Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Episode 11. Team Training (1)
Exactly one week passed after the recruitment audition.
The day after the results came out, I ordered the Devil Hunters to gather.
‘A good assortment,’ I thought.
Six people, including Krasra and myself, gathered in front of the guild house in the early morning, and I nodded as I looked at the new members.
Four of them were new. These were the people who had passed the recent recruitment.
The reason we could gather as early as one day later was because we were able to get a hold of the list of passers faster than anyone else.
Thanks to that, the work was done in advance.
All four of them were the awakened heroes who had passed right before I called on a high number. It was natural to follow me into the Devil Hunter’s attack team. Although temporary, it was still something.
It was not a bad deal for them either.
“Team leader, the b*tches called Yu Eun-Hye and Lee Ji-Hye… I… I mean the ladies… are they even coming?”
One of the four temporary members spoke. It was Kim Choon-Won.
He was a minstrel who was often called a foul mouth.
Although he seemed to be in his early twenties, he was often careless with his words, and he slipped now and then.
“Coming,” I answered shortly, not bothering to turn my head.
The competition requirement of eight members was to be completed when Yu Eun-Hye and Lee Ji-Hye came.
The moment this requirement was met, the victory was ours.
Furthermore, according to Kim Yong-Woo, the competition was supposed to be extremely big. He also added that there may be a ranking system to divide the levels of the awakened for the first time.
If this was true, there was all the more reason to stay on the top for now. It would be easier to acquire high-quality awakened heroes if we were to claim the title of the nation’s strongest.
Although I did not plan on publicly being active, I knew achieving titles was quite important.
That was because humans care a lot about appearances.
The title of being the strongest was likely enough to make humans move the way I wanted.
“Team leader!” Just as expected, the two women showed up less than three minutes after we talked about them.
They were Yu Eun-Hye and Lee Ji-Hye.
All four new members gulped at the same time.
Yu Eun-Hye had a bob hairstyle and was lively and cute, while Lee Ji-Hye exuded intellectual beauty just like her name [1].
Because they were both very beautiful, it was natural for men to stare at them.
Yu Eun-Hye came up running and hugged me with tears in her eyes.
Zap! Zap!
There was a brief moment of electric shock.
Yu Eun-Hye’s passive skill was activated.
It no longer tickled me. I had also mastered the cerebral power. Although the power was not always active, I could still feel it inside.
My output was overwhelmingly higher, so Yu Eun-Hye’s passive skill was unable to harm me.
“I knew you would be alive!” cried Yu Eun-Hye.
Regardless, she wiped her tears on my suit.
She was at ease with me because we went back and forth into dungeons several times. Since I was the only one unaffected by her passive skill, she was very honest with her feelings towards me.
“You are back.” Lee Ji-Hye also seemed pleased to see me.
She probably did not sleep well judging by the dark circles underneath her eyes, which were obvious even with makeup.
“Have you been well?” I asked.
“All thanks to you,” Ji-Hye replied.
“Let us get going first,” I said to the crowd.
This brought together all eight members.
I forcibly took Yu Eun-Hye off of me, then led them to a nearby cafe that I had reserved.
We were inside a luxurious cafe located on the second floor of the building.
Eight of us sat around the wide table in the center.
There was coffee, drinks, and handmade cake on the table.
Because I had booked the entire cafe yesterday, there were nine people in the room, including the owner.
Without the owner, one could say it was just the eight members of the Devil Hunter’s attack team.
“Wow, team leader! You are on a totally different level!” Kim Choon-Won made a big deal out of the situation.
In contrast, Yu Eun-Hye, Lee Ji-Hye, and Krasra were indifferent. It was not even slightly difficult to rent out a whole cafe.
When things calmed down, I spoke coldly.
“I am sure you have a lot of questions. But first, I will tell you that I plan on taking you to this ranking tournament. Of course, I expect absolutely nothing from all of you.”
Yu Eun-Hye was the only exception since she was somewhat trained by me before going into dungeons, but the new four were the definition of useless.
They were just tools to fill in the missing numbers.
What would you expect from these easily disposable people?
Of course, only those with higher than average potential or special skills or titles were chosen.
If we were to win, the Devil Hunter’s attack team was bound to fly high, but the only official members were the first four, and that was all. This was an unfortunate number for an attack squad to be even considered a regular team.
Therefore, I was going to take a close look at the newbies and temporarily transfer them. They were to be used as temporary members, as the pieces of a chessboard, even after the competition.
I had plans to accept anyone who stood out as a regular member, but I honestly did not expect much.
The newbies frowned together as if they had swallowed a lemon.
“Team leader, isn’t that too harsh?”
“How upsetting. We are pretty strong among the awakened, you know.”
The new members expressed their disappointment.
Yu Eun-Hye and Lee Ji-Hye kept their mouths shut because they knew my skills to an extent.
“Right, but if it was not for me, none of you would have made it.” I replied.
“…”
The newbies could not speak back.
I continued to speak as I smiled coldly. “However, I cannot let you participate like this with the Devil Hunter’s name. You must at least have the basic skills. Therefore, I will be training you for the next three weeks. This is a final decision, and if there is an unavoidable reason to be missing the training, speak up now.”
The cafe was silent.
“None, it seems,” I continued.
I took a sip of americano and enjoyed the scent for a moment.
There was no rush since everyone was decided.
Krasra and I were strong enough, but that would not do. Surely, the two of us would be recognized; however, Devil Hunter’s attack team as a whole would not be noticed. Hence, it was necessary to train the other members as well.
I put down my glass and looked around the table.
Then my eyes met with Lee Ji-Hye, and she readily asked, “Team leader, I vaguely heard about the tournament, but can you please explain further?”
I was going to talk about it anyway, so I casually opened my mouth. “The tournament itself is very simple. Eight of us need to gather and beat the other team. We will be awarded according to the ranks. However, this tournament is not limited to the Guild of Heaven’s Will. It will be watched by other famous guilds and will later affect the rankings of the awakened heroes.
Gulp!
Everyone’s faces instantly froze.
This was their first time hearing about the size of the tournament or the fact that other guilds would be scrutinizing.
“Sounds like we have no other option but to win…” Lee Ji-Hye, who grasped everything we had just talked about, spoke as she sighed.
“And who is that quiet man next to you, team leader?” asked Yu Eun-Hye, who had momentarily been staring at Krasra.
It made sense that she was curious since there was a dark-skinned man in the group.
“Krasra will be training you. His main weapon is a spear, but he is an expert with other weapons as well,” I replied.
“Hello. I am Krasra.” Krasra spoke for the first time.
The members’ eyes opened wide.
They were surprised that he was fluent in Korean, but what shocked them more was the fact that his voice was extremely beautiful.
Dark elves often had beautiful voices, and Krasra was one of them.
“Wow! You have a great voice!” Yu Eun-Hye blurted out her honest thoughts.
“Are you sure he has skills? He does not seem too promising.”
Beautiful voice and great ability had nothing to do with each other.
Kim Choon-Won shrugged. Like he said, Krasra seemed rather slender.
That was also a part of dark elves’ physical traits. No matter how hard they trained, they never gained much weight or muscle.
Krasra did not even budge. The comment could have been offensive, but he kept his straight posture to everyone’s shock.
I chuckled. “You will find out tomorrow.”
Today was going to be the last day anyone ever questioned Krasra.
Even if there were 10,000 of Kim Choon-Won, they would still be incomparable to Krasra.
Then I held a time for ice breakers.
The atmosphere quickly warmed up, and it was not too long before you could hear laughter.
However, I felt like I was already hearing their screams.
<hr />
A pension house in Gang-Won-Do Choon-Chun was where everyone gathered next.
The Devil Hunter’s attack squad arrived at a perfect training site, with a green mountain behind it, a flowing river, and an organized outdoor activity site.
Upon encountering such clear air and the vastness of nature, everyone dropped their bags, shouting, “Wow!” The good times were soon to end.
When they changed into comfortable clothes and gathered at the activity site, the hell began.
Krasra greeted the new members with his red spear.
He spoke expressionlessly.
“Pick up a weapon and fight me.”
“What is he saying?” replied Kim Choon-Won.
Although Kim Choon-Won was a minstrel, he had a dagger at his waist, and the other members all had their own weapons.
“I will see what you can do first. If any of you can even scratch me, I will let you be out of all future training.”
“Ha! What a fool.”
Kim Choon-Won licked the dagger with his tongue.
He was young, but the impression he gave was rather dirty. The act alone was enough to be intimidating.
Of course, Krasra was still expressionless.
“Do not get too excited. The team leader appointed the trainer himself, so he must be tough. I will poke with magic first to see how g…”
Lee Ji-Hye tried to sharply analyze the situation, but Kim Choon-Won suddenly took his shirt off and charged at Krasra with crazed eyes.
“Arrogant bastard! Go die, you son of a b*tch!”
There were several scars all over his upper body.
Kim Choon-Won was full of himself.
His first performance of licking the dagger did not seem to affect Krasra. However, there had never been a man unafraid of his scarred body. Plus, who would not be scared to see a man running in with a dagger?
Unfortunately for him, he knew nothing about Krasra.
Whack!
“Aughhh!”
With the force Kim Choon-Won charged with, he got spun exactly 360 degrees and fell on the ground. Krasra had pushed away Kim’s leg with the spear.
“I told you not to get too excited…” Lee Ji-Hye sighed deeply.
Soon after, the Krasra began to move like a typhoon.
“Everyone, get ready! Water spear!”
Splash!
She was a water sorceress.
Krasra shattered the water spear that Lee Ji-Hye had made with his staff.
The other three men came to their senses and charged with their weapons, but they were already one step behind.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
After three loud noises like leather ripping, the only two standing were Krasra and Lee Ji-Hye.
It all happened in the blink of an eye!
Overwhelming was not enough to explain the situation.
Lee Ji-Hye, who had a vacant look for a moment, smiled and put her staff down as she put both hands up.
“I surrender.”
She then thought of the person absent from the scene.
‘This wicked girl. Where has she gone?’
Yu Eun-Hye had left with the team leader. At least for this moment, she could not help but be envious of Yu.
Krasra looked at Lee Ji-Hye in disappointment.
“Useless!”
At the same time, I was with Yu Eun-Hye at the valley of the mountain.
‘The water is so clear. Take a look at this, leader.”
She chattered in excitement as she saw the trickling water.
She should have been with the others at training, but I came to the conclusion that there was something of more importance.
This was to find the right wavelength of her passive skill ‘Electric Current(N)’
Surely it was possible with the cerebral power I had mastered.
Above all, this valley was full of cerebral-type charm.
Usually, when lightning strikes, valleys with more than three sides blocked were often unable to radiate their energy properly. With this high probability, I assumed it was the case here, and I was absolutely right.
If the valley attracted enough cerebral-type power, it was possible to create a synergy effect.
“Yu Eun-Hye. We are not here to play.”
“Heh! I am well aware! But why did you bring me alone?” Yu Eun-Hye asked with a playful smile.
Since the two of them had entered the dungeon several times together in the past, there was no sign of suspicion.
I spoke lightly. “From this moment on, I will fix your electric skill.”
“My passive skill?” Yu Eun-Hye tilted her head.
There was nothing to hide, so I told her the utmost truth. “I recently mastered an electric skill. With this, I am likely going to be able to set your wavelength. If this works out, your passive skill will not activate at random.”
“Really? Then we are now both electric-skill users! Ah, wait, no. What should I do, team leader? Do I put my wrist out as people do in martial arts novels? Well, if that is the case, we should not be here.” Yu Eun-Hye spat the words out with a happy smile.
I stared at her face for a little bit and opened my mouth. “First, take it off.”
[1] Ji-Hye means “wisdom” in Korean.