Chapter 23 (2/2)
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thud.
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ring~.
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Enemies to deal with: 1.
Enemies dealt with: 7.
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Jinwoo faced the last man remaining . .
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The hairy man with a large physique, Hwang Dongseok . .
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With a determined face, he threw aside his shield and gathered his energy . .
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“Waaaaaah!!!”.
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He kicked the ground and charged . .
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boom boom boom boom!.
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As he ran, he thought to himself . He was a Tanker who shone in the upper echelon of C-rankers . The target was probably a Dealer . His movements were fast, but there was no way that he would have the power to go through his body, reinforced with the ‘Strengthen’[1] skill . .
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‘You cannot give me a mortal wound with a mere dagger!’.
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The one who would be destroyed in their clash will be Sung Jinwoo!.
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He tackled with his shoulder as the distance closed . .
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“Strengthen!”.
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The room suddenly spun around him, and the Dungeon’s ceiling appeared before his eyes . .
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Slam!.
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His head shook and he felt a great pain on his neck and back . He tried to rise but his body did not listen . The struggling Hwang Dongseok sprawled on the ground . .
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“cough!”.
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Blood came out of his mouth . .
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‘Did… did he just throw me?’.
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He, Hwang Dongseok, just lost in power?.
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In a contest of strength?.
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“A mere E-rank trash like you…”.
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He realized his mistake . 5 C-ranks and 4 D-ranks were defeated in an instant . There was no way Jinwoo was an E-ranker . .
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Jinwoo stood next to Hwang Dongseok . The man could not even move his body . The results of the fight was clear . If this was a competitive sport, this is where it would end . .
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It was not going to end here . .
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“W-wait . ”.
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Hwang Dongseok raised a feeble hand . .
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“P-please, let me live . If you want money, I’ll give you money . Plenty of it, just let me live…”.
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“Three times . ”.
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Jinwoo replied with ice in his voice,.
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“Aren’t you embarrassed to ask someone you tried to kill three times for mercy?”.
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One . Through blocking the entrance . .
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Two . Through ordering Yoo Jinho . .
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Three . Through Jo Gyuhwan’s magic . .
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Hwang Dongseok had made three attempts on Jinwoo’s life, discounting the fight just now . .
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Give and Take . .
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After returning alive from the temple, Jinwoo had made this creed . .
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To give as much was given, and to take as much was taken . .
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Whether it was good or bad . .
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There would be no compromise . .
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Realizing he could not beg for mercy, Hwang Dongseok opened his eyes wide and foamed at the mouth,.
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“You, you think you’ll just get away with this?! Do you know who my little brother-”.
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Snap!.
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Hwang Dongseok could not continue with his crushed neck . .
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His eyes rolled back to reveal their whites . .
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ring~.
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Enemies to deal with: 0.
Enemies dealt with: 8.
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The quest was finally over . .
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“Phew-”.
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Jinwoo’s lengthy sigh carried many meanings . He took his hand off Hwang Dongseok’s throat and looked at it . Although it was a one-sided battle, his hands were shaking at the fact that he had just taken eight lives . .
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‘Is this really okay?’.
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He placed the hand on his chest and felt his heart . .
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ba dum ba dum ba dum .
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It was beating normally . .
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‘I wonder…’.
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From the day that he had returned from the underground temple, perhaps the System wasn’t the only change within Jinwoo . But his worries were brief, interrupted by the familiar electronic tone . .
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ring~.
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You’ve completed the ‘Emergency Quest: Deal With The Enemies’.
The reward for completing the quest has arrived . .
Would you like to verify? (Y/N).
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He had expected this . Without delay, he confirmed the rewards . .
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“Verify . ”.
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ring~.
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You’ve received the below rewards . .
Reward 1 . Status Recovery.
Reward 2 . Stat points +10.
Reward 3 . Skill: ‘Bloodlust’[2].
Accept all?.
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‘10 stat points and even a new skill?’.
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Jinwoo’s eyes widened at the incredible reward . Putting the attribute points aside, the idea of a new skill piqued his interest greatly . .
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‘If I didn’t have ‘sprint’ while fighting the spider…’.
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The reason he was able to defeat the boss was thanks to a skill . Their effectiveness in battles could not be understated . There was reason why Runestones were insanely expensive . .
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Jinwoo immediately checked the ‘Bloodlust’ skill . .
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‘Check Reward 3 . ’.
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ring~.
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Bloodlust (Lv . 1).
Active Skill.
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Mana Cost: 100.
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Activate to inflict ‘Fear’ on a target for 1 minute . .
Multiple targets can be selected . .
‘Fear’: All stats -50%.
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“You emit a murderous intent . ”.
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Although temporary, it had a very desirable power to lower every attribute of a target . Jinwoo was sure it would not work against targets with high resistance, but to the ones that didn’t, they would become food before his hands . On top of that, it was able to affect multiple targets . .
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‘It’s amazing . ’.
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As the penalty was great, so was the reward . .
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‘Well… it makes sense, right?’.
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His life was on the line this time . Not only that-.
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Jinwoo looked around . He frowned at the scene of massacre . He had witnessed the death of many Hunters before, but he was still not used to the sight of their corpses . This was the result that the quest wanted . Compared to the number of lives he had taken, the reward now seemed small . Not that he would’ve been able to avoid all this, even without the quest . .
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‘There’s no end to man’s greed…’.
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He shook his head . .
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The cave shook again . .
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Shaaaaake!.
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It was a lot stronger than before . It was time to leave the Dungeon . .
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But there was a loose end to tidy up before leaving . .
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Yoo Jinho . .
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Jinwoo turned his gaze towards the young man . The pitiful form of Yoo Jinho, frozen from fear, cast his eyes down at Jinwoo’s gaze . .
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‘What to do with him…’.
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Of course, he wasn’t thinking of killing Yoo Jinho . There was no reason or need . .
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But if everything that had happened here leaked, it would become very bothersome . .
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‘Let’s thoroughly ensure his silence . ’.
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As if on cue, Yoo Jinho ran forward and knelt before Jinwoo,.
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“Hyungnim! Please let me live!”.
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“ . ”.
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Jinwoo realized this would be easier than he thought . .
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Yoo Jinho trembled heavily . His face was completely pale . After all, he had just watched Jinwoo slaughter eight people . One of the most powerful weapon to rule over a person was ‘fear’ . So Jinwoo decided to use that to his advantage . .
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“Why should I?”.
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Jinwoo swore he heard Yoo Jinho’s heart literally sink . .
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‘Was that too much?’.
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“M-money- if you n-need money, I can ask my-”.
. “What are you taking me for?!”.
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Jinwoo flared with a genuine anger . He lived his entire life in poverty, but he had no intentions to use someone as a hostage for money . If he did that, he would be no different than Hwang Dongseok . .
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“I-I apologize . ”.
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If Yoo Jinho was not shaking in fear, he would’ve smacked him on the back of his head . But if he did, it felt like the young man would keel over with a heart attack, so Jinwoo stayed his hand . .
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Seeing Jinwoo’s hardened expression, Yoo Jinho gulped . .
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‘Now that I think about it, he also refused Hwang Dongseok’s offer of money… Is he a man who abandoned material wants and walks a path of flesh and blood?’.
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The image of Jinwoo in Yoo Jinho’s head became stranger . But it was too early to make that call,.
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‘Then why did he collect the magic cores?’.
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Just moments earlier, Jinwoo was cutting open the spider’s stomach to grab every last bit of the magic cores . A source of great power, the magic cores had many uses beyond just crafting magic items . But to a Hunter, they were no different than money . .
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Yoo Jinho’s head spun with thought . .
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‘Then it must be that!’.
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It was the price of blood . The reason that he dirtied his hands to look through the corpse was because he had fought the spider boss for it . He would have no mercy towards those who went against him, but he would also have nothing to do with that which was not earned with sweat and blood . A true patron of effort[3]!.
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‘To think that I tried to buy such hyungnim’s mercy with money . Of course he would be mad at me . ’.
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Then, what he needed now was not ‘his father’s money’, but a ‘worthiness’ to spare his life . He glanced over at Jinwoo’s face, but the man still appeared to be mad . .
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Yoo Jinho quickly spoke,.
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“Hyungnim . If you spare me, I’ll turn over all the income from this Dungeon to hyungnim . ”.
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“Hmm?”.
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As he expected, Jinwoo was interested . .
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“Think about it, hyungnim . If nine of the ten people died in this Dungeon, and hyungnim took home all the profits, anyone would be suspicious, no?”.
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Yoo Jinho was sure that Jinwoo was a false ranker . Not only that, a powerful false ranker who enjoyed killing! A person like that could not afford the attention of others falling on him . .
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“So?”.
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“On the other hand, if hyungnim and I leave here together, according to the contract, all of the magic cores would become mine . Even with the eight others dead, since there was no benefit to hyungnim, nobody would suspect you . ”.
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Of course, nobody would suspect Yoo Jinho either . He was the son of one of the country’s most powerful chairman . The magic cores wouldn’t be of any worth to him . .
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“Of course, the money would belong to you, hyungnim . It’s the ‘fair price’ for killing Hwang Dongseok’s party and saving my life . ”.
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Translator’s Notes:.
[1]: “Strengthen” (강화): lit . “reinforce/strengthen” .
[2]: “Bloodlust” (살기): “murder/murderous” 살 + “energy/spirit” 기 . Directly translates to “bloodthirst/bloodlust” . Also could be “Killing Intent” . .
[3]: “patron of effort” (피의 수도자): My apologies, my translation is actually completely different than the original korean . The literal translation would be “ascetic of blood”, which I had felt did not convey the meaning of the passage in English . Jinho’s image of Jinwoo is basically that he only takes what he has earned . In Korean culture, “blood” carries a very common symbolic meaning of effort, hence the “ascetic of blood” title . .
. .