Chapter 446: Barbarism and Prejudice (2)

After the slight commotion subsided, Choi Kanghyuk and the hunters entered the Namyangju gate.

Then everything before their eyes went dark.

'Is it night?'

Choi Kanghyuk had that thought, but soon shook his head.

There was neither moon nor stars.

Complete darkness.

Just then, Park Gyuchul’s voice rang out.

“There is nothing unusual nearby, Senior Jicheol.”

“Still, just in case, keep watch around us, and I will turn on the light right away.”

The sound of someone rummaging around could be heard.

Soon afterward, light appeared along with a click.

It was the sound of Kim Jicheol turning on a flashlight.

Thanks to his field of vision opening up a little, he could more or less grasp the situation.

“It looks like a cave.”

“It does not seem to be a natural cave. Judging from how clean the walls are.”

The other hunters nodded as though agreeing with Kim Jicheol’s guess.

“Until we get more information, let us move as carefully as possible.”

They still did not know what kind of monster might emerge from this cave.

They formed a battle line and began moving along the cave.

Naturally, Choi Kanghyuk, the tank, stood at the very front.

And the support hunter who had received the flashlight took position in the center.

After they had moved like that for a while. Park Gyuchul’s urgent voice rang out.

“Wait! There is something ahead.”

“What is that something?”

When Choi Kanghyuk turned his head and asked, Park Gyuchul answered with a troubled expression.

“I think I will only know after concentrating. Please wait just a little.”

Park Gyuchul. He was a hunter who had awakened a detection-type ability.

He could find hidden monsters or traps, and it was also possible for him to discover the weaknesses of monsters he was encountering for the first time.

A gate he had entered after a long time.

Amid his nervousness, Park Gyuchul forcibly tried to concentrate.

'Haa. Have I lost my touch because it has been so long?? Or is it because my body has not fully recovered yet?'

At that moment. A sound that disturbed Park Gyuchul’s concentration rang out.

“Anyway, there is something ahead, correct?”

After asking that, Choi Kanghyuk abruptly stepped forward.

“Wait, Gym Owner!!”

Immediately after Park Gyuchul’s startled shout burst out. A minute magical fluctuation occurred along with a very faint noise.

Whiiir.

Then part of the cave ceiling vanished without a trace.

And from the suddenly formed hole, an enormous boulder fell.

Toward Choi Kanghyuk’s head.

“Nooooo!!”

Bang!!

The hunters’ screams and a deafening roar erupted at the same time.

Then silence descended.

“.......”

The hunters stared ahead with dazed expressions.

Choi Kanghyuk had been crushed beneath the enormous boulder.

No. Should it be said that the boulder had been placed on top of him?

Choi Kanghyuk had caught the boulder falling onto his head with both hands and was holding it in place without moving an inch.

After letting out a light grunt of exertion, Choi Kanghyuk lowered the boulder to the floor.

“Heave-ho.”

Thud.

Then he immediately took a straight-punch stance.

A pale-white energy gathered around Choi Kanghyuk’s fist.

Fist Energy.

Choi Kanghyuk could now use Fist Energy without much difficulty.

It was thanks to having eaten so many Lycanthrope magic stones in the previous abnormal gate.

Choi Kanghyuk willingly thrust forward his fist wrapped in Fist Energy.

Bang!!!

The boulder exploded and scattered in every direction.

After clearing the path, Choi Kanghyuk turned his head and spoke to the hunters.

“As expected, resting from exercise on the day I enter a gate was the correct choice. Strength training as soon as we arrive.”

Kim Jicheol, who belatedly came to his senses, hurriedly asked.

“Gym Owner! Is your body all right?”

“Yes. I caught it with my hands before it struck my head.”

The hunters once again let out hollow laughs.

Was that really a problem that could be solved by catching it with one’s hands?

Judging from the size of the boulder, it looked as though it weighed several hundred kilograms?

“Let us continue.”

Regardless of their reactions, Choi Kanghyuk continued forward.

Before he had even taken several steps, Park Gyuchul spoke again.

“Wait! There is still more!”

Choi Kanghyuk stopped walking and appeared to think for a moment, then abruptly charged forward.

“Gym Owner!?”

This time, instead of the ceiling, the floor collapsed.

Metallic sounds rang out repeatedly from below.

Clang! Cla-clang!

Before long, Choi Kanghyuk, who had fallen beneath the floor, jumped back up.

“Heave-ho.”

He continued forward as though nothing had happened.

The bewildered hunters moved.

Toward the trap Choi Kanghyuk had fallen into.

After blinking several times, the support hunter shone the flashlight into the hole in the floor.

Dozens of things resembling sharp blades and spearheads had been embedded inside.

Around half of them were broken or had completely lost their edges.

“.......”

Everyone wore dumbfounded expressions.

'He was stabbed by those and is still fine?'

'While bare-bodied?'

'No. Why did it make metallic sounds if he is bare-bodied?'

At that moment. Another crashing noise rang out from ahead.

It was the sound of Choi Kanghyuk destroying another trap with his body.

The hunters hurriedly followed behind him.

Kim Jicheol and Park Gyuchul spoke to Choi Kanghyuk.

“Gym Owner! Let us go slowly! It is dangerous!”

“Yes! We do not know what other traps there may be, so let us dismantle them carefully as we go!”

Choi Kanghyuk, who had continued walking, turned his head.

He wore a puzzled expression.

“Let us take the easy path.”

“What do you mean, the easy path?”

This was easy?

“Do they not say stress is the root of all illnesses?”

“Th-that is true?”

Why was stress suddenly being mentioned here?

“If something can be solved simply with the body, I do not think there is any need to trouble ourselves and think about it. What is the point of getting stressed for no reason?”

After finishing his answer, Choi Kanghyuk continued forward again.

Various traps sprang out.

And Choi Kanghyuk blocked every single one of those traps with his body.

Park Gyuchul, who had been watching the astonishing sight, turned his head.

Toward Kim Jicheol.

“Senior, you are also an A-rank hunter. Could you perhaps do that?”

“....... If I could do that, would I have retired because of an injury? And you are also A-rank.”

“Come on. I am detection and ranged damage, am I not? You are melee, just like the Gym Owner.”

“A tank and a damage dealer are different, you punk.”

“Then could A-rank tanks do it?”

“....... Does it look like they could?”

“No.”

Before they knew it, the fear of the traps had disappeared, and the hunters were walking as though they had come out for a casual neighborhood stroll.

It was just as Choi Kanghyuk had said.

There was no reason to feel stressed.

Then Kim Jicheol hurriedly shook his head from side to side.

'Get a hold of yourself. Even so, as his senior, I should warn him!'

After collecting himself, Kim Jicheol asked.

“Gym Owner. Did you perhaps solve everything like this in other gates before?”

Choi Kanghyuk thought for a moment and answered.

“Well, yes?”

In truth, they had not been gates.

He was speaking of his experiences from the time he had lived as Mujin, when he invaded hidden caves or enemy strongholds.

Every time, he had broken through countless traps with his body like this.

“That does not mean I am moving without any thought. I am simply considering efficiency. Smartly.”

He did not mean only efficiency in travel time.

Choi Kanghyuk was actually using his head in his own way.

By utilizing his qi senses.

Even when the ceiling first vanished, he immediately raised his hands and protected his head.

It was the same when the floor collapsed.

After wrapping his limbs in qi, he fell while protecting all his vital points.

However, such details were not visible to the other hunters.

“What will you do if a more dangerous trap appears later? From now on, you should practice avoiding traps.......”

“Hahahaha. Of course, if a dangerous trap appears, I should think about it.”

“Ah. Right?”

“I will think about whether my training was insufficient.”

Fortunately, there was no need to wonder whether his training had been insufficient.

Bang!!!

Every trap was useless before Choi Kanghyuk’s body.

After they broke through the trap zone for a while. An iron door appeared before them.

After seeing it, Kim Jicheol spoke with an expression that said he had expected as much.

“It seems this gate is a dungeon after all.”

“It will either be a complete loss or a jackpot.”

That was a characteristic of dungeon-type gates.

There were not many monsters.

Naturally, it was nearly impossible to obtain magic stones, which were the hunters’ main source of income.

The same was true of monster corpses.

Instead, there was also a chance to hit the jackpot.

Artifacts occasionally appeared in dungeon-type gates like this.

“I sense something inside. It is not a trap. It seems there is a monster.”

While listening to Park Gyuchul’s explanation, Choi Kanghyuk readily pulled open the door.

The support hunter shone the flashlight beyond the door.

Unlike the narrow spaces until now, a fairly wide cavern-like area appeared.

And throughout the cavern.

Skeletons dressed in armor were standing.

Swish.

The skeletons turned their gazes toward the hunters at the entrance.

“Tsk. Of all things, undead.”

“Our party composition is somewhat unfortunate.”

“First, I will find where the core is! Everyone, just hold out for a little.”

Before Park Gyuchul could even finish speaking, Choi Kanghyuk charged straight ahead.

He immediately swung his fist toward the nearest skeleton warrior.

Bang!!

Along with an explosive roar, the skeleton soldier’s upper body burst apart.

But then something unexpected happened.

The shattered bones trembled and began gathering together again one by one.

Unfortunately, it appeared the core had not been in the upper body.

However, it was not a major problem.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Under the punches and kicks Choi Kanghyuk unleashed at tremendous speed, the skeleton soldiers burst apart one after another.

As though he intended to grind their bones into powder.

Rather than looking for the core, he simply intended to destroy every place where the core might be.

Eventually, perhaps because the core was destroyed, the bones stopped moving.

After killing one in an instant, Choi Kanghyuk launched himself forward again.

The other hunters belatedly came to their senses as well.

“For now, let us move while supporting the Gym Owner.”

“Yes. Well, even if we cannot find the cores, it seems we will somehow manage.”

They, too, were gradually becoming influenced by Choi Kanghyuk’s methods.

***

After that, traps and undead blocked their path several more times.

Each time, Choi Kanghyuk and the hunters advanced while smashing every obstacle apart.

Then another iron door appeared before their eyes.

“I sense one powerful energy inside. It seems this room is the last one.”

While listening to Park Gyuchul, Choi Kanghyuk immediately pulled open the iron door.

It was a strange place.

It appeared to be a wide cavern, but at the far end beyond them, there were things such as chests, books, and bookshelves.

If one had to describe it, it looked like an extremely wide room.

And in the center of that enormous room.

Clank.

Grrrrrrrr.

Something enormous bound in chains was sitting there.

It had a bizarre appearance.

A huge snake was attached to its rear like a tail, and its two front legs and two rear legs had different forms.

The colors of its torso and legs were also completely different, and it had two heads as well.

One was a head resembling a lion. The other looked similar to a wolf.

Marks resembling stitches remained along every mismatched section. Like scars left after wounds had healed.

It looked as though several life-forms that did not exist on Earth had been crudely sewn together.

The monster shook its body while growling as though it would charge at the hunters at any moment.

Each time, the chains restraining the monster rattled violently.

“....... It seems to be some kind of chimera.”

“Considering that mostly undead appeared, this seems like a dungeon once used by some strange dark magician.”

While they exchanged brief remarks. Park Gyuchul spoke.

“Since it is bound, this is actually fortunate. If we identify its weakness first and then begin hunting.”

Before he could even finish speaking, Choi Kanghyuk unfolded the Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps and launched himself toward the monster.

Bang!!

That did not mean he had acted without thought.

'The chains are in poor condition.'

Choi Kanghyuk’s qi senses had not missed it.

Those chains were not physical restraints.

A very faint sinister energy flowed through them.

It meant the energy gathered within the chains was already nearly exhausted.

And each time the chimera violently shook its body, that sinister energy scattered.

That was right.

Choi Kanghyuk had struck first before the monster could break free from the seal.

There was only the minor problem that it did not look that way to anyone else.

“No! Why are you trying to block it with your body again!!!”

Perhaps it was prejudice caused by his massive, muscular physique.

A small misunderstanding that even his brain might be made of muscle.