WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: BlueMangoAde
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 866: F-Rank Hunter Jeon Myeong-hoon (5)
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Gate Wave.
It refers to a period that comes every few years, when the number of Gates explosively increases and the quantity and quality of monsters emerging from them rapidly rise as well.
Some say it happens because humanity's sins run too deep.
Some say it is because something has gone wrong with the dimensions.
Others say it exists for the amusement of the Constellations.
That is the Gate Wave period.
And during a Gate Wave, society is subjected to extreme control to prevent disorder, while punishments become exceptionally severe.
Especially for Hunters like Jeon Myeong-hoon, who have been diagnosed with mental illness and then carelessly escaped a psychiatric ward.
If they resist arrest upon discovery, they can even be killed.
Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
Riiip.
Jeon Myeong-hoon tears down a wanted poster from a utility pole and looks at his own face printed on it.
"Hm."
The poster lists Jeon Myeong-hoon's face, Hunter Rank, and threat level.
Unlike ordinary wanted posters, ones for Hunters also list their Hunter Rank and special notes.
[Special Notes: Escaped from the barrier of a Hunter with C-Rank combat power. Presumed to possess a special innate skill or the patronage of a special Constellation.]
[Threat Level: E to E+]
"Ha. It says I escaped from a Hunter with C-Rank combat power, so why is my threat level only E-Rank?"
When Jeon Myeong-hoon clicks his tongue, Charcoal replies.
[Yes, Your Highness. The Hunters and Awakened of this world count not only the mana they have cultivated and their skills, but also the power they receive from Constellations as part of their combat strength. However, there is an anti-Constellation technique, so they seem to believe power received from Constellations is easy to suppress.]
"What if they find out I am not receiving patronage from a Constellation?"
[Most will likely assume Your Highness receives patronage from a Constellation.]
"Why?"
[Most skills in this world are mana techniques produced by absorbing mana into the body. A technique that strikes the flow of the world and repels mana without drawing additional mana into the body is judged to be an alien power, like the power of a Constellation.]
"Tch. Anyone in this world could do it if they just developed their senses a little."
After saying that, Jeon Myeong-hoon slaps his own mouth.
"Don't show off, Jeon Myeong-hoon. For now, just be plain old human nobody Jeon Myeong-hoon."
He slowly walks south.
[By the way, Your Highness. Where are you planning to go?]
"Jeju Island."
Evening.
News broadcasts play on the televisions displayed at an electronics store beside a stream.
Jeon Myeong-hoon's gaze turns toward one of them.
[SSS+-threat Gate appears on Jeju Island. Numerous casualties.]
An F-Rank Hunter named Jeon Myeong-hoon escaping a psychiatric ward did not cause much of an uproar.
It happens occasionally.
But the appearance of an SSS+-threat Gate is one of the incidents currently throwing South Korea into chaos.
Jeon Myeong-hoon looks at the Gate on the screen.
Countless ants emerge from the rift that appeared on Jeju Island. They wear clothes like humans, walk upright on two legs, and devastate their surroundings.
The human government attempted to speak with the intelligent ants, but they refused to listen to reason. News reports say all S-Rank and higher Hunters throughout South Korea are gathering on Jeju Island to subjugate them.
Jeon Myeong-hoon narrows his eyes at the ants' clothing.
"No matter how I think about it, those ant bastards that came out of the Jeju Gate..."
Among the ants are several wearing clothes emblazoned with a [Red Lightning Spear].
Of course, most of the ants wear clothing with different designs, but a considerable number wear the red spear emblem.
"It looks like some of my believers are mixed in with them."
[Oh, has Your Highness's great renown spread even to another world?]
"As if. Until recently, my daily routine was sitting around Mount Sumeru and rolling about. They shouldn't know me. Yet some of them wear a symbol I believe to be mine. They may be my believers. But I've never proselytized. Especially not in another world."
Jeon Myeong-hoon places a hand on the shop window, his eyes gleaming.
"Then why do those bastards have my symbol? I was told Sword Spear sold off my original body, and those Dimensional Trade Company bastards have it. It looks like they're doing something strange with my body right now. In other words, if I find those bastards and beat them up, I'll learn where my original body is!"
[I see. In that case, I shall do my utmost to help Your Highness reach Jeju Island...]
That is when it happens.
"Hey, mister. Take your hand off the window."
"Ah, sorry."
"Yeah, but where did I see you..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon apologizes to the shop owner, who seems to recognize him, hurriedly pulls up his hood to cover his face, and leaves.
A while later.
Jeon Myeong-hoon senses Hunters following him.
Dense waves of mana.
They have tried to conceal themselves, but Jeon Myeong-hoon can clearly sense the mana leaking from them, as well as their filthy killing intent.
In an alley in downtown Yongin, Jeon Myeong-hoon draws the pipe slung across his back.
"Hey, mister over there. Show me your face."
Rustle.
He does not bother concealing himself and removes his hood.
The five Hunters who followed Jeon Myeong-hoon exchange looks, then snicker.
"You're that lunatic, right? The one who escaped. If you come quietly..."
Boom!
Pretending to approach with a friendly offer, one of them draws a blue scimitar from thin air and swings it at Jeon Myeong-hoon.
A blue slash flies toward Jeon Myeong-hoon. He moves his pipe and cuts the slash apart with Mana Cutting.
Then he charges at one of the Hunters.
"W-What kind of skill does this bastard..."
"Idiot, it's Constellation patronage. Get out of the..."
Before another Hunter can finish saying "the way."
The Hunter Jeon Myeong-hoon chose loses both legs in an instant, then is struck by Jeon Myeong-hoon's pipe and sent flying.
"You bastard! Han-sik's legs...!"
"Wait, don't get excited. That bastard just cut through a mana shield."
"Shut up! Die, you lowly..."
Boom!
Jeon Myeong-hoon's pipe cuts through the air and instantly accelerates to its limit.
His spear thrusts five times in succession.
Bam! Bam!!
Another Hunter charging at Jeon Myeong-hoon has all their limbs broken by the five consecutive thrusts, then is struck in the solar plexus and sent flying.
'Three left.'
"Fuck! You bastard! Do you think you're the only one with Constellation patronage..."
One Hunter tries to summon something resembling a figure behind their back, but Jeon Myeong-hoon immediately charges forward and drives his spear into their abdomen.
"Urgh... Uuurgh..."
Clutching their stomach, they barely endure by focusing the Constellation power they had been trying to summon solely on healing.
'The rest...!'
"Run!"
The remaining two apparently judge the situation quickly and flee.
But Jeon Myeong-hoon sharply spins his spear and, at some point, strikes the mana with its tip.
Mana Repulsion activates!
The mana in the air is forcefully repelled, creating a shockwave. One Hunter trying to flee is struck by the shockwave and immediately loses consciousness.
Jeon Myeong-hoon tries to intercept the last one with a shockwave as well, but they are already too far away.
"Tch."
He clicks his tongue and leaves the alley.
'I can handle them, but I still can't reinforce my body with mana. That makes it difficult even to pursue trash like that.'
From Jeon Myeong-hoon's perspective, having always moved at the speed of lightning even when he was slow, his current body, which cannot properly accept mana, is inconvenient beyond measure.
Then, walking through the alley, Jeon Myeong-hoon lets out a sigh.
"Hoo..."
The five Hunters who followed him while radiating killing intent.
And another Hunter who followed him without any killing intent, but was doing something strange.
"What do you want?"
At some point, the alley he has been walking through has returned him to where he started.
The Hunters he defeated have vanished without a trace.
He immediately understands.
The space has been warped.
It feels like the illusion barrier Park Su-in used before.
"Come out and talk. You're annoying me."
Tap!
At Jeon Myeong-hoon's words, someone appears atop the wall beside the alley.
A pink-haired woman who appears to be in her early to mid twenties.
"Hello, psychiatric ward escapee? I'm Lee Ra-hye. Our guild likes wanted people like you, so I came to recruit you. I'd heard it from the moment I learned you escaped a Hunter psychiatric ward, but you really aren't an ordinary Hunter, are you? To subdue so many E-Rank Hunters this quickly."
"......"
"Those Hunters are fairly well-known scum around here, but seeing you do that to them with just one pipe, either it's a better item than I expected, or you're quite..."
"So what about recruitment? What are you trying to say?"
"Ahahaha, right, right. I got sidetracked. It's our guild entrance test. Survive for ten days in the labyrinth I created! I've even manifested several Gate monsters inside, so it's quite..."
"Hey."
Jeon Myeong-hoon looks at Lee Ra-hye.
"This stupid barrier would take me only an hour. How skilled are you?"
"...What?"
"I asked how skilled you are."
"No, not that. What did you just say?"
"Shall I guess? Doctor Park Su-in was about a C-Rank Hunter with Constellation power included. The female civil servant from then was A-Rank when I looked into it. You're somewhere between them, so you must be around B-Rank."
"...Ha..."
Lee Ra-hye glares at Jeon Myeong-hoon with a chilling expression.
"An F-Rank bastard with barely any mana gets some Constellation patronage and now you're acting like a fucking asshole? Fine. You can die here in agony."
Snap!
As Lee Ra-hye snaps her fingers, Jeon Myeong-hoon's vision turns white, and a strange illusion appears.
The world turns white.
Lightning falls everywhere, and someone holds Jeon Myeong-hoon's hand with delicate fingers.
And then...!
Jeon Myeong-hoon frowns.
He immediately swings his spear and shatters the illusion.
'Was that the kind of illusion that provokes trauma?'
Of course, given the level of the being within Jeon Myeong-hoon's trauma, she likely could not recreate it perfectly.
But the mere fact that she tried makes Jeon Myeong-hoon extremely displeased.
"I was rude first, so I won't kill you. But once I leave this barrier, I'll pull out every one of your teeth. Remember that."
"Ha, crazy bastard. Die trapped in the Trauma Labyrinth."
Boom!
Jeon Myeong-hoon thrusts his spear toward where Lee Ra-hye had been standing.
The wall where she stood collapses, but she has already vanished.
Beyond the collapsed wall, the alley stretches endlessly once more.
At the same time, grotesque creatures approach Jeon Myeong-hoon from the end of the alley.
All of them seem to be imbued with skills that provoke trauma. They keep trying to induce hallucinations in Jeon Myeong-hoon.
"Hmph."
Skill, Demon-Breaking Spear!
Boom!
Jeon Myeong-hoon charges at the creatures and smashes every one of them apart.
The shallow illusions the creatures had meant to show him are all shattered.
He closes his eyes.
Then, with his eyes closed, he takes a thrusting stance.
The skill he uses is Demon-Breaking Spear!
Every time Jeon Myeong-hoon uses the skill, the system assists its power.
At the same time, the level of Demon-Breaking Spear rises rapidly.
It happens because the user's understanding of the skill has exceeded its limits.
Boom!
[Basic Skill: Demon-Breaking Spear LV.MAX]
Jeon Myeong-hoon raises Demon-Breaking Spear to level 10 in no time.
Then he calmly thrusts endlessly toward empty space.
His senses detect the crude barrier created by the B-Rank Hunter Lee Ra-hye.
'Compared to the real formations of Mount Sumeru, it is crude beyond measure. But the problem is the difference between the person who created it and me. Right now, I can't break this barrier in one strike.'
If he cannot break it with strength, he has no choice but to receive the world's assistance.
Jeon Myeong-hoon recalls the moment when his spear cleaved the world, pierced a hole through the system window, left a trace in the system, and obtained skills.
Booom!
For an instant, Jeon Myeong-hoon's spear punches a hole through space.
It would be impossible if this were real space, but this is a barrier.
An artificial space created crudely.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
This is a world that breaks so easily under the spear strikes of someone merely F-Rank.
[W-What? Do you have the Barrier Breaking skill? That's a high-rarity skill. You're lucky!]
"Lucky..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon smirks.
Lee Ra-hye seems to be a reasonably skilled barrier mage, as she fills each hole Jeon Myeong-hoon makes.
However, Jeon Myeong-hoon's smile only deepens.
A hole is made, then filled.
During that process, Lee Ra-hye's mana gathers in the area.
A barrier is a small world.
The master of that small world concentrates its flow in one place.
At the moment her mana becomes concentrated throughout the area.
Jeon Myeong-hoon grips his pipe.
Then.
His hand becomes fixed in empty space.
Thoom!
He feels an immense density.
This is different from before.
'Here.'
The point where Lee Ra-hye's mana has concentrated, and the flow that forms the axis of the barrier in this area.
With his spear embedded in that point in space, Jeon Myeong-hoon begins a spear dance.
Spear forms intertwine, and Lee Ra-hye's mana begins to be drawn in by Jeon Myeong-hoon's spear.
[Huh? Y-You bastard, what are you doing...!]
She tries to control the mana being drawn in by Jeon Myeong-hoon's spear.
But her control cannot keep up with Jeon Myeong-hoon's spear dance.
She gives up trying to control it and begins pouring out innumerable creatures from the end of the alley.
"Not a chance."
But in the next moment.
The spear forms of Jeon Myeong-hoon, growing fiercer and beginning to accelerate, draw in the mana until it starts whirling more and more violently.
Lee Ra-hye's mana swirls through the barrier as it is drawn toward Jeon Myeong-hoon's spear.
The storm of mana begins grinding apart the surroundings.
At the center of the storm, Jeon Myeong-hoon watches the mana storm grind the creatures apart and begins guiding its power.
'More.'
Rumbleeeee!
'More...!'
The flow of mana drawn toward Jeon Myeong-hoon has now manifested, and it begins to run wild.
'More, more, more...!'
Then, in an instant.
The pipe within the storm, having drawn it forth through an improvised trick, rides the mana storm and reaches the point where the storm's force is guided to a single point.
'Because that person would have done it this way...!'
For an instant.
External mana fills the pipe.
The external mana inside the pipe shines brightly and is shaped by Jeon Myeong-hoon's will.
A dazzling mana spearhead shines from the tip of Jeon Myeong-hoon's pipe. At the end of his spear form, he pours all rotational acceleration into its tip and unleashes the final thrust.
Boooom!
The entire barrier shatters into pieces.
Beyond the barrier, Jeon Myeong-hoon has somehow been moved to a mountain valley in Yongin.
No, the alley he entered from the beginning must have been Lee Ra-hye's trap, a mountain valley disguised as an alley.
Cough!
Beyond the barrier, Lee Ra-hye coughs up blood and staggers.
At the same time, the pipe that broke the barrier has shattered as well, making it difficult to use.
Lee Ra-hye bleeds as she glares at Jeon Myeong-hoon.
"You... you bastard... what are you...? What Constellation could... Uuugh..."
Jeon Myeong-hoon pays little attention to her words.
Before him, the system window flashes as it twitches, claiming it will reverse-calculate the trace he left upon the world, before granting Jeon Myeong-hoon a new skill.
[You have acquired the skill, Dragon Twister Thrust LV.1.]
"At last, I have a skill that looks somewhat useful."
After briefly skimming the skill description, Jeon Myeong-hoon dismisses the system window and walks toward Lee Ra-hye, who wipes away blood and gathers mana again.
She smiles nastily as she raises her mana.
"I understand that your skill is impressive. I understand that you are beloved by a Constellation. But!"
Whiiing!
Her right eye turns blue.
"From the moment you enter the range of my Detection Eye, I can fully understand your condition. You barely have any mana? You must have used it all with that terrifying skill just now. And that pipe-shaped item has broken. You're finished. I can't use a barrier because of the backlash, but someone like me can easily deal with an F-Rank who has used up all his mana..."
"Oh, right."
Thwack!
Before she can even react by gathering mana, Jeon Myeong-hoon charges forward and punches Lee Ra-hye in the face.
She is struck before she can react.
Her legs give out all at once.
"I said I would pull out all your teeth, didn't I?"
Grab!
Jeon Myeong-hoon grabs Lee Ra-hye by the collar as she begins to fall.
"W-Wait..."
Bam!
Jeon Myeong-hoon's fist crashes into her face.
Her teeth fall out in a shower, and her pretty face becomes covered in blood.
"S, uugh, sahve meh... sahve me..."
"Don't worry. I'll only pull out all your teeth. I won't kill you. You should be grateful, if anything. If you had felt the being from my trauma that you tried to manifest, your mind could have collapsed and turned you into an idiot. Breaking the illusion early was better for you."
"Uuugh, sob..."
"But you still have to pay the price for daring to bring back memories of that time."
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Jeon Myeong-hoon forcibly pulls out every one of Lee Ra-hye's teeth, then speaks.
"Charcoal says wounds like that can all be healed with a potion. Don't exaggerate. Take me to your guild... Hm, no."
He glances at the broken pipe.
"No, forget it. Give me your phone. Put in your guild members' contact information. Is it this? Yes..."
Soon afterward, Jeon Myeong-hoon calls Lee Ra-hye's guild and speaks with a cold expression.
"I am holding Lee Ra-hye hostage at 00-dong, 00 Mountain, Yongin. If you want her returned alive and well, bring one high-quality Hunter spear. Hm, I pulled out all her teeth, so bring a potion too."
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