Holy B-Class Life

#079

“Haah…”

Was it because of contact with that stone?

The object, which already emitted an ominous aura, kept bothering him, making him want to just smash it all. Dan Joo-hyuk, after carefully setting aside Yoon Pa-ran’s item, slowly approached the man.

He thought it only affected monsters strangely, but does it influence humans like this too?

Thinking that, a piece of information flashed through his mind. Heo Sang-yeon had mentioned that recently, there were occasional hunters who had seizures despite having no injuries. He had also just found out that those guys were the ones searching for the [Broken Blessing Fragment].

Just how many of these stone fragments are scattered throughout the Gates?

“…”

And who on earth is placing these things?

Having made his decision, Dan Joo-hyuk lunged forward. Thanks to his increased strength, he could reach the man even faster than before.

“Kruk, kruk!”

He kicked the man, who was now making beast-like cries, hard. The man, who had been clumsily trying to grab the stone with his twisted hand, flew without resistance and crashed into the wall.

“Kuk…!”

As he moved away from the stone, the man’s complexion gradually returned to that of a living person. However, his still white-rolled eyes were far from normal.

Is he dead? Dan Joo-hyuk, vaguely questioning, suddenly had an idea and picked up his sword.

Then, infusing it with a little [Sacred Energy], he lightly stabbed the man’s thigh.

“Kraaagh…!”

“Aha.”

The man’s complexion, which had been becoming monster-like, instantly returned to human. Red blood also gushed from his stabbed thigh.

As expected, it’s a power that’s incompatible with Yoon Pa-ran’s skill.

Dan Joo-hyuk laughed pleasantly, newly impressed by the power of [Sacred Energy]. Perhaps if he hadn’t been in possession of Yoon Pa-ran’s skill when passing through that uncomfortable corridor earlier, it would have been troublesome.

“Heu-euk…”

The man, now fully conscious, looked up at Dan Joo-hyuk with a bewildered expression. Then he immediately collapsed to the floor.

“Oh dear.”

It would be problematic if he died here. He was someone Dan Joo-hyuk had many questions for back in Korea.

He needed to find out how the man knew about that secret passage. Given the circumstances, it was likely this guy who had placed the suspicious stone here too.

He poured a little low-grade potion onto the man’s thigh. After the man had recovered somewhat, he reached out again.

He grabbed the man’s lower jaw with one hand.

“Wh-what are you, kuk…”

“It’s best if you don’t say anything unnecessary from now on.”

“Kheok, heuk…”

After mercilessly dislocating his jaw, he activated his skill again. He even curled up the man’s tongue, sealing his mouth. To prevent him from saying anything unnecessary to the hunters who would soon rush in here.

After finishing his measures, he knocked the man unconscious and tossed him to the floor.

“Huu…”

It’s going to be busy for a while.

Dan Joo-hyuk ran a hand through his hair and then turned towards the stone fragment.

“…”

Seeing it up close, it was indeed similar to the stone fragment Heo Sang-yeon had shown him. However, it was larger and emitted an even more ominous aura.

Gauging how much of Yoon Pa-ran’s skill remained, Dan Joo-hyuk picked up the stone fragment.

[■■■ Fragment]

It was the same status window he had seen at Heo Sang-yeon’s villa. Even though the contact was very brief, a terrible energy surged.

Having confirmed his hypothesis, Dan Joo-hyuk now infused [Sacred Energy] into his fingertips.

Soon, the energy permeating the stone fragment began to faintly dissipate. More precisely, it seemed to be pushed away by the white light emitted by Yoon Pa-ran’s skill.

[Purified ■■■ Fragment]

The status window also quickly flickered and the text changed. Soon after, the stone fragment crumbled like powder and scattered. Just like when Yoon Pa-ran had held it in his hand.

It was a moment when the role of the [Sacred Energy] skill became clear.

“Huu…”

He dusted off the powder, completely erasing the evidence. Staring at his now empty palm, he checked if there were any changes to his body condition.

Thanks to Yoon Pa-ran’s skill, he was fine except for some slight fatigue.

“I should have brought him along after all.”

Suddenly, Dan Joo-hyuk muttered softly without realizing it. If the person in question had heard, he would have gotten angry again, but Dan Joo-hyuk kept thinking it would have been better if he had come together.

Why was he suddenly having such sentimental thoughts?

The answer came out quickly, as if prepared in advance. If Yoon Pa-ran, the original owner of the skill, had been here, they could have thoroughly searched that secret passage. They could have experimented in various ways regarding the boss monster too.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he felt. It seemed to be due to the anticipation of researching the uses for the newly acquired items and this power.

Together with Yoon Pa-ran.

With an expression full of expectation, Dan Joo-hyuk raised his head. Right in front of him was the massive stone door of the boss room, which he should have opened and entered originally.

For now, I’ll have to wait.

Dan Joo-hyuk sat down on the floor with a thud, in a spot where he could see the stone door well. He also stuck his newly acquired sword into the ground beside him, ready to grab at any moment.

The hunters he had left behind would surely come here. Due to the issue of item distribution, it would be difficult to leave the Gate alone for now.

Even if those guys had other schemes, it was obvious they would try to backstab him, thinking he would be exhausted after fighting the boss. So, for now, he had no choice but to wait.

Yoon Pa-ran’s pale face now flashed before his eyes like a status window.

“…”

He had now obtained everything he came here for.

Thinking that, the time spent waiting alone for them felt even more boring.

It was after about two hours of killing time alone in the boss room like this.

“Ah.”

Dan Joo-hyuk, who had been dozing lightly, opened his eyes wide. After quickly checking his watch, he got up.

As he stretched his slightly stiff body and expanded his senses, he could feel presences approaching one by one.

“Hmm.”

At a rough count, it seemed there were surprisingly no dropouts. It was quite unexpected, as he had been considering the possibility that all the Korean hunters had been dealt with.

“Hunter Dan Joo-hyuk!”

The Korean hunters burst through the stone door, leading the charge. They all looked terrible on the surface. It was clear they had forced their way through.

Dan Joo-hyuk stood in the center of the boss room to greet them.

“Huh?”

“What…”

The hunters, who had rushed in as if about to face the boss immediately, all stopped moving at once. Tense gazes all converged on him.

Unlike their urgency, Dan Joo-hyuk calmly surveyed the scene before him. The Russian hunters were standing at the very back of the formation.

Dan Joo-hyuk keenly noticed that they were subtly encircling the Korean hunters from behind.

“Hunter… Dan Joo-hyuk?”

“You all came quickly.”

Dan Joo-hyuk deliberately spoke with a nonchalant air, pretending not to have noticed the Russians’ intentions.

“Wow…”

“Huh… Did you defeat it alone?”

Only after he spoke did the tense atmosphere suddenly relax. Especially the Korean hunters, seemingly relieved, muttered words that sounded like sighs.

“The boss…”

“Ah…”

On the other hand, the Russian side stared at the boss monster’s corpse with undisguised astonishment.

Dan Joo-hyuk observed their expressions with an indifferent look. What was the reason they had come here normally without dealing with the other hunters? Did they somehow sense that their scheme related to the boss monster had failed?

“Hunter Dan Joo-hyuk.”

Eventually, Sergei, who was the first to gather his wits, approached with the interpreter.

“Why did you go alone?”

“I was frustrated.”

Unlike the serious Sergei, Dan Joo-hyuk answered with a bright smile.

At this insincere motive, Sergei seemed to be barely holding back curses. After taking several deep breaths, his gaze alternated between the house-sized boss monster corpse and Dan Joo-hyuk.

Eventually, he focused on the great sword stuck beside Dan Joo-hyuk and the pants hanging on it.

“Are those the items you used your priority on?”

“That’s right.”

The man’s face crumpled again. As an A-rank hunter, he couldn’t immediately check the grade of the items. There would likely be S-rank items among those scattered on the floor.

With a very uncomfortable look, he fidgeted for a while before finally taking a step back and opening his mouth.

“…Is this really all the items?”

“Ahem…”

“Hey, that’s the first thing you say when you see him?”

“Are you planning to stick to the contract as is, even though Hunter Dan cleared it alone? Have you no shame?”

As soon as Sergei’s question fell, the Korean hunters who had gathered around suddenly each said a word.

Defeating the boss monster alone was something not even considered in the contract. So it was customary to make changes to the item distribution in such cases.

However, Sergei would also feel wronged by Dan Joo-hyuk’s sudden action. If only he hadn’t been plotting something suspicious behind the scenes.

Dan Joo-hyuk calmly observed Sergei’s face souring, then smiled again.

“I’ll cooperate with a body search when we get out.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

He seemed to understand this as meaning there would be no changes to the item priority rights. The Russian hunters who had been watching the situation all let out sighs.

Still smiling brightly, Dan Joo-hyuk drove the final nail.

“We’ll definitely adjust the item distribution issue again after that.”

“Kuk…”

Just as Sergei, finally unable to contain his anger, was about to shout something.

“Oh?”

One of the hunters exploring the boss monster’s room exclaimed.

“Why is there a hunter here…?”

It seemed he had discovered the man Dan Joo-hyuk had roughly tossed behind the boss monster’s shell.

In that instant, Dan Joo-hyuk noticed Sergei’s eyes change.