I Became a Mythical Hunter After Killing the Golden Goblin - Chapter 80
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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 80. Artificial Dungeon: Damp Pit – Crawling Labyrinth (3)
Lee Ji-yong’s fist, layered with multiple skills, was formidable. Naturally so. At minimum, they were overlapping Unique-grade skills, each one filling gaps perfectly and synergizing to amplify their destructive force.
I didn’t know who had orchestrated this combination, but it was far beyond anything someone like Lee Ji-yong could devise on his own.
Through the smoke, Lee Ji-yong’s body was sent flying backward. After tumbling across the ground for some distance, he cried out in pain from his deeply lacerated right hand, glaring past the dissipating haze.
I too was knocked back. My physical strength and the power of my flames both surpassed his, yet I could not overcome the force of multiple overlapping skills.
But my injuries were lighter than his. At most, my right wrist—the one gripping my blade—throbbed with dull pain.
“Tch, stronger than I anticipated.”
He was the strongest Hunter I’d faced since my regression, and I’d replayed our encounters countless times in simulated combat, yet I hadn’t expected him to reach this level.
He was merely an ordinary person with unremarkable talent, and his unique abilities were nothing extraordinary. Somewhere along the way, I’d grown arrogant, convinced of my superiority.
“Tch, cursed arrogance.”
This thinking was far removed from my original nature—the me who had always prioritized caution and safety above all else.
‘I need to do something, and fast.’
I couldn’t even be certain anymore whether this was because my regression was incomplete, or simply the raw power of the arrogance stat manifesting itself. What if I’m destined to live with this arrogant temperament forever?
Regardless, I needed to focus. The moment the smoke cleared, I saw Lee Ji-yong consuming a potion from his subspace, healing the wound my blade had carved into his arm.
“A subspace too?”
Subspace skills are expensive. Not just expensive—prohibitively so. They provide convenience as a skill itself, and because they’re extraordinarily rare, even high-ranking Hunters desperately seek them out.
The price is at minimum several hundred billion. It rivals high-tier heroic-grade items. Though, like Seo Ye-ri, mages sometimes independently awaken subspace magic.
Truly the extravagance of a third-generation chaebol heir. I clicked my tongue and retrieved a potion from my inventory, placing it in my mouth.
‘You think you’re the only one? I have them too.’
No—I have far more than you could imagine. The stalemate didn’t last long.
This time, I was the one who charged first. I exchanged my sword for gauntlets and met him fist for fist.
“You insolent bastard! You dare face me with your bare fists!”
This decision wasn’t born from arrogance. The gauntlets simply possessed the highest attack power.
Due to my restrictions, I couldn’t use most of my skills, leaving me no way to subdue my opponent in a single decisive strike. Flowing Water also wasn’t a cutting technique—it was a skill with all its stats devoted entirely to defense and evasion.
The Sword Emperor’s Flowing Water Sword was an art of offense and defense unified, but mine hadn’t yet reached that level of mastery and power.
So I chose the gauntlets—the most destructive option, capable of dealing greater damage. Besides, there was no rule stating Flowing Water could only be used with a blade.
Moreover, even in close combat, his flames couldn’t touch me.
I possessed absolute immunity to fire attributes.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fist met fist. Breaths intertwined. Exploding flames and The Sun’s fire clashed against one another.
“This… damn it!”
And the advantage was mine. In close combat—especially in pure martial prowess—even those of equal rank or higher would struggle to best me. And his prized flames offered me no real threat.
‘Still, I must be careful of the physical force from the explosions.’
Moreover, I could see it. The trajectory of every attack Lee Ji-yong threw at me, the weaknesses I could exploit to counter his strikes. And I possessed the perfect body to utilize such information flawlessly!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Damage accumulated. I drew breath. I endured. My eyes captured his every movement.
I absorbed the skill combinations orchestrated by some unknown master and his martial techniques into my vision.
‘I learn!’
Though I held the advantage, advantage was not victory. Lee Ji-yong surely still concealed something.
So I had to advance further. And right now, there was only one way for me to do so.
‘I’ll observe everything about that bastard, copy it, and evolve it.’
It’s madness. It’s stupidity. Learning an opponent’s martial techniques and skills by watching during combat? And on top of that, merging them into one and evolving them?
I’m no master of the old ways, and normally it would be absolutely impossible. Especially with my dull talent—someone who hasn’t even reached the threshold of mediocrity.
But now it’s different.
〚Unique Ability: Limitless Heavenly Meridian illuminates your brilliant martial talent!〛
〚Unique Ability: Limitless Heavenly Meridian proficiency has reached 100%! Level rises to 3!〛
I advance. One step further. Forward.
I see it. The Limitless stat and the martial talent provided by Limitless Heavenly Meridian assist me.
The eyes of The Sun descend upon me. Everything is captured and analyzed by my vision. Eyes that gaze down haughtily upon all things from the highest heavens aid me.
‘Here I extend my fist while twisting my body slightly, and there I change the direction of my foot while bending my fist.’
Beginning with the most fundamental movements of the Explosive Fist technique.
‘The magical energy moves like this… this skill would be good if applied this way… that skill isn’t just about distributing magical energy throughout the entire body.’
I observe and learn the magical energy moving ceaselessly within Lee Ji-yong’s body. My focus sharpens. Sound fades away. Every breath, every muscle movement, every flow of magical energy becomes vivid and perceptible.
I’ve felt it before. Several times, I’d barely grazed that state while absorbed in something.
This time, I’ve completely entered that state!
〚You have reached the state of No-Self!〛
〚Unique Ability: Hidden power of Limitless Heavenly Meridian awakens!〛
〚In the state of No-Self Realm, all martial talents increase dramatically!〛
〚After the No-Self Realm state ends, massive additional bonuses apply to the results obtained!〛
All my senses focused solely on grasping everything about Lee Ji-yong.
Simultaneously, something assembles, connects, and completes within my mind. It was my martial way.
A new martial way created by mythical power bestowing talent upon me.
Limitless because its end cannot be known, and Limitless Martial because it dares to contain the ultimate essence of martial arts—this power grants me new possibilities!
〚Your new martial technique is preparing to bloom!〛
〚Current completion rate: 48%…52%…67%…〛
“This… this is impossible!”
My body’s movements grow increasingly refined, flowing according to the forms. No matter how much talent Lee Ji-yong possessed as a prodigy, he could discern what foundation my movements were built upon.
“Damn it! You… what are you!”
He stumbles backward. As if witnessing an incomprehensible monster, despair, inferiority, and hopelessness overwhelm him.
“Not yet. Still lacking. More! More! More! Show me. Everything you have!”
I press forward. I cannot let this break. Now that I’ve reached this state, I must complete it.
My provocation distorts Lee Ji-yong’s face. And as if making a resolve, his eyes sharpen once more.
“Fine, let’s see the end of this, you bastard! Die!!”
〚Skill: Heaven and Earth Cataclysm – Grand Eruption [Ancient-SS-] manifests!〛
The hidden cards he’d kept until the very end reveal themselves one by one.
His fist comes toward me. I use Flowing Water technique. I cannot deflect it. It’s a force I dare not attempt to deflect.
“Ugh!”
Crackle! Boom! Kaboom!!
Massive magma erupts from the gauntlet where his fist connects. A volcanic explosion powerful enough to reshape heaven and earth begins from the mere tip of his fist, ravaging my right arm.
The volcano’s flames were not the problem. The explosion that would remake heaven and earth struck my right hand directly.
Arrrrgggghhhhh!!!
For the first time, a scream tore from my lips. Yet paradoxically, the agony sharpened my focus to a razor’s edge.
‘Yes! That’s what I wanted! That’s a real attack!’
My mind spun with frenzied clarity. Never in my life had my thoughts crystallized so rapidly, my consciousness rotating at such velocity.
An ancient skill glimpsed only once transformed into my martial technique, condensing into a single devastating move.
〚Current Completion: 80%〛
Yet it remained insufficient. Thirst consumed me. Hunger gnawed at me. I craved more.
Lee Ji-yong flinched at the madness blazing in my eyes, but his courage surged anew as he beheld his right arm hanging grotesquely twisted and limp.
“Just die already, you nauseating bastard!”
〚Skill: Flame Sovereign’s Descent Step (Legend-SS-) manifests!〛
〚Skill: Brilliantly Burning Meteor’s Tail (Ancient-B+) manifests!〛
〚Rune: Flame of the Fire Sage (Epic-SSS) manifests!〛
All remaining cards lay bare. As Lee Ji-yong’s final reserves of mana drained completely, an irresistible force surged toward me.
Unforeseen, yet a stepping technique of legendary caliber closed the distance between us in an instant.
The power of a descending meteor and the tremendous heat concentrated in a fist bore down upon me.
The Flame of the Fire Sage, called the essence of fire itself, blessed his mana into an explosively amplified force.
“Yes! This is it! This is what I need!”
No retreat. I drink it in with my eyes. I do not falter. I move exactly as the technique assembles and completes within my mind.
I abandon my limp right arm. I transform the nearly shattered gauntlet into Man-byeon, then shift it into another gauntlet and equip it.
〚Current Completion: 99%〛
A single step. I take it. I capture the opening move of the martial technique completing in my consciousness. Vast mana bleeds away as The Sun manifests in my left fist.
“Die!!!”
A single blow decides victor and vanquished. I harbor no thought of defeat. I wish I could have wielded the strength of the Colossal or the Giant Ant’s power, but that was impossible.
I simply trust in this creation of mine. Fist meets fist, both channeling absolute force.
——–!
A tremendous detonation erupts. Thicker, denser smoke billows forth than before.
The victor emerges.
Through the haze, Lee Ji-yong stares down at his own right arm, vanished as though it never existed, his eyes widening with terror as he attempts to speak.
“I’m sick of this. Get out of my life.”
I expend my final reserves of strength, driving my fist down upon Lee Ji-yong’s chest.
A wet crack. Choking gasps.
Lee Ji-yong’s breath ceases as he stares at his caved-in chest. Simultaneously, my concentration shatters, and overwhelming agony floods through every fiber of my being.
At that same moment, as the final piece of my martial technique completes, a message materializes before me.
〚Current Completion: 100%〛
〚Congratulations! You have created a new martial technique unrecorded in the system!〛
〚The state of transcendent focus has ended!〛
〚The effect of Infinite Heavenly Meridian activates!〛
〚The grade of the completed martial technique rises by one rank!〛
〚Congratulations!〛
〚Skill: Flame Heaven Divine Art (Mythic-S-) has been created!〛
A martial art that has achieved the very grade of mythology…!
〚The ability of the Infinite Heavenly Meridian manifests! It elevates the grade of all martial-type abilities by one tier!〛
〚Congratulations!〛
〚Skill: The Sun Divine Art (太陽神功)[Origin-S-] has been created!〛
No—a martial art of Origin grade has taken root within me.
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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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