Hunter Traitor Kim Hiki

With Professor HorseRider leading the charge, the gallery comments started pouring in.

Not a bad reaction.

I shut down the weirdly drifting bait and just watched the praise for me.

Seemed like it landed well with the professors too.

How I did it… well, it was hard to explain, honestly.

I just saw something like a water deer wandering past the spot where I'd been throwing water bombs, so I tried binding it.

And it worked…?

"Oh crap, the water deer!"

I released the water deer right away.

"Sorry about that. Hurry home."

Maybe because I'd only let a weak trickle of mana flow.

"Kwee-eeeeeeek!"

The water deer didn't seem hurt at all. It bounced and hopped its way up the mountain path.

Guess the damage really is weak.

I never expected it to bounce back that lively.

The strengths and weaknesses between the different magics were sharper than I'd thought.

I should organize this.

I scribbled a quick note in my memo pad.

Fire magic.
Pros) Wide-area burst damage possible.
Cons) No CC skills.

Water magic.
Pros) Good against single targets.
Cons) Spell accuracy is low.

Natural magic.
Pros) High-performance control magic.
Cons) Lacking in lethality.

Hmm.

I tweaked the memo a little.

Cons) Extremely lacking in lethality.

No wonder other mages looked down on it.

Knowledge I'd only understood with my head had finally sunk into my chest.

But it doesn't really matter, right?

I could just bind them and finish them off with another element.

Bind with wood, freeze with ice, or melt them with a fireball.

Solid combo.

Let's try it right now.

I entered the 7th floor of the Tower.

Same grassland as yesterday.

Clear objective: three Dire Wolves.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

In just one floor the difficulty had tripled.

Too much. Way too much.

How can they not give a single thought to the people climbing this thing?

I grumbled as I pushed through the grass, already sketching today's tactics in my head.

The grand strategy was simple.

If they clustered, wipe them all at once. If they split, take them down one by one.

One-by-one felt more appealing for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now.

Lower risk, after all.

If I tried to bind all three at once and even one slipped free, it could turn into a total disaster.

Having to use Wood Bind and sniper magic three times each was a burden, but—

Ssssssss—

My mana should be plenty.

Mana stat a full 22!

Compared to my 9-point days, it was a complete transformation.

Come to think of it, it had been the same during the 6th-floor clear.

I'd cast Slow three times in a row and never felt mana exhaustion.

I'd grown quite a bit without even noticing.

"Heheh."

Anyway, where the hell were these things?

I crossed several low hills. Just as I crested another one—

Wooooom—

My Non-Attribute Staff hummed.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Did it find something?

I dropped low, hid my body, and scanned the surroundings.

"Grrrrrr—"

Only then did I catch the faint sound.

Definitely a wolf.

I looked toward the noise and found the creature already staring right at me.

I've already been spotted!

If I'd just kept walking, I would have walked straight into an ambush.

Chilling.

Without Capable here I really would have been in deep trouble.

"Thanks, Non-Attribute."

Woom—

I gave it a stroke and prepared my mana.

"Awooooo—"

The Dire Wolf howled.

Calling its pack, no doubt.

Finish this fast.

I'd wanted the ambush, but that chance was gone.

Even if floor-type magic was optimal for hiding mana, a heightened state of alert might let it dodge easily.

Time to mix in a little trick.

I floated a plain mana lump in the air—no element added.

"Grrrr—"

The Dire Wolf reacted to the plain mana. Its gaze locked onto the lump.

Yeah, keep watching that.

Meanwhile I sent mana flowing into the ground.

Carefully. Stealthily.

A mana spring exactly the size of one giant wolf wormed its way through the soil layers.

The moment the mana reached beneath the wolf's paws—

"Wood Bind."

Paht—!
Pabak—!

Thick wooden trunks burst through the ground in an instant.

"Keh?!"

Wolfie tried to yank itself free, but—

Kkudeuk—

The trunks had already seized its ankles.

No matter how it twisted, it was useless. The bind only grew tighter.

"Keeng…."

In the end Wolfie gave up completely and went limp.

I did it!

Even if it hadn't taken any physical damage, I'd succeeded in locking its body down.

"No others around?"

I checked the surroundings. No sign of packmates.

I can focus on this one.

I immediately prepped an Ice Ball, ambitiously scaling the size up.

Pajuk—! Pazuzujuk!

Ice layered thickly over ice until it was practically a cannonball.

At this size, even just flicking it with a finger should pack a solid punch, right?

Feeling the heavy mana-sense, I took aim.

Targeting the wolf was easy. It was still bound and only whimpering.

"Kkiing…."
"……."

Why does it have to cry so sadly. Making my heart soft….

Woooo— woom—!

Snap out of it?

Yeah, right.

A Dire Wolf was still a Tower monster. If I didn't take it down, it would come for me.

I poured more mana into the ice sphere.

Sorry, Wolfie.

Have a more agile day next time.

Ppeok—!

A heavy impact, and the wolf toppled over.

"Huuuu……."

One down. Two left.

Finding the next targets was easy. Thanks to the first wolf's howling, the second and third came walking right up on their own.

The pair was approaching together down the hill.

This time I have to get the first strike.

Hit them before they reach the first wolf's spot. Seeing their packmate taken down might send them into a frenzy.

I stayed low and raised my mana.

Two wolves meant the mana pool had to be that much bigger.

Radius doubled… so how much did the area of the mana spring increase?

Uh, also double?

Anyway, it needed more mana than before.

Seureureureuk—

I poured mana into the nearby ground. Mana that seemed to sink in endlessly.

Three times? No, four?

What did it matter. The important thing was that I'd made a big enough floor plate!

I shifted the plate where the trunks would rise, right onto the path the wolves would take.

To cut down variables, I chose the flattest stretch of flat ground.

"Grrrrrk—"
"Kreung-kreung."

Prep done. Now I just waited with a fisherman's patience.

Luckily the wolves walked straight into the trap I'd dug.

"Wood Bind!"

Kkudeudeudeuk—!

This time I used the bind a little more precisely, snatching their ankles the instant they stepped so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they couldn't pull free.

Both captured perfectly.

"That's it!"

I was starting to get the hang of this.

Now finish them quick. Looking any longer would only make my heart softer.

I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared the magic.

Fireball this time. I made the size a bit bigger again.

The roaring flames even made my cheeks sting.

I had to throw it, so I opened my eyes again.

If I could sense an opponent's mana well enough, I could fight with my eyes closed…

With that thought, I hurled the fireball!

Then immediately spun my body around.

Peobeobeong—!

An explosion roared behind me.

In my imagination a huge mushroom cloud or some massive fireburst had gone off.

"Totally movie-like, right?"

Woom—

No need to check whether the wolves were finished.

The status window told me for me.

The score should pop up any second.

Over six thousand points?

Wasn't this an all-time high?

Is there some kind of 6,000-point privilege?

Guess not.

Don't get greedy, Jimin.

It's not like I left a privilege on deposit, right?

Base clear reward, grade reward, and difficulty reward all together.

Three Growth Pieces was already a generous haul.

If I posted this on a Hunter gallery or something I'd get banned for thirty-one days for bragging.

Getting one more piece probably only happened once you broke ten thousand points.

Anyway.

I dumped them straight into Mana and hit Mana 25.

I should post this on the Archmage Gallery.

Those mages never joked around when it came to raising their weight class.

If I said my mana had tripled in just ten days, wouldn't they be over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the moon?

Woooooom— woom-woom—

What are you giggling about?

None of your business.

"Eheheheh—"

Pyeong—

I returned home.

I was starting to get used to the sensation of going back and forth from the Tower.

"You worked hard today, Non-Attribute!"

Non-Attribute had really come through.

I dampened a soft cloth with disinfectant and carefully wiped it down, blowing away every speck of 7th-floor dust before setting it on the pillow for storage.

I took a thorough bath myself and collapsed onto the bed.

I uploaded the climbing livestream video to the Archmage Gallery, then immediately posted a new thread.

What a bunch of funny people.

I browsed the gallery for a while, then closed it once the bait cooled off.

I had something else I could do now besides the gallery!

"I can watch YouTube, you know~."

As long as I didn't look at the comments, the conditions were pretty good.

I opened the app right away.

Videos tailored to the algorithm I'd carefully cultivated appeared. The one that jumped into my eyes first was—

"Ugh?!"

Bizarre fake news.

I went abroad?