Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 73

Chapter 73

“…Did Jung Tae-il attack?”

“…No way.”

“But why does the monster look like that? It seems like it’ll die soon.”

“This one that came out this time seems a bit worse.”

Unlike Jung Tae-il, who casually spit out words as if it were a simple equation, I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

No wonder.

‘…It didn’t seem this bad at first.’

That’s right, the first monster that appeared was almost in perfect condition. But as I went back, the appearance of the monsters deteriorated.

Even the fish monster in front of me, which initially had reasonably intact legs, now looked on the verge of losing flesh.

Um… It’s not like it died in a tough situation and came back to life. Why is it in such a state just before the flesh falls off?

Maybe…

“…It’s difficult to consider that thing as an undead-type monster, right?”

“Not yet.”

“…Hmm.”

“If it gets worse here, you can consider it an undead-type monster from then on. And before it gets to that point, either Kang Yoon-soo or I will figure it out first.”

Jung Tae-il didn’t bother to elaborate further. He seemed to think I would understand it implicitly.

…Yeah, let’s stop the idle thoughts and focus on clearing this for now.

I positioned myself to activate the vacuum at any moment. Then, I aimed at the fish monster with legs.

Hoo. I took a deep breath.

Wheeiiing!

I activated ‘vacuum’ just like that. I also triggered the mana that was hovering like when I caught the giant squid before.

However…

“Kaaaah!”

Even if there was a scream, the fish monster planted its legs on the ground, preventing its body from touching the vacuum.

‘…It seems to have mana power that feels like a B-level monster, roughly.’

It seemed more intelligent than it looked.

…So, it didn’t attack me first. Seeing that it stood still next to an opponent it could never defeat, the attack became meaningless.

Yeah… it felt really bad to be mocked by a monster.

I furrowed my brow and stopped the operation of the vacuum. The moment it showed it could endure, the attack lost its meaning.

So… what should I do now?

I thought about taking out my usual dagger and throwing it or attacking with a mana bullet.

When I was earnestly contemplating, I heard a sigh from the side.

“Sometimes you need a brute force approach.”

Jung Tae-il reached out his hand to me. As I blinked in confusion, he gestured towards the vacuum with his eyes.

…What am I supposed to do with this? It won’t work if I’m not the one activating it, right…?

Seeming to sense my hesitation, Jung Tae-il threw a short and thick command.

“Give it to me, quickly.”

Perhaps it was due to his charismatic voice. I handed over my precious vacuum cleaner to him.

Taking the vacuum cleaner from me, Jung Tae-il disappeared from my side in an instant.

Soon after.

Kwaaang!

A dull sound struck my ears.

Jung Tae-il had just casually struck down the fish monster with the vacuum.

Even more deeply driven into the ground was the one that had already fixed its body by inserting one leg into the ground.

Only then did I begin to understand what Jung Tae-il had said to me.

‘…Fight instead of contemplating.’

Intelligent monsters tended to have tactics that wouldn’t be easily fooled.

So, in such cases, it’s better to knock them down with a good club…

Jung Tae-il was putting it into practice himself. He was wielding the vacuum against the fish monster to the point where it seemed like it might break.

Unlike when it seemed to endure, it now seemed to have a good resistance. After being hit by Jung Tae-il’s full swings more than five times, the flesh retreated.

And when it was hit once more, the flesh burst, ending its gruesome existence.

After confirming the monster’s death, Jung Tae-il returned to me and handed back the vacuum.

“It looked tough, but it’s usable.”

“…That’s true.”

“Can only you unleash that power? I wanted to suck up the corpse at the end, but it’s a pity.”

“Should I do it for you?”

“No need. Besides, more are coming.”

In response to Jung Tae-il’s words, I nodded determinedly. The thought of using this expensive vacuum like a club made my heart race a little.

‘…Come to think of it, even if it breaks, I can repair it right away.’

After all, it’s an item belonging to my house.

There was no need to use Wind Manipulation (SS), a skill attached to the vacuum, which pulled anything towards it.

All I needed to do was improve my proficiency with the vacuum cleaner.

Thinking this way, I felt a refreshing clarity on how to use the vacuum against intelligent monsters.

Facing over ten legged-fish monsters swarming towards me, I immediately grasped the vacuum. This time, for a good swing.

Now, let’s swing it energetically once.

* * *

About 30 minutes later:

[‘Vacuum’ is an excellent club!

You have engaged in exciting battles in various ways.

Proficiency has increased significantly.

50% ? 70%]

Looking at the system window that appeared in front of me, I smiled satisfactorily.

‘Still, it was almost dangerous at times.’

Those creatures almost sensed me like ghosts…

From the beginning, the number of monsters I could handle was at most two. However, more than that had gathered, so the rest had to be taken care of by Jung Tae-il.

Even as they were dying one by one at Jung Tae-il’s hands, I, swinging the vacuum cleaner, had somehow created an absurd road to the afterlife for my distant comrades…

In the end, I had to activate Wind Manipulation (SS). Of course, afterward, I threw the vacuum into the midst of them to gather them in the middle.

‘It was an immediate reaction without overthinking.’

Thinking about it now, it was almost like throwing a gravity bomb that could come out of a game.

After that, we had an interesting shooting game with ‘Mana Bullets (B).’

I ended up using more than half of my mana power, but this could be quickly recovered with just some rest.

Anyway, breaking away from the obsession that I had to hold a weapon in my hands, I was able to learn various ways to handle the vacuum.

‘If I keep using it a bit more, my proficiency will increase soon.’

I could collect proficiency little by little or aim for a big hit. Opportunities would come several times before clearing this gate.

After carefully checking the just-harvested results, I approached Jung Tae-il, who was doing maintenance.

“Thanks to you, it went well. Thank you, Mr. Tae-il.”

“I didn’t really do anything.”

“Still, the advice was somewhat helpful.”

“…Somewhat?”

“Let me correct that. Very helpful.”

He seemed satisfied with my response, though his expression remained indifferent. Yet, there was a subtle charm in his changing expressions.

Just as the image of Jung Tae-il within me was gradually changing, Yoo Seol-ah, who had finished arguing with Kang Yoon-soo, approached me.

“I didn’t expect to lose a player like this.”

“There will be another chance. It’s not like you won’t see it again soon.”

“Uh, does that mean… Can I expect something?”

“…Not really.”

Too bad. Kang Yoon-soo mumbled and then shifted his gaze to Jung Tae-il. After a moment of silence, he remained stiff.

Sensing something unusual, Jung Tae-il, who had narrowed his eyes, spoke.

“…What is it?”

“…It seems like I found the boss after all.”

“Judging by the reaction, is it an S-level?”

Kang Yoon-soo couldn’t easily continue the conversation. In the meantime, he kept staring at something.

And a little later.

“I’ll check with Ki Heon and come back. It seems like not an easy opponent to deal with.”

“…Ki Heon.”

“Understood.”

…What? How dangerous could the opponent be?

In an instant, amid the serious atmosphere, everyone abandoned their playful demeanor and looked at Kang Yoon-soo with serious expressions.

“I sense mana in the middle of the sea, and it seems to be undead. It’s faster to confirm it directly, so I’ll be back.”

“If it becomes dangerous, send a signal.”

“I’ll send it just like last time, so don’t worry about that.”

“…Be careful.”

“Yeon-oh, take care.”

With a light wave of his hand, Kang Yoon-soo quickly left with Ki Heon. Yoo Seol-ah explained to me that such incidents often occurred during strategies.

Still, to me, who had only explored lower dungeons, the scene was unfamiliar, and I felt unnecessarily tense.

Lower dungeons, especially in F-level gates, didn’t usually have dangerous boss monsters. The hordes of monsters that came out were more perilous.

But in higher-ranked gates, the dimension of the boss monsters was different from those in hordes.

‘…Phew, I’m nervous.’

When my heart started pounding like crazy.

Ding!

[Warning!

<Survival Instinct> is activated.]

Why is this activating again?