The less they explained, the more curious Kim Chan became.
Kim Chan watched with curious eyes as the brown smoke, carried by Ris’s wind, spread wide.
The gas, concentrated inside a small flask, was so abundant that the brown smoke evenly dispersed among the Wyverns.
“Kiiik!”
“Kiiik!”
The poison’s effect manifested immediately.
The Wyverns, which had been circling erratically in midair to avoid ground attacks, began thrashing violently.
The riders tried to control the Wyverns by pulling on the reins, but the more they struggled, the more intense and dizzying the beasts’ thrashing became.
Crunch
“Hey, you don’t mean to say…”
Kim Chan’s face paled as the brown rain poured from the sky.
The scene unfolding before his eyes was one he didn’t want to believe, even while witnessing it.
A pungent stench pierced through his nose and hammered into his head, causing Kim Chan to cover his nose and stagger.
“Beee!” (What on earth is this smell!)
Ber, transformed into a phoenix, flapped his massive wings repeatedly.
The ominous clapping sounds echoed at that moment.
“Ber! Stop using your ability!”
From above, the Wyverns were dropping their excrement like hail. The stench was unbearable.
It was so bad that the dungeon filled with smoke rising from the monster’s feces.
This wasn’t just any poison; the situation was turning into a chemical nightmare.
Ber’s flames could easily ignite an explosion under these conditions.
Pwoom Pwoom
People scattered, urgently taking cover beneath large rocks scattered throughout the dungeon.
“Por!” (Ber, you little troublemaker!)
Roy and the others nearby were protected by Aqua.
The ice dome Aqua created wrapped around the group.
“Ugh… You really…”
The ice dome was transparent, but Kim Chan couldn’t hide his rising nausea at the sight of the brown clumps falling thickly on top of it, covering everything. He covered his mouth.
“Ris, please help with the smell.”
Although trying to appear calm, Roy’s complexion was also pale.
He was a seasoned veteran, but this was the first time he had seen Wyverns raining down feces from the sky.
“Was this supposed to be a poison or a laxative?”
Kim Chan looked at Song Doyoon incredulously.
The latter had bragged about using a powerful drug but it turned out to be a laxative.
“Didn’t you see the Wyverns immediately taking dumps? This isn’t just any laxative; it’s a deadly poison!”
Song Doyoon was feeling unjustly accused. His painstakingly developed drug wasn’t receiving the reaction he expected.
“Look! They’re still not coming to their senses.”
The Wyverns continued flying wildly, emptying their guts completely. Some riders atop the Wyverns had slumped, unable to hold on any longer, overcome by the horrendous stench which was as potent as poison.
Squish Squish
“Ugh…”
The once transparent ice dome quickly turned brown.
It didn’t take long before Kim Jaewoo turned away and vomited.
When the Wyverns first appeared, Kim Chan had expected an epic, magnificent battle.
But reality was different.
Now, they were all crouched down, dodging Wyvern feces.
“You’re really something else… You’re the craziest person I’ve ever seen.”
“Thanks for the compliment. I grew up hearing that a lot.”
Kim Chan, his hair soaked with cold sweat and slicked back, shook his head and slapped his cheek with some force to clear his foggy mind.
“When will the effect wear off?”
Roy was coming back to his senses. The more he dealt with Song Doyoon, the more unpredictable he became.
Although it was disgusting beyond words, the Wyvern Unit’s combat effectiveness had clearly dropped.
‘Had they ever imagined the Wyverns would collectively inhale a laxative mid-battle?’
“Around ten minutes, give or take.”
Song Doyoon was the first to test new poisons on himself.
It was the most pitiful sight to see someone addicted to their own poison, so he always built resistance first.
He had never experimented on high-level monsters like Wyverns before, but based on past experience, the effect usually lasted between eight and twelve minutes.
“The smell isn’t as bad, so it’s somewhat bearable…”
Kim Chan looked around.
Thanks to Roy’s ice dome and Ris’s wind, he was breathing fresh air instead of the terrible stench.
Now that his mind was clearer, he worried about the others.
“I wonder if Ha-jun is crying again.”
His chubby cheeks were probably soaked with tears.
“Watch your backs. Everyone’s probably grinding their teeth.”
“Is that so?”
Despite the poison’s strength incapacitating the Wyverns, this was also an attack on their own troops.
Song Doyoon scratched his head, worried about Kim Chan’s comment.
“No one will believe me if I say it wasn’t me, right?”
“Yeah.”
Song Doyoon was the only poison alchemist in the group.
Everyone must have seen the brown smoke spreading among the Wyverns, so it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who did this.
“Can you call the others over here?”
Roy was equally worried about the others and asked the production crew.
The participants didn’t have communication devices to contact each other.
However, the production crew was with each participant and could communicate with each other in real time.
The participants’ levels had risen, and they could no longer ask the crew for help with difficult tasks, but the crew could still handle essential communication.
“I think we need some maintenance. If this continues, no one will be able to fight properly.”
The whole area was a mess of excrement.
As with Kim Jaewoo vomiting, anyone with a weak stomach might not be able to take a single step forward.
“Understood.”
The crew contacted headquarters, which would notify the others immediately.
“P-please save us…”
Soon after, zombie-like figures gathered around the ice dome.
Kim Jaemin was the first to appear.
Unluckily, excrement had fallen on his hair, face, and upper body, staining them brown.
His tearful face was pitiful beyond words.
“Now do you understand? How terrible your actions were.”
“Yeah. I think you owe us an apology.”
Kim Chan said this, and Song Doyoon looked at Kim Jaemin with apologetic eyes.
The staggering steps looked like he might collapse to the ground at any moment.
“Aqua, Solum, Ris. Please help.”
Roy asked everyone except Ber to assist the people.
“Por!” (Ugh, Wyvern poop!)
Aqua summoned a water stream that wrapped around Kim Jaemin’s body.
The hideous sight quickly became clean again.
“Aqua… you’re truly my savior…”
Kim Jaemin sniffled, checking his now clean face and body.
“Please…”
Roy realized for the first time how pale Lee Hajun’s face could become.
Although usually maintaining a strong poker face, this situation seemed to have shaken him deeply.
“Roy hyung…”
As Kim Chan expected, Lee Hajun appeared with tear-streaked cheeks.
Even experienced fighters like Kim Hanbom and the Roa Guild members looked pale.
“I’ve never seen poison like this… haha.”
Though trying to laugh it off, Kim Hanbom’s eyes clearly held resentment toward Song Doyoon.
“I’m sorry.”
Song Doyoon bowed deeply to the gathering crowd, acknowledging his fault.
He had thought he was creating the most effective, wide-reaching way to weaken the enemy.
He hadn’t expected it to also crush their own morale and strength.
“I’m glad Hwang Roy is here. If this battle continued in this mess… the casualties would’ve been severe.”
Thanks to the Spirit Kings’ hard work, everyone looked as fresh as when they first entered the dungeon.
Though the dungeon was vast and not all excrement was cleaned, Solum had buried nearby piles deep underground, restoring much of the dungeon’s original state.
“But at least, thanks to this, the witches have vanished.”
Though everyone was shocked by the unprecedented situation, there was a silver lining.
The witches—the monsters that appeared in Witch’s Gorge—had retreated to their lairs.
“It looks like the Wyverns’ combat power really dropped.”
Having emptied their guts, nothing was falling from the sky anymore. But the Wyverns now circled more sluggishly than before.
Some fluttered their wings weakly and even staggered.
“The effect really is impressive.”
Kim Hanbom patted Song Doyoon’s shoulder, praising him.
The effect was undeniable, but no one wished to endure this experience again.
“Shall we start closing the gate now?”
The dungeon had spawned a gate within itself.
The association requested Kim Hanbom to close it.
“Let’s hold off on entering that interior for now and focus on dealing with the Wyverns that escaped through the gate.”
Monsters weren’t originally from this world.
Hunters could freely enter dungeons, but the black, ominous gate floating in the sky shimmered with a strange, foreboding aura.
Previously, a sudden dungeon gate appeared on an island.
***
After the Wyvern that emerged died and the rider committed suicide, the gate naturally disappeared.
‘The association expects the same outcome this time.’
Entering the gate was dangerous—who knew what lay beyond it?
For the first time, a person appeared from the gate. Unlike other monsters, which turned to ash after death, this one retained human form.
“Safety is our top priority. The Roa Guild and I will take the lead. Participants, please support from behind.”
Hunters lived much closer to death than ordinary people.
Those who joined Roa Guild accepted death as a given.
But the participants were still aspiring Hunter Idols, not yet debuted.
Though their levels were high, this reality was still new to them, and most were very young.
Glancing briefly at Lee Hajun—the youngest participant—Kim Hanbom drew his Bastard Sword and infused it with a sharp aura.
“Prepare for battle.”
At the guild leader’s signal, Roa Guild members drew their weapons and readied themselves for combat.
Roa Guild was ranked second among hunter guilds in South Korea, a top-tier guild.
The members Kim Hanbom brought today were the elite among them.
All had levels above 300, and four S-rank Hunters, including Kim Hanbom himself, were present.
“Kiiiiiik!”
As if sensing their opponents had regrouped, the Wyverns roared loudly one after another.