[Hatred (Skill)

Effect: The target cannot distinguish between friends and enemies.

Class: F (0)

Cooldown time: 5 minutes]

It was a psychic attack skill, and it could be used on not only monsters but also other hunters. This was why we avoided hunters like Woo Yeon-Hee in the past.

“Healers should have at least one attack skill,” I said.

The System was generous.

“Anyway, congratulations. You now have a weapon you can fight with,” I added.

***

Although we were surrounded by darkness, this place was comfortable due to the puddle. However, it became disgusting as more Grafs’ dead bodies piled up. It was time to move, and we picked up our blood-stained backpacks.

It had only been two days since we entered the dungeon, but we had already fought against nearly thirty Infant Grafs. There were only four in the beginning, but the number gradually increased. The result wasn’t bad as we had received the Ruler’s Ring and Hatred. I was able to kill Grafs without using the Man Who Overcomes Adversity as I summoned two Grafs to protect us, so neither of us tasted their poison.

Then, the third day arrived.

“Ughhh…”

We were both lying on the ground, moaning in pain. It was freezing, and it was colder than the times I had been buried naked in the snow. My body arbitrarily trembled, and Woo Yeon-Hee and I were hugging each other. Despite the coldness and throbbing pain, I could still smell the nauseating odor. This meant my Sense was faintly alive even though I was poisoned. We were surrounded by countless Graf corpses, and I wasn’t able to keep track of their numbers because of my pain. My instincts had alerted me, and I realized some of them succeeded in running away from us.

Woo Yeon-Hee groaned in pain, and the analgesics were wearing off. She looked more miserable than I was as she had barely survived, and it was fortunate that her limbs were still attached to her body. I fumbled and grabbed for pills. Since narcotics didn’t completely nullify all the pain, she buried her face in my chest and trembled. She couldn’t even sleep even if she wanted to.

The next day was sheer hell as my head flashed between cold and heat. The pain felt like Grafs were biting me at the moment. We became better after the fifth day and became free from hell on the sixth day. We were now detoxified, and the reason why the reconnaissance Grafs didn’t appear wasn’t a big deal. With pain-free clear eyes, I noticed that corpses were everywhere, and the scene was an abomination. Not a single body was intact as the Infant Grafs’ limbs and heads had been cut off mercilessly. I must have done it, but it was an impossible feat with my current status. It was obvious that all the monsters nearby had swarmed us. I couldn’t even place my foot on the ground, and I couldn’t understand how I had stayed there for the past two days.

However, I found weird wounds on the corpses that were beyond the level of damage I could exert. Some had exploded like bombs had gone off inside them. But…

1. So many crooked legs came towards me. I couldn’t cut off every single one, so I threw myself far away from the swarm and beheaded one in there.

2. A few strands of power sparked from the dagger I thrust.

3. Then, the trait Forerunner became activated which allowed Agility to increase as I exert a fatal attack on the target.

4. The Clown’s Dagger finally got activated. One of the grafs’ heads suddenly burst, then blood and shell fragments jumped out in all directions.

5. “Woo Yeon-Hee!”

6. [The Man Who Overcomes Adversity has activated.]

7. There were too many of them. When I thought I had defeated all of them, piles of dirt kept rising from the ground in front of me.

8. [Woo Yeon-Hee has used Bravery.]

……

15. Devi’s Sword swept through their antennae with the perfect trajectory. After a short moment of happiness, I had to avoid the dirt that fell from the ceiling.

16. The Earthquake had been recharged after the cooldown time, and I lured the monsters into the territory the Earthquake occurred.

Then…ah…My memories were shattered, and things popped up in my mind regardless of the chronological order. I couldn't remember which came first, and some of my thoughts were missing. For instance, Devi’s Sword would have been upgraded by one class after the Man Who Overcomes Adversity activated, but I didn’t know how it could inflict the decapitations. I couldn’t remember no matter how much I tried other than that I went berserk and fought on pure instinct. The flooding adrenaline from that moment had become faint now. However, only neophytes experienced this. It seemed that Woo Yeon-Hee’s Bravery skill had kept the poison from overwhelming us, and I couldn’t think of any other way to explain our survival.

We headed back to the pond I had discovered. I carried two backpacks in the front with Woo Yeon-Hee on my back. It was bigger than the one we found on the first day. We built a bonfire nearby using Graf corpses as firewood. It smelled terrible, but her expression became more comfortable.

“Uh…What happened?” She opened her eyes a while later.

“More than a hundred thronged toward us,” I said.

“Sorry, I might have missed some,” she replied.

Apparently, her symptoms from poisoning had disappeared, but the severe bite wounds on her chest and legs still existed.

“Wait here,” I got up.

“Are you going alone?” she asked.

“There has been no reconnaissance for the past few days, but if one comes…”

I took off the Ruler’s Ring and put it on her finger.

“I’m not saying that. It’s dangerous to move by yourself.” She looked at me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back after completing the combat quest,” I reassured her.

“What if you take it the wrong way? We haven’t seen branches in the passageways yet, but it may happen, right?” she asked.

“You’re correct. I’ll come back if that happens, okay?”

Although she was dying, she was still worried about me.

“And you need to worry about yourself, not me,” I added.

***

The route was straight, and nothing stopped me as if I had exterminated all the Grafs. The cave was narrowing slowly, then I arrived at the bottleneck. The space expanded beyond the point, and I saw the bottom of a stone statue and two dungeon boxes. I noticed that the combat quest was near. I didn’t know what the space was for as it could be Graf’s temple or a weapon warehouse. One obvious thing was that the stone statue would wake up the moment I entered the area. Those statues were low class monsters in some E-class dungeons like how the Double-Headed Declan Soldier was. I had no reason to hesitate since it was an easy quest, so I went in.

I could clearly see the size of the statue, and a medium-sized Graf would look like that if it had turned to stone.

“Stop wasting my time, and show yourself.”

I taunted the statue. In general, Grafs were more powerful than the Declan army, but I knew I could defeat them without using all my energy. Fragments fell from the stone, and cracks began to form all over the surface. Then, the monster appeared. It intended to crush me.

THUD!

I managed to escape and climbed onto its shell through the dust. It twisted its entire body to shake me off, but I was already holding onto its joint. It stretched, and I quickly moved away from the ground. It was then I managed to pry off a shell piece and stab at the soft skin underneath. Blood flowed out as I slightly lifted the skin. The only reasons why this guy was more intimidating than regular Grafs were because it had larger legs and stronger venom. Therefore, as long as I managed to avoid those, it wasn’t too threatening.

The joint I was holding on was connected to another joint, and a total of six legs attached to three joints bent toward me at once. Using their flexible legs like tentacles was their specialty, and I had been waiting for this moment.

[You have used Devi’s Sword.]

I had finished calculating the trajectory. The power of the blade that bounced off from my body cut off the monster’s leg that was coming at me. It bent and soared higher into the air instead of stopping there.

Creaaaaaaaakkkk-

The monster shouted in pain when its antenna was cut off. I got off the monster as I now had to stop its long, articulated and barbed tongue. How could a centipede have a tongue? Ugh. Anyway, I landed on the floor and watched its movements.

[You have activated Odin’s Wrath.]

[Target: Clown’s Dagger]

I could slice its tongue with E-class Strength and Odin’s Wrath. The dagger swirled and soared into the air, then disappeared after thrusting into its tongue. The Graf stopped screeching and lay on the ground. Dust flew in the wind and blocked the view. It began to ruffle its thick, long legs and proboscis. Its eyes were staring at me, but it couldn’t control its body at all. Therefore, when I approached it, its legs did nothing but wriggle in the air.

It was such a disgusting spectacle. I grabbed its head with both hands and pulled with all my strength, pulling the armored segment off that was protecting the neck. I then punched its nerve center.

Bam!

My arm went in so deep that I couldn’t see my hand.

[You have exterminated a medium-sized Graf.]

[You have been distributed 6 points.]

[You have fulfilled the conditions required to complete the quest ‘Hibernation.’ Please decide on the first and second person to finish the quest by agreement.]

It was easy.