C-Rank Dungeon: The First Experience
The dojo lights went out. The lingering effects of yesterday’s intensive training still clung to my fingertips. My mana sword was already prepared—the very one I’d left at the Hunter Department Store after a solo hunt. The moment I reclaimed it, my fingertips trembled with familiarity. When I rested my hand on the scabbard, a faint vibration seeped through.
“As expected, you’re the most comfortable.” My lips curled upward naturally.
Inside my bag were recovery potions, mana recovery potions, and a single antidote I’d bought before my vacation. I needed to be prepared for anything. My armor remained the same composite fiber set I’d commissioned after losing everything in the Chuncheon E-04 Dungeon. Its mana resistance was low, but it fit well and allowed free movement. I couldn’t afford an upgrade yet, so familiarity was its greatest advantage.
“You’ll have to hold up again this time.” I tapped the shoulder of my armor once. New equipment was a luxury until my rank rose further.
The night before departure, the dojo was quiet. The director approached slowly.
“You’re really heading into a C-rank Dungeon now?”
“Yes. We depart tomorrow.”
“Good. You’ve built your body well these past days. Don’t forget—your body comes before your gear. Your body is the weapon, and the weapon is your body.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“And in a C-rank Dungeon, you’ll finally see how real hunters move. Don’t be afraid. Watch how they fight. That’s the best textbook you can learn from.”
I nodded quietly.
On the morning of departure, I woke at dawn and headed to the small mountain behind the house. As I climbed, cool air wrapped around me first. With every breath, the cold air brushed past my lungs and sank deeper. When I gathered psychokinesis at my fingertips, a light pressure pushed back. Using that force, I lifted a tree. I twisted my body in sync with the rotation, and the sword sliced through the air, leaving a brief blue flash. Next, I targeted a rock. Responding to the power spreading from my fingertips, the rock slowly rose. Fixing my gaze along its trajectory, I thrust the sword forward. A short impact followed, and dust burst upward.
My breathing grew rough, yet I didn’t stop. I continued the movements, maintaining the flow. The moment I brought the sword down, psychokinesis erupted with it. While pebbles scattered in every direction, a heat welled up from deep within my body. That heat transformed into a heavy warmth beneath my skin and spread outward.
‘Now the sensation is finally coming together.’
I ran between the trees, swinging my sword. Even as sweat fell, my balance at the soles of my feet held steady to the end. Psychokinesis attached itself to my movements without delay, and sword and mana meshed naturally within a single breath.
“Hoo…”
When the final strike landed, the rock split. As the broken fragments rolled away, my heartbeat rang clearly in my ears.
‘At this level… I should be able to handle a C-rank.’
By the time I descended the mountain, the sun hung low, and birdsong echoed through the gaps. The sweat on my forehead gradually cooled. Hot water poured from the showerhead, pressing against my stiffened muscles and slowly loosening them. The face in the mirror looked tired, yet carried a sense of composure. After drying my hair with a towel, I sat at the desk and checked each piece of equipment one by one—scabbard strap, bomb case, resonance terminal, emergency rations, antidote, potion set. Everything found its place inside the backpack.
‘Now it really begins.’
I strapped the mana sword to my waist and shouldered the bag. When I closed the front door, the dawn air brushed past briefly. Stepping onto the road in front of the house, I took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.”
When I arrived at the Investigation Bureau parking lot, the team members had already finished their equipment checks. Supply bags and bomb cases were neatly arranged in the trunk. Jaehoon hyung lifted the scanner.
“Look at this. It’s finally been issued. Mana stone scanner.”
Sorin widened her eyes slightly as she examined it.
“Really? I heard it’s efficient.”
“Wasn’t that Jaehoon hyung’s responsibility?”
“Right. As promised, it’s mine now. I’m a scanner hunter too.”
A short laugh circulated, easing the tension slightly.
As the car pulled onto the road, roughly an hour remained until Yangju. Outside the window, fields shrouded in mist stretched beneath the gray sky, flowing past the car window as if being pushed backward.
Upon arriving at the Yangju branch, we immediately saw black Hyunmu Guild vehicles already lined up along the roadside. Beside the vehicles hung bulletproof vests bearing the silver shield emblem. Even at a glance, the difference in equipment grade was obvious.
“The Hyunmu team is already here.”
“Their leader is A-rank hunter Jang Tae-wook. We’ll handle rear reconnaissance and sample collection.”
At that moment, a familiar face approached.
“Hey, you’re Byun Jihoon, right?”
When I turned, it was Park Jung-ho. My high school classmate who had awakened as a B-rank physical enhancer.
“Park Jung-ho?”
“Yeah. Been a while.”
“First time since high school. Back then, you awakened with psychokinesis, didn’t you?”
“That’s right. I’m working as an investigator now. You must’ve been promoted to A-rank hunter by now.”
“I haven’t been promoted yet. I can feel it coming, but I just can’t cross that line. Right now I’m handling close combat in Hyunmu’s Team 3.”
“Still, we’re ending up in the same Dungeon after all.”
“Hang in there, Jihoon. C-rank is rougher than you’d think.”
“Yeah. You be careful too, Jung-ho.”
Park Jung-ho nodded once and walked toward Hyunmu Team 3. It had only been a brief reunion, yet somehow it felt like we had grown far apart. Even though we were in the same Dungeon, our positions were different.
Standing before the gate, I could feel a faint mana tremor in the air. The Hyunmu team took the front position while we set up the resonance device in the rear and organized our equipment. Before entering the gate, Team Leader Yoo Mira looked at us and explained about C-rank Dungeons.
“Inside a C-rank Dungeon, the environment moves like a single system. When the terrain changes, the resource composition changes with it.”
“For example?”
“Mana grass appears in grasslands. Mana ore near mineral veins. Frost flowers in swamps. Energy sap in forests. Each region has its own characteristics. We recover those and analyze the cause of stabilization.”
“It really feels like a research team.”
“Exactly. We’re not a team that goes in to fight. We’re a team that goes in to confirm what has changed. That’s the job of investigators.”
The five Hyunmu Guild hunters had already finished their entry preparations. Silver shield emblems gleamed on their black armor, and the composure unique to combatants showed in every movement. At the front stood their leader, A-rank hunter Jang Tae-wook. Behind him, three close-combat fighters and one rear support were conducting final equipment checks. The five members of the supply team, responsible for resource collection, corpse disposal, and retrieval, were meticulously organizing equipment boxes and tools.
Team Leader Jang Tae-wook raised his hand in greeting toward us.
“Hyunmu Team 3 will enter first. Investigation Team 3, please focus on rear resonance analysis and resource investigation.”
“Yes, Team Leader Jang Tae-wook.”
Yoo Mira gave a brief nod.
Jang Tae-wook raised his shield and took one more step toward the gate. With a bold shout, he stood at the front.
“Everyone, enter the gate.”
As the gate rippled brightly, the Hyunmu team entered first, and we followed right behind. The moment the light faded, the air changed. A thick moisture settled, and the scent of earth brushed past briefly. Ahead stretched a wide grassland and gentle hills. In the distance, a mountain ridge reflected a faint blue glow.
Team Leader Jang Tae-wook’s voice came through the communicator.
“Front, visibility secured. Continuing to advance.”
We slowed our pace as we entered beneath the hills. The grass swayed low at our feet, and the earthy scent grew thicker. Then a short, low breathing sound reached us. Everyone stopped at once and looked up toward the top of the hill.
Shadows gradually emerged from between the grass. Thick arms and broad shoulders appeared first. With every two or three steps, the ground pressed down briefly. It was a group of roughly a dozen Mountain Orcs. The Hyunmu team lowered their bodies in the front and adjusted their formation.
“Two hundred meters ahead. Mountain Orcs approaching!”
Once the Hyunmu team formed their line, their black armor gleamed under the light, and their shields rose almost simultaneously.
“Engage!”
An explosion erupted. Sparks flew, and the sound of metal clashing mixed with roars. As the orcs were pushed back, the combatants slipped into the gaps, and dust rose briefly. The Hyunmu team’s movements were fast yet precise. Attack and defense flowed without interruption. From the rear, we observed the battle situation and felt that this was no training—it was real combat. The Hyunmu team’s movements weren’t rough. They maintained a steady rhythm from start to finish.
“So that’s… the movement of the Hyunmu Guild.”
‘Saying they’re skilled doesn’t do it justice… They’re definitely on another level.’
After roughly three minutes, the battle ended. The scent of blood spread beneath the hill as the wind passed and the smoke settled. Only orc corpses remained on the grassland. When the sound ceased, a brief silence followed naturally.
‘C-rank Dungeon… I can understand it now.’
“Cleanup complete.”
When Team Leader Jang Tae-wook raised his hand as a signal, the combatants checked for residual mana reactions and scanned the surroundings. Blood on the edge of a blade dripped onto the soil.
“Investigation team, approach.”
Team Leader Yoo Mira checked the resonance values on her terminal.
“Stabilization value 6.3. We can proceed.”
We carefully moved forward and examined the ornament tied to a dead orc’s hand. It was a thick leather cord mixed with bone fragments and metal pieces.
Sorin bent down, picked up a metal piece, and asked,
“What is this?”
“It’s a hunting talisman.”
“It’s a marker of pack affiliation and a way to distinguish hierarchy. You often see them on C-rank pack-type monsters.”
At that moment, one of the Hyunmu team’s supply members sat beside a corpse, drew a dagger, and split open the orc’s chest. As the scent of blood spread briefly, a red light flashed inside.
“Mana stone extraction complete.”
After the report, Team Leader Jang Tae-wook gestured and gave instructions.
“Classify the collected items and mark them for the main office report.”
We checked the resonance terminal logs from the rear.
“Jihoon, please check the synchronization with the entrance log.”
“Yes.”
I connected the terminal and scanned the residual values. The graph moved significantly once before settling into a stable line.
“6.3. Normal.”
“Good. First sector cleared.”
“Alright, let’s move to the next point.”
She looked toward the grassland and spoke.
“From here on, it’s the real beginning. We’ll collect resource patterns up to the two-kilometer mark. Don’t let your guard down, and keep checking the surroundings for movement.”
At those words, everyone straightened their posture. In that moment, I clearly realized it. The standard here was different from any Dungeon I had seen before. And the ones who had to move according to that standard were us.