Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Trial by Fire
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“Agent Park Il-seok. Do you have nine lives or something?”
Wang-sik’s chains wrapped around the warrior with the two-handed sword, forcibly pulling him back.
The giant bat’s sharp talons clawed through the space where he had just been standing.
“Agent Jeong Hye-yeon, if you can’t hit something that big, you should be using a cannon, not a bow. At least the shrapnel would hit. Agent Min Jeong-ae, if a healer is late with their heals, are they a healer? Or a killer?”
After thoroughly wounding the agents with his words, Wang-sik shot forward. At the same time, the giant vampire bat that had been hiding in the darkness of the 15-meter-high ceiling dropped down.
*Crash!*
Wang-sik caught the human-sized fangs with his bare hands. The bat struggled, but when Wang-sik’s chains bound its wings, it crashed to the floor.
The A-rank monster, the Blood Bat.
“I’ll explain one more time. A scratch from this thing’s fangs, and you’re dead. A graze from its claws, you’re dead. But with your skills, you can’t even pierce its hide. So, what should you do? I’ve already told you more than five times, haven’t I?”
Wang-sik pointed to the fallen bat’s eyes and mouth.
“These are the spots to attack. Now, let’s start again!”
*Clatter!*
Wang-sik released the chains.
Suddenly freed, the bat hurriedly flew back up to the ceiling.
“It’ll be even more vicious now that it’s been caught once.”
The agents were dumbfounded.
To release a monster they had already captured.
As a sense of discontent began to build, Wang-sik spoke.
“Anyone here who I haven’t saved can feel free to give up. Otherwise, consider this repaying a life debt and just do as I say.”
There wasn’t a single person who hadn’t been saved by Wang-sik. After all, he had rescued the Hunter Management Bureau agents from their very first meeting.
The agents gritted their teeth.
Five B-ranks, including the team leader. The rest were all C-rank hunters.
And the only A-rank hunter, Min Ha-na, was in the same boat.
‘I’m only alive because of him, too.’
He was training them as repayment for saving their lives. Who could possibly quit in a situation like this?
‘What kind of messed-up persona is he playing at!’
Min Ha-na directed her anger toward the monster.
The team leader charged forward to lure the bat, and as he narrowly dodged backward, its fangs slammed into the floor.
*Fwoosh!*
As if waiting for the signal, Min Ha-na gathered her rage and launched a fireball at the bat.
*Boom!*
A massive explosion of flames erupted, leaving a large crater in its wake. Fortunately, the bat couldn’t withstand it and was reduced to ash.
Her colleagues nodded in satisfaction at the immense firepower, but Wang-sik was not impressed.
“Agent Min Ha-na, do you have energy to spare? Is it that hard to use just enough magic to kill it?”
“I was trying to make sure it was finished…”
“So you’ll finish one monster for sure, and then die from exhaustion when you meet the next? Come to think of it, that’s exactly what happened when we first met.”
The words dug deep, and Min Ha-na fought back the urge to retort.
“If you have something to say, say it, Agent Min Ha-na.”
“I… I apologize.”
She had no choice but to say it through gritted teeth.
Because Wang-sik was right.
He didn’t stop there, turning his gaze to the other agents.
“What use is an archer who’s slower than a mage? Is a healer who can’t even buff a retreating tanker really a combat agent? Are you carrying that two-handed sword to chop firewood? Why can’t you remember that it’s longer than a one-handed sword?”
Wang-sik, having ground the agents' morale to dust, wore a devil mask that hid his expression.
That only made the agents feel more frustrated.
“Let’s go again.”
The hellish raid began once more.
Eight hours into the raid.
The atmosphere around the gate was chaotic.
Due to the special circumstances, civilians weren’t allowed to spectate, but Awakeners were permitted to wait outside the safety zone under the pretense of preparing for any contingencies.
The crowd of over a thousand hunters mostly belonged to various guilds.
“They’re taking a long time.”
“Arrogant fools. We’ll end up cleaning up their mess.”
“The Management Bureau, taking on an A-rank Acute Gate? Ridiculous.”
The guilds were secretly hoping for the raid to fail. If it did, the opportunity would naturally fall to them.
Handling a Dungeon Break would surely come with a much greater reward. Perhaps that was why the guilds were all sizing each other up.
But there was an unspoken priority.
The Black River Guild.
That was likely why several other guild leaders were gathered around the Black River Guild Leader, Maeng Do-sik.
It seemed they were already negotiating among themselves.
“Crazy bastards.”
Someone was watching this unfold with displeasure.
It was the Hunter Management Bureau Director, Kang Il-seop.
Given the gravity of the situation, he had come to manage the gate personally.
“What’s the situation?”
“There’s no change in the gate, but shouldn’t you be assembling a support team?”
Sometimes, the inside of a gate could be unbelievably large. With an Acute Gate, that possibility was even higher.
However, the Hunter Management Bureau had no personnel to form a support team. Their only option for help was the guilds.
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
His faith in Wang-sik remained unshaken.
At that same moment.
A desperate battle was unfolding inside the gate.
“A boss monster is no different.”
“It is different! Completely different!”
“Different or not, it’s still a monster. None of you will die.”
“I think I’m going to die of frustration because of you!”
“You won’t.”
“I think I’m going to die from exhaustion.”
“You can’t.”
“I’m going to kill you, and then myself!”
“I told you, you can’t.”
Before them was a bizarre snake with five heads.
Five snake heads extended from the body of a toad.
Sanatos.
The master of this gate was a boss monster designated as a top-tier A-rank threat.
*Hiss!*
The venom spewed by the snakes stained the ground black and emitted a pungent smoke, while their whip-like tongues were as sharp as spears.
Moreover, the toad’s body was spewing out smaller monsters as if giving birth.
“What are we supposed to do?!”
“Take out the snake heads one by one. Its weak point is where the five heads branch out.”
“If this is how it’s going to be, just kill me!”
“You couldn’t die even if you wanted to. It’s time you accepted that.”
The hunters, who had been compliant until now, were left with nothing but venomous resolve.
“Aaargh!”
*Kaboom!*
Min Ha-na, at least, managed to drop a fireball on the spot Wang-sik had indicated.
But its power must have been too weak, as the monster was only pained, not defeated.
“Too weak. Is that all you’ve got?”
“I’m going to kill that bastard, and then I’m going to kill you.”
“Kill that thing, and I’ll give you the chance.”
*Swish!*
Wang-sik’s chain shot out and caught an incoming snake tongue.
The venom-tipped tongue stopped right in front of Min Ha-na’s face.
“Ninth death. Are you really an A-rank?”
At least Min Ha-na’s death count was in the single digits. The others had died at least twenty times over. Of course, Wang-sik had saved them all just before the final blow.
“Everyone, get up. You can’t run, and you can’t die. The only way out of here is to kill that thing.”
“You crazy son of a bitch!”
“I’m killing you first!”
“Like I said, kill that thing, and I’ll give you your chance. Not that you could with your current skills.”
The hunters glared at Sanatos with venomous eyes.
“Staring at it won’t kill it. Act.”
The hunters thought.
‘That bastard is evolving in a bad way.’
‘I think he’s enjoying this.’
‘First, I have to get out of here. He’s not the type to show any mercy.’
They had no choice but to move again.
Twelve hours into the gate raid.
“Make your decision. Our consideration ends here.”
Maeng Do-sik called it consideration, deliberately trying to get under Kang Il-seop’s skin.
The sneer in his eyes and on his face revealed just how much he looked down on the Hunter Management Bureau.
It wasn’t just Maeng Do-sik, who had approached him directly; the other hunters beyond the barricade wore similar expressions.
Just then, a voice rang out that changed everyone’s expression.
“Gate cleared!”
Kang Il-seop smiled, and Maeng Do-sik fumed.
A moment later.
Wang-sik emerged from the gate.
As always, he looked as relaxed as if he’d just returned from a stroll. Seeing him, Kang Il-seop felt the tension leave his body. His legs nearly gave out, but he forced himself to stand and approached Wang-sik.
“What about the other agents?”
“They’re fine.”
Following Wang-sik, the agents began to appear one by one.
“F-Fine? You call that fine?”
“No one died, and no one’s injured, so isn’t that fine?”
The agents looked like a defeated army.
They barely managed to stumble out of the gate on trembling legs before collapsing as if they’d fainted.
Their eyes were open, but they looked soulless, their gazes devoid of life.
Only three people remained on their feet: Min Ha-na, the team leader, and the healer.
But the healer was muttering something, like a person whose soul had departed.
“A healer has to heal… I’m just a killer…”
“Hey. Are you alright?”
Healers were a crucial resource.
Though C-rank, there were fewer than twenty healers in all of South Korea. Among them, a C-rank was a talent that guilds had tried to recruit.
“Not alright…”
With those words, the healer finally collapsed.
But at Wang-sik’s next words, everyone’s eyes shot open reflexively.
“A B-rank gate will open in Busan in ten hours. Everyone, move to the bus.”
It was a gate that had appeared five days ago. It was, of course, part of their schedule.
“We’re going again…”
“I can’t…”
“I’m not going…”
“I’m going to resign…”
As the response was less than enthusiastic, Wang-sik’s voice grew lower and more sinister.
“Take a look at the faces of those guys around us. They look disappointed that we made it back alive.”
Could even venomous resolve be trained?
The light returned to the agents’ eyes. Looking around, they saw that Wang-sik’s words were true.
“Everyone, get up. You are hunters who have taken down an A-rank boss monster. That means you have the right to be proud. If you don’t like it, you can keep lying there and take their ridicule.”
Wang-sik turned away first.
The healer who had just collapsed rose like a zombie, and the other agents pushed themselves up.
They gritted their teeth and walked toward the waiting bus.
As they passed in front of Maeng Do-sik.
The team leader took something from his inventory and slammed it into the ground.
The fang of Sanatos.
It was proof that they had defeated an A-rank boss monster.
Following the team leader’s lead, Min Ha-na planted another, and the hunters behind them completed the set of five.
“Hahahaha! Those are my people!”
As if to make sure they heard, Kang Il-seop laughed loudly. Finally, the agents boarded the waiting bus.
The bus had been modified.
“What is this…”
Min Ha-na was speechless. The other agents also couldn’t believe their eyes.
The bus, modified for twenty people to sit comfortably, had a peculiar feature.
A metal pole was installed at every seat. And from each pole, something was hanging.
“Everyone, get an IV drip and rest up. When you open your eyes, you’ll be fighting again.”
The agents, with no energy left for anger, wore dumbfounded expressions, but Wang-sik was completely unfazed.
“You can’t escape anyway. That means it’s in your best interest to sleep for even one more second.”
“Ah, whatever. I’m just going to sleep.”
You needed energy to rebel.
The agents sat down, and soon a medical team in white coats boarded and set up their IV drips.
“Before you fall asleep, I have some good news.”
The agents didn’t have high hopes.
“The gate we’ll be raiding this time is a B-rank gate.”
At those words, the agents felt as if they had truly received a gift. A moment later, they were surprised at their own sense of relief.
After raiding an A-rank Acute Gate, a B-rank gate seemed easy.
Until now, they had never once been the main force in a raid.
They had mostly done D-rank or F-rank gates, and even that was just to maintain their senses according to regulations.
And now, they were relieved to hear it was a B-rank.
As the agents registered this change in themselves, Wang-sik spoke.
“Well then, sweet dreams.”