‘Isit because Idestroyedthecircle?’


    Whenhehaddestroyedthe summoningcirclethe firsttimehehadn’t received anotification.No,hedid, but it wasn’t for thequest, instead,creatinganotherquesttodestroya recoverycircle.


    ‘So, thisspeciesisaWolf-Ohimera?’


    Achimeraitself was amonsterthat wascreatedbbiningdifferentmonstersand this particr variant ofchimerawasbinationof both an Orc and a Wolf as thenamesuggested.


    Soo Hyuk never thought that thechimerawould literally be named for its previous parts.Though, it didn’t matter much to him, so he turned around with ashrug.


    –Soo Hyuk:I amdonehere.I’ming back.


    Soo Hyuk sentKamiana voice message as he returnedthen,openedhis quest window.


    〈TheTroubled UndergroundWaterway〉


    In the underground sewers ofHadrac,chimerassuddenly beganappearingin thewaterways.Ian and Alexmadethedecisiontocleanup the underground waterways, but thechimeraswere strong andpossessedpowerfulpoison.In theend, theexpeditionfailed, and themostthey couldachievewastopreventthechimerasfromescaping.Cleanthe underground waterways of thechimerasandidentifytheirsource![ChimeraSummoning Circle A:1/1]


    [Chimera Summoning Circle B:0/1]


    [Chimera Summoning Circle C:0/1]


    [Chimera Summoning Circle D:0/1]


    [Chimera Summoning Circle E:0/1]


    [Chimera Summoning Circle F:0/1]


    [Chimera:64/ ???]


    [Quest reward:S-RankPromotion, ???]


    ‘Still, five of them left.’


    Soo Hyuk hapletedone of the questrequirementsbydestroyingtheWolf-OrcsummoningcircleA. Now the remainingsummoningcirclesB, C, D, E, and Fremained.Ifhedestroyedthe remainingsummoningcirclesthenhewoulpletethequest.


    ‘If IincludetheRecoverycircles, then it wouldadd upto 10magircles.’


    Ofcourse, there wasn’t any guarantee thatwasaRecoverycirclewith every Summoningcircle.But, thepossibilitywasn’tlow, so if hekeptthat suspicion inmind, then thetotalnumber ofmagirclesshould be as many as 10.


    ‘ShouldIdowhatIdidwith the first Summoningcircle?’


    Soo Hyuk calcted hisnextmoves as heclosedthe quest window.Lasttimewhen hetriedtodestroythe summoningcircleaquesthadappearedtodestroythe recoverycircle.Hismindmoved,tryingto figure out what hisnextsteps shouldbe.


    “ThereasonwhyIsawthe recoverycircleand notRoa, it was all becauseIreceivedthequest…’


    IfRoahadthequest, then she could haveseenthe recoverycircle.But, she didn’thaveit and wasunabletoseethecircle.


    ‘If Icastmagicon thatce…’


    Justbecause the recoverymagicwas invisible,didn’t meanit didn’t exist.So, what wouldhappenifhecastmagicon that spot?


    ‘I’llneedto experiment.’


    Heneededtoknowifhisexperimentwouldleadto thedestructionof themagircles, orifnothing wouldhappen.So, Soo Hyukdecidedhisnextdestination.


    ‘It would bebetterwithout them.’


    He would berelievediftherewasn’t muchchanceoftherebeingrecovery circles.


    “You’rehere!”


    “Yes, shall wecontinue?”


    Returningto theintersection, Soo HyukansweredKamianas he replied toKamiam.Hepulledout his Map andunfoldedit while gesturing toward hisnextdestination.


    “What kind of chimeras is there?”


    Soo HyukaskedKamianwhile gesturing to hisnextdestination.


    “Isthis where you aregoing?”


    “Yes.”


    “Fromhere.”


    Kamianpointedhisfingerat a certain part of themapandanswered.


    “Hmm, the chimerashereshould be binationoffoxesand goblins.”


    So, thatwastheirnewdestination.


    “A Fox and Goblin?”


    “Yes, and they are calledFox-Goblinchimeras.”


    KamiansawSoo Hyuk’s confused expression andnoddedhishead.


    “They arequitedifferentthan thoseWolf-Ohimeras.”


    “Different?”


    “Yes, inWolf-Ohimeras, thewolfwasthe one whoattackedwithpoison, right?”


    “Yes, you’reright.”


    “Unlike theWolf-Orc, thefoxisn’t whoattackswithpoison, it’sthe goblin.Whenever theWolf-Orcattacked, itwasthe orc whousedphysicttackswhile the wolf spat out poison.


    “Hmm, that would betricky.”


    Soo Hyumented.


    “Yes, but I don’t think you’llhavetoworryabout the poison attacks.”


    “…”


    HearingKamianswords, Soo Hyuk couldn’t helpwonderingwhy he wouldn’t need toworry.Were theypreparedfor it?


    “Ketoto!Showhim!”


    SeeingSoo Hyuk’s puzzled expression,Kamianeximed.


    “Okay!”


    Ketoto, who was vaguely listening to theirconversation, suddenly opened hisinventorypullingout ashield.


    However, even afterlookingat theshield, Soo Hyuk couldn’t shed off hisdoubts.They may use the shield, but it was too small.No more than 40cm indiameter.


    However, in the following moment, Soo Hyuk was able to letgoof hisdoubts.


    Siaak!


    The small shield suddenly erged insize.


    “Thisshieldisa specialized weapon, so we don’t have toworryabout theirpoison.”


    “Sothe poisonous attacks are not ofconcern,”


    Kamiansaidlookingat theshield.


    “But…”


    HeslurredhiswordsashelookedintoSoo Hyuk’seyes,saying.


    “B-Butthere is oneproblem.”


    Ofcourse, therewasaproblem, if not they would have met therequirementsfopletingthequest.


    “Problem?”


    “Yes, we might be safe from the iing attacks, but it won’t be easy for us to attack.”


    Themainissuewasthefoxwho didn’t take part in theoffensebut instead moved around,makingit difficult tohittheFox-Goblinchimera.


    Theshieldcouldprotectthem from the poisonattack, however, theycouldn’tattackwhile theshieldwas up.


    “Oh, Isee…”


    Soo Hyuk nodded, understanding the situation.


    ‘But if IcastPoison Storm orFireStorm…’


    It was true Soo Hyuk had various tricks up his sleeves which included spells that could be cast regardless of a protective shield.But, theissuewasthedurationand continuous casting such spells.


    ‘It’ll taketoolong.’


    Thespellstooktoo muchtime.


    “Then fornow.”


    Afterpondering, Soo Hyukopenedhismouth.


    “I’lltakethehits.”


    “Huh?”


    Kamianwas taken aback, not only him, butKetoto,K-Cross, andGaranwho had been silently listening to theconversationinsilencewerealsosurprised.


    “We can fully block the poison attacks, and they wouldn’t be weak.”


    The poisonattackswouldn’t be light.So,Kamiancouldn’t help butvoicehisconcernas he wassurethey wereabletopletelyblocktheattackswith theshield.


    Moreover,SooHyukwasamage, and itwasbasimonsense that they have very low health.


    But ofcourse,Kamian’sconcernwas fully valid ashedidn’tknowSooHyukwell.AllheknewwasthatSooHyukhad astrongoffensive power, whathedidn’tknowwashishealthwas morethan110 thousand, much higherthantheir tankerKetoto.


    “I’mafraidit’ll taketoolong if werelyon theshield.First,letmetrytohitandkillthem, if it getstoodifficult, we canusetheshield.”


    Soo Hyukexinedhimself withreasonandlogic, so he didn’t need toexinabout hishealth.Listening to him,Kaminaand theKomaguild members agreed with hisn.


    With thatdecided, helookedat themapand thegroupset out, a few momentster,K-Crosswho waswalkingaheadof thegroupsignaled them tostop.He had been watchingaheadwith hisskill ‘Hawk’s Eye.’


    “Therearechimerasahead.”


    K-Crosswarned.


    “Iseethree of them.They mightrangebetween 900,000to1million.”


    SayingthatK-Crosscouldn’thelpbut stumble back abit.


    -Huh?What’sthissmell?


    -Smells like ahuman.


    -Huh, really ahuman?


    Just asK-Crossstumbled back, theyheardavoiceinfrontof them.


    ‘Voices?’


    If theirhealthwerebetween 900,000 to 1million, thatmeanttheywerenormalchimeras.But unlike a Wolf-ohimera.TheFox-Goblinchimeras were fluent in humannguage.


    ‘Isitbecauseit’spart Goblin?’


    Arethey the same level as before just with an intelligent goblin?


    “Wait a moment.”


    Soo Hyuk stepped forward.


    “Just incase,Ketoto, be ready!”


    What if theFox-Goblinchimeras are more cunning than weexpectedand unexpectedly attack.So,Ketotomoved forward upon hearing Soo Hyuk.


    “Ok!Just give me a signal, and I’ll be there in no time.”


    AfterKetoto’sassurance, Soo Hyuk proceededforward.


    -Huh?Only one?


    -Huh?But Ismelledseveral of them?


    -Ithinkhe’s herealone.


    Soon, Soo Hyukmetthe chimerasfacetoface.Just like theWolf-Orcvariant, theFox-Goblinchimerashada goblin for itsupperbody.


    -Be paralyzed!


    The center chimeraattackedfirst, ittriedto paralyze him with its poisonattack.


    ‘I’llhavetotakethehit.’


    Soo Hyuk was wondering how strong theattackmightbe.


    Hiikk!


    Soon, saliva flew out of the goblin’s mouth;Soo Hyuk raised his arms to take a direct blow.As soon as it made contact, anotificationappeared.


    [You have resisted poisoning.]


    Justasheexpected,hedidn’t get poisoned, thenheopenedhisstats,checkinghishealth.


    ‘500.’


    Helost500health.


    ‘I don’t have toworry.’


    Heknew, the more healthtaken, the higher thedamage.However,hedidn’t need to worry even though the Chimerashadthehealthof 900,000 to 1million.Even if he got hit three times, it would still only add up to 1,500.


    It wouldtakea longtimefor 110,000healthtoreachzero, and by thattime, Soo Hyuk was confidenthecouldkilltheseFox-Goblins.


    -Oh,he’smoving.


    -Iguessthepoisonhasn’thaditseffectyet.


    Soo Hyuk, who was busylookingat hisstatswhile those chimeras weretalking,openedhismouth.


    “Fire Spear!”


    Just one spell was enough toheavilydamageone of theFox-Goblins, there wasn’tmuchneed to attackmuchmore.


    Kwang!


    Though Fire Spear was quite explosive, itwasjust thebeginning.


    “me Dance!Poison Chains!Firebolt!Fireball!Poison Spear!”


    Soo Hyuk showered them in spells, soon, anotificationappeared before him.


    -Fox-Goblin’s special poisonous needles[2].


    -Fox-Goblin’spoison.


    ‘Iknew,Ididn’t need toworry.’


    Lookingat thewindowinfrontof him, Soo Hyukwonderedwhy the chimeras were unable toresisthisattacks.Soon he concluded it was because he didn’t give them any room to attack.But, they weredifferentfromWolf-Orc’s who narrowed thedistancelittle by little.


    ‘Ithinkwe can move forward.’


    Soo Hyuk, whothought something might go wrongand had attacked so fiercely,tookhisitemsandreturnedto whereKamianand theKomaguildwaited.


    Kwang!Kwang!Kwang!Kwang!


    Hearingsuch a swift and fierce battle,Kamian,Ketoto,Garan, andK-Crosshadtheir mouths wide open fromshock.


    ‘I don’t think heneedsashield.’


    After such ashock,Ketotowasthefirsttobreakthesilence.


    Hecouldn’t help but feelbitter.Nomatterhow strong Soo Hyukwas,hethoughthewouldbethe tanker.


    Thisstagehadamuchhigherdifficulty than the previous zone, sohehad beenhopingthiswashischancetoshowoff hisabilities, but…


    Just like theWolf-Orc’s, Soo HyukdefeatedtheFox-Goblinchimeras on his own,hesimplydidn’tneeda tanker’shelp.


    ‘I’m useless.’ (1)


    At leastK-CrossandGarancouldhelp, it wasn’tmuch, but theycouldstillhelpwhile he did nothingmakinghim feel bitter.


    He forced himself tostophis self-loathing and looked forward.Finding Soo Hyukapproaching.


    ‘Should Ichangemyjobandbeamage?’


    Lookingat him,Ketotohadan impulsive thought.SeeingSoo Hyuk’sstrength, the mage ss looked quite attractive.


    Ofcourse, such a thing happening was unthinkable toKetotowho hadinvestedalotintobeinga tanker.Changingto the mage ss was just a fancy thought.


    “I don’t think weneedtheshieldfornow.”


    As soon as Soo Hyuk arrived,Ketoto, who was alreadyfeelingbitter, feltworse.But theconflictsdidn’t show on hisface, there was noneedfor him toruinsuch agoodteam and wasn’t it agoodthing that the tanker didn’tneedto step up?


    “Let’sgo!”


    “Okay!”


    Hearing Soo Hyuk’swords,Ketotosnuffed out hisbitternessandrepliedwith a voicefullofenergy,followingbehind him.


    ‘Huuu…’


    With hisfeelingsnuffed,Ketotosighed.


    ‘Will there be asituationwhere I’mneeded?’


    Will there be anopportunitywhere he couldexecutehisroleas a tanker?


    ‘Iwantto do something, but…’


    KetotofollowedSoo Hyuk, because of thenamehehasgainedas theDemonhunterwhoughteredtheDemonguild.Hethoughtfollowing Soo Hyuk wouldbringhim anewscapegoat.


    But justashewasswimmingin hisbitterness,Ketoto’swishcame true. (2)


    “Ketoto.”


    “…Yeah!”


    Ketoto, who hadbeen, lostinthought,heardSoo Hyukcallhim andcametohissenses.Then,hecouldn’t help butsmilewhenheheardhiswords.


    “Ihaveafavortoaskof you.”


    Trantor and Editor Notes:


    1: Poor guy, he just wants to do his job.


    2: I would say careful what you wish for…


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