Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Succubus Appears (3)
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Anyone seeing the Star Cloud Guild's building for the first time might mistake it for a restoration of an ancient Greek temple, constructed from expensive marble. Tension hung thick in the air.
"Prepare quickly!"
"Call in all the off-duty hunters now!!"
It was no wonder. Word had come that there'd been an accident at the academy—inside a gate rated F-rank, no less.
If it had been an ordinary mishap, things wouldn't be this chaotic.
The problem was that the one caught up in it was Lee Ji-hyun, daughter of Guild Master Lee Hyun-woo.
"What the hell happened? It was my wedding day, and now I'm dragged here..."
"Reschedule it for another day. The association's sent official notices, and everything's gone haywire."
But with multiple wives, Lee Hyun-woo had more daughters than just Lee Ji-hyun.
He'd ensured they all lived without want as the children of the Star Cloud Guild Master, but that was it. He never called in off-duty hunters just because one of his kids was in danger, like now.
"The Guild Master is entering."
The noisy Star Cloud Guild hunters began to fall silent.
"First, my apologies to all of you for having to gather so urgently... Rumors are circulating that an accident occurred in the gate and that my daughter is caught up in it. That much is true."
"They send an official notice just because his daughter's trapped?"
"Is this the power of Star Cloud Guild?"
At the Guild Master's words, the Star Cloud hunters felt a swell of pride, shoulders squaring as they remembered they were part of a guild that could mobilize even the association.
"He's going this far just to save his own daughter?"
"Is he insane?"
Of course, the off-duty hunters suddenly summoned today grumbled their discontent.
"Please quiet down for a moment. Time is short, so I'll explain the operation briefing quickly and move on."
"The reason I've called you all here isn't for my daughter. A succubus was suddenly discovered in what was determined to be an F-rank gate. Because of this, the mana emanating from the gate has reached levels befitting an S-rank gate, and per the association's judgment that a Dungeon Break could occur, I've assembled you."
"Not just us—other guilds have also received mobilization orders for their hunters. Contact your families on the way, in case of any unforeseen circumstances."
"What?!"
"Dungeon Break?"
"And S-rank?"
Lee Hyun-woo's words sent ripples of agitation through the hunters.
Dungeon Break.
This phenomenon came in two types.
It referred either to monsters inside the dungeon reaching saturation and spilling out through the gate, or to a monster sealed within the gate awakening for some reason and breaking free.
That was why fear etched itself onto the hunters' faces.
The current situation was clearly that a succubus sealed in an F-rank gate had awakened for some unknown reason. And upon doing so, it possessed such immense power that it transformed an F-rank gate—where mana was barely detectable—into an S-rank one...
A gate's rank was determined by the number of monsters as well, so if multiple A-rank monsters gathered, it would be rated S-rank. For a single succubus to elevate it to S-rank meant it was that powerful.
S-rank... no, perhaps even an SS-rank monster, one that had appeared when the gate first manifested.
-The mana of the current gate is continuously increasing. We might witness the first SS-rank gate in the history since gates appeared.
And the hunters' prediction was almost spot on.
The guild masters of Star Cloud Guild and other major guilds had heard shocking news straight from the association.
With it declared a national emergency, buses loaded with hunters sped along forcibly cleared lanes.
Hunters began pouring in from across the nation.
"Hah... hah..."
"W-We have to run... fast...!!"
"C-Can we really just escape on our own?"
Led by Lee Ji-hyun, the team members—everyone except Park A-jun—were running with all their might, mouths reeking not just of garlic but a bitter tang from squeezing out every last drop of strength.
Park A-young, who had confronted the succubus only to be slammed into a wall and have her leg broken, was barely managing to keep up with the others' help...
"Just run! That idiot... he sacrificed himself for us... So at least we have to survive!"
Park A-young bit her lip and yelled at Cha Yu-rin, who kept glancing back.
"It might be faster to eat the stamina recovery bread!"
"Y-Yeah. L-Let's eat it quick and go...!!"
Having depleted nearly all their strength from the succubus's mere mana pressure, they weren't far from the gate's exit but had no choice except to pause for a brief rest.
Chomp chomp-!!
They shoveled the bread into their mouths without even tasting it, survival their only thought—looking no different from refugees.
"Hic-!"
In that moment, Park A-young could no longer hold back her tears.
Even if Park A-jun had sacrificed himself, they were still the cowards who had abandoned him and fled.
"I-If you're done eating, let's move!"
Even Lee Ji-hyun, who could be called the team leader, was so gripped by primal fear from this first brush with death that she couldn't think straight—her mind fixed solely on escape.
She had no way, time, or effort to comprehend Park A-young's grief right now.
"W-We made it out!!"
Reaching the gate's exit at last, they saw hordes of hunters guarding the front.
"The academy students have emerged safely!!"
"Everyone, hold! They might be under mental control. Subdue them first!"
But as if their ordeal wasn't over, the hunters moved to restrain them. It was suspicious enough that they'd escaped unscathed from a place spewing mana equivalent to an SS-rank gate, beyond even S-rank.
"No mental attacks received."
"This one's got a leg injury."
Hunter specialists soon checked them for mind control, and only after confirming no anomalies could Lee Ji-hyun's team finally breathe free.
"Wait! Where's Park A-jun?"
Professor Kim Se-yeon, now in full gear, approached and quickly noticed one team member was missing, demanding to know what happened.
She hadn't been ignoring the situation. But from the moment the succubus appeared, the feed went black, her teleport spell activated only to be torn apart instantly. Shocked, she'd contacted the Hunter Association right away and hadn't grasped the full picture.
"So, this Park A-jun stayed behind, and that's how you all survived."
Recognizing it as potentially crucial information, Lee Hyun-woo—one of the guild masters leading a major guild—stood and approached Park A-young upon hearing from her teammates.
"Is he your oppa?"
"Yes! So please hurry inside and save him!"
"...I'm sorry. And thank you. Thanks to your brother's sacrifice, my daughter lives. I swear on my name to reward him."
Lee Hyun-woo's words made Park A-young's eyes tremble.
"N-No... I mean, Guild Master, what are you saying? He might still be alive. With all these S-rank and A-rank hunters gathered, please go save him quick. You don't need to reward him...!"
"We can't do that."
An association staffer answered in his stead.
"We're sorry to the academy student who's just come of age, but the association cannot permit it. Our policy is to fortify defenses here and capture the succubus when the Dungeon Break causes the gate to collapse outward."
Common knowledge held that Dungeon Breaks spewed monsters endlessly, growing stronger over time.
But they weren't infinite. The more powerful monsters the gate expelled, the weaker it grew until it vanished entirely.
In this case, since it was a Dungeon Break from a sealed monster awakening, the gate would likely crumble the moment the succubus emerged.
Thus, rather than entering to face an unknown-rank succubus, the association's plan was to turn the outside into a fortress of traps and magic circles, aiming to end it with minimal casualties.
"B-But! The succubus was in an F-rank gate, so it can't be that strong!"
Having felt its power firsthand, Park A-young instinctively knew the succubus was at least A-rank.
But she couldn't admit it.
If it was minimally A-rank, the gathered S-rank hunters—the top tiers—could take it down without losses.
"Sigh... Sorry, but the gate's rank has been upgraded to S-rank. The succubus inside is estimated at S-rank as well."
"N-No way..."
At the staffer's words, Park A-young lowered her gaze and began shedding tears anew.
The hunters scrambled to set up the most powerful traps they could before the succubus emerged—ones that would kill an A-rank monster instantly.
"..."
"Why... why isn't it coming out?"
And so, four hours passed.