Chapter 31

▶ Chapter 31. Not a Battle, but a Walk (2)

Han Dongju raised one hand like a student asking his teacher a question and shouted loudly.

“There isn’t any sound. How are you using your skills? Are you clicking them on the system window?”

“Han Dongju, don’t talk to a hunter during battle!”

“Big Brother, let’s be accurate. This isn’t a battle. It’s a walk.”

“....”

“I use my skills through thought.”

After killing another crayfish, I answered.

The three brothers looked even more shocked.

It was understandable.

Normally, when hunters used skills, they had to shout the skill name out loud like someone suffering from severe middle-school syndrome.

Otherwise, they had to press the skill button on the screen floating in their vision.

I was different from those hunters.

“So just thinking about it makes your mana or divine power move instantly?”

Han Dongju asked with his eyes shining like suns.

“Yes.”

I had been able to do it since the moment I became a hero.

However, back then, I could not properly control how much mana or divine power I used.

I had only been five years old at the time.

Then how had I quickly become the king-god-emperor-general-admiral-majesty-god of control?

You train while getting beaten half to death!

I was living proof.

Ugh, remembering the old days is ruining my mood.

I released my mana more forcefully.

≪Destruction≫

Ten crayfish monsters rushing toward me suddenly died with tiny squeaks.

“....”

“Amazing....!”

“W, was that an area-of-effect skill?!”

“Rather than an area-of-effect skill, I just used the Destruction skill I’ve been using until now on several targets at the same time.”

“You can freely control the number of targets for your skill! Woooow! That’s amazing!”

Hearing Han Dongju, who could be quite annoying sometimes, praise me while staring with sparkling eyes,

This feels pretty good.

I grinned and continued killing crayfish.

“The skill you just used consumes less mana and stamina than the previous one. If you want to reduce stamina consumption, wouldn’t using that skill be more efficient?”

Han Yonghwan asked seriously.

“The earlier one was Destruction. The one just now was Severing. Severing doesn’t always kill instantly. If I make a mistake, survivors could get hurt, so I usually use Destruction.”

“I see. But from now on, using Severing on the neck should be enough. Every monster, including bosses, dies instantly if its neck is cut.”

“Ah, right. That’s true, isn’t it?”

In my previous life, there were quite a few monsters that continued rampaging spectacularly even after losing their heads.

I had just remembered that this world was different.

This world really is different.

Thinking about things like that, this world was much safer than my previous one.

Gates and monsters existed, but,

There’s also the system.... The difficulty is low.

That was a relief.

This world seemed far from destruction.

I’m glad I came with the three brothers.

Thanks to them, I had learned something new.

“It seems you really do still have a lot to learn about the hunter world.”

“....”

“I’ll prepare even more thorough materials.”

You really don’t have to.

No, technically he should....

For some reason, I wanted to cry.

“Wait.”

A Rank 7 gate contained seventy normal monsters, and each one gave 180 experience points.

I had killed exactly thirty-four so far, and of course, Twelve’s 50 percent bonus experience buff had increased what I received.

Thanks to that, I leveled up!

[Kim Suyeon, Female / 22 years old / Republic of Korea

Rank: SSS

Class: Hero, Special Type

Level: 10, 90,210 points

Stats: Mana 100+, Divine Power 100+, Mental Strength 100+, Stamina 18, Strength 16, Agility 22, Luck 16]

“I’m Level 10 now. I can finally choose one person as a bonus experience target.”

The moment I said that, all three brothers looked extremely excited.

“Twelve.”

“Quack.”

“I’m using Special Skill Number 3.”

[(3) Increase Bonus Experience Targets: After the owner hunter reaches Level 10, one hunter may be designated to receive an additional 50 percent experience. One additional target can be added every 5 levels. No limit.

Once designated, the target cannot be changed, and the effect remains active even when the pet is not nearby.]

“First target, Han Junggeun.”

“Quack!”

Twelve spread both of its tiny wings wide and flew toward Han Junggeun, whose eyes were shining with anticipation.

After landing on the top of Han Junggeun’s head, it shouted again.

“Quack!”

[Bonus Experience Target: Han Junggeun has been designated.]

The words appeared in front of me.

“....Thank you. Truly.”

Han Junggeun spoke in a choked voice.

Someone who rarely shows emotion is reacting like that....

Once again, I realized something.

Leveling up really is insanely difficult!

“Hunter Han Junggeun, why don’t you kill the next crayfish? We can check whether you’re receiving the experience.”

“Yes.”

Han Junggeun drew two swords from the scabbards at his waist.

Neither the scabbards nor the swords had any decoration, so they looked like plain long swords.

But those were definitely,

“Excalibur, right?”

“That’s right.”

Han Junggeun was a swordsman who used dual swords.

Because his mana was extremely rough and powerful, his swords often broke.

Around a year ago, however, he finally found weapons he could keep using.

Those were the swords he held now.

He had obtained them from a Rank 8 box after clearing a Rank 8 gate in the United Kingdom.

They were SSS-rank weapons.

They said they can never be damaged, right?

Their sharpness was always maintained, so they required no maintenance.

And that was not all.

They increased every stat by 5 and could also create a barrier a limited number of times.

They were truly ultimate weapons.

If they weren’t bound items, people would’ve shed rivers of blood trying to take them.

Items bound to their owners were called bound items.

Nobody else could use them.

If their owner died, they would become decorations forever.

To think an SSS-rank item came out of a Rank 8 box.

It was an extremely rare case.

Because of that, there had been quite a lot of talk in the United Kingdom.

It came from a gate in their country, so apparently they claimed they had ownership rights or something.

A statement perfectly suited to shameless thieves who displayed cultural treasures stolen from countless countries in their museums.

Naturally, the people of our country became furious.

They fought British people like crazy online, and a few even ended up throwing punches in real life.

However, this war that was not quite a war did not last long.

A Rank 5 sudden gate appeared at Buckingham Palace.

Han Junggeun and Han Yonghwan, who happened to be in the United Kingdom at the time, rushed there and saved many people.

Among the survivors were members of the British royal family.

Afterward, the United Kingdom completely reversed its position as if it had never behaved like a shameless thief.

Han Junggeun and Han Yonghwan, and even Han Dongju, were treated as honored guests of the royal family.

Under the condition that the swords be named “Excalibur,” after the sword from the legend of King Arthur, they even had an SS-rank blacksmith create the scabbards.

The scabbards were S-rank items that increased Stamina, Strength, and Agility by 1 each.

Thanks to those swords and scabbards, even though Han Yonghwan was SS-rank rather than SSS-rank, he was currently considered the second strongest swordsman and damage dealer in the world.

The strongest swordsman and damage dealer is apparently Brazilian.

Thinking about it made me angry.

My disciple is number two?!

That Brazilian hunter, Victor Heide, was SSS-rank.

His country had also given him enormous support, so his level was high.

It was only natural that Han Junggeun would fall behind him.

But still,

No! I refuse to accept my disciple being number two!

I widened my eyes and shouted.

“Hurry up and swing your swords!”

“Yes.”

Despite my sudden command, Han Junggeun did not look surprised.

He moved calmly.

Holding Excalibur in both hands, he lowered the blades to either side and approached the crayfish monster.

His movements were slow, but they gave off a powerful and threatening feeling.

The crayfish monster flinched.

But like a proper monster, instead of retreating, it charged Han Junggeun and swung its front claw.

Before the claw could slice through his neck, Han Junggeun lightly kicked off the ground.

Tap.

He stepped onto the front claw that had descended near his head and jumped upward while crossing both arms into an X.

Just before the two long swords touched the crayfish monster, they released mana sharper than any weapon.

The silver mana cut into the edge of the monster’s neck.

About one-quarter of the way through.

With his next strike, Han Junggeun cut halfway through the neck.

Then, on his third attack, he severed it completely.

Fast and clean.

“Now deal with those five over there.”

“Yes.”

Han Junggeun followed my next instruction.

It took him three minutes to defeat all five.

“You could’ve killed them faster, right?”