The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 24

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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 24
Enchant.
In simple terms, it’s the concept of imbuing a spirit blade with magic.
Typically, mages or supporters with buff abilities cast enchantments on the spirit blades of dealers and tanks.
But I never knew it was possible to enchant myself using cards and strengthen my spirit blade this way.
Shhhhh!
[Madness’s Butcher] gleamed with a sharpness incomparable to before.
Seeing the ether pouring out, I could sense its power without even testing it.
It was formidable.
It would be more than enough to pose a genuine threat even to the Count.
‘Let me test it.’
Gripping [Madness’s Butcher], now enhanced by [Fortune] and [Full Moon] cards, I charged at the Count again.
“You wretched, insignificant creatures!”
“Ugh!”
As the Count thrashed about with a roar, Choi Yu-ra was dragged backward.
The Count’s furious strength was so overwhelming that even Choi Yu-ra, a 4-Star Hunter, struggled to hold her ground.
“The price for trespassing in a lord’s domain is death alone!”
Wrapped in crimson ether, the Count hauled Choi Yu-ra’s chains toward him.
“…!”
Just as Choi Yu-ra was being dragged toward the Count.
Screeeech!
The enchant worked.
[Madness’s Butcher] tore across the Count’s shoulder blade.
“Aaaahhh!”
The Count shrieked and swung his arm toward me.
Whoosh!
‘If that hits, I’m dead.’
Though the arm was gaunt and withered, the power contained within it was immense.
As a 2-Star Hunter, a single gesture from the Count would inflict a fatal wound on me.
But it didn’t matter.
As long as it didn’t connect, I was fine.
Clang!
Choi Yu-ra seized the chains again, and just then Lim Captain and his unit arrived to divide the Count’s attention.
‘Now.’
Before the Count could unleash another shockwave, this moment of divided focus was the perfect opening.
‘End it in one strike.’
I concentrated all my ether into [Madness’s Butcher] and exploited the Count’s opening.
‘Now.’
Upward from below.
The axe blade of [Madness’s Butcher] carved diagonally across the Count’s neck.
Crack!
The Count’s head flew clean off.
Whoooosh!
A fountain of blackened, corrupted blood erupted into the air.
Thud.
The Count’s head rolled across the floor with a dull rumble.
[Count] has been defeated!
[Cursed Fortress] dungeon cleared!
Ether absorbed!
Portal generating!
With the Count’s death, a portal to the outside of the dungeon materialized.
“You’ve all worked incredibly hard!”
“You’ve worked hard!”
Lim Captain and his team rushed over and spoke.
“Everyone did an excellent job.”
I expressed my gratitude to Lim Captain’s team, who had endured just as much as I had.
“You’re pretty strong, aren’t you?”
“So are you.”
I answered Choi Yu-ra’s comment with a slight grin.
“About that promise…”
“When the time comes, I’ll keep it right away. Just wait a bit.”
“Understood.”
Perhaps because of what I had demonstrated, Choi Yu-ra nodded without hesitation.
“Then, let’s gather the wounded and collect the bodies of the fallen before we leave.”
“Yes, that’s what I was thinking.”
Lim Captain glanced around the area, then closed his eyes tightly as if overwhelmed by the sight.
Nearly a dozen corpses of Boramae Clan members lay scattered throughout the dungeon.
“Aaahhh!”
“My arm, my aaaaarm!”
Many others had sustained severe injuries.
“What happened? Most of you are only 1 to 2-Star Hunters. Why are you even here?”
“Ugh!”
Choi Yu-ra wrapped a tourniquet around the thigh of a female hunter whose leg had been partially severed, asking as she worked.
Tourniquets were essential equipment for hunters, and most carried two or three of them at all times.
“The clan… the clan leaders… ugh!”
Crack!
“Hold still. I need to tie it tight so you don’t bleed out.”
“Sob, sob!”
“Don’t look at your leg. Don’t worry. With proper treatment, this will heal quickly.”
“Th-thank you, unnie.”
Choi Yu-ra, with the professionalism of a seasoned hunter, skillfully stanched the bleeding while keeping the woman conscious through conversation.
She even administered a dose of morphine to ease the injured hunter’s pain.
“So what are you doing here? You should answer when someone asks you a question.”
“The clan seniors said they’d give us a ride… that we just had to follow along… ugh!”
….
Choi Yu-ra shut her eyes tight as if she understood perfectly.
* * *
In truth, accidents like this were commonplace.
They erupted regularly enough that there was nothing particularly surprising about them.
Many people believed that clans composed of awakened individuals were some kind of elite superhuman organization.
Half right, half wrong.
That description only applied to clans with ‘properly trained’ hunters.
In the case of clans like the Boramae Clan that were merely large in numbers, the term ‘clan’ was misleading—they functioned more like hobby clubs.
As a result, all manner of incidents and accidents occurred frequently, and this was precisely one of those cases.
Stagnant members would take novices into high-tier dungeons under the guise of ‘boosting’ them, and accidents would happen.
And the vast majority of those being ‘boosted’ were clueless female novice hunters.
“What were you thinking, trusting those worthless trash to carry you? Did you really believe those pathetic bastards would be responsible for your life?”
Sob, sob, sob.
“Just looking at your equipment, it’s clear you lack the fundamentals. You’re an unregistered awakened individual who hasn’t even completed the Special Operations Bureau training.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“Why didn’t you register? Why didn’t you sign a government contract? If you wanted to be a hunter, you should have at least completed the Special Operations Bureau training.”
“I-if you contract with the government, they monitor your every move… and if you don’t obey them, you could die without anyone knowing… they treat you like a slave and eventually you die anyway… that’s what the clan seniors told me… they said the training wasn’t a big deal… that the seniors would teach me…”
“You’re calling that an excuse?”
From where I stood watching, Choi Yu-ra was on the verge of exploding.
I wasn’t much better myself.
‘Fucking idiots. They really know how to cause trouble.’
It was inevitable that rumors circulated about contracting with the Strategic Defense Ministry leading to surveillance, assassination, and exploitation.
Part of it was even true.
But claiming that Special Operations Bureau training was nothing was absolute nonsense.
They seemed to think that once you awakened, you could slice through monsters overnight, but that was a grave misconception.
No matter how talented an awakened individual was, without basic survival knowledge and tactical understanding, they’d be ground to meat.
It was the same principle as handing a rifle to a strong monkey and expecting it to be a combatant.
Awakened individuals needed to know how to fight, and they needed to learn.
That’s why the [Special Armed Forces Training Institute]—colloquially known as the Special Operations Bureau—existed.
The Special Operations Bureau taught marksmanship, tactics, survival skills, weapon techniques, helicopter rappelling, motorcycle riding, map reading, first aid, and countless other essential knowledge that hunters must possess.
Even that content, which should take years to master, was crammed into a mere three months, which is why critics pointed out it was only scratching the surface.
Of course, humanity had no time to spare, so intensive short-term training was an unavoidable necessity.
“Anyway. They think anyone who awakens is automatically a hunter. Tsk, tsk.”
A simple awakened individual and a hunter must be strictly distinguished.
Not just anyone could be called a hunter.
The title of Hunter is something only those who have undergone rigorous training and accumulated sufficient practical experience can claim.
“If you walk out of here, don’t even dream of becoming a Hunter. If you really want to, sign a formal contract with the Defense Strategy Department and complete the Special Operations Bureau training program first. Then think about it.”
“Yes, unnie….”
“One more thing.”
Choi Yu-ra added.
“From now on, don’t entrust your life to those pathetic bastards from the clan or whoever. Your life is your responsibility to judge and bear. Understand?”
“Yes….”
“Lie down. Don’t move under any circumstances. You there.”
Choi Yu-ra pointed to one of the clan members who was half out of it.
“Even a pathetic bastard like you should have a stretcher on hand.”
“That, well…”
“I don’t know why I even saved a wretch like you. You’d deserve to be dead.”
Choi Yu-ra hurled verbal abuse at the clan member while tossing a portable stretcher from inside her backpack with a flick.
It was a portable stretcher made of high-strength plastic—the kind that could be rolled up and carried in a bag during normal times, then deployed when needed. Rescue workers and special forces operatives had primarily used such equipment in the past.
Lim Captain and his unit, true to their status as active-duty soldiers, moved with practiced efficiency to assess the wounded Boramae Clan members.
During this, one of Lim Captain’s subordinates spotted something and pointed it out.
“There, sir. Something’s there.”
A sphere was floating serenely above the corpse of the dead Count.
A Rune.
Judging by the five glimmering ethers surrounding it, it was a 5-Star Rune.
‘Jackpot!’
Before I could even confirm it with my eyes, I instinctively sensed that this Rune was an extraordinarily valuable item.
The Count, the boss of this Cursed Fortress, drops Runes at an extremely low probability.
Without calculating precisely, it’s a rate where you’d be lucky to get one if you killed a thousand Counts.
However, every Rune the Count drops is exceptional in performance.
I know of seventeen varieties, and among the Runes obtainable from 3 to 4-Star Dungeons, they are unquestionably unrivaled.
‘Is it because of the Fortune Card effect?’
Since the 3-Star card [Fortune] fundamentally increases luck by 25%, it’s certainly a persuasive hypothesis.
‘Let me see what it is.’
I moved toward the Rune as if entranced, but a group of Hunters blocked my path.
“Wait.”
A Hunter from the Boramae Clan spoke to me.
“Surely you’re not trying to monopolize the Rune?”
“…?”
“I apologize, but our Boramae Clan also has rights to the Rune. Please step aside.”
When did I go deaf?
I doubt my own hearing.
Did I really just hear that?
“Could you repeat what you just said? My hearing isn’t what it used to be.”
“I said our clan also has rights to the Rune.”
“…?”
“Step back while I’m being civil about this.”
Click, click—the muzzles of their guns swung toward me.

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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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