#033
The concept of time was vague due to the high concentration of adrenaline flowing through the veins. One could only guess that considerable time had passed by the degree of fatigue rising in the body. Eunseok controlled his condition by maintaining slow, deep breaths as his breathing became rapid.
He just kept dealing with them over and over. They continued advancing endlessly, crushing corpses under their military boots. Eunseok could now clearly understand how the C-rank dungeon they had entered before must have felt like child’s play to the team members. And he could also see how excellent a choice it was to skip B-rank and choose A-rank.
This level is just right to feel the challenge.
Eunseok thought, feeling his body crying out in fatigue. While his entire body was screaming in exhaustion, his nerves and mind were clearer than ever. The thrill of the mind surpassing the body’s limits came as an incomparable pleasure.
Kwadeuk-!
The muscles in his arm swelled as if about to burst as he plunged his dagger into the incredibly hard spider carapace. Eunseok, pulling out the dagger while crushing the spider with his foot, immediately rushed towards the next one.
The spider swarm’s attack, which seemed to go on forever, gradually entered a lull. Han Cheolyong and Shin Jeongho cleanly dispatched the occasional stragglers. Finally having a moment to rest, Eunseok wiped off the foreign substances splattered on his face with his sleeve and caught his breath.
“I think a big one might be coming soon. Shall we take a moment to regroup?” Han Cheolyong asked, crushing a spider’s head with the edge of his shield. Shin Jeongho nodded, swinging the weapons in both hands to clean the blades.
Eunseok took a deep breath and checked the dagger in his hand. Despite countless times breaking through the hard spider shells, the blade was still sharp and blue. It was a weapon worth its price.
One dagger. One spare magazine for the pistol. And one magazine for the backup pistol.
That was all the weaponry Eunseok had.
As expected, he was short on ammunition. It seemed that next time, even if it meant more luggage, he should prepare two or even three times as much. Each bullet was money. Deciding to earn extra income through advertisements was indeed a good choice.
His body, pushed beyond its limits after a long time, screamed in protest. Instead of sitting down to rest, Eunseok lightly stretched to loosen up his body. In situations like this, carelessly sitting down could completely ruin one’s condition.
As he was stretching to loosen up, suddenly a white hand appeared and brushed Eunseok’s cheek. The owner of the hand was Choi Hanseo, whom he had completely forgotten about while being immersed in combat.
“What are you doing?”
In a state of heightened nerves, sudden contact from another person was unwelcome. Moreover, sharp pain arose from the cheek Choi Hanseo had caressed.
As Eunseok frowned and glared, Choi Hanseo scanned Eunseok’s body from head to toe with narrowed eyes. It was a clearly displeased look.
“Are you so intoxicated with adrenaline that you can’t feel pain?”
Choi Hanseo asked, almost whispering near Eunseok’s ear.
Only then did Eunseok look down and scan his own body. Under the faint yellow light emitted by the shield, red bloodstains mixed with green liquid were visible in several places. It wasn’t just scratches, claw marks, and bite marks. Wounds dissolved by the acidic liquid spewed by the spiders were also visible here and there.
Eunseok inwardly clicked his tongue and examined Han Cheolyong and Shin Jeongho standing in front. Red bloodstains had also risen on various parts of their bodies. No matter how strong hunters were, it was clearly unreasonable to fight without a single wound in such an intense battle.
“There are no fatal wounds, are there? Ji Taeuk hyung will heal us.”
Eunseok shrugged slightly as if it was nothing. Choi Hanseo’s eyes narrowed further, and he pressed his finger firmly on Eunseok’s forearm, which had been burned by the acidic liquid, as if intending to cause pain.
“…What are you doing?”
Eunseok’s brow furrowed involuntarily from the pain. As he spat out the words as if gritting his teeth, Choi Hanseo stared directly into Eunseok’s eyes for a moment before abruptly turning away.
What’s with that guy?
Eunseok glared at Choi Hanseo’s back for a moment.
Han Cheolyong started walking ahead.
Judging from the experience of the C-rank gate, the boss of an A-rank gate would likely be quite strong. With ammunition almost depleted now, he was in no position to be of help as combat personnel. Eunseok decided he should focus on Guiding while just protecting himself.
It wasn’t long before they heard it.
A small sound echoed from the other side of the cave. As they continued walking, the cave gradually widened, and eventually, a bright light could be seen leaking from the inner front. And the echo that had been heard as a hum now penetrated the ears more clearly.
“Freeze the wings first-!”
The resounding voice was clearly Moon Bora’s. It seemed Moon Bora’s team had reached the boss room first.
His body itched with the urge to rush out immediately. But Choi Hanseo was still walking at an unbearably leisurely pace. Eunseok tried to calm his impatience. Moon Bora’s side must be able to handle the situation sufficiently, hence the relaxed behavior.
Finally, they emerged from the cave into a massive cavern. The light from Oh Seongeun’s stick brightly illuminated the cavern.
After blinking slowly twice, his vision quickly adjusted to the bright light. What he saw then was an enormously large bat-like monster.
Keeeeee-!!
The strange sound mixed with ultrasonic waves made his whole body tingle.
Unlike the bats that were only as big as an adult’s torso, the boss bat’s appearance was too explicit due to its size. The giant eyeball embedded in the center of its crown was glistening in a pitch-black color as if it could devour even souls.
Jjijjik-…
Oh Seongeun was concentrating with his glowing stick extended forward in both hands. Frost began to creep over the surface of the giant bat’s wings. However, perhaps because the wings were so large, he couldn’t freeze them all at once.
“Haaat-!”
Moon Bora, not missing the opportunity, sliced off the frozen tip of the wing with her longsword in one stroke.
Kieeek-!
The giant bat screamed and swung its sharp claws towards Moon Bora. The excavator-like claws and Moon Bora’s medium sword clashed head-on. As the bat swung its foreleg, Moon Bora was sent flying in the opposite direction, slamming into the rocky wall of the cavern with a thud.
“Ha, it’s freaking strong.”
Moon Bora muttered, wiping away her nosebleed with the back of her hand as she slid down to the ground. Ji Taeuk hurriedly ran to Moon Bora and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“If you’ve arrived, why don’t you move quickly instead of just watching?”
Moon Bora complained with a sour expression upon noticing them.
“Oh, you’re here?!”
Ji Taeuk, finally noticing them, greeted with a bright face.
Kieeek-!
There was no time for greetings. The giant bat flapped its wings and rushed towards Moon Bora. Han Cheolyong ran like the wind and blocked the giant bat with his shield.
Kwaaang-!
The thunderous sound of the giant bat colliding with the shield shook the massive cavern.
“Up there!”
Moon Bora shouted, pointing at the cavern ceiling as she got up. Looking up, they could see white spider webs hanging from the dizzyingly high ceiling. And in the center of the web was a giant spider with countless black eyes fixed on them from above.
The giant spider wasn’t the only problem. Small spiders were lined up across the entire web spun by the giant spider. When Eunseok’s eyes met with the giant spider, it let out a sharp, strange cry: “Kieeee-!” And at that signal, the small spiders started to descend all at once, spinning threads from their rear ends.
The ceiling of the massive cavern was filled with descending spiders. It was an impossible number to deal with individually.
Peong-! Pung-! Kwak-!
A short distance away, Han Cheolyong, Moon Bora, and Shin Jeongho were frantically defending and attacking, engaging the giant bat.
“Guide Lee!”
Oh Seongeun called out to Eunseok. In this situation, area-of-effect attacks were the only answer to deal with the small spiders. Understanding Oh Seongeun’s intention, Eunseok quickly stretched out his legs and ran to him. As soon as he reached behind Oh Seongeun, he placed his hand on his exposed skin, the nape of his neck.
“…Hup.”
It seemed Oh Seongeun had expended quite a bit of energy getting here, as his insides were in complete disarray. As he immediately started strong contact Guiding, Oh Seongeun’s shoulders stiffened slightly as if it was a bit overwhelming. But given the situation, there was no luxury of leisurely Guiding. As he applied intense Guiding, he could feel the wild energy swirling inside Oh Seongeun quickly calming down.
“Hold your breath!”
Oh Seongeun shouted through gritted teeth. And the next moment, a giant ring of fire formed a ceiling above their heads. The hot sensation of sizzling flames could be felt intensely. It was fortunate they had held their breath. If they had inhaled this air now, their lungs would have been damaged by the heat.
