Chapter 170

While the archers were moving to their respective positions, Jeong-hoon took his place on the city wall.

"Huh? Who's that over there?"

The archer assigned next to Jeong-hoon tilted his head.

He was a man in his early 20s who still had some boyish features.

"I'm here to support."

The archer nodded at the short answer.

"Oh, that's impressive. You seem to be around my age, but you're risking your life to come and support us."

[NPC Information]

- Nickname: Benjamin

- Level: 205

- Occupation: Ranger

Benjamin chattered non-stop.

He's quite the talker.

But his body was trembling slightly.

It seemed like he was trying to relieve his tension by talking.

Rumble.

At that moment, the ground shook, and monsters appeared.

'Titan Rhinoceroses.'

Although they were level 275, their defense was so high that it wasn't easy to defeat them unless you overwhelmed them with attack power.

'This quest has a very high chance of failure.'

In fact, the quest's success rate was only 0.8%.

This was because the level cap for accepting the quest was 250.

Once you surpassed level 251, the quest would disappear and become unavailable.

You had to rely purely on firepower to defeat them, but with the level restriction, the quest's success rate was low.

If those Titan Rhinoceroses passed through the west gate, the quest would automatically fail.

"The arrows aren't working!"

"Damn it! Fall back!"

As the Titan Rhinoceroses charged, the archers turned pale and stepped back.

Cedric tried to control them, but it was impossible to control the archers who were in a panic due to the advancing Titan Rhinoceroses.

"Let's run! We'll die if we stay here!"

Benjamin, who was next to him, was ready to flee.

"Why?"

Jeong-hoon asked casually as he drew Anima's bowstring.

"Why?! If we stay here and the wall collapses, we're done for!"

"I'll be fine, so you go down first."

"What are you..."

Benjamin's words were cut short.

Because Jeong-hoon had released the drawn bowstring.

And an arrow different from before was shot.

The arrow was glowing.

Whoosh!

The fired arrow pierced the head of the leading Titan Rhinoceros.

[Shockwave triggered.]

At the same time, a shockwave erupted, sweeping away 3 more Titan Rhinoceroses around it.

The group of Titan Rhinoceroses, surprised by the attack, hurriedly slowed down and stopped.

Jeong-hoon jumped down from the wall.

"That's dangerous!"

Benjamin tried to grab him, but his hand only grasped at the air.

"Did you shoot that?!"

As Jeong-hoon landed on the ground, Cedric rushed over.

"Yes."

"How...?"

Cedric's eyes were trembling.

From his perspective, Jeong-hoon was just a level 201 Ranger.

Even though Rangers specialized in ranged attacks, it was impossible for them to have enough firepower to kill a Titan Rhinoceros in one shot.

But what was the power of that arrow just now?

Whether he was surprised or not, Jeong-hoon shot another arrow at the Titan Rhinoceroses.

Whoosh!

The fired arrow hit the head of an unharmed Titan Rhinoceros.

And then.

[Heavenly Strike activated.]

A rain of 100 arrows poured down on the creature's head.

At the same time, explosions occurred on the bodies of 4 Titan Rhinoceroses next to it.

"If you're just going to watch, please step aside."

Jeong-hoon said to Cedric.

"Ah, alright."

The archers who were running away were now watching Jeong-hoon's performance.

Cedric began to control them again.

[Blackfield activated.]

[All stats are adjusted by 1.5 times.]

[Due to the effect of Blackfield, all stats of monsters that invade the area are decreased by 10%.]

Jeong-hoon activated Blackfield.

[All stats increased by 15%.]

[20% damage reduction applied.]

[Time limit: 1 hour.]

Also, on the stat amplification ring.

[The activation probability of 'Poison Attack' is increased by 4% for 1 hour.]

He finished his strengthening by also using Märchen's Guardian.

Jeong-hoon drew Anima's bowstring and aimed at the Titan Rhinoceroses.

He released the drawn bowstring, and the arrow shot out.

Whoosh!

The arrow, flying with a sonic boom, accurately pierced the forehead of a Titan Rhinoceros.

"Kuwaaaaah!"

As the arrow pierced its skin, the creature let out a painful scream.

[Berserker activated.]

At that moment, the passive skill of the Legendary-grade rune Jeong-hoon was wearing activated.

- When taking/dealing a certain amount of damage, attack power increases by 1.2 times for 180 seconds.

- When taking/dealing a certain amount of damage, defense increases by 1.2 times for 180 seconds.

- When taking/dealing a certain amount of damage, all skill damage increases by 5% for 180 seconds.

Jeong-hoon's stats increased even further.

And the effect of the 'Successor of the Divine Archer Richard' title he received from Kyle.

He repeatedly shot arrows.

Whoosh!

Thud!

"Kuwaaaaah!"

The arrows pierced through the Titan Rhinoceros' skin and lodged themselves in.

"Crazy..."

"Is that even possible...?"

The archers,mesmerized by the spectacle of carnage, watched Jeong-hoon's performance.

"Kuwaaaaah! It's dangerous! We have to run!"

"Run!"

Finally, the Titan Rhinoceroses turned around and started to flee.

Jeong-hoon let them go without a fight.

To completely clear the quest, he had to thoroughly eliminate the source of these monsters.

"Uh... why are you letting them go?!"

Cedric asked with a bewildered expression.

"There must be a dungeon portal where they came from. I'll go close that portal."

The portal the monsters had emerged from.

Inside, there would be Black King Ogres, Titan Rhinoceroses, and a boss lurking.

"A-are you going alone?"

"Can't you tell even after seeing it up close? I'm enough on my own."

"That may be so, but..."

He had nothing to say.

If it weren't for Jeong-hoon, they would have been annihilated instead of defending the west gate.

It was solely Jeong-hoon's power that made them retreat.

"I'll be back soon, so please wait."

Jeong-hoon used his movement technique to chase after the Titan Rhinoceroses.

"How is he so fast...?"

Cedric muttered blankly.

Is he really a level 201 Ranger?

* * *

The Titan Rhinoceroses honestly returned to the portal they had come from.

And Jeong-hoon, who followed them in, began the real extermination.

"Kyaaaak!"

"S-save me... Cough!"

The Black King Ogres and Titan Rhinoceroses died at Jeong-hoon's hands without much resistance.

"Krrr... ugh!"

Even the boss, the level 280 Giant Black Ogre, was taken out with a single Ultimate Arrow.

"Let's go back now."

Jeong-hoon exited through the portal.

["Wow... that's really amazing."]

Mukho repeatedly expressed his admiration for the power of the newly acquired archery skills.

['With this, it seems like you can easily handle even stronger bosses?']

Anima was also surprised.

"I'll get even stronger as time passes."

["Even stronger than this?"]

"Yes."

Jeong-hoon's level was now 208.

As his stats increased, so did the power of his arrows. Jeong-hoon's growth would make the skills incomparably stronger than they were now.

Moreover, these skills wouldn't stop at Legendary; they could be upgraded even further, making them indispensable for Jeong-hoon.

"He's coming back!"

"It's true!"

As he returned to the west gate, he heard the cheers of the archers from afar.

"Are you alright?!"

Cedric rushed over and checked Jeong-hoon's body.

"Yes. There was a portal in front of the field. It seems the monsters were pouring out from that portal."

"Did you... even defeat the boss?"

Cedric asked in a trembling voice.

The so-called Wave-generating dungeon.

To quell the Wave, one had to enter the dungeon directly and eliminate all the monsters.

"Yes."

Jeong-hoon nodded.

"Haha... This is unbelievable..."

Cedric muttered with a disbelieving expression.

"More importantly, where are the wounded?"

"The wounded?"

"Yes."

Although he could complete the quest as it was, he needed to perform a good deed to maximize the reward.

* * *

The wounded were being treated in the infirmary.

The ones providing treatment were priests who had been promised a large sum of money.

However, despite the ongoing treatment, the condition of the wounded wasn't improving much.

"Ugh... it hurts... it hurts so much..."

As it was a place where the wounded gathered, the atmosphere was gloomy.

Groans filled with pain echoed endlessly, and their families could only watch with pity.

"Are you sure you're treating them properly? Why aren't they getting better?"

One of the wounded's family members questioned a priest.

It was because the treatment was very slow, even though the injuries weren't that severe.

"Then leave. There are plenty of other people to treat besides you."

The priest replied with a cold expression.

"What, what did you say?"

"I said leave. I don't want to treat people who are dissatisfied."

"You crazy bastard!"

Unable to contain his anger at the absurd remark, he grabbed the priest by the collar.

Then all the priests stopped their treatment.

"If you don't let go immediately, we'll stop the treatment here. Should we not treat the other patients either?"

"You, you son of a bitch..."

It was blatant blackmail.

It meant that if he didn't let go of the collar, they wouldn't treat the others either.

"If you don't let go within 10 seconds, we'll stop and leave."

Dirty bastards.

In the end, he had no choice but to let go of the collar.

"What a load of bullshit."

At that moment, an outsider entered the infirmary.

He was a man with such an ordinary impression that he was almost nondescript.

He approached the priest who had been grabbed by the collar and stood in front of him.

"What is this ugly thing?"

"Are you talking about yourself? You rotten bastard."

Whack!

With those words, the priest's face was struck and he tumbled to the floor.

The outsider had punched him.

"Gasp!"

"Is he crazy!"

"We're stopping the treatment! And we won't be coming back here! Remember that!"

The other priests were about to leave the infirmary immediately.

Then Jeong-hoon used his movement technique to stand in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Wh-what?!"

"Let's all get beaten up together before you go."

Jeong-hoon grinned.

* * *

"St-stop...!"

"Please spare us! Please spare us!"

Before long, the priests were clinging to Jeong-hoon's pants, begging for their lives.

Their faces were beaten to a pulp, unrecognizable.

"Why should I?"

"We're sorry! We're truly sorry!"

"Why are you apologizing to me? You should apologize to the patients and their families."

Jeong-hoon gestured with his chin towards the patients and their families.

"We were wrong! We have committed a grave sin!"

"Please show us mercy just once!"

They knelt before the patients and their families, pleading.

But the response was cold.

"This is absurd..."

"At least promise to treat them properly."

He wanted to kick them out, but there was no one else to treat the wounded.

The potions in the cities were practically monopolized by the Holy City, so they couldn't even get potions without their prescription.

It would be troublesome if they left like this.

"They say so? What are you going to do?"

Jeong-hoon looked down at the priests and asked.

"O-of course!"

"We will treat the patients properly!"

Satisfied with their answer, Jeong-hoon nodded.

And then he activated a skill towards them.

It was brainwashing.

[Brainwashing activated.]

He rarely used it, so he had kept it, but it was indeed a useful skill in times like these.

The brainwashed priests, their pupils dilated, looked at Jeong-hoon with blank expressions.

"From now on, you will take care of the patients with utmost dedication. And you will completely forget about being beaten by me."

"Yes..."

The priests nodded and then stood up abruptly. They approached the patients and started treating them using healing magic.

'They should be fine now.'

They deliberately weakened the intensity of the healing, intentionally slowing down the recovery process. The longer their patients stayed, the more money they could extract.

The people of the Holy City intensely disliked outsiders and wouldn't lift a finger without a hefty payment.

Holding sick patients hostage like this was truly repulsive.

Jeong-Hoon approached a patient whose injuries looked severe. He was missing an arm and a leg, and his labored breathing suggested serious internal injuries.

"Ugh..."

A woman, presumably his wife, held his hand tightly, tears streaming down her face.

"I'll begin the treatment," Jeong-Hoon said, reaching out towards the man.

[Using Advanced Healing.]