Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 126
#126. The Master of One-on-One Combat
2022.12.04.
"S-save...!"
Chwaak—
Ayeon's black dagger split the massive Sucker Parasite's belly.
As purple blood splattered in all directions, Ayeon, with another thwack!, leaped up and moved to another nearby hunter.
'It's endless.'
The leveled-up Sucker Parasites had not only increased in attack and defense but had also turned their eyes red and become drastically ferocious.
It was a sudden change, as if someone had pressed an invisible switch.
The support unit had about 60 members.
Among them, there were no A-Class hunters, and even B-Class hunters numbered no more than five.
With the monsters' levels having risen, it was too much for the support unit alone to handle all the monsters in the southern region.
Though healing hunters from the center of the gate were providing support, a hunter's stamina and mana had their limits.
'This is like pouring water into a bottomless pit.'
Ayeon, readjusting her grip on her dagger, frowned faintly.
"U-uwaak!"
At a scream from nearby, Ayeon moved reflexively.
[Passive ▶ 'Shadow Slash' Activated. If the first attack is successful from outside the enemy's line of sight, it will inflict a 100% critical hit.]
[When hitting a vital spot, there is a certain probability that the 'One-Hit Kill' effect will be applied.]
Chwaak!
Thud.
The Sucker Parasite's head fell powerlessly to the ground.
A head and neck cleanly severed in the blink of an eye.
The cut was as straight as if done with a ruler.
Ayeon wiped the viscous blood splattered on her face with the back of her hand and turned around.
And seeing the pathetic hunter trembling behind her, she clicked her tongue.
It was the guy who seemed to have turned on his broadcast while fiddling with his phone earlier.
The sight of him clutching his phone with both hands even now, when his life was on the line, was so pathetic it was infuriating.
[??????]
[what was that? what was that just now????]
[wow that girl is so strong who is she]
[at that level she seems at least A-class]
[ah waitㅡㅡ i feel like ive seen her somewhere who was she]
Hunter BJ HyukieWorld.
The viewers on his phone's screen focused their attention on the girl who had suddenly appeared and split the Sucker Parasite in half with a single blow.
However, that was none of Ayeon's business.
Ayeon strode over and grabbed the man, Namhyuk, by the collar.
"Hey, mister."
"Y-yes...?"
Namhyuk, towards the girl who looked much younger than him, instinctively used polite speech.
It was a reflexive action.
"Can't you see these things' levels have gone up? No solo actions."
"I-I'm sorry... no, I'm sorry."
Thump.
Ayeon let go of Namhyuk's collar sooner than expected.
"I mean, I have no intention of interfering with what you do to make a living—"
Her pink eyes looked askance at Namhyuk, then finally landed on the phone he was clutching so preciously.
"A person should know how to distinguish between time and place."
"..."
"Huh? If you die here to some bug bastard, what good is the broadcast or money then?"
Understand?
Ayeon, with her arms crossed, looked up at Namhyuk.
[hahahahaha, fact bombs are insane]
[facts fr]
[hyukieworld cant say a single word, lol]
[seriously can someone tell me who she is?? ive seen her somewhere but cant rememberㅠㅠ]
Namhyuk surreptitiously hid his phone behind his back.
"Yes, sorry... no, thank you. For saving me..."
However, he obstinately did not turn off the broadcast.
How can I increase the viewer count?
To be honest, even now, having barely been saved, such thoughts filled Namhyuk's head.
"U-um, what might your alias be?"
"What's it to you."
"Since you saved me, I-in return..."
"Return? You gonna give me money?"
"Huh?"
"If not, then forget it."
Ayeon, putting strength into her back foot to leap, added.
"Anyway, if you understood me well, don't stay here, go over there to your comrades."
Thwack!
And the girl, who disappeared before his eyes as lightly and quickly as popping popcorn.
<Viewer Count: 2,986>
At some point, BJ HyukieWorld's viewer count was approaching 3,000.
Ayeon, who had no way of knowing such a thing, nor any intention of knowing, quickly rescued the next hunter.
However, no matter how many times she repeated it, it was a meaningless act before the pouring horde of monsters.
'This is crazy. Did I really come here for nothing...'
Even at this very moment, hunters with low combat power were risking their lives to face monsters of Level 35 and above.
That wasn't the only problem.
Now that she knew the creatures' levels were rising, she was anxious, not knowing at what point they might evolve again.
Meaning, she couldn't predict whether their ceiling was Level 40, or even higher.
The number of Sucker Parasites visible before her now was at least in the hundreds.
'This situation is truly hopeless.'
Against this many individuals, it was realistically impossible for Ayeon alone to protect all the members of the support unit.
No matter how S-Class she was, she, who specialized in one-on-one combat, didn't have a skill that could wipe out so many at once.
Ayeon, sighing deeply, thought.
'If it were Heo Jaemin, who has a large-scale attack skill, wouldn't he be able to wipe them out in one go with a fwa-bat! and a shwoosh! in a situation like this?'
Right! Why didn't I think of that sooner?
Ayeon belatedly snapped her head up.
Immortal Guild's second-in-command, Heo Jaemin.
He could summon dozens of blades at once and wield them like his own limbs.
Unlike Ayeon, he had a combat style well-suited for facing many monsters.
Immortal was in charge of the eastern sector, but... well, if she went and asked, wouldn't he help out for a bit?
Ayeon thought so simply.
'Come to think of it, the direction Unnie disappeared was also probably east.'
She would also bring Unnie, who could suppress them with flames, while she was at it.
Shwoook—!
Ayeon, kicking off the ground fiercely, sped towards the east.
In the eastern vicinity of the gate where she finally arrived, Immortal Guild members in doboks were engaged in battle with bug monsters.
It was a scene not much different from the south, where Ayeon had been.
"...Huh."
Suddenly noticing something, Ayeon stopped her steps.
A hole.
It was a massive hole in the ground.
A sight as if a meteor had fallen only there.
There were no such holes anywhere else?
Come to think of it, I think I heard a loud roar earlier... was this the cause?
Ayeon peeked her head out and looked down into the hole.
"Unnie!"
And there, she found Eunha, whom she had been searching for so earnestly.
Around her, she could also see the Monkey King and... um, what was his name again, anyway, the third-in-command oppa from Immortal.
"What, what were you doing here?"
Thwack!
Ayeon, going down, first ran to Eunha.
Dress, no problem.
Parasol, no problem.
Beauty, no problem.
'Looks like nothing happened.'
Inwardly relieved, she was about to turn her head elsewhere.
"..."
"..."
She belatedly realized that the atmosphere here was unusual.
The flustered Ayeon rolled her eyes and surveyed her surroundings.
Only then did the strange crest on the floor come into view.
And...
"...Heo Jaemin?"
She discovered Jaemin, who looked so precarious he seemed about to collapse at any moment.
Jaemin didn't seem to be bleeding or seriously injured, but his dobok was torn here and there, he was short of breath, and his complexion was pale.
"Hey! Oppa, what's wrong with you? What happened?"
The moment she was about to rush towards him, Yoo Hwan blocked her with one arm.
"Heo Jaemin, keep talking."
"...Inside, there was a massive monster in the shape of a reindeer."
"How many?"
"There was one."
"One?"
Yoo Hwan's eyes narrowed.
Not only Eunha, who had been silently listening to his story, but also Sungyoon, who was supporting Jaemin, had the same reaction.
Against just one monster, Immortal's second-in-command, Heo Jaemin, had ended up like this?
"...Level."
Yoo Hwan asked in a much lower voice.
"It showed up as a question mark... so I couldn't tell."
"Any other information?"
"I don't... know."
Jaemin lowered his gaze with a frustrated face.
"At some point, a 'Quest Failed' system window popped up, and I was moved outside. Perhaps... the rise in the level of the outside monsters is also due to that influence... Keuk."
"Heo Jaemin!"
Sungyoon shouted urgently.
The 'poisoned' state was severe.
If left like this, the poison would spread throughout his body.
No, perhaps it had already spread.
Eunha, who had been silently listening to his story, readjusted her loose grip on her parasol and said.
"I'll go in and check."
Yoo Hwan's, Sungyoon's, and Ayeon's gazes focused on her.
Yoo Hwan, extending his arm, blocked Eunha, who was about to approach the crest.
"No. I will go."
"You can't."
Eunha, with a thwack, brushed his arm away.
"This eastern sector is the closest to this strange crest. If something happens inside, there's a greater chance it will affect other sectors first. In such a worst-case scenario, if you too get hurt like this, then what?"
Her pitch-black eyes turned directly to Yoo Hwan.
"Who will protect and lead this place?"
"That won't happen. Have you already forgotten who I am?"
"That's my line."
As Eunha smiled faintly, Yoo Hwan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Eunha lightly lifted the parasol in her right hand.
"I know you're strong. But—"
And with its tip, she pointed at Yoo Hwan!
"I'd appreciate it if you remembered that I've never lost to you either."
"..."
Yoo Hwan and Cha Eunha.
The air between them felt as if it were being stretched taut.
"Younger brother, I am."
"Stop."
It was the moment Yoo Hwan was about to part his lips.
Ayeon, who had been silent until now, strode over and stood in front of Eunha.
"The way I see it, Unnie is right. Hairy ahjussi, you shouldn't go anywhere else, you should protect this place. And..."
Whip.
Ayeon turned her head towards Eunha.
"Unnie, you're a captain too, aren't you? The support unit is in an uproar right now. The bug creatures have evolved, and regular bug spray won't even cut it. It's a super emergency situation."
"...The unit members are in an emergency?"
Eunha's expression changed.
"Yes," nodding, Ayeon raised her small hand and slightly clenched the air.
"I hate bugs, and... Unnie, you can take care of it with a pa-bang! and a ta-da! right?"
At that, the black dagger that had disappeared while she was in a non-combat state reappeared on her palm.
Whirl, thwack!
Ayeon, who had thrown and caught it flashily, smiled brightly.
"So I'm going."
...Huh?
At Ayeon's unexpected offer, not only Eunha but also Yoo Hwan and Sungyoon, and even the pale-faced Jaemin, snapped their heads around.
"Kang Ayeon, you...!"
Especially Jaemin, whose face was like a father who had just heard his daughter's declaration of moving out.
Poisoned state or not, he showed his staunch opposition to Ayeon's opinion of entering the Root of Incubation.
However, Ayeon's own reaction was indifferent.
"What. Why. I'm stronger than you, you know?"
"..."
Jaemin closed his mouth.
It was annoying, but she was right.
Apart from her seemingly naive behavior, she was, in name and reality, one of Korea's S-Classes.
"One, you said? The monster inside."
Just before stepping onto the crest, Ayeon glanced back.
"I doubt there's anyone more confident in one-on-one combat than me."
Ayeon, tilting up her baseball cap, her eyes curved playfully.
"Except for Unnie."
