LRAB Chapter 361: Hwarong (Fire Dragon) (3)
Chapter 361: Hwarong (Fire Dragon) (3)
“Ah...?”
“What... just happened?”
“Did he... die?”
They didn’t want to say it, but the word came out anyway—death. It was all anyone could think.
When Hwarong’s two eyes had been blasted away, it had seemed like a miracle might happen.
No one here had ever truly considered “fighting” Hwarong.
When the opponent was obviously a boulder, what hunter wanted to become a cracked egg? That was a pointless death.
So if Kang-hoo killed Hwarong, they had figured it would be a miracle.
“Miracle” sounded nice; in truth, they hadn’t expected it at all.
Even as they gasped in admiration, they had wondered why he would court a senseless death with such bravado—that had been their honest feeling.
KWHAAAA!
Hwarong let out a roar and scattered fire in every direction.
The hunters who had stepped forward to check on Kang-hoo’s condition scrambled back in a panic.
That hellfire—hot enough to melt the bridge—burned you just by brushing its heat.
“Ha...”
Ma Jin-ho failed to string words together and only moved his lips soundlessly.
Were they supposed to accept that Kang-hoo had died so anticlimactically?
Why had he charged into Hwarong’s eye? Or had he not charged—had he been sucked in?
They hadn’t finished judging the situation and were trading uncertain looks when—
...Kuuk?
Hwarong’s expression twisted. It looked entirely different now—disgusted.
Then, wearing a face of agony, it began grinding its head against the rock wall.
It looked like something had gotten inside its head and it couldn’t get it out—a picture of pain.
Like a person with a bug in their ear, unable to do anything but scream.
“Hrrk! Hrrrk! Hrrrrrk!”
THUD! THUUUD! THUD!
Hwarong flailed, hopping without knowing what to do.
It couldn’t take off because of the chains, but it could manage little bounds that shook the ground each time.
Then—
KRAAAAA!
Hwarong glared upward at nothing with its eyes wide and let out a screech—then froze like a paused frame.
And—
SPLAAAAASH!
A man, drenched in every imaginable fluid, split up through the very crown of Hwarong’s skull and emerged. Kang-hoo.
His whole body was smeared with unknown liquids and stuck with scattered shards of brain.
It was lucky every Groo guildsman had a strong stomach; otherwise they would’ve retched on the spot.
Fssss...
Flattened beneath Kang-hoo’s feet, Hwarong lay still. The life had left its eyes.
There was no question—it was dead.
In that instant, every Groo guild member froze like ice as if time had stopped.
O Yu-jin, O Hye-jin, and Ma Jin-ho were no exception. Hwarong’s death looked certain, no matter how they saw it.
“He... killed it alone?”
One guildsman muttered, half out of his mind.
Hwarong wasn’t built to be soloed. That was impossible.
A body too massive to fathom.
Fire so strong your flesh would melt just by a graze.
Against such a beast, how were you supposed to steadily chip away its health until it died? You would die first.
And yet, before their eyes lay a dead monster that would never move again.
“Wow. Wow... W–wow.”
O Yu-jin could not form a proper sentence and only let out breathless exclamations.
She had not foreseen an attack that tore through the inside of Hwarong’s head.
It was a tactic worth thinking about, but the risk was immense.
You couldn’t be sure what was inside, and such an attack might not kill it.
You could end up trapped inside forever. Or get sucked into its stomach like prey and be digested.
Realizing that Kang-hoo’s request for “a little time” had not been mere “recon” but a full-on “clear,” she felt chills.
‘I thought it was reckless... but in the end every step was clean. He destroyed the core sensor—the eyes—shut down threatening patterns with clones, then plunged through the eye in a surprise strike.’
Replaying the sequence, O Yu-jin rubbed away the goosebumps running up her arm.
This wasn’t something luck or bravado could explain—this was a razor-honed setup.
It was hard to call it “good fortune” when Kang-hoo hadn’t allowed Hwarong to land a single attack from start to finish.
O Yu-jin spoke.
“I’m not making a fuss trying to connect with Mr. Shin Kang-hoo for nothing. You all saw it, right? ...That’s the kind of hunter he is.”
“Honestly, it’s kinda scary, Master. If a guy like that becomes our enemy, we’re all dead meat, aren’t we?”
A male guildsman shook his head. The image of Hwarong’s end was seared into his brain.
Just then, Kang-hoo, wiping Hwarong’s leavings from his dagger, turned his gaze their way—
“...!”
Without anyone leading, they all flinched and took a step or two back.
What words were needed?
They would need time to calm their shock. Something unbelievable had happened.
Yeah—this was a massive incident.
Meanwhile—
‘These EXP gains are insane.’
Kang-hoo looked satisfied as he checked the skyrocketing levels.
Back in France, after killing Sebum, he had gone from Lv. 325 to 328.
That jump had been big enough to leave him quite surprised.
But this time—
Compared to that, this was record-shattering—enough to knock the wind out of you.
He was now Lv. 345.
The experience haul was absurd.
Probably no one had even imagined this could be soloed.
The system had been designed to calculate rewards within a “reasonable” range; of course, that was the creator—i.e., the original author’s—design.
But for Hwarong, the system clearly hadn’t considered a solo clear to be possible.
Thus, a ridiculous amount of EXP had been dumped on him all at once, resulting in a truly crazy level-up.
Of course, it wasn’t free.
Entering the body of a gigantic beast meant colliding with countless variables.
The first thing Kang-hoo experienced after piercing Hwarong’s eye was exposure to Hwarong’s blood and bodily fluids.
It was nothing like a human’s—an experience that wasn’t the least bit pleasant.
If he had to analogize, it felt like being freshly soaked in industrial wastewater. Poison—pure and simple.
【Buff – Repentance】
【Once only, cleanse all harmful effects on yourself and restore HP to 99%.】
【Used.】
So he used the buff he had long saved for an emergency.
Otherwise there was no way to shake off the debuffs caused by exposure to Hwarong’s fluids.
His HP had been halving by the second—there hadn’t been time to ponder.
For this reason, hunters were generally advised not to penetrate into giant beasts’ bodies.
You never knew what was inside; one wrong exposure meant instant death or shock in moments.
But trusting in Repentance, Kang-hoo had thrown the dice.
As a result, he instantly cleansed the lethal debuffs from those fluids.
After that—though it was stomach-turning—it was a relatively “light” butchery.
Kang-hoo threw everything he had, using every skill, and tore through Hwarong’s brain.
“Porridge” would not be an exaggeration; anything he could grind, he ground to paste.
【Heh. A freak among freaks.】
The first to react was the tight-lipped Cataclysm – Darkness, awestruck at the gambit.
【Lose your limbs and there are ways to recover. Lose your head, and there aren’t. I secretly hoped you’d try it—you actually did, and I’m impressed.】
The Seeker of Pure Darkness added.
In the end, all constellations watching their contractors wanted one thing:
Proof that the contract had been worth making.
Their greed had no end—prove it yesterday, and they wanted you to prove it again today. Vicarious triumph.
So when the Seeker had seen Hwarong, it had hoped Kang-hoo would challenge it.
It had only watched quietly—and been stunned when he actually did.
【I should ask the others—has any contractor soloed a beast like Hwarong like mine just did? This is insane—flat-out insane!】
The Strategist of the Wasteland howled with mad delight, chest swelling with thrill and rapture.
【Constellation “Falling Leaves” expressed unfiltered reverence for your gambler’s spirit.】
【Constellation “Iron-blooded Duke” applauded you with ceaseless admiration.】
【Constellation “Heartless Assassin” said your feat of turning the impossible possible gave them great inspiration.】
Not just the main constellations; those tied to him through Theft chimed in as well.
They had lost their former contractors—to Kang-hoo—and regardless of their will, their contracts had been inherited.
Normally, they never addressed Kang-hoo; they didn’t like their new master.
Bound by contract, they couldn’t avoid providing abilities tied to themselves.
But they wouldn’t speak—a kind of silent, petty protest.
For them to each speak now meant this “solo Hwarong hunt” had moved them deeply.
Right then—
Thunk!
A little ungraceful, but something popped out from between Hwarong’s parted skull plates—a drop.
Normally, loot generated atop the corpse or remained where it vanished.
But this monster was so big that it had formed at the most noticeable spot.
‘A book?’
A skillbook.
For most hunters, the class of the skillbook was critical.
Learn an out-of-class skill and your efficiency plummeted.
But thanks to his “learning trick,” Kang-hoo could read without worrying about penalties.
【Special: Universal】
That was the header.
Universal—anyone could use it. No need for any learning tricks.
【Skillbook – Non-Combustible】
【While consuming 25 mana per second, maintain “100% absolute fire resistance.”】
“100?”
He doubted his eyes.
A hundred percent—no gaps—an absolute maximum that could be fully realized.
Very few hunter skills guaranteed “100%.” It was too absolute.
Which meant—
“With 100% absolute fire resistance, you’re flat-out immune to any fire-based attack...?”
From now on, any kind of exposure to fire—whatever its form—could be rendered moot.
Think Yang Yehwa, China’s famed gunner obsessed with incendiary rounds—or Lucy Cummings, Britain’s famed fire mage.
Their attacks would become worthless trash before Kang-hoo, once he learned Non-Combustible.
As far as fire went, every worry and concern had vanished completely.
This, without question, was a fortuitous encounter.