The Chosen Ones: A LitRPG Adventure (Master Hunter K Book 2) Read online

  Master Hunter K

  Book 2: The Chosen Ones

  From Hell

  Oppatranslations

  Oppatranslations, LLC.

  5110 Ravenna PL NE #201

  Seattle WA 98105, USA

  oppatranslations.com

  Translated from the Korean by Minsoo Kang.

  Edited by – Siena Carroll, Sahil Bansal.

  Cover art made by Aaron Nakahara.

  First published by Oppatranslations, LLC 2022

  © From Hell 2016

  English translation © Oppatranslations, LLC 2017

  The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  eBook

  ISBN: 9780999295786

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 – Tahrakhan Plateau

  Chapter 2 – Black Market Seventh Shopping

  Chapter 3 – Dark Elven City

  Chapter 4 – Black Market Eight Shopping

  Chapter 5 – Magician’s Ivory Tower

  Chapter 6 – Black Market Ninth Shopping

  Chapter 7 – Red Dragon’s Lair

  Chapter 8 – Black Market Tenth Shopping

  Chapter 9 – Sungjin’s Nightmare

  Chapter 10 – Black Market Tenth Shopping

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  Chapter 1 – Tahrakhan Plateau

  The Sun shone brightly above in the spotless sky; not one puff of cloud obscured the view. But looking around, a cloud could be seen floating near the ground. The place Sungjin stood was a plateau at a high elevation.

  [Welcome. This place is the Tahrakhan Plateau]

  [The elevation is several thousand meters above sea level.]

  [Please be warned, due to long term isolation, the life forms that inhabit this Plateau]

  [Have evolved to survive in the harsh environment and have become particularly dangerous.]

  Sungjin shivered involuntarily. He was wearing a warm shirt that Dalupin provided him, but it still felt very cold. However, Sungjin kept a positive mindset.

  It should warm up as I swing my sword around, Sungjin thought.

  [Synchronizing Hunters]

  One by one, the Hunters appeared after the Operator’s announcement. Sungjin watched them materialize without thinking much about it.

  I don’t think there’ll be any surprises. But his prediction was off.

  “Inquisitor,” “Pirate,” “Pugilist,” “Treasure Hunter.”

  Treasure Hunter?

  Sungjin’s jaw dropped as he stared at the owner of the title. The man was an Arab holding daggers in each hand, sporting a long mustache. He was short and looked unremarkable, but his large eyes visibly sparkled.

  Wow… the fact that he has a Treasure Hunter title means he managed to find a hidden element at some point in the past.

  It wasn’t too strange that he had received this title. It was already the 7th Raid. By now, a few of the others would have successfully found hidden elements along the way.

  What was surprising was that he had decided to set the title active.

  First, he had to take a 50% penalty on all other titles he didn’t pick. Second, even if he could find the boss, he still had to overcome the difficulty of defeating it.

  Even Sungjin, who had knowledge from the previous life, waited six Chapters until he felt safe enough to try switching Master Hunter to Treasure Hunter.

  There were two possibilities, Sungjin thought, he’s either brave or stupid.

  Of course, he could be both as well. Sungjin suppressed his surprise and checked out the other teammates. The other three Hunters looked fairly normal.

  Inquisitor was a large-built westerner. The Pirate was a slightly tall Arabian, and the Pugilist was an Asian man. The Inquisitor took a look around and commented, “What a peculiar title we have this round.”

  Sungjin agreed with him, thinking of the Treasure Hunter. But he then said, “Two, in fact.”

  Sungjin turned to face the Inquisitor. Their eyes met. He had been looking at Sungjin. “Treasure Hunter and Adjudicator…” the Pugilist said, cracking his neck by twisting it.

  “Yeah, I’ve never heard of those titles before. Treasure Hunter… Do you get bonus rewards or something? And Adjudicator? What does that do?”

  Sungjin stayed silent for a moment. Then the Pirate spoke up.

  “One Westerner, two Middle Easterners, and two Asians? I hope to get along with the rest of you. Don’t go sticking a knife in people’s backs.”

  Sungjin turned his gaze toward him. Don’t go sticking a knife in people’s backs?

  The ones who say such things were most likely the very same ones who would do exactly what they promised not to do. Innocent people who don’t plan on doing such acts won’t even mention it, as it won’t even occur to them to think about it.

  Sungjin had lived at the bottom of the society before the Raids began, and he saw countless individuals do the same thing. I will never scam you. He would likely aim to scam because scam is on his mind. I won’t cheat on you. He is likely to cheat due to keeping himself aware of the possibility. Don’t stab people in the back. He probably thought about it a lot, meaning he’s more likely to carry it out. And the fact that his title was Pirate is suspicious. After all, Pirates are people who pillage from others.

  While Sungjin was thinking so, the Treasure Hunter finally opened his mouth. “Listen carefully, everyone. Let me tell you something amazing.”

  Sungjin looked at him through the slit of his eyes. No way…

  Unfortunately, he was right.

  “There are hidden elements in this Raid. Not one, but two.”

  The other three Hunters were immediately interested. Happy that the others showed such interest in his words, he smiled as he continued.

  “One is a secret location on the map or an item. The other is a hidden boss.”

  Once the basic information was said, the others showed even greater interest. Of course, with the exception of Sungjin, who already knew all of this. The Inquisitor spoke first.

  “Hidden Item? Hidden boss? That’s the first time I’ve heard of such things.”

  The Treasure Hunter looked smug as if he was revealing the secret of the universe.

  “Yes. Each Chapter has those things. And I know where to find them. Thanks to my title of Treasure Hunter.”

  The Pirate asked, “If it is a hidden item, is it worth a lot?”

  “Of course.” The Treasure Hunter nodded. He wasn’t hiding anything. Once he began giving out free information, there was little reason to stop.

  Truth be told, just finding the place itself was a major advantage.

  For example, in the last Raid, there wasn’t much benefit to other Hunters from the killing of Besgoro, b
ut being able to meet Wandering Merchant Ruff Han proved to be very fruitful to everyone else.

  Pugilist asked, “So if we kill the hidden boss, we can get additional items or coins?”

  Treasure Hunter responded hesitantly.

  “Yeess… it should….”

  From his behavior, Sungjin knew. So he probably wasn’t able to actually kill any hidden boss yet.

  Finding versus killing the hidden bosses were two very different things; there was nothing to be gained if you couldn’t defeat the hidden boss after all.

  Even if all five Hunters were to cooperate perfectly, facing bosses on the level of Soldamyr and Besgoro was no easy feat.

  They would have to prepare to lose one or two members on average.

  So Sungjin had been hesitant to tell anyone about the existence of hidden bosses. In most cases, accidentally discovering the boss meant death.

  The point Sungjin was curious about was at what Chapter did he obtain the title. The Treasure Hunter was still busy answering questions.

  “So when can we find those things?” someone asked.

  “Hahaha, let’s clear the Raid first. We shouldn’t have death hanging over our heads as we go searching for the extras, right?”

  He seemed to love answering questions and being the center of attention. Sungjin waited for the right moment to ask his question.

  “So, at what Chapter did you get the Treasure Hunter title?”

  “That’s…”

  Although he was freely answering all the questions until now, he stopped at this point. Sungjin decided to manipulate him psychologically.

  “I want to try and get that title too. You should let other people know how to get such an amazing title, don’t you think?”

  At his words, the man began to grin sheepishly.

  “Remember that desert?”

  Hook, line and, sinker. He probably couldn’t have imagined that the person asking how to get the title already has it. Sungjin nodded.

  “Once we defeated the Raid boss Basilisk, we wandered around the desert and ran into a Sphinx. That Sphinx issued us a Riddle.”

  The other Hunters focused on his story. Elated by the amount of attention he received, he told a detailed recount of solving the riddle and how he came to arrive at the hidden Oasis.

  At the very end, he arrived at the point in the story where his team discovered the Lamp. The Pugilist swallowed once before asking,

  “And?”

  He urged for the Treasure Hunter to continue. But the story ended there.

  “Ah well… that Lamp… it was made of gold so… I sold it at the Black Market.”

  He had excitedly told the story until that point; now, he was stuttering. The Pirate decided to ask,

  “So? How much did you get?”

  “Ah um… 2000?”

  “2000?”

  The Inquisitor’s eyes grew wide, the Pirate licked his lips, and the Pugilist commented,

  “Wow, that’s amazing!”

  Sungjin stared at him as he thought, lies. 100% he rubbed it.

  Soldamyr’s Lamp would have been discovered in a Worn state. It was a normal tier item with only one ability Rub.

  Yes, it was made of gold, but with so much grime and wear, that Lamp didn’t hold that value without a cleaning. There is no way anyone decided to sell it without trying to Rub it first.

  The more likely story is that Soldamyr was summoned as a result, and he ran away while being attacked by a barrage of magic spells, losing a few comrades in the process. Sungjin continued to stare at the Treasure Hunter as he thought, a liar, but not useless…

  Sungjin had to equip Adjudicator to test out Trollseeker Marble. If he could get the Treasure Hunter to use his skills to reveal both locations, it would help him greatly.

  And, of course, the reward is obviously mine.

  [Raid will begin in 3 minutes.]

  At the Operator’s announcement, the Inquisitor snapped to attention.

  “My, look where the time’s gone. Let’s put aside storytime for later and worry about our strategy for this round really quick.”

  He wore a full plate mail and wielded a mace; a standard Tank.

  The Inquisitor title granted defense against magic attacks. The title itself could have been obtained after being hit by spells in Chapter 3 from the Lich, Chapter 4 from Cho’Roch, or even Count Dimitri from the previous round.

  Since it also gave a good boost to melee offensive power, it was a great choice for a Tank who was confident in his defensive items.

  “My name is Weiden Peller. As you can see, I am the Tank.”

  He must have been German. Blond with green eyes and wide shoulders. Now that he thought of it, he even resembled Hildebrandt from the final ten members of his previous life. Although Hildebrandt was taller.

  The Pirate spoke up. “I am Jamar. I wield two scimitars.”

  And just like he claimed, he wore two of them on his sides. Duel wielder. He didn’t reveal his nationality, but no one piped up. Next was the Asian Pugilist.

  “I am Shigetoki. As you can see, I am a Karate practitioner.”

  He was probably Japanese. And just as the name Karate would suggest (Karate 空手: Empty Fisted), he carried almost no items at all despite reaching Chapter 7. Of course, in place of items, he had an incredible muscular physique.

  Next was the Treasure Hunter.

  “I am Mustafa; I use daggers.”

  He shared the same name as the previous final ten members, Mustafa. But his appearance and personality were completely different. In the previous life, Mustafa was a quiet and earnest man. Sungjin also gave his prepared response.

  “Kei. As you can see, a Swordsman.”

  No one was particularly interested in him. Even the Inquisitor who had asked him about the Adjudicator earlier was distracted by the Treasure Hunter and gave no attention to him.

  “Is anyone able to use magic here?”

  While the four others gathered to try and discuss a strategy, Sungjin let out a long yawn and stretched.

  In order to go to Darker than Black at 4:30 every night, he had to get in the habit of going to bed earlier. Sungjin wiped away his tears as he thought, I can’t wait to quickly end the Chapter and try out the Trollseeker Marble.

  He didn’t know which unlucky troll he would be summoned onto, but there was no way to escape him. He would be forced to give up two items and die. The Operator gave an announcement.

  [The Raid will begin in 1 minute.]

  ***

  Tahrakhan Plateau Raid

  Objective – Hunt the Harpy Queen Laliha

  Time limit – 1 hour

  The Operator’s information page opened up, and the Hunters gathered around to discuss.

  “I guess there’s no ranged attacker this round.”

  “I guess so.”

  “Don’t we need some magic power?”

  “I can use a few.”

  “I tried to learn some myself… but the magic power was too low to be useful. It wasn’t worth it.”

  “I know. I tried to learn one or two but sold the rest after I tried them out.”

  While the Hunters were chatting away, Sungjin considered how he could coexist with the Treasure Hunter in the party.

  I don’t like the idea that he might be able to find the hidden element before I do and take away the reward…

  Sungjin tried to come up with ideas in his head about how to deal with him.

  I’ll just use my Treasure Hunter active from the start. Once I complete the hidden piece, I will stick around that guy until he uses the hint and then just end the Raid and collect the last hidden element.

  Once he was done planning his next move, Sungjin restlessly waited for the Raid to begin.

  [5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0]

  The moment the Raid began, he turned to the others and announced,

  “I have business to take care of, so I’ll be right back, friends. Go around hunting harpies or something.”

  Everyone turne
d to stare at Sungjin in shock. The Inquisitor was first to reply,

  “What the…”

  But Sungjin didn’t have time to explain. There were always fundamental differences in priorities between game show participants and the man who aimed to become the show's director.

  “Try to hunt as many harpies as you can before I come back. That’ll be the only way you will be able to get yourselves some contribution points.”

  Once Sungjin was done speaking, he flicked a coin into the air. Momentarily, they heard a horse neigh.

  The creature appeared out of thin air and whined; Shadowrun had arrived. Sungjin climbed on top of the horse and grasped the reins before galloping off into the distance. For a brief moment, he thought of the Hunters he was leaving behind.

  If they aren’t able to kill even normal mobs with four people…they’re all going to die sooner or later anyway.

  Sungjin stopped his worrying. The weak die. That was the nature of this game.

  The first time around, Sungjin did not consider this and tried to keep everyone alive to the best of his ability, but he had become coldly calculative after having to restart.

  Those with poor ability or nature will not be allowed to continue.

  It was true that the more people left to participate in Raids, the better, but in the end, only the best would be able to remain anyway.

  If any of the four Hunters in this round had the talent to reach the end game, it would become self-evident by the time he returned.

  To be honest, none of them looked good enough to be chosen….

  Even if it weren’t from this particular Raid, Sungjin would intervene in various Raid teams to select his final members. And with the Chosen Ones, he would beat the final Raid together.

  Becoming the one who overcame the boundary of the game’s rule could never be done if he simply acted and participated normally like all the others.

  Sungjin became more and more aware that he has become more than just another participant. Galloping away on Shadowrun, he called for the Operator.