The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 28

Julian was clearly the recipient of a notification—whether from a status window or a system that he could not see. As if they had coordinated it, everyone else stopped moving at the same time, presumably looking at the same information.

Even during that moment, lightning continued to strike. Julian lightly rubbed his eyes at the piercing sound of thunder and the flashing lights. His eyes stung because of the constant flickering before him.

While he pulled his cap down even further, Gong Siyoung muttered as if in disbelief.

“…What on earth does this mean?”

The message from the green status window was reflected in his pupils. The characters, scrolling down as if plagued by noise, continued to lag and stutter.

[System Notification]

[ Re-adjusting the rank of 1st Circle: ‘Limbo’. ]

[ Measuring rank… ]

[ The boss monster of the corresponding zone is awakening. ]

[ WARNING! ※The rank of the corresponding zone cannot be identified! ]

[ WARNING! ※The attribute of the corresponding zone cannot be identified! ]

[ WARNING! ※The overflow of the corresponding zone cannot be identified! ]

[ WARNING! ※The system is restricted due to an abnormal access! ]

[ WARNING! ※Abnormal access detected! ]

[ WARNING! ※The corresponding zone does not exist! ]

[ WARNING! ※Restricting abnormal access! ]

[ The system window is being activated in a limited capacity! The system window is being restri—restricted! The system window! Restri—! WARNING! The system window is activ—activating! Restri—! WARNING! WARNING! ]

The overlapping warning windows soon multiplied into dozens. Gong Siyoung’s eyebrows twitched. At one point, everything before his eyes flickered out.

In place of the completely vanished system window, a green guidance text surfaced.

[ Limited Use: 12:00:00 until ‘Limbo’ reset ]

Tick, tick. The numbers decreased bit by bit from 12 hours, passing 11 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds. The green text shook finely before becoming clear once more.

Whether everyone was seeing the same scene, no one moved even amidst the falling thunder and lightning. In the uncomfortable silence, Gong Siyoung instinctively called for his status window.

However, there was no reaction. The status window, which had been as familiar as breathing, would not appear no matter what he did. A sense of anxiety overcame him in an instant.

Suppressing his frantic heart, he immediately used a skill. Instantly, he felt the texture of an ice spear along with a chill spreading to his fingertips. Feeling the heavy weight settling in his hand, he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist.

The status window remained unresponsive, but the skill itself could be used without issue. This made the situation even more impossible to understand.

“There’s no problem using skills, but…”

The barrier created by Gu Jayoung was also being maintained. Looking at the panicked faces around him, Gong Siyoung bit his lip.

Whether it was a temporary error or some kind of problem, everything had come to a halt. Neither the system window nor the status window told them anything other than the nonsensical countdown written in green text.

It was a first. His brain froze at a situation he had never experienced even once since the Gates opened and he became a Hunter.

The others were no different. Fear quickly grew amidst the confusion. Everyone was likely thinking the same thing.

‘Fight without a status window? We have to fight like this without being able to grasp durability, skills, monsters, or anything at all?’

They had to fight in a way they had never fought before. It felt as if a black curtain had suddenly been drawn before his eyes.

“Why? What is it? What’s going on?”

Julian, not knowing the cause, tilted his head repeatedly. To his eyes, since he couldn’t see the status window from the start, it just looked like everyone was staring intensely into thin air.

“Is there some bad news?”

“…A system warning appeared.”

“A system warning?”

“I can’t see the status window.”

He bit his lip anxiously. It wasn’t just Gong Siyoung. The atmosphere turned strange in an instant. The Hunters who had been gathered to one side as if to try something also began to manifest skills.

They were like ants swarming out of a disturbed anthill. The sight of them being anxious to do something even amidst the confusion and fear was bordering on desperate.

Julian was equally in an incomprehensible situation. He scratched his head.

Judging by the mood, it seemed like a serious matter… but was it really such a big deal? Since he had never even caught a glimpse of a status window, it didn’t really resonate with him.

“But using magic—no, skills—is no problem, right?”

He pointed to the ice spear Gong Siyoung was holding. Seeing as he had summoned that, there didn’t seem to be a particular problem, but he asked just in case.

“Probably.”

“Then it’s fine.”

I wondered what it was. It would be a huge problem if magic couldn’t be used, but if it was just the status window not being visible, it didn’t matter. Battle power didn’t disappear just because that thing wasn’t visible.

“It’s not like your abilities vanished. It looks like things over there are fine, too.”

Gu Jayoung’s barrier and the shields cast by other Hunters were all fulfilling their roles. On the surface, it was no different from before.

He thought that while it might be flustering since something that used to be visible was gone, he wondered if it was enough to cause a major problem.

“No, if it’s like this…”

Before Gong Siyoung could finish his sentence, Julian snatched him by the waist. Holding Gong Siyoung close, he kicked off the ground and soared upward. The ground where the two had been standing split open, and something came crawling out.

The monster that appeared through the ground moved with a squelch. At a glance, it looked like a collection of earthworms bunched together.

It also looked like a clump of tangled yarn with a blurred shape, or shadows lumped together haphazardly.

Every time the lightning struck, the number of black clumps crawling up the ground increased bit by bit. Before long, the numbers increased so rapidly that the bare ground could not be seen.

“This is going to be tiresome.”

The wriggling forms merged one by one. Seeing the monster growing in size caused a commotion among the Hunters.

“Monster! Attack!”

“H—how do we attack! We don’t even know what rank it is!”

“How are we supposed to fight like this!”

Confused voices could be heard through the sound of thunder. They were nothing but a disorganized mob.

They had to protect their fallen comrades, and since lightning was falling continuously, there were restrictions on their movement. In the midst of that, complaints followed about not being able to do anything because there was no status window.

The only saving grace was that, for now, the monster was only showing interest in Julian.

The creature’s tentacles stretched out toward them as they floated in mid-air. It wasn’t at a height where it could reach, but monsters were continuing to crawl up from the ground. If all of those became one, they might end up caught without a way out.

“Can you fly on your own?”

Gong Siyoung nodded. He pushed away the hand that was holding his waist. When Julian let go, Gong Siyoung floated into the air.

“I’ll be maintaining the shield, so don’t get too far away.”

“Are you going to attack directly?”

Julian shrugged his shoulders. It was still chaotic below, and in the meantime, several teams were escaping through the Gate. Myeong Haejin’s side still looked alright, but he also had a flustered face at the sudden situation.

Even though he had been told to do his best to do nothing… would the matter be resolved if he just sat back and watched here?

Furthermore, there were still many Hunters who had collapsed on the ground and hadn’t regained consciousness. It was better to handle as many as possible while the attention was focused this way.

“You said you can use skills, right? Freezing?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Thick Shadows are organisms, so their neural networks are connected. No matter where you cut or slice them, they never die and just wriggle like that. So you absolutely have to crush the mother body.”

The wriggling mass piled up like a tower was nauseating enough to turn one’s stomach just by looking at it. Clumps, indistinguishable as tentacles or bodies, squirmed in a sticky tangle.

Julian did not take his eyes off that disgusting sight for a moment.

“I’ll stir them up as much as possible, so attack when I give the signal. Thick Shadows are weak to the cold.”

They were just a bit gross-looking; they weren’t monsters threatening enough to risk one’s life. As long as he found the mother body, he could kill it immediately.

If he couldn’t find it… then he’d have to run away; what else could he do?

He glanced at Gong Siyoung. When their eyes met, Gong Siyoung nodded a beat late.

Since I explained it this kindly, he must have understood, right? Just in case, he checked Siyoung’s intentions once more.

“You can do it, right? If it’s too scary or something, tell me. It’s fine if I face it alone.”

Julian was likely the only one who would treat an S-rank Hunter like a child near the water.

However, he was being sincere. Since he hadn’t seen any of the feats Gong Siyoung had supposedly achieved so far, he couldn’t help but be worried.

Besides, they were saying that the status window or whatever was no longer visible. Would it really be okay?

While Julian was debating whether to just say he’d handle it alone even if it was a bit tough, Gong Siyoung spoke up. He gestured toward the bottom with his chin.

“How are you going to find the mother body or whatever? They’re all tangled up like that; is it even possible to find anything in there?”

“Oh, that… well, it’s not hard. We just have to check them one by one.”

Estimating the distance, he let out a small breath. While maintaining the shield around Gong Siyoung, Julian dropped downward.

His body plunged straight into the mass of wriggling bugs. He swung his sword toward the tentacles that surrounded him in an instant. A smile spread across his face unconsciously at the scent of green blood he hadn’t smelled in a long time.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, boys?”

I didn’t exactly have any desire to see you again, though.