“What is that, some kind of bug?”
If you don’t properly handle a Blue Manatee and just eat it, you’ll lose your sense of taste for weeks due to its terrifying side effects.
It’s said only special-class hunters with the ‘Chef’ trait can cleanly deal with the parts that cause such side effects.
There’s a toxin channel of the Blue Manatee that only they can see, and that’s something I can’t even detect with my senses.
“But isn’t that the toxin right there?”
A hefty Manatee about twice the size of a great defense.
There were exactly six bugs wriggling around on its body.
“So the toxin channel refers to these parasites. But why can I suddenly see them?”
Psshh—
“It’s scrambling to escape as if it wants to live.”
A parasite that can’t even be sensed by me? This is quite an amazing creature, and it suddenly appearing to me must be due to the influence of Goddess Irmana’s little incarnation, I think.
“If I just remove these, I could eat it! Wow— this would be a perfect snack with some soju. Aaaaah! Why can’t I taste anything?!”
[Calm]
“Hmm…”
– This is a ‘Blue Manatee’ with lethal toxins that haven’t been removed.
When a fish hasn’t had the poison dealt with yet, this kind of message pops up, but it’ll be different once I remove it. I can test that later.
“I guess I’ll just watch Yeon-hee eat. Is Wang-wang going to eat too? And Fibryn?”
– Hahaha! Alpha, shall we move right away?
Nod—
Just when I was lost in thought, the hunters who finished preparing began to stand up one by one.
– I’m good to go too~
– If we rest here, we won’t really rest. Let’s move to the next point right away.
They are indeed top hunters; their confidence increased significantly after escaping from the first hunting ground where they faced difficulties.
– By the way, I was really impressed by the skills you showed at the beginning of the battle, Teacher Alpha.
“Teacher? I’m not that old…”
– I thought I had quite a bit of experience, but I had never seen such a large-scale binding ability. Really! It went ‘bang!’ and spread out, then ‘whoosh!’ with the net expending!
“Don’t add weird commentary.”
– Thanks to that, we were able to finish our first underwater battle safely. To be honest, I’m still not fully adjusted…
– Honestly, it felt less like a battle and more like we were just smashing the monsters. Since they started out injured, right?
– That’s right. You said ‘military’ should grow strong, but if it’s too easy, isn’t that a bit problematic?
– Haha, let’s prioritize completing the mission. Please take care of us, Alpha.
‘………’
After the first battle, it seems the beastmen have come to trust me even more.
– But can I ask how long the cooldown is on that skill you used in the beginning…?
“Cooldown…? I didn’t see any message.”
I couldn’t say I didn’t know since it was my first time using that skill, so I closed my eyes and contemplated the flow of magic, sensing that I could use it again right away.
Still, claiming there’s no cooldown for such a large-scale skill might be exaggerating my abilities, so I showed one finger.
“Maybe about ten minutes?”
But it seems that Ah-rin and Arang, the rabbit beastman, took it differently.
– Eh?! Just one hour?!
– Huh? Really? You can use that insane skill 24 times a day? You must be joking!
– No way…
“No… Look, it’s possible to use it, but maintaining it is tough… Ah, so frustrating. Should I just use metamorphosis?”
But transforming into a human-type would be a hassle in various ways.
How convenient it is to have a skeletal body.
I shrugged off the fussing beastmen, gesturing that it was no big deal.
– Whoa, you’re super cool!
– Swag— is that what it is?
– Shh! Quiet!
‘… I don’t care, as long as my identity doesn’t get exposed. But why is that guy staring so intently?’
For some reason, the tiger beastman has been looking at me with a significant expression for a while now, which bothers me.
‘Tiger beastman… I haven’t had any connection with them, so why is he acting like that?’
Maybe he participated in the Devouring Creeper subjugation and saw me fight, picking up some hints, but I don’t recall seeing anyone like that at the Great Beast subjugation.
‘Especially not someone so scrawny.’
It’s hard to believe a tiger beastman possessing the agility of a rabbit and the strength of a bear would act like that.
We set off on our way.
Perhaps because our first battle was on such a grand scale, everyone slowed their pace a little to stabilize their mana recovery.
Bubbling—
– Whoa, you scared me!
– Don’t keep flinching in front!
– No, bubbles were popping up all of a sudden. I thought it was a ‘Krillochian.’
‘Krillochian… that’s troublesome too.’
They have a stealth type hiding between the rock crevices.
Once a target comes close, they extend their long front limbs, suck them in, and then drain their body fluids alive in a horrific manner.
Bubbles come up a lot where they are hidden, making them easy to find. But that was nonsense.
‘They have such good stealth that I can vaguely sense them. This is why you have to experience things in the field.’
Of course, information circulating in the hunter community is less credible the more advanced the dungeon content is.
The bubbles rising seemed to be a precursor, and soon I spotted a Krillochian.
‘That’s big… It’s not just a level of draining body fluids; it’s about swallowing whole.’
Feigning ignorance, I shifted direction to approach where it was. The unique form of a monster that looked like a cockroach’s lower body combined with an octopus head became clearer.
Sssss—
It raised its front limbs like a mantis to roll up its suction cups and quickly shot a flexible limb toward me.
‘That’s quite some spring in its step. But this is nothing!’
THUD—
– Zzzzz?!
“Come here!!”
As soon as I grabbed its leg, I yanked it upwards.
With a strength of 805, I lifted the gigantic ‘Krillochian,’ which was as big as a large rock, in one go.
– Zzzzing!!
Surprisingly, it tried to use the momentum from my lift to charge at me.
– Watch out!!
At the same time as someone’s shout, the Krillochian fully enveloped my body.
Without hesitation, it stabbed dozens of limbs into my body, and I could tell it was startled at that moment.
‘You didn’t expect there to be only bones, did you?’
– Grech?!
[Deep Abyss Stance]
Pfffttttt!!
– ?!!
I activated my newly acquired skill, releasing dozens of blades that tore its body to shreds.
‘It’s incredibly tough! I can’t eat it.’
[Thunderhorn]
Zzzzzzzzzzt!!
After over three minutes of combined electric treatment and bone spearing, the ‘Krillochian’ finally collapsed to the ground.
‘Haah— ordinary attacks take more time than I thought. I have to go with this.’
[Frost Enamel]
Crack?!
As my great sword passed through its path, ice crystallized and bloomed.
– ‘Krillochian’ has been defeated for the first time!
– Trait [Thievery] activates!
– Acquired skill [Bloodsucking of Sea Worms]! It has fused with the skill [Bloodsucking Intensification]!
– The bloodsucking speed of the skill [Bloodsucking Intensification] has increased, and the height of the increase due to bloodsucking has grown larger.
– Acquired trait [Deep Sea Raider].
– Achievement [Pioneer] activates.
– All attributes have increased by 2 each!
– Trait [Deep Sea Raider] has fused with [Stealth]!
– Trait [Stealth] has become a bit more discreet!
‘Oh… both have fused. Not bad at all. I’m most pleased that my stealth has improved. Now I can approach the Blue Manatee secretly, right?’
More often than not, merging existing abilities produces better results than just continuously acquiring new ones.
‘Hehe… A monster that brings a suitable amount of tension. I definitely like places where this kind of tension is maintained.’
– A-are you okay?!
Arang asked me with a worried look, and I waved my hand lightly to indicate I was fine.
– Phew… Should we move to the front together?
While I appreciate the sentiment, I declined. It’s unnecessary hassle.
I signaled the others to move again.
‘Oh, I need to take the corpse.’
Since inedible by-products just take up space in the pocket dimension, I usually wouldn’t store them.
The other beastmen tilted their heads as they watched me collect trash.
‘I’ll grow a sanctuary and trap them inside next time for sure.’
With that determination, I energetically moved forward.
*
When Il-wol captured the ‘Krillochian’ and began to move again.
The tiger beastman Nam Ho-yeol was quietly staring at him from behind, lost in thought.
‘Doesn’t this feel just like that summoned creature sister Min-jeong mentioned…?’
During the Great Beast Devouring Creeper subjugation, Yoo Min-jeong had a decisive active role when capturing the First Escalon.
Since Nam Ho-yeol belonged to the same guild as Yoo Min-jeong and had known her since childhood, he had heard many stories regarding the subjugation.
‘She reportedly kept growing stronger during the fight, managing a lot of elemental skills… especially the binding with her huge flame chains was almost identical to the water binding I saw earlier.’
Moreover, the full-body armor she wore was made of materials he had never seen before.
‘And it’s crucial that she’s not purely human…’
Having a special ability to discern non-human beings, Nam Ho-yeol realized.
As he contemplated various conditions, his thoughts began leaning towards that direction.
‘Huh— I can’t believe it, but if a summoned creature can move around on its own… then Hunter Lee Yeon-hee could really be a dangerous being.’
If there were an existence capable of controlling hundreds or thousands of summoned creatures to act independently, it should be considered akin to an individual legion-level hunter.
‘A woman commanding such a monster is a B-rank hunter? That’s totally absurd.’
No matter why she was hiding her strength, it was essential to pay close attention to Lee Yeon-hee.
‘My father always said that an existence with excessive power must be restrained. But that’s beyond what I can do now, so I’ll just have to relay the information. First, we need to safely get out of here.’
The party members, including him, needed to complete the mission given by the transcendent ‘Sang-gun’ within the allotted time.
If they succeeded, they were told they could join the journey to the first nest where the beastmen flourished.
‘Honestly, I had half-given up due to the mission’s conditions, but… we are really lucky.’
The condition was to form a party that did not consist solely of humans.
That meant they were supposed to form a party of just beastmen, but by interpreting that differently, they drew in the being known as ‘Alpha.’
‘I absolutely must reach the third hunting ground and capture that guy. For that, I definitely need the help of this full-armor being. I must not get caught observing.’
Unaware that he had already been noticed, Nam Ho-yeol swiftly turned his attention back.
– Ho-yeol! What are you thinking so deeply about? Hurry up!
– Ah, yes! Sorry!
As Nam Ho-yeol gathered his focus and pulled his gaze from Il-wol, the one assigned to lead the party, Arang, was feeling a strange allure toward Il-wol.
‘A man who quietly focuses on work and gives off a unique vibe… his abilities are great… and his consideration is subtly evident too. He’s also the one who saved our lives.’
Perhaps it was because she had already felt an attraction to the man in full armor since their first meeting.
She thought that once the dungeon exploration was over safely, she might ask him for contact information, and she diligently followed behind Il-wol.
*
‘Why does it feel like there’s an added layer of hot gazes…’
Though it was trust directed at me, it also felt a little burdensome. I didn’t find this dungeon easy either, which made me feel more responsible.
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