Chapter 94: The Sleep Gun Filter

Before entering the Forest of the Labyrinth.

Revan was troubled by the newly received Epic Quest.

‘For my first hunt, which hunting ground should I pick?’

The conditions of the Epic Quest, "Slaughter of Chiefs," were none other than defeating three boss monsters with at least a 30-level gap between them—and each one had to be a different boss.

If it were an ordinary player, they’d have cursed this luck-dependent game, given up on the quest, or requested help from a major guild.

But for Revan, it was an incredibly easy quest.

Because the last field boss he’d defeated, the Century-Old Serpent, had been over 40 levels higher than him.

‘If it’s just a simple hunting quest, I should at least make it good content for my stream. I have plenty of footage stocked up now, but the moment that runs out, I’ll have to film everything in a rush.’

Streamers constantly struggle with a lack of content.

That’s because, for quite a while, being an internet streamer has ranked first among children’s dream jobs, and regardless of whether they’re students or office workers, people saw streaming as a second life, or even as a business startup—the competition was fierce.

‘I can’t let my guard down. That’s why even ordinary grinding has to become content for me.’

After a lot of deliberation, Revan finally chose the "Forest of the Labyrinth."

If the Tower of Infinity was where Revan’s overwhelming skill gave him an aura of "presence," then in an ordinary hunting ground, he needed to show a different kind of appeal.

For that appeal, Revan chose to be a "weirdo."

‘After all, a harmless eccentric is one of the most popular images out there.’

The weirdo image was something he’d planned ever since he introduced the physical therapist concept.

But just as no comedian can live forever off one joke, people would eventually get tired of the "physical therapist" concept, too.

So Revan wanted to build up a variety of personas in preparation for that day.

The Forest of the Labyrinth would be the first step in that buildup.

“Moooooo!!”

Revan, his red cape fluttering like Superman’s, let out a loud cow’s bellow. Then—

“……!”

“……!”

“……!”

[Brown Minotaur is excited by your red cape.]

[Brown Minotaur is excited by your red cape.]

[Brown Minotaur is excited by your red cape.]

……

The Minotaurs, programmed to be excited by the color red, began to snort hot air at Revan.

Thanks to his Shouting skill, his voice was as loud as a train whistle.

The excited Brown Minotaurs started charging at Revan.

“Mooooo!!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It wasn’t an imitation, but a genuine, soul-stirring howl from the heart of a half-cow.

Seeing the Minotaurs charging at him, Revan didn’t flinch at all. Instead, he lifted one end of his long cape and waved it like a matador.

“That’s right! Come here!”

“Moooooo!!”

If you think being big means being slow, you’re dead wrong.

Minotaurs are monsters with the body of a man and the head of a bull.

And, unlike cows bred for food, these were raised for combat—compressed, battle-hardened muscle, with unbelievable speed!

Though the Brown Minotaurs were considered the weakest in the Forest of the Labyrinth, that was only "within the Forest."

When the Brown Minotaurs got close enough, Revan finally pulled something out from inside his cloak.

It was none other than—

“The herd is gathering! Now, let me show you a true Korean-style bullfighting show!”

…a bamboo spear.

And the tip was sharpened to a deadly point.

Gripping the spear in reverse like a Spartan warrior, Revan hurled it with all his might at the leading Minotaur.

Whoosh!!

Revan’s Strength stat was over 200.

And all you needed to wield a bamboo spear was a Strength of 20.

It was just a bamboo pole, a bit long, but hardly heavy.

But if you packed enough force behind it, even a bamboo spear could become a missile.

That’s what was flying toward the Brown Minotaur now.

Crash!!

[Critical Hit!]

“Nice one!”

The head is a great critical zone for any living creature.

The missile-like spear embedded itself squarely in the center of the brown bull’s forehead.

But as expected of a Minotaur, the symbol of strength.

Even with the spear stuck in its forehead, the Brown Minotaur didn’t die instantly. It just—

“Gaaaah…!”

Collapsed to the ground, coughing blood and groaning.

Revan dusted off his hands and said,

“Of course, it’s a brown bull. Since ancient times, oxen have been both a farm’s treasure and a symbol of strength, right? Now, let’s move on to the second spear.”

After that, Revan kept throwing spears without rest.

Each time, the spears pierced through the brown bulls’ foreheads.

Thud! Thud! Thuuud—!

A whole five Brown Minotaurs fell before they even got close to Revan.

Looking down at the groaning Minotaurs, Revan said,

“How about that? Easy, right? As long as you have one of these spears, you too can farm Minotaurs in the Forest of the Labyrinth!”

The only requirement for the bamboo spear was a Strength stat above 20.

Other than that, it was a universal item with no restrictions.

But realistically, even with high Strength, taking down Minotaurs wasn’t easy.

So he pay-to-winned.

He made a purchase others would never consider. That purchase was—

‘A spear with a seriously insane Penetration Option.’

He’d bought an option-added item for a price that most people wouldn’t dream of paying.

The effect was spectacular.

Looking at the brown bulls groaning on the ground, Revan was honestly impressed.

‘Money really is the best. Even a plain bamboo spear turns into a ballista with the Penetration Option.’

The spears Revan bought had both high penetration stats and extra attack power.

So even though the spears themselves were cheap, the price was sky-high.

Each spear cost about 100,000 won in real money.

Revan bought about twenty of them.

So he’d invested around two million won just on spears.

But he didn’t regret it one bit.

‘There was a famous streamer back in the day who said this: If you decide to stream, never regret investing in your broadcast.’

Top streamers always make back what they invest in their shows.

And along with the reputation and the praise for their passion, those things become the very drive that helps streamers create better content.

Clap!

Revan clapped his hands to mark the editing point.

Then he retrieved the spears from the foreheads of the downed Minotaurs and granted the groaning bulls a peaceful end.

“Alright, next one.”

That was plenty of showmanship for the Brown Minotaurs.

They were, after all, considered the weakest in the Forest of the Labyrinth.

‘For weaklings, that’s enough. The real fun is with the stronger ones—gotta be more stimulating for those.’

Revan recovered his spears and walked deeper into the forest.

---

‘Found it.’

The Forest of the Labyrinth was much larger than expected.

Most of the forest was occupied by Brown Minotaurs.

After wandering for a long time, Revan finally spotted a Minotaur of a different color.

[Black Minotaur / Lv.117]

At least five levels higher than the max level 112 Brown Minotaurs.

Nicknamed the "Black Bull."

Seeing a Black Bull among the oxen, Revan marked the editing point and started his commentary.

“Finally found it. This time’s target is the Black Minotaur—literally a black bull, right? But what a shame, the only one I need is the black bull, but there are these pesky brown bulls mixed in. Don’t worry though. I have a perfect filter.”

Swish—

With the "filter" comment, he pulled something out of his cloak.

A bamboo spear.

“It’s the spear.”

Revan waved the spear in front of the camera and continued his commentary.

“So now, I’ll carefully begin the filtering process to separate the black bull from the browns.”

There were three brown bulls near the black bull.

Revan took a short breath and hurled a spear with all his strength at a Brown Minotaur.

Whoosh!

A terrifying slicing sound.

The spear shot like an arrow, piercing the Brown Minotaur’s head.

[Critical Hit!]

[Brown Minotaur has been taken down in one blow.]

“Huh?”

He hadn’t meant to kill it outright, but it seemed his aim was perfect this time.

With one brown bull down, the remaining ones aggroed onto Revan.

Without hesitation, Revan threw another spear, nearly killing a second brown bull.

Now only one brown bull and the black bull remained.

The two furious Minotaurs charged at Revan.

Seeing this, Revan drew another spear and hurled it at the remaining brown bull.

Crash!

A clean penetration shot.

But this time, he aimed for the shin, not the forehead.

With its left shin pierced, the Brown Minotaur collapsed to the ground, screaming.

“Moooooo!!”

Meanwhile, the Black Minotaur kept charging at Revan.

Revan clicked his tongue and said,

“Tsk, tsk. As expected of a black bull blinded by greed—not an ounce of camaraderie.”

He spread his arms and lowered his stance, preparing to receive the Black Minotaur head-on.

Soon, the Black Minotaur was less than ten meters away.

Fwooosh!

With a solemn expression, Revan pulled a blowgun from his cloak and fired at the Black Minotaur.

[You have used the Goblin Leader’s Sleep Toxin.]

[The target falls into a deep sleep.]

Thud—!

The Black Minotaur collapsed.

The effect of the sleep toxin was astounding.

Revan approached the sleeping Black Minotaur and patted it.

“That’s one hell of an effect.”

The Goblin Leader’s sleep gun.

First time using it, and it worked great.

He hadn’t expected it to knock out the bull so quickly.

Looking down at the sleeping Black Minotaur, Revan pulled something out from his cloak.

‘This will do nicely.’

With a sly smile, he held it up in front of the camera and gave it a little shake.

What Revan had taken out—

It was none other than a "nose ring."

(Serial) The Mage No Longer Hides His Power