Chapter 30: Egg of Vengeance

“Puhahaha!”

Lee Chulhun let out a booming laugh, completely unfazed by the awkward stares directed at him.

His laughter was so loud that even the nearby Madheads froze in place for a moment.

“My head—hah—ow…”

He doubled over with tears forming in his eyes, laughing so hard his body shook.

His finger pointed squarely at Roy, leaving no doubt about who he was laughing at.

“Eugh, what the hell?”

If it had been a friendly joke among close friends, Roy might not have minded.

But Lee Chulhun was one of the contestants he had been in a standoff with.

Just as Lee Hajun clenched his fists and glared at Chulhun, the egg that had been sitting on Roy’s head gently bounced to the ground and then hopped onto Chulhun’s leg.

Chulhun flinched as he felt something smack into his forehead.

His laughter stopped immediately as he began flailing his arms.

He lost his balance and began falling backward.

Kangchul, who had been nearby, caught him just in time.

The egg climbed up onto Chulhun’s shoulders and started smacking its entire body against his forehead with audible whack, whack sounds.

A large lump shaped just like the egg bulged out on Chulhun’s forehead in an instant.

“Pfft…”

Lee Siwoo turned his head and covered his mouth.

The atmosphere had been full of fear when the Madheads first appeared, but now it felt like watching a comedy sketch.

“Get this thing off me…!”

“Got it.”

Chulhun, mindful of the cameras, didn’t yell at Siwoo directly.

Instead, he barked the order at Kangchul.

Kangchul reached out to grab the egg.

His large hand seemed close to catching it, but the egg quickly dodged and smacked Chulhun’s forehead again.

“Ber, stop.”

Roy stepped in, barely holding back his own laughter.

He wasn’t worried about Chulhun’s head—he was worried the egg’s shell might crack.

The egg bounced back onto Roy’s head and settled on his crown again.

“Kiiiik!”

The Madheads, now ignored, shrieked in frustration.

With their attention stolen by the egg, they charged at Roy and his teammates.

“What levels are you all at?”

“I’m still at Level 2…”

“Same here!”

“I’m at Level 3.”

Roy checked his own stats and confirmed he’d gained another level.

Only Lee Siwoo had reached Level 3; the rest were still at Level 2.

Lee Chulhun and Kangchul didn’t answer, but Roy didn’t bother asking again.

Several items dropped to the ground as the Madheads were defeated, but there was no time to examine them.

Even though each of them had taken down at least one Madhead, more enemies were appearing faster than they could eliminate them.

“This looks like a torch!”

Lee Hajun picked up one of the dropped items at just the right moment.

With a whoosh, a flame ignited, and the surroundings lit up.

“Kyieeek!”

“Kiiik!”

The Madheads shrieked and backed away in horror.

As dark-type monsters, they were naturally afraid of light and fire—especially at lower levels, where their sensitivity was even more extreme.

***

“I think we should keep hunting Madheads until we reach at least Level 5,” Roy said, encouraging his exhausted teammates.

Lee Chulhun, rubbing the bump on his forehead, didn’t look happy that Roy was taking charge like a leader.

Whether it was the producers’ arrangement or not, only Madheads had appeared so far.

From Level 1 to 10, monster abilities didn’t vary that much, but a Level 1 contestant facing a Level 10 monster still carried significant risk.

“Ber, do you think you can take out some of them too?”

Roy reached up and gently patted the egg sitting on his head.

Judging by how easily it had wrecked Chulhun’s forehead, Roy figured it could probably handle Madheads just fine.

He felt a light bouncing on the top of his head before the egg shot off like a bullet, striking a nearby Madhead squarely in the face.

BANG! With a loud crack, the Madhead froze in place midair, shaking violently.

Roy quickly closed in and delivered the finishing blow.

[Level up! You’ve reached Level 10.]

[Hero, if you say ‘status window,’ you can check your Hunter stats too!]

‘Status window.’

[Name: Hwang Roy]

[Age: 22]

[Class: Elementalist]

[Summon 1: Water Kiber (Status: Egg)]

[Level: 2]

[Grade: ?]

[Physical Ability: ?]

[Magic: ?]

‘Why is everything just question marks?’

[It’s probably because your starting point is different from the other Earthlings.]

Roy got the feeling the voice knew the reason but didn’t want to say it.

He was about to press for more answers when another Madhead lunged at him, forcing him back into combat.

***

“Roy! Behind you—!”

Three more Madheads came at him all at once.

Just like before, Ber used Roy’s shoulder as a springboard, hopping from one Madhead to another, slamming into each of them in turn.

However, the strength difference was starting to show, and Roy found himself slowly pushed back.

Lee Hajun, holding a torch in one hand and a dagger in the other, was cutting down Madheads when he shouted in alarm.

“Behind you?!”

Roy turned his head in the direction Hajun was pointing.

His expression instantly darkened.

“KYAHAHAARGH—!”

A massive head, larger than all ten of the Madheads they had faced so far combined, loomed toward them with a crushing sense of presence.

It was a Level 10 monster—King Madhead.

“Ugh…”

“Hyung!”

At the sound of King Madhead’s scream, Roy’s vision blurred for a moment.

In that brief pause, the regular Madheads he had been holding off rushed at him all at once.

One of them was blocked by Ver, but the other two slammed straight into Roy’s torso.

He doubled over from the searing pain in his chest and solar plexus, reflexively swinging his dagger.

Thunk.

“…This is really bad.”

The dagger in Roy’s hand snapped clean off, leaving only the handle.

Its already poor durability hadn’t held up under the relentless fighting.

Now essentially unarmed, Roy quickly moved behind the largest tree nearby.

Crash!

“Kiieeeek!”

A King Madhead lunged after him.

If only he could’ve moved in the direction where Lee Chulhun was—but it seemed Roy looked like the tastiest prey to the King Madhead.

With a single headbutt, the King Madhead gouged out a round chunk of the tree Roy was hiding behind.

The remaining trunk couldn’t withstand the continued impact and finally broke.

“Just one more item drop… Something I can use as a weapon.”

Even a torch like the one Lee Hajun was swinging around would be enough to buy some time.

Roy began rolling across the ground, reaching out in desperation to find any fallen items.

But all his hands found were damp weeds.

“Hyung, hang on! I’m coming to you!”

“I’ll move too—just hang in there a little longer!”

Seeing Roy in danger, Hajun stomped his feet anxiously while Lee Siwoo fought off incoming Madheads and began making his way toward Roy.

“Serves you right.”

Unlike the others who were worried about Roy, Lee Chulhun scoffed, mouthing silent insults to avoid being picked up by the mic.

Kangchul glanced in Roy’s direction with an unreadable expression, then shook his head and refocused on the fight.

“Ugh…”

Meanwhile, Roy was being pushed further and further into a corner.

He reached toward where items were likely to have fallen and ended up slicing his palm.

And then—

Ber, who had been striking Madheads like a madman, suddenly charged into Roy’s palm.

“What are you doing now?”

Roy tried to shake him off, but it was no use. It was as if his hand had been coated in glue—Ber stuck fast and wouldn’t budge.

The flame-shaped symbol on the egg’s surface began to glow even more intensely.

It looked like it was trying to suck Roy’s blood.

“Kyaaaah—!”

But Roy didn’t have the time to keep watching Ber’s strange behavior.

The King Madhead charged at him again.

Roy rolled half a turn on the ground and narrowly dodged the attack.

The Madhead’s headbutt smashed the rock that had been beside Roy a moment ago.

A shard grazed Roy’s cheek, and he winced at the hot sting as he wiped the blood away and forced himself to keep running.

“Roy hyung! Catch this!”

Hajun had made it close to Roy.

He held a weapon item dropped by a dead Madhead.

It was a hammer-shaped weapon with a round, head-sized ball—like a shrunken Madhead head—attached to the end of a long handle.

Hajun threw the weapon toward Roy, who reached out to catch it.

But another Madhead flew in and smacked the hammer away.

“Damn it…”

Roy almost cursed aloud.

He bit his lip and moved in the direction the hammer had flown.

With Madheads flying around wildly in a frenzy, he had to nearly bend in half just to dodge.

Wham!

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Siwoo had rushed in to help.

The Madhead that had been aiming for Roy’s torso was knocked off course by Siwoo’s dagger.

The now-disoriented Madhead crashed into a nearby tree and stopped moving.

Its head was firmly lodged in the trunk—it seemed unable to move.

Siwoo approached from behind and finished it off.

“A torch!”

As the Madhead turned to ash, the torch Hajun had picked up dropped to the ground beneath it.

Siwoo immediately activated it and swung it while running toward Roy.

“Kiiieeeek…”

“It’s really pissed off now.”

The area where the King Madhead’s eyes were located began to glow red.

Though Chulhun and Kangchul hadn’t helped Roy directly, they had steadily taken down Madheads and leveled up.

As the number of Madheads around them noticeably decreased, the King Madhead grew enraged.

Roy’s unexpected resistance only fueled its fury—he was supposed to have been an easy meal.

“It can grow even bigger?!”

The King Madhead started to swell, like a balloon being pumped full of air.

Hajun’s voice trembled with surprise.

Everyone had gained some levels, but no one had even reached level 10 yet.

The killing intent radiating from a level 10 monster froze their bodies despite their willpower.

“Byaaahhh—!”