Episode 186: The Corrupt Truth (3)
* * *
After that, I broke up with Ayane.
I wondered if there was anything I could do to contact him. It was similar to the feeling I had when I met Baek Seon-tae before.
I know he’s a hunter with quite attractive skills, but is it really necessary to meet him?
Aside from the brief encounter at the First Research Institute in the main gate, I have never seen Ayane’s skills before.
Of course, there is indirect verification that the Hayabusa Guild specifically brought in external mercenaries.
It is not common to bring in outside mercenaries to guard a dungeon where vested interests are at stake.
But that belief could not be passed on to Kang-hoo.
‘How strange. I never thought we’d meet here. I guess you’ve dipped your toes into the gray zone like me.’
Usually, I think of these types of relationships as one-time things and let it go.
Kang-hoo decided to contact Ayane later when he had some free time.
If you give up the original pursuit and instead share contact information, it is true that you have shown great interest.
I don’t know why I’m so into you, but that’s a question that will be answered when we meet again.
Anyway, after that, I headed towards my destination while hunting monsters that were located along the way.
It was really convenient because there was no uncertainty as I had my own GPS that showed me the location of the corrupted truth.
Before I knew it, I was at level 190.
Level 200, the point at which you acquire basic skills, is within sight. You just need to level up 100,000 more.
Is the item obtained from a monster or is it buried in a terrain feature?
As my curiosity grew, I finally saw where the truth of the fall was.
At the location indicated by the status window, a lonely monster was sitting there.
Sssssssut… … . Sssssut… … .
At first glance, it looks like a heavy greatsword is dragging on the floor. It looks much closer to a human than a monster.
‘Undead?’
Judging by the complexion, it was clearly not that of a living human. Parts of the body were rotten and decayed.
“Ugh… … .”
He was wandering aimlessly with unfocused eyes, clutching a greatsword in both hands.
At first glance, it looked like he was dragging his greatsword along the ground with no strength, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Perhaps he is always ready to use his strength. He probably just intentionally lets it go like that on a regular basis.
Kang-hoo tried to scan the constellations.
If you are a pure undead, the constellation itself will not appear, but if you are a hunter, you will be able to know the constellation information.
【The constellation information of the deceased hunter cannot be confirmed.】
“But it moves.”
Dead Hunter.
But the hunter is moving.
The word that came to Kang-hoo’s mind was ‘crossbreed’.
A hybrid is a type of mutant monster that originated in North Korea.
It is a product that was created after being untouched by human hands for a long time.
There are hybrids in North Korea, but in terms of total numbers, they are overwhelmingly found in Western Australia.
Since the start of the Age of the Hunters, so many monsters have appeared in Australia that people from western Australia have migrated to the east in large numbers.
Because of this, Western Australia became a playground for monsters, and was full of all kinds of crossbreeds.
Among them was a kangaroo combined with a swift monster, which was quite a nuisance to the Australian Constabulary Service.
“Um… … I feel a little nauseous.”
Kang-hoo frowned.
The hybrids that originated in North Korea have a strange birth process.
Even though it was something written directly in the original, Kang-hoo bit his lips as he felt a rising sense of nausea.
The hybrid monsters that originated in North Korea are cases where the brood queen implanted her offspring in the body of a dead hunter.
The ‘Brood Queen’ is the monarch and female of a mutated, enlarged, wasp-shaped monster.
Instead of laying eggs, they lay hatched chicks, which are then raised in human bodies.
Then, it takes hold by invading the brain and uses it as a control tower to control the human body.
The Hunter’s abilities were maintained while at the same time he became a dead being, which made him difficult to deal with.
‘I found the ring.’
A ring dangling from a cross-bred necklace is seen. It is the corrupted truth.
Looking around, I saw that the hunter’s body was hidden behind a rock that was out of sight.
At first, it wasn’t visible, but after changing positions to check the location of the hybrid, it became visible.
‘If so many hunters have died, there’s only one reason. That guy has an instant kill ability.’
Kang-hoo thought as he looked at the corpse of the hunter who seemed to have died without even being able to fight properly.
The corpses were generally clean, making it difficult to say that they were the result of a melee.
Considering that decay had probably progressed over time, there were very few wounds on the entire body.
Judging by the fact that they were naked and without any of their items, they seemed to have been killed somewhere else and then gathered here.
【Lee Kwon-soo】
The monster’s name is visible.
It seems like the monster’s name is the same as its original name.
I don’t know why the owner of the body that died in North Korea came here, but it’s none of my business to find out.
Anyway, seeing the crossbreed that was only mentioned as bait in the original work felt strange. First of all, it was quite unpleasant.
A method of hatching a baby in the body of a dead human and having it inherit their abilities.
I wondered whose idea it was… … but in the end, I thought it was just spitting in my own face, so I ended up thinking about it there.
First and second, be careful of instant death.
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After Kang-hoo clearly established the premise, he prepared to engage in battle with Lee Kwon-soo.
Yes, you can eat a 2nd-grade item for free. Of course, you have to pay a price.
Before approaching.
Kang-hoo has deployed a skill that is particularly effective against undead monsters.
【Commander’s Silence】
It’s a skill that disguises you as an undead. If it works well, the story can be resolved very easily.
but.
Wheeing!
As soon as the aura of Kang-hoo, which had been detected from afar, disappeared, Lee Kwon-soo raised his greatsword and activated the protective shield.
Just in case, Kang-hoo stopped using the Commander’s Silence.
Swish.
Lee Kwon-soo lowered his greatsword again and lifted the shield.
‘You’re meticulous.’
Since then, I have repeated the command to silence and stop several times.
Every time, Lee Kwon-soo and Kang-hoo worked together to create and remove a protective barrier.
In order to figure out the pattern, the commander kept his silence, so the shield did not go down.
‘For now, the commander’s silence is rejected.’
This structure won’t work.
Kang-hoo reflected on his intentions to eat the day away. Yeah, it’s no fun if the monster is too stupid.
First, we narrowed the distance.
Since it is a battle between a greatsword and a dagger, close combat is unavoidable.
Although you are at a relative disadvantage in length, you will definitely be able to gain an advantage in speed.
However, as Kang-hoo got closer, Lee Kwon-soo’s behavior, which had been defensive, began to change.
Woof. Woof. Woof.
It was a spinning in place.
It was the same with Sammy’s ‘Annihilation Grand Tournament’ and Turbo’s ‘Tornado’ skill in the past.
Monsters with threatening attack methods often use this type of rotational attack.
Then, it was true that it felt quite difficult from the perspective of the person being dealt with, because there was no visible loophole.
‘It’s not a mixer.’
It’s exactly like this.
It feels like you’re approaching a human blender. It feels like if you treat it wrong, your flesh and bones will be torn apart and you’ll die.
That kind of intimidation was always present in the rotational attack pattern.
【Lightning ratio】
Kang-hoo aimed for Lee Kwon-soo with his spare dagger. It was difficult to see the timing of his approach, so he just stabbed him first.
Rotation isn’t all-powerful, so if you try to exploit an opening in this situation, you’ll suffer even more damage.
This is because they usually do not activate their body’s defense mechanisms while spinning.
But right then.
Chook! Taang!
“… … .”
Kang-hoo’s response was different from what he had expected, as he had thought that he would swing the dagger while spinning.
The moment the dagger left Kang-hoo’s fingertips, Lee Kwon-soo stopped moving and immediately struck the dagger away.
If you are not affected by rotation and dizziness, it is the most classic and safe method of defense.
“Phew.”
Kang-hoo let out a hot breath mixed with various emotions. It didn’t seem like it would be an easy battle.
* * *
Before starting the battle in earnest, Kang-hoo ate one Mad Solarium.
The remaining number has now reached a single digit. A total of 9. It is time to contact Master K.
Lee Kwon-soo had a defensive repertoire that was almost impervious to long-range attacks.
So rather than trying to distance myself from him, I decided to get close and engage in a slugfest.
Through a close fight, the information obtained from Lee Kwon-soo was that his mental power was low.
Since they are bees in human skin, and thus closer to insects, they lack the ability to respond to mental disturbances.
It was a question of the total mental power of the baby bee, the ‘main body’, separate from its proficiency in combat.
Because of this, I was constantly affected by skills like hallucinations, vision robbing, and shallow confusion.
It soon caused disturbances, leading to false sensations, lost vision, and a distorted sense of balance.
Kang-hoo suppressed Lee Kwon-soo’s rotational attack pattern as much as possible and launched a fierce attack from close range.
Of course, Lee Kwon-soo did not just take it easy, and he counterattacked fiercely several times.
At that time, the recovery option that Kang-hoo utilized when the battle was at a stalemate was very effective.
【Frenzy Healing】
【Skill Proficiency: Lv Max】
【Recovers by converting 1 mana into 1 stamina while stationary. Ultra-fast recovery is possible.】
This is a recovery skill I got from Aad before.
A very useful tool for Kang-hoo, who is suppressing the pain of mana hypersensitivity as much as possible with Mad Solarkyum.
So, Lee Kwon-soo gave Kang-hoo some breathing room, which allowed him to recharge his stamina.
In the past, after obtaining the skill, there was no reason to focus on using it, but now that we are entering a battle of attrition, it has become an essential skill.
Because of this skill, the physical strength gap between Lee Kwon-soo and Kang-hoo was growing wider.
While Lee Kwon-soo’s mouth was opening wider and wider, Kang-hoo’s breathing was quickly stabilizing.
A situation where you have to attack fiercely to prevent things from going well for Kang-hoo.
However, the judgment of Lee Kwon-soo – the baby bee that took over his body – was not as good as expected.
There was one more problem.
【Protective Barrier】
【Forced destruction by will】
It was the destruction of the protective barrier that Kang-hoo had been intentionally creating.
The protective barrier skill is a skill used to reliably protect the body from enemies.
Although it was originally intended to be a ‘defensive skill’, Kang-hoo used the skill in a different way.
Just as some medications have side effects that can be beneficial to some people, the protective barrier was just like that.
【If the protective barrier is destroyed, the ‘Desolation’ effect is activated, causing all mana within a 10m radius to evaporate.】
The immediate devastation effect.
Until now, it was a meaningless, uninteresting option that was activated after destruction, but now it was different.
It was Kang-hoo’s trick to figure out that Lee Kwon-soo was drawing in a lot more mana from the surroundings than he had thought.
Lee Kwon-soo’s mana utilization efficiency was extremely poor. It was like a car with poor fuel efficiency.
So, by intentionally destroying the protective barrier, I blew away all the surrounding mana with the devastation effect.
It was definitely an advantage for Kang-hoo, who could draw mana from further away thanks to his mana hypersensitivity.
The flow of time had changed so that Lee Kwon-soo could not help but be chased by it. That was soon a sign of death.
