I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 40

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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 40. Spear-form Parasitic Worm
“…Aaaaaaahhhhh!!”
Gun-dan refused to retreat even as crimson blood streamed from every opening in his face—mouth, nose, eyes, ears. He knew that if this continued, he would truly die, yet retreat was not an option!
Yet his golden fortress grew increasingly dim and fragile with each passing moment.
Limit. That single word consumed Gun-dan’s thoughts. In truth, he had already endured far beyond what Shin Ju-ha could have asked for, but for everyone to survive, he had to push further still.
Roughly thirty elite soldiers who had survived the massacre—a scene that defied belief from an E-rank Hunter like Shin Ju-ha—attacked with feverish intensity under the Queen’s command, their focus solely on the eggs. Each time the colossal strength that even C-rank Hunters struggled against struck the Holy Fortress, his legs buckled beneath him.
“Mister…no, oppa. I’m sorry….”
Finally, Min Cho-rong could no longer sustain her buffs and healing, collapsing from exhaustion. After carefully laying her down, Gun-dan drained the last mana potion into his mouth and roared with renewed determination.
‘I cannot crumble like this!’
Gun-dan’s eyes fixed upon the man enduring relentless assault beneath the Queen’s onslaught, still standing firm. His same-aged VIP patient’s guardian, his lifesaver, the very reason they had survived this far.
“…Hold on…I asked you to hold on.”
Yet mere endurance could not turn this situation around. He had to block. He had to attack. He had to help—so his benefactor and comrade would not die!
But how?
Unique Ability: Holy Fortress (Mythic-SSS+)—a power he would likely never have discovered had he not entered this dungeon. His unique ability possessed no offensive capability whatsoever.
His unique ability, which perfectly reflected his timid and cowardly nature since childhood despite his imposing frame, had all its stats concentrated solely into defense.
But now, for the first time, Gun-dan desired it. Power to strike down enemies! For myself! For those behind me! For my comrade fighting ahead!
〚Unique Ability: Holy Fortress senses its master’s overwhelming will and the pure sacred power radiating from his entire being, gaining strength!〛
His power, which grew through the master’s will and resolve, through the heart and action of protecting another, surged explosively in an instant.
Though Min Cho-rong had collapsed, the buffs she had granted still enveloped his entire body, and the Saint’s sacred power intertwined with Gun-dan’s sacred form. His will and the Saint’s strength created a miracle!
〚Skill Acquired: Holy Armament (Legend-SSS)!〛
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
Gun-dan wrung out his final reserves of strength. For the first time, he who had only endured and persevered now counterattacked.
The dimming holy fortress suddenly blazed with brilliant light, and golden weapons materialized upon its surface.
-Kshikek?
-Kegegek!!
-Keragek!!
The brainwashed elite soldiers were startled, yet they did not retreat. As if daring him to try, they attacked the fortress with even greater ferocity.
Facing them, Gun-dan—his entire body rippling with golden radiance—issued a command.
“…Fire!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five cannons materialized upon the fortress in an instant, spewing fire as they unleashed golden projectiles.
Crack!
The cannons struck with precision at the Kang Geo-ui soldiers’ charred and wounded injuries, annihilating them.
As massive experience flooded in and Gun-dan leveled up, he hesitated no longer, squeezing out every last ounce of power to press his assault.
A perfect Hunter had been born—one who excelled in both offense and defense.
The elite soldiers, already suffering mortal wounds from their relentless assault against the crazed monster, had no means to intercept the incoming barrage and fell or were neutralized.
It was over. The golden radiance faded and dissipated, and Gun-dan himself collapsed, consciousness slipping away.
***
I clenched my teeth, watching Gun-dan’s remarkable prowess as he neutralized thirty elite soldiers fade into the background. My entire body was now covered in wounds severe enough to be called fatal.
My ribs were fractured, my ankle twisted, and my left arm was gone. This was the price I paid for blocking and evading just a few of the Queen’s attacks. The royal guards were formidable beyond imagination, but the Queen operated on an entirely different level.
So much so that I couldn’t believe she was merely Unique-Rank [C]. No, I was certain of it. This was at least twice the power and ability compared to the royal guards. A mere two-rank difference couldn’t explain this disparity.
But I had neither the time nor the luxury to harbor doubts or complaints.
〚Remaining Time 00:01:32〛
One minute and thirty seconds left. Such a brief span of time. Yet before an overwhelmingly powerful adversary, those seconds stretched into an eternity of agony.
As earth clung to my legs in an attempt to flee, the Queen’s jaws tore directly into my left arm. It wasn’t bitten through or pierced—it was simply ripped away.
Like tofu, my arm separated from my body and vanished into the Queen’s maw. Even with the durability strengthened by my Infinite stats, I couldn’t withstand such brute force, though my shock lasted only a moment.
The Queen, fully aware of how dire and critical this moment was, continued her relentless assault without pause.
With only my right arm remaining and my body screaming at me to collapse, I forced myself to endure. I persisted, and persisted, and persisted still.
The Queen’s power shattered, tore, and gnawed at me, yet I held firm.
One minute and thirty seconds—I could withstand that much through sheer willpower alone.
-Kieeeek!!!
In the end, it was the Queen who surrendered first. Enraged, she hurled me away with her massive head.
Like a puppet with severed strings, my body flew helplessly through the air before crashing before the egg. There lay Min Cho-rong, unconscious from exhaustion, Gun-dan collapsed from overexertion beyond his limits, and my younger brother’s capsule.
“Haa… ugh!”
I drew a deep breath and used The Sun’s mana to cauterize the wound where my left shoulder had been torn away. Searing pain accompanied the hemostasis, and my consciousness sharpened.
Ten seconds remained. I staggered to my feet and seized the Fire Sword, now cracked and its upper portion shattered, aiming it at the creature.
-Kieeeek!!!
The Queen and the remaining five royal guards charged forward in fury. I couldn’t stop them. Even with a miracle, I doubted it would be possible—but I didn’t need to stop them.
I reversed my grip on the Fire Sword and hurled it. The blade flew toward the Queen’s gaping maw, only to be blocked by an earth wall the Queen had conjured.
But I had achieved what I intended. A fleeting moment was all I needed.
〚The Queen’s egg will hatch imminently!〛
〚3〛
Realizing my scheme, the Queen commanded her fastest royal guard to charge.
〚2〛
The creature crossed the short distance in an instant, rushing toward me.
〚1〛
I would block it! No matter what! I transformed Man-byeon from the lowest tier of my inventory into a shield and defended the egg.
Kwang!
The moment a tremendous impact crashed down upon me, my objective was achieved!
〚The Queen’s egg hatches! Bow before it! A new sovereign of the Underground is born!〛
The massive egg cracked open, and something emerged from within—something utterly alien for an ant.
A hybrid of human and giant ant. Two long antennae atop its head, skin pale as if it had never seen The Sun, and a towering frame that appeared to be at least three meters tall.
A new-generation Queen had hatched.
〚Congratulations! You have cleared the Hidden Stage—Generational Succession!〛
〚You have conquered the Dungeon!〛
〚Make your choice!〛
〚Will you settle your rewards and clear the Dungeon? Or will you remain and create more Achievements?〛
I was about to choose the former without hesitation when the New Queen’s gaze stopped me in my tracks.
Yet her gaze, as if to contradict that very notion, held both benevolence and an inexplicable majesty.
“I choose what remains.”
〚Hidden stage—Queen versus ???? has begun!〛
With the message, the New Queen moved.
-Kkeekekek?
The Giant Ant standing before me trembled in confusion at the sight of the new sovereign. As if uncertain what to do, its body simply quivered uncontrollably.
-Chwoaak!
Torn asunder by the New Queen’s grasp, it met its end. I gasped in horror. The sheer strength required to rend the creature’s two mandibles apart was staggering.
-Kkeeeek!!
Even at the Old Queen’s cry, her guard could not move. They felt it instinctively—the New Queen was a being of incomparable magnitude to the Old Queen.
The Old Queen raged. She vented her fury by slaughtering all four of her petrified guards beside her, then turned her gaze upon the new sovereign.
-Kkeekekekek!!!
-Vermin. To allow our species to meet such an end at the hands of such a creature.
Remarkably, the words flowing from the New Queen’s mandibles were Korean, and I swallowed hard, watching the only two figures still standing in this vast chamber.
The outcome was instantaneous. The New Queen, an overwhelming force and terror incarnate, toyed with the Old Queen like a plaything. The six legs that had trampled and kicked me were torn away without ceremony; the earth-manipulating power that had bound and tormented me was undone by a mere gesture; the mandibles that had severed my left arm were simply wrenched free.
-Kieeeuu!
The Old Queen’s eyes, unable to even properly scream, burned with rage and indignation. As if this could not be happening. It was the moment the New Queen, regarding her with contempt, prepared to deliver the final blow.
-Kikikik!!!!
With a final, desperate shriek, the Old Queen’s gaze locked directly upon me, and she expelled something toward me.
The New Queen lurched forward in alarm, but it was too late. Faster than a bullet, something small hurtled toward me.
“Damn!”
Before I could even react, that wisp-like form—no larger than a fingertip—was sucked into my skull as if it had been waiting all along.
And then I understood. Why the Old Queen had been capable of displaying such transcendent power.
〚Ancient-RANK [F] LV 3: Spear-form Parasitic Worm is attempting to parasitize you!〛
It was a parasite. A creature of intangible form that manipulates the host’s brain, draining everything from its vessel until death, forever seeking stronger life to inhabit.
Had it deemed itself unable to parasitize the anomalous New Queen?
It had chosen me, and now it sought to seize control of my mind.
And that was the worst decision it could have made.
***
-Kee-hee-hee!
It was a formless entity. The place where it first opened its eyes was a small settlement inhabited by lesser demons. It instinctively infiltrated and took root in the mind of the strongest among them.
What followed was simple. It drained the essence of its host while driving their entire species toward extinction. Even it didn’t know why it sought their annihilation—it merely acted on instinct, nothing more.
In less than a decade, having exterminated the earth-controlling species, it moved its host to capture and consume a larger demon nearby. Or rather, it changed hosts.
Growing stronger as it led dozens of species to ruin, it continued its ascent. Of course, being nothing but a spiritual entity, it possessed no physical power of its own. Instead, its rank grew endlessly, allowing it to dominate and devour increasingly powerful beings.
The final species it discovered was the Kang Geo-ui Species—a race with colossal bodies, overwhelming strength, and such staggering numbers that they reigned as the supreme rulers of the underground world.
And when it finally parasitized their Queen, the world collapsed. The underground drifted through dimensions seeking a new settlement, yet it never ceased its relentless pursuit of its goal.
Ruin and growth. The Kang Geo-ui Species, once numbering in the tens of thousands, fell into decline after decline under their maddened Queen across countless ages, their former supremacy reduced to pathetic weakness.
It was then that it realized something miraculous had occurred—the Queen had briefly slipped from its control! In that fleeting moment, the Queen had expended most of her species’ essence to birth a New Queen!
Once she hatched, this New Queen would possess the power to annihilate the very entity that had reduced them to this state in mere moments!
So it searched desperately using brainwashing—an ability inherited from a species it had consumed long ago—to find and destroy the Queen’s egg. And it found one. An intruder!
That’s where it all began. The New Queen was ultimately born, and it now faced oblivion.
Born with the combined strength of the entire great species once called supreme, the New Queen had grown over countless ages into a being so formidable that even this ancient parasite dared not infect her. So it chose differently.
To parasitize that species instead—the very race that had been shamefully defeated even by its own host!
The judgment was precise and flawless, and the execution even swifter. It manipulated the dying Queen to launch itself toward the human, successfully infiltrating his mind!
Now it would dominate this body and escape! Having crossed dimensions to reach this place, surely it could return—first, it just needed to flee from that monster and find a stronger host…!
That was as far as it got. It felt something. Something looking down upon it.
Slowly, it raised its head to gaze upward within the Mental Realm. And the moment it saw what lay above, its formless body trembled.
Evil—a fitting description for the semi-transparent presence that gazed down with arrogant ferocity, as if contemplating how best to destroy this insignificant thing.
Good—standing opposite Evil, another entity with hazy, half-awakened eyes looking down, and despite its sacred and magnificent appearance, it too harbored intentions to kill.
And above them, when it beheld something indescribable—a radiant light beyond all words—it finally understood.
This was no escape route. This was hell itself, come to deliver its end.
The formless body chose death of its own accord and dissolved. As if the air had been let out of a balloon, Evil withdrew its gaze first, Good glanced down briefly before returning to slumber, and Golden withdrew its light.
And directly beneath them, a supreme flame burned with majestic authority, moving at the command of Good. That was the end.
The moment the supreme flame touched it, the Spear-form Parasitic Worm—the entity that had driven countless species to ruin—simply ceased to exist.

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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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