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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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Chapter 8: Hunter's Reawakening, Explosive Spirit Power (3)
"Hoo... Not helping at all."
Even staying perfectly conscious, it was uncomfortable.
But to pass out the moment you feel relief at surviving? That’s far from normal in fact, it was clearly inconvenient.
Then, she approached the blood-soaked man nearby and placed two fingers on his neck.
She hoped he might still be alive, but there was no chance.
"Hoo..."
Just by looking, it was obvious he was a damage-dealing type hunter.
Having been exposed to the enemy’s attacks without any protection, it was no wonder he hadn’t survived.
Hunters may be tougher than ordinary humans, but only by a margin.
Being slashed up like this? There was no hope.
His body had been shredded, but with sharp observation, she roughly gauged his identity.
He was quite young.
At most, he might have been eighteen.
It was heartbreaking for someone so young to die, but it had been his choice.
Who could he blame?
"This should be enough respect for the dead."
A cold judgment, but Yeonwoo didn’t hesitate.
The deceased would be left behind.
For now, the best thing was to bring back an item that could identify who he was.
In the past, hunters had shown respect for the dead in this very way.
Yeonwoo cut the hunter-specific dog tag-like necklace from the man’s neck and slipped it into the deep pocket of his trailing robe, then hoisted the unconscious woman over her shoulder.
If this burden of a woman had been awake, she might have helped assess the current state of the rift.
But no matter how much she scolded the unconscious woman, it wouldn’t wake her.
With a field of this scale, it was hard to be sure if there were more monsters.
If she was lucky, the fight might have been ending when she arrived.
If not, it could have just begun.
"Hm."
Lifting the woman lightly, Yeonwoo suddenly felt like he looked exactly like a kidnapper who had knocked someone out and was now fleeing.
His shaggy hair, beard, and long, trailing robe just made his appearance look even more suspicious.
It was a treasured gift from Artenis, but by Earth’s standards, this outfit wasn't doing her any favors.
"Tsk. Let’s just get moving."
He suddenly remembered the gift Artenis had given him before he came here, but decided to open it later.
Paang!
Springing forward, Yeonwoo began running toward the rift, silently praying he wouldn’t run into any monsters.
***
Nothing in life ever goes smoothly, does it?
Puh-kwak!!
He was trying to quietly evacuate with the survivor, but the damn kobolds clearly had no intention of letting him go.
Just on the way back to the rift’s entrance, he’d stomped at least twenty kobolds to death.
Fortunately, the attacks were small groups spread out, making it manageable even while carrying the unconscious woman.
‘Swarming like filthy little dwarf bastards.’
Yeonwoo frowned slightly and crushed a kobold’s head under his foot.
The kobold, unable to even scream, slumped lifelessly and quickly turned to ash.
‘If only Sylph had been summoned.’
If Sylph had appeared, handling these creatures wouldn’t have been a problem.
Letting out a sigh, Yeonwoo looked at the orb left behind from the kobold’s corpse.
This monster-infested area couldn’t be cleared unless he completed the field, meaning he couldn’t take the core out yet.
It was a shame, but the core wasn’t the priority, escaping was.
He tried to leave.
Grrruuuu!!
That is, if not for the shadow that suddenly loomed over him.
Paang!! Chwaaak!!
Clang!! Crash!!
Yeonwoo instinctively dodged in a sliding motion just in time to see a massive club swing through the air where nothing had been seconds earlier.
He let out a hollow breath.
The enormous club smashed the asphalt like it was paper.
"A bug?"
It happened sometimes, a monster appearing, moving, or attacking in ways that defied the normal rules.
The attacker emerging with a shriek from the void was a hulking monster, about 3 meters tall, built solid, and brimming with strength.
This wasn’t the type of monster meant for a kobold zone.
More importantly, the real problem was...
‘What a pain.’
Its absurd regenerative ability.
The creature was a troll, infamous for its near-immortal healing.
***
KRAAAHHHH!!!
It really was a stroke of bad luck.
Yeonwoo sighed, drained by the troll’s appearance, the kind of glitch-prone monster known for erratic spawns.
Even with bugs, he had never seen one materialize from thin air like this.
Usually, monsters in field-type mists already existed within them.
So for one to appear silently, ripping through space, made no sense unless it was indeed a bug.
Except for one explanation...
‘So you’re the Field Overlord.’
The boss of a field-type mist, that was what the Field Overlord was.
But such bosses didn’t appear like surprise party tricks.
Especially not high-tier monsters like trolls in a low-tier kobold zone.
That was even more unheard of.
Monster ranks ranged from F to A. But as far as Yeonwoo remembered, Earth only had monsters up to C rank.
Kobolds were E-rank, same as goblins.
Which meant a field like this should’ve had an E-rank boss.
The appearance of a much higher-tier monster suddenly explained why the people who entered this place ended up in such a state.
A rank difference was bad enough, but a high-tier monster? That battle was over before it even started.
Unless you had overwhelming power like Yeonwoo, a human couldn’t win.
"So this is another unknown field, huh? I get it now. Makes sense that guy got taken out. But really, what kind of fun is this troll trying to have showing up like this all dramatic?"
The troll, towering well over him, sniffed the air and brandished its massive club threateningly.
Yeonwoo chuckled dryly.
This was a creature he could kill with a snap of his fingers under normal conditions, but not now.
With the unconscious woman on his right shoulder and no spirits available, he couldn’t summon any aid.
Honestly, he was confident he could win, but it would be dangerous.
Trolls had brute strength enough to toss humans around like dolls.
This was the objective view of Yeonwoo’s current situation.
"Guess I’ll have to chase you off."
A cold smile crept across his lips.
His personal opinion, however, was a little different.
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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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