Chapter 66: Once the Greatest Talent
by fnovelpia
Chapter 66
– Thief 1!
While Kim Jinsung was busy playing a bouncing game with the now ten Quagmire summons, a familiar voice came through his earpiece. It was Thief 8, who was scouting nearby.
– Seekers are coming from the main castle! There are a lot of them!
At Thief 8’s words, Kim Jinsung jumped as high as he could and looked towards the main castle. It was true.
Over 80 Seekers were rapidly heading in his direction. Even from a distance, the face of the one leading the charge was familiar.
‘Yang Junggeun…’
Kim Jinsung’s brow furrowed. Seeing Yang Junggeun personally leading the charge was highly suspicious.
‘That cunning snake wouldn’t come here without a plan.’
Yang Junggeun was a very experienced hunter, having been a clan master. The number of Seekers was threatening, but the fact that Yang Junggeun was among them was even more concerning. Kim Jinsung made a decision and moved.
‘I’ll retreat for now and use the summons to observe their tactics.’
Quagmires were very tricky monsters to deal with. Kim Jinsung planned to use the Mana Hawk to watch how Yang Junggeun handled the Quagmires and then decide his next move.
‘But before I go, let’s grab a skill.’
Kim Jinsung quickly scanned the notification windows for useful skills.
‘Nothing particularly useful… I’ll take the web skill.’
To absorb the web skill used by one of the hunters, Kim Jinsung discarded the Toxic Swamp skill he had obtained from a monster. Then he leaped to escape.
“Eek…!”
One of the Seekers in his path gasped and took a sharp breath. Despite his quick reaction to dodge, he failed.
“Huh, huh…?”
The Seeker began to stumble, his vision spinning as he lost his balance. The confusion skill had hit its mark. Without hesitation, Kim Jinsung transformed into the Dark Hound and issued orders through his earpiece.
“Everyone scatter and retreat! Don’t forget to use your skills.”
He then grabbed the confused Seeker by the neck and started running at full speed. Nearby Thieves used their unique skills and scattered in all directions, which Kim Jinsung could see in his peripheral vision.
Despite Kim Jinsung’s blatant escape, none of the Seekers paid him any attention. They were too occupied dealing with the ten Quagmire summons. In fact, they were relieved that Kim Jinsung had disappeared.
No one worried about the hunter Kim Jinsung had taken.
**Sizzle…**
“Aaagh~!”
Another Seeker screamed, clutching his melting shin, a victim of one of the Quagmire summons.
“Move aside!!”
Yang Junggeun, who had approached unnoticed, shouted loudly. The Seekers naturally stepped back at his command. Yang Junggeun shouted again.
“Come at me!!”
The Seekers around Yang Junggeun clutched their ears and winced. His voice was so loud it felt like their eardrums would burst. It was a symptom of Yang Junggeun’s unique skill, ‘Provocation,’ working effectively.
Simultaneously, the Quagmire summons, which had been rampaging, suddenly turned their attention to Yang Junggeun and lunged at him. Despite the threatening sight, Yang Junggeun didn’t retreat; he stepped forward.
“Hyaaah!!”
With a shout, he slammed his mana-infused palm onto the ground. Instantly, a strange pattern of a magic circle began to spread over a wide area. As soon as the magic circle was completed,
‘…Huh?’
‘They’ve slowed down!’
The visibly slowed Quagmire summons made the surrounding Seekers widen their eyes. But the most surprising sight was yet to come.
**Whack!**
With a single punch, Yang Junggeun shattered the arm of a Quagmire summon. The scene made the struggles of the other hunters seem insignificant.
“Hah! You’re nothing, walking slime!”
Yang Junggeun shouted confidently as he continued to evade all attacks and punch the Quagmires into pieces. He looked like a superhuman.
The Seekers watching were in shock, especially Lee Deokgu, their leader, who felt the impact the most.
‘We had to concentrate all our firepower just to cut a few, but he does it so easily…?’
So far, Lee Deokgu’s team had only managed to cut the Quagmire summons in half at best. But Yang Junggeun was handling all ten of them effortlessly by himself.
‘Is he really a B-rank hunter?’
Lee Deokgu couldn’t believe it. As a C+ rank hunter on the verge of reaching B-rank, he knew very well what kind of combat power a B-rank hunter should have. From his perspective, Yang Junggeun’s prowess far exceeded that of a typical B-rank hunter, reaching well beyond that level.
* * *
The viewers were just as shocked as Lee Deokgu.
– Wow
– He’s incredibly strong!
– As expected of the former Dream Gold Master
– I told you Yang Junggeun was strong!
– Is he really B-rank? Doesn’t seem like it…
The caster also spoke in a surprised voice.
[Yang Junggeun is handling ten Quagmires by himself! This is even more impressive considering Kim Jinsung had to deal with them one by one!]
But the commentator, who seemed to have expected this, responded calmly.
[That’s the subspace magic circle. It’s one of the skills that made Yang Junggeun famous.]
[Ah! So that’s the subspace magic circle?]
The commentator nodded.
[One of Yang Junggeun’s unique skills. When used, enemies within the magic circle have all their stats significantly reduced, while Yang Junggeun’s stats are greatly enhanced.]
[Ah! That’s why he can perform such incredible feats!]
[Exactly.]
[Wow… But with such an overpowered skill, why is he only B-rank? He seems capable of A-rank or higher.]
[He’s very vulnerable to ranged attacks.]
The commentator answered without hesitation.
[In higher-level dungeons, monsters often have both close-range and long-range skills. With a skill that only excels in close combat, like the subspace magic circle, it’s very challenging to tackle top-tier dungeons.]
[Ah, I see…!]
Meanwhile, watching the commentators’ conversation on the monitor, Jang Seungwook turned to Baek Jun and asked,
“There was a time when Yang Junggeun was considered one of Korea’s greatest talents, right?”
Baek Jun nodded lightly.
“If he hadn’t indulged in hedonism and had put in a bit more effort, he could have easily reached A-rank or higher.”
“Ah~.”
Jang Seungwook pictured Yang Junggeun and then turned his gaze back to the monitor with an understanding expression.
Being a hunter was a profession where maintaining diligence was difficult. The money earned from conquering a single dungeon was so substantial that it often led to complacency.
In reality, very few among those considered highly talented managed to avoid hedonism and continue their efforts consistently. And even fewer advanced their skills to become stronger hunters, a rarity even on a global scale.
Those few were the ones who dominated the world as representative hunters and ultimately earned the right to enter the New Continent.
* * *
**Whack!**
Yang Junggeun shattered another Quagmire summon and shook his right hand lightly as he looked around.
“What? Is it over already? Boring!”
He shouted for everyone to hear, standing amidst the shattered pieces of the Quagmire summons. The pieces were slowly moving to merge again. Some had already started regenerated.
Seeing this, Yang Junggeun turned around.
“What are you waiting for? Freeze them already!”
“We’re ready.”
A cold-faced, thin man answered in a low voice, extending his mana-infused hands.
**Whirr~!**
An ice vortex formed near Yang Junggeun. It grew larger until it nearly covered the magic circle, sweeping up the pieces of the Quagmire summons. The rapidly freezing pieces soon became completely frozen, halting their regeneration.
“Wang Mandu! Your turn!”
Yang Junggeun stepped back and directed the chubby Han Minsu.
Han Minsu sighed deeply,
“Huuuuup!”
He began to inhale with all his might, sucking in the frozen pieces of the Quagmire summons. The pressure was so intense that even the nearby Seekers were pulled a few steps towards Han Minsu.
After inhaling all the pieces, Han Minsu closed his mouth.
“Ugh…!”
Han Minsu burped, rubbing his stomach, his face looking more lively. Yang Junggeun patted his back.
“Good job, Wang Mandu!”
“My name is Han Minsu…”
“Wang Mandu suits you! You should change your name, even your surname.”
“……”
Ignoring Han Minsu’s sour expression, Yang Junggeun turned and walked forward, his expression hardening. He stopped in front of Lee Deokgu.
“Serves you right, huh? Didn’t I warn you? You’d regret not following my orders?”
“……”
“If you had been more cautious, this wouldn’t have happened. These people died because of you!”
Despite the public humiliation, Lee Deokgu couldn’t respond. The fact that more than half of his team had died was undeniable.
“From now on, don’t try to give any orders! If you have any decency, shut up and follow my lead!”
“……”
“Alright, everyone, let’s head back! I need to brief you on the strategy again!”
Yang Junggeun turned and walked away, and the remaining Seekers followed him. Lee Deokgu was among them.
“……”
Lee Deokgu walked with his head hung low, his steps much heavier than before.
* * *
At that moment, Kim Jinsung had reached the edge of the island and was taking a break, sitting on a flat rock.
“Staying would have been dangerous.”
Through the Mana Hawk, Kim Jinsung had watched how Yang Junggeun and his team dealt with the summons.
‘The two beside Yang Junggeun, I’ve never seen them before. They must be supplementary participants.’
A powerful ice vortex user and someone who could consume all the Quagmire pieces. Kim Jinsung would have noticed such abilities if they had been in the first preliminary round videos. But he hadn’t seen them in a month of watching YouTube videos.
They likely joined as supplementary participants for the second preliminary round with Yang Junggeun.
‘Facing over 100 enemies with such abilities…’
Kim Jinsung shook his head. Even with his vast array of skills, facing them all would be suicidal.
‘And Seol Daun is still out there.’
Thinking this, Kim Jinsung changed his mana to fire and lit a flame on his finger. He moved it to the side,
“Ouch, ouch, ouch!!”
A Seeker, bound in webs, writhed in pain. Kim Jinsung glared at him.
“Hurry up, or do you want to know what a modern-day burning at the stake feels like?”
“I-It’s done! Check it!”
The Seeker, panicking, handed over his smartphone, which he had been fiddling with. Kim Jinsung plugged the earpiece into his remaining ear.
“I’ve unlocked all the passwords and reconnected to the Hunter Code app. Now you can hear all the Seekers’ communications!”
As the Seeker finished explaining,
– This is Watchman. Watchman. We’ve located almost all the Thieves.
A voice came through the earpiece connected to the smartphone.
– Who haven’t you found?
Yang Junggeun’s voice followed, and the one identifying as Watchman replied.
[We’ve found all but two. Kim Jinsung and another seem to have fled northwest.]
“……!”
Kim Jinsung’s eyes widened slightly. He was indeed in the northwest.
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