#53 Dungeon Companion
#53 Dungeon Companion
Over the past few days at Dawn, their perception of me—the Wolf—had shifted considerably. The fear in their eyes was now laced with curiosity and a different kind of hunger: mostly the urge to pet me. Every time those eyes landed on me, I could tell my image was changing.
...From a Demon Wolf to a prickly little puppy. Which meant Kang Tae-jun's groundwork was paying off.
I stretched my stiff limbs—it felt like ages since I'd been out of the now-familiar clan building. Kang Tae-ho let out a dry laugh.
"He's practically a grizzled veteran by now."
They'd said one of the executives would accompany us, and sure enough, it was Kang Tae-ho. Then again, the other executives probably hadn't shaken off the fatigue from Neverland yet. A huge van sat a short distance away. No idea what model, but it was big. Four hunters were waiting in front of it. One of them, Lee Eun-ha, gaped in disbelief.
"Alpha (Jirisan Warg)...!"
Come to think of it, they hadn't told her yesterday, had they? I lazily waved a tentacle at her shocked face, and she hesitated, then waved back. I nodded, and Kang Tae-ho clicked the key fob. It was a seriously large vehicle—looked like he planned to drive it himself.
"......Kyuu."
Kang Tae-ho jerked his head toward the van, signaling for her to get in, and Perry lashed her tail back at him.
"No! I said no!"
She must have really resented him ever since he'd tried to pet her without permission last time. After taking a few solid hits, Kang Tae-ho winced and pretended to be hurt, and Perry nodded in satisfaction and turned her back. I shook my head. Because the moment Perry huffily turned away, Kang Tae-ho had actually been smiling. ...Unfortunately for her, the winner was pretty obvious.
We climbed into the van, and it wasn't long before we arrived. The dungeon turned out to be a massive cave. We stopped right in front of the entrance. The hunters hopped out and opened the trunk. They pulled gear from their backpacks, clipped on belts and pouches, and began drawing their weapons to suit up.
Two warriors stood out. One held a shield and sword; the other carried a shield and torch, with a spear strapped across his back. Behind them, I spotted an archer, and then Lee Eun-ha with her backpack. A small dagger at her hip, some greaves and protective gear—a relatively light setup overall. I wasn't sure you could really call Lee Eun-ha a mage in that outfit, but the party composition looked solid. After using Observation on the hunters, I nodded.
'Just as I thought.'
She was the only one here who'd been in Neverland. Meaning the rest were B-class or lower hunters. I briefly wondered why she was delving into a dungeon again so soon after Neverland, but...
'It's good for her to get stronger quickly.'
I decided not to question it any further. The spearman struck a lighter and lit the torch. He swept it around the cave entrance once, and then the hunters advanced inside.
'...Wouldn't a lantern be enough?'
I peeked through her backpack with Clairvoyance—they did have a lantern. As the hunters moved in, Kang Tae-ho jerked his chin, and I followed at a measured distance. After all, a bit of darkness couldn't possibly hinder me.
"Hey, mutt."
Kang Tae-ho suddenly addressed me, and I only turned my head to look back at him.
"Let me just pet y— ugh. Forget it, you're filthy."
Seeing my shadows writhe, Kang Tae-ho flinched and yanked his hand back, muttering that he'd get mauled if he tried a second time. My ears instantly perked up.
***
The single greatest hazard in a cave-type dungeon was visibility. They had torches, but their eyes still needed time to adjust. Once their eyes had adapted to the darkness of the entrance, the hunter acting as leader gave the order.
"Advancing."
The spearman took point with the torch, the warrior guarding his flank. The archer covered the rear. Lee Eun-ha walked in the center of the formation. Her role was lookout and support caster—her main duty was to use Detection to alert them to enemy approaches, and to join the fight in emergencies. They hadn't gone far past the entrance when Lee Eun-ha signaled an incoming threat.
"Six ahead."
At her warning, the archer crouched down and swept the floor. He pressed his ear to the ground, listening for footsteps.
"...Kobolds or goblins? One of the two. Doesn't seem like anything else."
The warriors nodded. As the archer guessed, the monsters turned out to be kobolds. The six kobolds brandished their weapons, and a fight broke out immediately. The skirmish opened with two kobolds hurling their spears.
"Form a line!"
At the archer's command, Lee Eun-ha floundered for a moment but quickly obeyed. The warrior at the front raised his shield and deflected the spears. The throwers were just kobolds, and the narrow cave made their trajectories predictable anyway. When the kobolds charged, the spearman swung his torch arm wide to make them flinch. In that split second, an arrow shot in like a ray of light and pierced one through the forehead. While the rest hesitated, the spearman kicked with his front leg, collapsing their formation. In that gap, the warrior shoved with his shield and thrust his sword at the perfect timing.
Flawless teamwork. Kang Tae-ho spoke in a low voice.
"What do you think?"
"......."
"Hey. Come on, say something."
What Kang Tae-ho was really asking was my opinion on how the hunters were handling the monsters. How did it look from a monster's perspective, to watch other monsters get hunted?
"...They're good."
Even I had to agree. For hunters hovering around C-class, they were performing at their peak. Still, my expression must have looked a bit wanting, because Kang Tae-ho tilted his head.
"If you've got something to say, say it. We fix what needs fixing."
Despite his willingness to listen, I shook my head firmly. It wasn't that I had nothing to say—it's just that my disappointment wasn't with the hunters.
"......."
Kang Tae-ho took my silence as a sign that I wanted to observe a bit longer, and he crossed his arms. By then, the number of kobolds had dwindled to three. They hadn't stood a chance with six; three was hopeless. The hunters smoothly dealt with the remaining kobolds and shoved the corpses to the side. It was easy to guess this was to clear the path in case they needed to retreat later. Resting his chin on his hand, Kang Tae-ho spoke in a serious tone.
"But seriously, can I just pet you once?"
"―――."
"Kyuuuuu!"
"Alright, alright! Geez, you guys are so damn uptight."
***
They had progressed smoothly and soon reached the halfway point of the dungeon. It had been smooth sailing so far, but higher-level monsters were beginning to appear.
[One-Eyed]
[Height: 2.21m] [Weight: 161.1kg]
[STR 336] [AGI 281] [VIT 303]
[Skill List]
[Tough Skin (E)]
From the hunters' perspective, anyway. I'd seen this monster before in that Phantom World incident. It stuck in my memory because it had shown up as a boss but had ended up running away in fear. This one emerged with a somewhat imposing air and immediately ripped a chunk out of the cave wall and hurled it.
"―――!"
The warrior raised his shield and blocked the chunk, but the sheer force of the throw staggered him backward. The spearman stepped up and swung his torch, but that alone wasn't enough to drive the creature back. The archer shouted.
"Spread out!"
As soon as the order came, the warrior and spearman fanned out diagonally, leaving the center open. In that instant, the archer's arrow shot through the gap straight for the One-Eyed. The arrow flew as straight as a crossbow bolt and lodged near the creature's heart, but it didn't pierce through. The thick layer of fat and its Tough Skin prevented deep penetration. The One-Eyed howled in pain, wildly swinging its arm and sending one of the warriors flying into the wall. Just then, Lee Eun-ha murmured.
"Distort."
With that brief word, the creature was bound by invisible mana, unable to move. In that window, the spearman shoved his torch into the creature's eye. As the massive eye blazed, the warrior who'd been knocked down scrambled up and drove his sword into the monster's throat.
"Adds! Five!"
There was no time to breathe. The moment she warned of the incoming monsters drawn by the noise, the warrior's eyes snapped to the rear. The One-Eyed's arm went limp, and Lee Eun-ha clenched her fist. Behind the bloodied One-Eyed, massive spiders began to emerge. As they scuttled along the walls and ceiling, the archer yelled.
"Retreat! Fall back to the narrow passage!"
The right call, but the spiders were faster. At this rate, they'd be caught. The spearman swung his torch to keep them at bay, but the spiders shot a volley of venom that snuffed out the flames.
"......!"
As the fire died and pitch-black darkness descended, Lee Eun-ha unleashed the mana she'd been gathering. Her target was the ceiling. The small explosion sent stalactites crashing down, impaling the spiders without fail. For the brief moment the explosion illuminated the cave, the warrior twisted his body and kicked a spider away. Before the remaining spiders could swarm them, the archer hastily lit a new torch. With Lee Eun-ha warping space to block the incoming venom, cleaning up was easy. Only one remained now. When they chased it, they were greeted by a three-way fork.
"What about the spider?"
"It went down the right path. ...There are about eight more in there."
"Do you sense the boss?"
"...I'm sorry."
The spearman, who had taken the torch, patted the bowing Lee Eun-ha on the shoulder.
"What are you sorry for? You're making this easy. You did great back there, too."
I studied the spearman's face carefully and finally recognized him as the young hunter who had fought the grunts at the Academy back then. After a moment of debate, the hunters decided to ignore the left path where no monsters were detected and head down the right one. To avoid getting ambushed from behind while fighting the boss—a safety-conscious approach. Despite their low ranks, they were adept, veteran hunters. I glanced toward the central passage and frowned.
"―――."
Because the snoring I'd been hearing ever since we entered the dungeon had suddenly stopped.
***
The hunters dealt with the spiders without much difficulty. Well, more like 'disposed of' them, rather than 'dealt with.'
"Well, I'll be."
Kang Tae-ho let out a hollow laugh. He hadn't expected they'd collapse the ceiling to bury them. The crushed spiders screeched weakly, blue blood seeping through the debris. No monster could survive that. The hunters returned to the central passage. In the distance, they could see Alpha (Jirisan Warg) and their Team Leader.
"......."
They had come along in a supervisory role and were keeping a suitable distance. They wouldn't move unless things got truly desperate—and it was the hunters' job to make sure it never came to that.
"Nothing on the left?"
When Lee Eun-ha nodded, the archer placed his ear to the ground. He was listening for movement, so he couldn't detect anything standing still... but it didn't seem like there were any active monsters around right now.
"Let's move forward."
They were just a bit past the halfway point. It would take a little more time to reach the end... As the hunters began advancing again, Lee Eun-ha suddenly cried out in alarm. Monsters were flooding in from the central passage. As if they were fleeing from something.