Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Level 2 Player

Queen Ant Hunt

‘This way is impossible.’

Jin-su acknowledged the fact that he couldn’t reach the Queen Ant Devourer by normal methods.

‘At the current speed, arriving at the hatchery on the 3rd day is the best.’

The hatchery and the Queen Ant Devourer room inside it had more numbers of Giant Soldier Ant Devourers camping.

‘If frontal breakthrough is hard...’

There was no choice but to approach while hiding secretly. The problem was that the sense of smell of the Ant Devourers was enormously excellent.

‘Conversely, vision and hearing are enormously poor.’

Vision reacts sensitively to light, but that was all. Hearing could be considered practically nonexistent.

‘I have to hide the smell.’

A method to brighten the field of view without light in the dark underground cave was also needed.

‘I need to prepare.’

Jin-su began to gradually gather the necessary preparations while hunting the Ant Devourers. The first thing he secured was the bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers he had discarded until now.

In the case of Ant Devourer carapaces, they are used when making armor so a certain market price had formed. But the bodily fluids of Ant Devourers had no value at all. So until now, he didn’t even collect them and discarded them.

‘It was a method I really didn’t want to use.’

Now there was no choice.

Jin-su diligently stored the bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers in the inventory. While doing so, he continuously cast attack skills and swung the staff to smash the heads of the Ant Devourers and advanced forward.

Time continued to flow. Then when Jin-su felt fatigue in his body to a degree.

“Kiiik!”

“Kiik! Kiik!”

Among the charging Ant Devourers, the ratio of Giant Soldier Ant Devourers began to exceed half and reach 80%.

‘The speed slowed sharply.’

It felt almost like advancing had stopped.

‘Because the hatchery is getting closer, they’re struggling.’

The mana consumed to block one side of the underground cave using the Ice Barrier also gradually swelled to a degree that became impossible to bear.

“Use the Sanctuary skill.”

“Okay.”

At Jin-su’s instruction, Shin Su-a immediately used the Sanctuary skill.

Hwaaaak!

Along with a cluster of bright light, Jin-su and Shin Su-a entered inside the Sanctuary.

“I really thought I was going to die.”

As soon as the Sanctuary skill was deployed, Shin Su-a plopped down on the floor. While continuously maintaining the Light Sphere skill, casting blessing, recovery, and protection skills, and in between swinging the staff to smash the heads of Ant Devourers, Shin Su-a’s body was in a completely exhausted state.

“First, rest.”

Jin-su said that to Shin Su-a and then accessed the auction house. He filled in the sold items, collected the purchased completed items, and searched for the desired skill book through the search function.

‘This is perfect.’

Jin-su purchased 2 skill books at the instant bid price. The skill book Jin-su purchased was Thermal Detection Vision.

‘If there had been even a little light, there would have been no problem at all.’

Players possess superhuman physical abilities. The same goes for eyesight.

Even if only a little light exists, they can see a brighter world than nocturnal wild animals. But no matter how good the eyesight, in a situation with not a single ray of light, it was of no use.

Jin-su learned the Thermal Detection Vision skill.

‘It shows well.’

Although there was a sense of incongruity like viewing a screen shot with an infrared camera, that degree could be sufficiently endured.

“Try learning this.”

Jin-su handed the Thermal Detection Vision skill book to Shin Su-a.

“Yeah, thank you.”

Shin Su-a learned the Thermal Detection Vision skill.

“Wow! This is really amazing.”

Shin Su-a who used the skill was delighted like a child.

‘With this, the field of view problem is solved.’

Next was the method to hide the smell.

“Huuu!”

Jin-su let out a deep sigh while looking at the bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers gathered in the inventory. He really didn’t want to smear it on, but there was no other way.

‘It can’t be helped. First, let’s eat full and rest well.’

Jin-su purchased meat generously at the auction house. He also bought rice and took out the side dishes he had put in the inventory in advance.

Jin-su and Shin Su-a cooked rice and grilled meat.

Chiik!

The savory smell of grilling meat spread.

“Let’s eat quickly.”

“Yeah!”

At Jin-su’s words, Shin Su-a inhaled the meat and rice with a beaming face.

“Eat a lot.”

“I am. Jin-su, you eat a lot too.”

Jin-su and Shin Su-a filled their stomachs solidly and then slept soundly. And they woke from sleep and had a simple breakfast.

“Today, I’m going to catch the Queen Ant.”

“Is it possible? Advancing doesn’t seem easy.”

“There’s a method.”

Jin-su said that and took out a lump of the bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers he had stored in the inventory.

“A, no? Surely it’s not what I’m thinking, Jin-su?”

Shin Su-a looked at Jin-su with a desperate expression.

“It’s what you’re thinking. Smear it.”

At Jin-su’s words, Shin Su-a’s face turned into a crying face. The sticky bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers emitting a terrible smell were dripping from Jin-su’s hand.

“R, really smear it?”

“If it’s hard alone, shall I smear it for you?”

“No, I’ll smear it.”

Shin Su-a tightly closed both eyes and received the bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers held in Jin-su’s hand and smeared them on her body.

‘I have to smear it too.’

Jin-su who took out new bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers from the inventory paused for a moment. The visuals were seriously bad, but because of the terrible smell and sticky touch, his hand didn’t move readily.

“Why aren’t you smearing it? If it’s hard, shall I smear it for you?”

Shin Su-a who had smeared the bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers opened axe eyes and looked at Jin-su who was frozen as is.

“I’ll smear it.”

Jin-su tightly closed both eyes and smeared the bodily fluids of the Ant Devourers on his body. The body was somewhat endurable. But when he smeared it up to the head and face, the terrible smell paralyzed the nose, and goosebumps rose all over the body from the sticky touch of the bodily fluids felt on the skin.

‘I’ll catch it for sure.’

Suddenly, hostility toward the Queen Ant Devourer surged strongly.

“Turn on Thermal Detection Vision.”

“I did.”

“Then release the Sanctuary and move right away.”

“Okay.”

Shin Su-a released the Sanctuary.

“Kiiik!”

Kwajik! Ppagak!

Jin-su released the Dragon Tooth Soldier skill. Then the Dragon Tooth Soldiers returned to their original forms again.

“Kiik! Kiik! Kiik!”

As the enemies suddenly disappeared, the Ant Devourers moved busily. But they couldn’t find the Dragon Tooth Soldiers that had returned to teeth. Jin-su carefully moved his footsteps and recovered the teeth into the inventory.

“Kiik!”

One Worker Ant Devourer approached Jin-su and Shin Su-a and wriggled its antennae. Then soon lost interest and went elsewhere.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Jin-su and Shin Su-a crossed the dark cave. While moving, they continuously met Ant Devourers. Most Ant Devourers ignored Jin-su and Shin Su-a.

Although there were occasionally guys who showed interest, after wriggling their antennae and confirming, they went their own way again as is.

‘To think I’d do this again.’

Jin-su who had the experience of smearing the bodily fluids of ant monsters before the regression.

‘At that time, I resolved never to do it again.’

He didn’t know that resolution would collapse so vainly like this. Jin-su continuously moved toward where the Queen Ant Devourer was following the information the Shadow Assassin had secured.

‘If we had come by frontal breakthrough, we absolutely couldn’t have come.’

The distance wasn’t that far. The problem was the number and quality of the Ant Devourers.

‘The Worker Ant Devourers decreased sharply.’

The Soldier Ant Devourers completely disappeared without a trace. Except for a minority of Worker Ant Devourers moving to work, they were all boss monster-level Giant Soldier Ant Devourers.

Jin-su and Shin Su-a moved to the hatchery.

“Kiik! Kiik!”

The Giant Soldier Ant Devourer examined Jin-su and Shin Su-a with its antennae. Then soon turned off its nerves as if it didn’t feel any particular abnormality.

‘Now almost there.’

As they entered deeper past the hatchery, a huge cavity with only one exit revealed its appearance. And there was a huge Queen Ant Devourer with a size larger than the White Drake.

‘Found it.’

Jin-su’s face was dyed with joy. The Queen Ant Devourer was continuously laying eggs.

‘I’ll cut off its breath in one go.’

In the case of ant monsters, the Queen Ant monster mostly has no combat power.

‘The Queen Ant Devourer will be the same.’

If he approaches carefully and kills it, he should be able to easily achieve an impossible feat.

Jeobeokjeobeok.

Jin-su and Shin Su-a carefully approached the Queen Ant Devourer.

“Kiik?”

At that time, the Giant Soldier Ants suddenly raised their antennae all at once.

“Kiiik!”

Dududududu!

Then they charged toward Jin-su and Shin Su-a while opening their saw-like mandibles.

‘What?’

Jin-su was flustered.

‘Stay still? Kill?’

Judgment didn’t come easily.

‘I have to kill.’

The momentum of the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers was unusual. That wasn’t probing but a movement that confirmed they were enemies. As evidence, the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers were charging madly toward the single entrance.

“Ice Barrier!”

First, he blocked the only entrance.

“Dragon Tooth Soldier Summon.”

After that, he summoned the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.

“Freezing Declaration! Ice Storm!”

Kwaaaaang!

Along with a large explosion, a battle between Jin-su and the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers broke out.

“Stone Golem Summon!”

Shin Su-a also quickly summoned the Stone Golem and cast blessing skill and protection skill on Jin-su and the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.

Kwajik! Seogeok!

A fierce battle where the Dragon Tooth Soldiers and Giant Soldier Ant Devourers mixed together broke out. Jin-su attacked the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers with magic attack skills and looked for a gap to attack the Queen Ant Devourer, but it wasn’t easy.

‘They’re defending with their bodies.’

Because the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers wove their bodies and created a huge barrier in front of the Queen Ant Devourer.

‘Why on earth was it discovered?’

Before the regression, he had safely subjugated the Queen Ant monster with this method. But this time, it narrowly failed.

In fact, this wasn’t Jin-su’s fault.

It was just a thing that happened because the habits of the Ant Devourers were a bit more picky than other ant monsters. The individuals that can enter the place where the Queen Ant Devourer is are fixed.

If a guy who is not an individual with special pheromones enters the Queen Ant Devourer’s residence, they think of it as an intruder and kill even their own kind.

“Kiiik!”

“Kueueok!”

Kwaang! Kwajik! Ppagak!

Jin-su and the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers engaged in a fierce tug-of-war. The Dragon Tooth Soldiers tried to approach the Queen Ant Devourer, and the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers blocked it using their bodies as shields.

‘I have to clean up the ones inside quickly at least.’

Even while continuously reinforcing the Ice Barrier, the speed of destruction was too fast. The stalemate continued.

Ppagak!

Jin-su was smashing the heads of the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers with the Ice Dragon Staff and diligently recovering mana. But the mana consumed was overwhelmingly faster than the mana recovered.

Around the time Jin-su’s mana dropped below half.

[Blessing of Hwangsin has grown.]

[Blessing of Hongsin has grown.]

The blessings grew.

‘Good.’

Magic skill attack power and defense increased from 32.2% to 42.2%.

‘I’ll show the power of 10%.’

Jin-su actively used magic skills.

He re-erected the Ice Barrier and Ice Storm, Ice Piercing Arrow, Ice Storm, etc.

Without caring about mana consumption, he cast magic attack skills immediately as soon as the cooldown turned.

Even the same 10%, the higher the existing stats, the greater the effect. Moreover, the effects of the Ice Dragon Staff Jin-su was using, such as ice-attribute magic skill enhancement and mana amplification, were applied overlapping, amplifying the power even more.

Kwaaaaaang!

Along with a large explosion, a small crack formed in the barrier the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers made with their bodies.

Taak!

Jin-su threw his body as is into the crack that formed in the barrier the Giant Soldier Ant Devourers made with their bodies.

A huge Queen Ant Devourer was visible in front of his eyes.

‘Did I pour too much.’

If there was a problem, it was that he had poured skills too much and consumed all the skill stacks.

‘There’s no time to wait until the cooldown.’

The Giant Soldier Ant Devourers were quickly repairing the barrier made with their bodies and pursuing Jin-su’s rear.

‘Just beat it down.’

Kkuuk!

Jin-su strongly gripped the Ice Dragon Staff, then.

Hwiik!

Forcefully struck the Ice Dragon Staff toward the head of the Queen Ant Devourer.