The Returned Hunter Has Awakened to a Hidden Class - Chapter 7

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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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7

Chapter 7

6th Floor. 

“Let’s hurry up and go.”

 Reddel said as he grabbed the reins of the carriage. His voice was unusually respectful compared to usual. 

 The carriage carrying Kim Jun and the Han Guild party exited through Tebe’s eastern city gate. 

‘To actually slay a dragon…’ 

 Reddel suddenly looked at Kim Jun and thought to himself. 

 Just a few days ago when he had taken him to the Scorched Lands, Reddel had thought of Kim Jun as a pitiful young man going to his death. 

 But after being surprised to see him return alive in just a few hours, now rumors that he had acquired a hidden class had spread throughout all of Tebe. 

‘Dragon Slayer.’

 Reddel pulled the reins even harder. 

“Hyung, why are you in such a hurry?”

“I think we could rest a bit before going.”

 Park Min-soo asked, and Ryu Ji-a grumbled. 

 They had stayed a day in Tebe to maintain their equipment and purchase potions, but there were still many places left to explore. 

“If you want to rest more, you can stay in Tebe.”

 At Kim Jun’s words, Ryu Ji-a frowned. 

“How can you go without me! We have to go together!”

 Lee Seo-yeon smiled and patted Ryu Ji-a’s shoulder. 

*

“We’ve arrived.”

 In front of the massive stone gate at the entrance of the 6th Floor. 

“Let’s go.”

 Kim Jun took the lead and opened the stone gate. 

Creak-

 The scenery revealed beyond the stone gate was a vast grassland. 

 Hills could be seen in the distance, and beyond them, a forest was visible. 

 At first glance it was a peaceful scene, but small moving shadows could be seen scattered throughout the grassland. 

—-

[You have entered the 6th Floor.]

[Quest Generated: Goblin King Subjugation]

[Objective: Defeat the Goblin King.]

[Reward: 100 EXP, 500 Coins]

—-

 From the 6th Floor onward, the difficulty is on a completely different level from the previous floors.

 If floors 1 through 5 correspond to a prologue, then from the 6th Floor onward after taking the job advancement test, the Tower truly begins in earnest.

 The monsters’ levels are higher, and the boss attack patterns become much more difficult. 

 Though it’s still the early stages.

“Hmm.”

 Kim Jun examined the goblins scattered far across the grassland. 

 The goblins with green skin and grotesque faces were much larger and stronger than those encountered on the 1st Floor.

 Their weapons were more sophisticated too, and some even wore crude armor.

 This meant that the civilization level of the goblins located on the 6th Floor was higher than before. 

 The party soon crossed the grassland and headed toward the nearest group of goblins.

 Park Min-soo stood at the front, clearing the path with his shield, followed by Kim Jun wielding his greatsword.

 Lee Seo-yeon and Ryu Ji-a positioned themselves in the center, preparing healing and attack magic respectively, while Han Su-in circled around the party, watching for enemy ambushes.

“Graaaah!”

“Grok!”

 The first group of goblins numbered about thirty. The goblins who noticed the party’s presence let out grotesque war cries and charged.

“They’re coming!”

“Leave it to me!”

 Park Min-soo’s shield struck down the frontmost goblin. The goblin’s body flew backward from the steel shield’s impact, but soon got back up and took an attacking stance.

“They’re tougher than expected? Are these really goblins?”

 As if responding to Park Min-soo’s words, Ryu Ji-a raised her staff high. Blue mana gathered at the tip of the staff and then spread out explosively.

“「Frost Nova」.”

Whiiiing-

 Cold wind swirled and struck the goblins. Ice shards pierced the goblins’ skin, and several froze in place.

 Kim Jun didn’t remain idle either. His greatsword moved flexibly like a living creature, slicing through the goblins’ necks.

Slash-

 Meanwhile, Han Su-in appeared behind the goblins and aimed for their hearts with the 「Serpent Fang」 dagger she had received from Kim Jun.

 The curved blade of the dagger penetrated through gaps in their armor, inflicting fatal wounds.

 One goblin per strike.

 She silently brought down the goblins. 

“Ugh, I thought we’d be done after killing just one boss. But that’s not possible, is it?”

 Park Min-soo said while wiping his sweat. 

 He was right. 

 The clear condition for the 6th Floor was ‘Defeat the Goblin King’.

 But dozens of goblin groups were patrolling the vast grassland, ambushing hunters at every opportunity.

 Their activity range was wide, and when one group sensed danger, they would signal all nearby groups to attack collectively.

 Ignoring them and approaching the boss was virtually impossible.

 Then the solution was to kill them all. 

Swoosh-

 Kim Jun began to take his characteristic stance.

“Oh, ooh! Hyung-nim! Are you going to show us?”

 The surrounding air began to swirl toward Kim Jun, and his pupils glowed red like lava-

“「Acceleration」.”

──!

 His body became a red arrow cutting across the grassland.

 His trajectory, penetrating several kilometers in a straight line, carved a river of fire into the earth, and all goblins on that path turned to ash without even being able to scream.

 After obtaining the Dragon Slayer class, his signature technique 「Acceleration」 had become incomparably more threatening in speed and power than before.

 He reached the Goblin Encampment with a single charge.

 Behind him, his companions were following as quickly as possible along the trail of fire he had left, but it would take time for them to arrive.

 The village nestled among giant trees was quite substantial in scale.

 Dozens of huts were irregularly arranged, and a large bonfire burned in the center.

“Kwahahaha!”

“Grolala!”

 Around the bonfire, goblins seemed to be performing a ritual, dancing grotesquely.

 Hundreds of goblins.

 Elite goblins equipped with armor were visible, as were large creatures called goblin champions.

 And at the very center, in front of a massive hut, stood the Goblin King wearing golden armor.

“That should be about right.”

 However, Kim Jun’s gaze was not on the king, but on a cave located somewhere in the forest behind him. 

 That place where green light leaked out. The dwelling of the Goblin Shaman.

 The hidden boss of the 6th Floor, and the condition for a hidden clear. 

 The Goblin Shaman.

 Before his regression, not knowing the creature’s identity, he had quite a hard time defeating the Goblin King. 

 Because the Goblin King was merely a summon of the Goblin Shaman, and as long as the shaman – the true body – didn’t die, the king would endlessly recover health, forcing a hellish battle of attrition.

 The memory of spending about four hours attacking this place before his regression, unaware of this fact, was vivid.

 There was no need to drag out time. 

Swish-

“Gurook?”

“Guroaaaak!”

 The alarm bell echoed throughout the entire village.

Clang clang clang clang-

 Hundreds of goblins simultaneously grabbed their weapons and charged toward Kim Jun.

 Elite soldiers surrounded him with spears and shields, while archers hidden in the trees aimed their arrows at Kim Jun.

“Gu, guroaa…”

 However, their momentum didn’t last long.

 The goblins’ bodies began to freeze from the overwhelming pressure they felt from Kim Jun’s gaze.

 Their instincts detected danger before the presence of someone who had already far surpassed the 6th floor.

Slash-

‘Ah, I should leave some behind.’

 Even while massacring the goblins, Kim Jun worried about his companions’ experience points.

‘Not just me alone, but all of us together.’

 If he defeated all the monsters by himself, his companions’ growth would be slowed. Especially the experience points from boss-level monsters needed to be distributed.

 He intentionally left behind several goblin champions and elite soldiers.

 It was a number his companions could handle sufficiently when they arrived. And above all, he planned to leave the Goblin King to his companions.

 The important thing wasn’t the Goblin King anyway.

“Guroaaaaa!!”

 The Goblin King, whose Achilles tendon had been severed by Kim Jun’s greatsword, roared. His massive body tilted to one side and lost balance.

 Green blood flowed down between the golden armor, and his expression was twisted with a mixture of rage and fear.

“Just hold on a little longer. My companions will finish you off.”

Scrape-

 Kim Jun’s greatsword flashed. The sword plunged down at a right angle, severing all the tendons in the Goblin King’s arms and remaining leg.

 Screams echoed throughout the entire village.

“Guroaaaaa!”

 No matter how endlessly he recovered, if the tendons were seared with dragon fire, it would take considerable time to heal.

‘This should be enough.’

 Leaving behind the screaming Goblin King, his steps headed toward a small cave located on the hill behind the village.

 The cave entrance was decorated with strange runic patterns, and an ominous green light was seeping out from inside.

 Kim Jun entered the cave as if familiar with it. 

 Upon entering, an eerie aura enveloped him. The cave walls were covered with bizarre hieroglyphs, and strange patterns were drawn on the floor.

 At the deepest part of the cave, a being sitting beside a puddle slowly revealed itself.

 Goblin Shaman.

 Much thinner than ordinary goblins with wrinkled green skin, hunched over like a bent old grandmother.

 However, its eyes were gleaming brightly. It wore a crown decorated with animal skulls and feathers on its head, and held a staff that seemed to be made from human bones.

“Kuruluk… Human. How did you find me?”

 A voice like breaking twigs. 

 Kim Jun, as if it wasn’t worth answering, gripped his greatsword and raised it toward the Goblin Shaman. 

 At that moment the Goblin Shaman’s staff flashed, but Kim Jun’s body was already gone from that spot. 

 Just 1 second. 

 The Goblin Shaman’s head was floating in the air, and the greatsword was already on Kim Jun’s back.

Ding-!

—-

[Hidden Boss ‘Goblin Shaman’ defeated!]

[Hidden Quest ‘Ruler in the Shadows’ completed!]

[Reward: 1,000 EXP, 1,000 Coins]

[Skill 「Detection C」 acquired!]

[Level Up! 32 → 33]

—-

“Right. I need to take this too.”

 Kim Jun caught the floating staff with his hand from within the shaman’s corpse that was scattering into dust.

 Intense magical power flowed out like waves from this staff that seemed to be made of bark and bone fragments.

[Item Acquired]: 「Branch of Sorcery」

[Grade]: C

[Trait]: Grade increases proportionally to user’s magical power

[Effect]: Magic attack power +20%, Mana consumption +15% 

“Mana consumption increases, but it’ll be sufficient until reaching the upper floors.”

 Kim Jun muttered while thinking of Ryu Ji-a.

 The moment he came out of the cave, he could see his companions running up from the bottom of the hill.

“Hyung! You were here?”

 Park Min-soo waved his hand and shouted. Behind them, the corpse of the Goblin King could be seen, collapsed and bleeding blue blood.

“You finished already? That’s amazing.”

 When Kim Jun expressed admiration, Han Su-in quietly replied.

“Guild leader, you did everything…”

 It was a long answer for the usually silent Han Su-in.

 In her eyes was gratitude for recognizing Kim Jun’s consideration.

 Silent communion where they understood each other without saying anything. 

 A special bond that only companions who had traversed long battlefields together could have.

 Kim Jun liked such people.

“Let’s go together.”

 Everyone looked at Kim Jun at the sudden words.

“Pardon?”

“To the top of the Tower.”

 A moment of silence followed the sentimental statement. 

“…;; Hyung-nim. Don’t you know you’ve been getting quite cheesy lately?”

“It sounds great though! Do you want to keep talking back!! Oppa, please don’t change! Let’s go like this!”

“Hehe! I think it sounds nice too? Guild leader changed as soon as we entered the Tower~. Hehehe.”

Smack-!

“Ack!”

“Quiet.”

 Kim Jun’s expression was stoic, but an undeniable smile was gradually forming at the corners of his mouth.

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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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