The Suspicious Tracker

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The Giant Skeleton Soldier. "Hmm... so it was that guy."

Over eighty hunters had followed us. As I scanned for anyone suspicious, one man stood out. His mana wasn't particularly intense, but a strange lingering trace of it drifted around his body. That explained how they'd known exactly where to run straight toward us. The man at the very front must have possessed a tracking-related skill. He deactivated it the moment he arrived, probably worried we'd notice, but he couldn't fool my eyes.

"Quite the prepared fellow. Did he mark Yeom Tae-seok or No Hayun with a skill outside the gate?"

It wasn't a constant location-tracking ability. If it had been something like Scout, Yeom Tae-seok and No Hayun wouldn't have joined us late without me noticing.

"The skill is probably..."

I guessed it was something like Distance Sense or Sensory Amplification—the type where you designate a target in advance and activate it briefly when needed. A versatile skill in many situations. By placing that insurance on No Hayun and Yeom Tae-seok, the strongest party members in this dungeon, he'd ended up saving a lot of lives.

"The orc unit will defend the rear!"

Once the hunters had all taken cover behind us, Yeon-hee positioned ten orcs at the back. It created a small wall between our party and the other hunters—not to protect the cornered hunters, of course. Yeom Tae-seok had approached her while we were running and made the request.

(We need to watch out for hunters who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might stab us in the back.)

(Hunters aren't a trustworthy bunch.)

His words were an insult to my face, but unfortunately true. In large-scale battles like this, the ones who kept you from going all-out were never the enemies—they were the scheming hunters.

Yeon-hee met the eyes of the orcs positioned at the rear one by one. Deonni No. 2 nodded, signaling it would faithfully carry out its duty.

We'd been driven into a dead end, and the massive undead army led by the Giant Skeleton Soldier that had chased us seemed to be pausing to catch its breath. It wasn't because the undead were out of breath. Perhaps the experiences they'd accumulated before death lingered like afterimages, making them habitually survey the battlefield. Thanks to that, the other hunters sharing this space with us could also take a moment to recover mentally and physically.

Of course, that rest was only permitted at the rear. The lizard unit already at the front line had engaged in combat and was now locked in a struggle with the Skeleton Decurions.

"Ghh...!"

"My leg...! Ngh...!"

Quite a few hunters had suffered major injuries. The strangely clean cuts on their bodies suggested they'd been hit by Bone Dancers. They must have prepared for those monsters before entering this dungeon.

"Monster Drop, huh?"

Those eight hundred monsters hadn't all dropped at a single point, but even if they'd been divided into groups of two hundred, the damage would have been severe.

—Suddenly... suddenly hundreds of them...

Someone's muttering confirmed my suspicion.

—Ghh...! Mid-grade potions aren't nearly enough! Does anyone have extra potions? I'll pay—!

The desperate cry from someone fighting for their life reached us clearly at the front. They hadn't said it outright, but it was obvious they were asking us for help.

"How much should we charge...?"

We had the lake water from Irmana, so potions were relatively less valuable to us. Selling some to those in urgent need wouldn't hurt. Besides, Yeon-hee and I didn't have that many potions to begin with. Handing over what little we had might improve our image, at least.

"Five high-grade potions, ten mid-grade potions..."

Prices varied wildly between workshops, but a single high-grade potion cost at least three million won. Still, since they restored injuries far better than Irmana's water—which excelled at mana recovery—we kept at least a minimum stock. Of course, that was the amount I carried. Yeon-hee had one more of each.

So I was basically the warehouse.

"...Let's keep two of each."

After setting aside the minimum and handing the rest to Bae Jua, I pointed at Yeon-hee and drew an X in the air.

"...Ah, got it."

I'd given the potions to Bae Jua because if I handed them directly to Yeon-hee, her overly kind nature might make her hand them out for free out of pity. Even if our income had improved, we couldn't afford the image of giving things away. One time becomes two, two becomes three... and before you know it, you're living as a pushover.

Bae Jua was quick on the uptake and immediately caught my intent. Seeing she'd already taken out her own potions, she'd clearly been preparing to haggle.

After passing the potions over, I charged forward. This wasn't the time for leisurely item exchanges. The monsters' main force was finally starting to move, and the lizard unit at the front was gradually being pushed back.

(Bomb guy! Die. Together!)

Lizard No. 1 scowled and glared at the enemy. It had already been hit by Bone Dancers twice, so it was on edge. Lizardmen weren't well-matched against them either. Bone Dancers might have lower stats overall, but their speed was unmatched in this dungeon, making it difficult for lizardmen to dodge their self-destruction attacks.

Shhhk—

But the lizardmen that had been destroyed by self-destruction attacks were resummoned and kept replenishing the front line. Now that Bae Jua and Baek A-rin had joined the front as well, we stopped being pushed back.

"Hehe... Ice Field!"

Color returned to No Hayun's face. Especially during battle, there were moments when an inexplicable thread of mana connected her and me. I'd felt something similar in the canyon.

"Did combining skeleton bombs with ice magic multiple times in the canyon still have an effect...?"

Or maybe the problem was that I'd beaten her senseless the first time we met. Either way, I just hoped Yeon-hee couldn't see this mana thread. She hadn't reacted yet, but... I hadn't done anything wrong, yet I felt guilty for no reason. Damn it.

Anyway, that was settled. The small fry could be left to Yeon-hee and the others. There was just one problem.

Using High-Speed Flight while leaping into the air, I plunged straight into the heart of their formation. The sudden appearance of a familiar yet alien presence in their center sent ripples through their ranks.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap—!

The sound of hundreds of skeletons colliding chaotically shook my senses. This kind of complex environment wasn't ideal for me to shine, but I planned to hold out a little longer.

—......!!

The small ripple I'd created wouldn't affect all eight hundred monsters, but...

"What if I use thirty bombs?"

I hurled the bombs I'd prepared in advance high into the sky, then kept pulling more from my inventory and throwing them wildly at the surrounding monsters.

KABOOOOOM———!!

Endless explosions erupted in succession, and at the same time, hundreds of thousands of bone fragments scattered in all directions. The fragments created a claymore-like effect.

Shraaaak——!

The bone shards that exploded outward in an instant gnawed at the bodies of countless undead. The skeleton soldiers, now riddled with cracks, showed clear signs of panic.

It was right after that our party members, summons, and the hunters with fighting spirit began driving back the undead forces in earnest.

"Oh? I wasn't getting any runes today, but finally."

And I'd leveled up again even though it hadn't been long since the last one. This dungeon really did provide experience points suited to my level.

"Nice. This one's useful."

The Rune of Fury was the kind of rune that occupied one of the ten rune sockets even mid-to-low rank hunters carried. Since it didn't stack, that made it even more valuable. Of course, I had no intention of using it right away. I'd think about it when my HP dropped below 15%.

Even though I'd detonated bombs in the center, the largest Giant Skeleton Soldier paid no attention and reached toward the area where the hunters were clustered.

Whooooosh—!

BOOOOOM——!!

The massive Giant Skeleton Soldier swung its hand once with force, sending three hunters flying far away to crash into a pile of rubble.

—Aaaagh!

None of the three died, but they were torn and broken somewhere, writhing in pain.

"What kind of strength... How high is its Strength stat?"

Even though it was nothing but bones, its size rivaled a three-story apartment building, so even its ordinary attacks carried destructive power comparable to several D-grade hunters unleashing their skills at once.

Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, Bone Dancers began dancing their way toward the flung hunters. Were they going in for the finish?

Crack-crack-crack—!

But No Hayun's Ice Field and the Neos Harpy Yeon-hee sent flying blocked the Bone Dancers' intent.

"We just need to keep them from getting close, right? I don't know what they were thinking, not preparing even this much. Right? Is this difficult?"

"Y-yeah, right..."

Yeon-hee agreed with No Hayun, who was gradually returning to her original personality. In large-scale battles like this, even No Hayun, who was usually intimidated by Yeon-hee, got caught up in the atmosphere.

Their performance was overwhelming, and thanks to them, the hunters who'd been riding our bus began showing a bit more initiative. They were, after all, top-tier D-grade hunters active in the Dungeon of Nargul. If we set the stage, they'd handle their share.

Simply calculating the remaining numbers, it was roughly a 90:750 fight. If each hunter took on eight undead, that was a pretty hopeful situation.

In the end, the one that would be the biggest problem was the Giant Skeleton Soldier that was now looking down at me. If it weren't for this guy, the other hunters wouldn't have fled to us in the first place. There were ten other Giant Skeleton-type monsters, but they couldn't move properly after being hit by No Hayun's magic. This one was different. Even after being hit by ice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic, it casually shook off its legs and broke free—an extraordinary monster.

"You didn't regress too, did you?"

Its head alone was the size of a midsize car. Its head was clearly humanoid, but how did its body end up like that? A chimera?

"Its skull is incredibly thick..."

Penetrating that to strike the core wouldn't be easy. But that was exactly why it would be satisfying to take down.

I invested the stats from the level-up into Perception, Agility, and Wisdom, then charged straight at it. Or rather, I practically flew, climbing up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its grotesquely bent arm.

—Huuuuh?!

Discovering me climbing its right arm, the monster swung three massive arms at me with a time delay.

Whooooosh——!

"This size and this speed is cheating!"

Whoosh—!

Whoosh—!

Once, twice, three times. The force behind each swing was so intense that I felt a bit scared, but thanks to my improved Agility, my reaction speed had increased dramatically, and I had no trouble dodging its attacks.