A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 35
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 35: Second Shedding (2)
4 AM.
Snake entered the boiling furnace to shed its skin.
The people who sensed the presence of the gate had already disappeared.
The silence of dawn enveloped me.
Finally, the iron monster revealed itself.
"Hey, you might be seeing me for the first time, but it's been a while."
Its body was made of iron, making it extremely tough, but that didn't mean it didn't take damage.
I lightly infused mana into my sword without overexerting myself.
Flame Slash or Lightning Slash were ineffective against it, so physical attacks worked best.
This creature had the characteristic of turning into a liquid human-like form when exposed to heat.
When that happened, it becomes incredibly difficult to inflict damage to.
Most attacks didn't work, and it boasted insane regenerative abilities.
Although regeneration was usually a trait of golems, this creature seems to combine the characteristics of an Iron Ogre with those of a golem.
That was why cold was necessary.
Its weakness.
One needed to freeze it with extreme cold or chill and then smash it to pieces.
Though it was possible to create Ice Slash by combining skills.
Even if I used Ice Slash, my skill level wouldn't be sufficient to freeze such a massive creature.
If it weren't for Snake, I wouldn't have even thought of trying to take this creature down.
In a way, Snake might really be a blessing.
Alright! The next name will be "Blessing."
Huh? Suddenly, I feel a chill...
Is it just my imagination?
The iron monster came charging at me, breathing heavily.
It was wielding a slightly larger-than-my-height iron mace, and getting hit even once could be quite dangerous.
So, I needed to surround myself with a shield using mana.
Whether it was a defensive skill, wore high-defense armor, or used special artifacts, it didn't matter.
Otherwise, a single hit might send me straight to the afterlife.
Even in a game-like world where gates, monsters, status windows, and system notifications were visible, you only had one life.
Moreover, despite its size, it was surprisingly agile.
And even more durable.
So, attacking it now wouldn't be very effective.
‘I hope the cold kicks in soon.’
It didn't seem like the creature intended to stop its attack.
Crash!
The sound of the mace scraping the ground echoed.
Using Wind Sprint, I took a step back out of its attack range.
There was no need to waste too much effort avoiding its attacks.
Just one step back.
My goal was to endure its attacks until Snake's cold manifested.
I was confident I could withstand without getting hit, but it felt like it was taking a bit longer...
‘Is it not ready yet? It felt like quite some time has passed.’
A siren began to sound in the distance.
I hoped to finish the creature before other hunters arrived...
I didn't want to attract unnecessary attention, and most importantly, I wanted the item this creature dropped.
I needed it to awaken the bracelet I bought at the auction.
Since I lacked mana and had weak defense, this item was essential for me, and It was obligatory for me obtain it...
By now, they should have sensed the gate’s energy, and they should have already set out, but they seem to be late?
Bang!!
The mace crashed down before me again.
It struck so hard that it got stuck in the ground, and the creature was struggling to pull it out.
"Stupid thing!"
I dashed towards it, stepping on the chain of the mace, and used the rebound to leap into the air.
Then, I slashed my sword precisely at the chest of the iron monster.
Clang!!!
It didn't pierce deeply, but it was enough to affect it.
Abandoning the attempt to pull out the mace, the iron monster struck its own chest.
I quickly descended to avoid its attack.
The creature, hitting its chest in rage, roared like King Kong.
When fighting a smaller opponent, having a large size wasn’t always advantageous.
The size difference should be manageable.
Especially when the smaller opponent was fast, it becomes more frustrating.
Screech!
As the creature's anger surged, spikes sprouted all over its body.
‘Yes. This is the pattern I was waiting for.’
It was its way of expressing rage, a known pattern.
Of course, I knew this, so I kept my distance.
Soon, sharp spikes were launched in all directions.
I had already hidden behind a thick pillar, out of its attack range.
Since it fired in all directions, dodging was the best option rather than trying to block.
The iron monster, glancing around, lifted the stuck mace.
I peeked out, taunting it.
"Here I am."
Ignoring me, it swiftly ran towards the furnace and kicked it over.
"Hey! Who said you could destroy public property?"
As the red molten metal began to flow out, the surroundings heated up rapidly.
Soon, the creature started to wobble and began transforming into a liquid state.
‘Perfect.’
In fact, I had deliberately left an opening to make it knock over the furnace.
By provoking it to topple the furnace, the rising heat would trigger its liquefaction.
And around this time...
It was the right moment for Snake's cold to take effect.
My prediction was spot on.
The molten metal that had been flowing down began to freeze rapidly, and the creature, which had been turning into liquid, seemed to realize something was wrong.
The immense cold didn’t just cool the molten metal; it froze it in an instant.
From boiling the sea to freezing molten metal, it was a remarkable feat.
Crack!
With the creature frozen, what remained was simple.
Gripping my sword infused with a lot of mana, I charged at it.
Shatter!
The sound of glass shattering on the floor echoed.
And then came a presence.
"Are you alright? Have you already taken it down?"
It seemed like the person from the news who donated items.
"Oh, hello."
"Is this an Iron Ogre? Did you take it down alone...?"
"I was lucky."
I quickly gathered the magic stone and items.
The hunter approached and inspected the shattered iron monster.
"Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen someone take it down like this."
Currently, people were still beating down Iron Ogres the traditional way.
It will take some time before the freezing method I used becomes mainstream.
"It seems the monster even knocked over the furnace. Everything’s frozen now?"
Still, the ground retained some heat.
Thanks to that, steam was rising, obscuring the hunter's face.
Other hunters also began to appear.
"Oh no, it seems we arrived too late."
"Not at all."
Thank you for being late.
Snake, which used to be only 30 cm long, now appeared to be at least 50 cm.
‘What the...? When did you grow this big?’
<I still need to grow more.>
‘It seems like you're almost doubling in size... It’s going to be hard to carry you around.’
<I can now freely adjust my size, so don't worry.>
‘That's good to hear.’
<I need to consume more magic stones now.>
‘...How much more do you plan to eat?’
<That depends on you.>
The brilliant light shining between the creature's scales felt even more radiant.
"But hey, can you really teleport?"
<Hah, do you think I've been fooling you all this time?>
"I thought you'd just fly me there..."
<How can I carry you when I've only grown from 30 cm to 50 cm?>
"No, I mean, you usually fly around..."
<You, a mere human, dare to think of riding on my back... Even if I did carry you, you're heavier than I am now, so I couldn't fly fast.>
Looking at its arrogant expression, I really wanted to ride it someday.
"Well, never mind. I'm not thinking of riding you. Just teleport or whatever you call it. We need to hurry to make it on time for the exam."
<Wait and see.> The light began to shimmer and intersect between its scales.
In an instant, it felt like my vision sparkled for a moment, and then I sensed a sudden movement.
And we actually moved.
It was about 10 meters ahead.
"…? What is this?"
<Teleportation.>
It wasn’t wrong.
"Sure, we did move instantly... But the teleportation I know was about sensing energy and jumping between planets and all that."
<That's Spatial Movement.>
"Then why don't you do spatial movement?"
<Well... It’s harder than I thought. I think I'll need to molt once more to use that.>
"What? Then how long will it take to get to the exam in Gyeonggi?"
<…>
"Hey…"
<…>
"Hey, damn it… You said you had a way to get there fast?"
<I didn't realize the distance would be so short...>
"Didn't you calculate that?"
<It's easy to move my own body, but it's still too difficult to take you with me.>
"Unbelievable. There's less than two hours before the exam starts."
<…>
But here I was, still in Pohang.
It was all over now.
At this rate, I’d score zero on the exam.
Failing even one subject disqualified you from applying to become a public servant hunter.
Above all, skipping the exam due to unauthorized absence...
In my previous life, someone failed because they skipped an exam, and they had to repeat a year.
I had no intention of going through that.
At first, it was fun to think back to the old days, but school these days was honestly a bit boring and tedious.
"Is there no other way?"
<It’s not that there’s no way.>
"Then?"
<If we use your mana, we might manage.>
"What? My mana?"
<Yes.>
"Is my mana usable?"
<You need to make it usable.>
"How?"
Snake looked at me directly and its eyes sparkled.
<I’m thinking of teleporting through your mana pathways.>
Wait, what was it saying?
What? Through what? Where would it go?
"Are you crazy… You’re about 50 cm now?"
<I'll obviously shrink to enter.>
"Shrink?"
<Yes.>
Snake began to shrink.
I could see it happening, but at some point, it became too small to see.
However, the shimmering light from its scales indicated roughly where it was.
"What? You’re really there?"
<I am.>
"Then what's next?"
<From now on, don't scream.>
"What do you mean by that…?"
<You must endure any pain.>
"Pain? Why should I endure it?"
<I’ll extract all the mana in your pathways, fix them, and then refill them with new mana.>
"Why extract something that’s fine…?"
<You fool. It’s not fine at all! Your mana pathways are twisted, so the circulating mana is already impure. No matter how much you condense and utilize it, your mana won’t increase.>
Ah...
That’s why, no matter how hard I worked in my past life, I remained a D-rank and only barely managed to reach C-rank with items.
Fixing twisted mana pathways ... and absorbing new mana?
"What if I can’t endure the pain?"
<All the mana you've accumulated will vanish.>
"Will I have to start gathering it all over again?"
<No, if you scream, even the pure energy will escape and disappear. Your body will then reject any mana.>
All my mana... could be lost.
Without mana, would I just live by combining skills?
It seemed like forced rebirth.
Either live with twisted mana pathways or seize this chance to heal and start fresh.
The decision didn’t take long.
"Okay, start. Just make sure I’m not late for the exam."
<You seem confident.>
I endured 20 years with one arm.
Even when treated as a has-been, I endured that urge to die countless times.
This pain would be nothing.
I might as well die, right?
<Are you ready?>
Taking a deep breath, I said,
"Yes, I’m ready."
<Then take off your clothes.>
Huh?
"Why suddenly…?"
<If I extract the impure mana, your clothes will burn. Were you planning to take the exam naked?>
"Ah, this is crazy."
I took out my phone from my pocket and checked the time.
6:30.
Phew...
<Didn’t you say time was running out?>
"Can you finish within an hour?"
<I’ll try.>
"Do I even have time to strip...?"
***
8:00 AM.
The exam supervisor asked Team A.
"Team A. Are you all ready?"
"Jung Tae-sung hasn’t arrived yet."
"What? Where is Jung Tae-sung?"
"We haven’t seen him all day."
A student at the back added,
"I saw him leave with an overnight pass from the dorm yesterday."
The supervisor, looking troubled, said,
"We can’t delay the exam arbitrarily..."
The other teams were already fully prepared.
"Then, Team A will proceed with the exam without Jung Tae-sung."
The expressions of Team A members turned sour.
They were confident of scoring high thanks to him.
Why hadn’t he appeared by exam time?
"Let’s go in without him."
"We have no choice... We can’t fail just because Tae-sung isn’t here."
Beep!
The dungeon door opened, and everyone entered their designated positions.
This dungeon began with a maze at the entrance, followed by various traps and monsters, leading to a giant cave.
The cave was teeming with massive monsters, and points were awarded based on who arrived the fastest and hunted the most.
Ma Tae-ho's team swiftly passed through the maze and entered the cave.
Next were Mun Jeong-ho and Seo Yerin, in that order.
Team A, without their key player Tae-sung, was naturally slower.
"Are we going to come last at this rate?"
While they were still struggling in the maze, a familiar voice came from behind.
"I’m a bit late, aren’t I?"
....
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