LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 6: The Client (3)
Near Osan Station’s black market, Kang-hoo purchased the necessary ingredients.
‘Sebiu thick meat. Kobold blood. And a monster-specific anesthetic. I’ve got everything, nothing’s missing.’
He placed the ingredients into an old backpack he had bought cheaply from the market and slung it over his shoulders.
The tough meat came from the Sebiu, a monster resembling a cow but with meat too smelly and hard for human consumption.
The blood of kobolds, which was utterly useless for potion-making or any other purpose.
These items were not for Kang-hoo’s use.
“Do you have some strange hobby? I mean, I’m happy to sell waste materials, but I still feel sorry for selling them to you.”
That might have been why the seller scratched the back of his head with a remorseful expression.
From the seller’s point of view, he was being paid to dispose of what should have been thrown away.
But Kang-hoo desperately needed these items.With them, he could prevent any ‘variables’ that might arise when he encountered Kim Mok-hyun in the dungeon.
“…”
Kang-hoo didn’t reply to the seller’s comment.
Silence was a form of communication he was accustomed to.
Especially when he thought a response wasn’t warranted.
“Keke. Seeing that you even bought anesthetic, it seems you have some other purpose. You’re not going to use it on a woman, are you?”
“If you open your mouth one more time, I might just use it on you. Shut up.”
“……Eek!”
The seller, who had been overly familiar and patting him on the shoulder in a distasteful manner, received a stern response from Kang-hoo.
The seller quickly retreated and sealed his lips.
Woosh!
Kang-hoo zipped up the backpack.
It was time to leave.
Kang-hoo walked toward the abandoned ruins dungeon.
This open dungeon, requiring no separate license, was always teeming with hunters.
As expected, a crowd of hunters lined up outside the dungeon’s entrance.
“Hey you, is that your spot? There’s no ownership in a dungeon, where’d you get the idea you could claim a spot?”
“If you’re baseless, just shut up. My cousin is part of Eclipse, you know?”
“These days, even dogs and cows talk about Eclipse. It looks like they even accept scum like you.”
“It’s my cousin, not me!”
Among them, hunters were already in the midst of a brawl.
Watching fights was as entertaining as watching a fire, so everyone stopped to watch the scuffle.
But Kang-hoo, without giving them a glance, went straight into the dungeon.
‘As expected.’
The sight he had anticipated was right there.
The hunters from ‘Osan Guardians,’ one of the well-known gangs near Osan Station, were visible.
They had set up their spot about 300 meters from the dungeon’s entrance.
They had even put up a boundary line and took turns controlling the area.
One hunter, who approached thoughtlessly too close, was beaten up by the Osan Guardians.
There was a reason for this control.
Monsters appeared here at an incomparably faster rate than in other places.
This was known as a ‘monster flood.’
“Sigh.”
Kang-hoo let out a short sigh and shoved his long sword into his waistband.
Figuring that daggers would be more suitable than a long sword for the monsters he would immediately encounter, he switched weapons.
[Basic Practice Dagger]
[Grade: None]
[Strength +1]
Since he was still short on money, Kang-hoo couldn’t afford even the lowest, 9th-grade dagger.
But he believed that as long as he aimed well, the weapon didn’t really matter.
That’s why he equipped the cheap practice dagger.
Of course, it would be the first weapon he’d replace once he earned some money.
At that moment.
Squeak. Squeak squeak.
A monster that served as a sort of mascot at the entrance of the abandoned ruins dungeon appeared.
[Spiked Claw Rabbit]
A rabbit monster with unusually long and sharp claws, making it a very threatening attacker.
Its level was around 35, certainly not low.
Especially for a level 10 hunter like Kang-hoo.
“……”
Swoosh.
Kang-hoo, looking at the rabbit whose gaze met his head-on, sliced the tip of his left index finger with the edge of his sword.
This created a wound that dropped a bead of blood every second or so.
Squeak!
The rabbit’s eyes turned redder upon smelling the blood, its attacking instinct triggered.
Originally, it was a very cautious creature, making it difficult to approach. But now, its nature changed.
Ching!
All of the rabbit’s claws grew in an instant, each joint transforming into a menacing weapon.
The Spiked Claw Rabbit’s feature was its acceleration.
As time passed, it became more frenzied, so prolonged battles were best avoided.
Kang-hoo didn’t move.
The creature was extremely agile; earnestly running after it would only lead to it dodging and teasing him.
It was a scenario where he would waste his strength. So, Kang-hoo envisioned a reversed scenario.
Squeak!
That was to make the rabbit charge at him first.
Provoked, the rabbit moved just as Kang-hoo had anticipated.
The rabbit, vigorously kicking off with its hind legs, leaped towards Kang-hoo.
At the peak of its parabolic trajectory, as it began its descent, it aimed its sharp claws at Kang-hoo.
Whoosh!
Kang-hoo disappeared from sight using an activated lateral movement.
He had been waiting for this moment.
Lateral movement couldn’t be used in mid-air. A target was necessary.
Squeak…?
The Spiked Claw Rabbit tilted its head in confusion as Kang-hoo vanished. Its long ears fluttered.
But the confusion lasted only a moment.
Whoosh!
Squeak!
As if hugging it from behind, Kang-hoo embraced the rabbit and thrust the dagger diagonally upwards from below its left chest.
It was an instant kill without the need for further checks.
The dagger, avoiding the sternum and ribs perfectly, pierced directly through the heart.
[Your level has increased to 11. The next basic skill acquisition point is at level 20.]
It was his first experience point gain in a long while.
At Cheongmyeong Detention Center, he hadn’t gained even a speck of experience.
Now, on the brink of level 11, his level rose immediately, and Kang-hoo put one bonus point into stamina.
‘As long as I can manage my congenital mana hypersensitivity well, I actually don’t need the mana stat.’
For the time being, he planned to invest bonus stats solely into stamina.
This way, he could quickly recover from the stamina depletion caused by hypersensitivity overload.
[Mid-boss monster detected within a 500m radius. Automatic warning for threatening entities.]
Kang-hoo had happily accepted the tracking request for Kim Mok-hyun from Lee Ye-rin, and now the reason for his eagerness became apparent.
It was the emergence of a medium boss monster, also known as a middle boss.
It was also a target for his skill plunder.
‘The more aggressive ones are easier to handle from my perspective.’
Kang-hoo’s eyes shone with a cold light.
Although physically tougher, these creatures were easier to deal with mentally.
“What was that just now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you see? He just went into stealth and immediately stabbed the Spiked Claw Rabbit in the heart from behind.”
“Really? Who was it?”
“That guy. He’s heading alone towards the Storm Forest.”
At that moment, a hunter from the Osan Guardians, who had precisely witnessed Kang-hoo’s ‘one-man show,’ clicked his tongue.
Although they were comfortably reaping rewards by securing the monster flood point, they were hunters with at least level 50 in basic skills.
Considering Kang-hoo, who had just reached level 11, they were hunters of a much higher realm.
When they were at level 11, they couldn’t even think of coming to this dungeon; they weren’t a match.
So, the hunter from the Osan Guardians naturally assumed Kang-hoo’s level was similar to his own.
“Yeah, Dae-seong. I saw it too.”
“You saw it, brother?”
“Yeah.”
Jo Young-jae, ranked third in the Osan Guardians and a level 65 hunter, nodded at his subordinate’s comment.
As a skilled player with the special class of berserker, he had secured a contract with a constellation early on.
Typically, during leisure time in the dungeon, he would look around but rarely found anything of interest.
But today was an exception.
Although brief, Kang-hoo’s precise movements left a distinct impression in everyone’s minds.
The Spiked Claw Rabbit was level 35.
Even Jo Young-jae could not kill the rabbit in one go, as he had not yet perfected his strategy.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to stab its heart, but rather that the rabbit wouldn’t easily reveal it.
However, Kang-hoo had effortlessly approached the rabbit from behind and stabbed its vital spot with minimal movement.
His subordinate spoke to Jo Young-jae.
“Judging by his skill, he must be of the assassin class.”
“That’s likely. Such swift stealth abilities are only accessible to assassins.”
“But isn’t the stealth skill a basic ability acquired at level 200?”
“Yes. So, what’s the origin of that stealth skill? It’s perplexing. I’m quite envious.”
He possessed a skill that a hunter of this dungeon’s level should not have.
That was Jo Young-jae’s realization.
It was unsurprising since, despite having connections with assassins, there were no known instances of anyone achieving the highest proficiency in that skill.
Even the hunters known as ‘Named’ had only begun to max out one or two basic skills.
Not to mention those with the ‘Named’ title—ordinary hunters wouldn’t even be aware of what the maximum proficiency level entailed.
Noticing Jo Young-jae’s interest, his subordinates started to flatter him, eagerly rubbing their hands together.
“Should we recruit him?”
“If brother desires, we can capture such a man and have him bow before you, haha!”
“Should we strip him too? Perhaps enjoy some other fun?”
“Forget it. We’ve already monopolized this entrance point. Let’s take another look at him when he comes out.”
“Heh, he’ll come to brother on his own if we wait.”
Jo Young-jae cast another glance at Kang-hoo’s retreating figure.
It was more jealousy than admiration or envy.
How did he possess such skills?
On his way to the middle boss, he hunted four more rabbits.
The dead monsters couldn’t talk or share information, so they fell to the same pattern.
Thanks to this, he reached level 13.
Being at a lower level, Kang-hoo reaped significant benefits from hunting a few higher-level rabbits.
“Kekeke.”