Eve of the Storm
The Awakener Association Seoul Branch dispatches two association members for every dungeon raid attempt. Why? Well... one feels too few, and three seems like overkill, right?
Truth is, I don't know the exact reason myself. The association hasn't officially explained why they send out two-person teams based on whatever criteria they use.
One thing's for sure, though—from the association's perspective, two is the optimal number for supporting dungeon raids.
"Haha... I don't think there's anything more I can do to help, so I'll hang up now."
"Wait a sec, Senior..."
Connection ended.
"What the fuck."
And just like that, I'm solo from the very first raid.
My pathetic face reflected on the black screen after the senior's forced laugh cuts off perfectly captures how ridiculous this situation is.
Damn, I still look pretty good, though.
Can I fix this by looping back? My basic plan was to figure out Kim Hyeji's position and Kim Minho's goal, then deal with it swiftly next loop.
But if I can't count on her help next loop either, my whole plan crumbles from the start.
What the hell did that psycho Kim Minho do to jack up the dungeon difficulty right from the entrance? The fact that she got deployed straight to the cultist city with the goblin lair the moment she entered means they pulled some shit before we even got in here.
Shocking that they could scheme like this under the association's nose, but I'll think about that later.
I've got a more pressing problem right now.
Well, I've only got one option anyway, so no real choices here.
"Hello?"
"What the hell? Why are you calling out of nowhere?"
I twisted the dial on the recording device, and a hologram popped up above it, showing the venomous face of that sleazy uncle type. I called Kim Minho, the raid leader, using the method Senior told me about earlier.
"You know we're all out here searching for our missing party member now that her partner's vanished, right? Where the hell are you?"
"If you'd just done the raid on time, all your party members would've clocked out by now."
"We're doing it soon, chill."
From the way he's scratching his ear and pretending not to hear me, it's obvious this asshole has no intention of raiding the goblin lair straightforwardly.
If he did, he'd have cleared it and gone home already.
Something's definitely up, but I can't stop it.
So, what's the smartest move?
"You win."
"Huh?"
"Raid whenever you want. It's not like I can force you."
What else? Join their side.
I can't command the raid party anyway, and if I can't stop them, better to tag along and see what's up.
"Hey, you've gotta have some plan, right, Kim Minho? Honestly, as long as no accidents happen, I don't care."
"For real?"
"What do I gain by lying?"
"True..."
Kim Minho paused in thought for a moment, then asked me,
"So, what do you want?"
"Just let me supervise from the side when you start the raid."
"...That's it?"
"Yeah. You're gonna raid eventually, just a bit late, right?"
Plan A's busted, so time for Plan B.
Plan B: Stick with Kim Minho's side, watch the raid process, then block that route entirely next loop. Not stopping his plan outright, but learning the details.
"What brought on this sudden change of heart?"
"Eh, if I can't stop it anyway, might as well supervise properly."
"Hahaha! Smart call."
Smart call my ass— he's just saying what he wants to hear.
But I don't have other options.
I can't clear the dungeon solo, and I can't rely on Senior.
"Alright, just tell me when you start the raid. I'll wait in front of the goblin lair that day."
"Uh, yeah. Dawn on day 5 should work."
"Day 5?"
The goblin lord spawns via the sacrifice ritual on the evening of day 4.
Dragging it out to day 5 dawn—what's that mean?
Probably tied to whatever extra reward intel he got, but I'll see it with my own eyes soon enough.
"Got it. See you on day 5."
"Haha, unlike your senior, you've got some tact."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Hanging up now."
We roughly set the date and time, then ended the call. I wondered if this was the right move.
But nothing else came to mind.
Best case, no bad shit happens. Ideal if Kim Minho's scheme is just my paranoia... but fat chance.
So, I quietly made my decision.
Scrap this loop.
Too much time wasted hiding and trusting Kim Hyeji, with barely any useful info.
I tried my best, but in this mess, better to aim for the next loop.
"Maybe I should test out this mana?"
No intention of just sitting on my hands. The ice-attribute mana from the association's elixirs—Bingseol Hwan.
I'd only heard about its effects theoretically; haven't used it much in practice.
The main perk I felt was not getting cold easily—like when I fell in the valley last time, it wasn't that chilly.
"Hmm... circulate energy from the dantian to the solar plexus, right?"
The association gave me a basic mana circulation method for that.
Nothing fancy enough to call a technique, but damn helpful for me right now.
"Not hard at all."
Basic stuff, so no tough parts—felt intuitive.
Yeah, gotta fight the goblin lord soon anyway. Might as well train till dawn on day 5.
When I awakened... y'know, got TS'd, this popped up in my status window:
[Reconfiguring the awakener's body to optimal state]
Back then, I figured it just meant turning me into a girl. But later, a question lingered.
Is a woman's body the 'optimal state'?
Muscles build easier on men, longer limbs relatively...
By my common sense, male bodies seemed better suited for hunters.
So I chalked it up to skill compatibility or whatever... but apparently not.
"...Why's my mana acting like this?"
The association's most basic mana control—raises mana quality.
Easy to learn, widely known, used by tons of hunters.
It's a stepping stone to advanced control, so not super impressive. I tried it with low expectations...
"Why's it this effective?"
Every time mana flows through my meridians, impurities visibly break down.
The cold chill heats my body as it races through, dantian hardening like ice.
Day by day changes—one step forward every day kind of progress.
Roughly equivalent to 0.2 Bingseol Hwans, maybe.
No way basic control does this much; gotta be a special case for me.
Is 'optimal state' what this means?
Only one explanation: The status window's body reconfiguration. Or TS, as I'd call it.
"Feels fucking great."
Growing differently every day—like I'm some genius now.
Satisfaction building with the mana stacking up.
First real perk since turning into a girl.
Excited for advanced control later, but shelved the daydreams.
Today's evening of day 4—the final ritual.
Energy pulsing from afar means it's already started. Just wait till Kim Minho's dawn on day 5.
"Yawn. Maybe catch some shut-eye."
Two days of non-stop training without real sleep—kinda tired.
Ten hours till raid start; snoozing a bit's fine.
Set a 7-hour alarm on the association watch, flopped onto the blanket.
"Heehee, so fluffy."
Warm blanket makes the world feel positive. Mana's up nice, maybe it'll end without incident?
Worst case, loop and done!
Dawn on day 5, three hours before my meetup with Kim Minho.
Alarm from the wristwatch by my head woke me.
"Mm, refreshing morning. Nice weather."
Blanket half-off, not refreshing, not morning, raining outside—but whatever.
Nitpick every little thing and life's too exhausting.
"Got some time. Run mana again?"
Three hours till meetup; factor in travel, about two and a half hours spare.
Groggy from sleep—mana to wake up.
Maybe scan surroundings too.
If mana control's decent, spread it out like radar to detect movement. Tried during training; needs deep focus, perfect for snapping awake.
Start at 1m radius around me.
Slowly expand: 10m, 50m, 100m, 500m, push to 1km.
By the time the whole area was in my senses, chills hit hard.
Why's the forest so... empty?
The woods felt hollow.
No squirrels foraging, no sleeping deer, not even leaves rustling in the wind.
Only raindrops falling from the sky moved in my senses—nothing else.
A 1km radius, maybe more.
Everything frozen, unmoving.
"What the hell?"
Forest completely still, no sounds.
What happened? Scanned every inch of my sensory space.
Leather clothes on the ground, empty bird nests, faint bloodstains, and...
"Fuck."
A severed left arm caught in a tree.
Seeing the mangled stump, I realized.
Something happened in this forest.