Chapter 71

EP.71 The Forest Covered in Snakes (5)

The 5th Hunting Team of the <Flame's Judgment> Clan.

Lee Soo-mi, who was assigned as a B-rank Holy Holder, watched the party's battle with keen interest.

The person who caught her attention was undoubtedly one.

The intern clan member who had just joined the party today.

It was Do Jae-hyun.

'Hmm, the intern is really an interesting person.'

Do Jae-hyun was a holder who became more and more interesting the more she watched him.

Admitted to the clan through the recommendation of the clan's successor, Kang Joo-yeon, and with a two-month internship period, it was natural that the looks he received were not favorable.

The <Flame's Judgment> clan members, who took pride in being the top clan in the country, were particularly sensitive to such news.

Moreover, he was suddenly assigned to the 'Forest Covered in Snakes' expedition, which had been planned for a long time, and was called a 'super parachutist' within the 5th hunting team.

'Surely, that was the case...'

But perhaps a rune holder proves their worth through their inherent abilities.

When he came for the expedition, it turned out that he had an incredible talent that no one his age could match.

He could skillfully handle three types of weapon forms: two-handed swords, one-handed swords/shields, and daggers, and also use magical attacks.

He wielded fire elemental magical attacks like a second nature and possessed physical attacks that were not inferior to them.

His defensive abilities were also not to be underestimated, allowing him to tank at the front without any issues.

'I can feel that he is continuously growing.'

From the entrance of the Inwangsan field to the middle of the Forest Covered in Snakes.

Throughout the expedition, they encountered new monsters and numerous variables, but each time, Do Jae-hyun showed a bit of growth and added strength to the party.

Especially when they met the fourth Electrophorus...

He almost handled two of them alone, which was as good as saying it all.

To an outsider, it might seem like he was originally a B-rank holder of the 5th hunting team.

'And his relationship with Joo-yeon seems... interesting.'

Do Jae-hyun is a parachutist recommended by Kang Joo-yeon.

That's not a wrong statement.

After Do Jae-hyun's internship admission, Kang Joo-yeon took care of him to a degree that anyone could easily notice.

Lee Soo-mi found such a scene intriguing.

Kang Joo-yeon taking care of someone?

It was something that any <Flame's Judgment> clan member would find hard to imagine.

'Hmm, youth.'

The firepower support directed at Do Jae-hyun during hunts.

The glances he threw backward while walking.

Especially after battles.

The intense gazes directed at her when she subtly made skin contact with Do Jae-hyun under the pretense of healing.

Lee Soo-mi, knowing this, deliberately made things harder for Do Jae-hyun, just to tease Kang Joo-yeon.

To Lee Soo-mi, who was already in her sixth year of the clan, Kang Joo-yeon was still the cute little clan lady.

Swoosh—

Boom!!

Another giant snake monster fell.

A monster that appeared in the middle section of the dungeon, beyond the entrance.

A B-rank monster, Mega Snake.

Nearby, a B-rank Green Anaconda had also fallen.

At a glance, there were about eight of them combined.

The number of monsters they faced was increasing, a sign that they were approaching the end of the dungeon.

"Hmm—"

Lee Soo-mi looked at the fallen monsters with interest and approached to extract the magic stones.

Since no butchering holder came on this expedition, it was difficult to process the monsters' byproducts, but the magic stones could be extracted by battle holders.

The byproducts could be processed by butchering holders before the monsters respawned in a week.

"Huh?"

While trying to extract the magic stones, Lee Soo-mi noticed something unusual on the monster's corpse.

The B-rank Mega Snake, which Do Jae-hyun had handled.

Do Jae-hyun, who had grown to a level where his damage and tanking balance were well-balanced, had successfully hunted a B-rank monster alone.

"This is... "

The head of the Mega Snake, where the magic stone was embedded, was steeped in a strange aura and rapidly aging.

It was as if...

'It looks like a curse or something has been cast on it.'

Lee Soo-mi's lips curved into a deep smile.

While others might not easily notice the symptoms, as a Holy holder, she was much more sensitive and quick to react to curses and spells.

The Mega Snake was definitely affected by a spell from the 'Weakness' category.

And the one who hunted it was, coincidentally, the intern.

Lee Soo-mi's gaze returned to Do Jae-hyun.

He was happily extracting the magic stones.

'The intern is really... really an interesting person.'

In the holder world, multi-holders with various talents are not uncommon, but it's rare for someone to skillfully handle all those talents and rise to a high-level holder.

When discussing successful multi-holders, it's not just the <Royal> Sung Na-yeon who is mentioned.

The reality is that the higher one goes, the slower the growth for multi-holders.

But now,

A person who seemed to be breaking the history of multi-holders appeared.

At least three types of weapon handling, fire elemental magical attacks, and the use of runes that seemed to be from the spell category.

He was a promising talent who knew how to use many runes effectively.

This was not just Lee Soo-mi's observation; other party members might also have a vague sense of it, even if they didn't say it out loud.

'Joo-yeon must have wanted to monopolize this interesting person.'

At first, it seemed like just a youthful crush, but it wasn't all of it.

Lee Soo-mi smiled deeply and finished extracting the magic stones.

The recent days had been monotonous.

The boring clan life...

It seemed that a very interesting person had entered.

* * *

['Aquatic Sprint' rune selected. As it is a level 9 rare rune, its level will drop to 5.]

[New rune obtained.]

[Water resistance +3, speed +1 from the rune's attribute.]

[Your skill in handling various weapons becomes even more dazzling. Your proficiency with swords and shields increases sharply.]

[The level of the 'Martial Expert' rune has increased.]

[Strength +2 from the rune's attribute.]

'The Forest Covered in Snakes' was truly a dungeon that laid golden eggs.

Due to the high average rank of the monsters, which were mostly B-rank, they obtained a lot of items with each hunt.

Their main runes' levels steadily increased, and they obtained new runes through the [Rune Hunter] skill.

'I raised my lightning resistance to 8.'

The occasional Electrophorus that appeared in the river were like supplements for raising lightning resistance.

By consistently taking their electric attacks, they raised their lightning resistance and obtained the [Aquatic Sprint] rune, extracting all that was possible.

After passing the entrance, the monsters did not appear.

'Instead, real snake monsters appeared.'

B-rank monsters, Mega Snake and Green Anaconda.

The monsters, which were too large to be called snakes, began to appear, leading to intense battles on land.

Unfortunately, they did not obtain any runes from these monsters.

Both monsters engaged in close combat based on their high stats, and the battle runes they used, such as [Sturdy Fangs] and [Agile Movement], were already in their possession.

They had no major complaints since they obtained three runes from the Electrophorus.

'Of course, it's not entirely absent.'

After passing the entrance and middle sections of the dungeon, defeating all the monsters, they reached the area near the boss room as planned.

And at the end of that,

They faced the A-rank monster 'Basilisk'.

As a monster classified as one of the most difficult in the snake category, they were able to obtain a rune when they hunted it.

<Rune Information>

◎Name: Stiffening Gaze

◎Rank: Rare (R)

◎Level: 5

◎Engraved Part: Eyes

◎Special Effects:

- During battle, if both parties make eye contact, there is a very low chance of putting the opponent into a stiffening state. The probability increases slightly as the rune's level increases, and the lower the opponent's mental stat, the higher the probability.

- Magic +5

◎Derived Skills: -

◎Detailed Information:

- A piercing gaze that makes the opponent tremble with fear. Ordinary people often feel intimidated by the authority of this gaze.

[Stiffening Gaze].

A rare rune that grants a special ability to the body.

While it is a lower-level eye rune compared to the [Petrifying Gaze] of the legendary S-rank monster 'Gorgon Medusa', it was one of the runes that I needed at the moment.

First, the special effect.

For me, who had no other status effect abilities besides [Intimidation] [Declaration of War], this rune's special effect was like a timely rain.

The 'stiffening' status effect, where the entire body is paralyzed and cannot move, is on par with 'fear'.

Although the probability is very low, it can vary based on stats, rune levels, and other conditions.

'And the additional magic effect...!'

The most needed stat for me at the moment.

Magic.

This rune increases the stat by 5.

Thanks to this, my steadily increasing magic stat finally reached 30.

It was one of the conditions for unlocking an ultimate skill.

'There's no better rune than this.'

The [Stiffening Gaze] that provided exactly what I needed.

It was worth participating in the Basilisk hunt and earning contribution points.

<Holder Information>

◎Name: Do Jae-hyun

◎Gender: Male (20)

◎Stats:

[Strength: 40] [Magic: 30]

[Speed: 43] [Holy: 15]

[Endurance: 32] [Mental: 27]

◎Resistance Stats:

[Poison: 8] [Water: 10] [Fire: 8] [Lightning: 8]

◎Owned Runes:

- Epic (E)

[Runes Hunter Lv.Max] [Sweat of the Seeker Lv.Max]

[Intimidation Lv.2] [Ruthless Charge Lv.2]

[Swallowing the Whirlpool Lv.4] [Martial Expert Lv.5]

- Rare (R)

[Lizard Scales Lv.7] [Aquatic Breathing Lv.3] [Venom Lv.5]

[Phalanx Sword Technique Lv.9] [Flowing Water Sword Technique Lv.9] [Brute Strength Lv.2]

[Agile Movement Lv.6] [Sturdy Fangs Lv.3]

[Blazing Flame Lv.7] [Steadfast Endurance Lv.4]

[Simple Curse Lv.2] [Battle Healing Lv.5] [Aquatic Sprint Lv.5]

[Sharp Claws Lv.6] [Penetrating Lightning Lv.4]

[Stiffening Gaze Lv.5]

- Normal (N)

[Cooking Lv.5] [Sprinting Lv.5] [Magic Control Lv.6]

[Four-Legged Combat Lv.2] [Physical Defense Lv.5] [Stealth Lv.7]

◎Owned Skills:

- Martial Expert

[Declaration of Melee Combat] [Quarter Knife] [Combo] [Rapid Strikes] [Iron Defense]

[Poison Claw] (Venom) [Strengthen] (Lizard Scales)

[Stamina Food] (Cooking) [Declaration of War] (Intimidation)

[New Wave] (Swallowing the Whirlpool)

[First Aid] (Battle Healing) [Hidden Attack] (Stealth)

◎Ultimate Skills:

[Phalanx Heaven Sword] (Phalanx Sword Technique / Limited)

[Flowing Water Active Sword] (Flowing Water Sword Technique / Limited)

'...Impressive.'

The holder information, which I hadn't checked in a long time, was displayed.

Not only the stats, but the runes and various skills I possessed were impressively displayed in the information window.

The time that had passed since I fell here, nearly half a year, showed how much I had grown.

Not only the acquisition and leveling of various runes, but the steady training and practical experience that led to a balanced increase in my stats were encouraging.

The result of actively using [Sweat of the Seeker] and the 'rune acquisition bonus stats'.

Especially, my main stats, strength and speed, had already surpassed 40...

Now, it was a smooth growth rate to become a B-rank holder.

"Stop."

While checking the holder information and the newly obtained runes,

Kwon Oh-jun, who was at the front, raised his hand.

His posture and movements suggested that he had noticed something.

The party members, who were positioned at the back, all approached him and looked at the place he was facing.

Right in front.

The ground seemed to have caved in, forming a pit, and inside, a cave hidden by rocks was visible.

Around it, a large number of snakes, which did not look like monsters, were crawling around, creating a scene that clearly indicated a special space.

We, who had hunted countless monsters in the dungeon to reach this point, all knew the meaning of this space.

The end of the long and arduous dungeon expedition.

The boss room.