Damn Hunter Life 71

Damn Hunter Life Chapter 71

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Once the stage number exceeded 30, Woo Sae-geon seemed to have gradually decided to trust the stage preliminary information given by the system. He began forming increasingly aggressive combinations.

He organized teams centered around attributes advantageous against that stage’s monsters, boldly excluding other attributes.

Also, departing from the existing method of overworking so-called elite top successors including himself, he deployed those who were still growing or had unbalanced builds and had rarely participated in raids to the attack team.

For instance, Myo Cho-hui was excluded this time.

And Jin Seol-woon was also excluded. Since Jin Seol-woon had used up almost all his skills in the previous stage, it was natural if anything.

‘…It’s only been about 10 stages, but for Yang Pyo to be selected again as a tanker replacing Jin Seol-woon is surprising. Woo Sae-geon must have judged it was okay.’

Not only that, I also discovered the name of a certain slacker on the roster whose training I’d never properly seen, let alone stage participation.

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Front: Yang Pyo (Earth)

East: Woo Sae-geon (Earth)

West: Sa Ye-ho (Fire)

Rear: Ja Hyeong-woo (Water)

Center: Gyeon Gang-hyeon (Earth)

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‘I’d like to see Sa Ye-ho fight with a weapon. I’m looking forward to it since I saw it in the original work.’

Excluding Woo Sae-geon and Ja Hyeong-woo, this formation where the others were essentially gamble picks.

When entering the stage entrance, the back of my head felt prickly so I turned around once. Sure enough, I made direct eye contact with Ja Hyeong-woo.

Me>Mouse Successor: What are you looking at when you have nothing to say

Mouse Successor>Me: If I had something to say, would you listen?

If this kind of conversation gets caught on camera, discord rumors will spread. Chat was the right choice.

“Let’s go in~.”

The moment even Sa Ye-ho, who wasn’t holding any weapon and was just dangling his empty hands, crossed the entrance.

A visual shock hit hard. Blue, it was the ocean.

Simultaneously.

“Huk!”

A shock like falling into water struck my entire body.

“Hey hey hey hey, what is this?”

“Hyung!”

Amid Sa Ye-ho’s confused question and Yang Pyo’s shout, a fishy saltiness burrowed into my lungs like poison gas.

Before I knew it, I was sitting down.

The other four were all fine. I was the only one gasping for breath.

Ja Hyeong-woo, who had knelt on his right knee, immediately placed his hand on my heart.

“Haa, ha.”

Then I could breathe.

Without realizing it, I gripped Ja Hyeong-woo’s hand tightly and pressed it firmly against my heart. The blue light deepened. For now, this hand was the respirator that let me breathe.

Since this time’s monsters were in the sea, they wouldn’t attack first unless we approached the surface.

For me, it was heavenly luck. I had bought some time to rest.

The attack team didn’t immediately enter combat and waited for a while until I calmed down.

“Why is touching necessary when healing?”

After coming to my senses and swatting away Ja Hyeong-woo’s hand, I had been using Sa Ye-ho’s shoulder since there was nowhere else to lean on the sandy beach.

“Are you okay now?”

“Uh…”

Sa Ye-ho, who had been using me as an armrest all this time, generously offered his embrace too, having some conscience. But he was patting my head like he would a puppy, which only made me think I should recover quickly out of annoyance.

“Let’s go now.”

“Rest 10 more minutes.”

Even the unsympathetic Woo Sae-geon was thorough when it came to condition management. Despite his expression looking like he’d kill someone, he surprisingly didn’t rush us.

Ox Successor: I don’t know if you realize this is a stage with conditions favorable to earth attribute.

But he did nag behind the scenes.

By fielding me and Yang Pyo, Woo Sae-geon included as many as three earth attributes in this attack team.

Even considering that earth has more personnel than other attributes, it’s biased.

However, this stage’s background was the ocean.

In the Five Elements, earth blocks the flow of water. In this stage, earth attribute had the advantage of suppressing water, so as Woo Sae-geon said, this was a stage favorable to earth attribute.

‘But even Woo Sae-geon probably didn’t expect my body to be this much garbage.’

“There’s something like dot damage? A debuff throughout this stage. But Gang-hyeon hyung is earth and has a familiar too, so it’s a bit…”

Tanker Yang Pyo had just analyzed and read the space with a simple sweep of his eyes.

Since he doesn’t realize that’s not something just anyone can do, he probably thinks he lacks talent as a tanker.

My skin still seemed to be throbbing. I slowly took deep breaths.

‘Even Sa Ye-ho, who’s fire and weak to water, is fine, but what’s wrong with me?’

“Gang-hyeon, being this weak, how will you get married later?”

“Shut up.”

Sa Ye-ho’s mouth chattered above my head.

When I asked for something else to lean on, Sa Ye-ho was now hugging me from behind with both arms wrapped around like doing the Heimlich maneuver. Not knowing how disgusted Ja Hyeong-woo’s expression was as he healed me from the front.

Ja Hyeong-woo’s gaze… seems to be like that because he finds it disgusting to look at.

Even though I was drooping like a doll, Sa Ye-ho looked very relaxed. I hate to admit it, but Sa Ye-ho also hides muscles under his straight hanbok skirt. It just doesn’t show because his build is slim.

“Oh how embarrassing~.”

I don’t know whether Sa Ye-ho takes my side or Woo Sae-geon’s more… but it’s certain he’s not my enemy at least.

Because he’s deliberately turning this part into a laughing matter, controlling so that the fierce criticism from people who’ll watch the recording later won’t be directed at me.

“He’s even performing tricks so we won’t be bored.”

Or not. It might just be that he caught something to tease me about.

“I’m really okay now.”

I grabbed Sa Ye-ho’s arms and separated my body that had been stuck to him. I signaled that I was fine and we should proceed with the attack.

Sheep Successor>Me: People seem like they’ll curse at you…

Yang Pyo sent me a private chat.

His face when we met was full of worry. Even though he knows I’ve long since stopped caring about external reactions. Unnecessary worry.

‘If I get cursed at, it can’t be helped. I brought this on myself.’

Though I couldn’t tell anyone, my real goal today was separate.

Today I deliberately joined here to be a burden.

‘I lack defense, but I can’t use the dog familiar due to circumstances. I can’t use the mouse familiar either since I’d get caught.’

Therefore, a harsh situation was created where Ja Hyeong-woo had to continuously supply me with low-grade heals while also taking care of teammates in that state.

Rocky terrain with uneven surfaces. Unlike the spacious areas in gates we’d seen before, the range where we could set foot here was limited enough to take in with our eyes.

Because below the cliff where we stood was all seawater.

While front-line Yang Pyo hesitated briefly, Woo Sae-geon smoothly blocked him with his arm and stepped forward from his original east position.

He stared at the deep water surface where the bottom couldn’t be seen.

“Sa Ye-ho. Look into it.”

“Yes~.”

Sa Ye-ho was already beside him.

From Sa Ye-ho looking down below the water surface, energy shaped like flames sparked up. I could see it.

The precursor effect before a successor uses a skill.

<Snake’s Eyes (Fire Attribute)>

Besides Myo Cho-hui, there was another Twelve Zodiac successor with detection skills. If Myo Cho-hui sees life energy, Sa Ye-ho detects heat.

After using his skill, Sa Ye-ho covered both eyes tightly with his hands like someone watching a horror movie.

“What’s with covering your eyes when it’s supposed to be a seeing skill?”

“These snake eyes are gross.”

Soon Sa Ye-ho removed his hands and turned around. His eyes, returned to their original form, smiled with satisfaction.

“About 120 small fries. The boss is also down there. If we’re not careful, they’ll all come up together, you know? What are you going to do?”

Woo Sae-geon looked around Sa Ye-ho, Yang Pyo, Ja Hyeong-woo, and me at a glance without wavering. His lips opened.

“Is there anything else but killing them all?”

It was the only and clearest solution.

As long as they’re here to fight.

As long as they’re called successors and trying to prove that name every moment.

Once again Woo Sae-geon’s eyes swept the water surface. His gaze, feeling colder than seawater, was more reliable than anything when directed at hidden monsters.

“They have no intention of coming up first. Yang Pyo, bring out your familiar.”

Yang Pyo momentarily made a crumpled face as if he’d ‘gotten caught at a bad time.’

However, the hesitation didn’t last long. Yang Pyo was now a tanker who had overcome his phobia to some extent, still anxious but with strengthened resolve.

Yang Pyo, who had approached close to the water surface, took a deep breath. He whistled lightly.

Thump―!

The summoning succeeded. A massive form appeared above Yang Pyo’s head.

Peculiarly, the sheep familiar had the giant horns and head of a mountain goat, with only the upper body clearly visible while gradually becoming hazier toward the lower body until it disappeared completely. Despite its half-remaining appearance, its size was as large as a mythical animal. Not only was it as big as a decent building, but it was comparable to large boss monsters.

Then it was Woo Sae-geon’s turn.

The moment he moved his steps near Yang Pyo, a small amount of energy that even I had difficulty identifying spread across the ground. That alone made the area stir once.

“…!”

The entire ground resonated, making my feet stagger. The earth tremor that started from Woo Sae-geon rumbled through heaven and earth, creating water splashes even on the surface.

A skill Woo Sae-geon possessed. Like a volcanic eruption, his presence spread throughout heaven and earth. A kind of warning and provocation.

It was impossible for monsters to feel that tremor and still defy Woo Sae-geon’s provocation.

Of course, even if they came up, they’d all die to Woo Sae-geon anyway.

Kiii―! The monsters rose to the water surface.

Seeing their half-formed human-like crushed heads, hideous features, and scale tails rippling below their upper bodies, I realized what kind of monsters they were.

Mermaids. Water attribute monsters.

The mermaids floating on the water all opened their mouths in unison. Their mouth corners split wide to both sides of their faces, and sharp teeth glinted.

As the mermaids crawled up the cliff in clusters, the danger increased rapidly. The mermaids that came out of water soon grew legs. Legs covered in scales moved swiftly.

Kiik! They rushed forward making spine-chilling sounds.

Yang Pyo the tanker went “Hic!” and hiccupped. Seeing startled Yang Pyo, I attempted a joke.

“Ye-ho, those guys look like you. Smile like that.”

“Crazy.”

Yang Pyo went “Puhup,” and laughed.

Not stopping there, I raised my bow. Swish! An arrow cut through the wind and pierced into one mermaid’s head.

“Are you just going to watch?”

Until recently, I was still the person who helped with his phobia.

“Show-off…”

Yang Pyo grumbled. But his voice had more strength than before.

Realizing that change, I smiled.