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nChapter 48 – Count Dimitri’s Castle Ruins (4)

nPeng Long took a glance behind him. The room was littered with corpses of spiders. Spiders that were burnt to death, sliced to pieces, head kicked in and bitten to death by a wolf.

nGiovani rebuked him from ahead.

n“Hey, what are you doing, Chinese man? Get on.”

nPeng Long looked forward again. The other four hunters, the Genie and the Wolf, were all in the elevator waiting for him.

n“Ah, ok.”

nPeng Long then took his spot on the elevator.

n‘Clang clang clang clang’

nOnce all the Hunters were in place, the Elevator began to rise again; the metal scraped against the walls.

nWhile the Elevator was moving, Peng Long glanced at Dominic’s face for a moment. His face was as pale as death, without a hint of vitality. The Vampire’s curse seemed to have sucked not only the stat points but also his motivation.

nIt was understandable; 30 minutes left in his life with the clock ticking away. Then suddenly

n‘Sniff sniff sniff’

nThe large wolf went around the Elevator smelling everyone. Peng Long glared at the wolf.

nEver since ‘Ahenna’s Forest’ where he had almost perished upon being bitten by wolves, he had come to hate them unconsciously. The Korean hunter then issued a command.

n“Cain, settle down.”

nWith one command the wolf obediently walked over and sat next to his feet like a tame puppy. Just a moment ago the Wolf was ripping the Spiders apart like a ferocious beast.

n‘He sure is loyal to his master’

nWhile he was lost in thought, Kei suddenly spoke to him

n“Mr Peng Long.”

n“Ah… Yes?”

n“Do you have any abilities that allow you to fire multiple shots at once?”

nPeng Long thought for a moment before replying.

n“Ah, well I can use Split Arrow. I…”

nHe began to try and explain to them verbally, but instead, he stopped and opened up the status window of his bow to simplify things.

nDragon’s Claw Bow – Bow of Johan

nHeroic Bow – Strength A Dexterity B

nActive skill

nSplit Arrow (III)*

nAfter the initial arrow hits, several magical arrows gets fired in the same general area. Cooldown 5 minutes.

nDragon’s Eye (III)**

nFires an audible arrowhead to sense enemies out of the line of sight. Cooldown 5 minutes.

nBow wielded by the leader of the legendary 4 Great Thieves, Johan.

nIt is said that the effectiveness of the bow greatly depends on the wielder.

n“It’s like this.”

nKei read the status window briefly and nodded.

n“Then when I give the signal, shoot as many arrows as you can into the suits of armor.”

nPeng Long tilted his head.

n‘Hmm? Which suits of armor?’

nPeng Long wanted to ask, but Kei already turned his head towards the Genie and gave him instructions.

n“Soldamyr, prepare your Chain Lightning.”

n“Understood, Master.”

nWhile Peng Long was still out of it, the Elevator stopped moving.

n“Ding!”

nAccompanied by the bell, the Elevator doors opened. Unlike the first floor where they were greeted by dancing couples and music, and the spider swarm on the second floor, the third floor was dead silent.

nIn the long corridor, there was nothing but rows upon rows of empty suits of armor donned on top of Mannequins.

n“What kind of room is this? Where are the enemies?”

nGiovanni asked. Peng Long thought to himself

n‘How did this man know that the next floor will have suits of armor?’

nPeng Long also doubted that the man would answer his questions. Kei gestured to him and said

n“Ok begin shooting. Aim to hit as many enemies as you can.”

n‘Enemies?’

nPeng Long was filled with questions, but he decided to act as he was asked to. Starting with the ‘Blood Curse’, he knew far too much. Even details not displayed on the ‘Information sheet’.

nPeng Long looked up at the ceiling. High above, a Chandelier was glistening where it hung.

n‘That should work.’

nHe aimed for the Chandelier and shouted

n“Split Arrows!”

nHis arrow accurately hit the Chandelier, and once it struck, dozens of magical arrows appeared and scattered all over the room. It hit a majority of the suits of armor standing in neat rows.

n“Intruders detected.”

n“To Arms”

n“Defend the master”

nThe Mannequins wearing suits of armor came to life, brandishing their weapons. Their speed wasn’t all that impressive.

nGiovani readied his axe and shield. But Sungjin held him back.

n“Wait for it… Wait for it.”

nThe Suits of Armor came alive and began marching towards the elevator in a single file, perfectly in sync with their footsteps.

n“Just a bit more…”

nKei waited just a bit longer, and then he gave the Genie the signal.

n“Soldamyr.”

nThe Genie immediately chanted an incantation.

n“Murderous thunder, Jump from foe to foe!”

nAt the same time, Kei shouted out the same incantation as the Genie.

n“Murderous thunder, Jump from foe to foe!”

nSparks of energy began to gather in their hands.

n“Chain Lightning!”

n“Chain Lightning!”

nA blinding light shot out from both hands and flew towards the approaching army. The suit of armor in the front was hit and was lit on fire, while the lightning continued to jump from suit to suit. Those hit by the lightning fell one by one.

nOnly a few survived the attack and were standing on the far end of the room.

n“Let’s go!”

nThe heavily armored enemies looked very tough, but due to the fact that they already took damage from the lightning bolt earlier, they were easily broken by even Giovani and Dominic’s attacks.

nThe third floor was cleared in the blink of an eye. The Hunters quickly boarded the Elevator and took their places.

nThe elevator began to climb again.

n*

nSungjin searched his memories.

n‘What was on the fourth floor again?’

nHe remembered. It was Frankenstein’s monster room. It wasn’t very fast, so it didn’t prove to be very threatening, but it had such a high HP that it took forever to kill.

n‘I think last time we attacked it nonstop for close to 10 minutes…’

nThe Frankenstein’s monster felt like a mid-boss. In fact, in terms of HP, it had a higher hp than any other enemies Sungjin had fought so far; even greater than Count Dimitri’s himself. It was inevitable that fighting Frankenstein’s monster would take a bit of time.

nSungjin looked down at his two swords, Moon Specter and Blood Vengeance.

n‘…I guess it wouldn’t be bad to test out how high my specs really are.’

nBut

n“Ugh…”

nDominic held his forehead and began to moan. There was no time to waste. He had to try his hardest to pull through. Sungjin turned to Soldamyr.

n“Soldamyr, do you have any debuff magic that lowers the enemy’s defenses?”

n“Of course.”

n“Then use it right away on the enemy that will appear.”

n“Acknowledged.”

nSungjin turned to the other hunters and said

n“Please give me a hand with the next one. Attack it with everything you’ve got.”

nPeng nodded, Mahadas gathered his hands into a Prayer and answered.

n“Certainly.”

n‘Ding!’

nThe Elevator stopped, and the bell rang. The fourth floor was a laboratory. Unfamiliar tools and unknown chemicals lay all over the place.

nAnd at the center was a Giant, who stood still with his eye closed. Once the Hunters entered the floor, the strange contraption surrounding the giant began to move.

nIt injected strange chemicals into the giant’s chest, and sparks of electricity zapped its head.

n“Kraugh!”

n“Let’s go!”

nSungjin yelled as he dashed forward. Soldamyr chanted a spell.

n“Fragile body, broken will, Weakness!”

nA strange black light appeared over its head.

n‘Pew’

nPeng Long’s arrow hit its head dead on, but Frankenstein’s Monster wasn’t something that would die with just that. Sungjin ran in brandishing his Dual Swords.

n“Haa Yaah!”

nHe ran in shouting.

n“Taho!”

nMahadas came flying in with a kick. Sungjin’s swords impaled deep into the monster’s chest, and Mahadas’s kick landed square on its chin.

n*

n‘Clang Clang Clang Clang’

nThe Elevator began moving up again. Sungjin looked behind him. The Frankenstein’s Monster lay there bloodied and in pieces.

n‘This time it took about… a minute?’

nLast time with all five Hunters it took almost 10 minutes, but this time it ended much quicker. Sungjin looked down at his swords.

n‘The damage is on a whole new level compared to last time.’

nThe other hunters wouldn’t know, but Sungjin could tell the difference after having fought the Frankenstein’s Monster the second time.

n‘…I might really be able to complete the raids by myself…

nSungjin took a look at the people around him.

nLike a true monk, Mahadas showed no change in his state; he was standing peacefully.

nBut Giovani and Peng Long’s expressions looked grim. Even though the Raid was progressing well, they looked concerned. Sungjin thought to himself,

n‘It must be because of the Contribution level.’

nHe understood their feelings somewhat. If it were something like a desert or the cemetery where he could go alone, they wouldn’t be able to tell just how much contribution Sungjin was taking. But from beginning to end, the party members could directly see just how much Sungjin had taken for himself; watching 70~80% of the contribution points being monopolized right in front of their eyes must have felt very threatening.

nEven if they were weaker than Sungjin, these people were all within the top 0.01%; one of the strongest representatives of Humanity. They knew by experience that if they fail to grow stronger now, they will die for sure later on.

nThe cause of why Dominic acted rashly wasn’t difficult to guess.

n‘But it isn’t as if I could afford to simply stop my growth…’

nThis was a dilemma, and Sungjin was fully aware of the implications. Becoming stronger meant weakening his allies, and in most cases indirectly getting them killed.

nBecoming moderately stronger was better for his teammates, but Sungjin had become immensely powerful in the last five Raids.

nEven Mahadas, who survived until the late game in the previous life, was having difficulty squeezing out any respectable amount of contribution points. Whereas, without Sungjin, he could have potentially gotten as much as 40% contribution.

nAnd this side effect could only grow worse over time. The rich grows richer and the poor grows poorer.*** Just like in reality.

nThe strong takes the larger share of the contribution and grows even stronger. Back on Earth, Sungjin had been part of the poorest of the population. But here, he was part of the richest… No. He was simply the richest one of all.

nOnce again, Igor’s words echoed in his mind.

n‘Isn’t this just like how the world works?’

nSungjin bit his lips. Igor was definitely a vile man, but his words continued to stick in his mind. Sungjin shook his head. He decided to erase Igor from his memories.

n‘This is the last time I monopolize all the points. Using the points from this round, I will obtain ‘that item’ from ‘Darker than Black’… and this won’t happen anymore.’

nHe will clear the boss together with the team but leave the trash mobs alone for the others to take. And for himself, he will hunt enemies while jumping from raid to raid. With this method, the current dilemma will naturally resolve itself.

n‘This game is structured this way’

nSungjin replied to the memory in his head.

n‘Just because the structure is retarded does not mean that I have to act like a retard as well.’

nSungjin steeled his heart. This was the last time when he was going to be manipulated by the system. Starting with next raid, he will freely travel between dimensions.

n‘Ding!’

nThe elevator bell rang as the door slid open. This was the fifth floor; the final level. In front of them, stood a well-dressed Count Dimitri waiting.

nWarning!

nBoss Monster ‘Thousand Year Count’ Dimitri has appeared!

nTL Notes:

n*- Ability and item name from the game called “Kingdom of the Winds”, by Nexon (which is more than 20 years old now)

n**- Reference to Hanzo from Overwatch. (lots of Koreans complain that the one and only archer in Overwatch is a Japanese man, despite Koreans having far more legendary archers throughout history.)

n*** 부익부 빈익빈 富益富 貧益貧 – Literal Translation is ‘Wealth brings more wealth, Poverty brings more Poverty. Somewhat philosophical. Those who are rich know how to make money and do what is necessary to improve continuously, those who are poor do not know how to make money and do not do what is necessary to improve falling behind further and further.

nWith this, we have now released 50 chapters of Master Hunter K. Oh but there’s more!

nClick On the button for a Christmas surprise from us ?

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