Chapter 53: S-rank Gate Hunt (2)
The next day…
Oh Kang-Woo got up early, ate breakfast, and prepared to go out.
Next to him was Echidna, who was wearing a white one-piece dress with frills.
Kang-Woo asked, "Is this the dress you bought yesterday with Seol-Ah?"
Echidna grabbed the dress's hem and spun. It was a movement Kang-Woo would normally see in manhwa, and looking at Echidna, who resembled a doll, he felt as if he was inside one.
"Does it look good on me, Kang-Woo?" Echidna looked up at him expectantly.
Kang-Woo smiled and patted her head. "Yeah. You look amazing."
"Hehe."
It seemed Echidna was happy to hear Kang-Woo's praise. She lightly clenched her fists and skipped.
She pranced toward Han Seol-Ah and bowed her head.
"Thanks. Kang-Woo liked it, just like you said."
"Fufu. You would've looked amazing in anything since you're so pretty, Echidna." Seol-Ah patted Echidna's head while making a kind smile.
Kang-Woo turned toward the entrance door. "Then I'll go hunt with Echidna."
"Okay, Kang-Woo."
Seol-Ah seemed to be envious when she heard that he was going to hunt with Echidna, but she smiled bitterly and nodded.
She knew that she was still far too weak to hunt with him.
"Have a safe trip, Kang-Woo."
"You're going hunting today too, right, Seol-Ah?"
"Yes. I'm going again with Si-Hun, Tae-Soo, and Eun-Bi."
"If you see a monster you've never seen before, don't fight it. Just run away."
"I understand."
"I'll go with you to check up on you guys sometime soon."
"You will?"
"Yup."
Seol-Ah seemed surprised.
Kang-Woo slowly nodded.
'I think it's about time I help them power level.'
They had probably gained a lot of battle experience, so it was necessary to help them level up to speed up their growth.
"Hehe. Then I'll be waiting for that day," said Seol-Ah. She seemed happy just to hear that Kang-Woo would be joining them soon.
Leaving behind the happy Seol-Ah, Kang-Woo drove to the S-rank Gate.
* * *
"Right, then, let's begin," Kang-Woo said.
After driving to the S-rank Gate, Kang-Woo easily entered the Gate by using the access permit Cha Yeon-Joo had given him.
'Fewer Hwarang Corps members were at the Gate than last time. I wonder if something happened?'
Normally, the entrance would be completely surrounded by members of the 1st Squadron, but there seemed to be fewer of them today.
'Well, I guess it doesn't matter.'
It wasn't important whether or not something happened to the Hwarang Corps.
Kang-Woo glanced at the faraway lake and said, "Don't go near that lake. A very dangerous monster lives inside it."
"Got it. I'll stay with you, Kang-Woo," Echidna said.
"Okay then, I'll lure the monsters here and you support me with magic. Don't transform into your original form."
Echidna would obviously be far more powerful in her original form, but that form was just too big. There was a high chance that they would attract the attention of too many monsters.
"Okay."
Echidna nodded, her eyes full of enthusiasm.
Kang-Woo used the Authority of the Beholder to search for monsters around them.
'A Giant Ogre, huh?'
He sensed a giant five meters tall roaming around.
The Giant Ogre was the most common monster that appeared in the Suwon S-rank Gate. Because it gave a lot of experience, it was a popular monster to hunt.
'Let's try hunting one at a time first.'
Kang-Woo used the Authority of Temptation to lure one Giant Ogre to them.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
"Echidna, get ready."
.
"Okay."
The floor rumbled as if there was an earthquake.
Kang-Woo lowered his body after seeing the Giant Ogre approach.
"Graaaahhhhh!!" the Giant Ogre roared.
Kang-Woo was momentarily overwhelmed when he saw a five-meter-tall giant roaring and running toward him.
'Authority of Titanic Might.'
Kang-Woo concluded that, without using an Authority, he wouldn't be able to beat a Giant Ogre, so he used the Authority of Titanic Might and clashed against it.
Boom!
As Kang-Woo and the Giant Ogre collided, the surrounding terrain was upturned, and a loud sound rang out.
"Urghhhh." A short exclamation escaped Kang-Woo's mouth.
'As expected from an S-rank monster.'
Even with the Authority of Titanic Might, the monster's strength was hard to bear.
'But…'
Kang-Woo's eyes shone.
While maintaining the Authority of Titanic Might, Kang-Woo quickly ran up the Giant Ogre's arm and reached its shoulder.
'… It's nothing I can't defeat.'
Crack!!
"KRAARR!!"
A spear made of demonic energy pierced the Giant Ogre's neck.
Kang-Woo actually wanted to use the Authority of Blades on top of the Authority of Dark Spears to tear apart the Giant Ogre from the inside out.
'But that'll be a bit too difficult.'
If he simultaneously used three different Authorities in his current condition, that would be pushing it.
'I can't go against this thing's raw strength without the Authority of Titanic Might.'
Kang-Woo clenched his spear even harder to prevent the Giant Ogre from shaking him off.
The Giant Ogre was so strong that blood came out of Kang-Woo's hand from clenching the spear too hard.
As Kang-Woo and the Giant Ogre clashed with each other, Echidna aided Kang-Woo with her magic.
"Dark Scythe."
Twelve black scythes appeared in the air and flew toward the Giant Ogre.
Slash! Slash!
"Gaaaaaahhh!!"
The Giant Ogre, which had been trying to shake off Kang-Woo, was stabbed by the twelve scythes. Its eyes turned red, and it flailed even more violently.
"GRRRR!!"
The Giant Ogre frantically charged toward Echidna, who was attacking it from afar.
"I can't let you do that," Kang-Woo said. He then dismissed the Authority of Dark Spears and concentrated the Authority of Titanic Might onto his right hand.
Crack!
His right hand, powered with the Authority of Titanic Might, penetrated the monster's skull, and Kang-Woo felt something squishy.
'Authority of Electricity.'
Bzzt!!
"Guuuuurrr…"
The Giant Ogre, with its mouth agape, staggered after having its brain directly fried with electricity.
A black scythe flew toward the sluggish Giant Ogre's neck.
Boom!
The five-meter-tall Giant Ogre fell to the ground.
Ring.
[You have successfully defeated the S-rank common monster Giant Ogre.]
[Increasing EXP.]
[Your level has risen by 1.]
'I leveled up from just killing one monster.'
Kang-Woo's eyes shone after he read the message window.
Usually, it would require a party of Players at least Level 65 to hunt in an S-rank Gate. Therefore, because Kang-Woo was at Level 40, he'd gained a massive amount of EXP at once.
'Very nice.'
He thought that choosing to go to an S-rank Gate was the correct decision. In an A-rank Gate, he wouldn't have been able to level up after killing a single monster.
"Kang-Woo, are you okay?"
Echidna approached Kang-Woo, who was covered in the Giant Ogre's blood. She looked at him with worried eyes.
He gently patted her head and said, "I'm fine. It's just a scratch."
Kang-Woo had gripped the spear tight so as to not be thrown off the Giant Ogre, so his palm had been slightly cut. Since it was only a tiny scratch from the spear shaft, it wasn't even worth using the Authority of Regeneration.
"I'll treat you." Echidna didn't seem to like that he had been injured even a little, so she began licking the wound.
"…"
A ticklish sensation spread from his hand.
While smiling awkwardly, Kang-Woo looked at Echidna, who was licking his hand.
'That hand has been inside the Giant Ogre's brain.'
Kang-Woo thought it would be better not to tell her that at this moment.
"I'm fine now," Kang-Woo said, pulling his hand out of Echidna’s grasp.
Echidna looked at him, a bit disappointed. Looking at his hand, she carefully asked, "Kang-Woo, was I of help?"
"Yeah, you were."
He did not even have to hesitate. She really had been of great help in hunting the Giant Ogre.
Echidna smiled brightly after hearing his answer.
Kang-Woo fell into thought while looking at her.
'For her to be this strong without being in her original form…'
He thought that if she fought using her original body, they would be able to horde-hunt even inside an S-rank Gate.
"I feel like I've become way stronger after connecting with you, Kang-Woo."
Echidna looked at her own body in surprise. She felt that, after spending a night with Kang-Woo, she had become stronger than before.
"Hmm…" Kang-Woo, who still appeared troubled by Echidna's choice of words, gulped. "Let's hunt another one."
"Okay."
After devouring the Giant Ogre with the Authority of Predation, Kang-Woo moved on to find the next target.
"Kiieekk!!"
"That's…"
At that moment, he noticed a group of Wyverns flying toward them.
Wyverns weren't S-rank monsters, but it was known that one had to be even more careful with them than with Giant Ogres because Wyverns traveled in flights.
'There are more than thirty Wyverns.'
Kang-Woo's expression stiffened when he looked at the group of Wyverns flying toward them.
A group of over thirty Wyverns was powerful enough to take down a Giant Ogre easily.
"Kiieekk!!"
The group of Wyverns descended toward Kang-Woo and Echidna at near-supersonic speed.
Kang-Woo dodged the Wyverns' attacks while hugging Echidna.
Scratch.
"Ah…" Echidna screamed.
While they were dodging the attacks, the claws of a Wyvern had caught on Echidna's dress and ripped it.
Echidna's face turned pale.
"A-Aaahhh…"
"Let's run away," Kang-Woo said while looking at the group of Wyverns, but Echidna wasn't in a state where she could hear his words.
She said, "K-Kang-Woo…"
"Hmm?"
"Kang-Woo praised me for this dress…"
Her body trembled while she gripped the torn dress. Then, a terrifying energy erupted from her body as if an explosion had happened.
"Kang-Woo praised me for this dress!"
A blue light covered Echidna, and then a giant dragon that made the Wyverns look like a flock of sparrows appeared.
"Krrr?!"
The Wyverns, which had flown toward them as if pursuing the scent of a delicious treat, stared in surprise at Echidna, who had transformed into a dragon.
[GRRRAAAAAHHHH!!]
Echidna's roar rang out.
After hearing the roar of a dragon, the Wyverns tried to turn around and escape.
Crack! Crush!
Echidna massacred the group of Wyverns trying to escape.
The group of Wyverns, which could hunt a Giant Ogre as if the Giant Ogre were a child, died powerlessly under Echidna's claws.
"Wha…"
Kang-Woo laughed in disbelief.
'Isn't she stronger than me?'
Echidna was stronger than he had initially thought.
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