Chapter 44

As Dian rode on the Dire Wolf’s back, he screamed in surprise at the sudden acceleration, but soon closed his eyes and bit his lip, desperately clinging to the silver wolf’s back. How long passed like that? When the dampness disappeared from the wind on his face, Dian finally slowly opened his eyes. He then realized he had already left the misty swamp and raised his head.

“Ugh!” He almost lost his grip on the Dire Wolf’s fur, pushed by the strong headwind, but it was enough time for him to realize he was returning to the village.

When the huge silver wolf suddenly galloped from the swamp, the villagers, already anxious because of the swamp monsters, were thrown into a commotion. They quickly barricaded the village entrance and began preparing to fire crude arrows, but that was only for a moment. Discovering Dian riding on the wolf’s back, people urgently restrained those about to fire arrows.

The Dire Wolf paused at the sight of people with bows as it was about to enter the village entrance, then shook its body.

“Gah!” Dian, who had been desperately clinging on, was suddenly tossed into the air and fell headfirst onto the ground, screaming. He then realized he had arrived at the village entrance, looking bewildered.

The Dire Wolf immediately turned around after completing Jun-sang’s command.

“W-wait…” Dian involuntarily reached out with his bound hands, trying to call back the beautiful silver wolf, but the Dire Wolf paid no heed and immediately began galloping back towards the swamp.

“…” He stared blankly at the silver wolf disappearing from view in an instant. Only then did the villagers run out and begin scolding Dian.

“You rascal! How dare you go in there! Do you know how worried Jesse was?!” While scolding him, the villagers unbound his hands, carefully checked him for injuries, and led Dian into the village. Even in his dazed state, Dian only then realized he had dropped his sword, but somehow, he didn’t feel a sense of loss despite losing his father’s only keepsake.

“Dian!” Only then did Jesse, who had heard the news, rush over. Dian braced himself for a scolding and tightly closed his eyes, but Jesse immediately ran and embraced her son, bursting into tears.

While the entire village was in an uproar due to Dian’s return on the giant silver wolf, the four travelers, who had only just finished their self-introductions and role assignments, were entering the village from the opposite entrance.

“Somehow… the village feels a bit deserted.” “It must be because of the swamp monsters. Let’s gather information here, restock necessary supplies, and then depart.” “I wonder if there’s an inn. Since we’re here, I hope we can take a bath before hunting.” “Good idea. I’ve been itching since I haven’t been able to wash properly lately.”

As the four travelers conversed among themselves and entered the village, Jun-sang was heading towards the swamp master’s location, checking the updated quest message.

(Sub) Jesse’s Request.

• Jesse is worried sick because her son, Dian, ran off to deal with the swamp monster. Help her son return safely to his mother’s arms.
• Status: Complete!
• Reward: A small amount of experience, (Dian’s Short and Sharp Sword) – Would you like to claim your rewards now? (Y/n) _(Warning) Unclaimed rewards will be automatically deleted after 7 days.

“This must have been one of the additional rewards.” Jun-sang recalled the short sword Dian had dropped and paused his steps for a moment. He then took out the short sword from his inventory and initiated an item check.

Item Information

• Name: Dian’s Short and Sharp Sword
• Level Restriction: None
• Type: Weapon
• Grade: Common
• Attack Power: 5-12
• Effect: 150% damage against beasts.
• Seed: 1 slot
• Description: A short sword used by a hunter.

“…” Compared to the knuckle-duster he obtained earlier, its grade was lower and its performance was also inferior. Although it had increased damage against beasts, even considering that, it was still less than the knuckle-duster’s base damage, so what more was there to say? It was somewhat aesthetically pleasing, so perhaps it could be used for decoration, but for Jun-sang, it was a rather unsatisfying reward in many ways. The only saving grace was the experience reward.

Jun-sang clicked his tongue and claimed the reward. Suddenly, white light emanated from his body.

“Ah! Wh-what is it?” Ilmaren, clinging to his shoulder, shrieked in surprise as light suddenly flowed from Jun-sang’s body. But Jun-sang silently opened the random card, his fourteenth level-up reward. Despite gaining a lot of experience in the last quest, perhaps due to leveling up right after defeating a boss, he hadn’t leveled up until now.

Card Information

• Name: Sprint
• Level: 1Lv
• Experience: 0
• Grade: Common
• Category: Skill
• Growth: Precocious (Medium)
• Attribute: None
• Effect: Movement speed increased by 20% when equipped.
• Cost: 10
• Seed: 1 slot

“…” Not bad. Although it was a low-grade card, the increase in movement speed was a great help, especially since the minimap and titles allowed him to quickly acquire and complete quests. The only problem was that, being a skill card, for a five-card combination like Mad Dog, allocating a slot for Sprint would completely eliminate the combo effect itself. For a four-card combo like Berserker or Martial Artist, there was one empty slot, so maintaining the combo effect was not an issue. Of course, there was still a problem in this case. For Berserker, he would have to sacrifice an attack skill to use Sprint, and for Martial Artist, he would have to remove Bloodbath (R), thus weakening his overall power. In many ways, it required careful consideration for its use. It would probably be inconvenient to use before acquiring a separate combo.

Jun-sang decided to test the newly acquired card.

“Open Sprint.” As the Bloodbath (R) card was removed and the Sprint card was equipped, Jun-sang took a light deep breath and began to run at full speed.

“Whooaaaaah!” At the sudden acceleration, Ilmaren screamed or cheered, clinging desperately to his shoulder. She had only just gotten used to Jun-sang’s running speed, but as he sped up even more, the small fairy’s body was barely able to withstand the headwind.

At that moment, Jun-sang suddenly extended his left hand and covered his left shoulder, where Ilmaren was riding, with his palm. Ilmaren had been desperately enduring the headwind, clutching his clothes, when she suddenly noticed the wind weakening and realized it was due to Jun-sang’s palm. Her eyes widened, and then a blush spread across her face. For Jun-sang, it was merely an action taken because the constant shrieking right next to his ear was annoying, but this small fairy apparently thought it was an act of consideration for her.

Thanks to the new skill, he could run even faster, but the terrain itself was a muddy swamp, so there were limits to running at top speed. Anyway, as Jun-sang ran, he finally discovered a very shabby dwelling located on one of the few dry patches of land in the swamp.

“It’s here. The monster leader is here.”

“…” Gazing at the cluster of hut-like dwellings, which resembled animal nests like those of beavers rather than human-made houses, Jun-sang re-equipped the Bloodbath (R) card instead of Sprint and told Ilmaren, “Stay here.”

“Yes.” Remembering the electric shocker incident earlier, Ilmaren dismounted from Jun-sang’s shoulder with a slightly regretful expression and climbed onto a nearby tree branch. Jun-sang briefly composed his breath, which had been disrupted by the intense sprint. Once his breathing returned to normal, he infiltrated the monsters’ village, leaving the wolves next to Ilmaren. He intended to reduce the number of monsters in the village as much as possible before taking down the boss.

“…” Monsters, armed with short spears, were roaming the village one or two at a time. Jun-sang hid behind a hut and began silently eliminating the patrolling monsters one by one.

CRUNCH! As Jun-sang’s strong hand, approaching from behind, broke its neck, the monster collapsed without even a scream. He continued eliminating them silently like this… It was around the twelfth monster that the bodies were discovered, and the monsters began to shriek.

“…” Jun-sang quietly checked the number of monsters rushing out of the houses. Despite having eliminated over ten, there were still about twenty monsters remaining. How could there be so many? Well, the initial quest had reported 103 monsters, so perhaps this was a small number for the monsters’ stronghold.

Jun-sang looked back and let out a short whistle. Two hidden wolves immediately burst out like lightning and charged at the monsters on the outskirts of the village. As the two massive wolves appeared, the already agitated monsters began to swarm towards them to block them. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jun-sang silently infiltrated the center of the village and, before long, found the final boss of this swamp quest.

The boss was twice as large as the other iguana-shaped monsters and, unlike them, had very hard-looking black scales covering its body. Its limbs seemed considerably weaker than those of typical land creatures, but seeing it holding a large wooden club, its brute strength didn’t seem to be lacking. As he quietly observed, a few monsters, appearing to be messengers, ran up and delivered a message in squealing voices. Upon hearing it, the boss, along with five monster guards, began to move towards where the wolves had appeared.

Jun-sang briefly hid behind a hut… and then, as the boss passed him, turning its back, he burst out and activated Shoulder Charge.

The air before him split, and Jun-sang’s shoulder, rapidly charging, directly hit the boss’s back.

GROAN! The boss, struck by the surprise attack, immediately rolled forward but then angrily sprang to its feet.

“Tsk…” Jun-sang frowned at the sight of the boss seemingly unaffected despite the successful surprise attack. Considering that even the monstrous wild boar was instantly incapacitated after a surprise Shoulder Charge while defenseless, this boss’s defense was truly remarkable. Well, it would be ridiculous for a boss to fall in a single hit.

Jun-sang grabbed the guard’s short spear with his left hand as it screamed and charged, then extended his right hand, grabbed its neck, and slammed it onto the ground.

Screeech! He then stomped and crushed the screaming monster’s neck before throwing the short spear he was holding with his left hand at the charging monster.

SPLAT! The monster, impaled in the chest by Jun-sang’s thrown spear, flipped over and died. Seizing the opportunity created by the thrown spear, another monster thrust its spear forward, but Jun-sang dodged it and activated Counter. As he dodged the spear by tilting his head and threw a punch, the monster’s nose bridge was crushed in a single blow, its head snapped back, and its neck broke, instantly killing it.

Jun-sang, gripping the body of the monster that died in an embrace, pushed the corpse towards the two remaining guards. The two monsters, who had been screaming and charging, were flustered when their comrade’s body flew at them and caught it. Jun-sang, who followed close behind, grabbed their necks in turn, slammed them to the ground, and then stomped on their necks and heads with his black military boots, killing them.

Having instantly defeated the guards, Jun-sang approached the boss.

KYAAAH! Perhaps to boost morale, or to call other subordinates from afar, the boss raised its club and let out a loud roar, then… suddenly curled its body like an armadillo and rotated itself into the shape of a giant wheel, charging towards Jun-sang.

“Tsk.” Jun-sang clicked his tongue and dodged the boss’s charge. Considering the boss’s defense, which hadn’t even scratched after taking a surprise Shoulder Charge amplified by the Martial Artist Combo, it would be a loss to counter that attack directly unless it was a full-charge Crushing Blow.

As Jun-sang dodged the charge, the boss shattered a hut and, in the process, trampled and crushed a thick-skinned monster couple who had been soundly sleeping inside the hut, before finally stopping its rotation and returning its body to its original form. And then… it began to stagger as if drunk, looking dizzy.

“…” In many ways, it was quite absurd, but such an opening couldn’t be missed. Jun-sang immediately launched himself like a shot arrow, activating Shoulder Charge. This time, too, Jun-sang’s attack directly hit the boss’s chest without fail, and the boss, unable to withstand the impact, was sent flying backward.

Jun-sang ran forward and quietly said, “Berserker.” As the words left his mouth, the card slots emptied, and new cards were equipped. Frenzy, Bloodbath, Bloodbath (UC), Bloodbath (R). Following these four cards, the 2-hit combo card was equipped in the last slot, and Jun-sang leaped onto the struggling boss’s body.

Suddenly, In the boss’s vision, the image of a human radiating chilling red light from his eyes appeared, falling onto its head. And then, following that… it felt the impact of a powerful punch striking its head. The shock from the punch burrowed deep into the monster’s head, pushing one emotion, deeply hidden in its mind, to the surface of its consciousness.

It was fear. A completely alien emotion named fear.