I Possessed The Villain In a Hunter Novel And It Fits Me Perfectly

And of course, the Cave Giant, even angrier than before, swung straight at me.

My body slammed head-on into the solid ice, and I heard something crunch, like it was being crushed. There was a vicious grinding sound too, like flesh being scraped apart.

“......!”

Maybe because I’d been beaten so many times already, even as pain exploded through my body like it was being smashed to pieces, my mind kept turning.

‘This hurts less than I thought it would.’

Not that my body was actually fine. Objectively, it was the kind of hit you could die from, and the surprising part was that I was still alive.

Gasping for breath, I thought,

‘How the hell did I not die from that fall? That was weird too.’

Even if my durability was better than before, there was no way I should still be breathing after dropping straight from that height. It wasn’t like I’d slowed my descent with friction on the way down; I’d just fallen and slammed my whole body into the ice floor. The pain was brutal, but I didn’t have that much trouble moving.

On top of that, even this pain that felt so intense... it kind of felt like an illusion. There was no way it would only hurt this much.

‘This is a mental space.’

There was nothing complicated to figure out. The place I’d been just before coming here had already been a mental domain. I just kept forgetting because the sensations, starting with pain, were so vivid.

The Cave Giant that had just smacked me once came charging at me again. I clenched my teeth and threw myself in the opposite direction, barely dodging.

‘As long as I don’t die, I can take a few hits... fuck!’

Yeah, as long as I didn’t die, I could let it beat on me as much as it wanted.

What mattered right now was how I was going to get out of this situation.

I recalled the last words of the bastard that had sent ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) me here. The meaning had been obvious. They’d been packed full of its intent to merge me with that ball of fur that had been in my hand.

‘So do I need to merge with that thing to get out of here?’

Now that it was gone from my palm, I had no power that could actually stand up to the Cave Giant. All the skills I’d been using were just me copying that thing’s ability.

‘I need it.’

I rolled my eyes around, quickly searching for where it was. I’d definitely thrown it forward just now, so it had to be somewhere close.

But whether it had been stunned from being thrown or something, there was no sign of it at all. I barely managed to dodge another incoming attack and sucked in a breath.

There was no way I could run far. I didn’t even have the time to get fully to my feet to start running; all I could do was track the arc of its attacks with my eyes and roll my body to the side to dodge.

After barely avoiding its strikes three times like that, a laugh slipped out of me on its own.

“Ah... fuck, this is so fucking miserable.”

No matter how hard I tried to find a way out, nothing came to mind that could actually get me out of this. There was nothing I could do. If there were at least some humans around, I could copy their skills or use Agitation to push them into action, but alone, there was jack shit I could do.

Still lying on my stomach, I panted for a bit, then just let myself flop all the way down and pressed my cheek to the floor. I probably wouldn’t die even if I took a few hits like this. The thought was lazy, careless.

“You bastards. If you sent me to destroy the world, at least give me some damn power to work with. Fuck, what exactly am I supposed to destroy?”

Ah... the fact that I was useless the second the little ball of fur that’d been living in my hand was gone. Somehow, that felt shitty and funny at the same time.

Kwooom!

Watching the Cave Giant happily pounding on everything around me, me included, I let out a slow sigh. Strangely, I could feel the cold. Just like that time all my mana had drained away.

‘That time?’

Right, I’d faced the Cave Giant twice before. Once in the very first dungeon I’d gone into after entering this place, and another time... in the quest-type dungeon. Twice.

...Twice?

I rolled my body half a turn and looked straight at the Cave Giant’s face.

‘This is weird.’

I felt a sense of déjà vu. Not just from seeing it again. It was closer to déjà vu about being in this exact situation.

Like I’d been here before: alone, surrounded by nothing but clear ice, with that enormous ice giant in front of me... right on the edge of dying.

‘No, I have.’

It wasn’t a scene that existed in my memories, but I was certain.

‘I don’t trust my own memories anyway.’

With deleted runs clearly in play, how the hell was I supposed to rely on memory alone?

It was better to trust my “gut.” The gut that had turned into a database from instinct built up layer by layer.

“Ha!”

Feeling a pain in my chest like my lungs were being torn apart, I burst into laughter. It wasn’t a scoff.

“I’ve been here before? Yeah... this has happened before.”

I opened my mouth to keep my mind clear. Even if it meant talking to myself like a lunatic, I had to keep my head screwed on straight.

“Yeah, this has happened. So can I get out of it this time too?”

Talking this kind of crap with some mindless monster in front of me was ridiculous, but whatever.

“How did I get out? Ah... this is a mental domain, and you’re at best a shitty recreation.”

“.......”

“Status window!”

Nothing popped up in the air.

I smirked with certainty.

“See? You’re not the real thing. Fuck, you hurt like the real thing though. That’s what confused me.... How did I get out? I’ve only got the knack for half-assed imitation at best.”

Aside from Mental Strength, Agitation, and the skills that were blacked out, the only thing I could really use was Mimic, copying other people’s skills exactly.

The answer was already decided.

I could copy not just the skills humans had, but the abilities monsters had too.

The realization hit like a bolt of lightning. I pushed myself back and up, looking the Cave Giant straight in the face.

“Alright.”

I’d used this before too. Getting hit counted as contact in the big picture, didn’t it? I remembered barging into Infinite Guild’s office to pay back Do Yehyun’s debt, copying Body Reinforcement, and using it as-is.

“The situation’s a little different this time though. That guy was still a pathetic scrub at least!”

The thing, which had been standing still for a while like it might actually be listening to me, swung that ice-block fist again.

Fwoosh!

With a sharp sound of air being split, a massive chunk of ice slammed into my body.

“Kh!”

I didn’t dodge. I grabbed its hand and clamped down. Through my skin, I felt the solid texture that wasn’t as cold as I’d expected. The pain, too, felt way duller than before.

I tried to feel its mana through my palm, but the force of the blow just pushed me back and my hand slipped away.

“Fuck!”

My body skidded and crashed straight into the floor. The pain in my back was so bad it made me instinctively curl up and twitch.

I’d never expected this to work on the first try anyway.

Its fist slammed down on me again immediately.

I pressed my hand to the giant’s body and focused on sensing the mana. Something brushed my fingertips, but it was far weaker than what I’d felt outside.

Could I really do this?

‘No, that kind of hypothetical is pointless.’

When the alternative was dying, there was no point in weighing possibilities about whether I could do it. It wasn’t like copying its ability guaranteed I’d win anyway.

Kwoooom!

A booming crash like massive boulders colliding pounded my ears.

Now that a few hits had landed in a row, the Cave Giant seemed to be going all in. It wasn’t even using any special ability—just overwhelming me with pure physical power, and it was nasty.

But the fact that it had an ability was obvious. I’d been using it like breathing.

“I’ve never once been desperate to get beaten up before.”

I ground the words out between clenched teeth. I could feel shards of ice crashing down around me.

This place was bizarre. From the start, the ground had split apart, there was a dungeon boss charging at me like it wanted me dead, and I couldn’t even copy the ability I’d been using like a daily routine.

It felt like a space deliberately designed with the sole purpose of killing me. And here I was, clawing for life with everything I had.

Had I ever been this desperate to live?

It was funny: only when you’re right on the verge of dying do you actually want to live. My life had just been a bit boring, that was all—but it had never felt more pointless than it did back then compared to now, on the brink of death. By comparison, this might actually be a life worth living.

Had Kwon Taehan had these kinds of thoughts too, while dodging death over and over?

“I doubt it.”

Gasping for breath, I reached my hand toward the Cave Giant.

Every other thought vanished, leaving only one clear goal.

‘I’m going to live.’

I had to survive and see this through to the end. Whatever my destiny was supposed to be, if it was set on some shitty track, then I was going to derail it no matter what. Not that I hadn’t already wanted that.

The Cave Giant seemed to decide it really wanted to smash me, twisting its entire body and spinning half a turn.

The sight of that massive block of ice right in front of me, clearly threatening my life, made my head swim.

But instead of dodging, I faced it head-on.

Strangely, once I was really, truly... on the brink of death, its movements looked incredibly slow, like someone had hit slow motion. It was already too late to dodge, though.

‘I’m not trying to dodge anyway.’

Thud!

Right after that, with a sound like my bones were being completely crushed, my body was shoved back and flung away.

Craaaack—

I shot across the slippery ice and slammed into the wall, the sound of impact downright vicious.

I lifted my head and stared into the empty air, trying to steady the dizziness that washed over me all at once.

“Ha....”

Pain like my entire body was falling apart. But I knew.

“You pathetic piece of shit.”

This space could never kill me.

And if this place really was just a lame recreation of somewhere I’d faced before—

“Thanks, I guess?”

Then of course I could survive. This time too.

Still embedded in the wall, I reached toward the floor, feeling the familiar mana spreading through my whole body.

Could I freeze a giant made of ice all over again?

The surest way to find out was, obviously, to try it in a live situation.

Shhhhh—

Another smooth layer of ice spread over the already solid ice floor. Then, over the giant mass of ice, a hard shell of ice rapidly froze solid.

It was ridiculous, but still true: I was clearly more skilled at using this ability than the giant was, despite it being its own power, just because I’d mimicked it over and over.

With a sharp crack, the sound of ice locking into place rang out, and the blatant proof of that fact appeared right in front of me.

“Ha... you should’ve practiced with live training, you dumb bastard.”