The Skill Maker

Hyun-Soo felt proud .

However, all of them didn’t feel the same way .

‘……Is it just me?’

Leon, the leader of Team Xeon, gave off a different vibe .

Hyun-Soo wasn’t sure if he felt that way because his first impression of them wasn’t great or if it was because Leon really was looking at him with disgust .

But when he first awakened as a hunter, he met a lot of people with horrible personalities, so this was nothing to him .

“Um…… . ”

Some of the members from Xeon looked like they wanted to ask questions .

“…… . ”

Before Hyun-Soo could answer, the members kept their mouths shut due to the glares they were receiving from others .

Team Xeon must have a strict system because when Leon started walking without saying anything, the members quietly followed behind him .

Team Xeon was following behind, but most of the members wasn’t feeling great about this .

‘Can’t believe we’re asking for their help…’

It wasn’t even teamwork . They were basically carrying Team Xeon .

Both sides knew that that was the truth .

Team Xeon knew that they weren’t skilled enough to hunt a colorful portal .

Because the guilds that were stronger than them failed at clearing the portal .

They probably never thought about going in by themselves and clearing it .

Coaching? Giving advice?

That only helps when you’re slightly lacking, but it’s useless when you have nothing to start with .

Kyuuuuu!

Riri flew up to the sixth floor, but quickly came back .

It was different from the other floors that she explored .

“What is it? What is she saying?”

Riri came back as soon as she flew up and the members asked when they noticed the way she was acting .

“Is there something up there?”

Kyuuuu!

“Something dangerous? Is there a monster?”

Kyuuuuu!

Riri nodded her head and created a large circle .

“Is the monster round?”

Riri nodded again and this time, she flapped her arms and legs .

“I guess the monster has a lot of arms and legs . ”

Kyuuuu!

“You heard it, right? Let’s prepare for battle . ”

Kim Yoo-Na, who was also watching Riri, clapped her hands to get their attention .

‘It would be nice if I can actually understand her . ’

Then he would be able to obtain more detailed information .

Hyun-Soo looked at Riri with disappointment, but Riri tilted her head in confusion .

‘Maybe I should teach her Korean since she’s pretty smart . ’

Teaching a monster a language?

Ordinary people would definitely lose their minds if they heard this .

Interacting with a monster is interesting enough that it would grab the attention of people all over the world .

Creak, creak .

The stairs that led to the seventh floor made unpleasant sounds .

The sound of people walking on these wooden floors filled the room .

Moments later .

La la la la la .

‘Music?’

A quiet hum could be heard despite the creaking sound .

The members that were in the front must’ve heard it too, because they stopped walking .

“This…… . ”

“……I think this is it . ”

The members exchanged glances . They carefully took a step forward .

When Kim Yoo-Na gave the signal, the members nodded .

It was a sign to get into the formation they prepared as soon as they walk up .

Before entering, Brad raised his hand . Three of his fingers were stretched out .

Brad slowly folded them one by one .

It was a countdown .

Three, two, one!

As soon as he folded his last finger, the members ran up the stairs .

And then .

Kyahhhhhh!

“Ack!”

“Ah!”

The hunters almost lost their balance when they heard a loud screech .

Because of that, it took them a while to get into formation .

During that time, a silver light flashed . It was a sudden attack .

Luckily, Lahatlan shielded Hyun-Soo, but not for the other hunters .

Hyun-Soo was supposed to take his place and use Lahatlan, but…

“Riri!”

Hyun-Soo called Riri .

Riri was in front of the group, but when she heard Hyun-Soo, she flew up .

Swoosh .

The silver light disappeared as if it shot into the hunters .

It’s because Riri consumed it all .

Kyuuuuu .

Riri released a long sigh .

During that time, the members and Team Xeon came back to their senses .

They had lost it because the short and loud screech messed them up mentally .

“To your places!”

Even though they were in danger for a brief moment, they quickly adjusted .

The members stood in formation and glared at the monster .

“……Wow . ”

The monster was so bizarre, that they couldn’t help but exclaim .

It had a circular body and it had over 20 slender legs .

It was exactly like how Riri expressed it .

But the level of grotesqueness was extreme .

The monster’s entire body reminded Hyun-Soo of the make-up that’s used in the Beijing opera .

The monster was hugging a pile of wood .

They reminded him of the wooden models he saw on the other floors .

Oddly-shaped wooden models were lying on the floor in each of the levels .

It looked like a wooden doll, but it looked really rough, so Hyun-Soo didn’t think it could be a doll .

But .

“Oh, shit . ”

The wooden models that the human spider was hugging started moving .

The monster moved its legs and controlled the silver thread .

Creak, creak .

It moved awkwardly at first, but .

La la la la la la .

The moment the models heard the spider singing, the awkward movements disappeared .

Even though we had a tank, beating 20 attackers at once was impossible .

However, close-range attackers circled around them and long distance attackers and healers stood behind them, so the damage wasn’t so bad .

Even though the close-range attackers weren’t as strong as the tanks, they were able to protect themselves .

However, there are times when things don’t go as planned .

On top of that, they were inside a colorful portal .

It was difficult to predict the situation here .

Swoosh!

“Ack!”

One healer started bleeding and fainted .

Another healer quickly ran to their side and activated a healing skill .

“Wha, what happened?!”

The attacker was the one that yelled out the question .

That attacker wasn’t the human spider and it wasn’t one of the models the spider was controlling .

“Denver? What are you doing?!”

“No, I didn’t mean to…ack!”

“Move!”

Denver charged towards the nearby members with a shocked expression and started attacking with his sword .

Clank!

Thankfully, Brad intercepted and blocked his attack .

He was able to prevent them from killing each other .

Everyone was surprised by this unexpected situation .

It’s because they didn’t expect an ally to attack them all of a sudden .

On top of that, Denver himself didn’t know why he was acting that way .

“Ack! Please stop! Stop it!”

He tried to move his body, but he couldn’t because it felt like someone was controlling him .

‘Wait, control?’

Hyun-Soo quickly used Interface .

‘Thread?’

He was able to see the thread that was connected to Denver .

The thread that was connected to the models was connect to Denver as well .

“Try using any cutting skills around Denver!”

He yelled as soon as he checked and the members immediately used their skills .

Different skills cut the air near Denver .

Flop!

“Ahhhhhh…… . ”

Denver prepared to run, but he ended up falling to the ground .

It seemed like his body was out of energy because he couldn’t move .

A few of the members carried Denver and moved him to the back .

“Make sure the monster’s thread doesn’t touch you . It can control you once it touches you . ”

Hyun-Soo recalled the information he saw on Interface .

The monster’s name was the Puppeteer .

Like Karazhan, Interface didn’t show the monster’s rank and only said that it was currently evolving .

Control was listed as one of its attributes, so the monster probably used threads to control the body .

Thanks to Hyun-Soo’s information, the members became even more cautious .

They couldn’t really make a move .

20 wooden models were in front of the Puppeteer .

The Puppeteer’s attacks itself couldn’t be ignored .

The silver thread was actually made out of metal, so the threads can be used to attack .

‘On top of that they’re able to control the body, so we have to be careful . ’

This was definitely a colorful portal .

The nickname, impregnable, was fitting .

If a different guild entered this portal, the Puppeteer would’ve controlled all of them and that’s how the hunt would’ve ended .

They wouldn’t know why their member was attacking and they would’ve suffered greatly because of it .

On top of that, the worse situation would be…… .

‘Killing that member . ’

Even though they didn’t know the reason, the easiest way to resolve the issue would be to kill them .

However, it wouldn’t end there and the same situation will repeat itself…

‘Annihilation . ’

Nothing more, nothing less .

They might be able to resolve it in the beginning by killing the killer, but the number of hunters will decrease and in the end, the clan will suffer from a counterattack .

Or, the Puppeteer might attack and kill all of them .

‘In that sense, we’re off to a good start . ’

Whew…… .

After analyzing the situation, Hyun-Soo realized that they managed to overcome a big issue .

Was it because of that?

A deep sigh was released .

Kyuuuu?

Riri tilted her head in confusion .

***

“I said move!”

The members of Team Xeon flinched when they heard yelling .

They tried to discreetly join the group, but Marcus noticed them .

Going against the Puppeteer was extremely complicated, but that didn’t last long .

Knowing the monster’s attack pattern was the most important task .

Once they understand the pattern, they’re able to naturally understand the monster’s skills and movements .

Since it wasn’t a machine, it didn’t have a routine .

However, during dangerous situations or when there’s a big attack, people usually use the most familiar and most used skill .

It’s only natural to react that way .

Monsters weren’t any different .

“Haa!”

The puppeteer opened its mouth to release a sound wave attack, but it twisted its body when attacks entered the body .

With that, the wooden models’ movements became twisted as well .

After that, the Puppeteer didn’t use the sound wave attack .

The wooden models kept on attacking .

Every time that happened, the long distance attackers stepped up and cut the threads that was between the Puppeteer and the models .

But the Puppeteer released more threads .

“Damn it, we can’t get near it . ”

Even though the models attacked, it was also the Puppeteer’s way of defending .

The close-range attackers couldn’t keep playing the sub-tank role and block the models’ attacks .

Thankfully, after Denver was released, no one was controlled by the Puppeteer .

It’s because the long range attackers cleaned up the areas near the members .

They had to attack and clean up the area .

‘It’s chaotic . ’

Hyun-Soo, who was using Invisible Attack, was getting a headache .

There were a lot of things they had to focus on .

If this continues, there’s a high chance that they’ll be the first ones to get tired .

But during that time, the members of Team Xeon must’ve thought that this was an easy hunt, because they slowly started approaching the members .

Because of that, Marcus’s yelling filled the room once again .