave a sly grin and spoke.
"My, my, what's with the getup? Do you think that changes anything? We had a nice little agreement. It's a problem if you act like this."
"Yeah, well, the agreement's off. A hundred billion? I'm not giving scum like you a dime. Go back to your master and beg for forgiveness!"
"...Young master...? This won't do. I knew you were an idiot, but to be this stup—"
Swoosh-!
Clang-!
Young-jin's fist collided with the boss's dagger.
The boss's eyes widened as he raised his dagger to block the attack from Young-jin, who had closed the distance in an instant.
"What... what is this power…."
"You don't need to know. Just tell me who ordered you to kill me."
Boom-.
Crash-.
Young-jin relentlessly hammered the boss with his fists.
He had almost no experience in hand-to-hand combat, making his attacks simple, but his power and speed more than compensated for it.
"Ugh!"
The boss groaned as he was pushed back.
Sparks flew each time the chains covering Young-jin clashed with the boss's dagger, chipping its blade.
"Hurry up and tell me! Or you'll die!"
"With... those skills? Hah!"
The exchange continued.
What began as an even fight started to shift as Young-jin's attacks grew fiercer, forcing the boss onto the defensive.
Clang-!
Just then, a sword appeared from nowhere and stabbed Young-jin in the side.
"Kugh!"
Young-jin's groan echoed.
Fortunately, the chain armor wasn't pierced, but the impact on his not-yet-fully-healed wound made Young-jin stagger.
"Nice one!"
"What is this?"
"It's Shim Young-jin!"
Clang- Clang-!
"Really? How did he suddenly…."
"I don't know either!"
Clang-!
Boom-!
Young-jin withstood their combined assault, swinging his fists and legs.
The movements felt incredibly awkward, but he attacked by dredging up his memories.
Memories of Do-jae crushing monsters, Do-jae sparring with Ji-yoon, and Do-jae dodging his own attacks.
Thwack-.
Bam-!
"Keuk…."
Young-jin's fist slammed into the solar plexus of the man who had just appeared.
The man's mask grew damp with a dark liquid.
"Get out of here first!"
The boss shouted, grabbing Young-jin's arm.
"And get out of the dungeon with Myung-eun!"
"Yes…!"
While the boss held Young-jin back, the other man started to run.
Not wanting to let him escape, Young-jin unfurled a chain from his arm and shot it forward.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Clang-!
But the boss's dagger deflected the chain, sending it off course.
In that moment, the man got further away.
"Hoo… hoo…."
Once he confirmed the man was completely out of sight, the boss let go of Young-jin and created some distance.
"It doesn't matter anyway. I just need to know who it is."
Young-jin ignored the escaped man and approached the boss.
The important thing wasn't killing them, but finding out who had ordered his assassination.
"This is a problem… this ruins everything…."
The boss reached into his coat.
Realizing he was about to do something, Young-jin lunged at the man.
But the man had already pulled out a rubber ball the size of a jawbreaker.
And just as Young-jin was right in front of him.
Fzzt-.
A spark ignited at the man's fingertips.
The rubber ball then detonated, creating a massive explosion of flames.
BOOM-!
"Ugh!"
Young-jin retreated to avoid the explosion that erupted before his eyes.
Fierce flames shot up to the sky, and he released the chains that had grown hot from the intense heat.
"See you around, young master!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, the boss was fleeing at incredible speed.
Determined not to lose him, Young-jin gave chase.
The distance between them was considerable.
The old Young-jin would never have been able to catch up, but his new skill and overflowing power had boosted his running speed several times over.
"Stop right there!"
"Nngh…!"
The distance, which had been nearly 100 meters, began to shrink.
90 meters, 80 meters, 70 meters…
It closed to about 20 meters.
The man, from who knows where, threw a dagger at Young-jin.
Swoosh-!
Thwip-.
Young-jin, however, caught the flying dagger.
He then sent a chain flowing from his hand to wrap around the dagger's hilt.
Shhhk-.
Fwing-!
The chain on his arm unspooled, launching the dagger forward along with it.
Thunk-!
"Kugh."
The dagger pierced the boss's calf, circled around, and bound his leg with the chain.
Seeing this, Young-jin yanked the chain with all his might.
Twang-!
The chain went taut with a metallic sound.
One tried to run, the other pulled.
The fierce tug-of-war between Young-jin and the boss seemed to be ending in Young-jin's favor as the boss was slowly dragged back.
But the boss's unexpected action caused the chain to go slack.
Slice-!
The boss had cut off his own leg just above the knee, right where the chain was tied.
Young-jin was stunned. Was he really so terrifying that the man would cut off his own leg to escape?
Besides, the distance between them was short; he'd be caught soon anyway.
"Kugh… hahaha…! I almost made it…."
Hopping on one foot, the boss reached the top of a hill, a relieved smile on his face.
But his expression quickly contorted.
Ignoring the change in the man's face for a moment, Young-jin first tackled and subdued him.
Then he wrapped a chain around the bleeding leg stump to apply pressure.
"What are you doing! You didn't have to go so far as to cut off your own leg!"
"Haa… it's over… How on earth did you know to come here… haha…."
The boss ignored Young-jin's words, staring ahead and laughing.
Only then did Young-jin see what the boss was looking at.
"What's with the new look, Young-jin?"
In front of the dungeon entrance.
A man stood beside two of the boss's subordinates, who were buried in the ground with only their heads sticking out.
It was Do-jae, wearing a bewildered expression.
***
"Who are all these guys?"
"My kidnappers."
Do-jae asked, looking at the faces of the three men stuck in the ground.
Stones connected to Do-jae's feet bound the three men tightly, making it impossible for them to even get out of the ground, let alone escape.
"Hoo… What did you do to get yourself kidnapped?"
"I didn't do anything…."
Young-jin lowered his head and kicked idly at the ground.
It seemed he had something to hide.
"How are you feeling?"
Do-jae glanced at the tear in Young-jin's side.
The long wound had closed, but the dried bloodstains indicated it had been quite deep.
"Oh, this? I'm fine now. Hehe."
Young-jin said, rubbing his side awkwardly.
He had other minor cuts and bruises, but they were so superficial they probably wouldn't even leave scars.
"Your body really goes through a lot, doesn't it."
"Every hunter should have at least one scar, right?"
"The problem is that you got it from a person, not a monster…."
"You're right… Same thing in China, same thing in America. Is it my destiny never to go abroad?"
"You're spouting nonsense, so you must be fine. Anyway, we can talk about what happened while I was gone and that new look of yours later…."
Do-jae walked over to the men who were buried up to their necks.
"Lee Min-ki, Choi Chang-hoon, Park Han-kyung."
He called out their names one by one.
They flinched, mouths agape, and glanced at each other.
Do-jae crouched in front of them and drew Sraka's Fang.
He then slowly sliced off their masks.
The blade hovered precariously close to their skin.
"Who hired you to kill Young-jin?"
"…."
The men didn't answer.
They were clearly terrified, but none of them spoke.
Do-jae hadn't expected threats to work on men with the fortitude to cut off their own legs to escape.
"Such impressive loyalty. Or do they have something on you?"
"...Then you should know. We're not going to talk. Go ahead and kill us. We have no last words if we're to die by the hands of an S-rank hunter. Heh heh."
The man named Park Han-kyung smirked.
Young-jin pointed at him and said.
"Boss! That's him. He's their leader."
"Is that so? Then I guess I just need to have a nice chat with you…."
"Heh heh, no threat will work on me. I make my living by keeping my mouth shut, you see."
"So it seems. That's why I know a certain group that's very good at... rehabilitating people like you."
"What…?"
Do-jae sheathed Sraka's Fang.
Leaving them buried in the ground, he gave an order to his golems.
"Gong-gol! Go wipe out the rest of the monsters."
"Huh? Boss, is that it?"
"What else? Even you can see they're not going to talk, right?"
"Well, yeah, but…."
"Then just wait. We'll find out within a few days. More importantly, why don't you start by telling me what you've been up to while I was gone?"
Do-jae sat on a nearby rock and grinned.