Chapter 81
Knock, knock.
“Here are the requested files, sir.”
“Come in.”
Woo Jin-Cheol entered the Association President’s office.
As if he had been waiting a while, Goh Gun-Hui welcomed him as his expression brightened considerably. As soon as opening the file Woo Jin-Cheol handed over, a familiar youth’s face could be seen.
It was none other than Seong Jin-Woo.
The Jin-Woo in the identity photo looked immature and the atmosphere exuded seemed quite different compared to now, but it wasn’t enough to make it impossible to recognise him.
“H-mm…”
Reading the youth’s prior records, Goh Gun-Hui gradually became serious.
‘Four years of Hunter activity as a rank E? Not only that, the lowest grade there is?’
This was no different than him trying to kill himself.
Even if the Gates under the Association’s jurisdiction were of lower grades compared to what large Guilds or freelancers were in charge of, they should still be breathlessly difficult for a rank E!
And as expected….
Jin-Woo had spent as much time in the hospital as he was active as a Hunter.
“Even with all these frequent injuries, he still managed to tough it out.”
“Apparently, he couldn’t quit the Association because of his mother’s hospital fees.”
“….A rare type of youth in this age, indeed.”
An unreadable light flickered in Goh Gun-Hui’s eyes.
‘In place of his missing father, he has been looking after his sick mother and a younger sister who is still a student, all by himself….’
After learning that Seong Jin-Woo was a Re-Awakened, Goh Gun-Hui decided to take a peek at the youth’s files half out of interest, but he sure didn’t expect this.
Goh Gun-Hui found the youth even more likeable after reading more about the kid.
‘It’ll be just too much of a waste to hand him over to large Guilds.’
The longer he took a look at the information, the greater Goh Gun-Hui’s regret grew for failing to recruit the youth to the Association’s folds.
“Tsk.”
He smacked his lips a little and flipped the page, and eventually, arrived at the last one. Feeling satisfied now, Goh Gun-Hui closed the file folder.
“Thank you. This was informative.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Woo Jin-Cheol took the files being handed back to him and turned around to leave, only to stop and open his mouth, apparently in some difficulty.
“Excuse me… President, sir.”
“Mm?”
Goh Gun-Hui raised his head.
The look of hesitation could clearly be seen on Woo Jin-Cheol’s face.
‘….Why would Chief Woo make that kind of face, when normally, he looks hard enough to chew on rocks for breakfast?’
Was there a difficult matter to discuss?
Goh Gun-Hui’s curiosity had been stoked for good now.
“What’s the matter?”
Woo Jin-Cheol hesitated for a while before he finally replied.
“There is something you should know, sir….. The truth is, I received word not too long ago that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo has entered a raid team earlier today.”
“Already? Okay, so whose team are we talking about here?”
“It’s the raid team from the Hunters Guild.”
“Hmm… Hunters, is it?”
Seong Jin-Woo had chosen the Hunters. Not only that, in one day, too.
Goh Gun-Hui’s expression hardened.
‘Could he have been just all talk, and he got tempted by the massive contract signing fee of the Hunters…?’
If so, what a disappointing turn of events this was. Well, he was feeling genuinely moved for the first time in a long, long while after meeting a Hunter worthy of that job title.
However, when thinking back to the attitude the youth carried from yesterday’s meeting, as well as the information Goh Gun-Hui had read just now, Seong Jin-Woo definitely did not look like someone who’d change his mind with a flip of his hand.
There must be some other reason.
Such as…
“For sure, if he wished to combat truly powerful monsters, then the Hunters Guild should suit him the best.”
Goh Gun-Hui was ready to accept this explanation. Too bad, because Woo Jin-Cheol quickly tackled him off that thought process.
“It doesn’t sound like that’s the case, sir.”
“Have you heard of something?”
“It has been confirmed that he…. Hunter Seong Jin-Woo didn’t join with the main raid team, but actually with the mining team, instead. Sir.”
Goh Gun-Hui shot up from his chair.
“What did you say? A rank S Hunter applied to become a miner??”
His voice accurately conveyed his disbelief.
In all honesty, Woo Jin-Cheol reacted the same back then. That was why he confirmed it several times to make sure, but the result didn’t change no matter what.
‘That’s why I hesitated about telling him about this matter….’
Just what was Seong Jin-Woo thinking?
Cold sweat trickled down Woo Jin-Cheol’s face as he spoke.
“Yes, sir. He has indeed done so.”
Goh Gun-Hui plopped down on the chair and began chuckling in helplessness.
“What a hard to understand young man he is.”
After putting on the distributed hard hat and the miner’s overall, Jin-Woo followed after the foreman Bae Yun-Seok. He found a fairly large group of Hunters wearing hard hats like him near the Gate itself. Around twenty or so?
Their gazes focused on Foreman Bae. And the moustached man introduced Jin-Woo to everyone.
“This here is Mister Seong, and he’ll be working with us from today onwards.”
“Hello.”
Jin-Woo lightly bowed his head and tried to read the overall atmosphere of the mining team.
“…..”
Their reactions were indifferent. But, that was understandable.
‘Of course….’
On one hand, he was a temp who may or may not show up tomorrow. And on the other side, they were Hunters who had signed formal contracts with the Guild to become full-time members of the mining team.
From their perspective, there was no reason to get particularly friendly with Jin-Woo.
“Gee whiz…. These guys. He’s a colleague who’s going to work together with you, you know.”
Foreman Bae smiled awkwardly and pointed at a guy with pretty scary facial features standing far back.
“Mister Seong, please stick with Mister Mok over there, and if you’re curious about something, learn from him. Mister Mok might be a silent type, but he’s the most experienced out of everyone here.”
“…Understood.”
Jin-Woo didn’t say anything else and stood next to this Mister Mok. When their gazes briefly met, Mister Mok spoke in a voice small enough to miss it.
“It’s Mok Jin-Su.”
“I’m Seong Jin-Woo.”
The introduction ended with that. Before long, Mok Jin-Su’s gaze had shifted to the foreman.
‘….What a friendly guy.’
Jin-Woo also shifted his gaze.
The foreman was conversing with a regular person who must’ve been the Guild employee in a location a bit of a distance away, looking rather serious. When Jin-Woo concentrated a little harder, he could hear the contents of that conversation.
“…The raid team hasn’t come out yet? Didn’t you say they were finished already? How many minutes ago was that?”
“They said that they are almost finished for real, this time. Please be patient for a little while longer until all the monsters inside are taken care of. This is all for the safety of you and your team, you know.”
“I’ve heard the exact same thing three times already.”
“Eii~. Mister Foreman, you know as much as I do how complicated it’ll become when we don’t do a thorough job, and a hidden monster pops out during the mining operation.”
When the male employee who was young enough to be his son smiled and went on a charm offensive, Foreman Bae could no longer stay angry anymore. The moustached man turned around with a smirk on his lips.
“Okay, okay. I got it.”
“Oh? Mister Foreman, you’re not angry anymore?”
“I said I got it. So get going already.”
“Yes, sir. As soon as the raid team exits from the Gate, I’ll definitely run over to you right away without a moment’s hesitation. Oh, by the way. You still remember that we’re all having a drink after today’s operation, yes?”
“Aigoo. I know. I know! So get going, young man.”
Fortunately, the conversation came to an end without any potential problems developing. That employee’s responses were quite excellent, indeed.
‘Most folks would think that, once you start working for a large Guild, you become more arrogant than before no matter where you are, but….’
The truth was, most of the Guild’s administrative staff were regular people, while those operating out in the field were mostly Hunters – those who had Awakened.
There were many things requiring the touch of an Awakened, but there would always be a finite number of them.
In other words, it was impossible to hire and fire Awakened at will as if they were parts of a factory machine that could easily be replaced. That was why all Guild employees did their best to mind the Hunters and their moods.
From others’ perspective, they might seem like they had made it in life, but the employees of large Guilds all had to go through trials and tribulations that only they knew.
It was then.
‘…..Mm?’
Jin-Woo was focusing on the conversation between the foreman and the employee, but out of the blue, he could also hear the whisperings coming from his side.
“Did you hear that? The newbie joining us today is supposed to be a rank E.”
‘Are they talking about me again?’
Sometimes, Jin-Woo couldn’t help but resent his excellent sense of hearing.
‘Still, doesn’t mean I’m gonna cover up my ears or anything….’
While he bitterly smiled to himself, other Hunters were cautiously whispering to each other.
“What? A rank E?”
“A rank E has been selected?”
“That’s right.”
Jin-Woo could sense the sharp glares boring down on the back of his head.
“What the heck. What is the foreman thinking of, hiring a rank E and all?”
“Does a rank E even have enough strength, I wonder?”
“Yeah, I wonder about that, too.”
“Huh, can we even finish today’s operation on time?”
Worried voices could be heard coming from here and there.
Still, they kept their voices low, perhaps in consideration of the new guy. Too bad, such actions were meaningless in front of Jin-Woo, though.
Jin-Woo could only keep his chuckles down.
‘There was another reason for their reactions not being so welcoming, huh.’
As expected – a rank E would receive cold shoulders no matter where they went. He was already well used to this, so it didn’t faze him anymore.
‘Well, it’s not like I’ll be seeing them for long, anyway.”
But then, something else happened.
Noisy, noisy….
Suddenly, the front of the Gate became rather noisy.
“The raid team has come out.”
“Looks like they are finally finished.”
The tired expressions of the Hunters in the mining team, restless from all that waiting, brightened one by one. Foreman Bae had been observing the situation until then, and he gestured at his team.
“Okay, okay. Everyone, let’s get going.”
Hunters in the mining team checked their equipment and slowly shuffled towards their destination. Jin-Woo blended in and went along with them.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you.”
“You all worked hard, everyone!”
The Hunters Guild employees stood in front of the Gate and welcomed the raid team members as they made their exit one by one.
The term raid team as used in the field seemed to refer to the members belonging to the Guild’s main assault force.
‘So, these people are…. the country’s best assault force.’
Studying the faces of each and every upper rank – no, the very highest ranked – Hunters walking by, Jin-Woo’s eyes sharpened considerably.
He spotted a familiar face among them.
‘….Choi Jong-In.’
The leader of the Hunters Guild, and a rank S mage-type Hunter.
Jin-Woo pulled the hard hat lower to hide his face, figuring that things might get complicated if Choi Jong-In recognised him here. Thankfully, there were many Hunters wearing a similar get-up as him nearby. So, Jin-Woo was able to blend in just fine.
And so, as he stood amidst the miners and silently studied the members of the country’s very best assault force, Jin-Woo began thinking that…
‘…..Are they really the true elites of the Hunters Guild?’
He was feeling quite incredulous inwardly.
Quite contrary to his initial expectations, it was hard to find a single Hunter with a really powerful aura.
As befitting of the nickname ‘Ultimate Weapon’, Jin-Woo could sense an enormous amount of magical energy from Choi Jong-In, but besides that guy, not one was worthy of mention.
‘Could they be the weak ones, instead?’
But, that simply made no sense.
Jin-Woo softly shook his head.
These were the members of the no.1 raid team selected from the cream of the crop found in the country’s top Guild.
‘I mean, the Guild Master himself has participated in the raid, so there’s just no way that some nobodies would be chosen as team members.’
The word most ill-suited to describe these people would be ‘Weak’. Then, there could be only one conclusion.
‘No, it’s me who has gotten stronger.’
A thin smile crept up on Jin-Woo’s lips. Strength was relative, wasn’t it?
The efforts of the last couple of months definitely did not betray his expectations. His Stats had increased by so much that he could think of the raid team that managed to conquer a rank A dungeon as weaklings.
By using the difference between himself and them, he could sense his own strength.
Thump, thump, thump….
His heart began beating faster from this realisation.
But, then….
No one told him to do so, and there was no sound attracting him, yet Jin-Woo’s head instinctively swivelled back towards the Gate. And then, he gasped out in surprise.
‘How can this be….?’
There was a woman with a short hairstyle relaxedly walking out from the Gate.
The very first things that caught his attention on her makeup-less face were a pair of large and clear eyes. Next up, her clean and pale skin, as well as her smoothly flowing neckline, also managed to attract his gaze.
If there were 100 men, 99 of them would unhesitatingly praise her looks and call it beautiful. However, besides all that, what attracted Jin-Woo’s attention the most was not her looks but what was inside her.
The power that was hidden inside her.
From that expressionless woman, an incredible amount of magic energy was leaking out non-stop.
‘At a bare minimum, she’s on the same level as Choi Jong-In.’
Or maybe, even more than that.
She possessed an aura that easily overwhelmed her surroundings.
By the time his shock wore off and cold reasoning succeeded in driving his emotions out of his head, Jin-Woo recalled this woman’s name.
‘She must be….’
The only female rank S, Cha Hae-In.
The top-ranked Hunter who formed, along with Choi Jong-In, one of the core pillars of the Hunters Guild.
‘I can’t think of anyone else.’
Just how many women possessing such an aura existed in South Korea?
Compared to her ‘rarity’ though, Cha Hae-In’s face wasn’t all that well known. It was because she didn’t enjoy being exposed to the cameras. And that was also why Jin-Woo saw Cha Hae-In’s face for the first time today as well.
‘Wait, her face doesn’t even look weird like in some rumours, so how come she hates being in front of a camera?’
Indeed, pretty much all ladies in their early twenties loved taking photos. Sure, all those happened to be selfies, but still.
Perhaps his stare was too direct, Cha Hae-in’s own gaze began shifting in Jin-Woo’s direction.
‘Stealth… shouldn’t be necessary here, right?’
Jin-Woo easily hid his presence. Cha Hae-In continued to scan the area Jin-Woo used to stand before tilting her head slightly.
‘What was that? I thought I felt a really strong presence just now.’
Was she mistaken?
Initially, she thought that the Association President Goh Gun-Hui had stopped by at the operations area. However, that powerful presence disappeared completely as if it was a lie.
‘Well, someone as busy as the Association President wouldn’t come unannounced, now would he?’
Too bad for her, the cost of her misunderstanding was rather great.
Because she was searching after the hint of that strong presence, she had to focus her senses, and that meant the heavy odour several times worse than normal assaulted her nose.
“Euk.”
As usual, Cha Hae-In pulled out a handkerchief to cover her nose, and while tottering around somewhat uneasily, escaped from the cordon of Hunters.
‘Her perception is better than I thought.’
Jin-Woo let out a sigh of relief while watching Cha Hae-In’s distancing back. With her exit, all the raid team members had come out of the Gate.
Having been waiting with bated breath for this moment, the foreman of the mining team Bae Yun-Seok turned around to face his boys. He clapped his hands loudly and spoke up with a bright voice.
“Well, it’s our turn now, so let’s all do our best!”
The unique nature of the job meant that the retrieval team would have to enter first, followed by the mining team.
Jin-Woo stood in front of the Gate.
‘…….’
As he stood there while silently admiring the splendour of the rank A Gate, something he hadn’t experienced before, Bae Yun-Seok approached him.
“Mister Seong, what are you doing? We should go inside.”
“Alright.”
Jin-Woo replied briefly and stepped through the Gate, just like other Hunters did before him.
And then, a familiar message popped up before his eyes.
[You have entered a dungeon.]
Chapter 82
‘There’s a breeze inside this dungeon?’
Jin-Woo raised his head.
As soon as stepping inside, he sensed an ominous wind blowing in from the deepest part of the cave-like dungeon.
Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his back. And at the same time, Jin-Woo realised the identity of this mysterious wind.
‘It’s no normal wind, is it?’
No, this was a ripple caused by the magic energy. The powerful magic energy emitted by the boss of this rank A dungeon was physically touching Jin-Woo’s body.
Considering that the rank S dungeons were incredibly hard to find, even in the entire world, the owner of this magic energy could very well be the highest levelled monster Jin-Woo could realistically meet.
‘The boss of a rank A dungeon….’
He was tempted to confirm the creature with his own two eyes now. And, if there was a chance….
Even though Jin-Woo was shuddering from the bone-chilling aura that managed to make his hair stand on end, he couldn’t stop smiling at the same time.
Was this the instinct of a hunter?
Wasn’t the act of pointing a gun at a powerful predator the most instinctive act there could be for a real hunter?
It was then.
Tap.
A guy coming inside the dungeon bumped into Jin-Woo’s shoulder.
“Eiii, come on, man. Walk faster.”
A man named Lee Seong-Gu frowned deeply, the words flying out of his mouth sounding sullen.
The interior of the rank A dungeon was huge. There was plenty of space to go around the person in front. However, Lee Seong-Gu found this newbie who stood there unmoving not to his liking at all.
So, he figured he’d embarrass the kid or something by bumping into his back, but…..
‘What the fck is up with this guy? He’s like a dmn concrete pillar!’
When he ran into the newbie’s back, it was him who got bounced away instead. So, quite obviously, his irritation had shot up to the heavens.
‘Why is a rank E this tough?’
Still, this kid was a measly E. And he was a rank C.
Although his skills lagged behind compared to other rank C Hunters, and therefore he had to work as a miner, but regardless of all that, it wouldn’t do for him to lose out to a rank E like this.
However, the newbie didn’t even show a single hint of a response.
Lee Seong-Gu’s eyes narrowed to a slit.
‘Oh? Would you look at this fool?’
Now that his ire had reached a boiling point, Lee Seong-Gu angrily glared at the newbie and raised his voice higher.
“Look here, man. Aren’t you supposed to apologise if you run into someone?”
Jin-Woo finally turned around, then.
Lee Seong-Gu flinched and took a step back.
‘Heok!!’
It was if a dangerous light was emanating from Jin-Woo’s eyes just then. While being pressurised by an aura that robbed away his breaths, Lee Seong-Gu began panicking greatly. It was here that Jin-Woo finally opened his mouth.
“Sorry.”
“N-no. I…..”
Lee Seong-Gu stuttered before managing to squeeze his voice out.
“Well, uh, mistakes… happen.”
His voice sounding unexpectedly meek now, Lee Seong-Gu lowered his reddened face and hurriedly walked past Jin-Woo.
“Fuu-woo….”
Only after distancing himself far away from the newbie did Lee Seong-Gu find some leeway to pat his pounding chest.
‘What the hell was up with those eyes, man? And why was he smiling so creepily like that?!’
Their gazes met for only a brief second, yet Lee Seong-Gu’s entire body froze up and he couldn’t even speak properly. Him managing to not avert his eyes right away was his desperate attempt to hold on to his pride.
‘…..Is he really a rank E?’
When he bumped into him, and that murderous glare – just what the heck was going on here?
‘Eiii, who cares anymore?’
Lee Seong-Gu shook his head hard in order to get rid of the distracting thoughts and hurried his steps.
“…D*mn it.”
Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head as he looked on at Lee Seong-Gu quickly rushing past him.
‘Because my nerves were in a heightened state due to the boss, I….’
He ended up frightening that guy, instead.
This was only because he lacked enough practice. Yup, more practice was needed. Jin-Woo inwardly reflected on how overly sensitive his response was and chased after the rest of the mining team.
He caught up with them pretty quickly. Jin-Woo stuck to the rear of the advancing miners and matched their walking pace.
‘Well, none of these guys would be able to catch up with me if I walk in my usual speed….’
So, he had to match theirs.
However….
The deeper they went in, the greater the ripples of the magic energy from the boss became.
‘My Perception Stat has risen up by a lot, hasn’t it.’
To be able to clearly sense the boss monster hidden in the deepest chamber of the dungeon like this….
Because of that, he was getting excited for no particular reason.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter’s release on N0v3l–B1n.
‘Would I even be able to concentrate on my job at this rate?’
As if to try answering his rhetorical question, he could hear the loud, manly roars coming from his front.
“Orya! Orya!!”
The retrieval team that had entered one step earlier than the mining team was already in the middle of their operation. And that would be to drag a corpse of a huge monster outside using the ropes tightly tied around it.
“One, two! One, two!”
“Eut-chaaa!”
The physical strength of the close-quarter combat-type Hunters was excellent, to begin with, so they didn’t require help from specialised tools to smoothly carry out their work.
Jin-Woo imprinted every step of a high-rank dungeon’s conquest into his brain.
‘First of all, the raid team enters before everyone else and eliminates all the monsters found inside, with the exception of the boss.’
Afterwards, the retrieval team entered to drag out the monster remains, and finally, the mining team entered to extract various minerals embedded in the dungeon’s walls.
In order to maximise profit, none of these steps could be omitted.
Both the Mana stones and magic crystals were a given, but the high-ranked monster’s body could be utilised in various ways as well, and thus was worth a lot of money.
‘Bones, hides, flesh, etc…. Not one part of a high-ranked monster is useless.’
And that was one of the differences between monsters found in low-ranked dungeons and those from the high-ranked ones.
After sweeping away every single thing worth money from a dungeon….
‘They kill the boss and close the Gate.’
Only after going through all four stages of this process could one declare that the high-ranked dungeon was perfectly conquered. At least, that would be from the Guild’s perspective.
However….
‘Wouldn’t my soldiers be enough to carry out these simple labours?’
While walking past the sweating Hunters of the retrieval team, Jin-Woo suddenly came up with that idea.
For sure, after all their level-ups, the shadow soldiers were much stronger than the members of the retrieval team, who were all Hunters ranked below rank C, to begin with.
Dividing his troops into three, and by making one group hunt, another one retrieve, while the remaining group took care of mining, then…..
‘Then, I might really be able to perfectly conquer a high-rank dungeon all by myself.’
A satisfied smile formed on Jin-Woo’s face.
The reason for him being here was to explore. And now, he was beginning to think that it was a good idea to come here, after all.
“Mister Seong? Did something good happen?”
The foreman asked him from the side.
Seeing that the rank E with no experience of being inside a high-ranked dungeon broke out in a grin like that, he couldn’t help but get curious.
“Well, I was just surprised by the sizes of the monsters that are bigger than I thought, that’s all.”
Perhaps finding Jin-Woo’s vague answer satisfying, the foreman replied jovially while trying to dig through his memory.
“Oh, is that so? Well, even I couldn’t keep my mouth shut the first time I entered one, too.”
Now that they were talking like this, Jin-Woo decided to ask a couple more questions.
“I heard that all the regular monsters have been killed off, but the boss is still alive, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Well, if the boss dies, the Gate will close down, after all.”
His answer implied that, until the retrieval and mining operations were completed, the boss could not be hunted down.
“What if the boss comes out of the boss room?”
“Well, such a case is almost non-existent, but…. In that case, everyone remaining inside would be dead meat.”
Now that would be an obvious result.
The raid team exiting from the dungeon would take an extended break until the boss raid. And quite obviously, the Hunters in the mining team or the extraction team didn’t possess enough power to fight against a boss of a rank A dungeon.
However, the commonly-accepted belief was that, before the dungeon break occurs, the boss would almost always remain inside the boss room. Perhaps that was why there was no trace of fear on the foreman’s expression.
“But, such a horrifying monster is not too far from us. You aren’t even remotely scared?”
“Not at all.”
The Foreman Bae sounded confident.
“In the last three years I worked for the Hunters Guild, not once was there an incident similar to that. So, you can rest easy, Mister Seong.”
Jin-Woo stared at the grinning foreman Bae lightly tapping him on the shoulder, and couldn’t help but find it rather envious.
‘Ignorance is a blessing, isn’t it?’
The ripples of magic energy coming from the boss were powerful enough to shake his body even when standing still.
It looked like only Jin-Woo could pick up on the boss’s aura in this place.
“Ohh, so it starts from here!”
The Foreman Bae discovered Mana stones on the cave walls and smiled brightly.
The experienced miners began occupying their natural spots in front of the stones even though no one directed them to do so. They put down their gear and hefted the pickaxes up.
Jin-Woo too stood towards the end of the cavern wall filled with Mana stones.
‘So, am I suppose to just strike down?’
He grew worried that, were he to use his real strength and strike down, both the Mana stones and the pickaxe might shatter into tiny little pieces.
‘What should I do?’
Jin-Woo stood there hesitating, unable to start his job. But, he was able to take in the sight of Mok Jin-Su, the supposed veteran of the mining team as referred to by the Foreman Bae.
Swish! Crack! Swish-! Crack!!
Mok Jin-Su rhythmically mined the stones. Whenever he struck the walls, Mana stones noisily tumbled down to the ground.
‘Wow….’
Now that was some skill worthy of the ‘veteran’ label. He was mining the stones twice as quickly as compared to the speed of his colleagues.
Jin-Woo’s eyes gleamed brightly.
As the time slowed down in his perception, Jin-Woo observed and learned Mok Jin-Su’s postures and breathing patterns, as well as the movements of muscles.
And soon, Mok Jin-Su’s economical but effective movements were being replayed countless times in Jin-Woo’s head.
‘I think I get it now.’
Indeed, he thought he understood it, more or less. Jin-Woo lifted his pickaxe up. It was as if he was the mirror image of Mok Jin-Su.
Swish! Crack! Swish-! Crack!!
Even if their movements were similar, Jin-Woo’s strength was on a completely another level from Mok Jin-Su’s. Whenever Jin-Woo struck the cave walls, larger, more intact Mana stones tumbled down in droves.
Swish!!! Craaack! Swish—! Crack!!
A rather refreshing noise came from the end of the wall. The Hunters of the mining team realised one by one that something didn’t feel right.
“Uhm… Oii.”
“What’s up?”
“Look over there.”
“Heok?!”
“What the hell is up with him?”
The Hunters stopped what they were doing and dazedly stared at Jin-Woo. Even Mok Jin-Su’s tireless hands came to a stop, too.
‘…….’
Everyone was rendered speechless.
The supposedly mining-virgin rank E Hunter was currently making easy mincemeat out of the Mana stone wall with practised movements!
“What are you doing, guys?! You came here to do a job, so why are you all standing around like that?”
The Foreman Bae had been jotting down the scale of the Mana stone deposit on a ledger until then. But when he discovered that every member of the mining team had downed tools for some reason, he got shocked out of his mind and quickly ran to where they were.
“Foreman? Will you take a look over there?”
“What now?”
The Foreman Bae craned his neck to look. And then, his eyes grew super large.
“Heot?!”
Even the foreman displayed the same reaction as everyone else. He couldn’t rip his eyes away from Jin-Woo and his speed, which was around three times faster than other miners.
“Foreman, didn’t you say that it’s the newbie’s first time today?”
“….That I did.”
Lee Seong-Gu, who had been wondering about Jin-Woo’s identity earlier, butted in suddenly.
“Is he really a rank E?”
“I confirmed it with his licence, obviously! You think I’ll let a complete stranger into my team without confirming his Hunter licence first?”
“Well, then. How do you explain that?”
“….”
Wordlessly observing Jin-Woo, the Foreman Bae nervously swallowed his saliva as excitement dyed his expression.
“Without a doubt….. Mister Seong is the heaven-sent miner.”
Indeed, there was a reason why those rugged, tough-looking chest muscles caught the foreman’s attention back when they were having a short job interview.
‘Yup, I really am good at finding the right people.’
A thick smile spread on the Foreman Bae’s face.
Beep, beep, beep!
An alarm went off from Foreman Bae’s wristwatch. He raised his wrist to confirm the time.
‘Aigoo~. It’s already…..’
It was lunch hour already.
“Everyone, let’s take a break and have lunch.”
“Yes!!”
Everyone dropped their tools and dusted their hands.
While the miners were walking towards the exit in pairs and groups, Jin-Woo showed no hint of moving from the spot. Foreman Bae got closer and asked him.
“Mister Seong? Aren’t you going, too?”
“I’m not feeling all that hungry at the moment.”
“Even then, you should eat something if you plan to continue working in the afternoon.”
“Nah, I’m fine. I did eat my breakfast a bit later than usual, anyway.”
“Really? ….Well, nothing I can do about that, then.”
Bae was planning to talk about the future together with this young man during the lunch break, but that didn’t mean he should forcibly drag the kid away, no?
Foreman Bae ruefully turned around towards the Gate’s exit.
It was at this point that the corners of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up. Watching the distancing backs of the miners, he formed a deep smile.
‘I can’t miss such a wonderful opportunity, right?’
Finally, he was left all alone. Both the mining team and the retrieval team had left the dungeon. For about one hour, he was free to do whatever he wanted.
Meaning, this was the best chance for him to seek out the boss hiding in the deepest part of the dungeon.
Jin-Woo put the pickaxe down, and slowly shifted his gaze to the direction of the boss room. He could still sense the thick aura of the monster.
‘I’ll just go and take a quick look.’
He wasn’t thinking of doing anything at all. No, he just wanted to see what the boss looked like.
Thump, thump, thump…
Just from imagining him seeing the boss, his heart was pounding faster.
Jin-Woo forcibly controlled his wildly-beating heart and walked forward. He moved deeper into the cave, following after the aura of the boss.
And so, just how long did he have to walk?
A long stroll later, he finally arrived at the entrance of a huge chamber. It was the boss room. The cavern itself was already pretty huge, but the boss room was even bigger.
Was every high ranking dungeon as huge as this one? Just as he began wondering like that….
He discovered the boss and automatically accepted that this dungeon simply had to be this big.
‘If a monster like that gets outside….’
His eyes spotted the lone humanoid monster standing still at the far end of the boss room. Jin-Woo’s eyes began gleaming brightly like a young kid who got his hands on a toy he wanted so much as a gift.
‘A giant-type monster.’
He heard a few things about this type of monster before, but this would be his first time looking at one. Because a giant-type monster’s corpse was so huge, it was practically impossible to retrieve it in time, so most people would hardly ever get to see one outside of dungeon breaks.
Such a creature was right over there, and that was causing his heart to palpitate faster and faster.
‘That thing’s really strong.’
The hair on his body was standing up. But, for some reason, he didn’t think for once that hunting that thing down was impossible for him.
‘The current me can…..’
He’d be more than enough. The moment he thought like this, he reflexively swallowed his saliva.
Gulp.
Just how much experience points would he earn by hunting that guy down? By working his a*s off inside the Demon’s Castle, he levelled up 15 times in a week. But, if he could kill one boss and raise his level by 2, 3 times….
‘No, I shouldn’t be doing this.’
Even though he was telling himself he shouldn’t, both the ‘Baruka’s Dagger’ and the ‘Knight Killer’ were summoned into his hands already. More importantly, his expression wasn’t of someone stuck in a dilemma, wondering whether he should do something or not.
Should I just go ahead and do this thing?
A soft but excited grin formed on his lips.
However….
While Jin-Woo stood there deliberating with a smile on his face, a certain woman’s incredibly sharp voice flew at him from his behind.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Chapter 83
Right then, Jin-Woo felt his heart crash down to the pit of his stomach.
‘When did she….?’
He was paying too much attention to the boss and failed to notice that someone had come closer.
‘I’m busted….’
Jin-Woo could only smack his lips in regret.
Tsk.
However, with an eyewitness around, it was no longer possible to stare avariciously at the boss.
The Hunters Guild had purchased the raid permit for his particular dungeon, so naturally, the boss of this place was also a part of their investment.
And, if the boss was killed off, the Gate would close down. The potential losses the Hunters Guild might incur would be a lot, then.
‘I nearly messed up.’
He got blinded by the desire to level up and nearly put his hands on someone else’s property. Jin-Woo regained his bearings and spat out a sigh of relief; meanwhile, the owner of the voice had walked closer.
“I asked you what you were doing.”
Jin-Woo formed an embarrassed smile and turned around to face her.
“I got lost and ended up here.”
“You got lost?!”
She sounded flabbergasted. Only then did Jin-Woo confirm who the owner of the voice was.
‘Huh? Isn’t she….?’
He saw that face just before entering the dungeon, didn’t he?
It was none other than the rank S Hunter Cha Hae-In. As Cha Hae-In slowly closed the distance, she carefully scanned both of Jin-Woo’s hands.
‘I definitely saw him holding weapons just now, though?’
Was she mistaken?
Whatever the case might have been, they had disappeared without a trace.
Cha Hae-In’s gaze scanned the entirety of Jin-Woo, up and down.
‘A hard hat and a worker’s overall….. Is he from our mining team?’
She honestly believed him about getting lost here. She didn’t know how he got this far, but well, the boss room was a very dangerous place to hang around.
Discovering the ‘reason’ was secondary. For now, Cha Hae-In figured that the priority should be on helping this man to leave this place.
“That chamber is where the boss is.”
Cha Hae-In covered her nose with her handkerchief as usual and stood before Jin-Woo.
“Please exit from the dungeon as soon as possible. If you manage to attract its aggro, people inside this dungeon could all die.”
“Ah. I’m sorry.”
It seemed that his acting worked. Jin-Woo formed a satisfied expression and walked past Cha Hae-In. It was then.
‘….Uh?’
Cha Hae-In’s head snapped towards Jin-Woo.
Something impossible just happened.
Cha Hae-In’s eyes opened wide and even before she realised it, she was calling out to him.
“Excuse me. Wait!”
“Yes?”
“Can you take a look at me for a sec?”
What’s gotten into her?
And they said that thieves knew what they did wrong; Jin-Woo was not looking forward to Cha Hae-In coming in close to him. Too bad, she was already standing right in front of his nose.
“What…. what’s the matter?”
He asked with a troubled look on his face, but she didn’t answer and simply proceeded to lightly breathe in the air near him. She had already put away the handkerchief covering her nose.
‘What’s going on here?’
Jin-Woo failed to understand why she was doing this.
‘Wait, why is she suddenly smelling me?’
Jin-Woo began panicking inwardly. However, the state of confusion Cha Hae-In was going through at the moment was several times greater than his.
‘There is no…. stink coming from him.’
This would be her first time meeting another Hunter that didn’t stink.
Cha Hae-In’s surprised eyes stared at Jin-Woo. And a question mark floated above Jin-Woo’s head as his reply.
“Is there some kind of a problem?”
“You… Are you a Hunter for real?”
Was there a need for words here? Jin-Woo pushed forward the Hunter licence hanging on his neck. Cha Hae-In took the licence and her gaze quickly alternated between Jin-Woo’s face and the ID photo.
‘Rank E…. Seong Jin-Woo….’
Was this because his rank was too low?
She could not pick up any type of smell coming from this man named Jin-Woo. No, wait. Actually, a pleasant odour was gently wafting out of him, instead.
Jin-Woo sneakily extracted his licence out of Cha Hae-In’s hand.
“Can I go now?”
“Uhm, well, I….”
Cha Hae-In did call out to Jin-Woo, but then, realised that she had nothing else to say nor had a reason to keep him here.
“…..It’s nothing. Please be careful on your way out. This dungeon is rather large, you see.”
“Ah, of course.”
Jin-Woo lightly nodded his head and turned towards the location of the mining operation. His back soon disappeared around the corner of the cavern.
However, Cha Hae-In’s lingering gaze didn’t shift away from the path Jin-Woo had walked down on.
‘He smelled really nice.’
Hunters of the mining team were returning to the mining operations area one by one after finishing their lunch.
Foreman Bae was walking with a toothpick stuck in between his teeth. Once he saw Jin-Woo appearing from the deeper parts of the dungeon, though, he flinched greatly in shock.
“Uh? Huh?? Mister Seong, why are you coming from there??”
“Oh, that….”
Jin-Woo sneakily shifted his gaze over in the direction of the boss.
‘….I can’t tell him about me stopping by the boss to see what it looks like out of curiosity, right?’
Jin-Woo’s gaze returned to Foreman Bae.
“I got lost while searching for the bathroom, actually.”
“Aigoo! You need to be more careful, young man. Interiors of these dungeons all look the same, so if you get lost inside, it won’t be easy finding your way around! But still, how did you find your way back to here?”
“Oh, I ran into Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim on my way back, so….”
“Ahh, Cha Hunter-nim, was it? She’s probably gone to stand guard by the boss room just in case the boss decides to take a stroll. That lady also worries a lot, maybe as much as you, Mister Seong.”
Foreman Bae guffawed vigorously. It seemed that Jin-Woo being worried about the boss not too long ago had left a deep impression in his mind.
Jin-Woo could only smile wryly.
‘The foreman can laugh like this only because he has no idea how terrifying the boss actually is.’
This was the difference between the Hunters doing these sorts of jobs, and the Hunters working in the assault team.
Cha Hae-In understood very well how dangerous and scary an existence the monsters could be, so she was just being meticulous in those areas that no one else was paying much attention to.
‘I didn’t know there was such a side to her, what with that expressionless face of hers and all.’
If the boss decided to come out of the boss room, the assault team wouldn’t be the ones in danger. No, it would be the workers doing their job, as the raid team would be taking a break outside the dungeon.
And she was sacrificing the allure of sweet rest to stand guard in front of the boss room, just for the sake of total strangers.
‘…..She’s an amazing woman.’
That was Jin-Woo’s honest impression of Cha Hae-In. It was at this point that he suddenly recalled her odd habit.
‘Why was she covering her nose with a handkerchief?’
Thinking back, she never let go of the handkerchief not even once, except for their meeting a few moments ago.
“Foreman?”
“Yeah?”
Foreman Bae remained very friendly whenever Jin-Woo asked him a question, even though it’d be quite reasonable for him to get a bit annoyed by now.
‘Right, the responses were pretty good back when I was doing my job, wasn’t it?’
Indeed, one should strive to do their best in their jobs.
Thanks to his efforts, Jin-Woo could ask about this and that without holding back now. Heck, it was Foreman Bae who urged Jin-Woo to speak, instead.L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l–B1n.
“Mister Seong? You called for me, so how come you ain’t saying a thing?”
“Oh, well, it’s nothing important, but…. By any chance, do you know why Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim walks around with a handkerchief?”
“Oh, that? Well, it’s cuz Hunter Cha is a bit peculiar, you see.”
“A bit peculiar?”
What did he mean by that?
Jin-Woo didn’t have to ask, because Foreman Bae helpfully explained himself first.
“Hunter Cha can supposedly smell a kind of body odour coming from other Hunters. And I hear she finds them pretty horrible.”
“She can smell other Hunters?!”
“I heard something or other about her special constitutions and stuff.”
Her special constitutions, he said.
Jin-Woo also possessed something similar to that – his excellent sense of hearing.
Even from his early years, his hearing could be considered better than average, but once he Awakened, it developed even further.
‘Probably, Cha Hae-In’s sense of smell also got enhanced like mine.’
So, he could more or less understand where she was coming from.
“Well, wouldn’t you agree that she is peculiar?”
Perhaps he enjoyed the sight of Jin-Woo focusing on his words more than he should, because Foreman Bae continued on with his explanations without any prompt from the youth.
“I heard that she finds it really hard to breathe near other Hunters because of the stink.”
“…”
Was that why?
‘….Asking me if I was a Hunter.’
Was it because, unlike other Hunters, he didn’t smell at all?
Back in the Red Gate, the leader of the White Phantoms said something similar.
- Every one of us can hear a certain voice repeating itself in our heads. It tells us to kill humans. However, I can’t hear that voice when I’m looking at you.
Wasn’t this a bit similar in context with what that creature told him? He didn’t have the Hunter-specific stink, and they couldn’t hear the voice telling them to kill him.
‘Because, I’m a Player…..’
A unique existence who had received the advantages of the System.
Just what was this ‘Player’?
The question of his own identity rose up in Jin-Woo’s head, but he shook his head eventually.
‘This isn’t a problem I can figure out now, anyway.’
Jin-Woo emptied his mind. Problems that couldn’t be solved by thinking too hard would only tire him out if he continued to dwell on it.
Crack! Kwack!
It was then, he heard his colleagues getting back to work. So, Jin-Woo also lifted the pickaxe.
‘The rank A boss… I wish I could hunt it down.’
What would he have done if Cha Hae-In didn’t show up in time?
He couldn’t help but wonder.
Thanks to Jin-Woo’s brilliant efforts, the mining team was able to finish their operation well before the dinner time. According to the foreman, they had finished two hours faster than planned.
With that, the looks the fellow miners were giving him had gone through substantial changes.
“Nice work, Mister Seong!”
“You were really good, you know?”
“After seeing all those Mana stones tumbling down, I thought we somehow got ourselves on an excavator or something.”
Hunters surrounding Jin-Woo began praising him one by one. The cold, indifferent eyes before entering the Gate were nowhere to be seen now.
Jin-Woo was also feeling rather pleased with himself. This experience of being a dungeon miner proved to be surprisingly educational, and he also got to achieve the purpose of coming to this rank A dungeon as well.
“Well, let’s get out of here, everyone!”
“Roger that!”
“Let’s go!”
At Foreman Bae’s order, the miners all began moving at the same time.
“One, two!”
“Yu-cha!”
They left behind the retrieval team still suffering through their operation and, after changing out of their overalls, the miners re-gathered in one spot.
Unlike the other miners, who were all full-time employees of the Guild, Jin-Woo’s daily wage was handed to him immediately.
“Here. This is your share, Mister Seong.”
“Ah, thank you.”
While handing over the envelope containing the day’s wage, Foreman Bae sneakily threw in a question as well.
“We’re planning to go and enjoy a drink together, so how about it? Would you like to join us?”
He sounded light and cheery, but his eyes were gleaming in a serious light.
‘Looks like he has something important to say to me, but….’
Jin-Woo could sense the man’s desperation, even. Unfortunately, Jin-Woo declined the invite as tactfully as possible.
“I’m sorry.”
“Mm…. Is that so.”
Foreman Bae scratched his chin.
‘Well, this is a story best told after knocking back a few cold ones, but…’
He hurriedly changed his tactic.
“I’ve met quite a few people while doing this job for many years now.”
“Okay.”
“But, it’s my first time meeting someone like you. You have a natural-born talent to become a miner.”
It seemed that Foreman Bae really liked Jin-Woo here.
‘Haha…. Well, this is….’
All Jin-Woo could do here was to chuckle awkwardly, unable to neither agree or refute that notion. Deciding that the young man’s smile was a good omen, Foreman Bae confidently moved on to the main topic at hand.
“I’d normally not say something like this, but…. Don’t you want to come and work for me full-time? I will definitely not treat you poorly, you see.”
This young man named Seong Jin-Woo.
Even though today was his first day as a miner, he managed to outperform the veterans by three, four times the amount.
If he couldn’t hold on to such outstanding talent, wouldn’t he be a failure of a foreman?
He was even thinking of discussing the matter with the person in charge and have Jin-Woo’s wages paid separately from others. That was how badly he wanted to reel in this young man.
Too bad, Jin-Woo remained resolute.
“Thank you for your kind words, but…. Actually, I’m getting ready for something else at the moment.”
Just a few words from Jin-Woo, and Foreman Bae’s face was forming a dejected expression of a man who had lost his country.
“….R-really?”
Jin-Woo chuckled to himself.
‘What an interesting guy.’
To display his raw emotions so openly like this. More than likely, Foreman Bae must’ve thought that he had discovered an unpolished rough within the E rank.
Foreman Bae pondered something for a bit, before cautiously asking the youth.
“What about tomorrow, then? Can you come to work tomorrow as well?”
“Tomorrow? Hmm…..”
Actually, he didn’t have anything else planned for tomorrow. The re-evaluation was scheduled for the day after, too.
Still, was there a reason for him to take another mining job now? He already got to learn the process of the dungeon conquest, and he even got to witness the rank A boss, too.
However….
‘Wait a minute.’
Just as he was opening his mouth to voice his refusal, a new question quickly entered Jin-Woo’s mind.
“Does that mean Hunters Guild will go on another raid tomorrow?”
“That’s right. And that one’s also a rank A.”
“But, is that even possible? They finished the raid today.”
Normally, a raid team would take about a week off after finishing up a raid.
‘And this raid only started from yesterday afternoon.’
Which meant the elites of the Hunters Guild were raiding this dungeon for two days in a row – yesterday and today.
And by the time they kill the boss after the retrieval operations finally end, it’d be the early dawn. Naturally, Jin-Woo couldn’t understand how there would be another raid tomorrow.
When Jin-Woo displayed a hint of interest, Foreman Bae also got more enthusiastic.
“You see, assault team B will be stepping forward tomorrow, not team A.”
Assault team B?
Could it be that they were thinking of clearing a rank A dungeon with a backup team?
“And this is precisely the power of the Hunters Guild, you see. I mean, we are probably the only Guild in entire South Korea who can conquer rank A dungeons with two different teams.”
Foreman Bae sounded quite proud, then.
“Does Hunters raid dungeons like this all the time?”
“No, no. Now normally, we wouldn’t have to split up the teams like that. But it looks like the schedule got overlapped this time.”
Because two rank A Gates appeared around the same time in the district the Hunters Guild operated in, Chairman Choi Jong-In had to sweat a lot in order to get the permits for both of them, apparently.
‘Ah. So, the reason for running into Chairman Choi in the Association yesterday was this….’
Someone as busy as Choi Jong-In wouldn’t just randomly show up in the Association for no reason whatsoever.
Jin-Woo nodded his head.
“Okay, so does that mean it’ll be your first time trying to raid the dungeon with the B team?”
“That’s right. However, the B team of the Hunters isn’t your regular backup team, okay? They are even better than the A team of some of the other large Guilds, I’ll have you know.”
“Still, it should be far more dangerous than today, yes?”
Foreman Bae became speechless, then.
Because, that would be quite obvious.
In today’s raid, two rank S Hunters participated. On the other hand, only the rank As and below would try to raid the dungeon tomorrow.
Sure, he heard that the size of tomorrow’s Gate was smaller than the one today, but still, losing two rank S Hunters was a big blow, indeed.
After all, Mister Seong was worried about the boss monster, even when the assault team featuring two rank S Hunters were nearby.
‘Doesn’t mean I can lie to the kid, now is it?’
Foreman Bae was thinking of changing the youth’s mind tomorrow while working beside him, but realising that he had failed, he expressed some regret.
“Yes, it’ll get more dangerous, for sure. If something goes wrong, then the raid itself might fail, too.”
It was here that the light in Jin-Woo’s eyes changed.
Chapter 84
Jin-Woo didn’t ponder for long before speaking up.
“I see.”
“If that’s what you think, then there’s not much I can do.”
“Where should I show up tomorrow?”
“….Eh?”
After hearing this unexpected reply, Foreman Bae’s eyes went extra round in shock.
‘Wait, I haven’t made a mistake just now with what I said, right?’
Didn’t he definitely say that tomorrow was going to be more dangerous than today?
Mister Seong’s expression wasn’t so good after hearing Bae’s story, so the older man was just about ready to forget about the matter completely. However, what was the meaning of this?
Thanks to this youth, it looked like Bae wouldn’t have to worry about finding another miner for tomorrow.
‘Is that all??’
Mister Seong could easily do the work of four or five people all by himself. And that was on his first day, too.
The boy’s work speed that even managed to impress the ‘ace’ of the mining team, Mok Jin-Su, was indeed pretty shocking the first time Bae witnessed it.
From Jin-Woo’s declaration that he’d come tomorrow, Foreman Bae felt like he had gained a powerful, trustworthy ally and he was filled up with lots of confidence.
“Mister Seong, you made the right choice!”
Foreman Bae’s moustache quivered as he formed a blindingly brilliant smile. And then, to make sure that Jin-Woo’s mind wouldn’t change overnight, he even came up with an unprecedented offer, too.
“I’ll have a good chat with the person in charge, and make sure that you get double the normal daily wages tomorrow.”
“Will that be okay?”
“Of course. You think I won’t be able to do that much for you, Mister Seong?”
Foreman Bae confidently pounded on his chest.
“Mister Seong, don’t you worry about a thing and just come to work tomorrow.”
Quite obviously, who would sweat over paying twice as much in daily wages to a guy capable of doing the work of 4-5 people?
If Bae was the Chairman, never mind double, he’d triple – no, maybe even more with an eye towards the future.
‘Didn’t expect myself to rue the day that I’m not the Chairman of the Hunters….’
Foreman Bae could only swallow back his laughter.
Jin-Woo asked him a question, then.
“Ahh, right. I promised to meet someone tomorrow evening, so will I be able to make that in time?”
Earlier this morning, Yu Jin-Ho gave him a call.
- “Hyung-nim, can I come and speak to you?”
For some reason, he sounded worn out.
‘That kid was on the top of the world yesterday, saying that everything had worked out alright, yet today…..’
Jin-Woo was taken by surprise, but unfortunately, the call came only after he had already applied to become a miner. He had no choice but to delay the meeting until tomorrow evening.
Foreman Bae chuckled out loudly.
“From what I hear, tomorrow’s dungeon should be much smaller in scale then today’s one. So, we should be finished well before 6 o’clock.”
Weren’t they able to finish today’s work around five PM today? They should be even faster tomorrow, not the other way around.
Jin-Woo nodded his head. That would be fine for him, too.
“In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Alright. Take care.”
Watching Jin-Woo turn around and walk away, a satisfied grin formed on Foreman Bae’s lips.
‘If I did marry, I’d probably have a son around his age by now.’
Why did that boy’s back look so wide and trustworthy? How wonderful would it be if the world was filled with newbies as excellent as Mister Seong?
A thick smile refused to leave Foreman Bae’s lips.
However, he wasn’t the only one smiling.
While walking towards the bus stop, an imperceptible smile was floating on Jin-Woo’s lips, too.
‘Well, it’s not like I’m wishing for the raid team to make a blunder tomorrow, but….’
But, if something were to happen, then his existence would prove to be a huge help either to the raid team or to the mining team.
It wasn’t as if he had a change of heart, either.
Perhaps ironically, the success rate for clearing rank A Gates was actually greater than those of the lower ranks.
‘For one, the Association doesn’t hand over the permit to any ol’ Guilds, and….’
And, once the Guild was given the opportunity, they would commit all of their resources and try to conquer the dungeon, too.
However….
‘The Hunters Guild isn’t committing their everything in tomorrow’s dungeon raid.’
To think, they’d have the balls to split a single assault team into two and prey on two separate rank A Gates at the same time. That was some confidence befitting the holder of the top spot in their profession.Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l–B1n.
But, it was undeniable that the accompanying risk was incredibly high, too.
‘Regardless of what happens, I won’t lose out either way.’
If they managed to complete the raid safely, that’d be the best for everyone involved. On the other hand, if an accident did occur, he’d assist the Hunters Guild, but in return, he would get to monopolise the high-ranked monsters by himself.
‘Very good.’
A deeper smile formed on Jin-Woo’s face as he climbed into the bus.
Late at night.
Cha Hae-In was tossing and turning in her bed.
‘Why is he different from others?’
Occupied by various thoughts regarding the man she met back in the boss room, she couldn’t fall asleep at all.
After Awakening her abilities roughly two years ago, she ran into many, many Hunters but there had never been an exception. Whenever she approached Hunters, or to be more specific, the Awakened, a deeply unpleasant stink assaulted her nose.
At first, she thought she was sick, so she went to see various doctors. However, she made no progress in that regard.
One of the doctors she went to see cautiously told her of his hypothesis.
-
- Could it be possible that you, Cha Hunter-nim, can sense other’s magic energy through your olfactory senses?
That guess certainly held some merit; the stink would get worse the higher the rank of a Hunter was. And sure enough, the lower the rank, the more tolerable the stink was, too. Of course, regular people didn’t emit any stink whatsoever.
However…..
‘….This is the first time meeting someone with a pleasant smell.’
Recalling the events of earlier, her heart began beating a bit faster.
She became quite curious who that man could be, so as soon as the raid ended, she connected to the Association’s website and searched for his details.
Rank E.
Seong Jin-Woo.
The information on the man, as seen on the Hunter licence, could be seen on the screen.
‘There are no contact details….’
But then again, what would she even do after finding out about his contact info?
Realising that there was nothing more she could glean from the Association’s website, she then ended up calling the phone number of Joh Myoung-Ki, the manager of the recruitment department. She didn’t even mean to do that, though.
- “What’s going on? Cha Hunter-nim, did something happen at this late hour?”
It was already well past one AM by the time she called him.
He wouldn’t have answered the phone if it wasn’t from South Korea’s sole female rank S Hunter, who also happened to be the Vice Chairman of the Hunters Guild.
She couldn’t help but think that she made a mistake after hearing the still-sleepy voice of Joh Myoung-Ki, but that lasted only for a short while.
Cha Hae-In opened her mouth with some difficulty.
“Can you find some information on a Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo?”
- “I beg your pardon? Wait, are you talking about the rank E Hunter currently working for the Association?”
Cha Hae-In was taken in by a huge surprise.
Joh Myoung-Ki was none other than the man in charge of recruiting in South Korea’s best Guild. So, why did a man like that remember the name of a rank E Hunter?
“Do you know who he is?”
- “Ah, the thing is…. Actually, Chairman Choi has requested me yesterday to do the same thing as you have, you see. He asked me to uncover more information on that person.”
“Chairman did that?”
- “Yes, miss.”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
- “Well, even I don’t…..”
“…So, what did you find out?”
A voice that was thick with a helpless sigh came out of the phone’s speaker.
- “I did my best to uncover more, but the Association has placed a lockdown on his information. It’s my first time encountering a situation like this, them blocking the flow of all information on a regular Hunter. He’s not even a top-ranked Hunter, either….”
“Ah…..”
- “But, why are you looking for him, Cha Hunter-nim? Is there something I should assist you with?”
“No, it’s fine. I’m sorry for calling you so late. Good night.”
Click.
….Those were the contents of the phone call she made three hours ago.
She worked up her courage to find out more about a guy, only for more questions to bubble up in her mind.
A mystery Hunter whose identity was being sought after by the leader of the Hunters Guild, while the Association was doing their best to hide it.
‘There’s definitely something going on here.’
No, wait. There simply had to be something….
She earnestly prayed for it.
He could very well be the person to unravel the mysterious and special constitution that continued to torment her ever since she turned 21 – two years ago, when she had Awakened her powers.
‘That man, can I meet him again?’
Could it be that she’d never get to see him again?
She was beset with worry all of a sudden.
Thankfully, Cha Hae-In recalled Seong Jin-Woo’s hard hat. She remembered that the hard hat and the overall he was wearing both spotted the emblem of the Hunters Guild.
‘I remember now. He was in the mining team, wasn’t he?’
Unlike her, who was the part of the raid team A, the mining team would be working later today as well.
If Seong Jin-Woo hadn’t left the mining team, then there was a chance that she could meet him again.
‘Let’s go and take a look.’
Since she was the Vice Chairman of the Guild, it’d not be a strange thing for her to stop by at the raid location.
‘Right, I’ll just show up there as if nothing’s wrong, and see whether that man came to work or not.’
….But, why? As soon as she thought about the possibility of seeing that suspicious Hunter again, she felt much more relaxed.
‘If I want to do that, I gotta get some sleep first.’
For the sake of today’s schedule, Cha Hae-In forced her unwilling eyes to close.
Even before the morning sun rose up.
Jin-Woo left for the meeting area first thing in the morning. It was different from yesterday, when he had some leeway, as he only joined the crew during the middle of the raid.
‘Maybe, I shouldn’t have worried.’
He was worried about whether he was too early or not, but…
Well, many Hunters had gathered before the Gate already by the time he got there.
“Uh? Uhh?? Hey, Mister Seong!! Seong!”
Foreman Bae Yun-Seok greeted him first.
“Hey, it’s Mister Seong.”
“Heyyy, man. Mister Seong!”
Other Hunters began greeting him with a slight nod, and some even raised their hands as high as their chest to greet Jin-Woo, which was quite different from yesterday.
The work each of the miners did was important, so they’d wholeheartedly welcome a colleague with great skills any time. From the expressions of the Hunters of the mining team, their delight could clearly be seen.
‘This is a bit… awkward.’
Jin-Woo had been subjected to poor treatment ever since becoming a rank E Hunter, so when he received such a warm welcome, he couldn’t help be dazed somewhat.
Still, he didn’t feel bad about their honest reactions.
“….”
Jin-Woo wordlessly lowered his head as his greeting.
“One, two, threeee….”
Foreman Bae counted the number of miners present today and jotted it down on the memo.
“Eighteen, Nineteen…. Well, it’s almost everyone.”
This should be more than enough. Well, it was fine for one or two to miss out on a day like today.
‘Because, we have two aces in our midst now.’
Foreman Bae’s gaze met those of Mok Jin-Su and Seong Jin-Woo. Bae grinned like a fool, causing Mok Jin-Su to hurriedly avert his gaze, while Seong Jin-Woo was tilting his head in confusion.
It was then.
“Excuse me, Foreman Bae.”
“Argh?! You surprised me!”
Foreman Bae flinched and shuddered grandly from the voice suddenly coming from his side.
Moving around without revealing one’s presence was clear evidence of one’s excellent skills.
And as expected….
The one Foreman Bae’s resentful gaze was directed to was the leader of today’s raid team, Sohn Ki-Hoon.
“Aigoo…. My heart nearly stopped from fright just now, Sohn Hunter-nim.”
“My apologies. It’s a bad habit I picked up from working in the dungeons for too long.”
Sohn Ki-Hoon grinned sheepishly.
It was then, the foreman of the retrieval team suddenly revealed himself from behind Sohn Ki-Hoon.
“An old man not acting his age…”
“What the? Even you? Why would you two be here where the mining team is?”
“What do you mean, why? We are here because we’ve got business with you, obviously.”
Foreman Bae stared at Sohn Ki-Hoon with a puzzled expression.
Meanwhile, Sohn Ki-Hoon was scanning the Hunters of the mining team as he opened his mouth.
“The thing is, our team’s porter decided to not show up today. Looks like I’ll have to borrow someone from the mining team.”
“Ehhh?”
Foreman Bae’s eyes went round in surprise.
“But, why from my team? When you got the retrieval team with lots of strong people who can carry luggage better than us….?”
As if he was waiting for that reply, the foreman of the retrieval team flew off his handle.
“My boys had to work overtime for three more hours just to finish our operation. They even missed dinner, too! But now, you want to use them as a porter, too?”
The reason why the retrieval team had to put in overtime while missing supper – because the mining team had finished their operation far too early. (TL note at the end)
‘Well, it’s true that we finished our operation which should’ve normally ended around seven in the evening, by around five o’clock all thanks to Mister Seong….’
When the foreman of the retrieval team glared daggers with veins popping up in his neck, Foreman Bae forgot what he wanted to say.
Perhaps he thought that this would be enough of an explanation, Sohn Ki-Hoon then addressed the miners.
“Is there anyone among you who wish to accompany the raid team? Once the raid is over, we will furnish you the additional hazard pay immediately.”
“…..”
Soh Ki-Hoon’s pleading eyes darted from here to there, but no one stepped forward. Either they looked down on the ground, or stared at the heavens, deliberately avoiding meeting his gaze.
That would be obvious, really.
‘I ain’t gonna risk my neck for a couple more bucks.’
‘Won’t do it, even if you beat me up….’
The highest ranked Hunter among the mining team was only a rank C. Most of them were rank Ds. Heck, they even had a rank E among them, too.
However, the place Sohn Ki-Hoon wanted to take them to was a rank A dungeon, seen as perhaps the most dangerous of the lot, realistically speaking.
The miners would still hesitate greatly even if the dungeon in question was rated B, yet it was an A!
Even a gentle graze would kill these Hunters in there. No, just stepping on the wrong spot would result in one’s death.
That dungeon was not a place where low ranked Hunters could survive.
Sure, porters only had to lug around the raid team’s gear, but still…. Compared to the job of mining, it was still far too dangerous.
“Is there… no one?”
Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression became more and more crestfallen.
Who knew how much more time and effort he needed to waste in order to find another porter? Probably the whole morning, or even till the afternoon; or, if he was really unlucky, then the entire day might go down the drain.
‘This is going to be big trouble….’
It was at this point when his eyes met with a certain young Hunter’s.
‘…Uh?’
Unlike other Hunters, this guy was staring right back at him. It was, of course, Jin-Woo.
‘Hmm…..’
While Sohn Ki-Hoon was staring at him, Jin-Woo too was slowly scanning that man’s appearance.
‘Isn’t he a bit sharp for a tanker?’
Common sense dictated that the leaders of raid teams were ‘tankers’ most of the time.
Compared to other tankers, though, Sohn Ki-Hoon was a bit on the lankier side. He was also quite tall, so, rather than a Hunter, he looked more like a basketball player more than anything else.
‘…….’
Jin-Woo finally stopped looking at Sohn Ki-Hoon and his eyes drifted away.
“….Fuu-ha….”
Only then did Sohn Ki-Hoon spit out his deeply-held breaths.
What just happened?
Just now, his entire body had frozen up so much that he even forgot to breathe. He couldn’t understand why.
‘Am I getting too tense, since this will be my first raid as a leader and all?’
Up until now, he had participated in raids as an auxiliary tanker. That was why today’s opportunity was doubly important to him. And he definitely could not afford to commit a blunder today.
Sohn Ki-Hoon was bent over and panting laboriously in order to recover, before raising himself back up again.
Murmur, murmur….
Probably because of his rather embarrassing conduct, the surroundings had gotten noisier. However, he soon realised that the cause for the disturbance was not him.
Sohn Ki-Hoon’s gaze shifted back to the mining team’s Hunters, only to spot a hand raised up to the sky.
Finally, someone was applying for the job. Someone he had been waiting so desperately for.
Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression brightened considerably.
When Jin-Woo took a step forward, he became the centre of the attention.
“I’ll do it.”
Chapter 85
A rank E Hunter wanted to enter an uncleared rank A dungeon!
Pure pandemonium broke out.
“Upper-rank monsters are waiting with bated breath inside, yet you wanna go in??”
“Mister Seong, what do you think you’re doing?!”
“You still have a whole life ahead of you, so why are you risking it all for a measly few extra bucks?!”
The members of the mining team surrounded Jin-Woo in no time. At the same time, Foreman Bae hurriedly explained it to Sohn Ki-Hoon.
“Aigoo. That friend only started this job yesterday so he probably raised his hand not knowing anything.”
“What’s his rank?”
“That is….”
Foreman Bae sneaked a glance towards Jin-Woo and then, spoke in a hushed voice.
“It’s E. Regardless of what else, his rank is too low, so how about going with someone else? It’ll be far too dangerous to take that friend along with you.”
Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression became grave right away.
‘That man is only a rank E….??’
The man who locked gazes with him only a second ago – for sure, he couldn’t sense any exceptional fluctuation of magic energy coming from that man.
However, how should he put this?
A certain aura permeated from that man that… couldn’t be described in simple words, but at the same time, it also felt sharp and utterly under control.
‘He’s definitely not a rank E.’
No matter how hard Sohn Ki-Hoon looked, that man was definitely not the bottom-ranked Hunter he claimed to be. Of course, Foreman Bae had no reason to lie here but, from Sohn Ki-Hoon’s perspective, his own assessment had to be correct.
‘Besides all that. The rank of a porter isn’t all that important, is it?’
Indeed, a porter only needed to carry luggage around well.
If the luggage carrier located at the very back of the raid team found himself in danger, then one should look at that raid as a complete failure. In a case like that, not even a rank A could guarantee his survival, so would it really matter if the porter’s rank was a C or an E?
They’d die regardless, anyway.
When Sohn Ki-Hoon’s thought process reached that point, he began regretting the fact that he actually wasted time worrying about it. The raid hadn’t even started, yet they had wasted far too much time already.
Sohn Ki-Hoon stared at Jin-Woo and spoke.
“Nope. I’m taking him.”
“Isn’t it heavy?”
Sohn Ki-Hoon asked a question, and Jin-Woo simply shook his head.
“No, it’s fine.”
The large bag being carried on Jin-Woo’s back was filled to the brim with extra sets of clothing, weapons, and defensive equipment, etc., for the raid team. Its volume was quite considerable, but honestly speaking, he didn’t find it heavy at all. All thanks to his Strength Stat, of course.
‘Doesn’t look like he’s straining himself.’
After studying Jin-Woo’s expression for a bit, Sohn Ki-Hoon turned towards the Gate. Jin-Woo also shifted his gaze towards it.
A giant Gate, as big as the one from yesterday, silently floated in the air.
‘Wait. Maybe this one’s a little bit bigger?’
Even then, the detected amount of magic energy was supposedly less than yesterday’s Gate. The raid difficulty was judged by the emitted magic energy and not the size of the Gate; that was probably the main reason why the B team was tasked with clearing this particular dungeon.
‘For real… the leaking magic energy is incomparably smaller than yesterday.’
Jin-Woo could tell by standing in front of the Gate. The result of the Association’s measurement didn’t seem to be wrong.
But then, what was this?
Just like back when he was standing before the Red Gate, a certain creeping sense of ill omen was dawning on him.
‘….I hope it’s nothing.’
Meanwhile, Sohn Ki-Hoon gave out his order.
“Let’s go inside.”
The raid team waiting in front of the Gate began moving once more with that order. Hunters entered the dungeon one by one.
“….”
Jin-Woo stopped staring at the Gate and followed them in.
[You have entered a dungeon.]
The interior of the dungeon was rather plain.
Jin-Woo had been tense after picking up on that odd feeling, but he let off a sigh of relief after seeing the passage that was noticeably smaller than yesterday’s dungeon.
‘Whew.’
Thankfully, he wasn’t forcibly transported to another world.
The thing was, though, the members of this team were plenty good enough to clear a Red Gate, were they to step into one.
11 rank As, and 6 rank Bs.
If it weren’t the Hunters Guild but somebody else, these guys wouldn’t have been assigned to a B team at all.
Jin-Woo smirked softly.
‘I’m not here as a part of the raid team anyway. Let’s not sweat over stuff like this.’
Yesterday and today….
If he were being honest, he only came here to have fun. And as coincidence would have it, he was now blessed with more things to spectate on today.
There was no need to stay sharp and alert all the time.
When he thought like that, he felt as if weight was lifted off his shoulders.
“You don’t have to be that nervous, you know.”
A female Hunter, a Healer, engaged him in conversation from his side.
Was her age around the late twenties or so?
Because his expression was stiff, it seemed that she just wanted to help alleviate some of his tension.
“You see, every single member present here, not just Ki-Hoon oppa, oops, I mean, the leader of the team, is a distinguished Hunter. Except me, that is.”
The healer lady smiled refreshingly.
From the word go, Jin-Woo wasn’t scared, but after seeing the female Hunter’s utterly relaxed face, he felt like a deflated balloon.
Jin-Woo grinned too, and nodded his head.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.
“Ah. Okay.”
The Healer formed a content expression, evidently satisfied by her efforts.
At the same time, the leader confirmed that there were no monsters near the entrance and gave the signal to advance.
“Let’s move.”
Both Jin-Woo and the Healer matched the walking pace of the raid team and slowly advanced forward. They had to watch the surroundings while moving, so naturally, their rate of progress was rather slow.
“Should I help you carry some, if it’s too heavy?”
The Healer glanced at Jin-Woo’s luggage and asked him. Jin-Woo wordlessly pushed forward a huge bottle of water in his left hand to her.
“Kyachk?!”
The Healer tottered dangerously on her feet trying to lift that, so he quickly took the bottle back. The raid team came to an abrupt stop and glared at the Healer.
“I’m so sorry. Sorry.”
The Healer continued to bow her head here and there, offering an embarrassed apology. After that, he didn’t get to hear her asking him if he needed help again. Her sharp glares were just an added bonus, really.
Jin-Woo had to swallow his cackles as he continued to walk forward, pretending to be oblivious.
It sure felt like it’d been a long time since he could laugh like this inside a dungeon.
‘Well, getting distracted even only for a second would potentially get me in a lot of trouble, after all.’
Especially recently…..
Just remembering back to the difficulty of the ‘Demon’s Castle’ and its upper floors made him shudder in his boots.
However, today was different. Participating in a raid as an outsider like this every now and then didn’t sound like such a bad idea to him.
It was then.
Jin-Woo’s steps came to a halt.
A beat later, the Hunters of the raid team also sensed the change in the surroundings.
“They are coming!”
Even before Sohn Ki-Hoon finished giving his order, the Hunters of the raid team got into their battle formation. It happened literally in the blink of an eye. Jin-Woo was inwardly impressed by that.
‘So, this is how the high-ranked Hunters raid….’
They were definitely a world apart compared to the ragtag raid teams he was used to until now. Heck, pure and bright lights were already emanating from the hands of the naive-looking female Healer.
‘Looks like I won’t even get a chance to step up here.’
On one hand, Jin-Woo felt reassured, but at the same time, he did feel a bit rueful as well.
In any case, monsters finally showed themselves.
Beasts? Canines?
Sohn Ki-Hoon’s eyes narrowed to a slit.
Tadatadatadatada….
A group of monsters resembling hyenas was rushing towards the raid team. They were as big as a medium-sized car, too.
Sohn Ki-Hoon tilted his head slightly.
‘Dungeon Jackals?’
He became sure of it once they got close enough. They were indeed ‘Dungeon Jackals.’
Sohn Ki-Hoon had been standing with his shield covering his front, but then, he relaxed a bit and didn’t even bother to activate his aggro-attracting skill.
And then, he simply used his shield to batter down the Dungeon Jackal aiming for his neck.
Whimper!!
“What’s this?”
“Aren’t they Dungeon Jackals?”
Other team members, deeply tense until then, began tilting their heads and straightened their hunched stances. Soon, the short death throes of the Dungeon Jackals filled the cavern’s interior.
“Whimper?!”
“Kkheng!”
“Kkhekkheng!”
The Jackal monsters were quickly taken care of.
Over a dozen Dungeon Jackals were turned into corpses in the blink of an eye. Hunters dusted their hands, still confused by what happened.
“What’s this?”
“I didn’t even have enough time to cast a magic spell before it ended.”
“Why are we fighting Dungeon Jackals inside a rank A dungeon?”
“Yeah, right. What’s happening here?”
“Wait, did the Association idiots screw up again?!”
Their voices were getting louder.
Now originally, one of the basic rules in raiding was to never make loud noises inside a dungeon. However, the appearance of the Dungeon Jackals was an event shocking enough to make them forget all about even a simple rule like that.
“Hmm….”
Sohn Ki-Hoon stared at the corpses of the Jackals and scratched the back of his head.
‘But, why are the monsters from rank C dungeons appearing here?’
Sohn Ki-Hoon scanned his surroundings, looking somewhat dumbfounded. Everyone else was forming similar facial expressions.
With the exception of one person.
Only Jin-Woo was staring at the dead Jackals with a grave expression on his face.
‘They are no normal Jackals.’
Jin-Woo’s eyes narrowed. He could definitely see that the fur around the Jackal’s neck had been flattened down by something until recently. It was clear evidence of them being tied to something, somewhere.
‘Meaning, the ones that reared these monsters are somewhere else inside this dungeon….’
Monsters with intellect, in other words.
Jin-Woo recalled the White Phantoms he met back inside the Red Gate.
It was now a well-established fact that, regardless of what species it was, intelligent monsters were quite difficult to deal with.
‘Somehow… my premonition might be right after all.’
It was not a good omen, by any stretch of the imagination.
“What are you thinking about so seriously like that?”
The female Hunter peered at Jin-Woo as if to bore a hole in him, just like how he had been staring at the Jackals.
“Shh!”
Jin-Woo raised his index finger and covered his lips.
Step, step.
Step, step.
From the deeper parts of the cave, he could hear the matched footsteps getting closer.
‘The real enemies are coming.’
Jin-Woo stood back up. Other Hunters also belatedly realised something was wrong.
“Oh my god…”
“Get….. Get ready for battle!”
Sohn Ki-Hoon forcibly squeezed his voice out.
Finally, the real enemies revealed themselves from the darkness of the cave on the far side. The eyes of the Hunters grew wide from shock.
“High Orcs?!”
“What the hell? Why High Orcs?”
Many well-trained High Orc warriors now stood in rows before the Hunters’ eyes. Their number was twenty-two.
Not just any High Orcs, but they were twenty-two High Orc warriors, which meant they would be very difficult opponents to fight.
“Something… Something’s wrong.”
Someone muttered softly under his breath.
To think, right after the attack of the low-ranked monsters, they now had to battle these high-ranked monsters famed to be the toughest even among the high ranks.
The High Orcs pointed their lengthy spears at the Hunters.
‘Looks like the momentum of the Hunters and the High Orcs are about even.’
Jin-Woo quickly retreated to a corner, so he could quietly observe the unfolding situation and find the right time to step forward.
However, the female Hunter obviously didn’t share his thought process.
“You gotta keep hiding there, okay! You won’t get hurt that way.”
That kind of infuriated Jin-Woo just a wee bit. He closed his eyes shut and took several deep breaths while working hard to calm his boiling head.
Soon, the battle began.
“Kroooaaar!!”
Towards the attacking High Orcs, Sohn Ki-Hoon activated his aggro skill. However, these Orcs didn’t really fall for his provocation. And soon, High Orcs and melee-type Hunters engaged in a bitter close-quarters battle.
Swiiiish!!
Swish!
Crack!!
Blood splattered to everywhere and a scream reverberated out.
“Uwaaahk!!”
Not too long after that, magic spells fired from the mage-type Hunters slammed into the High Orcs.
Boom!! Kaboom!!
The heads of the High Orcs exploded after getting struck by the arrows of brilliant light. Unfortunately, there was no follow-up attack.
The effects of magic spells were good, but there was the distinct disadvantage of the lengthy casting time.
“Uwaaahk?!”
In a close-quarters battle, High Orcs definitely held the upper hand.
“Heal! Heal!!”
“H-hurry!”
The wounded appeared pretty quickly, and Healers were kept very busy.
“….H-Healer-nim!!”
The female Healer was also kept very busy, running here and there non-stop.
“I’m coming!! Coming!”
The female Healer knelt down next to a heavily-groaning Hunter with a missing arm. She then quickly began chanting.
Wuoong….
And then, along with blinding light, the lost arm slowly grew back.
That was the light of regeneration only the Healers ranked A or above could perform.
Just as she concentrated on the injuries of her patient, a tall shadow suddenly loomed over her. The female Healer raised her head.
A High Orc, previously assumed dead, was holding an axe while breathing heavily right beside her.
“Ah…..”
The female Healer’s face was drained of all colour, then. Unfortunately, there was no one who could save her nearby.
When the Orc raised its axe up high, the female Healer chose to hug her patient and shield him, instead.
“Noooo!!”
However, she couldn’t feel any pain, no matter how long she waited.
Each passing second felt like a minute or more.
The female Healer sheepishly raised her head up. And she got to witness a rather amazing sight.
“Keu…. Kuehhck…..”
The Orc was actually floating in the air, its entire body trembling quite noticeably.
“But, what…..?”
What was happening here?
The female Healer’s eyes opened even wider.
But then…
Snap!
The head of the High Orc was literally ripped off of its body, and then, even the part of its spine got dragged out, as well.
Now that was a display of terrifying power.
Plop.
‘……..??’
While staring at the headless body of the High Orc now on the ground, the female Hunter formed a totally confused expression.
“Uh….?!”
Because, the separated head of the High Orc was still floating in the air, that was why.
‘….Blood got splashed on my clothes.’
Jin-Woo frowned deeply and threw the head of the High Orc.
Pow!
Another High Orc was struck down rather unexpectedly by the head of its comrade and collapsed to the ground. Seeing that the victim’s neck was twisted around in a bizarre angle, it coming back to life didn’t seem very likely.
‘That makes it two.’
Jin-Woo shifted his gaze.
Currently, he was in ‘Stealth’. Both the High Orcs and the Hunters couldn’t sense his presence at all.
Jin-Woo had been sitting back quietly, waiting for a right chance to step forward, because he feared being accused of interfering in other people’s raid. But then, he belatedly recalled that he had the ‘Stealth’ skill.
Wouldn’t he be able to do whatever he wanted without running into problems with that skill?
The corners of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up.
‘Okay, so should I get started for real now?’
And then.
“Uwaaaah-!!”
Just in time, he spotted the leader of the raid team, Sohn Ki-Hoon, engaged in a life-or-death battle with three High Orcs.
Jin-Woo’s legs moved swiftly.
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