A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 26
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 26: The Giant Ice Beast (3)
“Yoo Chae-ah?”
The thin layer of frost covering her body suddenly melted away, and she lifted her head, glaring at me.
“Hey! What was with that look in your eyes just now? You looked down on me, didn’t you?”
“…You’re alive?”
“What? ‘You’re alive?’ Are you trying to piss me off? And what’s with just calling me Yoo Chae-ah? You’re acting like we’re equals now?”
“I was just worried about you.”
“Worried, my ass! If you were worried, why were you looking at me with such a pathetic expression while I was frozen!?”
I quickly changed the subject.
“We don’t have time for this! We need to lure that thing toward the hole from earlier.”
“Hmph. Just you wait. We’ll deal with this later.”
Someone who says "just you wait" is never scary.
Steam rose from her body as she began releasing heat without hesitation, like smoke billowing out of a steam engine.
It seemed like she was genuinely angry this time.
If it’s Yoo Chae-ah, I might actually be scared…
With a short battle cry, she kicked off the ground and leapt into the air, swinging her mana-infused sword to grab the monster’s attention.
‘Horizontal Slash, Circular Slash, Double Thrust, Triple Slash, Downward Slash, Upward Slash, Continuous Thrust, Spinning Slash, Cross Slash…’
She really learned everything, didn’t she?
If Yoo Chae-ah mastered any kind elemental slashes, she’d probably display S-rank-level abilities.
Not that I could just hand over the combination formula to her.
“Are you just going to stand there watching? You said you had a plan!”
She shouted as she sliced off a finger reaching toward her.
“Look at this! It keeps regenerating! I’ve never seen something regenerate this fast before. And where the hell is its core, anyway?”
“Stop wasting your energy and lure it over here!”
Having vented enough of her anger, she slowly began retreating, leading the monster toward the melted area I had pointed out earlier.
She reached the spot where the ice had started to melt.
Now, we just had to wait a little longer…
“Noona, try to hold it off a bit more with the attacks you used earlier.”
“Are you training me or something?”
“I’m just a newbie, aren’t I?”
“You said you had a plan!”
“I do, but it takes a bit of time.”
“You sure about this?”
“Trust me.”
“···”
She continued slicing at the monster’s limbs while maintaining the heat around her.
Of course, the limbs regenerated almost instantly.
“I can’t keep up the heat for much longer! That thing’s cold aura makes it hard to even get close! I don’t know how much longer I can hold on!”
“Just a little more…!”
‘Hey, worm… what are you doing? Hurry up and heat things up!’
As if my telepathy reached it, the frozen floor slowly began to melt again.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
The ice monster also realized the floor was melting and immediately directed its cold aura downward, refreezing the surface.
‘It worked!’
The monster paused its attacks to focus on emitting its cold aura.
“Noona, now’s your chance!”
“What!?”
“Go for its crotch!!”
“…What?”
“The center!!”
She looked at me with a face that said, What the hell are you talking about?
“The core is there!”
One of her eyebrows twitched.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Do I look like I’m joking right now?”
“…If you’re lying, you’re dead!”
“If I’m right, I get all the loot, okay? Otherwise, I’ll accept today as my funeral.”
Yoo Chae-ah’s movements became much sharper.
She used the monster’s legs as a foothold and attacked its center.
Kwajik!
“Kwooooaaarrrr!”
For the first time, the ice monster let out a genuine scream of pain.
The floor continued to melt, and the monster had to use its cold aura to refreeze it, leaving it unable to launch other attacks.
“Don’t you have something stronger?”
“Stronger? Like this?”
She infused her sword with compressed mana and drove it straight into the monster’s crotch.
Boom! Crack!
A small explosion followed by cracks spreading across the monster’s lower body.
“Whoa! That was awesome! You should’ve done that from the start.”
Finally, a breach.
If we explode it before it regenerates, it’s over.
“Noona, one more time!”
Yoo Chae-ah shot me a disgruntled look.
“You called me here for this, didn’t you?”
“Keep stabbing!!”
“Do you think I can just keep doing this indefinitely?”
“I thought A-rank was supposed to be strong…”
“Instead of running your mouth, why don’t you help out a little?”
I began crafting Fireballs and started launching them at the monster’s crotch.
“Does this help?”
Anyone could see it was the work of a rookie.
“······Fireballs from a non-sensory-type aren’t even effective!”
“That’s why I’ve been cheering you on so enthusiastically.”
“If you don’t have anything useful to say, just shut up…”
Grumbling, she continued thrusting her sword into the monster’s crotch.
Of course, she made sure to infuse it with plenty of mana, causing a series of explosions.
Even if it was thanks to her gear, her attacks were definitely A-rank-worthy.
Honestly, it looked like she could finish this on her own without me.
Yoo Chae-ah drove her sword into the same spot again.
I seized the timing and charged at the ice monster.
Using the exact spot she had attacked, I thrust my sword into it, using Lightning Slash infused with all my mana.
Now, with both my mana and hers colliding, it would create an even bigger explosion.
“Get back!!”
Yoo Chae-ah and I simultaneously pushed off the monster’s thigh and tumbled to the ground.
And then came the sound.
Crraaaaackkkk!!!
“Krrrrrooooaaarrrr…!”
The monster’s once-red eyes had turned completely black.
That meant it had lost its mana.
In other words, it was dead.
As its core was destroyed, the monster lost its strength and collapsed to the ground.
Thud!
The freezing aura that had enveloped the area disappeared entirely.
We no longer needed to maintain our heat.
Not that I had much mana left to sustain it, anyway.
If the ice monster had lasted any longer, we might have been in real trouble, as I was running out of mana to keep using heat.
Thankfully, Yoo Chae-ah was stronger than I had expected.
And surprisingly, the worm was more helpful than I thought.
Though honestly, even if the worm hadn’t been there, I could’ve ended things faster if I had used Flame Slash...
I didn’t know how long I could keep that a secret, but judging from Yoo Chae-ah’s personality, it was better to hold off on telling her for now.
Yoo Chae-ah still looked dazed.
“Did we… kill it?”
I smirked.
“We got lucky.”
“Seriously? Its core was really in the crotch…?”
At that moment, the worm crawled out of the sea.
<What’s this? Did you come to greet me?>
‘Something like that.’
<Oh ho? And you even prepared a gift to celebrate my molting? I’ll enjoy it.>
Crunch.
It had already extracted the mana stone.
The once-white worm now had scales glowing a brilliant blue all over its body.
Its length, which had been no more than 20 cm, now appeared to have grown to 30 cm.
It was helpful, sure, but why did I feel so uneasy about this?
Was it because it devoured the mana stone?
“How did you know, anyway?”
“Know what?”
“The location of the ice monster’s core.”
I replied nonchalantly.
“That’s a trade secret.”
There was no way I’d admit to having seen it 30 years ago.
“By the way, can I take the monster’s corpse?”
“The monster’s corpse?”
“I want to bring it back to the guild for research. My dad will love it. Items might not always drop, but the corpse is guaranteed.”
I had nothing to lose in this deal.
“Fine. No take-backs.”
“Of course. Honestly, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have even thought about trying to kill it. But seriously, are you really not going to tell me? How did you know where the core was?”
“···Huh? It was just… a hunch?”
“Something like that can be figured out by instinct?”
I made up some nonsense.
“I’m naturally sensitive to these things.”
“Of course, someone born talented would be different. Now that I think about it… you were ridiculously quick on your feet. Hasn’t it only been two months since you started? Are all the kids these days learning as fast as you?”
“I’m just exceptionally quick.”
“You’re so full of yourself it’s annoying.”
“I was just copying what you’re best at, noona.”
“You’re getting cheeky, aren’t you?”
“By the way, what about your car, noona?”
“Ah…! My car…!”
As she walked over to check her wrecked car, I slipped over to the ice monster’s mouth.
Inside its mouth, I found a skill card.
Ice Field!
‘This is seriously a jackpot.’
And there was an item too—
A rare-grade Ice Beast’s Fang Dagger.
When infused with mana, this weapon can occasionally cause the opponent to feel extreme cold.
If the cold isn’t controlled, the target’s movement speed slows.
This would definitely fetch a high price.
Since it was more useful than a regular dagger, I decided I’d use it for now.
<This mana stone tastes amazing!>
‘Of course. It’s probably the highest-grade mana stone you’ve ever eaten.’
Then, a new notification popped up.
[Your pet has evolved.]
[You can set a new name.]
[Would you like to rename it?]
***
Whirr, whirr, whirr, whirr.
Several helicopters approached and landed on the beach.
“Rescue team here! Is anyone injured?”
“We’re fine, but over there… there’s a Hunter…”
The rescue team scattered to search for any injured, while Hunters stepped out of the black helicopters and approached the monster with hungry looks.
“I’m Choi Tae-wuk from the Elite Guild. We received a monster report and… it appears it’s already been taken care of?”
One of the Hunters trailing behind slipped on the ice and fell.
As he got up, rubbing his backside, he grumbled.
“Damn, what is this place? Did Elsa pass through here? Everything’s frozen solid.”
Yoo Chae-ah ignored him entirely and pulled out her Hunter ID, speaking formally.
“Hello, I’m Yoo Chae-ah from the Impact Guild. I’m the one who killed this monster, so the rights to the corpse belong to me. If there are no other monsters around, I’d appreciate it if you left now.”
They seemed to realize they were too late.
Little did they know, they owed their lives to us.
After all, in the original future, they had died here.
“Yoo Chae-ah, is it? Hello. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve only ever seen you on-screen, but you’re even more beautiful in person.”
“Oh my, unlike someone else, you have good taste.”
Yoo Chae-ah replied, throwing me a pointed glare.
What’s her problem?
Another helicopter landed.
Seeing the Impact logo on it, I figured it was one she had called.
From the helicopter emerged a loud, flustered man.
“Chae-ah! Are you okay? What happened here? What kind of monster was it this time?”
“Dad, I’m fine.”
After confirming his daughter’s safety, he finally took a good look around.
“Geez, this place is completely wrecked, huh.”
Considering the entire area was covered in ice, his reaction was understandable.
He was someone I knew well—Yoo Sang-wan.
The founder and current leader of the Impact Guild.
And… someone who was destined to die soon.
The Hunters from the Elite Guild recognized him and greeted him politely.
“Hunter Yoo Sang-wan, sir, good to see you. We’re from the Elite Guild.”
“Oh, Elite Guild members, huh? How’s Bae Jung-hoon doing?”
“Our Master is doing well, sir.”
“Send him my regards. Let’s meet again sometime.”
“Yes, sir. Take care.”
The Elite Guild Hunters quickly left the scene.
Once the helicopters departed and the area grew quiet, Yoo Sang-wan turned to me with a wide smile.
“So, you’re Jung Tae-sung, right? Chae-ah’s told me a lot about you, and I’ve watched your broadcast too.”
He approached and extended his hand for a handshake.
I shook his hand and introduced myself.
“Hello, I’m Jung Tae-sung.”
“I hear you’ve decided to be friends with my daughter?”
“Yes, we’ve agreed to be friends.”
“That’s great. Stay close, and if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Though he was talking to me, Yoo Chae-ah immediately butted in.
“Dad, buy me a new car.”
“What? What’s this all of a sudden?”
“The monster destroyed my car.”
Yoo Sang-wan glanced in the direction she was pointing and sighed deeply.
“Ah… My daughter’s more trouble than she’s worth.”
“We can take the monster’s corpse with us, right?”
“Sure. What about the items and the mana stone?”
“Tae-sung gave them to me.”
For a moment, his eyebrows twitched, but he quickly replaced the expression with a crescent-eyed smile.
“Good. We’ll talk about the car later. For now, let’s head home. I’ll call in a team to handle the monster’s corpse.”
Several Impact Guild members, who had been waiting inside the helicopter, disembarked and began guarding the monster’s remains.
“Tae-sung, come with us. I’ll give you a ride.”
“···”
Since there was no way for me to walk back from here, I had no choice but to join them.
I boarded the helicopter with them and left Jebudo.
***
Top floor of the Impact Guild building.
The so-called VIP Room.
“You’ve come all the way here, so why not stay for dinner before you go?”
Dinner? At midnight?
This had to be some sort of setup.
And this ridiculously long dining table…
The kind you only see in dramas.
At the head of the table sat Yoo Sang-wan, with Yoo Chae-ah and me sitting across from each other.
Have I ever seen so much food in one place before?
At this hour? They really prepared all this?
It was obvious they had something planned. What did they want to talk about?
“So, I hear you want to become a public service Hunter?”
“Yes.”
“You know that such Hunters don’t make much money… and it’s a tough job, right?”
That’s exactly why it’s more convenient.
“Well, they say it’s good to work hard when you’re young.”
Not that I had any intention of working hard.
“I see. What do you think of my daughter?”
....
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