Chapter 125: Things Are Different Now

Thick dust rose into the air, obscuring everything.

“Damn it!”

Kim Ji-hoon instinctively shielded Sang-woong with his back and adjusted his grip on his sword. Enemies were surging from all sides.

For a Hunter, being attacked from multiple directions simultaneously was the absolute worst-case scenario. It was impossible to block every attack or cut down several monsters at once.

However, Sang-woong was standing firm behind him.

“Ji-hoon, I’ll take the left. Focus on the right.”

Sang-woong’s voice, coming from behind him, contained a strangely powerful conviction. Hearing that voice, Kim Ji-hoon felt as if he were being led. He boldly pulled his gaze away from the Hobgoblin lunging from the right.

For now, trusting Sang-woong and following his instructions was the best course of action.

He reflexively swung his sword toward the Hobgoblin charging from the left.

At that exact moment, Sang-woong stepped in like a flash of light before the pack of Hobgoblins that had been fiercely closing in from the right.

Their glinting, greedy eyes, sharp claws, and crude weapons threatened to overwhelm Sang-woong like the shadow of death.

But a sneer played on Sang-woong’s lips instead.

‘I was so terrified of these pathetic wretches for decades, and I even lost a precious friend because of them.’

Rage boiled up to the top of his head. He possessed the overwhelming physical abilities he had gained after his regression. His sword flashed like lightning as it sliced through the air.

*Clang! Splat! Crack!*

The sharp sound of metal clashing and the horrific noise of bone and flesh being severed tore through the darkness. With a single, dazzling movement, Sang-woong slaughtered the three Hobgoblins that had lunged at him in an instant.

The sword pierced the first one’s heart with precision, while the second one’s head was sent flying by a blade swung at a speed invisible to the eye.

The last one collapsed with a sword embedded in its eye before it could even let out a scream.

Kim Ji-hoon, having barely managed to cut down the two charging at him, turned back toward Sang-woong. He could hardly believe his eyes.

The three Hobgoblins that had been radiating the terror of death just a moment ago were now rolling on the ground as bloody lumps of meat.

The other party members, who had witnessed this scene from a short distance away, stood with their mouths agape.

That swordsmanship, which was almost godlike… was not a movement that could come from a retired Hunter.

“You… you, how did you…” Kim Ji-hoon asked with a trembling voice.

Sang-woong lightly flicked the blood off his sword and shrugged his shoulders.

“Hmm? What’s wrong? I told you I’ve been training hard. If you train that much, isn’t it only natural for your skills to improve?”

His smile was composed. He lightly rotated his blood-stained wrist.

“T-that might be true, but you’re retired, and your combat… instincts…”

Kim Ji-hoon couldn’t finish his sentence. In this situation, such an argument was meaningless. The important fact was that his friend standing before him had become strong.

Sang-woong’s unexpectedly overwhelming skill quickly stabilized the hearts of the party members who had been paralyzed by the fear of death.

‘We can live!’

As if they had seen a ray of light in a swamp of despair, the look in their eyes changed. There was no more panic. They quickly reorganized their ranks around Sang-woong and Kim Ji-hoon.

“Alright, everyone drink this!”

Kim Ji-hoon distributed two potions that Sang-woong had handed him to the party members. They were a Stamina Potion and a Mana Potion.

His consideration was nothing new. At every moment of crisis, he had shared his own supplies without hesitation, and the party members were well aware of the effects of these potions.

“Ji-hoon, this is so precious…”

“Leader, thank you!”

“Brother, thank you!”

Color returned to the party members’ faces. As soon as they drank the potions, they felt their exhausted stamina and mana rapidly refilling.

It felt as if they had been restored to their peak condition, just like when they had first entered the Dungeon. For lower-ranked Hunters, the effect of a potion was even more dramatic.

‘This guy, he’s still as cool as ever.’

Sang-woong watched Ji-hoon with a satisfied expression. It was because of that noble character that Ji-hoon had risked his life to save his friend, Sang-woong, in his past life.

After dealing with the Hobgoblins, they discussed their next course of action.

“Brother Ji-hoon, what do we do now? I don’t think we can climb back up to that collapsed area from before.”

One Hunter asked, looking up with an anxious expression. Kim Ji-hoon was lost in thought for a moment. Climbing back up the steep slope was still incredibly dangerous.

On the other hand, they couldn’t stay in this gloomy cave forever. Their food and supplies were limited, and it would only become more dangerous at night.

However, Kim Ji-hoon was no longer afraid. Sang-woong was here. With him… he felt as if they could escape this life-or-death crisis.

“Climbing up is impossible,” Kim Ji-hoon decided. “We’ll continue further into the cave.”

Sang-woong silently nodded in agreement with Kim Ji-hoon’s opinion. In his past life, and even now, the only path left for them was to move forward.

“I’ll take the lead.”

Kim Ji-hoon stepped forward as if it were only natural. Although he acknowledged Sang-woong’s skill, he didn’t want to put his friend in danger—especially not inside this ominous cave.

“Alright.”

Knowing his stubbornness, Sang-woong didn’t argue further. Kim Ji-hoon held his sword and took his first cautious step into the darkness.

Sang-woong followed half a step behind him like a shadow. The other Hunters followed behind them with tense expressions.

The further they went into the cave, the more an unidentified chill wrapped around their bodies. Visibility was barely over three meters. The pressure given off by the darkness was beyond imagination.

The cave was surprisingly wide. It was wide enough for two cars to pass through easily, and the height appeared to be over three meters. Kim Ji-hoon advanced slowly along the center of the cave.

Although his vision was still limited, the inside of the cave was fortunately, and strangely, quiet.

In such an environment, even the small movements or sounds of an approaching enemy could be detected relatively easily, so the danger of an ambush would be reduced, if only a little.

He kept his nerves on edge, trying not to miss a single sound.

In the cave where only silence reigned, only their heavy breathing and footsteps echoed gloomily.

Kim Ji-hoon moved forward one step at a time, inspecting every inch of the three-meter space around him with his heightened senses.

Moving like a shadow behind Kim Ji-hoon’s back, Sang-woong tried to detect every minute sound, movement, and even the flow of air.

How deep had they gone? The frozen silence was suddenly shattered.

*Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!*

The sound of dozens of footsteps struck the cave walls, closing in on them from all sides. Because of the quiet nature of the cave, they were able to notice the approach beforehand, but the sound of footsteps amplified in the darkness was enough to freeze the Hunters’ hearts.

At that moment, a foreign sound of rushing air caught Sang-woong’s ears amidst the many footsteps.

*Swish—!*

Along with the sound of something sharp slicing through the air, an object pierced the darkness and flew toward them at high speed.

“Ji-hoon, raise your shield!” Sang-woong shouted sharply as he sensed the danger.

Without a moment to think, Kim Ji-hoon reflexively raised his shield to cover his body.

*Thud!*

With a dull thud, a strong impact was felt on the shield. A stone the size of a fist rolled onto the floor. The Hobgoblins had created confusion with the sound of their footsteps and used the darkness to launch a clever ambush.

Being hit by a stone wouldn’t kill them, but it was an attack sufficient to break the morale of the already nervous Hunters.

In fact, in his past life, the Hunters had been thrown into a panic by this stone-throwing and had collapsed miserably without even being able to use their strength properly.

“Those cowardly wretches! Everyone be careful! More stones might fly in!”

But things were different now. Thanks to Sang-woong’s warning, they had successfully blocked the attack, and dealing with a tactic they had already experienced once was not that difficult.

Then, as if they had been waiting, Hobgoblins emerged within the short visibility range like evil spirits rising from the underworld. Their red eyes glowed eerily in the faint darkness.

“Damn it, it’s an ambush!”

The Hunters immediately took up combat positions.

Three meters. It was the extreme distance that separated life and death. The enemy appeared before their eyes in an instant, and everything beyond three meters remained filled with the unknown terror.

They had no way of knowing what kind of creature would jump out from where, or how many more enemies were hiding.

They had to rely only on the foul, piercing stench, the bizarre cries coming from the darkness, and the enemy right in front of them.

Kim Ji-hoon instinctively swung his sword. The moment a faint silhouette entered the three-meter range, his sword flew out like a lightning bolt.

The sensation of cold metal slicing through flesh and catching on bone was transmitted directly through his hand. He desperately fought off the creatures that were digging into his three-meter territory.

The limited visibility hid the enemies’ movements and also made it difficult to coordinate with allies. For a moment, it was confusing to tell who was friend and who was foe.

It was then.

Near the three-meter boundary at Kim Ji-hoon’s left blind spot, another Hobgoblin was rapidly closing in, slicing through the darkness and swinging a rusted knife. Kim Ji-hoon’s vision was already preoccupied with the enemy in front of him.

He sensed the danger for a split second, but his body couldn’t keep up.

‘I can’t dodge it!’

At that moment, a very small and eerily fast *shick!* sound rang out from the darkness to Kim Ji-hoon’s left. Kim Ji-hoon didn’t see exactly what it was, but he vaguely felt the movement of the Hobgoblin that was about to pounce on him twist at a strange angle as it collapsed with a scream.

It was Sang-woong. Even while dealing with the Hobgoblins on his own side, he had sensed Kim Ji-hoon’s crisis with his keen senses and removed the threat by accurately throwing a dagger.

“Left side! Three meters!”

Sang-woong’s shout cut through the darkness once more. His voice acted like a lighthouse, clearly indicating direction and distance.

Kim Ji-hoon reflexively turned his body and swung his sword, narrowly blocking the attack of a Hobgoblin that was attempting to enter the three-meter range.

Sang-woong was perfectly guarding Kim Ji-hoon’s back. Sang-woong detected enemies that the other Hunters failed to see, or those approaching threateningly from beyond three meters.

He either alerted the others or dealt with them silently.

Few Hunters realized that the short screams or dull impact sounds occasionally heard in the darkness were the result of Sang-woong’s skill.

They were simply focusing all their attention on the struggle taking place within the three meters before them.

The other Hunters also resisted desperately. In the chaos taking place within the three-meter field of vision, the cave was filled with screams and groans of terror, the metallic sound of blades clashing, and the bizarre cries of the Hobgoblins.

Every time an enemy suddenly popped out within three meters, their hearts sank.

Combat within such short visibility made stamina consumption extreme, and the unknown dangers lurking beyond three meters added to the psychological pressure.

The effects of the Stamina Potion and Mana Potion were felt acutely.

Feeling their stamina and mana, which were on the verge of being depleted in an instant, refilling, the Hunters lunged at the enemies within three meters even more tenaciously.

They did not know. They did not realize that while they were preoccupied, the numerous threats approaching from the darkness beyond three meters were being silently removed by someone’s hand.

With minimal movement and sound, Sang-woong was thinning out the enemies in the blind spots that his allies could not see.