Chapter 59. FLUKE
Thud, thud, thud.
I calmly observed the approaching Golem.
Did I believe that Ahn Yoon-seung would handle it? Not really.
‘Oh yeah~ go ahead and hit~ I’m going to use the Twin Guardian Angel right away.’
With my protective gear, I could stall for about 10 seconds on my own anyway. Safety guaranteed, you see.
“Whoaa! Hyung-nim!”
Fortunately, it seemed there would be no need to use a magic tool.
Soon, Yoon-seung, moving like lightning, activated his Awakening Ability.
[Shield of Protection]
Clang!
The Golem’s attack was blocked by a translucent blue curtain.
Ahn Yoon-seung was trembling in shock, but I continued doing my own thing nonchalantly.
“3 seconds, 2 seconds….”
Click, click, click.
As I signaled according to the Golem’s emergency stop code.
Brrrrrr….
The massive Golem ultimately couldn’t beat the algorithm and knelt down.
Boom. Finally, with a gigantic roar, quiet fell over the area.
“The Golem…?”
“It’s some kind of weakness. I’ll explain more later. Don’t recklessly copy it until you fully understand.”
“Y-Yes! I can’t do what you do!”
Not that you couldn’t.
“Alright, Yoon Seung-ah.”
By the time the A-Class name was called, I gently pointed to the Golem on the ground.
There was only one thing left to do.
“Let’s give it a good beating!”
Ahn Yoon-seung’s eyes were shaking even more than when the Golem awoke.
*
Boom!
Once again, the Golem fell.
Facing a malfunctioning Golem was easier than anything else.
Crack, crack!
Ahn Yoon-seung swung his mace at the sleeping monster.
The Golem’s sturdy exterior proudly shattered into pieces.
“Not hard, right?”
Hunting Golems, known for their high physical resistance and considered particularly tricky among monsters of the same rank…
To be reduced to such simple work!
“Hah…!”
Ahn Yoon-seung could hardly close his mouth.
Just a moment ago, he was sweating in fear of the Golem.
“No way.”
In just 10 seconds.
Gyeoryeo had incapacitated the Golem in that brief moment.
The sight of that massive creature losing control and crawling on the floor at someone else’s command was…
Truly shocking.
“Can you flip the Golem over for a second? Let me retrieve the core.”
But Kim Gyeoryeo wore a bored expression as if it were nothing.
‘How can this be?’
The act of finding the hidden core at once gave an impression of a professional.
Truly, a precise motion.
If he was skilled enough to move like that, how many Golem-type monsters had he killed so far?
“Ahn Yoon-seung.”
That was overwhelming.
Ahn Yoon-seung froze in place, roughly gauging the other’s ability, then he heard his name called again.
“Ahn Yoon-seung?”
“Ah, yes!”
Gyeoryeo, sitting squatted on the Golem, waved his hand slightly. It seemed to mean come closer.
“W-What’s going on?”
“I’ll teach you how to extract the core too.”
Yoon-seung couldn’t hide his admiration at the subsequent explanation.
Gyeoryeo not only knew how to take down Golems, but he also fully understood their structure.
“Watch closely. You insert your finger into this gap and pry it open. Press down once on the inside, then pull up from the outside.”
“A!”
“Right.”
“Wow, that was easy!”
“Generally, the opening for the core is weak. Well, there are exceptions.”
This was not just a result of abundant hunting experience.
To fully comprehend a type of monster, numerous experiments and considerations had to follow.
‘Other hunters hurriedly focus on breaking and defeating Golems, but was he calm enough to dissect them like this?’
Finally, Ahn Yoon-seung’s eyes brightened.
There was no longer fear in that gaze.
With a hunter handling the Golem like a toy right beside him, how could he still be scared of this heap of junk?
‘Hyung-nim is amazing after all!’
Yoon-seung looked up to that F-Class hunter genuinely.
Thinking back now, even the idea of using a laser pointer was admirable.
“I’m impressed!”
“Hmm?”
“With your skills, you could defeat Golems without these tricks, yet you found a new strategy instead of relying on your Awakening skills?”
Kim Gyeoryeo was a rare hunter with strong principles.
In daily life and even in the Gate.
He truly refrained from depending on Awakening skills unless absolutely necessary.
That might be why he was so strong.
‘He’s on a different level from hunters who throw away training and cling to the abilities heaven has given them.’
Ahn Yoon-seung nodded in understanding.
Did he realize…
That he was under a significant delusion?
‘Ahn Yoon-seung is saying something strange again.’
The truth was, with his F-Class magic power, he could only use that simple light magic once.
That’s why Gyeoryeo had no choice but to bring the laser pointer with him…
“Hmm, right. You’re correct.”
He didn’t bother explaining.
It was tedious.
*
The hunting that followed went smoothly.
Activating the emergency stop with the laser pointer.
Extracting the heart of the now tin can Golem.
It was just an endless cycle of this; what’s tough about that?
“Picking up scraps has got to be harder than this.”
Gyeoryeo’s strategy was a great success.
Through the repetitive one-sided hunting, Ahn Yoon-seung could easily shake off his Golem trauma.
Now, even when faced with Golems rampaging right in front of him, he felt nothing but indifference.
“Just like you said, Gyeoryeo-hyung. Looking closely, their behavioral patterns are extremely simple.”
“See? I told you it was unnecessary to be scared.”
Thud!
As the 28th Golem triggered the emergency stop.
Gyeoryeo calmly retrieved the core and advised.
“But don’t underestimate them. I’ve only taught you how to deal with this specific model.”
“The Golem Patrol, right?”
“Don’t relax too much in front of monsters. If you come across a Golem you’ve never seen before, proceed with caution.”
Gyeoryeo stood up satisfactorily.
The item boxes were full, and the training seemed perfect by now.
There was just one concern left…
‘This Ahn Yoon-seung guy has completely forgotten that he’s breaking the law.’
This F-Class hunter was currently in the High-Ranking Gate without permission.
Not to mention without notifying any transport operator. It was a clear violation.
But in essence, if you don’t get caught, crime doesn’t matter, right?
Heh heh heh. There’s no way I’ll get caught.
Kim Gyeoryeo smiled with satisfaction. This time, he had some solid confidence.
Ever since the appearance of the EX-Class Baek-ui Maze.
Korea had been experiencing a surge in the frequency and difficulty of Gate occurrences.
‘They must be really struggling over there.’
To put it simply, the Hunter Association was now suffering from a shortage of manpower.
Typically, there should be surveillance posted at every gate entrance, but there had long been holes in management even before this.
Steering staff? Please.
There were gates all over that couldn’t even afford to install surveillance cameras due to not being able to handle the rampant volume.
‘Thanks to that, illegal entrants like me are thriving.’
Seonwoo-yeon seemed busy these days too, so it didn’t seem likely she’d suddenly show up like last time.
“Is it boss time soon?”
“Has it really gotten to that already?”
“Seems like we’ve almost taken down all the regular monsters…”
Kim Gyeoryeo rolled the item box in his hands.
In his mind, he was contemplating how to squeeze Ahn Yoon-seung for more spoils from the boss.
Maybe that’s why.
“Huh?”
Perhaps because of such wicked thoughts, this heavenly punishment was imposed…
“Damn it, what the hell!”
Suddenly, an expletive erupted from Gyeoryeo.
Ahn Yoon-seung flinched his shoulders, not knowing what was happening, and at the same moment, the surrounding air suddenly stilled.
What followed was a sharp, cold sensation grazing his skin.
Before he could say anything.
Swish! Crackle!
Chilling air shot out from beyond the corridor, enveloping Gyeoryeo in an instant.
Having sensed the enemy’s magic ahead of time, Gyeoryeo hastily dodged backwards, but he couldn’t prevent his feet from freezing to the ground.
“Hyung-nim!”
Squelch.
His feet were completely stuck to the icy floor.
Gyeoryeo quickly focused on the front.
“What is this out of the blue…!”
But what on earth? Glancing at the direction from which the magic came, he found it even more absurd.
“How did this happen?”
“Oh my god.”
“The Golems are all dead…”
The ones who launched the sudden attack looked as bewildered as could be.
Soon, three unidentified Awakened appeared from the left of the corridor.
They were whispering among themselves and buzzing around.
Gyeoryeo, unable to hold back, shouted loudly.
“What are you idiots doing!”
It was truly an intriguing situation.
*
And this is why they always say listening is important.
“Boss stealing has been rampant again these days.”
That term had come up in a conversation with Seonwoo-yeon.
Steal (Steal) act.
That crime had been a problem in the hunter community since Gates began appearing.
Expensive items, popular gates, rare monsters…
Disputes over valuable things have never ceased.
“Are you ready?”
Outside the Gate [Golden Fragrance].
Three Awakens, huddled together, readied their weapons with the intent to snatch the dungeon’s boss.
But actually…
They had no intention of engaging in theft crimes originally.
Only, realizing the appearance of [Golden Fragrance] later than Kim Gyeoryeo became their downfall.
“Everything is ready, but in the meantime, another hunter has entered.”
“Right.”
“Golems are so tricky to deal with that teams usually don’t readily go hunting like this.”
A normal person would typically give up on a Gate with an owner, but they had their own reasons for not retreating.
“Looks like we’ll have to intercept midway.”
“Exactly.”
“Can’t be unfilial to father.”
“We must absolutely collect the boss items from this dungeon.”
Would zealots, deeply immersed in a cult, shy away from crime?
Their minds were already filled with the instructions of their leader.
“Actually, this worked out well. We were a bit shaky on our own power, but if those before us reduce the number of monsters…”
Take down the boss of the Golem-appearing gate.
And bring back the [Infinite Power Core] it offers as a reward.
They decided to commit an orthodox steal for this mission.
First.
Wait until the formally entering hunters have made some progress in the Gate.
Second.
Follow them stealthily afterward.
Lastly.
Assault the exhausted hunters at the brink of entering the boss room, seizing the Gate.
What a despicable scheme.
“Everyone, stay alert. We have a great responsibility upon us.”
However, these individuals, brainwashed by a quasi-religious group known as Nachalsawon, could no longer make moral judgments.
Naturally, they didn’t care at all about the lives of total strangers.
“Let’s see. Just a moment. I just received a revelation.”
The leader of the cult opened his mobile phone to check something.
What he was looking at was nothing but the raid information of the Golden Fragrance Gate.
[(Current Entry Status)]
[Number of Raiders: 1 ■ 2 □ 3 □ …]
[Transport operator? YES □ NO ■]
[Raider: Ahn Yoon-seung (Rank: A-Class)]
With the Nachalsawon’s huge capital, bribing a few Hunter Association staff was a piece of cake.
“Hmm.”
Solo playing through a dungeon that spawns Golems?
It was an unexpected configuration, but it wasn’t bad either. The smaller the team size, the less resistance there would be when stealing the boss.
“Let’s set off in about an hour.”
They killed time until the previous hunter cleared a path.
Then, not long after.
After the long wait, they finally headed toward the dungeon…
“Eh?”
After only a few minutes, they instinctively sensed something was off.
“This is strange…?”
No matter how much they walked, all they found were broken Golem remains, and no humans in sight at all!
“How the hell did he take down this many Golems in just one hour? And all alone?”
The Nachalsawon members, sensing something was wrong, started running.
Ahn Yoon-seung.
Though they didn’t know what tactic he was employing, it was certain that he was methodically clearing the dungeon at an abnormal speed.
‘Oh my god!’
As foretold by their ominous premonition, by the time they caught up to Ahn Yoon-seung, the boss room was already just around the corner.
60 minutes. Typically, you wouldn’t even reach the halfway mark of a Gate in that time.
‘He’s not alone, is he?’
Moreover, contrary to the stolen information, there was a strange person standing beside Ahn Yoon-seung.
A blond man dressed in dark clothes.
Whoever he was, his unfamiliar face indicated he wasn’t a recognizable figure.
‘We can’t let them approach the boss room!’
From there, the ambush began.
This cold-based terrorist shot out an attack as soon as he spotted them.
The target was Ahn Yoon-seung’s companion.
Originally, the plan was to freeze the weaker one in ice and then attack while the other was flustered.
“Hmm?”
Ahn Yoon-seung’s demeanor was strange.
He showed no signs of worry for his teammate, even when his companion was suddenly attacked.
“What’s this, frogs? Oh come on, how stupid! You’ve chosen to mess with Hyung-nim of all people!”
What’s with this nonchalance?
The Nachalsawon cultists had completed preparations to hunt humans.
But Ahn Yoon-seung’s reaction stirred an unusual feeling of anxiety.
