Chapter 30 – We Need an Honest Conversation

I set out to conquer the gate.

The boss of this gate was a Kobold Champion.

The dog-like beastmen had an incredibly keen sense of smell and excellent physical abilities. Depending on the time and place, they could be trickier opponents than an Orc Champion.

They were especially adept at group hunting, thanks to their strong ability to communicate with their own kind.

I had already hunted about ten kobolds since entering the gate.

The battle was easy.

“If I knew it’d be like this, we wouldn’t have needed to hire mercenaries.”

“No, a stable hunt is the top priority.”

Kim Gi-mun and I weren’t the only ones who had entered the gate.

Four other hunters, brought in by Kim Gi-mun through the Mercenary Guild in case of any unforeseen circumstances, had joined us.

Unlike dungeons, gates were spontaneous spaces, which meant they came with many variables.

That’s why forming a secure party was essential.

“I didn’t get it when they said a supporter porter would be joining the hunt. But you’ve got what it takes.”

One of the mercenaries with us lit a cigarette and grinned.

“But your sword grip is still clumsy. If you lack strength, an arming sword would be better than a blade that big. Or I’d recommend a shortsword and a shield.”

“To be honest, I’ve been running dungeons alone due to certain circumstances, so it has been quite tough.”

The mercenaries offered friendly advice as they watched me struggle against a single kobold. Kim Gi-mun watched the scene with a smile.

“A pack of kobolds is coming! There are quite a few this time!”

“Supporter, stay back! Everyone, form up!”

At the mercenary leader’s command, I fell back. Seeing how clumsy I looked against the monster, he probably thought I’d just be in the way.

“Cast your buffs!”

“Tank to the front! Form up with your backs to the rock!”

The mercenaries with Kim Gi-mun moved with practiced skill.

A literal dog-like horde of kobolds swarmed in, surrounding and attacking the humans.

There were about twenty of them, and it was a chaotic melee.

“The boss, the boss is coming!”

Just then, a muscle-bound kobold strode forward, wielding a massive battle-ax.

A red aura swirled in its eyes.

The Kobold Champion saw the corpses of its kin. Then, with an enraged roar, it charged.

“Block it!”

“Gah!”

The tank tried to block the Kobold Champion’s advance but was sent flying.

The Kobold Champion lunged at me, mouth agape, ready to tear me apart. I sidestepped its foul, sharp, yellow fangs in a wide arc, then swung my sword in a surprise horizontal slash.

A bluish arc traced through the air, and its HP bar took damage.

“Grrrrowl!”

Even with HP, the damage still gets through. It only serves as a buffer, after all.

I was struck by the kobold’s claws and sent tumbling to the ground. As I clutched my arm and screamed in pain, the mercenaries filled the gap I’d left, and the fight continued.

“More, more!”

“Just hold on a little longer!”

The battle seemed to be nearing its end.

The mercenaries surrounded the Kobold Champion. They would attack from one side and retreat, then another would attack from the opposite side and pull back.

The Kobold Champion’s health was gradually whittled down, and it was put on the defensive.

‘Looks like it’s almost dead.’

I drew my second sword. Then, I infused it with mana, spreading ether across the blade.

Before the mercenaries could stop me, I shot forward and sliced into the Kobold Champion’s side.

The Kobold Champion fell to its knees.

“Oh, I got it! I got it!”

“…”

The mercenary leader’s face crumpled like a sheet of paper.

-System Message: The dungeon core has been destroyed. The gate will close in 10 minutes. Transference will begin.

Thanks to defeating the Kobold Champion, my level rose by two.

Nothing beats a boss kill for leveling up. This is why I hunt bosses.

What remained after the boss fell was a skill USB glowing with a red light.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Was I in the way?”

Just like in a game, the one who lands the final blow gets the experience reward. Naturally, they wouldn’t be pleased.

“…Use an appraisal skill on it.”

“Whoa, we hit the jackpot!”

A unique skill dropped from the boss. Skills were rarer and more expensive than items.

Equipment was consumable, but skills were not.

The auction price for a unique skill ranged from roughly 300 million to 1 billion. The rarer it was, the higher the price.

When the mercenaries saw the unique skill drop, their displeasure vanished, and they began to celebrate.

“Good work. You’re not as proactive in combat as I thought.”

“The mercenaries you brought are just that good at fighting.”

“I heard you’ve been clearing dungeons and killing bosses on your own.”

Kim Gi-mun had a look that said, ‘I knew it.’

“If you’re not cut out for combat, you should have just admitted it and focused on your supporter duties.”

“You’re skilled at harvesting mana stones.”

“I suppose getting old and losing my combat prowess made me good at these odd jobs.”

Kim Gi-mun’s skill at harvesting mana stones was exceptional.

It was as if to say his years of experience weren’t for nothing.

“Honestly, I even considered stepping down to become a supporter. But no one would hire an old, low-rank hunter like me.”

“I looked at your stat growth over the last ten years. It was less than 5%.”

And even that 5% was now rapidly declining.

“Honestly, for a porter, your combat ability is decent. But the limits of a supporter are clear.”

Kim Gi-mun finished gathering the mana stones and rose to his feet.

“You know about me, and yet…”

The friendly light in his eyes slowly began to change.

“Why did you follow me alone?”

My reflection was in Kim Gi-mun’s eyes. I could see something approaching from behind me.

*Clang!*

Sword met sword.

“I suppose it’s because I was confident, right?”

The mercenary who had launched the surprise attack sneered when he saw I had blocked his sword.

“Huh, you blocked it?”

Seeing that the mercenary had failed to kill me, the others jeered.

Before I knew it, the mercenaries had surrounded me, weapons in hand.

“Didn’t you see the message that the gate will close in ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes? You’ll be dead long before that.”

The mercenary leader smirked sinisterly.

“Since you’re not surprised, this isn’t very rewarding.”

Kim Gi-mun spoke calmly.

“There were others stronger than you, and some with promising futures.”

Kim Gi-mun gave a bland smile.

“But they all died.”

I knew all along that Kim Gi-mun would backstab me. It was too obvious a ploy.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to take the bait. Why did you follow?”

A spear and a sword thrust forward, aiming to pierce my body.

I deflected the attacks with a half-spin of my two-handed sword. I had to avoid being surrounded at all costs. But the mercenaries, like wild dogs, didn’t slow their steps as they closed in to encircle me.

“These guys are veterans of PK in this line of work.”

“They’re better at hunting people than mobs.”

The mercenary leader, having been introduced by Kim Gi-mun, added a cute little explanation.

“I’ll ask again.”

Kim Gi-mun sat perched on a rock, asking again with a pleased smile.

“Why on earth did you follow?”

Kim Gi-mun asked with the gravity of a priest awaiting a confession, as if he wanted me to admit my own foolishness.

“Why, you ask?”

I allocated the stat points from my level-up to Strength and Agility in a 1:2 ratio.

Thanks to that, my Strength was 38, and my Agility was 54.

On top of that, I had the combat skills ingrained in my body. And the authority of the Hero dwelling within me.

-Close Quarters Combat: LV MAX is activated.

The first skill that manifested when I gained my status window as the Hero.

The only Legendary-grade skill I possessed.

From now on, all my combat abilities would increase. The more enemies there were, the better.

*Thwack!*

The mercenary’s hand, along with his sword, was sent flying to the ground as he let out a choked scream.

*Fwish!*

In an instant, I cut down another and broke through the right side of their encirclement.

I could feel the enemies’ panic.

They must have let their guard down after seeing my performance since entering the gate.

“Kill him!”

“Debuff him!”

I threw a knife at the opponent who was activating a skill against me.

I saw him scream in terror at the sight of the knife embedded in his hand.

I threw the three remaining knives from my coat all at once. As they dodged the suppressive attack, I slashed at another one’s leg.

“Kuaargh!”

“Guuuh!”

Cries like those of wounded beasts erupted from the mercenaries’ mouths. The mercenary leader and Kim Gi-mun looked on in shock as their comrades writhed on the ground, clutching their injuries.

“Dammit! Stop whining and get up!”

The mercenary leader yelled at his fallen men. But no one got up.

The two-handed sword I wielded was an Ether Blade. A Black Label one, at that—said to have the best balance.

Even monsters with high health get dismembered by it; an ordinary hunter wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

The damage would be enough to completely wipe out whatever meager HP they had.

“N-No way! I heard he was C-rank! This is A-rank level!”

I readjusted my grip on the sword and approached the mercenary leader.

A flashing afterimage appeared around the mercenary leader’s body. Then, a thrust shot toward my abdomen like a bolt of lightning.

I sighed.

Using a skill so openly is no different from begging me to take the hit.

Skills are only meaningful when they come out unexpectedly during a normal attack or as part of a combo.

Announcing, ‘Here comes a skill,’ just gives your opponent plenty of time to prepare.

Besides, with my high Agility, even that attack looked slow.

I took a half-step to the side to evade it. At the same time, I brought my second sword down, pinning his foot to the ground.

The mercenaries were skilled hunters in their own right, but they were no match for me.

Hunting monsters and fighting people are two different things.

Monsters have predictable patterns, but humans are capable of anything.

Above all, many people freeze up or can’t react when faced with the act of harming another person.

But I had lived through a spiral of death where people killed each other. I had watched comrades who were laughing beside me suddenly stab someone in the back, witnessing betrayal firsthand.

So the actions of a pathetic crew like this were utterly laughable.

After subduing them all in an instant, I looked toward where Kim Gi-mun had been.

Kim Gi-mun was already gone.

* * *

He already felt like he was out of breath.

‘Damn it, how is this even possible?’

When he’d won the sparring match against Jo Han-seon, he thought the kid could throw a decent punch. But sparring was different from a life-or-death battle.

No one could remain calm when a blade that could take their life at any moment was flashing before their eyes.

He had been sure of it.

‘What the hell is that bastard?’

They had launched a surprise attack. The plan had been to get rid of Lee Hyunbin from the start. Once a gate is cleared, the entire field vanishes.

That meant Lee Hyunbin’s body and cause of death would be untraceable. It was the perfect setup for a perfect crime.

But instead, his own party had been taken down.

Those mercenaries were comrades he had worked with for a long time.

They were used to PK, but they were subdued so easily.

‘Once the gate closes.’

There were about five minutes left until the gate closed.

He just had to escape. Lee Hyunbin was stronger than expected, so he would just have to pressure him through other means.

There were plenty of people whose positions would be compromised if he were caught. They would have no choice but to help Kim Gi-mun for their own sakes.

He should have done that from the beginning.

He tried to handle it cleanly on his own, and it had nearly backfired.

Gasping for breath, Kim Gi-mun hid behind a rock.

*Huu, huuk!*

He peeked around and saw no sign of Lee Hyunbin.

“Hah, if I knew it would be like this, I should have left it to Director Bae Jeong-hun.”

“You mean Director Bae Jeong-hun of Hanul?”

Suddenly, Lee Hyunbin’s voice came from right beside him, and Kim Gi-mun jumped back in shock. He stumbled on a stone as he backpedaled and rolled gracelessly on the ground, covering himself in dust.

“You asked me earlier why I followed you in, right?”

Lee Hyunbin whispered with a faint smile.

“Because I thought we could be honest with each other here.”