Humanoid Monster
Thwack—!
KRA-BOOOOM—!
"Tae-soo! Take the right!"
"Yes, sir!"
Brilliant sparks of fire exploded right before my eyes. Blade energy carved through the air, and monster screams echoed through the cavern.
Deep inside the B-grade Volcano Gate, the two elite agents of the Association — Kang Chul-min and Choi Tae-soo — were putting on a masterclass. Their fighting was pure art. Not a wasted motion between them. Perfect coordination. The pack of Fire Lizards went down like rice at harvest time, cut down in clean, ruthless swathes.
And me?
"Hell yeah! Nice shot, hyung-nims!"
I was watching the whole show in complete comfort, leaning on my staff with one hip cocked out.
"Left side over there! Ah, so close! That dodge was a little sloppy just now!"
"Would you shut your damn mouth?!"
Choi Tae-soo barked as he severed a monster's neck.
Hmm.
So that hyung puts on airs of being refined, but the second things get heated, his mouth goes filthy.
I filed that one away too.
Honestly, I hadn't expected things to go this smoothly. Elite agents or not, this was a B-grade gate. I'd figured two people would have their hands full trying to clear it.
And yet.
These hyung-nims were ridiculously strong. Whether it was years of working in sync or pure skill, the monsters almost looked pitiful. So this is what a corporate bus ride feels like. The ride quality was outstanding. Not a single bump. All I had to do was toddle along behind them. Not a drop of sweat required.
"Hoo..."
The last Fire Lizard crumbled into ash. Kang Chul-min rested his greatsword across his shoulder and caught his breath. I quickly pulled two cold bottles of water from my inventory and scampered over.
"Hyung-nims! Great work out there! Have some water!"
"...Tch."
Choi Tae-soo clicked his tongue but took the bottle anyway. Kang Chul-min drank in silence. Glug, glug.
"No, seriously, you two are on another level. I've been in A-grade parties before, but your chemistry is pure art."
"Spare me the flattery."
Choi Tae-soo answered gruffly. But the corner of his mouth twitched, just barely.
Praise really does make even whales dance.
"Flattery? Come on. I'm a buffer by trade. I've got a sharp eye for a hunter's combat power."
"...Tch. You've got some nerve, I'll give you that."
Kang Chul-min let out a short snort of a laugh and tossed me his empty bottle.
At first, the two of them had looked at me like I was some kind of insect. But what kind of animal is a human being, really? Nobody stands a chance against someone who acts this warm and eager. Every time a fight ended, I wagged my tail calling them hyung-nim this, hyung-nim that. I fetched water. I scooped up every monster byproduct myself. It's not like I had anything better to do — might as well nail the pack-mule role.
Before I knew it, the atmosphere had gotten pretty damn friendly.
"By the way, Yoo Doo-bong-ssi."
"Come on, hyung-nim. Just call me Doo-bong. Are we strangers?"
"...Fine. Doo-bong."
Choi Tae-soo laughed like he couldn't believe this guy, then continued.
"Is this your first time in a volcanic-zone gate?"
"Yes. I've done jungles and underwater dungeons, but a place with boiling lava? First time. It's hot as hell, seriously."
I wiped the sweat beading on my forehead. Just standing still was enough to make me pour sweat like I'd walked into a sauna.
"Then be careful. In here, the environment itself is more dangerous than the regular monsters."
Kang Chul-min spoke while scanning the surroundings.
"Especially watch your feet. One bad step and you're dropping into a lava pit."
"I'll keep that in mind, hyung-nim!"
I answered crisply and adjusted my grip on the staff.
The raid resumed. We pressed deeper into the cavern, where rivers of red lava flowed. The heat kept climbing. Every breath stabbed my lungs with scorching air.
"Hey, Doo-bong."
Choi Tae-soo, walking point, suddenly spoke up.
"You like women, right?"
"Is that even a question? My other name isn't the Extraord— ahem. The Extraordinary Hunter for nothing."
"Then... you ever hear that rumor?"
"What rumor?"
"The lava pussy."
"...Excuse me?"
What the hell did I just hear?
Lava... what?
"The lava pussy?"
"Yeah. The lava pussy."
"No, what the fuck kind of name is that? Who came up with it?"
"Hell if we know. That's just what hunters call it."
Kang Chul-min glanced back over his shoulder and chimed in.
"It's one of those stories that floats around like a legend."
"A legend?"
"Deep in volcanic-zone gates, they say there's a pussy made entirely of lava."
I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. A pussy made of lava. What kind of deranged bullshit was this now.
"Wait — if you stick your dick in lava, doesn't it just burn off? This isn't some sausage roast."
"That's why it's a legend."
"But it's not totally out of left field either. There were quite a few seniors who claimed they'd experienced it."
"...You're telling me there are actual brave souls who stuck their cocks in lava?"
The unbelievable claims just kept coming. Even for a guy as woman-obsessed as me, a lava pussy felt like a stretch too far.
Choi Tae-soo snickered.
"Well, the accepted theory is that it's a monster."
"A monster?"
"Yeah. But nobody knows what kind of monster it actually is."
"You just said there were seniors who'd experienced it."
"We didn't hear it firsthand ourselves... It's old-timer stuff from the early days of the Gate Incident. By now those geezers are probably all laid out in national parks."
"Huh..."
Listening to Choi Tae-soo's explanation, it started to sound oddly convincing. Back in the early Gate days, people had the experimental spirit to try literally anything. Hell, the slime onaholes on the market today supposedly started with some senior who stuck it in a slime first, right?
"But is it actually a real monster?"
"Who knows. Nobody currently active has ever seen one. Anyone who claims they have is full of it."
Kang Chul-min shrugged.
"How many hunters can even get into a B-grade gate in the first place?"
He had a point. So was the rumor just a unicorn that only existed in fantasy? Or genuine field notes from seniors with zero fear and too much curiosity?
A lava pussy, huh...
Honestly?
I was ridiculously interested.
A hot, tight lava pussy. Could my cock actually survive that kind of heat? I had dark-attribute immunity, but fire-attribute immunity? Not so much.
Still... just once...
I swallowed hard. This insane curiosity. I really was a hunter down to the bone, wasn't I.
We kept advancing, trading stupid jokes the whole way. The mood wasn't bad at all. If anything, the tension had eased enough that it almost felt like a picnic.
But.
A gate is a gate. The moment you let your guard down, death opens its jaws.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE—!
The entire cavern suddenly shook with a violent roar.
"W-what? An earthquake?!"
I staggered, nearly losing my balance.
"Eyes front!"
Kang Chul-min shouted urgently.
Ahead of the narrow passage we'd been walking — a massive lava lake had appeared. Red magma churned and boiled. And from the center of that lake, something began to rise.
GRRRRRRK—!
"Magma Golem!"
Choi Tae-soo crossed his dual swords and yelled. A gigantic rock monster draped in lava. Just in size, it easily looked three stories tall.
"Hyung-nims! That thing looks pretty fucking rough!"
"Fall back!"
Kang Chul-min tightened his grip on the greatsword and launched himself forward. Choi Tae-soo peeled off behind him, circling left.
The fight began.
KRA-BOOOOM—!
The Magma Golem brought a massive fist crashing down. The floor shattered; debris sprayed in every direction.
"Ghk!"
Kang Chul-min held his ground, batting the fragments aside with his greatsword. In that opening, Choi Tae-soo dove in, targeting the golem's leg joints.
Clang! Clang!
But the golem's body was far too hard. His dual blades struck rock and threw sparks — no real damage at all.
"Fuck, the shell is insanely tough!"
"Aim for the lava core in the joint gaps!"
The two elite agents fought with everything they had. This was clearly a monster on a completely different level from the Fire Lizards earlier. I kept my distance and hid behind a boulder.
Oh shit. One hit from that and they won't even find my bones.
I couldn't even work up the nerve to cheer. All I could do was hold my breath and watch the fight.
And then.
FWOOOOSH—!
A massive fireball erupted from the golem's mouth. A Fireball. And not just any Fireball — one the size of a house.
"Dodge!!"
Kang Chul-min and Choi Tae-soo hurled themselves to either side.
KRA-BOOOOM—!
The Fireball tore through the spot where they'd been standing.
And.
"Huh?"
At the end of that Fireball's trajectory — behind the boulder — was me.
"Sh-shiiiiiit!!"
No time to dodge. My entire field of vision flooded red. An overwhelming wall of heat crashed over me.
I'm dead.
I'm actually going to die!
On pure instinct I threw both arms over my face and curled into a ball.
BOOOOOOM—!!
Blistering heat and shattered rock fragments hammering my body — that was the last thing I felt before everything cut out.
"Nnngh..."
A groan slipped out on its own. My whole body felt stiff and sore. Had I been knocked out?
I forced my eyelids open with effort.
"Fuck... where the hell am I now?"
It was dark ahead. Not pitch-black enough that I couldn't see a hand in front of my face, but it felt like I'd washed up inside somewhere. To get blasted this far by a Fireball's shockwave and somehow not be critically injured... you could call that a miracle.
I got to my feet and checked my surroundings.
"Where did I even land?"
I was definitely thrown here — that much was certain — but I couldn't see any hole I might have come through.
And then.
Rumble...
After a brief tremor, something seemed to drop from overhead.
Is this place collapsing?
If so, I couldn't just sit here. Getting buried alive was a guarantee.
I braced a hand against the wall and followed the path. How long did I walk like that? A faint light seeped through up ahead. I didn't hesitate — I ran toward it. The glow grew closer. And when I finally reached the end of that light—
"......"
"......"
I arrived in a vast cavern. A dome-shaped cave maybe ten meters high. In the dead center, a pit like some kind of facility structure. And inside that pit...
"A monster?"
"GYAAAAOOOOH—!!"
A monster shrieking. But what filled my eyes wasn't the form of some terrifying beast.
A body made of red magma. Yet nothing like a crude golem. Smooth curves. A narrow waist. Full, generous breasts. And two long, outstretched legs. A woman's naked form, scarlet hair streaming behind her.
"A... Humanoid Monster...!"
Humanoid Monsters exist on a completely different plane from ordinary variants. Variant monsters are powered up by the impure energy within mana. But Humanoid Monsters don't come from mana corruption.
It's when the mana of a human who died in that dungeon settles into a monster.
That phenomenon doesn't happen in every dungeon, though. If it did, they wouldn't be registered as rare species. It's a little unscientific, but they say the amount of mana that takes root depends on how powerful the deceased hunter's lingering grudge — their han — was.
That Humanoid Monster looks mostly human in body...
It had reptilian pupils and a tail, but nearly everything else was humanoid. And there was one more critical fact.
A Humanoid Monster whose body is more than fifty percent transformed...
Possesses intelligence.
