Chapter 89 – Magician’s Ivory Tower (10)  

The Berserker’s body turned red; The eyes became bloodshot and blood colored lights burst forth as if his eyes were on fire. Most likely, Yanhurat was busily shouting

‘Kill! Kill! Kill!’

Into his ears.

‘He’s going to power up. Careful Kei.’

Besgoro warned. Sungjin knew to be careful without it. No matter how much of a difference in stats they had, that state was dangerous.

“Binding Frost!”

Timing himself along with Besgoro’s chant

“Incinerate everything in your path!”

Sungjin delayed his spell to activate it slightly after Besgoro’s spell, in order to use the opportunity when the enemy is held in place to strike with the Fireball. But

“Frostbite”

When Besgoro’s spell reached him, a round protective veil appeared and warded off the chilling spell. A prearranged protective magic from an item or title must have triggered.

Even so, there was no reason not to fire the finished spell.

“Fireball!”

A ball of fire formed on the tip of Blood Vengeance and flew towards the Berserker.

“Boom”

The spell landed on the ground and exploded, but the Berserker had already run out of the damage zone. He came charging towards Sungjin at an unbelievable speed. Sungjin followed up with Basilisk’s eye

“Snake Eye!”

The Berserker paused for a moment, but a round veil appeared, and the Berserker resumed his charge.

“Immunity?”

It didn’t look like he was going to die obediently. Sungjin prepared his swords. The Berserker got within range and began attacking at random. There was no strategy or technique; He was simply relying on pressuring the opponent with pure strength and speed.

Anyone else would have had difficulty defending against such frenzied attacks, but not Sungjin. He patiently and calmly blocked each swing of the Berserker’s Axe with his two swords.

‘Clang Clang Clang chingchingching’

Dozens of blows were exchanged in a matter of seconds. He was stronger than any other hunter Sungjin had faced until now; his attacks were on par with Calian from the previous chapter.

But the difference between the Berserker and Calian was that the Berserker only had 30 seconds to make his move. Once the 30 seconds were over, Sungjin would automatically win. And only focusing on defense was easy enough.

The only reason why Calian’s fight was difficult because he had to find the timing to counter attack.

‘Clang clang clang!’

Just defending was enough to win. And it wasn’t as if the Berserker would do anything other than attack while under the zealot state. He could only continue to swing his weapon.

It was a matter of time until the Berserker was killed by Sungjin’s blade. But another problem popped up.

“Awaken and become my slave!”

Sungjin was facing off against the Berserker when he heard a chant from behind.

“Rise of the Dead!”

And

“Krraagh!”

The Elite Samurai was raised as an undead and joined the fight. It began attacking the Berserker. It was now 2 against 1. The Berserker who was focusing on attack earlier was now outnumbered.

Because the Elite Samurai was someone skilled in life, his reanimated corpse retained some of his abilities and made the combat easier, but Sungjin began to worry.

‘This isn’t good...’

The Berserker’s fate was sealed in stone, but if he were to die at the Samurai’s hands it would be disastrous; no items would drop. Meanwhile, Nada chanted another spell.

“Unholy power, strip the skin and expose the bones. Frenzy!”

Sungjin decided to give it his all as well.

“Frenzy”

Red light burst forth from Besgoro’s eyes and Sungjin aimed for the shoulder and the elbow, where it would be difficult to dodge.

The Berserker was not standing still, so the attacks only grazed him, but that was enough to speed up Sungjin’s attack speed.

Sungjin stabbed the sides and thighs as well. And when his speed increased by three tiers, he beat the Zombie Samurai in beheading the Berserker.

‘Splat’

The Berserker died even before the effects of Yahurat had worn off. Two items fell to the ground.

“Whew...”

Sungjin took a deep breather and then turned around to face Nada. Nada was looking at him with eyes of suspicion.

“What are you?”

The Zombie Samurai was still in a battle stance. It was poised to strike him if Nada commanded. She seemed to be unsure if he was friend or foe.

Sungjin put away his swords to reassure her.

“Ahh, don’t worry.”

But Besgoro was shouting in his head.

“Wow, it’s even bigger up close, Kei!”

He was right. Her chest was overflowing. He tried to ignore him and continue saying

‘I am an ally.’

But

‘Look at those boobs...boobs...’

Because of Besgoro’s distractions, Sungjin became tongue-tied.

“I am boobs.”

“What?”

Nada’s facial expression suddenly changed. She picked up her dagger and was just about to come charging towards him.

‘AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!’

Besgoro began laughing hysterically.

“Damn it!”

‘I am boobs... Boobs!’

Sungjin threw off his helm.

“I am an ally. I am not your enemy.”

But she was already completely on guard against him. The Elite Samurai Zombie looked like it was about to come charging towards him at any minute.

In order to let her feel safe, Sungjin raised his hands up and took several steps back.

“I’m going to tell you again, I am not your enemy, nor am I a Troll.”

Nada’s cube confirmed his story.

[All trolls within the chapter slain.]

[Resuming reward Distribution.

[Your Contribution is 100%.]

[12600 Stat Points and 12600 Black Coins...]

She monopolized the raid due to her party being wiped out. She had obtained even more points than Sungjin. And Sungjin stayed still while she was receiving her reward.

[Congratulations]

[Chimerao – Ring of Fused Beasts]

[Merka – Pulp of Evolution]

[Cerberos – Gatekeeper of Hell]

[Enhancement Stone]

She received one more item than him. Cerberos, Lenin’s staff.

[Last but not the least, you will be awarded titles you’ve earned on this raid.]

Despite nearing the end of reward distribution, Nada did not lower her guard against him. Sungjin was forced to consider the worst-case scenario (having to fight her).

Seeing her with the ‘Treasure Hunter’ Title, she must have had fought with several hidden bosses and collected several hidden pieces. She would probably be weaker than him, but not by much. Even so, he did not wish to fight her.

Sungjin liked her quite a lot (not as a member of the opposite sex, but as a fellow human being). A Dagger and Black magic user did not inspire an image of a kind human being, but these difficulties only made her stronger. And when interacting with her, she would say

‘I’ll depend on you, Sungjin.’

‘I’ve got your back, Sungjin’

‘Careful, Sungjin.’

She was warmer and kinder than anyone else. In his previous life, she trusted him and had followed his leadership.

‘We’re in the party again. It’s always reassuring to have you in the party.’

But this time around, it looks like everything was going wrong. Sungjin recalled what happened just now like a movie reel.

‘I am boobs’

Sungjin shut his eyes tight.

‘Fuck!’

When he opened his eyes, she glared at him as if he was a rapist. He could understand her feelings. That kind of thing probably occurred to her almost every round. She would have had similar experiences to Serin.

[High Level Black Magician – Increase power of Black Magic by 30%]

[Returning to Hunter’s Hall in 3 minutes 32 seconds.]

‘3 minutes 32 seconds...’

This was the last Troll hunt. The original time over of 1 hour 30 minutes for the chapter must have been coming to a close. Hearing the operator, Sungjin said one more time to her

“I am not an enemy.”

And she replied

“Then what are you?”

Sungjin hesitated, but he decided to tell her the truth. He couldn’t afford to lie to his future comrade.

“I am...”

Sungjin glanced up and pointed at his title floating above his head.

“An Adjudicator. I specialize in hunting Trolls.”

At his words, Nada gave an unexpected answer.

“I know. Adjudicator, I have that title as well.’

‘Hmm?’

Now that she said it, it was almost obvious that she would have it. The chances of her running into trolls are much higher than him. Taking that into consideration, he should have expected it.

Sungjin checked behind him. The corpse of the ‘Owl Hunter’ held a bow, and a similar bow lay on the ground close by. She was also trying to hunt trolls for items.

“Well, before that, how did you get here? You weren’t here when the raid started.”

Sungjin had to think for a moment.

‘Do I tell her about Darker than Black?’

But telling her about that was a little weird. Sungjin felt that if he were to tell her this, it may cause a change, a change that could become difficult for him to control. So Sungjin decided to give a short answer for now.

“I have an item that allows me to travel between Dimensions. It allows me to intervene in other parties.”

Thankfully

‘Where did you get that?’

She didn’t ask that. She only said

“If you’re done, go ahead and leave.”

She seemed to view Sungjin as a subject of fear. Probably due to seeing him fight the Berserker earlier.

She did not fear having to fight three other hunters in a 3 v 1, but she was on edge after seeing him fight the Berserker. Sungjin said to her

“I can’t leave immediately. And I also have no desire to fight you.”

“How can I know that?”

“You are not a troll. What do I gain from killing you?”

But there is one thing he could gain even without killing her. As he said with his own mouth earlier

‘Boobs’

Nada did not relax her guard against him. Sungjin frowned. It didn’t seem like the situation could be resolved with just a conversation. Sungjin said to her

“Whether or not you trust me, I’ll just go and collect my items. But if you attack me meanwhile, I’ll have to respond.”

Sungjin slowly began to move. Nada was carefully observing Sungjin. She looked like she was about to come attacking him. But she would also not choose to attack Sungjin unless he was a troll.

She was also afraid of becoming a troll herself. Especially against an opponent who professed to be a troll hunting specialist with the title of Adjudicator active.

Sungjin picked up the ‘Elite Samurai’ and ‘High Level Berserker’s’ dropped items and placed them into his cube. He couldn’t help but think

‘I want to baptise her...’

She was the most dependable and trustworthy companion of the last 10 survivors. She was skilled and a good human being. She was worthy. Her skills would be needed this time as well.

Problem was that she was now completely convinced that he was a pervert.

‘I wish I could use the 9th tier Blue Magic to go back in time...’

Meanwhile, the Cube made an announcement.

[Returning to the Hunter’s Hall in 1 minute.]

Only one minute left.

‘What should I do?’

Sungjin squeezed his brains for answers.