I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter

Sung Sooho was 1 year old. 

 

The day finally came when the cute baby took his first steps. Like all parents, Sooho’s household was in chaos, but in a slightly different way.

 

– H-honey! Sooho… Our Sooho is-!

 

– What happened to Sooho?

 

Sooho’s mother, Cha Haein, screamed in disbelief.

 

– He’s flying around right now!

 

– … What?

 

– Sooho is flying all over the house right now!

 

Sooho took his first step in the air, not on the floor. In fact, his ability to fly was one of the special powers inherited from his father, Sung Jinwoo, known as the “Ruler’s Authority.”

 

 

[…

Sniff.

I miss those days.]

 

The sight of Sooho, who learned how to fly before he could even walk at the age of 1, was like the legendary tale of a hero’s extraordinary birth, leaving Beru in tears.

 

But at the time, Earth was a very peaceful world.

 

The power that Sooho inherited was created to bring about destruction and it was useless in a peaceful world. Not only was it useless, but it also had the potential to make everyday life impossible. Therefore, Sung Jinwoo decided to seal that power until Sooho could control it.

 

[Now is the time, as the foreign apostles are invading the Earth! It is time for you, my little king, to unleash your sealed power!]

 

 

[Skill: Ruler’s Authority Lv.1]

 

Active skill.

 

No mana required.

 

You can physically affect objects without touching them.

 

 

Leaving Beru’s fuss behind him, Sooho fired the arrow he held with his invisible hand in the opposite direction.

 

“I’m giving it back.”

 

Splat! Thud!

 

[Krrhok!]

 

 

[You have defeated Goblin Archer.]

 

 

The Goblin Archer choked as the arrow he had shot pierced his own throat. Then the other goblins behind it were startled, turned their backs, and started running away.

 

Whoosh!

 

[Krrhok!]

 

‘Do you think I’ll let you run away!?’

 

Sooho caught up to the fleeing goblins with a single leap, catching them off guard.

 

“Huh?”

 

[Krrhok!?]

 

The two confused eyes met each other in the air.

 

[Kiekhehe! As your strength stat has increased; naturally, your jumping ability has also improved! You’ll adapt quickly!]

 

Beru’s voice explained with a sneer from above.

 

Sooho swung his axe straight down on the goblin’s forehead.

 

Thunk!

 

[Khiik!]

 

 

[You have defeated Goblin Scout.]

 

 

In the blink of an eye, Sooho had hunted down two goblins. He wiped the goblin blood off his face with the back of his hand and looked around with a sharp gaze.

 

Without a moment of peace since diving into battle, Sooho now realized that this monochrome world was not at all friendly to him. The malicious gazes filled with evil emanating from various parts of the ruined city were stimulating his Sense stat.

 

“There are a lot of them.”

 

[Indeed. There are many. This is the Land of Death. A world that has been abandoned without a master for a long time. Wild beasts have made their nests in this land during that time.]

 

Beru explained with a sinister smile, chuckling. If it weren’t for the cute mini-size, one could almost believe that Beru was the true owner of this place.

 

[But now!]

 

With a swish, Beru spread his short arms wide and declared in a majestic tone.

 

[Finally, the true owner of this land has returned! Please, reclaim the land that those foolish intruders took with your own strength!]

 

Ding!

 

At that moment, a new quest window unfolded in front of Sooho.

 

[Quest: Survival]

 

The inhabitants of the Shadow Dungeon will never acknowledge you as the owner of this land if you are weak and falter. Prove your worth by surviving for the required time.

 

Required Time: 4 hours

 

Time Remaining: 4 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds

 

 

‘Survival?’

 

Sooho’s eyebrows twitched as he read the quest.

 

At that moment.

 

Hoonk!

 

Fffoooooo!

 

 

[Goblin Chief uses ‘Item: Horn Flute’ to call its subordinates.]

 

[Goblin Commander uses ‘Item: Horn Flute’ to call its subordinates.]

 

 

Khihihi!

 

Krrhok, krrhok!

 

Bagrwl, bagrwl!

 

Goblins that had been hiding all over the city began to reveal themselves one by one with loud cries. However, the numbers were just too many, even if Sooho had expected it.

 

Sooho’s expression turned annoyed. “Is this a joke? Survive for 4 hours like this?”

 

[Of course, there’s no need to kill them all. Right now, my little king is only level 3. Just try to survive somehow. You’ll naturally level up and become stronger if you struggle hard.]

 

Beru flicked his thumb with a mischievous grin. His face was filled with the smile of a father looking proudly at his grown son.

 

‘…But why is he so mischievous?’

 

But now was not the time for such thoughts.

 

Krrhok, krrhok!

 

The goblins were rushing in.

 

Snap!

Sooho hurriedly took the second axe from the hand of the goblin he had just killed.

 

[Item: Goblin’s Stone Axe]

 

Acquisition Difficulty: E

 

Type: Axe

 

Attack +5

 

A hand axe used by goblins

 

 

As the item information floated above the axe.

 

‘Now, one in each hand.’

 

Sooho’s eyes gleamed with determination as he split the two stone axes between his hands. But that alone wasn’t enough to ease his anxiety.

 

The goblins charging at him also wielded the same weapon in their hands.

 

Sooho immediately opened the status window and invested all 5 remaining stat points into Strength.

 

 

[Strength: 15 → 20]

 

 

Whooosh!

Sooho felt a surge of power in his hands gripping the axes. 

 

Increasing the Strength stat boosts strength and speed. Considering that his Strength stat was only 10 at level 1, this was an increase of twice that amount.

 

‘With this strength…’

 

He could move even faster!

 

Zoom!

Using his newfound strength, Sooho swiftly turned his body and started running away, looking for advantageous terrain in a battle against multiple opponents.

 

[Kiekhehe! Impressive! As expected, weaklings have their own ways of fighting!]

 

“…”

 

[It’s like watching an ant larva successfully wriggling for the first time!]

 

Ugh, how annoying.

 

Sooho ran, erasing all the emotions of joy and nostalgia he felt toward Beru after a long time. He also wiped clean his past as an ant enthusiast.

 

‘I’ll burn all the ant drawings when I go back.’

 

From now on, he resolved to focus on drawing pictures of anteaters or other creatures.

 

***

 

He clearly felt the effect of his Strength stat. With dual axes in hand, Sooho rampaged wildly.

 

Swish! Thwack!

He swung his right axe to knock away a goblin’s axe.

 

Thunk!

With his left axe, he struck a goblin’s neck.

 

Whoosh, thud!

He quickly turned around and chopped down a goblin charging from behind, severing its ankle.

 

Thunk!

Another goblin fell to his axe.

 

 

[You have defeated Goblin Assault Soldier.]

 

[You have defeated Goblin Spearman.]

 

 

“Khiiik!”

 

He killed two goblins in an instant, but the price was brutal. Axes and spears flew at him from all directions, and though he dodged half of them, the other half found their mark.

 

Thunk! Thunk!

 

“Agh!”

 

[HP: 160/190]

 

It hurts.

 

His body accumulated more wounds as his health decreased, but Sooho gritted his teeth and charged at them again.

 

Whoosh! Thunk!

 

Clang!

 

This time, he took down three of them. Meanwhile, Sooho endured four more attacks.

 

 

[HP: 118/190]

 

 

Slash!

He struck another one in the neck.

 

This time, he allowed three attacks.

 

 

[HP: 84/190]

 

 

His health bar was now nearly half gone. Sooho’s body was also covered in blood.

 

But then…

 

Ding!

 

 

[You have learned ‘Skill: Resilience Lv.1’.]

 

 

‘A skill!?’

 

Sooho’s eyes widened.

 

Hunters usually lived their whole lives with only the skills granted to them at awakening. To obtain new skills, one needed the rare and expensive “Rune Stone,” which was discovered with a low probability.

 

To think that he obtained such a precious skill for free during battle!

 

 

[Skill: Resilience Lv.1]

 

Passive skill.

 

No mana required.

 

You possess indomitable resilience.

 

Physical defense is increased by 20%.

 

 

Before even checking the skill description, he could personally experience its effects as the pain from his wounds lessened.

 

[Khiiik!]

 

Just then, the goblins realized that Sooho was not an easy opponent and scattered in all directions with screams. At the same time, horn sounds echoed from all around, summoning more reinforcements.

 

Taking advantage of the situation, Sooho hid behind a pillar and caught his breath.

 

“Wow. It hurts.”

 

At those words, Beru flew over and stomped his feet.

 

[Kieeek! Little King, are you very hurt? But even so, youth comes from pain. You have become stronger from getting hit so much and obtaining the Resilience skill. You are truly amazing!]

 

“…”

 

As Sooho pressed his hand tightly against his bleeding wound to stop the bleeding, he glared at Beru.

 

[Kiekhe?]

 

The ant the size of a fist smiled innocently there.

 

“Instead of just watching, can’t you help too?”

 

Beru was known for his strength, capable of tearing apart even giant wolves with sheer power. He must have been formidable back then.

 

But now that he had become smaller, Beru didn’t seem to have any intention of helping.

 

But Beru had his own circumstances.

 

[Well, of course I’d love to. But I must conserve my strength as much as possible to return to outer space where my king is waiting.]

 

Beru was in the process of replenishing his depleted strength through his own efforts in preparation for his return because his trusted companion, Sung Jinwoo, who could recharge his mana, was too far away.

 

[Besides, if I participate in battle, the experience points that should go to our lord will be significantly reduced. How about focusing on killing at least one more enemy to aim for leveling up during this time?]

 

There was no error in Beru’s words. The problem was that he was too annoying. He had constantly been blabbering above Sooho’s head as if his strength had increased significantly. However, it didn’t seem like he was intentionally trying to provoke him.

 

It was like he was a purely evil creature devoid of humanity. Maybe that’s why he was not human in the first place.

 

[Kieeek! Little King, they’re coming again! Get up and fight quickly! It’s not long until you level up!]

 

Sooho clenched his teeth and reached out his hand.

 

‘Ruler’s Authority.’

 

An invisible hand flew forward and levitated a stone axe from the corpses of the goblins.

 

He realized during the battle that the weight he could lift with the Ruler’s Authority was about 10kg. It was a strength that could easily lift a baby taking its first steps. Naturally, lifting a stone axe was easily possible.

 

Perhaps as a child, he could fly in the sky with this ability.

 

Sooho made the stone axe levitate in the air around his body, rotating it in circles. This should at least solve the minimum defense.

 

Beru’s eyes glittered at the sight.

 

[Khioook! You’re using the Ruler’s Authority like this? As expected, power rules!]

 

…That annoying demon with ant-like persistence was undoubtedly right.

 

***

 

[Level up!]

 

[Level up!]

 

 

Time really doesn’t pass quickly.

 

Nevertheless, after struggling for a long time, covered in blood and wounds, Sooho’s level steadily increased. And as he leveled up, the wounds that were bleeding profusely from being struck by the goblins’ axes quickly healed as if nothing had happened. His HP, which seemed like it would faint at any moment, instantly became vigorous as his level increased.

 

And most importantly, as his level rose, Sooho became stronger and stronger.

 

And finally…

 

 

[Time remaining: 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds]

 

[You have completed the quest.]

 

[Level up!]

 

[Level: 7]

 

 

Whoosh!

 

[Krrhok!]

 

[Krrhorok!]

 

As soon as the timer ended, the goblins who had been relentlessly chasing Sooho scattered into the darkness and disappeared.

 

“… Is it over?”

 

Sooho looked around without lowering his guard. Now, there were goblin corpses all around him. The heavy silence that had descended upon this place when he first arrived returned.

 

[Keuk! Well done! Truly impressive!]

 

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

Beru congratulated him enthusiastically, breaking the silence with applause.

 

[Finally, those treacherous bastards have recognized you, my little king! Now they know in their bones that you’re not an easy opponent to mess with!]

 

Not easy?

 

“What do you mean by ‘not easy’?”

 

[Well, you’re still at the level of an ant larva that could die with a single blow! After all, you’re only at level 7!]

 

“That damn larva…” He regretted asking without thinking.

 

Then…

 

Ding!

 

 

[The quest completion reward has arrived.]

 

[Do you want to check the reward?] (Y/N)

 

“… Yes, check.”

 

As soon as Sooho finished his reply, the message unfolded ominously.

 

 

[The following rewards are prepared.]

 

Reward: ‘Rune Stone: Shadow Extraction’

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