I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 154

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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 154.
After taking sufficient rest.
I cleared Layer 74 and Floor 75 in one go.
Naturally, as the floor numbers increased, so did the difficulty, but it wasn’t enough to slow me down.
The tower’s difficulty still hadn’t caught up to my level.
However, while clearing Floor 75, something caught my attention.
“Hmm.”
After finishing the clear, I returned to Han-sung’s Home and pondered something with my arms crossed.
Onyx asked me about it.
―Are you thinking about what you heard earlier?
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
I nodded.
During my clear of Floor 75, I encountered a group of climbers.
They themselves weren’t particularly special, but what they said caught my attention.
“Someone is searching for me….”
That’s what they said.
Though this alone wasn’t something I’d normally dwell on this much.
I’d seen people searching for me before in the public Channel in the communication district.
But what they said next was quite noteworthy.
―They said that person also wields lightning and a sword.
“Right. Similar to me.”
Many climbers use swords. Lightning abilities, on the other hand, are fairly rare. Especially those skilled enough to be truly useful in combat are even rarer.
But someone who wields lightning and also handles a sword at a high level?
That’s truly rare. In all my climbing, I’d never seen anyone else like that besides myself.
―Isn’t it just a coincidence?
“It could be. But the fact that someone with similar abilities is searching for me—that’s what bothers me.”
Someone similar to me is searching for me.
Anyone would be concerned after hearing something like that.
I scratched my chin.
“Could this be another scheme by Sargon?”
―That Evil God could certainly pull various schemes, but this seems different from that. It’s another climber searching for you, isn’t it?
“But before, one of his subordinates or apostles possessed a climber’s body and came looking for me.”
―Ah. That’s true as well.
“Well… But you have a point too. There’s no need to complicate things unnecessarily.”
If Sargon were truly after me, he could directly intervene in whatever layer I’m on.
There’d be no need to have someone else search for me.
After all, he’d already know which layer I’m on.
Besides, this mysterious climber seemed to be clearing layers at a similar pace to me.
Those who told me about him said they met him on Floor 73.
“If things go well, I might meet him soon.”
If these were just ordinary floors, the probability of encountering someone would be quite low, but Floors 76 through 80 feature common missions.
This means all climbers converge on specific missions.
As a result, if the timing aligned, the probability of entering the same floor was extremely high.
―So what will you do if you meet?
“What do you mean, what will I do? I don’t have any particular plans. After all, they’re the ones searching for me.”
I was simply bothered by the fact that someone similar to me was searching for me.
I had no intention of actively searching for them on my end.
Regardless of what they wanted, I myself didn’t particularly desire anything.
Jung Han-sung sprawled across the bed and spoke.
“I’m going to sleep.”
―Suddenly?
“Starting tomorrow, things will be busy.”
The meeting time was 10 AM tomorrow.
This time, I planned to run straight to Floor 80 without rest alongside Berka, so it was wise to get sufficient rest beforehand.
Onyx licked his tongue before retreating into his armor.
* * *
The next day at 10 AM.
Jung Han-sung met Berka at the Neutral Zone.
“You arrived right on time!”
“We made a promise. Should we enter right away?”
“Let’s do it. There’s nothing special to prepare.”
Berka answered readily, then placed his hand on my shoulder to enter together.
If we had formally established a team, this wouldn’t be necessary, but I had no intention of doing so.
In any case, maintaining contact in this manner, the two of us entered Floor 76 together.
Whoooooosh―.
Soon, the refreshing sound of water greeted us.
As my vision returned, I immediately surveyed my surroundings.
“A River?”
Before me lay a massive river, and surrounding it stood towering trees in a line—it appeared to be deep within a Forest.
“The environment itself seems favorable.”
Berka then murmured while looking around as well.
True to his words, the environment itself appeared quite peaceful. A cool breeze blew, and bright sunlight filtered through the leaves.
It was exactly the kind of forest scenery one might see in a painting.
But then, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Objective: Liberate three occupied territories]
[Time Limit: One week]
Liberating three occupied territories.
This objective seemed quite large in scale.
“Since it’s a common mission, it doesn’t look easy.”
Berka, apparently thinking similarly, spoke while gazing into empty space.
I checked the message once more, then turned to Berka and spoke.
“First, I think we need to scout the surrounding area.”
“Ah, I’ll handle that. I have a useful ability for it.”
Berka smiled with confidence and raised his staff.
Light gathered at the staff’s tip, coalescing into a bird made entirely of luminescence.
The bird spread its wings wide and soared high into the sky, circling overhead as it surveyed the Forest with a broad perspective.
Berka closed his eyes in concentration, and after a moment, he opened them again and spoke.
“From what I can see… if you follow this River, there are three branching paths. And it looks like each one leads to a different Occupied Territory.”
“You can see Occupied Territories from here?”
“Yeah. It’s very far, but even from a distance, I can clearly spot what looks like an Occupied Territory.”
Berka described what he had observed.
Far in the distance, a pillar of deep violet light towered high, and beneath it stood buildings that emanated an ominous atmosphere.
Judging by his description, it certainly had the appearance of an Occupied Territory.
“Well, we’ll need to get closer to examine the details properly.”
“Then we should choose one of the three and head toward it.”
“Hmm. From a distance, I didn’t notice any major differences. There weren’t any particularly notable Awakeners either.”
“In that case, it seems best to head toward the closest one.”
“Right. Let’s do that.”
Berka nodded in agreement with my suggestion.
The moment we settled on our destination, we set off immediately.
The Forest was as peaceful as my first impression had suggested.
There were no monsters attacking us, and at most we encountered a few wild beasts along the way.
Thanks to this, we were able to traverse the Forest quickly and enter the path leading to one of the Occupied Territories.
Thirty minutes later.
Berka and I arrived at one of the Occupied Territories.
Up close, the Occupied Territory resembled ruins surrounded by gnarled, ancient trees.
Around the ruins were stationed beast-type monsters with ashen skin and sharp spears, but no other climbers were visible.
“Hmm. Did we enter early? No, I thought the mission had been open for quite a while.”
“Maybe not many climbers have entered yet?”
“Mm. That’s possible. Just because it opened doesn’t mean everyone rushed in immediately. And some might have headed toward the other Occupied Territories instead.”
“That could be it.”
Berka’s speculation actually hit the mark precisely.
The number of Awakeners who had entered Floor 76 wasn’t particularly small.
And they had indeed visited this place—the Twisted Ancient Tree Ruins Occupied Territory.
The reason it was empty now was simple: this Occupied Territory had a higher difficulty than the others.
There were slight difficulty variations between each Occupied Territory, but this one was among the most challenging—practically serving as the final gate of this Floor.
That’s why the other climbers had aimed to clear the relatively easier Occupied Territories first and moved toward those instead.
Berka and I had arrived late and missed them.
“So, should we plan our approach?”
“Hmm. I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Huh?”
I drew my sword.
“They don’t seem particularly strong.”
Then I channeled my mana upward.
Crackle!
My blade became engulfed in brilliant blue lightning.
Berka looked startled and tried to say something, but I moved faster.
Boom!
The electricity flowing through my sword seemed to make the very air vibrate.
As the blue flash spread and pushed back the thick shadows around us, the monsters positioned around the ruins all turned their attention toward me at once.
―Shrieeeeeek!
One of the beast-form monsters let out a piercing cry.
As if taking that as a signal, the gray-skinned horde began rushing toward me in a stampede.
But I didn’t slow down—I accelerated even further.
Boom!
As I swung my sword, the monsters blocking my path were literally swept away.
Wherever I ran became a trail of lightning, and the monsters nearby collapsed with screams before they could even react.
Meanwhile, I only needed to swing my blade at the monsters charging through the electricity toward me.
Crack!
Not a single monster managed to properly block my strike.
I swung my sword wildly, tore through the monsters, and finally arrived at the ruins wrapped around the ancient tree.
―Roooooooaaaaaarrr!
That’s when it happened.
A massive presence lifted its head from within the ancient tree.
It was the mid-boss guarding this occupied territory—the spirit of the Twisted Ancient Tree.
Berka, watching from a distance, let out a low whistle.
“This boss is no joke. No matter how strong you are, there’s no way you can take it down alone….”
The moment Berka saw the ancient tree spirit, he thought there was no way I could defeat it by myself, no matter who I was.
He was already thinking about stepping in to help and then suggesting we approach more carefully next time.
But then.
Boom!
I kicked off the ground and leaped toward the spirit, unleashing lightning several times more powerful than before.
Boom!
The blue flash shot up to the sky, and all the electricity converged into one, piercing straight through the ancient tree spirit’s torso.
The massive spirit let out an agonized scream, twisted its body, and collapsed.
Of course, it didn’t go down without a fight until the very end.
It whipped the branches covering its body like whips, trying to strike me down.
But I dodged them lightly and continued swinging my blade without pause.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each time, the ancient wood that formed the spirit’s body exploded outward with a sound like bombs detonating.
And finally, the same lightning strike as before struck the spirit once more.
―Grrgh, grrgh―.
The spirit’s body shook violently from side to side before it began to collapse to one side.
Kuuuuung―!
As the spirit finally laid its body down completely, the purple pillar of light that had towered in the center of the Twisted Ancient Tree Ruins Occupied Territory vanished without a trace, and a message appeared before my eyes.
[Twisted Ancient Tree Ruins Occupied Territory Liberation Complete]
[Remaining Occupied Territories: 2]
The message appeared to all climbers on that floor.

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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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