Mages Park Joo-hyun and Kim Su-jin of Team Haetae stepped out of the taxi.
Park Joo-hyun wore a hat while Kim Su-jin had a mask on.
They had only walked a few steps onto the sidewalk when a man walking toward them recognized them immediately.
“Are you perhaps Hunter Park Joo-hyun…?”
“Ah… Yes, hello,” Park Joo-hyun replied with a smile, while Kim Su-jin just stared blankly.
“Could I take a photo with you? I’m a huge fan.”
“No, now is a bit…”
“Really? Just one photo?”
“It’s a bit difficult right now. I’m sorry.”
“Then maybe an autograph?”
“Ah, I can do that.”
Park Joo-hyun signed the notebook the man held out.
“Thank you for protecting the Republic of Korea! Fighting!”
“Yes. Fighting.”
Park Joo-hyun raised a fist with a smile, while Kim Su-jin only offered a slight smile with her eyes.
“Thank you!”
The man, having obtained what he wanted, finally let them go.
“Let’s go quickly. We’ll get caught again,” Kim Su-jin said, pulling Park Joo-hyun’s hand the moment the man passed.
The place they entered was a BBQ restaurant with private rooms.
Eating in an open area was impossible because too many people would recognize them.
When they entered the reserved room, two Swordsmen had already arrived and were grilling meat.
“See? We timed it perfectly.”
Kim Jong-won, the leader of Team Haetae, laughed as he rubbed his hands together.
He had placed the meat on the grill just in time for the two Mages to arrive so they could eat immediately.
His calculations were spot on. It was the perfect time to start eating.
“Hurry up and eat. It’s going to burn,” Swordsman Song Young-jin signaled.
And so, Team Haetae’s dinner gathering began.
Haetae was known for having good teamwork and they frequently had dinner together.
“Did you hear about the new member joining the team?”
Kim Jong-won asked while they were mid-meal.
“Ah, the graduate?”
Park Joo-hyun responded naturally. The other Hunters nodded as well.
“But isn’t it a bit strange? Has there ever been a Hunter who moved up to D-rank without a Departure Ceremony? Besides, why bother making a team of five?”
Song Young-jin raised a question.
“Haven’t you heard about Mr. Kim Jong-chol? He’s incredibly skilled. His colleagues at the academy said so,” Park Joo-hyun said, and Kim Jong-won chimed in.
“I heard he’s frighteningly good. Look how quiet it is now. When Hunter Cha Se-hyeon was around, things were noisy, but now it’s quiet—even though he graduated. It’s chilling.”
“Then it’s a huge win for us,” Kim Su-jin remarked.
The team’s eyes focused on Kim Su-jin. As expected, Leader Kim Jong-won took the lead.
“You’re the only one who needs to be careful. Got it?”
“What did I do?”
“Having that much power join our team is incredibly lucky. Other teams go in with four people, but we have five, and one of them is a top prospect.”
“Don’t exaggerate. He’s just a rookie 4th Circle graduate…”
“Regardless of how good he is, having five people changes our safety level. If you run your mouth and he goes to another team, we’re the ones who lose out.”
“Yeah, Su-jin. Let’s be a little careful,” Song Young-jin added.
“Geez, what did I even do…?”
“We’re not saying you did anything, we’re saying don’t do anything in the future. If you have nothing to say, just smile. Got it? We’ll handle the rest.”
“Fine, I get it…”
Kim Su-jin wasn’t a bad person.
To put it kindly, she was just clumsy with her expressions.
There was no need to go looking for trouble.
—
A car stopped in front of the Center’s main building. Kim Song-cheol, dressed in his combat uniform, stepped out of the back seat.
The members of Team Haetae were already waiting in front of the building. They, too, were fully prepared to enter the Dungeon.
“Hello. I’m Kim Jong-won, the leader of Team Haetae. Haha.”
“Ah, yes. Hello. I look forward to working with you.”
Kim Jong-won greeted Kim Song-cheol and introduced the team members.
“Team Haetae.”
The original Hunters who first received the team name Haetae no longer existed in this world, but the name remained.
Strictly speaking, the current Team Haetae was likely the tenth or eleventh class.
“Shall we head in?”
“Yes.”
Kim Song-cheol followed Kim Jong-won into the main building.
“I heard you’ve graduated. Do you live near the Center?”
“No. I’m still at the Training Academy. I haven’t fully graduated yet.”
“Ah, I see. Finding a house after graduation is quite a task. Haha.”
“That is a concern of mine.”
Kim Song-cheol glanced at the team members. They all seemed kind and ordinary, but Kim Su-jin, who stood the furthest away, was a bit different.
When their eyes met, she gave an exceptionally awkward smile, a face he had never seen before and couldn’t quite read.
‘What is it?’
Kim Song-cheol didn’t pay it much mind. He assumed there were internal matters between the teammates.
Team Haetae walked down the corridor and stepped onto the Portal Tablet. Kim Song-cheol joined them.
The five Hunters stood back-to-back, facing different directions.
“As you know, in a D-rank Dungeon, you must be on guard the moment you are transported. It’s standard to be transported while casting magic.”
“Yes, I understand.”
A magic circle appeared in front of Kim Song-cheol. The other Mages did the same.
The Swordsmen drew up their Aura. The light emitted by the magic circles and the Auras blended together, creating a tapestry of colors.
“Countdown begins. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Transport.”
Bright light erupted from the Portal Tablet.
The scenery changed in an instant. Kim Song-cheol felt the solid stone floor beneath his feet and quickly scanned the surroundings.
He saw an ordinary forest. It wasn’t much different from a low mountain in Korea.
If there was a difference, it was that the ground was flat. Nothing threatening was in sight.
There was no artificial flow of Mana.
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
The Hunters reported that their respective directions were safe.
Kim Song-cheol followed suit and said, “Clear,” blending into the team.
“Is it rare to be attacked immediately upon transport?”
Kim Song-cheol asked.
“It almost never happens. We have run into monsters or other Hunters before, though. One time, a monster was right in front of us. You wouldn’t believe how startled I was,” Park Joo-hyun said, looking as if the memory still gave him chills.
D-rank Dungeons are open worlds.
They were different from E-rank and F-rank Dungeons, which repeat cycles of creation and destruction.
“We’ll head east. We were in the middle of moving east anyway,” Kim Jong-won pointed in one direction as he stepped off the Portal Tablet.
Beneath their feet was a stone tablet similar in shape to the one at the Center.
These tablets were scattered throughout the Dungeon.
One could return to Earth through these tablets, and if they returned to the Dungeon, they would be transported back onto the same tablet they had used to leave.
Team Haetae moved east under the leader’s command.
Before they could even get a proper look at their surroundings, a roar echoed from somewhere.
As they moved further ahead, a pack of monsters soon came into view.
They were about twice the size of an ox. They were menacing creatures with a large horn right in the center of their foreheads.
They looked like a mix between a mammal and a dinosaur.
“They’re Unicorns. They’re common monsters. There are many varieties too.”
Kim Jong-won drew his sword without losing his composure.
“Their hides are quite tough,” Park Joo-hyun gave Kim Song-cheol a small warning.
In the meantime, Kim Jong-won directed the team.
He instructed them to use magic to lure and strike first, then handle the monsters alongside the Swordsmen in a standard formation.
“FLAME LANCE!”
“TERRA BREAK!”
Kim Su-jin and Park Joo-hyun used their magic first. The tremors from the earth spreading from beneath Park Joo-hyun’s feet reached the Unicorns.
The fissures weren’t incredibly deep, but the monsters began to flounder as their feet slipped into the cracks.
And in that opening, a massive spear of fire sliced through the air.
*Crash!*
The fire spear pierced through the side of one of the creatures.
The monster that was struck thrashed wildly, unable to bear the pain of its internal organs burning.
“They’re coming!”
The monsters soon spotted the Hunters and charged. There were six of them.
Kim Su-jin and Park Joo-hyun prepared their attack magic once more.
They needed to accumulate as much damage as possible while the monsters were closing the distance.
Kim Song-cheol also stepped forward. He had only learned three 4th Circle spells.
He hadn’t had much time while researching 2nd-Tier Circle Theory. Besides, three attack spells were more than enough.
“PIN BURST.”
Kim Song-cheol flicked his finger. A dark red dot appeared in front of the leading monster.
Before anyone could blink, an explosion with a radius of 2 meters erupted around that dot.
The explosion didn’t scatter in all directions; it swept through a perfect sphere with exactly a 2-meter radius.
The explosive force was incredibly powerful. The part of the monster’s body caught in that range simply vanished.
It looked as if someone had taken a massive scoop out of it with an ice cream scooper.
‘He really is good…’
Park Joo-hyun shook his head in amazement at the sight. PIN BURST was not a spell favored by many Mages.
Unlike projectiles that are fired, it had the advantage of creating an explosion at a targeted location, but the spell was difficult enough that it was hard to maximize its explosive power.
If Park Joo-hyun had used PIN BURST, he likely wouldn’t have been able to pierce the hide.
‘He probably hasn’t been 4th Circle for long. Is that even possible?’
While Park Joo-hyun was marvelling, Kim Song-cheol adjusted his casting speed while observing the Swordsmen.
Ordinary Unicorns were nothing more than common mobs in a D-rank Dungeon.
He could have handled them all himself, but he wanted to check the Swordsmen’s skills first. He had already assessed the Mages’ abilities from the last few spells.
“Here we go.”
As the monsters drew near, Kim Jong-won and Song Young-jin drew their swords and dashed forward.
Park Joo-hyun and Kim Su-jin’s magic followed behind them.
*Boom!*
The moment the magic bypassed the two men and struck the monsters, the Swordsmen increased their speed.
*Slash!*
Kim Jong-won instantly dove into the Unicorn’s personal space and swung his sword with force.
After slicing halfway through its neck, a vital point, he immediately moved to the next target.
His movements were remarkably fluid. He was fast, too.
The two Swordsmen moved through the monsters with ease, targeting vital spots before retreating.
“You’re doing okay, right?”
Kim Jong-won asked Kim Song-cheol.
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
When Kim Song-cheol offered praise, Kim Jong-won didn’t hesitate to praise Kim Song-cheol’s magic skills in return.
A warm atmosphere was building when suddenly—
*SCREECH!*
A piercing cry that seemed to tear through the sky suddenly rang out. Kim Jong-won’s expression froze.
“It’s a Reaper. Get down.”
He quickly grabbed Kim Song-cheol and slid under a large tree. Song Young-jin also pulled the other Mages close and hid under another tree.
*SCREECH!*
It was a cry that made one’s body freeze just by hearing it. A few seconds later, the sound of massive wings flapping was heard.
A gust of wind blew, and the trees shook violently. Kim Song-cheol looked up at the sky with a stunned expression.
Soon, a massive black bird with four wings flapped past like an arrow. Its wingspan alone was nearly 30 meters.
Its long, pointed beak gleamed sharply. That was all Kim Song-cheol saw, as it passed through the gaps in the leaves in a flash.
“Whew…”
After the large bird passed, Kim Jong-won let out a sigh and stepped back.
“…Is that the Field Boss?”
Kim Song-cheol asked.
“Yes. If we get caught, it’s total annihilation.”
Kim Jong-won’s voice was more serious than ever.
There were many dangers in a D-rank Dungeon. One of them was that Field Boss.
There were several types, and that massive black bird was called a Reaper.
‘I don’t think I can handle that yet…’
Even Kim Song-cheol was taken aback by the Reaper’s overwhelming presence.
He had experience facing large monsters. The monster he had handled at the end of the Wave-type Dungeon was certainly large enough to be called a giant.
But this Field Boss felt completely different. His senses were telling him so.
“I heard about raiding them, but have you ever seen it happen?”
Kim Song-cheol asked.
“I’ve never seen it in person. They say it gives a lot of rewards if you catch it, but you only have one life…”
Kim Jong-won shook his head. It seemed the Hunters of this world didn’t favor raiding either.
“Let’s move.”
Kim Jong-won waited for a while after the Reaper had passed before moving. He was wary that it might be circling nearby.
Team Haetae’s destination was another Portal Tablet.
To most Hunters on Earth, clearing a D-rank Dungeon meant moving from one tablet to another.
They would use the tablets scattered throughout the Dungeon one by one while hunting monsters in between.
The exact size of a D-rank Dungeon was still unknown.
It was established that it was much larger than Earth and was a flat land rather than a planet, but anything beyond that was still a mystery.
Thus, most Earth Hunters in D-rank Dungeons could be called wanderers.
If asked why four people would wander through a place filled with all sorts of dangers, the answer would ultimately be efficiency.
In Korea, points were necessary, and the efficiency of point acquisition dropped when more than five people traveled together.
Even with the risks, it was more efficient for four people to move together. Besides, they were used to a four-person dynamic.
Team Haetae continued forward, hunting monsters. They gathered points, took breaks, ate, and then moved again.
It was a cycle. They occasionally encountered other Hunters, but fortunately, they weren’t the ‘dangerous kind.’
They simply passed each other warily.
Before they knew it, the terrain of the forest changed. Looking at the ground, there was no difference in terrain based on latitude or longitude.
It was simply that certain terrains overlapped, and once they crossed that point, it changed completely.
“Oh? It’s a Dungeon.”
Kim Jong-won, who was leading, came to a sudden halt. He cleared away the tangled grass and vines to make a path and led the team forward.
Beyond the thicket, they saw a clearing and a small altar.
The altar was approximately 5×5 meters. The tower built upon the altar wasn’t very high either.
In front of the tower lay a square stone slab with a crack in the middle and glowing blue characters carved in a circle.
“Sometimes Dungeons like this appear. It’s like a Dungeon within a Dungeon,” Park Joo-hyun added.
In the meantime, Kim Jong-won pulled a palm-sized measurement tablet from his bag.
It was an item used to measure the difficulty of a Dungeon, one of the essential supplies provided.
If one could enter a Dungeon, the rewards were plentiful. As Kim Jong-won infused Mana into the tablet, a wave of Mana rippled outward.
The wave swept over the nearby Hunters and the altar before vanishing.
“When we find a Dungeon, we measure the difficulty like this. We rarely go in. The recommendation starts from ‘Normal,’ but ‘Normal’ almost never appears. You should assume it’s almost always ‘Hard’…”
Just then, several characters appeared as a hologram above the tablet. The meaning of those characters was—
“It’s **[Normal]**?”
Kim Jong-won turned to his teammates with a bewildered expression.
They had encountered countless Dungeons, but this was only the fourth time **[Normal]** had appeared.