Player with Maxed-Out Talent

# The Talented Max-Level Player (Episode 54)

The orc warrior rose, his nostrils flaring with excitement. He was almost twice the size of a normal orc.

“Squeak?”

A delicious smell wafted through the air, the scent of blood.

“Squeeak!”

The orc warrior’s eyes turned blood red with frenzy. It was as if he couldn’t see that it was his own kind, other orcs, bleeding before him. He was utterly intoxicated by the scent of blood.

Hyukjin noted the change in the orc warrior’s eyes.

“It’s on.”

Orc warriors are weak to the scent of blood. Their eyes and mind go berserk at the slightest whiff. Now, he was about to go on a mad spree, hunting his own kin.

Crunch-crunch!

The orc warrior yanked an arm off one of his kind and started chewing it whole, the sound of crunching bones filling the air.

“Kwaaargh!”

The disarmed orc screamed in pain. The orc warrior grabbed another orc by the waist and began to crunch down from the headfirst.

Intoxicated by the scent of blood, the orc warrior became increasingly deranged.

Delicious things!

His instincts dominated, focused only on ‘prey’.

The orc warrior roared, blood dripping from his mouth with each bellow. The other orcs scattered, running for their lives in panic.

“Squeeak!”

At the same time, a notification sounded.

[The orc warrior’s unique ability, ‘Orc Fear’, has been activated.]

Hyukjin smiled.

“There it is. Orc Fear.”

In truth, this ability isn’t exclusive to orc warriors. Most ‘Boss Monsters’ wield similar skills.

“Normally, it immobilizes players or prevents them from escaping.”

But not this time.

“This time, it’s meant to keep the delicious prey, the orcs, from escaping.”

This ‘Orc Fear’ was not targeted at the players, but at the fleeing orcs. Thanks to this, players, including Hyukjin, were largely unaffected.

“And… the orc warrior isn’t a high-level boss monster.”

Precisely speaking, it’s very unlikely that he would use ‘Orc Fear’ again anytime soon due to its long ‘cooldown’. High-level monsters constantly unleash fear to trouble players. But not this orc warrior.

“A long cooldown means, essentially, that its unique ability is spent.”

Now, it would be much easier to deal with him.

“Kwaaargh!”

The orcs became sacrifices to the orc warrior. The orc warrior, seemingly unknowing of satisfaction, chewed on any orc in his path.

[The orc warrior has evolved into an ‘Elite Orc Warrior’.]

Seonyeonseo breathed heavily, asking Hyukjin,

“Is it really okay to let it grow like that? Its size has increased.”

As if he wasn’t hefty enough, he had grown even more.

“Hyungnim. The definition of his muscles has improved drastically. He seems to have gotten much stronger?”

Hyukjin nodded.

“Facing a single Elite Orc Warrior is much better than dealing with a group led by an orc warrior. For us, at least.”

Rather than fighting against hundreds of soldiers, they chose to battle a single general. Such was Hyukjin’s choice. Instead of a weak multitude, they faced a strong single foe.

“This is the way we survive.”

He also had a grasp of the creature’s limits. It couldn’t grow into a High Orc. If it stopped here, that would be great, but even if it grew a bit more, it would only become an ‘Orc Grand Warrior’.

“If it’s going to be a dangerous one, it might as well grow to the level of an Orc Grand Warrior.”

The subjective difficulty was the same. Without knowing how to defeat it, with their current level, they couldn’t. Both the Elite Orc Warrior and the Orc Grand Warrior were formidable foes. Although the subjective difficulty was the same, the quality of items they dropped was completely different. If it could grow into an ‘Orc Grand Warrior’, that would be preferable.

Crunch-crunch-crunch!

The orc warrior, now an Elite Orc Warrior, was obsessed with slaughtering and devouring his kin. Another orc was crunched to the bone.

The player Hyukjin and his party members were of no concern to him, as the tempting scent (the scent of blood) on them was very faint.

“Kwaaargh!”

Inside the tent. The last remaining orc vanished into the belly of the Elite Orc Warrior.

[The Elite Orc Warrior has evolved into an ‘Orc Grand Warrior’.]

Now, it seemed satiated at last. The ‘Orc Grand Warrior’ began to take an interest in the players.

[A sudden quest, ‘Hunt the Orc Grand Warrior’, has appeared.]

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[Hunt the Orc Grand Warrior]

Quest Giver: The Valiant Lion King

Hunt the Orc Grand Warrior. You cannot hunt it with your current abilities. However, the Valiant Lion King is watching your courage and bravery.

Quest Reward: Special ability ‘Haki (霸氣)’

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The quest was not just given to Hyukjin. Ma Sang-hyun, Seonyeonseo, and Kim Sunhwa received it as well.

‘Haki.’

In its dictionary meaning, it signifies a resolute spirit or courage to undertake any challenging task.

“It’s here…?”

There were many routes to acquiring this ability, and Hyukjin had already planned to acquire Haki later on. It’s an essential ability for Rankers. With Haki, one’s resistance to mental attacks increases significantly, and players can resist the bosses’ ‘Fear’ to a considerable extent.

“…I’ll accomplish it.”

It was unexpected, but welcome.

“Why’s this muscle-head being so helpful all of a sudden?”

Anyway, it was a chance to get Haki.

“If we can just defeat that guy.”

Raids are always a gamble. It’s either it dies, or I die. Whether it’s the monster or the player, that one outcome must be fulfilled.

“He’s huge.”

About 3 meters tall. Even the giant Ma Sang-hyun seemed dwarfed in comparison. Centered around Hyukjin, Ma Sang-hyun and Seonyeonseo stood to his sides, with Kim Sunhwa right in front of Hyukjin.

“Leader. Hyukjin. This is… going to be alright, right?”

“……”

Hyukjin didn’t know.

“We just have to hope our plan worked out well.”

What if it didn’t work out? Then they would die here. There was no other way to survive except this plan, especially after the content of this place had changed due to the ‘Pearl of Cheonmasan’.

Seonyeonseo gripped her sword tighter. A single drop of sweat rolled down her forehead, traveling over her cheeks and down her neck. She stared fixedly at the ‘Orc Grand Warrior’. No notable movement from it just yet. The calm before the storm, the tension before the clash.

Thump!

Her heart pounded. Seonyeonseo held on to the tension.

‘The least bit of good fortune is…’

The current situation was exactly as Hyukjin had envisioned.

‘Hyukjin is the one who created this situation.’

His strategy had included this very scenario. Hyukjin said,

“I’m going in.”

“Oppa. Wouldn’t it be better if I went in? I’m tougher than you, right?”

Hyukjin chuckled lightly.

“Being tough won’t matter. It’ll be one-hit cut anyway. I’m even shown as a question mark in its level display.”

The level of the Orc Grand Warrior is around 37. At her current level, Sunhwa won’t be able to withstand even one attack.

“In that case, I have a better chance to dodge.”

Hyukjin started walking.

‘Did it really take the bait?’

The Orc Grand Warrior remained still so far, which suggested the plan might have somewhat worked.

‘It must feel bloated after eating so much.’

And probably,

‘The Mutated Wolf Fang must have done its part.’

The Mutated Wolf Fang. An item Hyukjin had been collecting since the tutorial. It was also one of the first items he got in the tutorial fields.

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[Mutated Wolf Fang]

The fang of a mutated wolf with a poisonous body. It carries a lethal ‘paralyzing toxin’.

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The orc warrior had crushed the bones of the orcs as he devoured them. Hyukjin knew this and had implanted ‘Mutated Wolf Fangs’ into various parts of the orcs’ bodies ahead of time. There was a reason he did not kill the orcs and a reason he dragged them all the way into this tent and let them be devoured—it was all for this moment.

“Hyungnim. Will that really be effective?”

‘One or two wouldn’t have made a difference, but…’

Hyukjin got closer to the Orc Grand Warrior.

‘There must have been at least 70 fangs that you’ve swallowed by now.’

He didn’t think it would completely paralyze the beast. After all, even Mutated Wolf Fangs wouldn’t completely immobilize an ‘Orc Grand Warrior’.

‘But.’

It might severely slow down the creature’s movement. Hyukjin crouched down a bit.

The Orc Grand Warrior noticed a player approaching. His body felt heavy, probably due to the toxin, but that was no concern. Such a tiny human. Just snap him up, right? The Orc Grand Warrior was not overtly concerned.

Hyukjin switched titles and activated the unique skill ‘Eccentric Shift’. The creature would not be able to react to his speed.

Whoosh!

The Orc Grand Warrior swung his massive club, which was about 1 meter long.

‘Faster than expected.’

It semi-reacted to Eccentric Shift. It was indeed a high-level monster.

‘But it’s manageable.’

Quick, yes, but not too fast to handle. Hyukjin, thanks to Eccentric Shift, moved behind the ‘Orc Grand Warrior’.

“Seonyeonseo!”

Signaling to Seonyeonseo, Hyukjin swung his sword at the Orc Grand Warrior’s Achilles heel.

The Orc Grand Warrior, as if it had eyes in the back, deftly lifted his left foot to evade and quickly turned around. Despite the paralyzing toxin, he dodged Hyukjin’s strike quite easily.

Meanwhile, Seonyeonseo, using Cheonmabibo, approached closely.

‘That beast is aiming for Hyukjin.’

Its back was exposed.

‘My target is the side.’

They couldn’t deal a critical blow in one strike. They needed to attack bit by bit, slowly picking apart their adversary.

‘Strike!’

But then, the Orc Grand Warrior brought down its arm.

Clang!

The Orc Grand Warrior’s arm blocked Seonyeonseo’s sword. It wasn’t even wearing any armor, but the sound of metal clashing was heard.

‘How can its body be so hard?’

At Seonyeonseo’s current level and with her attack power, it seemed impossible to pierce through the creature’s skin, particularly the tough part of its arm.

Hyukjin noticed.

‘Its eyes changed.’

Those weren’t the eyes of prey being hunted. The beast was brimming with confidence now. It realized that it was the predator, convinced it could easily prey on these humans, despite the inability to move freely. That was the look in its eyes.

‘The predator’s gaze.’

He’d been waiting for this moment. Just this instant. There was only one chance, and everything had been designed and envisioned for this.

‘Now!’

The opportunity arrived. Hyukjin resolved to carve out a miracle.