Chapter 22

Jun-sang took out his gloves, put them on, and wiggled his fingers. He had just finished his training, so he was a bit tired, but it meant he wouldn’t need a separate warm-up.

“Let’s go.” He mumbled quietly to no one in particular, but the Will-o’-the-Wisp and Crimson Wolf, as if waiting for his command, began to lead the way in front of him. After walking a short distance, the tunnel gradually sloped downwards.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang paused for a moment, lost in thought. What if he just created smoke to suffocate them? However, Jun-sang soon shook his head, discarding the idea. If his goal was just to complete the quest and level up, then it wouldn’t matter. But considering the seeds the monsters might have… that would be too much of a waste. Unless he could arbitrarily adjust the return time. Since returning home automatically happened after completing the quest objectives, such a method would be tantamount to forfeiting the rewards from 56 monsters.

“Phew…” Moreover… combat was absolutely necessary for card leveling. As he thought this, he continued to advance… Suddenly, a strange creaking noise, like rusty machinery, seemed to come from ahead, and then peculiar monsters with glowing red eyes blocked Jun-sang’s path.

“…” These monsters, with pointed noses and elongated heads reminiscent of dogs, and dwarfish bodies only about half the size of an adult man, were armed with daggers and shields, wearing crude armor made of interwoven wooden planks. Jun-sang took a breath and tensed his entire body. Although the monsters were smaller than he expected and carried very crude weapons, even such a small dagger could kill if it hit a vital spot.

-Klikklik. The monsters began chattering among themselves, then subtly started to retreat. It seemed they were intimidated by the large Crimson Wolf. But there was no reason to just let the enemies he had finally found escape. Jun-sang decided to test their abilities with the Crimson Wolf first.

“Go.” As his command was given, the Crimson Wolf launched its large body and pounced on the monsters.

-Kyaaah! -Kiriyah! The monsters scattered in panic, but the wolf caught up to one of them and bit firmly into its shoulder.

-Kyaaaah! As their comrade was attacked by the wolf, the monsters finally turned and charged forward, holding their shields in front. As they advanced with their shields like riot police forming a scrum, stabbing daggers through the gaps, the wolf had no choice but to release the monster it was biting and retreat. As the wolf retreated, the monsters once again shrieked unknown sounds, raising their morale.

“Hmm…” It was quite interesting, but perhaps because of their small size, they didn’t seem particularly formidable. Jun-sang lightly loosened his wrists and ankles, then, in a low stance, began to run towards the monsters’ shield formation.

-Kyaaaak! Seeing Jun-sang charging, the monsters shrieked menacingly and thrust their shields forward. However, that was precisely what Jun-sang wanted. Jun-sang activated Shoulder Charge towards the shields that appeared before him. Then, Jun-sang’s charging body shot forward like a leap, slamming into the monsters’ shield formation.

Crash! -Kyaaaah! With a sound like an exploding cannonball, the monsters screamed, tumbling like bowling pins, unable to regain their senses. For monsters with inherently weak physical abilities, the collapse of their formation was tantamount to a death sentence. Jun-sang delivered a soccer kick to the nearest fallen monster. The monster, still disoriented, tried to block the kick aimed at its head with its shield, but the black military boot inevitably shattered the crude bark shield and crushed its jaw.

-Gag! With a single shriek, the monster’s neck broke, and it stopped moving. But that wasn’t the only monster.

-Kyaaak! Immediately, another monster discarded its shield and charged forward, holding a dagger with both hands. Jun-sang immediately leaned back, avoiding the dagger aimed at his stomach, then reached out and grabbed the monster by the scruff of its neck. The monster, lifted by the scruff, panicked and tried to swing its dagger at Jun-sang’s arm, but before it could even move its hand, it had a dramatic kiss with the nearby rock wall.

-Crunch! With a chilling sound of its skull being crushed, the monster held by Jun-sang’s scruff went limp.

-Grrr! The Crimson Wolf also charged at the broken monster ranks, crushing one’s neck and letting out a triumphant roar. It was truly like a fight between an adult and children. Excluding their weapons and armor, they felt even weaker than zombies.

But that feeling was only for a moment.

Whoosh! Feeling something flying towards him, Jun-sang quickly ducked. Then he heard something hit the wall behind him. He quickly checked and saw that it was a very crudely made arrow.

“Tch!” Jun-sang couldn’t help but click his tongue. If it were only close combat, it would be fine, but if ranged weapons like bows were used, Jun-sang would be at a disadvantage.

“Will-o’-the-Wisp, over there!” Jun-sang commanded the Will-o’-the-Wisp, which had been floating in the air serving only as illumination, to go in the direction the arrow had come from. The Will-o’-the-Wisp quickly followed the command, flying towards the hidden enemy who had aimed at Jun-sang. The monsters, who had been hiding behind cover and firing arrows, scattered in panic as the brightly burning orb of light flew towards them.

Jun-sang took advantage of the opportunity and charged towards the bow-wielding monsters.

“Open Two-Hit Combo!” According to the command that flowed from his lips, Shoulder Charge was removed from the card slot, and the leveled-up Two-Hit Combo was equipped instead. Jun-sang quickly leaped over the cover and delivered a lightning-fast two-hit combo to the monsters, who were still stunned and disoriented by the Will-o’-the-Wisp.

-Cough! The first blow struck the stomach, and the second blow hit the monster’s head, which had popped up from the first attack. Due to the confined space, Jun-sang’s fist pushed the monster’s head all the way to the rock wall, and the monster’s head, caught between the rock wall and his fist, was crushed instantly. The remaining monster, startled by its comrade’s tragic death, tried to flee, but Jun-sang grabbed the scruff of its neck as it turned to run, slammed it to the ground, and then stomped on its neck, breaking it.

As the bow-wielding ones were dealt with, the monsters began screaming and fleeing.

“Tch.” Jun-sang clicked his tongue again as they fled and commanded the Crimson Wolf, “Chase!”

Then the Crimson Wolf let out a loud howl and instantly caught up to the two fleeing monsters, blocking their path.

-Growl! -Squeak! As the Crimson Wolf howled and threatened them, the fleeing monsters were caught between Jun-sang and the wolf, not knowing what to do.

But, if they had truly intended to escape, they shouldn’t have stopped, regardless of being blocked. This was because Jun-sang had caught up to them during the moment they paused and hesitated. Jun-sang, appearing like a black phantom behind the monsters in an instant, spun his body, delivering powerful hooks and uppercuts to the monsters. The one hit by the hook flew straight to the rock wall, and the one hit by the uppercut bounced off the ceiling before falling. Jun-sang crushed the head of the one leaning against the wall with his military boot, then kicked the head of the falling one like a soccer ball.

Thump! With a chilling sound of skulls being crushed, the battle finally ended.

“Phew…” Jun-sang took a small deep breath to regain his composure, then checked the bodies of the dead monsters. The armor and shields were crudely made of interwoven wooden planks, so they had no value as spoils. The bows and arrows were also only slightly better than children’s toys and seemed useless in a large area, though perhaps not in such a narrow tunnel. The daggers were equally crude, and he considered just discarding them, but thinking they might have some value as scrap metal, he collected them for now.

What was interesting was… the small leather pouches some of them carried. When he opened the pouches, he found something like a shimmering stone and gold pieces shaped like Go stones, about the size of a finger joint.

“Hoo…” He wasn’t sure if the stone was a gem, but the gold pieces were an unexpected bonus. Jun-sang put the stone and gold pieces into a separate small pouch, then rummaged through their heads. Rummaging through crushed, pulpy brains was still chilling, no matter how he thought about it, but these creatures were better than the putrid corpses of zombies. Or perhaps, because their appearance was so different from humans, he felt a little more at ease.

“Hmm…” Unfortunately, not a single one of the seven monsters had a seed. Was it because they were too weak? Jun-sang clicked his tongue and transferred the collected daggers, stones, and gold pieces into a box he had prepared separately in his inventory for spoils. After putting the box back into his inventory, Jun-sang checked the number of remaining monsters. Having quickly dispatched seven, the number of remaining monsters was now 49. The bow-wielding ones were somewhat annoying, but as long as 49 didn’t charge at once, it didn’t seem like a big problem.

Jun-sang once again placed the Crimson Wolf and Will-o’-the-Wisp in front and continued to advance. As they descended a bit further, they came to a slightly wider open area. There, Jun-sang discovered monsters gathered around a bonfire, eating something. They were roasting what appeared to be unknown meat on sticks like barbecue, and the smell was quite appetizing, making not only Jun-sang but even the Crimson Wolf swallow their drool.

“…” Jun-sang and the Crimson Wolf looked at each other for a moment, then, without a word, charged towards the monsters, who were preoccupied with eating and drinking. Their sudden, lightning-fast charge was immediately spotted by one of the monsters, who was tilting what looked like a bottle. But before it could even shout, Jun-sang picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and hurled it with a powerful full swing.

Thwack! Perhaps his control wasn’t very good. The stone didn’t hit the monster that spotted Jun-sang, but instead shattered the back of the head of the monster in front of it, who was tearing at meat. The monsters, who had been happily eating and drinking, were momentarily stunned and unable to react as their comrade’s head suddenly exploded before their eyes, splattering blood. It was then that the Crimson Wolf and Jun-sang pounced on the frozen monsters.