Player who Returned 10,000 years Later
chapter-53

The next day…

KangWoo got up early, ate breakfast, and prepared to go out.

Next to him there was Echidna, who was wearing a white dress.

"Is this the one you bought yesterday with Seol-ah?"

It was a one-piece that had frills.

Echidna grabbed the hem of the dress and turned around.

It was a movement he would normally see in manhwa, but because Echidna, who looked like a doll, did it, it felt like he was inside one.

"Does this look good on me, KangWoo?"

Echidna looked at him expectantly.

KangWoo smiled and patted her head.

"Yes. It suits you."

"Hehe."

It seemed like Echidna was happy to hear KangWoo's praise. She clenched her fist and moved it downwards.

She ran toward Han Seol-ah and bowed her head.

"Thank you. KangWoo liked it."

"Fufu. Since Echidna is so pretty, I'm sure everything would've suited you."

Han Seol-ah patted Echidna while making a kind smile.

KangWoo turned his body toward the entrance door.

"Then I'll go hunt with Echidna."

"Yes, Mr. KangWoo."

Seol-ah smiled bitterly and nodded after hearing that he was going to hunt with Echidna. She seemed to feel envious.

She knew that she still lacked a bit to hunt with him.

"Good luck today, Mr. KangWoo."

"Seol-ah. You're going hunting today, right?"

"Yes. I'm going again with Mr. ShiHoon, Mr. TaeSoo, and EunBi."

"If you see a monster you've never seen before, avoid fighting against it and escape."

"Yes, understood."

"One of these days, I'll go with you guys."

"Mr. KangWoo is coming?"

"Yes."

Seol-ah seemed surprised. KangWoo slowly nodded.

'I think it's about time I help them power level.'

They had probably gained a lot of battle experience, so it was necessary to help them level up and thus help them grow.

"Hehe. Then I'll be waiting for that day."

She seemed happy just to hear that KangWoo would go with them one of those days.

After leaving behind the happy Han Seol-ah, KangWoo drove to the S-rank gate.

* * *

"Good, then should I start?"

After driving to the place where the S-rank gate was, KangWoo easily got into the S-rank gate by using the access permission that was given to him by Chae YeonJoo.

'But weren't there fewer members of the Hwarang Squad than the last time?'

Normally, the entrance would be full of members of the First Squad guarding the Gate. But that day, there seemed to be fewer people than the last time.

'Well, I guess it's nothing important.'

It wasn't important whether something happened or not to the Hwarang Squad.

KangWoo took a glimpse at the lake.

"Don't get near that lake. A very dangerous monster lives inside it."

"Understood. I'll stay with you."

"Then, I'll drag the monsters; you support me with magic. And don't transform to your original form."

Of course, fighting with her original body would make things easier, but it was just too big.

There was a chance that it would drag too much attention while hunting.

"Okay."

Echidna nodded with her eyes full of enthusiasm.

KangWoo used the Authority of Observation to see the monsters that were around.

'Is that a giant ogre?'

He sensed a giant that was over five meters big roaming around.

It was a common monster that appeared in the Suwon S-rank gate. Because it gave a lot of experience, it was a popular monster to hunt.

'Should I try to hunt one first?'

KangWoo used the Authority of Temptation and dragged one giant ogre to them.

Stomp-! Stomp! Stomp!

"Echidna, get ready."

"Okay."

The floor began moving as if an earthquake had happened.

KangWoo lowered his body after seeing the giant ogre getting closer.

"GRRRRR!!"

Seeing an ogre that was almost five meters tall shouting and running toward you would usually be overwhelming.

'Authority of Divine Power.'

KangWoo concluded that, without using an Authority, he wouldn't be able to win against a giant ogre. So he used the Authority of Divine Power and then collided with it.

"GRRRRR!!"

As KangWoo and the giant ogre collided, the surrounding terrain turned upside down, and a loud noise spread.

"Ugh."

A short exclamation came out of KangWoo's mouth.

'As expected from an S-rank monster.'

Even with the Authority of Divine Power, it was hard to resist it.

'But…'

KangWoo's eyes shone.

While maintaining the Authority of Divine Power, KangWoo used the arms of the giant ogre as a path to run to its body.

'I can win against it.'

Crack-!!

"KRAARR!!"

* * *

A spear made of demonic energy pierced the neck of the giant ogre.

If it were for him, he wanted to use the Authority of Dark Spear combined with the Authority of the Blade and cut the ogre's body from the inside out.

'That's going to be hard to do.'

Using three different Authorities simultaneously would be hard for him at the moment.

'Without the Authority of Divine Power, I won't be able to resist.'

KangWoo had to put extra strength on his hand so as to not to be pushed away by the giant ogre violently twisting its body.

The giant ogre was so strong that blood came out of his hand.

"Dark Side."

As KangWoo and the ogre clashed against each other, Echidna launched her magic.

Twelve swords appeared in the air and flew toward the ogre.

Slash-! Slash!

"KUOOO!!"

The ogre, who was trying to push KangWoo away from its body, was cut by the twelve swords.

The ogre's eyes became red and it began twisting its body even more violently.

"GRRRR!!"

The giant ogre began running toward Echidna.

"I can't let you do that," After saying that, KangWoo dismissed the Authority of Dark Spear and concentrated the Authority of Divine Power on his right hand.

Crack-!

The Authority of Divine Power concentrated on his right hand as he penetrated the monster’s skull with it.

After breaking through the ogre’s head, KangWoo felt something squishy.

'Authority of Thunder.'

Bzzt-!!

"Kuooo…"

After feeling lightning strike the insides of his head, the ogre trembled with its mouth agape.

A black scythe flew toward the ogre that had become slower.

Boom-!

The five-meter-tall ogre fell to the ground.

Ting-

[You've successfully eliminated an S-rank normal monster, Giant Ogre.]

[You've gained experience.]

[Your level has gone up by 1.]

'My level went up after killing one monster.'

KangWoo's eyes shone after reading the message window.

Usually, it would require a party of players over level 65 to hunt in an S-rank Gate. Because KangWoo was at level 40, he’d gained a massive amount of experience at once.

'Very nice.'

He thought that choosing to go to an S-rank Gate was the correct decision.

He wouldn't have been able to level up in an A-rank gate after killing a single monster.

"KangWoo, are you okay?"

Echidna approached KangWoo, who was covered in the blood of the giant ogre.

She looked at him with worrying eyes.

He patted her.

"It's okay. I was just scratched a little bit."

To not be pushed away from the giant ogre's body, KangWoo had grabbed the spear even tighter, so his hands had been scratched a bit.

But because it was a scratch made by his hand being swept away by a spear, it wasn't even worth using the Authority of Regeneration.

"I'll heal you."

Echidna didn't seem to like that he had a small scratch on his hand, so she began licking the wound.

"…"

A weird sensation began spreading with a ticklish sensation on his hand.

While smiling awkwardly, KangWoo looked at Echidna, who was licking his hand.

'That's a hand that was inside the brain of an ogre.'

But he thought it would be better not to tell her at that moment.

"It's okay now," KangWoo said while taking his hand from Echidna.

Echidna looked at him, a bit disappointed. While looking at his hand, she carefully asked.

"KangWoo, was I of help?"

"Yes."

He didn't need to think about it.

She really had been of great help in hunting the giant ogre.

Echidna smiled brightly after hearing his answer.

KangWoo fell into his thoughts while looking at her.

'For her to be this strong without returning to her original body…'

He thought that if she fought using her original body, they should be able to crowd hunt even inside an S-rank gate.

"I feel like I became stronger after being connected with KangWoo."

Echidna looked at her own body with surprise.

She felt that, after spending a night with KangWoo, she had become stronger than before.

"Hmm…"

KangWoo still looked troubled by the words Echidna chose and gulped.

"Should we hunt the next monster?"

"Yes."

After devouring the ogre's body with the Authority of Predation, he began moving to find the next target.

"Kiieekk!!"

"That…"

At that moment, a group of wyverns came flying toward them.

Wyverns weren't S-rank monsters, but because they moved in big groups, it was known that you had to be even more careful with them than with a giant ogre.

'There are over 30.'

KangWoo's expression stiffened after looking at the group of wyverns flying toward them.

A group of over 30 wyverns was powerful enough to hunt a giant ogre easily.

"Kiieekk!!"

The group of wyverns flew toward KangWoo and Echidna and descended at a speed that was close to the speed of sound.

KangWoo dodged the wyvern's attacks while hugging Echidna.

Scratch-

"Ah…"

While dodging the attack of the wyverns, the claws of a wyvern tore Echidna's dress.

Echidna's face became blue.

"Ah, ah…"

"Let's hide first," KangWoo said while looking at the group of wyverns.

But Echidna wasn't in a state where she could hear his words.

"K-KangWoo…"

"hmm?"

"KangWoo praised me for this dress…"

Her body trembled while she gripped the torn dress.

A terrifying energy erupted from her body as if an explosion had happened.

"KangWoo praised me for this dress!"

Echidna's body was covered with a blue light.

A giant dragon that made the wyverns look like sparrows appeared.

"Krrr?!"

The wyverns that’d gone flying there after smelling something delicious stared at Echidna—who had transformed into a dragon—in surprise.

[ROOAARR!!]

Echidna's roar spread.

After hearing the roar of a dragon, the wyverns tried to turn around and escape.

Crack-! Slash!

Echidna annihilated the group of wyverns that were trying to escape.

The group of wyverns that could hunt a giant ogre as if it were a kid died by the claws of Echidna without being able to do anything.

"Woah…"

KangWoo laughed in disbelief.

'Isn't she stronger than me?'

Echidna was stronger than he had initially thought.