CH 13

The bullet draws a straight line.

The distance between me and the mossy Kuf is now barely 200m.

Even the slightest variable, such as the direction of the wind or the movements of the Kuf, couldn't affect me from such a short distance.

One step, two steps, three steps, four steps...

As many bullets as the sparks that flew from the muzzle embed themselves into the gap between the Kuf's eyebrows.

And that was only the beginning.

Explosions erupted from the bullets that had pierced the wound between the eyebrows.

Bang! Clang!

Explosions continued to burst one after another.

Even a named monster like the mossy Kuf couldn't withstand the explosions that occurred right in front of its skull, causing its body to sway in pain.

"Grrroooaaarrr!"

I didn't miss the opportunity.

"The bone armor is exposed."

It's now in the final stage.

After replacing the magazine with armor-piercing bullets, I aimed once again at the gap between the Kuf's eyebrows.

The mossy Kuf continued to send fierce hostility towards me even while writhing in pain.

"50 meters. I'll end this before then."

If the distance between me and the mossy Kuf gets any closer, it will pose a danger to me as well.

Even though it may be weak now, its essence is that of a 6th-grade named monster, after all.

I harvest the rock layer with the armor-piercing bullets,

tear apart its skin with the explosion bullets,

and pierce through its bones once again with the armor-piercing bullets.The sequence of events continued to flow like water, and the fired armor-piercing bullet struck the moss-covered skull of the Grade 6 named monster.

Indeed, even the skull was so incredibly hard, as expected of a Grade 6 monster, that it would only take a few more shots to break through.

Amidst the hail of bullets, the body of the Mossy Kupf was felt approaching.

150m.

130m.

100m.

Thump! Koo-woong!

The breath of the Mossy Kupf was felt.

The breath it exhaled, mixed with that of the enemy, made the skin tingle.

80m.

60m.

55m.

At that moment.

Crack, snap─!

"It's broken."

A small crack appeared between the two skulls.

I didn't miss that opening.

"I'll end this."

50m.

45m.

The Mossy Kupf charged forward, but I did not lower my gun.

Instead, I quietly pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The flying bullet shattered the skull of the Mossy Kupf, which had been standing firm until now, and plunged straight into its brain.

That was the end.[Growl...]

The enemy's fierce attack and the trembling body like a disaster, everything came to a halt.

Kuuuuuuung─!!!

As if to prove this fact, the body of the Mossy Kupf collapsed completely soon after.

The fallen body of the Mossy Kupf slipped and flew towards me, but there was no need to avoid it.

40m.

35m.

It was the last distance between the fallen Mossy Kupf and me.

I didn't plan on getting closer than 50m, but it seemed like the creature was tougher than I thought.

[You have defeated the 6th grade monster 'Mossy Kupf'!]

[You have achieved an impossible feat with a human body.]

[You have acquired the trait 'Monster Hunter.']

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[Monster Hunter]

Each time you hunt a monster or a beast, the damage dealt to the same species increases by 0.05%.

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"A growth type trait!"

This was amazing.

No matter how low the increase percentage was, it was by no means low considering the number of monsters that would appear.

"If I hunt just 10, it's 0.5%, and if I hunt 100, it's 5%."

Such growth traits were always better to acquire early on.

But even though the real stage had not yet begun, acquiring this trait meant that I could have almost absolute advantage in terms of compatibility with monster and beast species in the future.

"It was one of the traits that I could only get a few times out of 488 tries..."If there was a flaw that could be considered a flaw at all, it would be the fact that the range of the "same species of beasts" mentioned here is narrower than expected.

In other words, it means that if you hunt ten level 10 Hellhounds, the damage dealt to all level 10 beasts does not increase by 0.5%, but only the damage dealt to Hellhounds increases by 0.5%.

"Still, it's an incredibly good characteristic."

Although The Defense does not grade characteristics separately, when classified by tier in the user community, the monster hunter characteristic is classified as at least a 6-star characteristic (★★★★★★).

Furthermore, this treatment is only given when obtained after the 50th stage, and even in the early stages, the value of a monster hunter is worth at least 7 stars or more.

Moreover, what I obtained by hunting the Mossy Kupf was not just the characteristic.

"I did not succumb to the persistent whispers of the souls. The souls will pay attention to you."

"The ether sensitivity increases."

"8 -> 10"

"I have overcome the unyielding fear."

"The determination ability increases."

"1 -> 2"

The ability values that sweetly rise.

Moreover, I finally exceeded the ether value of 10.

If I raise my ether sensitivity by another 10, I will finally reach the level of an Ark-classified level 2 ether fit individual.

"The biggest difference between a level 2 ether fit individual and a level 1 ether fit individual is whether or not you can exert any control over ether."

In other words, even though I am not a full-fledged level 2 ether fit individual yet, it means that I can now exert some control over ether, even if it is just a little.

"For now, it's a bit like that... I'll have to check it out when I have the chance later."

Having finished my rough thoughts, I stood in front of the corpse of the Mossy Kupf.

Seeing it up close again, it was still a huge creature.

It felt newly impressive to think that I had caught such a creature.

"If I had allowed it to approach... it would have been the end of me."

Weight and speed are soon followed by destructive power.

If a creature like this were to lose its reason and rush at you, even if you just brushed against it, your bones would shatter and your whole body would literally explode.I stood in front of the corpse of the Mossy Kuf, my head bowed in thought.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no solution.

"It's a shame, but..."

Undoubtedly, the corpse of the Mossy Kuf was far more valuable than the Skull Hound I had caught before.

Unfortunately, I had no means to transport such a large body.

Even if I were to go to Ark and claim that there was a corpse here, the deal would never go through and it could lead to strange misunderstandings.

I had already caused misunderstandings just by catching a single Skull Hound, so there was no need to mention a 6th grade Named Monster like the Mossy Kuf.

"There is a way to sell it at the top of the Sandstorm, but... it's not feasible in this situation."

It was a pity.

A great pity.

But the truth was, there was no other way.

"For now, I can only take what's useful."

Useful, meaning the most expensive.

Of course, my top priority was the heart of the Mossy Kuf.

It was the item I had come for in the first place, so leaving it behind was not an option.

"Let's see... the heart should be around here, right?"

I couldn't go under the fallen Mossy Kuf to cut it.

If I did, I would be buried in its organs when I cut through the stomach.

So, the method I chose was to cut through its side and dig in.

"Although the distance to the heart might be quite far... this is still the best method."

I took out the Smell Blocking Potion No. 7.

Of course, simply cutting through the thick skin would not be easy, so the Ark-15 rifle loaded with armor-piercing rounds had to do its job as well.

Bang! Bang!

The sound of gunfire and cutting echoed through the air.

This was a relentless effort to tear through the leather.Even cutting the skin of a dead body feels like this, I would have died long ago if I had tried to cut the Kuf of a living Moss.

"Ugh..."

Before long, my entire body was covered in blood and secretions from the Kuf of Moss.

Although the Kuf of Moss did not possess its own toxicity, it was still a monster, so there was nothing good about humans using its blood and secretions.

"Ugh..."

It's so disgustingly sticky.

When I hunted the Kuf of Moss, it felt like a really cool scene, but the aftermath was like this.

I was grateful that no one was watching.

Squish, squish...

It was a terrible time.

I sincerely thought it would be better to face the monster herd and the Kuf of Moss again.

"Ugh..."

Finally, I succeeded in splitting the side of the Kuf of Moss and slowly began to rummage inside.

The volume of the internal organs was unusual, just like its huge physique.

"To reach the heart... I have to take out a lot of stuff."

It was a terrible news, and once again, a terrible time passed.

Forcibly pulling out the internal organs of an unknown monster and putting them here and there created a landscape that seemed like the hell of an execution ground.

"...The wind direction isn't good. The smell of blood will spread. I have to finish quickly."

In the world of The Defense, even if it's not the sea, you can see a school of sharks anytime.

No, if a fish like a shark smells only the scent of blood, it will rush in like a fierce monster, despite looking cute.

And...

I finally succeeded in taking out the heart from the Kuf of Moss.

Perhaps because it had not been dead for long, the heart was as hot as molten lava.

"Ha..."It's incredibly tough.

It was even more difficult than hunting for moss Kuf.

"I'll never do this again."

Of course, I knew in my head that this would end up being a futile endeavor.

As long as I live in this cursed world, I will see worse things than this, and I will never see less.

Anyway, the important thing was that I had finished what I needed to do right now.

"Let's try it."

So, I looked for the canned food with bone parasites inside the military rations, but it wasn't visible for some reason.

"Look at this."

Sure enough, when I glanced around, the legs of the bone parasites had recovered their strength and were wandering around, with the canned food punctured and leaking out.

It was like a limpet, only the shell was a rusty canned food.

"This is ridiculous."

Watching the bone parasites wander around trapped in the canned food, it seemed that even if I had found them a little later, there would be no problem.

"Where are you going?"

As I was about to lightly crush the canned food that had become the resting place of the bone parasites, I stopped for a moment.

It was because I thought it was the perfect subject to experiment with 'that.'

"Let's try it once."

I concentrated quietly.

And then I commanded quietly.

"Capture."

And silence flowed.

It was a somewhat long silence."Is it really impossible after all?"

At the moment of my disappointment, the ether around me began to ripple as if it had been waiting for me.

Although it was a phenomenon invisible to the naked eye, as someone whose ether sensitivity was above 10, I could feel them clearly.

【...Catch?】

At first, it was a faint voice.

But as if echoing, the voice grew louder and louder, ringing through my ears without even a hint of auditory hallucination.

【Catch...】

Little by little, it grew louder.

The voice swelled up in my ear, as if claiming its territory.

【Catch it!】

And in that very moment, the once indistinct voice became crystal clear.

【Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it. Catch it.】

Countless voices echoed out.