Damn Hunter Life 54

Damn Hunter Life Chapter 54

Of course, the two people just now had different premises for comparison.

Ja Hyeong-woo himself had to be more cautious since he only had one heal skill available, whereas Gang-hyeon was shooting regular arrows so there was no burden in using them.

But even considering that.

‘You’re coordinating for the first time today.’

Gang-hyeon’s arms continuously shot arrows without rest. As if he didn’t notice or didn’t care that his upper body was completely exposed as it spread wide to draw the bowstring, he showed no fear. He was intensely focused.

He missed occasionally, but most shots hit their mark. The earth-attribute arrowheads brought down the howling birds one by one from the sky.

Screaming with shrieks, the howling birds fell one by one above Woo Sae-geon, becoming easy prey rolling down.

Woo Sae-geon’s blade didn’t miss them. He drew red lines in the air as each howling bird fell. In the moment when Woo Sae-geon’s eyes met Gang-hyeon’s through the gaps of the brown feathers scattering.

“Ha.”

A colorless hollow laugh flowed from his lips.

It was hard to understand his intention. Even Gang-hyeon, who was the target of that laugh, couldn’t be certain of his meaning, so the public who would later watch the stage conquest video would be even more confused.

You’d think the momentum would falter by now, but the monsters were still drooling and crawling into the entrance. Gang-hyeon quickly came to his senses and gripped his bow with renewed strength.

‘Will this work?’

He fitted three arrows at once, placing them between his fingers and nocking them on the string.

The bow, originally made for a single arrow, trembled severely in the hands of its already frail owner. However, soon none of the arrows slipped as they powerfully cut through the wind. Bang bang bang! Several monsters were knocked back.

Vibration stung through his hands. The dragon familiar’s body gently coiled around Gang-hyeon’s hesitating waist.

“You must have practiced archery a lot.”

Gang-hyeon blinked, looking at Jin Seol-woon who muttered to himself while caring for the surroundings without particularly directing his gaze toward him.

“We always have to think long-term. I’m telling you not to overwork your hands too early.”

They say dragon familiars have particularly high affinity with their master Jin Seol-woon. Only now did Gang-hyeon think he understood what that meant.

Being wrapped by the dragon familiar in the midst of breathless combat, Jin Seol-woon’s embrace came to mind strangely. Maybe it was because this bastard said something weird in chat earlier.

Of course, he’d never actually been held by Jin Seol-woon. As it should be.

He was acknowledging it himself. The way he, a ranged dealer without mobility, stood in an open field and shot was difficult to establish without the backing of a support-type tanker from the start.

Gang-hyeon obediently entrusted his body to the dragon while transferring arrow bundles from his inventory to his quiver.

‘This way I don’t have to owe Ja Hyeong-woo. Rather than stealing heal skills exclusive to main dealers, it’s better to rely on Jin Seol-woon.’

Since Gang-hyeon was receiving full care around the dragon familiar’s head and upper body area, what came back to the healer Ja Hyeong-woo positioned in the rear was about the lower body and tail.

Ja Hyeong-woo, with good stamina and an agile body, was sufficient with just that. But for some reason, he kept looking toward Gang-hyeon in front with complicated eyes.

‘…I know it’s best if there’s no need for heal skills.’

Monster corpses gradually piled up in the clearing.

Since there was a leader’s order to minimize the use of attack skills, the battle was mainly conducted with familiars. It was practically a free-for-all where the four-directional formation was meaningless.

If there was one element that the public, who devoured and analyzed each stage conquest video frame by frame for the 30th time, found uniquely difficult to catch in the footage.

It was Woo Sae-geon’s ruthless yet precise gaze observing other successors during combat.

His target this time was undoubtedly Gang-hyeon, who thanks to ranged attacks had nothing but dirt on his white sobok so far.

As the number of monsters in the sky he could shoot decreased, he was now selectively picking only the monsters on the ground that weren’t completely dead and sticking arrows in them.

“I’m a kill-stealer.”

When Jin Seol-woon turned around after having his kill stolen right in front of him, Gang-hyeon grinned. Jin Seol-woon just raised an eyebrow once and left it at that.

That comment would go straight into the video too, how frivolous.

But if you had proper observational skills at least—

Rather than mindlessly criticizing Gang-hyeon as a kill-stealer, you could discern more detailed information.

It’s difficult for hunters inside gates to see situations other than what’s directly threatening them.

This isn’t a game on a screen, but a real situation where their one and only life is at stake.

Even Ma Cheon-ah, who’s on the strong side, gets tunnel vision and causes accidents when fighting, let alone being able to check on teammates. Moreover, isn’t Gang-hyeon physically weak? Then he’d be even busier just taking care of himself.

But in that sense, Gang-hyeon had an incredibly wide field of vision. He kept all four other team members within his radius.

And he sent arrows evenly to all of them.

‘Doesn’t he worry about himself? Doesn’t he feel fear that he might get hurt?’

Also, if you try it yourself, you’d know that selectively firing only finishing shots isn’t as easy as it seems.

In other words, this isn’t a kind game.

You have to consider on your own how much impact other successors’ attacks will have on that monster, and what level of power should be put into an arrow to support them so that one shot will kill the monster.

If too little force goes into the arrow and it doesn’t kill completely, it adds one more task for teammates, and if you use excessive force to kill it, it’s energy waste.

But Gang-hyeon was using his stamina very economically and correctly. I thought he’d be exhausted and collapse by now, but isn’t he still standing on his own two feet?

The desperation of terrible stamina demonstrates maximum efficiency. Who knew there’d be an advantage to being weak.

What a successor he makes. Woo Sae-geon inwardly scoffed.

He’d forced him into the stage despite controversy to instill a sense of urgency, but the guy had caught him off guard.

Gang-hyeon hadn’t come to flounder around helplessly, but to properly debut as a hunter.

‘…Let’s say that much is natural talent.’

Woo Sae-geon had been watching the direction and flow of the arrows Gang-hyeon was making.

From his skilled shooting, one suspicious point was discovered that bothered Woo Sae-geon.

The movement of familiars with different attributes. How was Gang-hyeon noticing even that and supporting with his bow?

As if his eyes could see the movements of all different attributes…

* * *

‘Ah.’

The arrow I shot unfortunately collided with a vine that Myo Cho-hui had extended like a spear.

Common sense dictated that the vine should be pierced, but in this case, since I was low-level, the arrow snapped cleanly like someone’s limb.

‘If it had pierced through, that would have been a problem too.’

Behind her fresh public image, Myo Cho-hui always remembers when teammates cut or damage her vines.

I absolutely don’t want to be remembered by Myo Cho-hui. I’m already on her bad side.

Leaving only the boss whose location I’d identified, the mobs were roughly cleaned up. I hid my trembling limbs inside my large sleeves and watched Myo Cho-hui deal with the remaining enemies.

Every time Myo Cho-hui’s glaive drew a large trajectory, a green rabbit bounced meaninglessly behind her.

Cheering? …No, Myo Cho-hui’s rabbit familiar, being a dealer’s, has other functions.

While summoned, it allows Myo Cho-hui to use vines like a third hand.

Vines sprouted from the ground around Myo Cho-hui as if alive. A monster caught by the vines was dragged straight to Myo Cho-hui, then immediately the glaive split it down the middle.

She operates vines like that when needed, pulling teammates closer or throwing them far away.

Like me right now—?

One monster was somewhat close to me, and Jin Seol-woon was just 0.5 seconds late in recognizing it, but I was tied up by vines and whooshed away somewhere else. I saw Jin Seol-woon’s eyes widen.

But why wasn’t this crisis escape, but a position closer to other monsters that were in front of Myo Cho-hui?

‘Ah shit, I’m bait again!’

I felt like I could smell the breath of a monster opening its maw and drooling.

Of course, I was pulled back to a safe distance a second later, but who’s going to console my mental trauma? I’m weak-hearted and not a close-combat type.

Anyway, could this also be thanks to me? Because monsters swarmed together, Myo Cho-hui took out three with one strike.

‘Myo Cho-hui’s judgment, throwing me as bait just because I was resting a bit…’

How bold. Since she has an angelic image, no one will suspect anything, is that it?

At this moment, blue light emanated from my abdomen. I gasped at the cool sensation.

Ja Hyeong-woo healed me?

“Successor Myo Cho-hui!”

Ja Hyeong-woo’s shout came from behind. It was the loudest voice I’d heard all year.

Did he get angry because he couldn’t humanly stand watching me in danger, or because he didn’t want to waste heal skills?

Myo Cho-hui looked shocked. Her small face perfectly expressed shock, regret, and guilt at just now realizing.

“Oh, I put him too close to the monster! Sorry, I’ll be careful!”

It gives me goosebumps, really.

Ja Hyeong-woo couldn’t say anything more either.

My crisis wasn’t just that. In fact, it had been continuing from earlier.

Myo Cho-hui had been intermittently overlapping her movement path with mine, pretending it was coincidence as she passed by me. While doing so, she kept whispering things like this in my ear:

“Can you see this too?”

Checking my expression while manifesting green wood-attribute skills at her spear tip.

“I know you’re hiding everything.”

“I’m excited. How should I modify and use a freak like you.”

I sensed more seriousness than when monsters were swarming like a hive of bees.

‘Where did I get exposed?’

Myo Cho-hui had noticed my vision that was different from others.

If it were anyone else it might be fine, but I absolutely cannot let Myo Cho-hui catch my weakness.

She’s someone who used me as bait even when we had no connection.

‘If my usefulness is revealed, who knows how she’ll exploit me further.’

How do I escape from Myo Cho-hui’s clutches?

Just then, Woo Sae-geon placed the head of the last raccoon monster on the ground and stomped on it with his foot.

I sent a chat to the four people at this location.

Me: I have a secret

If the problem is confidential information about me that the other party found out.

Dragon Successor: Yes?

Both Woo Sae-geon and Ja Hyeong-woo stared at me. In the middle of that, I directed my gaze toward Myo Cho-hui and smiled brightly without opening my lips. Then I typed in the chat window.

Me: I can see other people’s attributes. All five attribute skills too

I just need to make that information communal.