Chapter 83: Kim Chan’s Tank Charge

“Where do you get that from? The participant I called out is Roy hyung.”

..There was a perfect word for moments like this. A punching bag?

“I wish you’d keep some manners. It’s not right for two people to attack one.”

Kim Jaewoo’s expression was serious. Even though it seemed pointless to be so fair in a competition, his look made it feel like Song Doyoon had committed a grave offense.

“I saw it from over there. Jaewoo hyung ambushing Roy hyung—do you really think that’s the right thing to do?”

Kim Jaewoo’s lips pressed into a straight line as if he’d lost his words.

It was true that he ambushed Roy, even if it was to stop Roy’s retreating footsteps.

Just as Roy was about to step in to mediate the strangely escalating situation, “Roy hyung! Wait just a moment!”

Kim Chan was running over at incredible speed from afar.

Caught between Kim Jaewoo and Song Doyoon, he looked like he was about to be intimidated.

“Beep—.” (Things are going sideways.)

Ber tilted his small head in confusion.

A new guy had appeared while he was having an interesting fight with Kim Jaewoo.

But now they were fighting each other. Meanwhile, Kim Chan had also appeared.

‘Now’s the time, Ris.’

Roy decided to seize the opportunity.

He sent a mental signal to Ris.

A secretive breeze drifted silently behind Kim Jaewoo and Song Doyoon.

Swoosh—

“Hah!”

Both Kim Jaewoo and Song Doyoon jumped simultaneously.

‘My sense of danger really got sharper.’

The wind moved so stealthily it went unnoticed.

And since the Dungeon had natural wind blowing through, it could have been mistaken for that.

But apparently, it was keen enough to detect even the slightest disturbance to the jewels.

“You okay?”

At that moment, Kim Chan approached Roy’s side.

He was breathing shallowly from how fast he’d run.

“What’s got you so worried? I can handle this just fine.”

Sometimes Kim Chan seemed to perceive Roy as someone he needed to protect.

It was hard to believe this was the same guy who’d cried in fear the first time they met.

Maybe leveling up had awakened some protector instinct in him, like a tank.

“But it’s not right to gang up two against one!”

Kim Chan’s big eyes widened further as he glared at Kim Jaewoo and Song Doyoon.

Kim Jaewoo flinched a bit, but Song Doyoon just shrugged as if nothing was wrong.

“Fine then. How about a 2-on-2 match? Sound good?”

Song Doyoon clapped his hands together with a grin as if it was a brilliant idea.

Kim Jaewoo nodded subtly.

He just didn’t like seeing two people cornering one.

If Kim Chan joined Roy’s side, he could fight without any pangs of conscience.

“You confident?”

Their bold proposal only fired up Kim Chan’s fighting spirit.

Speaking to his same-age rival Song Doyoon, he looked less like his usual self and more like an excited bull.

“Yeah. Watch your armor. My poison might melt it without mercy.”

Meanwhile, Song Doyoon still grinning, pointed at Kim Chan’s shiny armor with his fingertips.

His hands were busy rummaging inside his cloak.

“Solum.”

“Hmm…” (This is easy.)

The earth beneath Song Doyoon’s feet shot up in an instant, rising higher than the top of his head.

What looked like a blunt pillar of earth quickly took the shape of a giant.

“W-What is that?”

Song Doyoon struggled against the earth golem tightly wrapping his limbs.

The more he resisted, the more dust rose, but it was no use.

Kwah-ang—

“Ugh.”

“Ughh.”

***

While Roy was attacking Song Doyoon, Kim Chan and Kim Jaewoo clashed on the other side.

Kim Chan, curled up like a spinning tank, charged at Kim Jaewoo with overwhelming force.

A tank wasn’t an offensive class by nature. As the name implies, it specialized in defense.

But that didn’t mean it lacked offensive means—the tank’s hardened body was itself a weapon.

Sensing danger, Kim Jaewoo immediately drew his sword to block Kim Chan’s move.

The collision was so forceful that both uttered muffled groans simultaneously.

“That armor really is Legend Grade. No wonder.”

Kim Jaewoo’s eyes shimmered with fascination.

Most armors would have dented or been scratched the moment his sword struck.

But Kim Chan’s armor remained unscathed despite the powerful impact.

“What kind of sword is this…”

Kim Chan was equally bewildered.

Since entering the Dungeon, he hadn’t attacked other participants before.

This was the first mission where participants were properly pitted against each other.

And everyone’s level had climbed into the 300s, making their abilities far superior to earlier stages.

Still, Kim Chan was confident in his skills and gear.

He was a genuine S-rank tank with Legendary Grade equipment, so he thought protecting Roy would be no problem.

Yet, that worthless-looking wooden sword, with jagged thorns sticking out, was almost as tough as his armor material.

“Ugh…! Seriously…!”

While Roy watched Kim Chan and Kim Jaewoo’s fight, Song Doyoon, bound by the earth golem, thrashed so hard his neck veins bulged.

When all his struggles failed to break the golem, he bit down on the poison he held in his mouth.

“Pht!”

Luckily, the golem wasn’t holding his head. Song Doyoon turned his head and spat poison-laced saliva at the earth golem.

The golem’s body collapsed like liquid, melting from a solid rock-like form into mud.

“Ow, my whole body hurts…”

Song Doyoon rubbed his sore shoulders and immediately took poison beads from his pocket, inserting them between his fingers.

“You really don’t hold back, huh.”

His gaze sharpened at Roy.

There was a familiar madness in his eyes, and Roy sighed before sending Ber, Aqua, and Ris all at once.

“Who’d think poison was just a polite greeting? Ber, Aqua.”

“Beeeep!” (I’ll burn your head clean off!)

“Por.” (It’s important to snatch the jewel.)

Ber and Aqua swooped at Song Doyoon simultaneously.

Columns of fire and ice whips whipped around him.

“Pee!” (I’ll block his movements.)

Ris manipulated the wind to restrict Song Doyoon’s actions.

The hand that was about to throw a poison bead froze mid-air.

Facing the incoming flames and ice, Song Doyoon bit his lip and retreated into his cloak.

The fire pillars and ice whips crashed down on the curled-up Song Doyoon.

“Solum, you okay?”

Roy lightly touched Solum’s jaw, who looked weak from Song Doyoon’s poison attack.

“Hmm.” (The poison’s stronger than I expected.)

Part of the poison Song Doyoon spat at the earth golem was absorbed by Solum.

Though the spirits appeared physical, they were essentially natural entities.

All the earth Solum controlled inevitably affected his own core.

But Roy entrusted Solum to handle Song Doyoon’s poison restraint because, as a natural being, he held great influence over natural substances.

Poison, after all, was essentially a natural product—a combination of materials derived from nature.

That Solum was harmed showed just how special Song Doyoon’s power was.

“Beeeeep!” (Human, reveal yourself!)

No matter how fiercely the fire pillar struck, Song Doyoon remained still like a snail hiding in its shell.

Ber flapped his wings roughly.

“Por.” (Time to flip him over.)

Realizing that time was running out, Aqua made an ice pillar sprout from the floor where Song Doyoon crouched.

Daaang.

“Uh, uhuh…?”

Song Doyoon’s cloak not only stored thousands of poisons but was also incredibly durable.

He planned to stay hidden behind it until the spirits’ power waned, but the height kept rising.

“Roy hyung, this isn’t right!”

To him, Roy’s abilities were unfair.

Usually, Spirit Summoners only handled one elemental spirit or summoned two compatible ones at most.

No one had ever summoned spirits of two opposing elements like fire and water simultaneously.

Yet Roy summoned spirits of all four elements. And their powers weren’t weak.

It was well-known that Roy’s Hunter Level was a question mark. Could this be related?

“This is basically cheating!”

Song Doyoon clutched the edge of the ice pillar, complaining with an aggrieved voice.

Their levels were the same, but Roy was completely overwhelming him.

“Ahhh! How high are you gonna raise me?”

The ice pillar continued to grow, making Roy, Kim Chan, and Kim Jaewoo appear tiny as ants from Song Doyoon’s perspective.

If this kept up, he might as well be announcing his location to all the other participants.

“Get me down!”

The surface of the ice pillar was barely wide enough to kneel on, and on top of that, his body heat was melting the ice beneath him, soaking his knees.

Naturally, melting ice meant less friction.

Realizing he might fall, Song Doyoon flattened himself against the pillar.

“Ah, hyung!”

A shout echoed in the air.

Even at level 300, no one could be sure they’d survive a fall from this height without serious injury.

“What is that?”

***

While yelling toward the ground where Roy stood, something strange caught Song Doyoon’s eye.

“Dark clouds…?”

A swirl of black air hovered in the Dungeon’s central sky.

At first, he thought it was just storm clouds, but as time passed, the shape resembled something else he knew.

“That’s the entrance to the Dungeon? No way…”

Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, it looked exactly like a Dungeon gate.

“Emergency! Seriously, get me down!”

Something ominous was unfolding.

A terrifying aura so strong it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up leaked from the giant gate looming over the Dungeon’s center.

This new gate was far larger than typical Dungeon gates.

Usually, they were just big enough for one or two adult men to enter side by side, but the gate filling Song Doyoon’s view was large enough for two cars to enter simultaneously.

“Por…” (Contractor, that energy is definitely…)

Aqua shrank the ice pillar that had launched Song Doyoon high into the air.

Though she was granting his wish, the speed at which it shrank was painfully fast.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

If such a ride existed in the world, half the passengers might die of heart attacks.

With no safety harness, the feeling of free-falling through the air made Song Doyoon scream at the top of his lungs.