I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 18

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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 18. The Final End of the Flame Demon
Thud!
From a corridor cloaked in darkness so complete that nothing within could be seen, a trembling hand shot out, clawing desperately at the empty floor in a frantic struggle for purchase.
Like a human in those zombie films and dramas, thrashing for survival in the moments before the undead’s bite, the hand that had been groping across the floor finally seized upon the only support within reach—my shoe.
A desperate, powerful grip took hold of my leg as a figure emerged from the darkness before my eyes.
It was a man covered entirely in crimson burn scars, his flesh melting away in patches from toxic gas, his face streaked with tears, mucus, and worse.
“You came. So it was you after all. Lee Ji-hyung, the Flame Demon.”
“Uuugghhh….”
Lee Ji-hyung was so thoroughly marinated in terror and agony that he could no longer form words.
He could only drag himself past me across the floor, desperate to escape those horrifying traps.
His mind had completely shattered—he was as good as dead already. The fact that he’d forgotten he’d been following me in secret, that he wasn’t even using his concealment skill, spoke volumes about how far gone he truly was.
‘Did I go too far?’
Still, he should be able to speak, at least enough for me to ask who sent him.
I clicked my tongue and pulled the sword I’d driven into the ground, blocking his path with it.
“Aahhh… Monster! It’s a monster! Please save me. Save me. I don’t want to kill. It was a mistake. Save me. No. Kill me. It hurts. I’m scared. Kyahahaha. I’ll kill everyone. No. It was a mistake. I’ll kill you. It was a mistake.”
Watching him ramble like a man experiencing complete dissociation, Seo Mi-na’s expression hardened.
“I had a suspicion, but it really was Lee Ji-hyung. How did you even get in here?”
“Either you or me—he must have been tailing one of us. And clearly, seeing the boss for the first time, he didn’t realize how strong it would be and just let it loose. Whether he’s stupid or just an idiot, I can’t tell.”
Even without hearing it from him, I could sense exactly what he’d been thinking, what had driven him to do this.
‘I must have gotten on his nerves. So he decided to mess with me by releasing the boss. When Seo Mi-na ended up in mortal danger, he panicked and ran.’
I clicked my tongue. To think this worthless fool would one day become known as the Flame Demon, a cadre of the Demon Cult.
“What are you thinking of doing?”
“Killing him. We can’t leave loose ends. Besides, even if we let him live, he looks like he won’t last long anyway.”
I said this while extracting a glimmering stone from his pocket and a ring from his finger.
“An Escape Stone, lowest grade. This would need at least 100 magic stones to activate. And this ring—it grants access to a concealment skill.”
There was no way Lee Ji-hyung, a mere prospect who hadn’t even seen real combat yet, could have purchased such an expensive skill item with his own money.
‘The Seongun Guild provided it. They ordered him to kill me.’
In truth, I’d already offered him a contract first, one filled with toxic clauses, but that was a truth he would never know.
‘So I’ve become enemies with them.’
It seemed they’d sent Lee Ji-hyung after me because I’d destroyed the image and reputation they’d invested so much money cultivating.
They’d commissioned an assassination from a mere prospect, and even after he’d been defeated by me once, they still equipped him with excellent items.
‘Making enemies due to bad luck isn’t a good choice.’
But I couldn’t let Lee Ji-hyung leave this place alive. His mind was too far gone anyway—he wouldn’t survive.
‘If his mind were intact, he’d have cleared the 2nd Floor and could escape the Hidden Stage.’
It worked out well. I’d been waiting right here, ready to kill him the moment he emerged from the trial, just in case he tried to escape that way.
“Should I do it? If it’s hard for you, I can handle it.”
Perhaps noticing my hesitation about the killing, Seo Mi-na stepped closer and drew the spear at her waist, offering calmly.
But it was fine. I ignored her trembling hands and raised my sword.
“Go well. Don’t harbor resentment toward me. You brought this entirely upon yourself.”
I would leave no loose ends, not if I wanted to survive.
Thud!
My blade pierced his heart, and both of the 10% powers that had refused to manifest finally awakened.
Whoosh! Crack!
The left side of my body burned while the right side froze solid.
“…!!”
Thus Lee Ji-hyung, the Flame Demon who had earned his name by slaughtering countless Hunters and becoming a Mine, met his end here in the most pathetic manner imaginable.
***
We left his corpse on Floor 2 and ascended to Floor 3.
〚Hidden Stage: Pyramid Where the Sun Sleeps Floor 3 – Layer of the Dead〛
Floor 3 was a layer where mummies, refusing death and yearning for life in the darkness, manifested as monsters.
Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!
Their stats were only slightly higher than the Black Dog we’d encountered on the 1st Floor.
Since the monsters posed little threat and Lee Ji-hyung wasn’t here to obstruct us this time, we were able to clear Floor 3 slowly and at our leisure.
By the time we defeated the boss, Seo Mi-na and I had reached level 9.
With the bonus points gained each level, my Wuji stat had risen to 34, and it seemed it would reach exactly 35 by level 10.
Resting briefly beside the boss’s corpse, I furrowed my brow.
‘Neither the Indomitable stat reward nor the message about Misfortune exhausting its power has arrived.’
The Indomitable stat rewards me with stat points and bonus points when I overcome Misfortune. Each time Misfortune depletes all its misery, it warns me in anticipation of the next. And yet.
Despite perfectly handling the misfortune that was Lee Ji-hyung this time… not a single message has appeared.
Which meant.
‘Misfortune’s schemes haven’t ended yet.’
Irritation welled up unbidden, and my head throbbed. Was I sharpening my senses too keenly, maintaining too much tension?
A headache bloomed, and a sigh escaped me.
“This is really frustrating.”
“Why? Are you bothered about killing Lee Ji-hyung? It couldn’t be helped. That bastard tried to kill us first, and I nearly died. You did the right thing.”
At her attempt to comfort me, I found myself laughing despite myself.
Right, what changes by worrying about it?
If misfortune is coming anyway, I’ll simply be more careful and respond more powerfully. I’ve faced this countless times before—the phrase “catastrophic misfortune” is slightly grating, but I’ll overcome it again and survive, clinging to this stubborn life of mine.
‘I cannot die here as pathetically as Lee Ji-hyung!’
As I steeled my resolve, my mind cleared and a faint smile crossed my lips.
“Let’s go. Quickly.”
Seo Mi-na and I immediately entered Floor 4.
〚Hidden Stage: Pyramid Where the Sun Sleeps Floor 4 – Layer of Despair〛
Keeeeeeee!!! Kiiiiiii!!! Zzzzzzzt!!!
The moment we entered the floor, someone’s despair struck our ears. The wails and anguish of those living as vengeful spirits, unable to die, filled this entire layer.
〚Unique Ability: Supreme Spirit and Stat: Indomitable completely defend against mental attacks.〛
Simultaneously, a message appeared, and the vengeful spirits’ assault became nothing more than an extremely irritating noise.
But that applied only to me.
“Kyaaaah!!”
Seeing Seo Mi-na beside me clutching her ears in agony, I immediately opened my inventory and pulled out a potion.
I uncorked the bottle and poured it directly into her mouth. Seo Mi-na drank it down eagerly, gulping with satisfaction. Once she’d emptied the entire vial, she finally seemed better. Removing her hands from her ears, Seo Mi-na’s expression shifted to one of exhaustion from the despair she’d been hearing.
“Thank you. I really thought I was going to lose my mind. The moment I heard that sound, every negative sensation amplified… Yes, it became like I wanted to kill myself.”
This floor was clearly testing one’s mental fortitude—a cruel trial designed to make people give up through overwhelming despair.
Fortunately, I possessed an innate ability and stats that rendered me nearly invincible against mental attacks specifically. Moreover, I’d protected Seo Mi-na safely with a general-S rank mental protection potion.
“Let’s go. This should end easily.”
“You’re right… You’re really dependable.”
We simply traversed the field at a leisurely pace. How far had we traveled?
Just as the mental protection effect I’d granted her was wearing off, we received a message that Floor 4 had been cleared, along with our rewards, and another set of choices appeared.
“We’re going up to Floor 5.”
〚Hidden Stage: Pyramid Where the Sun Sleeps, Floor 5—The Infinite Floor〛
〚Protect the pyramid’s only flame from the infinite horde of monsters that will assault you.〛
Whoosh!
The moment we entered, a brilliant flame erupted behind us, and at last the darkness began to recede.
“It’s so bright!”
“Ugh!”
After clearing the darkness relying only on a flashlight’s beam, seeing actual bright fire made my eyes sting—but it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation.
〚The first wave will occur in 10 minutes!〛
But that joy transformed into tension the moment I saw the monsters rising from the distant sand.
‘Ten of them!’
A number I could handle alone. So I decided quickly.
“I’ll go forward and block them so they can’t get too close to the flame. Seo Mi-na, you kill any I miss!”
“Got it!”
As we cleared together, I realized something—through the power of fortune, she’d achieved some kind of awakening. The damage she dealt in a single moment surpassed mine by several levels.
It must be the difference in energy stats. But my physical stats were overwhelmingly superior, and I could endure far longer.
‘That’s why I need to stand in front.’
We didn’t know how many waves there would be or how powerful the creatures might become. She needed to conserve her strength and aim for the boss.
Thud!
As I kicked off the ground and charged forward, clay golems made of sand attacked me.
“Die!”
I severed the cores of the creatures that fell within my perception, one blade stroke each. The first wave ended in exactly ten swings.
“Weak. The experience is stingy too.”
We were given ten minutes to rest, and so we began our cycle of resting and fighting, protecting the flame.
.
.
.
〚Wave 99 is beginning! 99 monsters and a mid-boss—the Undead Sandman—will appear!〛
-Uuuuaaaaahhhhh!!!
“Huff… Huff… I can see the end. Damn it.”
As the waves progressed, the number of monsters increased by one with each wave. By the 90th wave, 99 monsters and mid-bosses began appearing.
The problem was that my level had capped at 10 after the 32nd wave and wouldn’t rise further. Thanks to that, my Infinite stat had reached 35, but my health was insufficient.
I drank one of the recovery potions Seo Mi-na had given me, then gripped my sword once more.
“Just two more waves. Then it’s over.”
Based on the pattern, there should be a hundred waves total. I tightened my grip on the blade, kicked off the ground, and began swinging at the approaching enemies.
〚You have successfully completed the 99th wave.〛
〚You are granted a 10-minute rest period!〛
〚Warning! A boss will appear in the 100th wave!〛
I watched the mid-boss crumble back into sand and disappear into the ground, then collapsed onto the floor.
Every creature that appeared in the waves was a golem—a sand construct animated by a core at its center.
As the wave numbers increased, stronger golems appeared with more cores, and the mid-boss I’d just defeated was a monster possessing a staggering eleven cores.
“Damn it, I nearly died because I didn’t have time to drink a sensory enhancement potion.”
I had no major wounds. After clearing ninety-nine waves, I hadn’t sustained any critical injuries.
Just countless small cuts and tears. But as they accumulated, my clothes had become soaked with blood, doubling my discomfort.
Seo Mi-na faced a similar situation in the distance. Even I couldn’t handle a hundred monsters alone, so inevitably many slipped past my defense. She fought with unwavering determination, refusing to let a single creature through to the flames behind her.
“Is this finally the last one?”
Ten minutes passed in a flash—just enough time to catch my breath, consume a sensory enhancement potion, and drink four different physical enhancement potions.
“Excellent!”
Power surged through my entire body, and an exhilarating sense of invincibility flooded my senses.
It was fortunate that my level increase had raised my extraction limit by fifty—otherwise, I couldn’t have used these potions from the golden vault so freely.
Currently, my ownership of the 1st Floor stood at 9.9%, just shy of 10%. Since it wouldn’t increase further, there had to be some condition attached. Reaching 10% would surely trigger something significant.
“Then shall we begin?”
I watched the colossal golem awakening at the far end of the Desert, gripped my sword tightly, and charged forward.

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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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