#36
When a gate opens, a dungeon occurs. Dungeons are crawling with monsters, and those with special abilities enter the dungeons to subjugate them.
In the Great Hunter Era, this much was now common sense and obvious knowledge that even kindergarteners knew. Besides this, there were several other facts that applied to everyone in this era.
For example, electronic devices used in reality outside the dungeon don’t work inside dungeons. Also, each dungeon has its own unique energy, and you can gauge the grade through that energy. The environments inside dungeons vary greatly, and the monsters that inhabit them are all different. And among all these, the most important thing for hunters was this one fact:
To conquer a dungeon, you must kill the dungeon’s master.
If you kill the master guarding the dungeon, that dungeon collapses and the gate disappears. And Ha-seong, who had been living as a hunter for decades, had never seen or heard of a case where a dungeon had two masters.
‘That bastard is really the master here.’
Ha-seong frowned as he stared at the giant serpent-like monster approaching from far away. It was S-grade. And most importantly, it had powerful energy – the master’s energy. That S-grade serpent bastard was probably the real master of this dungeon. Then this dungeon had risen to S-grade…
Then what was that bastard from earlier? Ha-seong stared at the black liquid scattered on the floor. It was the remains of the B-grade monster that Nameless hunters had killed earlier. He had felt the master’s aura from that one too.
“Team Leader, something seems wrong. We should run away first and wait for support…”
When one of the team members said this, the team leader nodded. It seemed they had instinctively realized this wasn’t something they could handle.
“Everyone run fast without looking back!”
Perhaps because they were hunters belonging to Nameless, they fortunately made a good judgment call. Watching the people safely escape from its sight and run away, Ha-seong let out a short sigh of relief. If they escaped safely and he was left alone, Ha-seong might have to face that thing. That might be faster than waiting for Cha Do-hyeok to come. Han Shin-woo had said he went on something ‘like’ a business trip.
For now, Ha-seong couldn’t reveal his existence, so he could only act after those people running away desperately had completely disappeared.
“Hey! Youngest! What are you doing!”
Then the team leader who had been running fast looked around, stopped, and turned back. The team member who had first noticed the monster’s presence earlier was frozen in place, trembling.
“Hey! Lee Seung-woo!”
That team member named Lee Seung-woo was probably facing such a situation for the first time. Well, with no experience, if he faced such a huge thing, it was understandable. The problem was that the monster was crawling rapidly toward them.
The team leader grabbed the frozen youngest’s arm and pulled him roughly. At that moment, the serpent that had somehow gotten close raised its neck high. It seemed like it was going to strike down. If the neck of something with that build hit the ground directly, the surrounding area would definitely be completely devastated. And those two who hadn’t managed to escape from its sight yet…
Ha-seong clenched his fist. At the same time, the team leader hid the youngest behind him and stretched his arm forward. Rather than running away, it seemed he was going to deploy a shield to withstand the attack once. For now, it was a good action worth trying. It would be more efficient to block it once rather than running away ambiguously.
The problem was whether they could really block it.
“……”
Ha-seong hesitated and then moved his hand. He pulled his hoodie hood down tight and tied the strings well. If he ran to them now, there was a risk of his identity being exposed. Even if they didn’t know Ha-seong’s face well, as long as they belonged to the same Nameless, he couldn’t hide it forever. If he covered his face and succeeded in not getting caught as much as possible, but…
In other words, it was a gamble.
The monster raised its neck even higher. Though it was called a gamble, it might not have even been something for Ha-seong to worry about anyway. Right now, only the trembling young hunter and the hunter facing fear while a bit of despair was blooming were visible in his eyes.
“Seung-woo, get yourself together and listen to me carefully.”
At the team leader’s calm voice, Seung-woo slowly raised his head.
“Run away. I’ll try to block that bastard.”
“B-but…”
“Quickly!”
When the team leader shouted fiercely, tears finally fell from Seung-woo’s face. At the scolding that a hunter shouldn’t be crying, Seung-woo rubbed his eyes and turned around.
“Seung-woo.”
When the youngest ran away and the distance opened to a safe zone, the monster’s movement stopped completely. The calm before the storm.
“Please take good care of telling the other kids.”
“T-Team Leader!”
The moment Seung-woo lifted his foot to come back again, the monster struck its neck down to the ground.
“Ugh…”
Seung-woo trembled with his head down and hands shaking. He had to run away, it was time the team leader had earned for him, but he absolutely couldn’t raise his head. If he raised his head, he might see something that was no longer the team leader he knew.
“Excuse me.”
Then a low voice was heard from the front. A very small voice came through the dust wind mixed with broken debris.
Seung-woo slowly raised his head.
“Wh-who…”
In front was the back of someone he didn’t know. Thanks to the hood being pulled down tight, he couldn’t even see their profile. And behind that, he could see the team leader collapsed.
“T-Team Leader!”
Seung-woo quickly ran over to check on him. He put his hand under his nose to check his breathing. Fortunately, he was breathing.
“Instead of doing that, could you please run away?”
More words came from that man wearing the hoodie. But because the surroundings were completely noisy with the sound of things breaking, and because that person spoke too quietly, it wasn’t clearly audible.
“Please run away. Take that person with you.”
The mysterious person was stretching his hand toward the air. Could this person be the one who just blocked the attack and saved the team leader? Seung-woo, who roughly understood, quickly looked around. Looking at the surroundings, the monster was preparing its next attack. Whoever it was, he seemed to have to follow those words.
“Um, th-that, aren’t you leaving?”
“……”
No words came back from Ha-seong. Seung-woo didn’t say more and started running to the opposite side while supporting the team leader. Ha-seong stretched out his hand and deployed a wide shield in the air. The serpent continued to strike down on it with its neck.
It struck with its thick neck and stabbed with sharp teeth, but Ha-seong’s shield didn’t even get a scratch. Despite the monster’s frightening momentum, Ha-seong didn’t even blink as he concentrated on the presence around him. The presence of the two people had long since moved far away.
“You really can’t stay still.”
Ha-seong took off his hood and shouted irritably. He lowered his hand and stepped back lightly. The monster also didn’t make any more attacks. It seemed to be keenly observing Ha-seong’s movements.
Come to think of it, there were two dungeon masters. This would definitely be useful information. He should tell Cha Do-hyeok quickly, but the problem was that to do that, he had to leave this dungeon.
“And to do that, I have to kill you.”
As if understanding his words, the serpent lowered its entire body. It was like a beast before catching its prey. Ha-seong examined the monster a bit more carefully. Fortunately, it seemed like that huge build was all it had in terms of attack power.
But S-grade wasn’t S-grade for nothing. Hard scales and hide. Certainly, it would be difficult to pierce with ordinary weapons or attacks.
“Isn’t there something suitable around here?”
Of course, that applied to ordinary hunters. Ha-seong, who had finished his rough exploration, started looking around for something that could be a weapon. And there was something that caught his eye.
When Ha-seong showed movement, the monster also didn’t stay still. It started moving its huge body again, and Ha-seong avoided it skillfully while picking up a greatsword that had fallen pitifully on the floor.
It seemed to be the weapon that hunter Lee Seung-woo had been carrying earlier. It seemed he hadn’t managed to take it when running away.
“This should be quite usable.”
The grade would be at most B-grade if rated highly. But this much was like a rare weapon to Ha-seong now.
[Using Trait Enhancement Skill (S). Please choose the trait to enhance for this weapon.]
Without hesitation, Ha-seong split the skill half and half between durability and strength. Then he swung the large greatsword casually with one hand. After all, to use such a large weapon, it was better to get even a little familiar with it in your hands.
As he spun the weapon threateningly, the serpent pressed its body completely to the ground and charged. It was an unimaginable speed. Ha-seong jumped up to avoid the attack. And as he jumped up, he immediately gripped the sword with both hands and drove it straight into its long body.
After all, with such large-bodied guys or those who could only rely on strength, it was better to face them with pure physical force just as brutishly rather than using your head. But the problem was that he couldn’t deal as much damage to it as he thought.
Surprised by the sudden attack, the serpent twisted its body greatly and swept away Ha-seong who was attached to its torso.
“Ugh.”
As the sword came out completely, Ha-seong flew far to the opposite side. With a dull collision sound, Ha-seong fell to the floor.
“Ah, really.”
Ha-seong got up while rubbing his back. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be broken. But his forehead was slightly torn, probably cut by something sharp when falling to the floor. Ha-seong wiped the flowing blood and ran toward it again.
Simply stabbing with the sword wouldn’t work. He had to attack its weak point, or the weakest part, then slam in a skill. Then where was the weakest part?
As the monster kept swinging its large body around, there was absolutely no capacity to continue exploration. Should he just stab randomly and see? If he did that, wouldn’t he hit something somewhere?
“Eyes.”
Then a different voice was heard from somewhere. A calm and indifferent voice that didn’t fit with this place. Ha-seong jumped into the air to avoid an attack while turning his head toward where the voice came from.
Sure enough, Cha Do-hyeok was pointing at his own blue eyes with his finger while looking at Ha-seong.
“The eyes. That’s its weak point.”
“Okay.”
Ha-seong changed trajectory and kicked off the ground to leap out. It was even faster speed than the monster from earlier. He who approached the serpent’s face in an instant raised the greatsword high.
But the monster seemed to notice too, as it lifted off the ground and raised its neck high. The target disappeared from sight in an instant, but Ha-seong didn’t panic and regripped the greatsword.
[Activating Trait Unextinguishable Flame (S).]
Black fire surrounded the greatsword. Ha-seong threw the sword upward with all his might.
Thud-
And it hit precisely in its right eye. The black flame began burning the monster’s eye along the greatsword. Then it cried out loudly.
Perhaps to extinguish the fire, the monster swung its body greatly, but it was futile. That fire would never be extinguished. After a while, the black flame consumed the serpent’s entire body, and its movements began to slow down gradually. And then it stopped completely.
“Wow, that was really tough. Even that sword demon would have been better.”
Ha-seong dusted off his clothes and approached Do-hyeok, who was still standing in that same spot.
“But why didn’t you help?”
While someone was running here and there, the guy who was younger and had less experience as a junior just stood still and watched his one-man show.
“I told you. The weak point.”
“Hey, that’s that and this is this.”
Ha-seong wiped his forehead. The blood seemed to have stopped fortunately.
“Hyung.”
Do-hyeok looked carefully at the wound on that forehead and slowly opened his mouth.
“What.”
“Hyung, do you know you violated the contract today?”
Ha-seong silently met eyes with Do-hyeok, who was giving off a cold atmosphere.
“Why did you reveal yourself in front of guild members?”
Do-hyeok’s blue eyes had become even deeper.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
