Chapter 10: Boss Battle (3)

While swearing roughly, he approached them with a trashy demeanor.

Suddenly, a silence enveloped the group.

Juyoung was one of the three strongest people in the group and because of his particular attitude, many were afraid of him.

Juyoung approached Taehwan by passing by other people and spoke while grinding his teeth.

“4 people died today, assholes! All because you guys just had to go out on your ‘wonderful’ exploration!”

Once a day.

Monsters raided the temple.

However, including Muyoung, 6 people had left the temple.

The remaining group had to try and fight off the monsters with their insufficient strength and 4 people ended up being sacrificed.

Excluding the first day, it was the highest number of casualties.

Not having Muyoung and Taehwan there must have made a big impact.

Especially Muyoung, as he was able to annihilate almost half of the monsters by himself, his absence must have left a huge impact.

However, losing just four people meant that they fought well.

A moment later, Juyoung raised his left hand.

The middle finger was abnormally short.

“Just the number of deaths is four, but there are many more who were injured. I even lost a finger. If it wasn’t for me, half of the people would have died already! But, you guys decided to go out for a treasure hunt? That shield is looks great, huh!”

Juyoung mocked Taehwan, who was holding the Shield of Eradication.

It wasn’t like Taehwan had nothing to say.

Even he, himself, fought with thousands of shrewmice before coming back.

However, he wasn’t able to open his mouth easily.

It was because whatever he had to say would only be heard as an excuse to the others.

Juyoung had the lead.

Tsk!

Muyoung clicked his tongue.

Then he approached Juyoung.

“It was necessary to explore.”

“Step aside old man! I’m talking to Taehwan, the great humanitarian.”

“This exploration was lead by me. If you have anything to say, isn’t it right for you to talk to me about it?”

Muyoung just stood there and looked at him.

The reason why Juyoung was only after Taehwan was simple.

In any case, it didn’t seem like Muyoung was going to make a group of his own and he believed that the only person who would be in his way in becoming the king of this temple was Taehwan.

Juyoung who felt Muyoung’s gaze, clenched his teeth, but then calmed himself and talked.

“A lot of people were depending on Taehwan. At least Taehwan shouldn’t have gone out to explore.”

“You make it sound like Taehwan is their nanny.”

“No, not that but there is something called a mentor.”

“Those who can’t survive on their own will die either way.”

They didn’t even have to think about the Underworld, those who rely on others wouldn’t even make it to the Underworld and would die in the temple.

As soon as you relied on someone and were satisfied, you would stop progressing and later be eaten by monsters.

Also, the right to take care of others was given to only those who had the strength.

Taehwan was definitely not strong.

The weak helping each other out was something that existed only in fairy tales.

In the Underworld, only the strong could act as they want as it was a world where the strong have absolute authority.

“So you’re saying that it’s okay for everyone to just die?”

The veins on Juyoung’s neck bulged.

Since he was already opposing Muyoung, Muyoung could tell that he was trying to sway the public to his side.

“Yes, those who can only survive by relying on others will only face even greater hellish conditions later on.”

However, Muyoung wasn’t going to take back any of the words he said.

Even Muyoung had spent 40 years living as an assassin without his will.

Before he returned, the 40 years he went through was continuous torture.

The days where he had to survive by even selling out his comrades.

It was a blessing to just die now than to experience that again.

“Ha! Old man, you can probably live by yourself because you’re strong.”

“It’s not that I am strong, it’s just that you guys are weak.”

Muyoung asserted.

The current Muyoung couldn’t even compare to the Muyoung of the past.

Even in the Underworld, just looking at the physical abilities, there were countless people who were like monsters compared to him.

Muyoung pointed at the scarecrows outside the temple.

“Was there anyone who trained on their own time? Didn’t you guys give up right away after knowing there were monsters outside the temple? Whining is what kids do. If you weren’t even going to try and be lousy about it, all that’s left for you is to become monster meat.”

Even Suzy, the youngest one here, didn’t whine about anything.

Instead, she tried to find a way to survive on her own.

When Muyoung was hitting the scarecrows every day, no one had the determination to join him.

It was because they believed that fighting the monsters that came every day was enough.

“Aren’t you experienced? You were at the temple alr-…!”

Smack!

Juyoung’s body flew through the air.

Thump!

Juyoung, who unsightly fell on the ground, reached for his throat.

“Cough!”

He spasmed after getting hit unexpectedly on his chest.

While Juyoung was struggling on the ground, Muyoung approached him and stepped on his belly.

“This is the wild. There are no rules or laws. If I was to kill you right now, who would be able to stop me? You need to learn to protect yourself.”

Squeeze!

Muyoung place more strength on his foot.

“Gaaaa… Gaaahhh! Haaa!”

Juyoung face was completely red.

If Muyoung placed a bit more strength on his foot, the air inside Juyoung’s body would flow upwards and impact his brain, killing him.

Expressionlessly, Muyoung looked down on Juyoung.

Juyoung’s face filled with fear that he was going to die.

Muyoung just lowered his head to look at Juyoung straight in the eye.

“Or, have you never thought that I could become your enemy?”

No one could stop Muyoung.

This was the reality. Even if you were nice and split your resources, no one would dare to speak out to the strongest.

If you wanted to change that kind of reality, you had to move. You had to strive harder than anyone else.

Muyoung was willing to do that.

“Pl… please!”

As Juyoung begged for mercy with his completely red face, Muyoung stepped away.

“Learn to be independent, I’m not expecting you to be strong. But, don’t hold back others who are trying to move forward.”

Muyoung turned around to enter the temple.

There was a long silence that followed.

No one could move.

*

Some people who were able to gain sudden realization from Muyoung’s speech started to move.

Even if the numbers weren’t great, due to them, new things were constantly being unveiled.

“It says that my strength has increased.”

“My stamina has increased!”

Once people began to figure out that they could improve their stats by continuously hitting the scarecrow, many of them started to train themselves.

Even if you had to hit at least 10,000 times for it to be of any effect, it was more productive than just standing still and wasting their time.

Muyoung continued to explore every day and whenever he returned, he started to build a fence.

He fashioned wood into sharp spears and placed them around the temple.

Although people were setting traps in preparation for the monster raids, they weren’t very effective. Muyoung was preparing for the ‘boss’ battle that will occur soon.

‘There will be countless monsters that will attack before the boss comes out.’

This fence was made to interfere with the monsters’ movements, even if only a little.

Of course, it wouldn’t have any effect if it was an ordinary wooden fence.

However, Muyoung had gathered ‘Anesthetic Flowers’ and rubbed its sap all around the fence.

It had a strong anesthetic that would start to paralyze the body with a single touch.

He also spread around giant leo’s feces to confuse the monsters with its strong scent.

As a predator of the forest, giant leo was at least one of the strongest monsters here.

There were always going to be monsters raiding in once a day, but smelling the Leo’s feces would definitely confuse them.

‘Even though I had to risk my life, it was definitely a good idea to go to a giant leo’s territory.’

If he was ever to be found by a giant leo, he wouldn’t have been able to escape easily.

But, to make the boss battle a bit easier, he needed giant leo’s feces.

“Mister. I’m done applying them.”

Also, the work of rubbing the feces on the fence was being done by Suzy.

Even if she was carrying a bin to do this, her whole body smelled strongly of feces.

Kking. Kkinng.

The Emperor of Shrewmice, who Suzy named Kking Kking, stealthily avoided her.

Kking Kking knew instinctively to fear the giant leo.

It was a task no one wanted to do.

However, Suzy volunteered to do it.

‘Is this also her sense?’

However, would Suzy know that this work will help her greatly in surviving?

The one that emitted the scent of the giant leo the most was Suzy. Even if you washed yourself vigorously, the scent wouldn’t disappear for a few days. Monsters wouldn’t be able to easily approach her.

If she instinctively knew this and volunteered, her sense had to be quite astonishing.

Muyoung nodded as he glanced at the fences.

“Good job.”

“Give me the bread a bit later, please. Also…”

She had 2 loaves of bread to receive.

Suzy looked behind Muyoung for a moment and cautiously spoke to him.

“After practice, can I play with Kking Kking?”

Kking. Kkinnng.

Emperor of Shrewmice.

Kking Kking’s body was shivering pitifully.

Muyoung spoke without care.

“Do as you please.”

“Yay! Thank you.”

She was still a kid.

With a smile, Suzy ran towards the scarecrows.

‘Then…’

Muyoung stood up as he rubbed his shoulders.

‘All that’s left is to wait.’

He had prepared everything he could.

Not just Muyoung, other people also did what they could in their own way.

It was now a matter of how they could fight the boss battle with as little damage as possible.

*

Grrrr.

Gnar!

Hundreds of two-headed hyenas approached the temple.

They were the species of monsters known as ‘shamba’.

The shambas, who were running extremely fast became confused after smelling the giant leo.

Swift!

Pluck!

At the same time, a numerous number of arrows flew towards them from a far.

People who were already waiting for them started to attack them with bow and arrows that they prepared at the last-minute.

“Follow me.”

While the others were fighting the shambas, Muyoung unsheathed Anguish not too far away from the temple.

He had to finish the job before monsters started to climb over the fence.

Taehwan and Baeksoo followed Muyoung.

As he wanted them to work as two separate forces, Suzy stayed behind to help others.

“Kill them! Kill them all!”

From a far, Muyoung could see Juyoung frantically fighting off the shambas.

While the shambas’ focus was on the group, Muyoung quickly took a side route around.

What Muyoung was after wasn’t the shambas.

It was the boss behind the shambas.

“I will take the front. When I make the signal, come out.”

As he went further back, the number of shambas decreased.

And at the very back, the place where the temple and the forest met, there were two exceptionally large shambas on the narrow pathway.

Muyoung had to quietly exterminate the two.

Muyoung closed his eyes and tried to slow his heartbeat as much as possible.

Even if he returned to the past, the experience he had was still intact.

Hiding abilities were abilities Muyoung had reached extreme levels in.

There was no way he couldn’t escape the eyes of such monsters like shambas.

Sniff…?

However as Muyoung approached them using his abilities, one of the shambas noticed that something was wrong.

Muyoung quickly swung Anguish and sliced the shamba’s neck.

Grahhh… Gah!

It was the same for the other shambas.

As Muyoung lift his hand, the two men approached.

“H, how did you do this? How… did they not notice you when you just walked towards them?”

Taehwan asked Muyoung with disbelief.

But, Muyoung didn’t reply.

After a while, he opened his mouth.

“Search the area. Since we killed the guards, it will now show up.”

Muyoung was nervous, very slightly.

He was certain that there was a boss nearby leading the shambas.

However, he couldn’t sense its presence.

Instead, he felt a gaze.

‘It’s watching me.’

Drip. Drip. Drrrip.

And what Muyoung thought was correct.

There was a wall that blocked the narrow pathway.

However, something was climbing down that wall.

Krrrang!

If shambas had two heads, this thing had a staggering three.

It was at least twice the size of a regular shamba.

The formal appearance of the boss who led hundreds of shambas.

In an instant, messages popped up in front of them.

<‘Rellaka’ has a great grudge on the humans. It will not stop his massacre until it kills all of mankind. >

Rellaka.

If he remembered correctly, it seemed like it did have a name like that.

In the past, from its attack, more than 10 people had died.

Not because of the hundreds of shambas, but because of this one monster.

‘I was waiting for you.’

However, Muyoung believed that it was possible with three people.

The predator of the past, now it was its turn to get hunted.