Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Master of the Tomb
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Chapter 68
"……Danger."
Ha-yul took a step back.
A glaive whistled past her, barely missing.
For an archer to fight properly, she needed to keep some distance, but that wasn't possible here.
Right behind her was the healer, Park Hee-jun.
In the end, she had no choice but to wield her secondary weapon—a one-handed sword—and rely on her combat sense to buy time. It was a tactic with clear limits.
"Ha-yul, just hold on until the front line has some breathing room—huh?"
Hee-jun's briefing from behind cut off abruptly.
She felt a moment of confusion but didn't turn around.
In this situation, no orc could attack Hee-jun.
If he was surprised, it had to be for another reason.
And in that instant,
*Stab—*
The orc in front of Ha-yul stiffened, then collapsed.
It dropped to its knees, its heavy body toppling forward with a thud.
Standing behind it was none other than Jeong-hyeon.
"Pull back and provide covering fire!"
"……Confirmed."
Ha-yul nodded after spotting the dagger lodged in the orc's back, then retreated alongside Hee-jun.
Judging by where Jeong-hyeon had been standing, it wasn't a throwing skill.
Did that mean he'd stabbed it directly to kill the orc?
She'd inflicted a few wounds herself, but they shouldn't have been enough to bring it down.
"Good lord……."
Hee-jun let out a gasp as they broke away from the orcs and repositioned.
At first, he'd thought Jeong-hyeon was insane for breaking formation like that, but he'd not only eased Ha-yul's burden but also drawn the orcs' attention from that spot.
Thanks to him, Ha-yul had time to fire her arrows again.
The line from Jin-ah to Cha-jin to Jeong-hyeon had become unbalanced, but it was still better than the rear being sealed off.
Wielding a long mace, he dodged attacks by throwing his whole body into it, while occasionally inflicting serious wounds on the orcs.
It was as if he were the only one living in slowed time—impossible otherwise.
His movements matched Jin-ah's or fell slightly short, but his judgment and pathing in those split seconds were superior.
*Twang—*
Ha-yul nocked another arrow and let it fly, thinking much the same.
'……Who is he?'
Just who was this guy the HR department had casually dropped off one day, like he was some random errand?
***
In a battle where even a moment's lapse was unforgivable, Jeong-hyeon was ironically finding more and more leeway.
'I'm gradually getting used to Thought Acceleration.'
He knew its overwhelming effect, but the trait had still felt unfamiliar.
Thought Acceleration.
The gap between his body's movement speed and the flow of his thoughts was becoming second nature, and he was learning how to make use of that extra time.
The synergy from Combat Sense now detected not just attacks aimed at him, but every attack unfolding on the battlefield.
There was the caveat of "within the range of Jeong-hyeon's senses," but no one here could challenge him one-on-one anyway.
'I need to see not just me and my opponent, but wider, more.'
Jeong-hyeon and his immediate foe.
Not stopping there—the surrounding enemies.
And beyond that, the situations of his allies fighting elsewhere.
To others, it might look like a brutal melee of flesh and steel with no openings, but to Jeong-hyeon, it was gradually transforming into an orderly space no different from anywhere else.
That shift began to influence the battle.
Stealth and dagger criticals, mace strikes—they whittled down the orcs bit by bit.
And he started coordinating the parts others couldn't attend to.
"Ha-yul, cover Cha-jin first!"
Was it because Jeong-hyeon was closest?
He redirected Ha-yul's supporting fire—centered on him—toward the tank, Cha-jin.
With the collapsed barricade line, he pulled Cha-jin and Jin-ah back to form a new front, stabilizing the situation.
Their numbers had already dwindled significantly from the start, and with Ha-yul providing steady rear support, cleaning up the rest wasn't hard.
"Hoo! I really thought I was done for this time!"
Cha-jin wiped sweat from his brow and shouted.
Unlike Jeong-hyeon or Jin-ah, a tank lacked offensive options. Being surrounded alone was tantamount to terror.
His sturdy body and Hee-jun's healing handled most wounds, but a little longer and it would've been dangerous.
And in the fourth wave, the party had no choice but to admit it.
Jeong-hyeon, whom they'd thought was a lucky rolling stone, was actually a massive boulder.
When the last orc fell to Jin-ah's hand, everyone collapsed in place.
"Jeong-hyeon, this really your first 5-level gate?"
Hee-jun's question.
It was natural to wonder.
His unregistered status barely surprised them anymore.
But awakening just three months ago—and this being his first mission gate, even his first 5-level gate? Unbelievable.
Jeong-hyeon nodded.
"Yeah. Not a walk in the park."
Honestly, it wasn't hard so much as finding an appropriate difficulty at last.
His growth had been so steep that, barring special cases, most hunts posed little threat.
But being swarmed by a dozen or so Ropu Orcs was refreshingly novel.
"Not a walk in the park? Man. You're the first to say that."
Cha-jin shook his head.
After clearing this gate, how many colleagues would believe the story?
If they didn't call it a dream, they'd be lucky.
Jin-ah nodded in agreement, and as everyone shared similar sentiments,
Jeong-hyeon tilted his head and asked.
"But why hasn't the mission ended?"
"……?"
Only then did the others sense something off.
Thirty Ropu Orcs.
They'd handled it somehow, but for a standard defense mission, that was more than enough for the final wave.
And it hadn't even had the "Subordinate" buff.
Yet, as Jeong-hyeon said, no mission complete message or artifact box appeared.
"No way—there's still more after this?"
Hee-jun muttered, and the party's expressions turned grave.
Just how strong would the monster after the Ropu Orcs be?
And a new alert appeared only in Jeong-hyeon's vision.
[SUDDEN COIN QUEST: 'Master of the Tomb' ACTIVATED
The master of the tomb awakens, disturbed from its rest.
Fortunately, rumors tend to exaggerate.
Not a real dragon, but slay the suspicious tomb's master and survive.
Objective: Contribute 50%+ to Demi Drake kill
Reward: 2 Coins]
"……Demi Drake?"
"What?"
Jeong-hyeon muttered unconsciously at the sudden quest.
Jin-ah, overhearing, shot back in disbelief.
Demi Drake?
Some jokes landed better than others.
The Demi Drake they knew didn't appear in 5-level gates.
"……It's coming."
But the system presenting the quest couldn't be wrong.
Ha-yul's curt words came with a face drained pale.
No, anyone could've guessed the situation now.
*Thud—thud—*
Earth-shaking footsteps.
Dust sifting from vibrations between ancient marble slabs.
As Jeong-hyeon said, even if not a Demi Drake, something enormous was coming.
"No way……."
Cha-jin whispered.
External energy readings had pegged it as low.
Veteran hunters never fully trusted such shallow metrics, of course.
But unexpected crises made you resent anything.
"Everyone, get ready!"
At Hee-jun's sharp cry, they rose into position.
Fresh off the Ropu Orc fight, their bodies wouldn't obey fully, but they couldn't die sitting.
Soon, from the widest central passage of the five, an unwelcome nightmare head emerged.
A massive body slithering out like a ghost.
"Why the hell is that thing here?!"
Carnivorous dinosaur-like form.
Gray skin that looked impossibly tough.
Milky white eyes.
A Demi Drake.
Drakes appeared widely in 6- and 7-level gates.
The degraded Demi Drake ranked lower, but even so, in 5-level gates, it was boss-tier or exceedingly rare—mostly considered 6-level.
'Even for a mission gate with a sudden quest, this crosses the line.'
Even Jeong-hyeon, with his notorious bad luck in hunts, couldn't accept it.
Difficulty spikes had limits—drake-types in a 5-level gate?
"Cha-jin, ever tanked a drake?"
"You call that tankable……."
Cha-jin shook his head gravely at Hee-jun's question.
'Maybe once or twice short-term, but a prolonged fight? No chance.'
Jeong-hyeon's assessment.
He'd held off the Ropu Orc pack, so he wouldn't break easily, but could he solo that bulk?
'The system wouldn't give an unwinnable quest…….'
Jeong-hyeon reviewed the sudden quest.
Even a stubborn system wouldn't assign the impossible.
So, hints in the details?
Master of the tomb.
Disturbed rest.
Milky eyes.
Jeong-hyeon shouted.
"Undead!"
"Huh?"
"That's an undead. It's a dragon's tomb, right?"
The party nodded at Jeong-hyeon's words.
They'd missed it—first-time drake, well-preserved—but it was undead.
Undead were inevitably weaker than in life.
Not weak, but the drake's degraded Demi form further weakened.
So, maybe they could manage?
"……Let's give it a shot."
Jin-ah nodded reluctantly, meeting Jeong-hyeon's confident gaze.
No choice, as she thought.
Mission gates trapped you until clear—no exit.
Demi Drake or real dragon, fight it was.
Until death.
*Twang—*
Ha-yul nocked an arrow lightning-fast and fired.
Its reaction would dictate their response.
The arrow, fiercer than ever, struck the tiny shoulder of the massive Demi Drake.
Huge body and undead traits made its reaction sluggish.
The issue?
"Will that even kill it……?"
Ha-yul's arrow wasn't small, yet stuck in the drake, it looked like a toothpick.
'Something this reminds me of…….'
Jeong-hyeon recalled battling the Rock Spider variant boss.