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Kill the Hero
Chapter 37
TL: Uncle Choi
In reality, mutants were often weak. They usually didn't live long and many would die in their natural habitats.
But in a dungeon, things were different.
Most monsters with mutations or variations in dungeons possessed either overwhelming power or a special ability.
Seug!
The Albino Lizard that came out of the vast wetlands then appeared on the ground was such a case. First of all, compared to an average lizardman, it's size was on a completely different scale. While standing upright on both legs, its height reached three meters. It was huge enough for even orcs to shrug their shoulders and walk away after seeing them, and its tail was nearly two meters in length.
It meant that the Albino Lizard would become a 5 meter long monster when it lowered its posture and walked on four legs.
Most importantly, its white skin and red eyes was proof it was a unique presence within the dark swamp.
Such a presence also served as clear proof that the Albino Lizard was the king of this place.
Churl!
Walking in a bold and dignified manner was impossible without the confidence to deal with any predator that could threaten its life.
Tteolgeuleog! Tteolgeuleog!
That's why the Albino Lizard was not alarmed when a skeleton lizardman blocked its path with a blunt knife in its hand.
Churl?
Instead, it looked at the skeleton lizardman with eyes that questioned its purpose.
On the other hand, skeleton lizardman executed its duty faithfully.
It rushed at the Albino Lizard in hostility.
Its resolve was quite strong.
Seug!
But as soon as the Albino Lizard stood up on its hind legs, the mood quickly changed.
An unspeakable feeling of grandeur flowed from its 3 meter tall body.
That was when the Albino Lizard quickly swung its body.
Huwoong!
Its heavy tail ruthlessly swept the floor.
The Albino Lizard didn't have even a hint of doubt that this attack would destroy that insignificant skeleton.
But the skeleton soldier paused just outside the range of its tail.
Huwoong!
The tail naturally swung through the air. The Albino Lizard swung its body around once more and faced the skeleton soldier.
At that moment, the skeleton soldier began to loiter in front of the Albino Lizard.
It began to calculate how to fight against the Albino Lizard, who possessed a formidable attack power and range.
But from the Albino Lizard's perspective, it seemed like the insignificant skeleton was looking down on him.
Kaaa!
Such impudence caused the lizard to focus all of its anger toward the skeleton soldier.
Its desire to crush the skeleton soldier into powder was apparent all over its body.
Now was the moment Kim Woo-jin decided to step in.
Kim Woo-jin quickly approached the Albino Lizard from the behind.
Then, with a kukri in his right hand, he swung down on the Albino Lizard's white leathery skin like an axe.
Puu-ukk!
A rough sloppy sound of the Albino Lizard's back being cut open could be heard, as if chopping up a log with an axe, and revealing its inner flesh.
Puk!
Kim Woo-jin inserted a spear he was holding in his left hand into the wound.
Tuk!
Then Kim Woo-jin broke off the pole from the spear.
That was it for now.
Kaa!
By the time the Albino Lizard turned around after the surprise attack from behind, Kim Woo-jin was already running away.
The Albino Lizard paused for a bit while analyzing on the situation.
Tteolgeuleog! Tteolgeuleog!
In its ear, the Albino Lizard could hear the sound of the skeleton soldier slowly approaching it. Huwoong!
Albino Lizard swung its tail at the skeleton soldier once again.
However, the skeleton soldier stepped back and closely observed its movements once more.
It looked like a beast whetting its appetite before hunting a delicious prey.
Kayah!
Albino Lizard stared intensely at the skeleton soldier with killing intent, spewing out with anger.
And Kim Woo-jin moved once more.
Everything was the same as before.
While the Albino Lizard was distracted by the skeleton soldier, Kim Woo-jin approached the Albino Lizard's back and wounded it with his kukri, then stabbed it with the spear, and broke off the pole of the spear again.
Afterwards, Kim Woo-jin disappeared into the bushes and observed the Albino Lizard.
'What will it do now?'
This was the attack strategy that Kim Woo-jin prepared for the Albino Lizard.
The Albino Lizard and the Orc Champion were, in general, similar types of monsters.
They were both arrogant, aggressive, and had a keen fighting sense, but not very intelligent.
But there was a very distinct difference between the Orc Champion and the Albino Lizard.
'Is it thinking about running away?
Unlike the Orc Champion, the Albino Lizard knew how to run away when the situation wasn't looking good.
And furthermore, this dungeon was filled with great hiding spots like the swamp that the Albino Lizard could retreat to.
It was one of the main reasons why this dungeon became a hell that devoured countless talented players.
Since there was nothing they could be done if the Albino Lizard escaped into the swamp after getting heavily injured.
Setting its body on fire like when hunting a troll was also useless due to the presence of the swamps.
For it would go into the swamp and extinguish it the moment its body caught on fire.
Of course, there were skills to create an inextinguishable fire but it wasn't something that players under 30 levels could use.
Anyway, when the fight became an unexpected battle of attrition, the plans players had went out the window, and were eventually resulted in the deaths of those said players.
Kim Woo-jin was prepared to engage in a battle of attrition against the Albino Lizard.
'It wouldn't matter much even if it ran away.'
The two spears that he pierced into its body were the groundwork for a battle of attrition.
From now on, the spear tips in its body will eat away its health until it is melted and decomposed.
Even if it ran away, there was no reason for Kim Woo-jin to hurry.
The reason he was using a regular skeleton soldier instead of a black bone skeleton soldier was also for the long-term battle.
Kaa!
Kim Woo-jin saw the Albino Lizard expressing anger at the skeleton soldier once again.
'I guess it's still thinking about fighting for now.'
With such a view, Kim Woo looked around at the spears that were placed all around him.
There were bodies of lizardmen that were ready to be sacrificed at anytime to summon skeleton soldiers.
Finally, he took out the last energy bar in his arm.
'I'll kill you even if I have to fight you all day.'
Seventy-eight.
That was the number of spears within the Albino Lizard's once smooth white back.
Obviously, the Albino Lizard was not in a good condition.
Shii…
The speed of its tongue was slow enough to be laughed at even by a turtle. Its red eyes, which was once shining with vitality, was as dull as a rotten frozen pollack.
Nevertheless, the Albino Lizard stood upright on its two legs and kept up its guard as it looked around.
It squeezed out its last remaining strength to show it wasn't weak.
But within the ear of the hunter who was after its life, the fact that the Albino Lizard was just putting up a futile struggle was repeatedly heard.
In actuality, the outcome of the hunt was set in stone.
It was impossible for the Albino Lizard to tell where the hunter was even if he appeared. Nonetheless, Kim Woo-jin did not reveal himself.
He approached one of the lizardman corpses he had prepared and summoned a skeleton soldier by sacrificing it.
Tteolgeuleog! Tteolgeuleog!
The skeleton soldier immediately rushed toward the Albino Lizard.
Kaa…
The Albino Lizard unwillingly closed its red eyes after realizing there was yet another nightmare it had to face.
It was prepared to meet its end.
Even at that moment, Kim Woo-jin did not show up in front of the Albino Lizard.
If someone were to ask which of them was more cold-blooded, between Kim Woo-jin and the Albino Lizard, everyone would say that Kim Woo-jin was way more cold-blooded after witnessing such a scene.
Time passed by in a such a manner.
A notification that finally confirmed the end of the Albino Lizard to Kim Woo-jin.
At the end of the cruel stage, the spectator sent its congratulations and gifts to Kim Woo-jin. However, there were no notifications that confirmed the end of the dungeon.
It was because Kim Woo-jin had yet to secure the Albino Lizard's egg, which was the clear condition of the dungeon.
'Now it's time to move.'
Only then did Kim Woo-jin appear in front of the Albino Lizard for the first time.
There was, of course, no sentiment.
Kim Woo-jin flipped the Albino Lizard like a machine. The first thing he did after that was skinning the Albino Lizard.
The situation was different than when he had hunted the Orc Champion.
There was no audience here and he had plenty of time.
That meant he was free to loot everything he could get his hands onto.
'The Albino Lizard's leather is enough to make a set of Lv 30 rare grade armor.'
This was the normal process in a dungeon clear.
It was perfectly normal to take as much as possible from a dungeon. It was just that Kim Woo-jin wasn't able to carry out such a common practice in previous dungeons due to various circumstances.
Naturally, Kim Woo-jin's harvesting skills were excellent.
For someone who had skinned a dragon that was almost 100 meters, an Albino Lizard that was 5 meters long was nothing.
His only regret was that the Albino Lizard's most useful leather, which was located in its back, was in a terrible condition due to Kim Woo-jin's gruesome attacks.
Afterwards, Kim Woo-jin immediately cut open the Albino Lizard's belly.
Then a single egg appeared.
Only then did he get a notification that confirmed the end of the dungeon.
'Finally, it is in my hands.'
The Albino Lizard's egg that appeared in such a manner was about the same size as an ostrich egg.
The color was unique.
The shell was white, but there were purple stripes of energy enveloping the shell, making it look both puerile and gruesome.
While looking at it, Kim Woo-jin recalled memories of the past.
'Now I can see what the Messiah Guild was hiding.'
In 2025, the Messiah guild secured the Albino Lizard's egg after considerable sacrifices. But information about the egg was kept a secret.
There was not even information confirming whether or not it was a legendary item or skill.
People just speculated that it was a legendary item or skill because the Messiah Guild assessed its value to be enough to hide its information.
Puck!
In order to reveal such a secret, Kim Woo-jin cracked the top of the egg's shell open with his kukri.
Pajig!
But within the broken shell, a new shell appeared.
Pajig!
Kim Woo-jin repeatedly struck the Albino Lizard's egg with his kukri again and again; each time, one layer of the shell was peeled off one by one.
Like an onion, the number of layers of shell he peeled were numerous.
And each time a layer of the shell was broken, the violet energy surrounding the shell grew stronger.
Soon after, the white colors disappeared from the shell, leaving only the violet coloration behind. Once Kim Woo-jin hit the shell again one last time, the shell split into two and a skill page made up of obsidian finally appeared.
Kim Woo-jin picked up the skill page.
Apophis's power.
'… Damn it.'
It was a divinity only the Deadly Poison King possessed in Kim Woo-jin's memory.
Deadly Poison King.
Kim Woo-jin first met him in the year 2026 at Beijing.
Kim Woo-jin, who headed for Beijing with a team to clear the 6 floor dungeon, faced the Deadly Poison King in front of the dungeon gate.
And on the spot, Kim Woo-jin lost seven of his colleagues.
After seeing his colleagues die without being able to leave a will due to the threat posed by the Deadly Poison King's poison, Kim Woo-jin ran away.
Since then, the Deadly Poison King and Kim Woo-jin continued to have a hostile relationship.
Even now, Kim Woo-jin was able to name all of his colleagues who lost their lives to the the Deadly Poison King; he could even draw their faces if he were asked to do so. But now, the skill that helped such a monster to exist was in the hands of Kim Woo-jin. Something which should have belonged to the Messiah Guild.
The meaning behind such a development was simple.
The Messiah Guild gave it to the Deadly Poison King.
Or the Deadly Poison King stole it from the Messiah Guild.
Those were the two possibilities.
And the answer was obvious.
'Did the Messiah Guild create the Deadly Poison King?'
The chances of him stealing it from the Messiah Guild when not even Kim Woo-jin was aware of the existence of such skill page was similar to the probability of Kim Woo-jin returning to the past.
In the end, it was proof that the Deadly Poison King was the work of the Messiah Guild.
'There are… plenty of reasons to do so.'
It was well worth doing so.
Deadly Poison King was a villain.
He took whatever he needed and he destroyed everything he found annoying in the process. Moreover, the year 2026, when he was active, was a time when chaos erupted like wildfire.
A year when countless cities were left in ruins by the monsters that came out of the dungeons and countries around the world began losing their ability to function. No one wanted to antagonize a monster like the Deadly Poison King around a time when everyone was busy trying to save themselves.
It was a period in need of righteous players who could bring judgement on the outbreak of evil players.
The existence of the Deadly Poison King made the Messiah Guild shine even brighter.
Naturally, the Messiah Guild played such a role.
The Messiah Guild, who fought with monsters to save the world, now had a reason to punish players for the sake of the world.
After that, the Messiah Guild asked for legendary items in exchange for punishing the Deadly Poison King and the world was forced to comply.
Legendary items were collected in order to deal with the Deadly Poison King.
They also recruited volunteers to destroy the Deadly Poison King.
To be honest, there was no need to recruit anyone for help.
It is because there was the strongest hunting dog in the Messiah Guild, someone who lost his comrades and was fuming with anger.
'In the end, after killing the Deadly Poison King, the Messiah Guild became the judicator of the world.'
Kim Woo-jin killed the Deadly Poison King.
He succeeded in avenging his dead comrades.
But now he realized that it was all a part of the Messiah Guild's ambitions.
The noble sacrifice of those who were willing to die to save the world was actually a dog's death. Kim Woo-jin, however, was now fuming with new anger over such a reason.
'Lee Se-joon, I will be the one who's going to kill you.'
It only made him brood over in anger once again.