Chapter17

After the battle, Jang Sunam decided to take a short break.

“Let’s rest in the park before moving on.”
“Meow.”

Jelly answered like a cat. Not only its voice, but even its behavior fully imitated a stray cat—
as if it was hiding its true identity.

‘…Wait.’

It felt unsettling.
A creature that could talk suddenly pretending to be a cat wasn’t something done without reason.

‘That cunning monster whose specialty is sowing discord… it wouldn’t do this for no reason.’

Sunam subtly adjusted his grip on his weapon.

‘Someone’s nearby.’

For a mimic slime, there are no blind spots. It can form visual cells anywhere on its body.
Which meant—it must have spotted an intruder.

‘Not the hunters outside…’

Those people saw him as their savior.
They would thank him, not sneak around like assassins.

‘Could it be a member of the Evil God’s Seed organization?’

This was originally supposed to be where the zombie apocalypse began.
So it was likely that an agent of the Evil God’s Seed had been waiting here, hoping to harvest chaos energy.

‘And I ruined that plan completely.’

Unable to gather chaos energy, they’d be furious.
But after witnessing his strength, they would surely aim for a sneak attack.

‘In that case, I should strike first.’

When Sunam glanced at Jelly, the slime’s tail pointed precisely in one direction.

‘There!’

He spun around and hurled his [Shabby Axe] (F).

Whirr—CLANG!!

“Khk!”

A crash and a grunt echoed from behind a pillar.
But—

‘Damn, that’s not the sound of flesh…!’

It wasn’t the sound of an axe sinking into a body, but of metal deflecting it.

“…Hah, surprising. I was confident in my stealth, Crow.”

A figure stepped out of the shadows, clad in gear of consistent design.

‘A full set?’

An unexpected strong foe had appeared.

<Hunter> (F+)

Checking his opponent’s status revealed the rank above his head.
The same F+ grade as Sunam—but while Sunam only had some F+ gear, this man wore a complete set.
The difference in strength was inevitable.

‘If he’s really with the Evil God’s Seed, then their funding and distribution network must be massive…’

Sunam narrowed his eyes.

‘That equipment… I want it.’

Full set gear required immense effort and time to collect. His desire only grew.

“I’m Kim Min-gyu. A recovery agent for an organization.”

Graciously, he revealed his affiliation. Sunam’s eyes roamed even more greedily over his gear.

“Let’s move somewhere else, Crow. Can’t talk freely near those kinds.”

He gestured toward the hunters outside.

“Follow me.”

Turning his back, he headed for the rear exit—
a show of confidence in his own strength.

‘Then let’s test that strength.’

Sunam charged, thrusting his axe spear forward.

Whish!

“Wha—?!”

CLANG!!

Kim Min-gyu hadn’t expected an immediate attack and panicked.

“W-wait! I wanted to recruit you into our org—!”

“Shut up. Just hand over that gear.”

“You crazy bastard?!”

No mercy for enemies.
Especially not ones wearing such tempting equipment.

CLANG! CLANG-CLANG!!

Barely fending off the relentless strikes, Kim Min-gyu fled toward the back door.

Perhaps he worried about the hunters out front.

‘If he runs to a deserted spot, all the better for me.’

Sunam pursued, giving a slight nod to Jelly.
Without words, Jelly seemed to understand and darted elsewhere.

“You’ll regret rejecting my offer, Crow!”

“You sneaked up to assassinate me. Don’t spout nonsense.”

“…Tch!”

Kim Min-gyu grimaced, realizing he’d been caught.

Sunam lunged again, his axe spear thrust with all the force of his Body Training +1 enhancement.

CLANG!

But sparks flew instead of blood. The foe parried with his sword.

“Don’t think I’m so easy, Crow!”

He counterattacked.

Whoosh! CLANG, CLANG-CLANG!!

Each swing whipped the air.
Sunam narrowly deflected them, but his arms went numb.

Even with the Indomitable Body title, the pressure was immense.

‘I can’t block head-on. My arms will snap.’

The difference in strength was clear.
Kim’s swordsmanship was at least +3, his strength the same.
And every piece of his set gear seemed enhanced to +3 as well.

“Impressive, Crow. What kind of skill lets you deflect all my strikes?”

‘Centuries of battle experience, punk.’

The exchange dragged on, but the tide was turning.
Sunam was tiring, while Kim remained unscathed.

Whish—Slash!

“Khk!”

His shoulder was cut. Thanks to Indomitable Body, it wasn’t deep, but blood seeped out.

“Hahaha! Where’s that confidence now, Crow?”

Growing bolder, Kim pressed harder.
They’d already shifted 20 meters from the starting point—clear evidence of Sunam’s disadvantage.

He had landed blows, yes, but Kim’s armor nullified them.

‘Damn armor…’

Even targeting weak spots failed—his sword always intercepted.

‘I’ll have to risk it.’

Sunam wasn’t reckless. He had prepared a trump card:

Forcing out the power of his fully developed body from a previous regression.
A technique he called Overdrive.

Like recalling a blueprint for an engine—but only having corroded metal for parts.
It could unleash immense power for a short time…
but risked blowing up his body.

‘Best if I didn’t use it, but… no choice.’

He backed away sharply.

“Oh? Planning something?”

Kim crouched low, ready to rush in and cut him down the moment he acted.

But suddenly—

A chill ran down Kim’s spine.

‘Wh-what?’

Goosebumps. Cold sweat.
The world warped, and Sunam loomed like a shadowy abyss.

Death.

That was all Kim felt.

In that moment, Jang Sunam was death incarnate.

“Hh—?”

Then Kim blinked. Barely a fraction of a second had passed.

‘An illusion? A fear skill?’

He didn’t realize it was his soul warning him instinctively.

‘But… why did it stop?’

Sunam had ceased whatever he was doing. Kim was puzzled.

Then—

“Too late.”

Sunam grinned.

Kim froze. Sunam wasn’t looking at him, but past him.

‘Huh?’

Then he noticed. Shadows writhed around him.

‘Something’s there?!’

WHOOSH!

He spun, slashing hard—
but his blade only cut through air, like water.

“A—”

He saw it.

The mimic slime, disguised as a statue, was spreading wide to engulf him.

“Devour him.”

SLURP!!

At Sunam’s command, the slime swallowed Kim whole.

SSSSHHHH!!

Its acid seeped through his armor, burning his flesh.

“──!!!”

His screams only let more acid pour into his mouth, searing him inside.

Soon nothing remained but bone. One life gone.

“Khak!”

He revived immediately outside the slime.
But he had no time—Sunam’s spear was already thrusting forward.

CRUNCH!

“Ghhk!!”

This was the weakness of solo play.
With no ally to cover him, his revival left him wide open.

SLURP!!

Skewered once, then devoured again.
Kim struggled, but there was no escape.

Caught between Sunam and the slime, he died over and over…
until nothing remained.

A while later.

[You have obtained 3,510 coins.]

Looting Kim’s corpse yielded a hefty reward.
Enough to buy his sealed set equipment and still have 2,000 coins left.

“Thanks to that, I’ve got a full set now.”

Sunam happily purchased the sealed set.

<Goblin Warrior’s Helm> (F+) +3
<Goblin Warrior’s Armor> (F+) +3
<Goblin Warrior’s Pants> (F+) +3
<Goblin Warrior’s Gloves> (F+) +3
<Goblin Warrior’s Boots> (F+) +3
<Goblin Warrior’s Sword> (F+) +3

[Set Bonuses]

• 1-piece: Strength +3%

• 3-piece: Attack +3%

• 5-piece: Defense +3%

It was the earliest he’d ever completed a set—
even across all his regressions.
A personal record.

“Pretty dangerous, though.”

Jelly approached, licking itself like a cat.

“I thought you ran away since you were so late.”

“You should praise me for understanding your intent from just a nod, nya.”

“You’re my summon. That’s the least you can do.”

Indeed, Sunam had signaled him to set up an ambush.

‘But he did better than I expected.’

Sunam had only expected Jelly to distract the enemy.
But to disguise as a statue and approach undetected—that was impressive.

‘Thanks to him, I didn’t need to waste a life on Overdrive.’

He ruffled Jelly’s head roughly.

“Nyaaah!”

Annoyed, the slime protested, but Sunam ignored it and continued.

‘I’d hoped to capture him alive for information… but with that gear, it was too risky. Killing was the safest option.’

No problem, though.

Because now—he was going after Baek-ui Kwonryeok’s guild master, Pi Gwang-seok.