I Possess Too Many Characteristics

Chapter 5

Corridor of Dried Corpses.

Easy difficulty and accessible location. Despite the decent earnings for a 2-level or lower Gate, this place was an unpopular hunting ground.

“Ugh…… I really can’t get used to this place, no matter how many times I come here.”

“I agree.”

It was precisely because of the unique eerie atmosphere and the particularly strong smell.

The party passed through the Gate immediately after completing the entry procedures.

Among them, Jeongah shuddered as if just being back in this place gave her chills.

On the other hand, Jeonghyeon looked around curiously, fascinated by the fact that he had entered a Gate.

As befitting the name”corridor,”it was structured like a hallway with windows on one side leading to the outside and a solid wall on the other.

Torches were lit here and there, but their brightness was very low, and there were so few that they weren’t much help.

‘It would have been better if it were completely dark, at least then my other senses would be heightened.’

At that moment, a flash of light came through the window, followed by a clap of thunder.

They hadn’t paid much attention to the sudden change in the environment, but it seemed like it was pouring rain outside.

Jeonghyeon asked Sunhyeong.

“Is it usually this dark here?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. That’s why it’s easy to make reservations, and to be honest, it’s just an unpopular place.”

Of course, even so, it’s rare for there to be no reservations for any time slot.

Sunhyeong added.

Jeonghyeon nodded.

He could certainly understand why no one would readily want to enter a low-level Gate like this, especially when it was mostly filled with novice Hunters.

The width of the corridor wasn’t that wide either, so there was a high risk of making a mistake unless you were very accustomed to combat.

“The smell is also much worse than in other places. Ugh, doesn’t it really smell like zombies?”

“Still, if you’re short on money, there’s no place better than this.”

Jeonghyeon grasped the situation from Jeongah and Doyun’s conversation.

From what he saw on their Hunter IDs earlier, they were also low-level, barely past the novice stage.

Their earnings couldn’t have been abundant.

Still, they seemed to be close as a team, so they must have coordinated well in this unpopular Gate.

“Well, we’ve hunted here a few times. Mr. Jeonghyeon, just think of it as gaining your first experience.”

Just then, lightning flashed again.

Sunhyeong’s good-natured smile, momentarily illuminated by the light, somehow seemed eerie.

“Alright.”

Jeonghyeon nodded and tightened his grip on his mace.

It wasn’t that it was difficult to catch monsters, but rather that the overall environment was bothersome.

The torches, the stench, the lightning, the thunder, and the sound of rain confusing his senses.

And the dark stone corridor that subconsciously instilled fear.

It seemed like it would be more popular as a courage training course than a Gate.

‘In a way, it might be a plus for me.’

Jeonghyeon felt fortunate that he had chosen two Agility-type traits.

His heightened senses were sharp enough to distinguish each of those disturbing elements.

Even if they were F-rank traits, the power of a Hunter was not so weak as to be hindered by natural elements that could be encountered on Earth.

And soon, Jeonghyeon’s senses caught a new stimulus.

“Something’s coming from ahead. Judging by the sound, it seems like zombies.”

“Oh, that’s right. Oppa, I can see them too. About five of them?”

“Yes? Are you an Agility-type too? Doyun, let’s get ready.”

Sunhyeong seemed slightly surprised at first but quickly regained his composure.

Originally, it was Jeongah, with her E-rank ‘Ten-Mile Eye’ trait, who was the first to spot monsters in the party.

However, this time, Jeonghyeon was slightly faster.

If he thought about it carefully, Sunhyeong would have noticed that Jeonghyeon’s senses were better than expected, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

Jeongah, who was a bit timid, couldn’t fully utilize her abilities in the corridor.

He assumed that Agility-type traits, which enhanced senses in general, would be more advantageous in a dark place than traits related to vision.

It was a half-correct assumption.

“Jeongah, can you snipe them before they get here?”

Jeongah frowned at Sunhyeong’s question.

“Well, it’s dark, and I’m not sure.”

“Just do what you can. Even landing one shot is an advantage.”

Jeongah nodded.

Once the melee combat began, there wasn’t much Jeongah, the archer, could do as enemies and allies would be mixed together.

At best, she could only wait for the zombies to accidentally separate from the frontline members.

Jeongah picked up an arrow and started preparing, pulling the string slightly.

‘About 35m left?’

Groooan━

The zombies’ groans were getting quite close.

Even Sunhyeong and Doyun, whose senses weren’t enhanced, could vaguely sense that something was approaching.

Jeongah must have finally gotten a clear view, as she pulled the bowstring taut.

Now, they were about 30m apart.

The moment Jeongah held her breath and was about to release the bowstring.

Kwa-roong!

At that very moment, lightning struck nearby.

The interval between the flash and the thunder was short, and the sound was exceptionally loud.

Such interference was enough to be a significant variable in shooting that required high concentration.

“Ugh, I missed!”

Jeongah frowned, sensing that she had failed to aim properly.

As if to prove her words, Jeonghyeon saw an arrow that had struck not the head, which she had probably aimed for, but slightly lower, in the neck.

Still, he thought it wasn’t bad for her level.

She would probably be able to hit a target 40m away if there was enough light and no variables.

However, her ‘usual skill’ wasn’t what was needed right now.

‘It’s not like zombies won’t bite if the situation isn’t good.’

Jeongah quickly nocked another arrow and shot it, but again failed to accurately target the head.

Instead, the arrow pierced through the cheekbone.

It would have been a fatal blow to an ordinary monster, but their opponent was not favorable.

Zombies don’t die unless their heads are destroyed.

They were a type of monster that was not a good match for archers from the start.

“Good job, Jeongah. Mr. Jeonghyeon, I’ll take the lead, so please support from behind.”

Sunhyeong, who hadn’t expected to finish off the zombies with arrows anyway, calmly held up his large shield and stepped forward.

They weren’t bad people after all.

“Will you be alright?”

“There are quite a few, but I should be able to hold them off somehow.”

Sunhyeong readily nodded at Jeonghyeon’s question.

Sunhyeong quickly dashed forward and pushed two oncoming zombies at once.

‘Will this be okay?’

Despite his confident appearance, Sunhyeong was a bit uneasy inwardly.

The width of the corridor was a bit too wide for a single Tanker to block.

If the remaining party member, Sangsu, who wasn’t here, had been present, there would have been no problem.

He would have easily blown away zombies like these before Sunhyeong even struggled.

His D-rank Lightning Magic, which dealt damage to the entire body, provided overwhelming firepower against zombies, almost like a natural disaster.

But now, the only one standing with him on the front lines was Jeonghyeon, who had just awakened as a Hunter.

If he couldn’t properly draw aggro, two, or even three zombies could slip past to the rear.

‘Of course, Jeongah and Doyun should be able to handle that much……’

Even those in the rear don’t just sit back and do nothing in combat.

However, forcing close combat on the rear was a significant burden on the party.

They had to fight more zombies and skeletons, not just in this battle.

As if his prediction was correct, Jeongah’s shouts could be heard faintly from behind.

He couldn’t hear the exact words, but it was probably something like”don’t overdo it,””be careful,””come out if it’s dangerous.”

‘If it doesn’t go well, we’ll have to leave early today.’

Sunhyeong eventually lowered his goal from his usual earnings.

“Groooan!”

The zombies, encountering the living, fiercely clashed their nails and teeth.

Sunhyeong skillfully moved his shield, deflecting the attacks and landing effective blows in between.

Right now, all eyes were on him, but if he waited a little longer, the zombies would turn their attention to the rear.

Sunhyeong, who hadn’t expected Jeonghyeon to do more than his share, shouted towards the back.

“Jeongah! You should just come forward and help…… huh?”

But before he could finish his words, a figure shot past him like an arrow.

It couldn’t be Jeongah, who was in the rear, coming forward without his instructions?

Then who was that?

Sunhyeong’s mind momentarily went blank.

◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈

Five zombies, the ones he had grown tired of seeing at the processing plant.

It had been such a pain to pull out nails, eyes, and teeth from their severely decomposed bodies.

Seeing those zombies attacking Sunhyeong in the same state brought a new feeling to Jeonghyeon.

‘But why are they so slow?’

At first, Jeonghyeon had intended to follow Sunhyeong’s instructions and focus on support, but the more he watched, the more the battle seemed different from what he had expected.

Both the zombies mindlessly attacking and Sunhyeong somehow managing to block them were too slow in Jeonghyeon’s eyes.

He briefly glanced back and saw Jeongah, with a tense expression, slightly pulling her bowstring, waiting for a zombie to stray.

Doyun was also clutching his small wand tightly.

Just then, a zombie, seemingly spotting Jeonghyeon, approached him.

Jeongah asked, as if warning him.

“Mr. Jeonghyeon, can you handle one?”

“Uh…… yes!”

Jeonghyeon’s voice came back, sounding a little flustered.

It wasn’t that surprising to Jeongah.

Even they had fumbled around, not knowing what to do when they first awakened and encountered monsters.

“If you can’t handle it, just step aside! I’ll provide support fire!”

But Jeonghyeon’s fluster was a little different.

‘It’s not about whether I can or can’t handle it.’

The zombie reached out to him, making strange noises.

Thanks to the trait synergy effect, its attack path was somewhat visualized.

It was an honest attack, almost in a straight line, so there was no reason he couldn’t avoid it.

Jeonghyeon instantly moved his body, occupying the space beside the zombie.

It was such a brief moment that the zombie, with its slow reaction speed, couldn’t even turn its body.

And Jeonghyeon swung his mace with all his might,

Thwack━

Smashing the zombie’s head.

‘Why did they think I couldn’t do this?’

The sturdy iron mace easily pierced through the zombie’s rotten scalp and skull, scrambling its brain.

Jeonghyeon’s strength wasn’t exceptional, but it was possible because the zombie’s defense was practically non-existent.

The zombie, its head crushed, collapsed like a robot whose power had been cut off.

“Huh?”

Jeongah gasped, as if she hadn’t expected this situation.

Jeonghyeon was also impressed.

‘Mr. Cheol-yong’s mace, it’s really effective.’

He was surprised that Cheol-yong’s words,”There’s nothing like this for a novice Hunter,”were true.

Perhaps, despite his appearance, he had the vibes of someone who had run a rental shop for a long time.

Anyway, Jeonghyeon, having grasped the general level of the battle, didn’t watch any longer.

A swift entry, not giving Jeongah or Doyun, who were watching, a chance to stop him.

At that moment, Sunhyeong, who seemed to be preoccupied with blocking the zombies without grasping the situation, shouted.

“Jeongah, you should just come forward and help…… huh?”

And after seeing someone pass by him, it was Sunhyeong’s last voice, which sounded a bit dumbfounded.

Jeonghyeon, paying no mind, went behind the zombies and started smashing their heads, just like before.

Thwack.

Thwack.

From the second zombie onwards, the ones that had been attacking Sunhyeong’s shield also turned to target Jeonghyeon.

It was a situation that would have been extremely dangerous to anyone else, as it happened at such close range.

However, to Jeonghyeon, who could see the zombies’ attack paths in real-time, it was literally yawn-inducingly slow.

His originally weak Battle Sense was only at the level of sensing the paths instinctively.

But the synergy effect allowed him to see it with his own eyes.

It made dodging and utilizing it much easier.

He dodged the zombie’s snapping jaws, aimed at his neck, by twisting his body to the side.

Even in that state, he was confident that his attack would succeed, but Jeonghyeon corrected his posture.

‘Even a tiger hunts a rabbit with all its might.’

This was still his first battle.

If he got careless and made a mistake, it could lead to an irreversible accident.

And that mindset was faithfully reflected in the two attacks that followed steadily.

Of course, to those watching him, there was no attack as swift as his, but that was beside the point.

Thwack━

Thwack━

Four swings were enough to bring down four zombies, their brains spilling onto the floor.

The corridor fell silent in an instant, as if the unpleasant groans that had filled it moments ago had never existed.

Sunhyeong, still holding his shield, and Jeongah, still with her bowstring drawn, stared at Jeonghyeon standing in the middle.

Doyun asked in a bewildered voice,

“Is that really a Level 1 F-rank?”

But there was no answer.

Jeonghyeon had never explicitly stated that he was F-rank, but they had already assumed it.

Although their party didn’t have one, F-rank Agility traits were common in the Hunter world.

If all those F-ranks could show such performance, wouldn’t it be worthwhile to have one, even if they were F-rank?

It was a movement that made them think that way involuntarily.

If Jeonghyeon had heard Doyun’s thoughts, he would have replied,”I am F-rank, though?”But unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, he was looking down at the fallen zombies, deep in thought.

“Mr. Jeonghyeon……?”

Only after Sunhyeong cautiously called out to him did he look back at everyone as if he had just remembered they were there.

“Ah. I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

And then, he asked innocently,

“Since I killed all of them by myself, they’re all mine, right?”

The party members were speechless.