F-Rank Secretly Becomes Stronger - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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25

‘Those were movements without any wasted motion.’

Footwork that didn’t look like that of a newcomer.

Swift situational judgment and entry into enemy territory.

He possessed the confidence that he could perfectly overcome any attacking situation.

‘He’s definitely not F-rank level.’

The B-rank Gate that he thought would be boring.

Park Hanseong gave instructions while watching Juhyeok casually wipe off the blood.

“We’ll change the formation.”

The new formation he was switching to as he said that.

Initially, he had positioned Juhyeok between the vanguard and middle guard to be protected, but after seeing that scene just now, he changed his mind.

“Hunter Juhyeok, let’s switch positions with me.”

He wanted to observe more closely.

What kind of swordsmanship would a newcomer who was supposedly F-rank show?

As an S-rank Hunter, he was genuinely curious.

“Hunter Juhyeok, would that be alright?”

“….”

The position he suddenly wanted to change.

Juhyeok answered while lightly wiping off the blood without even looking at him.

“As long as you properly take care of the magic stones from the monsters I catch, I have no complaints.”

In raids, settlements are made according to contribution.

If he stood at the front, he would certainly be able to catch many monsters.

For Juhyeok, this was actually a good thing.

“Good. We should definitely handle that part properly.”

Park Hanseong was satisfied with the refreshing acceptance and switched places with Juhyeok.

With this, the formation was set up with Juhyeok at the front.

“Um, Hunter Park Hanseong…?”

“What is it?”

The Supporter spoke up hesitantly.

She asked cautiously in a small voice.

“Is it really okay to put Hunter Juhyeok at the front?”

Even though he had just handled the monsters without problems, was it really a good decision to put an F-rank at the front?

She questioned the judgment, wondering if they were doing something unnecessary.

“It’s fine. I’ll be watching from behind, so there shouldn’t be any problems under normal circumstances.”

“…If you say so, then I have nothing more to say.”

Since an S-rank said he would take good care of things from behind, there were no further complaints.

Though anxiety was still mixed in her expression, it was difficult to say anything when an S-rank Hunter answered so confidently.

“Well then, let’s get going.”

The party hurriedly moved forward for the raid.

Unlike the previous raid, monsters appeared quite frequently in this swampland.

Kieek!

A group of Frogs appeared in packs with eerie sounds.

“I’ll take out the shield-bearer first, so please handle the rear sniping.”

Each time, it was Juhyeok who moved first.

He quickly rushed in and caused confusion with a preemptive strike before the Frog group could organize their formation.

Taking advantage of that gap, the prepared magic and arrows swept through the rear.

Kueek!

The Frogs had their throats pierced by fire magic and sharp arrowheads before they could even show hostility.

Park Hanseong, who had been quietly watching that scene, assessed the situation.

‘There are still quite a few left.’

Thanks to good judgment, the few rear Frogs were completely wiped out.

Everything up to this point had been perfect, and the problem was what came next.

‘There are still five left, how should I handle them.’

Not enough time for magic and arrows to fly.

From here, it was divided into whether he would take them all down with his own capabilities, or buy time until the magic and arrows could arrive.

Of course, if he were an ordinary Hunter of similar level, choosing the latter would be the right path.

What kind of judgment would he make?

Park Hanseong watched him quietly with anticipation building inside.

“Everyone please stand by.”

Juhyeok did not disappoint those expectations.

‘Yes, that’s how you should come out.’

Juhyeok requested the party members to wait and then charged alone into enemy territory.

Anyone watching might click their tongue calling it reckless, but Park Hanseong actually felt more favorable toward his refreshing action.

‘If you’re on the front line, you need to know how to charge out refreshingly like that.’

Unlike Hunters these days who emphasize the importance of tactics and get scared of monsters before retreating, this was the spirit to charge refreshingly toward the enemy.

A swordsman standing on the front line should rightfully have the courage to charge alone into enemy territory like that.

‘His courage is admirable, but without the ability to match it, it’s useless.’

Was his courage mere arrogance?

Or was it confidence that matched his skills?

As if answering that question, Juhyeok quickly cut the sword-wielding Frog clean in half.

Kreak!

Despite the Frog having tough hide, its head split into two pieces.

‘His form is definitely clean.’

He had felt it when Juhyeok first charged in and caught the Frog, but he could sense deep mastery from him.

An unwavering stance that would be difficult for a Hunter of that age to display.

‘Is he making up for his insufficient mana with swordsmanship alone?’

An F-rank who hadn’t even reawakened.

The amount of mana he felt when nearby was exactly at that level.

‘Does that even make sense?’

Muscles only slightly superior to an ordinary person.

With only that level of physique, he was slaughtering B-rank Gate monsters.

Anyone who heard this would obviously sneer and tell him to stop talking nonsense.

But Park Hanseong and all the party members were witnessing that very scene worthy of sneering.

Kreek—!

Frogs charging toward Juhyeok all at once.

Four of them rushed at him simultaneously, all targeting him.

‘This is getting a bit dangerous.’

Two wielding swords.

One wielding a club.

One wielding a spear.

Each charged at him with their weapon tips pointed forward.

A dangerous situation even for a Hunter with exceptional abilities.

A rookie Hunter would likely feel panic when monsters charged simultaneously like this.

‘Should I step in now?’

Park Hanseong quickly reached for his sword.

Just as he finished preparing to charge forward, stomping his foot hard on the ground.

“….”

Juhyeok showed him his palm, stopping him.

His eyes remained calm even while looking at the group of monsters charging at him.

‘Ha, alright, let’s see how far you can go.’

Park Hanseong stopped at the palm he showed.

Soon the monster approached right up to his nose.

Juhyeok slightly twisted sideways and escaped from the trajectory of all attacks.

“Huh.”

‘Look at this bastard?’

Even with attacks flying at him, far from being scared, he actually predicted all the attack trajectories and lightly evaded them.

Looking closely, his body movements were so perfect it seemed like he might have used some skill.

One of the party members who had been quietly watching him asked the Supporter in a flustered voice.

“…Hunter Juhyeok, did you just use a skill?”

“….”

The Supporter gave no answer.

She stared blankly at Juhyeok and said.

“No. I didn’t see any mana movement at all.”

“No, then you’re saying he grasped all the trajectories purely with his eyes?”

An attack evaded using no skills whatsoever, relying only on his own vision and intuition.

If he had been even slightly off, he would have been one step away from being skewered by the spear.

In such a situation, to show such perfect evasion without using a single skill.

“Isn’t he insane?”

The Archer’s opinion was the correct answer.

This was bold behavior that could only be done by someone insane.

Keeaak―!

Even while everyone was doubting his mental state, the battle continued.

After lightly evading the attack, he first picked out the Frog holding a spear and shoved his sword into its mouth opening.

Kkeueuk―!

The sword penetrated through to the throat, turning the Frog into a skewer instead.

Blue blood splattered everywhere as the panicked Frog cowered.

“….”

Juhyeok didn’t miss that moment and pulled the struggling Frog from his sword, then kicked it toward the remaining group.

Kkeueuk―!

The Frog suffered as blood poured from its penetrating wound.

At that sight, even the unharmed Frogs fell into a panic state.

Keeuk―! Keeaak―!

Footsteps slowly backing away while looking at Juhyeok, who was merely F-rank.

‘Is he thinking of making them flee by deliberately showing a violent appearance?’

Certainly a wiser method than fighting the remaining three alone.

Just as they were inwardly agreeing it was a decent idea.

Kkeuraak―!

Juhyeok unhesitatingly finished off one of the remaining Frogs.

If he had left it alone, it might have fled by itself.

But he didn’t let the Frog escape.

That was because from Juhyeok’s perspective, this was an important opportunity to obtain B-rank magic stones, and he couldn’t just let it slip away.

Kkeueuk―!

As their companion was cut down by the merciless sword, the others fled.

Juhyeok quickly caught the remaining two before the monsters could escape into the swampland and definitively ended their lives.

Blue blood stained his outer clothes.

He lightly wiped the blood that had splattered on his face and said to the party members who had been watching from behind.

“It’s finished.”

“….”

Anyone could see.

Juhyeok had completely swept them all away.

Not only the Frogs that charged at him, but even the ones that struggled to escape.

At his cruel behavior that was more monstrous than the monsters themselves, the party members couldn’t even speak properly.

‘This guy is completely insane.’

From the rumors of carrying a D-rank Gate alone and the sight of him charging at the Frog by himself, they naturally expected he wasn’t an ordinary guy.

However, what he just showed was shock and horror itself.

How could a guy who was merely a rookie Hunter display such a cruel appearance?

Park Hanseong, who had been quietly watching along with the party members, brought up the question everyone had been keeping to themselves.

“Couldn’t you have just let them escape?”

The reason for specifically hunting down those who had fallen into panic.

Of course, there could be various reasons if you looked for them, but he wanted to hear directly from his mouth why he went that far.

Juhyeok answered immediately without hesitation.

“Who knows when I’ll get to enter a B-rank Gate again.”

An opportunity that wouldn’t come often for an F-rank Hunter.

Juhyeok had to seize this uncertain opportunity to make money quickly.

“There are many places I need to spend money right now. I have to earn when I can.”

“Why do you need money so much when you’re still young?”

A topic that might be sensitive.

When Park Hanseong asked, Juhyeok answered with an unconcerned expression.

“My mother is hospitalized.”

“….”

“Hospital bills and living expenses require a lot of money.”

Actually, he had earned enough for hospital bills and living expenses.

But to live comfortably in the future, it was better to earn money securely.

Moreover, when entering B-rank Gates, he needed to earn intensively to help with Training Room upgrades too.

Naturally, he couldn’t answer that he needed it to consume Magic Stones, so he gave a roughly acceptable answer that everyone could understand, and whether it worked properly, the gazes that had been looking at him like a monster softened a bit.

“I see….”

Their guard lowered at the story about parents’ hospital bills.

If it was a family-related problem, even his cruel actions from earlier seemed understandable.

“Understood. Let’s keep moving.”

No more persistent questions came.

Park Hanseong silently pointed ahead, and just quietly watched as Juhyeok handled the monster groups that appeared again.

Was it consideration given after hearing about earning money for family’s hospital bills?

Park Hanseong deliberately yielded to Juhyeok without moving directly even against monsters he could handle himself.

As they continued with Juhyeok handling over 90% of the monsters, they eventually reached the Boss’s Habitat.

“Hunter Juhyeok must be tired, so rest in the back.”

“That’s right. We’ll handle the boss among ourselves.”

The party members made him step back, thinking he must be tired from handling most of the mobs alone.

Having already handled many monsters up to this point, he might be able to upgrade the Training Room with the settlement he’d receive.

It wouldn’t have been bad to rest and accept their consideration, but.

“No. If it’s alright, I’d like to handle this too.”

Juhyeok wanted to firmly seize this rare opportunity.

‘No matter how much I receive from the settlement, it won’t be enough.’

Hospital bills and future living expenses.

For future Training Room upgrades too, the more Magic Stones the better.

“Would it be possible for me to handle it?”

Catching all the mobs alone was behavior that went against etiquette among Hunters.

Since it was directly connected to other people’s income, he asked carefully.

“Won’t it be difficult?”

“I still have plenty of stamina.”

Juhyeok hadn’t even used half of his power yet.

Since his face indeed showed no signs of fatigue, the party members glanced at each other and nodded.

“Do as you wish. We already received plenty of commission from Master Han Sanguk anyway, so we got all the money we should receive.”

“Same here.”

One by one, the party members agreed to his Solo Raid.

Only the Supporter and Hunter Park Hanseong’s agreement remained, so he looked at them.

Then Hunter Park Hanseong answered first.

“If things get dangerous, I’ll help you out, so go wild to your heart’s content.”

“Thank you.”

All that remained was the Supporter’s permission.

When he looked at her, she answered with a lively expression.

“It’s fine if you let me broadcast this live!”

“Just ignore this person and let’s go.”

Park Hanseong immediately blocked her, seeing her tireless attempt to start broadcasting again.

Then she spoke with a desperate expression.

“An F-rank Hunter is going to take down a B-rank boss, and you want me to miss this right in front of my eyes?”

“Let’s not cause unnecessary trouble and just watch quietly.”

“…Hmph.”

The live broadcast was finally stopped thanks to Hunter Park Hanseong.

It was for the best, since he had no desire to deal with annoying interference from all over if this got broadcasted.

“Well then, since it’s decided, let’s go in right away.”

Having received everyone’s permission, they entered the Boss’s Habitat.

Juhyeok took the lead and walked in first, with the party members following behind him.

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