A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 48
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 48: Guild Training (1)
Ma Tae-ho was out of breath.
He struggled to fend off the wasps attacking from behind while the red-haired man's gang toyed with him in front.
“Oh, look at that! He’s dodging well!”
“Hey, this guy’s better than I thought, isn’t he?”
“Think he’d beat you in a one-on-one fight.”
“Hey, screw that! Why would I lose?”
“Hey, kid, aren’t you forgetting us? If you only focus on the monsters, you’ll regret it.”
The red-haired leader’s sword grazed Ma Tae-ho’s shoulder—intentionally.
They could have struck a lethal blow, but they were toying with him.
“Damn bastards,” Ma Tae-ho hissed.
“Oh, finally starting to curse, huh?”
Ma Tae-ho recalled the special training he had done with his father, channeling mana into his sword.
A blue glow enveloped the blade, and the sword hummed as its energy surged. But the gang wasn’t fazed.
“What’s this? You can handle a bit of mana?”
“So what? What about the monster behind you?”
A wasp-like monster with a stinger at the end of its tail launched another attack from behind.
The creatures were about the size of a human head. If stung, the victim would become paralyzed and unable to move.
Distracted for a moment, Ma Tae-ho let his guard down and was stung in the left shoulder.
“Argh!”
Fortunately, his sword hand was his right.
He turned and swung his sword with all his might, slicing the wasp in half.
Being ranked D, handling the wasps alone wasn’t a problem for Ma Tae-ho.
But the gang constantly harassed him from all sides, which made things difficult.
Ma Tae-ho’s left arm began to go numb from the venom.
The red-haired gang exploited this, targeting his left side relentlessly.
Ma Tae-ho, who had been holding his ground, began to reach his limits.
Then, another wasp's stinger hit his right shoulder too, spreading paralysis symptoms there as well.
The blue glow around his sword faded, revealing its plain white blade.
“Damn it.”
His ability to use mana stopped entirely.
The mana shield protecting his body dissolved, leaving him defenseless.
Finally, Ma Tae-ho’s sword fell to the ground.
“Oh no, looks like our buddy here got taken out by the monsters,” one of the gang members mocked.
“We should save him, but... too bad, huh?”
“Yeah, it happens. Sometimes hunters die to monsters while hunting.”
“True, true.”
The red-haired leader picked up Ma Tae-ho’s sword.
“Wow, this sword’s grade is insane. Who is this guy, anyway?”
Just by examining the weapon, he could tell it wasn’t something an ordinary hunter could possess.
“Are your parents hunters or something?”
Ma Tae-ho sat slumped on the ground.
The paralysis had spread throughout his body, leaving him unable to even stand.
“You bastards... I’ll kill you all...”
His speech was slurred as the paralysis reached his mouth.
“Sorry, didn’t catch that. What was that?”
“Got anything else valuable? Maybe we’ll let you live if you hand it over.”
“Bastards...”
“Still got that attitude, huh?”
The red-haired leader glanced at his watch, then lit a cigarette.
“This is boring. Finish him off. We’ve got another sucker coming in an hour anyway.”
One of the lackeys smirked maliciously and said, “Becoming a hunter means you’re prepared to die, right?”
“...”
One of them drew their weapon and began walking toward the fallen Ma Tae-ho.
In his fading consciousness, Ma Tae-ho heard a familiar voice.
“Who dared lay a hand on my friend?”
‘Jung Tae-sung? Am I hallucinating about him just before I die?’
Ma Tae-ho had always been jealous of Jung Tae-sung.
He had taken the attention of Seo Ye-rin and even Ma Tae-ho’s father, along with the top ranking that Ma Tae-ho used to hold.
There was no way Ma Tae-ho could view him favorably.
‘I wanted to beat him at least once...’
If he’d known his life would end so pathetically, he thought he should have been friendly instead.
Regretting the time he wasted on jealousy, Ma Tae-ho ’s consciousness faded.
***
Inside the gate, it was a cave-like dungeon.
‘Huh? I can’t feel anything.’
The moment he entered, he felt no mana fluctuations.
‘Don’t tell me...?’
<It’s a barrier.>
‘I knew it.’
<They’re more cunning than I thought.>
‘So they had a barrier-user, huh?’
No wonder they had been able to kill so many hunters undetected.
Inside a dungeon, a barrier could obscure the real path.
It served as a warning not to proceed further.
While returning the way you came wouldn’t be a problem, moving forward was impossible.
It was a type of illusion.
You could be in the same place, but the surroundings would appear entirely different, making it impossible to locate the enemy.
At higher levels, such barriers could even separate spaces entirely.
Considering that even mana couldn’t be sensed, this one was clearly of a high grade.
<Barriers usually rely on a medium.>
‘I know that. But out of all this, what’s the medium?’
<Do you know how to dismantle a barrier?>
‘First, find the medium. Or destroy the space itself.’
<Exactly. But you can’t cut through space, so you need to find the medium.>
Destroying the surroundings recklessly would only worsen the barrier.
For example, if a barrier were formed between a rock and a stick, cutting the stick would create new barriers between the broken stick and the rock.
That’s why finding and dismantling the medium is the only way to escape.
Alternatively, you could slash through the space itself...
But spatial slashing requires an S-rank skill.
Although Ma Tae-ho knew the crafting formula for such a skill, he didn’t have the skill cards needed for it.
Even if he did, there was no guarantee he could succeed in one try.
And even after learning it, he couldn’t use it immediately.
So the only answer was to examine every object around and figure out how to dismantle the barrier.
‘Tsk... Can't be late.’
<Hurry up. I have a bad feeling about this.>
Nearby trees, rocks, grass, stones, sand, and monster corpses.
Anything could serve as the medium for the barrier, so I had to check each one carefully.
After some time, I found traces of the barrier on a small twig beneath a reasonably sized rock.
‘Now, I just need to find the connection.’
Finding one part is difficult, but the rest are easier because they have to be nearby to link.
Before long, I managed to break the barrier.
‘Crafty bastards. To waste such an ability on something like this.’
If difficult monsters appeared, the barrier could have been used to lure or trap them, buying time or wearing them down.
It would take quite some time to set up a barrier, though.
After disabling the barrier, I hurried to where Ma Tae-ho was.
I saw Tae-ho collapsing.
I shouted at the group of thugs.
“Who dared lay a hand on my friend?”
The gang turned to look at me.
Behind them, I saw Ma Tae-ho lying in a mess.
Fortunately, he was still breathing.
Though faint, I could sense a flow of mana in him.
‘Giant wasp monsters?’
Wasp monsters don’t attack a fallen opponent. They only recognize moving targets as enemies.
“What the hell? There should have been a barrier. How did he get in?”
“I saw my friend enter by chance, followed him, and coincidentally broke the barrier.”
Coincidence?
“You must have a knack for repeating coincidences.”
“Wait... You look familiar...”
A companion of the red-haired leader seemed to remember something.
“That kid... Isn’t he the one who was on the news recently? Jung Tae-sung or something. The guy who’s doing well lately?”
“You know me?”
“So what? You’re still just a first-year rookie!”
“Then you must also know this.”
“Know what?”
“That you’re all dead here today.”
“Just because you got lucky and made it to the news a few times, and now you've got some serious nerve.”
With that, they rushed at me.
These guys were only B or C rank at best.
Could they stand a chance against me, now an A-rank?
The red-haired thug swung his sword downward.
Normally, one would step back and dodge at this moment.
But what if I was overwhelmingly faster than him?
I could strike before his blade even touched me.
With mana coursing through my entire body, enhancing my senses to their peak, I was faster.
As he swung, I punched him square in the face, sending him sprawling.
While he was rolling on the ground, I elbowed the solar plexus of the thug next to him.
Then, I swung my fist upward, striking his chin.
For the last one, I leaped forward and kicked, sending him spinning.
In an instant, the red-haired man's gang was sprawled on the ground.
It all happened before they could even activate their mana.
“Wow, damn... Ptooey. You’re quite nimble for a rookie.”
The red-haired leader wiped the blood from his mouth and stood up.
“Well, think it over.”
“Are you... a martial artist?”
“No.”
He was clearly caught off guard because I hadn’t even drawn a weapon.
Not that it would have mattered if he hadn’t been off guard.
The moment he stood up, I struck him in the face again.
“Gah!”
“If I used my weapon, you’d die too quickly.”
Hearing this, the two thugs who were still conscious looked visibly terrified.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
“This isn’t over yet.”
Whack!
Already dazed from my blows, the red-haired leader couldn’t even think of activating his mana shield.
I didn’t stop attacking.
“P-Please... stop...”
“Stop? You had fun when you were messing around, didn’t you?”
“I-I didn’t kno—”
“You’re apologizing to the wrong person.”
I kept targeting the same spot, and eventually, I saw a tooth fly out from his mouth.
I had only been hitting him moderately to prolong his suffering.
Before I knew it, the red-haired thug was limp, unable to open his eyes.
As he passed out, his companions seemed unsure of what to do, glancing nervously at me but hesitating to charge.
It was clear they were considering whether they had a chance.
But after assessing the situation, they seemed to realize they didn’t and began to back away slowly.
Watching them try to flee, I spoke.
“Hey, bastards.”
“Y-Yes?”
“You said being a hunter meant being ready to die, didn’t you?”
“Oh, no, I didn’t say that! That wasn’t me...”
“That resolve... I wonder how strong it is.”
Seeing my smile, they looked utterly terrified, as if facing a devil.
“You guys are worse than me, aren’t you? So why are you looking at me like that?”
“...”
***
When we left the gate, Ma Tae-ho was rushed to the hospital.
“He’s paralyzed from the wasp stings. Focus on treating the paralysis first. And don’t worry about the cost—use as much Troll Blood Potion as needed.”
Ma Jung-seok will probably foot the bill, anyway.
I didn’t forget to pull out my phone and report the incident to the association.
The gate was under the jurisdiction of the Rabbit Guild, but it has been revealed that a few individuals affiliated with the guild acted alone in committing the crime.
The guild leader held a press conference, apologizing to the public for failing to manage his people properly.
The guild lost its gate management rights for a while, and the gate was transferred to the Magma Guild’s jurisdiction.
Cases like this were so common among hunters that it only made a small appearance in the news. But most hunters were aware of it.
As I was leaving the hospital, my phone rang.
Ring, ring, ring—
----
“Hello?”
-“Yes, this is Yaho Motors. Your car is ready. Where should we deliver it?”
“Come to the hospital entrance.”
-“The hospital? Did something happen? Are you injured?”
“No, not me... Just... visiting a friend, let’s say.”
----
On my first day at the guild training program,
A car sent by the Magma Guild was waiting in front of my house.
“What’s this about?"
“The guild leader requested that we personally escort you.”
I guess they’re offering to drive me to and from work on my first day.
Talk about over-the-top.
Then again, it makes sense—after all, I did save his son.
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