Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Saves the World
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Before carrying out the operation, I needed a little time. That left us with barely four hours remaining.
- The sixth night is in progress. 04:23:12
“Then, I’ll leave this place to Hunter Lee Seon.”
“Yes, got it.”
Lee Seon nodded with a pale face.
The hunters surrounding him all looked anxious. It was only natural, given their leader’s condition.
“Everyone, please protect Hunter Lee Seon well. And when you step away, make sure at least three of you stick together.”
“Understood.”
Lee Woo-yeon issued a few instructions in place of Lee Seon, who looked like even speaking was a struggle. The hunters all knew Lee Woo-yeon’s face, so they showed no particular resistance to his orders.
Meanwhile, as Lee Woo-yeon gave his directives, I leaned against the wall and observed the hunters one by one.
I couldn’t gauge their exact stats just by looking, but… the excessive tension in their shoulders made it obvious they all lacked experience.
In fact, the System only showed stats and didn’t classify players by rank. Only humans assigned ranks to other humans.
So it wasn’t an absolute standard, but according to Lee Seon, the government rated them between A and B rank.
Equating that to Tartarus’s standards for mercenaries, it seemed Korean players were two or three levels below.
It was only to be expected. Dungeons had appeared in Tartarus for twenty years, but in Korea, it had been a mere five.
Which made it all the more strange. Why was Lee Woo-yeon the only one so ridiculously strong?
“If the spies start acting, we don’t know what might happen. Keep an eye on each other.”
“Uh, do we need to monitor each other too? There’s no way a traitor would be here….”
Lee Woo-yeon’s scoffing laugh echoed.
I was looking at the back of his head, but the hunters facing his smile all relaxed with a “heh.”
Yeah, I got it. Everyone loved a pretty face.
“How likely is that overly optimistic guess of yours? Well, we’ll find out once someone drops dead.”
But pretty on the outside, villain on the inside.
“Hey, go easy.”
They’re gonna cry. As I cut in, Lee Woo-yeon turned to me and shrugged.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong? At a time like this, when Hunter Lee Seon’s half-dead, everyone needs to stay sharp.”
“Woo-yeon, I’m not dead yet….”
“Exactly. If you die here, my words will be the last thing you hear, Hunter Lee Seon. Please survive until we get back. Like you said, we can’t afford any losses.”
“Thanks for the motivational speech. Really.”
I eyed the two suspiciously.
I thought they got along decently after cooperating this far, but this suggested otherwise.
One thing was clear: Lee Woo-yeon’s personality was seriously flawed. If Lee Seon had a wand in hand, things would’ve gone south long ago.
“Um, can I ask one question?”
A man who seemed the most tense among the hunters raised his hand.
What was his name again? Choi… Choi Seok… something.
“Go ahead.”
“Uh… the Knight Commander? He’s a hunter too, right? The System message said to be careful not to arouse suspicion about identities. That’s why I’m worried.”
“Oh, right.”
Lee Woo-yeon turned to me with an expression that clearly suppressed a laugh at the sharp but useless question. I turned my head away while still leaning on the wall.
I sighed. Just let it slide already.
Given this dungeon’s trait of randomly possessing players as various figures, we had to “recognize” each other precisely to identify who was who.
Unless Lee Woo-yeon or Lee Seon introduced me, they’d keep seeing me as the ‘Knight Commander.’
Lee Woo-yeon approached and whispered softly.
“Anyway, the top contributor’s name pops up at clear time. They’ll find out once we succeed, like it or not.”
“Shut up.”
At least my face and voice wouldn’t be exposed.
Of course, with Lee Seon basically knowing, I’d half-given up. Still, better to minimize the people in the know.
…Though that was a problem for after we cleared the dungeon.
I gruffly replied to the hunters staring at me.
“I’m a hunter too, so don’t worry. Focus on surviving instead of funny ideas.”
“Y-Yes… Understood!”
Even though my tone was aggressive, I got an unexpectedly bright response.
Lee Woo-yeon grumbled in a surly tone.
“He seems to like you.”
“Cut it out, seriously.”
I jabbed Lee Woo-yeon in the side.
* * *
The dawn air was cold.
Reinhardt spotted a hole in the castle wall and let out a hollow laugh.
“You expect me to crawl through that?”
“What choice do we have? We’re pretending to escape with a traitor’s help from inside. Can’t just ride out the front gate, can we?”
“Even so, how am I supposed to crawl through a hole like that!”
“Quit yapping. Get going!”
As I spoke, I kicked Reinhardt’s rear, slamming his head into the wall.
Reinhardt bristled, but he soon bit his lip, bent down, and crawled through the hole.
Lee Woo-yeon, watching from behind, openly snickered.
“Aigoo, tough luck.”
“…Doesn’t that trigger a message for you? Like ‘act as the character’ or something?”
“Nah, nothing. Guess the castle lord’s personality was like mine to begin with.”
No way. I’d only met the lord briefly, but he seemed deadly serious.
I frowned, and Lee Woo-yeon shrugged.
“Well, with my face covered, no one knows I’m the lord. That’s why?”
“Makes sense….”
Chatting like that, Lee Woo-yeon flew, and with a few running leaps, I quickly scaled the wall.
Reinhardt, who’d crawled out the hole, saw it and flushed beet red.
Tears even glistened in his eyes.
“Y-You…!”
“What? Let’s go.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. It was petty revenge, but it lightened my mood more than expected.
Yeah, my bad this time.
“You dare humiliate me like this!”
“Over there.”
Ignoring Reinhardt’s sputtering, Lee Woo-yeon pointed to three horses tied near the wall.
Spotting them, I turned to Reinhardt with a grin. He flinched at my smile.
“W-What…!”
“I won’t drag you this time. Mount up.”
“…Grr!”
Reinhardt’s shoulders trembled.
The horses tied to the tree looked well-fed, saddled, and calmly waiting without a handler—properly trained.
Not the knight commander’s steed I’d ridden earlier, but stroking the brown horse’s back earned a gentle blink from its docile eyes.
I gave a wry smile.
“They really prepared them.”
I’d thought it was fifty-fifty at best.
An hour ago, I’d asked Elisa if she could prepare horses outside the wall. Despite the sudden order, she agreed without hesitation.
Her response surprised me instead.
“Is that possible?”
“As you know, there’s a closed gate to the west. I have the key, so yes.”
Oh no, was that something the knight commander should know? Can’t afford suspicion.
I quickly checked Elisa’s expression. But no doubt flickered in her eyes.
…No, that was suspicious in itself.
We were in a disadvantageous war. Asking to prepare horses outside, plus freeing prisoners from the underground dungeon.
Any normal person would suspect betrayal.
Yet Elisa didn’t question it once. Unable to bear the silence, I spoke first.
“…You’re not asking the intent or destination?”
“You must have a plan. If you’re not telling me, I’m not needed for it.”
“…”
“I just follow the captain’s will. And I’ll hold my post until you return.”
Her green eyes, filled with firm resolve, stared straight at me.
I couldn’t meet that gaze and turned away. It was just regrettable that the one who deserved to hear those words wasn’t here.
In the end, I could only issue one-sided orders without a proper reply and leave.
Now, mounted on a horse, I looked up at the castle wall.
If we succeeded in taking out the boss monster as planned, we’d never return to this Ghost Castle.
“Kang Ye-na, what’s wrong?”
Lee Woo-yeon, mounted nearby, whispered at my dazed state.
His voice snapped me out of it.
Embarrassed at getting sentimental, I cleared my throat a few times.
“Nothing. You ready?”
“Of course. Not sure about that guy. Doesn’t look too reliable.”
Lee Woo-yeon eyed Reinhardt dubiously.
How’d he know he was unreliable without even sparring?
“Hyah!”
Oblivious, Reinhardt shouted spiritedly and spurred his horse. I followed reluctantly, and so did Lee Woo-yeon.
The three galloping horses shattered the dawn silence.
The patrolling soldiers on the wall buzzed at the noise.
Torch-bearing soldiers yelled.
“Someone’s escaping the castle!”
“Grab your weapons!”
Just as instructed. A bit of commotion from the castle would make our escape more believable.
Soon, the moat appeared past the main gate, still clean from Lee Seon’s cleanup.
As Reinhardt’s horse hesitated, Lee Woo-yeon raised his hand.
The levitated horses neighed in surprise, but their hooves barely left the ground before we crossed the moat in an instant, rendering it pointless.
“Impressive skill!”
Reinhardt, genuinely impressed, shouted praise from his saddle. From the enemy’s view, wasn’t crossing so easily anticlimactic?
Lee Woo-yeon grumbled in disbelief.
“Getting excited over basic levitation magic hurts my pride.”
“It’s rare to have mages that skilled here.”
“But the boss monster uses even stronger magic than me. Isn’t that contradictory?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Confused shouts rose from the castle gate we’d left behind.
That unenthusiastic reaction was enough to sow chaos among the enemy monitors.
Before their commotion settled, our full-speed horses approached the enemy camp unhindered. Spotting soldiers, Reinhardt bellowed.
“It’s me! Clear the way!”
Unlike me and Lee Woo-yeon, whose faces were hooded, Reinhardt rode openly, triumphantly like a returning general.
Well, not far off.
“P-Prince!”
“It’s Prince Reinhardt!”
“The prince has returned!”
Soon, those recognizing his face erupted in cheers.
Slipping through dawn’s chaos, we cut straight through the enemy camp.
Some startled by our intrusion tried blocking, but Reinhardt swung his sheathed sword threateningly without slowing.
“Who dares block my return! I’ll report to His Majesty first! All of you, out of the way!”
It was brutal and tyrannical. Told us how he’d wielded power before.
The soldiers who saw his face could only retreat silently.
But the charge halted midway through the enemy lines.
A fully armored knight had appeared.
Fearing his lance might skewer the horse before swords came out, Reinhardt slowed.
We did the same.
Seeing the knight’s face, Reinhardt yelled.
“Why block me, Duke Bern!”
“I congratulate your return first, Your Highness. But if you don’t stop, I must commit disloyalty.”
From under my hood, I sized up the knight.
A weathered face on a massively trained frame. I could take him in one strike, but a fight now would be trouble.
“I must confirm how you escaped and who those attendants are.”
“You dare suspect me!”
“Apologies, but it’s procedure.”
“I’ll tell His Majesty myself! It’s urgent.”
“Regrettably, His Majesty’s safety comes first. Especially after today’s incident.”
Duke Bern leveled his lance at me. Sharp killing intent pricked my skin.
“Who are they? Why hide their faces if it’s so safe?”
“My apologies.”
I urged my horse forward. The loosely tied hood slowly fell back.
Soldiers gasped at my face; swords hissed from sheaths.
But Duke Bern narrowed his eyes intriguingly, meeting my gaze. To him, I was still the knight commander.
Wearing that guise, I smiled and spoke.
“I’ve come to see His Majesty the Emperor. Will you guide me?”