Chapter 61: Field Boss Hunter Kim Song-cheol (2)

Cheon Hui-ryeong leaped toward the Reaper.

The black energy rising from her entire body surged like a tidal wave.

She flipped her body once in midair and slammed her heel down onto the Reaper’s wing joint.

*Boom!*

The moment her heel made contact with the wing joint, a massive explosion erupted, and black energy rippled outward in concentric circles.

*Kreeeeee!*

The Reaper’s scream erupted, loud enough to tear eardrums.

Simultaneously, dozens of long tentacles sprouted from its body and stretched toward the sky.

Hooked blades, curved like scythes, were attached to the ends of the tentacles.

The Reaper’s glistening eyes tracked Cheon Hui-ryeong, and the tentacles shot toward her accordingly.

*Clang, clang!*

The tentacles were incredibly fast.

Cheon Hui-ryeong, her hands wrapped in black energy, hurriedly deflected the blades aimed at her neck.

Other tentacles flew toward her a half-beat later, but she kicked the air and retreated quickly.

*Vroom!*

It was then that Setsu’s green sphere flew in.

The sphere approached rapidly and latched onto the Reaper’s two pairs of wings.

The green sphere expanded abruptly, shackling the Reaper’s wings like handcuffs.

*Clang!*

The weight wasn’t particularly heavy compared to the Reaper’s size, but it interfered with the act of flapping.

Losing its lift, the Reaper began to plummet.

Kim Song-cheol moved in an arc while riding his Board.

His eyes were fixed on the Reaper, and a red light already smoldered in both of his hands.

“Bolt Bringer.”

The moment Kim Song-cheol thrust his hands forward, two streaks of red light spiraled around each other, aiming for the Reaper’s head.

*Craaaaash!*

The Reaper was struck by the intense red light, rendered utterly defenseless.

The small black feathers covering its face scattered in all directions as its skin began to melt.

Soon, the bone was exposed.

The red spiral of the Bolt Bringer gnawed at the bone before piercing through with a *crunch*. The beam that entered through the cheek likely scrambled its brain.

However, the Reaper merely shook its head violently as if in pain.

This was only possible because that was not the head of the ‘main body.’

Still, there was progress.

*Thump!*

The Reaper lost its balance, wobbled, and slammed into the ground.

They had finally succeeded in dragging it to the earth.

Taking advantage of the Reaper’s disorientation, Cheon Hui-ryeong lunged forward and threw a straight punch at the wing joint—the same spot she had struck with her heel earlier.

*Crack!*

The weakness of avian Monsters was their bones.

Unable to withstand the double impact, the wing snapped.

At the same time, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky.

The lightning, which narrowly missed Cheon Hui-ryeong, struck the broken wing joint with precision.

It didn’t end with a single strike.

Red lightning rained down relentlessly, like the needle of a sewing machine.

*Kreeeeee!*

The Reaper let out a loud cry and flapped its wings, but it only exacerbated the injury.

The wing, barely held on by shreds of muscle, could not withstand the movement and tore away from the body.

“Nice!” Setsu shouted from the sky.

The key was how many wings they could sever before entering Phase 2.

The goal was to remove at least two.

They had already achieved half of that.

“We’re not done yet!”

Cheon Hui-ryeong, who had briefly stepped back, charged again.

Kim Song-cheol’s Mana Blade, its casting already complete, darted forward and cleared a path by slicing through the tentacles.

Thanks to that, Cheon Hui-ryeong was able to land an attack on the other wing with ease.

*Boom!*

A loud noise echoed the moment her fist connected with the wing.

Just then, a horseshoe-shaped green object fell from the sky, slammed into the Reaper’s neck, and pinned it to the ground.

It had effectively immobilized the neck.

Kim Song-cheol didn’t stay idle either.

The Mana Blade sliced through tentacles, and more red lightning continued to rain down on the Reaper from the sky.

The three Hunters were moving organically.

Even without speaking, they knew their roles and produced the best results in their assigned tasks.

Setsu’s task of sealing the Reaper’s movements was on the easier side, but the synergy between Cheon Hui-ryeong and Kim Song-cheol was like the interlocking gears of a complex machine.

And that was something Kim Song-cheol was experiencing for the first time.

He had always been part of a team, but it had felt more like ‘taking care of and protecting’ others rather than fighting together.

One part of his mind was always focused on his teammates, making it difficult to fully concentrate on the battle.

But now was different.

He could leave certain parts to Cheon Hui-ryeong and Setsu.

He didn’t even need to worry about the tasks he had entrusted to them.

*Crunch!*

Just then, the sound of a bone breaking echoed from behind once more.

Cheon Hui-ryeong retreated, dodging the incoming tentacles like a gymnast.

Seizing that opening, Kim Song-cheol’s Magic sliced through skin and muscle.

He had destroyed the tissue connecting the wing to the body.

The second wing was destroyed.

With the next few attacks, the third wing also fell off.

Having become quite accustomed to the Reaper’s movements, they were able to take the third one quickly.

It was just as Cheon Hui-ryeong stepped back to catch her breath.

All the tentacles shot stiffly into the air and trembled.

The Reaper’s glistening eyes also lost their light.

*Groooooooo…!*

Unlike its usual cries, the Reaper let out a low, eerie moan and went limp.

The tentacles also lost their strength and fell with a thud.

The start of Phase 2.

Kim Song-cheol on his Board, Cheon Hui-ryeong on the ground, and Setsu in the sky all held their breath.

*Ripppp!*

The Reaper’s back surged once, then split open with a gruesome sound.

Like a pupa emerging from its cocoon, a black form slid out through the gap.

It was covered in blood and slime.

The moment it seemed halfway out, it suddenly leaped into the air, revealing its entire form.

*Screech!*

It was a creature with large scythes on both hands.

At a glance, it looked like a monkey, but its appearance was beyond hideous.

It looked as if a half-rotted monkey had been dipped into a drum of blood and slime and then pulled back out.

It was about 3 meters tall.

It was smaller than what he had heard.

That was thanks to them tearing off three wings.

“I’ll catch it first!”

Just before the creature landed on the ground.

A green sphere that had flown in unnoticed suddenly expanded and enveloped the Monster.

Chaos erupted inside.

*Thump! Bang!*

*Skreeeeeee!*

The sound of it thrashing about was clearly audible even from the outside.

“Ugh…! It feels like it’s going to break…!”

Setsu groaned.

*Whoosh!*

Black energy erupted from Cheon Hui-ryeong’s entire body and concentrated in her fist.

Kim Song-cheol also prepared his Magic after using Over Brain.

That thing was incredibly fast.

If he wasn’t careful, there was a possibility he would miss even with Over Brain active.

*Pop!*

At some point, the green sphere burst.

Green particles scattered in all directions as the Monster revealed itself.

At that exact moment, Cheon Hui-ryeong sprinted at full power.

Her speed was best described as being shot like a ray of light.

Cheon Hui-ryeong channeled all that speed into her fist and thrust it toward the Monster.

*Shhhuk…!*

Instead of a powerful explosion, a chilling sound swept through the area.

A streak of black light shot from her fist and surged toward the Monster.

*Craaaaack!*

Additionally, the Bolt Bringer flying through the air changed its trajectory as if reflecting off a wall and descended onto the crown of the Monster’s head.

The spiral of red light, even more intense than before, closed the distance by the second.

In the next moment, Cheon Hui-ryeong’s attack and Kim Song-cheol’s attack exploded onto the Monster.

*Clang!*

*Crunnnnnch!*

Two of the scythes broke under Cheon Hui-ryeong’s attack.

It had crossed its scythes to block the strike at the last second.

She had perfectly targeted the moment it escaped from the sphere, but its movements were too fast.

However, it couldn’t block Kim Song-cheol’s attack.

It only managed to dodge slightly.

The Bolt Bringer, which had been aimed at the head, tore through the creature’s shoulder before slamming into the ground.

Leaving behind one arm that had been attached to the shoulder and two broken scythes, the creature retreated at incredible speed.

*Screech…!*

Black blood sprayed from its shoulder.

Less than half of its scythes remained.

Almost as soon as it was born, it had lost more than half of its attacking power.

But the creature did not yield.

It immediately lunged at Cheon Hui-ryeong.

It closed the distance in an instant and swung its broken scythe with all its might, but it only sliced through empty air.

Cheon Hui-ryeong was no longer there.

It was because Kim Song-cheol had already placed a suggestion using Hypnosis.

*Boom!*

If an attack fails, one must face the consequences.

Cheon Hui-ryeong’s fist landed squarely in the creature’s side.

As it flew sideways, it collided with a wall Setsu had created, and it was struck in the same spot again by Cheon Hui-ryeong, who was following close behind.

This time, the impact was magnified.

With the wall behind it, it was caught in the middle.

*Keack…!*

As the creature gasped out a painful groan, an intense Bolt Bringer flew in and ground through its knee.

The creature tried to escape even with its one remaining leg, but magical chains erupting from the ground bound its entire body.

And right in front of its eyes, Cheon Hui-ryeong gathered Inner Power in her fist once more.

The moment Cheon Hui-ryeong’s image was reflected in the creature’s eyes.

*Shhhuk…!*

A black beam of light from her fist pierced through the creature’s neck.

The creature, with a fist-sized hole in its neck, trembled a few times before going limp.

It was dead.

The chains unraveled, and the wall blocking the creature disappeared as well.

Cheon Hui-ryeong thrust her hand into the limp corpse.

When her hand, which had dug deep into the creature’s solar plexus, pulled back out, it was holding a fist-sized gemstone.

“Is that it? Is that the one?”

Kim Song-cheol asked as he flew over on his Board.

“Yes. This is it.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong wiped the black blood off the gemstone.

A brilliantly glowing yellow light was revealed.

By collecting three such gemstones and offering them at the altar, the Sang-mun would open.

The gemstones were the keys to opening the Sang-mun.

“This is the first time I’ve earned this many Points. 550,000 Points all at once…”

It was just as Setsu flew over and quietly shared his feelings.

*Grumble….*

A strange sound echoed. Even the vibrations were transmitted through his legs.

He glanced down to see smoke rising from the Board he was standing on.

“Eh?”

Kim Song-cheol immediately cut off the Mana and stepped off the Board, but the smoke only intensified.

Initially, smoke was only coming from one of the output units under the Board, but now both had become chimneys.

*Ssssssss…*

Furthermore, there was an ominous sound.

“…Is it broken?”

It was clearly broken.

Kim Song-cheol scratched his head and tried to flow Mana into it with his hand.

But as expected, there was no reaction.

“Was removing the controller the problem from the start?”

The graduation gift into which Kim Myung-joo had poured his heart had passed away after barely lasting a few days.

“Don’t worry. I’ll buy you a new one. I recommend cutting ties with the person who bought you such a cheap piece of junk.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong spoke as if she had expected this.

It seemed she thought it had broken quickly because it was low quality.

“I told you, there’s a story behind it… By the way, do you have a lot of Points?”

“Not a lot. But didn’t we just earn some?”

“Don’t you guys have to clear the Gate?”

“The place where we live is already a Safe Zone. It was… I don’t remember exactly. It was designated by me several hundred years ago.”

“Whoa…”

Setsu looked at her with an expression that was both complicated and envious.

Kim Song-cheol caught a glimpse of that and spoke up.

“You eat well, right? Did you eat before coming here?”

“Yes. The canned food still has a long expiration date. I eat two of them. I’m the one who gathers it all, you see.”

Setsu nodded and answered proudly.

“Really? How many people live there? In the Safe Zone.”

Kim Song-cheol asked nonchalantly.

“Right now, the Safe Zone is narrow, so not many can get in. Sixty-five people are squeezed in there. There are many more people who want to come in, but there’s no room…”

“Is there anything you’re lacking? Blankets, water, stuff like that?”

“No. We’re not lacking anything. It’s just that the Safe Zone is narrow, which is a bit of a problem.”

“Then, do you want to try some chicken?”

“Chicken? What’s chicken?”

“Fried chicken.”

“Ah, frying something called a chicken? There’s something similar, but I’ve never tried it.”

“You don’t have it there. Hey, move me to a Portal Tablet. My Board is broken.”

“Ah, yes.”

Setsu placed Kim Song-cheol on the green disk and flew toward a nearby Portal Tablet.

Since he had been in the sky the whole time, he had already spotted the locations of about two Portal Tablets.

“Wait just a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Kim Song-cheol immediately returned to Earth and placed an order on his phone.

It was 100 chickens from various brands.

After about 30 minutes, a fleet of motorcycles swarmed majestically in front of the Central Hall.

The delivery riders neatly placed the chicken in front of Kim Song-cheol at the Center, then departed proudly, like riders who had completed their mission.

Kim Song-cheol lifted the 100 chickens with Telekinesis and returned to the Dungeon through the Portal Tablet.

“Here, take this and share it.”

Kim Song-cheol set down the 100 chickens in front of Setsu.

“Whoa…”

Setsu’s eyes were already wide. Just from the smell alone.

“Tell me if it’s good. I’ll bring more.”

Kim Song-cheol said with a bright smile.

“Yes, I’ll definitely give you a review.”

As Setsu was creating a green disk underneath to carry the chicken, he suddenly held out two bags toward Cheon Hui-ryeong.

“Sister, you should try some too.”

“Shall I?”

“What do you mean ‘shall I’? I’ll bring you some next time, so don’t take the kid’s stuff.”

“I suppose so.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong nodded boldly and gently pushed the chicken away.

She was the ever-confident Cheon Hui-ryeong.