The F-rank Hunter Who Turned Into a Golem Is Overpowered Chapter 19

Chapter 19

A picture was engraved on the stone slab.

It depicted a woman raising a spear high in the air.

Numerous soldiers knelt before her, while monster corpses piled up around them like mountains.

The woman wore a bizarre mask, one resembling a hawk, with a sharp beak.

And on that mask…

“Holes?”

Do-jae moved closer to inspect.

Holes above the beak, in the eye area.

A total of four.

While all other parts of the mask were smooth, the eye area was deeply hollowed out.

“Oh.”

From these details, Do-jae deduced what the holes meant.

The trial that the quest and voice had spoken of.

The four holes and the four doors surrounding them.

The answer was clear.

There must be something in those entrances that would fit into the holes.

“A weakling? Foolish? I’ll clear this in no time.”

Until now, he had thought gods didn’t exist.

Even so, he had lived harder than anyone else.

The so-called god that suddenly appeared now seemed displeased with Do-jae, but that didn’t matter.

No, rather, it fired him up.

The past days he had endured, striving to be recognized.

The target of that desire had simply shifted from humans to gods, but his resolve hadn’t changed.

“I’ll clear this quest and make you my god.”

Thinking the entity might be listening somewhere, Do-jae clenched his fists and entered one of the four doors.

*************

About ten minutes had passed since he entered the door.

Despite walking quickly, all he had come across was a straight corridor. It was strange.

‘Did I get it wrong?’

From his vast experience of dungeon raids, he knew there were usually two possibilities in such situations.

The first is the appearance of monsters.

That’s an easy one.

If the monsters are manageable, you fight them, rest, and then continue. If not, you make a run for it.

After all, since you know the dungeon’s grade before entering, situations where you’d have to flee are rare.

The second is a trap.

That’s the more bothersome scenario.

The path could turn into a maze, or the place could be filled with traps.

Even Do-jae, with his sharp instincts, couldn’t rely on luck in such cases. These situations required hunters specialized in trap handling.

‘There are no monsters and no traps. What kind of trial is this?’

But this place had neither, which made Do-jae feel uneasy.

He thought about turning back, but he was already deep inside. Plus, the path continued onward, so he figured he should keep going.

With nothing but idle thoughts occupying his mind.

‘Since my brother is living with me now, should we get an ice-cold water dispenser for the house? Though Mr. Choi said it’s expensive. Maybe if we rent it, the price would be lower…’

Do-jae suddenly stopped walking.

In front of him appeared an enormous hole.

It was rectangular, clearly artificially made.

‘Seems like I’m supposed to cross this.’

Do-jae sat at the edge of the hole and looked across to the other side.

The far end barely visible.

The hole was wide—far too wide.

At a glance, it looked to be at least 500 meters long.

And the width between the walls was around 10 meters.

‘Jumping over seems impossible.’

Even a hunter with superhuman physical abilities couldn’t leap across 500 meters in one go.

Unless they had a teleportation skill or could fly, maybe?

Or if they were an S-class hunter, they might have a special skill that could somehow get them across. But as for Do-jae, jumping over even 50 meters, let alone 500, was impossible.

‘There must be a way.’

Even if this was a trial given by a god, there had to be a solution.

Otherwise, it would be reckless for them to demand the impossible.

‘First, let’s see how deep it is. Subspace.’

In response to Do-jae’s call, his Subspace opened.

Do-jae pulled out a bottle of water from the space and threw it into the hole.

Thunk-

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds…

15 seconds, 16 seconds, 17 seconds.

Ting-!

The sound of the water bottle hitting the bottom echoed faintly from the hole.

‘It’s deep.’

Though Do-jae wasn’t well-versed in science, the fact that it took 17 seconds for the bottle to hit the bottom made it clear: the hole was incredibly deep.

It was too dangerous to simply jump down.

‘Even if I manage to get down there, the problem is getting back up.’

Even if, by chance, he survived the fall with his golem armor, the issue would be climbing back up.

After examining the wall earlier, Do-jae realized the stones were not ordinary rocks.

Normally, stones would easily break or chip when touched, but here, even after punching with full force, only a small crack appeared.

He briefly considered using his fists to descend by punching the wall as footholds, but at this rate, his hands would break before the wall did.

“Hmm.”

After some thought, Do-jae rummaged through his Subspace.

What he pulled out was a glass bottle containing slime mucus he had obtained before.

And a rope he had prepared during a previous raid.

Usually, hunters tied their loot securely with ropes to prevent it from collapsing, but with Do-jae’s Subspace, he didn’t need that, so the rope was still brand new.

“Will this work…”

Do-jae unraveled the rope and made a loop.

Then he tied the rope around the bottle containing the mucus of the Silver Slime, known for its exceptional adhesive properties.

For reference, if it stuck to your hands, you’d have a hard time getting it off, so Do-jae carefully tied it.

Usually, the slime was stored in oiled containers because it was weak to fire.

In any case, Do-jae wrapped the rope several times around the bottle.

This way, when the bottle broke, the mucus, glass shards, and rope would stick together, forming a strong bond.

“Alright.”

Standing up, Do-jae stretched his arms.

He took a few steps back.

Pop-

Do-jae threw the silver slime flask toward the opposite side of the hole.

Whoosh-!

Crash-

The first attempt was a failure.

He had thrown it too high, and it ended up breaking on the ceiling before reaching the other side.

“Again.”

Do-jae pulled out another slime flask and tied it to a rope.

There were still plenty of flasks and rope.

He figured that if he tried a few more times, he’d be able to break the flask at the desired spot.

“Lower the angle this time.”

He threw it almost straight down.

The second attempt failed as well.

The glass bottle flew through the air but lost speed and dropped to the ground.

It wasn’t a matter of strength, but rather that the bottle was too light.

“Just a little higher.”

He aimed for an angle somewhere between the first and second attempts.

Do-jae began his third try.

Pop-!

The bottle flew at an angle of about 30 degrees.

It flew in a gentle curve, barely missing the ceiling, its speed gradually slowing as it started to descend.

Clink-!

“Success!”

Do-jae grinned in satisfaction as he tugged on the rope.

Even when he pulled with force, the rope didn’t give way, suggesting it could support Do-jae’s weight.

Clink-

He secured the rope firmly to the ground using the slime and began crossing over the hole.

“This is… a bit scary…”

As he started to cross, an uneasy fear began to creep up on him.

The dark, bottomless hole beneath him felt like a pit leading straight to hell.

“Hell and gods. How laughable.”

Focusing ahead, he moved one arm over the other, and finally reached the other side.

To his disappointment, there was a solid wall at the end of the short, three-meter passage.

“That must be it.”

Do-jae approached the wall.

On the wall was another mural, and there was the same masked woman as before.

This time, she was wearing the mask and battling a massive monster unlike anything Do-jae had ever seen.

The mural depicted her thrusting a spear into the monster’s chest, the scene portrayed with vivid dynamism.

One of the mask’s four eyes was adorned with a faintly glowing jade-like gem, adding to the lifelike quality of the mural.

Pop-

Do-jae pried the gem from the wall.

It was a perfectly round jewel, shaped like an eye, encased in bronze, fitting neatly in his palm.

“This reminds me of the Eye of Horus.”

He recalled the Eye of Horus from movies and comics.

Horus was also a god depicted with the head of a falcon, and since the mask on the woman in the mural was a falcon mask, the connection seemed fitting.

“I’ll remember this well.”

Do-jae made sure to commit the image to memory once again.

Although the mural felt a bit emptier with the gem removed, the picture still seemed to hold a story.

“First trial cleared.”

Whatever the purpose of the hole, he had successfully acquired the gem.

Do-jae wasn’t concerned with figuring out the intent behind the trial; to him, it was more important to get the correct answer, no matter the method.

************

Do-jae retraced his steps and returned to the entrance.

He inserted the gem into the hole in the stone tablet.

The size and depth were a perfect fit, and there was a satisfying click.

Thud.

The tablet gave off a small vibration.

Light flowed from the gem, spreading throughout the entire tablet like veins.

“Not that I was expecting congratulations, but still, nothing, huh?”

Even though he had obtained the first gem, there was no voice or response.

Did this mean it was still insignificant?

“Tch, how cold.”

Do-jae muttered, glancing at the tablet, and then turned toward the next door.

For some reason, he felt like the woman on the tablet was the voice’s owner.

“Let’s try this one next.”

He chose the next entrance just as thoughtlessly as the first.

There had been no mention or hint about the order, and he figured he could always turn back if necessary, so he entered without much thought.

Rumble-!

He had only taken about ten steps when suddenly, a door came down from above, sealing the entrance.

And just like that, the area plunged into darkness.

Not just dim, but pitch black.

Swoosh-.

Something stirred in the darkness.

Do-jae quickly activated his Golem Armor.

Clatter-!

There were no stones inside the temple.

So where did the stones come from?

From the subspace.

He always carried a sufficient amount of stones in his subspace for moments when he needed to use his Golem Armor.

Thud-.

Something unseen suddenly attacked Do-jae.

Thanks to his Golem Armor, he didn’t take any serious damage, but the attack had been sharp.

“Where are you?”

Do-jae instinctively took a defensive stance and listened carefully.

With nothing visible, he couldn’t attack carelessly.

Luckily, since Do-jae wasn’t moving, the enemy didn’t move either.

“Is it a monster? A person? No, it doesn’t feel alive. What is it?”

Do-jae began to think that the attacker might not be a living being.

It was too quiet to be a monster or a person. There was no sound of breathing, nor any faint noises from movement.

And then, something non-living but still moving came to mind.

“A golem.”

If it was a golem, standing still would lead to a stalemate.

There was no point in just waiting, both sides unmoving. The best course of action was to charge through, push past the enemy’s attacks, and find the next gem.

Swoosh-.

Tack-!

Do-jae suddenly leaped forward to catch the opponent off guard.

Thud-.

“Ugh.”

But the unseen enemy pushed him back, causing him to stumble and fall.

As their bodies made contact, a brief spark flashed, allowing Do-jae to catch a glimpse of his opponent.

“Me?”

It was a golem shaped exactly like Do-jae himself.

Do-jae clenched his teeth.