Chapter 319 – Part 2 – Giant Wasp General

‘How did the boss get here?’

Choi Seong-min was flustered by the sudden appearance of the boss.

It was even more so because he had told Han Sae-bom that he had killed the boss.

‘Let’s think about the aftermath later. First, I need to deal with that thing.’

Putting excuses aside for later, he looked at Han Sae-bom.

“Go hide behind that tree over there. I’ll handle that thing.”

“A-are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Of course. What do you take me for?”

Han Sae-bom nodded and took refuge behind the tree as instructed.

Having just reached D-rank, she didn’t have the confidence to face a boss.

‘Good. This way I won’t have my contribution stolen.’

Choi Seong-min grinned, showing his teeth at being able to monopolize the boss entirely.

Although it was a D-rank boss so no useful equipment would drop, at least a rune should fall.

Kiiiirrrrr-!

When the Giant Wasp General spread its wings with a strange sound, Giant Wasps were summoned from both sides.

“Minion summoning?”

For Choi Seong-min, whose combat power was approaching B-rank, D-rank monsters weren’t even worth a post-meal exercise.

‘I’ll ignore the minions and target the boss directly.’

Dash-!

Choi Seong-min, who had been running straight ahead, threw his dagger first.

Thunk-!

Kiiieek!

The dagger embedded in the boss’s eye area.

It couldn’t be considered a fatal wound, but it was enough to provoke anger.

‘The strategy for taking this down is simple. First, provoke it with a preemptive attack, then…’

Kiiiiii!

The boss, seemingly angry, bent its abdomen forward and aimed its poison stinger.

‘Induce it to use its ultimate skill from the start.’

Soon, the Giant Wasp General’s poison stingers shot out in countless numbers.

Pop pop pop pop pop-!

“Gasp!”

The range was quite long, as stingers even embedded in the tree where Han Sae-bom was hiding.

‘I-is the supervisor okay?’

With this many poison stingers raining down, even a C-rank supervisor couldn’t have dodged them all.

When the sound stopped, Han Sae-bom peeked her face out from beside the tree to check the situation.

‘Huh?’

But contrary to her worries, Choi Seong-min was close to the boss yet hadn’t been hit by a single poison stinger.

That was because he had Shadow Step.

“Die.”

Choi Seong-min, who had climbed onto the boss’s head, stabbed the neck area with his Throat Slash skill.

For a creature with armor-like hard exoskeleton, the neck area was the only weak point.

Kiiiiiik!

‘A little more.’

Thunk-!

‘A little more.’

Thunk thunk-!

With the single-minded determination to sever its neck, he persistently dug in.

He thoroughly avoided the exoskeleton parts.

[Fierce Attack buff stack: 8/10]

[Fierce Attack buff stack: 9/10]

[Fierce Attack buff stack: 10/10]

[Attack speed increased by 200%.]

[Remaining time: 59 seconds]

The gradually increasing attack speed had reached 10 stacks at some point.

The neck that had been concentrated on by 10 attacks was half-severed and dangling, and when it was almost at the final stage.

Crack-

The boss, sensing danger, hardened its entire body as a defense mechanism.

‘Tch, I almost had it.’

In its current state of focusing entirely on defense, attacks would barely register, but he continued swinging his dagger.

Because he had something to rely on.

‘Now. Defense ignore!’

The moment his Combat Sense trait told him that defense ignore would trigger on the next attack.

‘Slash.’

Slice-!

Without delay, he severed the boss’s neck along with the skill.

[You have defeated the Giant Wasp General!]

[You have obtained a D-rank Magic Stone.]

[You have obtained a Sturdy Kite Shield.]

[You have obtained Concentrated Wasp Poison.]

[You have obtained a Nimbleness Rune.]

[Automatically spinning roulette according to party rules.]

[Acquirer is Choi Seong-min.]

When the boss died, the summoned Giant Wasps disappeared.

The boss’s corpse also soon turned to smoke and vanished.

‘As expected, a D-rank boss is nothing special.’

As soon as he saw the boss, his Combat Sense had told him.

That he could toy with a mere D-rank boss.

‘At my current level, I’d need at least a B-rank boss to be worth facing.’

The battle was more anticlimactic than expected, but the rewards were satisfying.

It wasn’t because of the Magic Stone or shield.

What caught Choi Seong-min’s attention was the collectible called wasp poison.

[Concentrated Wasp Poison]

-Category: Collectible

-Grade: B

-Trait: Bound Item

-Description: A precious item that can only be obtained from general-class among Giant Wasps. The concentrated toxicity is particularly lethal to humans.

‘To think I’d get rare poison that’s hard to obtain from meeting a boss.’

Concentrated Wasp Poison was even more precious than the Poison That Can Melt Anything he had made through combination.

‘Not only is it hard to obtain, but its effect is much better for assassination.’

He had been giving up on it because meeting bosses was difficult, but to think he’d obtain poison like this.

‘With this, learning poison skills is confirmed. I must use wasp poison to kill Song Chi-hyeon.’

Since it was poison with special effectiveness for assassination, there was no reason not to use it.

‘Besides, the poison isn’t the only useful thing.’

[You have obtained a Nimbleness Rune.]

[Reflexes permanently increased by 1%.]

[Rune Affinity trait activates.]

[Nimbleness Rune effect enhanced to 2%.]

The special rune left by the boss increased reflexes by percentage.

‘2% increase? Since my current reflexes exceed 1,000, that’s like gaining 20 points.’

If one rune increased reflexes by 20, it was an incredibly profitable deal.

Choi Seong-min, who had been brushing off the monster’s bodily fluids, returned to where Han Sae-bom was.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Huh? Oh… I-I’m fine.”

Looking at Han Sae-bom’s dazed expression, it seemed she hadn’t expected him to defeat the boss so easily.

Soon, Han Sae-bom came to her senses and suddenly bowed her head.

“Thank you, Supervisor.”

“For what?”

“For defeating the boss. If you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t be alive right now.”

‘If I hadn’t been here… you probably would have suffered terrible things.’

If a different corrupt supervisor had come instead of Choi Seong-min, they surely would have agreed to the deal.

Then she would have been violated by the supervisor and betrayed by the team members she trusted, being used as a bribe until death.

‘There’s no need to reveal such facts.’

He was going to do that, but a problem arose.

Han Sae-bom began to suspect him.

“Supervisor. I’m grateful that you defeated the boss, but… didn’t you clearly say earlier that you had killed the boss?”

“Mm… I did.”

“Then why did another boss appear?”

“It seems there wasn’t just one.”

Choi Seong-min gave a vague answer, but Han Sae-bom’s suspicion only deepened.

“Are you saying a boss appeared twice in one dungeon?”

“It seems so.”

“Supervisor, I’m not stupid.”

“……”

The probability of the same boss appearing twice in one dungeon approaches 0%.

Such an impossible probability.

It was natural for Han Sae-bom not to believe it.

“I may not have been a hunter for long, but I learned all the basic knowledge at the training camp.”

‘Training camp?’

Come to think of it, Han Sae-bom was as young as she looked.

Choi Seong-min quickly searched the rankings.

‘She’s only twenty years old?’

It seemed she had become a hunter only a few months ago.

Unlike hunters who awakened 10 years ago, she seemed to have recently awakened and reached D-rank.

‘Mentioning the training camp, she must have been drafted in the F-rank conscription order.’

If that was the case, the hunter before his eyes could be considered a prodigy if not a genius.

It meant she had grown from F-rank to D-rank in less than two months since the conscription order.

‘To grow to D-rank in just two months, her trait and skills must definitely be above average.’

While thinking such thoughts, Han Sae-bom still looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“From what I know, there’s only one boss per dungeon, and even that appears with low probability. Isn’t that right?”

“Just because two can’t appear doesn’t mean the possibility is completely zero.”

“But I heard there’s never been such a case. Are you certain there were two bosses? Am I really sure I was hit by the boss’s poison stinger and fainted?”

“……”

“I don’t know why you’re lying, but you can tell me. I can’t do anything about it with my strength anyway.”

“……”

Choi Seong-min, who had been quietly looking into Han Sae-bom’s eyes that wanted to know the truth, sighed.

“You.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit presumptuous?”

“Huh?”

Choi Seong-min’s expression turned cold.

“How dare you suspect me, a supervisor, and brand me a liar?”

“Huh? Oh…”

Only then did Han Sae-bom realize she had gone too far.

Swoosh-

“Do you want to die here?”

When he threatened by showing his blood-stained dagger, Han Sae-bom hurriedly bowed her head.

“S-sorry. I just wanted to know the truth…”

“I clearly told you the facts and even saved your life. Yet you don’t believe my words and even interrogate me?”

“I was wrong. Supervisor. I had no bad intentions. Please forgive me.”

Looking down at Han Sae-bom who kept bowing her head, Choi Seong-min smiled bitterly.

‘It’s forced, but I have to do this to avoid trouble later.’

Choi Seong-min, who had withdrawn his smile, spoke again in a stern voice.

“I’ll forgive you once.”

“Th-thank you.”

“But until we leave the dungeon, you get no share.”

“Huh? My share means…”

“I’ll catch all the monsters myself.”

“Oh… understood.”

Giant Wasps are wind-attribute monsters, so they give Agility runes.

‘I should gather more runes before leaving.’

Choi Seong-min, who had received a promise to monopolize all 200 Giant Wasps that were the conquest target, stepped forward.

“Follow carefully. I won’t take responsibility if you get hurt.”

“Understood, Supervisor.”

Han Sae-bom followed with a tense face, unlike before.

‘I could have told her the truth, but…’

Choi Seong-min didn’t do that.

‘If I had, I would have had to kill this woman…’

If he had confessed that he killed the team members who were trying to use her for prostitution?

Would Han Sae-bom have been happy?

Or would she have looked at him fearfully, calling him a murderer?

‘Either way, it wouldn’t have produced good results.’

Even if she said she was grateful on the surface, people are unpredictable and could turn at any time.

‘Rather than tell the truth and have my ankle grabbed later, I’d have no choice but to kill her.’

Choi Seong-min knew from experience that not telling the truth was actually protecting her.