#034
The circle of flames that filled the ceiling rose upwards. The small spiders falling from above made loud sizzling sounds as they burned and burst like they had fallen into a frying pan. The screams of the small spiders were so intense that it felt like they might rupture eardrums. Eunseok gritted his teeth and continued Guiding.
Thud thud thud-.
Fragments of burnt and exploded spider corpses rained down like a downpour. The circle of flames rose all the way to the top of the ceiling. Having lost all its small spiders, the giant spider let out a terrible scream and hid behind its white web.
The roaring flames engulfed the spider web. However, the web seemed resistant to fire, neither catching flame nor burning. Further flame attacks appeared useless. Oh Seongeun seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
“Huff-!”
Oh Seongeun lowered his stick, exhaling deeply. The flames that had been fiercely trying to burn the spider web disappeared all at once.
“I need to rest for a bit.”
Oh Seongeun stepped back and approached a backpack discarded in a corner. He took out a water bottle and gulped it down.
With the flames that had tried to burn it gone, the giant spider began to descend, pulling out white web from its rear. As the distance closed, the enormous size of the creature became truly apparent.
The aura emitted by the A-grade boss was tremendous. If Eunseok hadn’t undergone years of brutal training and real combat experience, he would have already been trembling and cowering.
“Watch closely,” Oh Seongeun said, unwrapping an energy bar and putting it in his mouth.
Step. Step.
Choi Hanseo walked into the center of the cavern. The giant spider was falling directly above his head. When Choi Hanseo tilted his head to look up, the giant spider, meeting his gaze, let out a ferocious roar filled with killing intent. Or rather, it seemed more like a cornered beast trying to intimidate its opponent by making an even fiercer sound.
Finally, I can see this man’s combat.
While maintaining area Guiding for the three people facing the giant bat, Eunseok focused all his attention on Choi Hanseo.
The giant spider opened its mouth and spewed acidic liquid towards Choi Hanseo. Eunseok’s body instinctively flinched. But in the brief moment it took to blink, Choi Hanseo had completely vanished from Eunseok’s sight.
Hiss-….
The liquid splattered on the ground, corroding the soil and stones, emitting an acrid smell.
‘Where?’
Eunseok’s eyes quickly searched for Choi Hanseo. The next moment, his figure reappeared on top of the giant spider’s crown.
The giant spider flipped its body while relying on the web attached to its rear. Choi Hanseo leapt high, lightly kicking away the thick spider legs rushing towards him.
Crack-! Crunch-!
Though he seemed to barely tap them, the spider’s legs, as thick as large tree trunks, made crushing sounds and snapped downwards.
Screech! Screech-!
The giant spider thrashed about frantically, swinging its remaining legs and spraying acidic liquid. Choi Hanseo’s body disappeared and reappeared in the air, avoiding these frenzied attacks.
Spatial movement?
No, that wasn’t it. His movements were just incredibly fast.
Every time Choi Hanseo appeared, he casually kicked the spider’s legs and mouth with his toes. Each time his foot made contact, a leg, a part of the body, or the hook-like mouth was shattered.
With most of its legs destroyed, the giant spider tried to climb up to the ceiling using its web. But Choi Hanseo didn’t allow it.
Crack-!
Choi Hanseo’s foot smashed the giant spider’s rear end. As the rear end connected to the web was crushed, the giant spider fell straight to the floor.
Boom-!!
The giant spider’s body crashed onto the stone floor with a tremendous sound. The ground beneath their feet vibrated. Choi Hanseo still stood casually on top of the spider’s body. He wasn’t fighting. He was simply toying with the giant spider, like a child plucking the wings off a dragonfly one by one.
“He’s strong, isn’t he?” Oh Seongeun, who had been resting against the wall, asked softly. Eunseok nodded without taking his eyes off Choi Hanseo.
“The S-grade is like a temporary license plate for convenience in categorizing. It’s actually a catch-all term for cases where the estimated ability exceeds measurable limits, making it impossible to assign a grade.”
“So if it’s immeasurable, saying it’s just one level above A-grade isn’t enough.”
“That’s right. In the Guild Master’s case… well, I don’t think even a hundred A-grade hunters rushing at him would stand a chance of winning.”
The giant spider had lost all its legs and half its body was blown apart, yet it was still writhing. Standing tall on top of this giant spider, he looked…
Eunseok took a slow, deep breath. A tingling sensation ran from the nape of his neck down to the end of his spine.
His whole body trembled with awe and thrill at the sight of an opponent with perfect strength. Following that, a fighting spirit and stubbornness to overcome and break that strength surged within him.
Amidst the giant spider’s thrashing, acidic liquid spewed from its mouth splashed onto Choi Hanseo’s shoulder.
Hiss-….
The acidic liquid dissolved Choi Hanseo’s shirt. Beneath the large hole in his shirt, a muscular shoulder exuding strength was revealed. Despite being exposed to what was clearly a powerful acid, Choi Hanseo’s skin remained unscathed.
“That person… no, what is the Guild Master’s ability?”
Eunseok asked in a neutral tone, trying to hide the tremor running through his body.
There was no sign of any special ability in the way he was slowly dismantling the giant spider like a toy. He was using pure physical strength alone to subdue an A-grade boss monster. So what exactly was this man’s ability?
“I don’t know either. Probably no one knows,” Oh Seongeun answered in a calm voice. His voice carried a trace of awe that he couldn’t quite hide.
“I’m landing the final blow-!”
Suddenly, as if the channel had changed, a loud voice erupted from the side. Only then did Eunseok become aware of his team members fighting fiercely nearby.
Turning his head, he saw the bat with its wings cut and broken engaging in close combat with the team members. The giant bat, oozing dark green blood, also looked close to death.
“Haaah-!”
Moon Bora leapt into the air, holding her longsword with both hands. A blue light flickered on the sword raised above her head.
Soon, the light-infused sword precisely split the bat’s head in two.
Boom-!
The giant bat collapsed to the ground, twitching as if in post-mortem convulsions.
Silence fell over the cavern as both the giant spider and giant bat perished.
“Ah. Another day looking like a mess.”
Ji Taeuk sighed heavily, covered head to toe in green blood and flesh. Eunseok finally raised his arm to check the time.
[14:55]
They had started around 8:30 AM, so it had taken just over 6 hours.
His body, which had been pushed relentlessly, screamed even louder as it became aware of the time.
“Phew…”
Eunseok sighed, running his hand through his hair, which was covered in sticky liquid. Then he approached Moon Bora’s group, who were crouched in front of the giant bat, probing its corpse with their swords.
“How are your numbers?”
When Eunseok asked, the team members simultaneously held out their watches to Eunseok’s eyes, as if competing. Whether it was unavoidable or because they trusted their guide, their numbers were clearly high from using a lot of energy.
“When we get back, Bora noona should receive Guiding first. The rest of you, please make appointments for tomorrow.”
Eunseok prioritized Moon Bora, saying this. It seemed that because she had acted as both tank and dealer for half the team, Moon Bora’s numbers were the highest.
“Yes! I’m number one!”
Despite the discomfort she must have been feeling from the high numbers, Moon Bora raised her hand excitedly.
“Ah. Here it is.”
Shin Jeongho, who had been probing and cutting the giant bat’s corpse as if examining it, held up something and spoke. It was a magic stone about the size of a baby’s fist, dripping with dark green blood.
“Oh, nice loot. Quickly, let’s check the spider too.”
Ji Taeuk urged with an excited face. Of course, he showed no intention of digging through the spider himself.
Shin Jeongho tossed the magic stone to Ji Taeuk and walked towards the giant spider’s corpse. When Eunseok turned his head in that direction, Choi Hanseo had disappeared from atop the spider’s body.
As he was about to look around wondering where Choi Hanseo had gone, suddenly a large hand grasped his forearm.
His body tensed, still on high alert. Eunseok relaxed the fist he had reflexively almost thrown at Choi Hanseo.
“Hunter Ji Taeuk.”
Choi Hanseo called out, pulling Eunseok towards Ji Taeuk.
Ji Taeuk, who had been examining the magic stone in his hand as if mesmerized, quickly looked up at Choi Hanseo’s call.
“What are you doing not healing?” Choi Hanseo urged, placing Eunseok right in front of Ji Taeuk.
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
Ji Taeuk nodded with an unfamiliar expression. Then he looked Eunseok up and down.
