Absolute Dweller-Chapter 237

Hong Tae-jun's party had been a professional hunting party for quite a long time.

When sea monsters surged out of the waters, they hunted 'Sky Swordfish,' and during the peak of the monster meat craze, they made money hunting 'Giant Black Boar,' a specialized hunting party.

These hunters, who moved solely for the sake of 'money,' began working for the public good because Kim Jae-hyun saved their lives.

"It was really close back then."

"What? When?"

"The day Jae-hyun saved us."

Yoo Seong-min sighed deeply as he spoke.

"You never get tired of this. I think I've heard this story a hundred times already, man."

Despite his friend's frustrated reaction, Hong Tae-jun continued.

"We went out hunting just to get some pork, and those damn orcs had dug traps and were waiting for us."

Everyone on his team, including Yoo Seong-min, gave half-hearted reactions.

One of the team members, who was sipping water, picked up where Hong Tae-jun left off.

"Then, Jae-hyun personally stopped the arrows the orcs shot at us and wiped them all out. Wow."

He skipped the detailed story and immediately jumped to the conclusion.

The long-timers in the team, who had been with Hong Tae-jun for a while, knew this routine so well that they could recite it themselves.

"Right. And that day, Seong-ho, who got injured, was promoted to a 'guardian.' Everything we’ve grown into today is because of that."

It could definitely be called sheer luck.

After that, the 'guardian' system was activated, and they explosively leveled up as the corpse legions began to invade.

The faint smile on Hong Tae-jun’s face suddenly turned serious when they reached a hill and started to see their destination below.

Hong Tae-jun spoke.

"New recruit. What's your name?"

At that moment, unlike the others, a rookie trailing behind shyly responded.

"Han Jeong-su!"

"Alright, Jeong-su. Do you know why I’m bringing up that story I told last night again?"

"I... I’m not sure!"

Hong Tae-jun gave a cryptic smile and said.

"I hate orcs. Damn pigs. I really hate them. I almost died by their hands."

At the madness reflected in his eyes, Han Jeong-su quickly nodded without saying anything.

"Especially… those archers."

At that moment.

Swoosh—

Arrows flew toward Hong Tae-jun's party all at once.

"Ugh!"

Han Jeong-su saw it and was horrified.

Although he was still a newbie, he was over level 30, so he immediately sensed the danger and tried to act.

But something felt off.

"Why is everyone so relaxed?"

He knew that the senior members had to have noticed, especially since their team leader, Hong Tae-jun, had just mentioned the archers. Plus, everyone here was much higher level than him.

But no one was hiding behind trees or trying to dodge the arrows.

Then, it happened.

[Enemy presence detected.]

[Defense system activated.]

The drone, which had been silently following them, suddenly emitted a mechanical sound.

Thud-thud-thud—

The drone's mounted gun began to fire.

All the arrows that were flying fiercely were shot down without exception.

Yoo Seong-min, watching that, marveled.

"Wow. Our Ari’s performance is amazing."

Meanwhile, team leader Hong Tae-jun quietly scanned the direction the arrows had come from and muttered.

"I guess I don’t even get bruised from arrows like that anymore—"

Right after that.

Thud-thud-thud—

Hong Tae-jun casually sprayed bullets toward the direction the arrows came from.

To Han Jeong-su, it just seemed like he was randomly firing.

There was no scope or aim, no sight alignment.

He just raised his gun and shot.

Yet.

[Party member has hunted Brown Orc (Lv. 27).]

[Experience points are being distributed.]

[Citizen Han Jeong-su's wallet has received 4,231,024 won.]

[Party member has hunted Brown Orc (Lv. 27).]

[Experience points are being distributed.]

[Citizen Han Jeong-su's wallet has received 4,019,012 won.]

...

...

"Ugh!"

The orcs that had shot the arrows were all killed.

Han Jeong-su could only stare at Hong Tae-jun with his mouth wide open.

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"How…?"

It was an unbelievable sight, no matter the level difference.

Brown Orcs were known for their tough vitality.

To kill them with a rifle, it was almost impossible unless you shot them in the head.

But the fact that all the orcs had been killed meant they all had headshots.

"Did those randomly fired bullets pierce all their heads?"

Unable to snap out of his daze, he heard applause from the side.

"Wow. Tae-jun, you killed it with that shot again today."

It was as if this was an everyday occurrence.

Han Jeong-su genuinely became curious and asked.

"Team leader Hong Tae-jun, were you an awakened one?"

At that, everyone turned to look at Han Jeong-su.

Then.

"Hahaha!"

It was as if they had all agreed to laugh out loud at the same time.

"Yeah! Tae-jun’s shooting skills are definitely at the level of an awakened one!"

"Ah, this brings back memories. I remember when I first saw you, you were like that too. But seriously, Tae-jun's shooting skills are insane," one of the team members said.

The person involved, Hong Tae-jun, just gave a light smile and responded.

"Once you reach my level, anyone can do it. When you hit level 50, all your senses get maximized."

"Ugh, Tae-jun. Do you think reaching level 50 is easy? If it weren't for Seong-ho, we wouldn't even be close to level 50."

"That's right. And I'm at level 50, but I can't do things like that. It's just talent."

"Well, at least you're incredibly tough."

"That's because I worked hard on my physical training!"

It was at that moment.

[There are 783 remaining orcs, and all 131 hostages are alive.]

Hong Tae-jun frowned slightly and muttered.

"There are a lot of them. Damn pigs."

Meanwhile, Ari's voice continued.

[We will split into Team A and Team B for the operation. Team A will charge the enemy front to create confusion, and during that time, Team B will focus on rescuing the hostages.]

[Team A: Hong Tae-jun, Yoo Seong-min, Han Jeong-su. Team B: Yoon Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-woo, Jeong Dong-hyun.]

[End of briefing.]

Once the mission briefing ended, Hong Tae-jun gave the command.

"Move out."

***

The operation suggested by the AI, Ari, went off without a hitch.

As a result, all 131 hostages were successfully rescued.

'Store open. Purchase relief supplies.'

The inventory of Hong Tae-jun's party was immediately stocked with relief supplies.

Although the condition of the hostages wasn’t great, it wasn't a major issue.

Now, there was no need to bring them to the outpost anymore.

Thud-thud-thud—

The AI-powered rescue helicopter was autonomously heading toward the location.

'It’s really impressive.'

Ari had only started cooperating about ten days ago, but its presence had already become significant.

Self-defense systems, enemy intelligence gathering, mission planning, tracking hostage locations, and helicopter operations—among many other tasks.

Crucially, communication networks were restored even outside of their immediate area.

Thanks to Starlink’s internet network, even in Japan, where the communication systems were completely destroyed, smartphones could now be used without any issues.

With communication becoming easier, the tasks of Kim Da-bin, Seo Ye-jin, and the other guardians were significantly reduced.

And that directly led to a significant increase in rescue efficiency.

'Impressive.'

Although the costs for buying drones, helicopters, and other equipment had been high, watching Ari’s performance made it all worthwhile.

In fact, it almost seemed like it would be a good idea to increase the scale.

The drones supporting Hong Tae-jun's party.

The shop price was only 600,000 won, but once AI was integrated, they turned into robots at level 25.

'It’s affordable, so enhancing them and distributing them could be a good move.'

Under Ari's suggestion, humanoid robots, which were being produced in the U.S., were now registered in the shop.

Their price was around 30 million won, which wasn't cheap, but considering they were all around level 30, it was a solid deal.

They had already purchased 100 units and were conducting test operations, with the robots performing various tasks, from garbage disposal to dungeon exploration.

The person most actively using them was Kim Da-bin, who had mobilized AI robots for various projects that had been considered too dangerous to proceed with otherwise.

'Speaking of which, it's about time to level up the shop.'

New items were filling the slots, and with just a few more, they would be able to upgrade to the next level.

Filling the slots wasn’t too difficult.

There were still some items not registered, and if it became too difficult, registering enchanted items in bulk would do the trick.

Enchanted items filled a slot by themselves, after all.

'But I don't want to just fill the slots with unnecessary stuff.'

I still can’t forget the time I wasted a slot with a tangerine peel when experimenting with the Absolute Shop.

Since that incident, I’ve been more careful about registering items.

'I wonder if any useful enchanted items have come up.'

Various items with different functions were being listed in the marketplace, but most of them weren’t that useful.

Useful items were mostly collected by the administration.

Kim Da-bin had opened a separate window for purchasing useful items at reasonable prices when they appeared.

As a result, valuable items had all gathered in the administration's warehouse.

The durable greatsword that Kim Myung-hwan often used had also been found there and registered by the administration.

'Absolute Eye.'

In a building that seemed like it had once been used as a logistics warehouse, numerous items were displayed.

Shoes with the "Acceleration" function, knives enchanted with "Sharpness," and many other good items.

But the best of them were the weapons with durability enhancements.

'As levels increase, the durability of weapons becomes crucial.'

For those who engage in close combat, weapons with high durability were a lifeline.

After all, the durability of weapons made with modern technology had clear limitations.

'Anyway, if we’re going to fight monsters over level 40, we’ll need a lot of durable weapons.'

As the frequency of hunting high-level monsters increased, the demand for such weapons was rapidly rising.

Now was the perfect time to register all the durable weapons with enchantments in the shop.

Fortunately, there was a place where only the durability-enhanced weapons had been gathered.

The items I had registered in the shop were mostly those with durability enhancements, so it seemed like Kim Da-bin had been the one to gather them.

'Anyway, she's good at her job. Registering them in the shop.'

Zing—

Hammers, axes, maces, two-handed swords, one-handed swords, and more.

Just as I was registering the weapons in the shop.

Ding!

[10 items with the same enchantment effect have been registered in the shop.]

Suddenly, 10 slots merged into one, and an item in the form of a blue orb was created.

[‘Durability Enhancement Enchantment Orb’ has been created.]