The Scarecrow's Return
D-rank zones were divided into three layers.
The first layer mixed safe zones with hunting grounds in the underground.
The second layer featured hunting areas where monsters were noticeably stronger than those on the first.
From the third layer onward, only skilled hunters who were preparing to advance could enter.
Among them, the second layer was the one only those who had fully adapted to D-rank could reach.
It was impossible to reach it just four days after first entering D-rank.
Yet Do-hyun paid no mind to that.
He hummed a cheerful tune as he led Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan down to the second layer.
“Hum~ humhum~.”
As Do-hyun hummed, Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan looked at him with curious eyes.
Do-hyun always seemed in a good mood, but today he looked unusually cheerful.
Hana Rin asked, puzzled.
“Do-hyun oppa, you seem especially happy today.”
“Hm? Me?”
“Yeah. You’re even humming a tune.”
Do-hyun pointed at himself and answered.
Ji Yu-chan nodded and replied in his place.
Do-hyun smiled faintly and said, “I had a lively spar yesterday, so the stress is all gone.”
“Ah…”
“…I see.”
Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan recalled the scene from yesterday’s spar and offered a small bow.
Do-hyun himself felt genuine delight, thinking exactly the same thing.
After the dungeon, his growth had been explosive, but the spar had given him even more.
So his mood could not help but lift.
In fact, he had planned to push himself to grow during the journey to the second layer.
Now it looked as if a relaxed hunt would be easy there.
**Status Window**
**Strength:** 39 → 41 **Agility:** 43 → 49 **Stamina:** 37 → 42 **Mana:** 47 → 49
Soon he would enter the fifties.
*Fast. Really fast.*
Do-hyun did not feel it was too fast.
The reason was standing right behind him.
**Ji Yu-chan** **Trait:** Platinum Sword King [S] **Skills** – Sword Mastery [A] – Sword King’s Intuition [A] – Sword Style – Gold Sword [A] – Secret – Instant Movement [B] – Mana Manipulation [D] – Presence [E] – Ambush [E]
**Status** **Strength:** 44 → 47 **Agility:** 32 → 35 **Stamina:** 35 → 40 **Mana:** 35 → 39
**Hana Rin** **Trait:** Sorceress Supreme [S] **Skills** – Ether Heart [S] – Empress’s Dignity [A] – Magic – Will Magic [A] – Spell – Reverse Flow [A] – Secret – Instant Movement [B] – Intermediate Element Magic [D] – Intermediate General Magic [D] – Intermediate Concept Magic [D] …(More to view)
**Status** **Strength:** 21 → 25 **Agility:** 27 → 30 **Stamina:** 24 → 26 **Mana:** 45 → 48
*Fast indeed.*
Do-hyun could call himself a monster among prodigies.
But Ji Yu-chan and Hana Rin were the same.
Two prodigies who were called monsters, and Do-hyun who was called a monster by them.
Their growth rate was absurd.
Yet for a while Do-hyun had believed he stood above them.
He had been surprised to see them catch up so quickly.
*Those two really are that good.*
Even as prodigies, they had benefited from Do-hyun’s ridiculous analysis.
Still, because he raised all stats evenly, his progress lagged a little.
Whereas Ji Yu-chan and Hana Rin focused only on their main stats, so their growth had become nearly identical.
If they had never met Do-hyun, they would never have grown this fast.
They would not have reached Hwang Ha-na’s level.
With the monster Do-hyun on their team, both had unconsciously turned into monsters themselves.
The feedback he gave them made it even faster.
While Do-hyun pondered all this, the two grew together.
His competitive spirit stirred.
He thought it was fun.
Then he found the stairs leading to the second layer.
They were not the same stairs he had discovered yesterday.
Unfortunately, no dungeon gate appeared.
Do-hyun’s expression turned slightly regretful.
“No dungeon.”
“…If you wish for one again, you have no conscience.”
“He didn’t exist in the first place.”
“Right. While we’re here, why not give us another dungeon?”
Do-hyun’s nonsense made Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan burst out laughing.
They let the joke drop and Do-hyun stretched lightly before heading down the stairs.
“Let’s go.”
Ji Yu-chan followed.
Hana Rin stepped onto the last stair.
A sensation of space skipping felt through the maze’s special rules.
When the illusion set in, the stairs behind them were ascending, not descending.
The space around them changed in an instant.
The party had leaped through space several times yet still murmured in wonder.
*Amazing. It’s not like the body itself is moving.*
*Hmm, it’s not mana driving it either.*
Both analyzed it silently.
No answer came, so they stopped talking and followed Do-hyun’s lead through the second layer.
The atmosphere felt different.
Heavy, humid air pressed down.
Unlike the first layer’s automatic torches and crystal lamps, light was scarce.
Torches hung sparingly, and dark patches were more common.
A chill rose on its own.
Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan rubbed their arms without thinking.
As they struggled to adapt to the horror, Do-hyun moved forward without a care.
Seeing him suddenly advance, both jumped in surprise.
“L-let’s go together!” “L-let’s go together!”
Do-hyun watched them stutter and found it amusing.
They had fought an elf who was scared even inside the Black Gate.
Now they were frightened by a slightly eerie atmosphere.
Hana Rin openly showed fear, while Ji Yu-chan tried to hide it.
Do-hyun shook his head and said, “We should hunt.”
“Y-yes, of course.”
“Cough, cough. Good.”
The corridor was wide enough for ten people to walk side by side.
Rare torches and crystal lamps hung on the ceiling and walls.
While walking, Do-hyun sensed something and adjusted his stance.
Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan prepared for battle.
At first the atmosphere had been eerie, but combat made the fear fade.
They felt something running toward them from afar and readied themselves.
The light was dim, so only a blurry shape appeared.
When the crystal lamp’s light reached the creature, it stepped out.
A gigantic human face with unfocused eyes was planted on a spider body and rushed forward.
“Kyah!!” “Aaaah!!”
Startled, Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan screamed.
Do-hyun watched them with pity and swung his sword at the dungeon spider.
*Gold Sword.*
Clang—!
The spider was sliced cleanly from head to body.
It should not have been so easy, but the pure mana infused into the Gold Sword cut it in half without resistance.
After killing the spider, Do-hyun looked at the two and saw them scratching their heads awkwardly.
“I’m sorry…” “…I’ll focus more.”
Do-hyun said nothing, understanding their embarrassment, and looked ahead.
*Ha. If Analysis hadn’t warned me, I would have yelled too.*
Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan had screamed, but the moment a huge spider head popped out, Do-hyun almost did the same.
He had barely held it back.
Would he have felt even more embarrassed without Analysis?
He thought that as he hunted the next monsters.
But something felt off.
“Hm?” “Why?” “Is something wrong?”
Do-hyun looked around curiously.
Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan asked him.
They had not felt the strange atmosphere, so they questioned him.
Just as he was about to answer, Hana Rin sensed something first and listened with Do-hyun.
Only then did Ji Yu-chan murmur, “Is this really how quiet a dungeon gets?”
Do-hyun and Hana Rin shook their heads.
Even without monsters around, the silence would never be this heavy.
Yet no sound came.
They quickly realized something was wrong and drew their weapons.
That was when Do-hyun saw it.
*Shhhh—*
A shadow tore open, and a gigantic scythe burst out with no sound.
In that instant, Do-hyun shoved Hana Rin aside and raised his sword.
The blade passed through the creature, and the scythe slashed deep into his chest.
*Zwaaaaaaaa—*
It was not simply cut. It was ripped apart.
Armor tore off, long gashes remained, and Do-hyun was shoved backward.
“Oppa!!!” “Do-hyun!!!”
Startled, the two tried to attack.
Do-hyun raised a hand to stop them.
Then blood gushed from the deep wound.
He immediately used muscle healing and Guardian’s Body to maximize regeneration.
Flesh began to close.
Yet Do-hyun’s face stayed blank as he stared at the scythe and the scarecrow-like body that walked out of the shadow.
His expression hardened in an instant.
*Griik…* *Gik…*
And the scarecrow spoke in a broken voice.
“…I… ca…n’t…?”
When the creature fully stepped out and tilted its head, Do-hyun broke into a cold sweat.
**Galakro Hedrix** **Trait:** Head Harvester [A] **Skills** – Dark Magic – Sacrificial Aesthetics [A] – Head Harvest [B] – Body Modification [B] – Shadow Transference [B] – Advanced Dark Magic [C] – Life Steal [C] – Intermediate Dark Magic [D] …(More to view)
**Status** **Strength:** 50 **Agility:** 60 **Stamina:** 60 **Mana:** 65
※ Scrow race. ※ Hunters slain: 138. ※ Currently under the effect of “Body Degradation.” ※ Currently under the effect of “Skill Restriction.” ※ Due to Body Modification [B], Strength, Agility, and Stamina are abnormally high. [Analysis succeeded via Sword King’s Intuition [A].] [1000 AP acquired.]
He whispered to the others, “That’s a monster.”