Evolution Theory of the Hunter

Evolution Theory of the Hunter (ETH)
Volume 1 Chapter 43

If we didn’t wait for the monsters to evaporate after every kill and just went on to the next room, we would definitely save a lot of time. Items and ores wouldn’t disappear unless the dungeon reset itself so there was no danger of losing anything either.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

"Ok then. From now on, unless there is anyone with injuries, we’ll be going straight from one room to the next. Manager Kim. Please keep track of your spell reset time. We want to make sure that no matter how fast we move, we slow down enough for your spell to work each time.

"Don’t worry. The sleep spell works again after 5 minutes so there shouldn’t be any real issues."

"That’s good."

Jung Sooah started to grab the ores to put into her backpack.

The next room had 20 goblins.

"What the h.e.l.l? Why are there so many monsters in here?"

Manager Kim started mumbling.

"Aren’t those goblins level 1 monsters? They look familiar."

Jung Sooah asked. I nodded my head.

"You’re right. From their size and the look of them, they are definitely level 1 goblins."

"I’m asking because I haven’t been in too many level 2 dungeons…but does this happen often?"

"This is a first for me too. It could be that since the level 1 dungeons disappeared, all those monsters ended up in other level dungeons…but in greater than usual numbers."

"Is that good or bad?"

"It’s good. Because level 1 monsters drop ores too. And our government is experiencing a shortage right now."

I drew my sword. 20 goblins. If even just half of them dropped ores, that would mean we would end up with 10. Not only was this good for our economy…but I needed ores right now.

"Manager Kim."

"Ok. Leave it to me. I’ll put to sleep at least 10 of them."

When Manager Kim cast his spell, a golden glow arose.

Five of them had fallen asleep.

"Ha?"

"Well. Even that is a good amount. Mr. Cho Youngoo, please help with the attack. Sooah."

"Yeah?"

"Hold onto this."

I threw the longsword I had been holding in my right hand.

"Huh? Why…"

"You need a weapon to at least defend yourself with. You remember how to use a sword right?"

"How about you?"

"This one sword is enough for me."

I grabbed the b.l.o.o.d.ysword in my right hand. I could heard Jung Sooah mumbling behind me.

"So d.a.m.n hot…"

"..oh my G.o.d. Stop."

I could hear Manager Kim snickering.

s.h.i.+t. I could feel my face turning red.

[+100]

I swiped up at the goblin running toward me and tossed his body over my shoulder. Helmet guy was a.s.sisting me to my left and swinging out with his sword too. Jung Sooah and Cho Youngoo were standing behind us, blocking the exit, and Han Joonseok and gla.s.ses girl were shooting arrows out from behind all of us.

Ping! Ping!

Two of the goblins were struck by an arrow each on their foreheads and fell to the ground. Han Joonseok had improved his archery skills, but I was even more surprised by how much gla.s.ses girl had improved her aim.

At that moment, two goblins ran to attack me at the same time. One came from above me and the other right in front of me.

How dare you.

I grabbed the one in front of me by the neck and threw it up into the air.

It crashed into the other one coming from above and both fell to the ground.

[+100] [+100]

What? They died with just that?

I never imagined I had gotten this strong. But I could now see just how much I had improved after meeting a level 1 monster again. d.a.m.n.

[+100]

WIth one hit, another goblin crumbled as easily as tofu.

Helmet guy was also killing goblins left and right as if it were the easiest thing.

The goblins, with their short reach, were not able to do anything against the long blade of the rubicon sword.

"That’s a d.a.m.n good sword."

"If you need it, I’ll give it to you."

"That’s not what I meant. Well, it’s

"What…"

"Let’s talk later."

Well, I was the one who brought it up. But there was no reason for me to explain anything to him, right?

I stabbed a goblin through the eye with my b.l.o.o.d.ysword.

It didn’t take us even 3 minutes to kill all 20 level 1 goblins. In fact the not even one goblin made it past us to where Cho Youngoo and Sooah were standing.

"Wow…SunbehOppa. You’re amazing. Really."

"Isn’t it about time for you to work on fixing that bad habit of complimenting me every few seconds? You’re not that kind of a porter anymore."

"Ah. But I’m being serious right now."

"Anyway. Just hand over the sword."

"Weren’t you gifting this to me?"

"I just let you borrow it in case you might get hurt."

"Pft. And for a second I felt a flutter of happiness there."

Sooah handed the sword back to me. I guess if you came right down to it, handing over a sword like this to her wasn’t something that was all that difficult. And if I considered the value she brought to the party, it was not a bad trade.

But if people start getting something for free, then they start to rely on the giver. Though she was a valuable member of my party, I also didn’t want her to rely on me too much.

What I needed was a team member. Not a follower.

"Nothing in life is free. If you keep wanting free things, you’ll start losing hair."

"Sh. Manager Kim might hear you."

"I’m not bald ok. I just have fine hair."

Manager Kim turned a bright red as he mumbled quietly.

"Let’s hurry onto the next room. Is that ok Mr. Jong Sawon?"

"No problem."

He did look a bit tired, but not enough where it would hinder his fighting.

We immediately set out for the next room in the dungeon.

Then to the next room. And then to the next room.

It had taken us about a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes to clear 7 rooms. We did rest a bit in between, but none of us had sustained any injuries.

The dungeon remained dark. That meant the dungeon didn’t clear…an irregular would be appearing.

We had been taking a break when I spoke aloud to my party members.

"Everyone stay on alert. Looks like we’re not done yet."

"Again?"

"What do you mean again?"

Helmet guy asked Manager Kim.

"The monster you’ve been waiting for just might appear. Be prepared."

"No…you mean an irregular?"

"Yes. But we don’t know what it is that might appear."

I started to move my shoulders up and down to keep it warmed up. If it was like what usually happened, it would appear near the dungeon exit…but you never knew. Since the dungeon was in a straight line, it didn’t matter too much where it appeared.

Sc.r.a.ppppe!

It was then we heard a sc.r.a.ping sound along the ground somewhere.

This was ominous. A thought that this would not be an easy monster popped up in my head.

"Everyone get ready for battle. Something is heading our way."

"What’s that sound?"

Cho Youngoo covered his ears as he asked.

Sc.r.a.pe sc.r.a.pe sc.r.a.ppee!

This wasn’t the sound of a particularly large monster. It sounded more like a monster that was dragging or pus.h.i.+ng something along. Gla.s.ses girl started to s.h.i.+ver.

"This…this…is this…"

"s.h.i.+t!"

We looked to where the sound came from. The sound that, at first, seemed quite a distance away was now getting all the closer.

Click click click click!

This was the sound of many legs tapping along the ground. Just the sound was enough to induce gooseb.u.mps along your skin. They were the sound of bugs’ legs.

I knew then what it was. It was a monster most hunters dreaded meeting.

A level 3 monster – The Great Roach.

So. It was a giant bug.

From the sound of it, it wasn’t even just one or two. To think that the irregular this time would be this monster.

"s.h.i.+t."

All the things I had brought in preparation for an irregular would prove to be of no use this time around. What we needed to go up against these monsters was something flammable to light up…and a lot of it. If we didn’t have at least 20 liters of flammable liquid, it was no use.

We had no choice but to try and kill them one at a time.

"SunbehOppa! What is it?"

"What do you mean?! They’re bugs!"

"Kyaa!"

"Don’t make girly noises and stand back!"

Jong Sawon and I moved up to the front. I don’t know if the two of us would be able to hold them back, but we needed to at least try.

The first Great Roach finally reared its ugly head.

It was probably about 1 meter in length. It had a hard outer sh.e.l.l that was probably as strong as hunter grade armor, and its attack was based on grabbing a hold of its opponent and biting chunks out of them with its sharp pincer teeth. A regular roach’s bite is 5 times stronger than a human’s. I didn’t want to even imagine the damage this thing could do.

So why are they level 3 monsters?

Because they never appear alone.

Click click click click!

Behind the first roach were about 20 or more click clicking their way toward us.

Ah…I really hate them. I feel like I’ll see them in my nightmares.