I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 244

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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 244
I extend my sword.
The extended blade will meet one of three fates.
It finds its mark, gets blocked, or misses entirely.
Thinking of it that way makes it seem remarkably simple. Against weaker opponents, battles often unfold with that very simplicity.
But this moment is different.
Whoosh—
The blade that had been driving forward suddenly curves slightly to the side.
In response, my opponent also bends the sword they had thrust forward upward.
The flow is blocked once more. So I carve out a new path to break through it.
Then my opponent blocks that new flow as well.
In that brief moment before the blades cross, countless possibilities bloom and vanish.
Clang!
At the end of that exchange, our blades collide with a sharp, piercing sound.
In combat like this, the mind is taxed as mercilessly as the body.
Someone once called swordsmanship chess played with a blade in hand.
Our current duel embodied that perfectly.
We each swing our swords while looking dozens of moves ahead, weaving in dozens of variations along the way.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
The exchange between us remains evenly matched.
In this moment, Jung Han-sung forgets everything else, focusing entirely on the duel before him.
Everything he felt through sparring with Arthur becomes embodied and absorbed with each clash of steel.
Clang!
When an attack is blocked, I find a new flow.
I surrender to the flow, then unpredictably create a new one to exploit an opening.
My opponent undergoes the same process, searching for gaps in my defense.
The Gatekeeper before me is the most evenly matched opponent in swordsmanship that I have faced among all the ‘enemies’ encountered in The Tower.
Had Jung Han-sung drawn upon his other abilities earlier, the battle might have ended sooner, but he did not.
He simply commits everything to this moment.
Crack!
Yet all things must come to an end.
At some point, a fracture appears between us.
The taut flow begins to tilt toward one side, and the fierce, chaotic exchange gradually becomes clearer and more direct.
‘Is this it.’
Jung Han-sung recalls words that Arthur once spoke.
If you stare long enough at a complex flow, you eventually discover the simplest path.
Not a flashy, intricate blade.
A stubborn, powerful one.
Clang!
That blade strikes the Gatekeeper’s sword away with tremendous force.
The Gatekeeper tried to quickly retrieve his sword that had been knocked to the side, but before he could, Jung Han-sung drove his shoulder into the man’s chest.
A single shoulder charge shattered his balance completely.
Simultaneously, the countless streams of possibility that had spread around him vanished at tremendous speed.
A single path unfolded before me.
I swung my blade along that path.
Crack!
And so my sword pierced through the Gatekeeper’s chest. He raised his blade for a moment, then let it fall limply.
“Impressive.”
“It seems we could still fight more.”
I spoke while observing the Gatekeeper, who remained composed despite having his chest pierced.
The Gatekeeper then slowly shook his head and replied.
“I do not die, but a wound of this magnitude will take several days to recover from.”
Thud.
As if to prove his words were no lie, the Gatekeeper released the sword he held and collapsed heavily to the ground.
I lowered my blade to match his movement, then slowly sheathed it.
“Is this the end then?”
“Yes. I offer you my respect.”
The Gatekeeper spoke thus and bowed his head slightly.
“Thanks to you, I was able to enjoy a truly exhilarating duel after a very long time.”
“I enjoyed it as well.”
I answered with genuine sincerity.
The battle with the Gatekeeper left such a deep impression on me that I felt regret at how quickly it had ended.
After wiping the blood from my blade, I gazed upon the massive door behind the Gatekeeper.
“Open the door.”
And immediately after, the Gatekeeper swept one arm.
Creeeeak—
The massive door behind the Gatekeeper slowly opened to both sides, and simultaneously a message appeared before my eyes.
[Floor 120 objective completed]
[You receive a Superior Spirit Stone as a reward]
[Floor 120 objective completed in record time]
[You have left a deep impression on the Gatekeeper]
[You have achieved Clear Rank ‘SSS’]
[You obtain the Gatekeeper’s Seal as an additional reward]
Immediately after that message appeared.
The Gatekeeper retrieved something from his possession and handed it to me.
“This is my seal. Carrying it will prove helpful in exploring Purgatory.”
“I’ll make good use of it.”
I accepted the metal medal-shaped seal and placed it inside my clothing.
I didn’t know how to use it yet, but I would discover that in time.
Thus I offered the Gatekeeper a final light bow in farewell and proceeded toward Floor 121.
Whoosh—
Floor 121 arrived in an instant, revealing the very place I had glimpsed beyond the door on Floor 120.
Purgatory’s Center.
‘The air itself feels different here.’
I had sensed something alien before, but Purgatory’s Center amplified that sensation tenfold.
Everything around me was shrouded in gray, and here and there, dense shadows writhed and undulated as they moved.
Moreover, with each step, my strength seemed to drain away.
To be precise, it felt as though this entire space was rejecting me.
“Hmm.”
Much remained unknown about Purgatory.
After all, Purgatory itself was not a stage that just anyone could enter.
Still, through investigation, I had learned several facts, with two being the most notable.
First, there were many spectral monsters. I had known this since my encounter with the Guardian.
The second fact was the crucial one.
‘A land where the gods’ power exerts itself more strongly than anywhere else.’
While The Tower itself was a place where the gods could exert their power directly, Purgatory was far more so.
It was as if one layer of restriction had been stripped away.
So I recalled Arthur’s final advice once more.
‘Sargon.’
Arthur had suggested that Sargon seemed to be plotting something. And now I was pushing through Purgatory, where the gods’ power flowed more intensely.
If he was going to make a move, the odds were extremely high that it would happen before I escaped Purgatory.
As I reached that conclusion.
[Objective: Eliminate the spirits of Purgatory (0/30)]
A new objective materialized before my eyes.
Another simple elimination mission.
The spirits appeared to be those writhing shadows visible nearby.
Without hesitation, I moved toward them.
Thud.
As I took a step, the air around me became thick and adhesive.
It felt like walking through cold mud. My feet met with a heavy resistance at every step.
It was distinctly different from the Upper Floors of Purgatory.
‘Yet the flow becomes clearer.’
As my body grew heavier, my senses sharpened in compensation.
Now I could see every thread of the flow around me with vivid clarity.
―Grrrrr.
And at that very moment.
A nearby shadow slowly turned to face me.
The shadow bore a vaguely human form, yet writhed like a mollusk.
But the instant our eyes met.
Pop!
Suddenly, a shadow rushed toward Jung Han-sung at tremendous speed.
Jung Han-sung reflexively swung his sword.
Whoooosh!
The shadow charging at him was cleaved by his blade and scattered into fragments.
But it was only temporary. The dispersed shadow gathered back together and reformed.
‘As expected, ordinary attacks won’t work.’
There was nothing surprising about that. Most spectral entities exhibited such characteristics.
Fortunately, Jung Han-sung possessed a weapon specialized for combating spectral entities.
‘Arzka.’
―Understood.
The moment I called Arzka’s name, he began to exert his true power.
Jung Han-sung changed direction and swung his sword once more at the wraith charging toward him.
Crack!
This time, unlike before, he felt a substantial weight in his grip.
The wraith, instead of scattering in all directions as before, cried out in agony and shrieked.
Jung Han-sung didn’t hesitate and drove his blade into the wraith’s chest once more.
Crunch!
The wraith trembled violently, then crumbled to dust and dispersed.
(1/30)
The wraith elimination count increased by one as a bonus.
But that was merely the beginning.
Screeeech―!
The moment I eliminated one, the wraiths nearby simultaneously turned their heads toward Jung Han-sung.
As if they had sensed their companion’s death.
Without hesitation, they charged toward him.
Whoooosh―!
Jung Han-sung stood his ground, swinging his sword again and again against the charging wraiths.
By the time sticky spectral energy clung to Arzka, making him considerably heavier.
[Floor 121 objective completed!]
The objective completion message appeared once again.
This time, Jung Han-sung didn’t even properly check the rewards and immediately headed to Floor 122.
Normally, I would have climbed The Tower moderately and then rested, but today I wanted to go higher.
It was as if my body was burning with momentum.
‘Keep going.’
Considering Sargon, I couldn’t push myself to my limits as usual, but I still had plenty of stamina remaining.
So Jung Han-sung continued forward.
Fortunately, most of the subsequent missions were elimination quests, allowing me to focus solely on wielding my sword.
But when I arrived at Floor 127.
[Objective: Meet the Boatman and cross the Underworld River.]
Another unfamiliar mission was presented.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to search for the Boatman’s whereabouts.
The place I arrived at was a riverbank, and a single boat was leaning nearby.
A gaunt old man sat there, and as I approached, he slowly turned his head and spoke.
“It’s been a long time since a human ventured this deep.”
“Is that so.”
I spoke to the old man with my sword still drawn.
“I need to cross this river.”
“This river cannot be crossed by just anyone.”
“What’s required then?”
“Hmm. Well.”
The old man looked me up and down before opening his mouth.
“You possess the Gatekeeper’s seal.”
“Ah, you mean this?”
I pulled out the seal the Gatekeeper had given me and showed it to him.
The old man nodded and pondered for a moment before speaking.
“With that seal, I can take you aboard. However, whether you cross safely depends entirely on you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ll understand once you’re on the boat.”
The old man fell silent, as if telling me to make my own choice.
I stared at the old man for a moment, then climbed aboard the boat.
“Let’s go.”
Since I needed to cross this river to clear the mission, there was no point in delaying.
The old man looked at me intently, then slowly began rowing.
The boat began to cross the deep black river slowly.
I stood in the middle of the boat and surveyed my surroundings. If the old man wasn’t talking nonsense, something would certainly go wrong during the crossing.
‘At the simplest, something would attack.’
And my prediction proved correct.
When we reached the middle of the river.
Splash!
Suddenly, pale arms rose onto the boat. From all directions, simultaneously.
They were similar yet different from the specters I’d faced before.
They carried a far more intense malice, one might say.
“If you leave them be, the boat will sink.”
The old man spoke in a calm voice upon seeing this.
I chuckled in response.
“That won’t do.”
Fighting on a small boat was my first time, but it posed no particular problem.
Soon, my sword began to dance once more.

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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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