The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 94

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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 94
“No, that’s not it.”
“What do you mean, not it?”
“I said it’s not!”
Lee Hyun denied it desperately.
“You insane bastard! There’s a limit to spouting nonsense! Why would I kill my own team members! Why!”
Eun-sung opened his mouth quietly.
“You killed the most, didn’t you? Or not?”
“That, that’s different.”
“You just killed whatever came your way without thinking. Regardless of what it was.”
“….”
“In this forest, there are things you can kill and things you cannot.”
Eun-sung pointed to the fallen Humanoid Monsters groaning on the ground.
“Dusk Fairies. They are beings that must never be killed in this forest. If you kill them, the forest awakens and punishes the killer.”
“So that was the pattern…?”
“Every time you killed them, things got worse, didn’t they?”
The chase from the past few hours flashed through Lee Hyun’s mind.
I had killed so many.
When I first encountered them, hadn’t I slaughtered dozens without hesitation?
Yes, that’s when things started going wrong.
Every time I killed a Dusk Fairy, the forest awakened and punished not just me but my team members as well.
“Killing Dusk Fairies in this forest always carries karmic consequences. The forest awakening is merely the beginning.”
“So it was… like that….”
Lee Hyun’s voice trembled.
I had simply fought hard, yet that had brought about the annihilation of my allies.
“Last warning. Follow me quietly. Or… dying right now wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”
Shing!
Eun-sung pressed Slaughter’s Joy against Lee Hyun’s throat.
“Tell me if you want to die. That would be easier for me. In many ways.”
“You bastard…!”
Lee Hyun growled.
But that was all.
Lee Hyun did not raise his sword against Eun-sung.
“Follow me.”
“….”
Lee Hyun did not answer.
He simply followed Eun-sung in silence.
‘Perfect. I needed bait anyway. Yes, if I’m not going to kill him, I should use him for this.’
A smile crossed Eun-sung’s lips as he turned his back to Lee Hyun.
About thirty minutes of walking had passed.
Shhhhh!
Ether bloomed from Eun-sung’s hand, reaching toward me.
“I have no reason to form a bond with a wretch like you.”
I roughly pushed away Eun-sung’s ether.
“This whole mess happened because of you in the first place. Why should I form a bond with you?”
“How is this my fault?”
“The director ordered it. If you tried to enter the Deep Area without permission, I was to stop you. If you somehow got in anyway, I was to chase after you and drag you back out.”
“Huh. What a wonderful babysitter you’ve become.”
Eun-sung let out a scoff.
“If you want to complain, go find Wi Tae-woong and complain to him. Why are you taking it out on me? You’re the one who blindly chased after me without even knowing the strategy. Isn’t that the real problem?”
….
“I get that you need to blame someone or you’ll lose your mind, but you’ve got the wrong target. Don’t spout that kind of nonsense in front of me. It makes me want to kill you.”
I was about to unleash a barrage of curses, but I gritted my teeth and held back.
My instincts were warning me.
If I provoked Eun-sung any further, I’d actually die.
‘Me backing down? To this bastard? No. It’s just because I’m not in my right mind right now.’
I clenched my fists tightly, desperately denying it.
“Form the bond first, then do as I say. Otherwise, you won’t even be able to go complain to Wi Tae-woong.”
“Are you ordering me?”
“Yeah.”
“This is really….”
“If you knew the strategy, you could give the orders.”
….
“From now on, I won’t repeat myself.”
Eun-sung released ether for the bond once more.
“…Damn it.”
I muttered a quiet curse and responded to Eun-sung’s ether.
* * *
[Bond] was the act of hunters synchronizing their ether, with the primary purpose being to share ether absorption after hunting monsters.
Additionally, it was possible to sense each other’s locations or communicate via telepathy.
Of course, one had to be of a certain rank or higher….
– Walk slowly. Don’t go so fast.
Tch!
I ground my teeth at Eun-sung’s telepathic message and gulped down an ether ampule.
Ten minutes ago.
Eun-sung had given me the following ‘order’.
“Take the lead. I’ll tell you the direction. Just maintain about 25 meters of distance.”
I didn’t understand why we needed to maintain distance when we’d already formed a bond, but I wasn’t given a chance to object.
After paying the catastrophic price of total team annihilation from killing those twilight fairies, I had no choice but to follow Eun-sung’s orders without a word of protest.
– Keep your distance. If you want to live.
“My mother-in-law couldn’t have been worse.”
It was then that Lee Hyun grumbled.
Whoooosh!
A black blade came flying at him.
“…!”
Lee Hyun reflexively threw himself out of the way.
A few strands of his bangs, severed clean, trickled down the bridge of his nose.
That was the beginning.
Slash, whoooosh!
Black blades came at Lee Hyun relentlessly.
“…What the hell.”
Lee Hyun swung his spirit sword in counterattack, but it was futile.
He couldn’t cut them down.
Swish!
The blade passed right through the monster.
“Shadows…?”
Their true forms were malevolent spirits made of shadow.
“Damn it all.”
Lee Hyun gritted his teeth and swung his blade, but the spirits took no damage whatsoever.
All he could do was dodge the black blades they wielded or parry them.
‘What kind of ridiculous bastards are these….’
Right then.
‘What the hell is that bastard doing over there?’
Lee Hyun’s eyes widened.
Eun-sung stood at a distance with his arms crossed, watching the spectacle unfold.
As if he were merely appreciating the view….
“Dark Shadow Spirits. You’ve been cursed properly.”
Eun-sung muttered to himself with interest.
“What are you doing! You crazy bastard!”
Lee Hyun shouted in fury.
“Use your head.”
“What?!”
“Attack the main body. The main body.”
“The main body…?”
Eun-sung didn’t answer.
‘What the hell is he talking about.’
Slash, whoooosh!
‘Ugh.’
As he struggled against the relentless assault.
‘If he says to attack the main body… Ah.’
Lee Hyun drove his sword downward beneath his feet.
Thunk!
The blade pierced through Lee Hyun’s shadow and embedded itself in the ground.
“Kyaaaaaaagh―!”
The malevolent spirit that had been attacking Lee Hyun from closest range melted away like marshmallow, accompanied by a piercing shriek.
‘That’s it!’
Lee Hyun’s sword pursued the shadowed places around him—the very shadows themselves.
“Kyak, kyaaaagh―!”
The Shadow Specters, their true forms struck, dissolved with agonized wails.
“Good, you’re doing well.”
“Shut, shut up!”
Lee Hyun bristled at Eun-sung’s praise and shouted back.
“Your ears are sharp despite everything.”
“I said shut up!”
Though I’d discovered their weakness, fighting the Shadow Specters was far from simple.
Evading their attacks while searching for shadowed places to thrust my blade into was not only tedious but genuinely perilous.
“Huff, huff! Huff, huff, huff!”
Just as my breathing reached its limit, the last Shadow Specter dissolved away.
[You have absorbed Ether.]
[You have absorbed Ether.]
[You have absorbed Ether.]
Thanks to this, Eun-sung absorbed the Ether without lifting a single finger.
“Hah, hah.”
“Good work.”
Eun-sung gave the heaving Lee Hyun’s shoulder an encouraging pat before approaching the remains of the Shadow Specters.
‘Quite useful.’
A tarlike, viscous black liquid that writhed sluggishly.
[Melted Shadow].
A material obtained from defeating Shadow Specters, used in the crafting of various items.
Just as Eun-sung reached for the [Acquisition] card.
A single card slipped from the deck and floated before his eyes.
[Capture]
Sealing Card
★★★★
Captures and seals monsters of 4-star rank or below onto a card.
You can command the sealed monster to serve you!
【Current Card Count】
3
※ To increase the count, absorb Blue Etherium to duplicate cards!
※ Each rank increase grants one additional Capture Card!
※ Capture success rate varies depending on your disposition, rank, the target monster’s disposition, rank, and various other factors!
“Huh?”
Eun-sung flinched in surprise.
[Would you like to capture the melted shadows?]
“This is possible…?”
The shadow spirits should have already been dead….
Though I couldn’t quite grasp what was happening, I decided to try using the [Capture] card.
‘Capture.’
Shhhhh!
The melted shadows seeped into the [Capture] card instead of my inventory.
[You have successfully captured the melted shadows.]
[A new card has been created.]
Soon, a card inscribed with shadow spirits against a black background floated up before me.
[Shadow Tracker]
★★★★
A card capable of summoning shadow spirits. (50 units)
※ The shadow spirits grow stronger depending on the user’s rank.
‘Did I just gain summons?’
Since this was my first time capturing a monster, I was eager to test the [Shadow Tracker] card immediately.
“Shadows… summon.”
Whoosh, whiiiish.
Shadow spirits surged forth from the surrounding darkness, then knelt on one knee before me in a gesture of respect.
“What, what exactly are you doing? What was that ability just now…?”
“Never mind.”
To Lee Hyun’s question, I replied curtly while inserting the [Shadow Tracker] card into my deck.
“Let’s go, don’t just stand there.”
“…?”
“Come on, hurry.”
I pushed Lee Hyun forward from behind.
* * *
It didn’t take Lee Hyun long to grasp my intention.
The shadow spirits were merely the beginning.
Venomous insects, blood-sucking vines, carnivorous plants—and more.
I was under constant, relentless assault.
As if cursed….
And Eun-sung simply stood at a distance, watching me fight without lifting a finger.
When I struggled, he’d offer a curt piece of advice, or only step in when the situation became truly dire.
‘This bastard… he’s using me as bait. He kept me alive from the start for this exact reason.’
But that wasn’t all.
“Huff, huff….”
It was just as Lee Hyun finished his brutal struggle with the colossal serpent, gasping for breath.
Thud.
A short dagger clattered to the ground at his feet.
“What the…?”
“Skin it.”
“Skin what?”
“The hide.”
Eun-sung gestured toward the serpent’s corpse with a tilt of his chin.
“Don’t tell me you were planning to just leave the jade serpent’s hide behind.”
“You’re not seriously asking me to butcher a monster corpse, are you? That’s support staff work.”
Lee Hyun growled at Eun-sung.
“Ah, so the great dealer doesn’t want to get his hands dirty?”
Eun-sung stepped closer to Lee Hyun.
“I… I don’t know how.”
A feeble excuse tumbled from Lee Hyun’s lips.
“Then learn.”
“Learn…?”
“What happens when there’s no support staff? You just abandon valuable items and leave?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Then shut up and learn. Pick up the knife.”
“…Damn it.”
“Hold it there. Thrust the blade in first.”
“L-Like this?”
“Deeper.”
“Like this?”
“You’re going to damage all the scales. Tsk.”
“I-I might not be able to do this! Nobody’s perfect from the start!”
“I’ll show you once.”
Eun-sung slowly peeled away the jade serpent’s hide.
“The rest is easy. Give it a try.”
“Ugh.”
Lee Hyun contorted his face in disgust.
The overwhelming stench of fish that wafted up was nearly unbearable.
“Tsk. Truly a delicate specimen, aren’t we.”
Eun-sung clicked his tongue as he watched Lee Hyun struggle through the skinning process.
‘Still, he’s useful enough. Most others would’ve been dead by now.’
Eun-sung was satisfied with Lee Hyun’s performance.
If he were merely ordinary bait, he would’ve lost his value after a single use—yet here he was, proving his worth time and again.
‘It’s about time the big fish took the bait. Or should I wait a bit longer?’
Then.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh―!”
A scream echoed from the distance.

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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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