Chapter 12
"Kraaaah!"
Even the C-Class combat hunter in the second line couldn’t withstand the orcs’ pincer attack and went down. Now the orcs’ attention turned to Kang Hyun-jun.
"Kang Hyun-jun... sir..."
"Don’t panic. Just keep the buffs coming. Use the best one you’ve got."
Ye-seul’s voice trembled, but Hyun-jun remained calm. He leveled his sword at the pack of thirteen orcs, including two berserkers, and asked her for a buff.
"Bless...!"
Mana rose from her hands and settled over his body. Hyun-jun immediately felt the change. Not only had his flesh been strengthened by the effect of Bless, but his mana recovery speed had also increased dramatically.
The buff is pretty damn good.
The thought didn’t linger. One of the orc berserkers had already closed to point-blank range.
Whoosh.
The sword flashed cleanly through the orc berserker’s throat. It collapsed in a spray of blood, and the other berserker was struck by Hyun-jun’s shield bash and sent flying far away. At the very least, every bone in its body had to have been shattered.
"W-wow..."
Ye-seul, maintaining the buff while watching Hyun-jun fight from behind, let out an awed gasp. She was a support hunter, but she was still a hunter of the same rank. And yet the movement she had just seen from Hyun-jun was too fast for her eyes to follow.
In the blink of an eye, more than half the orcs had died. Just as Ye-seul felt a surge of hope that they might survive after all...
"Kraaaah!"
Two orcs dropped from above her head and used huge axes to hack the porter’s arms and legs to pieces. Then they turned on Ye-seul. She resisted with the short sword in her hand, slashing wildly, but it was hopeless. A support hunter’s combat power wasn’t enough to handle two same-rank monsters.
"Aaahhh!"
A scream burst out. The short sword she was holding flew away the moment it collided with the axe swung by an orc. Two orcs stood before her, and she had no weapon left in her hand. Sensing her end, she squeezed her eyes shut.
Then it happened.
"Keck!"
A dull thud rang out, and one of the orcs collapsed helplessly.
"Ah...?"
Her tears stopped before they could spill. A dagger was lodged in the fallen orc’s forehead, and Hyun-jun had already stepped in front of the other orc that had been aiming for her.
"Keep the buff going."
"W-what? Yes!"
If the mana supply stopped, the buff would vanish. Her nerves were so strained that she had been right on the verge of losing control.
Ye-seul hurriedly extended both hands and drew up more mana. The buff came back to life. At the same time, Hyun-jun’s sword lunged forward and pierced the orc’s heart. The orc slumped lifelessly to the ground.
Having taken care of the orc, Hyun-jun turned his head and cast an indifferent look at Ye-seul. She was sitting on the floor, trembling with effort.
"Are you all right?"
Hyun-jun asked as he cautiously held out a hand.
"Ah... thank you."
Ye-seul took his hand and managed to get to her feet. She was still shaking, probably because she had only just escaped the fear of death.
"What do you want to do? The door isn’t locked, so we could give up and head back if you want..."
"Let’s keep going. I don’t want to be a burden to you, Kang Hyun-jun."
Abandoning a dungeon assault came with a number of penalties.
"We’re not far from the boss room now... it’d be a waste, wouldn’t it?"
"I’m the only one here who can really fight."
Hyun-jun said it plainly. There were two survivors, but Ye-seul was a support hunter, and in this place she could barely protect herself.
"If it’s Kang Hyun-jun, you could probably handle the boss here alone."
If the boss of a C-Class dungeon appeared, it would only be a B-Class monster at worst. A B-Class monster was within Hyun-jun’s range. He had already won against a Skeleton Champion, a lowest-tier A-Class monster.
"Then let’s keep going. I’ll take command of the party."
"Fine."
In truth, Hyun-jun didn’t want to become a castoff by quitting the raid halfway through either. The two of them pressed on. Before long, a massive iron door appeared ahead, clearly leading to the boss room.
"This must be the boss room."
"Just keep the buff up, and I’ll handle the rest."
Hyun-jun said it with quiet certainty. Even without the buff, he was confident he could deal with a B-Class monster easily, even accounting for the boss’s stat bonus.
"Don’t worry about the buff."
Ye-seul answered in a bright voice. Soon after, the iron door opened, and a drone flew in first to light the darkness. The boss was revealed.
An orc shaman...!
It was a B-Class monster. Hyun-jun lifted his shield and covered himself. The orc shaman sensed their presence and, faster than a breath, summoned several fireballs the size of human heads and hurled them forward.
Bang!
The collision between shield and fireballs erupted in a loud blast. If it had been the old, worn-out shield he used to carry, it would have shattered on the spot. The impact was that fierce, but thankfully the Rancor-Soaked Shield held.
"Blessing!"
With Ye-seul’s sharp cry, the buff manifested once more.
Good!
His body felt light. Hyun-jun charged toward the orc shaman. Fireballs targeted him, but he blocked them all with dazzling shield techniques.
So fast...
Ye-seul shut her eyes for a moment and opened them again, and by then Hyun-jun’s sword was already buried in the orc shaman’s throat. He pulled the mana stone from the orc shaman’s body and dropped it into his bag.
"I-I can’t believe it... you killed a B-Class monster enhanced by boss bonuses in a single strike..."
"It wasn’t anything special."
He answered honestly. As the boss’s corpse vanished, a brilliant light burst from the wall. It was a warp gate that would take them back to the dungeon entrance.
"Shall we go?"
Ye-seul asked. A faint smile touched her lips. She seemed genuinely happy to know she would make it out alive. Instead of answering, Hyun-jun stepped into the warp gate first. The moment he passed through it, he was standing on the entrance stairs. A beat later, light flashed again and Ye-seul appeared as well.
And just like that, the dungeon raid was over. They headed straight to the Dungeon Management Bureau. Because Ye-seul had a car, the trip was comfortable. It was an expensive-looking foreign model.
"Thank you for your hard work."
The settlement was done. The total payout came to 20 million won, which would normally be split in half, but Ye-seul insisted she hadn’t really done anything and handed Hyun-jun 15 million won. The survival report was also finished, and just as they were about to part ways...
"W-wait! Please take this."
Ye-seul ran over and handed him a business card. Then she waved and walked away.
"Please make sure to call me!"
Hyun-jun looked down at the card he had received from Ye-seul.
Regular Assault Team: ACE.
It was a business card with the contact information of a fairly famous regular assault team in the hunter world.
*
Clearing dungeons was exhausting work. That was why most hunters usually took a set period of rest after clearing one. In Hyun-jun’s case, he had been clearing dungeons almost without pause lately, so he ended up with a short four-day break.
During that rest, he had another round of training with Carthago. The number of times he was stabbed by a spear still didn’t decrease. The stronger he became, the harsher the training became as well.
"That will be all for today."
He couldn’t even count how many times he’d been pierced by the spear. This time, too, it had been a sparring match. When Carthago declared the session over, Hyun-jun woke from the dream of training.
"Hoo."
The familiar ceiling of his studio apartment greeted him. He let out a deep breath and got out of bed. After taking care of breakfast with instant food, he headed to the Dungeon Management Bureau. He had rested for about four days, so it was about time to work again.
"Good day. How may I help you today, Hunter?"
As soon as he handed over his certificate, the clerk responded with a bright smile. From C-Class hunters upward, people were recognized as actual dungeon raiders. In other words, they were treated with respect wherever they went. It was a pleasant feeling.
"I’d like to apply for a C-Class dungeon match."
"Yes. Please wait a moment."
The clerk typed quickly at the keyboard.
"A party with a vacancy just opened up. Would you be interested in joining?"
It sounded like one party member, or several, had canceled the match and dropped out because of unavoidable circumstances. Naturally, a penalty would also be imposed in such cases.
"How many hours do I have left?"
Hyun-jun asked. In situations like this, it was often a raid scheduled for later that same day.
"Four hours."
"I’ll take it. Please submit my application."
"Your application has been completed. The gathering point and exact time will be sent to your smartphone by message."
After finishing his business and leaving the Dungeon Management Bureau, a message arrived almost immediately. Hyun-jun checked the location first.
Maybe a thirty-minute taxi ride...?
It wasn’t close. He went back to his studio to gather his gear, then took a taxi to the meeting point. Hyun-jun sat comfortably in the back seat, looking at his smartphone. Just as he thought it was about time to arrive and put the phone away...
Something’s coming!
Something infused with mana was flying toward him. There wasn’t much time to think. Hyun-jun grabbed his sword and shield, opened the door, and threw himself outside. A moment later, a fireball shot from somewhere slammed into the driver’s seat.
Bang!
With a short explosion, the driver’s seat became a sea of flames. As the driver lost consciousness, the taxi crashed straight into a roadside tree. If he had stayed inside, he would have suffered a fatal injury.
"An orc shaman?"
He looked up and a monster came into view. Beings that should never have been in the middle of the city. The only exception would have been if a raid had broken out.
The alarm didn’t go off.
That meant an unexpected dungeon out had occurred. He didn’t need to think long. Hyun-jun hurled himself at the orc shaman.
"Kwoooooar!"
As the orc shaman bellowed and shook its staff, three fireballs the size of a child’s head were created.
-Carthago’s righteous shield protects you. So long as the great protection remains with you, nothing can threaten you.
The blessing began, and aura reinforced the shield. The fireballs smashed into the Aura Shield. Shock traveled through the shield, but Hyun-jun did not stop. Before long, he was right in front of the orc shaman and swung his sword with full force.
"Kuh!"
The lifted left arm blocked the blade. The force in the sword wasn’t enough to sever the arm of a B-Class monster.
If I had Aura Blade...
Then he would have sliced through the arm of a B-Class monster with ease. But since he didn’t have it, he had no choice but to retreat for the moment. Even as blood dripped from its left arm, the orc shaman shook its staff with the other hand, creating fireballs and striking back.
Bang!
The fireball hit the shield and another thunderous blast rang out. A fair amount of force transferred through it, but Hyun-jun’s stance didn’t waver. That was thanks to the memory of shield technique, deeply embedded through Carthago’s blessing.
"Haah!"
With a shout, he closed the distance in an instant and swung his shield. Reinforced by aura, the shield smashed the orc shaman’s head to pieces.
"D-did you see that?"
"That B-Class monster’s skull got blown apart in one hit!"