Chapter 19: Elite Encounters

-Ragged Skin x1

A drop window appeared.

“Three hits!”

A faint smile spread across Kang Juho’s lips.

If he had bought an ordinary-grade hammer from a forge, there’s no way he could’ve taken down zombies in just three hits.

Hunting would’ve been much slower.

“This pace…”

Kang Juho glanced at the time as he charged toward the nearest zombie among the approaching horde.

“This is faster than expected.”

After some discussion, he and Kim Seokju had decided to hunt longer than planned, just like their first day.

Their goal was level 50, expected to be reached around 4 a.m.

But right now, the hunting ground was empty except for the two of them.

Zombies were abundant, allowing nonstop hunting.

They didn’t take long to kill either—even without critical hits, three strikes were enough. They might finish much earlier than anticipated.

Thwack! Slash!

[You are poisoned for 2 minutes.]

Arriving at the next zombie, Kang Juho swung his hammer at one raising its arm to attack.

Three strikes per zombie—Kang Juho took down seven zombies with a total of 21 attacks.

As soon as the last one fell, he checked his health.

“…!”

Shock crossed his face.

He’d killed them quickly, but his health had already dropped from over 5,000 to the 4,000s.

He opened his inventory and drank an antidote potion to clear the poison status.

“That was close.”

The moment he drank the potion, his plummeting health stabilized.

He then used a low-grade health potion to restore it.

“Every three minutes, then.”

He hadn’t taken a single hit from the zombies—his health loss was entirely due to poison.

Normally, he’d rest based on the number of enemies, but with zombies, it seemed better to time it.

Just then, Kim Seokju approached.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s a team coming up behind us.”

At Kim Seokju’s words, Kang Juho looked in the direction he’d come from.

A group of four was entering through the gate.

“Should we move?”

“Yeah, probably best.”

The hunting ground wasn’t small, and there was no need to stay close.

Kang Juho and Kim Seokju moved to avoid the other players.

Fortunately, the group didn’t follow.

But a new problem arose.

“Hyung, uh…”

Kim Seokju trailed off, looking around with a troubled expression.

“Aren’t there too many here?”

Deeper in, unlike the entrance, the number of zombies was overwhelming.

“Yeah, can we even handle this?”

Kang Juho wasn’t confident either.

Without poison, he’d have eagerly started hunting.

But with poison limiting their combat time, he wasn’t sure they could clear the zombies quickly enough. Still, it wasn’t impossible.

“I’ll join in,” Kim Seokju offered.

“You sure?”

Kang Juho questioned him.

If Kim Seokju fought directly, they could handle the numbers.

The issue, though, was zombie aggro.

If it shifted to Kim Seokju, whose enchanter attack skills were weak, he wouldn’t last long against a swarm, given his low health.

“It’s fine. They’re slow,” Kim Seokju replied with a smile.

“Besides, I just need to dodge and buy you time to use potions.”

“Alright, let’s try it.”

Kang Juho nodded and added…

“When I signal, use Shackles. I’ll recover then.”

Zombies were slow.

Within the duration of Attribute Shackles, he could fully recover.

“Got it! Buffs incoming.”

Kim Seokju responded and cast his buffs.

[All defense increased by 11% for 2 minutes.]

[All speed increased by 10% for 2 minutes.]

Fully buffed, Kang Juho charged at the nearest zombie.

–Groan…

The zombie noticed him and shambled forward.

Hearing the noise, countless other zombies nearby started moving toward him too.

Reaching the zombie, Kang Juho swung his hammer at its outstretched arm.

Thwack! Slash!

[You are poisoned for 2 minutes.]

As the hammer struck, poison sprayed out.

Glancing at the poison message, Kang Juho swung again.

Thwack! Slash! Thwack! Slash!

The third strike felled the zombie, updating the drop window.

Kang Juho moved to the next one immediately.

Already poisoned, every second counted.

He kept moving, hunting zombies rapidly.

Whether due to their fast hunting pace or the zombies’ slow speed, he avoided being surrounded.

“Seokju!”

When his health dropped to 4,000, Kang Juho called out.

“Now!”

He signaled and pulled back to distance himself from the zombies.

“Attribute Shackles!”

Kim Seokju cast the skill instantly.

Light shot from his staff, passing Kang Juho and binding the zombies.

–Groan…

–Groan…

Confirming the zombies were immobilized, Kang Juho drank an antidote potion to clear the poison, then used a health potion to restore his health.

‘That’s enough’

Seeing his health climb, Kang Juho smiled.

He’d worried about recovering within the shackles’ duration, but it was no issue.

–Groan…

–Groan…

The shackles’ duration ended, and the zombies began moving again.

Fully restored, Kang Juho charged back at them.

***

At a shabby graveyard, a party of four—a tank, a melee dealer, a ranged dealer, and a healer—were hunting zombies.

–Groan…

Thud!

The last zombie fell.

“Phew…”

The tank, Kim Changyong , sighed deeply, frowning slightly at his rapidly dropping health.

“Sangmyung, a Cure, please.”

“Cure!”

The healer, Joo Sangmyung, cast the spell immediately and added, “I’m low on mana, so handle your health with potions.”

The zombies’ poison was draining Kim Changyong and the melee dealer, Park Inah’s health fast.

Constant healing had nearly depleted Joo Sangmyun’s mana.

“This is too tough,” said the ranged dealer, Jang Yujin.

“Yeah, way too hard,” Park Inah agreed.

“Should we have hit level 40 first?”

The party nodded, sharing Jang Yujin’s sentiment.

The highest-leveled among them was Kim Changyong at level 37.

“Six zombies and we need a break? This is so inefficient.”

“Should’ve just stuck to stone goblins.”

They’d moved to this hunting ground because stone goblins gave too little EXP, but it was a mistake.

The zombies’ poison made sustained hunting impossible, yielding even less EXP per hour.

“Should we move now?”

Kim Changyong asked cautiously.

They’d hunted for hours with no improvement in efficiency.

Going back to stone goblins to hit level 40 before returning seemed better.

“Sounds good.”

“Agreed.”

Jang Yujin and Joo Sangmyung nodded. Just then—

“Hey…”

Park Inah pointed somewhere.

“Is that purple tombstone just me?”

Kim Changyong, Jang Yujin , and Joo Sangmyung turned to where Park Inah pointed.

Sure enough, a purple-glowing tombstone stood there.

“What’s that?”

“Feels ominous.”

“Maybe a field quest?”

“Could be an elite or boss monster.”

There had to be a reason for the purple glow.

The four began discussing the tombstone’s nature.

“So, are we doing it?” Park Inah asked.

Field quest, elite monster, or boss monster—the tombstone was likely one of these.

They couldn’t handle a boss in their current state.

That left a field quest or elite monster, but even those weren’t guaranteed—maybe a 50% chance at best.

“Hmm…”

“Uh…”

“Well…”

At Park Inah’s question, the others hesitated, exchanging glances.

“Let’s try it,” Kim Changyong said finally.

“If it’s a boss, we bolt. If it’s an elite or field quest, we give it a shot. We can back out if it feels off.”

Ignoring it felt like a waste.

“Alright, cool!”

“Let’s do it!”

“Got it.”

Jang Yujin, Joo Sangmyung, and Park Inah responded in turn.

“Buff me up. I’ll check it out alone first, just in case,” Kim Changyong said.

Joo Sangmyung cast buffs, and Kim Changyong approached the purple tombstone alone.

Soon—

Crack!

Cracks spread across the tombstone.

Kim Changyong stopped, watching it closely.

The tombstone collapsed, and something burst from the ground—a massive arm.

“…!”

Kim Changyong quickly checked the message window.

No warning or quest message appeared, meaning it wasn’t a boss or field quest.

That left only an elite monster.

“That size?”

The arm was thicker than a regular zombie’s torso.

Though not fully emerged, it was likely four times larger than a normal zombie.

Worse, purple smoke seeped from countless wounds on the arm.

Regular zombies emitted green poison—purple poison couldn’t be weaker.

“No way we can take this!”

Kim Changyong backpedaled, then turned and ran, shouting to his party, “Run!”

At his cry, the others sprinted toward the entrance.

–Roar!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Roars and footsteps echoed behind them.

Fortunately, the footsteps didn’t get closer.

Kim Changyong glanced back.

“Holy…”

He cursed inwardly upon seeing the elite zombie.

It was even larger than expected.

Fighting it would’ve been a certain defeat.

“How far will it chase us?”

He tilted his head.

They were nearing the entrance, but the elite zombie kept pursuing.

Would it follow beyond the hunting ground?

Its speed wasn’t enough to catch them, but they couldn’t keep running forever.

They exited the hunting ground, and Kim Changyong’s worries eased.

The elite zombie stomped at the entrance but didn’t leave.

Staring at it, he thought, How do we get back in…?

This was a hunting ground to revisit after leveling up.

The problem was the elite zombie at the entrance and the high iron fences surrounding the area.

‘Maybe find another entrance…’

There had to be more than one. It’d take time, but walking along the fence might reveal another way in.

‘Or maybe it’ll be gone when we return.’

By the time they leveled up hunting stone goblins and came back, the elite zombie might not be at the entrance anymore.

With that, Kim Changyong turned to his party.

“Let’s go hunt some stone goblins.”