Chapter 61 (2/2)
Jinwoo ignored the fiery protest coming from the woman behind him and slowly walked towards the ice bear . .
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‘Hmm, if I used a dagger…’.
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The spilt blood would mess up his clothes . Jinwoo had summoned the two daggers out of habit but quickly returned them to the inventory . Instead, the man clenched his fists . .
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‘I know I said I would just watch, but the situation’s different now . I’m sure they’ll understand . ’.
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Jinwoo met the gaze of the ice bear . .
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Roooaar!.
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The ice bear swung an arm the size of a tree trunk with a lightning speed . .
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woosh-!.
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But its attack struck nothing but air . .
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‘It’s fast for its size . ’.
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Having jumped above the bear’s head, Jinwoo realized why it had such a dangerous reputation . .
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‘Still…’.
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The level-ups he underwent were not for nothing . Before the ice bear could raise its head, Jinwoo used all of his strength to punch its forehead . .
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BAM!. .
The bear’s head crashed into the ground . Its skull obliterated, the bear stuck out a tongue and did not move again . .
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You’ve leveled up!.
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Alright! Jinwoo felt like he was close to leveling up and realized that it was a good thing that he stopped Park Heejin . .
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“Who… who the hell are you?”.
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He turned to face the shaking voice and looked at the four members of his party at a loss for words . Jinwoo scratched his temple . .
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‘I thought I made myself clear . ’.
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Well, they probably forgot after seeing such a shocking scene . Jinwoo firmly spoke his conditions again,.
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“Once again, no questions . If you don’t like it, you can go-”.
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Jinwoo pointed towards the direction Kim Cheol’s team had left in . .
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“-to them . ”.
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His words snapped Park Heejin to attention,.
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“I just saw you kill an ice bear in one hit . I am NOT leaving your side . ”.
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Her heart was beating fast . She had instinctively selected Jinwoo over Kim Cheol but now realized just how correct her decision was . She made a determination after a quick calculation . In order to leave this place alive, she would have to follow Sung Jinwoo . Before Jinwoo could change his mind, she quickly spoke,.
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“Jinwoo-ssi, please be our leader . I’ll follow whatever you have say . ”.
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‘I also said I won’t be accepting any requests…’.
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After a brief moment, Jinwoo nodded . When he thought about it, this would probably be the best . Park Heejin turned around to the rest of the party . Since Han Songyi was brought here by Jinwoo, she probably didn’t need to ask the girl . And the other two Hunters….
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“You two also agree, right?”.
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Suddenly having the attention focused on them, the two Hunters looked back and forth between the ice bear’s corpse and Jinwoo then vigorously nodded . .
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Meanwhile, outside of the Red Gate . .
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Hyun Gicheol wiped away the sweat on his brows and checked the time . Baek Yoonho asked,.
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“How long has it been?”.
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“About three hours . ”.
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“Three hours… That means three days have passed inside . ”.
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Baek Yoonho’s voice was heavy . Of the four gathered here, only Baek Yoonho had actually experienced the Red Gate before . The man was one of the S-rankers who represented South Korea . Even to a man like him, a Red Gate was not something to be taken lightly . With a calm heart, he recalled the memory of the time,.
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“The true terror of Red Gates is the fact that the inside connects to an entirely different world . ”.
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This was a rare sight: an S-rank Hunter was about to tell his experiences with a Red Gate . Ahn Sangmin, Joo Sungchan and Hyun Gicheol all perked up in attention . .
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“Inside the Gate, you could end up in a desert world with temperatures exceeding 140 degrees fahrenheit . Or perhaps it’ll be a jungle world infested with venomous snakes and poisonous insects . Maybe even a tundra world where the tips of your fingers will freeze . ”.
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gulp . .
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The three listening gulped as one . .
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“The problems it that until you’ve entered the Gate, you won’t know that it’s a Red Gate . This means that there is no way of preparing ahead of time . ”.
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Today was the same . An ordinary Gate had turned red after the Hunters had entered . .
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“Whether burning under the blazing sun, hounded by poisonous insects day and night, or frozen in the cold… The weak will be the first to die . ”.
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“My god…”.
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Hyun Gicheol let out a small moan in disbelief . .
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“And in that harsh environment, you have to face magic beasts . ”.
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Just hearing the circumstances relayed the dark situation the Hunters were in . But that was not all . .
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“And let’s say you somehow managed to get used to the environment . The problem after that is finding sustenance . ”.
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At the minimum few weeks, at the longest few months . You had to find your own food in that time . It was not an easy task . .
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“In the harsh environment made worse by the hunger, the only thing you can rely on is the magic power compass . ”.
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It was a tool to point toward strong sources of magic power . Defeating the boss was the only way to leave a Red Gate, outside of letting it undergo a Dungeon Break . .
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“Imagine looking at that tiny compass and enduring days, weeks or months . Do you think you could keep your sanity?”.
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The three men shook their heads . If ordinary non-Hunters like them were thrown into such a place, forget the magic beasts, the environment would kill them in a day . .
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“You said three days had passed, right?”.
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“Yes . ”.
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At Hyun Gicheol’s confirmation, Baek Yoonho made a tragic face . .
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“If it’s been that long, all the Hunters below B-rank are dead . ”.
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Kim Cheol was an A-ranker . But no matter how skilled an A-ranker was, it was impossible to protect his entire party in a situation like this . At the very least, you’d need an S-ranker with them . And so,.
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“All we can do is pray that the high-rankers come back alive . ”.
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It was a conclusion born from experience . .
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In Baek Yoonho’s head, the C-rank Hunters and below were as good as dead . .
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Back in the Red Gate . .
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The C-rank Hunters and below were enjoying a feast around a campfire . .
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On top of the fire, a large piece of meat was being cooked . .
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“You know this bear meat, it’s a little tough, but it’s not bad . ”.
“Would you like some more?”.
“Oh, thank you . ”.
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Yoon Gijoong held out a plate and Go Myunghwan cut up some more ice bear meat and placed it on the plate . These were the two C-rankers of Jinwoo’s party . Park Heejin and Han Songyi also ate their fill of the bear meat . .
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“Unni, could you pass the pepper?” [1].
“You want the salt as well?”.
“No, just the pepper please . ”.
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Somehow, they all had gotten used to the Dungeon . Alongside the campfire, they even had tents and blankets for sleeping . They didn’t exactly have much discomfort . No… In a bizarre way, they were almost feeling cozy, like they were on vacation . Go Myunghwan looked around and spoke,.
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“You know, doesn’t it feel like the ice bears have been attacking us less and less lately?”.
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Park Heejin replied to him,.
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“Well, it’s because the Raid Leader took care of them . ”.
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“You know, I don’t know what grudge that man has against ice bears, but whenever I see him looking at one, it’s terrifying . Honestly hope that the Raid Leader never looks at me that way . ”.
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In no time, Jinwoo’s title among his teammates had turned into “Raid Leader” . Feeling his absence, Park Heejin look around and asked,.
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“Where did our dear Raid Leader disappear off to anyways?”.
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Yoon Gijoong raised his head that was focused on his plate and replied,.
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“He said he was going to patrol the area . ”.
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What . Park Heejin was incredulous . .
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“To go around a high-level Dungeon on his own… Is he not scared even a little bit?”.
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Yoon Gijoong smiled widely,.
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“I think he’ll be alright, don’t you think?”.
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Go Myunghwan added,.
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“Seriously . The man killed a high-level magic beast with his bare hands . ”.
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The man continued,.
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“You know… now that I mention it… Just how high does your rank have to be to kill a magic beast like that with your bare hands?”.
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A silence fell on the group . Of course, they were all curious . But they did not want to break the cardinal rule of their group even when Jinwoo was absent . .
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“ . Let’s just keep eating . ”.
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At Park Heejin’s words, everyone nodded . .
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Jinwoo was combing the forest and walked through a bush . .
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‘It was around here somewhere…’.
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He felt the presence of multiple ice bears from somewhere . He had been tracking their den since last night . He had started this after realizing that the attacking bears were all coming from the same direction . Walking all over the area, Jinwoo’s eyes suddenly sparkled . .
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‘Found them!’.
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Across the thicket, he saw dozens of caves . In each cave, he felt more than one presence . Well, he didn’t need to use the sense stat . Just before him, many ice bears were entering and leaving the caves . At a rough count, there were about 30 of them . It was truly a den of bears . .
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The corners of Jinwoo’s mouth rose . He had purposely came alone . .
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This would be the prime opportunity . .
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They had been waiting . .
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This would be their inaugural battle . .
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‘Come forth . ’.
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Responding to his thoughts, soldiers clad in black armor soundlessly appeared from his shadow and stood behind him . .
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“You know this is your first battle, right?”.
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As people had first impressions between each other, your first battle will determine my impression of you . Is what he meant . .
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‘ . ’.
‘ . ’.
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The Shadow Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder . .
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Good . .
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Jinwoo smiled widely . .
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sniff sniff.
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The ice bears caught a whiff of Jinwoo and slowly started coming out of their caves . .
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‘Looks like they’re also ready . ’.
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Jinwoo pointed a hand toward the ice bears . .
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“Go . ”.
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At his command, the Shadow Soldiers slid across the land toward the enemy . .
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Translator’s Notes:.
[1]: “Unni” (언니): Lit . “Older Sister” . Surprised it took this long for this word to appear . Yet another ultra common title in the Korean language . This one is used by females to refer to older females of a relatively close age . Basically the female equivalent of “hyung”.