Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
[Horned Fox Hunt]
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- Floors: 2
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- Difficulty: A
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- Maximum number of entries: 40
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- Requirements: Level 40 and below
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- Conditions: Hunt and Kill the Horned Fox
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- Reward: Horned Fox Hunter Achievement and a reward from the catalog.
The Horned Fox Dungeon. It was a cemetery of a dungeon that had already been failed 12 times and nearly 500 players had been buried there.
This cemetery was currently managed by the Messiah Guild. The value of the Horned Fox’s horns was very high, but at this point, in the eyes of most other guilds, the dungeon was no longer worth managing.
So far, all the other guilds except the Messiah Guild had abandoned the dungeon after failing it twice. In such a situation, could they tell the media that they entered the dungeon and failed it twelve times just to get the Horned Fox’s horns?
It was not a good excuse. Therefore, those guilds had given up their rights to the dungeon.
For the Horned Fox Dungeon, it was impossible for Kim Woo-jin…no, for Isaac Ivanov to enter without the permission of the Messiah Guild.
Of course, there was a reason why he needed this permission and he didn’t need to ask to know what they were.
‘They want to properly assess my skills, that’s all this is.’
To put it simply, this was a test.
The Messiah Guild intended to conduct a full-fledged test on Isaac Ivanov who showed a very friendly attitude towards them. This was to see if an agreement was worth signing and what conditions should be provided in said agreement.
‘They may want me to clear the dungeon.’
Of course, apart from testing him, it was necessary to invite an expert to clear the dungeon as it had been failed twelve times before.
These failures were proof that either the dungeon’s difficulty was too much for the players’ skills or that the abilities of the Horned Fox were abnormal, otherwise so many players would not have died.
Honestly, it was good as long as the dungeon was cleared, even if it was a foreigner, so all they needed to do was find the right talent.
‘If it was Kim Woo-jin, this would be impossible.’
In this sense, Isaac Ivanov was the best option.
He was a player who was openly friendly toward the Messiah Guild, stood out in terms of skill, and his team only comprised two people which meant they didn’t have to leave many spots for him.
The size of his team also meant that in the event of any surprises, the overall dungeon team would not be affected even if they were to leave on purpose.
It was almost as though this team was custom built for their needs.
‘Oh, Se-chan is really good.’
No, actually this was all part of Oh Se-chan’s custom design.
“Completing the dungeon is the top priority. Please assist unconditionally when help is requested. Failure to do so will result in a penalty. On the other hand, if faced with a dangerous situation, please request help unconditionally.”
It was thanks to Oh Se-chan that he could currently listen to the conditions of the Messiah Guild’s dungeon management team in Russian.
“The Messiah Guild puts clearing the dungeon first. Trust me and keep that in mind.”
After listening to the explanation, Kim Woo-jin nodded.
“Then I will go into the dungeon.”
The staff from the Messiah Guild praised him.
“Mr. Isaac Ivanov, the Messiah Guild will pray earnestly for the day you return alive.”
…
[Survive for 5 days.]
As soon as the 40 players entered the dungeon, they were greeted with a notification. However, most of them didn’t pay attention to that.
“It’s cold…”
“Pretty cold at that…”
They inspected their surroundings, looking for a place to escape the cold.
“We’re in trouble.”
“I prepared winter gear, but isn’t it too cold? Could it be more than 10 degrees below zero?”
“Even the wind is blowing heavily.”
They were nervous.
Lee Jin-ah looked at Kim Woo-jin with a question in his eyes. Seeming to ask if it wasn’t more dangerous than they’d expected.
His body was tense as he looked at Kim Woo-jin, which was a reaction worthy of experienced and knowledgeable players.
‘Cold is much more difficult than a monster.’
The cold was a terrifying factor. First, there was the risk of freezing to death. The players’ abilities might be strong, but that didn’t mean they were able to overcome such a cold environment perfectly.
“Weak players arrange your cold resistance items carefully!”
“Mages and Healers, take good care of your bodies!”
Moreover, in cases like this, players who invested more in magic power rather than their physique would not be much better off than the general public.
“Everyone keep in mind. Condition management is the most important. If you enter the second floor while sick, then you will definitely die.”
“There’s no time for proper conditioning. We will enter the second floor in five days.”
Indeed they had to be careful even though they were on the first floor, they couldn’t enter the second floor without properly managing their conditions.
“Should we light a fire?”
“Let’s see what happens first. If we light a fire and monsters attack then we’ll be in even more trouble.”
They would expend more energy if they had to deal with monsters’ repeated attacks.
“Remember it has the reputation of twelve fails.”
It meant they should be prepared for the worst battles at the worst times.
At this time, Kim Woo-jin signaled to Lee Jin-ah.
Move!
When he saw the signal the two of them moved. As the group gathered, the two of them quietly left the crowd.
After they walked for a while and he confirmed there was no one around, Lee Jin-ah came to Kim Woo-jin.
“Is this okay?”
It was clear from his tone that he was still tense.
“Isn’t it better to move with them for now? In such an environment, things can go south quickly…”
It was because he knew the horror of the cold. Kim Woo-jin looked at Lee Jin-ah who was once again complaining.
“Are you the type who can’t handle the cold?”
“What a ridiculous question!”
Of course, Lee Jin-ah protested hurriedly.
“My nickname is Siberian Bear! For me, this temperature is a breeze! It’s best to cool down quickly after you sweat! Hahaha!”
In response to that, Kim Woo-jin gave him a smile. (TL: KWJ smiled…scary)
“Good.”
“…what?”
“This time, it will be much harder than the Needle Snake.”
“Ne-, than the Needle Snake?!”
“Yeah.”
‘If they want to see my skills, then I’ll show them properly.’
[Equipped Plus Ring. All skills rank increased by one.]
[Equipped Gawain’s Necklace. Cold resistance increased.]
[Equipped Grim Reaper’s Mask. Summons can now be controlled.]
This time he had expressed his determination to reveal his real power.
…
Kim Woo-jin’s fighting style is a style that actively made use of his terrain or the situations around him to his advantage.
He enjoyed using traps rather than fighting fiercely and he rarely allowed fights to devolve in a disadvantageous manner.
Therefore Kim Woo-jin usually minimized the armors he put on the Skeleton Soldiers. If he did heavily armor a skeleton, it usually meant that he wouldn’t fight himself.
“You dressed up the skeleton kids today?”
But today was different.
Kim Woo-jin had armored the Skeleton Soldier that he summoned from a slain Black Werewolf.
It was not just armored. It wore heavy armament, complete with a helmet, boots, even arm, and leg armor was included.
“Well the skeletons kids are a dry(TL: basically stick figure), yet the fit is no joke. It was made for their form? Oh! Boots…”
Lee Jin-ah inspected the skeleton in curiosity.
“Huh?”
It was only after feeling the leather armor a bit that his expression changed.
“Is this Needle Snakeskin?”
Kim Woo-jin didn’t answer, though no answer was needed.
He didn’t do anything to prevent players from viewing the level of the items on the Skeleton Soldier.
“Is this a full set of unique items?”
As Lee Jin-ah had said, all the items that he equipped the skeleton with, were unique items.
“Oh my God.”
It was amazing. At this moment, the price of armor made from the skin of the Needle Snake would probably exceed common sense. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a legendary item only held in the hands of Kim Woo-jin.(TL: Ah Woo-jin didn’t give Jin-ah anything after they came out of the dungeon…stingy)
Even if it wasn’t legendary, it was probably among the best armor for anyone level 40 and below.
It’s value spoke for itself.
In many ways than one, it was overkill for a Skeleton Soldier.
“I can’t wear it either…”
Of course, this was not Kim Woo-jin’s style either.
As mentioned earlier, Kim Woo-jin’s style was that if he armored a skeleton, then he himself would not fight at all.
Nevertheless, this was shown more with the armor.
The ability to ignore terrain limitations and enemy numbers. Rushing forward with overwhelming power!
‘This was the style of Johann Georg.’
This was what the King of the Undead did. Regardless of the geographical features and without a need to consider strategy, it was his style to ruthlessly and unilaterally slaughter monsters using skeletons armed with legendary items.
This was a style that terrified everyone. Even the Messiah Guild had been wary of that monster.
Of course, this was all before Kim Woo-jin returned to the past.
‘If you want to see your skills, then I’ll be happy to oblige.’
Johann Georg would probably not be able to scare the Messiah Guild in this life.
“It’s time to start fighting.”