Chapter 15 - Trial of Competition (4) (2/2)

The Hunter’s Daggermanship skill made my movements more fluid and sharp.

It was almost like I could see the path that my blade should take.

All the theories I knew about dagger techniques were happening in front of me in real-time.

That alone already made the skill worth it.

The goblins tried to resist it by holding up their arm guards.

They must use those to halt the blades and use that opportunity to dig into their opponents.

‘Maybe not for blunt weapon users but they were tough for blade wielders.’

That still didn’t stop the swing of my blade.

The guard would normally stop any sharp weapon, but my dagger was a ranked item with the hunter’s daggermanship skill.

I could tell that the small piece of steel wouldn’t be enough to impede my dagger with 1.5 times the cutting force.

My conviction turned into reality.

Slit—!

With no resistance, I sliced through both the guard and its arm like butter.

Pit!

I shoved my dagger into the armless goblin’s neck and headed toward the others.

Snip! Pit! Puaat!

Goblin blood spurted at all angles with each swing of my arm.

They would at least need some decent equipment if they wanted to stand a chance against me.

Thankfully they emphasized quantity over quality.

Just as I killed four more goblins—

「 ‘Goblin Slayer’ achievement unlocked. 」

A message appeared in the corner of my eye and lightened my body.

This was the same system that gave me the heat resistance skill on the 2nd floor.

「 Agility increased by 1. 」

It didn’t give me a skill like last time but it was still useful.

There was no need to even track the poison darts and the weapons anymore.

The goblins couldn’t keep up with my newly gained agility.

I was now taking these goblin’s lives in an instant.

Pit!

After about 8 goblins, they stopped coming at me.

The battle was over.

‘This should be the end of the wave.’

I caught my breath and observed my surroundings.

I don’t know when, but Lee Sunghoon also took care of two goblins.

Of course, that was with the help of Lee Hayeon’s buffs.

Something was off about the mood.

Lee Sunghoon’s face was frozen solid and Lee Hayeon was staring at me with wide eyes.

Snapping awake, Lee Sunghoon spoke first.

“N-not bad for a trainee. You must have gotten lucky, only facing the weak goblins.”

I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what he was saying for a second.

Standing behind him, Lee Hayeon scowled.

“…That doesn’t seem right. It wasn’t just luck.”

Lee Hayeon reluctantly spoke up but Lee Sunghoon didn’t back down.

“It’s not my fault he picked out the weaker one to fight.”

“It was clearly all skill. I don’t think you should talk about him like that.”

Lee Sunghoon eyed me from the side before opening his mouth again.

“What do you mean skill? It was just beginner’s luck.”

‘Beginner’s luck’ huh.

Now I knew why he was staring at me so weirdly.

Unlike him, who could barely fend off two, I killed eight.

His pride must have been hurt.

These kinds of people always act like this when they get hit in the face with reality.

All the ‘talented’ trainees reacted like this when they became hunters.

They tried to bring down others to preserve their worth.

I would have shrugged it off if this was the outside world.

A 7-year trainee like me had no right to speak up…

But not anymore.

“Stop with all this luck and weak bullshit.”

If he was acting like this even after seeing the difference in our skill, I’d give him exactly what he wanted.

If he wants a hierarchy, he’d get a hierarchy.

“W-what did you sa—!”

He tried to respond with a red face but I was faster.

“Whatever you were blubbering about, shut the fuck up.”

“Blubbering, when did I ever…”

“Telling me to be a meat shield because I was a trainee, getting lucky and facing weak goblins.”

“…”

“I think I’ve been patient enough with you.”

Honestly, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Isn’t it laughable that we’re in a life or death trial and here you are arguing with me?”

“We barely have a day left and our competition is probably making their way to the boss as we speak.”

Lee Sunghoon’s face darken when I mentioned the wasted time.

He must have felt at least a little guilty about it.

“If you plan on being a dead weight, the least you can do is shut up.”

I stomped towards him.

“We don’t fail if at least one person in the team stays alive.”

In other words, I was willing to kill him if he got in my way.

Of course, I didn’t really plan on killing anyone, so it was more of a bluff.

The threat seemed to work wonders on Lee Sunghoon.

“W-wha…”

“Voice your complaints now if you have any.”

He flinched and stumbled back.

“I’m glad you don’t have any problems.”

I might’ve been going too far, but at least now he wouldn’t look down on me.

I looked him straight in the eye and made my final remarks.

“Hopefully we can work well together for the rest of the trial.”

It wasn’t like he had a choice though.