Chapter 123 – Hazing (4)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
In dungeons, players attacked other players much more often than normal people would think.
The public would of course call such players crazy, psychopathic murderers.
However, among the players who attacked other players, very few of them actually had any psychopathic tendencies or truly enjoyed killing.
Rather, many players did so with reasonable judgment.
And the reason was simple.
“What do you think would happen if there was an opponent in front of you who had an item that was very valuable in a world where there were no legal punishments and where the evidence disappeared the moment it was cleared? What if your value and survival rate in the future would dramatically increase if you obtained that item?”
It was worth it.
‘Found you.’
Chun Dao-mind was a player who knew this fact better than anyone else, especially because he himself had done it many times before.
‘Van Gogh’s Bracelet.’
Telling him about Van Gogh’s Bracelet and telling him that it was in Isaac Ivanov’s hands were like telling a tiger who hadn’t eaten for a month that there was a huge piece of meat down the mountain.
His heart burned with the desire to hunt.
“f.u.c.k, why is he so deep?”
Moreover the path that Isaac Ivanov too was not an ordinary one.
If the other players were in America, then Isaac Ivanov was so far from the group that he was basically in Guam. (TL: this killed me ???)
It was not a short distance to move and along the way Chun Dao-ming and his men had to continually fight off monsters.
Even while doing that, Chun Dao-ming also had to struggle to stay as quiet as possible as they approached.
‘It took two days to get here.’
Therefore it took two hours to reach the spot that he had even though it would only take twenty minutes to an hour if he were to run.
One’s patience would run out when the target was within one’s reach.
However Chun Dao-ming didn’t rush forward to ruin all of his hard work because he was impatient.
“What’s the situation?”
At Chun Dao-ming’s words, a subordinate beside him held his hand to his left eye like a telescope, closed his right eye, and looked through it.
“100 Li Eye”
He then immediately activated The Silent Hunter’s skill, 100 Li Eye.
Then Isaac Ivanov’s group, which was in the distance, became clearer to him.
“They seem to be resting.”
“How many are around him?”
“There are seven skeletons and one teammate.”
“What about the bracelet?”
“Sorry. I can’t see it well. He’s wearing gloves.”
Chun Dao-ming, who had confirmed Isaac Ivanov’s situation with the help of the skill, closed his eyes.
After about 10 minutes, there was some movement from Isaac Ivanov’s side, and Chun Dao-ming who noticed this, asked his subordinate again.
“What’s the situation?”
The subordinate grasped the situation the same way he had a few minutes before.
“It seems that they are preparing for battle. Ah!”
Then the man exclaimed.
“It’s a bracelet. It looks like a bracelet.”
Chun Dao-ming gave a bright smile at those words.
“When he enters battle is when we’ll strike.”
…
When was the best time to attack another player?
Needless to say, it was when they were in a fight.
There was no better opportunity that one could find since the player would be focused and filled with bloodl.u.s.t as a result of the battle.
Rattle!
Awoo!
That’s why Chun Dao-ming’s men waited until the skeletons and the Red Wolves started fighting before making their move.
Chun Dao-ming’s men moved as stealthily as they could. Rather than arriving quickly, they were aiming for the moment when the fight was as congested and confusing as possible.
It was a wise choice.
‘We only need to kill one of them anyway.’
‘If Isaac Ivanov dies then the skeletons will go away.’
It would’ve been hard to accomplish their task if they had to struggle against the Necromancer, Isaac Ivanov.
What was it if not wise to covertly deal with such a target rather than head on?
And of course, Chun Dao-ming could be considered as someone who was wise.
That was why he was moving in a slightly different way to his subordinates.
‘When my men draw his attention, my axe will smash his head.’
He intended to use his men as bait so that he could launch the true lethal attack.
It was also a good strategy that was used by predatory beasts.
‘I’m waiting for the chance to come.’
Furthermore Chun Dao-ming showcased his last bit of patience to achieve a more certain hunt.
So time pa.s.sed.
It felt like the seconds lasted eternities as they slowly pa.s.sed, Chun Dao-ming and his men slowly became more focused as they watched the fight between Isaac Ivanov’s skeletons and the Red Wolves.
Pak!
At that moment, Isaac Ivanov clapped his hands.
‘What is he doing?’
The next moment they were all shocked by a huge sound.
Puong!
What followed the applause was a terrifying explosion.
It was the Corpse Explosion.
Keheung!
“Ugh!”
In front of such a sudden and unexpected situation, the monsters that were fighting and even Chun Dao-ming’s subordinates who had been hiding, couldn’t help but let out sounds of surprise.
Only Chun Dao-ming remained silent and he was able to keep his focus on the battlefield.
‘d.a.m.n it!’
Thanks to that, he was able to see Isaac Ivanov and his skeletons heading for his subordinates.
‘He noticed!’
Someone he had noticed them and moved to counterattack, when he thought about this, Chun Dao-ming adjusted his position slightly.
His plan of action wasn’t much different from before.
‘While he’s attacking my men, I’ll get him!’
He was using his men as bait to catch the fis.h.!.+
The moment Isaac Ivanov began fighting his subordinates and put his focus on defeating them.
‘Fight.’
He was waiting for him to enter a b.l.o.o.d.y battle.
Soon, Isaac Ivanov’s group and Chun Dao-ming’s men were a short distance from each other.
Then, just like that, Isaac Ivanov’s group ignored Chun Dao-ming’s men and left the battlefield.
“Uh?”
At such an unexpected situation, even Chun Dao-ming let out a sound of surprise.
However his surprise didn’t last for very long.
Awoo!
Awoo!
The Red Wolves had started attacking again.
‘Ah!’
Instead now they were against Chun Dao-ming and his subordinates.
…
Watch out for other players in a dungeon, Kim Woo-jin used to live by these words from the Messiah Guild.
At the same time they were words that Kim Woo-jin himself took as his own.
After all, he had faced more players in dungeons than anyone else.
‘I knew someone was coming.’
So it was only natural that he would have plans in place for if someone truly came to attack.
Chun Dao-ming’s approach had been noticed from the start.
‘Crazy Dog…’
In all honesty, it wasn’t a very threatening opponent.
If he wanted to deal with him, he could at any time, but Kim Woo-jin didn’t do so.
‘I often used this as bait.’
This was because there was still a high chance that a third party was using Chun Dao-ming as bait to gain information on his abilities or weaknesses.
In such a situation, why would he deliberately fight Chun Dao-ming?
It couldn’t have happened unless Kim Woo-jin had applied the Berserker skill to himself which in itself was impossible.
That was the reason he left Chun Dao-ming to fight the monsters.
‘First off I need to check if there’s really a fisherman.’
…
If there were any forces that used Chun Dao-ming as bait then they would also respond to the sudden situation and move away.
This would leave a trace.
At the same time, he would be able to buy some time.
Tracking and ambush was not easy.
Could one easily track someone else in a place that was filled with monsters and prepare an ambush easily?
This was not something that could be done in an hour or two.
And if they were forced to repeat these actions three to four times then the fisherman would grow tired of it and be forced to leave.
‘And if there’s no fisherman…’
And if, contrary to Kim Woo-jin’s expectations, Chun Dao-ming and his group came here alone, then the solution would be even simpler.
‘I’ll just deal with them.’
He would just eat the delicious bait at the right time.
Pak! Pak!
At that moment, Kim Woo-jin clapped again.
Kw.a.n.g!
Kw.a.n.g!
Immediately after, the corpses that he had placed in the vicinity exploded, scattering blood and body parts which exuded a strong smell, everywhere.
Keheung?
Kuoh?
The monsters around began reacting to such loud sounds and b.l.o.o.d.y smell.
It was at that moment that the war progress was reset once again.
…
[Your level has increased.]
This was a notification that players were usually happy to receive.
“d.a.m.n it!”
However at this sound, Chun Dao-ming became more furious.
‘Isaac, you son of a b.i.t.c.h!’
The cause was Isaac Ivanov.
‘How many times did he trick me!’
After failing the first time, Chun Dao-ming didn’t give up and instead prepared to hunt again. (TL: Chun Dao-ming…FIGHTING!)
Of course, it took more time the second time.
It wasn’t easy to hunt a startled prey, and it was even harder to hunt a prey who ran away like that.
The second try failed as well.
It was the same.
As soon as Chun Dao-ming and his men approached, Isaac Ivanov pa.s.sed the monsters over to them and left the battlefield.
Same for the third time…and the fourth time.
It was not wise for them to attack openly nor was it possible for them to catch them in a trap.
The failures were repeated continuously, and the number of monsters than Isaac Ivanov left for them to deal with increased each time.
His level up not so long ago was a result of these battles.
‘I will cut off your head after I take off all your limbs.’
This was why Chun Dao-ming’s eyes were filled with poison.
It was then.
[There are 999 monsters remaining.]
There was a notification.
“Boss!”
One of his men shouted when they saw the notification and Chun Dao-ming waved his hand to tell them that there was no reason to say any more.
‘There isn’t much time left.’
Of 30,000 monsters, only 999 remained to be hunted.
This meant that sooner rather than later, the second floor would be cleared.
‘No, why is it so fast?’
It was surprisingly fast considering that it was only six days since they had entered the second floor.
This meant that around 5,000 monsters were hunted every day.
‘Even if there weren’t any strong monsters, this…’
Even if there weren’t any boss cla.s.s monsters powerful enough to make them make sacrifices, this was still an abnormal speed.
‘Is there really something going on?’
Of course, the first thing that came to Chun Dao-ming’s mind, was the first floor which had been cleared in only 8 hours.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
Chun Dao-ming was convinced that there was a party that was overwhelmingly powerful.
‘I must get Van Gogh’s Bracelet before they get it.’
And as that conviction grew, so did his anxiety.
‘It’ll be more troublesome after we reach the third floor.’
If they moved to the third floor then he would have to start hunting Isaac Ivanov again all the way from the start.
Additionally, in the third floor there would be many more people aiming to obtain the bracelet that he had in his possession.
However he didn’t think it would be easy for him to catch Isaac Ivanov who escaped from battle like a rat.
“Tch.”
Eventually Chun Dao-ming clicked his tongue.
It was at that moment.
Puk!
An arrow that flew from out of nowhere, pierced the eye of one of Chun Dao-ming’s men.
“Huh?”
In the face of the sudden attack, Chun Dao-ming and his men were shocked.
“Uh!”
Apart from being shocked however, their bodies naturally began preparing for attacks from the direction in which the arrow flew.
Their actions showed that they were instinctively prepared to do battle now.
Naturally, Kim Woo-jin attacked from the other direction.
Shwik!
The moment they faced the direction of the arrows, Kim Woo-jin’s skeletons appeared behind them.
Kya!
Leading the charge was a Skeleton Knight riding a Sawtooth Wolf skeleton.
It was not just one, but two Skeleton Knights that charged toward Chun Dao-min and his men.
Their skulls blazed yellow with Berserker’s madness.
Puk!
Chun Dao-ming and his men noticed the knights’ arrival after one of his subordinates was stabbed through the head with a spear, leaving a hole that one could look through.
“Fight!”
When he saw that, Chun Dao-ming announced the start of the battle, and when they heard it, his men began to take up their respective roles.
The fighters rushed to meet the skeletons, the silent hunters quickly climbed trees and there were no healers.
The healers had been shot in the eye with an arrow at the start or stabbed in the head by a Skeleton Knight.
‘He wants to end it here!’
Chun Dao-ming, who grit his teeth as he realised this fact, approached one of the Skeleton Knights.
‘Right, I will end it here.’
Chun Dao-ming rushed forward to destroy the knight’s skull with the axe in his hand.
There was no hesitation as Chun Dao-ming moved to attack.
Kya!
The Skeleton Knight, which was filled with madness, had no intentions to reject the incoming Chun Dao-ming.
Before long, the two collided.
“Oooh.”
Lee Jin-ah who was watching this scene from afar couldn’t help but exclaim.
“The crazy dog has met his owner today.”
It was not something that ordinary people could ever understand.
Wasn’t the Crazy Dog Chun Dao-ming one of the top talents in 3 Floor dungeons that even the great Kunlun Guild would be hesitant to touch in a dungeon?
Wasn’t it only a Skeleton Knight that Kim Woo-jin summoned that was dealing with him?
But Lee Jin-ah was still convinced, although normal people of course wouldn’t be able to understand the standards of players.
“He can’t win unless he takes out those legendary items he probably has in his inventory. For sure.”
The Skeleton Knight was stronger than Chun Dao-ming.
This conviction became a reality.
Clang!
After exchanging more than ten blows between them, Chun Dao-ming took a few steps backward, his face hard.
‘Wh-, what is this!’
Chun Dao-mng who had faced many monsters could not understand.
‘How could a summoned skeleton fight like this?’
The combat capabilities of the Skeleton Knight were ridiculously high.
This was a fact.
‘It’s reading all my attacks.’
The Skeleton Knight was reading all of Chun Dao-ming’s attacks and aiming for the gaps.
‘Reading them and picking the best spots.’
After reading the attack, it would move its body so that the attacks would land where it wanted them to.
This way the areas that had less damage were put forward.
It responded to the attacks perfectly.
‘At the same time, it counterattacks immediately.’
And as it received the attack from him, it would immediately attack Chun Dao-ming using the gap that it had found.
This was beyond the level of reading an equation, it was instead answering the equation correctly.
This was a high level skill that should have been impossible to find in a monster.
‘And that spear.’
Above all, the spear that the skeleton held in its hands was much more powerful than he had initially expected.
This was evidenced by the few holes that were in Chun Dao-ming’s armor after only a short engagement.
It ended up being only holes in his armor because Chun Dao-ming had an innate sense of combat that helped him attack or retreat.
‘It’s not a normal spear.’
Unfortunately, Chun Dao-ming’s reflections ended there.
The manic Skeleton Knight did not intend to give him a long time to recover.
The same was true for the skeleton wolf that the knight rode on.
Paat!
The skeleton wolf hit stomped on the ground and pounced forward as the Skeleton Knight aimed the spear toward Chun Dao-ming.
As soon as he saw it approaching, Chun Dao-ming no longer hesitated.
“Inventory!”
He opened his inventory and retrieved a sword.
A translucent sword was revealed.
“Dragon Abyss!”
The translucent sword began to be filled with white light following Chun Dao-ming’s cry.
Lee Jin-ah who was watching this couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Wh-, what’s that?”
On the other hand, Kim Woo-jin smiled.
‘Heavenly Dragon Sword.’
The Heavenly Dragon Sword.
‘So this is where we meet.’
Before he returned to the past it had been one of Kim Woo-jin’s best companions.