▶ Chapter 35. Coin Arcade Gate (3)
Meanwhile, Han Dongju matched the badger monsters’ movements and fired the thirteenth water ball, followed by the fourteenth.
Boom! Kaboom!
Whether they were soaked with water or not, the badger monsters did not care and attacked my barrier even more violently.
Han Dongju quickly fired the fifteenth water ball, then the final sixteenth one, making both explode.
That was when Han Yonghwan, who had been watching the situation with sharp eyes, gestured toward me.
It was my turn.
Today, I was using the Hidden Power item’s Angel Mode.
It was similar to Divine Power Mode, but this one gave me real wings on my back.
It was a mode that allowed me to use Flight without consuming mana.
I quickly passed through the barrier and flew ten meters above the ground.
Since I was still using Stealth, the badger monsters could not see me and kept attacking only the barrier.
After checking once more that the barrier was solid, I smiled coldly.
≪Wide-Area Lightning≫
I struck every water-soaked badger monster with the skill.
I did not use it too strongly.
They can’t die.
KABOOM!
The lightning was extremely loud, but just as I intended, it struck with only moderate strength.
[Mission Progress: Monsters 0/313, Boss 0/1
Remaining Time: 15 days, 23 hours, 48 minutes, 3 seconds....]
Fortunately, just like during practice, not a single monster died.
Yesterday, when I visited Wish Guild,
Han Yonghwan carefully explained the strategy that he had already sent me as an attachment.
Then he asked,
“Try it for real.”
Honestly, that hurt my pride a little.
“Are you worried that I won’t be able to use a lightning skill on all 313 monsters?”
I asked a little sharply without meaning to.
Han Yonghwan answered,
“I’m worried you might kill all 313 of them at once.”
“....”
“If that happens, HunterAnham will level up. Of course, that would also be fine, but this time it is Junggeun’s turn to level up.”
“....Yes.”
“When stunning a large area, electrocution is the best method. We’ll soak them with water first, so try using your lightning skill at about this strength.”
I did exactly that.
“Too strong.”
“Again.”
“Again.”
“Again.”
“Yes. Exactly like that.”
Only after checking several times that I could release exactly the right amount of lightning did Han Yonghwan finally let me go.
The practice was kind of annoying....
But I was really glad we had done it.
“Gyaaak....”
“....”
Half of the badger monsters struck by the lightning while wet had suffered serious injuries.
The other half were still conscious, but all they could do was twitch.
We need to finish this quickly.
I could see several smaller monsters slowly dying.
This time, Han Yonghwan gestured toward Han Junggeun, who was standing at the front.
Immediately afterward, Han Junggeun began moving.
After passing through the barrier, he killed two badger monsters that were about to die with a single swing of Excalibur.
[Mission Progress: Monsters 2/313, Boss 0/1
Remaining Time: 15 days, 23 hours, 37 minutes, 53 seconds....]
Han Junggeun kept moving.
Accurately and quickly, without wasting a single movement.
His stamina consumption was very low, so he maintained almost the same speed until he reached the first hundred monsters.
But after that, he slowly began to lose speed.
After reaching the 150th monster, not only did his speed decrease, but his precision also began to fall.
After eliminating another fifty monsters,
“GYAAAK!”
Some of the badger monsters that had suffered lighter injuries recovered enough to stagger back to their feet.
They began fighting back with their sharp claws and teeth.
At first, Han Junggeun blocked or dodged them well.
But little by little, more attacks began reaching him.
The barrier Han Yonghwan had cast on him at the beginning was thick and strong, but after taking repeated attacks, it finally shattered.
Wounds began appearing on Han Junggeun’s body.
Should I use a tank’s aggro skill?
I thought about it for a moment, but decided against it.
Han Junggeun needed this kind of experience.
Then should I heal him? I really want to.
I wanted to very badly, but I did not.
I needed to preserve my stamina in case something dangerous happened, and Han Yonghwan was currently the healer of this party.
“Heal.”
Normally, a healer’s skill worked better when the target was nearby or when there was physical contact.
But Han Yonghwan was an SS-rank hunter.
He was different.
As long as the target was within fifty meters, he could directly send healing toward them.
And that was not all.
A few months ago, when he reached Level 30, he had gained a new skill.
His ultimate skill.
“Complete Recovery.”
If the target suffered a life-threatening serious injury, the skill would immediately heal all wounds and restore their stamina to 100 percent.
It could only be used once per day, and casting it consumed a considerable amount of Han Yonghwan’s own stamina.
However, if the target did not suffer a serious enough injury for the skill to activate, the skill could be transferred to another person.
Most importantly, the ability to instantly restore both physical condition and stamina could completely reverse a dangerous situation.
It truly deserved to be called an ultimate skill.
Amazing.
Yesterday, when I visited Wish Guild, Han Yonghwan told me his exact stats at Level 30.
“Mana 80, Divine Power 87, Mental Strength 80, Stamina 64, Strength 62, Agility 69, Luck 50.”
“Through physical training, I increased Stamina by 15, Strength by 13, and Agility by 14.”
His Stamina and Strength looked relatively low, but apparently even those values were the highest in the world for a healer.
He had an enormous amount of work as a guild master outside gate clearing, yet he had still raised his stats that much through physical training.
That alone was incredible.
That means when he awakened, his evaluated base Stamina was 20, Strength was 20, and Agility was 26.
In other words, he had been naturally gifted physically too.
Mine were Stamina 8, Strength 6, and Agility 13....
Comparing myself to him felt insulting to Han Yonghwan.
Anyway.
I don’t think Complete Recovery will actually activate.
Han Yonghwan probably did not truly believe his younger brother would end up in life-threatening danger.
Still, he must have used it in case something unexpected happened.
After all, you never knew what might happen inside a gate.
And right now, even though most of them had nearly been knocked unconscious, we were still dealing with an incredible 313 Rank 7 monsters.
Amazing.
There were now only around eighty badger monsters remaining.
Han Junggeun’s entire body was soaked in sweat.
Compared to the beginning, he moved as though heavy stones were tied to his arms and legs.
Even so, there was no hesitation in the hands holding Excalibur.
He knew exactly where and how he needed to attack.
That meant his judgment and concentration were still fully alive, regardless of his physical exhaustion.
Even his eyes were still sharp.
I could see the perseverance and powerful will of someone who silently continued doing what had to be done to achieve his goal.
....As expected of my disciple!
At that point, I released both the barrier and Stealth and continued watching.
Even though Han Junggeun’s legs trembled from exhaustion, he continued using Excalibur accurately and powerfully until the end.
Twenty monsters.
Nineteen.
Eighteen....
The badger monsters, already close to death, attacked even more violently as if making their final struggles.
Because of that, Han Junggeun’s wounds gradually became larger and deeper.
Han Yonghwan immediately healed him each time, but it must still have hurt.
Even so, Han Junggeun kept swinging Excalibur again and again with the same determined look in his eyes.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven....
And finally,
One....
[Mission Progress: Monsters 313/313, Boss 0/1
Remaining Time: 15 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes, 17 seconds....]
Han Junggeun had clearly used almost all of his stamina.
But he did not collapse.
Even from far away, I could see his hands trembling.
Still, he calmly shook the blood from Excalibur once, placed the swords back into their scabbards, and stared straight ahead.
For several minutes, he simply stood there.
Then he turned around and slowly began walking toward us.
The distance was thirty meters.
His entire body was weighed down by the exhaustion of nearly two hours of nonstop fighting without even a single second of rest.
As he came closer, I could see him more clearly.
Because Han Junggeun looked so fierce, he even had the nickname “Han Grizzly.”
Yet right now,
a smile had blossomed across that fierce face like a flower.
It was filled with a happiness I had never imagined seeing.
“....”
Han Junggeun stopped in front of me.
He was almost thirty centimeters taller than me, so I was thinking that looking up at him was a little uncomfortable when,
Han Junggeun lowered himself onto one knee in front of me.
Then he placed his clenched right fist over his heart and looked up.
“....Truly.”
His voice seemed choked with emotion, and he stopped for a moment.
With a bright smile covering his face, he whispered firmly,
“Thank you.”
For some reason, my own throat felt tight, so I could not answer immediately.
“....Congratulations on reaching Level 30.”
“It is entirely thanks to HunterAnham.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“....”
