Damn Hunter Life 93

Damn Hunter Life Chapter 93

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When I receive yin energy directly, my body actually sustains considerable internal injuries.

‘Would I die if Squeaky didn’t take care of me?’

The stronger I use my skills, the more my body gets torn apart. I was a body that couldn’t even be used as a vessel.

Maybe Ja Hyeong-woo’s nagging about not receiving other people’s energy was right.

Considering the impact that a scoundrel successor’s death would have on Korea, it might be better to just bury this whole new skill development thing forever.

‘But still… I can’t. If I have a skill, I need to master it.’

Actually, there was something weighing on my mind.

The final battle scenes that would be in the original story, the gloomy future where I would inevitably be mobilized there too.

That’s why I waver. Both my attitude and my mindset.

I hate running away like the past Gyeon Gang-hyeon did, but I don’t have the courage to throw my whole body into it either.

Every time I shower, I check my body’s condition and test my grip strength. At a point where others would have already gained weight and built muscle, I confirm each time that I’m barely maintaining my condition.

It seems like maintaining life takes more energy than for other healthy people.

‘According to Manager Park Yoon-seok’s description, the original Gang-hyeon suffered pain as if his whole body was being torn to pieces.’

At least I’ve awakened, so I’m somewhat better off. The original Gang-hyeon had to endure the backlash of failed awakening with a body in even worse condition than now.

If he drank so much harmful alcohol despite knowing how his body would end up, trying to forget both physical and mental pain—

‘Essentially, Gang-hyeon had given up on himself.’

I shook my head to forget the speculation that had unconsciously surfaced.

If my speculation about Gang-hyeon’s ‘sudden death’ is true… Ja Hyeong-woo would be too miserable.

…Ja Hyeong-woo holds everything. Both my lifeline and the world.

‘The reason I can make up my mind to keep moving with this body… seems to be because I believe Ja Hyeong-woo won’t abandon me.’

The preliminary information for this Stage was released. For the first time, the personnel limit wasn’t 5 but 6. Moreover, the Stage difficulty was A.

While Stage difficulty has been rising from D to C, C to B, so that was expected, this was the first time the 5-person formation adapted to four directions had changed.

‘One successor equals an S-rank hunter, so adding one more combatant means the danger level is that much higher.’

And I was included in that.

Far from adding a high-attack combatant, they gained one burden.

‘If the fusion skill is judged to be not worth investing in this time either… retirement pension or whatever, I have to consider myself hopeless.’

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Front: Woo Sae-geon (Earth)

East: Myo Cho-hui (Wood)

West: Sa Ye-ho (Fire)

Rear: Ja Hyeong-woo (Water)

Center: Gyeon Gang-hyeon (Earth), Hae Mi-jun (Water)

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‘I really got a dedicated healer attached to me.’

Woo Sae-geon kept his promise. Of course, in that process, he didn’t consider at all how the people would look down on me and mock me.

Since the original formation was a fixed 5-person system, Hae Mi-jun, who became today’s sixth raider, ended up like my sidekick. Even so, Hae Mi-jun was in such a good mood that he just kept giggling.

“You know, it feels like my dream came true… I’m happy.”

“What dream?”

“I wanted to fight beside Gang-hyeon hyung…”

“Please dream bigger.”

But Hae Mi-jun, his face flushed red, kept glancing behind us nervously for some reason. His voice was also small. I don’t think he was like this before.

So I turned around—

Naturally enough, behind me was Ja Hyeong-woo, who was in charge of the rear position. Our eyes met.

I turned my head away first. While crossing the Stage entrance, I was careful not to stumble, while turning over thoughts in my head.

‘Why is Hae Mi-jun being conscious of Ja Hyeong-woo? …Is it because he ended up coming in as a healer together with his mentor?’

When adding one person, leader Woo Sae-geon had to choose between ‘adding a dealer’ and ‘adding a healer.’

‘Obviously we should add a dealer. There are monster grades. Even adding one person, Ja Hyeong-woo could easily handle the healing. Why would we need to add a healer?’

Including me, the majority opinion was to add a dealer.

But Woo Sae-geon added a healer. Because of me.

Not only that. After looking at the monster types in the Stage preliminary information, he removed both support tankers Yang Pyo and Jin Seol-woon.

That said, to call it an attack power focus… it was already ruined from the point he included me.

‘Or could it be…’

Did Woo Sae-geon place some kind of possibility on my fusion skill?

That can’t be. Woo Sae-geon is such a thorough person who doesn’t rely on luck. Moreover, he’s someone who has zero expectations for me.

Inside the entrance, healthy-colored soil spread widely to the horizon like a neatly plowed field. It was befitting a stronghold of earth attribute monsters.

“Ugh…”

As soon as I stood with both feet on the soil, I covered my mouth. Instantly, all eyes focused on me from all directions.

“Are you having another episode?”

“No. Something’s… the ground is shaking too much. I’m getting nauseous.”

Hae Mi-jun hurried over and grabbed my arm. Unlike the others who were somewhat bewildered, Woo Sae-geon had a face that seemed to sense something from the beginning, glaring at the ground.

Then he suddenly thrust one of his two swords vertically deep into the ground. Deeply, until more than half the blade went in and the handle touched the ground.

Then the entire ground began to vibrate. I swayed and settled on Hae Mi-jun’s shoulder, catching my breath.

“Leader, are you trying to watch him throw up?”

“You can throw up on me, hyung! Or should I heal, heal you?”

“You be quiet!”

I couldn’t hear Woo Sae-geon’s answer. Either it wasn’t worth responding to, or…

He had taken a combat stance and focused on something more urgent.

The docile ground began writhing wildly as if full of bugs. I could feel the squirming right under my feet. I really felt like I was going to throw up.

Woo Sae-geon’s shout awakened us from our stupor.

“Call your familiars and get on! Ja Hyeong-woo, have Gang-hyeon ride Hae Mi-jun’s familiar!”

The moment Hae Mi-jun hugged me and called out his pig familiar, the soil exploded and flew everywhere at once.

Poisonous insects with snake heads, Quadruple-headed Worm monsters, poured out from under the soil.

Hiss—! An unpleasant sound that was bad enough with just one became hundreds and thousands overlapping. They had snake heads but many legs like centipedes. Each one was about the size of a human head.

Small for monsters, but really disgustingly, creepily large for bugs.

“Kyaaaah!”

This dolphin-like sound wasn’t Myo Cho-hui’s scream.

Sa Ye-ho was on an ox familiar, clinging to Woo Sae-geon like a koala. His face was rarely pale.

Fortunately, having secured a safe distance on Hae Mi-jun’s large wild boar and not having screamed, I had enough composure to make at least one joke.

“Hey, those are your kin. What’s wrong?”

“Fuck off!”

Meanwhile, Woo Sae-geon maintained perfect composure without wavering at all despite carrying an adult man’s weight. He stood upright with an extremely cold face, then shook his shoulders once. Sa Ye-ho fell off with a thud.

With the single-minded determination to cling to human bodies, the bugs were sticking out their thin tongues and climbing over each other to form mountains, and Sa Ye-ho was falling toward them—

Thud!

Before he could crash, a red semi-transparent form crossed over the bugs.

Sa Ye-ho’s hand pressed against his snake familiar and he spun around nimbly. Standing on the familiar, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Burn them all, damn it!”

Flames blazed up along the path the snake had trampled. Hisss…! The bugs made pained sounds as they burned up in flames.

The snake familiar I was seeing for the first time was smaller than Jin Seol-woon’s dragon, but large enough to easily swallow a person. From its pointed head, it was definitely a venomous snake.

Due to the snake’s nature of moving by crawling close to the ground, Sa Ye-ho rode his familiar standing up like a surfboard.

“They can’t climb up onto familiars!”

Hae Mi-jun, holding me and looking down, shouted loudly with relief.

Since familiars were close to spirits, they had no substance unless a tanker’s familiar was charging with the intention of ramming. So bugs couldn’t cling to familiars.

As long as we didn’t make direct physical contact, there was no problem with bugs that were said to parasitize humans.

‘That’s why Woo Sae-geon excluded the tankers.’

The bugs are small and come up from underground. Tanker charges aren’t very useful.

Instead, he deployed Myo Cho-hui with wood attributes, who was said to dig into soil and weaken it.

Myo Cho-hui, sitting on a green rabbit, looked thoroughly disgusted. She seemed to have lost all love for life due to her revulsion toward bugs. Her eyes had lost their light.

Snake Successor: Myo Cho-hui noona! Your eyes are unfocused right now!

Sa Ye-ho informed her while riding his snake in a wide circle.

Myo Cho-hui quickly came to her senses and switched back to her bright, public-facing eyes.

Since the talk about parents came up, the other successors had become more comfortable with Myo Cho-hui. I guess they felt her humanity thinking ‘that person has something precious too.’

From that point on, I think Myo Cho-hui also softened a little. Even if there doesn’t seem to be much difference on the surface.

“Myo Cho-hui, focus on combat. Sa Ye-ho, you handle boss detection.”

“Yes.”

“Yess~”

As soon as Woo Sae-geon finished speaking, Sa Ye-ho immediately separated from the midst of the ongoing battle. Red hair fluttered on the snake that was making large circles around the area.

The moment the <Snake’s Eye> skill activated, I briefly made eye contact with Sa Ye-ho in the distance. The pupils in his bright yellow irises were vertically slit like a reptile’s.

Snake Successor>Me: Aww

Sa Ye-ho quickly covered his eyes with his hands.