Chapter 148: Chapter 147

Chapter 147 – The Swamp of Kh’rot (3)

Sungjin left behind the dead hydra and walked out of the temple since he didn’t want to be in the same space as that kind of monster even if it was dead. When he arrived outside, the Operator could be heard saying,

[Raid 100% complete.]

It seemed that Cain and Rajenta had finished killing all of the monsters outside. Sungjin whistled as he thought,

‘When I return to ‘Ninety Nine Nights’, I should ask Dalupin to give those two a special reward.’

Meanwhile, the Operator continued,

[Beginning reward distribution.]

[Monsters slain. Lizardmen Light Infantry: 30, Lizardmen Infantry: 20, Wyvern…]

Sungjin earned 17,000 each in stat points and Black Coins. They each increased by 2000 compared to last time.

[And now we will distribute the items.]

The items that Sungjin earned were:

[Salleh – Ceremonial Spear]

[Mar’baht – Armor of Nobility]

A spear and a leather armor. Sungjin let out a slight sigh when he saw the items. There was no one who used the spear. The armor looked like it was made from the leather of the lizardmen, but currently, he was using armor made from the scales of a dragon.

[Congratulations! Legendary Item ‘Salleh’ obtained.]

[Congratulations! Legendary Item ‘Mar’baht’ obtained.]

But a Legendary item was still a Legendary item. He should be able to obtain a good price for them from the auction house. Also, there might be someone on the team that might want the armor. Sungjin gathered them and placed them inside his cube.

[Last but not the least, you will be awarded titles you’ve earned on this raid.]

[Ancient Hunter – Deal 40% extra damage to enemies with ‘Ancient’ in their names.]

When Sungjin saw the title, he wondered,

‘Ancient? Did something like that appear?’

After some thought, he recalled that there was a boss with ‘Ancient’ in its name in a later chapter.

‘Ah… That’s right… Furthermore… There could be more later on as well… Well, there’s nothing bad with having it.’

After the raid distribution was finished, the Operator said

[Returning to the Black Market in 5 minutes…]

Sungjin interrupted the Operator as he said,

“Ah Operator. Send me back at the normal time.”

The Operator changed her words once she heard Sungjin.

[Early return canceled.]

[Returning to the Hunter’s Hall as scheduled in 2 hours and 23 minutes.]

‘2 hours and 23 minutes…’

If it was that much, then it was plenty of time to hunt trolls and search for other hunters. For now, Sungjin took out the Trollseeker Marble and tried using it.

“Pursuit of Justice.”

It was a bit early, but even then, there could be trolls this early. But, as expected,

[No applicable dimension available].

There wasn’t a dimension with a troll yet. This was because Sungjin had finished the raid far too quickly. However, luckily Sungjin had something else he could do.

‘Then should I try inspecting everyone?’

Sungjin took out the ‘Staff of the Warlord’ from the Cube and said,

“Inspection”

Five screens appeared. Sungjin looked through them all at once. It seemed that they were all doing well since all five hunters were alive in each of their parties.

The parties that were progressing a bit faster had already killed the boss and were searching for the hidden boss. Right now, Sungjin was interested in the hunters other than the ‘Chosen Ones’.

Right now there were four empty positions. He wanted to fill all four positions before the third 10 man raid, Chapter 17, arrived. After that, since there wouldn’t be many people still alive, it would be difficult to choose someone that he liked.

Sungjin sat and watched them as if he was watching several television screens at the same time. There might be someone outstanding, someone worth recruiting. Perhaps, there might be one of his old teammates. There was one person who stood out.

The man that used spells in Baltren’s party. He was an Easterner that shot out rather large fireballs from his hands.

“H’oh… If it’s that much…”

Looking at that, it meant that he had some skill. Seeing is believing. Sungjin prepared to go to that dimension. However, suddenly, a thought came to mind.

‘Hrm, but… Wouldn’t they act differently?’

That seemed rather likely. If he appeared in person, then the ‘Chosen One’ would be relaxed, while the other hunters would be confused. If he didn’t want to be a variable and observe them properly, then he would have to hide himself. Sungjin chanted a spell.

“Freedom from all prying eyes, Invisibility.”

Sungjin’s body soon became invisible. Sungjin transferred to Baltren’s dimension through ‘Inspection’, and just as he arrived,

[Warning!]

The Boss Monster Kh’rot and his followers appeared. Sungjin rubbed his hands together as he began to watch them.

‘This should be interesting.’

Wearing a golden helmet, Kh’rot said in a dignified voice,

“Warriors! Show those warm-bloods the superiority of the lizardmen!”

His figure was completely different from just a while back when he had died insipidly after becoming a frozen lizard. Finally, the fight started. Sungjin stood away from the battle and did not intervene in any way.

Of course, it wasn’t like he would steal away contribution if he began wielding his sword. Instead, it was because he wanted to observe how the hunters would react.

“Uwooooh!”

Baltren wielded his shield and weapon as he fought at the vanguard. Because he was both recklessly and devotedly engaging in combat in the front, the other hunters could concentrate on attacking.

Sungjin examined the other hunters one by one. There was a black man wielding a spear who attacked with an energetic and impressive stab. There was also a white man holding a sword with fast and flexible movement.

There was an Eastern man using a bow who was hitting a rather high number of headshots, though not as much as Serin. However, of course, the person who stood out the most was the magician in the rear. He cast a spell on Baltren who was in the front,

“Fire Shield”

And created a wall of fire in front of the lizardmen that were holding bows to make it harder for them to aim.

“Fire Wall”

And held a flame in his hand as he went about burning the lizardmen.

“Fire Blast!”

Not only was the strength of his spells strong, but his utilization was also both proficient and meticulous.

‘He’s pretty smart.’

Since he used fire spells while using the ‘Pyromancer’ title, it seemed that the title was specialized for using fire spells in some way.

Although the core of the team was the ‘Chosen One’, Baltren, the magician’s powerful firepower was the team’s main offensive asset.

‘He’s really good… Yeah.’

Sungjin sat on a hollow log in a nearby dry area with his chin in hand as he watched the magician. However, while he was sitting,

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“Kyaa?”

A single lizardman accidentally bumped into the invisible Sungjin. At that moment, Sungjin’s invisibility came undone.

‘Shit.’

Sungjin quickly swung Moon Specter and cut out that lizardman’s throat, and then looked at the other hunters. It was a relief. The hunters were so focused on their own fight that they didn’t see Sungjin at all. He quickly used,

“Invisibility”

And returned to being invisible.

‘Whew…’

Sungjin let out a sigh of relief as he began to secretly observe them again.

The fight went smoothly. Thanks to Baltren who saved the hunters each time they had fallen into danger with impressive reaction speed, and the efficiency of the Pyromancer who grilled the lizardmen with incredible fire power, the hunters could sever the neck of the King of Lizardmen, Kh’rot, without much trouble.

[Congratulations.]

The hunters cheered as they heard the Operator’s congratulations.

“Yeaah!”

“We did it!”

The ‘Pyromancer’ was happy as he put out the fire he held in his hand. As Sungjin looked at that figure, he thought,

‘I think he has enough skill?’

His participation didn’t fall behind even when compared to Baltren. He would be able to use even more impressive magic if he received 20% of Sungjin’s stats. Now he had to check his personality.

“Let’s first rest here before we continue.”

As the hunters each found their own place to take a rest at Baltren’s words, Sungjin walked towards them.

“Invisibility”

He chanted the spell again, and soon his figure was exposed. The hunters who had been catching their breath after killing the boss were surprised by Sungjin’s sudden appearance.

“What the?”

“Huh?”

The archer actually pulled out an arrow and pulled back his bow string. Although Sungjin could understand the reason, it still did not feel pleasant to have an arrow pointed at him. He slightly looked at the archer as he said,

“If you let that go, you’ll die.”

Even after Sungjin spoke, the archer kept the bow aimed at Sungjin. Meanwhile, having seen Sungjin, Baltren flusteredly spoke up.

“Ah… Put down the arrow; he’s not an enemy.”

At that, the archer finally took the arrow off the bowstring. Baltren continued and asked,

“Master Hunter, why did you…”

Sungjin clapped his hands as he said,

“Ah, it’s nothing special. I just came to hold an interview.”

“An interview?”

“Yes, an interview. An interview to look for potential ‘Chosen Ones’.”

“Ahhh… I see.”

Baltren finally understood the situation and nodded his head. Aside from Baltren, the other hunters were still dumbfounded. Sungjin abruptly approached the Pyromancer and thrust his hand out at him as he spoke,

“Hello there?”

The Pyromancer looked up at Sungjin as he bewilderedly shook hands.

“Ah… Hello.”

“It might be confusing… But I’ll now conduct a test of sorts.”

“What do you… A test?”

“Hrm… Should we say it’s a kind of test where it would be really good for you if you can pass? Isn’t that so, Baltren?”

When Sungjin looked at Baltren who was standing next to him, Baltren silently nodded his head twice. Sungjin continued,

“From now on, I’m going to ask you a few things. Will you answer them honestly and truthfully?

The guy looked him and Baltren before saying,

“…Yes”

Sungjin stealthily touched his newly upgraded Legendary earring, ‘Trite’, as he asked,

“What’s your age, name, and country of birth?”

“23. TaeSeuk Cha. I’m Korean.”

“Aaah, I see.”

Besides Serin Han, it had been a while since he had seen another Korean person. Soon, his inner thoughts could be heard.

‘But why is he asking something like this? And what’s so good about it?’

Sungin threw a few more of the questions that he had thought up at night.

“Have you ever become a troll in the past?”

“No.”

‘Of course not. What are you going to do if you do something like that and then receive a counter attack from the other hunters?’

His response was unclear. Instead of being ‘You shouldn’t troll’ in principle’, he was of the position ‘It’s dangerous so I won’t do it.’ Sungjin slightly changed his question.

“Hrm, then… During a raid… Has there ever been a time, where you’ve purposefully driven another hunter towards death in order to increase your own rewards during reward distribution?”

He listened to Sungjin’s question, then said,

“…There wasn’t?”

His way of speaking wasn’t all that polite, and his thoughts weren’t any better.

‘Huh… Was there something like that?’

The answer was ambiguous again. There were people who convinced themselves of their own lies when they felt guilty after doing a bad deed. In some cases, they might be more dangerous than an evil person.

‘I don’t think this guy will work out.’

Sungjin licked his lips once, then tried to think of another question.

We forgot to put the Romance of the Three Kingdoms reference note in yesterday’s chapter. Here it is-

Guan Yu was the most appropriate person in the Romance of the three kingdoms to call a Heroic warrior 영웅 호걸. He was a complete man, With the strength of ten men (His weapon was extraordinarily heavy), a thorough understanding of strategy, godlike patience and tolerance (remember the story with the doctor operating on his arm?), unmatched ethics and morals, and unwavering loyalty.

He was such a figure of inspiration that Cao Cao, a man obsessed with becoming the hero who will save all of China (Sort of a god complex) saw Guan Yu as his equal as a hero and respected him reverently. Cao Cao is famous for his great treatment of talented individuals, and none is more famous than Cao Cao’s respect for Guan Yu.

Some people, including myself, believe that Cao Cao respected Guan Yu more than even Guan Yu’s sworn brother Liu Bei. When Guan Yu was killed, Cao Cao had the person who brought Guan Yu’s head killed and wore white funeral garb for months in mourning. He lamented Guan Yu’s death for the rest of his life and declared “Liu Bei’s negligence has gotten the hero of the century killed.” Cao Cao was also the person who officially deified Guan Yu.

The quotation in the chapter is one such account of their interaction.

Liu Bei has betrayed Cao Cao and has escaped to form his own country. But during the great exodus, his slow moving horde of peasants was caught by Cao Cao’s forces. During the Chaos, Guan Yu stayed behind to protect Liu Bei’s many wives and family. Cao Cao accepted Guan Yu’s surrender in return for the safety of Liu Bei’s family’s protection.

Guan Yu, during the time when he had no news of his brother, worked for Cao Cao. Even killing a former ally of Liu Bei to show his loyalty to Cao Cao. Cao Cao showered Guan Yu with gifts and titles, all of which Guan Yu refused except a legendary horse.

So once Guan Yu heard of his brother’s whereabouts, he immediately left. Cao Cao correctly assumed that Guan Yu would not want to leave without farewell so he refused to be visited so Guan Yu waited, but after days, he finally wrote a letter and departed.

Cao Cao was devastated but sent a messenger ahead to allow Guan Yu and all of Liu Bei’s family safe passage.

The quote in MHK is at one of these gates where an officer tries to ask Guan Yu to stay.

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