Chapter 408 – VS The Reaper (1)
This is something I learned from Uncle Ryu Kang-hyuk a while ago.
“Do you know when rookie hunters die the most?”
“When they’re clearing a line?”
“No, you idiot!”
At that time, Uncle Kang-hyuk had hit my face hard while saying this.
It seemed he was trying to engrave that fact in me with pain, since words weren’t enough.
“What do you think is the main reason rookie hunters die?”
“Uh… Maybe because of monsters?”
I think he just wanted to hit me as well.
“No, surprisingly, it’s rare to die from monsters.”
“Then what is it?”
My memories are a bit blurry now, but…
“Most of them die from other hunters in dungeons.”
“Why do they hit each other in the back? There really are no decent people.”
“There are many reasons, but most of it is for money. It’s also easy to disguise as an accident.”
I clearly remember one thing Uncle said back then.
“Then, do you have a lot of money, Uncle?”
“I have a little saved up, why?”
“Let’s go to a dungeon together.”
“Get lost, you little shit.”
Thanks to him hitting my face once more at the end.
At the time, it seemed far from me, but looking at the current situation, it wasn’t entirely wrong.
Now I could somewhat understand these idiots’ motives.
Suddenly asking for cooperation in a way that benefits us.
At the same time, out of the blue, they added the condition of being fully armed.
They showed audacity even in front of the natural disaster, Hyeji, and normal me.
And most importantly, they never revealed any of their abilities until the last moment.
Since the point of initial dominance, I could see a gaze close to obsession toward me.
And above all, one undeniable piece of evidence.
Excluding the fact of regression, it would make no sense that my arm was suddenly cut off.
The wolf beastman’s expression seemed to ask how I knew, instead of giving me the business.
The conclusion I could draw from this was simple.
[Are you saying that you successfully became my obsession gaslighting instructor?]
‘……That’s not it, fuck.’
These bastards are targeting my Defensive Coat.
Even so, there were still things that I couldn’t understand.
Because of that, I couldn’t help but keep questioning.
Could there really be a reason to target this?
Of course, that doesn’t mean the Defensive Coat isn’t useful.
It can block any attack to a certain level.
It’s one of the hunter’s gear that can sway the tide of a battle.
But whether it’s worth planning this much for is kinda ambiguous.
In the hunter society, it’s a product that circulates quite actively.
To put it extremely, it’s a luxury item that can be acquired just with money.
At that moment, the Piece suddenly pricked with an unexpected perspective.
[Did you perhaps notice that your Defensive Coat is the original?]
‘Ah, if that’s the case, things change.’
If that’s true, I can somewhat understand their actions now.
While the Defensive Coats available on the market have various designs, they’re basically simple fakes.
Because of that, they have the fatal flaw of being disposable.
Compared to the semi-permanent original, it’s quite a risk.
That’s why, despite the high demand from hunters, not everyone wears them.
The same goes for those Reaper Guild bastards targeting us right now.
If they casually flaunted wearing a Defensive Coat,
[Didn’t someone brag about a new item at a bar last time and ended up getting hit by a bunch of bottles, losing its effectiveness?]
‘I heard the news about the little kids suddenly spilling a 3-tier ice cream too.’
[If it made the news, it would be a heartwarming ending that they ended up buying a 5-tier ice cream.]
It was obvious that people who looked down on that would throw things at them.
‘I ended up getting on the news after beating those little brats up.’
[……I thought you were a smoker, but you were an Akainu.]
Plus, the price being disposable was quite steep.
Of course, compared to the price of a life, it’s definitely cheap.
But I vaguely remember hearing that the prices of Defensive Coats have skyrocketed recently.
It was so serious that I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to just die at this point?’
[Maybe it’s because those mid-level distribution reselling hunters are pocketing them.]
‘This is a real ridiculous hunter ecosystem without any decent people.’
Thinking about that, the value of the original Defensive Coat cannot be measured with money.
Of course, there’s the problem with the design being fixed as a coat in terms of aesthetics.
And in terms of durability, it’s not that different from the fakes.
But it can be reused after a certain time’s effect wears off.
Anyway, I roughly deduced that they are targeting my Defensive Coat and realized they attacked Hyeji in the future before my regression to make it easier.
We also decided to prepare a counterattack.
“Hyeji!”
“I’m done for.”
Hyeji immediately backed off and created a gun, aiming at the wolf beastman in response to my call.
Noticing this, she urgently tried to move, but sadly, I was a step faster.
– Thud!
“Kreeeh!!!”
“Where do you think you’re going without a leash?”
I plunged my katana into the wolf beastman’s instep.
“Kim Shinwoo, you bastard!”
“I know too. Nice to see you, kindred.”
– Crack!!!
“AAAAAH!!!!!!”
I twisted with all my might.
At that moment, Hyeji’s gun erupted with fire, unleashing bullets.
I thought we could finish off the wolf beastman with this, but suddenly, two anomalies occurred.
One was that my katana began to vanish in an instant.
And the other was that a gray barrier appeared in the trajectory of Hyeji’s bullets.
In that moment, as the knife embedded in the wolf beastman’s instep disappeared, he kicked me away.
“Get lost!!!”
– Snap!
Thanks to the Defensive Coat, I didn’t take any damage, but considering that, I was pushed quite far back, so it was a very powerful kick.
I would have to brace for serious injuries if I had taken the hit directly.
Simultaneously, the moment Hyeji’s bullet touched the barrier, it suddenly stopped and started to fall to the ground.
If someone were to see it, they might think it was just a rock falling.
– Thud, thud.
While being pushed back, I turned my gaze to assess the situation.
I saw the bald man from the Reaper Guild and an unnamed elf rushing toward us.
Surely, these anomalies were clearly caused by them.
“Why are you acting up!!!”
“I didn’t think it would happen like this!”
“Anyway, hurry up and reattach my arm!”
Ignoring all of this, Hyeji fiercely charged toward the wolf beastman.
In her hands, she formed a spear and a file bunker.
“Historically, this was the medicine, right?”
As Hyeji ran while throwing a spear with one hand.
The elf reached out toward Hyeji.
The reappearing gray barrier blocked the incoming spear.
However, it seemed they couldn’t stop Hyeji from moving directly.
Hyeji effortlessly passed through the barrier and continued to charge.
“Stop being a pain. We need to finish this and go on our date.”
With irritation dripping from her words, just as Hyeji was about to unleash the file bunker.
All of a sudden, the bald hunter glanced at her, and her file bunker and rifle started to vanish.
Thanks to that, the wolf beastman gained a slight time advantage.
Just as he quickly grabbed his fallen arm and held it to the severed end.
A bit of smoke rose from the cut, and his arm began to slowly reattach.
“I’ll take care of that Kim Shinwoo bastard! I can’t let this go on like this!”
“Got it! Quickly deal with that idiot and join me!”
“We’ll see each other alive!”
Thus, the Reaper Guild hunters, readying their stances, began moving quickly.
The wolf beastman headed my way.
The others moved toward Hyeji.
Then Hyeji aimed the anti-material sniper rifle at the wolf beastman’s heart.
“Don’t you dare dash toward our Shinwoo, you bitch.”
“It won’t work, you idiot!”
Of course, yet again, a barrier materialized to block Hyeji’s attack.
Moreover, immediately afterward, the anti-material sniper rifle in Hyeji’s hands vanished as well.
There weren’t any results, but we could roughly deduce their abilities.
The elf could completely block long-range attacks with the barrier ability.
The bald man could disintegrate the opponent’s items.
Lastly, the wolf beastman had a simple yet quite bothersome physical regeneration ability.
[They all have annoying abilities.]
‘These bastards are really serious about this.’
Preparing for the upcoming fight, I quickly conveyed my inference to Hyeji.
“Hyeji! That Ear Goblin seems to block long-range attacks! The bald guy disintegrates items!”
“Got it. I’ll clear this up quickly and rush over to help.”
Before I even finished speaking, the wolf beastman rapidly approached me.
He had elongated claws sharp as he stood there.
“I’m not ending this nicely!”
In response, I willingly leaned into the path of the swinging claws.
Naturally, the Defensive Coat blocked it, but…
The beastman laughed instead at the rebounding claws.
“What do you think you’re going to do barehanded?”
“They say there are no bad dogs in the world.”
Perhaps that laughter stemmed from thinking the effect of the Defensive Coat would soon fade.
It was a sort of arrogance based on the confidence that he held the upper hand.
Arrogance led to a relaxed vigilance, even in the urgent situation of battle.
“You don’t count as a mad dog.”
“……Huh?”
Thanks to that, I was a bit late in realizing the wolf beastman was onto me.
“So, mad dogs are…”
“You! What is that! Fuck!!! There was no such thing!!!”
A condensed ball of magical power near my bandaged wrist.
The wolf beastman hastily tried to create distance upon discovering [Cheonma Laser].
But I stomped my foot hard, thwarting that attempt.
“Sometimes, you just need to get hit to come to your senses.”
In a last-ditch effort, the wolf beastman reached for me, extending his sharp claws and a knee.
But ignoring that, I unleashed the accumulated magical power forcefully.
“Just like me, you bastard.”
[What nonsense is this? You can’t come to your senses even when you get hit, right?]
‘You little shit, seriously.’
With that, the stars began to shine.
