Chapter 10: The Strongest Porter (3)

The office worker gasped for breath and asked.

Since he’d been beaten all over his body, he wouldn’t be able to move properly for a while. Unless he was a Regen-type.

“You’re about to collect your bounty, right? How much are you worth?”

My casual answer made the office worker’s face twitch slightly. He probably thought he was some big-shot killer, but getting beaten to a pulp like this must have thrown him off.

“I haven’t been counted for anything over 300 million.”

Nice. That meant at least 300 million.

“I never said I’d let you be caught.”

The office worker raised his hand with a smirk.

Of course, I expected he’d try something. There was no way someone committing murders in a crowded place would move without at least one escape device.

Snap!

“Ugh!”

The stone I threw hit the office worker’s right hand dead on.

Turns out my aim is better than I thought. Maybe I should be a baseball player instead of a Hunter?

If you hit a human body, that counts as a strike, right?

“Sun Hunter. Are you still alive?”

“I’m okay, but the others…”

Blondie is a Regen-type, so minor wounds heal quickly. As long as they aren’t fatal. But the others aren’t so lucky.

Looking around, I saw wounds all over the place.

Those who were bleeding badly were all pale, biting their lips hard.

They looked pained but also relieved, seeing the killer subdued, thinking it was finally over.

Once we got out of the Dungeon, they’d receive proper treatment and survive.

But this couldn’t be the end.

I approached the office worker.

Exhausted, he couldn’t run away and just stared at me.

Crazy people are something else.

Normal folks get scared when beaten, but this guy stared right into my eyes.

Like he was silently promising revenge.

Hah, unbelievable.

There are always these kinds of people—those who project themselves as some kind of dark hero.

Lost in their own twisted sense of justice, sacrificing innocent people. And acting like it’s for some great cause.

His eyes were like he was watching an immature fool ruin his noble plan.

If this were another world, I’d want to teach him that torture shapes people.

“But I’m curious.”

There was something I really wanted to know.

“Do you get your bounty if you’re alive, or does your corpse count too?”

I smiled while locking eyes with him. His expression twisted oddly.

Was my question that unexpected?

Since our friend who tried to run earlier still had energy to spare, it seemed I needed to take some of that away.

Bam!

I sent a straight punch to the bridge of his nose. The office worker collapsed with a crisp impact.

Snap!

I stepped on his neck. It sounded like something broke, but he didn’t die instantly, did he?

I felt a bit of emotion without realizing it.

I didn’t like it.

People who act like predators just because they have a little more strength than others.

“Ugh, heh!”

Looks like he’s not dead yet.

He convulsed in pain, so I kicked him in the abdomen like I was telling him to shut up.

After getting hit again, he curled up like a shrimp and started coughing up blood.

The people you butchered probably felt worse. You’re not going to break down from this, right?

“Hah… hah… you’ve… killed a lot too, huh?”

The office worker asked with tears in his eyes. Maybe he instinctively realized my punches were meant to kill.

I didn’t care whether a guy like him lived or died. Actually, dying might even be better.

“What were you trying to do with the sacrifices?”

“How do you know about that…?”

The office worker looked puzzled at my words for a moment.

He was trying to use the energy of people inside the Dungeon as a medium for something.

The first thing that came to mind was stimulating the Dungeon Core.

Linking with the dormant Dungeon Core in some way, injecting life energy.

I’d seen similar acts of summoning bosses to awaken the Dungeon’s master, even in another world.

But it’s weird.

What would a simple murderer gain from awakening a Dungeon boss?

Usually, a Dungeon with many casualties wakes up the boss.

Then a raid party is formed to hunt the boss down.

But the villain I heard about—the office worker—hated Hunters.

If he was moving to kill Hunters, why bother waking a boss?

It’s not like he’s desperate to join a raid party for loot.

“Sun Hunter, and everyone who can move, prepare to leave here.”

The sickly yellow light grew stronger and more ominous.

It smelled rotten enough to make you gag.

The color was about to shift, signaling the phase change.

“It’s already begun.”

The tremors started faintly but quickly shook the Dungeon.

Walls cracked, and a sticky liquid gushed out from the fissures.

“The sacrifice can be even myself.”

Shadows stretched long from his fingernails. The guy tore into his own chest.

A deep furrow appeared, and soon a gush of blood filled the space.

“I’m sure you understand.”

His eyes glinted with madness.

Not only others’ lives but even his own was worthless to him.

His filthy gaze landed on my face.

“You’re the Hero, aren’t you?”

“What?”

The office worker uttered an unexpected name.

When I went for interviews, even calling myself a Hero earned only mockery, but now this lunatic I’ve never met calls me that.

He spat blood.

Rumble.

The guy laughed as if even pain was pleasure, like his goal had been achieved.

“That’s your delusion.”

I charged at him.

Even dying, he swung his briefcase at me as if resisting.

The briefcase’s bottom revealed sharp blades, aiming to scratch my face.

I swatted it away lightly and grabbed his neck.

“Store.”

“…?”

He looked confused by what I was doing.

The barely-living body was forcibly dragged into my inventory.

Wow, so this is what Jiwoo felt like—hunting monsters and carrying them around. Oh? Even making them fight.

“He’s… gone?”

“That’s not the point right now. Let’s get out of here.”

No time to explain in detail.

Because the sacrifices already absorbed, the Dungeon started mutating.

Sounds of respawning echoed everywhere.

The office worker tried to offer his life as the final sacrifice.

The more mana an entity holds, the higher its value as a sacrifice.

Under normal conditions, it might have failed, but a dying body couldn’t refuse being trapped in an inventory, so I gave it a try—and it worked.

“Oh, orcs!”

Why do my bad instincts never fail?

These monsters weren’t comparable to Lesser Goblins.

What was respawning now were orcs.

Creatures roughly human-sized, their bodies honed by constant fighting.

One orc could kill a dozen ordinary people with ease.

Of course, it depends on the Hunter’s skill, but for the rookie Hunters on Layer 1 here, even one-on-one was impossible.

And there were many of them.

“Grrr!”

An orc roared to assert its presence.

The one who roared was slightly bigger than the others—a captain-level orc.

Orc Champion. Something like that.

The orc champion looked our way and pointed a finger.

If only it had just been summoned, it should be confused, but I wished we had more time to think.

“Hah, huh. Orc…”

“N-no way. This is Layer 1!”

Those wanting to deny reality raised complaints about the surreal situation rather than running.

But there was no chance the orcs would apologize and turn back.

At best, these were just a prelude for something bigger to come.

I just stopped the office worker’s life from being sacrificed, but what if the people here die?

There would be more sacrifices.

And some boss-class monster that requires sacrifices would be summoned.

No matter how strong I am, I’m still a Level 1 Hunter. Ah, Level 2 now—I leveled up without noticing.

Anyway, if people die here, the boss-class summon we barely prevented will start again.

The orcs charged toward us.

“If you don’t want to die, run now!”

My shout seemed to snap some sense into the panicked Hunters, who started running.

I put all the immobilized seriously wounded Hunters into my inventory.

Of course, without asking.

The orcs were still some distance away. We had to get as far from them as possible.

“Coach, there are orcs ahead too!”

Hearing Blondie shout that, I frowned.

The only one still sharp was Blondie.

The rest were five wounded Hunters.

“Blondie, cover the rear!”

“Huh?”

Oops, I accidentally called her by what I was thinking.

“Hunter, keep the orcs chasing from behind at bay. Those of you feeling okay, you two there—the guy named Kim Taeyang and the bearded one—are you both alright?”

They looked ready to fight.

If they were going to sit around whining just because the office worker cut them here and there, they should quit being Hunters.

These people didn’t know what I was about to do. No, their minds were on the verge of breaking just thinking about orcs attacking from front and back.

“I’ll go to the front. The two I just called will assist in combat. The other three keep watch on the sides. Move out!”

I wasn’t sure how much we could accomplish as this makeshift team.

Blondie was trained by me, and I thought she was decent—at least for a rookie.

I was probably the only one who could fight properly here.

I dashed forward.

The orcs blocking the way were startled to see me charging them.

Actions speak louder than words. Show them first, earn their trust.

Whomp!

An orc at the front swung a massive broad axe.

Swinging with gusto was great, but you have to aim to hit, not just show off your strength.

Maybe it’s an occupational hazard.

When I see things like this, I can’t help but analyze and teach.

But I wonder if they understand me?

“Ugh!”

I dodged easily and hit his shin with a low kick.

He was well-built, so it didn’t break in one hit.

No, judging by the way he staggered, maybe it did. His gait became awkward.

Lee Changwook, let me borrow your skill for a sec. Are you listening?

I activated Changwook’s skill, Provocation, stored in my inventory.

The three orcs charged me, oblivious to their surroundings as if they’d fallen head over heels at first sight.

Is this what it feels like when a popular girl gets hit on?

Maybe it’s nice if the handsome and pretty do it, but a bunch of ugly guys swarming isn’t so pleasant.

Whoosh!

I dodged an axe swing and gently shoved the orc.

He accidentally tore his comrade’s shoulder.

Hey now. Friends shouldn’t fight like that.

I grabbed the orc’s wrist and disarmed the axe.

He looked more surprised than when he slashed his friend.

I delivered an elbow blow to his face.

I could already picture him falling down.

Without checking, I threw the axe at another orc.

Crack!

Maybe I was a lumberjack in a past life. That split nicely.

I kicked the orc’s belly, then prepared to lecture the orc upset about being attacked by a friend.

The charging orc roared and stabbed with a spear.

If you get hit, pay it back.

I accepted the orc’s savage logic and stepped lightly aside.

I saw the spear pierce the chest of his friend who had hit him with an axe earlier.

Wow, seriously.

Don’t make friends fight each other. Don’t do that.

Sliding smoothly, I drew a dagger from my side and plunged it into the orc’s ribs.

Then I grabbed his head from behind and slit his throat.

The three orcs fell side by side.

No time to mourn.

A level-up message popped in my field of vision, but I had no time to check.

Orcs were still chasing from behind.

“Let’s go.”

I led the way, holding the orc’s spear.

The two melee fighters I was trying to help looked wide-eyed.

“Are you… really a trainer?”

“Of course.”

They didn’t know I had awakened yet.

If I told them my awakening class was Porter, they’d never believe it.

Experience fighting to the death in another world doesn’t go to waste.

Melee Combat LV MAX

I could finally read one skill name on the Blue Status Window.

Just as expected.

The skills and achievements in the Blue Status Window seemed to be from before.

Melee Combat was the skill I maxed out when I was a Hero.