The Skill Maker - Chapter 112
Chapter 112
They were also envious of Hyun-Soo because Riri would sit on Hyun-Soo’s shoulder .
Hyun-Soo felt proud .
However, all of them didn’t feel the same way .
‘……Is it just me?’
Leon, the leader of Team Xeon, gave off a different vibe .
Hyun-Soo wasn’t sure if he felt that way because his first impression of them wasn’t great or if it was because Leon really was looking at him with disgust .
But when he first awakened as a hunter, he met a lot of people with horrible personalities, so this was nothing to him .
“Um…… . ”
Some of the members from Xeon looked like they wanted to ask questions .
“…… . ”
Before Hyun-Soo could answer, the members kept their mouths shut due to the glares they were receiving from others .
Team Xeon must have a strict system because when Leon started walking without saying anything, the members quietly followed behind him .
Team Xeon was following behind, but most of the members wasn’t feeling great about this .
‘Can’t believe we’re asking for their help…’
It wasn’t even teamwork . They were basically carrying Team Xeon .
Both sides knew that that was the truth .
Team Xeon knew that they weren’t skilled enough to hunt a colorful portal .
Because the guilds that were stronger than them failed at clearing the portal .
They probably never thought about going in by themselves and clearing it .
Coaching? Giving advice?
That only helps when you’re slightly lacking, but it’s useless when you have nothing to start with .
Kyuuuuu!
Riri flew up to the sixth floor, but quickly came back .
It was different from the other floors that she explored .
“What is it? What is she saying?”
Riri came back as soon as she flew up and the members asked when they noticed the way she was acting .
“Is there something up there?”
Kyuuuu!
“Something dangerous? Is there a monster?”
Kyuuuuu!
Riri nodded her head and created a large circle .
“Is the monster round?”
Riri nodded again and this time, she flapped her arms and legs .
“I guess the monster has a lot of arms and legs . ”
Kyuuuu!
“You heard it, right? Let’s prepare for battle . ”
Kim Yoo-Na, who was also watching Riri, clapped her hands to get their attention .
‘It would be nice if I can actually understand her . ’
Then he would be able to obtain more detailed information .
Hyun-Soo looked at Riri with disappointment, but Riri tilted her head in confusion .
‘Maybe I should teach her Korean since she’s pretty smart . ’
Teaching a monster a language?
Ordinary people would definitely lose their minds if they heard this .
Interacting with a monster is interesting enough that it would grab the attention of people all over the world .
Creak, creak .
The stairs that led to the seventh floor made unpleasant sounds .
The sound of people walking on these wooden floors filled the room .
Moments later .
La la la la la .
‘Music?’
A quiet hum could be heard despite the creaking sound .
The members that were in the front must’ve heard it too, because they stopped walking .
“This…… . ”
“……I think this is it . ”
The members exchanged glances . They carefully took a step forward .
When Kim Yoo-Na gave the signal, the members nodded .
It was a sign to get into the formation they prepared as soon as they walk up .
Before entering, Brad raised his hand . Three of his fingers were stretched out .
Brad slowly folded them one by one .
It was a countdown .
Three, two, one!
As soon as he folded his last finger, the members ran up the stairs .
And then .
Kyahhhhhh!
“Ack!”
“Ah!”
The hunters almost lost their balance when they heard a loud screech .
Because of that, it took them a while to get into formation .
During that time, a silver light flashed . It was a sudden attack .
Luckily, Lahatlan shielded Hyun-Soo, but not for the other hunters .
Hyun-Soo was supposed to take his place and use Lahatlan, but…
“Riri!”
Hyun-Soo called Riri .
Riri was in front of the group, but when she heard Hyun-Soo, she flew up .
Swoosh .
The silver light disappeared as if it shot into the hunters .
It’s because Riri consumed it all .
Kyuuuuu .
Riri released a long sigh .
During that time, the members and Team Xeon came back to their senses .
They had lost it because the short and loud screech messed them up mentally .
“To your places!”
Even though they were in danger for a brief moment, they quickly adjusted .
The members stood in formation and glared at the monster .
“……Wow . ”
The monster was so bizarre, that they couldn’t help but exclaim .
It had a circular body and it had over 20 slender legs .
It was exactly like how Riri expressed it .
But the level of grotesqueness was extreme .
The monster’s entire body reminded Hyun-Soo of the make-up that’s used in the Beijing opera .
The monster was hugging a pile of wood .
They reminded him of the wooden models he saw on the other floors .
Oddly-shaped wooden models were lying on the floor in each of the levels .
It looked like a wooden doll, but it looked really rough, so Hyun-Soo didn’t think it could be a doll .
But .
“Oh, shit . ”
The wooden models that the human spider was hugging started moving .
The monster moved its legs and controlled the silver thread .
Creak, creak .
It moved awkwardly at first, but .
La la la la la la .
The moment the models heard the spider singing, the awkward movements disappeared .
Even though we had a tank, beating 20 attackers at once was impossible .
However, close-range attackers circled around them and long distance attackers and healers stood behind them, so the damage wasn’t so bad .
Even though the close-range attackers weren’t as strong as the tanks, they were able to protect themselves .
However, there are times when things don’t go as planned .
On top of that, they were inside a colorful portal .
It was difficult to predict the situation here .
Swoosh!
“Ack!”
One healer started bleeding and fainted .
Another healer quickly ran to their side and activated a healing skill .
“Wha, what happened?!”
The attacker was the one that yelled out the question .
That attacker wasn’t the human spider and it wasn’t one of the models the spider was controlling .
“Denver? What are you doing?!”
“No, I didn’t mean to…ack!”
“Move!”
Denver charged towards the nearby members with a shocked expression and started attacking with his sword .
Clank!
Thankfully, Brad intercepted and blocked his attack .
He was able to prevent them from killing each other .
Everyone was surprised by this unexpected situation .
It’s because they didn’t expect an ally to attack them all of a sudden .
On top of that, Denver himself didn’t know why he was acting that way .
“Ack! Please stop! Stop it!”
He tried to move his body, but he couldn’t because it felt like someone was controlling him .
‘Wait, control?’
Hyun-Soo quickly used Interface .
‘Thread?’
He was able to see the thread that was connected to Denver .
The thread that was connected to the models was connect to Denver as well .
“Try using any cutting skills around Denver!”
He yelled as soon as he checked and the members immediately used their skills .
Different skills cut the air near Denver .
Flop!
“Ahhhhhh…… . ”
Denver prepared to run, but he ended up falling to the ground .
It seemed like his body was out of energy because he couldn’t move .
A few of the members carried Denver and moved him to the back .
“Make sure the monster’s thread doesn’t touch you . It can control you once it touches you . ”
Hyun-Soo recalled the information he saw on Interface .
The monster’s name was the Puppeteer .
Like Karazhan, Interface didn’t show the monster’s rank and only said that it was currently evolving .
Control was listed as one of its attributes, so the monster probably used threads to control the body .
Thanks to Hyun-Soo’s information, the members became even more cautious .
They couldn’t really make a move .
20 wooden models were in front of the Puppeteer .
The Puppeteer’s attacks itself couldn’t be ignored .
The silver thread was actually made out of metal, so the threads can be used to attack .
‘On top of that they’re able to control the body, so we have to be careful . ’
This was definitely a colorful portal .
The nickname, impregnable, was fitting .
If a different guild entered this portal, the Puppeteer would’ve controlled all of them and that’s how the hunt would’ve ended .
They wouldn’t know why their member was attacking and they would’ve suffered greatly because of it .
On top of that, the worse situation would be…… .
‘Killing that member . ’
Even though they didn’t know the reason, the easiest way to resolve the issue would be to kill them .
However, it wouldn’t end there and the same situation will repeat itself…
‘Annihilation . ’
Nothing more, nothing less .
They might be able to resolve it in the beginning by killing the killer, but the number of hunters will decrease and in the end, the clan will suffer from a counterattack .
Or, the Puppeteer might attack and kill all of them .
‘In that sense, we’re off to a good start . ’
Whew…… .
After analyzing the situation, Hyun-Soo realized that they managed to overcome a big issue .
Was it because of that?
A deep sigh was released .
Kyuuuu?
Riri tilted her head in confusion .
***
“I said move!”
The members of Team Xeon flinched when they heard yelling .
They tried to discreetly join the group, but Marcus noticed them .
Going against the Puppeteer was extremely complicated, but that didn’t last long .
Knowing the monster’s attack pattern was the most important task .
Once they understand the pattern, they’re able to naturally understand the monster’s skills and movements .
Since it wasn’t a machine, it didn’t have a routine .
However, during dangerous situations or when there’s a big attack, people usually use the most familiar and most used skill .
It’s only natural to react that way .
Monsters weren’t any different .
“Haa!”
The puppeteer opened its mouth to release a sound wave attack, but it twisted its body when attacks entered the body .
With that, the wooden models’ movements became twisted as well .
After that, the Puppeteer didn’t use the sound wave attack .
The wooden models kept on attacking .
Every time that happened, the long distance attackers stepped up and cut the threads that was between the Puppeteer and the models .
But the Puppeteer released more threads .
“Damn it, we can’t get near it . ”
Even though the models attacked, it was also the Puppeteer’s way of defending .
The close-range attackers couldn’t keep playing the sub-tank role and block the models’ attacks .
Thankfully, after Denver was released, no one was controlled by the Puppeteer .
It’s because the long range attackers cleaned up the areas near the members .
They had to attack and clean up the area .
‘It’s chaotic . ’
Hyun-Soo, who was using Invisible Attack, was getting a headache .
There were a lot of things they had to focus on .
If this continues, there’s a high chance that they’ll be the first ones to get tired .
But during that time, the members of Team Xeon must’ve thought that this was an easy hunt, because they slowly started approaching the members .
Because of that, Marcus’s yelling filled the room once again .