The C-Rank Awakened stood before me.
He was a large man with a booming voice and an utterly rotten personality.
‘I keep running into him.’
This was already our third encounter.
The first had been at the Hunter Association, and I had now met him twice inside this Goblin Dungeon.
However, he did not appear to be in a good situation.
He was surrounded by Goblins that had been strengthened to D-Rank.
He was barely holding out, but wounds already covered his entire body.
The armor he wore had also been reduced to tatters.
‘He’s fighting alone? What happened to the Hunters who were with him? Ah…… They’re all dead.’
Several Hunters lay fallen nearby.
Unfortunately, they were already dead.
Just then, the C-Rank Awakened shouted irritably.
“Damn it! I never should’ve formed a party with those useless bastards!”
The C-Rank Awakened insulted the Hunters who had died to the Goblins.
As expected, his personality truly was irredeemable.
“SQUEAK! SQUEAK-SQUEAK!”
“SKREEE!”
The Goblins lunged at the complaining C-Rank Awakened.
His situation rapidly worsened.
“Aaargh! Is anyone there? Help me! I’ll reward you generously, so please help me!”
The C-Rank Awakened sounded desperate.
If he were left like that, he would not last long before dying.
- Do you intend to help him?
Martial God Jin Cheon-woo asked me a question.
I answered without hesitation.
“No.”
I had never intended to help him in the first place.
I did not want to waste my strength on a piece of trash like him.
‘I would rather spend that time helping other Hunters.’
At that moment, the C-Rank Awakened and I made eye contact.
“Hey! Help me! We know each other, don’t we?!”
The C-Rank Awakened shrieked at me to help him.
Even the way he asked for assistance was unpleasant.
“Why aren’t you answering? Hey! I said help me! Do you want money? Just name your price! You know I’m a C-Rank Awakened, right? Once I get out of here, making money will be nothing! I’ll give you as much as you want! So hurry up and help me!”
“No.”
“What……? What did you just say? If you don’t want to regret this, help me right now!”
“I said no.”
That was as far as he got.
The C-Rank Awakened could no longer continue shouting.
The Goblins’ attacks struck him, and he began screaming in pain.
“Aaargh! It hurts! It hurts!”
The C-Rank Awakened drew closer to death.
I still had no intention of helping him.
However, since fate had brought us together three times, I decided to at least cheer him on.
“Hang in there!”
After offering him that brief encouragement, I turned around and headed elsewhere.
I was going to help people who were not trash.
***
I wandered through the vast Dungeon, whose passages intertwined like a maze.
“Save me! Aaargh! Stop chasing me, you damned Goblins!”
“Aaargh! They stabbed my leg! Someone help me!”
“Support! We need support! We can’t hold out much longer……!”
I found a group of people.
They were barely managing to flee from the Goblins and defend themselves.
Using Limitless Footwork, I approached the Goblins and attacked with my sword.
STAB! SHNK!
I thrust my sword twice.
The blade pierced the heads of two Goblins.
SLAAASH!
The sword I swung immediately afterward severed another Goblin’s neck.
I thrust again.
STAB!
Then I swung.
SLASH!
Had it taken approximately three seconds?
No, perhaps it had been even faster.
I had eliminated five Goblins within that brief span of time.
‘I can keep going.’
I was not tired, so I continued moving.
I employed Limitless Footwork and executed the Limitless Sword Method, eliminating two more Goblins.
“SQUEAK! SKREEE!”
A sword flew toward me.
A Goblin had thrown it.
It was an unexpected attack. I had never heard of Goblins throwing their swords.
However, it was not a problem.
TAP! TAP!
Limitless Footwork was a Martial Art that required its user to remain prepared to evade an opponent’s attack at any moment.
I moved to the side and avoided the flying sword.
At the same instant, I thrust my own sword into the torso of the Goblin attacking me from the side.
STAB!
I felt that I was using both my swordsmanship and footwork reasonably well.
My confidence was naturally beginning to grow.
Then the Martial God suddenly roared at me.
- Fight more efficiently! There is no need to thrust your sword so deeply. It need only penetrate far enough to take your opponent’s life. The same applies when you swing it. Cleaving entirely through an opponent’s torso merely expends more strength than necessary. It is inefficient.
As I killed another Goblin, I carefully considered Martial God Jin Cheon-woo’s words.
‘He emphasized efficiency. I’ve been thrusting the sword too deeply? And I’ve been putting too much strength into my swings? That isn’t something I had considered.’
I understood his point perfectly.
Therefore, I immediately attempted to adjust my technique according to the Martial God’s teachings.
SHNK!
I thrust the sword only a short distance.
It penetrated halfway through the Goblin’s neck before I pulled it free.
Then I swung my sword.
SLASH!
The blade cut halfway through the Goblin’s neck in an instant.
Green blood poured from the wound as it collapsed.
THUD!
‘That required much less strength than cutting completely through its neck or torso. I should have done this from the beginning.’
Greater efficiency increased my hunting speed.
It also consumed less Vitality, giving me greater confidence that I could continue fighting for longer.
As expected, Martial God Jin Cheon-woo’s teachings were never wrong.
“Whoa! That’s insane! Who is that guy?”
“Damn, he’s incredibly strong! Is he a veteran Hunter who came here to help us?”
“But what is with his equipment……? Aren’t his sword and armor practically rotten……?”
The people began to calm down as they watched the Goblins die.
Still, who was the person who had just called my sword and armor rotten?
They possessed a certain antique charm once you looked at them properly. Besides, these were SSSSS-Rank Items.
I suppressed the words that nearly escaped my mouth.
They would not believe me anyway, and I would only make myself look pathetic.
I managed to restrain myself.
However, Martial God Jin Cheon-woo apparently could not.
- Does that fool have fish eyeballs shoved into his sockets? How could anyone evaluate the Limitless Sword and Limitless Armor in such an absurd manner?
Still—
For someone known as the Martial God, “fish eyeballs” was rather coarse language.
At first, he had spoken like a refined gentleman, but he was becoming rougher over time.
Of course, it did not bother me.
He taught me Martial Arts and occasionally gave me invaluable advice. He was allowed to be somewhat rough.
‘There’s no rule saying the Martial God has to speak gently, is there? He often became angry while teaching me as well. I actually prefer this. It makes him feel more human.’
I did not stop hunting the Goblins.
I continued killing them while paying attention to the efficiency Martial God Jin Cheon-woo had emphasized.
‘Oh!’
At some point, a message appeared before my eyes.
[You eliminated a Goblin with an astonishingly efficient attack!]
[Achievement added - Efficient One]
It was a message related to an Achievement.
It appeared quite useful as well!
【Achievement】Efficient One
[Description] An Achievement granted to one who kills a Monster with an astonishingly efficient attack.
[Effect] Attack Power +1, Defense +1
As expected, its effects were excellent.
It raised both my Attack Power and Defense by one point!
‘I wish I could obtain ten more Achievements like this.’
Every single stat point was precious to me.
Whenever one of my stats increased, I could clearly feel the difference.
The same was true now.
SLASH! STAB!
I felt greater power when I swung and thrust my sword.
It was undoubtedly the result of my increased stats.
‘Good! I’ll grow stronger by wiping out every Goblin here!’
Renewed with energy, I continued killing Goblins.
***
A Rift and Mutated Goblins that had been strengthened to D-Rank.
Those sudden changes had filled the Dungeon with fear and despair.
Now, however, the situation was improving.
“Wow! He’s wiping out D-Rank Goblins!”
“That man is the Shabby Hunter!”
“What?! The Hunter whose video recently received a tremendous number of views on YouTube? I’ve seen it too! He cut down two or three Kiraks every time he swung his sword!”
“He hunted E-Rank Kiraks with ease, and now he’s doing the same to Goblins strengthened to D-Rank? Just how highly ranked is that Hunter……?”
The people who had been overcome by fear were now cheering.
They also began to find their courage.
“Seeing them go down to the Shabby Hunter in a single strike makes them seem less frightening…… Should I try fighting one?”
“Let’s go help the Shabby Hunter! We can’t let him continue fighting alone!”
“Maybe those Goblins aren’t as strong as we thought. Perhaps we were simply too frightened to fight properly!”
The people began swinging their weapons.
Instead of fleeing from the Goblins, they launched attacks of their own.
‘Now they finally look like Hunters.’
Once the other Hunters began supporting me, my battle became easier.
The number of Goblins persistently swarming around me decreased.
“SQUEAK! SKREE!”
“SKREEE!”
The Goblins died rapidly.
Hope appeared in the Hunters’ eyes.
Hope that they could survive.
Hope that they could gain Experience Points and grow stronger without dying.
However—
Their hope did not last long.
“SQUEAK-SQUEAK! SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK!”
It was an unpleasant sound, almost like mocking laughter.
The noise came from deeper inside the cave.
Any Hunter would have realized that its source was no ordinary Goblin.
‘Its Mana…… is immense.’
It was radiating an overwhelming presence through its powerful Mana.
“Ugh…… My body won’t move……!”
“My legs are going numb…… Damn it! Why won’t my body obey me?”
“What is happening all of a sudden……?!”
It was instinct.
They were experiencing fear in the presence of a stronger being.
The Hunters who had just mustered their courage and begun fighting well suddenly stopped moving, as though struck by Stun Magic.
The Hunters trembled in fear.
When the creature finally revealed itself—
“What…… is that?”
“Damn…… We’re completely screwed.”
“……We’re truly going to die this time.”
Its overwhelming presence plunged the Hunters back into despair.
- What is that?
Martial God Jin Cheon-woo asked.
I answered while staring at the Monster that had appeared.
“It’s a Big-Eared Goblin. It’s the Boss Monster of a Goblin Dungeon.”
The Big-Eared Goblin.
As its name suggested, it possessed enormous ears, as well as a body so massive that it was difficult to regard it as a Goblin.
It was a Boss Monster said to inhabit Dungeons with a low probability.
“It’s a Boss Monster……! We’re truly finished now……!”
“We can never defeat that thing……. Even the Shabby Hunter will have difficulty facing a Monster like that…….”
“Why did a Boss Monster have to appear here……?!”
“The greater problem is…… that it isn’t an ordinary Boss Monster. The Rift has strengthened it to D-Rank!”
“We have to run while we still can! Otherwise, we’re all going to die!”
The Hunters had given up on fighting.
Their reaction was understandable. If it truly was a D-Rank Boss Monster, the Hunters here had no chance of defeating it.
Some Hunters’ legs gave out from fear.
Others lost consciousness from the psychological shock.
Still others desperately attempted to flee on trembling legs.
There were all kinds of reactions.
However, I was not afraid.
- You appear remarkably calm.
“Yes. It isn’t particularly frightening.”
Martial God Jin Cheon-woo said nothing more.
However, I distinctly heard it.
A quiet chuckle filled with satisfaction.
‘I wonder how much stronger I’ll become after killing a Boss Monster.’
Filled with curiosity, I charged toward the D-Rank Boss Monster known as the Big-Eared Goblin.
At that moment, the people cried out in shock.
“Are you insane?! What are you doing? Come back!”
“Shabby Hunter! Even you can’t defeat that thing! You’re going to die!”
“Aaargh! No! Someone stop him!”
Their words sounded closer to screams.
I paid them little attention.
My entire focus was on the D-Rank Boss Monster before me—the Big-Eared Goblin.
TAP! TAP-TAP!
I approached using Limitless Footwork.
The moment the distance between us closed—
SWOOSH!
I swung my sword using the Limitless Sword Method.
SLAAASH!
I was about to follow it with a thrust.
‘Huh?’
There was no need.
THUD!
The Boss Monster was already dead.