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Chapter 27. The Human Hunter (5)
12.
The second floor of the prince’s tomb.
What awaited the adventurers there was a dense jungle and utter silence.
The silence was not very welcome to the adventurer.
It was natural.
This is Mystic Gate, a world where there cannot be any monsters that prey on adventurers who enter.
But it’s quiet?
That means you can’t sense monsters approaching, you can’t sense their presence.
Easy!
“Nepenthes.”
The cause of the silence on the second floor of the prince’s tomb this time was none other than the plant monster, Nepenthes.
It was a monster that was a nightmare for adventurers.
First of all, as the expression plant monster suggests, Nepenthes was a flower.
It was a flower with huge, sharp teeth that would bite its prey with all its might when it came near.
Its power is enough to break even the strongest steel.
Of course, among the monsters, there were many that displayed that level of power, especially when they came to the Mystic Gate, which was around the yellow level.
Sigh… … .
But in Nepenthes’ case, there was no sound.
Because it was literally a flower.
The flowers never made a sound, and even if they did, it was literally just the sound of the jungle.
It means that it is impossible to notice its existence until you see it directly.
Moreover, this was a jungle.
Virtually every sound heard was identical to the sound made by Nepenthes.
“You’re lucky.”
But before that sight, the El Palm Party, including Divo, breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t just empty boasting.
There was no one who did not know that Nepenthes was a very troublesome monster.
“I won’t have to fight without a boss.”
But the most difficult thing for the El Palm party without El Palm was fighting a large-scale battle.
In comparison, Nepenthes can find the next exit without fighting, as long as you can figure out its location.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
“Because I learned how to deal with Nepenthes.”
However, what El Palm Party could be confident about was that they knew the strategy.
“To the boss.”
El Palm, he taught us strategies for special monsters, including Nepenthes.
Continue whenever you have time.
Countless times.
It wasn’t just something that happened.
El Palm taught thoroughly, and to El Palm, the level of thoroughness was so extreme that it would be insane by the standards of the average adventurer.
It was thanks to that.
Sigh!
“There’s Nepenthes over there.”
The El Palm party was able to quickly conquer the second floor of the Prince’s Tomb without El Palm.
There were no problems during the process.
There was no battle to speak of.
Of course, it wasn’t comfortable.
In some ways, passing quietly without fighting was more difficult than fighting.
“Boss, are you okay?”
Among them, the one that was most worrisome was none other than El Palm.
“Will it be better than us?”
Of course, I was aware of El Palm’s abilities.
“That’s right. It wouldn’t even be a threat to ordinary adventurers.”
“The adventurer is not a problem. The problem is the sergeant.”
But the presence of Hasasin made El Palm Party’s mind complicated and chilled.
“I can’t even guess what kind of beings they are.”
All I know about the Hasasins is that they are the best group of assassins in Maple World.
That made it even more of a headache.
I don’t know Hashashin, so I couldn’t picture Hashashin and El Palm fighting in my head.
In the end, there was only one thing I could trust.
“If the boss said so, then there must be a way to deal with the subordinate.”
13.
It was the second day.
‘All the adventurers have hunted.’
El Palm, the time it took him to clear out all the adventurers on the first floor of the Prince’s Tomb.
‘Only the messenger remains.’
However, Hasasin was an exception.
At this point, El Palm had not yet eliminated a single sergeant.
There was nothing strange.
‘As expected, you’re amazing.’
It wasn’t just luck that made Hassasin famous as the best assassin in the Nihal Desert for so many years.
Despite the fact that they are bound to have many enemies due to the nature of the assassin group, they still remain the best in the Nihal Desert due to their special organizational method and outstanding skills.
‘The existence was completely hidden.’
Among them, the most outstanding ability that Hasasin possessed was the ability to hide.
‘Because it’s a dark site skill.’
The skill that made this possible was the Dark Sight skill, a thief skill.
In fact, the dark site skill itself wasn’t that great.
Rather, the Dark Site skill was a 1st circle thief skill that allowed one to hide in the shadows.
And in fact, it wasn’t a skill with as high utility value as I thought.
‘Just hiding in the shadows.’
It was only a skill to hide one’s appearance, and it was by no means a skill to hide one’s traces.
The sounds, smells, etc. were still there.
That’s why.
‘But it’s different when the lower class writes it.’
Ha Sa Shin, they became the best.
‘Because they have no sound or smell.’
With their natural talent and special training, they were colorless and odorless beings.
‘When you reach a certain level, you can walk on the desert sand without leaving any footprints.’
Even if you move quickly, it’s hard to gauge the sound.
‘Unless it’s a confined space.’
The reason I felt Hassassin’s presence during my conversation with Prince Kashan last time was because it was a sealed space.
Even if he was a great vassal, his presence was bound to be revealed to some extent in such a limited environment.
In other words, it was impossible to detect the presence of Hasasin in a place filled with all kinds of smells and noises like this.
‘Can’t find it.’
Even if it’s El Palm.
‘Because you can’t see it even with a telescope.’
With the abilities he had, it was impossible to find the sergeant who had decided to disappear.
Of course, since you can’t see it, hunting is impossible.
Of course, El Palm didn’t come here without knowing that.
‘Well, that won’t be a problem.’
We have prepared a definite countermeasure.
‘That’s why the match was held on the first floor.’
That’s El Palm, that’s why he was on the first floor.
‘Then I guess we should get started.’
Naturally, El Palm pulled out the card he had prepared.
14.
It was the 6th day.
“It’s the exit.”
Divo and his party entered the second floor and discovered the entrance to the third floor, the final stage.
That was an incredibly fast pace of progress.
To an extent that even Devo and his party could not have predicted.
“The markings were accurate.”
It was thanks to the marks left behind by those who had gone before that they were able to successfully find the exit so quickly.
Moreover, the markings were clear and accurate.
This was something rarely seen at Mystic Gate.
Among the adventurers who entered, those who left traces usually entered with a purpose.
Most adventurers leave no trace.
In the first place, things like marks are meant to be left behind after one dies and for the next adventurer.
There were quite a few adventurers who considered such things to be untrue.
That’s why the signs here were accurate.
“It is worthy of being a prince’s tomb.”
Since it was the prince’s tomb and not someone else’s, if the prince died, it was inevitable that a second party would come to find the prince’s remains.
In fact, there were many latecomers. It was only natural that there were traces everywhere.
“And yet everyone died on the third floor.”
In other words, it meant that everyone had safely reached the second floor with their power preserved, but faced death on the third floor.
In other words, the door in front of us was the door to hell.
“Okay, then let’s decide.”
And now, with only four members left, the Divo group had to make a decision.
“Do you want to go in or not?”
Here we have to decide whether or not to enter without El Palm.
Common sense would have made it right to wait for El Palm.
That would have had a higher chance of survival.
“First of all, let me be clear: the boss told me to keep attacking.”
However, El Palm never told his colleagues to attack only up to the second floor.
That could have been because he didn’t know how to clear the second floor so quickly, but that didn’t matter.
El Palm was their leader, if the leader told them to continue the attack, then it was right to continue.
Of course, as I said before, if you are worried about your life, it would be best to wait for El Palm here.
That’s why.
“But there is no boss, so majority rule here.”
What Divo asked for was his opinion.
“Let’s just decide by a show of hands. Who’s going in?”
And in the words that followed, everyone expressed their opinions.
Devo, Kiri, and Miner raised their hands.
He expressed his will to follow the leader’s words even if he faced death.
The only exception was Ralph.
“I’d like to explore the second floor a bit more.”
“Explore? Why?”
The reason was simple.
“There might be something worth making money with. Nepenthes isn’t an easy monster.”
That there is still room to make more money.
In other words, that was it.
“Hey, the prince would make more money. The basic thing is the golden elephant.”
Ralph nodded at Debo’s continued words and then raised his hand.
Everyone decided to follow El Palm’s orders.
There was nothing strange.
“You guys don’t have any worries at all? Huh? You might die?”
“If it weren’t for the boss, I would die, but I will follow orders unconditionally.”
“If the leader tells you to do something, you have to do it. That’s the way to have the highest chance of survival.”
El Palm has shown amazing abilities so far.
Of course everyone knew.
“Okay, then let’s all prepare to die.”
That the place beyond this exit is really dangerous.
It wouldn’t be strange if I died at any time.
But there was no hesitation.
“When you count one, two, three, you’re going. In the middle of it, don’t suddenly say something stupid like “Stop!” or “Stop!” Okay? Okay, let’s go in. One, two… … .”
The moment Divo was about to step into the exit.
“for a moment.”
“Hey, seriously! Hey! Who are you? Talking nonsense like that… … Huh?”
It appeared at that moment.
“boss?”
El Palm, he revealed himself.
Everyone turned their heads and looked at El Palm in surprise at that fact.
The sight of El Palm was peaceful.
Enough to make the viewer feel embarrassed.
“No, boss? When did you get here?”
“I just came into the second floor.”
“A little while ago?”
“About 30 minutes ago.”
Everyone was even more surprised by what he said next.
They covered the path that took them days in just 30 minutes?
“It was easy to get here thanks to the signs.”
Although it was clearly marked as El Palm, the 30-minute distance was a distance that could only be reached by running.
Nepenthes, in a place full of those monster plants, you run and move just because there’s a sign?
It’s hard to believe.
Of course, that was the hardest thing to believe.
“Wait a minute, so you’ve taken care of everything?”
El Palm came here after defeating a huge number of enemies.
“Are you a sergeant?”
Aren’t there even some sergeants among them?
“The subordinate officer couldn’t handle it.”
“yes?”
El Palm’s answer to that question surprised everyone again.
“You couldn’t catch it?”
“I didn’t catch a single one. In the first place, it’s almost impossible to find a sergeant who has already hidden in the field.”
It was a chilling statement.
Because it meant that the surviving sergeants were aiming for their heads at this very moment.
‘Even the boss has a hard time?’
Even El Palm’s colleagues felt even more eerie at the fact that even El Palm could not do anything.
‘Dangerous.’
That’s a really horrible situation.
But no one expressed its horror.
“You little ones, the moment I see you, I’ll smash your heads in with this polearm. Don’t worry!”
“That’s right. Five would be a lot easier to handle.”
“In times like this, a gun is the way to go. Just watch me blow a hole in the heads of those bastards.”
“Isn’t there a lot of valuable stuff in your possession, sir?”
El Palm said that he was happy to express his confidence and that he was impressed by the appearance of his colleagues.
“It doesn’t matter. They can’t come to the second floor anyway.”
“Huh? What do you mean? Can’t you come to the second floor?”
“What’s scary about the Hashimoto is his dark site skill that hides in the shadows. However, there comes a time when he absolutely cannot use that skill.”
“A moment? Ah!”
“Yes, the moment you get to the second floor, you can’t help but be defenseless at that moment.”
El Palm, the reason he fought on the first floor.
“Even my colleagues were already working on the second floor.”
El Palm’s sending of Divo and his colleagues to the second floor was also for the same purpose.
Chasing El Palm to the second floor is a huge risk, but his colleagues are already on the other side of the second floor?
From the perspective of the subordinate, it is a situation where the calculations in his head are bound to become complicated.
“It’s not easy to take that risk by going to the second floor, not the third.”
Moreover, entering the second floor was not the end.
Of course, El Palm knew one more element here.
“I’m lucky to be here, and I’m also a Nepenthes.”
‘I already knew it, but.’
Nepenthes is the worst monster for Hassasin.
That would be the case, because even if you hide in the shadows, if there is a Nepenthes nearby, you will inevitably get bitten.
That was also El Palm’s trick.
Of course El Palm knew.
“But as time goes by, it will move.”
All of this is just a waste of time.
And that was enough.
“So before that, break the third floor.”
With those words, El Palm stepped towards the third floor.
fantasy,
