The Wolf Cave's Overwhelming Tide
Ilwol charged forward. "Whoa—it's huge! This isn't just a cave; it looks more like a gate to another world."
When we arrived at the Wolf Cave, what spread out before us was a cave entrance tall enough to be three stories of an apartment building. Far too massive for a place where wolves lived. It would have been more convincing to call it a giants' den.
Two dungeon staff members sat on wooden chairs in front of the entrance, handing out wooden number tags with utterly bored expressions. But their vacant looks weren't just from the simple task any elementary schooler could handle. Though rare in low-grade dungeons, there were times when hunters failed to clear the boss fight and the boss monster escaped. These people were the ones who stopped that. They possessed enough skill to at least delay a monster stampede. Sitting around like that was bound to stir up feelings of self-loathing—why am I even doing this job? Of course, the pay was probably worth it.
Seeing that quite a few hunters were still receiving number tags, we let out sighs of relief. We needed at least fifty people to start the boss fight, and it looked like we'd hit that number almost exactly.
We quickly got our tags from the staff and waited another thirty minutes before finally entering the cave. The sun in the sky had already sunk low, casting a faint sunset glow.
"At least we caught the last train. We almost ended up spending our first night in a dungeon. Whew."
Clack clack clack.
Spending the night in a dungeon with Yeonhee... That had its own... charm.
The Wolf Cave limited entry to seventy hunters. If more tried to participate, the wolves would somehow sense it and refuse to come out. From the hunters' perspective, splitting the rewards among too many people would kill the incentive to challenge it anyway.
Vwoooom—
Shortly after all the hunters, including us, entered the cave, a translucent barrier formed over the entrance. No more new participants could get in even if they wanted to. Our group and the fifty-odd other hunters just had to hold off the Lesser Dire Wolves pouring out of the Wolf Cave and the Lesser Dire Wolf Champions from the second wave. It was a simple mission.
Though it was called a boss fight, it wasn't like the Lizardman Swamp where one overwhelmingly powerful champion appeared. Instead, we faced multiple champions with enhanced combat abilities. Imagining the wolf packs rushing in like a flood, the hunters gradually stoked their fighting spirit. Thanks to that, the cave—which had felt like a freezer—quickly filled with a warm, heated atmosphere.
'Come on, my quest materials—pour in!'
I held that wish in my heart. At the very least, I needed to fill three types of quests with a hundred kills each per dungeon run if I wanted to finish everything within a hundred days. I couldn't work on the greatsword quest for now, but this was a good chance to grind the attribute attack and dagger quests hard.
While waiting for the wolves, I looked around at the other hunters joining the boss fight. Their faces were all different. Among them was one who, like Baek A-rin, possessed beastman traits.
"A-rin, what kind of beastman is that person?"
"Ugh... Hard to tell just from the ears."
"Really? I think it's a bear type. Round ears, round face—hehe."
"A bear? You think so?"
A-rin shrugged and answered casually. She didn't seem particularly interested in other beastmen.
'Yeah, that's definitely a bear beastman. At least their strength must be impressive.'
Time passed quickly while I watched the surrounding hunters. Then—
Awooooooo—!!
Hundreds of wolf howls shook the inside of the cave. The piercing, chilling sound made my mind go blank for a moment.
—Don't you dare shrink back from those damn mutts' barking!!
Someone shouted to rally their comrades' courage. At that cry, everyone on site loosened their necks and hands, readying themselves again.
Thududududu—
Soon the cave interior shook as if an earthquake had struck, and from the three branching paths, packs of wolves came charging in, black as night.
"Whoa... I heard there'd be a lot, but that's way too many..."
"Jua, you were acting like it was no big deal when I told you earlier! Now you get it?"
Anyway, as the most experienced hunter in this dungeon, A-rin moved along the wall as we'd discussed beforehand and gave another warning.
"From here on, it's an all-out brawl! It'd be nice if we could all hold one spot together, but once the champions show up, sticking together won't be easy. When that happens—got it?"
What A-rin meant, in short, was to survive on our own. I fully agreed. We'd been moving along the wall ever since we first entered the cave. Even if we got surrounded on three sides, at least our rear would be defended.
"And they like attacking in groups of four!"
"Yes, got it! I'll use the summons to break their formations, so don't worry, everyone."
"Eun-yeong, don't fall too far back, okay? Stay between the mid and rear lines, and heal the summons when their health drops. If more than ten get bleeding, use Peace of Mind."
"Uuuuh... Okay..."
We moved while sharing reminders, and soon found the terrain we'd been hoping for—a round, recessed space deep in the cave where stalactites hung down almost to the floor, forming something like a prison. We chose to trap ourselves inside it. Since no hunter wanted to be isolated in such a place, it was completely empty. Once Yeonhee stepped between the stalactite bars, she summoned the rest of her beasts.
The summons' formation always prioritized protecting Yeonhee, and now Ham Eun-yeong and Bae Jua had been added to the list of those who needed guarding. Before we knew it, our summon count had exceeded thirty. One Slime, one Kobold, one Armored Beetle, twenty Lizardmen, two Orcs, two Zombies, one Neos Harpy, one Screaming Mushroom, one Spectre, and the spirit Ran. Excluding Wangwang, thirty-one summons crowded against one wall. The hunters who had been nervously watching the branching paths now had their eyes shaken for an entirely different reason.
The hunters' complicated murmurs mixed with the wolves' frenzied barking into a chaotic harmony so loud it was hard to hear the person right next to you.
"Ilwol, don't worry about me. Go fight to your heart's content. I can handle this much on my own."
Knowing her strength better than anyone, I nodded and launched myself toward the wolves now right in front of us.
In a sealed space like this cave, Contaminated Breath was perfect. Smoke slowly rose from my body and spread its domain through the cave. The wolves in this space would gradually fall under my skill's influence as time passed. That said, I didn't expect to gain massive experience from it. These creatures were far below my level anyway—killing them wouldn't help much. So focusing on attack methods that satisfied the quest conditions was the smartest choice.
Fireball
Boom—!
Hundreds of wolves. With numbers this high, even Fireball—with its currently low accuracy—could still be effective. Wolves caught in the spell's range were engulfed in flames, their already dirty brown fur burning pitch black.
Stealth
I drove my dagger into the vital point of a wolf that had been rolling on the ground trying to put out the flames from the Fireball.
Thud—!
Arhen's dagger, sharpened to a chilling edge, tore into the creature's neck and split it open lengthwise.
Lesser Dire Wolf defeated!
Acquired an extremely negligible amount of experience!
The word "extremely" clearly illustrated the gap between the wolves and me.
Clang—! Clack clack—
The moment I pulled the dagger from the wolf's neck, two more wolves lunged from left and right, trying to strike, claw, and pierce my torso with their sharp front claws. But the 120 defense from my bone armor easily blocked attacks from ordinary wolves.
Awooooo!! Uwooo—!!
Howling from all directions disrupted the hunters' minds. It was enough to make one wonder if it was a skill.
'It's not just their size that grew. There are way more of them too.'
My past-life memories confirmed it. The number of wolves in the boss fight had definitely increased dramatically. There were so many that some were even running along the cave walls instead of the ground. It was an overwhelming quantity. By simple calculation, each hunter would have to take down more than ten wolves, and getting surrounded by four or five at once was the norm.
—Kuaaaagh!! These filthy mutts!
—Damn it, I should've just done this tomorrow!!
It seemed like we were short on people. Naturally, groans of pain started coming from everywhere.
"Agh! These guys are so hot!!"
Maybe because of her unique voice, A-rin's words pierced cleanly through the chaos. Like the other hunters, she seemed to be under coordinated attack from the wolves. She should've just stayed inside with Yeonhee instead of fighting alone out here...
In a way, fighting in this kind of space was the worst environment for Baek A-rin. A bird trapped in a narrow cage couldn't fly. Still, since Yeonhee had assigned three Lizardmen as guards to her, she shouldn't be in any real danger.
Thud thud thud!!
I could see Lizardman No. 1 beside A-rin smashing a wolf's head with its bare fists. Where the hell did that stupid thing sell its weapon? Behind it, the Deonni brothers were faithfully swinging the axes they'd received from the Kobold Ttungi, carrying out their warrior duties. Their faces were filled with joy. True to their battle-crazed race, they even tore into the wolves' flesh with their teeth in between attacks.
Within minutes of the wave starting, hundreds of wolves had completely filled the cave interior. Some wolves even impaled themselves on the spikes growing from my body without me needing to attack. Kwaaaang—!! Though I wasn't taking damage, getting hit by too many at once restricted my movement, so I detonated Skeleton Bombs here and there. The bombs were still powerful—any wolves caught in the explosions lost body parts and became combat ineffective.
.......!!
Uwooooo—!!
It was a melee unlike any before. Even in this chaotic situation, I kept spreading my sensory waves to check on Yeonhee's safety. Of course, the defensive formation of summons built around her still looked solid, and having Bae Jua beside her was reassuring. Baek A-rin, after her initial shock, seemed to be pacing herself without overexerting.
Honestly, our team had no reason to push ourselves. We'd be going home with a small lottery win called the mine today. Feeling at ease, I closed my eyes and focused more on the sensations around my body. There were simply too many attacks coming from blind spots to fight while relying on sight.
Simply meeting the quest conditions wasn't enough. Every exchange happening here felt like compressed training to me. Though I hadn't seen it clearly a few hours ago because it was too fast, I replayed Baek A-rin's movements that I'd sensed. Lightning Step's unique footwork unfolded in my mind like a summoning scroll unrolling. First, I pictured A-rin's slender ankle line, as delicate as a wrist that looked ready to break. Recalling how she powerfully kicked off the ground with those thin legs, I looked down at my own legs—which now had a proper foot shape.