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The sword with its black blade suited Samin very well.
Even the light whooshing sound as it sliced through the air was pleasant. Just from his posture and movements while holding it, he handled it so skillfully that he could have passed for a hunter whose main weapon was a sword.
KWAKWAKWAKWA——!
Every time he swung the sword, thick trees fell with only their trunks remaining. The leaves hanging from branch tips rustled as they dropped purple fruits to the ground.
“If the trees roll around, they’ll get more in the way, so push them to one side!”
“Ah, you should have said that earlier!”
“Push them and step back, I’ll move them!”
KUGUNG, KUNG!
The sound of dozens of trees collapsing at once with each weapon swing echoed through the dungeon. As fruits, leaves, and logs scattered on the ground piled up neatly through the dusty earth.
[Notification: The ‘Orchard’s Middle Manager’ is greatly enraged by excessive logging.]
As expected, a notification window announcing the appearance of a magical beast appeared before their eyes. Doun felt satisfied as he struck his staff against the ground.
[Notification: The mid-boss ‘Orchard’s Middle Management Tree’ of dungeon ‘Orchard of Despair (B)’ is approaching.]
He had expected small magical beasts to appear, but unexpectedly, it was the appearance of a mid-boss that he had expected to see only in the middle stage of the conquest.
“The mid-boss comes out just from smashing some trees? Even if it’s a B-rank dungeon, isn’t the skip too fast?”
When Choi Jiyoon scratched the back of her head and muttered, Dong Jiwon next to her countered.
“Generally, dungeons expect you to move to areas where magical beasts appear, but groups like us who start by clearing trees first probably aren’t common, Jiyoon noona.”
“Ah. Is that so…?”
It was definitely strange to be knocking down trees in a dungeon they entered to kill magical beasts. Just as Choi Jiyoon widened her eyes, thinking it might look like they were wasting stamina and mana on pointless tasks.
[Notification: The ‘Orchard’s Middle Management Tree’ seals some skills with its authority.]
Along with the flashing notification window, the dungeon mid-boss appeared. The magical beast that restricted skills immediately upon appearance had an indescribably grotesque appearance.
“Ugh, what’s with that visual?”
Jang Hyeonseong seemed to dry heave, then quickly gripped his bow tightly. Hunters who conquered high floors inevitably had to encounter all kinds of magical beasts. Thanks to that, he thought he had built up quite a tolerance to bizarre forms.
“…Oh. This one looks pretty weird…”
It was an appearance that made even Doun, who usually didn’t care what magical beasts looked like, grimace.
GWOOOOOO…!
The mid-boss ‘Orchard’s Middle Management Tree’, which threateningly swung drooping tree vines as arms, resembled a tree as its name suggested. However, dozens of bright red pupils were eerily moving between the cracks in its split bark.
“If I had come to conquer this after eating, I would have thrown up… Ah, it’s really too disgusting…”
Kim Chansol squinted and rubbed his forearms. Everyone seemed to feel similarly, with unpleasant expressions.
“I’d normally punch it with my fists…”
Even Samin was disgusted by its appearance. He couldn’t touch Doun with hands that had hit something revolting. Of course, he would wash thoroughly and even disinfect, but that’s how he felt.
‘Let’s avoid touching it as much as possible…’
Just as Samin was looking back at Doun while still holding the sword he was about to put in his inventory.
[Notification: ‘Seaweed Kelp TV (D)’ has entered dungeon ‘Orchard of Despair (B)’.]
A notification window announcing that a new presence had entered the dungeon flashed before everyone’s eyes and disappeared. And a few seconds later, a voice that could only be described as frivolous echoed loudly through the dungeon.
“Alright, alright! Hyungs. Can you see? I’ve entered the dungeon right away! I’ll relay the situation of the hunters who entered first! With ten people, it’s an alliance situation, right?”
At the voice chattering with inaccurate pronunciation, Samin unconsciously muttered a curse.
“Ah, damn.”
He was certain that other hunters would enter since it was a dungeon that appeared near the tower. But of all people, why did someone like that have to come in?
“Those hyungs over there. The people who entered first look like Yeoun Guild? This isn’t fabricated, it’s the actual situation. Right now!”
He had good eyesight for his appearance. Though he had hoped not to be recognized, the man who joined late looked over the group and was busy chattering toward his phone.
“What? Get a Magnetic interview? Think about it. Hey, our boring hyung! Thanks for the ten cotton candy donations! 10,000 if I get a Magnetic interview? Crazy. I’m going right now.”
As expected, Doun was immediately mentioned.
‘Who does that bastard think he is?’
Just as Samin was frowning.
“Right now it looks like a mid-boss has appeared? I’ll freeze the chat while watching since I’ll get banned immediately if I get seriously hurt.”
The scrawny man kept chattering toward the phone stuck on a long stand. From talking about donations and chat rooms, it was 100% a live broadcast.
The Yeoun Guild members facing off against the mid-boss exchanged glances. Getting involved with that type would be annoying, so they needed to conquer quickly and escape.
On the other hand, Doun couldn’t hide his rapidly growing anxiety. Precisely, it had been that way since his nickname was mentioned.
With the mid-boss appearing now, the priority should be figuring out how to conquer that hideous magical beast. However, for some reason, only thoughts of wanting to escape this place kept repeating in his head.
‘Why is that person suddenly talking about me… Did I come to the unity competition for nothing? No, I shouldn’t have entered the dungeon. Can I avoid it if we conquer quickly and go to the pension? But why should I have to avoid it? And what kind of questions will he ask…’
Watching Doun’s eyes repeatedly turn blue and return to their original color, Samin frowned and gestured to Do Hyeonwoo.
“Hyeonwoo, start with Meteor right away. Let’s clear this quickly and get out. The rest of you distract it and buy casting time.”
“Yes!”
The plan to enjoy moderately as an extension of the unity competition was scrapped. He intended to conquer as quickly as possible, take only the rewards, and leave.
While Do Hyeonwoo received buffs from Hong Chan and Choi Jiyoon to cast Meteor, Doun belatedly moved his lips. Everyone was moving, so he should help with something, but his head was too complicated.
“Manager-nim. Thanks for eighteen cotton candies! Upvote if you want to beat up Timer. Ah, of course it’s an upvote! Ask this too when I get the Magnetic interview later? This video would get sweet views if uploaded, right? Really?”
The content that was clearly audible due to the loud voice made Doun even more flustered, even though he didn’t want to hear it. It was terrible that his unresolved past was being discussed carelessly by unspecified masses.
‘I think I’m going to throw up. Really…’
In the end, as Doun could only breathe shallowly without saying anything to Samin.
“Doun hyung.”
“…Yeah.”
“If we break through all the way to the dungeon boss, can you use Stigma on the boss right away?”
Doun’s gaze turned to the ground. Without accurate information about the dungeon boss, not knowing its appearance, size, or type, Doun asserted.
“I can do it.”
When converting the conquest difficulty of a B-rank dungeon to tower terms, he had heard it was roughly around the 30th floor. Since he had instantly killed the 47th floor boss, he predicted it would be more than possible.
If he could avoid encountering the owner of the voice that kept mentioning his nickname behind him, even if it were impossible, he had to accomplish it now.
“Save as much mana as possible for now. When the conquest ends, we’ll leave the gathering to the kids and we’ll leave.”
“…Is that okay?”
“Yeah. How much are magic stones worth anyway.”
At the firm answer, Doun could calm his anxious heart a little.
“Wow! Can you see up there right now? Meteor is falling! Making the dungeon into a furnace with just an A-rank skill! Really awesome class! When will a D-rank scrub like me get something like that. Wow!”
The annoyingly noisy voice continued tirelessly. As if conquest wasn’t the purpose from the beginning, instead of participating, he just stayed far away, turning his phone camera this way and that.
“Wow. 24,000 viewers? Where did word spread? My room is relaying Yeoun conquering a dungeon? Light-netic Love hyung, thanks for 30 cotton candies! Ah~ the coordinates were posted on the anonymous boards?”
What on earth was he talking about? There weren’t even many words he could understand.
TUKWAGAGAGAK!
With Do Hyeonwoo’s skill casting, shock waves spread along with collision sounds that shook the ground. The group, who instinctively prepared for the shock wave, were fine, but the D-rank hunter who had been babbling in cheap speech was rolling on the ground.
“Ugh! What, what is it? Ow, fuck, where’s my phone?”
Looking for his phone first during a conquest. He didn’t want to care anymore. Doun glanced at Samin, who remained reliably by his side, then looked at the magical beast’s corpse buried in the center of the crater.
‘Good thing it was an instant kill.’
As if he was serious, the crater was larger than usual. The heat from the meteor impact brushed past his nose tip, and flames instantly spread outward from the crater. While burning the trees they hadn’t managed to cut down, the guild members exchanged glances.
‘Ugh, so noisy. Let’s catch it quickly and escape.’
‘Yes!’
Having roughly reached a silent agreement, they moved quickly. When even Seong Suyeon, who entered as a healer, joined the attack, the conquest gained insane acceleration.
“Fall back! Casting is finished!”
At Jang Hyeonseong’s shout, the guild members quickly pulled back. Light rippled from his fingertips as he drew the bowstring taut.
-Target Designation (A)
Rains indiscriminate mana arrows on the range designated by the caster. The number of arrows varies according to the caster’s mana amount.
Jang Hyeonseong, who aimed his bow toward the sky, released the string without hesitation. Hundreds of light arrows shot up with flashing light instantly covered the sky.
It was a dazzling sight. The arrows made of pure white light dominated the sky densely like a cloud made of light. Then they quickly drew parabolic arcs and struck down into the magical beast’s body.
SWAEAEAEK!
The light arrows that embedded densely into the ground with the sound of tearing wind exploded at intervals of several seconds. The writhing tentacle clusters crawled across the ground as if struggling, but eventually died under the arrow rain that poured down so densely it was hard to find gaps.
In the dungeon that had suddenly become quiet, just as the man who belatedly picked up his phone was muttering curses about the broken screen.
[Notification: 7 members belonging to party ‘Buddy’ have entered dungeon ‘Orchard of Despair (B)’.]
Notification windows announcing that other hunters had joined began appearing in succession. Doun swallowed hard.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
