The Automatic Rooting Range Is Too Wide - Chapter 68
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Auto Looting Range Too Wide Episode 68
Episode 68: Golden Orb (1)
Just like the bronze orbs, the silver orbs were immediately acquired through Auto Looting.
‘Bronze orbs are worth 2 points, silver orbs are worth 10 points.’
Though fewer in number compared to bronze orbs, they were worth proportionally more points.
‘Now I just need to find the golden orbs.’
Mincheol began wandering through the forest to obtain golden orbs.
But no matter how much he walked around, he neither found golden orbs nor received any acquisition notifications.
【You have acquired 5 ‘Bronze Orbs’.】
【You have acquired 2 ‘Silver Orbs’.】
Instead, only messages about acquiring bronze and silver orbs kept appearing.
Auto Looting had a range of 900 meters.
Thanks to this, just walking around a little filled his inventory with massive quantities of orbs.
‘That means other people must be twiddling their thumbs right now.’
By now, other Awakened were probably desperately searching for orbs they couldn’t find.
‘I feel a bit sorry.’
But what could he do? The Tower was originally that kind of place.
Besides, the 15th Floor could be challenged again.
【Ding! Ding!】
【Someone has discovered a ‘Golden Orb’!】
Then, the message Mincheol had been waiting for finally appeared.
Mincheol sprinted through the forest following the arrow.
But he wasn’t the only one rushing toward the golden orb.
Thump thump thump-
The closer he got to the golden orb, the more running footsteps he could hear.
‘They said the message gets sent within 300 meters when a golden orb is discovered, right?’
With such a wide range, it seemed many Awakened were converging.
‘I should prepare for a chaotic battle.’
With so many Awakened clashing at once, tremendous chaos was bound to unfold.
Finding the owner of the golden orb in that mess would be quite a task.
But Mincheol’s expectations were completely off the mark.
Silence-
When he actually arrived at the site, far from chaos, it was quiet.
Instead, a group of people had formed a defensive formation in the middle of the forest.
‘What’s this?’
Mincheol hid behind a tree for now.
‘Don’t tell me other Awakened haven’t arrived yet?’
That wasn’t it.
He could sense presence and killing intent from all directions – this area was already packed with Awakened.
‘Then why hasn’t the fighting started?’
It was obvious that those forming the defensive formation had the golden orb.
‘Is it because the defending side has more numbers?’
The number of Awakened forming the defensive formation was a full eight people.
But whether that was enough to overwhelm all the Awakened gathered here was questionable.
‘There’s definitely something more to this.’
For Mincheol, whose motto was safety first, this was a situation where he hesitated to act rashly.
Understanding the detailed circumstances was the priority, just in case.
“Older Brother, what do we do now?”
Then, he heard voices nearby.
Looking toward the sound, he saw two people lying flat on the ground.
“I don’t know either. I was planning to snatch the golden orb and run when chaos broke out. But things have gone wrong.”
“What the hell are those guys? All eight of them seemed unusual.”
“They’re not ordinary. We should investigate them once we get outside.”
Mincheol slipped between the two and asked.
“Who are those people that everyone’s just watching?”
“Ah, well you see. A little while ago, some team…”
The two brothers looked at Mincheol in shock.
“You, what are you!”
The older brother grabbed the weapon he had set on the ground.
Mincheol grabbed the older brother’s wrist as if he had expected this.
The older brother tried to shake him off, but his hand wouldn’t budge even slightly.
“…!”
The older brother’s face hardened instantly.
“O-Older Brother!”
The younger brother also grabbed his weapon belatedly. In that moment, Mincheol gently pressed down on the younger brother’s back.
“Ugh, urgh!”
The younger brother struggled but couldn’t even lift his chest off the ground.
“I have no intention of harming you. Stay still.”
“H-how can we believe that.”
“…Hey, just put your weapon down.”
The older brother persuaded his younger brother in a small voice.
“Older Brother!”
“If this guy decides to, we’re both dead anyway.”
The younger brother silently swallowed his saliva.
After a moment, the younger brother also released his weapon.
‘Surprisingly reasonable brothers.’
Just as Mincheol was thinking this, the older brother asked him.
“…What did you say you were curious about?”
“I asked why there’s a standoff. With the number of people gathered here, eight people should be manageable.”
“Right before you arrived, one team attacked and got taken down instantly. All eight of them had exceptional skills.”
Mincheol had rushed here as soon as the message appeared.
They dealt with one team in that short time? Seeing that no bodies remained, they must have really dealt with them in the blink of an eye.
“Are they from a guild?”
“I don’t think so. Probably a group, I’d guess.”
“A group?”
When Mincheol asked back, the older brother made a strange expression.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what a group is?”
“Just answer.”
“It refers to climbing with like-minded people without belonging to a guild.”
Mincheol suddenly recalled his conversation with Yeonhui.
-If you’ve climbed that high, you should ask your collaborators. Not us.
-Collaborators?
-You must have Awakened acquaintances around you.
-I don’t have any.
-Really? Then you must be attending an academy.
-Uh… I’m not attending one.
-…Then are you getting information from those trendy study groups?
-There are things like that?
-…Don’t tell me you’re climbing alone?
-It’s not like I didn’t get any help. I referenced the Hunter Community a lot.
-…Isn’t that usually called climbing alone?
That was probably what Yeonhui had been talking about back then – groups.
“Usually Awakened of similar levels gather together. Sometimes senior Awakened lead them.”
“Guys with exceptional skills like that usually have sponsors behind them. Whether it’s senior Awakened or whatever.”
His younger brother added an explanation.
It seemed the tension had eased during that brief moment.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just join a guild?”
“If you join a guild, there are many restrictions. But groups are more free.”
“Free, but you can still take advantage of collective benefits. Like those guys.”
Mincheol looked at the group Awakened with curious eyes.
To think such skilled individuals existed even among ordinary Awakened who weren’t guild members.
‘But I can’t just keep watching like this forever.’
Even at this moment, the orbs were disappearing.
It was important to get the golden orb as quickly as possible.
‘They’re a pretty skilled group. If I go easy on them, I might get hurt instead.’
Mincheol thought back to when he fought the Goblin Elite Soldiers.
Each individual was strong, but when they grouped together, they displayed double the fighting power.
‘In times like this, I need to hit them hard.’
Mincheol took out the Dark Elongated Spear from his inventory.
When Mincheol drew his spear, the two brothers flinched in surprise.
“Wh-what are you trying to do?”
“I’m too busy to just keep watching like this.”
Mincheol carefully observed the distance between himself and the group Awakened.
‘At this distance, I can use Falling Star Collapsing Earth.’
He had been needing a place to test Falling Star Collapsing Earth anyway.
Now, with the enemies gathered in one place, was the perfect opportunity.
Just as Mincheol was about to throw his spear.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
Suddenly, a scream echoed out.
It hadn’t come from the group. It came from somewhere farther away.
“Bl-block it! Block it, I said!”
“H-how are we supposed to block something like this… Kyaaak!”
The screams gradually increased. And they were getting closer.
“Aaaaak!”
When the screams could be heard nearby, three people appeared.
Mincheol recognized the faces well.
Park Min-gi.
And his two companions.
They were Iron Fang’s hunting dogs.
* * *
“Hm?”
Upon arriving at the site, Park Min-gi tilted his head as soon as he saw the group Awakened.
“I was wondering why everyone was swarming around like flies. It looks like you found the golden orb?”
Park Min-gi extended his hand toward the group Awakened.
“Would you give it to me?”
“Anyone watching would think you’re retrieving something you left here.”
One of the group Awakened sneered.
His companions all burst into laughter at once.
“Laughing?”
But with Park Min-gi’s single word, the laughter completely disappeared.
“It’s good for us since we don’t waste energy unnecessarily, and it’s good for you since you don’t get eliminated early. It’s a win-win situation, isn’t it?”
“…You’re being too arrogant for having only three people.”
“That’s what I want to say. Are you really going to try taking on Iron Fang with just eight people?”
When Iron Fang was mentioned, the group Awakened stirred uneasily.
“What’s so special about Iron Fang? Our group has Kang Cheol-geun of the Crushing Fist.”
“Kang Cheol-geun? Isn’t he just a cushion that pads the bottom for top-tier Awakened? Don’t tell me you’re acting up like this because you trust someone like that?”
At that moment, sparks flew in the group leader’s eyes.
“Kill him!”
The group Awakened drew their weapons without hesitation.
Then, two people burst out from Park Min-gi’s left and right.
Soon after, weapons clashed and the smell of blood spread in all directions.
‘What the hell.’
Mincheol couldn’t take his eyes off the battle before him.
‘The gap is this huge?’
As soon as the two stepped forward, the group Awakened fell helplessly.
They didn’t even use skills. Just avoiding attacks and striking at openings was enough.
Such a gap existed between the two sides.
‘So this is why everyone couldn’t carelessly attack and just watched.’
The group Awakened had supposedly wiped out an entire team in the blink of an eye.
The exact same thing was now happening in reverse.
It was a sight that would break the fighting spirit of the Awakened who were after the golden orb.
“Kuh, kuhk!”
The battle ended with the group leader’s death.
“Ah, here it is.”
Park Min-gi took the golden orb from the leader’s corpse and held it in his hand.
“Now that we’ve collected the side income too…”
Suddenly Park Min-gi whipped his head around. It was exactly where Mincheol was hiding.
‘Eek.’
Mincheol lowered his head even further. The two brothers did the same.
“Butcher, there’s no point in hiding. I already knew you were there when I came.”
Mincheol didn’t respond.
How could he pinpoint his location in this vast stage?
It must be a bluff…
“I touched your shoulder in the waiting room, remember? I used a tracking item then to mark you. So I could find your location.”
Park Min-gi showed the glove on his hand as he spoke.
‘Tch, so that’s why he approached me.’
Mincheol clicked his tongue.
‘Then there’s no point in hiding.’
Mincheol got up from his position and approached Park Min-gi.
Park Min-gi smiled slyly and said.
“Quite brave of you.”
“I’m the type who doesn’t back down from a fight.”
In truth, he was full of thoughts about backing down, but he didn’t bother to reveal that.
He remembered Michael Alzen’s advice about never losing momentum when fighting people.
“You fought quite well. Those two seemed more skilled than Kim Ju-yeon.”
“Haha, thanks for the compliment. Well, of course. We have higher priority than Sister Ju-yeon.”
Priority?
He was curious about what that meant, but held back for now.
It was dangerous to have too much conversation with the enemy.
“You promised, didn’t you? That you’d definitely find me and make me pay for what happened to Sister Ju-yeon.”
Hearing those words, he felt both injustice and anger simultaneously.
‘Who told you to pick a fight in the first place? You guys attacked first.’
Mincheol had merely acted in self-defense. It was Iron Fang who had provoked Mincheol first.
‘More than that, it seems like they’re seriously planning to capture me…’
As he’d just witnessed, these three were no ordinary fighters.
Skilled fighters of this caliber had been preparing for a long time to capture Mincheol.
‘Should I just run away?’
The problem was that he’d already been marked by a tracking item.
As long as the tracking item existed, Iron Fang would chase after him even if he fled.
‘It doesn’t seem like it would last very long though.’
The problem was that he had no idea what kind of tracking item it was.
So he couldn’t even dare to guess.
‘If I run away and the tracking item has no duration limit, I’m screwed.’
‘More importantly, now that we’re this close, I can’t be sure I could even escape.’
‘Then what’s the most reliable method?’
The conclusion came quickly.
‘I’ll settle this here.’
He would take down all three of them right here.
Then there would be nothing to worry about.
Suddenly, this thought occurred to him.
‘How strong would they be if all three coordinated their attacks?’
He could feel his body heating up slightly.
Without realizing it, Mincheol licked his lips with his tongue.
‘Should I test them out a bit first?’
Just as both hands moved closer to his sword hilt.
“Th-there, found you!”
A booming voice pierced Mincheol’s eardrums.
Not only Mincheol, but even the three Iron Fang members were startled and looked toward where the object had fallen.
There, they could see a disheveled woman standing between the trees.
It was Song Su-a, the Jeok-song Awakened they’d met in the Waiting Room.
“Heh, heheh… finally found you.”
Song Su-a approached Mincheol with a sinister laugh.
“How did you find me? Did you also use a tracking item like Iron Fang?”
“Tracking item? Th-that kind of thing is too c-complicated for me to use. I r-ran around until I found you.”
Mincheol’s brow furrowed.
Ran around until you found me? In this vast Stage?
What kind of nonsense was this?
“Song Su-a? Are you also after the Butcher?”
“Th-that’s right. It’s Master’s order.”
“Stand down. Iron Fang will handle the Butcher.”
“Y-you’re the one who should sc-scram. I came here on Master’s orders, didn’t I?”
“I also came here on Master’s orders.”
The two glared at each other as if they wanted to kill one another.
“Y-you’re doing this because of Sister Ju-yeon, aren’t you? Do you th-think Sister Ju-yeon will show interest in you for doing this?”
“They say there’s no tree that won’t fall after being struck ten times.”
“Th-these days that’s called st-stalking. The police will c-catch you, you know?”
Listening to their conversation, Mincheol could understand why Park Min-gi had been so hostile.
‘So he was that angry because the woman he’s interested in came back after getting beaten by me?’
Knowing the reason didn’t change anything.
It just made it even more absurd.
‘But if this goes well, couldn’t it flow in my favor?’
Mincheol didn’t want to face Iron Fang and Jeok-song simultaneously.
Though not a large Guild, it was a fairly big place classified as a mid-tier Guild.
Moreover, Song Su-a, who had been fine even after falling from the sky, was also concerning.
“Just quietly stand down!”
“Y-you stand down!”
‘Yes, good job. You two fight each other.’
Just as Mincheol was enthusiastically cheering for both of them in his heart.
“Then we have no choice.”
“Th-then we have no choice.”
Both people’s gazes turned toward Mincheol.
‘Huh? Why are you looking at me?’
Instantly, Mincheol felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
“How about we subdue that thing first, then discuss ownership?”
“Let’s catch that bastard first, then decide who gets him.”
Four pairs of eyes turned toward Mincheol.
‘Of course. As if things would work out that easily.’
Mincheol let out a deep sigh.
He was now going to fight two mid-tier Guilds, so a sigh naturally escaped him.
‘No, it’s a fight I can’t avoid anyway. I shouldn’t be this depressed.’
Hadn’t Michael Alzen said it too?
If it’s a fight you can’t avoid anyway, you must win.
Mincheol recalled Michael Alzen’s advice and drew his hand axe.
“Th-then you guys go first.”
“What are you talking about? As the warrior type, you should charge first.”
“Y-you guys have more people.”
And he hurled it straight at the enemies who were bickering.
“Whoa!”
Clang-
One of the Iron Fang Awakened hastily drew his sword and deflected the hand axe.
At the sudden attack, all four people’s gazes turned back to Mincheol.
“What the hell are you staring at?”
Attacking first was bad enough, but now he had to use harsh language too.
It was really burdensome, but Mincheol endured it. It was to follow Michael Alzen’s advice.
“How long are you going to whine like little kids? If you’re going to do that, bite your tongue and die.”
In situations like this, he always realized it.
That he really had a hard time saying mean things to others.
“If you understand, then hurry up and attack, you vermin!”
“What did you say?”
“Don’t speak so carelessly, you bastard!”
In the end, unable to endure the provocation, the two Iron Fang Awakened charged toward Mincheol.
According to Michael Alzen, shaking up the enemy like this would allow them to lead the battle advantageously.
‘It was worth enduring all that hardship.’
Mincheol felt proud of himself as he drew his twin swords.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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