D-Rank Constellation Hunter… Stuck Without Internet! - Chapter 167

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 167
The gods, who had graciously descended to the level of insignificant mortals for the sake of a young star, now joined the fray.
Kim Gyuwun surveyed his surroundings.
Standing at the vanguard of the most brilliant battle was not his Guild Master.
Ha Gyuhyuk was a man who knew how to step back from the spotlight when necessary.
When Kim Gyuwun had devised and provided tactical strategies, Ha Gyuhyuk had excluded every operation where he would take the lead.
‘Since Touch One is the command guild, wouldn’t it be better for the Guild Master to stand at the front?’
‘No, I prefer to support from behind. The Guild Master doesn’t have to be the protagonist, does he?’
‘Even if not the protagonist, being a leading role is….’
‘When preventing catastrophe and saving lives, is there a need to distinguish between leading and supporting roles?’
He had asked Kim Gyuwun to devise the most effective method, even if there was nothing he himself could do.
To actively employ the strong, and to let himself be placed in whatever remaining position was available.
‘Are you truly certain? Even if I treat you as merely a component for the operation?’
‘Of course. And I know you wouldn’t treat anyone as merely a component. You’re someone Se-um chose. I trust your abilities personally as well.’
Someone Se-um had chosen.
Hearing such words from the truly chosen one stirred something peculiar within him.
Was it jealousy? Was it awe?
Se-um had said she trusted guilt, not her own emotions.
Unlike Ha Gyuhyuk, he had never truly earned Se-um’s trust.
Speaking to him as he reviewed the operation was a sudden impulse.
‘Guild Master, do you hate me? You tried to escape the dungeon with your own life. If it weren’t for Se-um, you would have died in that A-rank Dungeon.’
‘You speak as though you’re desperate to be hated.’
Ha Gyuhyuk laughed without seeming surprised, his gaze fixed intently on Kim Gyuwun.
If only he had been hated, his heart would have found peace. He had thought he could set down the burden.
The feeling of having his unspoken thoughts exposed.
Ha Gyuhyuk’s piercing gaze resembled the sensation of standing before Se-um.
‘I don’t hate you.’
‘Why….’
‘I didn’t die, and you became the first life I saved.’
With those words, Kim Gyuwun finally accepted one truth.
He could not defeat this man, and there was no one who could replace him in Se-um’s eyes.
Then he would do his utmost to fulfill this man’s dream.
Because that was what Se-um, whom he loved, desired.
“Guild Master!”
Ha Gyuhyuk leaped upward, stepping on the platform Kim Gyuwun had created.
A blue flash shot forth as if illuminating the path he must take, leaving a trajectory in its wake.
Ha Gyuhyuk began running along that trajectory without a shred of doubt.
The meticulously crafted path allowed him to perfectly evade the countless falling stones.
A blade gleaming white in his hand pierced the eyes of the angel golem.
A portion of the golem’s head became a massive boulder and plummeted.
Ji Chae-ah’s crimson magic pierced through it, reducing it to dust. Everything was proceeding exactly according to Kim Gyuwun’s plan.
In this raid, Touch One was handling support.
All attacks that could be considered killing blows were delegated to other guilds.
‘But this is the right call.’
Touch One had potential, but in reality, there weren’t many hunters who could serve as truly formidable combat forces.
Other hunters who had accumulated know-how through years of dungeon raids had a higher probability of landing effective hits, and he chose efficiency over Touch One’s honor.
“Its vision is disrupted! Attack now!”
Hunters several times stronger than Kim Gyuwun were following his orders without hesitation.
It was incomparable to the days of Guild Taemyeon, when he had to sustain everything through sheer force of will.
The sense of accomplishment it gave was indescribable.
His mind was impossibly clear. His concentration had transcended the limits of human capability.
[ ‘The Gate of Knowledge Beyond Dimensions’ significantly increases party members’ concentration. ]
[ ‘The Divine Beast of Silence and Protection’ significantly increases party members’ physical combat ability. ]
[ ‘The Savior of Monsters and Curses’ significantly increases party members’ magical combat ability. ]
Beyond such buffs, there were also those who brought actual incarnate bodies to participate in combat.
The Constellation of Combat and Victory eagerly tore through the golem’s body, while one who seemed to hail from a martial arts world displayed brilliant sword dances.
Yet they were only creating ‘openings’ for humans instead of delivering killing blows.
As if to say: this land is yours to defend directly.
[ ‘The Prodigy of Solitary Knowledge’ hacks the server and forces expansion. ]
[ The One Who Enjoys Song and Merriment has logged in. ]
[ The King of the Wheel That Spins the Future has logged in. ]
[ The One With the Fastest Feet in the World has logged in. ]
Suddenly, additional login windows for Constellations appeared, then stopped.
Tasha, who had been observing the situation from behind, laughed with satisfaction.
“Caught.”
“Tasha, you could even tamper with the server?”
“I’ve been avoiding it because I’d get disciplined, but… since it’s a competition, I gave it a shot. But now that I’ve been caught, I won’t be able to use it twice. Can’t be helped.”
Tasha was using a small female incarnate body barely exceeding 150 centimeters in height.
So I had vaguely assumed her actual size would be similar.
In that moment, dozens of massive tentacles surged up from behind her back.
Each one was the size of several humans combined.
They bound the golem’s ankles firmly. The most powerful weapon that had prevented hunters from approaching easily—its devastating kicks—was now sealed.
“This doesn’t mean I’m taking the credit, right?”
“Yeah, that’s about Tasha’s actual size.”
Se-um spoke as if genuinely delighted.
‘So that’s her real form?’
Kim Gyuwun barely managed to refocus, having almost let his imagination run away with him.
‘Concentrate!’
He sharpened his gaze.
From his fingertips, the strategy unraveled like thread and was absorbed directly by the hunters.
Since he couldn’t resolve everything through words alone, he conveyed his thoughts through telepathy whenever necessary.
― Switching positions. I’ll buy us some time from the backup while you all consume potions.
The Hunters standing at the front line retreated in unison.
At the same moment, Se-um charged forward.
The instant I thought her purple hair, tied high in a ponytail, gleamed with light, the Golem’s fist drove toward her small frame.
Or rather, it tried to.
Se-um blocked the Golem’s fist with a single, impossibly thin blade, then hurled herself through the air and carved a massive arc across the void.
One of the massive wings snapped cleanly away. The Golem shrieked, its attention snapping to that point.
“Don’t just endure it—use your potions now too. You’ll run out of mana. Standing in the back is hard enough, isn’t it?”
It was a fleeting window the Constellation had carved open.
Kim Gyuwun didn’t hesitate and downed a mana-restoration potion.
The Golem was lifting its severed wing, attempting to reattach it to its body.
Kim Gyuwun spoke calmly.
“We also have a Hunter standing at the front line.”
As if answering that declaration, Dan Yibum burst forth like a bullet.
Touch One’s strongest Hunter.
An S-rank who had reached that position without the Constellation’s aid.
― Don’t let the wing reattach.
Following the path Kim Gyuwun had shown him, he used the cascading boulders as steps and launched himself through the air.
Moving at blinding speed, he tore into the Golem’s shoulder blade, refusing to give the wing even a moment to fully reattach.
Slashing, piercing, launching skyward again.
Dan Yibum didn’t stop until the wing finally severed completely and crashed to the ground.
Even accounting for the numerous buffs he carried, his stamina and mental fortitude were beyond belief.
After displaying such explosive power in so short a time, his landing seemed labored, his body visibly strained.
In that instant, the Golem’s demeanor shifted.
The Golem, which had seemed utterly overwhelmed when Se-um struck it, now turned its head toward Dan Yibum.
It had realized that this insignificant creature had completely severed its wing.
A suffocating dread, an overwhelming pressure, crushed down upon them all at once.
It was the sensation they’d felt when encountering something from the Other World.
As blood surged backward into Kim Gyuwun’s throat and he bowed his head, golden light engulfed the humans.
[ ‘Gatekeeper with Broken Wings’ enhances the mental fortitude and physical capabilities of party members. ]
Clarity returned.
His body still felt heavy, overwhelmed, but he could think coldly now.
Step by step, he began to walk.
“Hunter Kim Gyuwun!”
Despite Ha Gyuhyuk’s voice of protest, he continued forward.
The Golem’s gaze remained fixed on Dan Yibum. He barely managed to rise to his feet.
‘How far are you prepared to go in this raid, Hunter Dan Yibum?’
‘Ideally, I’d prefer to return unscathed, but I’m willing to accept the sacrifice of the few for the many. Even if I’m that few.’
No.
You need to stay intact. That’s the only way my plan succeeds—the only way we clear this dungeon.
Kim Gyuwun threw his entire body forward, hurling Dan Yibum behind him with all his strength.
A stone, its surface condensed with sharp and malevolent energy, rocketed toward the space where Dan Yibum had stood.
“….”
Kim Gyuwun slowly lowered his gaze to his own body.
The stone had pierced cleanly through the center of his chest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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