Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – Pride of the Weak (1)

“Huff, huff!”

Kang Hyeon exhaled roughly.

Dozens of Dysrupins corpses were scattered around him.

‘I can still hold out.’

Attacks came from all directions, but the armor was proving its worth as a B-grade item.

Though battered and dented all over, it still maintained its shape and steadfastly protected Kang Hyeon.

“Come at me again! You bastards!”

There were still more enemies left than those Kang Hyeon had cut down.

However, they couldn’t rush in recklessly and circled around Kang Hyeon.

“Grrrr...”

Kang Hyeon thrust his sword into one that was growling nearby.

-Crack!

The sword instantly entered its mouth, sinking in up to the handle.

“Guk, gurgle...”

The creature, skewered on the sword, trembled for a moment before coughing up blood and collapsing.

“Awoo!”

“Bark! Bark!”

That was the last one.

The others, watching their comrade’s death, finally gave up and fled with howls, turning their backs.

“Haaah...”

Kang Hyeon slumped down and took out water from his backpack.

“Pwhoo!”

He poured water on his head and rubbed his skin vigorously.

As the sticky bloodstains covering his body washed away, he felt a bit more alive.

“The sun’s already setting.”

The sun was sinking beyond the mountain ridge.

Kang Hyeon checked the time.

[6:03]

“I’ve wasted too much time.”

It was an urgent situation.

Kang Hyeon decided to hurry a bit more.

Staying in this place any longer could become more dangerous.

“If I stay here, other creatures might swarm in.”

Hungry beasts might gather to claim the corpses left after the battle.

“Phew... Let’s go.”

Kang Hyeon shouldered his backpack and moved his heavy legs.

***

Ippotranslation

***

8 PM.

The surroundings were so dark it was hard to see ahead.

“This won’t do.”

He had a lantern, but the light might attract monsters.

Kang Hyeon decided it was too risky to move further and stopped.

“Should I climb a tree to sleep?”

Kang Hyeon had never camped alone in a field-type dungeon before.

In closed dungeons, he could at least make simple alarms to sleep alone.

But in such an open area, he didn’t know how to prepare.

“I guess I’ll have to rest up in a tree.”

Kang Hyeon climbed up the largest nearby tree, still wearing his armor.

“Ugh...”

A groan escaped him as he laid his body on the tree.

This morning.

As soon as he left the dungeon, he drove here by car.

Then he climbed the mountain and repeated battles until sunset.

Moreover, he used ‘Giant’s Strength’ continuously, straining his body, and was injured all over.

“My magic is depleted too.”

Kang Hyeon instinctively felt that he had little magic left.

It seemed to have been all used up recovering from injuries.

This was the first time since the end of the tutorial that he had fought so hard.

“I wonder if I got any messages...”

When he opened his phone, there were many messages piled up.

Kang A-hyun, afraid of disturbing Kang Hyeon, had sent messages instead of calling.

-I’m doing fine, so don’t worry.

Less than 10 seconds after sending the message, a reply came.

-Have you arrived home?

-Almost there. I’ll arrive tomorrow morning.

-Are you okay?

-Of course. Don’t worry and go to sleep. I’ll rest a bit too.

After replying to Kang A-hyun, Kang Hyeon checked the messages he sent to his parents.

There was no reply yet.

He wanted to call right away, but he couldn’t, fearing something might go wrong because of his call.

‘Please wait a little longer.’

Trying to shake off his anxiety, Kang Hyeon closed his eyes.

***

Ippotranslation

***

Sunlight pierced through the leaves, shining on Kang Hyeon’s eyelids.

“Ugh...”

Feeling as if his whole body was aching, Kang Hyeon groaned and slowly got up.

[06:11]

It was still early.

Kang Hyeon checked the time and opened his backpack.

He took out an energy bar occupying one side of the backpack and unwrapped it.

-Munch, munch

He remembered seeing Orcs wandering around this area on his way here.

It seemed they had arrived here faster than Kang Hyeon had expected.

“Both of you, stay here quietly.”

“Kang Hyeon, what are you going to do..!”

Kang Hyeon took out the Skeleton Knight’s armor and longsword from his inventory.

“Here, take this. It’s better than nothing.”

“...”

“And, no matter what sound you hear from outside, absolutely! You must not come out.”

“Alright...”

Leaving behind his father who nodded with a stern expression, Kang Hyeon kicked open the front door and rushed out.

“Over here, you bastards!”

The creatures’ gazes gathered at Kang Hyeon’s shout.

[Orc Warrior]

Familiar appearance with a familiar name.

These were creatures he had seen countless times in novels and movies.

The only difference was that they were over 2m tall and had an enormous build.

“Kweek!”

The creatures rushing towards Kang Hyeon were wearing leather armor.

Between the gaps in their armor, muscles comparable to bodybuilders could be seen.

“I hate muscle pigs the most!”

“Kweee!”

The creatures swung huge swords and axes at Kang Hyeon, which looked too heavy for them to even hold.

-Clang!

Kang Hyeon deflected the incoming greatsword to the side.

He was able to deflect it more easily than expected.

Although there was a difference in body weight, it seemed that Kang Hyeon was slightly superior in terms of pure strength when using his skills.

“Haap!”

Facing three Orcs, Kang Hyeon didn’t back down an inch.

‘I can’t let them break through!’

Contrary to their appearance, the Orcs were intelligent and skilled in group tactics.

If he dodged one sword, a huge Ax would suddenly fly in to fill that space.

“Urgh..!”

Even though Kang Hyeon caught it with both hands, he felt like he might lose his grip on the sword at any moment due to the immense force behind the Ax.

-Crack!

Suddenly, a greatsword flying in from his blind spot struck Kang Hyeon’s body.

Kang Hyeon was sent flying several meters and crashed into a wall.

“Cough...”

Blood flowed from his mouth.

It felt like even his bones had cracked.

If he hadn’t been wearing armor, he would have been bisected alive.

“What kind of Orcs are this strong? Ptui!”

Kang Hyeon spat out the blood rising in his throat along with saliva.

‘It’s not good to cause a commotion. I need to finish them off as quickly as possible.’

Having made his decision, Kang Hyeon looked at the creatures.

‘First, I need to kill the one with the Ax.’

Kang Hyeon glared at the Orc with the Ax, who was boasting particularly large muscles.

It was larger but seemed a bit slower than the other Orcs.

“Haaap!”

Kang Hyeon dashed forward at high speed, avoiding an incoming greatsword.

Then he lightly deflected another greatsword that followed.

The deflected greatsword flew towards the creature behind, entangling their movements.

‘This is my chance!’

Leaving the entangled creatures behind, Kang Hyeon rushed straight towards the one with the Ax.

“Kweek!?”

The creature’s eyes widened in surprise at Kang Hyeon’s unexpected attack.

The sword thrust out in an instant.

Kang Hyeon’s sword completely pierced the Orc’s abdomen.

“Kwe... Kweek..!”

Kang Hyeon pulled out his sword while kicking away the trembling creature with the sword still embedded in it.

‘I need to finish it off!’

Just as he was about to bring his sword down on the fallen Orc’s neck,

-Whoosh!

Seeing a huge greatsword approaching, Kang Hyeon threw himself to the side.

The greatsword swung by the Orc barely grazed Kang Hyeon and struck the ground.

-Bang!

As the sword hit the ground, sparks flew and the asphalt shattered.

“Kweeeek!”

“What? You’re up already!?”

The creature whose abdomen had just been pierced was getting up with a vicious expression.

Even though he hadn’t been able to finish it off, Kang Hyeon had thought it would be incapacitated for a while, but his expectation had been completely off the mark.

‘Still, it’s not in perfect condition.’

The creature rushed at Kang Hyeon, having lost its reason to anger.

Instead of avoiding the attack, Kang Hyeon lowered his posture and dove into the creature’s embrace.

“Kweek!?”

Then, using the creature’s own momentum, he threw it.

-Boom!

As the giant Orc flew through the air and hit the ground, it felt like the earth was shaking.

“Kweeek!”

Taking advantage of that moment, two greatswords came flying simultaneously.

He couldn’t dodge both.

‘I’ll charge straight through!’

Kang Hyeon decided to sacrifice flesh to save bone.

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