Our people, since ancient times, have often endured attacks from both bandits and stray cats.
Damn it, I never imagined I would personally experience such a thing.
“Insane… it’s absolutely massive.”
Whoosh!
A colossal mammal, its fur bristling, let out a guttural growl, its tail, thick as a python, swaying ominously.
They say a tiger’s roar possesses something that inherently incites terror.
It truly seemed to be the case.
My body stiffened, and even taking a single breath required considerable effort.
Yet, as I recalled that deranged doppelganger,
[ Resisting fear ]
[ Spirit rises ]
I found I could endure it.
From atop the thatched roof, it leaped, clearing the wall, and now stood facing me, a mere ten meters away.
It continuously drooled sticky saliva, as if a waterfall resided in its mouth, revealing its fangs.
‘Damn it, this is brutal. Am I really expected to fight a tiger now?’
An anecdote came to mind.
Didn’t they say a legendary boxing champion, who raised a tiger, once snapped and delivered a full-power straight punch to its head?
What was the result for the tiger, again?
It supposedly thought he was merely playing, and rather enjoyed it, if I recall correctly.
The tiger before me was roughly three meters long and appeared to weigh at least 300 kilograms.
“Damn it, is it a car or something?”
“Kuwaaaak!!”
‘Even the cat in front of my house utterly despises me.’
These cursed four-legged beasts clearly harbor an intense hatred for me.
Dogs, cats… even tigers.
‘Damn, good to know.’
I had no prior experience fighting such an enormous beast.
Thus, I maintained my stance, searching for any potential weaknesses.
However, the colossal creature before me seemed to have devoured many humans like myself.
A palpable sense of confidence, bordering on malevolence, gleamed within its eyes.
Whoosh!
As if unwilling to wait any longer, the tiger lunged at me with immense speed.
Its leap was so high, it seemed to defy gravity, and its ferocious forepaw aimed to crush my skull.
Yet, I too was a being who had long since surpassed the limits of humanity.
Leaping backward, I narrowly evaded its forepaw.
An opportunity presented itself: a momentary opening created when the beast slammed its forepaw into the ground.
Even when I had slain the cannibals, I had never missed such a chance.
Though my opponent was a tiger larger than a car, I had no intention of letting this slip by.
Yet, it was undeniably different from fighting a human.
“Damn it, you crazy beast!”
Thwack!
Splat!
I hadn’t anticipated that it would swing its other paw immediately after the first one landed.
Consequently, a massive claw mark appeared on my clothes, and a trickle of blood began to seep through.
Its resilience was beyond anything I’d encountered.
While I, marveling at that insane strike, sought an opening for survival through sheer instinct,
the beast, conversely, seemed to have sensed something amiss from its recent attack.
I had indeed landed a strike on its hide.
But the blade hadn’t penetrated. Unbelievable.
“Kuak!!”
Its wariness seemed to have heightened.
Though the hide hadn’t been pierced, the pain must have registered.
If I strike precisely… it might just penetrate.
“Grrr…”
“Oh, if you swung that once, people would be torn to shreds, wouldn’t they?”
“But not me, you son of a b*tch!”
[ Stats ]
Lv. 5
[ Weapon God (R) active ]
Strength: 13 (+2) > 15 (+2)
Agility: 14 (+2) > 15 (+1)
Stamina: 17 (+2) > 19 (+2)
Spirit: 22 (+4)
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I had undeniably grown stronger since last time.
‘Is it madness to feel… that I can handle this?’
A barrage of attacks, unlike anything I had ever experienced when facing humans.
Though momentarily flustered by the indiscriminate charge of this hunter, who reigned supreme in the wild,
I, too, had traversed through a crucible of hell.
And I had not the slightest intention of becoming its next meal here.
‘… Its posture is strange. On its belly… a bloodstain.’
The beast’s back was turned towards the village.
Considering no human sounds emanated from the village, the residents had either hidden or perished.
Ultimately, it meant I was alone.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed a scar on its hind leg, and a cleaver embedded within it.
‘It seems not everyone simply died.’
It appeared to have sustained some injuries after a skirmish in the village.
“Kuwaaaak!!”
Perhaps it was bothered by this, or perhaps my gaze simply displeased it.
Its massive forepaw lunged at me once more.
Again, its speed was overwhelming.
Especially given it was an animal, its trajectory was incredibly unpredictable.
It was undoubtedly a formidable foe.
“Damn it, if I were just an ordinary human.”
‘Attribute: Fire (火)’
The beast’s forepaw possessed a reach far beyond that of any human.
I judged that after dodging it, I wouldn’t be able to land an effective hit within its range.
Therefore, I lowered my stance as much as possible, preparing for the impact.
‘Hold on, my hand…!’
Then, I plunged a knife, wreathed in flickering flames, into the beast’s forepaw!
Whoosh!
‘Will-o’-the-Wisp!’
Will-o’-the-Wisp (TL Note: Dokkaebibul, a skill obtained after burning down the heads of the monsters and a mill during the first Calamity.)
When I used it to deal with the cannibals, my impression was this:
A brutal damage-over-time effect.
It allowed me to conjure blue flames anywhere and apply them to my attacks.
[ Will-o’-the-Wisp (A-) imbues Fire (火) with Killing Intent (殺)! ]
The flames demonstrated an effect of penetrating deep beneath the skin.
As if alive!
Thud!
I pierced it!
My calculated strike found its mark on the tiger’s forepaw, and a claw, engulfed in flames, tore away.
However, a tiger remained a tiger, after all.
Crack!
“Damn… it!”
Though I had delivered a blow, attempting to deflect its attack from the side,
the full force of the impact transferred directly to my wrist, eliciting a horrifying crack.
Fortunately, in the beast’s frenzied thrashing, the knife avoided becoming embedded in its forepaw.
The knife, flung far away, could be retrieved and used immediately.
Of course, I did possess some accumulated mileage from annihilating the cannibal horde.
Had I believed that I’d lost my weapon from that last blow and couldn’t recover it, I would have opened the shop at once.
However, that necessity had now vanished.
In many respects, it was a stroke of luck.
Especially since I had expected my arm to be torn off.
‘Thanks to Weapon God… and perhaps the knife being enhanced? I… I endured it!’
Due to the robust knife’s enhancement, the impact had been minimized as much as possible.
“Kuwaaaak!! Kuwak!!”
“Ugh… that hurts like hell!”
The beast began to thrash violently, propelled by the pain in its forepaw.
Flames scattered, arcing and flickering through the twilight like a playful fire-swinging (TL Note: Jwibulnori, a traditional Korean game where burning cans are swung around to create light trails.) festival against the evening sky.
Leaving the indiscriminately thrashing beast behind, I quietly moved to the side to retrieve my flung knife.
Sensing instinctively that I must not reclaim my weapon,
the colossal hunter surged forward, pushing off the ground with its burning forepaw.
I stretched out my arm and rolled forward.
This allowed me to narrowly avoid having my leg crushed by its teeth.
“Kuwaaaak!!”
The beast’s roar reverberated, painfully loud to my ears.
Immediately following, another attack came.
This time, from both sides.
The burning paw and the uninjured one.
It was clearly intending to tear me apart in every direction, crossing its two forepaws diagonally.
My initial thought was to retreat again,
but having just rolled to grab my weapon, I couldn’t immediately leap to safety.
In that fleeting moment, driven by instinct,
I thrust my body deep into the beast’s embrace.
Its breath, smelling of rotting corpses, stung my eyes.
My head was thrust into the tiger’s maw.
Two variables emerged from this action:
1. I was free from the heavy blows of its forepaws.
2. Instead, its wide-open maw greeted me.
I gazed at the roof of its mouth.
My attack wouldn’t likely penetrate its tough hide.
But this was its soft flesh.
“Hraaaaah!!”
Towards the single weakness revealed before my eyes,
I pulled my elbow back as far as possible, then thrust the knife, held in my uninjured hand, directly forward.
My target was the beast’s upper jaw, exposed by its gaping maw.
If I could stab deep enough, all the way to its brain, I might kill it in one blow!
Thwack!
Crunch…!
An immense weight pressed down upon my entire body.
I had successfully embedded the knife within its maw.
However, as the beast rapidly clamped its mouth shut, its teeth began to sink into my arm.
“Ugh…!”
The beast’s entire weight bore down on me, crushing me.
As it pushed me with its hind legs, my entire body felt as if it would be pulverized.
Despite this.
“You bastard!! Do you really think I’ll die here?!”
Ignoring the immense pain searing through my left arm, I gripped the knife tighter.
Crunch, crack, grind!
Twisting the knife, I began to inflict deeper and deeper damage upon the beast.
[ Due to Critical Strike (C++), 2x damage is applied! ]
Multiple messages confirming 2x damage appeared in quick succession.
And then,
“Ugh, Uwaaak!”
The beast’s strength seemed to wane, little by little.
Thunk.
The moment the tip of the knife connected with bone, a sensation echoed through my fingertips.
Losing all strength, the beast exhaled one last hot, sticky breath onto my face.
Then, its massive body slumped against mine.
“Insane… did that really just happen?”
Its breath ceased.
Straining my shoulders, I managed to push the beast’s slumped body to the ground, then gasped for ragged breaths.
“……. Ugh… that hurts like hell.”
Yet, the state of my injuries was markedly different from the first Calamity.
Aside from a somewhat sore wrist and an arm with teeth embedded, bleeding profusely,
even considering the torn clothes as a detriment,
“A clean victory, then.”
I had successfully overcome a C++ Calamity without undue struggle.
A sense of pride began to swell within me.
‘Upon closer inspection, I see it does have wounds on its belly. Perhaps it was easier to catch because it was already injured.’
I consciously regulated my emotions, preventing myself from becoming overly excited.
Stretching my body, I surveyed my surroundings.
“Should I remain in this Calamity for a while to treat my wounds? There must be bandages even in the Joseon Dynasty, right?”
After fighting the ‘heads’ in the first Calamity, my body had been utterly shattered.
That was why I had been forced to proceed to the next Calamity.
This time, I intended to stay longer and try various things.
Specifically, I planned to focus on understanding my skills, such as Attribute Enhancement and Weapon God.
‘… Hmm, it’s coming out a little late.’
Feeling a certain satisfaction from my own growth,
I waited for the message asking if I wanted to remain.
“…? What? Why isn’t it appearing?”
Something felt off.
“? What is it?”
This isn’t a Calamity, is it?
I looked at the massive tiger corpse before me, then up at the sky.
I surveyed my surroundings and even posed a question to the empty air.
……..
‘Wait a minute, no way.’
I hastily conveyed this question to the symbol on my palm.
– No… how could you just cut me off like that…
A grumbling sound emerged from it.
But I believed conveying this question quickly was paramount.
Briefly, I explained that I had beaten a tiger, describing its size and appearance in detail.
I also added that the village seemed to have been raided.
Then,
– Gourmand) I detect the familiar scent of Zhao Yun from this unfamiliar transient…
– Admin) You’re alive?? Is this a C-grade Calamity again?
Saying they recognized a familiar scent, everyone seemed to nod in agreement.
Admin, in particular, seemed certain it was me.
When I asked out of curiosity, a somewhat pitiful reply came.
– Admin) Only one person has ever bought my Calamity-con! So. Hurry. (Calamity-con holding out a blue badge)
– Gourmand) (Frog-con shaking its head) Oh dear…
– Artist) (Admin-con exclaiming ‘Oh my god’) How about using this instead…?
– Admin) ??? (Calamity-con cocking a gun)
– Artist) Honestly… it’s just too ugly… no one would use it…
“Ah.”
Thanks to Admin, I now had the advantage of being identified whenever I wished.
Whether this was truly an advantage, I wasn’t sure.
Leaving updates on the gallery and watching the fights,
I wandered through the ruined village.
I began searching for bandages or any tools I could use for treatment.
“There are hardly any living people left. Judging by the numerous footprints, everyone seems to have fled.”
Indiscriminately scattered footprints.
It was clear that the moment the tiger entered, everyone panicked, scattered, and ran wild.
“It’s getting dark soon, someone should be coming…”
Whoosh!
At that moment.
An arrow flew towards me.
It wasn’t aimed at me.
I looked in the direction from which the arrow, now embedded in the wall, had come.
“Who goes there?”
Dressed in armor, carrying bows, spears, and what appeared to be grappling guns on their backs,
these individuals, mounted on horses, gallantly introduced themselves:
“We are the Chakhogapsa (TL Note: Tiger Hunters, a special unit in the Joseon Dynasty tasked with hunting tigers), who have come due to a tiger calamity. State your identity.”
Kozmo had explained:
Normally, confronting and catching a tiger alone with sheer guts was considered madness.
‘Chakhogun (TL Note: Tiger-hunting army).’
These were soldiers specifically formed to hunt tigers.
They were said to be the most significant aid in this current Calamity.
