A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 41
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 41: Quest (1)
I swatted
away the underwear the creature had flung at me.
As much as
I wanted to use Flame Slash or Lightning Slash to burn or zap them all, I
couldn’t risk causing greater damage since we were inside a building. I had no
choice but to rely on my physical enhancement technique.
That was
enough, anyway.
A raptor
charged at me with a pair of panties hanging from its ear.
Gripping my
sword with both hands, I swung it upward from the ground, splitting the
creature cleanly in two.
Slash!
Its body
fell apart, crashing onto the floor.
‘Snake,
go pick up the items and mana stones.’
Watching
Snake dart at the dead monster with lightning speed, I turned my attention to
the living ones and lunged at them.
I could
definitely feel my body was lighter than before.
‘This is
different. I don’t even need to use elemental skills to unleash significant
destructive power.’
For the
first time, I realized how enjoyable a challenge could be when the difficulty
lessened.
Lost in a
state of flow, I slashed through the rampaging raptors.
Although
some managed to escape to the lower floors amidst the onslaught, it was
impossible to hold them all back by myself.
But I made
sure none got past me going up.
I couldn’t
risk harm befalling those who hadn’t managed to escape yet.
The raptors
had turned the department store into a total mess during their rampage.
I had tried
to minimize the damage by taking them down with precise strikes, but...
It was
still pretty chaotic.
I wasn’t
yet used to controlling my strength.
Even though
I thought I was applying the same force as always, it felt like I was overdoing
it.
‘Thanks to
Snake’s treatment, it seems like I can now use mana much more efficiently.’
Every time
I activated mana, I noticed that it gathered much faster than before.
I slashed
my sword forcefully at a raptor charging toward me.
My blade
pierced through its neck.
The raptor
collapsed without even a scream.
Looking
around, I saw no more raptors in sight.
A few had
gone downstairs, but I could sense the presence of hunters below, so I wasn’t
too worried.
More
importantly, none had managed to get upstairs.
It seemed
like the hunters below were nearly done as well.
Just then,
I heard the sound of hunters climbing the emergency stairwell.
It looked
like, since there were only a few monsters left downstairs, they had come up
here instead...
But it’s
already over here.
The
hunters, now on the upper floor, scanned the area and clicked their tongues.
“Wow. Did
you take them all down by yourself...?”
“Wait a
second. Aren’t you Jung Tae-sung from the Gyeonggi Academy?”
Of course,
hunters would recognize me right away.
They likely
subscribed to Hunter Magazine or watched other media.
If so,
chances were high they had seen news about me at least once.
It was a
field they needed to pay attention to more than the general public.
“Wow,
seeing you in person is amazing. I just watched your video recently. You were
even on the evening news earlier today. You’ve been so active, from Pohang to
Seoul.”
“Well, it
just so happens that things keep popping up wherever I go. Haha.”
‘See? I’m
this awesome...’
When I
looked over, Snake was completely engrossed in munching on a mana stone.
Oh, come
on...
Hey,
you little animal. Who’s more important? Me or the mana stones?
***
When I got
home, my mom greeted me with a smack on the back.
“Why are
you hitting me?”
“When did
you go to Pohang!?”
It seemed
like Mom had seen the news.
It was odd,
considering it should’ve been drama time for her, but somehow, she had watched
it.
“Oh,
that...”
“Are you
planning to keep running into danger?”
She would
definitely get mad again if she knew I had just fought monsters at the department
store.
“It’s not
dangerous.”
“How can it
not be dangerous with such big, scary things running around everywhere?”
“It’s not
dangerous for me. That’s why I train at the academy.”
Of course,
the academy didn’t teach us about such high danger monsters, be it the ice one or the iron one.
But I had
everything figured out anyway.
Still, Mom
seemed worried about me.
“Just be
careful.”
“Yes, I
understand.”
“By the
way... What happened to the clothes you left in? Why are you wearing new ones?”
My old
clothes were so soaked with monster blood and fluids that I had to throw them
away.
Since I
happened to have new clothes on hand, I just changed into them.
Knowing she
would nag if I mentioned the monster fight, I dodged the question.
“Oh, they
were getting too old, so I just tossed them. Oh, right. I ordered a TV. It
should arrive this week. I put your phone number down, so if you get a call
from an unknown number, make sure to answer it.”
“Really? A
TV? What did you get? How big is it? From which brand?”
“The
biggest one.”
As
expected, the best way to change the subject was to bring up something the
other person liked.
But the
truth came out soon enough.
The
department store had replaced all the appliances in our house as a reward for
me clearing the gate and ensuring no one got hurt...
While Mom
was thrilled with the new TV, my dad had other complaints.
“What about
me... My fishing rod? Why didn’t you replace that...?”
“...”
That’s not
an appliance, Dad...
***
On the
third day of vacation.
At home, all I was doing was experimenting with skill combinations and struggling to figure out the crafting skill formula. Finally, I managed to uncover it.
Initially, I couldn’t recall a single part of the last formula, but once one
step came to mind, the subsequent steps naturally followed, allowing me to
deduce the formula faster than expected.
The problem
was that my attempt to combine the skills failed.
Now I’d
have to go buy more skill cards. How annoying.
Coincidentally,
Jun-hyuk mentioned he was also heading out to buy skill cards, so we decided to
meet up. At the shop, we ran into Seo Ye-rin and Yoo Hye-ri.
“Oh? What
are you two doing here?”
“We’re here
to buy skill cards. Since we’ll be training with a guild soon, we thought
it’d be a good idea to prepare in advance. Having even one extra skill in a
real fight could make a difference.”
Since
neither of their parents were Hunters, they couldn’t rely on financial support
from home and had to purchase the cards themselves.
Of course,
having a lot of skills didn’t necessarily mean better performance. The key was
how well you use the right skill at the right time. In practical terms, mana
refinement was what truly mattered.
“Since we
bumped into each other, we might as well shop together,” Hye-ri suggested.
So, we roamed the store together, buying skill cards. I started attempting combinations immediately after purchasing the cards.
I had figured out the
crafting formula, so all I needed to do was keep buying cards until I
succeeded. But buying dozens at a time didn’t seem practical either.
Since the
price difference was only a few thousand won, I decided to buy from various
shops instead of just one, as a precaution.
"Better
safe than sorry," I thought.
It would be
suspicious for an ordinary person to buy dozens of identical skill cards.
On my third
attempt, I finally obtained the Accessory Crafting skill card.
“Yes! Now,
by hunting monsters, I’ll occasionally obtain crafting blueprints.”
Next, I
just needed to find Lee Jung-hyeok, the crafting specialist.
If I could
locate him before he made his debut, I could gain an edge.
After
finishing our shopping, we headed to a coffee shop to rest.
“Oh, right,
Tae-sung, I heard you were late for your exam because you went to Pohang?”
“Ah, yeah.
You heard about that?”
“I didn’t
recognize you in the CCTV footage since you were so tiny, but your name popped
up, and I was shocked. Why’d you suddenly go so far away?”
“Well… I
just felt like seeing the ocean. It’s a place I visited with my parents when I
was a kid. On the way back, I came across a gate… and, well, you know how it
went…”
Even I
thought my answer sounded a bit odd.
“And on the
last day of school, you went to a department store, right?”
“Oh, that…
My mom wanted to exchange some clothes she bought, and there’s a license test
center nearby. I was on my way there to apply for my test when the gate
opened...”
“Gates seem
to open wherever Tae-sung goes.”
“Right?
Maybe we should stick with him. Who knows? A gate might open today too. We
could earn some money and buy more skill cards.”
As
expected, their reactions were predictable.
In
hindsight, it was probably wise not to involve Hong Pal-gwang in all this.
If even my
friends were suspicious, imagine how someone as experienced as Hong Pal-gwang
would react. If this kept happening, even strangers who didn’t know me would
eventually become suspicious.
For the
sake of achieving my goals and securing easy gains, I needed to ensure I
visited the key events I remembered.
But it
wouldn’t be easy to come up with excuses every time...
Blindly chasing after gates I remembered wasn’t a good idea.
Still, I couldn’t
just stand by and watch people get hurt...
At this
point, it seemed like facing things head-on might be the best option.
It was time
to start planting seeds for the future.
'Hey,
Snake.'
<Yes?>
'About your
name...'
<My
name? Are you finally going to change it?>
“How about
Mir?”
<Mir?>
'Yeah. It’s an ancient Korean word that means ‘dragon.’'
<Finally a name befitting a dragon? I like it.>
'Let’s just
stick with Mir from now on. Changing your name every time you molt is getting
annoying.'
[Do you
want to rename your pet to ‘Mir’?]
From now
on, I’d simply cancel any prompts asking me to change the name.
<Mir...
A name meaning dragon, huh? Not bad.>
'Okay then,
Mir.'
[Your pet’s
name has been changed to ‘Mir.’]
<Excellent.>
'Alright.'
It felt a
bit strange calling it that after referring to it simply as Snake for so long, but
I figured it was worth it to keep it on my side.
<What is
it?>
'I need a favor.'
<Ah, I
see. You gave me a name just to ask for something, didn’t you?>
'Well, you
scratch my back, I scratch yours, right? This benefits you too.'
<Alright,
let’s hear it.>
'Can you
track down a gate nearby that my friends and I can handle?'
<A Gate?
Why all of a sudden?>
'I want to
spread the idea that I can sense gates before they open.'
<So,
you’re just going to openly start hunting now?>
'I think
it’ll make things easier.'
<Hah!
This is good news for me. If that’s the case, I’m happy to help. Now you’re
starting to appreciate my true value!>
Well,
there’s that, but the real reason was that I was tired of making up excuses.
It’d be
simpler to claim I had a knack for sensing gates slightly earlier than others.
“Actually,
I can sense gates faster than most people.”
“What?
Really? Wow, that’s amazing… I knew something was up. That makes sense now.
You’re a natural. Is that how you sensed the one in Pohang?”
Jun-hyuk looked
amazed, so I calmly replied.
“No, not
quite. Pohang was a coincidence. I only realized there was a gate after I got
there.”
“They say
gate creation is related to mana flow in the atmosphere. Does that mean you can
read those flows?”
Seo Ye-rin’s
question prompted me to offer a plausible explanation.
“Well, not
exactly at that level yet… I only get a vague sense of it sometimes.”
“Did you
sense the department store gate too?”
“No, that
was really just a coincidence. I was running an errand for my mom.”
“Then it’s
just luck, isn’t it?”
This seemed
like a good opportunity to demonstrate.
“Want me to
try it now?”
I could
almost hear them holding their breath in anticipation.
To back up
my claim, I called on Mir.
'Is there a
gate nearby we can handle?'
<Hmm…
There happens to be one nearby.>
With Mir’s
guidance, the four of us headed to the gate’s location.
....
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