'Never bribe a monster's tongue with mercy. For it will lick you down to the bone.'
[Next Mission!!]
[Hell Hunt System Activated]
[Mission: Sever 3 Tongues of the Licking Monster]
[Target: Muna (The Licking Monster)]
[Threat Level: X]
[Location: Tapak Kuda]
[Rewards]:
• 55,000 Goldi
• A Necklace of Three Blue Gemstones (Blood of Immortality)
[Due to cooperative behavior during punishment, the system will grant you a shortcut.]
[Close your eyes for 13 seconds. The system will transport you to Tapak Kuda.]
Zhen closed his eyes.
One... Two...
He felt his soul slowly lifting—dragged by the system toward another forbidden zone known as Tapak Kuda.
Three... Four... Thirteen.
Tapak Kuda—a place where every footstep sounds like a muffled scream. Where hundreds of voices were silenced by the tongue of a single creature.
Zhen opened his eyes as he felt the scorching air, like being trapped inside the womb of the earth.
The sand was soft, pale, and covered in overlapping hoofprints spiraling wildly—as if hundreds of horses had run in circles without bodies.
And Zhen knew—those weren't horse tracks.
"Tapak Kuda," he whispered as he took a cautious step. He inhaled sharply—it felt like swallowing needles.
Zhen touched the hilt of Juehen no Kage.
The jet-black sword seemed to glow, as if speaking to him. Maybe it already knew: blood would be spilled.
'Some tongues caress. Some tongues worship. But Muna's tongue... it lives only to shred and destroy taste itself.'
Zhen stood in silence, waiting for the monster's tongues to reveal themselves.
"Speak of the devil, and the devil's tongue appears. Monsters are sensitive creatures, after all."
The tongue finally emerged—snaking out from behind the Northern Hunter's body.
Long. Crimson. It snapped like a whip, aiming for his neck.
"Don't touch my neck—unless you're ready to lose your head." Zhen had already shifted two steps to the left—without a sound.
Another tongue followed—gleaming like taut muscle yet to be carved. This one was pointed at the tip, pulsing.
Zhen hadn't moved again. But his sword had already taken flight. He caught it mid-air—just as the tongue lunged for his arm.
His grip on the sword tightened as he swung it—and just as he intended, the blade sliced through Muna's tongue diagonally.
Black blood sprayed, splashing onto part of Zhen's face—it burned like venom.
"YOUR FACE WILL ROT IN DAYS!! HAHAHA! FEEL THAT!!" The monster laughed.
Zhen didn't scream in pain. Instead, the corner of his lips curled into a crueler grin.
Another tongue came from below—this one was larger, fatter—and it slammed into Zhen, sending him sprawling, shattering three of his bones in one strike.
"Get up," he whispered to himself. "You're not fighting a monster. You're fighting a Goddamn Monster."
A goddamn monster who had just twisted half her body into that of a beautiful woman, the other half resembling a crocodile jaw—split into five.
New tongues sprouted from her back.
Her body was wrapped in crudely stitched human skin.
"ZHEN… YOU CURSED CHILD," she whispered.
Zhen's expression didn't flinch. He didn't bother replying.
He was too focused on one thing:how to weaken this damned monster.
In a lightning motion, Zhen leapt to sever one of Muna's legs—but Muna caught his right arm in her jaw. She was dancing inside the pain.
Zhen threw his body backward. From behind him, a tongue—long, slimy, sharp like a whip lined with thorns—lashed toward his face.
It would've torn it apart if he'd been even a split-second late.
"Muna," he muttered,
"After this, you'll taste the Hell Prison."
Muna's tongue appeared again—now split into five branches. Each tip had a tiny mouth filled with jagged teeth.
One tongue bit into his shoulder. Another pierced his thigh. The remaining three coiled around his neck, chest, and waist.
Zhen was devising a plan as his body was lifted like bait. His flesh was torn—but his eyes locked onto the true mouth. The big one that had yet to open.
"Mmm… tender meat," whispered the Licking Monster. "Best when chewed slowly."
Zhen grinned. "You talk too much."
Seven tongues shot toward him like spears.
But Zhen flipped over them, landed, and spun—his blade sliced through one tongue.
The severed tongue shriveled instantly, then crumbled into black dust.
Muna shrieked. Three tongues wrapped around Zhen's legs and yanked him into the air.They slammed him against the sand, again and again—his bones cracked, blood poured from his mouth.
Still—Zhen endured. He ignored the pain.
He only focused on one thing:holding on to his sword.
With a forceful push, Zhen slashed the tongues repeatedly. They didn't break—their slime melted into the sand, hissing like acid.
Zhen slowly realized—half of his face was torn. Blood leaked from his right eye. But he only laughed.
"Not bad," he hissed. "You're a decent monster."
Muna lunged.
Her gaping mouth opened in two layers—first the tongue, then rows of teeth shaped like fish fins. She couldn't wait to swallow Zhen in a single bite.
But knowing Muna's intention only made his adrenaline spike. A chill crawled down his spine—as he leapt straight into that mouth.
And just as the jaws were ready to greet him, Zhen swung his sword at the monster's throat.
He had only slashed once—yet black blood already dripped from the hilt. Zhen looked… pleased.
So he didn't stop there.
He spun his blade hundreds of times—as if performing a dance of death.
And every single one of the monster's tongues was shredded into pieces, falling into the pale sand.
Zhen picked up one of the tongues.
Not with his hand—but with his teeth, letting the monster's blood smear across his lips.
He spat. "Sweetness that lingers like poison," he said. "But today… I don't mind tasting it."
Juehen no Kage continued its role, dancing inside the creature's throat.
Zhen slashed from the inside—ripping the roof of the monster's mouth, stabbing upward, pushing the blade through the skull, shaking it until Muna's teeth were dislodged, one by one.
Hot blood gushed from her mouth—then from her eyes—then from every pore of her cursed body.
And from within that fountain of searing blood, something glimmered—a necklace with Three Blue Gems.
Zhen picked it up and pocketed it.
"Some plant flowers over graves," he whispered. "But I plant souls."
He sheathed his sword and walked away from Tapak Kuda. His body torn apart. Half his arm barely functioning.
On his path stood a hanging rock—like a god's skull suspended from the sky.
Zhen chose to rest there.
Three skulls—his familiars—emerged, as if summoned.
Zhen gazed at each of them.
"This belongs to you," he murmured.
He hung one gem on each skull.
They seemed grateful. But they also cursed him in silence.
"Don't mistake this for a gift," he said. "That necklace is only there to remind you… who your master is."
The skulls vanished again—obedient. Utterly obedient.
[Mission Complete: 55,000 Goldi has been transferred.]
This time, the footprints left behind…
were not of a horse. Not of a monster. But of a hunter who fed his pets with life itself.
[System Warning!!!]
[Your body is critically damaged. Only 55% of your soul remains!]
[Seek Healer Rusty in the village of Hija!]
[Use your Goldi for Healer Rusty's services!]
His arm felt like it was about to fall off. His body torn in too many places.
"AAGGHHHH!!! Why the hell am I this injured!?"
Zhen was confused. He had fought with double the strength.He didn't feel it at first—but now his body felt like it was dying.
[Because you were happy.]
[You swore to avoid happiness. You kept that vow for 17 years.]
"And now?" His brows furrowed deeply—waiting for the system's answer.