◈ Episode 4. Demon Hunter (1)
I was half-convinced, half-doubtful. ‘Do demons appear in reality like this too?’ …
What, ten years had passed and there was still no progress?
Because the current scenario was similar to the Demon Hunter’s quest.
But the moment the message appeared, I became certain.
A demon had taken over Nam Cheolmin’s body.
In that instant, information from the community flashed through my mind.
-The real problem is the actual demonkin
-Their raw levels are high, but what’s even more troublesome is their status ailments, fuck-
-Mages or Priest classes have high mental strength so they can endure, but warriors like us are really nothing more than sandbags without buffs or potions
Indeed, demons in reality were troublesome monsters.
Over ten years ago.
There was no guarantee they would be the same as the demons I had encountered in the quest.
But I knew.
That I could not fall into such trivial measurements before a demon.
‘The pride of Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo is, paradoxically, at its most exalted before a demon.’
Yes, what kind of being the demon possessing Nam Cheolmin was.
What level it was.
What kind of status ailment it caused—I did not know.
Click─
But my vision was clearer than ever.
There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in my straight strides.
The moment I encountered the demon, I spoke in a cold voice.
“As I thought, you are indeed a demon.”
At my declaration, those present were engulfed in shock.
Choi Jeonghun stammered.
Looking back and forth between me and Nam Cheolmin, he stepped back.
“Wh-what do you mean? A… a demon, you say?”
“Demonkin…!! I knew I felt an ominous presence.”
“Wait, if it’s demonkin, there’s no way we can handle it…?!”
Amidst that shock, Nam Cheolmin.
No, the demon burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! He caught on quick, you bastards!!”
The demon seemed to be enjoying this situation.
It would be enjoyable.
Because human negative emotions become a demon’s strength.
“You humans are sooo~ hypocritical.”
But I had no intention of listening to that blabbering.
“Your dignity is lacking.”
Before I knew it, a silver dagger rested in my hand.
“Though I doubt creatures as inferior as demons even possess dignity in the first place.”
Of course, there were clear hierarchies among demons as well.
In Akshan, what I had heard to the point of sickness while doing class change quests was exactly that.
Low-class, mid-class, high-class.
Above them were ‘True Name Demons,’ and even higher beyond reach were the ‘Demon Kings’ claiming to be kings of demons…
But as I said. ‘No demon’s temptation, deception, or trial can leave even a scratch on Grandfell’s lofty pride.’
Grandfell.
In other words, to me, they were all the same demons.
Therefore, there was no hesitation in my actions.
[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy’ activates.]
───────
Natural Enemy : Drastically increases combat power when fighting Demonkin.
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Now that Natural Enemy had activated.
My physical abilities were in a drastically elevated state.
Swish─!
Concise and swift.
I thrust the dagger toward Nam Cheolmin’s nape.
Ting─!
As expected, plate armor.
I hadn’t realized it would defend even the gap in the nape.
A voice thick with panic rang out.
“…Hahaha! You’re a crazy bastard, huh? Aren’t you worse than me? We were getting along just fine until now and you suddenly swing a knife? Fuck, what kind of bastard…?!”
But I did not allow it.
“Do not attempt to converse with me.”
“…Wh-what?!”
“I do not exchange words with prey.”
Swish─!
Piercing plate armor with a silver dagger was impossible.
‘Then targeting the seams is the right move.’
Before the demon, I was moving on instinct.
I could feel that my body’s abilities and my brain’s processing were on a completely different dimension from when I faced gnolls.
Stab─!
I plunged the silver dagger into the inner elbow.
[Skill, ‘Demon Subjugation Rite’ activates.]
‘I don’t know how effective Demon Subjugation Rite will be, but it doesn’t matter.’
What that message meant was simple.
It meant I had landed a valid hit on the demon.
The demon recoiled in shock and stumbled back several steps.
“Crazy!! It’s silver!!! Fuck, what kind of bastard are you?!”
Instead of answering, I swung the dagger again.
The seam at the flank.
The seam at the knee.
And even the small gap at the nape.
Gurgle─
Black blood poured from those wounds.
The demon spoke.
“Crazy bastard… Can’t you see the blood?! At this rate, this bastard will really die. If you kill me, this guy dies too!! No, I’ll use whatever means to die together with this bastard. You think I’ll die alone?!”
I laughed inwardly with delight.
‘How is even the dialogue exactly the same as ten years ago?’
Yeah, not falling for it.
Skill, [Demon Subjugation Rite].
When this is active, the Demon Hunter’s attacks deal damage only to the demon.
No matter how long ago it was, I hadn’t forgotten such basic common sense.
That I had.
But on my face.
There was no reflection of that inner thought.
“Prey merely needs to be hunted.”
Stab─!
*
“Hyung, don’t overdo it. Avoid dangerous rifts as much as possible.”
“Got it, brat.”
“I’m not joking. The atmosphere is dangerous these days. That’s why I’m saying this… Why don’t you just join our guild? There’s so much you can do as a player without roaming rifts. Like, an analyst or something.”
He simply didn’t want to live a pathetic life.
“No matter what, we’re brothers, yet we’re so different.”
“If I don’t want to bring shame to my younger brother’s face, I should work harder, shouldn’t I?”
“I heard Taemin succeeded in another boss raid? Congratulate him for me.”
He just didn’t want to burden his younger brother who was better than him.
Nam Cheolmin watched himself moving arbitrarily and thought.
‘…Where did it all go wrong?’
His memory was hazy from the moment he entered the rift.
However, he clearly remembered the messages that had appeared.
[Low-class demon, Imp is observing you.]
[Your mental strength is too low.]
[Status Ailment : Possession occurs.]
‘…An Imp?’
A level 200 demonkin monster, Imp.
Nam Cheolmin knew well how dangerous demonkin were.
Because of what he had seen and heard from his younger brother, Nam Taemin.
Nam Cheolmin gritted his teeth.
‘Don’t go in! It’s a wipe!’
But his voice wouldn’t come out.
‘…Right, another party. If we get help from another party!’
Words unrelated to his will spilled out.
“But, you don’t need to worry. Since this is a transfer station, it’s quite large, right? If we just choose our route well, we should be able to hunt without overlapping with other parties.”
Literally, he was leading his party members to their deaths.
“Cheolmin hyung! No, hyung!!”
Continuous erratic behavior.
Eventually, the party members including Choi Jeonghun were surrounded by a pack of gnolls.
‘It’s because of me. Because of me…!!’
Move.
Please move.
I have to help them.
But Nam Cheolmin couldn’t move a single step.
He could only stand blankly and watch.
“No, fuck. Why are you doing this!! Hey, Nam Cheolmin!!”
It was all his fault.
It was his lack of ability.
Nam Cheolmin’s heart began to crumble under helplessness.
‘…Taemin, I guess I really should have done as you said.’
And that was exactly what the Imp wanted.
Nam Cheolmin let go of the string of consciousness he had barely been holding.
All he could hear was a faint voice.
“Hey, Nam Cheolmin! You really thought you were something just because I followed you around calling you hyung? Fuck, you’re nothing if not for my little brother…”
Yes, Choi Jeonghun’s words were all correct.
He was nothing more than that.
“Hahaha. Kuhahahahaha.”
After that, only laughter could be heard.
The Imp’s laughter that seemed to mock his weak self.
But that laughter, which seemed like it would never stop, ceased.
“As I thought, you are indeed a demon.”
…He noticed the demon’s existence? How?
At those words, Nam Cheolmin grasped the string of consciousness once more.
Then, an unbelievable sight came into view.
‘…He’s overwhelming the Imp?’
It was an absurd situation.
The reason demonkin are troublesome isn’t just their high levels.
It’s because demons constantly inflict status ailments.
[Fear], [Despair], [Debilitation]…
To respond to those vicious status ailments, high mental strength stats.
Or an overwhelming level gap that could ignore even that were needed.
‘…But what the hell is this man?’
He couldn’t believe it even as he watched.
This wasn’t a fight.
Yes, it was exactly as the man said.
It was one-sided ‘hunting.’
The Imp’s howling echoed in Nam Cheolmin’s ears.
Nam Cheolmin thought.
‘…If the Imp dies, do I die too?’
Then I will die.
Nam Cheolmin resolved.
His party members had fallen into a predicament because of him.
Even if his body was stolen by an Imp, it couldn’t be used as an excuse.
He had heard that demons target weak humans.
Even that was his fault.
‘Shouldn’t I at least earn my keep, even if I die?’
Isn’t that right, Jeonghun? Taemin?
Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to have a moment’s hesitation.
‘Unfortunately, there will be no way for you to repay this debt.’
It was the moment Nam Cheolmin thought that.
Stab─!
As the man’s dagger lodged in the nape.
It felt like something was escaping from his body.
Blink─…
For some reason, his eyes opened.
“…?”
Soon, the subway ceiling came into view.
The flickering light bulb was shining.
So brightly that he frowned from the glare.
Amidst that, a voice was heard.
“Did I not say?”
It was a voice imbued with dignity, incomparably composed.
“That you need not worry, for I am here.”
*
[You have slain the low-class demon, ‘Imp’.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
…
His level had risen.
Counting the messages, there were 12 in total.
He had hunted just one Imp, yet he had risen a whopping 12 levels.
What the hell. Is this for real.
I recalled the battle with the Imp.
To gauge the level of an Imp that had, quite literally, spewed out experience points.
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
‘Rather, the gnolls were a more troublesome opponent than the Imp.’
The gnolls were barely in their level 30s.
Then the meaning was simple.
‘…They say great expectations lead to great disappointment.’
But this had already far surpassed my expectations, hadn’t it?
It seemed the ‘Natural Enemy’ relationship between Demon Hunter and demonkin was far more absolute than I had expected.
‘Is it because it was a low-class demon?’
To the point where an ordinary level gap was simply insurmountable.
The messages didn’t end there.
[Skill, ‘Silver Mastery’ proficiency has increased.]
───────
Silver Mastery (24%) : Grants additional attack power and special effects to silver weapons.
───────
Thanks to killing the Imp with a silver dagger, the skill’s proficiency had greatly increased.
Proficiency that had been 19% had become 24% instantly.
Unfortunately, the Imp didn’t drop any items.
However, he didn’t feel disappointed.
Perhaps because he had gained enormous experience instead.
Or if not that, perhaps due to Grandfell’s setting of not being obsessed with wealth and glory.
I couldn’t tell.
‘More than that.’
What mattered more was that I had kept the words I had uttered.
“Did I not say? That you need not worry, for I am here.”
…
If I hadn’t kept them, I would have died of shame.
Through experience, I had realized clearly.
That my actions as Grandfell, draped in dark history, could not be corrected.
Even in life-threatening crises.
My head, held stubbornly high, proved it.
Which meant I had no choice but to adapt.
Fortunately, my adaptability seemed quite good.
“K-khuk. Thank you. Truly. I will definitely repay this grace…!”
“Hyung, are you okay? Goodness, what on earth happened…”
“Phew. Thank goodness. Really.”
“Wow. Amazing…!!”
The burdensome gazes pouring onto me.
Those eyes looking up at me as if in awe.
I was accepting them nonchalantly.
As if such a reaction were only natural.
I simply thought.
‘The nerve.’
As they say, youngsters these days have no manners—and it’s not without reason, is it?
*
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Title : Today’s Line 4 Rift Clear Review, Yooh!! ><
Author : Jeong Yeoneui
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Content : Today’s clear was really dangerousㅠㅠ The party leader got possessed by an Impㅠㅠㅠ I really thought our party was going to wipeㅠㅠ But there was an incredibly strong person among the party members who beat the crap out of the Imp and saved us!! Party leader, I’m sorry and thank you, crying so muchㅠㅠㅠ
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Comments :
─Jeong Yeoneui, the discharged-female-high-schooler concept freak, is here again LOL. Now you’re not satisfied with concept acting and even making things up?
─If you’re going to make things up, put some effort into it, Jeongyeon-ah. A story about catching an Imp in a gnoll party is way too unrealistic, don’t you think?
─At least give us a name. Just saying ‘a party member’ LOL.
─Excuse me, it’s really not made up ㅡㅡ? And I wanted to ask his name too… You guys have to see it to know. It’s not easy to just talk to him… How should I put it? He had such an aura?! It felt like his eye level was completely different from ours???
─??? What kind of bullshit is this
Level 368.
Player Ranking 11th.
Nam Taemin let out a hollow laugh while reading the post.
“So, hyung. Are you telling me to believe this? For real?”
Before him stood his older brother, Nam Cheolmin.
“Yeah. It’s real, that.”
Nam Cheolmin’s face was utterly serious.
“I’m the party leader who got possessed by the Imp.”
“Wh-what?”