Survival Story of a Sword King - Chapter 9

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Wearing Helmet, Heading to the Ground (1)

After leaving Effir’s cave, he had to walk for five more days. The Satt Forest was tremendously enormous. Wherever he went, all he found was a dense forest.

“How much longer do I have to keep walking to get to a place where people live?” Ryu Han-bin grumbled while looking up at the sky, which was almost entirely covered by the expansive canopy of the trees.

As if to answer his complaint, a row of bushes shook violently in the distance. A huge figure soon emerged out of it with a powerful roar.

RAAAWRRR!

It was a large black bear with a large horn protruding from its forehead.

[Race: Unicorn Bear Lv. 22]

The black bear rushed towards him, his paws fiercely banging on the ground as saliva drooled down from the fangs of his gaping mouth. It had an immensely freakish and hideous appearance.

“There we go! Finally, a monster.”

Ryu Han-bin was not surprised by the monster’s sudden appearance. With a bleak look, his body flew forward and struck the first punch.

“Ha!”

His thick biceps and triceps linked together. As the thick tendons stirred across his forearm, his sledgehammer-like fist cut swiftly through the air.

BAM!

A single blow crushed the horn of the unicorn bear and smashed its skull. A fountain of blood oozed out of its head as the three-meter-long giant bear succumbed to its death.

It only took two seconds for him to commit the bloodbath. The bear made a deathly mistake in ambushing Ryu.

“Can I eat this?” He wondered, his eyes looking at the collapsed body.

[Not Edible]

“Guess not.”

He gave up on trying to eat it and moved ahead. Since he was teleported to the forest while cutting the Demon Dog’s meat, he had an ample supply of food with him.

“Well, there’s a lot of monsters here.”

As Effir had said, the Satt Forest was infested with monsters. Ryu Han-bin had also been attacked numerous times over the past five days by different beasts such as a tiger with five tails, a carnivorous deer with bladed horns, a wolf with two heads, etc. All of them were powerful monsters and were definitely different from the predators on Earth, but they were all beaten with just a single blow.

In the beginning, he had to use his sword against them, but now he could easily handle them with bare fists. Whenever he cut a monster, he had to sharpen his weapon which was also quite a nuisance.

“They’re so weak that I don’t even get experience by beating them.”

He was briefly dissatisfied with the fact that at level 5, beating a monster in level 20s provided him with no experience but when he thought about it, it became more likely to happen.

“I guess I can take it as proof that only the notation was wrong, and my actual level is much higher than this.”

There was no shortage of power for Ryu. His years of solitary training and survival had made him a hardened veteran. What he needed to care about now was knowledge, not power.

As he kept moving, Ryu Han-bin muttered under his breath, “My name is Eric Garoon, and my hometown is a mountain village in the northern part of the Xrad kingdom, Comble.”

It was his ‘new profile,’ slightly changed according to Effir’s advice.

-Are you from the remote western part of the Grelleut Kingdom? How can a man who’s just about to start working as a hunter cross a whole kingdom? That’s ridiculous.

Effir was right a hundred times. Again, he couldn’t believe any of the guidelines as most of them were turning out to be wrong. But the alias of Eric Garoon was not changed.

-I think you can just use that name. It’s not awkward or anything.

He was certainly lucky to meet Effir first. It was all thanks to him that Ryu was able to get actual information about the world he’s in, and he also packed him a variety of clothes and equipment. Looking at him now, no one would suspect that he was from the other world.

“But don’t let your guard down.”

He wasn’t familiar with this world yet. He didn’t know what would happen if he acted without thinking.

“Surviving is my top priority.”

Ryu Han-bin’s determination was rekindled even brighter. Only through survival could he return home and get the vengeance he desired. Deep in his thoughts, his eyes reflected the finally changing landscape. Before him was a long road that tangled and spread through the rugged forest.

It wasn’t a paved road, but at least it was obviously a man-made path that showed signs of treading and travel.

“Oh! Is that the right path?”

Finally, he had escaped from the forest! Relieving his excitement, Ryu Han-bin quickened his pace.

* * *

Onpros, one of the major cities, was located in the northern part of the Xrad Kingdom, it boasted a considerable size despite its location in the outskirts of the kingdom. Numerous monsters always popped the entrance of the nearby Satt Forest and the Efen Plain. Countless hunters headed to the city to make a fortune, and due to their activities, commerce and trade developed, making it the largest city in the northern part of the kingdom as a result.

At the center of its territory was a large three-story building, the Onpros Hunter Guild, located near the northern gates. That day, in the spacious hall on the guild’s first floor, multiple groups were sitting at the tables, their purpose

There were hunters who wanted to receive new quests, hunters who wanted to get information about monsters or dungeons, hunters who were taking a break after finishing a hunt, and hunters who simply wanted to drink alone or with others.

It was late afternoon when a man opened the guild’s door and entered the hall on the first floor.

“Hmm?”

“Huh!”

The hunters’ eyes collectively turned to the door. It wasn’t any ordinary man. His clothes were simple and plain, but he was enormous in terms of size. Compared to ordinary people, he had a bigger head and a wider shoulder. The exposed forearm muscles resembled steel, and the trapezius muscles were towered like mountain ranges. The whole body was covered with thick muscles, and there was no visible ounce of fat. On his back was a large black sword made of demonic bones that stood nearly two meters in size.

Being able to wield gigantic weapons such as that was an obvious sign of a great warrior.

‘Wow!’

‘He’s really big!’

‘Who is he?’

‘I think he’s a famous hunter.’

The black-haired man walked into the hall with all eyes on him.

The young lady standing behind the reception desk greeted him with a smile.

“Welcome to the Onpros Hunters Guild. My name is Sezori, Guild Receptionist. How may I help you?”

“My name is Eric Garoon, from Comble, a small mountain village in the northern part of the Xrad Kingdom.”

Ryu Han-bin, the big guy, responded calmly, rolling his black eyes.

“I came here to become a hunter.”

* * *

Introducing himself, Ryu Han-bin glanced around the hall on the first floor. Every pair of eyes in the room had been locked on him ever since he entered the guildhall.

He knew why.

The hunters gathered here were also large, but even they appeared short compared to Ryu Han-bin. He was now over 190 centimeters tall.

“As expected, I’ve grown taller.”

Originally, Ryu Han-bin’s height was about 175 centimeters.

He didn’t know that he had grown taller before he fell into this world and met people. He was just aware that he had become quite muscular.

At first, he thought that the people in this world were too small. Everyone’s head could only level to around his shoulder. He simply concluded that the average height of that world was simply smaller than Earth’s, but he was mistaken. They were definitely smaller than an average Earthling, but only by about 5 to 10 centimeters. In reality, it was Han-bin himself that had grown tremendously.

“Honestly, getting tall isn’t that bad.”

While waiting for the receptionist’s response, her expression became serious.

“You want to become… a hunter?”

“Yeah.”

“In other words, you’re saying that you haven’t joined another hunter guild yet?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you from Comble Village in Satt Forest?”

“I am, but….”

Ryu Han-bin was confused. The response of that receptionist lady was unusual. She looked very nervous. That’s not all. All of the other hunters in the hall began to be wary as well. There were even those who had their hands balled into fists.

“What? Why is everyone reacting like that?”

Sezori gave the other hunters a hint.

Then she addressed Ryu Han-bin with a serious face again.

“May I measure your skills according to the guild’s procedure, Mr. Eric?”

As she measures his skills, were the other hunters going to charge at him?

Regardless, he couldn’t raise suspicions now.

“Okay.”

When Ryu Han-bin agreed, Sezori gestured towards the large stone plate next to the reception desk.

It was a black slate that looked like a tombstone the size of a human.

“Please put your hand on the measuring table.”

“Measuring table?”

He placed his hand on it as instructed.

A square slate lit up, and soon a letter of light appeared in the air. It was a symbol that he was familiar with since it was similar to the light letters in the guidelines.

[Occupation: Prosecutor. Lv. 5]

At that moment, laughter burst from everywhere.

“Pfftt!”

“Prosecutor Level 5?”

“Oh, man! You scared me!”

The cautiousness that filled the hall had disappeared. Ryu Han-bin was puzzled as he looked around.

“What? What is it?”

Sezori laughed as well, finally being able to relax.

“Oh, sorry. Anyway, I’m relieved.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you were from another world.”

Sezori shook her head in relief as she looked up at Ryu Han-bin’s face.

“Your appearance is just too similar to the people from a different world. Most of them are from remote regions and try to join the guild by introducing themselves.”

“Is that so?”

“If you had a higher level, I would have misunderstood.”

“Why does it matter if I had a higher level?”

Another hunter in the hall answered his question instead of Sezori.

“Because people from other worlds are never below level 20. This is common sense.”

“How many times would a person come from the countryside and be level 20?”

“If someone was already at that level yet still had no knowledge of this world, they’re usually from a different world.”

“In fact, there are already a lot of them who have been caught and decapitated.”

Everybody went back to what they were doing. It seemed that they were no longer interested in him.

Outrageous, Ryu Han-bin clicked his tongue.

“Is the story different from the guidelines again?”

Since there had been so many terrestrial people, the Latnains were also taking adequate measures.

“It’s quite fortunate that my level didn’t rise.”

Otherwise, as soon as he arrived in that world, he would have been killed.

“I’m grateful for the broken guidelines…”

That being said, Sezori no longer doubted him.

“Eric Garoon, Prosecutor Lv. 5. Personal information has been confirmed. Please wait a moment, and you will get an official ID. The guild registration fee is 300X.”

It wasn’t possible to make an exact comparison, but 300X would be roughly 3 million won in Korean money.

“I heard that the guild registration fee is expensive, but I didn’t know it was this high.….”

Still, he had no choice but to pay.

“Oh, I feel like I’m being ripped off.”

Even though he didn’t want to, Ryu Han-bin pulled out a handful of silver coins from his pocket. It was such a waste, and his hand was trembling. It further concealed Ryu Han-bin’s identity.

“Pfftt! Look at that guy. His hands are shaking.”

“Please try to understand. 300X is a large amount for a countryman, right?”

“The people from another world usually give out gold coins.”

Based on the hunters’ response alone, it sounded like basic funding was also provided for Earthlings who normally arrived from the world.

“It’s unfair, but it has that strange feeling of being a blessing in disguise…”

“Please wait for a moment.”

Sezori took the coins then went inside the door behind her.

After around 10 minutes, she came out with a metal plaque.

It was his Hunter Guild ID.

It was written in Latna Continent characters, but thanks to his language communication skill, Ryu Han-bin was able to read it.

Onpros Hunter Guild: Beginner Hunter, lv. 5 Prosecutor, Eric Garoon

Sezori smiled warmly as she handed him the metal plaque.

“Congratulations on becoming a Hunter, Mr. Eric! Good luck on your adventures!”