I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 182
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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 182.
Jung Han-sung and the others didn’t simply pass by the corpses—they approached and examined them carefully.
The bodies didn’t appear to be very old.
The blood hadn’t fully congealed yet.
Maria then illuminated the corpses with flames as she spoke.
“They’re all piercing wounds.”
Jung Han-sung fell silent for a moment before responding.
“I don’t think they’re just simple piercing wounds.”
“Pardon?”
“Look closer.”
Bending slightly at the waist, Jung Han-sung pointed to one of the holes as he spoke.
“This wasn’t punctured from the outside in—it looks more like it was punctured from the inside out.”
Maria examined the wound again at his words and soon realized he was right.
Cho Cheon-woong, who had been listening to their conversation, furrowed his brow.
“Then something burrowed out from inside to the outside?”
“That’s right.”
Jung Han-sung paused for a moment before continuing.
“It looks like insects or something similar.”
“Could it be a monster?”
“No. The marks are too consistent for that. It seems like someone is professionally handling insects or something similar, or perhaps there’s a monster capable of doing this.”
Both of them nodded at his words.
“Regardless of who did this, we need to be careful. If something burrows into your body and tears you apart from the inside, it would be quite difficult to deal with.”
“Understood.”
After concluding their discussion, they resumed moving deeper inside.
As they moved away from the entrance, the air grew increasingly humid. After penetrating a certain distance, Jung Han-sung spoke to the other two.
“We need to pick up the pace from here.”
Beyond caution, they needed to move quickly.
Considering the number and composition of those who had entered before them, if they proceeded at this speed, they might not accomplish anything before everything was already resolved.
The other two had already agreed with this assessment long ago, so they raised no objections.
Everyone began moving at increased speed.
Of course, they didn’t simply increase their speed without any precautions.
Crackle―!
Jung Han-sung wrapped his entire body in electricity.
Whether insects or a surprise attack, it wouldn’t be easy to break through the electricity and land a fatal blow.
Cho Cheon-woong hardened his skin to be as tough as metal.
Cho Cheon-woong’s original ability was superhuman strength. That ability was probably acquired relatively recently.
A month ago, I had never seen him use such an ability during sparring.
Meanwhile, Maria chose the most straightforward method.
She activated an Artifact hanging from her neck, surrounding her body with a shield.
Either way, these were sufficient methods to prevent surprise attacks.
Crack―!
They moved at a leisurely pace at first, but soon they were sprinting through the Ancient Ruins at full speed.
Of course, it wasn’t without danger.
Click―.
When a thoughtlessly extended foot pressed against something, a clicking sound echoed through the chamber as scalding oil rained down from the ceiling.
Whoosh!
But Jung Han-sung simply accelerated, effortlessly dodging the attack.
The other two weren’t even in the danger zone.
Whistle!
When arrows occasionally flew toward them, he casually swatted them away with a wave of his hand, and whenever the floor suddenly gave way, he simply kicked off the wall beside him and bounded upward again.
All three were far too skilled to fall victim to such crude traps.
It was only natural.
Jung Han-sung went without saying, but Maria was among the top prospects in the United States, and Cho Cheon-woong was among the top prospects in China.
Considering that the United States and China ranked among the highest in the Awakeners hierarchy, they were essentially among the most promising talents in the entire world.
As such, they advanced without a single misstep, pushing deep into the Ancient Ruins without hesitation.
After advancing for roughly thirty minutes.
Scratch, scratch―.
An unpleasant sound began emanating from ahead.
Jung Han-sung didn’t miss it and signaled the others to be cautious before examining the area carefully.
And not long after, the moment he spotted something on the wall ahead.
Crack!
Sparks suddenly erupted from the electrical aura wrapped around Jung Han-sung’s body. Something had struck him—a warning sign.
And Jung Han-sung immediately understood what it meant.
“They’re coming.”
At those words, Cho Cheon-woong and Maria immediately reinforced their defenses and raised their weapons.
Immediately after.
Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle―.
A black wave began surging forward from ahead.
The black wave was none other than a ‘swarm of insects.’
Their numbers were so overwhelming that they appeared like a tidal wave.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
The insects rushed at Jung Han-sung, who stood at the very front, only to be repelled and sent crashing to the ground.
It resembled insects slamming into an electric bug zapper and perishing.
But these insects were on an entirely different level from such common vermin.
Jung Han-sung blocked them without difficulty, but Maria and Cho Cheon-woong, positioned directly behind him, were different.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch!
Though only a small number of insects reached them after passing through Jung Han-sung, that alone was enough to make Maria and Cho Cheon-woong furrow their brows.
“These things could gnaw through metal!”
Though Cho Cheon-woong’s skin had hardened to the consistency of steel, sparks flew each time the insects scraped across it.
It was clear the insects possessed teeth just as sharp.
Maria’s shield rippled constantly, showing that the insects were landing blows against it.
“Wait.”
Seeing this, Jung Han-sung didn’t hesitate and drew even more electricity into his attack.
Crackle—crackle—crackle!
The range of the electrical discharge expanded, and the swarm of insects rushing toward him was literally pulverized.
As the number of incoming insects plummeted, the two of them finally breathed sighs of relief and picked up their pace again.
The insects were so numerous that no matter how many I eliminated, their numbers showed no sign of decreasing, yet my expression remained perfectly calm.
Recently, thanks to the Channel I’d subscribed to, my skill in handling electricity had improved dramatically.
Particularly, the improvement in efficiency far outshone any increase in raw power—and right now, the mana I was consuming was minimal.
To put it in perspective, I could maintain this state for days without any problem.
Crack!
The insects were staggering in number, but there had to be a limit somewhere.
What if there were more than expected?
I could simply escape this place.
‘Besides, we’re not the only ones here.’
According to what I heard from those at the entrance, the number of people who had entered was in the hundreds.
If they weren’t all working together to command these insects, then they were either dealing with insects elsewhere or had already pushed deeper inside.
Either way, I had little to worry about.
“Ugh, disgusting!”
Cho Cheon-woong seemed to be struggling for a different reason, but seeing him recoil in disgust suggested he could hold out well enough.
If he were truly on the verge of death, he wouldn’t even have the mental space to think something was disgusting.
About ten minutes later, Maria spoke up.
“Their numbers are gradually decreasing.”
“You’re right.”
From my perspective, the insects’ numbers were noticeably dwindling.
Not enough to lower my guard yet, but the end was coming into view.
I accelerated further, and the other two kept pace. In less than five more minutes, we had passed through the section where the insects were concentrated.
“Ugh. That was truly horrific.”
After passing through the section, Cho Cheon-woong shuddered as he spoke.
Turning to look at him, I understood why he’d say that.
I had fried every insect that came close with electricity, and Maria had blocked their approach entirely with her shield.
Cho Cheon-woong, on the other hand, had only hardened his body to block their attacks.
As a result, his body was covered in insect fluids and the traces they’d left behind.
“Just grab something and wipe yourself off.”
“Yes…”
Cho Cheon-woong pulled out a cloth from his inventory and wiped himself down, then immediately asked Maria to burn it.
“I think it would be better if we just fought cleanly.”
“I agree.”
Maria hadn’t said anything, but she clearly shared Cho Cheon-woong’s distaste for the insects and immediately voiced her agreement.
I let out a soft chuckle and spoke.
“Well, as we came through, it was pretty clear that someone was handling insects.”
“Is that so?”
Han-sung answered Maria’s question as we moved forward.
“Yeah. I could feel mana coming from the insects that charged at us, bit by bit. There were traces of someone enhancing them.”
The Tower did have insects that instinctively wielded mana, but from what I could tell, the ones we’d just encountered weren’t that type.
They were closer to ordinary insects that someone had collected and enhanced.
It was a method frequently used by those commonly called Insect Summoners.
“If that Insect Summoner is deeper inside, we’ll have to fight the insects again.”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“Ugh.”
Cho Cheon-woong grimaced once more. But that didn’t mean we could turn back.
We continued forward into the depths.
After passing through the insects, we spotted different traces.
“There’s blood here.”
“It looks like quite an intense battle took place.”
Blood stains covered the walls and floor, but they didn’t seem to be from combat with insects.
There were no traces that would be left behind when insects died.
“These marks seem quite old.”
This time, Cho Cheon-woong spoke while examining the bloodstains.
“It’s been dried for quite a while now.”
“Hmm. The Insect Summoner might have entered relatively late.”
The other two nodded at that assessment.
Considering this place wasn’t far from where the insects were, it made sense.
Usually, no one would want to engage in a loud battle near a place with such vicious insects.
So I figured the insects had settled in some time after the battle had occurred.
“The main weapon used seems to be a sword. There are traces of a bow too.”
“A sword and bow. That doesn’t tell us much.”
Both swords and bows were the most commonly used weapons among Awakeners.
That meant it would be difficult to deduce anything from them.
We might have been able to gather additional information with more detailed examination, but instead, we chose to press forward.
“Either way, whoever we encounter, we’ll deal with it then—fight or talk it out.”
“Agreed.”
With that decisive conclusion, we continued forward, weapons in hand.
A moment later.
“Oh.”
“This place has quite an ominous atmosphere.”
We arrived at a peculiar space.
It was a Grand Hall, and what stood out was the restraints—chains and other binding devices—hanging from all sides.
Moreover, corpses hung from those restraints, all of which appeared extremely old.
These weren’t people who had died recently.
“What kind of place is this?”
“Who knows. At first glance, it looks like a torture chamber for prisoners.”
They exchanged words as they examined the surroundings. However, their exploration didn’t last long.
Clang―!
While inspecting a restrained corpse, it suddenly snapped its eyes open and flailed its arms wildly.
“Whoa, that scared me!”
Cho Cheon-woong recoiled in shock. At the same moment, the other corpses began opening their eyes and letting out horrific shrieks.
They weren’t ordinary corpses at all—they were undead.
Seeing this, Jung Han-sung muttered unconsciously.
“Is it undead farming time?”
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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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