Master Hunter K

‘Clang, Clang, Clang’

As always, Kargos was extremely focused on his craft. Sungjin watched him work. He was sweating profusely as he was hammering away at Artemio.

Sungjin stood still as to avoid distracting him. But meanwhile, Kargos said to him without stopping his hammer.

“You came?”

Sungjin was slightly surprised but managed to answer

“Yes.”

“Please wait a bit longer. It’s almost done.”

Sungjin stood in place as asked. But then Kargos said to him

“What’s this? Identical swords... four of them? Looking to fuse them?”

Kargos didn’t turn around even once. He must have seen Sungjin through the reflection on Artemio’s blade.

“Yes”

He continued to hammer away.

“Well if you’re bored, you can do it yourself too.”

“Myself?”

“Yes. Fusing them is easy. Put them in the box and shake a few times.”

Sungjin leaned his four Blood Vengeances against the wall and walked into the smithy; there he found the box Kargos used to fuse items in the past.

The box was a gray cube with gold corners. Sungjin brought the box to where he kept the Blood Vengeances. Kargos added

“The price of fusion for a Legendary item is 6000 Black Coins.”

“Complete Transaction.”

Sungjin’s cube floated towards Kargos’s cube and came back after briefly making contact. Sungjin opened the top of the box. It was a peculiar feeling; the inside looked much more spacious than the exterior size.

‘What is this?’

Sungjin checked the inside of the box. Meanwhile, Kargos’s hammer never missed a beat.

‘Well... as long as the fuse works that’s all that matters.’

Sungjin held himself as he inserted the Blood Vengeance one by one. The Blood Vengeance was originally longer than each of the sides of the gray cube, but there was plenty of space inside even after all four swords had been placed within.

‘As I thought... some sort of magical box.’

Sungjin put the lid on the box and shook it twice. But the box made no noise. It wasn’t as if it gave an announcement like the Operator would have.

‘Did it work?’

Sungjin opened the box again. But inside was only a single sword remaining. Sungjin picked up the sword and immediately pulled it out of the sheath. The red glint in the sword’s blade seemed to be denser than before.

‘It worked.’

Sungjin held the reddened Blood Vengeance up to inspect it, and the Operator displayed the status window for the item.

Blood Vengeance – Bloodthirsty devourer

Unique Legendary Katana – Strength SSS Dexterity S

Active Skill

Baptism of Blood (V) – Consumes 10,000 HP per second from the user to increase attack power.

Passive Skill

Vengeful Spite (I) – When HP hits 1, become invulnerable for 1 second.

Final Strike (V) – When HP hits 1, the next hit against enemy deals 5 times as much damage.

He who wishes to confront great evil must become a sword.

A Sword sharper and stronger than any other.

Sungjin slowly read through the stats. It was the sword he had used in his previous life, so he knew the stats through and through, but because it had been a while since he last used it, he needed to read through it again.

‘Strength is triple S. Dexterity’s S is okay... Baptism of Blood takes 10,000 HP per second. I could only use it for few seconds in the past... but I should be able to sustain it much longer now. Vengeful Spite and Final Strike remains unchanged from before.’

Sungjin carried the upgraded Blood Vengeance out of the Smithy and swung it few times to test it.

‘This is it... this feeling...’

Regaining the sword he had used in his previous life made it feel like he had returned to the past. Sungjin put the Blood Vengeance back into the Sheath and returned to where Kargos was working. Few minutes later, Kargos put down his hammer and wiped away his sweat. He said to Sungjin

“It’s done.”

He handed the brilliantly sparkling Artemio along with the scabbard to Sungjin. Sungjin accepted the sword and raised it above his head.

Artemio – Magic Slayer

Unique Legendary Scimitar – Strength SS Dexterity S

Passive Skill

Spell Eater (III) – Reduces damage taken from spells by 30%

Mana Burn (I) – Each strike with the sword reduces 10% of remaining mana of the opponent, and deals damage equal to mana lost.

Active Skill

Absorb Magic (VII) – Absorbs offensive type magic spells used against the caster under 7th class. Cooldown 10 minutes.

Expel Magic (VII) – Fires absorbed spell. 3 Uses available. Cooldown 10 Minutes

The Sword of Artemio who abhorred magic, Ironically

He came to be unable to live without the support of magic.

‘Hmm..’

It was the first time he had ever seen Artemio’s upgraded form. Sungjin checked the specs carefully. The first thing was that Strength and Dex rating had gone up by one tier each.

Although it had one less tier in Strength compared to Blood Vengeance and it did not have Mind power damage boost like Moon Specter, so it lacked overall damage. But it had amazing passive and active skills.

Sungjin especially paid attention to the latter half of the information screen. Spell Eater blocked additional 10% of the incoming damage. This was great because no matter how fast Sungjin was, he could not always dodge area of effect spells.

The Mana Burn effect was also excellent. It was a skill befitting the name of ‘Magic Slayer’, a passive that’s likely to prove to be a bane of any magician. Against mages, it might even have higher damage than Moon Specter and Blood Vengeance.

Finally, the active skill had changed. Magic reflect disappeared, and it split into Absorb Magic and Expel Magic.

‘This means I can control the timing of when I want to fire it back. And I can do it up to three times? This is too good!’

There was no sword quite as good against mages as this one. Sungjin expressed his gratitude to Kargos.

“Thank you Kargos. I am much stronger thanks to you.”

“This is my job you know... make sure you pay, and you can go.”

“Ah, right.”

Sungjin called for his cube.

“By the way... that Dragon Heart... is it...?”

“Yes. It’s still being melted down. I checked it this morning, and I can begin to work on it soon.”

“I see, I’ll pay for that now as well before I leave.”

“Hmm? Are you sure?”

“Yes, since spending money here is essential anyway.”

“Well, it’s good for me, so.”

Sungjin ordered his cube to pay 20,000 Coins and complete the transaction.

“Then I’ll see you again tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah let’s do that.”

Sungjin bowed deeply before returning to Ninety Nine Nights with the three Legendary swords hanging from his side. He passed Dalupin who was awake the whole night and returned to his bedroom. If it was any other time, he would have thought

‘Sleep now or prepare for raids?’

But Sungjin prepared to sleep without worrying about it today. He had plenty of time before the lunch date with Serin.

Before he went to sleep, he took a glance at the swords he kept next to the bed. Moon Specter, Artemio, and Blood Vengeance. The sword that caught his eye this time was the enhanced Blood Vengeance.

He had swung this sword until the moment he died in the previous life. Sungjin fell asleep while still staring at the sword. Perhaps because of it, Sungjin had a dream that night. Of the events of the past.

*

“Everyone ready?”

A massive hammer and a similarly large Shield was held by a mountain of a man, who addressed the others. His name was Hildebrandt.

With a height of over 2 meters tall, he carried a weapon, a full plate armor, and a shield, all of which weighed a hefty sum. He was the team’s dependable main tank.

He was originally a professional bodybuilder representing the country of Germany, so he had incredible strength, stamina, and athletic ability. Until the end games, he had maintained 1st place in contribution in every raid.

“I am always ready.”

Replied Ryushin, standing on one leg in a crane stance, holding his leg on one hand and a spear on the other. He was the pupil of a grandmaster of an ancient Chinese martial arts sect, and had unbelievable skill with the spear befitting his title of ‘God of Spears’.

He had a strong ego and a competitive spirit, so he often had frictions with the other hunters, but most hunters backed off once they saw his ability.

“I am also ready.”

Araujo was a crossbowman from Brazil. His occupation was that of a Soldier; he said he had traveled through the Amazon rainforest and had real combat experience.

He learned how to wield a crossbow from his father as a child. Not only was he skilled with it, but he was also highly proficient with a dagger, and could fight melee as well as ranged.

“Umkhuba ready”

Umkhuba was an African aborigine. He used a much shorter spear than Ryushin and had an extremely quick and agile body, along with natural instincts he was born with. He was famous for being able to launch overambitious attacks and come out without a scratch.

“I have yet to finish praying to God. Please give me a moment.”

Mustafa was a Mage. His area of specialization was green and white. He had started with three to four times as much magic power than anyone else, so he knew he was destined to become a Magician from the start.

He had tried to utilize magic from the very start. So his understanding and proficiency of the spells were very high.

“Then I’ll also take this opportunity to pray.”

Nada was team’s one and only woman. She was proficient with the dagger and was a master of black magic. She had an amazing figure, but no one dared to provoke her.

“Praying... in this situation?”

The speaker wielded an axe and buckler. No one knew much about Illich besides the fact that he was a Russian. He had defined muscles on par with Hildebrandt, with a withdrawn personality. But he sometimes discussed with Ryushin on combat skill, and with Araujo on strategy. The consensus of those who have spoken to him was that he was once a soldier and a high-ranking commissioned officer at that.

“Hmm... I am ready as well.”

Shunsuke was an archer. The Japanese man was quiet and collected, but whenever he held the bow, he seemed to transform, shooting arrows like some battle machine. He was hard to understand, but his skill was dependable.

“I am ready.”

Sungjin said raising his hands. His position was that of the main forward damage dealer. His job was to swing his Bloodthirsty sword, ‘Blood Vengeance’, without rest. Sungjin took a look at his teammates.

With the exception of Mustafa who was bowing and praying to some far off location and Nada who was making cross signs, everyone else looked ready. Sungjin clapped his hands and said

“That means we should be good to go as soon as those two finishes.”

But someone grasped his shoulder and said

“What? But I’m not ready yet, Sungjin.”

Sungjin turned around. The man who was fixing his boots while holding onto Sungjin’s shoulder was he; the best magician in the team, Edward.