Master Hunter K Chapter 39:
Chapter 039 – Kutan Desert (6)
Sungjin walked around the Oasis alone . The water in the oasis was dirtier than he had imagined .
In movies or cartoons, characters are usually depicted running into the water to swim or drink from it, but Sungjin felt no such inclinations .
‘Maybe if I was dying of thirst…’
Sungjin held the magic waterskin above his head upside down as he walked in circles around the Oasis . The Oasis covered a small area; It took less than 1 minute to walk the circumference of it .
He couldn’t spot anything special about it; he had been hoping for clues about the ‘hidden pieces’, but there was nothing .
‘So… what now?’
Sungjin thought to himself as he gazed into the water . And then suddenly, something sparkly caught his eyes . Sungjin stared at it .
In the center of the Oasis, there stood a large palm tree . And on top of the tree sat a grody old lamp .
‘Found it!’
Sungjin thought, and he stepped into the Oasis . However
‘Foof’
Something popped out from within the murky waters . Sungjin jumped back in surprise . It was a crocodile . An extremely large one at that .
‘Crocodile? In the desert?’
Sungjin checked the cube . It did not say anything . It wasn’t a hidden boss .
Sungjin shifted his gaze back to the Crocodile . It was preparing to launch a follow-up attack after its failed ambush, but nothing except the hidden boss could possibly give Sungjin trouble .
“You surprised me, dumb animal!”
Nevertheless, the crocodile died with just a few slashes . Alert, in case there were more crocodiles waiting, Sungjin cautiously made his way deeper into the Oasis .
The Oasis was shallow enough to walk into it . And there didn’t appear to be any other Crocodiles . Without further trouble, Sungjin was able to reach the Palm tree growing in the center of the Oasis .
Once he was within arm’s reach of the tree, Sungjin returned the ‘Moon Specter’ back into the sheath and climbed the tree .
‘Hmm… I should try to learn some sort of flight spell . ’
Being able to fly would be extremely helpful getting around, and searching for the ‘Hidden Boss’ and the ‘Hidden pieces’ .
‘I’ll have to remember to look around the Black market . ’
Making a mental note for himself for later, Sungjin arrived at the top of the Palm tree . There, the lamp lay gently enshrined in the center of the palm leaves .
Worn out Lamp
Normal Ornament
Active Skill
Rub (I)
Rub the lamp . Effects are unknown .
A Lamp, worn out due to age and weathering .
Though, it would have been a work of art at the time of its creation .
‘Hmm…’
The part about ‘Effects are unknown’ caught his attention . Sungjin placed the lamp into his pocket and slid down the Palm tree . He walked out of the oasis and inspected the item .
The lamp was caked with dirt and extremely ancient looking . But, in between the scum built up over the years, the sun’s reflection he saw from underneath the grime gave proof of its golden material .
‘I wonder what it’ll do…’
Sungjin first checked his surroundings, and then began to scrub away at the lamp . Soon, smoke emitting a dim blue light began to billow out of the lamp .
Sungjin recalled the folklore; Legend of Genie in the lamp granting wishes .
‘Wish… Hmm… What should I wish for?”
Filled with anticipation, Sungjin watched the smoke build up . But… the smoke continued to billow out for a long while .
‘Come on… Come on…’
The lamp continued to smoke for what felt like an eternity .
‘What… What’s that?’
Sungjin looked up at the sky and jumped back in surprise . High above, a large gathering of clouds formed the figure of a giant . Only his upper body was done forming, and already it was as tall as a five storey building . He was gargantuan .
Sungjin stared up at the giant .
‘Yeah… Bigger means he can grant better wishes, right?’
*
After killing all of his teammates, Igor called out to the Operator .
“Operator, what is my contribution now?”
[Your contribution is 26 . 4%]
It was as he had planned . Munir had 11 . 4% before he died . Igor had received exactly half of Munir’s contribution upon his death .
The other half had most likely gone to the Chinese man . Igor rubbed his sword and shield together .
And for a moment he looked up at the sky . The sun continued to cook his body .
‘I even took desert simulation training… but the reality is much worse . Wait… is this even real?’
He lay against the side of the lizard and closed his eyes . But…
‘Igor Janović! You must train harder for the sake of our Motherland!’
A voice inside his head woke him up . Looking up at the sky, he spoke to himself .
“Why does the Motherland matter in this situation? Does the Motherland even exist anymore?”
However, his superior officer was not here to listen to his complaint . He thought to himself .
‘Would he be fighting too? Somewhere in this world?’
He would have most likely survived . In the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) where Igor received his military training, every man and woman were professionally trained for survival .
And the instructor who mentored Igor was a Specialist among specialists in survival skills and tactics . Unless, of course, he was very unlucky . No, even if he were unlucky with his teammates, he would have still survived somehow .
He would have killed all his teammates, like Igor, to take all the reward for himself . Igor asked the Operator for the time .
“How much time do I have left?”
[1 hour and 5 minutes left in the raid . ]
‘I hour and 5 minutes…’
With the exception of the mysterious 5% he could never locate, there was still 2 . 3% left in the raid completion . Igor stood up again .
Perfection, or the closest to it; his training demanded it of him . Igor moved back into the desert to fulfill his due diligence .
Occasionally Giant Lizards or Giant Scorpions came attacking Igor, but he could defeat them 1v1 without much difficulty .
Of course, he did not find it easy when two or three appeared at the same time . But, animals were still animals; these monsters were simply larger and stronger than the earthen kind . Their intelligence level was still low .
Simple tricks he learned in the Spetsnaz scattered the enemy, and he could resume to facing them one by one with brutal efficiency .
After hunting for a long while, he could not see any more enemies . All he could see intermittently were corpses lying in pieces, scattered about .
Upon close inspection, all of the corpses showed signs of cuts made by a Japanese katana . The culprit was most certainly the mysterious Chinese man .
‘…Chinese…’
He asked the Operator .
“Raid Completion level?”
[94 . 2%]
Igor thought for a moment .
‘Again… 5% is missing . ’
He did not understand why he could never fill the completion level to 100% . Even when he made sure that there was nothing left alive, there was always 5% remaining . But that did not stop Igor .
He may not understand the requirements to fill the last 5%, but he will try until the very end . That was his training and his philosophy .
After combing the desert for a good long time, finally, he found a lizard aimlessly roaming around, lost and alone . After killing the lizard,
[95% . ]
He finally reached 95% completion . He knew there were no more monsters left to find . After several chapters, he confirmed this as the truth .
‘…Just where is the last 5%…’
And while he was pondering, somewhere in the distance,
‘Rumble’
He heard something strange . It was familiar, but something he never expected to hear in the desert .
‘Lightning storm?’
Igor stared off into the distance . Very far away, he could see that a large cloud had formed . Under it, he could also see a spec of green .
‘Oasis?’
He was planning on resting after hunting the last Lizard, but he immediately made his way towards the Oasis . He felt convinced that whatever was happening over there held answers about the mysterious 5% which had eluded him thus far .
Igor slapped his shins and spoke a single command .
“Forced March”
The armor on his shins folded outward, clanging away until it covered his feet completely . And with enhanced speed, he ran towards the Oasis .
*
The Giant who emerged from the lamp looked down upon Sungjin and asked,
“Who has awoken me?”
Filled with anticipation, Sungjin answered .
“Me! I have!”
“Really?”
The Giant stared for a moment and began his introduction .
“I am the most powerful mage to have ever lived in Kutan, Soldamyr* . ”
Sungjin nodded . He predicted the follow-up phrase .
‘Make a wish . I shall grant you anything that your heart desires . ’
But he was completely wrong . What he heard was
“I shall test you to see if you have the right to become my master . ”
The cube, which had stayed quiet when the Sphinx and the Crocodile appeared, suddenly let out an announcement .
[Warning! Hidden boss]
[The Great Genie ‘Soldamyr’ has appeared!]
“What?!”
Sungjin threw away the lamp in surprise and pulled out his sword . But the Genie ‘Soldamyr’ had already began casting his first spell .
“Murderous thunder, Jump from foe to foe!”
Bright ball of light gathered in his hands and soon poured out towards Sungjin .
“Chain Lightning!”
Sungjin tumbled away, but the lightning landed on the Oasis, and also struck Sungjin .
“Ack”
Sungjin couldn’t help but cry out . Even though he dodged the main body of the spell, it was still a powerful strike .
‘But why?’
Sungjin thought for a moment . Now that he looked at himself, he saw that he was still dripping wet .
Getting electrocuted despite dodging the spell was probably due to that . Sungjin quickly moved away from the Oasis . Soldamyr changed his spell .
“Incinerate everything in your Path! Fireball!”
The Genie’s fireball was at least twice as thick in diameter . Sungjin retreated while wrapping himself in ‘Sael’s Breath’ and shouted .
“Solidify!”
‘Boom’
The fireball exploded and lit the surroundings on fire . It was a powerful boss . Incomparable to the bosses he had fought until now .
Sungjin quickly took out the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ from his vest . He had been saving it all this time to try it out on the Hidden boss anyway . It was a great time to test it .
But Soldamyr continued to shout incantations .
“Lance which pierces all! Lightning Bolt!”
Sungjin quickly tumbled away and dodged the spell .
‘Boom’
The sand where it landed was scorched black .
‘I need an opportunity to read the book…’
The only weakness with the ‘books’ was that like magic ‘casting’, it required ‘reading’ time . Sungjin thought of using Cain, but he had already summoned and unsummoned Cain .
‘What should I do…?’
Sungjin considered his options . The Crocodile corpse came into view .
“Lightning Bolt!”
Sungjin tumbled away .
‘Boom’
He accidentally held the ‘Moon Specter’ too close to the strike zone, and his right arm went numb . Sungjin gritted his teeth against the pain, pointing towards the Crocodile with his left hand, he shouted an incantation .
“Awaken and become my slave! Rise of the Dead!”
The Crocodile came back alive and began to move . At the same time, Sungjin took out and rang ‘Manyata – Master’s bell’ . *
‘Ring ring’
Along with the sound, the Crocodile began to move rapidly . Sungjin’s attempt was successful . Under the effect of Manyata, the Crocodile zombie moved with incredible dexterity .
“Discard your fangs and become a tame sheep! Polymorph!”
Even though it was instantly countered before it could launch even a single attack, it gave him the time he needed . Sungjin opened the book .
The book was designed to automatically open to the most relevant page . Once the book was open, Sungjin read out loud the content of the book . Quickly, and accurately .
“Cao Cao’s great army pursued deep into the night and reached the fields of Changban . But he stared down at the army while blocking the bridge . Shaking his lance and glaring most threateningly, he shouted . ”