◈ Episode 4. Demon Hunter (1)

I was half in doubt.

‘Is this how the demons appear in real life?’

…It’s been 10 years and there’s no improvement at all, how come?

The current development was similar to the demon hunter’s quest.

However, as soon as the message appeared, I became convinced.

The demon took over Nam Cheolmin’s body.

In an instant, the community’s information came to my mind.

– The demons are really a problem

– They have high levels but what’s more tricky is their status abnormalities ㅆㅂ

– The mage and priest classes can endure it because they have high mental strength, but warriors like us without buffs or potions are really nothing but a punching bag

Certainly, the demons in reality were tricky monsters.

More than a decade ago.

There was no rule that they wwould be the same demons I had encountered on the quests.

But I knew.

That I couldn’t indulge in such private judgments in front of demons.

『Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo’s pride ironically rises the highest when facing demons』

Yes, what kind of guy is the demon possessing Nam Cheolmin?

What’s their level?

It is also unknown what status abnormality they cause.

Tap tap–

But my vision was clearer than ever.

There was not a single hesitation in my straight walk.

At this moment when I encountered the demon, I spoke in a cold voice.

“As expected, you are the demon.”

My declaration shocked the audience.

Choi Junghoon stammered.

He took turns looking at Nam Cheolmin and me, and then took a step back.

“W-What do you mean? D-Demon?”

“Demon…!! I knew it, I had a bad feeling.”

“Wait, if it’s a demon, we can’t possibly deal with it…!”

At their shock, Nam Cheolmin.

No, the demon laughed.

“Hahahaha! You’re quick to notice, you morons!”

The devil seemed pleased with this situation.

It would be fun.

Human’s negative emotions become the power of the demon.

“You humans. You’re sooo~ pretentious.”

But I had no intention to listen to his bragging.

“It’s of low class.”

In my hand, there was a silver dagger.

“I don’t know if there is such a thing as classes for inferior beings like demons in the first place.”

Of course, even demons had such things.

It was exactly what I was tired of listening to when carrying out job quests in Akshan.

lower, intermediate, and upper levels.

Above them, there were ‘true demons’, and further up, there were ‘demon kings’ who claimed to be the kings of the demons…

But like I said.

『No demon’s temptation, deceit, or trial can damage Grandfell’s lofty pride.』

Grandfell.

In other words, every demon was the same to me.

So there was no hesitation in my actions.

[Skill ‘Natural Enemy is activated]

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Natural Enemy : Fighting power increases dramatically when fighting demons.

───────

Now that Natural Enemy had been invoked.

My physical abilities had risen dramatically.

Swoosh–!

Precise and quick.

I thrust the dagger into Nam Cheolmin’s neck.

Ting–!

Sure enough, he had metal armor.

I didn’t expect him to defend the nape of his neck.

I could hear a stunned voice.

“…Hahaha! Are you crazy? Aren’t you worse than me? Swinging a knife all of a sudden when you’ve been getting along? Fuck, what’s up with this bastard…?!”

But I didn’t allow it.

“Don’t try to talk to me.”

“…W-What?”

“I don’t exchange words with prey.”

Swoosh–!

It was impossible to pierce the plate armor with a silver dagger.

‘Then it would be right to aim for that joint.’

In the presence of the demon, I moved according to my instinct.

I could feel that the ability of my body and the rotation of my brain were definitely on a different level than when dealing with gnolls.

Stab–!

A silver dagger was thrust into his inner elbow.

[Skill ‘Exorcism’ is activated.]

‘I don’t know how effective the effect of exorcism will be, but it doesn’t matter.’

What the message meant was simple.

It meant I had dealt a valid blow to the devil.

The demon panicked and pushed back a few steps.

“Crazy!! It’s silver!!! Fuck, what are you doing, bastard?”

Instead of answering, I swung the dagger again.

The joint on the side of his body.

The joint on his knees.

And a little gap in the nape of his neck.

Retch–

Black blood poured from his wounds.

The demon said.

“Crazy bastard… Can’t you see I’m bleeding?! That’s when this bastard really dies. If you kill me, this guy will die too!! No, I’m going to die with this bastard no matter what. Do you think I will die alone?!”

I laughed inwardly in delight.

‘How is the line the same as 10 years ago?’

Hn, I won’t fall for it.

When skill [Exorcism] was active, the demon hunter’s attack only damaged the demon.

No matter how long ago it was, I didn’t forget the basic common sense.

I laughed.

But on my face.

There was no reflection of what was happening inside.

“The prey just needs to be hunted.”

Stab–!

*

“Hyung, don’t push yourself too hard. Avoid dangerous ruptures as much as possible.”

“I got it, you punk.”

“I’m not kidding. The atmosphere is terrible these days. That’s why I’m telling you… Why don’t you just join our guild? There are so many things you can do as a player without having to go through the ruptures. Like being an analyst or something.”

He just didn’t want to live an ugly life.

“We’re brothers, but we’re very different.”

“Shouldn’t I do my best to avoid ruining my brother’s reputation?”

“Taemin said the boss raid was successful again? Tell them my congratulations.”

He just didn’t want to cause trouble to the younger brother who was better than the older brother.

Nam Cheolmin thought as he watched himself move freely.

‘…Where did it go wrong?’

His memory got blurry from the moment he entered the crack.

However, he clearly remembered the message that appeared.

[The lesser demon, the imp, is watching you.]

[Your mental strength is too low.]

[Status abnormality: Possession occurs.]

‘…An imp?’

Level 200 demon-type monster, Imp.

Nam Cheolmin knew very well the dangers of the demons.

It was because there were things he had seen and heard from his younger brother, Nam Taemin.

Nam Cheolmin clenched his teeth.

‘You can’t go in! You’ll get annihilated!’

But his voice didn’t come out.

‘…Yes, another party. If you get help from another party!’

Words that had nothing to do with his own will came out.

“But, you don’t have to worry. It’s quite big, maybe because this is the transit station? If you choose your route well, you should be able to hunt without overlapping with other parties..”

He was literally driving the party members to death.

“Cheolmin hyung! No, hyung!”

A series of outbursts.

Eventually, Choi Junghoon and the other party members were surrounded by a group of gnolls.

‘It’s because of me. Because of me…!!’

Move.

Please move.

He had to help.

However, Nam Cheolmin couldn’t move a single step.

He had no choice but to stand and watch.

“No, fuck. What’s wrong with you!? Hey, Nam Cheolmin!”

It was all his fault.

It was his lack of ability.

Nam Cheolmin’s heart began to break down from a sense of helplessness.

‘…Taemin, I guess I really had to do what you said.’

And it was what the imp wanted.

Nam Cheolmin let go of the string of consciousness he was barely holding on to.

All he could hear was a faint voice.

“Hey, Nam Cheolmin! Did you really think that you’ve become something now that I call you hyung and follow you around? Fuck, I am not your little brother or a sucker, you bastard…”

Yes, everything Choi Junghoon said was right.

He couldn’t be better than that.

“Hahaha. Hahahaha.”

The only thing he heard after that was laughter.

The imp’s laughter sounded as though it was laughing at his own weakness.

However, the seemingly endless ridicule stopped.

“As expected, you are the demon.”

…You’ve noticed the presence of the demon? How?

At those words, Nam Cheolmin grabbed the string of consciousness again.

Then he saw an unbelievable sight.

‘…He’s overwhelming the imp?’

It was a ridiculous situation.

Their high level was not the only reason why demons were tricky to deal with.

It was because the demons frequently caused status abnormalities.

[Fear], [Despair], [Exhaustion]…

A high mental strength stat to counter that vicious status abnormality.

Or an overwhelming level gap so that it could be ignored.

‘…But, what the hell is this guy?’

He couldn’t believe it even though he watched it himself.

This wasn’t a fight.

Yeah, like the man said.

It was a one-sided ‘hunting’.

The imp’s cry rang in Nam Cheolmin’s ears.

Nam Cheolmin thought.

‘If the imp dies, am I going to die too?’

Then he would die.

Nam Cheolmin made up his mind.

Because of him, the party members were killed.

Even if he said that his body was stolen by an imp, it was not an excuse.

He heard that demons preyed on the weak.

That was his own fault.

‘Shouldn’t I do as much as l can even if I die?’

Isn’t that right, Junghoon? Taemin?

Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to have any hesitation.

‘Unfortunately, there’s no way I can repay the favor.’

The moment Nam Cheolmin thought so.

Stab–!

At the same time as the man’s dagger was thrust into the nape of his neck.

He felt like something was slipping out of his body.

Flash–

…Somehow, his eyes opened.

“…?”

Soon he could see the subway’s ceiling.

The flickering light bulb was shining.

It was bright enough to make him frown.

In the midst of that, he heard a voice.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

More relaxed than ever,

A voice brimming with elegance.

“With me, you have nothing to worry about.”

*

[You have killed the lower demon, ‘Imp’.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]…

My level had risen.

When I counted the number of messages, there were a total of 12.

I caught only one imp, but it went up by 12 levels.

What. Is this for real.

I remembered the battle with the imp.

To gauge the level of the imp who was literally pouring out experience points.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.

‘The gnolls were more difficult to deal with than the imp.’

Gnoll’s level was only around level 30.

Then what that meant was simple.

‘…I said that if you have high expectations, you will be disappointed.’

Isn’t this already far exceeded my expectations?

Apparently, the ‘natural enemy’ between the demon hunters and the demons was much stronger than I expected.

‘Is it because it’s a low-level demon?’

It was impossible to go against the level gap difference.

The message didn’t stop there.

[Skill ‘Silver Mastery’ level increases]

───────

Silver Mastery (24%): Gives silver weapons additional attack power and special effects.

───────

Thanks to defeating the imp with the silver dagger, my skill proficiency increased significantly.

Proficiency from 19 percent to 24 percent at once.

Unfortunately, the imp didn’t drop items.

But I didn’t feel regret.

Maybe because I got a huge amount of experience instead.

If not, it was probably because of Grandfell’s setting that didn’t cling to wealth.

I couldn’t figure it out.

‘Rather than that.’

Anyway, it was more important that I kept my word.

“Didn’t I tell you? With me, you have nothing to worry about.”

…If I didn’t keep it, I would have died out of embarrassment.

I had learned through experiences.

With Grandfell, my actions, which covered a dark history, couldn’t be corrected.

Even in the moment of life-and-death crisis.

My upright head proved it.

That meant I had no choice but to adapt.

Fortunately, my adaptability skill seemed pretty good.

“Cough. Thank you, really. For this grace, I will definitely…!”

“Hyung, are you okay? Seriously, what the hell is going on…”

“Whoa. I am glad. Really.”

“Wow. That’s awesome…!!”

The burdensome gazes pouring down on me.

Those eyes that seemed to look up to me.

I was taking them in as if nothing happened.

As if such a response was natural.

I just thought.

‘How rude.’

The saying that young people these days have no manners,

It didn’t come out for no reason.

*

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Title: Today’s review of Line 4’s crack attack!! ><

Written by: Jung Yeonui

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Content: Today’s attack could have been really badㅠㅠ The party leader was possessed by an impㅠㅠㅠ I really thought our party was going to be wiped out. But there was a very strong person in the party, he beat up the imp and saved us!! Party leader, I am sorry, and thank you, crying

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Comments:

– Military school girl concept Jung Yeonui is here againㅋㅋ Now that your concept is not good enough, you even made up a hoax?

– Let’s be real, Jung Yeonui,  isn’t the story of catching an imp at a gnoll party too implausible?

– At least give me a name or say the party members

– Excuse me, it’s really not a hoax ㅡㅡ? And I wanted to ask his name… You have to see him in person, it’s hard to explain… How should I say this? He has the aura? It feels like his eye level is different from ours???

– ??? What are you talking about

Level 368.

Player ranked 11th.

Nam Taemin laughed while reading the post.

“So, hyung. You want me to believe this? Is this real?”

In front of him was his brother, Nam Cheolmin.

“Hn. It’s real.”

Nam Cheolmin’s face was as serious as ever.

“I was the party leader that got possessed by an imp.”

“W-What did you say?”