Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 22: Survival (3)

For the past six days, Harang had been observing the Rank 4 monster, Rampage.

‘It looks like a gorilla. Its claws are long, and it’s very bulky, which makes it seem slow, but in reality, it’s very agile.’

He noted how alert Rampage was when it slept, how it breathed, and how it moved when hunting.

Occasionally, Rampage would encounter groups of three or four trainees, and analyzing its behavior during these encounters had proven quite useful.

The trainees only engaged briefly before fleeing, but Harang managed to observe Rampage’s patterns.

Six days of observation.

Honestly, he didn’t need to wait the full six days, but he wanted to be thorough. Since he had the time, he thought it best to use it to the fullest.

His conclusion was:

‘…Too familiar?’

A giant gorilla with sharp claws, climbing trees with agility. It seemed like a fairly ordinary monster with its irregular and swift attacks, but to Harang, it looked rather monotonous.

Why was that?

‘It’s something I’ve seen often in games.’

The detail in virtual reality game animals was quite famous.

So much so that more people raised pets in virtual reality than in real life.

The detail in beast-type monsters was even more exquisite, and although its appearance was different, Harang had faced gorilla monsters wielding claws with agile movements dozens of times.

‘I can catch it.’

Honestly, it was going to be close. If Rampage hadn’t shown its full power yet, it could still be dangerous.

‘With my current physical abilities, if I recognize the attack with my eyes and try to dodge, it’ll be too late.’

He needed to preemptively understand all its patterns and dodge them. One might think it’s difficult to deal with a beast’s random attacks, but it’s actually easier than dealing with a human.

Humans have intelligence and can devise various strategies and psychological tactics based on their opponent’s actions, but beasts don’t change much.

Moreover, their wild swinging punches might seem erratic, but they’re actually quite regular and simple.

‘I can’t use much magic.’

Although he had mastered up to 1-star magic to some extent, it was doubtful if it could even scratch Rampage’s fur.

‘Even if I can’t use magic, there are many strategies I can employ.’

He took out a glass bottle from his backpack. It was filled with animal fat he had collected over the past six days.

‘It’s not very good at seeing at night.’

On the sixth evening, the moon was shining brightly, but the thick old trees obscured even the moonlight.

Especially at the summit, where thicker trees that seemed to have grown for centuries stood.

While Rampage slept, Harang climbed to the summit’s basin and quietly cut into the trees. Not enough to make them fall completely, just enough.

He smeared animal fat on them and set up light traps made of woven wood.

The work was simple but required a lot of effort, had to be done almost silently, and moving quietly through the rugged mountain path was physically exhausting.

“Huff, huff…”

Harang collapsed to the ground after working continuously for almost six hours, feeling physically drained.

His face was haggard, sweat was pouring down his body.

His body was covered in dirt and leaves, and he was so exhausted he could barely move, but the real hunt was just beginning.

‘I need to recover my strength with the Silver Dragon Divine Qi Technique…’

Closing his eyes and focusing, he activated the system’s blessing, and mana rapidly flowed into his body. Originally, it was a mana cultivation method for expanding the maximum mana capacity, but he used it differently, to recover his stamina.

Winter mornings have late sunrises.

The current time was 4 AM.

By the time Harang had nearly recovered his strength and opened his eyes, the world was still dark.

There were three hours left until Rampage’s active time in the morning.

‘This is the most vulnerable moment.’

At that time, even if flying monster birds caused a ruckus nearby, it wouldn’t wake up, but once the sun rose, it would swipe its claws at the slightest noise.

‘I need to be most cautious of those claws.’

Considering that 3-star swordsmen could barely defend against them with their sword energy, and it was almost impossible for a 2-star swordsman to use sword energy for defense.

If the opponent were a swordsman, they could somewhat counter with sword energy, but against a monster, it was absolutely not feasible.

Thus, Harang had no intention of dragging out this fight.

Lowering his posture, he slowly approached Rampage.

Rampage lay sideways, using thick tree roots as a bed, sleeping soundly. Once Harang felt he was close enough, he pointed his sword at it.

‘…Now!’

[Kaladan Swordsmanship First Technique]

[Speed Butterfly Sword]

[Moon Leopard]

Swish! Harang’s body shot forward like a shadow concealed by the crescent moon. It was a technique to approach silently and pierce the enemy in an instant.

But at the last moment, as his thrust gained rotational force.

[Spiral Drill]

Vrrr…!!

He completely shredded one of Rampage’s eyes.

* * *

Lauren Chaygan lounged lazily on a beach chair, sipping a drink through a straw.

Despite his seemingly relaxed posture, his eyes had been tirelessly monitoring the trainees for days.

“Chief Instructor, a trainee has approached Rampage’s nest.”

“Hmm, really?”

“Shouldn’t we intervene?”

Lauren glanced down at the corner of the crystal screen. Harang, whom he hadn’t paid attention to since the other day, was visible on the screen.

“Magnify it.”

“Yes, sir!”

On the screen, Harang was busily moving around Rampage’s area, preparing something with the tools he had brought.

In other words, it meant he hadn’t wandered in by mistake but had approached Rampage deliberately.

“I’ll instruct the on-site instructors to intervene at the right moment.”

Several instructors were hiding and watching the situation, ready to intervene if the trainees were in danger. Though it rarely happened.

“No, leave him be.”

The mages controlling the Eyes of Truth were shocked.

“Harang is only a 2-star now. If he gets shredded by Rampage’s claws, it’ll be too late to rescue him.”

“Well, if he dies, it’s his own lack of judgment. Assessing an opponent’s strength and deciding to fight is also part of his judgment.”

Such harsh words.

Harang was just a 10-year-old boy, despite being a 2-star swordsman.

“But still…”

As some mages expressed their concerns, Lauren said,

“If we intervene and disrupt him, the Duke won’t be pleased. He’ll say we wasted a good opportunity to test his skills.”

The mages and even the instructors fell silent.

Everyone knew that Duke Kalel was testing Harang.

“So, just quietly watch.”

Lauren squinted his eyes.

‘He’s doing something interesting.’

On the crystal screen, Harang, after recovering his exhausted body with his unique qi technique, was now stealthily approaching Rampage.

Then, in a moment.

Whoosh! Harang’s body vanished like a shadow, approaching Rampage in an instant and thrusting his sword.

But at that exact moment, Rampage turned, revealing its face to Harang.

Pook! At a perfect moment, Harang thrust his sword into Rampage’s right eye.

Not stopping there, he wrapped aura around the sword in a spiral, drilling into the eyeball.

Screeeeeech!!!

The monstrous scream was loud enough to be faintly heard at the hovercraft a short distance from the island.

“Smart move. Starting by blinding one eye.”

Rampage, immediately awake, raised both hands and clapped, intending to crush Harang’s body. Unfortunately for Rampage, Harang was no longer there.

Harang had once again vanished like a shadow, climbing onto Rampage’s arm and running up to slash at its neck.

Slash! The sword grazed Rampage’s neck, causing green blood to spurt out.

Although he had inflicted two severe injuries while Rampage was off guard, the monster began to rampage on the spot, throwing Harang far away.

Growl…

Harang, retreating several steps, aimed Cheongwolheun at Rampage and lowered his stance.

Rampage’s eyes now gleamed with anger and wariness.

It had realized it couldn’t underestimate the tiny human before it.

“If it’s that wary, no matter how serious the injury, it’ll be tough to win…”

“There’s some bleeding, but it’s not enough to hinder its movement or kill it.”

As the instructors had predicted, Rampage’s movements only slowed slightly, far from being incapacitated by the bleeding. It bared its blood-stained fangs in fury and charged at Harang.

Swish!

Its long claws, which had terrorized countless trainees, slashed through the air.

The speed was too fast for a 2-star swordsman to respond to, so some mages closed their eyes, unable to watch.

Whoosh! The claws only sliced through empty air.

Did Rampage misjudge the distance due to losing one eye?

No, Rampage’s claws were long enough that a slight miscalculation wouldn’t have mattered.

“How did he…?”

Some mages were puzzled.

Harang had only taken three steps back, yet he avoided the claws. The anomaly continued.

Swish!! Rampage’s claws, sharper and more powerful than a 3-star swordsman’s sword energy, kept slashing, but Harang evaded with light jumps and backward steps.

The mages couldn’t understand what was happening.

“Can a 2-star swordsman dodge that just by seeing it?”

No way.

Several instructors who had trained with swords already guessed the nature of Harang’s technique.

“If he saw and dodged, it would be too late. Harang’s movements are fast for his age, but not enough to evade Rampage’s attacks.”

“Then how is he dodging?”

In response to a mage’s question, the instructor hesitated before answering.

“He predicts the attacks and moves in advance.”

“Predicts? Predicts the attacks of a beast? Those mindless, patternless swipes?”

Though incredulous, there was no denying what Harang was doing.

After dodging several attacks, Harang seemed to decide it was time to counterattack and started targeting Rampage’s openings.

Despite the size difference being more than fivefold, and Rampage’s movements being faster, it was the monster accumulating wounds.

Roar!!

Rampage, unable to catch the nimble Harang, became furious and leaped.

Grabbing a thick tree, it performed acrobatics mid-air and charged at Harang.

Boom!! The impact created a crater on the ground. Harang barely evaded, but Rampage didn’t stop, leaping again to cling to a tree.

At that moment.

Harang’s eyes changed, and he pulled something from his coat, throwing it.

“That’s…!”

“A Molotov cocktail?”

The Molotov cocktail flew quickly, not to the tree Rampage was clinging to, but to a distant one. The fire spread rapidly, almost unnaturally fast.

‘Why over there?’

Just as one mage had that thought.

As if by magic.

Rampage, not seeing the flames, leaped towards the burning tree.

Crack! Screeech!! The thick tree broke, and Rampage crashed to the ground, its fur catching fire as a bonus.

“How did…?”

Before Rampage had even begun its leap, Harang had already thrown the Molotov cocktail there.

The tree, already weakened, broke perfectly as Rampage landed, causing it to fall, and Harang used the opportunity to inflict another serious wound.

“Was it a coincidence…?”

It wasn’t.

Rampage, standing up and leaping again to move through the trees, found that each time it did, the slow-flying Molotov cocktail would precisely set the landing spot on fire.

It wasn’t a coincidence.

All of Harang’s actions were calculated.

“Can young master Harang see the future?”

He preemptively moved to avoid Rampage’s lightning-fast claws and blocked its agile tree-leaping by setting the trees on fire.

By dawn, after a fierce battle in the island’s forest.

…Thud!!

The first to fall was not the small human but the giant gorilla monster.

Harang, sweating profusely, plunged Cheongwolheun into Rampage’s neck, then sat on it, shaking his hair loose.

Aside from minor scratches from branches, his body was unharmed.

He had never been hit by Rampage’s attacks.

If Rampage’s claws had scratched him even once, he would have died instantly.

“…He knew he would win from the start.”

Harang’s expression showed no signs of tension despite the dangerous fight.

Even after defeating a Rank 4 monster, he calmly gazed at the rising sun.

“I can’t believe it.”

“How did he do it?”

Although they had watched from start to finish, most mages couldn’t understand how Harang had won.

Using fire? If that was all it took, other trainees would have done it already.

Setting trees on fire to hinder mobility was only a supplementary tactic, and unless all the trees were burned, the success rate was minimal.

Ultimately, no matter what tactics were used, they had to pierce Rampage’s neck with a sword to defeat it.

“See? I told you. It was better not to intervene.”

Finally, the mages nodded in agreement with Lauren.

‘Heh, the Duke will be very interested in this.’

What expression would Duke Kalel make upon hearing this?

Would he be indifferent, considering it only natural?

Or would he praise and reward Harang?

Either way, it would cause a significant stir in the Kaladan family.

Lauren’s face lit up with an excited smile.

He was convinced that Harang’s presence was the most explosive and fiery among all the family members he had trained in this damned hero family.

‘I look forward to seeing what he shows next….’