– Huh? W-why is that here?!
– Damn it! Have we already come this far? Then it’s been quite a while since the dungeon break!
– Just look at those bureaucratic idiots handling things. Ugh—
– Well, what now? It looks like there’s only one. Want to try catching it?
Cha Jin-hyuk’s three companions were currently assessing whether they could defeat the tarantula.
‘No calculation needed. No matter how high its B-rank, it’s a single entity.’
Since it’s not a mutant either, their judgment would align with mine towards extermination.
First, the children from the daycare turned left and started running at full speed.
The people in this world are well aware of disaster alerts, so there was no need for unnecessary confirmations.
There were evacuation facilities set up in schools built by dwarves and architect-type hunters, so entering would keep them safe for a while.
The nearest school was about four hundred meters away, and many people were already flocking to the nearby school.
Kwahh-whaaaang─!
When the children got out of the danger zone, something heavy fell from the sky, smashing the asphalt road, and let out a roar.
– Kiiieeeee!!
The tarantula descended between Cha Jin-hyuk and his three companions.
It rotated its head 360 degrees, contemplating who to target.
Logically, it would have been advantageous for the hunters to strike first, but the tarantula seemed a bit relaxed, likely because it knew it had a clear advantage.
– Kirrrkk?
But that was only for a moment.
The tarantula’s lower abdomen began to swell rapidly.
“Seong-woong, Eun-bi, Ji-yeon! Are we going to catch it?!”
Cha Jin-hyuk straightened his hunched back and shouted.
“Yes!! There’s only one! Jin-hyuk, let’s start quickly!”
“Ah, damn it. Why are you talking instead of using your skills right away?”
In the meantime, one of the women, either Eun-bi or Ji-yeon, expressed her dissatisfaction with Cha Jin-hyuk.
If given the chance, she wanted to smack him on the back of the head.
Cha Jin-hyuk was already boiling his magic power to its maximum.
‘Wow— Is he insane? His mana pool is no joke!’
His mana exceeded at least 400, and he was wearing two artifacts.
‘He’s got great potential.’
The tarantula leaned back, ready to unleash its toxic liquid, but as Cha Jin-hyuk gestured, high concentrations of magic power quickly filled the space around the tarantula and began to waterfall towards the ground.
‘Oooh, so that’s how it is.’
It was a flow of magic power that seemed to pull the monster deep into the ocean’s depths.
‘Interesting.’
Kkreee-jjak— Kooong─!
Surprisingly, the ‘tarantula’ couldn’t hold on for a few seconds and was slammed into the ground.
‘Woah—’
I couldn’t help but gasp.
But the trio seemed to have anticipated this, as the gravity skill activated, and they charged at the creature.
Coincidentally, all three were close-range fighters, and among them, the man displayed typical tank-like behavior.
Even though it was slammed into the ground, the tarantula still used its many legs to fend off the attacking hunters. The man’s [Provocation] drew its aggro, preventing it from launching a proper counterattack.
– Poof─! Crack-! Rumble─!
Skills from the tarantula triggered in succession, and it writhed in pain.
‘Its offensive power is incredible.’
Experiencing a B-rank hunter’s battle after working at the D-rank felt like being in another world.
The range and destructive power of their attack skills were incomparable to those of D-rank hunters.
The outer shell strength of its ‘fangs’ was several times weaker than the tarantula’s body.
But the seasoned B-rank hunters were patiently targeting only the necessary areas.
Hunters were relentlessly hammering skills into the lower side of its abdomen, which was slightly exposed.
“Die! Die already!”
Yet despite targeting its weak points, the tarantula’s health didn’t easily drop.
‘This is going to take a while…’
I quickly lost interest in the trio and watched Cha Jin-hyuk use his abilities with keen anticipation.
‘He’s really pushing it.’
Blood, watery like, was trickling from Cha Jin-hyuk’s nose.
He had to continuously supply enough magic to keep the enormous tarantula immobilized.
The rapidly diminishing mana indicated just how much effort he was expending.
On the other hand, the trio’s offensive power seemed a bit lacking, which was causing frustration from the onlookers’ perspective.
Even among B-ranks, there was a huge gap between lower-tier hunters and upper-tier monsters.
“Ah! Hurry up!”
Yeon-hee was already impatient.
Have we forgotten our objective?
And five minutes later.
“We’re almost done!”
“Just a little more!”
Just as the trio was about to finish off the tarantula, I unleashed a fireball condensed to its limits at the monster.
Even if it was a monster several ranks higher than me, with this much concentrated mana, I should be able to deal some damage.
– …?! W-what?!
– Take cover!
– Kyaaaaaah─!
Suddenly, the gigantic fireball that fell from the sky forced the hunters to retreat.
Kwahh-whaaaang─!
– ‘The tarantula has been defeated!’
– Contribution is very low. You have gained a small amount of experience points.
– Trait [Thievery] activates! Randomly steals one skill!
– Acquired [Acid Ball]!
– Achievement [Pioneer] activates. All Attributes +1.
The finishing blow I landed granted me the tarantula’s acid ability, boosting my attributes by 1.
“Whoa! Il-wol?!”
Yeon-hee stared at me, shocked that I had stolen the finishing blow. Her expression said, “I didn’t know you were that kind of person.”
‘But it doesn’t really matter to me.’
With a shameless skull face, I shrugged as if to say, “What’s the problem?”
Yeon-hee covered her mouth in shock.
In fact, among hunters, landing a finishing blow without any contribution was taboo.
Of course, since efficiency determines the distribution of mana stones and runes, there are some who criticize it as an old-fashioned rule that deprives others of their rewards.
Still, that’s how everyone is conditioned to think.
‘Anyway, I just need the skills.’
As expected, my low contribution meant I didn’t receive any mana stones or runes.
Even though I had defeated a B-rank upper-tier monster, the experience points I gained were meager.
– [Acid Ball] fuses with [Acid Spray].
– Acquired skill [Special Strong Acid]!
– Achievement [Pioneer] activates. All Attributes +1.
‘Oh? Did it fuse with that?!’
The skill I obtained from the slime fused with the newly acquired skill, leading to a transformation into something new.
Just looking at the skill name, [Special Strong Acid], it seemed incredibly powerful.
[Special Strong Acid]
– You can manifest a deadly acidic liquid in any form.
– You can also give it a sticky thread-like property.
‘Sticky properties too! This is awesome!’
It means I could use it to bind enemies when needed.
But more than figuring out my skill, I needed to get out of here.
Right now, Cha Jin-hyuk and the trio were desperately exerting their magic power to find someone who was trying to claim their achievements without permission.
But those four were all types far removed from detection.
Still, just in case, I flew a bit higher, but they surely wouldn’t be able to find me.
I demonstrated the newly obtained special strong acid in the palm of my hand, creating a round shape.
“Huh? What’s this? Pretty color.”
Yeon-hee, finding the translucent acid ball green and pretty, instinctively reached out, and I quickly pushed it away.
“Huh? Acid? Isn’t that something you spit out?”
At the word “acid,” Yeon-hee shockedly withdrew her hand.
– ……!!
– ……?
But something seemed to have changed below, as the tension between Cha Jin-hyuk and the trio was rising.
Lowering my altitude slowly, I overheard their conversation.
“The creatures are heading towards the school! Please come help!”
“No, we received the message too. Isn’t this quite dangerous? It seems like over half the tarantulas in the area have gathered. Can’t we just stay inside the school?”
“You’re right. That gym building is super sturdy, right? It probably won’t even notice ordinary attacks.”
‘Message?’
Having overheard, I turned to Yeon-hee, who was also reading a message.
「Disaster Stage 2 Alert─
Currently, over a dozen ‘tarantulas’ are attacking the evacuation facility at Hankyung High School.
Nearby hunters must immediately head to the facility and fulfill their responsibilities to ensure the safety of the citizens inside.
We would like to inform you again—」
‘…… So that’s it.’
The evacuation facility at the high school, where the children from the daycare fled, was in a dangerous situation.
However, the trio was responding lukewarmly to Cha Jin-hyuk’s desperate plea for help.
‘But the trio isn’t entirely wrong.’
The evacuation facility built by the dwarves was incredibly sturdy, and even a B-rank upper-tier like the tarantula wouldn’t easily break through.
As long as the entrance was adequately closed, the hunters rushing out to subdue the monsters could pose more danger to the citizens inside.
‘Even with the acid, they should hold out for at least an hour.’
During that time, it might be the better choice to wait for higher-ranked hunters to arrive.
“Isn’t this good? If we’re all scattered, it’ll be more chaotic.”
The male hunter Seong-woong from the trio, while packing a high-grade mana stone covered in thick bodily fluids, said that.
“I’m not saying we need to go fight! I’m just saying we should watch the situation, and if it gets really dangerous, then we should combine our strength—”
But Cha Jin-hyuk was in a position that was directly tied to the situation.
Just looking at how he was pacing back and forth showed how worried he was about the children, and the level of help he requested was quite within reach.
“No, you know those things are sensitive to mana, right? Do you think they have more than one life?”
“We’re not going. You can go alone. We’re not grateful for you helping us take down one!”
‘That’s just because it was a manageable situation!’
Cha Jin-hyuk looked deeply shocked by that remark.
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