Chapter 013 – Ahenna’s Forest (6)

The Operator announced the rewards with her well enunciated and clear voice .

[Monsters Slain . Gray Wolf: 80 . Shadow Puma: 30 . Grizzly Bear: 15 . Dire Wolf: 16 . Total 1500 points . ]
[Boss Monster Slain: Wolf Queen Ahenna: 150 points . ]
[Hidden Boss: Werewolf Aindell: 150 points . ]
[Final Point count: 1800 . Distributing points . ]

Reward distribution ended quickly . Why? Because there was only one recipient .

[Your contribution is 100 . 0% . 1800 Stat points, 1800 Black Coins awarded . Raid Clear Bonus 400 Stat points and 400 Black Coins awarded . Item effect ‘Additional 10% gained’ activated . Distributing 2200 Stat points and 2420 Black Coins . ]

‘100 Black Coins remaining from Chapter 1, 60 from Chapter 2 Tutorial, and now getting 2420… Total is 2580 Black Coins . ’

Sungjin completed his calculations quickly and looked down at his hands . ‘Heart of Gold’s’ Blue Sapphire glinted in the firelight .

Sungjin happily petted his ring . The ring allowed him to receive 10% extra coins this round .

[And now we will distribute the items . ]
[Swift Paw – Wolf’s step]
[Grand kin – Ahenna’s last descendent]
[Mystery Pouch – Wandering Merchant’s secret stash]
[Recovery Potion – Small X5]
[Salamander’s ash X3]

Items appeared in front of his eyes and land in a heap . Except for three items, he put all the consumables in the cube .

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

Sungjin crossed his arms and gazed down at the cube . He wasn’t expecting much . He already had ‘Master Hunter’ which had the strongest stat boost he had ever seen .

‘I don’t think I’ll need to switch out Master Hunter no matter what titles I receive from this Raid . ’

But Sungjin’s assumptions were thankfully wrong .

[Treasure Hunter – Twice during raids, You have rights to ask the Operator]
[For hints about where the secret location is or the hidden boss is located]

“What?!”

Listening to the Operator’s explanation, Sungjin immediately uncrossed his arms . He took the cube into his hands and asked the Operator once more .

“Say that again… What does the ‘Treasure Hunter’ title do?”

The Operator repeated herself .

[Treasure Hunter – Twice during raids, You have rights to ask the Operator]
[For hints about where the secret location is or the hidden boss is located]

“And… If I don’t equip the title?”

[If you do not equip the title, you will only receive half of the title’s effects . ]
[In other words, you’ll be given the right to request hints on the hidden location or boss just once per raid . ]

He had such low expectations, but he received a pleasant surprise . In fact, now he faced a dilemma .

Does he remain with Master Hunter’s 30% bonus to stats, or take two hints from the Treasure Hunter?

He is only allowed to pick one title to equip for the duration of the raid .

“Hmm… Ok understood . ”

Sungjin decided to dwell more on it later . He could always mull over his choices while taking a bath in “Ninety Nine Nights” .

Sungjin finally looked over to his items . First was the boots built out of a Wolf’s foot .

‘I remember being jealous of people who wore these… How fortunate . ’

This was Ahenna’s drop item . So Sungjin was able to see a few hunters wear it around .

Swift Paw – Wolf’s step
Heroic Shoes – Defense 22%

Active Skill
Swiftness(III) – When out of combat, move at 1000% the normal speed for a brief period of time . 30 Seconds Duration
5 Minute Cooldown Time .

Shoes in the shape of a Wolf’s Feet .
It normally has the claws hidden .

The shoes Sungjin wore now was the sneakers he had on when he was summoned to the Hunter’s Hall . Sungjin lifted up the shoes and spoke the command .

“Equip”

Moments later, the shoes were placed on his feet . It fit him perfectly . The Active Skill would be useful when searching for the hidden boss or the secret piece .

The other two items were probably drop items of the hidden boss Aindell . The first one he inspected was the small wooden carving of a wolf .

Grand Kin – Ahenna’s Descendent
Heroic Summon

Active Skill
Spiritual Link (Grand Kin) – Loyal Familiar, Summon Grand Kin .
If Summon is killed, or if 10 minutes pass from the time of summoning, it disappears .

‘…A summon…’

Sungjin threw the statue of the wolf into the air . It burst midair, and a normal sized wolf emerged . The summon looked handsome for a wolf .

Fur like untouched snow, eyes as beautiful as gems; he was without a doubt Ahenna’s descendent . Sungjin gestured towards Grand Kin .

“Grand Kin, come this way . ”

The wolf obediently approached Sungjin . Sungjin placed his hands on Grand Kin’s head . The fur was soft to touch .

“… Oh yeah, I noticed that you wolves are much better than humans . ”

In the two chapters he’s overcome so far, he’s had nothing but disappointing teammates . If he is a faithful familiar like the Operator claimed, then he will be useful in raids .

Sungjin spoke to himself while petting Grand Kin .

“But… Grand Kin is too long… Grand Kin… Grand… Kin… Cain? Yeah, I’ll call you Cain from now on . It’s okay right?”

Grand Kin responded with a short bark .

“Woof…”

It seemed as though the wolf understood all his words . Sungjin couldn’t help but smile .

“Yes, nice to meet you, Cain . I look forward to working with you later . ”

The last item was a small rucksack . It was miniaturized, but the rucksack was otherwise identical to the one the ‘Wandering Merchant’ Aindell carried with him .

In truth, this rucksack was what Sungjin was most curious about during the whole “reward’ process .

‘Where is this used?’

“Operator?”

The Operator immediately opened up a hologram to reveal information about the rucksack .

Mystery Pouch – Wandering Merchant’s secret stash
Heroic Treasure

Active skill
Roulette (IV) – receive one ‘Legendary’ class crafting material .
Pouch Disappears after use .

Wandering Merchant Aindell’s stash of crafting materials .
His pouch is filled with crafting materials .

‘…Legendary crafting material?’

Sungjin was honestly surprised . The ‘Heroic’ tier he had equipped had excellent bonuses and effects, but ‘Legendary’ tier items were on an entirely different scale .

With a legendary tier item this early in the chapters, one could almost beat the whole chapter with just that item alone .

‘…Should I open it now?’

While Sungjin deliberated, the Operator announced the remaining time .

[You will return to the Hunter’s Hall in 1 Minute . ]

He only had 1 minute left .

‘…Well, I guess there’s no harm knowing what I’ve got before I head into the Black Market . ’

Finally making up his mind, Sungjin untied the rucksack and opened up the top .

‘Pop’

With a small sound, the Operator conveys a congratulatory message .

[Congratulations! You have obtained ‘Ancient Stories of the East’!]

“Wait… What?”

Sungjin was shocked . This ‘Ancient Stories of the East’ was a legendary item among legendary items .

Its effects were extraordinary . But it was difficult to obtain because the item was divided into three parts, and only one person could own the completed item .

Before Sungjin died, and only at the very last few chapters, he was able to see it once or twice .

Ancient Stories of the East – Part 1
Legendary Crafting Material

Omnibus of ancient stories of the east .
Once parts 1, 2 and 3 are gathered, it can be made into a complete volume .

‘If I can just recreate this item…’

If he were to obtain this item, early and mid chapters will become unimaginably easier to complete .

“Operator, how much are part 2 and 3 of ‘Ancient Stories of the East’?”

[I am unable to give you that information . ]

For the first time, the Operator did not provide the information to Sungjin . He searched in his memories for a moment and recalled that in the ‘Black Market’ there was a bookstore .

‘I’ll probably be able to find some information there . ’

The Operator began her countdown for his return to the hall .

[You will return to the Hunter’s Hall momentarily . 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0]

*

The Hunter’s Hall was still filled with a large number of people . Less than 0 . 1% of all humanity were present, but humans were many . Unimaginably so .

But as chapters progressed, the numbers continued to dwindle . Sungjin recalled the past .

‘They kept on dying until there were less than a dozen remaining…less than…’

The operator interrupted his thoughts and announced a congratulatory message .

[Congratulations! You have all marvelously completed Chapter 2!]

Not one person celebrated the completion of the 2nd chapter . And rightfully so; until just moments ago, they were struggling for their lives to survive .

[You, who have completed Chapter 2, are now a fully fledged hunter . ]

Sungjin crossed his arms and stared at the Operator’s face .

‘…and here comes the bad news . ’

[Chapters from now on will skip the tutorial]
[And jump straight into the raid . ]

This sentence was exactly why Sungjin was cynical about her congratulatory message .

[There will be no more 1 vs 1 phases designed to get you familiarized with your upcoming enemies . ]
[You will be entered into active combat straight away . All hunters who managed to survive until now are]
[considered to be above ‘able to fight 1 vs 1’ level,]
[So opportunity to safely scout out an enemy is no longer provided . ]

“What…?”

Several hunters already figured out what kind of disadvantage this was, and let out sounds of disappointments . On the other hand,

‘Yawn…’

Sungjin stretched as he yawned . Tutorials did not affect him one way or another . The Operator continued on and on, and Sungjin paid her no heed .

[Please do not be alarmed by the discontinuation of tutorials . ]
[A note with the information about the next raid]
[will be delivered to the inn “Ninety Nine Nights” shortly . ]

The other Hunters listened to her words carefully; for them, it was a question of life and death .

Among them, only Sungjin stood crooked, arms crossed and complaining like some high school delinquent .

‘Shut up and send me to the Black Market . ’

Note: The author has fixed inconsistencies which were seen in previous chapters like Baltren’s reward coins and Sunjin’s dexterity increase in the raws . We have followed it by updating the chapters here as well