Bzzzzzt──!
“Heeek!! Wh-what is this!! Uarrrgh!!”
A leg, like that of a bug, started to sprawl uncontrollably from the side of the creature, poking through its ribcage. Some legs were long, while others only grew as big as a palm—entirely unbalanced.
The legs, grotesque and utterly useless in battle, wriggled about aimlessly as if having a party of their own.
In short, it was a failure.
“Just because it has high combat power doesn’t mean the mutant is well-made. Hmm… Perhaps the monster’s aura-infused liquid might have a compatibility factor.”
If that assumption holds—
“Conversely, one with good compatibility might produce unexpected effects. Now that I think of it, that red-hooded one had pretty good balance.”
“Hehehe…”
Soon after, the man next to Jang Sun-cheol began to burst with light madness, reacting energetically.
“Hehehehe! Could I really be in line for the title of ‘Blade Mantis King’? Me, the king of mantises? Kukukukuku!! Who cares! As long as I can kill that damn creature, I’d be happy to be the king of bugs!!”
The dwarf known as Gamjeongi was feeling his outer skin begin to harden rapidly.
“That guy might actually be a case of good compatibility. Given more time, he’d likely surpass the defensive power of Minescarabe.”
He didn’t sprout bug legs like Jang Sun-cheol, but his eyes were bulging as if they might pop out at any moment.
“I’ve never heard of a mantis with a king title… If only I had time; I’d love to see what abilities he might have.”
[Scytherin]
Swish──!
The Blade of Water sliced effortlessly through the neck of the man transforming into a bug, spraying blood like a fountain.
Shwoooosh──
“Grrrrrk…!”
If I take care of the one exuding dangerous energy first, the rest will be easy.
“What a foolish bastard. If he had just stayed still, he might’ve lived a few more seconds and had a chance to retreat.”
To me, it seemed ridiculous, but anyone who’d had their life on the line would understand. Being out of one’s mind really means they can’t think clearly.
[You guys. Bring out anything that can make money. I’ll let the three who bring out the most valuable stuff live.]
I wrote large letters on paper and showed it to them.
For the time being, I decided to adopt a brutal robber persona.
They read my proposal and fell silent for a moment.
Even after completely suppressing the enemy, I still communicated through written words.
That wasn’t just being cautious; who would be a mute hunter?
Their eyes busily darted left and right.
Even in such a situation, they were likely wracking their brains over which mute hunters existed. Definitely a clear sign of experience showing through in moments like this.
“Cut off our legs!! Is living in this body what you call living, you bastard! Spit! Spit!”
In the silence, one guy bravely voiced his opinion.
“I disagree with this guy. Just let me live! I, I have it! I’ll also take off my mana stones and equipment! If you give me some time, I’ll also follow through with the rune exchange! So please, just spare my life—”
But the other hunters didn’t seem to share the same thoughts. It made sense to want to live after all.
[Your energy-infused equipment will drop in performance by 90% if I wear it, you bastard. Hand over the runes and artifacts.]
Mana stones and runes weren’t enough. Sure, I could sell equipment for crafting materials, but what I truly needed were artifacts! No matter how many I had, it never felt enough.
“I-I don’t have any artifacts! I swear, please… just spare my life!”
“You’re lying! This guy has at least one artifact! I bet it’s hidden in his space!”
“You bastard! What kind of bullshit are you spewing!!”
“What! You dumbass! You’re hoarding artifacts while dying! Teacher! I swear I don’t have any artifacts! Instead, I’m in charge of treasury management, so all the mana stones we obtained from battles yesterday and today are in my hands, so please just take those!”
“You son of a bitch! We collected those together; you can’t act like it’s all yours! Trash!”
“I have enough top-grade mana stones saved up that I was planning to buy Lesser Hellacne leather with!!”
“Me too—!!”
“Have you ever seen such garbage!? And you still call yourselves a dwarf’s pride?!”
“Fuck, pride? That’s just a trait born with; I’ve never seen a real dwarf! What’s the point if we die!!”
Once one turned traitor, everyone started clamoring to prove they were worth saving; the dwarves! Their loud voices reverberated through the cave.
“Clap, clap…”
The value of everything torn from the dwarves was impossible to estimate.
I could feel the obsession working hard to process the loot.
“At this point, I understand how robbing hunters feel. The efficiency is insane, right?”
Subduing opponents with force and taking valuable items from them.
The results of such an effective action were enough to scare me a little.
If I keep accumulating experiences like this, will I end up tainted like those guys? That can’t happen.
“Get a grip. Stay calm. Think rationally.”
Bang bang—
I banged my helmet and called Ainz, Zweihander, and Dry to deal with the dwarves.
“I doubt I’ll level up just by taking them down.”
I felt very certain about that.
I figured I’d need to defeat another opponent of Grim Reaper caliber to level up.
“Even if my growth feels slow because it’s too steep, it’s unrealistic to have leveled up to A-rank in less than six months. It wouldn’t be surprising to hit a stagnation point.”
Clank—clap—
Traces of their behind revealed themselves, and without delay, the weapons charged towards the dwarves.
“Wha-what are these dwarf bastards?”
“Wait, you said you’d spare us!! You bastard!!”
Boooom!!
Crack──!
At my command, my minions began to hack the dwarves to pieces.
“Bring stripped equipment this way. I need at least some crafting materials. Hand all rare-grade runes over to Obsession.”
“Clap, clap, clap!!”
“Gagahh-!!”
“You betrayed us!!”
“Go to hell!! You filthy bastards!! Hick!!”
“Hell… I’ve already been there.”
– [Obsession] thoroughly searches the bodies of the dwarves consumed by evil.
– High-grade mana stone x466, Top-grade mana stone x277, Rune of Swiftness (Rare) x2, Rune of Vitality (Rare) x1, High-grade Potion x45, Intermediate Mana Potion x127, Master Craftsman’s Metalworking Book, Forged Smithy of Atonement, Anvil of Graced Stone, Endless Passion’s Bulpin Hammer, Blessed Small Chasing Hammer, Mysterious and Bizarre Dwarf Crystal, Talisman of Ibglas x2
The looting list that kept coming to mind.
“Crazy… This is insane? Eight artifacts! Even duplicates? For an A-rank hunter party, this is pretty decent.”
Of course, none of them were priced at exorbitant amounts.
The ‘Dwarf Crystal’ and ‘Talisman’ prevented health deterioration, so wearing them would surely help in some way. However, the other five were all dwarf-exclusive artifacts.
Still, they could easily sell for at least ten billion each on the market.
Of course, if I register a lot of items at once, it would raise suspicions with the Dwarf Guild, so I had to be careful.
Mysterious and Bizarre Dwarf Crystal
– Helps prevent exhaustion during repetitive tasks.
– Health +200
Talisman of Ibglas
– Draws mysterious power from distant dimensions to invigorate the user.
– Magic Power +180
I immediately equipped the crystal and talisman.
The Talisman of Ibglas coiled gently around my neck, while the size of a fingernail Dwarf Crystal hovered above my shoulder, emitting a soft glow.
“I can give one talisman to Yeon-hee. And wow, we’ve accumulated a lot of potions. Most of the runes I received are of low grade, so there aren’t many usable, but I’m pretty satisfied.”
I swapped two of the rare runes equipped with the high-grade ones to boost my specs.
– ‘Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion’ acquired. (86/100)
– ‘Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion’ acquired. (93/100)
– ‘Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion’ acquired. (99/100)
And then the most crucial fragment.
“Jang Sun-cheol got 7. The others got 6 each. Even considering they’re weaker than Victor, the difference is vast? Why’s that? Could it be related to the number of people killed? I don’t know. Anyway, I’ve gathered a total of 958 fragments. Only 42 more to go.”
“Clap, clap, clap.”
After sweeping up the fragments in less than an hour, I felt ecstatic.
“Who’s the next target? Is it still not here?”
I finished my work, but there was no signal from the system.
I carefully gathered the dwarves’ corpses and the equipment they had stripped off themselves and stepped back outside.
“Ah, it feels good to recycle! So, shall we hit the next hunting ground?”
I would do some real monster hunting once the quest concluded, and for now, I had to go searching for the villainous lunch box.
*
While Il-wol was burning with determination searching for the villain.
“Of course, I can only see his side profile!!”
Inessa, the leader of ‘Do’, was trying hard to recall Il-wol’s features.
“Ugh— this is frustrating. I should have at least taken a picture!”
She was staring at the paper that Il-wol had sworn on, as if it held the secrets to the universe.
“I should have asked for his name.”
There was no need to write a name on the oath document. Infusing unique magic power into it already served as a signature.
“Shall we catch him?”
Sniper Patrick casually asked Inessa, who was fidgeting anxiously. He knew he’d get in trouble.
“You’re always fussing about catching something!!”
“That’s my job.”
“Hmph! Il-yeon’s followers will inevitably cross over to China, so catch someone else.
It seems that someone discovered the passage to where ‘that guy’ is sleeping. And he’s quite a useful awakened one.”
“May I see what kind of guy he is?”
“Here!”
Inessa reached out her hand, but for some reason, Sniper Patrick merely flailed his hands in front of her.
“……Here. This is it.”
“Ha ha, thank you.”
Patrick, with a gracious demeanor, held Inessa’s finger and soon closed his eyes, drawing his magic power to its limit.
About 30 minutes passed.
“It’s been over 30 minutes now. Isn’t that enough?”
“A little bit longer…!”
“Ah, time’s up! Perverted Patrick! Get outta here!”
“Ha ha, touching my master’s hand is the only joy of my life.”
“Pervert!! Child molester!!”
“Oh, uh, that’s a little dangerous to say.”
While Sniper Patrick jested, a long silver carbine was suddenly in his grasp.
The barrel, longer than his height, grew even more as he corrected his posture, extending to over 10 meters.
It looked impossible to shoot normally, yet Inessa casually sipped her drink, watching the unsteady Patrick.
“Wind speed correction… Distance measurement correction… Altitude correction… Noise correction… Environmental adaptation correction… Auto-aim correction… Dimensional wave… Infinite acceleration…”
At last, Patrick began listing out the abilities that could be triggered for perfect shooting.
The silver carbine, radiating light, transformed into a deep red hue, heating up.
In Sniper Patrick’s eyes, only a tiny dot remained on the central crosshair.
[Unwavering Wing of Valindor]
[Tooth of Valindor that penetrates anything]
As the skills ended, unleashing the perfect shot, a bullet carrying thousands of magic power soared from the muzzle.
───────
After a long preparation, the fired bullet cut through the air without recoil or sound, slicing through the paper nest.
─── Whoosh!
The bullet, fired from Urumqi, accurately penetrated the forehead of a man in Beijing, 3,000 km away.
“──?!!”
In a split second, he tried to dodge but it had already passed through his head before he could comprehend.
Thud─!
The next day.
The nation went into chaos when Zhou Jun, ranked 4th among awakened ones in China, vanished without a trace, excluding the transcendent.
*
“Clap, clap…”
“Wah— we’re in big trouble.”
Did I get too carried away after wiping out the dwarf party?
Surprisingly, after that moment, I searched the dungeon for a whopping five hours but only discovered four villains, hardly any work done.
I gained 26 fragments, leaving me with 16 left.
Unfortunately, none of them held any artifacts.
“Well… it’s more efficient to buy equipment with the money to acquire artifacts anyway. Should I head out soon?”
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