Chapter 13 – Ahenna’s Forest (6)

The Operator announced the rewards with her well enunciated and clear voice.

[Monsters Slain. Gray Wolf: 80. Shadow Puma: 30. Grizzly Bear: 15. Dire Wolf: 16. Total 1500 points.]

[Boss Monster Slain: Wolf Queen Ahenna: 150 points.]

[Hidden Boss: Werewolf Aindell: 150 points.]

[Final Point count: 1800. Distributing points.]

Reward distribution ended quickly. Why? Because there was only one recipient.

[Your contribution is 100.0%. 1800 Stat points, 1800 Black Coins awarded. Raid Clear Bonus 400 Stat points and 400 Black Coins awarded. Item effect ‘Additional 10% gained’ activated. Distributing 2200 Stat points and 2420 Black Coins.]

‘100 Black Coins remaining from Chapter 1, 60 from Chapter 2 Tutorial, and now getting 2420... Total is 2580 Black Coins.’

Sungjin completed his calculations quickly and looked down at his hands. ‘Heart of Gold’s’ Blue Sapphire glinted in the firelight.

Sungjin happily petted his ring. The ring allowed him to receive 10% extra coins this round.

[And now we will distribute the items.]

[Swift Paw – Wolf’s step]

[Grand kin – Ahenna’s last descendent]

[Mystery Pouch – Wandering Merchant’s secret stash]

[Recovery Potion – Small X5]

[Salamander’s ash X3]

Items appeared in front of his eyes and land in a heap. Except for three items, he put all the consumables in the cube.

[Last but not the least, you will be awarded titles you’ve earned on this raid.]

Sungjin crossed his arms and gazed down at the cube. He wasn’t expecting much. He already had ‘Master Hunter’ which had the strongest stat boost he had ever seen.

‘I don’t think I’ll need to switch out Master Hunter no matter what titles I receive from this Raid.’

But Sungjin’s assumptions were thankfully wrong.

[Treasure Hunter – Twice during raids, You have rights to ask the Operator]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[For hints about where the secret location is or the hidden boss is located]

“What?!”

Listening to the Operator’s explanation, Sungjin immediately uncrossed his arms. He took the cube into his hands and asked the Operator once more.

“Say that again... What does the ‘Treasure Hunter’ title do?”

The Operator repeated herself.

[Treasure Hunter – Twice during raids, You have rights to ask the Operator for hints about the hidden locations]

“And... If I don’t equip the title?”

[If you do not equip the title, you will only receive half of the title’s effects.]

[In other words, you’ll be given the right to request hints on the hidden location or boss just once per raid.]

He had such low expectations, but he received a pleasant surprise. In fact, now he faced a dilemma.

Does he remain with Master Hunter’s 30% bonus to stats, or take two hints from the Treasure Hunter?

He is only allowed to pick one title to equip for the duration of the raid.

“Hmm... Ok understood.”

Sungjin decided to dwell more on it later. He could always mull over his choices while taking a bath in “Ninety Nine Nights”.

Sungjin finally looked over to his items. First was the boots built out of a Wolf’s foot.

‘I remember being jealous of people who wore these... How fortunate.’

This was Ahenna’s drop item. So Sungjin was able to see a few hunters wear it around.

Swift Paw – Wolf’s step

Heroic Shoes – Defense 22%

Active Skill

Swiftness(III) – When out of combat, move at 1000% the normal speed for a brief period of time. 30 Seconds Duration

5 Minute Cooldown Time.

Shoes in the shape of a Wolf’s Feet.

It normally has the claws hidden.

The shoes Sungjin wore now was the sneakers he had on when he was summoned to the Hunter’s Hall. Sungjin lifted up the shoes and spoke the command.

“Equip”

Moments later, the shoes were placed on his feet. It fit him perfectly. The Active Skill would be useful when searching for the hidden boss or the secret piece.

The other two items were probably drop items of the hidden boss Aindell. The first one he inspected was the small wooden carving of a wolf.

Grand Kin – Ahenna’s Descendent

Heroic Summon

Active Skill

Spiritual Link (Grand Kin) – Loyal Familiar, Summon Grand Kin.

If Summon is killed, or if 10 minutes pass from the time of summoning, it disappears.

‘...A summon...’

Sungjin threw the statue of the wolf into the air. It burst midair, and a normal sized wolf emerged. The summon looked handsome for a wolf.

Fur like untouched snow, eyes as beautiful as gems; he was without a doubt Ahenna’s descendent. Sungjin gestured towards Grand Kin.

“Grand Kin, come this way.”

The wolf obediently approached Sungjin. Sungjin placed his hands on Grand Kin’s head. The fur was soft to touch.

“... Oh yeah, I noticed that you wolves are much better than humans.”

In the two chapters he’s overcome so far, he’s had nothing but disappointing teammates. If he is a faithful familiar like the Operator claimed, then he will be useful in raids.

Sungjin spoke to himself while petting Grand Kin.

“But... Grand Kin is too long... Grand Kin... Grand... Kin... Cain? Yeah, I’ll call you Cain from now on. It’s okay right?”

Grand Kin responded with a short bark.

“Woof...”

It seemed as though the wolf understood all his words. Sungjin couldn’t help but smile.

“Yes, nice to meet you, Cain. I look forward to working with you later.”

The last item was a small rucksack. It was miniaturized, but the rucksack was otherwise identical to the one the ‘Wandering Merchant’ Aindell carried with him.

In truth, this rucksack was what Sungjin was most curious about during the whole “reward’ process.

‘Where is this used?’

“Operator?”

The Operator immediately opened up a hologram to reveal information about the rucksack.

Mystery Pouch – Wandering Merchant’s secret stash

Heroic Treasure

Active skill

Roulette (IV) – receive one ‘Legendary’ class crafting material.

Pouch Disappears after use.

Wandering Merchant Aindell’s stash of crafting materials.

His pouch is filled with crafting materials.

‘...Legendary crafting material?’

Sungjin was honestly surprised. The ‘Heroic’ tier he had equipped had excellent bonuses and effects, but ‘Legendary’ tier items were on an entirely different scale.

With a legendary tier item this early in the chapters, one could almost beat the whole chapter with just that item alone.

‘...Should I open it now?’

While Sungjin deliberated, the Operator announced the remaining time.

[You will return to the Hunter’s Hall in 1 Minute.]

He only had 1 minute left.

‘...Well, I guess there’s no harm knowing what I’ve got before I head into the Black Market.’

Finally making up his mind, Sungjin untied the rucksack and opened up the top.

‘Pop’

With a small sound, the Operator conveys a congratulatory message.

[Congratulations! You have obtained ‘Ancient Stories of the East’!]

“Wait... What?”

Sungjin was shocked. This ‘Ancient Stories of the East’ was a legendary item among legendary items.

Its effects were extraordinary. But it was difficult to obtain because the item was divided into three parts, and only one person could own the completed item.

Before Sungjin died, and only at the very last few chapters, he was able to see it once or twice.

Ancient Stories of the East – Part 1

Legendary Crafting Material

Omnibus of ancient stories of the east.

Once parts 1, 2 and 3 are gathered, it can be made into a complete volume.

‘If I can just recreate this item...’

If he were to obtain this item, early and mid chapters will become unimaginably easier to complete.

“Operator, how much are part 2 and 3 of ‘Ancient Stories of the East’?”

[I am unable to give you that information.]

For the first time, the Operator did not provide the information to Sungjin. He searched in his memories for a moment and recalled that in the ‘Black Market’ there was a bookstore.

‘I’ll probably be able to find some information there.’

The Operator began her countdown for his return to the hall.

[You will return to the Hunter’s Hall momentarily. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0]

*

The Hunter’s Hall was still filled with a large number of people. Less than 0.1% of all humanity were present, but humans were many. Unimaginably so.

But as chapters progressed, the numbers continued to dwindle. Sungjin recalled the past.

‘They kept on dying until there were less than a dozen remaining...less than...’

The operator interrupted his thoughts and announced a congratulatory message.

[Congratulations! You have all marvelously completed Chapter 2!]

Not one person celebrated the completion of the 2nd chapter. And rightfully so; until just moments ago, they were struggling for their lives to survive.

[You, who have completed Chapter 2, are now a fully fledged hunter.]

Sungjin crossed his arms and stared at the Operator’s face.

‘...and here comes the bad news.’

[Chapters from now on will skip the tutorial]

[And jump straight into the raid.]

This sentence was exactly why Sungjin was cynical about her congratulatory message.

[There will be no more 1 vs 1 phases designed to get you familiarized with your upcoming enemies.]

[You will be entered into active combat straight away. All hunters who managed to survive until now are]

[considered to be above ‘able to fight 1 vs 1’ level,]

[So opportunity to safely scout out an enemy is no longer provided.]

“What...?”

Several hunters already figured out what kind of disadvantage this was, and let out sounds of disappointments. On the other hand,

‘Yawn...’

Sungjin stretched as he yawned. Tutorials did not affect him one way or another. The Operator continued on and on, and Sungjin paid her no heed.

[Please do not be alarmed by the discontinuation of tutorials.]

[A note with the information about the next raid]

[will be delivered to the inn “Ninety Nine Nights” shortly.]

The other Hunters listened to her words carefully; for them, it was a question of life and death.

Among them, only Sungjin stood crooked, arms crossed and complaining like some high school delinquent.

‘Shut up and send me to the Black Market.’

Note: The author has fixed inconsistencies which were seen in previous chapters like Baltren’s reward coins and Sunjin’s dexterity increase in the raws. We have followed it by updating the chapters here as well 🙂

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