“Whoa, damn!”
Returnee, switching careers to Hunter.
I can’t even begin to count how many times I cursed at the Party Leader for working us to the bone with endless training.
But Kim Taeyang thought things would be different this time.
“Crazy bugs!”
Hideous insects, looking like giant silverfish, charged in like tanks.
Normally, he’d never stand his ground against one of them, even one-on-one. But there was no way out now.
“Get the hell out of here!”
Kim Taeyang swung his Kukri with all his might, almost desperately.
The brand new, exclusive Red Label Kukri he’d received had a cutting edge that gave him chills.
He thought he’d just grazed the monster, but its head was already severed, sliding down the wall.
Kim Taeyang’s basic ability was Regeneration.
Annoyed as he was, he stood his ground at the front. With the Party Leader gone, he knew he was the only one who could hold out the longest.
Squelch! Thud!
Right beside Kim Taeyang, Kim Inho was supporting with his newly-learned Spear Mastery.
While the Red Label Kukri focused on sharpness, Kim Inho’s spear was a Blue Label weapon, focused on hardness.
At first, Kim Inho had felt awkward with it, but he quickly grew fond of the new Sahbok Spear. Its extending shaft was just like the Yeouibong.
With Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho blocking the narrow passage, corpses of bugs piled up. But it wasn’t just the two of them who were strong.
“Close your eyes!”
Seohyeonji summoned the Spirit of Light, Lux. In the pitch-black Dungeon, a dazzling white light flashed.
The bugs, blinded, stumbled in agony.
As soon as the light faded, Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho smashed through the monsters blocking their way.
“Huff, huff.”
“Haah!”
Sweat soaked their bodies as if it were pouring rain.
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. It felt like hours, but a glance at the clock said only three minutes had gone by.
“Kim In…ho…!”
Startled by someone calling his name, Kim Inho glanced over.
It was Kim Changyeol, formerly his senior in the Special Task Force.
He stabbed at him with an Arming Sword.
Crack!
Kim Changyeol, who had been aiming for Kim Inho, was sent rolling on the ground by Kim Taeyang’s kick.
“Tired already? Huh?”
“As if.”
“If you’re tired, say so. Go rest in the back with Hyunji noona. The Party Leader would chew you out, though.”
“Are you tired? You’re talking too much.”
As Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho exchanged brief banter, Seohyeonji grumbled in annoyance.
“Who are you calling noona?”
It seemed relaxed, but in truth, it wasn’t.
War God’s Party Leader, Baek Juhwan, was drawing his bowstring. He was a C-rank Ranker, a skilled ranged dealer.
Ssshh!
With a sharp whistling sound, a magic arrow was fired.
Kim Taeyang split Baek Juhwan’s arrow.
“You arrogant… punk…!”
Baek Juhwan, bewitched, muttered haughtily.
He fired again. This time, one arrow of light split into ten and rained down.
Kim Inho joined in, deflecting the arrows. The ranged attacks were powerful, but the real problem was B-rank Ranker Kimchiguk charging in.
“Step back!”
Seohyeonji summoned the Spirit of Earth, Terra. A brown golem rose from the ground, forming a massive wall.
She created barrier after barrier.
Thanks to the multiple walls, a shield was formed against the endless flood of monsters.
But B-rank Ranker Kimchiguk dodged the barriers with ease and thrust his spear.
Clang!
Kim Inho blocked Kimchiguk’s spear. The speed was too fast to follow with the eye.
He would never have managed to block this strike before.
Kimchiguk quickly withdrew his spear and unleashed a sweeping attack in a circle.
Kim Inho struggled to block, stepping back, then back again.
Shhk!
Kimchiguk suddenly dodged Kim Taeyang’s sneak attack and immediately countered, landing a spear strike on Kim Taeyang’s body.
“Ugh!”
Kim Taeyang felt a burning, searing pain. He thought he’d dodged, but the spear had torn his abdomen.
Kimchiguk could feel the clear feedback at the spear’s tip. A definite critical hit. He activated a skill to finish it.
Ilsseom (Flash Slash).
Just as a flash of light was about to burst forth, a sudden darkness covered his vision.
Seohyeonji timed it perfectly, summoning the Spirit of Darkness and blanketing the area in shadow.
Kimchiguk switched targets.
He had been annoyed by Seohyeonji, who kept summoning spirits to support her allies.
Kimchiguk thrust his spear where Seohyeonji had been. But she had already moved.
The Spirit of Darkness didn’t last long. Kimchiguk targeted Seohyeonji, but Kim Taeyang blocked him.
He’d definitely landed a critical hit earlier. Kimchiguk tried to brush him aside and go for Seohyeonji.
But Kim Taeyang didn’t budge. In fact, he evaded the attacks and lunged in close.
Kimchiguk was startled and tried to create distance, but it was too late—he was already within Kim Taeyang’s reach.
Slice!
Kim Taeyang’s strike slashed deep into Kimchiguk’s abdomen.
Kimchiguk’s pupils widened in disbelief.
His gaze fell to Kim Taeyang’s abdomen, where he’d landed a blow.
There was no wound.
Super Regen.
It was an auxiliary skill developed through training with Lee Hyunbin. But Kimchiguk had no way of knowing that.
“Urgh!”
B-rank Ranker Kimchiguk collapsed. C-rank Ranker Baek Juhwan also suffered a critical hit from Kim Inho’s Sahbok Spear.
If other Hunters saw this, they’d never believe it.
A pair of C-ranks taking down a B-rank Ranker and a C-rank Ranker.
“Damn it.”
Kim Taeyang wiped the blood from his lips and looked at the bugs swarming again.
“This is insane. Should’ve just run away.”
Seohyeonji bit her lip in despair.
She couldn’t abandon her companions and escape, so she’d stayed to fight, but the situation was grim. Her mana was already depleted.
The three of them recalled the failed plan. Their Party Leader was unusually strong for a porter, but, truthfully, it had always been a reckless task.
‘No way….’
Seohyeonji felt a sense of foreboding. Lee Hyunbin had been injured because of her.
With that body, charging alone into the center of the enemy, his chance of survival was slim.
No, he couldn’t have survived.
At that moment.
A miraculous message appeared before their despairing eyes.
- Successfully hunted Queen Mago.
“Ha…!”
“Ah, couldn’t you have finished it faster? That was nerve-wracking!”
Kim Inho and Kim Taeyang grumbled, while Seohyeonji let out a sigh of relief and collapsed in place.
The prey before their eyes had been too strong, and their king was dead.
The bugs, their control lost, scattered back to their nests in a panic.
The boss was dead.
Queen Mago had used her charm skill to control the Hunters and commanded her minions.
Her radiant wings, which let her fly through the air, had been torn apart.
From her body, cut so deep that her insides were visible, blood trickled out like a dried-up stream.
Queen Mago’s withered eyes were fixed on my face.
I gazed back into those compound eyes.
I was seized by an inexplicable sense of unease.
-Hero…. You… us…!
From Queen Mago’s dying eyes, something resembling tears dripped down.
Her hand, outstretched like a final flutter of her wings, trembled faintly before crashing to the ground.
The death of the boss.
This creature knew me.
And I did not know her. No, of course I couldn’t know a monster.
A few level-up messages appeared. Then, several body parts of the hunted boss monster began to glow.
I checked the items for which I’d acquired ownership.
The rare skill Sleep and the unique item Mago’s Leather Boots. And—
-Synchronization rate has increased.
-Restoring Soul Breaker.
I regained an attack skill I’d used in the past.
-Congratulations. You have acquired a Legendary-rank skill.
The extracted eyeball from Queen Mago was transformed into a skill USB.
-This is the first time a Legendary-rank has appeared in an intermediate Dungeon. You really are something, aren’t you?
Olivier sent a congratulatory message.
-Sleep is a mage-type skill, and the boots have a floating option. Mago’s Eye has the Insight skill effect. What would you like to do?
I didn’t need Sleep or the boots, so I’d sell them. The Legendary skill was better kept for myself.
In the past, facing enemies with Insight abilities in this world had been a real challenge.
If I mastered it to the highest level, I’d be able to instantly see even my opponent’s innate skills.
Being able to see the other side of someone’s cards was an incredible advantage.
-I will use Mago’s Eye.
-Legendary: Insight acquired.
-Stage 1 effect allows you to check your opponent’s status window.
After collecting my loot, I headed back to where my teammates were.
After all that hellish training, I wasn’t about to lose to opponents of this level.
If I did lose, it would just mean I needed to ramp up the training intensity even more.
-Olivier.
-Yes? Are you going to share some of that loot with me since you scored big?
She teased, and I replied calmly.
-That boss knew who I was.
There’d been other strange things before.
Like that villain office worker I met in the Dungeon where I awakened. He knew how to offer sacrifices to the Dungeon.
Yes.
You’re the hero.
Even with his face a mess, the office worker had grinned with mad glee.
And the dying monster had called me “hero” in perfectly clear words.
Something was definitely going on. This was no mere coincidence.
You. No, you all are hiding something from me, aren’t you? Am I right?
-…I don’t know about that boss.
Olivier’s voice was quiet.
-But it was probably someone who knew you, Hero.
Someone.
At her words, I used Insight to look at Queen Mago’s corpse.
-Queen Mago ★★
-Strength: 35
-Agility: 45
-Stamina: 85
-Magic: 88
-Luck: 45
Queen Mago’s stats appeared.
-Origin: Rania Territory
A familiar territory name appeared.
-True name: Diana Christon
The moment I saw that name, I remembered the young girl who always waved with a bright smile.
The Uiwang Railroad Museum Dungeon had been cleared. Without its boss, a Dungeon could no longer grow.
Sometimes, there was a slim chance that a remaining monster would awaken as a new boss, but usually Hunters would hunt them down for resources before that could happen.
A Dungeon with all its monsters eradicated would gradually collapse and disappear without a trace.
The Hunters who had been charmed by Queen Mago were back to their senses now.
“Did Hanul Guild take the boss again?”
“If it weren’t for Hanul, we would’ve been wiped out. Seriously, why are there so many monsters in this Dungeon?”
For the Hunters, this insect Dungeon had been a living nightmare.
Just like real bugs, monsters poured in from everywhere, and their lives had hung by a thread the whole time.
“War God got controlled by the boss.”
“I heard Hanul newbies beat Kimchiguk and Baek Juhwan?”
Someone muttered. Since they remembered everything from when they were controlled by the boss, it was inevitable.
War God’s Baek Juhwan and Kimchiguk couldn’t lift their heads.
Both were renowned as a B-rank and a C-rank, each among the top ten.
Even if they’d been mind-controlled, losing to rookie Hunters was humiliating.
‘No, those guys were just that strong.’
Baek Juhwan ground his teeth. Kimchiguk knew it too, so he slunk away with a sour expression, saying nothing and practically fleeing the scene.
“Seohyeonji! What was your first Dungeon raid like?”
“They say it would have been a wipeout without Hanul’s help—Is that true?”
“Seohyeonji! When’s your next Dungeon raid…!”
No sooner had the Dungeon raid ended than Seohyeonji was swarmed by reporters.
Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho, experiencing this for the first time, just blinked, unsure of what to do.
“Thanks to my teammates’ help, we successfully cleared the boss despite my shortcomings. I’ll continue to train hard and strive for even better results in the future.”
Seohyeonji answered with a calm smile, as if she’d expected this all along.
While everyone else emerged from battle looking ragged, Seohyeonji had prepared herself with items from her inventory, looking effortlessly put together.
After clearing the Butterfly Dungeon, S-rank Hunter Seohyeonji was suddenly in the spotlight. Special features about her ran on the news and in newspapers.
Leaving the public’s attention behind, I returned home for some rest.
“Uncle.”
Back home, Karin gazed quietly at me.
“Did something happen?”
“What?”
“It just feels like it.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Are the Justice members not meeting up these days?”
“I’m not into that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, right.”
We exchanged pointless jokes.
Karin smiled bashfully, studying my face.
Awkwardness.
Feeling it, I stood up to head to my room.
“OF.”
“Yeah.”
“Have you been in contact with the territory’s residents?”
At my question, Karin’s round eyes curved with a faint smile. And her reply followed.
“Yeah.”
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