Reader - Chapter 97

Chapter 97: The Underground Waterways (6)
‘Is it because I destroyed the circle?’

When he had destroyed the summoning circle the first time he hadn’t received a notification. No, he did, but it wasn’t for the quest, instead, creating another quest to destroy a recovery circle.

‘So, this species is a Wolf-Orc chimera?’

A chimera itself was a monster that was created by combining different monsters and this particular variant of chimera was a combination of both an Orc and a Wolf as the name suggested.

Soo Hyuk never thought that the chimera would literally be named for its previous parts. Though, it didn’t matter much to him, so he turned around with a shrug.

– Soo Hyuk: I am done here. I’m coming back.

Soo Hyuk sent Kamian a voice message as he returned then, opened his quest window.

〈The Troubled Underground Waterway〉

In the underground sewers of Hadrac, chimeras suddenly began appearing in the waterways. Ian and Alex made the decision to clean up the underground waterways, but the chimeras were strong and possessed powerful poison. In the end, the expedition failed, and the most they could achieve was to prevent the chimeras from escaping. Clean the underground waterways of the chimeras and identify their source!

[Chimera Summoning Circle A: 1 / 1]

[Chimera Summoning Circle B: 0 / 1]

[Chimera Summoning Circle C: 0 / 1]

[Chimera Summoning Circle D: 0 / 1]

[Chimera Summoning Circle E: 0 / 1]

[Chimera Summoning Circle F: 0 / 1]

[Chimera: 64 / ??? ]

[Quest reward: S-Rank Promotion, ??? ]

‘Still, five of them left.’

Soo Hyuk had completed one of the quest requirements by destroying the Wolf-Orc summoning circle A. Now the remaining summoning circles B, C, D, E, and F remained. If he destroyed the remaining summoning circles then he would complete the quest.

‘If I include the Recovery circles, then it would add up to 10 magic circles.’

Of course, there wasn’t any guarantee that was a Recovery circle with every Summoning circle. But, the possibility wasn’t low, so if he kept that suspicion in mind, then the total number of magic circles should be as many as 10.
‘Should I do what I did with the first Summoning circle?’

Soo Hyuk calculated his next moves as he closed the quest window. Last time when he tried to destroy the summoning circle a quest had appeared to destroy the recovery circle. His mind moved, trying to figure out what his next steps should be.
“The reason why I saw the recovery circle and not Roa, it was all because I received the quest…’

If Roa had the quest, then she could have seen the recovery circle. But, she didn’t have it and was unable to see the circle.

‘If I cast magic on that place…’

Just because the recovery magic was invisible, didn’t mean it didn’t exist. So, what would happen if he cast magic on that spot?

‘I’ll need to experiment.’

He needed to know if his experiment would lead to the destruction of the magic circles, or if nothing would happen. So, Soo Hyuk decided his next destination.

‘It would be better without them.’

He would be relieved if there wasn’t much chance of there being recovery circles.
“You’re here!”

“Yes, shall we continue?”

Returning to the intersection, Soo Hyuk answered Kamian as he replied to Kamiam. He pulled out his Map and unfolded it while gesturing toward his next destination.

“What kind of chimeras is there?”

Soo Hyuk asked Kamian while gesturing to his next destination.

“Is this where you are going?”

“Yes.”

“From here.”

Kamian pointed his finger at a certain part of the map and answered.

“Hmm, the chimeras here should be a combination of foxes and goblins.”

So, that was their new destination.

“A Fox and Goblin?”

“Yes, and they are called Fox-Goblin chimeras.”

Kamian saw Soo Hyuk’s confused expression and nodded his head.
“They are quite different than those Wolf-Orc chimeras.”

“Different?”

“Yes, in Wolf-Orc chimeras, the wolf was the one who attacked with poison, right?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“Unlike the Wolf-Orc, the fox isn’t who attacks with poison, it’s the goblin. Whenever the Wolf-Orc attacked, it was the orc who used physical attacks while the wolf spat out poison.

“Hmm, that would be tricky.”

Soo Hyuk commented.

“Yes, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the poison attacks.”

“…”

Hearing Kamians words, Soo Hyuk couldn’t help wondering why he wouldn’t need to worry. Were they prepared for it?

“Ketoto! Show him!”

Seeing Soo Hyuk’s puzzled expression, Kamian exclaimed.

“Okay!”

Ketoto, who was vaguely listening to their conversation, suddenly opened his inventory pulling out a shield.

However, even after looking at the shield, Soo Hyuk couldn’t shed off his doubts. They may use the shield, but it was too small. No more than 40cm in diameter.

However, in the following moment, Soo Hyuk was able to let go of his doubts.

Siaak!

The small shield suddenly enlarged in size.

“This shield is a specialized weapon, so we don’t have to worry about their poison.”

“So the poisonous attacks are not of concern,”

Kamian said looking at the shield.

“But…”

He slurred his words as he looked into Soo Hyuk’s eyes, saying.

“B-But there is one problem.”

Of course, there was a problem, if not they would have met the requirements for completing the quest.

“Problem?”

“Yes, we might be safe from the incoming attacks, but it won’t be easy for us to attack.”

The main issue was the fox who didn’t take part in the offense but instead moved around, making it difficult to hit the Fox-Goblin chimera.

The shield could protect them from the poison attack, however, they couldn’t attack while the shield was up.

“Oh, I see…”

Soo Hyuk nodded, understanding the situation.

‘But if I cast Poison Storm or FireStorm…’

It was true Soo Hyuk had various tricks up his sleeves which included spells that could be cast regardless of a protective shield. But, the issue was the duration and continuous casting such spells.

‘It’ll take too long.’

The spells took too much time.
“Then for now.”

After pondering, Soo Hyuk opened his mouth.

“I’ll take the hits.”

“Huh?”

Kamian was taken aback, not only him, but Ketoto, K-Cross, and Garan who had been silently listening to the conversation in silence were also surprised.

“We can fully block the poison attacks, and they wouldn’t be weak.”

The poison attacks wouldn’t be light. So, Kamian couldn’t help but voice his concern as he was sure they were able to completely block the attacks with the shield.

Moreover, Soo Hyuk was a mage, and it was basic common sense that they have very low health.

But of course, Kamian’s concern was fully valid as he didn’t know Soo Hyuk well. All he knew was that Soo Hyuk had a strong offensive power, what he didn’t know was his health was more than 110 thousand, much higher than their tanker Ketoto.

“I’m afraid it’ll take too long if we rely on the shield. First, let me try to hit and kill them, if it gets too difficult, we can use the shield.”

Soo Hyuk explained himself with reason and logic, so he didn’t need to explain about his health. Listening to him, Kamina and the Koma guild members agreed with his plan.

With that decided, he looked at the map and the group set out, a few moments later, K-Cross who was walking ahead of the group signaled them to stop. He had been watching ahead with his skill ‘Hawk’s Eye.’

“There are chimeras ahead.”

K-Cross warned.

“I see three of them. They might range between 900,000 to 1 million.”

Saying that K-Cross couldn’t help but stumble back a bit.

-Huh? What’s this smell?

-Smells like a human.

-Huh, really a human?

Just as K-Cross stumbled back, they heard a voice in front of them.

‘Voices?’

If their health were between 900,000 to 1 million, that meant they were normal chimeras. But unlike a Wolf-orc chimera. The Fox-Goblin chimeras were fluent in human language.

‘Is it because it’s part Goblin?’

Are they the same level as before just with an intelligent goblin?

“Wait a moment.”

Soo Hyuk stepped forward.

“Just in case, Ketoto, be ready!”

What if the Fox-Goblin chimeras are more cunning than we expected and unexpectedly attack. So, Ketoto moved forward upon hearing Soo Hyuk.

“Ok! Just give me a signal, and I’ll be there in no time.”

After Ketoto’s assurance, Soo Hyuk proceeded forward.

-Huh? Only one?

-Huh? But I smelled several of them?

-I think he’s here alone.

Soon, Soo Hyuk met the chimeras face to face. Just like the Wolf-Orc variant, the Fox-Goblin chimeras had a goblin for its upper body.

-Be paralyzed!

The center chimera attacked first, it tried to paralyze him with its poison attack.

‘I’ll have to take the hit.’

Soo Hyuk was wondering how strong the attack might be.

Hiikk!

Soon, saliva flew out of the goblin’s mouth; Soo Hyuk raised his arms to take a direct blow. As soon as it made contact, a notification appeared.

[You have resisted poisoning.]

Just as he expected, he didn’t get poisoned, then he opened his stats, checking his health.
‘500.’

He lost 500 health.

‘I don’t have to worry.’

He knew, the more health taken, the higher the damage. However, he didn’t need to worry even though the Chimeras had the health of 900,000 to 1 million. Even if he got hit three times, it would still only add up to 1,500.

It would take a long time for 110,000 health to reach zero, and by that time, Soo Hyuk was confident he could kill these Fox-Goblins.

-Oh, he’s moving.

-I guess the poison hasn’t had its effect yet.

Soo Hyuk, who was busy looking at his stats while those chimeras were talking, opened his mouth.

“Fire Spear!”

Just one spell was enough to heavily damage one of the Fox-Goblins, there wasn’t much need to attack much more.

Kwang!

Though Fire Spear was quite explosive, it was just the beginning.

“Flame Dance!Poison Chains! Firebolt! Fireball! Poison Spear!”

Soo Hyuk showered them in spells, soon, a notification appeared before him.

-Fox-Goblin’s special poisonous needles [2].

-Fox-Goblin’s poison.

‘I knew, I didn’t need to worry.’

Looking at the window in front of him, Soo Hyuk wondered why the chimeras were unable to resist his attacks. Soon he concluded it was because he didn’t give them any room to attack. But, they were different from Wolf-Orc’s who narrowed the distance little by little.
‘I think we can move forward.’

Soo Hyuk, who thought something might go wrong and had attacked so fiercely, took his items and returned to where Kamian and the Koma guild waited.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

Hearing such a swift and fierce battle, Kamian, Ketoto, Garan, and K-Cross had their mouths wide open from shock.

‘I don’t think he needs a shield.’

After such a shock, Ketoto was the first to break the silence.

He couldn’t help but feel bitter. No matter how strong Soo Hyuk was, he thought he would be the tanker.

This stage had a much higher difficulty than the previous zone, so he had been hoping this was his chance to show off his abilities, but…

Just like the Wolf-Orc’s, Soo Hyuk defeated the Fox-Goblin chimeras on his own, he simply didn’t need a tanker’s help.

‘I’m useless.’ (1)

At least K-Cross and Garan could help, it wasn’t much, but they could still help while he did nothing making him feel bitter.

He forced himself to stop his self-loathing and looked forward. Finding Soo Hyuk approaching.

‘Should I change my job and be a mage?’

Looking at him, Ketoto had an impulsive thought. Seeing Soo Hyuk’s strength, the mage class looked quite attractive.

Of course, such a thing happening was unthinkable to Ketoto who had invested a lot into being a tanker. Changing to the mage class was just a fancy thought.

“I don’t think we need the shield for now.”

As soon as Soo Hyuk arrived, Ketoto, who was already feeling bitter, felt worse. But the conflicts didn’t show on his face, there was no need for him to ruin such a good team and wasn’t it a good thing that the tanker didn’t need to step up?

“Let’s go!”

“Okay!”

Hearing Soo Hyuk’s words, Ketoto snuffed out his bitterness and replied with a voice full of energy, following behind him.

‘Huuu…’

With his feeling snuffed, Ketoto sighed.
‘Will there be a situation where I’m needed?’

Will there be an opportunity where he could execute his role as a tanker?

‘I want to do something, but…’

Ketoto followed Soo Hyuk, because of the name he has gained as the Demon hunter who slaughtered the Demon guild. He thought following Soo Hyuk would bring him a new scapegoat.

But just as he was swimming in his bitterness, Ketoto’s wish came true. (2)

“Ketoto.”

“…Yeah!”

Ketoto, who had been, lost in thought, heard Soo Hyuk call him and came to his senses. Then, he couldn’t help but smile when he heard his words.

“I have a favor to ask of you.”