The Taming Master Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Large update (2)

Ping-!

A sharp piercing projectile emitting a blue light ripped through the air with incredible force.

Schwaff-

“Keuh-aaahhh-!”

The Ogre cried out loudly before falling onto the ground as the arrow filled with cold air directly hit the Ogre’s forehead.

Koong-!

-You have killed the Ogre. You have gained 5,910 Experience Points.

Jinsung, no, Ian collected his breath and slowly ran to the corpse of the Ogre.

“Good, I’m getting faster.”

As Ian placed his hand on the Ogre, it turned into a grey light before disappearing.

-You have obtained 745 gold from the ‘Ogre’.

-You have obtained the ‘Ogre’s thick leather’.

Ian opened his inventory as he confirmed the system message that appeared.

“I’ll have to rest after I collect 100,000 gold.”

Nicknamed the ‘Ogre Field’ by the players because of a large amount of Ogres that spawned on the hunting grounds, Click Mountain was where Ian was currently hunting.

For Ian who was currently lv 93, Ogres who were around lv 80 might seem easy but that was only for hunting parties. From the perspective of Solo Players, Click Mountain was one of the most challenging hunting grounds for even high-ranking players. This was because Ogres had higher health and dealt more damage than other monsters in the same level range.

For the purpose of leveling, it would have been more efficient to join a party made up of people of the same level as the hunting ground and enter together; however, Ian had a different purpose for soloing Click Mountain. The reason was because this location was the optimal ‘Gold Grinding Spot’ in his opinion.

Kailran had its own developed system that exchanged game money for cash. Not only could cash be traded in for game money but game money could also be sold. Since the system was as transparent as for how real world banks worked, the goods in Kailran had almost no difference in value to cash.

Currently, Kailran’s exchange rate to cash from gold was about 1:2 and Ogres gave about 800 gold each. For each Ogre, you earned around 1,600 Won[1].

At Ian’s speed of easily killing 100 Ogres an hour, it was basically equivalent to working a job that paid 200,000 Won an hour.

Ian’s habit of collecting money to pay off his student loans remained in that he still spent an hour grinding gold whenever he was online.

“Shall we move again…”

After confirming that there were no more Ogres left, Ian started to walk to move to another hunting ground.

Ian was hyped when he experienced a faster hunting speed thanks to the ‘Dark Composite Bow’ he obtained from the Drake Raid he joined last week.

Ian

Lv 93: 79,954,300/98,500,000 (81.2%)

Race: Human

Class: Archer (Skilled Sharpshooter)

Nickname: Drake Hunter

Fame: 158,920 (If your fame drops below 0, it changes into Notoriety)

Power: 150 (+75)

Agility: 275 (+305)

Intellect: 75 (+25)

Health: 105 (+137)

Vitality: 12,420 (+5,600)

Mana: 3,725 (+2,215)

After looking at his Status Window once, Ian shook his head.

“Haa, I’ve only gone up 6% despite the amount of Ogres I’ve hunted since last week.”

He was talking about his Experience. After passing lv 90, you needed to put in an incredible amount of effort to even level up once.

“It’s not like I’m hunting these guys to level up, but this is too much.”

Grumbling, Ian began to scan the surrounding area for monsters through the use of the Archer class’s special skill – Hawkeye.

A moment later, an unfamiliar being caught Ian’s attention.

‘What the heck? Did a Heroic Rank monster besides the Ogre King infest Click Mountain?’

The only thing you could see through Hawkeye was the location of monsters and their levels within a certain range from the user. To find out what kind of monster it was, you needed to go find it and see it with your own two eyes.

‘It’s a bit risky if it’s a Heroic Rank monster…’

The only known Heroic Rank monster on Click Mountain was the Ogre King, which was at lv 95. Of course, Ian had killed an Ogre King before but he didn’t do it alone.

‘What to do…’

Ian pondered. Except for Field Bosses that appeared at designated locations, it was extremely rare to find a Heroic Rank monster like this. Also, there was an established theory that Heroic Rank monsters that appeared randomly on the field like this had a high drop rate for good items.

“First, let’s go!”

If he were to die, the Experience Ian gained would reset and the week would be wasted but to give up such a good chance was not his playing style.

After making sure that the cooldown times for all his skills were over and his skills were refreshed, Ian slowly moved towards the marked location of the Heroic Rank monster.

And moments later, a two-headed monster three times bigger than a normal Ogre appeared in his vision.

‘What the heck, was there such a guy?’

With the appearance of such a rare and fascinating monster unknown to Ian until now, his desire to obtain the monster grew like fire.

Ian calmly brought out some traps and installed a couple in appropriate places. They were expensive items unable to be reused that he was saving up for a Heroic Rank monster.

“Tsk, to have to use these so soon.’

Although purchased to be used, he couldn’t help but feel like it was a waste to use them. This was because these traps were the best quality and cost 50,000 gold each.

“Well, even if one part of the Ogre’s Warrior set drops, it’s worth it…”

Even the shoes, which are the cheapest part of the Ogre’s Warrior set, were at a set cost of 1.3 million gold. If the Ogre’s Warrior set dropped, not only would it be beneficial, it would be hitting the jackpot.

Ian, who finished perfectly placing the traps, took out his bow and aimed at the Ogre’s head

-‘Weak Point Capturing’ skill has been triggered. The weak point of the target will be indicated with the accuracy rate rising 40% and the chance to critical hit increasing 37%. If the weak point is hit, evasiveness will increase 255%.

-‘Deadly Arrow’ skill has been triggered. When hit, the target will be slowed for 10 seconds and will cause a steady decline in their vitality.

Ping-!

The arrow that left Ian’s hands precisely hit the Ogre’s head and once Ian was discovered, the Two-Headed Ogre let out a loud roar filled with rage before beginning to run towards Ian.

“Koo-uuhhhhh-!”

Ian’s eyes slightly widened as he watched his opponent run swiftly towards him despite its house-sized stature.

‘It’s definitely different from the normal Ogres. It’s fast…!’

Whether it was because it was a trait of the Ogre race, even the Ogre King’s movements were slow. Though like its status as a Heroic Rank monster, its health and power were far superior to other ogres.

So for Ian who calmly expected the Two-Headed Ogre to be just as slow couldn’t help but be a little bewildered.

Using the continuous skill, Ian shot the arrows at the Ogre quickly to lure him into the traps.

Thump-. Thump-. Thump-.

Whether it was because of the constant damage he received from the poison, the Ogre’s expression slightly distorted.

Ta-tat-!

Having almost dragged the Ogre to the destination, Ian moved with fast reflexes, climbing a tree before pulling his bowstring back again.

-‘Explosive Arrow’ skill has been triggered. Once the arrow hits the target, it will explode a second later with 300% additional damage.

The arrow that left Ian’s hand undoubtedly hit the Ogre’s weak spot, which was highlighted in red due to the Weak Point Capturing skill. Even considering the Archer class’s trait and skill to calibrate his accuracy, his skill was admirable.

Kwang-!

The arrow that lodged into the Ogre’s chest exploded, causing the running Ogre to jump back slightly.

The damage from the Critical Hit and the Weak Point Capturing along with the explosion raised the attack by twenty times in one hit, dealing enough damage to even hinder a Heroic Rank monster.

However, it was only for a brief moment before the Ogre suddenly ran over to where Ian was and swung a monstrous Ogre’s club at Ian.

Kwang-!

Along with a roar, the tree that Ian was sitting on collapsed.

However, this was already after Ian had moved out of the way.

A cold sweat broke out from Ian’s back as he saw the power of the Ogre’s wooden club.

‘I might die with just one hit…!’

Ian swallowed hard. There was a need to be a little more cautious.

While Ian rolled around on the ground to avoid the Ogre’s attack, the Ogre finally stepped onto one of Ian’s traps.

Ka-chink-!

The Ogre began to roar along with the blunt sounds of the steel trap.

-The advanced slowing trap has been triggered. For ten minutes, the speed of the target will decrease 30%.

With the combination of the Deadly Arrow’s effect, the total slowing effect was at 40%. The Ogre was visibly slower, even to the naked eye and Ian pulled his bowstring again.

-‘Swift’ skill has been triggered. For 15 minutes, any movement will become 50% faster.

Pi-ing-. Ping-. Ping-.

With the speedy movements backed up with the Swift skill, Ian shot three arrows in the blink of an eye before he began running away. This was because the Ogre had reached Ian’s location again.

“Hoo-oo…”

Ian took a deep breath before he directly taunted the Ogre at a distance.

From the outside it looked like Ian was easily fooling the Ogre, however, that wasn’t the truth.

Ian’s Two-Headed Ogre hunting method was almost as dangerous as walking on a tightrope. Even allowing one hit would send him off…

Truthfully, Archers, along with Magicians, were known to be an incredibly hard class to solo play. This was because they would become helpless once a monster closed in.

After a long game of cat and mouse with the Ogre, a system message popped up in front of Ian’s eyes.

-‘Swift’ skill has one minute left remaining.

“Keu-eum…”

Ian let out a low groan.

Once the Swift skill was over, it would be difficult to continue this battle. No matter what, he needed to win this in under a minute.

‘There’s one trap left. Stun trap…’

Ian’s mind began to spin violently. Ian threw his body in order to differentiate the winner in such a short amount of time.

“Over here, you disgusting piece of shit!”

Ian shot arrows while provoking the Ogre and with the slowing effect gone, the Ogre recklessly charged towards him.

And…

Chul-kuk-!

The sound of the last trap being triggered was heard.

-The advanced stunning trap has been triggered. For five seconds, the target will be stunned and be in an unprotected state.

The moment the trap was triggered, one of Ian’s knees was bent as he got into a steady position.

The trapped Ogre stood stunned in an awkward position and Ian had his bow pointed at the shining red weak point of the Ogre.

-‘Critical Shot Fortification’ skill has been triggered. If the attack is a critical hit, evasiveness will increase 300%.

-‘Sniper’ skill has been triggered. For 10 seconds, you will not be able to move and offensive power will increase 400%.

-‘Concentration’ skill has been triggered. With the bowstring pulled back, offensive power will increase proportionately to the amount of time focused on a target (max. increase: 500%)

Ian used all the buffing skills and fortification skills he currently owned.

‘Now everything is dependent on this one shot…!’

If this arrow accurately penetrated the Ogre’s weak point, he was confident the Ogre would collapse.

Even if he didn’t collapse, he was sure this shot would at least put him in a dying state.

With the use of the ‘Sniper’ skill, there was no turning back for Ian now. If the Ogre wasn’t hit properly and was released from its stunned state, Ian would still be rooted for another 5 seconds and become helpless.

Counting down the seconds, Ian maximised the Concentration skill and released the arrow.

Swiiiiish!

A sound of air violently ripping apart sounded out and, at the same time, the Ogre was released from its stunned state.

However, before the Ogre could move, Ian’s arrow had already reached its heart.

Thud-!

The arrow, filled with all of Ian’s strength, was lodged deep into the Ogre’s weak point and Ian’s subsequent attacks flew into the same spot.

And with its vitality all gone, the Two-Headed Ogre’s gigantic body began to collapse.

Koong-!

A heavy thud rang out as the large figure collapsed onto the floor and a happy system message popped up.

-You have killed the Two-Headed Ogre. You have obtained 98,500 Experience points.

“Hoo-oo, hoo…”

Ian breathed heavily. He had finally slain the Two-Headed Ogre after fighting it for almost 30 minutes. He had drained all his energy after running for a whole 30 minutes.

‘Shall we see what items you’ve dropped…’

The moment of tension more nerve-wracking than the final blow…!

Ian placed his hand on top of the corpse of the Ogre.

Chapter end