EPISODE 131

The fourteenth Octolisk stretched out its tentacles. However, it was not easy to hit Yoo-seong, and not because he was too far away.

Tooung-!

It was because there were obstacles in the way, none other than the same Octolisks that had fallen earlier.

Yoo-seong’s choice of stage for the fight was one of the main factors that had made this strange occurrence possible. If the fight had happened somewhere else, Yoo-seong would have been attacked from a higher position.

For example, if they’d battled on the road, Yoo-seong might have been attacked from a higher angle, such as the outer wall of a building or a telephone pole. However, this was a rooftop, and the space to step on was limited.

The Octolisks also lacked the ability to fly.

Now the piled-up remains of the monsters were starting to become a hindrance. Not all of the fallen Octolisks were dead, though.

Even though some had suffered a great deal of damage, others of the fallen Octolisks were still breathing.

Not only did their large bodies take up much of the limited space, but they were also convulsing and wriggling violently.

Tooung-!

An angry Octolisk struck the body of one of its fallen comrades, pushing it away.

Adult Octolisks were usually categorized as a five-star risk rating, but this one was unusually large, perhaps enough to receive another star. Its tentacles launched forward.

However, Yoo-seong had already leaped backward, landing on top of another struggling Octolisk that had previously fallen.

It could have been the perfect moment for Yoo-seong to use his Spider Walk. However, he didn’t.

Instead, he balanced himself by directing Aura into his legs, waist, and ankles. Considering Yoo-seong’s abilities, this was a very inefficient and dangerous approach.

However, it was fairly common practice for hunters who had not yet mastered any other methods like the Spider Walk.

Of course, Auto-Hunt did its share of helping Yoo-seong maintain the best balance. However, due to physical limitations, not even Auto-Hunt could keep up with his free movements.

Right then, Yoo-seong looked like a clown trying to balance himself on a ball, just sitting still and lowering his posture.

With Yoo-seong in such a position, the six-star Octolisk was setting another attack in motion. This time, rather than using its tentacles, the Octolisk was plunging forward with its whole body.

Right before the attacking Octolisk reached him, Yoo-seong straightened his posture. Facing the rushing Octolisk, he skipped upward at an angle.

This paper-thin difference proved to be very unfortunate for the attacking Octolisk. On the other hand, it created the perfect distance for Yoo-seong.

Shwak-!

The attacking Octolisk’s head was split right down the middle with a rough cutting sound.

Yoo-seong had ended the Octolisk in one blow.

It could have been the best move to end all the chaos. Unfortunately, the hunt was still far from over.

Puck-!

The fifteenth Octolisk showed itself by hitting Yoo-seong in midair with one of its tentacles. It was a tremendous shock.

Despite defending his body with Aura, parts of his Honeycomb Techsuit were still blown away while his ribs rang in pain. However, Yoo-seong’s reaction bewildered the monster.

Guwook-!

Unlike other prey when they were hit by its tentacles, Yoo-seong was not thrown away by the impact. He also did not bleed, nor was deeply wounded by the blades attached to the Octolisk’s tentacles.

Instead, right at the moment of impact, Yoo-seong had turned his body to avoid the blades. At the same time, he’d used his arms and legs to tightly hold on to the monster’s tentacles to prevent himself from being hurled away.

The Octolisk tried to shake Yoo-seong off by aggressively swinging its tentacle. As a result, Yoo-seong’s body was almost thrown to the floor.

Thump-!

Yet Yoo-seong was able to maneuver his way around the Octolisk’s tentacles successfully.

Crunch-!

Crunch-!

Yoo-seong’s hand was moving incessantly. While embracing the tentacles with both of his arms, he was using the uninjured one to incapacitate the Octolisk.

It appeared to be working, but it proved to be a very slow task.

“Huh…”

Yoo-seong pressed his lips together and held back his groans.

There was no need to do this.

Auto-Hunt was certainly moving as he intended, but he could end it quicker if he wanted to.

He didn’t even have to wrap his arms around the monster’s tentacle.

He could just wear the Queen’s Hug.

He could just use his Spider Walk.

He could just use his best blade, not the one he had right now.

Most of all, using Auto-Hunt with his current skills would result in another acrobatic physical display of his ability. By now, rather than wrestling with a tentacle, he could have already slaughtered all the remaining Octolisks. However… ‘No. I can’t,’ Yoo-seong said to himself. ‘Everything I’ve done up to this point would mean nothing.’

Yoo-seong had come into this battle with a plan.

Needless to say, he was a public figure, a strong, impressive, and distant figure. To put it a little differently, he had reached a height that might seem immeasurable for an average hunter.

Not that this was a problem.

Come to think of it, technically, there was nothing bad about any of this situation.

Before Yoo-seong, Lee Jae-hak had been the only figure like that, and so far, Yoo-seong had been praised by everyone alongside him.

However, that wasn’t what Yoo-seong wanted.

‘I do not need simple envy or admiration.’

Yoo-seong had known about those very well, even before he’d dreamt of being a hunter. He’d seen himself as someone ordinary, someone who did not bother aspiring above his abilities.

‘What if I had managed to become a hunter without Auto-Hunt?’

Of course, even without Auto-Hunt, Yoo-seong would have done his best to walk his chosen path. However, if his old self had seen Lee Jae-hak, would he have made an effort?

Would his old self have thought, ‘I want to be someone like that’?

Would it have even been possible for him to develop and improve himself by saying that he wanted to become a hunter beyond that?

He knew it wouldn’t have been possible.

It was not just because Yoo-seong was realistic. He was almost certain that the same would be true of any other hunter.

When Yoo-seong had first revealed himself to the industry, he had been a great motivator to inspire young hunters. However, now…

Now that he had built a lot more skills, achievements, and fame than them, no one was being “inspired” by Yoo-seong.

Because Yoo-seong was already the ‘Yoo-seong’, he was already someone deemed to be above everyone else.

Oh Yoo-seong’s skills were excellent.

Oh Yoo-seong’s equipment was excellent.

Oh Yoo-seong had a formidable Aura.

It somehow sent out a different message than he’d previously intended.

No matter how hard they struggled, new and future hunters would think they couldn’t become someone like Oh Yoo-seong.

He hadn’t wanted it to turn out that way.

Whoo-!

With more than half of it cut off, the Octolisk’s swinging tentacle had failed to overpower Yoo-seong. All it had done was recoil and then fall off on its own.

Instinctively, the monster retracted its tentacle closer to its body. However, unlike the other half that had fallen apart…

Cheek-!

Yoo-seong was still clinging to its tentacle, like a leech.

Paang-!

Yoo-seong fired the Gellar gun from very close range, hitting the monster’s eyes without erring. At this, the monster shuddered.

Yoo-seong rolled down to the floor, falling awkwardly. However, making efficient use of his body, he immediately rose up and rushed toward the other Octolisks.

Poop-!

Yoo-seong allowed some of the attacks to hit him. His Aura was able to offset the damage, but Yoo-seong’s CE did not come without a limit.

His suit was broken.

Yoo-seong’s body trembled, with wounds and blood all over.

However, right to the end, Yoo-seong did not lose sight of his purpose. At the seventeenth Octolisk, the knife he was wielding broke.

He was left with only half of its blade.

By the twentieth Octolisk, both his helmet and his nose were broken.

He wasn’t able to avoid the tentacle that flew directly toward his face. Yet, even at the onset of intense pain, Yoo-seong did not close his eyes.

At the twenty-third Octolisk, his Honeycomb Techsuit crumbled from the intense overuse. The attack, which knocked out his suit, also broke his lower leg.

Gou-!

Yoo-seong raised his Gellar Gun at the last of the Octolisks.

However, the Gellar Gun had also reached its limit, its firepower exhausted. The Octolisk’s tentacles hit Yoo-seong right in his lower abdomen.

Yoo-seong bounced off.

“Oh my God!”

“Oh, damn it…”

At that moment, almost everyone who was watching the video groaned.

In their heads, Yoo-seong’s vision of slaughtering the monsters had long disappeared. For everyone watching, this was no longer a sight to behold. Despite the handicap he’d had when he faced the twentieth Octolisk, the audience had erupted into cheers whenever he was able to successfully take down another one of the monsters.

However, those cheers had now turned into groaning.

“He’s not moving…”

“No matter how good Oh Yoo-seong is, he was still hit in the stomach… his armor is still broken.”

“Isn’t it really dangerous for him to pass out now? Wake up!”

Yoo-seong did not move.

He lay upon the corpse of another Octolisk.

He wasn’t moving at all, and it seemed that even his breathing had stopped.

Guwook-!

Guk-!

As if it was delighted to be the last one standing, the remaining Octolisk approached with a creepy cry.

Thud-!

The beast grabbed Yoo-seong, turned him upside down, and smashed his head against the concrete floor.

Then, after confirming that Yoo-seong was not moving, the Octolisk prepared to feast on its prey.

Like an octopus, its mouth was right under its tentacles.

The entwined tentacles started to drag Yoo-seong, bringing him closer to the monster’s serrated mouth.

Had it been a little more intelligent, it might have realized that something was off. The concrete floor was broken, but no blood was coming from Yoo-seong’s head.

Even if it had hit the head, which was a vital spot, Aura could easily reduce the impact of the blow.

However, for the Octolisk, it was already too late.

Jee-ik-!

Yoo-seong’s right arm was removing the blade attached to his left arm. Pretending to be dead was certainly effective, even though it felt awkward.

In return, the Octolisk’s weak spot, which was inside its mouth, was exposed within Yoo-seong’s reach.

None of the six drones were able to shoot it properly, but everyone heard it clearly. It was as if a soft sandbag was being ripped to the point of destruction.

Thump-!

The Octolisk’s tentacles collapsed, burying Yoo-seong underneath them.

No one knew how much time passed.

Everyone was holding their breath.

No one knew what they were waiting for.

Then a blue light broke the long silence.

Right in the torso of the slain Octolisk…

Boowook-

Very slowly, the dark blue color of Aura was clearly cutting through the monster’s flesh, revealing a blade. When the cut grew large enough, a human-sized figure popped out of it.

It was Yoo-seong. He was covered in Octolisk blood.

“Kuh!” Yoo-seong coughed as he struggled for air.

“Koouk! Kup!”

Whether it was due to the shortness of breath caused by using a knife without pulling the blade until the last minute or the intense stench of the Octolisk blood, Yoo-seong felt sick to his stomach.

Over and over, Yoo-seong vomited violently.

It was a gross sight, Yoo-seong puking his guts out while covered in Octolisk blood. Yet, no one felt nauseous or even attempted to mock the scene they were witnessing.

How could they?

No matter how skilled they were, it was a feat that they could not have accomplished.

Octolisk corpses were piled up on the roof.

On the evidence of his victory, Yoo-seong stood upright.

He shook the hot liquid from his face and swept back his hair, showing his face clearly. It was the face of a hunter proclaiming pride and confidence.

He’d had his nose broken. His eyes’ sclera had turned red. Blood flowed down the side of his face. However, there were no longer any signs of nausea, groaning, or pain. His expression was back to normal, calm and indifferent.

Yoo-seong looked up at the drone above him and stared down its lens.

***

“Oh…”

Han Jae-gyu, who was watching, was both fascinated and thrilled.

Only when his body ceased trembling did Han Jae-gyu even begin to understand.

When he’d mentioned his grandfather and Hankwang’s name, this was what Yoo-seong had been trying to say.

Yoo-seong had not ignored Han Jae-gyu.

‘To me, that name will not get you any special preference.’