Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 80: Star, The Changgwi Cave (5)

[The remaining time is 1 hour 9 minutes 45 seconds.]

Taking a short break, Chang-Sun sat on the top floor of the watchtower, eating a piece of jerky.

[Your HP is increasing!]

[Your depleted Stamina is replenishing!]

‘It’s too easy,’ Chang-Sun doubtfully thought.

Since he was on the second floor, he had believed he would have encountered much more dangerous monsters than on the first floor. Now that he was there, it seemed the only difference was that the second floor was larger. Chang-Sun couldn’t help but wonder. To be honest, it was strange if he thought about it deeply. Changgwis were divided into five classes, but even if they were in the same class, each Changgwi’s combat power was different. They were also divided into factions, so they often competed with each other.

Therefore the overall monsters were bound to be stronger than usual, and above all, this was a Dungeon, where difficulty levels were supposed to be very different in each sector and floor. In this case, there was normally one reason.

‘The main force was mobilized somewhere else…’ Chewing on his jerky, Chang-Sun smiled bitterly. ‘Should I have interrogated one of them?’

He looked outside the watchtower’s window. As it was the highest place in the Dungeon, he had a view of the whole city. It would have been lively before he had arrived, a bustling metropolis under the night sky. Now, it was a ghost town. The collapsed buildings scattered about and the destroyed citadel indicated that there had been an intense battle. On the other side of the city, flames blazed up endlessly. Chang-Sun assumed it would only take a day or two for the city to be engulfed in flames unless something else happened.

‘They resisted very fiercely, so it wouldn’t have been easy to interrogate them.’ Chang-Sun shrugged.

Most Changgwis were afraid of Chang-Sun, who overwhelmed them with his attacks. In fact, many Changgwis had simply fallen into panic and trembled at the sight of him, unable to fight back. However, nobody fled, as if they had to maintain their position no matter what—no, as if they had been ordered to.

‘They are the monsters who have fallen victim to the starlight of the <Forgotten Star> named Hohwan Mama and instinctively hate humans … Where did all these monsters come from?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Then, suddenly…

[The Skill ‘Beast Senses’ has been activated, warning you of danger!]

Chang-Sun quickly climbed up to the watchtower’s roof.

‘It’s too quiet.’ he thought.

The city was unusually calm. Even though Chang-Sun was the only one in this phantom city, it was odd that he couldn’t even hear the grasshoppers chirping, or the ravens, who would have surely flown down to feast on the many corpses.

Tap!

Tap!

Chang-Sun could hear indistinct footsteps, and bleak will o' the wisps lit up amidst the rubble. A considerable amount of troops had already gathered around the watchtower where Chang-Sun was standing.

‘I have definitely been staying on my guard. What happened?’ Chang-Sun wondered, analyzing the situation.

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ drools upon seeing the monsters who seem to be great at hunting!]

Chang-Sun concluded that they must have possessed a skill that could disturb physical senses. That meant that the monsters here were in a completely different class from the low-ranking Changgwis he had been dealing with until now!

‘Finally, something fun.’

Woosh!

[The Title ‘Jigwi’s Phantom Body’ has been applied!]

[The State ‘Cruel Tiger’ has been applied, blooming the Skill ‘Tiger Kill’!]

Starting from his back, the Eon Fire shrouded Chang-Sun’s body. At the same time, a will o' the wisp was formed in his right eye, and [Cruel Tiger’s One Eye] also activated, increasing the power of [Tiger Kill].

‘It’s there.’ Chang-Sun detected the stalking group’s leader’s possible location and jumped straight down towards it.

Kieeeh!

“He found us…!”

“The monster is coming this way…!”

The monsters below him belatedly noticed Chang-Sun’s intentions and attempted to assume a defensive formation, but they were too late.

Boom!

Chang-Sun released a tremendous amount of the Jigwi’s Eon Fire as soon as he landed, right in the middle of the group of monsters.

[The Effect ‘Single Eon Fire’ is blazing up!]

[The firestorm is spreading everywhere!]

A dozen Changgwis instantly turned to ash, incinerated by the overwhelming heat. Only the monsters that were luckily at a distance from Chang-Sun had managed to survive, using their shields to take the brunt of the attack. Of course, they still sustained a substantial amount of damage due to the overheated shields.

Paah―!

“How dare you attack us…?”

“I’ll kill you…! Kiyaaah!”

‘Oh, they’re pretty good.’ Chang-Sun’s eyes shone as he watched the Changgwis, who didn’t lose composure like the others, charging at him after calmly changing their formation.

They were indeed different from the low-ranking Changgwis that he had dealt with so far, in many ways; the air around them, their way of speaking, their appearance. The low-ranking Changgwis looked pale and feeble, while these Changgwis’ had rosy cheeks and small horns next to their temples. They looked similar to doggaebis, rather than humans or ghosts.

‘So they’re Hongsals?’ Chang-Sun thought.

[Hongsal]

The intermediate-ranking Changgwi. Evolved from Sa, Hongsals are driven to devour humans and become a Gulgak.

Chang-Sun instincts told him that they were the second floor’s main force. It seemed they had been temporarily away from the second floor to take care of some business, and had hurriedly returned when they heard about the commotion on their floor.

‘Well, that’s good news for me.’ Chang-Sun smiled coldly. ‘I’ll have more fun with them.’

They would also give him more experience points!

[The Skill ‘Windstalking Tiger’ has been activated!]

Chang-Sun didn’t attack them right away. First, he retreated to break their formation and looked for a pathway that led him directly to their leader.

“Kill him…!”

‘Now!’ Chang-Sun darted forward without hesitation when he saw an opportunity.

He turned into a bolt of lightning, breaking through dozens of Changgwis in formation to reach their leader in the center. With one flash of light, the Changgwis that had blocked his way were suddenly reduced to blood and pulp.

Boom!

Swish―!

It seemed the leader hadn’t considered the possibility that Chang-Sun would approach them this quickly, because it hesitated for a moment before it gave out its orders. That short pause determined its future.

Clang―!

Slash!

Chang-Sun cut off its head in a single stroke using [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] covered with the condensed Eon Fire.

Splash!

As the leader Changgwi’s head flew up into the air, his blue blood spattered on the ground and over the other Changgwi’s heads like rain.

“Kiyaaah! Leader! Our leader is dead…!”

“Get him…!”

“We should get him…!”

Click!

Swish, swish!

Chang-Sun untangled his whip and attacked the nearby Changgwis’, aiming for their waists to move them out of his way.

[The Authority ‘Perfect Marksmanship’ has been activated!]

About half a dozen Hongsals were mutilated within seconds.

[Eliminated the ‘Intermediate-Ranking Changgwi: Hongsal’!]

[Acquired the ‘Changgwi Horn’.]

[Eliminated the ‘Intermediate-Ranking Changgwi: Hongsal’!]

[Acquired the ‘Ghost Blood’.]

…

After inflicting significant damage on the Changgwis, Chang-Sun retreated, satisfied with his work for today. Other Changgwis had heard the commotion, and were headed his way. If he acted too greedy, he worried he may end up surrounded and overwhelmed by enemies, so retreating was the right decision. On top of that, he was in a city, and thus, there were many places he could hide. He would have the advantage if he kept the fight in the streets.

[The Skill ‘Windstalking Tiger’ has been activated, along with the Skill ‘Concealment’!]

“He’s gone…!”

“He’s here somewhere…! Find him…!”

Chang-Sun went to the back of a building, so the Changgwis followed him. However, he suddenly disappeared into darkness, leaving them quite perplexed. It was understandable, since they had been the ones sneaking up on Chang-Sun to capture him, but now, they were about to be counterattacked in the same way.

Woosh!

The difference was that he could use this tactic more skillfully than them.

“Urgh…!”

“He’s here…! Here…!”

“No…! He’s to the north…! North…!”

“Don’t be fooled…! He’s to the southwest…!”

His movements were like that of a ghost. When he appeared on one side, the Changgwis would try to surround him, but by the time they got close, he would be long gone. Then, he would show up on the other side of the city and cause significant damage there. Once they were done forming a defensive perimeter around the area, he would vanish again. Whenever he appeared, he caused firestorms and swung his whip, causing huge damage to the city and the Changgwis. In the end, twenty percent of the intermediate-ranking Changgwis were killed in a matter of minutes, and their blockades were completely annihilated.

“Human…! I’ll kill you…!” Ryu, the Hongsal leader who ordered a siege, frowned and roared using its magic. “Come out…! Human…! Let’s fight one-on-one if you’re truly a warrior too…!”

It seemed Ryu knew that at this rate, its proud elite subordinates were about to be helplessly exterminated, so he tried to lure Chang-Sun out in the open.

‘It’s a named monster.’ Chang-Sun observed, sitting on a building’s roof.

Unable to find him, Ryu shouted in comedic fashion as it moved in various directions. Still, the air around it indicated that it was on a whole different level from the Changgwis that Chang-Sun had dealt with until now.

[The Skill ‘Beast Senses’ has been activated, warning you to not take the opponent lightly!]

Maybe the air around it shouldn’t have been similar to other Changgwis. Unlike other Changgwis, whose names appeared like ‘Low-Ranking Changgwi: Sa’ or ‘Intermediate-Ranking Changgwi: Hongsal’ on the system messages, it had its own special <Name>, meaning it had distinguishably higher intelligence and power.

‘Is he the Hongsal King, the ruler of the second floor?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Considering how even the Plague Spider from the Tutorial Dungeon didn’t have a <Name>, Chang-Sun deduced that Ryu must have held a high position.

‘What shall I do?’ Chang-Sun quickly glanced at the countdown.

[The remaining time is 24 minutes 59 seconds.]

Today’s curse was about to be over anyway, so he could continue to use the hit-and-run technique to inflict damage on the Changgwis until he ran out of time, then return to reality. However, Chang-Sun also thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to test Ryu’s ability, since he seemed to be the second floor’s ruler.

‘I’ll kill it if I can. At the very least, I should be able to come up with a strategy for next time.’ Chang-Sun thought, deciding to fall for Ryu’s trick this time. ‘Of course, I can’t appear in the middle of the enemies like an idiot.’

Chang-Sun slowly stood up from the roof.

[The Skill ‘Concealment’ has been deactivated.]

[The Additional Skill ‘Cruel Tiger’s Tiger Kill’ has been activated, overwhelming the battlefield!]

Chang-Sun’s [Tiger Kill] spread everywhere. The Changgwis could sense it, and they turned their heads to look at the roof where Chang-Sun was.

“There you are…!” Ryu shouted.

Boom!

Ryu jumped up in the air, leaving a crater in the ground beneath him and spreading a cloud of dust everywhere. Reaching a tremendous height, Ryu dropped in front of Chang-Sun in an arc, rearing back with a giant axe in hand.

[The Named Monster ‘Ryu’ has appeared!]

Chang-Sun swung [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] in the air, holding it in a reverse grip.

Clash!

Ryu’s axe and Chang-Sun's dagger clashed together, creating sparks. Although Ryu opened its eyes wide to receive the strong attack that almost broke its bones, it swung its axe more quickly without any hesitation before it even landed.

Ryu’s eyes opened wide, as the force of Chang-Sun’s counter nearly shattered its bones. Still, it swung its axe again immediately, without hesitation, before it even landed on the roof.

Clash, clang, clash!

Despite being at a disadvantage due to his short dagger, Chang-Sun proficiently deflected Ryu’s swings and used his whip to attack it in its blind spots.

Paah!

Ryu instinctively turned sideways, nearly avoiding the whip. Still, the whip managed to reach its target, slicing across Ryu’s waist. Through its ripped clothes, the deep bleeding wound was revealed.

“A sturdy dagger…! And you know how to use a whip…! No wonder you were able to torture my race…!”

[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ pompously says that it's her relic, so it is bound to be good!]

“I definitely have to kill you here no matter what…! Or else, you’ll continue to be an obstacle to our king while he achieves great work…!” Ryu declared.

Will o' the wisp lit up in [Cruel Tiger’s One Eye], Chang-Sun’s right eye.

Chang-Sun quietly replied, “So you aren’t the king, huh?”

He concluded that he had to raise his expectations about Changgwis. Ryu was similar to, or perhaps a bit more powerful than Lab Director Yang Sang-Won, whom Chang-Sun had fought against before. Such a monster rarely existed in the outside world, and it was even loyal. This gave Chang-Sun some notion as to how charismatic the Hongsal King was.

“Then I’ll have to capture you to lure the king out.” Chang-Sun smirked.

“I’ll rip out your sly tongue and mouth together…!” Ryu shouted, gritting its teeth.

Ryu, one of the Hongsal King’s proud eight generals, charged forward with its prodigious strength that even the Changgwis on the third floor were afraid of. The roof they were standing on collapsed, unable to withstand both Ryu and Chang-Sun’s energy.

Swoosh―!

Boom, boom, boom!

With the loud sound of explosions, a big cloud of dust formed, making the nearby Changgwis unable to see the result of the battle.

“What-what…?”

“What happened…?”

“Still, it’s Ryu-nim…!”

“Yes, Ryu-nim will retaliate against that arrogant human…”

The Changgwis chattered because they weren’t sure how the fight had turned out, but they were blindly certain that Ryu had won, since the Ryu they knew would never lose to anyone.

Slash―!

Splash!

They heard the ominous sound of a blade. Then, a severed head broke through the dust cloud, flying through the air. The Changgwis screamed when they saw whose head it was.

“…!”

“…!”

“Ryu-Ryu-nim…!”

“How-how…!”

A situation they could not comprehend was unfolding before their very eyes. They had fully expected to see the human’s head, not Ryu’s!

Thud!

The loud, dull sound of Ryu’s headless body helplessly falling down reverberated through the dust cloud.

[The remaining time is 20 minutes and 19 seconds.]

As the dust settled, Chang-Sun was revealed, smiling coldly at the Changgwis down below.

“Is there anyone else?”