Chapter 12: THE PREY AND THE HUNTER
After incapacitating the Giant Arachnid Buryura, Jae-Hyuk was now standing in front of a scared Jin-Ho that was ready to piss his pants at any moments. Jae-Hyuk stared at Jin-Ho while sighing and swung the long sword in his right hand. Jin-Ho closed his eyes immediately, while resolving himself to meet his maker.
'Is this the end of the road for me... Damn it!... I was betrayed by my teammates and on top of that I meet my end at the hand of the man that I tried to protect... Damn it!... I should have listen to mom and not come to this raid... Anyway, why does my body only feel sticky?... Where is the pain due to being cut down by a sword... Does my body don't feel anything because the sword was too qui-'
"Idiot!... What are you doing, Jin-Ho?!... We don't know when those fools will come back and cause troubles... So, we have to start mining the mana crystals and I will use one of my abilities to store them... Also sorry for the monster's blood that I splashed on you, this is to make everyone believe that you killed that monster...
After all you are a D-rank Fighter hunter and possess outstanding equipment on top of it, while to the world, I'm the second weakest hunter... Anyway, let us go mine some mana crystals" Jae-Hyuk said as he walked towards the mana crystals with his back turned towards Jin-Ho. In front of Jin-Ho, there was the long sword and a pickaxe both stabbed in the ground and he contemplated which of them to pick. But finally settled for the pickaxe and ran to Jae-Hyuk's side.
'Wise choice... Jin-Ho... Wise choice!' Jae-Hyuk thought as his eyes glowed with a faint purple light. After thirty minutes of mining Jin-ho and Jae-Hyuk had mined all of the mana crystals and were each sitting on a pile of mana crystals while drinking some water from two water bottle that Jae-Hyuk summoned. There were ten piles of mana crystals in total and each of them contained one hundred million won worth of mana crystals.
[BBBBOOOOMMMM]
suddenly, the deafening sound of an explosion resounded in the lair of the Giant Arachnid Buryura, followed by a strong gust of wind filled with dusts and small debris. The visibility within the lair dropped to almost zero for both Jae-Hyuk and Jin-Ho, but Jae-Hyuk was unphased by this event. In fact, he expected something like that to happen as he felt eight familiar aura approaching, a few minutes ago.
"Brother Jae-Hyuk!?... " Jin-Ho said to Jae-Hyuk that was now3 standing beside him in a low voice.
"Calm down Jin-Ho.... Steel yourself and look for your sword and shield as soon as the visibility increases further... It's just those guys."
Jin-Ho slid down the pile of mana crystals and looked for his long sword and shield as soon as he landed on the ground. It didn't take him long before he found his weapons and Jae-Hyuk walked to his side, while the remaining dust in the atmosphere completely settled down.
"Look Boss!... They are still alive..."
"Stop shouting Chul-Jin, you idiot.... Everyone can see them..." Gyu-Hwan scolded his friend and then, immediately stared at Dong-Seok that was lost in his thoughts.
'How did they survive?... No... That's the wrong question as it's obvious from the bloods on Jin-Ho's equipment... But still for the Giant Arachnid Buryura to be taken down by a D-rank fighter, his equipment are the real deal... After all I searched the exclusive hunter website for the name and weakness of the monster and also came up with a strategy to take it down....
But given that brat's background, I can't said that I didn't expect this turn of events after all his old man can easily be ranked among the top 20 most influential men in Korea... I have to bring him to my side after all he doesn't have the choice... But if he decide to go against me, I'll kill him and bring his weapons to his father for his funeral... Given the high death rates in dungeons and the fact that he was inexperience, I will be considered a hero and would also get a reward for my 'good' actions.'
"FWUUUUHHHH!!!!!!" Dong-Seok exhaled and a sinister grin appeared on his face.
"Jin-Ho!.. There's no need to be on your guard... I will not do you any harm after all you removed two great thorns from my side..." Dong-Seok paused as he pointed to the limbless boss monster and the mana crystals.
"Also I looked up for information about you on the internet and found out that you are the youngest of the three children of Charmain Yoo Myunghan... So, you will be allowed to live as long as you comply to some conditions... But before we can talk about them more in details, you must kill that maggot beside you..."
"No!"
"Hmmmm!! What did you say, I think that I didn't hear you well..."
"I said no, you psycho!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!!! It seems that killing that Boss Monster has given to much confidence... So, I will have to pummel some common sense into you... First, Gyu-Hwan remove that maggot from my sight..."
"Right away! Boss!!"
Gyu-Hwan lifted his right hand and casted a magic spell. That magic spell caused ray of light to shot from his right palm and hit Jae-Hyuk right in his face.
[boom]
Only the sound of the collision was impressing, but the effects were inexistant, as Jae-Hyuk was still standing with only light bruises on his face.
"Gyu-Hwan! What are you doing!?... Don't tell me that you are out of mana already..."
"No! Boss!"
"So, deal with him already."
"So, Do I take it that you want to kill me?... "
"Did that magic made you dumb... A weakling like you must be killed... You can take it as me showing mercy to you.... HAHAHAHA!!!"
{-!ALARM!-
[-AN URGENT QUEST HAS BEEN ISSUED!-
THERE ARE ENEMIES NEARBY THAT INTEND TO KILL THE 'PLAYER'. DESTROY ALL THE FOES AND ENSURE YOUR SAFETY. IF YOU FAIL TO FOLLOW THESE ORDERS, YOUR HEART WILL STOP BEATING.
NUMBER OF FOES TO DEFEAT: 8
NUMBER OF FOES DEFEATED: 0] }
'Does the system take me for a soft guy... While I have been aiming for this from the start... It's amusing...'
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"He really has lost it that dumbass... I'll end his suffering for sure this time." Gyu-Hwan said with confidence, while Jin-Ho who was standing beside Jae-Hyuk felt shivers down his spine. Jae-Hyuk disappeared from everyone's sight and then, agonizing screams filled the lair.
"AAAARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
Everyone was shocked to see the source of the screams, it was Gyu-Hwan who was lying on his back on the ground with his limbs cleanly amputated. His complexion was extremely pale, his lips were purple and veins were popping on his neck and face.
"Do you know what is the most important rule for a hunter?!.... Let me enlighten you, it's to not become the prey... In your eyes, I was the prey and you were the hunters, but let me tell you this.... I'm a hunter to the core and I will hunt beings that bear his fangs at me... So, be ready to be hunted..."
As the sound of Jae-Hyuk echoed through the lair, Gyu-hwan was lying lifeless on the ground in a pool of his own blood.
"What is happen-" As Dong-Seok was muttering these words, more his friends fell on the ground without any limbs and their cries filled the atmosphere.
"AAAGGGHHHH!!!"
"AARRRGGGHHH!!!!"
"EEEEIIIIAAAAGGGG!!!"
"AGGGHHHHH!!!"
"EEEAAAGGGHHH!!!"
"AAAGGGGHHHH!!!!"
Dong-Seok could only hear the cries of his comrades but was powerless. Fear slowly crawled in his very being and he couldn't come up with any solution or decision. He just instinctively ran towards the damaged tunnel in an attempt to exit this hell, but he immediately come to an abrupt halt when Jae-Hyuk came out of the darkness that was present near the tunnel. He was holding the Kasaka's Venom Fang in his right hand and blood was dripping from its tip.
"Where are you going, Hwang Dong-Seok?!!.... Doesn't these cries excite you?!... Isn't the agonizing cries of prey exciting to you?!.. hmmm!!!!!."
Jae-Hyuk stared at the expression of the frightened Dong-Seok as he instinctively stepped backwards without answering.
"May be you will find the silence that is now prevailing more enjoyable right..." Jae-Hyuk said to Dong-Seok as he tilted his head to the left with a huge grin plastered on his face and his eyes glowing purple.
"M-M-Mon-ster!! AAAAGGGGHHHH-"
"Shut your filthy trap!"
[BAAM]
Jae-Hyuk said as he appeared in front of Dong-Seok and covered his mouth. Then, he smashed his head on the ground while making sure to hold back, in order to not kill him. When, Jae-Hyuk straightened his back, he stared at the bleeding C-rank tanker with his eyes wide open. The tanker rapidly came back to his sense and mustered all his strength to speak.
"S-Spare my life... You can take everything... All the mana crystals and the essence stones are yours... Also I swear to not tell any thing to my little brother, the S-rank hunter Hwang Dong-"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright." Jae-Hyuk said as he stared at the head of Dong-Seok that was spinning in the air.
{ -!ALARM!
[ -QUEST REWARD-
YOU HAVE MET ALL THE REQUIREMENTS TO COMPLETE THE (URGENT QUEST: DEFEAT THE ENEMIES)
REWARDS OBTAINED:
REWARD #1: STATUS RECOVERY
REWARD #2: STATS POINTS +10
REWARD #3: SKILL -(BLOODLUST)-
ACCEPT ALL REWARDS?
<ACCEPT/ DECLINE> ] }
'Accept!'
{ -SKILL-
[ -(BLOODLUST- Lv. 1)-
¬100 MANA REQUIRED.
~ENABLE THE USER TO PUT TARGETS IN A STATE OF FEAR FOR 1 MINUTE.
~THIS SKILL CAN BE USED ON MULTIPLE TARGETS.
~EFFECT 'FEAR': -50% FOR ALL STATS. ] }
'Not bad at all for la Lv. 1 skill, as expected of one of the main reasons that I came here... I think that the duration of the state of fear will increase with the increase in level of the skill...'
He then moved his sight from the window to the dagger in his left hand. It was a small black and orange dagger with a gray hilt.
"This dagger is very sharp... It's even sharper than Kasaka's Venom Fang, as expected of its name of Knight Killer... With that dagger, I'll be able to cut through armours like butter... "
'open -STATUS- and add all 13 stats points to vitality.'
{ -STATUS-
NAME: HWANG JAE-HYUK
LEVEL: 56
JOB: NONE
TITLE: WOLF SLAYER (A TITLE GIVEN TO A HUNTER PROFICIENT IN FIGHTS AGAINST WOLVES. 40% INCREASED EXPERIENCE AGAINST BEAST-TYPE MONSTERS.)
HP(HEATH POINTS): 9990/10235
FATIGUE: 40/100
MP(MANA POINTS): 1860/1860
____________________________________________
STRENGTH: 65
VITALITY: 78
AGILITY: 67
INTELIGENCE: 78
SENSE: 65
______________________________________________
PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION: 20%
REMAINING POINTS: 0 }
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone