No Need to Work Twice

The sound of the lava churning was savage. A deep, rolling bubbling reached our ears — the kind that made it feel as though we had stepped inside a kettle just about to boil over.

The stone path had carried us into a cavern so vast it was hard to believe we were underground. At its center spread a lake of lava whose temperature was beyond guessing, and coiled upon it was the thing every hunter who came to this place sought — the thing that nevertheless dared any human to lay a hand on it. With its overwhelming strength and regeneration, the shape that had already been recorded once before as despair among irregulars lay coiled in wait.

Nine heads. Each one exhaled venom, heat, and chill of a different attribute, radiating a pressure that seemed to crush the very fabric of the space around it.

A monster presumed to hold a [Concept] magic stone — the very beast whose subjugation had failed three years ago — sat there in the flesh.

"Um... Consultant. We're... we're supposed to take that down?"

Whether it simply hadn't sunk in yet, Choi Minwoo didn't so much as tremble — he just stared at me with an expression of pure incredulity.

"Are you serious? One look at that thing and you can tell it's not something people can hunt."

He wasn't wrong, on first glance. In sheer size alone, it dwarfed every monster I'd ever laid eyes on. Taking on even one of those heads would be no simple matter, considering the creature's absurd regeneration rate — and there were nine of them. It was even bigger than the metal giant that building had transformed into inside the [Suspended World]. On top of that, the exploration records said that years ago, the industry's most seasoned veterans had thrown everything at this thing and failed. And now we were going to take it down with three people — no, two, if you excluded Kim Pildu, who didn't look like he'd be doing any actual fighting.

What Minwoo had said was pure, reasonable common sense. To put it in an analogy: it was like asking a fencer to take a blade and cut down an entire tree in front of them — a high-difficulty request, sure, but technically possible if they kept hacking away at it. Fine. A sword isn't meant for felling trees, but keep at it long enough and you could nod along and say, sure, doable.

The problem was that what we were asking right now was closer to handing someone a sword and telling them to cut down an entire mountain. So no, it wasn't strange at all that Minwoo had completely checked out.

But I answered him flatly. Because I had a plan.

"Mr. Minwoo."

"Y-yes?"

"You're not the one killing it anyway."

"...Huh?"

Minwoo stared at me, dumbfounded. What, did he think I'd drag him in to do the killing myself? Short of being insane, there was no way — not after reading the ability written on his résumé.

"Did you, by any chance, think you could behead that thing on your own?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Exactly. So don't worry about it. You have your own job, Mr. Minwoo."

Only then did Minwoo seem to come back to his senses, letting out a breath of relief.

"Then... what exactly is my job? I'd really prefer it if I could just avoid going anywhere near that monster."

For a moment I marveled — that's our Minwoo, all right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— and then I pointed to coordinates I'd already charted in my head, based on the terrain, the Hydra's size and position, and its range of movement.

"Wire installation."

Minwoo's specialty was rear-line support — and above all, work using wires. Securing retreat routes and entry paths, demonstrating outstanding mobility, and on top of that, channeling electric shocks through them using his innate ability, Transition.

"Wires, sir?"

"Yes. It's your specialty, isn't it? It's right there on file. Wire work, installation, and retrieval..."

I pointed them out one by one — the cavern's ceiling, its walls, the grotesquely jutting stalactites.

"The tip of the stalactite at three o'clock. Behind the rock spitting up lava at nine o'clock. And all the way to the hollow at the center of the ceiling. Pull them as taut and as solid as you can — and rig the whole thing so it can be executed in one motion later, with retrieval in mind."

Minwoo mulled over my instructions for a moment, then nodded.

Ah, securing an escape route, he seemed to conclude. Since the enemy was so enormous and powerful, he'd apparently taken it to mean: rig the wires so that if things went south, we could use them for three-dimensional maneuvering — a safety net for dodging or even fleeing outright. Which, to be fair, made sense. With anchors pre-planted, even if the beast's breath swept the sky, a single yank on a fired wire would carry us clear in an instant.

"Understood! Building escape routes is my specialty!"

With a determined look, Minwoo checked over his wire dispenser and disappeared.

An escape route, huh. That wasn't quite what they were for. Well — no need to correct him.

After sending Minwoo off, I opened my briefcase. Kim Pildu's eyes lit up as he raised his camera, apparently deciding it was weapon-drawing time — but what emerged from my bag was a folding chair and a cushion, for comfort's sake.

Tap. Tap-tap.

All the groundwork was done. All that remained was to wait.

I unfolded the chair in a prime spot with a clear view of the lava lake and the Hydra, and poured coffee from my thermos.

"......"

Kim Pildu stared at me as though his brain had short-circuited.

"Con... Consultant. Aren't we... exploring?"

"I have no intention of manufacturing unnecessary work for myself. We're on standby until preparations are finished. Standing around just makes your legs sore."

As the [Midas] broadcast chat flooded over — everything from quips about the ease ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the early bird to every mission imaginable — the other guests finally began to arrive, fashionably late.

Whiiiiiine—!

[Ark] and [Cheka], riding state-of-the-art hover drones, and even [Ohsung]'s elite parties. Aside from us, the parties that had managed to find their way here fastest were filing into the cavern one after another.

Since the place had already been observed through a Phase Shift once before, and detailed exploration records existed, most of the parties swallowed their shock at the Hydra's overwhelming majesty and moved straight into battle formation.

"Form up! We move exactly per the pre-parsed strategy data!"

"Watch the breaths! Melee to the front line, everyone else hold your distance!"

In an instant the cavern erupted into pandemonium — shouting and orders flying in every direction. From the back of it all, Kim Pildu sipping his coffee beside me must have looked bizarre even to me.

Then, someone approached.

A dignified older gentleman dressed the part of a modern-day mage — a robe-like ensemble that wouldn't have been out of place on a formal uniform. The Executive Director Park of [Ohsung]. Unlike our last meeting at [The Salon], he wasn't in a suit, having come out for the exploration in person, which gave him a strangely different air.

"It's been a while, [Corporate Slave Life]."

"If it isn't Executive Director Park of [Ohsung]. A pleasure."

He smiled, looking me over with evident interest.

"I assumed that by the time you joined an exploration of this scale, you'd have settled on a place to hang your hat... but it seems that isn't quite the case."

"...I did consider joining one. Something I wanted to do came up along the way, so I dropped it."

"Is that so? Heh. Careful deliberation is a virtue. And yet... you truly are no ordinary man, aren't you?"

"...?"

Director Park's gaze drifted calmly toward the Hydra, where the engagement had just begun.

"An irregular of that caliber can't simply be overrun with headcount and capital."

A single venom-laced breath swept past, and the rock along its path vanished as though erased from the world. The [Cheka] hunters spearheading [Ark]'s vanguard unleashed powerful artifact-enhanced strength in response, but they were pushed back within moments, and even re-forming their line took another heartbeat.

"A war of attrition won't work! Focus on meeting the artifact activation conditions!"

Kang Muhyeok of [Ark] barked orders at the [Cheka] hunters — he'd clearly drawn up a plan of his own — but it didn't look easy. A mere graze had been enough to melt the hunters' equipment right off their bodies, and they'd had to shed it and throw it aside.

Director Park clicked his tongue at the sight. Whether Manager Park — [Ark]'s resident fire-fighter — could somehow paper over the blind spots of their AI operation was anyone's guess. They were avoiding the worst-case scenario and keeping the engagement alive, at least. But this wasn't a fight you could win by holding out; it was a fight you had to overcome. The outcome was only natural.

"Nothing in this world has a plan until it's actually been torn into, you see. Unless you evade everything outright, the damage accumulates — and the Hydra regenerates without end. That gap keeps widening into a chasm no amount of odds can cross."

"Dungeon exploration, as I'm sure you know, is not a simple contest of force over monster-hunting. Understanding of the ecosystem, strategy, adaptability to variables, and pure skill — all of it matters. One might call it comprehensive exploration intelligence."

So this was the perspective of a man who had spent decades in the industry.

"To take down a beast like that, you need thorough preparation, the freshest data obtainable on the creature, and careful observation of its movements and condition. It's simply the rule."

Then he looked at me, eyes gleaming with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a sense of kinship.

"Which is why you're waiting, aren't you? Despite being the first to arrive. While the other fools charge in believing that since they came with a decent plan, the treasure will simply be theirs — chasing the lowest-odds, fastest attempt — you'll observe from the sidelines until the prey tires and the data accumulates, then snatch the surest moment, like a hyena."

Director Park's eyes glittered.

...It was a remarkably reasonable deduction. [Ohsung]'s main force really was holding back in a safe zone at the rear, just like us, quietly accumulating data and refusing to commit to the fight. And had I still been running operations at [Ark], it was an approach I might genuinely have employed at this very moment. A classic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠method, used especially when the prey was too strong or the hunters' forces were outmatched. Traditional, safest, most certain strategy there was.

Director Park had evidently convinced himself that I was a veteran of the same school as himself.

"A wise approach. But unfortunately for you — once those things have battered each other bloody, and I've entered the field, I will commit at the optimal timing: neither too fast nor too slow. And even then, at a moment that will come sooner than yours. This exploration belongs to [Ohsung]."

He gave me the smile of a general who had won a hundred battles.

But.

So he's judged our combat strength as practically nothing, and assumes we're planning to lurk until the very end and snatch the killing blow...

"Hah... hah. Consultant! Installation complete. That was hellishly hard work."

I drained the last of my coffee and rose slowly from my chair.

"Executive Director Park. I appreciate the advice."

And then, tidying my things back into the bag, I grinned.

"What I was waiting for isn't more live data on the Hydra. Nor a window where it's worn down even a little."

"...I beg your pardon?"

"I simply... prepared a little, so that I'd only ever have to do this job once."

"What on earth are you—"

The moment Director Park's face twisted in confusion, the world before my eyes drained into gray.

The green grid, sharp enough to measure even the shapes churning within the lava. The dangers spilling out of the ongoing exchange between the Hydra and the other hunters — the red lines of death threading through it all. And beneath them, the dozens of wires Minwoo had installed linking into two clean layers, woven together precisely as I had envisioned.

The instant I confirmed it, I let bloom the most refreshing smile of my life beneath the mask, lightly straightened my tie, and walked forward.