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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Skills and Growth (2)
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After the intense battle, Lee Yu-rim, who had collapsed in exhaustion to rest, opened her eyes at the commotion.
Regaining her senses, she looked around and saw a thin blanket draped over her body. Strangers carrying large tools were entering the gate.
"You're awake?"
Kang Sa-hu greeted her from behind.
"P-Party Leader. Who are those people?"
"They're awakened soldiers. Once the gate is cleared, an exit opens up, and these folks come in through it to mine the resources here."
"Ah, so they're miners."
Only then did she realize they were the so-called 'miners' who entered cleared gates to extract necessary resources. She quietly set down the dagger hilt she had been clutching.
"Oh, Party Leader. Come to think of it, I think I got a skill during that battle."
Kang Sa-hu nodded calmly, as if he already knew. Lee Yu-rim, who had received special treatment upon entering the gate and was smitten with him, was inwardly awed by his incredible insight.
Realizing he had been watching over her, she continued explaining her skills.
"I had a skill from my awakening, but it activates automatically—I don't control it—so I didn't pay much attention. But this new one is something I can use actively, and it seems focused on offense, so I think it'll be really useful."
At the mention of it activating automatically, Kang Sa-hu thought of passive skills from games and nodded in understanding.
"I've seen the new skill. Mind if I ask about the one that activates on its own?"
"Sure. It's called [Wind Body]... It says it lets me move with the power and speed of a gentle breeze."
A straightforward name and ability.
Hearing the skill description, Kang Sa-hu finally understood the incredible speed she had shown in battle.
Her movements had been too smooth for pure muscle power, and she hadn't even pushed off the ground properly—it had been uncanny.
But if it enveloped her body in wind itself, it made sense.
Now knowing more about the asset that was Lee Yu-rim, Kang Sa-hu encouraged her.
"Thanks to you, we cleared the gate in record time. Shall we head out now?"
The gate had already cleared when she killed the boss monster. They had waited inside for nearly an hour while she slept off her fatigue.
Understanding his meaning, she got to her feet.
"Yeah, the others must be waiting. Let's go."
The two rose and headed for the gate exit.
The miners extracting stones and bricks from the gate walls glanced at them with awe, but the exhausted Lee Yu-rim and the deep-in-thought Kang Sa-hu didn't notice.
They exited the gate and reached the meeting spot, but the rest of the party hadn't arrived yet.
Lee Yu-rim was proud and excited about clearing an F-rank gate so quickly—and gaining a skill to boot.
Kang Sa-hu was lost in thought, scouring the internet.
"Time inside the gate..."
"Pardon?"
Lee Yu-rim asked at his mutter, but he shook his head.
"Nothing. Just thinking to myself."
The reason he wasn't using the Giant Hounds right now.
It was because he was working on fixing their decomposition weakness.
But progress was stalled due to spatial limitations.
'But if I use a gate...'
As Kang Sa-hu silently organized his thoughts and Lee Yu-rim watched him quietly.
The rest of the party returned.
Kang Sa-hu and Lee Yu-rim tried to welcome the weary group warmly, but they froze at the horrific sight of the trio.
All three were covered head to toe in unidentified, slimy mucus.
Curiosity about what happened clashed with an inexplicable urge not to say a word, overwhelming Kang Sa-hu and Lee Yu-rim.
But they couldn't just stand there silently forever, so Kang Sa-hu mustered his courage and spoke heavily.
"...Uh. You all worked really hard..."
"...Y-Yes... You worked hard..."
"..."
Only Kim Ho-myeong barely responded to Kang Sa-hu.
Bae Deok-ho, standing behind him, was too wary of Kang Ji-ye's glare to speak, while Kang Ji-ye stared blankly ahead with unfocused eyes, as if her spirit had fled.
"Mr. Bae Deok-ho. Was this gate hunt particularly tough?"
"Huh? Oh, no, not really. Compared to the first gate we met you at, it was a breeze."
Kim Ho-myeong nodded in agreement.
"The monsters' attacks were just dirty and gross, but no one got hurt, and we cleared it easily."
Hearing from both that the hunt hadn't been hard, Kang Sa-hu nodded.
"And did any of you happen to gain new skills?"
"Wha...? How did you...?"
Bae Deok-ho and Kim Ho-myeong were startled by his words.
Sure enough, all three had gained skills during this gate hunt.
Despite saying nothing, they were shocked he knew—but Kang Sa-hu replied calmly.
"Lee Yu-rim here gained one mid-battle too. Just checking."
"I-Is that so? Congrats to Yu-rim!"
It wasn't a lie, but not the full truth either.
Kang Sa-hu had inferred their skills from their spirits.
Like Lee Yu-rim's, theirs were larger and stronger than before.
Not definitive proof of a skill, but the match with her case prompted the question—and it hit the mark.
Bae Deok-ho's spirit in particular had always stood out as huge and powerful.
Having asked all he needed, Kang Sa-hu checked his watch.
"Alright, then. Next gate hunt..."
"For real?"
At 'next gate,' Kang Ji-ye, standing like a dazed doll, turned her head with a creepy, wooden creak.
Kang Sa-hu saw abyss-deep darkness in her eyes.
"Oppa, can't you see how I look right now? You want me to hunt another gate like this?"
"...Hmm."
He averted his gaze from her menacing glare.
Then Bae Deok-ho, who hadn't spoken, shot up his hand.
"P-Party Leader. How about letting Ji-ye rest at home first? Ho-myeong, me, and Yu-rim can handle the other gate."
Surprised at her name, Lee Yu-rim looked at him, but nodded slightly at his desperate eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Great! See? Yu-rim's okay with it. Now, let's get going."
As he brightly tried to wrap things up.
Kang Ji-ye's unfocused eyes fixed on him.
"Uncle Bae Deok-ho... I'm not letting you off... I won't forgive you..."
"...P-Party Leader. Please, just this once."
At Bae Deok-ho's near-tearful plea, Kang Sa-hu nodded blankly.
"Got it. You three handle the other gate... I'll update the schedule in the group chat."
"Awesome! Let's go hunt the remaining gate! Come on!"
"Not letting you off! Uwaaaah!"
"Let's go."
Kang Sa-hu grabbed the thrashing Kang Ji-ye's arm and led her away.
She lunged at Bae Deok-ho like a wild animal but was dragged off by Kang Sa-hu.
Arriving home, Kang Ji-ye bolted silently from the car toward the house.
Obviously heading to wash up, Kang Sa-hu gazed distressed at the mucus-soaked passenger seat.
"...Can't be helped."
He had handled pus, bodily fluids, and excrement from corpses while learning necromancer magic and techniques.
Frog slime was unpleasant, but not to the point of disgust or chills.
After dropping her off, he drove to his assigned gate.
Even driving, his mind raced.
His teammates—excluding himself—were all growing impressively.
To him, who could see spirits, their monstrous progress was no exaggeration.
Just two gates cleared, and already this much. Future growth would accelerate steeply.
Now, as leader, it was time to focus on himself rather than babysitting.
Especially since his once-worrisome sister was now protected, with reliable comrades by her side. He could plan freely.
After hunter certification check, Kang Sa-hu didn't enter right away but opened the gate app.
His target gate's break was in four days.
Meaning no break even if he took two days to hunt the boss.
Hunter entry extended the timer anyway—no issues.
Confirming details, he unloaded gear from the trunk.
He typed a long message to the group chat, then grabbed the gear and entered the gate.
Gates allowed personal items since dangers lurked inside—no one batted an eye.
A chill wind greeted him inside.
The interior of a stone-walled building.
Dim torches on either side faintly lit the darkness.
Scritch-scritch-scritch.
Sounds of multiple legs scraping bricks as they crawled.
Then, centipedes the size of snakes began appearing.
As the centipedes spotted him and swarmed like moths to flame.
He annoyedly pulled a potion from his gear and splashed it around.
Sizzle—
Kieeeek!
The centipedes touching the liquid screamed.
He snapped his fingers, and eerie green flames erupted from the liquid.
Kii, kii!
They scattered faster than they had gathered.
Confirming them gone, he drew a soul core pouch from his pocket—a handkerchief pouch.
Selectively extracting Giant Hound cores, he summoned with will.
Clack.
With familiar bone rattles, the Giant Hounds appeared.
But vastly different from last time.
Muscles rotting without blood circulation crumbled; skin decayed.
Bones peeked through here and there—a desolate image of death, not the lively ambiguity before.
Unalarmed, Kang Sa-hu unpacked necromancer reagents: potions, reagents, powders.
As he drew a magic circle on the floor with tools, a roar echoed from afar.
Instinct told him it was the boss. He ordered the hounds.
"Subdue it. But absolutely do not kill it. Absolutely."
Clack!
The hounds clacked jaws in response.
Even that motion shed chunks of rotting flesh. Kang Sa-hu hurried his work.
Kieee?! Kii! Kiiii!
Confused boss shrieks echoed pitifully from where hounds vanished.
But Kang Sa-hu and hounds ignored it—the boss irrelevant now.
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