SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 14

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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 14. You Have a Skill Too? (2)
Regardless of what the ghost rattled on about, the voice made itself known.
[Please select a skill card.]
This was undeniably real!
Two bronze-colored cards began darting through the air at dizzying speed. Whoosh. Whoosh. They moved so frantically they made my head spin, but what truly stole my breath away was something else entirely.
-What the hell! Where’s the scam in this? Being able to copy skills monsters have? That’s overkill. Hey, whoever manages this tower—why didn’t you give a conceptually flawless Hunter like me such a skill, and yet you hand it to this incompetent wretch?
‘Please, could you just be quiet for a moment?’
-Get out here! This is invalid. I’m seriously losing my mind!
Bae Hu-ryeong thrashed his limbs in indignation. How to describe it… he was simply ugly about it. Like a child throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get candy. Ugly to the point where you wondered if an adult could really be so petty.
‘Forget it. Just focus on the cards.’
I studied the two bronze cards gliding through empty space.
‘Either way, they’re both dung-colored cards, so neither’s likely to be a good skill, but…’
Still, my heart raced with genuine excitement. Imagine it—a monster’s skill. I could actually share a skill with a monster! There was something thrillingly illicit about it, as if I were committing some delicious transgression.
‘I’m curious.’
I slowly reached out my hand.
‘Let me just grab one at random!’
I was reaching for a card without thinking.
-Wait? You’re picking that one?
The ghost couldn’t hold his tongue and interjected again. The boyish thrill that had set my heart racing evaporated in an instant. In any case, his talent for killing the mood was remarkable.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter which one I pick anyway.’
-Why doesn’t it matter?
Bae Hu-ryeong was peering at me from beyond the cards.
-Since you’ve apparently lucked into this, you should at least pick the better skill if you can.
‘But I can’t tell which card has the better skill. They’re both the same dung color. It’s just a game of chance.’
-Huh? Why can’t you tell which one has the better skill?
‘Goodness, you’re really not listening today.’
I spoke in exasperation.
‘The cards are identical in color! I can only see the back! There’s no way to distinguish between them, so how in the world would I know which skill is better?’
Then Bae Hu-ryeong tilted his head.
-I can see them.
‘What?’
-I can see the front of the cards.
Bae Hu-ryeong said it matter-of-factly. I was floored.
‘That doesn’t make any sense…’
I started to protest, but midway through, realization struck.
Position.
From where I stood, only the card backs were visible. Even if I shifted my gaze, the cards followed in perfect lockstep. Like how we can never see the far side of the moon from Earth, I could never know what was written on the opposite face of those cards.
But that was only my limitation.
Bae Hu-ryeong moved freely through this dark space.
Of course.
He could naturally fly to a position where the card faces were perfectly visible!
‘My goodness…’
I murmured to myself.
‘Can you really see them from there? Can you actually read the card descriptions?’
Bae Hu-ryeong’s brow furrowed.
-Of course I can see them. What kind of eyes do you think I have? I was famous since childhood for my tracking vision. There was a kid in the neighborhood called Dung-sae who shot a toy dart gun at me, right? But by age five, I was already good enough to dodge it. Eventually, I even mastered the Far-Sight Art. Keh-heh, I’m really so talented…
‘Eureka!’
-Woah, shit! Did this bastard go crazy? Why are you screaming?
Bae Hu-ryeong started in alarm, but I paid it no mind.
‘Eureka! Eureka! Eurekaaaaaa!’
I was simply overjoyed at the stroke of fortune that had befallen me.
Bae Hu-ryeong watched me with a peculiar expression, then clicked his tongue softly.
-They call him a zombie, and true enough, even his brain’s rotted like a zombie’s. Tsk, tsk, tsk…
2
The cards that Bae Hu-ryeong revealed were as follows:
+
[Blessing of Reproduction]
Rank: E
Effect: Ah, nature grants us the earth as our home, yet visits hardship upon us! In this harsh world, the Orc race has overcome nature by maximizing their breeding prowess. One Orc was captured and killed, you say? Fear not. There are still nine more waiting where you cannot see them!
※However, you will suffer constant mating urges year-round.
Chuiik, Chaek
Rank: F
Effect: ‘We add chuiik to the end of every word. Why we do it? Even we don’t know, chaek! But you try drinking a bowl of chuiik yourself, chaek.’ The orc gives a thumbs up. ‘Then you’ll never escape from the delightful chuiik-chaeking, chuiik!’
※Note: Chuiik, chaek.
+
‘Whoa…….’
Truly a brown card.
Every single one of them was an insane, useless skill. It was hard to suppress my amazement.
-What do you think? If I hadn’t stopped you, you would’ve picked Chuiik, Chaek. You’re a man born into this world, Gongja—don’t you think you should at least experience the kind of strength an orc has? Come on, thank me for it. Go on! Hurry up!
It was equally hard to suppress my amazement at the nonsense spilling from the ghost’s mouth. In other words, I was so astounded I was nearly losing my mind.
‘Hmm.’
I ignored Bae Hu-ryeong and thought quietly.
‘If I have to choose among these, Chuiik, Chaek actually looks like the better option.’
-Huh? Are you insane?
‘No, I think my judgment is sound.’
I nodded to myself. I was certain.
‘No matter how I look at it, Chuiik, Chaek has far more practical use than the Blessing of Reproduction.’
-Hey, wait! Hold on a moment! Think about it a little longer. Approach it rationally…!
Pfft.
Watching Bae Hu-ryeong fluster about, I let out a scoff.
‘You seem to be thinking the exact same thing I am, don’t you?’
Before Bae Hu-ryeong could protest further, I quickly snatched the brown card. The cards flew past rapidly, but it wasn’t a real problem. If multiple cards had been moving at once, perhaps—but there were only two right now.
[Selection complete. Skill will be copied.]
[Regressing twenty-four hours.]
-No, this can’t be!
‘It can!’
Our cries rang out like a duet.
[Your current Hunter Rank is F.
[No Penalty occurs from this skill.]
With that, the dark world lit up.
* * *
Snap. My eyes opened.
“Hmm!”
My head felt refreshed.
“Ah, this is nice. There’s nothing like a good bed to wash away fatigue.”
This was no longer a two-square-meter tiny room. It was a hotel room that Sang-ryeon had arranged for me—not spacious, but more than comfortable for one person to live in. Ever since winning the first-place lottery, I’d decided to stay here for a while.
Meanwhile.
-Damn it! I thought I could trick him, but the kid’s sharper than I gave him credit for!
“Hehe.”
Bae Hu-ryeong drifted about in the air, kicking at empty space. He seemed quite frustrated that he hadn’t managed to outwit me. Well, watching him like this was oddly peaceful—beautiful even, like a landscape painting.
“Now, let me grab those spirit potions again… and check my Ability Window.”
There was no reason to waste time here. I checked my Ability Window on the way to the Hunting Ground.
+
Name: Kim Gongja
Rank: F
Skills (4/4)
1. I Want to Become Like You (S+): Passive
2. Regressor’s Clockwork (EX): Passive
3. Constellation of the Sword (A+): Passive
4. Chuiik, Chaek (F): Active
+
“Good. No problems.”
My skill slots were full. But that was fine. When the time came to obtain a new skill, I could just overwrite the one where Chuiik, Chaek sat.
Until then, I’d use it as much as I wanted.
-Gongja, I’ve been thinking… you know, we could just sit cross-legged and cultivate normally. No need to kill yourself with brutal training, right? Cross-legged meditation. Mental discipline. How dignified does that sound?
“Phew.”
I arrived at the 3rd Floor Hunting Ground.
An orc wandered in the distance.
-Grrr… chaek.
I noted the orcs’ positions and pulled out a spirit potion—a thermos warm to the touch. I downed the potion inside in one shot.
—Hey, Gongja? Aren’t you listening to me? I said let’s train properly, didn’t I? Even if you sit in lotus position, I’ll have you master your Aura within six months. What does the method matter, hmm? Just trust me on this.
“Agh! This tastes wonderful.”
This was only the second time drinking it, but I was already developing a taste for it. The alchemist had clearly taken care with the flavor when crafting the spirit potion.
I spoke while waiting for the potion’s effects to rise through me.
“You know something?”
—Huh? What? Getting into position wrong?
“When you’re at an advantage, you call me zombie. But when you’re at a disadvantage, you call me Gongja. And just now—you’ve been calling me Gongja, not zombie.”
Thump-thump.
“I’m just helpfully pointing out that you should fix that habit.”
The moment I finished speaking, the world before my eyes flowed slowly.
My heart thundered in my chest. With each thundering beat, a faint current returned—unmistakable now.
Aura!
Bae Hu-ryeong’s training method had real results. Unlike the last regression, this time my Aura crystallized immediately and clearly.
“Hoo, ah… hooooh…….”
I approached while steadying my breath. There—the orc’s ears twitched at the sound. This enormous green creature turned slowly to face me.
—Gruk?
The orc’s eyes widened. From its perspective, this had to be confusing. Here came what should’ve been prey, walking straight toward it on two legs.
—Krrrr!
The orc, apparently deciding to accept this stroke of fortune humbly, raised its club high.
That was the moment I smiled inwardly.
[Skill activated.]
I opened my mouth.
“Chui… ik! Chaek……!”
The orc froze. Its eyes grew even wider than before. The club, mid-swing through empty air, stopped dead.
—Chui-ruk… Chuiik? Chui… ik?
The orc’s head tilted in confusion. It seemed genuinely puzzled by the revelation that mere prey had somehow learned the language of its own kind.
Of course, given the orc’s intellectual ceiling, understanding what was happening remained impossible. But my own IQ was nowhere near low enough to waste this opening.
“Chuiik!”
Perfect orcish flowed from my lips.
Orcish that rivaled native-speaker fluency itself!
—Krr? Chui… ruk?
The monster before me grew increasingly flustered. Its confusion was plain to see. By the time I lunged forward, the orc couldn’t even mount a proper resistance.
Swish!
My blade slid cleanly across the orc’s throat. I was precise—not excessive, not stingy—releasing exactly one drop of Aura through my blade’s edge. Whoosh! Blood fountained up as the orc’s massive frame crashed down.
—Chui… ruk…? Gur… chaek…….
It wheezed and coughed something seemingly indignant.
Had I translated it to human speech, it might’ve been something like “Et tu, Brute?” — a dying creature’s final curse.
“Chui-ruk.”
I smiled in victory. My body ached from forcing out the Aura, but the overall state was incomparably better than the previous regression. I was fine. This level of Aura consumption posed no real problem.
—Cowardly bastard! I knew it!—
Bae Hu-ryeong trembled with rage.
—Is it fun tricking innocent orcs like that? Huh? You never stop to think how orcs feel, what’s in their hearts, do you? Pure orcs everywhere are suffering because of filthy humans like you!—
I didn’t respond with “But you said there’s no hierarchy in training methods?”
Instead, I simply gave him back something in kind.
“Chuiik!”
—Aaaaah! Maddening! Infuriating! Why did the Tower give a cheat skill to a weasel like you?!—
A week had passed.
I had cleared all the way to the 5th Floor Hunting Ground.
SSS-Rank Hunter: Must Die to Live (Serialization)
Author │ Shin No-ah
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin No-ah 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. Without permission from the publisher and author, the contents may not be used in any form or medium.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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