Capítulo 24: You Want to Hunt With Me!? (5)
"You said it was different!"
Yu IlHan shouted, enraged at the unfair reality. However, Erta also shouted with a justified face.
[It is different! Why don't you take a look at the skill evolution condition for spearmanship!]
He did as she said.
[Instakill a 3rd class monster with a piercing strike 0/500]
[Instakill a 3rd class monster with a slashing strike 0/500]
[Magic stones of 3rd class monsters 0/200]
[Magic stone of 4th class monster 0/1]
"Well, shit."
As Erta said, it was definitely different. And it was the difference between Mount Baekdu and Mount Everest! (T/N: Mount Baekdu is about 2.2km high)
"That doesn't mean that it's easy to climb mount Baekdu!"
[I thought it will be easy for you.]
Erta had evaluated him correctly, but perhaps due to the force he emitted when he was making the Traps of Destruction was too big, she was now inclining towards over evaluating him.
"No matter how high my status is and how high my martial art levels are, in the end, I'm just level 28, and I can't use mana."
[Oh yeah, you were like that, weren't you. 3rd class might be a little difficult for you.]
The wall of mana was absolute. According to whether one could use mana or not, the power one could produce differed like heaven and earth.
The reason how Yu IlHan can produce an attack power that can overwhelm other people is due to the peak level martial art that was trained to the peak and went over the piled-up status on his body. If he was lacking in any of the two, he would have been overtaken by another person.
In reverse, if Yu IlHan acquired the ability to use mana in this situation, then the definition of 'levels' and 'classes' that the Akashic Records, which ruled the worlds, maybe shaken by him, much less the life forms.
That day will arrive soon. It must arrive.
Erta realized that she was inwardly looking forward to that moment and she stopped thinking. Even during that, Yu IlHan was tidying up his bed, washing his face, and changing his clothes while complaining.
"Just where do you want me to go kill trolls? Do they even appear on Earth?"
[Monsters don't only refer to the existences evolved from the original animals on Earth. If mana activates, the monsters that didn't exist on Earth will start appearing. It's the same as ores that weren't on Earth appearing. Like a lobster cannot live in other environments than 1st class waters, many life-forms cannot live unless the concentration of mana reaches a certain point, in this universe.]
"Did you major in the faculty of explanation or something?"
Yu IlHan cleared things up while complaining at Erta's perfect explanation. Even if he goes out in pyjamas, no one would realize him due to the passive concealment, but he didn't want to admit that as he even put on the Direwolf Skull Mask.
"Let's see."
The reason he turned on the TV just before he went out was because of the thought that the TV may broadcast him the results of the Trap of Destruction that should have been activated yesterday. Erta told him to not mind about it, but how could he? A master had to take responsibility for the item he makes.
However, on TV, a scene out of his expectations was being broadcasted.
"...Isn't that the scene where I fought two days ago?"
[You mean the square you left the Giant Leopard's corpse.]
The view of the video was shaking as it was taken from a helicopter, but the scene the camera was showing was without a doubt, the place a lot of people, including Yu IlHan had fought the gigantic leopard.
Some high-rise buildings had collapsed miserably, and in some places, even the rubble matched so this wasn't a recording.
However.
"To think they divided that up in such a short period of time. That's interesting."
He couldn't find any traces of the huge leopard's body, even after he rubbed his eyes. the mountains of leopard meat that Yu IlHan had left on the scene were also gone. With only traces of the battle, the corpse, and a large number of humans had cleanly disappeared.
[...It may be a bit different from what you're thinking.]
At that moment, Erta spoke with a slightly stiff voice. When Yu IlHan was about to ask back while tilting his head, he could hear a voice from the screen.
[The place which had the 2nd class monster's corpse, is, as you see, clean. It had disappeared along with the people who were fighting over the spoils of war after the battle.]
"...What?"
It didn't take long for Yu IlHan to realize that something was wrong.
[Some are saying that a dungeon had opened and swallowed them. The authorities are mentioning the possibility that a dungeon's entrance may have opened in the middle of the city, and are cautioning not to approach this area and...]
The broadcaster's words continued, but Yu IlHan couldn't focus on that. His eyes trembled.
"There's no way it's a dungeon."
[So you know well.]
Erta nodded her head. Her expression was frozen coldly like an ice field.
[The dungeons in Korea have already gone through their 1st activation. If new monsters appear due to the activation of mana, then there may be a possibility of new dungeons appearing at that time, but it definitely isn't now.]
"That means."
Immediately after Yu IlHan muttered. The camera screen which was showing the ruined city instantly coloured black with a loud crash sound. Immediately after that, the screen changed to the news desk and showed the dumbfounded newscaster.
The newscaster tried to hide the ripples and said 'It seems there is an accident at the scene' and was proceeding to cover it up, but Yu IlHan had already seen through the situation.
"There was another monster."
[...So you saw it.]
"Of course I did. Its strategy seems familiar."
Yu IlHan had acquired almost all martial arts and methods to move his body in 1000 years. However, this was limited to human techniques, there was no way he would be able to realize the technique that monsters used.
However, Yu IlHan had seen through it. What did this mean? The answer was already there. Concealment, he was a master of concealment.
"It was definitely a leopard. And it was a pitch-black one too. ...Erta, you."
[I didn't know either. The giant leopard was definitely dead, and you even procured its magic stone. 99.99% of monster hunting end at that point.]
"What about the 0.01%?"
[If it was pregnant with a child.]
"I knew it."
Yu IlHan facepalmed. He felt like he would collapse just from that so he had to endure while clenching his teeth. The black-furred leopard that appeared for an instant on the screen, was the child of the Giant Leopard that died 2 days ago.
[If you dismantled it properly, then this wouldn't have happened. In the end, this is a disaster that was called forth by human greed.]
"I had to take a step back at that time."
[Although the black leopard was indeed born as a result of you not dismantling it, that doesn't make you responsible for that disaster.]
To Yu IlHan, who was muttering bitterly, Erta retorted with a bitter smile.
[You can't make a mistake about that. Please look back at the reason why you had no choice but to leave that corpse there.]
"I have no regrets about my actions then. However, I can't take the deaths of countless people lightly. Among them, there were some who I rescued, and some who showed me goodwill, and some who intended to take it fairly."
Yu IlHan's despair was bigger than she thought. Erta still hadn't understood him fully. Erta despaired for a bit when she realized that obvious fact just now.
She thought that she wanted to console Yu IlHan. After that, she thought about why this situation occurred. Just why did a higher existence such as her couldn't see through the existence of that monster.
[If you want to talk about mistakes, then it's with me. I should have thought more deeply about the reason why the Giant Leopard had gone in a frenzy.]
"So it was to hide its offspring?"
[It's definitely to hide its child in its womb that it had gone in a frenzy when it was near death. Originally, it might have fooled humans, but it shouldn't have fooled me but...]
Yu IlHan thought up the black leopard's figure which appeared on the TV screen a moment ago.
"Concealment. This is the reason why you couldn't find it."
[Yes. It's in amazing condition. Even I don't act while thinking that a frenzied monster had a child and that child's special ability is concealment.]
Moreover, Yu IlHan, who had max level dismantling and could dismantle even a huge animal's body in a short time, didn't completely dismantle it.
Thanks to the humans' skirmish, the dismantling of the huge monster were postponed, and as a result, the black leopard was born safely and had...
Thinking like that, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that the birth of the black leopard was a miracle.
"I wish that it wasn't, though."
Yu IlHan asked while looking at the panicked and sweaty expression of the newscaster inside the screen.
"Is it a 3rd class?"
[Considering its abnormal concealment ability, it probably is.]
At Erta's report, Yu IlHan heaved a sigh and turned the TV off. It was just a moment ago when he concluded that he couldn't win against a 3rd class monster, and now… he felt frustrated.
However, he couldn't leave it like that as if he did, there was no knowing how many accidents it would cause. Moreover, although he might be taken over by the people who were doing quests in other worlds, Yu IlHan was still the strongest on Earth. If he pulled out saying he couldn't kill it, then just who would be able to confront it?
Finally, although there was no one looking for him to be responsible for this, Yu IlHan himself couldn't stay still as he felt disturbed. To Yu IlHan, who always thought that he should clean up what he's done, that leopard was a mess that he had to clean up with his own hands.
He thought up the figures of the soldiers who were looking at him with admiration, and the figures of the people who cheered after they survived the ordeal.
He subconsciously clenched his fists.
"I should prepare."
[Are you confident?]
"It may be a bit difficult to deal with it alone, but if I make the necessary preparations, it isn't an opponent I should fear so much, is it?"
Unlike Yu IlHan, who always thought up his path of survival first, he looked very spirited. Erta slightly wondered at that fact, but the reason for Yu IlHan's confidence was extremely simple.
It was because the ability of the leopard, which is expected to be 3rd class, was concealment.
If it was a case where its stats were all put into strength or defence, then he wouldn't know, but if its special ability was concealment, then there was no reason to fear! Since Yu Ilhan, who had mastered concealment without even training for it!
Immediately after Yu IlHan showed his confidence, he asked Erta with a careful voice.
"...It's not awesomely strong in strength and defence even after all that, right?"
[Your predictions are correct to a point so don't worry. Existence can't show exceptional ability in all areas. That's especially the case with monsters. In that leopard's case, to gain its high concealment ability, its other stats would have decreased.]
"So it's like that, eh..."
Yu IlHan thought and left the house. Just by his feelings, he wanted to kill it after levelling up massive amounts, but he couldn't let it free in the middle of the city. if it was a dungeon instead, then he might have left it alone, but as it was a living, and a 3rd class monster specializing in concealment at that, he couldn't do that.
Kill that monster after making equipment optimized for killing it in as little time as possible and kill it. This was the best method. If that didn't work, then he would just run.
Also, there was another method to decrease casualties while killing it.
"A man shouldn't speak two things with his mouth though..."
But there was no helping it. There were a lot of things in this world more important than a man's pride.
Yu IlHan licked his lips even while unhesitatingly heading towards a public phone booth he had marked beforehand. Then he checked the ID card that he received two days ago, and entered the Empress', Kang Mirae's, phone number, clumsily with his fingers.
This was the beginning of the strategy to save the front line with the dropout and the Empress.
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Editors Note.
If you see Lita's name as Rita, please tell me. I will need to fix it.
I'm doing these really fast so if you see any mistakes, leave a comment and please tell me which chapter it's from.
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