Chapter 40: Dua's Territory (2)

“What’s going on? He’s being far too compliant.”

As Kim Jihoon entered the North Cemetery, he bit his lip, a perplexed expression on his face. Did Lee Seonah or the other team members tell him something?

Kim Jihoon was the Vice Team Leader of Shinwa Team 4 and one of the guild’s most senior A-Rank Hunters. His reason for volunteering for this expedition was simple: to preemptively crush the spirit of Taejun, who was still a Freelance Hunter.

Rookie Hunter.

That was the nickname Kim Jihoon had earned within the Shinwa Guild. He was notorious for actively squashing the egos of new recruits and prospective members alike. Thanks to his reputation, hunters who had recently joined the Shinwa Guild…

Most people trembled with trauma at the mere sight of Kim Jihoon.

For Jihoon, Taejun was the first promising prey he’d encountered in a long time.

Naturally, he knew all about Taejun.

An Independent Hunter who had shattered records during his B-rank assessment.

He had also heard that Taejun was close to Lee Seonah and, with CEO Cha Soohyun’s permission, was using the Training Room in the company headquarters.

It was only a matter of time before Taejun joined Shinwa.

That’s why I wanted to rough him up a bit before he signed.

Given his track record, it was only natural for Taejun to act arrogantly, believing himself to be something special. Jihoon expected him to behave like any other cocky rookie with a high nose, and as Shinwa’s Junior Senior, he was prepared to put him in his place.

The purpose of this expedition was to crush Taejun’s spirit and humble him from the start.

“Hyung,” Taejun said.

But Taejun’s behavior completely defied expectations from the very beginning.

“Looks like we’ve arrived,” Taejun remarked, already at the heart of the North Cemetery.

Exactly like this.

He was calling me “hyung” and acting docile from the outset. It seemed Lee Seonah or the other team members must have given him a heads-up beforehand.

Not that I intend to let him off easy just because of this.

Regardless, I planned to unleash Stealthy Provocation the moment the field activated.

Then, I’d dump all the artifact hunting and monster slaying onto Taejun.

Let him flounder in the endless tide of monsters until he was utterly exhausted.

Rescuing someone just as they clung to life—that was the plan for this expedition, and Kim Jihoon’s signature “Rookie Hunt” routine.

Don’t take it too hard, kid. Think of it as an initiation.

As that thought crossed his mind, a smirk spread across his face.

Thud!

The black, rotting earth trembled.

And shattering the gravestones in the cemetery, they rose…

“Mad Knights.”

Mad Knights—humanoid monsters clad in full plate armor. These were likely the “invaders” Duke Duas had warned them about.

Perhaps due to their cursed nature, an ominous black aura dripped from their rusted armor.

Yet, aside from that sinister aura and the fervent red glint seeping from beneath their visors…

The figure looked so human-like that it wouldn’t have been strange to mistake it for an NPC.

Having confirmed their presence, Kim Jihoon quietly activated his skill.

An aura of Mana, imperceptible to humans but easily sensed by monsters, enveloped his body like a pheromone.

Now, it would take at least two hours for the Mana’s lingering scent to dissipate.

Every monster within a 300-meter radius would converge on this spot.

If that happened…

“Hyung.”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Lee Taejun spoke with a serious expression.

Kim Jihoon flinched, wondering if Taejun had noticed him activating his skill. The timing was just too perfect.

“Seonah told me about you.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t what he had feared.

“She said you enjoy testing Hunters who aspire to join the Shinwa Guild.”

So Lee Seonah had already filled him in.

“Well, that’s true. After all, to join our guild…”

Kim Jihoon chuckled and opened his mouth to speak.

But before he could say a word, Taejun nodded.

“Then I’ll take this opportunity to prove my abilities.”

“What?”

“Hyung, just stay back. I’ll clear the entire North Cemetery myself and retrieve the Artifact.”

Kim Jihoon’s eyes widened.

That was the plan, but he hadn’t expected Taejun to volunteer so readily. Flustered, he stammered, “A-are you sure you can handle that?”

“Don’t worry, Hyung.”

Taejun kept his gaze fixed on Kim Jihoon as he twisted his body and unleashed a diagonal kick.

Crack!

Smash!

A blue flash erupted.

With a metallic clang, the head of a knight charging toward them exploded, helmet and all.

Taejun nodded again, his expression suddenly serious.

“I’ll show you something.”

”…”

An hour passed.

Kim Jihoon stared blankly at the scene before him, a grimace on his face. The graveyard was littered with shattered and pulverized armor.

It had been quite some time since they’d arrived at the North Cemetery and the monsters had begun to respawn. Yet the dagger in Kim Jihoon’s hand remained spotless, untouched by blood or metal fragments.

Meanwhile, across the graveyard…

“Alright, this is it!” Taejun shouted triumphantly, smashing through the Mad Knights’ armor as if they were watermelons bursting open.

That’s right. Taejun was single-handedly obliterating the monsters, without any assistance from Kim Jihoon whatsoever.

But doesn’t he even care about finding the Sacred Relic? Kim Jihoon wondered. This isn’t about Sacred Relics or quests anymore. He’s just gone completely berserk, like some monster-obsessed ghoul.

And no matter how you look at it, there’s no way he’s just a B-rank hunter.

Even if Mad Knights are supposed to be notoriously dangerous monsters…

Even so, it was unheard of for a single B-rank Hunter to wipe out dozens of monsters in one go.

But that wasn’t the only thing that astonished Kim Jihoon.

Crack!

Taejun was using a technique that allowed him to shatter the knights’ thick armor with his bare hands. That skill alone was enough to amaze him.

Hwarang’s Ascending Dragon Fist? But it feels too mechanical. Besides, he’s not even affiliated with the Hwarang. How could he have learned the Soaring Dragon Divine Fist? What exactly is going on here?

Kim Jihoon had no choice but to cut his thoughts short.

Thud-thud-thud!

Creeaaak!

Suddenly, the tombstone beside him began to shake violently, and a knight twice as imposing as the other monsters emerged from it.

Looks like the Knight Commander leading the troops in this area.

It was clear that this was the boss of the North Cemetery.

Alright, let’s see if I can take this one down.

Since I’m here anyway, I might as well get something out of it before heading back empty-handed.

Kim Jihoon raised his twin swords, ready to charge forward, when—

Whoosh!

”?”

A fireball the size of a fist streaked past his face.

Fireball.

The blazing orb slammed squarely into the Knight Commander’s massive frame.

KABOOM!

A deafening explosion shattered the air, sending fragments of armor flying in all directions.

”…”

A pitch-black stone rolled to a stop at Jihoon’s feet—a mid-grade essence stone left behind by the Knight Commander.

“Ah, Hyung Jihoon!”

An irritated voice cut through the awkward silence. Jihoon turned to see Taejun standing on a writhing knight, his hand outstretched toward him.

“I told you to stay put, didn’t I?” Taejun demanded, his eyes gleaming ominously beneath a coating of metallic dust.

A chill ran down Jihoon’s spine, and he swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry.

“I’ll handle everything. Got it?”

“Y-yes…”

“Just stand there. Don’t try anything.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

With an awkward reply, he returned to his spot, stood at parade rest, and pondered.

This…

Something felt terribly wrong.

Crack!

The sickening sound of ribs shattering beneath armor echoed across the cemetery.

Thud.

The Heavy Armored Giant Soldier, towering twice my height, collapsed in two.

First, its upper body, still clutching a rusty halberd, crashed to the ground.

Boom.

Then, its empty lower half followed.

“Phew.”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve and surveyed the scene.

Corpses of countless knight-type monsters littered the ground. Low-grade Essence Stones, scattered from their bodies, glittered amidst the shattered tombstones.

No more movement remained in the vicinity.

Only then did I relax my posture.

I checked the Status Window floating diagonally before me.

A notification appeared in my Physical Information:

Four hours had passed since I began ‘hunting’ in the North Cemetery.

As expected, real combat is far more effective.

The speed at which I was unlocking skills now was incomparable to my previous training against artificial monsters. Back then, it had taken thirty relentless hours of practice to barely unlock two advanced techniques. Now, in just four hours, I had achieved significant physical growth.

Three-Step Leg Quelling Strike.

This technique was rumored to be exclusive to Hunters who had trained in the Hwarang for at least five years.

As I reviewed my skills with satisfaction, an awkward voice suddenly interrupted me.

“Uh, hey. Can I move now?”

Turning around, I saw Kim Jihoon standing awkwardly in the middle of the cemetery.

“Ah, yes.”

I waved with a bright smile.

Even though he was a thug, he was just a helpful totem to me right now.

Thanks to leaving him standing there, still under the effects of my Stealthy Provocation, I had gained a tremendous advantage.

I hit the jackpot.

The essence stones were mine alone.

The real-world combat experience was mine alone.

I got to hog it all for myself.

Of course, there was that moment when I tried to take down the Knight Commander, the boss of this area, midway through…

I almost lost my cool for a moment.

“Hyung Jihoon!”

Still, to him, I must have just looked like a rookie hunter trying hard not to hurt his Junior Senior.

So I waved again with a cheerful grin.

“How was I? Pretty clean, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

But for some reason…

I wasn’t expecting praise, of course.

I just thought he’d nitpick, or try to pull rank with some condescending evaluation.

“W-well, it was good,” Kim Jihoon stammered, averting his gaze.

He even took a slight step back as I approached, clearly avoiding me for reasons unknown.

Indeed.

I was covered head to toe in mud and metal shavings from the fierce battle.

He probably doesn’t want to get his suit dirty.

As I narrowed my eyes slightly, Kim Jihoon hunched his shoulders even further.

Clearing his throat with an awkward cough, he continued, “Anyway, now that we’ve taken care of all the monsters, let’s focus on finding the Artifact.”

“Ah.”

“I’ll help you search this area.”

Kim Jihoon spoke with a hint of his earlier confidence returning to his face. “After all, the main goal of dungeons like this is to find hidden Artifacts. More often than not, teams fail to clear them not because of monster hunting, but because they get stuck during the Artifact search itself.”

It was true. In dungeons that tasked you with exploration, you were more likely to get stuck trying to find artifacts than fighting the resident monsters. Most artifacts were hidden behind intricate traps or in secret chambers that could only be opened by solving puzzles.

“But hey, it’s no big deal,” Kim Jihoon said. “Once you know the tricks, it’s not that hard.”

“Ah, right,” I replied.

“Follow me,” he said, puffing out his chest and swaggering ahead. “First, we need to gather the clues scattered around here.”

I called out to the back of his head, “Hyung Jihoon, I’ve already found the location of the northern relic.”

Kim Jihoon froze in place, his movements halting as he pushed through the monster remains.

“You found it already?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yes.”

“How?”

I shifted my gaze to Parsley Navigation.

“Starting navigation,” Parsley Navigation announced. “Proceed 300 meters northwest.”

A jar-shaped icon blinked on one side of the map.

“I managed to find clues while fighting the monsters,” I said.

“No way, there couldn’t have been time for that…” Kim Jihoon replied, skeptical.

“Just follow me.”

Without further explanation, I started walking. Soon, we arrived at a tombstone where the Sacred Relic was hidden.

“Here?” Kim Jihoon asked, his face skeptical as he followed me. “This unmarked grave?”

But suddenly—

Ssss…

Silver letters began to etch themselves onto the tombstone. Kim Jihoon fell silent immediately.

A mix of symbols and indecipherable characters materialized, culminating in an arrow pointing to the left.

“Oh, uh… This seems to be the place where the relic is hidden,” I said.

Kim Jihoon, unable to hide his surprise, cleared his throat. “But judging by this arrow, there’s probably more to investigate.”

“Hmm,” I replied.

“There must be more gravestones like this one. We’ll have to deduce the clues to break the seals from them.”

I gave the A-Rank Hunter, who was talking a mile a minute, a skeptical look.

“So, let’s start by finding the other gravestones,” he suggested.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” I said, cutting him off.

Then, grasping the gravestone with its shimmering silver characters with both hands, I began to rotate it with force.

”?”

Kim Jihoon stared at me, his face a mask of confusion.

Grrrk.

But as the gravestone slowly shifted to the left with a grinding sound of stone against stone, his eyes widened in disbelief.