Chapter 100 – Red Dragon’s Lair (6)

Before he was teleported to the Red Dragon’s Lair, Sungjin had thought while reading the information sheet.

‘Getting hit head on by the Red Dragon’s Breath attack?’

He didn’t even want to imagine it.

‘No matter how high the endurance... that’s a one-way ticket to purgatory...’

Sungjin took a sip of the Vanilla Latte as he was arranging his thoughts. The rings which covered every single finger sparkled in the light.

Among them, the one that caught his eye the most was the newest addition, the ‘Chimerao – Ring of Fused Beasts’. A ring decorated with the image of Man, Snake, Lion, and Goat.

Each gave immunity to Fire, Poison, Fear, and Cold for 5 seconds. Sungjin played with the human figure of the ring as he thought

‘If I use this... I can survive 5 seconds in the breath.’

But he shook his head.

‘No... I shouldn’t even consider that as a possibility. With or without the items, being touched by that...’

This happened this morning.

*

Khal Gal regained his bearings and readjusted the breath attack back towards Sungjin.

Sungjin ran alongside the wall, but the enraged Khal Gal continued to breathe out flames after him. Sungjin waited until the attack stopped since there was a physical limit to how long the breath attack can be sustained. But along the way, Khal Gal swung his arm down, and

‘Boom’

blocked Sungjin’s path.

It was a resolute attack, one where the dragon prepared to sacrifice his own arm to take Sungjin out. Sungjin had no place to run.

A hopeless situation; Sungjin decided to try the ‘option’ he had come up with in the morning.

“Magician’s Frost”

With his command, the ‘Chimerao – Ring of Fused Beasts’ emitted a blue light. And above Sungjin came Khal Gal’s immense breath of flames.

The blinding light forced his eyes close as he was pushed against the wall due to the pressure, but he did not feel any heat.

The immunity to fire had begun. Sungjin started to count 5 seconds from that position.

‘5’

Moon Specter was worried

‘Master! Master!!’

She shouted at him

‘4’

Besgoro who had kept quiet all this time also urgently shouted

‘What are you doing Kei? If you die, I die too!’

‘3’

Once 3 seconds had passed, Sungjin regretted his decision.

‘Who cares if 1 or 2 hunters die? I shouldn’t have put my back against the wall.’

If the breath would last longer than 2 seconds, then this would be the end of his second life.

‘2’

But once he had counted 4 seconds, he no longer felt any pressure.

‘1’

Sungjin opened his eyes as he counted the last second. The usually arrogant Khal Gal was staring at him with a hint of despair. He had been firing the breath attack from before when Sungjin had used ‘Ghastly Wail’.

The attack had barely ended within the ‘Magician’s Frost’s’ 5-second immunity. He smelled something burning, so he looked to the side to see the dragon’s arm burnt black to a crisp.

He had sacrificed his own body as a last desperate measure. He had no more fight left in him.

‘He’s done for...’

Sungjin nimbly jumped on top of the Dragon’s arm and ran towards the body. The Dragon turned away to try and escape, but Sungjin did not allow him to.

Sungjin who leapt from the arm to the shoulder,

“Baptism of Blood”

Activated the Blood Vengeance’s ability and pierced the X-shaped wound on the chest of the Dragon.

“Kaaaah!”

Khal Gal screamed. But this was not the end. Sungjin used the Blood Vengeance as an anchor and rapidly slashed against his neck.

Meanwhile, the other Hunters began to beat, stab, and shoot the Dragon from afar. Khal Gal let out a cry of agony and struggled desperately, but to no avail.

“This can’t...”

Khal Gal lasted only a few more seconds before he collapsed, bleeding out from the first wound he had received.

Sungjin, who had spent every last bit of his strength to swing and stab Khal Gal, dropped alongside him when Khal Gal finally fell. He listened to the Operator while laying on the ground.

[Congratulations. Boss Monster]

[Red Dragon Khal Gal has been defeated!]

The announcement couldn’t be more welcome.

“Woof!”

Cain came running up to Sungjin. He must have been worried for his master’s well being. He licked Sungjin’s face which was covered in blood. On becoming slobbered, Sungjin said to Cain

“Ahh, Cain I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Meanwhile, the other nine hunters came running towards Sungjin as well. When Sungjin finally sat up, the hunters bowed towards him one by one and said

“It was... absolutely amazing, Master Hunter.”

“We survived thanks to you. If it’s you... Maybe...”

“I can’t help but respect you.”

Sungjin stood up and looked towards the ‘Friar’. He also looked astonished as the rest. He had guessed that Sungjin was strong, but Sungjin had proven to be far more powerful than he had ever imagined. Sungjin straightened himself as he said

“Good work everyone. Let’s take a break before we continue.”

*

Inside of Khal Gal’s Cavern, the Hunters replenished their lost HP and checked their equipment. No one had taken significant damage. All thanks to Sungjin’s extraordinary contribution to the fight.

The Hunters exchanged words with each other about Sungjin’s bloody battle with the Dragon.

“If it weren’t for Master Hunter, not all of us would be here right now. Maximum 8? 7?”

“The rumors were true. He might have been able to come all this way alone.”

Sungjin felt bashful from the praises and sat a distance away from the others, speaking to Cain.

“So, where did your comrades come from? That forest?”

“Woof.”

“I see, good work. Thanks to you taking a load off our backs, it was easier to take on the boss. Good work Cain.”

As Sungjin said that, he walked up to the chewed up corpse of a Hell Hound. He had been using MP throughout the fight and ‘Baptism of Blood’ had drained some of his HP as well.

“Lich’s Beckon”

Sungjin used the Lich’s finger to replenish his MP.

“Close the wounds and erase the pain, Heal!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

He used his own spell to heal himself. The Operator gave an announcement.

[HP is at max value.]

Sungjin asked in addition

“Elapsed time?”

[The time spent in this raid is 34 minutes 48 seconds.]

It ended earlier than he thought. The fight against the Red Dragon was one thing, but the Barbarian acting as ‘guide’ was a major contributing factor.

‘I never really gave it much importance... but goes to show that there’s no such thing as a useless title...’

But he still had to hurry. This Chapter was a maze. He had no way to know exactly where the others would be located when they commit to trolling. He may have to spend up to 20~30 minutes per jump to search for trolls.

‘I should hurry.’

Sungjin quickly returned to where the Hunters were gathered.

“If everyone is rested...”

As soon as he opened his mouth, the others turned to look. They were all men, but they seemed to be attracted to his overwhelming strength. It was a strange feeling. The Immortal stood up and said

“Let us go search for more monsters. We should aim to increase our contribution points as high as we can.”

“Let’s do that.”

“Let’s go.”

Sungjin said to the hunters, who were getting ready to leave,

“You all know about the Hidden Pieces right? What do you think of searching for those?”

They all looked to one another. Not a single person asked

‘Hidden Piece? What’s that?’

“It’d be great, but...”

“If we find it, great, if not, oh well.”

“Dragon’s hoard... I feel like it should be worthwhile...”

And among them

“Wouldn’t the Hidden boss be incredibly difficult?”

Someone finally mentioned the Hidden boss. Sungjin said to them

“I have Treasure Hunter Title so let’s search for the Hidden Pieces with that as the base. Of course, we’ll hunt along the way... but finding treasure is even better. About the hidden boss... let’s think of that a bit later.”

Everyone nodded at his words.

“Sure.”

“Hidden Pieces are always welcome.”

Sungjin, who seemed to have gotten the group’s approval, spoke to the Cube.

“Operator, give me the Star of the Nameless.”

The Operator soon took out a star shaped pendant with a whirl design. Sungjin said to the star

“Rename.”

It was the first time Sungjin had used such a command. The Operator asked

[Which title would you like to rename to?]

“Treasure Hunter”

[You have been renamed.]

Sungjin looked up to check his title, but he didn’t need to. The other Nine Hunters were staring at his title with their mouths open.

“Wait... you can change titles in the middle of the Raid?”

“What an amazing item...”

No one asked.

‘How did you get it?’

Everyone just assumed ‘he’s special’ and let it slide. Sungjin gathered the hunters and said

“The Treasure Hunter ability gives us hints about where the Hidden pieces are located. I will use the ability in a sec... but I will need the wisdom of everyone here to help me.”

Their eyes sparkled at his words. They didn’t know the effects of Master Hunter title, but they had understood through intuition that Treasure Hunter ability was extremely good.

“Please listen to the hint from my Cube, and let me know if you think you understood the clue.”

Everyone nodded at his words.

‘I feel like I’ve become a teacher or something.’

Sungjin asked the Operator,

“Operator, I’ll use the Treasure Hunter Active. If there is a Hidden Piece on the map, please give me a clue.”

The Operator gave a verse at his request.

[Red Dragon of Avarice, Khal Gal]

[Slain many, in the hundreds of years of its life;]

[Taking their treasure, hoarding them in his lair.]

[The path is red, a place only he could go]

[Rolling over mounds of treasures to cool his heated wings]

[is his most cherished past time.]

Sungjin carefully listened. The important parts seemed to be as follows.

‘Red path, only he could go, covered wings’

“Red Path? But everything here is either black or red”

“Only he could go... couldn’t anyone go where that dragon can fit?”

“Covered wings... I think this is the key.”

Sungjin nodded.

“Ok, I see. So let’s find out where the hidden boss is. I don’t know if we can beat it or not but... we should be aware of where it is located first so we know how to avoid it, right?”

Everyone nodded at his suggestion.

“Yeah, Good idea.”

“At least we won’t run into him while walking down but...”

Sungjin let out a fake cough and asked the second question.

“Cough... Operator, where is the Hidden boss located?”

[She who hears, she who came]

[She has learned of the child’s unruliness]

[And awoken from a long slumber to visit.]

[Be warned that above the proof of wickedness]

[Lies, also, her wrath]

It was short. But it was something quite different. Sungjin, as well as the rest of the hunters, became mute.

‘What the hell is it talking about?’

Everyone’s expression seemed to say. Sungjin stroked his chin and then asked once more

“Hey Operator, can you tell me the hint again?”