Master Hunter K Chapter 29:
Chapter 029 – Giant’s Canyon (7)
Sungjin held onto the ‘Moon Specter’ and dragged his blade through the Cyclop’s flesh; from the giant’s lone eye, through the nose, past the jaws, and until it sliced through and emerged from the underside of the chin .
Once Sungjin separated the giant’s face in half, he impaled the blade into the Cyclop’s chest and continued to carve up its body as he made his way down .
“Graaagh…”
The Giant let out cries of agony through its now separated mouth . Once Sungjin reached its abdomen, the Cube announced their victory .
[Hidden Boss ‘King of Giants’]
[Cyclops Cleared!]
However, Sungjin did not retract his blade just yet; He was still too high up to jump down safely . Controlling the ‘Moon Specter’s’ depth in the giant’s flesh to adjust his falling speed, Sungjin slowly made his way down the giant like a skier .
Once he was at a reasonable height, Sungjin pulled the sword out of the Giant and leapt off . After a few rotations in the air, Sungjin landed on the Canyon floor safely . The giant slowly collapsed over the side of the Canyon wall .
‘Rumble rumble rumble rumble’
Along with a deafening sound of shattered canyon wall, large volumes of sand and dirt rained down from above . The cloud of dust which followed obscured the vision and blocked the airways .
“Cough! Cough!”
Sungjin couldn’t help but begin to cough . Covering his nose and mouth with his hands, he slowly walked out of the area . Meanwhile, the Operator announced
[Raid 100% complete!]
[However, there is an active ‘Troll’ in the party . ]
[Raid reward will be postponed until the troll, or the other members are eliminated]
[or if the timer runs out . ]
Sungjin, who had relaxed his guard once the Hidden Boss was eliminated, quickly realized his oversight .
‘The Assassin!’
Even up until the boss showed himself, he was on alert for the assassin, but once the fight began, he had completely forgotten about him . Sungjin pulled the ‘Moon Specter’ out again and walked through the dust cloud .
As time passed, the sandstorm settled down . Little by little the air cleared up, and he could see again . In the distance, he heard Serin’s voice .
“Kei!”
It was hard to hear through the dust, but she sounded nervous . Sungjin made his way towards the source of her voice .
“Se…Serin! Cough! Serin!”
In the distance, he could see someone standing . Sungjin made his way towards the figure, but Santiago’s voice stopped him in his tracks .
“Hey, Mage . stop right there, or I will kill this girl . ”
Sungjin had no choice but to stop .
Once the dust settled a bit more, he was able to see what was going on .
Santiago held a dagger to Serin’s neck and was glaring at him .
“I guess I should call you Swordsman instead . I saw everything . Drop your sword . ”
Sungjin paused to take a look at Santiago, and then at Serin who was held hostage . He took a moment to think .
‘What should I do?’
Seeing that Sungjin still held onto his Katana, Santiago threatened him further .
“No tricks . She’s one slice away from death . I’ve made sure of that . ”
There was one dagger impaled into Serin’s side . She was bleeding out from the wound . Sungjin yelled to calm Santiago down .
“I got it I got it . I’ll put down the sword . Please let her go . ”
Slowly and cautiously, Sungjin placed the ‘Moon Specter’ back into the scabbard . And he untied the scabbard from his side . Pretending to drop it, he rapidly drew the blade out and shouted
“Deathly wail!”
The ‘Moon Specter’ glowed bright blue .
“KYAAAAAAAAA!”
A hell-like screech filled the air, reverberating around the canyon . Sungjin immediately charged forward .
“Uhh…uh,…”
Santiago lost his grip on Serin and took an involuntary step back . Sungjin rushed towards him . Santiago waved his dagger towards Sungjin wildly but
“Clang clang!”
In just two swings, Santiago’s daggers were knocked away from his hands . Sungjin kicked his undefended chest .
‘Pow’
He fell on his backside . Sungjin stared at him . Santiago’s eyes were filled with terror, for one reason or another .
“Ahh…Ahh…”
Without getting up, Santiago tried to crawl away as fast as he could . Sungjin walked up to him and cut off both of his feet .
“Ahhh!”
Santiago let out a long cry of agony . Sungjin emotionlessly told him
“This is for Cain . ”
Sungjin pointed his sword towards Santiago as he walked over . Now certain that he was going to die, Santiago began to beg for his life .
“Mercy… Mercy! Please!”
Santiago begged while holding his hands together in a prayer . This helped Sungjin see the fancy tattoo covering Santiago’s arm .
Sungjin held up the ‘Moon Specter’ towards his face and said
“I know scum like you . On Earth, before we were sent here, you probably did these kinds of things without hesitation . Of course, looking at things from ‘this’ angle . ”
Sungjin did not attack him with his sword and kept on talking .
“You probably looked down at your victims, who were helpless and begged for mercy . I could have killed you many times until now . The reason why I am waiting…”
“Anything but my life”
Santiago continued to beg .
“This is it . I wanted you to experience this . The terror you inflicted on your victims until now . ”
Sungjin counted 5 seconds in his mind . Santiago tried to escape, but his feet were cut off . He was able to crawl away slowly with his hands, but it didn’t get him far .
“I think that’s enough for introspection . ”
Sungjin took a single step forward and swung his sword .
“Die . ”
‘Shing’
Santiago’s head flew off and landed some distance away . As was his habit, Sungjin swung his Katana once to fling the blood off of the blade .
Santiago’s blood splattered on the ground, and Sungjin returned the blade to its sheath . Turning around, he left to attend to Serin .
Serin was trembling while tightly holding herself . If anything could be described as a side effect of “Deathly Wail”, it was that it also affected allies equally . Sungjin approached her and said
“Don’t be afraid Miss Serin . It’s okay . That thing was not real… it’s fake . ”
Serin looked up towards Sungjin and asked
“And…him?”
Sungjin tilted his head towards where Santiago’s corpse lay . She uneasily turned her gaze towards the direction he indicated . In the distance, she saw Santiago’s severed head .
Serin returned her gaze to Sungjin and said
“Thank you… Really Thank you, Kei . ”
Sungjin nodded to acknowledge her expression of gratitude and moved away from her to give her some privacy; so that she could have time to calm herself down . The Cube broke the silence .
[All ‘Trolls’ in the party eliminated . ]
[Distributing Raid reward]
He didn’t find the ‘Hidden Piece’ yet, and the distribution already began . It was okay since he could still go off to search once the distribution was over .
[Calculating Rewards Earned . ]
[Monsters Slain . Ogres: 30 . Trogg: 20 . Ettin: 10 . Total 3200 points . ]
[Boss Monster Slain: Ogre Mage ‘Pach and Cho’Roch’: 400 points . ]
[Hidden Boss King of Giants ‘Cyclops’: 400 points . ]
[Final point count: 4000 Points . Distributing points . ]
First up was Serin .
[Your contribution is 29 . 5% . 1180 Stat points, 1180 Black Coins awarded . Raid Clear Bonus 1000 Stat points and 1000 Black Coins awarded . Distributing 2180 Stat points and 2180 Black Coins . ]
Her contribution points were enormous compared to the points Sungjin’s former teammates had received . But it made sense, since she almost always landed every shot she fired, and the other three perished during PvP . Next up was Sungjin .
[Your contribution is 70 . 5% . 2820 Stat points, 2820 Black Coins awarded . Raid Clear Bonus 1000 Stat points and 1000 Black Coins awarded . Item effect ‘Additional 10% gained’ activated . Distributing 3820 Stat points and 4202 Black Coins . ]
Sungjin thought to himself .
‘4202… I almost didn’t make it . ’
He needed 4022 coins to complete the book . Without the Heart of Gold passive, he would have fallen short .
[And now we will distribute the items . ]
Of course, it began with Serin since she had fewer contribution points .
[Eye of the Cyclops – Strength of the Giants]
[Recovery Potion – Small x4]
Next up was Sungjin . Despite having been through this process numerous times, Sungjin still looked forward to seeing what he’s earned .
[Manta – Cho’Roch’s Staff]
[Kamram – Siamese Twin’s Ring]
[Recovery Potion – Small x3]
[Spell Book – Fireball]
And it ended here . Although it usually gave out three Heroic Items .
‘Why? Why did I only get two?’
Sungjin complained internally . But the Operator was not done .
[Congratulations! You obtained a Legendary item ‘Kamram – Siamese Twin’s Ring’!]
‘Legendary Item?!’
The Operator always announced each legendary item loot received . Sungjin instantly forgot about his complaint and eagerly picked up the ring that appeared before him .
At the center of the ring were two crimson gems; stuck together like Siamese twins .
‘What is this?’
He wanted to ask, but the distribution was not over .
[Last but not the least, you will be awarded titles you’ve earned on this raid . ]
One more time, Serin was first .
[Head Hunter – When striking the enemy on the head with an arrow, Increase damage dealt by 40%]
It was a great title . If you considered her skill, it was no different from having permanent 40% damage boost at all times . Next up was Sungjin .
[Adjudicator – When killing Party members who entered the ‘Troll’ state, obtain two of their equipped items . ]
‘Huh?’
He didn’t even imagine that such a title existed .
‘…is it because I killed two trolls in one raid?’
In Sungjin’s previous life, he had exceptionally good luck with teammates . He almost never encountered a ‘Troll’, so this title would have been impossible to earn for him .
He also never saw anyone walking around with it . To be fair, this was a hard title to justify equipping .
In a raid where your life was always on the line, there was no reason to keep this title equipped in case of a troll that may or may not appear .
No, if a troll were to appear, it usually meant the party would be wiped out .
‘Well, since it’s being given to me, I’ll accept it gratefully . ’
Once the rewards were distributed, Serin approached Sungjin .
“Good work, Master Hunter K . Your skill lives up to your title . ”
Sungjin nodded .
“Serin, you too… well, Good work on overcoming this chapter, you know, after everything that happened . ”
Sungjin kicked himself inside for mentioning ‘that’ . It would have probably been better not to have mentioned it at all .
But luckily, Serin seemed to take it well .
“It’s okay . To be fair… something similar happened to me in the last chapter as well . ”
Listening to her frankly say that, Sungjin was at a loss for words . There was a reason why so few women survived to later stages of the Raids .
“At that time, I took care of the situation with my bow, but this time… Anyway, thank you so much, Kei . ”
Sungjin wordlessly nodded . He felt saying anything now to her was improper . The Operator informed them their remaining time .
[Returning to the Black Market in 28 Minutes and 48 Seconds . ]
There was still lots of time left . But there was one more thing Sungjin had to do; Searching for the ‘Hidden Piece’ . Sungjin told the Operator,
“I want to use the ‘Treasure Hunter’ active skill . Please tell me the hint about the hidden location on this map . ”