I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 114
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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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#Episode 114.
Valten, who had recently joined Han-sung’s Territory, was a cheerful young man in his twenties.
That remained true even now.
“To think I get to guide the Lord directly like this! As I’ve already mentioned, it’s truly, truly a great honor!”
He’d barely escaped with his life after discovering that terrifying Dungeon, yet his voice remained bright as ever as they headed back toward it.
And he was quite the chatterbox as well.
Jung Han-sung listened to Valten’s words in silence before asking a question.
“How much further do we need to go?”
“We’re almost there! See that tall Hill ahead? We just need to cross over it!”
“I see.”
As I gazed at the Hill Valten pointed to, my thoughts turned to the Dungeon.
This Unclaimed Territory appeared peaceful at first glance, but danger lurked in every corner.
First and foremost, the most common danger I encountered was monsters.
Even in my own Territory, undead constantly patrolled and hunted down monsters on sight, yet their numbers never dwindled entirely.
The second danger I could face was the masters of other Territories.
The fastest way to expand a Territory was to consume other Territories.
Because of this, the masters of Territories constantly watched each other for opportunities.
‘And the third would be Dungeons, I suppose.’
Dungeons were a somewhat broad concept—essentially referring to buildings or spaces with specific dangers and rewards.
In a broader sense, the Mana Stone Cave and the Golem Manufacturing Facility could both be considered types of Dungeons.
Both had golems as dangers, and after defeating those golems, I’d obtained the Mana Stone Mine and the Golem Manufacturing Facility as rewards respectively.
Such Dungeons could form naturally or be remnants of the past.
For example, the Ancient Ruins of a Territory that had been destroyed and vanished long ago.
“There it is!”
As I reached that point in my thoughts, Valten pointed ahead and spoke.
We’d already climbed to the highest point of the Hill, and what Valten indicated was on the sloped face below it.
“Is that a Cave?”
“Yes! I went in hoping to find some useful resources, but I got beaten down pretty badly!”
Valten spoke confidently about the time he’d nearly died.
This fellow really did recover quickly.
As I walked toward the Cave, I spoke to Valten.
“You don’t need to follow me inside. Just wait at the entrance.”
“Understood!”
Since he’d nearly died before, Valten had no desire to re-enter the Cave, so he nodded quickly in agreement.
Soon, we arrived at the Cave entrance.
Rather than entering immediately, I pulled out bone fragments and scattered them ahead.
Whoosh!
Immediately, Karon and Araktar emerged from the bone fragments along with the other undead.
“Karon. Lead the undead.”
I entrusted command of the undead I’d brought to Karon.
Of course, I’d left a few undead with Valten outside as well. Just in case.
After finishing all the preparations.
“Go. Kill every monster you see.”
Jung Han-sung issued commands to the undead while stepping deeper into the cave.
Thud-thud-thud!
Following the orders, the undead rushed ahead into the depths of the cave.
Jung Han-sung followed slowly behind them, surveying his surroundings.
The interior of the cave was far more expansive than he’d initially thought from the entrance. Moreover, there were clear traces of artificial wall refinement.
This was no natural cavern.
―Markings.
At that moment, Onyx flicked his tongue and pointed to one side.
Following his gaze, I could see intricate patterns carved along the refined walls.
Jung Han-sung continued walking while observing them.
They formed a pattern as if meant to contain or seal something away.
‘This reminds me of Arzka’s Altar somehow.’
This was clearly no ordinary place.
Even with such thoughts, Jung Han-sung pressed forward without hesitation. Before long, he spotted the undead ahead.
“Kieeeek!”
“Kraaaagh!”
Sharp, piercing shrieks erupted simultaneously.
Jung Han-sung observed intently.
There were pallid gray creatures there. They charged at the undead with fierce malice and fury.
Crash-crack-crunch!
Snap!
“Kek!”
“Kraaagh!”
The undead began systematically annihilating the creatures.
―Hmm. Something feels…
“…one-sided.”
Yet Jung Han-sung remained vigilant despite the sight.
These could merely be weak minions guarding the outer perimeter.
“Gwoooooaaaaah―!”
Sure enough, moments later, a gray-skinned giant burst forth from deeper within, thundering forward with heavy, resounding footsteps.
“As expected. There’s more.”
―Hmm…
This creature looked distinctly more threatening than the ones the undead had been sweeping aside.
“Die―!”
Araktar unleashed a torrent of webbing toward the giant.
The webbing instantly ensnared the creature’s lower body.
“Gwok!”
Boom!
The giant tumbled forward, and dozens of undead leaped upon it, swinging their blades with ferocity.
Thwack, thwack, thwack―!
“Guh, guh…ugh!”
With a chilling sound, countless blades pierced the giant’s body.
The giant released a stifled groan and convulsed before going limp shortly after.
Jung Han-sung’s mouth fell open before snapping shut.
―It’s dead?
“…I guess so?”
I answered Onyx’s question blankly before speaking again.
“No, there might be something even stronger than that thing.”
I couldn’t afford to be careless.
With that thought, I continued observing the battle.
About ten minutes passed.
―This seems to be the end.
“Yeah….”
No more monsters appeared. In fact, we had already reached the end of the Cave.
Two giants identical to the first one burst out at the very end, but they dealt no significant damage to the undead legion.
To be precise, both died without lasting even a minute.
―Were they weaker than expected?
“Hmm, they didn’t seem that weak, actually.”
It was only natural that I could gauge the enemy’s level to some degree.
The undead legion’s strength simply exceeded my expectations.
This made sense because Arzka’s minions, whom I’d faced right after strengthening the undead once, were difficult to assess in terms of the legion’s true power.
Not because they were too strong or too weak, but because they possessed the characteristic of resurrecting infinitely.
Even then, I’d witnessed them crush enemies outright, but the meaning faded quickly since they revived immediately.
Meanwhile, ordinary enemies without access to advanced techniques like resurrection stood no chance against the undead legion.
―Well, isn’t that a good thing? It means the undead legion has grown that much stronger.
“Huh? Ah, of course it is. At this level, they could probably sweep through ordinary floors entirely.”
I walked slowly forward as I spoke.
At the end of the Cave, after clearing all the monsters, stood something resembling a small Altar.
It was what the two giants had been guarding.
“An Altar again this time.”
I stood before the Altar and shifted my gaze to one side.
There was a message that had appeared right after defeating the giants.
[You have cleared the D-rank Dungeon, Unholy Altar]
[The mana concentration of your Territory increases slightly]
[The probability of discovering rare ore in your Territory increases slightly]
Dungeons in the Unclaimed Territory grant rewards that benefit the Territory instead of items upon clearing.
This time, mana concentration and the probability of discovering rare ore had increased. Though as befitting a D-rank Dungeon, the qualifier “slightly” was attached.
Dungeons were classified into grades ranging from E-rank to S-rank, though in truth, D-rank dungeons were far from weak.
This was because the Unclaimed Territory itself was a place where climbers of Floor 40 and above could enter.
In other words, even E-rank dungeons were places that climbers of the 40s floors had to enter with resolve.
Jung Han-sung had simply swept through a tier higher than that with only undead, but that was another matter.
However, the reason Jung Han-sung checked the message just now was for a different reason.
“A profane Altar.”
It seemed that this Altar was indeed the one right before my eyes.
“Is there any use for this?”
I muttered to myself while examining the Altar.
―Can’t I eat it?
“What?”
Jung Han-sung looked down at Onyx.
“Why would you eat that?”
―It smells delicious. It’s clearly a shoddy Altar with neither a proper demigod nor legitimate divine rank, but there’s still considerable power accumulated in it.
“Well… sure. Go ahead and eat it.”
It didn’t seem particularly useful anyway, and if Onyx grew stronger from eating it, that would be beneficial for him.
―Thank you, Master!
The moment Jung Han-sung gave his permission, Onyx leaned his body outward and rapidly expanded his size.
Nearly to the size of a massive pillar.
Crunch!
Then he swallowed the Altar in a single bite.
Jung Han-sung watched Onyx’s actions and thought to himself.
‘Come to think of it, this creature doesn’t seem to be growing.’
I wasn’t speaking merely of raw power.
Having consumed all manner of weapons and armor, he had become remarkably more durable compared to when we first met.
The growth I was referring to was in his traits and skills.
Onyx was bound to the armor I wore called the ‘Breastplate of the Fallen God’—an armor with the potential to reach Epic grade.
And he still had two sealed traits and two sealed skills. Yet those seals showed no signs of breaking.
‘Do the seals require separate conditions to unlock?’
I had naturally asked Onyx himself about this, but he also didn’t know how to break the seals.
He thought they would naturally unlock one by one as he grew stronger, but he didn’t feel that happening at all.
While I was thinking such thoughts.
―Ah!
After completely swallowing the Altar, Onyx trembled and quickly turned to face Jung Han-sung, speaking.
―I remember!
“Hm?”
―I remembered how to break the seals!
At those words, Jung Han-sung’s expression became peculiar.
“Suddenly? Out of nowhere?”
―It’s not out of nowhere. I remembered right after eating this Altar.
“Hmm, so what about it?”
Onyx gradually reduced his size as he spoke to me.
―You simply need to consume things that bear traces of divinity.
“Traces of divinity?”
Seeing doubt flicker across my expression, Onyx quickly continued.
―I’m not talking about divinity itself. I mean the residue of divinity. Or anything similar to it. Things like this Altar, items belonging to priests, artifacts—that sort of thing.
It seemed to be a somewhat different concept from the pure divinity I’d obtained not long ago.
I nodded and spoke.
“Alright. We can discuss that slowly. For now, it’s time to head back.”
―Understood.
With my business here concluded, I led the undead legion back outside once more.
* * *
Valten decided to investigate the Dungeon I’d cleared so easily a bit further.
Baek-seol saw no harm in conducting a thorough investigation of the Dungeon either, so I granted permission and provided thirteen undead to assist them.
I could have used my own abilities to search, but I also needed to trust others and delegate tasks to them.
If I handled everything myself, the others would have no opportunity to grow.
“I’ll make sure to bring back something worthwhile! We might even discover clues leading to other Dungeons!”
Valten spoke with enthusiasm and returned to the Dungeon.
I intended to return to my home to continue my conversation with Onyx.
But then, Maria, who had been standing beside Baek-seol, spoke up.
“Jung Han-sung. Might I have a word with you?”
“Hm? Sure. Oh, and you can speak casually with me.”
At my words, Maria paused briefly before speaking again.
“English lacks the strict formal and casual distinctions of your language. I am simply using a more courteous form of expression.”
“Ah… is that because of the language difference? Well, then speak however feels natural. Let’s talk over there.”
First, I sought Baek-seol’s permission, then made my way with Maria to the table where we’d spoken before.
After taking our seats, Maria looked at me and spoke.
“There are people I would like to introduce to you, Jung Han-sung.”
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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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