Chapter 65: Bounce

Chapter 65

Inside the main castle, in the waiting room for the Seekers.

[Attention all participants assigned the role of Seeker. The game will start in one minute. Please check your equipment one last time….]

The announcement came from the speakers mounted on the ceiling.

Hearing this, Lee Deokgu, who was standing near the front door, spoke even faster.

“Alright, let’s do a final equipment check! Be careful, the Thieves might attack as soon as the door opens! Got it?”

He urged his team in a loud voice. At that moment, the large electronic clock in the center of the waiting room counted down to zero.

**Beeeep~!**

With a loud siren, the waiting room door slowly opened, revealing the outside world to the Seekers.

“…I don’t sense any mana around.”

Lee Deokgu said, scanning the surroundings with a focused expression. He had just used his radar skill.

“Advance cautiously and keep an eye out for traps!”

With that, Lee Deokgu and about 60 Seekers disappeared outside the waiting room. The remaining 180 Seekers watched anxiously, worried they might miss their chance to catch the Thieves.

“Don’t worry about it!!”

At that moment, Yang Junggeun shouted loudly. The heads of the remaining participants turned towards him. Yang Junggeun continued confidently.

“This actually works in our favor! Let them be the vanguard and get themselves killed.”

“……!”

“If they charge in without any information, only about half of them will survive if they’re lucky! Do you think I’ve only tackled top-tier dungeons once or twice?”

Yang Junggeun spoke with unwavering conviction.

“Want to bet on it? I bet more than half of them won’t make it back! Anyone want to bet they’ll return?”

“……”

“Hey, Wang Mandu! Want to bet? Loser plucks an eyeball. How about it?”

“No, thanks… And my name is Han Minsu…”

The chubby young man, Han Minsu, answered awkwardly, but Yang Junggeun ignored him and shouted again.

“There’s no rush! Take it slow! 24 hours is longer than you think! Even if you catch one every two hours, you’ll still have four hours left. Moving strategically is enough!”

“……”

“As I said earlier, we’ll move systematically according to my instructions. Got it? Before that, everyone, raise your smartphones again!”

Yang Junggeun shouted, raising his own left hand with a smartphone. It was one of the items provided by the production team for the Seekers to communicate during the second preliminary round.

“Everyone has a smartphone and an earpiece, right? Remember to use the earpiece when making calls outside!”

“……”

“If I catch anyone making calls with the phone to their ear, I’ll burst their eardrum!”

While Yang Junggeun continued shouting instructions, one participant in the corner slowly walked towards the waiting room entrance. Yang Junggeun noticed this.

“Lastly, make sure the ‘Hunter Code’ app is working properly… Hey! Where are you going without listening to me? Hey!”

Despite Yang Junggeun’s raised voice, the participant left the waiting room without responding. A blue vein bulged on Yang Junggeun’s forehead.

“That disrespectful brat… Who is he?”

“That’s Seol Daun.”

Han Minsu, standing nearby, answered. Yang Junggeun flinched slightly. Seol Daun was one of the few participants who had made a name for themselves in the first preliminary round, and Yang Junggeun knew who he was.

“Seol Daun?”

“Yes.”

“…Tsk.”

Yang Junggeun clicked his tongue in frustration. Seol Daun was a hunter of such caliber that even Yang Junggeun found it difficult to give him orders. Knowing this, Yang Junggeun turned back to his team and shouted.

“Can everyone hear me? Put your earpieces in!”

While Yang Junggeun continued shouting inside the waiting room,

“Yawn~.”

Seol Daun, who had stepped outside, yawned widely with a tired face.

“I’m so sleepy after staying up all night chatting on the plane…”

Seol Daun walked towards the annex, which had been used as the Thieves’ waiting room an hour ago.

“Let the ‘weaklings’ struggle together. I need more sleep. Yawn…!”

Stretching his arms, he disappeared into the annex waiting room.

* * *

Contrary to Yang Junggeun, Lee Deokgu’s team, which had moved outside the main castle, was facing difficulties in their plan to move quickly and search. There were too many obstacles to move fast.

“Ugh! What’s this?”

“Get it off!”

“I thought it was a swamp, but it’s a monster?”

**Caw!**

“A man-eating bird is attacking from that side!”

“Use a shield skill… Aah!”

Due to the numerous monsters everywhere, they were moving even slower than their usual walking speed.

“Kill every monster you see! That will make it easier for me to detect the Thieves with my radar!”

As the central figure and key scout of the team, Lee Deokgu’s instructions left them no choice but to fight the monsters. With over 60 members, their firepower wasn’t lacking. With everyone using their skills once, they could clear all the monsters in the vicinity.

“Nice! Let’s keep moving…?”

At that moment, Lee Deokgu heard a faint singing sound. He frowned and saw a hunter with a bow, shaking his head to the music.

“Hey.”

Lee Deokgu, annoyed, reached out to the team member listening to music. He forcibly pulled out the earpiece, making the music louder. The hunter had been using a smartphone app to listen to music.

“What are you doing?”

The hunter, chewing gum, spoke roughly to Lee Deokgu, who had interrupted him. The hunter had a scarred face and a rough demeanor. Lee Deokgu, displeased, questioned him.

“How can you follow my instructions if you’re listening to music?”

“I heard you. You said to keep moving, right?”

“…Take one earpiece out.”

“No way. I focus better with music.”

As the scarred hunter put the earpiece back in, Lee Deokgu finally lost his temper.

“Hey, listen! We’re in a life-and-death party hunt, and you can’t even follow basic etiquette…!”

Lee Deokgu stopped mid-yell, turning his head sharply. His radar had detected a massive presence approaching their location.

“Someone’s approaching from the north!!”

At Lee Deokgu’s loud warning, everyone turned to look in the direction he pointed. Soon, they all saw it.

A massive green slime ball was flying towards them at incredible speed from the northern sky. It reached them in less than a second from when they first saw it.

“Eek!”

“Scatter!”

“Use a shield skill!”

Everyone was horrified at the sight of the monstrous creature they had never seen before and instinctively scattered. One of them quickly used a shield skill, but it was futile. With a crashing sound, the shield shattered like glass against the monster.

The massive green slime ball then flew directly at the scarred man who had been humming with his earpiece in. He had just finished dealing with another monster and turned to see the slime ball.

His eyes widened.

“…What?”

**Thud!**

The scarred man didn’t even have time to utter another word before he was crushed by the slime ball. Even after the slime ball bounced away, he remained flattened, unable to get up. His once rough face was now unrecognizable, having been crushed to death.

“It’s coming again!”

“Ahhh!”

**Thud!**

The bouncing slime ball hit another Seeker.

**Sizzle…!**

“Aaaagh!!”

Though he managed to move, the part of his body that was grazed by the slime ball began to melt horribly, causing the group to panic even more.

(TLN: wait i think its our mc XD)

“It’s poisonous!”

“It’s a poison monster, what the hell?!”

“Someone stop that thing from bouncing around!”

**Thud!**

“Ugh!”

The rapidly bouncing slime ball caused chaos among Lee Deokgu’s team.

“Just stop it from moving!”

Lee Deokgu shouted, but no one dared to use their skills on the slime ball. Meanwhile, the slime ball melted another hunter and bounced towards another Seeker.

“Damn it…!”

Seeing the slime ball coming his way, the Seeker gave up dodging and extended his hands. White thread-like material shot out, forming a web from his hands. The web ensnared the slime ball, finally creating the situation Lee Deokgu had been hoping for.

“It’s slowed down!”

“Is that a web skill?”

“Why didn’t he use that earlier?!”

As the visibly slowed slime ball struggled, the Seekers shouted.

“Wait, what?”

A voice came from inside the web-covered slime ball, but the Seekers, too distracted, didn’t notice.

“Now! Kill it!!”

At Lee Deokgu’s command, the Seekers unleashed their skills on the slime ball. The combined firepower of dozens of hunters was immense. Soon, the slime ball was split into four pieces. The Quagmire’s body had been shattered.

But it wasn’t the Quagmire that had been shattered. For the Seekers, a more dangerous entity had been divided into four.

‘This is actually better.’

Kim Jinsung, who had transformed into a Quagmire, smirked inwardly. The divided pieces were about to regenerate.

—

▶ You have transformed into ‘Quagmire.’

▷ Stat Changes: Defense decreased by 30%. All other stats increased by 20%.

※ If the severed body parts regenerate, Quagmire summons with half the user’s stats will be created. The Quagmire summons will follow the user’s commands.

—

Kim Jinsung reviewed the notification he had received when he transformed into a Quagmire. It meant that three summons with half his stats would be created. The Seekers, who had divided his body, began to panic.

“…What the…?”

“It’s regenerating?!”

“There are four of them now!”

“This is insane…!”

With their incredible regenerative abilities, the four Quagmires, now multiplied, charged at the horrified Seekers.

**Whack! Whack! Whack!**

**Sizzle…!**

“Aaagh~!”

“Damn it, what do we do now?!”

“Don’t use your skills recklessly! You’ll just create more of them!”

“Who split it in the first place?!”

With each attack causing the Quagmires to multiply, Lee Deokgu’s team fell into a state of panic.

‘Yes, keep causing chaos!’

Kim Jinsung commanded all his Quagmire summons to continue their assault. He then body-slammed another nearby Seeker.

**Thud!**

“Ugh…!”

After crushing another Seeker to death and bouncing away, Kim Jinsung realized something.

‘This is actually pretty fun.’

Bouncing around like a rubber ball, Kim Jinsung started to feel a sense of relief and stress release.

* * *

At that moment, someone was watching Kim Jinsung and his summons wreak havoc on Lee Deokgu’s team from a distance.

It was Thief 9, Pung Bitgaram.

“This is unbelievable…!”

He muttered the same four words repeatedly with wide eyes.

‘I knew he was an Absorption Ability User, but to think he could replicate all of Quagmire’s abilities…!’

Kim Jinsung was already absurdly strong, but with Quagmire’s regenerative abilities, it seemed impossible to defeat him.

‘He’s too strong. There’s no way to win. If I face him as an enemy in the third preliminary round, I’ll definitely die…!’

Pung Bitgaram watched the battlefield with eyes filled with fear and desperation.

‘I can’t die like this. If I want to survive, I need to do something now.’

His eyes, now filled with a burning desire to survive, began to calculate his next move rapidly.