TRGBH 07

Chapter 7

Of course, there was no such thing as a tag match.

I simply ran over and kicked the two goblins out of the arena.

Soon, a system notification appeared.

[Stage 2 Success.]

[Reward will be provided.]

Just like before, a black box appeared in the center of the arena.

But I didn’t open the box.

“Kiit?”

“Yeah, I’ll open it in a little while. You sit down and rest too. Let’s see what happens when some time passes.”

[57:43]

[57:42]

[57:41]

Although the Stage 2 success notification had appeared and the reward had been given, the time limit continued to count down.

It seemed that once the set amount of time was completely used up, I would automatically move on to the next stage.

It didn’t seem possible to remain here without opening the reward box.

[30:29]

[30:28]

[30:27]

After some more time passed, the effect of the Puppet Needle embedded in the Stage 1 goblin ended.

As the owner of the trait, I could instinctively tell that it had happened.

“Kiit…?”

Even after escaping from my control, the creature didn’t show any particular hostility toward me.

That was because of the lingering effect of emotions.

Just because someone became my puppet didn’t mean they lost their mind and moved around like a doll hanging from strings.

It was more accurate to say that all of their consciousness and nerves entered a state of extreme concentration in order to carry out my commands.

And there was one more thing.

The foundation of this entire mechanism was the unconditional affection they felt toward me.

‘In a way, I guess it’s similar to Stockholm syndrome.’

Anyway, the moment the goblin escaped from its puppet state, its body quickly became translucent before it even had time to be confused.

“Kiit?”

“As expected, you’re disappearing.”

As soon as the effect of the Puppet Needle disappeared, the goblin changed from a being subservient to an awakened person back into the Gatekeeper of the Stage.

And since it no longer belonged in this stage, it was disappearing.

“Kiit!”

The goblin’s eyes became moist, as if it was sad to say goodbye.

Yeah. I enjoyed it too, even if it was only for a short while.

Goodbye.

With that, both of my Puppet Needles had finished recharging.

There was no reason to waste any more time, so I opened the box.

[Purified Red Fruit] × 5

┕ Very sweet.

┕ Reduces Corruption Rate when consumed.

[Magic Orb] × 5

┕ An orb containing mana.

Aside from the System Pouch, the rewards were identical to those from Stage 1.

Once again, getting five Very Sweet fruits was extremely encouraging.

Another notification appeared.

[Experience of all possessed traits increases by 10%.]

With that, I had gained 20% trait experience.

At this rate, my trait level might rise to Level 2 at Stage 10.

Han Seojin, who was known to have cleared up to Stage 13, had risen to the ranks of A-rank hunters while still in his late twenties.

Heh heh.

Maybe this proud grandson of Grandpa will become an A-rank hunter in this life.

Of course, I wouldn’t get too greedy.

I always kept the lesson that the more you empty yourself, the more you can fill yourself with, close to my heart.

Yeah.

For now, my first goal was Stage 13.

I entered the next stage.

After all the participants had been transferred into the Stage, the participant waiting area became completely empty.

Only the boundary that showed this place was both a waiting area and an entrance to the Stage continued to emit a brilliant blue light.

More than a hundred staff members surrounded the empty space.

These staff members were also awakened people who had participated in the Hunter Selection Evaluation one year earlier.

After passing the evaluation, they had completed one year of hunter training and remained with the Association.

In simple terms, they were one year ahead of Kim Daram and 이하솔.

Perhaps bored from staring at the empty space, one of them took out his smartphone and began typing rapidly.

성기삽니다: Guys, who do you think will come in first this year?

고운 말 고운 마음: Idiot, there are five thousand participants. If I knew that, I’d have bought a lottery ticket.

삼대독자: Let’s try to refrain from swearing as much as possible. It’s vulgar.

고운 말 고운 마음: That bastard is doing it again. Hey, you fucking bastard! Who are you?! Chief, I told you we should change this group chat to real names. I’m going to find that bastard and kill him.

삼대독자: How ignorant. If we changed it to real names, I wouldn’t be in this chat room in the first place. This is why people say we should employ hunters who went to college.

고운 말 고운 마음: Wow… You’re completely insane. You bastard, who goes to college these days? You also awakened at nineteen after graduating high school.

삼대독자: That’s just what I’m saying. I’m talking about the general idea. You really don’t understand context at all. That’s why whenever you enter a Stage, all you ever do is smash everything.

고운 말 고운 마음: Hey, you bastard. Do you even know who I am?

삼대독자: Your face is in your profile picture. Wouldn’t I have to be blind not to know?

고운 말 고운 마음: You fucking stalker. Reveal your name too! Who are you?! Tell me before I dig through everyone’s information and find out who 삼대독자 is.

성기삽니다: No, guys. I’m asking who you think will come in first this year…

힐러니까 모셔가요: Oh! Our juniors are starting to come out.

One by one, participants began appearing in the previously empty space.

However, most of them looked terrified or were looking around with pale faces.

Some occasionally vomited while covered in blood.

The number of people continued to increase until there were suddenly hundreds of them.

고운 말 고운 마음: How long has it been since they entered? They’re already coming back out? Pathetic bastards. I heard kids these days actually prepare quite a bit beforehand with virtual training and all that. This is really disappointing…

힐러니까 모셔가요: There were so many participants that quite a few probably came without preparing at all. Anyway… I hope no one dies.

반장: I have to admit, kids these days are mentally weak. If they’re already acting like that at Stage 1, they shouldn’t have even thought about standing here.

성기삽니다: But Chief, aren’t you one of the kids these days too…? They’re only one year younger than us…

고운 말 고운 마음: CHIEF!!!! I told you we should make this chat room use real names!

반장: Both of you, shut up.

삼대독자: Regardless of who comes in first, I’m curious about the best record of this year’s group. Last year, Chief’s Stage 14 was the best record, right?

힐러니까 모셔가요: Yeah, that’s right. It’s one stage higher than that Han Seojin guy!

고운 말 고운 마음: Tch, if I hadn’t slipped and fallen outside the arena…

삼대독자: How dare you compare yourself? Even so, you only made it to Stage 12.

고운 말 고운 마음: Ah! This is driving me crazy. Who the hell are you?! You crazy stalker bastard!

힐러니까 모셔가요: Anyway, we’ll probably have to wait another half a day before we see the juniors who make it into the rankings. Who will come in first? I’m really looking forward to it.

[Stage 10 Success.]

[Reward will be provided.]

[Purified Red Fruit] × 5

┕ Very sweet.

[Magic Orb] × 5

Very sweet again?

This was getting strange.

In my previous life, I had only cleared Stage 2, but I had never even seen a Sweet fruit.

Yet now, I had received Very Sweet Purified Red Fruits as rewards ten times in a row.

There was no way I could simply dismiss this as good luck.

But I was a regressor.

So in this life, I decided to calmly accept it as a divine message telling me to enjoy the taste of sweetness as much as possible.

[System Pouch]

┕ Stores various items.

┕ Storage Capacity: 1.5㎥

And once again, the System Pouch had descended upon me.

Hahaha! How much was this worth again?

On top of that, unlike the one I obtained at Stage 1, this pouch didn’t have that strange eyeball attached to it, and its storage capacity was 0.5㎥ larger.

I placed both pouches side by side on my palms to compare their differences.

Then, as if it had been waiting for the right moment, the eyeball-covered pouch suddenly opened wide and swallowed the pouch beside it in one bite.

The force was so fierce that the eyeball-covered pouch bounced off my palm and fell to the floor.

“Eugh, what the hell is this…?”

Chomp, chomp.

The eyeball-covered pouch calmly chewed and swallowed its own kind.

The round eyeball embedded in its center stared straight at me.

I hesitated for a moment before picking it up.

[System Pouch]

┕ Stores various items.

┕ Storage Capacity: 2.5㎥

“No way…”

Its storage capacity had increased.

By exactly the amount of the pouch it had swallowed.

A System Pouch that ate its own kind and increased its capacity?

I’d never seen a pouch with an eyeball before, but I had never even heard of one that could increase its storage capacity like this.

‘Does feeding it another System Pouch increase its capacity by that pouch’s capacity?’

It was difficult to make a definite conclusion from only one occurrence, but somehow I felt certain.

Especially when I looked at that brazen eyeball staring straight back at me.

A pouch with a capacity of 2㎥ was incomparable to two pouches with a capacity of 1㎥.

The larger the capacity of a System Pouch, the more its value skyrocketed.

Suddenly, I found that arrogant eyeball of his strangely adorable.

These were the only items inside the box.

Finally, the status window notification I had been waiting for appeared.

[Experience of all possessed traits increases by 10%.]

[Manipulation] Puppet (LV 2) New!

[Special] System Observer (LV 2) New!

This was crazy.

I had actually leveled up my traits!

Judging from the reward pattern so far, I had expected my trait levels to rise after clearing Stage 10.

But now that it had actually happened, it was hard to believe.

In my previous life, I had reached Trait Level 2 several years after becoming a hunter.

For reference, my awakened level was still 1.

An awakened person’s level increased by clearing Stages or killing monsters.

So far, I had advanced through the stages by pushing the Gatekeeper monsters out of the arena without killing them.

That was why my level was still 1.

——————————

【Kim Daram】

【Level】: 1

【Traits】

┕ [Manipulation] Puppet (LV 2)

┕ [Special] System Observer (LV 2)

【Corruption Rate】: 0%

【Ranking】: Below Standard

【Performance Score】: 40,000

——————————

My Performance Score had also jumped all the way to 40,000.

Most of this increase was probably thanks to [System Observer] rather than [Puppet].

But that didn’t matter.

After all, the judgment standard for Puppet Needle was the Performance Score itself.

[Manipulation] Puppet (LV 2)

• Skill: Puppet Needle

└ Number Available: 3

└ Effect and Recharge: 2 hours

└ Controls the target the needle is embedded in.

• Skill: Self-Aware Doll

└ Effect: 10 minutes

└ Embeds a Puppet Needle into its own body to enhance physical abilities.

As my trait level increased, both the maximum number of Puppet Needles I could summon and their duration increased.

On top of that, I gained an additional skill.

‘Self-Aware Doll.’

This was also one of the skills I frequently used in my previous life.

[Special] System Observer (LV 2)

However, just like in my previous life, [System Observer] showed no visible changes even after its level increased.

There wasn’t even a skill, let alone a short description.

But I already knew what kind of change would occur.

My [System Observer] trait had reached Level 3 in my previous life, after all.

Hehehe.

Have you ever heard of a veteran of trait development?

There’s no need for trial and error.

Because I am the Regressed Hunter!

“Tarantula. Big brother is really happy right now. You’re happy too, right?”

At my words, the giant spider monster that had been silently looking down at me moved its hairy legs up and down as if bursting into laughter.

It had been the Gatekeeper of Stage 10 only ten minutes ago.

But now it was my most reliable ally.

——————————

【Giant Tarantula】

【Level】: 15

【Performance Score】: 7,000

——————————

As expected, I could now see the target’s level as well.

That was an additional ability gained when [System Observer] reached Level 2.

Before I knew it, the tarantula was wildly waving all eight of its legs.

It was obviously an intentional gesture filled with excessive loyalty.

But I liked even that.

The fact that I wasn’t alone at this very moment.

The fact that there was someone with whom I could share this overwhelming feeling of happiness.

Just that alone seemed to double my joy.

“Yeah, yeah. Thank you! Then let’s move on to the next stage!”