#5
When Ha-seong came to this world, he made exactly one resolution. Never let anyone find out that he was a hunter. Of course, since coming here, he had lived almost alone, so keeping that resolution wasn’t very difficult. The only person he regularly interacted with was Boss Kim.
‘I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing.’
Ha-seong thought as he walked past the curfew signs. Was this really the right thing to do? Wasn’t he doing something unnecessary? Despite the worries that kept arising, Ha-seong’s footsteps moved quickly. The deeper he went into the area, the stronger the alien energy felt.
Ha-seong hadn’t heard information about the gate’s location, but finding it wasn’t particularly difficult. He was someone who had crossed gates hundreds of times. He could feel a gate’s energy even with his eyes closed.
“There it is.”
Walking toward where the energy felt strongest, sure enough, a gate came into view. That’s when Ha-seong fell into contemplation again. From what he could see, that gate seemed to have opened not long ago, but the Management Bureau would soon dispatch staff to control this area. Moreover, since this wasn’t a gate that opened suddenly, a guild would definitely be dispatched to clear it. Or maybe they already had been.
“Hmm. What to do.”
The two things Ha-seong prioritized above all were: rescuing Boss Kim, and avoiding getting caught up in combat as much as possible. Then there was only one answer.
Pretending that he too had been caught up in the gate. If it was a scenario where a powerless, incompetent purifier who hadn’t heard the evacuation order in time got caught up in the gate while passing through this area, there would be no problem. First enter the dungeon and check if Boss Kim was there, then if he met Boss Kim, they’d quietly hide together somewhere safe and be rescued by the guild that came to clear it. Even if Boss Kim wasn’t there, he could hide alone and be rescued, achieving both of his goals.
“Good.”
Ha-seong was satisfied with what he thought was a brilliant scenario and crossed the gate. Dizzying headaches struck and the surrounding scenery instantly transformed. And Ha-seong realized, only after completely crossing the gate, that he hadn’t thought of one fact.
“But what rank dungeon is this?”
That question came to mind belatedly. Still, he had to somehow endure inside until he was rescued, and for that, it would be good to know the rank roughly.
Hmm. Ha-seong held his forehead and fell into thought, but the situation was already past the point of no return. Since he had already entered the dungeon. Ha-seong first looked around broadly. It seemed a bit cold, and where he was standing now was in the middle of a mountain. Looking up at the sky, rocks were floating, and a desolate wind was slowly blowing.
I was thinking I should do some mountain climbing because I seemed to lack exercise lately, but I never thought it would be realized this way. Ha-seong let out a sigh and shook off his thoughts. Right, whatever happened, since he had already entered, what mattered was Boss Kim’s whereabouts.
“Well then, shall I look for him?”
[Search Skill (S) is activated.]
Ha-seong immediately activated his search skill. If there were people in this vicinity, they would definitely be caught by the search skill. Ha-seong slowly moved his steps while continuously looking around. If there were people other than himself, they would be displayed as green dots, but there was nothing that looked like that immediately.
However…
“Huh? What’s this?”
What gradually began approaching in Ha-seong’s vision with the search skill activated were red dots. The only targets displayed in red in this skill were monsters.
“Crazy, damn it…”
Ha-seong started running frantically in the opposite direction from where the red dots were approaching. One of his goals was not getting caught up in combat, so he couldn’t fail from the start.
“Huff… huff…”
Ha-seong, who had barely shaken off the monsters, grabbed onto nearby trees and caught his breath. Fortunately, perhaps because it was a mountain, there seemed to be many places to hide.
“Can I even find the boss like this?”
But having many places to hide meant it was poison as an environment for searching. That’s when Ha-seong was leaning against a tree, lost in thought about how to act.
“Squawk!”
“Ah! Shit!”
Suddenly something flew from behind trying to attack Ha-seong. Ha-seong, startled in his defenseless state, screamed and instantly swung his elbow.
“Oink.”
Then the monster that had rushed at Ha-seong made a strange sound and easily collapsed.
“Hah… what a surprise.”
Looking closely, it was a ‘Fire-breathing Boar’ monster, one of the common species among low-grade monsters. It was a very simple name given because it resembled a boar and was characterized by breathing fire.
“This thing tried to sneak attack me.”
Ha-seong, angry from the surprise, raised his fist again, but suddenly thought that this monster might have some utility value.
“Let’s see, among my skills there’s definitely…”
Ha-seong squinted his eyes while earnestly scrolling through his skill window.
“Oh, here it is.”
[Taming Skill (C) is activated.]
Since the rank was low at C-grade, it was impossible to completely tame monsters, but it was a skill that allowed for communication.
“Hey.”
Ha-seong called to the boar lying down, but the monster remained motionless.
“Get up while I’m asking nicely. I saw you move your tail earlier, you know?”
Then the boar slowly opened its eyes.
[P-please spare me.]
“Look at this. You’re alive. Why are you pretending to faint? Want to die?”
[No.]
The boar shook its head frantically with round, bright eyes.
“But the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Where do you get off trying to sneak attack suddenly? Don’t you know combat ethics?”
[I-I don’t know such things…]
“That’s why you end up like this because you don’t know. Listen carefully. The world is never easy-going. If you want to live long and prosper, don’t attack recklessly and should carefully scout first. Got it?”
Ha-seong crouched down and made eye contact with the boar. The boar seemed deeply moved by the survival philosophy lecture that suddenly opened in the middle of the mountain and nodded vigorously.
[I-I’ll keep it in mind!]
“Right. Good attitude.”
[Then… can I go now?]
“No.”
At Ha-seong’s firm words, the boar’s face immediately became dejected.
“Let me ask you one thing. If you answer well, I’ll let you go without killing you.”
[Ask me anything!]
“Have you ever seen a person in this dungeon? Um… probably alone and an old man. He might be collapsed. Have you seen such a person?”
Since Boss Kim had an ordinary person’s body, not a hunter’s, there was a high possibility he had lost consciousness, unable to overcome the dungeon’s energy.
[Uh… Ah! Now that I think about it, I have seen one. A person who was alone and collapsed!]
“Oh, really? Then guide me there. I’ll let you go after that.”
Ha-seong thought things might work out better than expected.
* * *
“Hey, how is this an old man?”
The thought that things might work out better than expected was miserably shattered. Though he had excitedly followed where the boar guided him, what was lying on the dirt ground wasn’t Boss Kim but some unknown young man. And one who looked to be around Ha-seong’s age.
[Ah… I’m not good at gauging humans’ ages…]
“Hah, I was wrong to trust a boar…”
[That’s quite hurtful for the boar listening.]
“Be quiet. Before you get beaten.”
[Yes.]
Ha-seong held his head. Who the hell was this person collapsed here? Was he someone who got caught up while passing by like Boss Kim? Anyway, what were those Management Bureau guys doing? This was like coming to find a lump and getting a new lump attached. The neat-looking young man was sleeping very comfortably, not knowing whose heart he was troubling.
‘He’s not dead, is he?’
That was natural since his skin was so pale and he was sleeping like that. What to do about this? If he hadn’t seen him, it would be one thing, but having already seen him, he couldn’t just leave him alone.
“Hey, boar. You guard this person here. Until I come back.”
Finding Boss Kim came first. He planned to return here after finding him.
[Um… that probably won’t work.]
“What? Why?”
[He seems like he’ll wake up again soon…]
Who’s waking up? This person? For some unknown reason, he looked deeply asleep to anyone’s eyes.
That’s when Ha-seong was frowning, thinking to ask what he meant.
Thud-!
Suddenly the ground shook loudly and began to tremble. What was this? An earthquake? Ha-seong lowered his body toward the ground as much as possible and looked around. Soon the ground trembling became more intense. Moreover, rather than an earthquake, this was…
‘Footsteps?’
Ha-seong stared at the point where the rumbling seemed to have started with a serious face. There was a cave emitting a desolate aura.
“Hey, pig.”
[I’m a boar.]
“Tell me what you were trying to say earlier. What’s waking up?”
[Ah, the owner of this dungeon. So…]
A large silhouette began to slowly appear from the darkness of the cave. At the same time, the ground’s rumbling became more intense. For an instant, the back of Ha-seong’s neck became chilly.
[It’s the Blind Sword Demon-nim.]
Before the boar’s words were even finished, wind sounds came from inside the cave, and a sharp sword strike instantly flew this way.
“Damn it…!”
Ha-seong pressed his body even closer to the ground to avoid the attack. And several trees that took the hit instead of Ha-seong were instantly cut into neat shapes. At the same time, the owner of this dungeon appeared. The monster, several times Ha-seong’s height, was one Ha-seong knew well.
S-rank monster, Blind Sword Demon. Literally a blind samurai monster that boasted tremendous swordsmanship.
“No wonder my luck has been good lately.”
Ha-seong let out a sigh. The reason his luck had been good seemed to be a precursor to facing an S-rank monster in an S-rank dungeon. Forget finding Boss Kim, he might die right now in his defenseless state. He thought of running away, but since he was already in that sword demon’s sight, that was impossible.
Ha-seong had no choice but to take out the most usable weapon from his inventory.
[Won’t that pathetic sword be too much?]
“Be quiet. Unless you want to become roast meat.”
[Yes.]
Even though he said that, the pig’s words were right. This was ‘Hero’s Sword,’ one of the most common weapons. With C-rank added to it.
That’s when Ha-seong was re-gripping the C-rank sword. Once again, the same kind of strike as before flew at Ha-seong. This time, instead of dodging to the ground, he jumped high upward. But at that moment, the attack changed trajectory and followed Ha-seong. Judging that he couldn’t avoid it, Ha-seong eventually deflected the strike with his sword.
Clang-!
With a loud noise, the attack that flew to an unintended place cut down trees once more.
“If I get hit, I’ll really go to the afterlife.”
Ha-seong looked at the sword in his hand. Just blocking one attack had severely damaged the blade. The chances of blocking more attacks in this state would be at most once. Then there was a method. He re-gripped his sword. Then the blind sword demon swung his sword once more.
But Ha-seong didn’t dodge this time. He just watched the incoming strike.
[Dodge!]
The moment the pig shouted, Ha-seong took his stance and swung his sword with all his might. The strike hit by Ha-seong’s sword flew as it was and this time hit the sword demon accurately. The sword demon, hit by his own attack, writhed in pain and collapsed to the ground.
“Hah…”
Ha-seong breathed roughly and threw the already broken sword to the ground. The monster screamed in agony with a strange cry. Please. Die. Ha-seong prayed like that, but Ha-seong knew best that an S-rank wouldn’t die so easily.
He had sold all the proper weapons, so there were none left. Ah, should I use skills? I decided not to do that. That’s when Ha-seong was contemplating while staring at the sword demon getting up once more.
“Get down.”
A low voice heard from behind. Before even recognizing who spoke, Ha-seong got down on the ground with animal-like reflexes. Hot heat was felt from behind, then enormous flames passed over Ha-seong’s back.
‘What?’
The flames that flew from behind directly hit the sword demon. The sword demon cried out in an even more pain-filled voice than before. Ha-seong slowly stood up, blankly watching the monster burn helplessly. And he turned his body toward the direction the attack came from.
“How noisily it cries.”
A silhouette visible between the soaring flames. Snow-white skin and blue eyes. It was that young man who had been lying down earlier.
“By the way.”
Before he could even grasp what the situation was, the man with jet-black hair slowly approached Ha-seong.
“Who are you, trying to steal my prey?”
That was the first meeting with Cha Do-hyeok, the only S-rank hunter in South Korea and leader of the Nameless Guild.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
