A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 51

Translated by: Hanzo

Chapter 51: Early Graduation (1)

When combining Unyielding Ice succeeded, I almost screamed.

Wow, damn! Did this really work on the first try?

‘My life is going so well.’

<Looks like you got something really good.>

‘Does it seem that way?’

<Your mouth is practically touching your ears.>

I headed straight for the gate, relieved that I didn’t need to call for reinforcements.

And now, I was standing face-to-face with the second boss monster—a Lich.

“What… what the hell? Was this a Variant gate!?”

“Guys, hide behind me!”

“Huh?”

In an instant, ice sprouted from my body, and my defense skyrocketed to its peak.

And slowly, the Lich’s soldiers began to rise.

Even though we had collected all the mana stones, the monsters had gained new life through the Lich’s magic.

‘But… can we even call this life?’

They were already dead—feeling no pain, fearing no death.

More than anything, their tenacity was terrifying. Even if you perfectly severed their limbs, they would continue attacking relentlessly.

They were like a more advanced form of zombies.

To deal with them, they had to be completely destroyed.

Either melted down or blown to pieces.

But that was a matter for an hour later.

Right now, attacking them was meaningless.

The Lich would just raise them again anyway.

For now, we just needed to hold out for an hour.

Only after that would it be wise to cut them down.

“Guys! Over there!”

I pointed to a secluded spot I had scouted in advance.

They, too, knew how dangerous variant gates were.

And how rare it was for anyone to survive one.

So, without hesitation, they dashed toward the secluded corner.

…Wait a minute.

No matter how dangerous this is, they’re really leaving their younger teammate to deal with this alone?

***

Park Dae-sik was fighting monsters while thinking.

‘Tonight, I should treat my girlfriend to something nice.’

The number of monsters and the mana stones they had acquired so far made him confident that next month’s paycheck would be quite generous.

But it wasn’t long before he realized something was terribly wrong.

With excitement, he thrust his sword into the boss’s heart—only for something pitch-black to slither out the moment the monster fell.

‘Forget the paycheck, this might be the end for me.’

A boss monster that doesn’t die in one go and instead transforms into another form…

‘This is a variant gate…’

Why did this have to happen to him?

His mind went completely blank.

But then, something completely unexpected happened.

The body of the youngest member of their team—who had been with them for almost a month now—was also turning completely white.

“T-Tae-sung, your body…?”

“This is one of my skills.”

Was he unaware of the situation, or was he just that composed? Even now, he remained relaxed.

“What? I thought… I thought you had affinity with the lightning attribute?”

“I also learned ice magic.”

“A… a dual attribute?”

There were only a handful of people in the world with dual attributes.

And he was seeing one with his own eyes.

Just having one attribute was already a jackpot, but two!?

When someone becomes a Hunter, they are assigned an attribute.

Some are born with natural talents in a particular element.

And, of course, there are those with no attributes at all.

Typically, those with a natural attribute could maximize the effects of skills learned through skill cards.

Some could even replicate the effects of skill cards without actually using them.

And sometimes, they could use techniques far stronger than what skill cards could teach.

As far as he knew, Jung Tae-sung was supposed to have the lightning attribute.

He had never seen him use any skills outside of swordsmanship-related ones, but he assumed it was because he was still young.

But now… ice was growing all over his body?

‘Ice magic usually boosts defense, but now he has both offense and defense?’

Park Dae-sik was stunned.

More than that, even as the undead monsters approached, Tae-sung blocked their path and told them to hide behind him.

But as older members of the team, how could they possibly cower behind their junior?

“Tae-sung, we should help—”

“The best way to help is to stay hidden.”

“…Yeah, that’s what I was saying. It’s better to hide than to fight, right? Where should we hide?”

After some hesitation, he agreed

For Park Dae-sik, pride was less important than the survival of all of them.

Along with the other teammates, he immediately ran to the hiding spot Tae-sung had pointed out.

It was a small alcove with a wall behind it, just big enough for three people to fit inside.

And Jung Tae-sung stood guard in front of it.

For the first time, Park Dae-sik felt genuinely reassured—like nothing could break through that defense.

He wondered if it was really okay to rely on their junior like this.

But that thought was irrelevant now.

Forget pride—if they all died, it wouldn’t matter anyway.

And since Tae-sung seemed so confident, they decided to trust him.

Jung Tae-sung looked ahead and swung his sword in a wide arc.

PZZZZZT!

A wave of zombies collapsed in an instant, their bodies convulsing violently.

‘The shock effect is working perfectly.’

But then, the fallen monsters began to rise again.

And now, all the monsters they had defeated at the entrance were making their way toward them as well.

‘Ah… this might really be our last stand…’

Park Dae-sik turned to his teammates and spoke.

“Hyun-woo, Seung-kwon… it’s been fun.”

“What the hell are you saying!?”

“Looks like this is the end for us.”

“Don’t say such unlucky things.”

“No matter how strong Tae-sung is… we’ve already taken down over 500 monsters… how could he possibly handle all of them alone—”

“He’s not taking them down at all.”

“…What?”

Park Dae-sik turned his head at Hyun-woo’s words.

Jung Tae-sung was taking the zombies’ attacks head-on.

“What… what the hell!?”

“It’s Ice Armor, I think.”

“But… is Ice Armor supposed to be that strong?”

Ice Armor was a skill that only those with the ice attribute could use.

He had seen it once before during a mercenary mission, but he didn’t remember it being this sturdy.

And it definitely didn’t create ice spikes all over the user’s body.

“Also, those massive ice spikes… what the hell are they…”

No matter how much the zombies attacked, only the ice covering Tae-sung’s body broke—his actual body remained completely unscathed.

“What kind of monster are you…?”

***

<You're quite talented.>

'This is my first time using this, so I didn't expect it to be this amazing.'

In my previous life, I had only heard about it, but I never thought I would successfully acquire it by combining skills.

I wondered if I would have to rely on Ma Jung-seok’s help, but luckily, the skill combination worked.

Otherwise, I would have had to go hunting for another Ice Beast and crush its... you know.

<Now, your defense is quite solid.>

'Does this mean I can finally be considered a proper A-rank?'

<Focus on mana refinement.>

Even as I was getting hit by the zombie-like monsters, I had a relaxed conversation with Mir.

This thing is seriously amazing.

I didn’t expect my defense to be this good.

In my past life, when Jun-hyuk praised it, I was skeptical, thinking, How hard can ice really be?

But it was harder than stone. It felt almost like steel.

Occasionally, when a strong attack landed, parts of the ice would break, but they would freeze over again almost instantly, so it wasn’t a big problem.

As long as they weren’t fire-attribute monsters, weaker enemies wouldn’t even be able to scratch me.

The only issue was that my mana was draining quite fast.

Well, that was to be expected since this was a high-tier skill.

That much of a drawback was something I can accept.

'By the way, there's something I've been curious about.'

<What is it?>

'Is it normal for dragons to have such a fast mana recovery rate?'

<Of course.>

'Why is that obvious?'

<Because our very existence is different from that of lowly humans.>

'Oh, come on.'

<There is always a reason behind the techniques of great dragons.>

'But is it just me, or are my eyes turning more and more red?'

<Hmm... That’s a trait of dragons. Using dragon mana techniques naturally causes that.>

'...Wait, but what am I supposed to do if me -a human's eyes- turn red?'

<Well, who told you to steal our mana techniques without permission?>

'Steal? You’re the one who taught me!'

<I assumed you wouldn’t remember.>

'You think I could just pass out peacefully when I was in that much pain?'

<It’s more impressive that you managed to remember despite that.>

'Fair point.'

Time passed, and it seemed like the quest time was coming to an end.

'Speaking of which, lend me some mana.'

<Again? Why?>

'It's almost been an hour. I need to wipe them all out in one go.'

<You really just use me however you please...>

'If you have any conscience, at least earn your keep.'

<Tch.>

Without a word, Mir expanded his body and attached himself to my spine.

I really need to gather enough mana so that I can use this without relying on Mir.

I looked at the swarm of zombies and the Lich in front of me.

'It's been fun.'

Moonlight Slash. First form. Crescent Moon Slash.

***

A week had passed since the variant gate incident.

Since that day, the way my seniors looked at me had changed.

They treated me almost like they did Ma Jung-seok...

This was a bit overwhelming.

"Tae-sung, I got you some coffee. Light Americano."

"Hyung, I could’ve gone to get it myself..."

"No, no, this is something seniors are supposed to do. The youngest should rest."

I don’t know when that rule started, but...

Well, I did save their lives. I guess I deserve this kind of treatment.

They even told me to take everything we looted from the Lich and the zombie horde.

And they decided not to report it to the guild.

They planned to report the gate as a normal one instead of a variant gate.

That meant we didn’t have to turn in the loot and items to the guild.

Normally, guild-affiliated Hunters have to report their findings, and the guild takes a cut before distributing the earnings.

In other words, my earnings would’ve been reduced.

But they were willing to ignore that.

They were basically telling me to keep everything.

Should I really trust them?

Wouldn’t I just be setting myself up for betrayal?

Then again, Ma Jung-seok was the head of the Magma Guild.

Even if this reached his ears, he’d probably turn a blind eye.

The crafting blueprints and mana stones were quite valuable.

As for the item I got from the Lich... it was some random thing called the "Lich’s Crown."

What was I supposed to do with this?

It didn’t even have any special stats.

Oh well, it wasn’t part of my plans, but I’ll hold onto it.

Might come in handy someday.

Or not.

The guild training was coming to an end.

"Hyungs, I’ll be a bit late tomorrow..."

"Huh? Oh, that’s fine. If Tae-sung needs to be late, then he can be late."

Their attitude toward me was pretty amusing.

They were going way out of their way to accommodate me.

"Do you need anything else?"

"No, I’m good."

"Don’t worry about being late. We’ll cover for you."

"Thanks. I’ll treat you all to a meal when I get back."

"No need! The youngest doesn’t buy meals. That’s our job."

"Then I’ll buy the drinks."

"We’ll cover that too."

"Then I won’t have anything to buy."

"You already saved us."

"...Right."

Now, it was time for the S-rank gate.

Once we got through this, guild training would be over.

***

I left home at 4 AM.

Since I had been using mana frequently, I didn’t get tired even without sleep.

It felt like I was heading out at a normal time.

The reason I was leaving so early was to reach the soon-to-open S-rank gate.

I had to go all the way to Gangwon Province...

And climb halfway up a mountain.

I opened my inventory to check my equipment.

Just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

Thanks to the profit from the variant gate, I had acquired a wide variety of skill cards.

Of course, most of these mana stones ended up as food for Mir.

'This should be enough preparation.'

<What exactly are you hunting?>

'It’s an S-rank gate. You don’t sense it yet?'

<I haven’t activated mana detection yet. Too much effort.>

'Do I always have to say it out loud for you?'

A moment later, a blue glow emanated from Mir’s body.

<Hmm... Judging by this power level, it must be a giant monster.>

'Still not sure what it is exactly?'

<At this distance, I can only sense its general type. But are you sure you can handle this alone?>

'I’m not going alone.'

<With whom?>

'You’ll see when we meet them.'

Before heading to Gangwon, I made my way to the pickup location.

As soon as they got in the car, they let out a groan.

"You really had to call me at dawn for this..."

<== Previous Chapter Next Chapter ==>

Table of Contents