WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a B-Rank Hunter ◈
Chapter 8
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The black-and-white city was quiet.
More precisely, the whoosh, whoosh of wind echoed through the tangled streets, along with the sharp crashes of windows occasionally shattering on their own. There simply were no human sounds.
Then harsh military boots rang out. Like a shepherd herding sheep, the sound drove away the silence.
Dohyeon ran with steady huff, huff breaths, his shoulders and hips aligned in a clean straight line. He sprinted down the middle of a street littered with broken glass and abandoned vehicles.
Twenty or thirty years ago, it was a pace that would have won Olympic gold and set a world record. It was even more remarkable considering the bags and equipment he carried.
But no one could have been impressed by that speed right now. Not even the three Mask Men chasing him from behind.
[Why not shoot an arrow?]
The Valkyrie’s voice sounded in his ear. Even while running, he could faintly see her reflected in the shop windows along the street. She flew near him with her wings spread.
Shoot an arrow? She was a dungeon ghost, yet she apparently knew nothing about those monsters.
Thinking that, Dohyeon quickly changed direction and slipped into a narrow alley between the buildings. The Mask Men followed with hiss, hiss sounds.
As the three ran down the tight alley, they crashed into one another and tumbled. Hearing that, Dohyeon sensed that the distance between them had widened slightly and quickly emerged from the alley.
A large shopping mall stood before him. It was a six-story-or-higher building, including its parking garage.
This was the place he had been looking for.
A building this large could hold any number of unknown threats. Of course, it probably also contained plenty worth taking, but that was not why he was entering it now.
As he ran toward the parking garage and glanced back, he saw the three Mask Men emerge from the alley on all fours like beasts.
They changed like that when a chase dragged on. Their speed also nearly doubled. Considering that human limbs were suited for walking on two legs, it was bizarre.
He raced up the curved parking ramp, and the sound of their hands and feet striking the concrete followed behind him.
Clack-clack-clack.
The sound told him the distance was closing quickly. The hissing breaths behind the gas masks felt as though they would touch his spine.
Dohyeon reached the sixth floor in an instant and ran straight toward the open parking-garage railing. At the same time, he quickly pulled loose a ring fastened to his belt.
Without slowing down, he hooked the ring onto the handle of a parked car and leaped over the railing. He felt the Mask Men’s fingertips brush his bag.
As the wire connected to the ring scraped with a screeeech, the Mask Men who had jumped after him reached out to grab him.
Dohyeon twisted in midair, evaded their hands, and kicked them away. Two Mask Men flailed their limbs as they fell below the mall.
“Hieeek!”
As the wire ran out, it caught against his belt with a clunk, stopping his fall. Then the pendulum motion slammed him into the fifth-floor railing.
Gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder, he looked down and saw the two Mask Men already writhing to their feet.
They would not die from a fall that high. He had only bought time.
At the same time, Dohyeon hurriedly looked up.
Two had fallen. Three had been chasing him.
The instant he looked up, a mottled old camouflage uniform and a gas mask filled his vision. The last one had pounced on him a beat later.
Rough hands with a grip like a press and the hissing breath of the gas mask filled his ears.
Feeling its legs wrap around his waist, Dohyeon struggled to break free.
“Hieeek!”
A bizarre cry came from behind the gas mask, unlike anything made by a living creature.
As he frantically shoved the monster away, he saw another gas mask in its hand.
That was a Mask Man’s purpose. To put a mask like its own onto the hunters who entered the dungeon.
Dohyeon quickly wrapped both hands around the arm holding the mask, pulled it in, and twisted.
Crack!
Its bone broke. As though it could feel pain, the hand gripping his collarbone suddenly tightened. It felt as if his flesh would be torn away.
“Hup!”
Enduring the pain, Dohyeon slammed his forehead into the gas mask. Its lenses shattered, and the monster’s grip loosened slightly.
The instant its strength weakened, Dohyeon reached for its gas mask to pull it off.
The monster struggled to stop him. The arm he had just broken had already returned to its original shape and grabbed Dohyeon’s arm. The crushing grip that had nearly torn off his flesh now tried to crush his wrist.
At that moment, Dohyeon felt his left index finger and spine grow hot. It felt as if fire had spread from his spine through the nerves to his fingertips.
From deep inside his stomach, he heard a beast growl.
Still holding his captured wrist, he grabbed the monster’s gas mask. Its arm shook as it strained against him, but it could not stop his movement.
Unable to block his hand, it released the waist it had wrapped with its legs and tried to pull away from Dohyeon.
But Dohyeon did not let it go.
His hand gripped the gas mask and pulled sharply upward.
“...Haaa...”
A faint groan brushed past his ear like the wind. There was nothing inside the mask.
The instant that facelessness was exposed, the Mask Man’s body deflated as though air had escaped a balloon. Only its old camouflage uniform and military boots remained, fluttering in the air.
“Whew.”
Dohyeon let out a short breath of heat. Like last time, after the brief heat came an odd sense of refreshment and coolness.
This ring.
Vargband.
He did not know what price it demanded, but the burst of enhanced strength was extremely useful. It would be even better if he could control its activation properly.
[I cannot see the other two.]
As he caught his breath, the Valkyrie spoke.
Looking down, he saw that the other two Mask Men, who had been writhing below, were gone. They were probably running up through the shopping mall parking garage.
Dohyeon hung the fluttering camouflage uniform from his sling bag strap and quickly grabbed the parking-garage railing. The wire was too thin to grip and pull himself up with.
He released the fastening on his belt and climbed over the fifth-floor railing. Immediately, he saw the two Mask Men racing toward him on all fours like rabid dogs.
Dohyeon lowered his stance and faced them.
Three required wire acrobatics, but two were easier than that.
As the leading one kicked off the ground and pounced, Dohyeon’s eyes remained calm.
He caught the leaping monster on his shoulder and threw it behind him.
“Hieeek!”
With its bizarre cry, the Mask Man flew straight over the parking-garage railing. Instead of throwing the last one that came charging after it, Dohyeon grabbed it and smashed its face into the railing.
The gas mask lenses shattered, and its body briefly went limp. Dohyeon did not miss the opening. He slipped his hand beneath its chin and tore the mask upward.
The gas mask came off, and its body deflated. Its remaining clothes crumpled into a heap.
Dohyeon quickly took off his bag and gathered the clothing left on the ground. The mall was nearby, but intact clothes were rare. Most had rotted beyond wear or were too filthy.
The clothes worn by the Mask Men, though old, would be decent enough after washing. Clean clothes also showed a stronger Vanaskelium reaction, increasing their value several times over.
As he rolled up the clothes and stuffed them deep into his bag, the final Mask Man jumped back up into the parking garage.
“...”
The one that had charged like a rabid dog moments ago now stopped and studied Dohyeon. It seemed unwilling to fall for the same method three times.
So this time, Dohyeon charged first.
The monster hesitated when it saw Dohyeon near the railing, but instinctively rushed to meet him when he ran toward it. Like a predator thrusting out its snout, it stretched out both hands.
Dohyeon reached between its wrists, grabbed its collar, and flipped it over.
Bang!
Its head slammed into the floor.
Then Dohyeon pinned the struggling monster down with his body and tore off its gas mask.
The Mask Man’s body vanished as though it had never existed, leaving only its clothes behind.
Three required wire acrobatics, and two required a high railing, but one was simple. Dohyeon was a proper B-rank, while they were little more than beasts with comparable strength.
[Excellent. The warriors of old said that one who faced and defeated three opponents alone was a great warrior whose name would remain in history. That is what you are, Helisbyorn. My warrior.]
“...”
Dohyeon frowned slightly. What smooth flattery.
In truth, he had merely used the surroundings well and fought three one-on-one battles. Ignoring the Valkyrie’s praise, Dohyeon picked up the clothes scattered across the floor. They were clean.
A message from the Yggdrasil system appeared.
[Sturdy Military Uniform: Even in the middle of an old city crumbling away, it retained its outward appearance. Yet inside, it was empty.]
Would it show a strong Vanaskelium reaction? Even if it did not, its condition was good enough to fetch a decent price. Dohyeon rolled it up and put it in his bag.
After slinging the bag over his shoulder, he quickly headed upstairs to retrieve the wire he had anchored earlier.
Wire strong enough to support a person’s weight in a dungeon while thin enough to wear around the waist was extremely expensive. He could not leave it behind.
His noisy running might have drawn someone’s attention. There could be more Mask Men, or other threats. Whoever it was, spending more time here was not a good idea.
Reaching the sixth-floor railing, Dohyeon retrieved the wire and wound it onto the reel at his belt as he moved.
The shopping mall had been the most conspicuous tall building nearby, so he had come inside, but doing this here could attract all kinds of riffraff. He needed to leave.
With his free hand, he picked up the crossbow dangling around his waist from its anti-theft tether. He needed to check whether it had been damaged while he ran frantically and fought.
Dohyeon moved while retrieving the wire, checking the crossbow, and watching his surroundings all at once. It was the fate of a solo hunter. He had to do everything alone while constantly staying alert in every direction.
After winding up the wire reel, he stopped briefly to load a bolt into his crossbow. He remembered the bolt he had fired at the hand-axe hunter’s team earlier. Could he retrieve it? Bolts were not cheap these days.
With the bolt loaded, Dohyeon crouched low, carefully watched the floor, and entered the dark shopping mall. Broken glass, trash, and toppled mannequins littered the darkness.
Judging by the number of mannequins, the sixth floor seemed to be a clothing store. Naturally, every mannequin was naked.
“Hm.”
Dohyeon stopped as he entered farther inside. He smelled something. More precisely, he smelled a living person.
What made him pause was not the scent itself, but the fact that he could detect it. His sense of smell had never been this sharp.
Could this also be Vargband’s power? Artifacts that enhanced one or more of the five senses were expensive. They guaranteed the user’s survival in a dungeon.
Then Dohyeon instinctively turned and raised his crossbow.
“...”
“...”
His eyes met those of a man peeking out from behind a pillar. He also held a crossbow, but its tip pointed at the floor.
His eyes were calm. Anxiety and fear lay deep within them, but his outward expression seemed composed. He was one of the solo hunters Dohyeon had encountered before entering the dungeon.
“...”
Dohyeon lowered the crossbow he had aimed at him. Some people would kill and rob anyone they encountered, but at least Dohyeon was not like that.
Until the other person attacked first, Dohyeon would not attack either. In the past, that kind of nonaggression had been an unspoken rule among hunters.
When Dohyeon lowered his crossbow, faint relief crossed the man’s face. A slight smile even appeared.
Scratching his chin, he quietly opened his mouth.
“Hey there. I’m Choi Yong-guk...”
Thud.
A short bolt sprouted from his temple. As he slowly slumped down with a blank expression, Dohyeon looked toward the direction the bolt had come from.
Three men stood beyond the corner. Because of the corner, they had apparently spotted Choi Yong-guk before seeing Dohyeon.
Then the one standing at the front finally noticed Dohyeon and grinned.
“You bastard. Fancy meeting you here.”
He was the hunter with the short hand axe.
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