Chapter 187: Chapter 186: Predation Part II
Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
The day after I killed Kazunari…
“I’ve rested enough; I should get back to it,” I said to myself as I got up from my chair and stretched. I felt a lot better after getting rid of Kazunari. “I have no idea what the Dungeon Mole did for him, but it’s good for me if he lost it. If he was willing to lay down everything he had… he must have been at his wit’s end.”
I realized that this meant almost no one would ever know who the Dungeon Creator was, or that he ever existed. He was finished. That was one less enemy for me to worry about.
“It’s about time for me to get back to hunting, but where should I go this time?” I wanted to get back to hunting, as I wasn’t yet strong enough.
“I have too many places I can go.” I had four high-grade dungeons I could freely hunt at now. “I’ll pa.s.s on the Shire Guild’s since they just gained full ownership and haven’t set up FOBs yet. I guess that one is still the best one to hunt at.” The four high-grade dungeons weren’t difficult for me at all, but the one dungeon that yielded the most EXP was the Pharos Dungeon in Alexandria. The Crocs were pretty fun to kill and they never travelled in large hordes, like the Trolls in the Faroe Islands.
“Okay! Off to the Pharos Dungeon.”
—
Meanwhile, at the Cheng Long Guild headquarters…
“So, he failed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hah…” Wai Chung sighed at his officer’s report. Kazunari’s plan was perfect, which was why Wai Chung did whatever he asked. He even let the Cheng Long’s Rank 8 Glacier Gauntlets go on the condition that Lee Jiwon would never get it and that the Nayuta Guild would fork over the golden rings instead. He was even satisfied when Kazunari showed him and Okamoto the finished dungeon. He thought that they could finally tie Lee Jiwon down, but Lee Jiwon was free again after only four months, when they had planned for at least a year or two. He even got away with the Rank 8 gloves and the golden rings.
They had spectacularly failed once more.
“And what happened to Kazunari?” Wai Chung asked through gritted teeth. He would have Kazunari pay for this screw up.
“Well…”
“Spit it out!”
“He’s dead. Lee Jiwon killed him yesterday.”
“…” Wai Chung was so shocked that he forgot his anger. Kazunari, the Dungeon Creator, was still a deity whose name carried weight. He was still one of the Monarchs.
Wai Chung heaved a heavy sigh. There was no way he could have Kazunari take responsibility anymore. Wai Chung knew that Kazunari would return in three months, but also knew that he would never show his face ever again.
“Hah… I ended up handing over a Rank 8 item to Lee Jiwon, who is supposed to be my greatest enemy. Just my luck…”
“It’s not your fault, sir. Even the Intelligence Division believed that this plan was perfect. We can still-”
“That’s enough.” Wai Chung interrupted his officer. What’s done was done. It wasn’t like he could go to Lee Jiwon and beg for the gloves back. That would never happen. A heavy silence hung in Wai Chung’s office.
—
The situation at the Nayuta Guild was no better when Okamoto learned of what happened to Kazunari. Nayuta had invested quite a bit in Kazunari, after all. It wasn’t enough to cripple the guild, but they were bitter about it, nonetheless.
——
I was standing outside the Pharos dungeon entrance when a message appeared.
==[Shaman Ko’s Roulette Wheel will now spin.]==
“Predation… really was nothing.” I remembered about what happened with Predation yesterday. There were just way too many restrictions on it. It was just way too hard to use to find out what its effects were. I wouldn’t be happy even if I got a scroll every day.
==[You have obtained Predation.
You have received a single use Scroll of Predation in your inventory.]==
“Huh?” It hadn’t landed on it since that one time a month ago, and it landed again after I used it yesterday. “No way. Can I only have one scroll at a time?” There wasn’t enough evidence behind that theory, but that’s what it seemed like.
I took out the scroll from my inventory. If that was the case, then I had no reason to save it. I ripped it right away.
==[You can now use Predation 1.
You can only use Predation on certain targets.
After using Predation, you can use your target’s abilities for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, all abilities taken from your target will return to their original owner.
If you do not use Predation on a target within 24 hours, you will lose the effects of the Scroll of Predation.]==
I entered the Pharos dungeon right after that and pointed to a Mutated Croc standing right by the entrance. “Predation!”
==[Predation cannot be used on this target.]==
“…” I stared at the message in annoyance. “I can’t use it on a deity and now I can’t use it on a monster! Then who or what can I even use it on? Do I have to use it on devas or mortals?” It should have at least worked on monsters. “Why doesn’t it work?” I yelled as I pointed at another Croc.
==[Predation cannot be used on this target.]==
“Huh?” I was surprised when the message appeared again. “I thought I could only use it once.” I had thought that if it failed, it used up the skill. That was why I hadn’t tried it again after it failed on Kazunari. I read through the description again.
“So, I guess it means I have twenty-four hours to get it to work on a target before I can’t anymore.” I turned to the monsters. “Predation! Predation! Predation! Predation!” I shouted at all of the monsters I could see. I used it over and over and over again. I must have pointed at a hundred Crocs.
==[Predation cannot be used on this target.]==
But it still didn’t work.
“s.h.i.t!” I left the dungeon right after.
“Mr. Lee! Why are you leaving so early?” a Myth Guild member asked as I left. There were quite a few of them hanging around the entrance, some getting ready to hunt and others finishing up. I had spent at least a month in dungeons whenever I hunted, and they all knew that about me.
I turned to the guild member. “If something goes wrong, I’ll give you a death penalty gem. If you lose anything, I promise I’ll properly compensate you.”
“Excuse me?”
I had to know now. There were plenty of people who would gladly help me experiment back in Seoul, but I didn’t want to waste single second.
“I want to test out a skill. Is that alright?”
“…Okay.” The guild member hesitated for a moment, but still happily agreed to help.
“Thank you. Predation,” I said, pointing to the guild member. I made sure to say the skill’s name as quietly as possible, just in case.
==[Predation cannot be used on this target.]==
“…” It was as I had expected. If it wasn’t going to work on monsters, it wouldn’t work on a deva either.
“Um… did you do something?” asked the guild member.
I smiled at him. “No. Turns out it was nothing.” There was no reason to spread rumors about something that didn’t work. “Either way, thanks for helping.”
“You’re very welcome.”
I shook the guild member’s hand and left. As I pa.s.sed by the devas outside, I used Predation on them while making sure no one would notice what I was doing. But the results were all the same.
==[Predation cannot be used on this target.]==
——
I had used it on a hundred different devas by this point, I was positive it wasn’t going to work on another one. I finally turned my attention to the mortals. I kept fighting with myself over this; I was a human too, but I had to know for sure. I doubted it would work, but I couldn’t leave a single doubt.
I didn’t want to test this on the mortals staying at my home, though. This Predation might return the abilities to devas in 24 hours but… this meant death to mortals.
I used both Blinks to get out of the dungeon’s vicinity as fast as possible and to leave no trace behind. I kept going until I came to an alleyway where many vagrants stayed. I grabbed a shawl that was hanging out to dry and wrapped it around my face. I entered the alley and looked for the oldest person I could find.
I found one after only a few minutes of searching. I realized that no life was worth more than the other, but that was the reality we all lived in right now. An old, dying vagrant living in a seedy alleyway had no worth, even if he was a deva.
I tossed 100,000 golden rings at the old man’s feet and pointed at him. “Predation.”
==[Predation cannot be used on this target.]==
I burst out laughing, relieved that it didn’t work.
“Huh?” It was then the old man finally realized the golden rings in front of him. He quickly picked them up and looked around to see if anyone else had seen them. He got up and sat in a different corner and looked down at the golden rings in his hands, as if he couldn’t believe that he was actually holding that many.
“Why does this even exist at all?” I asked myself as I headed back to the base set up by the Pharos Dungeon. I wanted to rest a bit, even though I hadn’t done much. All I had done was try to use Predation, but I had tried it on a mortal. No matter how many times I tried to justify it, it just didn’t sit well with me.
I went over to the food stall, ordered a beer and sat down at a table. I leaned back and closed my eyes to try and get my mind off of what had just happened.
“h.e.l.lo, Jiwon.”
I turned to look at the person who called my name. It was the one Unrivaled deva of the Myth Guild, Benenti. We had fought together once, and I remembered that he was quite good.
“h.e.l.lo, Benenti.” I shook his hand.
“I came here when I heard you were here to hunt, but I see you haven’t started yet.”
“Yeah, I had some stuff to take care of first,” I said, brushing it off.
“Oh, that’s right. You’re collecting Croc Hides and Teeth, right?”
“I am, since I was told the Myth Guild was using themto craft items.”
“Then why don’t you take this chance to clear out your inventory?”
“Sure, let’s do that.” The Infinite s.p.a.ce Ring could hold a lot of materials, but I had collected quite a bit now. I followed Benenti to the Myth Guild’s general store. I accessed the Infinite s.p.a.ce as if I was opening up my inventory and took out all of the Croc Hides and Teeth of normal, Mutated, and Giant Crocs.
“Wow… you’ve collected quite a bit,” the merchant said, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah, it kind of happened that way.”
-That reminds me; I should get rid of the materials from the other dungeons, too-, I thought to myself as I went through the list of items in the Infinite s.p.a.ce before closing it.
“Huh?” Right when I closed it, I noticed something that shouldn’t be there. I quickly reopened it and saw that the Dungeon Mole was actually in there!
-Kyuu! Kyuu!-
“You… what are you doing in there!?” I shouted in confusion. I knew for a fact that I didn’t put it in there myself. I had learned that living things, like people or monsters, couldn’t go inside when I tried to put myself in there.
-‘Shaman Ko’s so annoying!’-
-Kyuu! Kyuu! –
The Dungeon Mole turned towards my voice and leapt out of the opening and into my hand.
-‘I want banana candies.’-
The mole laid down comfortably on its stomach right on my palm. I stared down at it as it acted all friendly towards me.
==[Dungeon Mole (Belongs to Lee Jiwon and Shaman Ko)
Dungeon Moles are extremely rare.
They prefer to roll around in damp earth and have quite the sweet tooth. Give one a piece of candy and it will follow you around.
Predation can be used.]==
“What the h.e.l.l?” The Dungeon Mole’s description was almost the same as when I first encountered it in Kazunari’s prison dungeon. I noticed right away what had changed, though.
“It belongs to me and Shaman Ko? And… Predation?” Kazunari was right. I owned the Dungeon Mole now. And now I had learned that Predation wasn’t completely useless.