I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 48

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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 48. Dungeon Rampage (2)
I swapped Man-byeon for the Crimson Fang once more and aimed it at the remaining three, causing them to instinctively stumble backward.
“Not attacking? Weren’t you so confident just moments ago? Let’s finish this quickly so I can rest.”
I sneered at them. They lacked conviction. And they certainly weren’t exceptional in ability either.
If you’ve decided to kill someone, you must also understand that you could die in the process.
“For people who do this kind of work, you’re awfully clumsy.”
In the world of Hunters, the law of the jungle is as fundamental as any other rule.
The weak ultimately submit beneath the strong. It’s not merely a law that applies between Hunters and monsters, but also between Hunters and Hunters.
There’s a reason Hunter ranks are divided by alphabet. The higher the rank, the greater the power, the more they become predators. The lower the rank, the weaker the power, the more they become prey.
And in this situation right now, who is predator and who is prey has already been decided.
“Damn it. You never said anything about a monster like this!”
The hoodlum Kim Woo-rim gripped his spear with trembling hands, spitting out curses.
Kim Woo-rim’s body was already half-turned, clearly ready to flee at any moment. Lee Ji-ah was no different.
“Phew… this is way stronger than I thought.”
In that moment, one of the prey bared its fangs at the predator, bristled its fur, and began to growl low.
“Damn it. This wasn’t what I prepared this for.”
Seok Woon, the Hunter Association Examiner, let out a sigh and pulled something from his pocket.
“Ah! That’s right. Damn! Yeah, it’s not over yet!”
It was a horn flute tinged with emerald light. At first glance, it was clearly no ordinary item.
‘The Sun’s Eye.’
As the Sun’s mana gathered in my eyes and my vision shifted, the item’s information revealed itself to me.
〚Item: Emerald-Tinged Horn Flute of Madness
Grade: Rare
Rank: A
Description: A horn flute capable of controlling a portion of the madness inflicted upon a certain race.
Ability
-By blowing the flute, the user can issue simple commands lasting one hour to goblins afflicted with the status condition: Madness.〛
So that’s it. The key that allows them to escape safely from this rampaging dungeon.
It was certainly the right item for this dungeon. A rare-grade item at that, and one that would fetch a considerable price.
‘Who is Moon Kang-un to distribute such an item so freely to mere assassins?’
Just how much has he spent to kill me alone? Four rare-grade skill books, one rare-grade item, assassination fees, examiner bribes, dungeon designation fees, and so on.
He’s prepared enough to have spent at least tens of billions. Excessively so.
His determination to absolutely not fail in killing me is far too easy to read.
“This is becoming a nuisance.”
Even with my elevated stats, if dozens of remaining goblins attacked me in unison, it could prove dangerous.
It’s not a matter of stamina or mana. Recovery is far too easy for me.
I regain some cost through the Divine Beast’s effect, and I can simply use the potions that exist infinitely in my inventory.
The problem is that if multiple creatures attack me simultaneously, I could be overwhelmed without time to recover.
Of course, even so, I wouldn’t allow myself to die. But the danger itself is the issue.
Disregarding my bleak and helpless feelings, Seok Woon unhesitatingly activated the item.
Pwooooooo!!!
The horn’s piercing wail echoed across the entire forest. The melody subdued the madness, and through it, I issued a single command to every goblin consumed by the forest’s frenzy.
“Kill the human who stands alone!”
I couldn’t issue more detailed commands. These monsters had been devoured by madness until their intellect was nearly gone, and the item description itself stated I could only give simple orders. There was no helping it.
But this was sufficient. Those four would stay together until the end, which meant I alone would naturally find myself isolated.
With assassins and goblins both to contend with, I couldn’t afford to linger. I cast one final glance their way before spinning around.
Then I bolted straight into the forest.
***
-Kieeeeeek!!!
Shrieks erupted from every corner of the forest. The amplified madness, now controlled, transmitted the command, and the goblins began to obey.
“Hah… damn it. I thought I was dead. Really.”
Kim Woo-rim finally released his spear from his damp grip and wiped the sweat from his brow. For a moment, he had tasted death itself.
Without the item Seok Woon possessed, it would have been truly catastrophic.
It wasn’t only Kim Woo-rim who exhaled deeply. Seok Woon stared at the horn in disbelief, shaking his head slowly, while Lee Ji-ah collapsed to the ground as the tension drained from her body.
In the brief silence that followed, each of them gathered their thoughts.
“Get up. Grab your weapons. We don’t have time to sit idle. Wake that bastard too. Once an hour passes, we have to clear this dungeon on our own. We need to kill as many goblins as possible in this window.”
Seok Woon assessed the situation with cold precision. The horn was never meant to be used to kill Shin Ju-ha.
It was a contingency plan—kill Shin Ju-ha, let it rampage and cause the dungeon’s grade and rank to rise, making it impossible to clear. But we needed to survive and escape this hell regardless.
The plan had fallen apart, but one way or another, we had to move if we wanted to save our lives and escape this nightmare.
“Damn it. If we kill the goblins, won’t Shin Ju-ha survive?”
“These are high-grade goblins with an A-rank rating. Their level is at least 25. They’re not monsters that mere E-rank Hunters can handle. Sure, that monster might kill a few. But dozens? Impossible.”
He was right. Even Shin Ju-ha couldn’t survive by killing this many goblins all at once.
“For now, we move in the opposite direction from where Shin Ju-ha fled, killing every goblin we see. Since we’re grouped together, they won’t attack us—we just need to kill them.”
Kim Woo-rim nodded and slapped Ma Dong-won’s cheek to wake him from unconsciousness. They immediately began moving.
***
-Kiiieeeek!!
“Damn these bastards!”
The Ear Sword amplified The Sun’s flames, piercing through the maddened goblin’s chest.
“Gasp… gasp…!”
Hell. I’d already killed over twenty goblins. The battle had been grueling enough to raise my level by two.
Yet more than ten goblins still lurked in this forest, and that creature called the Apostle remained as well.
As the filthy sensation of death creeping one step closer threatened to consume my entire body, I retrieved a potion from my inventory and drank it while catching my breath.
My health and mana began recovering rapidly. Unfortunately, potions had their limitations too.
If the effect was identical, stacking them incurred a penalty that reduced their efficacy. Of course, that wasn’t much of a penalty for me.
‘If it’s reduced, I’ll just drink more.’
Potions were infinite. I could pull them out and consume them endlessly without anyone noticing.
“Fortunately, I haven’t encountered any groups of three or more yet.”
Something felt ominous. My instincts were ringing alarm bells. A premonition that they’d all come crashing down at once.
‘I’ll recover as much as possible.’
I could still hold out. If worst came to worst, I still had Equivalent Exchange, and the Wings of Pride remained as my trump card.
“And the newly acquired skill is quite useful too.”
The Strength of the Giant Ant. A skill obtained after clearing the dungeon. Its effect was simple yet outstanding.
Five seconds of 1.5x strength. Ten-minute cooldown.
Since it simply added fifty percent to my strength, the effect was intuitive and practical.
It allowed me to kill in one strike what would normally require multiple blows, and to achieve destructive power that should have been unreachable.
‘As my level rises, this multiplier will increase as well.’
Then perhaps I could eventually obtain the absurd strength of the Giant Ants themselves. What was certain was that direct, practical skills like this were far superior to ambiguous ones.
“Phew… Now it’s my turn to prepare.”
My breathing had stabilized. Now I needed to prepare my own counterattack to escape this crisis.
If they had turned crisis into opportunity through items, then I too had no choice but to find a way to escape this predicament.
As my inventory opened, countless items flooded my vision.
There was no time. I had to quickly find items that could be effective in this situation.
‘Concealment-type items?’
Rejected. Using concealment for the remaining hour would be exhausting, and more importantly, there was a high risk of being detected by creatures whose rank and grade had increased.
‘Or explosives?’
I’d grab those. I pulled out a few bombs I’d used before in the Giant Ant’s cavern, considered their blast radius, and set them around the area.
But this wasn’t enough. Explosives might have little effect on the Apostle.
‘Damn, I wish there was a search function.’
With so many items in my possession, without preparation I couldn’t quickly find what matched the situation.
“Goblins. Is there anything related to goblins?”
My eyes moved rapidly, my fingers scrolling through the screen repeatedly. Minutes passed.
-Kiiieeeek!!!
The goblins had found my location. Judging by the intensity of their roars, there were at least ten or more.
“Did I find something useful?”
It was uncertain. As I frowned at the item in my hand, I quickly recalled an appropriate use for it and began to move.
I immediately climbed into the trees, vigilant for goblins that could emerge from anywhere.
The goblins steadily detected my scent and presence, drawing closer, and the moment they crossed the line I had prepared.
Mana surged through the bombs I had planted to the north, detonating them all at once.
-Kyieeeek!!!
A horrific screech erupted as some of the goblins were swept away. But that was all.
Just as the Giant Ants had taken more damage from the cavern collapse than the explosion itself, these low-grade mana bombs couldn’t kill enemies outright.
And these creatures weren’t simply mindless brutes with raw strength like the Giant Ants.
As the smoke cleared, the goblins revealed themselves within it. They bore wounds and bled, clearly in pain, yet not a single goblin lay dead.
Even those with critical injuries were few and far between.
“An Apostle, then….”
I furrowed my brow, glaring at the mad goblin in the back wielding a staff, muttering something while dancing.
It had sensed the faintly concealed mana of the bombs and appeared to have used a protective skill like a barrier.
‘Damn it. I have no choice.’
I run. Fighting is suicide. Twelve goblins alone. Every remaining goblin here has gathered to kill me.
It’s not that I can’t win. If I use Equivalent Exchange and the Wings of Arrogance, drink potions like water, and fight, I could achieve victory.
But that would only be a hollow victory.
‘If I leave like this?’
I’d be dragged around helplessly, accomplishing nothing but suffering. And if those four assassins align their stories and accuse me of betraying them?
Just thinking about it gives me a headache. They can’t provide evidence since they dealt no meaningful damage to me, while I clearly attacked the tank, shattered his shield, and even knocked him unconscious.
So this can’t end here.
I gripped the item in my hand tightly, unleashing the Wings of Arrogance.
“Doping.”
I poured a speed-enhancing buff potion into my mouth and immediately began fleeing in the direction the four assassins had gone.

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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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