Chapter 102 – Ran Away

“Ran away…”

What nonsense is this?

“Did, did he really run away?”

Though An Cho-hee asked in disbelief, Kim Ji-hoon couldn’t believe it either.

“I looked so far in that I wondered if it was too far, but saw no one.”

“Maybe he went further…”

“Logically, you wouldn’t go that far just to use the bathroom.”

“Then…”

There was only one possibility.

“He must have run away.”

They could only think he fled out of fear of the boss.

An Cho-hee wore an incredulous expression.

‘Even I who can’t move decided to fight…’

A hunter with perfectly good legs ran away using the bathroom as an excuse.

Of course, she understood the feeling.

Even from far away, the boss’s pressure made her hands and feet tremble.

If her legs were fine, she might have run too.

Nevertheless, she steeled herself and took up her staff.

Shouldn’t she avenge her fallen comrades?

“Do-jun, was it? Though his level was low, he seemed so calm I never thought he’d do this…”

“Me neither. Though I don’t know him well, I didn’t think he was someone who’d fear a boss…”

Kim Ji-hoon was also deeply shocked.

His expectations for Min Do-jun had been that high.

“Did I misjudge him… feels like I’ve been backstabbed.”

“…what do we do now?”

Kim Ji-hoon sighed instead of answering.

That’s what he wanted to ask.

* * *

Whether or not he knew the party members were disappointed in him, Min Do-jun was heading back the way they came.

Not for urgent business.

The bathroom was just an excuse to leave.

But unlike what his party members thought, he wasn’t running away out of fear of the boss.

He couldn’t possibly fear a boss he’d killed numerous times before regression.

‘I need to stack the Avatar of the Battlefield buff.’

He was doing this to receive the trait’s buff effect.

The Avatar of the Battlefield trait buff that increased all stats by up to 50%.

He knew from experience how big the difference was with and without this buff.

‘Without the buff, I can’t guarantee victory.’

Min Do-jun planned to overwhelm the boss with absolute power if possible.

That way he could claim most of the contribution and monopolize the rewards.

But in his current state, defeating the Black King Centipede would be difficult.

‘Of course, I could win if I used all my abilities.’

Ghost Wolf, Reflection, Berserk, Magic Control, and so on.

Using all his trump cards would make winning not difficult.

He already possessed power rivaling S-rank after all.

But that was only if he used all his abilities.

‘It’s better to hide my power if possible.’

There was no need to stand out by using 100% of his power.

This was why he entered the dungeon with Kim Ji-hoon despite knowing his intentions.

Because he planned to hide a certain amount of power.

‘I will show skill. But I won’t show everything.’

He planned not to use obviously visible abilities like Ghost Wolf, Reflection, and Magic Control.

Showing such power would spread rumors and eventually reach his revenge targets’ ears.

‘But effects like Avatar of the Battlefield and Berserk aren’t visible from outside.’

Meaning he could use them freely without concern.

‘Then I can overwhelm the boss without using other abilities.’

This was why Min Do-jun wanted to stack the Avatar of the Battlefield buff.

He could hunt the boss without the risk of revealing his abilities.

‘Just need to kill 50 giant centipedes.’

But not even an ant had been visible in the cave until now.

Though the Hope Guild members who entered earlier had killed them all, there was no need to worry.

‘I can go to the centipede nest.’

The secret cavern prepared at the fork.

That place with over 100 gathered would be more than enough to stack the buff.

‘Just need to kill 50 and return.’

It wouldn’t be a problem even if the boss moved elsewhere during this time.

‘I had Awo track the scent.’

Going back after seeing the boss was also to set the tracking skill.

After running for 10 minutes, he reached a fork.

He entered the sixth path with the secret cavern and opened the space in the wall.

Going through the passage revealed the spacious cavern without fail.

‘Crawling with them.’

Literally crawling – giant centipedes were gathered everywhere.

As expected, there was no need to worry about not seeing centipedes.

’50 is nothing.’

Min Do-jun drew his ghost sword and leaped into the centipede swarm.

* * *

“…”

“…”

Time passed in silence.

Kim Ji-hoon checked how many minutes had passed on the raid window.

“30 minutes have passed…”

“…”

Still, Min Do-jun hadn’t appeared.

Someone who went to the bathroom not appearing for 30 minutes?

Either ambushed by monsters or ran away – one of the two.

‘I checked the rankings wondering if he was attacked by that Grima we saw before but…’

Min Do-jun’s name was still clearly listed in the rankings.

Meaning he was still alive.

“Hah…”

It also meant he really had run away.

“Maybe we should give up on raiding the boss…”

“…”

Kim Ji-hoon kept pondering at An Cho-hee’s words.

It felt too wasteful to let go of the boss right in front of them.

‘Try the boss with just us two?’

Though the original goal was to reveal Min Do-jun’s abilities, that was over now.

There was no need to verify the skills of a hunter who ran away scared of the boss.

‘Hunter Min Do-jun isn’t suitable material for our Emperor Guild.’

No need for skill testing, but deciding whether to fight the boss or not was the problem.

‘Can we really kill it with an immobile supporter…’

But it felt wasteful to just waste time giving up on the boss.

Min Do-jun wasn’t the only one tempted by the fruit of a boss.

‘I can’t win alone.’

Though he had experience killing the boss before, that was with six people.

Even at over level 2,000, killing the boss alone was impossible.

‘If only Hunter Min Do-jun was here…’

A lower level DPS would be more helpful than a higher level supporter.

A supporter’s status effect magic was useless against enemies with strong immunity like the boss.

‘Better to quickly kill it coordinating with a DPS.’

But that was impossible without Min Do-jun.

‘If I knew this would happen, I should have brought other guild members…’

Though he told Min Do-jun everyone was busy, that was a lie to persuade him.

He could have brought other guild members if he wanted.

‘To think preventing others from entering to test Do-jun would lead to missing the boss… hah.’

Kim Ji-hoon sighed with regret.

“Let’s… give up on the boss raid.”

No matter how he thought about it, killing it with just two was impossible.

Especially with this kind of supporter.

While Kim Ji-hoon wore a regretful expression, An Cho-hee’s face brightened.

Though she’d resolved to avenge her comrades, she’d actually been scared to face it.

“Shall we head back then?”

“…”

Though she indirectly asked him to carry her, Kim Ji-hoon didn’t respond.

He just stared fixedly in the boss’s direction.

“Why are you…”

An Cho-hee turned to look and her eyes went wide like a startled rabbit.

Because the boss was staring right at them.

They must have been spotted.

“We need to run!”

Kim Ji-hoon quickly hoisted An Cho-hee onto his back.

“Kyaa!”

As they ran at full speed.

*Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap!*

The Black King Centipede crawled over at incredible speed.

The 100-meter gap closed instantly, making the distance meaningless.

“Damn!”

As it caught up right behind them, Kim Ji-hoon rolled sideways while holding An Cho-hee.

*Crash!*

“Kyaaah!”

When the King Centipede crashed into the wall, Kim Ji-hoon let her go.

“Stay here for a moment! I’ll try something!”

“What?!”

Kim Ji-hoon drew his one-handed sword, leaving An Cho-hee behind.

‘Can’t shake off the boss. No choice but to fight now.’

Though he could escape using the supporter as bait, Kim Ji-hoon wasn’t that kind of trash.

‘I’ll try killing it alone.’

He charged at the boss unleashing skills.

‘Sword Tempest!’

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

‘Critical Strike!’

*Clang!*

‘Desperate Strike!’

*Claaang!*

He landed all his skills with flashy movements.

All on the King Centipede’s head.

But even attacks from a level 2,043 didn’t leave so much as a scratch on the King Centipede’s head.

‘W-what’s going on? It got wounded easily when I killed it before?’

*Crash!*

The King Centipede’s head smashed where Kim Ji-hoon had been.

Having barely dodged, Kim Ji-hoon broke into a cold sweat.

It was only thanks to his agility exceeding 1,000 – otherwise it would have been dangerous.

Kim Ji-hoon aimed for the head again.

*Clang clang clang clang!*

Attacks that would have shredded normal centipedes had no effect at all.

‘It feels as hard as hitting iron.’

There wasn’t even a sensation of cutting.

*Crash!*

Having barely dodged the King Centipede’s head again, Kim Ji-hoon was going crazy with confusion as his attacks had no effect.

‘My strength isn’t even low, so why!?’

His strength already exceeded 1,600 with passive effects.

Though not a small number at all, his attacks didn’t even seem to tickle it.

*Crash!*

After dodging another attack and starting a counterattack, the head was still as hard as ever.

It was completely different from when he faced it before.

“Huff, huff…”

Not only were his attacks ineffective, but his stamina was dropping too.

‘Damn! Did I neglect health stat too much?’

Kim Ji-hoon’s health stat was around 700.

Low compared to his strength and agility exceeding 1,000.

‘If I knew this would happen, I should have reduced strength and invested in health…’

It would be revealed later that research showed skills quickly tire you if strength, agility and health aren’t balanced.

There was a reason Kim Ji-hoon tired so quickly after spamming skills.

‘Can I… win?’

If he’d at least wounded it, he might have had hope.

‘This is like hitting a rock with an egg…’

No answer.

He concluded victory was impossible.

‘Need to run at least.’

But if he ran away alone, the nearby supporter would be in danger.

‘First need to lure it away from Cho-hee then escape.’

*Crash!*

After dodging an attack, Kim Ji-hoon gradually moved in the opposite direction to lure the boss.

He maintained aggro with occasional counterattacks.

‘Just a bit more.’

If the boss followed like this, both An Cho-hee and he could survive.

Thinking this while dodging the boss’s attacks.

*Crash!*

“Kuhak!”

Unable to completely dodge the boss’s attack due to slowed movements, Kim Ji-hoon flew through the air and rolled on the ground.

‘Ugh… just getting grazed by the head did this much damage…’

He couldn’t put strength into his whole body.

The King Centipede aimed its poison stinger under its head at Kim Ji-hoon.

It planned to pierce and kill its prey.

‘…Is this the end.’

Just as Kim Ji-hoon was giving up on life.

*Boom!*

Flames hit the centipede’s head directly.

Looking to see where it came from, An Cho-hee was aiming her staff.

The enraged King Centipede turned its head and crawled straight toward An Cho-hee.

Her action to help Kim Ji-hoon had hastened her death instead.

“Cho-hee!”

An Cho-hee unleashed skills at the rapidly approaching boss.

[Skill failed.]
[Skill failed.]
[Skill failed.]

Status effect magic that worked well on normal centipedes all failed completely.

Still, she achieved her purpose.

She bought time for Kim Ji-hoon to escape.

‘Quickly escape while you can.’

An Cho-hee’s eyes said that.

“Cho-hee!”

An Cho-hee smiled gently at Kim Ji-hoon then closed her eyes like someone who had transcended.

She couldn’t bear to witness her own death.

‘This is enough.’

All her guild members died and she alone survived.

Though not her fault, somehow guilt remained in a corner of her heart.

Because it felt like she survived through their sacrifice.

And now this man Kim Ji-hoon was trying to sacrifice himself too.

To save her.

This reckless action was repayment for that.

‘…Please survive.’

She clenched her mouth shut.

She could feel death approaching.

*Crash!*

With a thunderous sound, her body flew high then fell.

“Huh…?”

Coming to her senses, someone was holding her.

It was that hunter who had run away.