I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild Chapter 36: Horned Rabbit Expert (3)

Choi Jinhyuk shot steel balls at a makeshift target made of rocks.

Even with only a few attempts, his accuracy was noticeably improving in real ti.

Even without mana, his natural physical abilities were exceptional.

It made sense how Choi Jinhyuk had managed to confront six horned rabbits without any mana.

"Shall we go look for the others now?"

"Yeah. Do you have any idea where they might be?"

"Yes. There's a sll of blood over that hill..."

"Then, let's go check it out."

Choi Jinhyuk led the way, and I followed behind him.

I wanted to lead the way, but Choi Jinhyuk insisted that ranged fighters should stay in the back, so I just followed.

'Wait?'

But isn't Choi Jinhyuk a ranged fighter now too?

As I thought this, I suddenly bumped into Choi Jinhyuk's back when he stopped abruptly.

"Ouch."

It was unexpected for the leader to stop so suddenly.

There must be a problem.

I tried to peek around Choi Jinhyuk's back to assess the situation, but he reached out his hand to cover my eyes, preventing from seeing.

"It's better if you don't see this."

"Why...?"

"Just, it's better that way."

Choi Jinhyuk forcibly turned around and we began descending the hill we had just climbed.

The pungent sll of blood led to speculate that there might be a dead body over the hill.

"Did soone die...?"

"...Yeah. We'll have to deal with it later. The living co first."

"Ah..."

Soone really had died.

As soone who had only fought in lower-grade dungeons where death was rare, this was a shocking situation for .

"Let's go down now. It's better not to see this yet."

"Okay..."

What exactly is mana that it renders people so powerless?

I felt an inexplicable sense of emptiness as I descended the hill with Choi Jinhyuk.

"...This is serious. Without mana, we can't even give our positions."

"Isn't there sothing like a flare gun?"

"There is, but they're all magical devices. No one anticipated a situation without mana."

That made sense.

In this world, the depletion of mana equated to death.

'What to do.'

How should we find people in a dungeon composed of adows and forests?

While looking around for a solution, I spotted a few stones rolling on the ground.

'These are flintstones.'

I wondered if mixed with the lighter fluid I had brought just in case, they could be used as a signal flare.

I picked up a few flintstone pieces and approached Choi Jinhyuk.

"Can you shoot this with a slingshot? It would be best if you could shoot it as vertically as possible."

"Into the sky?"

"Yes, I have a good plan. Shoot it high like a flare."

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

Choi Jinhyuk took the flintstones and shot them towards the sky with the slingshot.

The flintstones soaked in oil soared high into the sky.

As the flintstones reached their highest point, I shot an arrow.

Thud!

The steel arrowhead collided with the oil-soaked flintstones, igniting sparks against the clear sky.

Firing flas like this into the sky would surely attract the others.

"Should we keep doing this?"

"Yeah. It's a good thod."

Choi Jinhyuk and I continued to shoot flas into the sky.

It was around the seventh ti we did this when people ca to us.

"Gyeoul...!"

Yeoreum and Jung Yu-na, along with other adventurers, approached us.

Their clean appearance was a relief, and my tail involuntarily wagged.

"Gyeoul! What are you doing here, in such a dangerous place!"

"I'm, I'm sorry. I was worried because you didn't return..."

"Even so...!"

My tail stopped wagging at Yeoreum's reprimand.

Unsure of what to say to her, I kept my mouth shut.

Choi Jinhyuk then stepped forward, blocking Yeoreum.

"Don't be too hard on her. She ca to help us."

"She ca to help us...?"

"Yeah. She's better at catching horned rabbits without mana than we are."

"...I see your point, but Gyeoul is still a child."

Yeoreum glanced at , seemingly doubting my ability to hunt horned rabbits.

With my original body, I would have had no argunt against such doubt, but my current physique was different.

I had caught dozens of horned rabbits on the way here.

I felt like I needed to give her a lecture on horned rabbits, which had been my whole life.

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"So, the weaknesses of the horned rabbits are the eyes and the horns, right?"

"Yes. The hide is protected by mana, so nothing else will penetrate."

To demonstrate, I shot an arrow at a lone horned rabbit in the distance.

Thud!

The arrow, seeming to pierce the hide, bounced off the rabbit's white fur.

It wasn't that the hide was too thick; the arrow couldn't even approach due to the mana's protection.

Squeak-?!

The startled rabbit perked up its ears.

Before it could spot us and charge, I quickly aid another arrow at its eyes.

Thud!

The sa arrow, with the sa force, but a different result.

Jung Yu-na, who had been silently watching, clapped her hands.

"The mana of horned rabbits is specialized for hearing sounds. They even divert the mana that should protect their eyes to their ears."

"So you knew it was a weakness?"

"No, no. I hadn't thought it would be a weakness. Who would think of exploiting a horned rabbit's weaknesses to such an extent?"

That made sense.

The surrounding adventurers nodded in agreent.

"So why are the horns a weakness?"

"The horns are like armor to compensate for their lack of mana. They use the hardness of the horns, not mana, to protect their heads."

"So, they're hard but can be broken because they don't have mana?"

"Yes. The nerves are concentrated there, so if you break them correctly, it's instant death. They're hard to break, though."

I see.

This ti, I clapped my hands like Jung Yu-na, although not as loudly as she did.

"What a fragile creature."

"Yeah, that's why they're the lowest-level monsters."

Yeoreum and Jung Yu-na exchanged awkward smiles with each other, likely due to the fact that they had almost been killed by these lowest-level monsters.

Sigh.

Yeoreum, after a deep breath, stood in the center of the group and looked around.

"Everyone heard that, right? It's easier to take them down by targeting the eyes and horns from a distance."

"Even knowing the weak points, our accuracy suffers without mana. And here, the horned rabbits swarm in groups of hundreds."

"That's right. We've been running away because we couldn't face so many at once."

"Hmm..."

Yeoreum crossed her arms and turned to look at .

Her gaze fell on the bow in my hand.

"Gyeoul, can you hit all the horned rabbits?"

"Yes. I've practiced a lot shooting without mana."

I rembered the day I destroyed the tent with my hands, which led to practice shooting a bow without mana.

Even without mana, the physical capabilities of a beast-kin were superior to normal humans, allowing to shoot like an expert.

"Then, let's make Gyeoul the main shooter..."

Yeoreum started to draw a plan on the ground with a stick she picked up sowhere.

With no better option, we all agreed to follow her plan.

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About twenty adventurers divided up the roles.

Those with quick feet lured the horned rabbits, while those capable of ranged attacks shot their weapons from the trees.

Thud!

I shot precisely ten arrows and killed ten horned rabbits.

An adventurer next to , who had just taken down two rabbits, said,

"That's amazing. I just shot thirteen arrows and only got two."

"I, I practiced shooting without mana..."

The awe in the eyes of a more skilled adventurer made uncomfortable.

Feeling shy, I looked down at the ground when Yeoreum gave an order to the adventurers perched in the trees.

"Next team, please collect the arrows."

Adventurers skilled at climbing descended the trees to gather the arrows.

As I sat watching them from a tree, a woman who looked like a mage approached us from a distance.

"Yeoreum! I've figured out the dungeon-clearing condition!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Each ti we kill a horned rabbit, the gate leading outside grows a bit. By my calculations, we only need to kill two hundred and seventeen more!"

Two hundred and seventeen more.

Given that I was taking down more than half, I would need to kill at least one hundred and fifty myself.

My arms would be sore from so much shooting.

Already feeling the strain, I massaged my forearms.

Just then, a swift adventurer who had gone to lure horned rabbits ca running back towards us, screaming.

He was being chased by a horned rabbit, at least ten tis larger than the regular ones.

"Help, save !"

As he stretched his hand towards us...

I noticed the muscles in the legs of the giant horned rabbit tensing up.

"Ah."

It's going to jump.

Is it trying to leap and impale the young man with its horn?

Before I could even complete the thought, I reflexively shot an arrow.

My target was not the giant rabbit, but the young man running towards us, begging for help.

Swoosh!

The arrow swiftly flew and pierced through the hem of the man's clothing, pinning him to the ground.

Suddenly anchored to the ground, the man fell.

And then, at that mont.

Boom!

The giant horned rabbit's enormous horn brushed over the fallen man.

Despite its large size, the rabbit moved with incredible agility.

"What is that...?"

"I couldn't even read its movent..."

A horned rabbit as big as a wild boar.

It seed like a boss monster had appeared in the horned rabbit dungeon.

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5/5 Enjoy the chappy!