A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 14
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 14: Egg Hunt (1)
After a long time, I spent a peaceful moment.
Home really is the best.
In my previous life, I aimed to become an impressive hunter earning a hefty annual salary, so I joined a mediocre guild.
I hunted monsters day and night, on weekdays and weekends alike.
Every day, I would fall asleep drenched in monster fluids and blood.
Why didn’t I realize back then how happy moments like these could be?
True happiness wasn’t anything grand.
It was sitting in the living room with the family, laughing while watching TV, eating meals together, and going to bed.
It was so close, yet I searched for it so far away.
Unlike my previous life, I will protect my parents and enjoy this happiness for a long time.
To do that, I need to prepare a little.
“I’m going out for a bit.”
“Huh? Where are you going at this hour?”
“To meet a friend.”
“A friend?”
“Yes, I’ll be back!”
I came outside with an appropriate excuse.
It was a memory from 30 years ago, so I couldn’t recall every detail accurately.
Only major incidents and events that left a strong impression remained fragmented in my memory.
It was during the time I was deeply engrossed in being a hunter.
One day, I went to work earlier than usual.
A book on the table caught my eye.
It was a hunter magazine that our guild received regularly.
“Oh? This month’s issue of the Hunter Magazine is out.”
“This month’s theme is special gates.”
A colleague nearby, sipping coffee, gave me the update.
“Really? But it’s all in the past now. What’s the point?”
“Just for fun.”
That was true. Flipping through the magazine turned out to be quite entertaining.
From “This is how it used to be” to “This is how it is now.”
While reading it intently, a familiar address caught my eye, making them widen.
“Wow. The gate that appeared when I entered the academy back then was a Mirage Gate?”
“Yeah? I skimmed it earlier, and there seem to be a lot of those.”
I remembered it because it was the day I went home during my first week at the academy.
“That day, I ordered black bean noodles at home and just lazed around with Mom and Dad.”
“Even if it’s already been cleared, knowing the past can help in the future, right?”
“Well, that’s true.”
I nodded vaguely and kept reading the magazine.
“They even found an ‘egg’ there, apparently.”
“Oh? What kind of pet came out?”
“The pet was, um, an octopus?”
“An octopus? But none of the pets are particularly good, are they?”
That was true.
So far, no disclosed pet had showcased significant abilities.
“Even if it just collects mana stones, that’s already something, right?”
“Well, yeah. You wouldn’t need a porter then, and you’d save money.”
“But if you pick the wrong pet, it costs more in mana stones.”
“True. I heard about a guy who found a pet egg and hatched it into an elephant.”
“What? That’s insane.”
“It even had a physical enhancement buff.”
“Wow... That’s amazing. Isn’t that super good?”
“Of course, it’s great. But the mana stones it ate were unaffordable...”
“So what happened?”
“It starved to death.”
“Whoa... How could anyone afford mana stones for an elephant?”
“Exactly. Haha.”
My colleague chuckled, still incredulous at the memory.
I want one... a pet.
“How much are pet eggs again?”
“Around 3 billion won each, right?”
“At that price, isn’t it worth it?”
I replied to my colleague, who talked as if he had money, even though we were broke.
“If you end up raising something that’s just a pet with no abilities, wouldn’t it be pointless?”
“Still, there are people walking around with a Cerberus or riding unicorns.”
Calling it Cerberus or a unicorn sounded fancy, but...
“A dog with three heads isn’t really Cerberus, is it? And if you slap a horn on a donkey, is it a unicorn? Even our neighbor’s dog guards the house better, and a taxi is faster than that donkey.”
“Hahaha.”
Those people must have excess mana stones if they’re raising things like that.
Ordinarily, pets were small animals like lizards, dogs, rabbits, turtles, squirrels, cats, eagles, owls, or birds.
They could understand human speech, and their primary job was to collect mana stones.
Occasionally, some pets provided buffs or boosted stats, but those were rare.
The downside of pets was that they’d eat about one out of every ten mana stones they collected.
However, with proper training and bonding, they’d only eat what their owner gave them.
Ultimately, pets were a kind of luxury item.
Only people with excess money would buy them.
“I’ll have to check gates carefully from now on. It might be a Mirage Gate.”
“Exactly.”
At that moment, Eom Deok-gu came through the door.
“You guys have nothing to do? What time is it, and you’re still laughing and chatting?”
“It’s not work hours yet.”
“...You lazy punks. Go out and train or something! How can you sleep with your rank?”
Why are memories of the past always like this?
When Eom Deok-gu joins the guild, I’ll make sure to mess with him.
Recalling that memory, I headed to the location of the field gate.
Wasn’t it around this time?
I didn’t remember the exact time, but when I checked the news on my smartphone, there was still no information about the nearby field gate.
When was the Gate Radar invented?
It would be really convenient if it existed now.
I guess I’ll have to wait a bit longer.
I decided to wait leisurely at a nearby café with a cup of coffee.
If I had remembered the exact time, I could’ve timed my arrival perfectly.
I regretted not having more detailed memories, yet I felt proud for remembering this much.
Eventually, I sensed the gate’s presence and slowly began moving.
On the way, I pulled my hat down and put on my hood.
If my face became known, it’d be troublesome.
Thankfully, despite the late hour, there were quite a few people around.
Like sharks drawn to the scent of blood, they were approaching the field gate.
They were hunters, too.
Judging by the unfamiliar faces, they didn’t seem to be particularly famous.
Fine, you all go ahead and hunt the monsters. I’ll go inside and claim the prize.
After a short while, a common horde of goblins burst out.
“D-rank, huh.”
Even though monsters emerge from field gate, it wass essentially a mirage, hiding a dungeon gate.
This mirage gate wasn’t exactly a secret, so it wouldn’t be long before someone else discovers its truth.
But before that, I’ll take care of it.
Using the stealth skill derived from my shadow abilities, I concealed myself and entered the "real" gate.
Although it was called a stealth skill, it didn’t make one completely invisible.
It was a skill that used mana to create colors similar to the surrounding background.
If someone looked carefully, it’d be noticeable, so I had to act quickly.
If someone more skilled than me were around, they’d easily notice the traces of mana.
[You have entered the dungeon.]
This notification only appeared for the first entrant.
As expected, no one has been here yet.
“Alright, let’s get to work...”
I activated my mana to enhance my body.
I could feel the streams of mana flowing faster and awakening my senses.
I quickly began sprinting deeper into the dungeon.
“This smell...”
There are various types of dungeon gates, and this one was a cave-type dungeon.
Typically, in cave dungeons, you fight monsters inside, and at the end, a boss monster appears.
If you defeat the boss monster, you can obtain items.
Then, upon exiting the dungeon, it’s cleared.
Swish!
Before the sharp sound of something slicing through the air reached me, I had already taken a step back.
It was a Fish-headed Humanoid.
Its body resembled a human’s, but its head looked like a fish, hence the name.
Moreover, its forked tongue created an unpleasant sound every time it flicked.
“No wonder the cave reeks of fish.”
I quickly drew my sword.
Their main weapon was a trident, classified as B-rank.
Additionally, they had a water attribute, meaning my flame slash wouldn’t be effective in this dungeon.
The water attribute was generally weak to wind attributes—or lightning.
I decided to use the Lightning Bolt Slash skill I’d learned from Pyo Do-yeop.
As I channeled mana into [Rekka's Sword], it hummed, and electric energy began to crackle along its edge.
Crackle!
I charged forward, swinging my sword at the creature’s neck.
The fish-headed humanoid’s neck split cleanly in two and fell to the ground.
The corpse twitched slightly, seemingly due to the residual electric current.
“Elemental skills are really something else.”
In my previous life, I’d only experimented with skill combinations but never actually used them. I spent almost ten years solely crafting skills to find a way back in time.
But now that I was using them, their power exceeded my expectations.
Just as there’s a noticeable difference between a normal slash and one enhanced by mana, adding elemental properties to an ordinary skill seemed to amplify its power exponentially.
“If I were to estimate, a basic slash is ‘1.’ With mana activation, it doubles to ‘2.’ Learning a skill increases it further to about ‘4,’ and with elemental properties, it’s nearly ‘8.’”
Flame Slash, too...
This is more potent than I thought.
If I could perfect my mana refinement, I might even challenge the ranks of modern S-classes—
No, wait. That’s unrealistic with my current level of mana refinement.
I pushed aside the idle thoughts and continued cutting down monsters swiftly.
However, the more monsters I defeated, the more idle thoughts crept in.
By my calculations, my current combat ability was about B-rank in today’s standards, and D-rank by future standards.
Thanks to the skill cards I’ve crafted, my attack power seemed to be approaching A-rank levels...
When I decided to tackle this mirage gate solo, I’d braced myself for some hardship.
Yet, with basic physical enhancement and elemental damage, I’d grown far stronger than I anticipated.
I don’t think I’ve ever slain monsters this efficiently before, even in the past.
Thanks to this, I’d likely finish much faster than expected.
Hunting is turning out to be surprisingly enjoyable.
Even rummaging through fishy-smelling corpses for mana stones had me humming a tune.
“A pet egg, right... 3 billion. Let’s make it big in one go.”
Though selling skill cards would also earn money, selling self-crafted cards was dangerous.
There was a risk that someone might uncover the secret of skill combination.
Besides, I had plenty of uses for the cards I crafted myself.
So, earning money through these lucrative dungeons seemed like the better option.
Ones that didn’t require too much effort but still brought in significant returns.
Before I knew it, I’d reached the end of the dungeon.
At the end was a massive Black Octopus King, sleeping soundly.
“Is this the boss monster?”
Why am I suddenly craving boiled octopus slices?
What was the strategy for this guy again?
When this guy was first discovered, someone recklessly charged in and ended up stuck to one of its suckers, never to see the light of day again.
The key was to be wary of those suckers.
So, cutting off its legs first was the way to go.
I gathered as much mana as possible, elevating my body enhancement to its peak.
This was to sever its legs in a single, decisive strike.
All of them, at once.
Shadow Bind!
This was another shadow-based skill, acquired by combining it with other abilities. It functioned like a status-inducing skill.
It allowed me to manipulate the enemy’s shadow using mana, briefly immobilizing them.
And in that brief moment, I had all the time I needed.
Confidently, I attempted to use Shadow Bind to gather the legs in one spot... but something was off.
My sword had already traced an arc, but where were the legs?
Crack!
My blade harmlessly split a nearby rock.
The legs should have been there, but they weren’t.
[The seal has been broken!]
Huh? What was that?
Also, I noticed something inside the crack in the rock...
But that wasn’t the main concern.
The octopus’s eyes were slowly becoming visible.
As I glanced over, I found myself locking eyes with the octopus.
It felt like a horror movie soundtrack should be playing in the background.
The creature was attached to the ceiling, staring at me—or rather, glaring at me.
“W-woke up?”
It seemed furious.
Looks like it didn’t appreciate my wake-up call.
....
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