Hunting the Lykan
I lit a cigarette after listening to the equipment company employee.
New gates were being discovered every year, every month, all across the Earth. Sometimes the news reported several days of continuous discoveries, or multiple new gates in a single day. Some appeared right in front of watching crowds; others opened deep in forests or the backs of caves.
And the first to step into those unknown gates were always the highest-ranked Awoken—never rookies like our F-team. Curiosity or a sense of justice would get you killed. No one knew how powerful the monsters beyond might be.
"Huu..."
Only after the first Awoken cleared the boss monster was a dungeon's difficulty rank assigned. In other words, people like us were barred until the boss was dead. Sure, if you didn't value your life you might sneak in, but these days the government locked things down immediately, so even that was no longer realistic.
What I meant was this: every dungeon we would enter from now on—including this one—had already had its boss cleared. Bosses could reappear after enough time or under specific conditions, of course. Yet even then, places like the old Red Devil Cave or this Wolf Forest dungeon hadn't seen a boss in years. That was what the materials I'd studied beforehand said.
"Puhuu..."
I didn't trust the information blindly, but until now I'd never had reason to doubt it. The situation had changed. After the Suwon Hwaseong Gate incident I had felt it in my bones: to humanity, gates and dungeons were still largely unknown territory. Even so, we had no choice but to lean on those materials to some degree.
Just because wolf howls had been heard, as the records claimed, did not mean a boss would appear with absolute certainty. It was, however, more than enough grounds for suspicion. Even if the documents I'd read before the expedition were wrong or only partial, we were people who risked our lives entering dungeons. Assuming the worst and acting accordingly was the most basic rule. Only then could you stay even a little calm if something went wrong.
I stamped out the cigarette, walked over to where my team stood, and gave them a firm warning.
"Looks like we'll need to stay even more tense today."
"Team Leader, what's going on with those people?"
"Seems the boss monster has appeared. Can't be certain, though."
"Boss?"
At the words "boss monster," every gaze locked onto me. I kept my expression casual and turned first to Jang Yong.
"You said you'd studied, right? Did you review the boss of this dungeon?"
"That... no. Sorry. I heard the boss doesn't appear anymore."
"It's fine. I thought the same. But when it comes to dungeons, you must never casually use words like 'no way,' 'impossible,' or 'absolutely.' They're still unknown spaces, and what we know is only a tiny fraction—even for dungeons that have been cleared dozens of times. The Hwaseong Gate incident was the same kind of thing."
The moment I mentioned the Hwaseong Gate, every eye changed. The air around us drew taut. Being Awoken, risking your life in and out of dungeons, did not mean death held no fear. I had only meant to put them on edge, not terrify them. Especially Kim Isol—I worried the last two days of fighting might have bred arrogance, so the warning was meant to keep her from overreaching. Guiding that tension in a positive direction, keeping them focused for combat, was my job.
"Our team will hunt it."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"Huh? The boss?"
The words had barely left my mouth before shock rippled across their faces. I, however, did not consider it impossible in the slightest. I already knew everything about Lykan—even its rough patterns. Video analysis was my specialty, one of the strongest credentials that had gotten me into the company in the first place.
"From this moment I'll explain everything I know about this dungeon's boss monster, Lykan. I'll only say it once, so concentrate and listen carefully."
I walked them through Lykan's attack patterns and the points that demanded caution, step by step. At the end I added that the information might differ from reality, so they would have to adapt flexibly, and finished. It had not taken long.
Lee Donggeul looked up at me with sparkling eyes and grabbed my arm.
Did you actually understand a single word I just said?
"Team Leader, you're amazing. Just like an Academy teacher."
"I don't need praise. If you fail to take it down, every word I said becomes wasted effort. Or worse—you might die or get hurt."
"Hmph. Don't worry. From what I heard it sounds like nothing special. I'll handle it."
"Get arrogant like that and you'll really get your nose broken."
"I wasn't being arrogant!"
"Ah, right."
We were still right next to the gate. While we stood around instead of heading out to hunt, an Awoken from another company approached. He was a solidly built man whose first impression—one corner of his mouth curled upward—made it painfully obvious he looked down on us. That attitude alone told me he was Awoken.
"What's the matter?"
When I stepped forward he openly snorted. The typical Awoken behavior I had endured so many times almost drew a hollow laugh out of me; I barely held it back.
"Civilians stay out of the way. Who's the leader? What company?"
He had recognized I was a civilian in an instant. Ah—because of the luggage bag I was carrying? Still, what a rude bastard of an Awoken.
I ignored the way he tried to speak past me to my teammates and answered myself.
"We're Cool Support, a company based in Seoul. What's your business?"
"What, are all the Awoken here mutes? Why are you answering?"
This one looked like a headache. While my temper was already rising, there was no chance Kim Isol would stay quiet. Sure enough, she snapped right back at him.
"What's with this muscle pig?"
"What?"
Ah, that felt good. Immediately afterward, though, my head started to throb. I stepped between them and scolded Kim Isol. Please, just stay still for once. She didn't even look particularly angry; she merely shrugged her shoulders once up and down. Fortunately she seemed willing to follow my lead.
"Picking a fight for no reason helps neither side, does it? You look new here too, so let's keep things civil. State your business simply."
"You lot went hunting at this same hour yesterday. Why are you whispering like rats here today?"
"Obviously because of the commotion. We were wondering what was going on."
"Hmph. Don't tell me you trash are thinking of going after Lykan too?"
"The dungeon's boss monster belongs to whichever team attacks first, doesn't it?"
"Haha, hilarious. Can you even catch it?"
"Just saying. And why couldn't we? This is an F-rank dungeon."
When I spoke as if it were nothing special, his brow twitched. Then he began examining each of my teammates' faces in turn.
"No familiar faces..."
Familiar faces? Come to think of it, there was only one Awoken Academy in all of Korea. That would make him a classmate of our rookies... with that face? The Academy was a massive place with tens of thousands of students. Not knowing faces was far more likely. Our kids weren't famous elites who flew around showing off, either.
Just then another person approached—a woman Awoken who looked to be on the same team. She boasted the outstanding figure and face that seemed standard issue. The moment she arrived she snapped at the man.
"What are you doing? Can't even handle the job you were given?"
"Ah, sorry. But these guys say they'll participate too."
"What?"
The woman Awoken turned to us with a startled expression—the look of someone finding it absurd that we would also join a boss hunt—and asked the question.
"Yes. No reason we can't, is there? Of course, if your side finds and clears it first, we'll yield."
"That's obvious. But I've never seen your faces. Rookies, right?"
"That's right. Aren't you rookies yourselves? This is an F-rank dungeon."
"We're rookies too, but we're different from you—we're elites. We originally planned to go to an E-rank dungeon, you know? The recent incident. We were forced here because of that."
As she spoke she pointed to the guard on her shoulder. A blue dolphin mark was clearly visible. I knew that mark. Blue Dolphin Company—a famous large corporation based in Busan. She had already figured out, without any extra information, that we were a small outfit. Well, neither big corporations nor any properly run company would be commuting to dungeons like this.
"There are five expedition teams here right now. Ah, including you that makes six. Three of those teams are from our company. You understand what that means? Our company is going to take Lykan, so don't get in the way."
"What does having more people have to do with it? Trying to throw your weight around?"
"You're making it hard to even talk. Not throwing weight—I'm saying you're in danger. Companies like yours don't have strong Awoken. How exactly do you plan to take a boss? Is your life that cheap? Even we intend to face it with all three teams."
She claimed they had already finished talking with the other companies' teams. Those teams had gladly yielded, and now she was pressuring us to do the same. I answered the confident woman firmly.
"Follow the rules, Awoken of Blue Dolphin."
"What?"
"This dungeon doesn't belong to your company, does it?"
"Hey, I'm worrying about you. Want to die a dog's death? This isn't a monster you can handle just by being stubborn. Don't get greedy for no reason!"
"We don't need your worry. Take care of yourselves. We'll be going now."
"Oh-ho. I get it. You'll yield if we pay you a little, is that it? Oppa's smarter than I thought. Fine, I'll talk to our manager. Right now we need results more than money. Spending forever in F-rank dungeons would be an embarrassment for Academy A-class, don't you think?"
A-class was the top elite group at the Academy—only a hundred graduates a year, the so-called talent-packed bunch. Min Hyeokju of Diamond Guild had probably been one of them, and this woman was the same caliber. Different graduation years, though, so they likely didn't know each other.
Her proposal was actually a little tempting. A large corporation wouldn't hand out pocket change, and even if we competed for the Lykan hunt their numbers gave them a clear advantage in both finding and killing it. But just because I had no mana, did that mean I had no pride? I couldn't simply snap up her offer while my teammates stood right behind me. More than that, our team needed results of our own, and money could be earned far more easily in higher-rank dungeons. My answer was obvious.
"If you hand over about a billion, I'll consider it."
"What? A billion? Puhahaha! You're good at jokes. Are you insane?"
The two Awoken laughed their way back to their teammates. Whatever they said about us set off snickers all around. Leaving them behind, I led my team quickly toward the forest. With so few of us, the only way to take Lykan was to strike first. Let's see whether they could keep those expressions after we snatched the boss out from under them.
"Um..."
Our rookies, who had watched more quietly than expected, finally opened their tightly shut mouths once we were far enough from the gate. Recognizing that the other side had more people and was stronger, even Kim Isol had stayed silent until now.
"Team Leader, is this really okay? Maybe we should just yield..."
"It's a good thing you didn't say that in front of them. We almost got completely humiliated."
The three gentler ones wore faces full of mountain-sized worry; only Kim Isol stared straight at me. I tossed her a casual remark.
"Why so quiet today?"
"Hmph. You said everything I wanted to say for me."
What, was that a compliment? I looked at her with mild surprise. But she was no longer looking at my face. As we drew closer to the forest, Werewolves began to appear.
"Please wait a moment."
I urgently stopped Kim Isol as she started to draw her sword.
"Why?"
"Just wait and watch. Now then—Baek Hwayeon?"
When I called her name, Baek Hwayeon flinched in surprise. It lasted only a second; she quickly understood what I meant. This was her turn to show her teammates just how much stronger she had become.