I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 113
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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 113.
After a brief moment of silence, Arzka’s anger surged anew, and he cried out in a sharp voice.
―Do you know who I am! I am….
“Arzka, right? But weren’t you completely dead? I’m pretty sure it said you were annihilated. Is your soul trapped in there?”
However, Jung Han-sung had no reason to listen to him quietly.
He had no intention of doing so from the start.
Arzka tried to say something to Jung Han-sung, who had cut him off mid-sentence, but Onyx was faster.
―Hmm. It’s not a complete soul. I saw its soul dissipate along with it when it was destroyed.
“Then what is it?”
―Perhaps a fragment of the soul is contained within, or something of that nature. Or maybe just a lingering thought of considerable strength. Do you sense anything?”
“Hmm. I do sense a lingering thought. But it doesn’t seem to be all there is. To investigate further, I’d probably need to break the sphere and examine its contents.”
As the conversation drifted toward increasingly dangerous territory, Arzka spoke urgently.
―A fractured soul! I am a fractured soul!
At those words, Jung Han-sung’s gaze turned back toward the sphere.
“A fractured soul?”
―…Yes. I suppose it was prepared as a contingency in case my physical form was destroyed.
Jung Han-sung stroked his chin at those words, then stared intently at the sphere, hoping some description would come to mind.
But unfortunately, nothing particularly revealing appeared.
All I could discern was the name “Phantom’s Heart.”
In the end, it seemed I would need to ask Arzka himself for detailed information.
Jung Han-sung posed his question directly.
“So what use are you to me?”
―Use? How dare you….
“Say ‘how dare you’ one more time, and I’m putting you in my inventory and never taking you out. Or I’ll just smash you to pieces and use you as materials.”
At those words, Arzka fell silent for a moment before speaking.
―I am…. not an object.
“I know. That’s why I’m asking you like this. Besides, you already have a senior here.”
As Jung Han-sung said this, he tapped his armor lightly.
Then Onyx clicked his tongue as if sighing and spoke.
―Give up and accept it. A mere fractured soul like you has no chance of regaining freedom.
“By the way, this one used to be a demigod.”
At those words, Arzka fell silent again. And this time, his voice emerged heavier and more subdued than before.
―What is it you wish to know?
“I already asked. What can you do?”
―I am the Lion King. With a single gesture, I could claim countless lives, and with another gesture, I could raise those same lives once more.
The introduction was quite lengthy, but this time Jung Han-sung listened without interrupting.
If I was going to use him going forward, there was no point in continuously accumulating ill will.
Before, I had simply awakened him to reality when he forgot his circumstances.
In any case, Arzka continued speaking.
―However…. For now, I cannot wield such formidable powers. Not merely because I am a fractured soul, but because the power contained within this blade itself is insufficient.
“A sword?”
―Yes. A sword.
I tilted my head.
No matter how I looked at the sphere in my hand, it seemed far removed from anything resembling a sword.
Arzka, noticing my confusion, spoke up immediately.
―This current form is not the sword’s true appearance.
“Then how can I see its true form?”
―You must form a contract with me.
Upon hearing Arzka’s final words, I immediately opened my inventory.
Just as I was about to place the sphere into my inventory, Arzka spoke in an urgent voice.
―It’s not a trick! This is simply the inherent nature of the object itself! Only by earning my recognition and forming a contract can you fully utilize my power.
“Why did the original Arzka make something so complicated?”
―To my past self, such functions were merely supplementary! I simply embedded a fragment of my soul into the hardest and most difficult thing to destroy that I possessed. To be precise, I replaced the sword spirit with my own soul fragment.
As I pondered those words carefully, Onyx added a few remarks.
―It doesn’t seem to be a lie. Embedding a soul fragment into something difficult to destroy is indeed a commonly used method.
“Is that so?”
―Yes. If you store a soul fragment elsewhere, when the soul sustains grave damage, it can absorb that fragment and recover rapidly.
“Hmm.”
There was no reason for Onyx to deceive me about this.
I tossed the black sphere upward and caught it several times before speaking.
“Fine. So what exactly is this contract? And it seems you still haven’t answered what you’re capable of.”
―If I recover even a fraction of my power, I can command the dead. That is my fundamental ability.
Arzka explained quickly, seemingly worried I might shove him back into my inventory.
―And I can also use the sword’s own functions. I can store undead within this blade and summon them again whenever needed. Furthermore, by cutting an enemy with this sword….
The explanation was quite lengthy, but the key functions boiled down to this.
First, the summoning and unsummoning of undead.
Without needing to chant incantations or make preparations, I could store and retrieve undead as freely as I wished.
The process consumed no mana whatsoever.
The second ability was far more important.
If I cut an enemy with this sword, it could inflict damage directly upon the soul itself.
Fundamentally, striking the soul was an extraordinarily difficult feat.
From my perspective, this was the most coveted ability.
And there was one more thing.
―As my power recovers, you’ll be able to access other abilities as well.
“Ah, like that wind you summoned before?”
As Arzka’s power recovered, I would be able to draw out more of his abilities.
For instance, the black flames or powerful winds I had witnessed during combat.
Looking at it this way, it certainly seemed worthwhile.
However, one crucial matter remained unresolved.
“What are the terms of this contract?”
―What the contract truly requires is my acknowledgment and an oath. The acknowledgment has already been satisfied—you defeated me. Now only the oath remains.
“What oath?”
―Vengeance.
Jung Han-sung’s expression shifted to one of bewilderment at this unexpected answer.
Truthfully, he had anticipated that Arzka would ask for his freedom to be restored, or demand something else entirely.
But vengeance?
“Against whom?”
―The one who made me this way. The being who destroyed my nation and stripped me of everything.
Arzka spoke that name with an intensity of rage and hatred that surpassed even what he had directed at Jung Han-sung.
―Sargon.
Jung Han-sung’s eyes widened, and he asked again.
“Evil God Sargon?”
―Evil God? I spoke of the usurper Sargon. He may have ascended to the seat of a demigod at the end, but that is all.
At Arzka’s words, Jung Han-sung wore a peculiar expression before glancing at Onyx.
Onyx then clicked his tongue and spoke.
―Unless we’re talking about a criminal, if someone has risen to the seat of a demigod, there’s no chance of it being a coincidence of names. Master.
“Why?”
―Because fate would not permit it. Even if the true names were identical, the divine names could never overlap.
Having heard that much, Jung Han-sung looked again at the sphere in his hand.
It was Arzka who spoke first.
―Could it be that the usurper has truly ascended to the seat of a god?
“It appears so.”
―….
Arzka fell silent. Within that silence, I sensed a tangle of conflicting emotions.
But soon, when Arzka spoke again, his voice carried a renewed clarity of purpose.
―Yet regardless, what I desire remains unchanged. Until the very final moment, my will has been singular and unwavering.
His voice resonated with an absolute determination to never yield—as if he had already accepted both inventory confinement and his own annihilation.
“That resolve to take a living sacrifice and still pursue vengeance, you mean?”
Yet despite that fierce resolve, it was hardly a sight to behold favorably.
The memory of Arzka rushing at him like a madman, intent on offering him as a sacrifice, remained vivid.
To that question, Arzka answered in a clipped tone.
―Yes. I was prepared to do anything for vengeance.
From that answer, it was clear that Arzka was no virtuous being.
This was not a case of his intentions becoming corrupted after death.
Jung Han-sung spoke to such an Arzka.
“Fine.”
―What?
Arzka responded in a bewildered voice.
“This vengeance doesn’t need to happen immediately, does it? It’s not as if you can only wield power once you’ve achieved vengeance, right?”
―That is not the case. However, if you merely promise in words and postpone it without the will to act, then….
“That won’t happen. He won’t leave me alone anyway.”
Jung Han-sung hadn’t expected kindness from Arzka in the first place.
What I needed was the strength to climb The Tower, and the strength to stand against Evil God Sargon.
What kind of person he was in life didn’t matter.
After all, he would be nothing more than a blade pointed at Evil God Sargon, nothing less and nothing more.
Arzka fell silent once more before speaking.
―…Is this too fate? Very well. Then let me prepare at once.
“Prepare?”
―Binding a covenant requires some time.
“How much?”
―About a day. It cannot be placed in your inventory. Time does not flow there.
That much wasn’t a significant problem.
“Understood. Then I’ll leave it here.”
Jung Han-sung said so and set the sphere down to one side.
This Unique Space could not be invaded by anyone, and conversely, no one could leave without my will.
So leaving it here posed no real issue.
Arzka immediately fell silent, apparently beginning those preparations.
Thanks to that, Jung Han-sung could quietly examine the other items.
“The Essence of Death is undead enhancement material, and the coffin…. Curious. I’ll need to experiment with it slowly later.”
―Why not now?
“It’s too ambiguous to test right away. Besides, there’s no rush.”
Jung Han-sung gathered the items and placed them in his inventory.
“First I should recover, then either explore my Territory or climb The Tower further.”
―And this after such an intense battle?
“Once recovery is complete, there’s no problem.”
Onyx shook his head. Even from his perspective, Jung Han-sung’s schedule was incredibly packed.
―You’re relentless.
Of course, Jung Han-sung paid it no mind.
* * *
Han-sung’s Territory was situated in a place of breathtaking beauty.
When I looked up, a cloudless azure sky stretched endlessly, and beyond the fence lay verdant grassland.
When the wind blew, the grass of the Grassland swayed gently back and forth.
“Looking at it like this, it really seems peaceful.”
―Isn’t it actually peaceful right now?
At Onyx’s response, Jung Han-sung slowly nodded.
“Well. For now, it is.”
But only ‘for now’.
As of yet, there were no particularly dangerous monsters nearby, and no neighboring Territories eyeing this place with ill intent.
To be precise, there had been—but they no longer existed. Neither the monsters nor the neighboring Territories.
But this peace could not last forever.
“As the territory grows larger, more monsters will be drawn to the core’s mana, and other territories nearby will be strengthening themselves as well.”
Even now, Han-sung’s Territory had expanded far beyond its initial size.
With Cho Cheon-woong, Maria, and Bargenthor all contributing their cores, and the core itself undergoing upgrades, the territory had grown to nearly four times its original expanse.
‘Since I’ve absorbed three cores, each upgrade will expand my territory several times faster than anyone else’s.’
Absorbing a core doesn’t merely expand the territory—it fundamentally alters the growth multiplier itself.
For instance, if another person’s core expands their territory by roughly 1.5 times upon upgrade.
Han-sung’s territory could expand by 2.5 or even 3 times instead.
Thus, the more I grow, the exponentially greater the likelihood of my territory making contact with others becomes.
―But that’s not something happening immediately.
“True enough.”
Yet as Onyx said, that wasn’t something happening tomorrow either.
Thorough preparation was wise, but fretting over events that wouldn’t occur anytime soon was foolish.
Han-sung gazed at the Grassland’s scenery for a moment, then turned and entered the Village.
“Master! Valten has awakened!”
Baek-seol rushed over and spoke the moment he arrived.
Han-sung nodded at her words.
“Is he in a state to guide us immediately?”
“Yes!”
“Excellent.”
Valten was someone I’d hired through the Mercenary Office not long ago. His profession was none other than an “Explorer.”
After consulting with me, Baek-seol had instructed him to explore and report on the various corners of my rapidly expanding territory.
And just hours ago.
“Let’s go. To that place called a Dungeon.”
Valten had discovered a Dungeon within the territory.
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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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