Chapter 54: When Orcs Respawn

-Chirp Chirp

-Chirp Chirp

There were so many Orcs that they had no choice but to start fighting before they slipped out of the Users’ sight.

Of course, that wasn’t a big problem.

It was just about drawing attention, nothing more.

Kang Juho broke away from the group alone and charged straight at the approaching Orcs.

He had already fought Orcs before.

There was no need to confirm the Orcs’ abilities anymore, and Kang Juho planned to use Hammer of Fury immediately.

-Chirp Chirp

Ping!

Kang Juho blocked the Orcs’ attacks and slowly stepped closer to the group.

When the distance to the Orc mob dropped to 8 meters,

“Hammer of Fury!”

He cast Hammer of Fury and countered.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Waves spread out, striking the watching Orc mob with great force.

-Chirp Chirp

-Chirp Chirp

The Orcs flinched in pain, and Kang Juho kept swinging the Hammer, sending more waves.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Soon the Orc mobs collapsed all at once.

Then Kang Juho swung the Hammer one more time to finish off the Orcs that were trailing behind.

In an instant, Kang Juho had taken down a whole mob and signaled Kim Seokju, who quickly moved to Kang Juho’s side.

Unlike Kang Juho, who could easily endure Orc attacks, Kim Seokju had to be careful—just a few hits from the Orcs could mean death.

They had to move as safely as possible.

After several skirmishes, Kang Juho and Kim Seokju managed to move beyond the reach of other Users’ sight.

“Why are there so many Orcs? This is like a Death Graveyard!”

It was surprising to see such a large number of Orcs gathered together—not even Undead gathered like this.

Even moving a little during battle meant encountering another mob.

“Looks like that’s why they gave this Quest.”

Kang Juho nodded in agreement with Kim Seokju’s words.

“Let’s start by clearing the nearby area.”

After nodding, Kang Juho charged at the closest Orc mob.

“Physical Enhancement… Resistance Enhancement”

[Physical attack power increases by 32% for 10 minutes.]

[Physical resistance increases by 8% for 10 minutes.]

Kim Seokju cast buffs again as he watched Kang Juho run.

Just as he finished buffing,

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Orcs began to appear right in front of Kim Seokju.

They had respawned.

“… Uhh?”

Kim Seokju was caught off guard by the sudden respawn of Orcs.

-Chirp?

-Chirp?

-Chiiirp!

The Orcs bared their fangs and stared at Kim Seokju.

A chill ran down Kim Seokju’s spine the moment their eyes met.

One Orc started walking out from the mob.

“Multi-Chain!”

Reflexively, Kim Seokju cast Multi-Chain.

“Hyung!”

Then, he urgently called out to Kang Juho.

“……?”

Kang Juho, charging at the Orcs, glanced back at Kim Seokju’s expression.

“…….!”

Seeing the mob before Kim Seokju, Kang Juho stopped in surprise.

He immediately turned his back.

One Orc had already identified him and was coming forward, but Kang Juho ignored it.

Kim Seokju was more important.

Of course, with Protection Barrier, Multi-Chain, and Seal of Attribute, Kim Seokju wouldn’t die.

But there were countless Orcs around.

What if another mob suddenly interfered?

Kim Seokju, who couldn’t kill Orcs quickly, would be doomed.

Kang Juho thought as he ran toward Kim Seokju.

‘We need to be careful about respawns, too.’

From now on, they’d have to consider monster respawns during battles.

Fortunately, the restraint duration wasn’t short, and Kang Juho arrived before it ended.

“Taunt!”

Kang Juho immediately used Taunt.

The restrained Orcs, trying to break free, all turned their heads toward Kang Juho and started thrashing with even angrier expressions.

Soon the restraint broke, and the Orcs began moving toward Kang Juho.

“Hammer of Fury!”

Kang Juho cast Hammer of Fury again.

Kim Seokju had already stepped back after seeing Kang Juho approach.

He was safe from the wave.

He could attack with peace of mind.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

“Hammer of Fury!”

Without pause, Kang Juho swung Hammer of Fury, and as soon as five strikes ended, he cast it again, clearing the respawned Orc mob.

The Orc mob fell, and Kang Juho turned around.

The battle wasn’t over yet.

An Orc that had been trailing died from the wave, and the originally targeted mob was charging in.

Not only that, but on the way back to Kim Seokju, another Orc appeared from the next target mob’s aggro range.

It was obvious it would die to the wave, and the watching Orc mob would come running.

They had to fight continuously.

After a brief thought, Kang Juho smiled.

‘Yeah, this saves time and that’s good.’

Since they had to fight anyway, Kang Juho had always found it a waste to lose time because of disdain.

He was glad the current situation shortened the time.

Kang Juho charged toward the approaching Orc mob and swung the Hammer.

He continuously fought and defeated all the charging Orc mobs.

“I’m coming right away!”

Without stopping, Kang Juho charged at the next Orc mob.

“Let’s go two mobs at once!”

Until now, they had fought only one mob at a time.

But during battle, Kang Juho realized that wasn’t necessary.

Hammer of Fury was an area skill with no target limit.

As long as the enemies were within range, they all took damage.

Besides, their attacks were bearable.

It seemed possible to handle two mobs, or even three, at once.

There was no fear of getting overwhelmed.

“Taunt!”

Kang Juho had the Provocation skill.

Orcs under Provocation didn’t look anywhere else and focused solely on Kang Juho.

Kang Juho fought continuously, and Kim Seokju supported him without rest.

“Hyung, I think I need to recover some mana.”

During the prolonged battle, Kim Seokju spoke when his mana hit rock bottom.

“Alright, let’s take a short break.”

Kang Juho plopped down as Kim Seokju said that.

He replenished his lost Lifeforce and Satiety with Potions and Food while opening the Quest Window.

Currently, Debaru Plains is saturated due to the countless increase in Orcs.

Orcs are gradually moving beyond their territory, and if this continues, nearby villages and cities will suffer great damage.

Demen, the mayor of Boredos, is deeply concerned and wants to reduce the number of Orcs.

Go to Debaru Plains and eliminate the Orcs!

[Orcs: 260 / ???]

Quest reward: ???

The more you hunt, the greater the reward.

They hadn’t hunted for long, yet they had already killed 260 Orcs.

‘How many can we kill?’

Although worried at first due to many Users, the inner area had no Users, so the hunting environment was excellent.

They could comfortably hunt around level 225.

They weren’t sure how long they’d keep hunting, but they were curious how many Orcs they would kill by the end.

***

“Of course, hunting inside.”

Yu Janghyuk, who was monitoring Kang Juho and Kim Seokju, nodded as if he had expected this.

“I wonder how far they’ll hunt.”

Until now, they moved on to the next hunting ground once they reached a certain level.

“Will they move to the next hunting ground right away this time, too?”

Debaru Plains was different from the previous hunting grounds Kang Juho and Kim Seokju had been in.

For one, the number of monsters was much higher than usual.

While Kang Juho and Kim Seokju might not have realized it, in terms of Experience Points, the increased monsters meant they weren’t outpaced by higher hunting grounds but could level up faster.

If it weren’t for the Quest, they’d probably move on.

But since the Quest was there, they might keep hunting nearby.

Yu Janghyuk was curious what choice Kang Juho and Kim Seokju would make and how much gap they’d widen with the Level Ranking’s third place, Hunting King.

Watching the hunt for a moment, Yu Janghyuk tapped the keyboard.

Then, new User information appeared on the monitor.

It was Kwon Na-yeon, who had changed Profession to Blood Knight.

Kwon Na-yeon and her Party members were also under special management, like Kang Juho and Kim Seokju.

“Shows the limits of a six-person party.”

At first, the experience gain through mob hunting was enormous, and even dividing Experience Points among six didn’t slow their growth.

He was practically neck-and-neck with the Hunting King.

However, as their levels rose and monsters rapidly grew stronger, mob hunting ran into problems, and growth slowed.

Or rather, it was still fast.

Kwon Na-yeon and her Party members were still ranked in the top 100.

It was just that others had caught up faster.

“I wonder which Sub-class she’ll choose.”

Soon, Kwon Na-yeon and her Party members would reach level 200.

They’d be able to acquire Sub-classes.

“She won’t catch up, though.”

They would grow stronger and return to normal mob hunting.

But no matter how normal the mob hunting became, they wouldn’t catch up to the current level 1 and 2, Kang Juho and Kim Seokju.

The two of them could hunt mobs together.

Besides, mobbing didn’t take much time.

The growth gap would widen more.

After confirming the special management targets with Kwon Na-yeon and her Party, Yu Janghyuk tapped the keyboard again.

Soon, the map of the Evadore Mountains appeared.

On the map were clusters of immobile red dots and scattered moving blue dots.

The red dots were Mois and Chimeras, and the blue dots were members of the Rogue’s Hideout.

“Let’s raise the battle today…”

Only two days remained, including today, until the update.

It was time to start the operation.

The battle between Mois, Chimeras, and the Rogue’s Hideout!

Having run multiple simulations, Yu Janghyuk already knew the outcome.

The first battle’s victory would go to Mois and the Chimeras.

The Rogue’s Hideout members weren’t weak, but Mois and Chimeras weren’t either.

With Mois and Chimeras grouped up and Rogue’s Hideout scattered, the outcome was naturally in favor of Mois and Chimeras.

The second battle was a draw, and the last, the third battle, was the Rogue’s Hideout’s victory.

Though not a perfect victory.

Two Chimeras died, and the rest of Mois and Chimeras were severely injured but managed to retreat alive.

With Mois retreating, preparations for the main episode’s start were complete.

As Yu Janghyuk tapped the keyboard again, the Evadore Mountains map disappeared and was replaced by the Boredos Sewers map.

Like the Evadore Mountains, clusters of red dots were scattered throughout the sewers.

“Everyone’s doing well.”

The red dots, naturally, were Chimeras.

Chimeras weren’t only in the Evadore Mountains.

The Chimeras in the sewers were a lower-tier species compared to those in the Evadore Mountains.

They were strong relative to current User levels but could be subdued with combined efforts.

“I hope we start soon.”

The great Orc migration in Debaru Plains and the Chimeras jumping out of the sewers!

Yu Janghyuk chuckled as he imagined the Users’ reactions.