Ambush in the Magma Furnace
The early morning of that Saturday, the day after my dangerous mission. Once again, I headed to the Labor Office.
‘Rank Battle starts next week. I have to prepare no matter what.’
The schedule and opponents for the Rank Battle were announced through the cadet app only a day in advance. That meant there was no way to prepare for an opponent’s abilities in advance.
‘But I still have to get ready somehow.’
First, as I always thought, I needed to increase my mana capacity. If I could use Steel Body (Hardening) more freely than now, I might somehow manage against lower-ranked cadets.
The swordsmanship I was learning from the Team Leader was also proving quite helpful. Since weapons were allowed during the Rank Battle, his guidance would definitely come in handy.
With my resolve strengthened once more, I stepped into the Labor Office.
“Oh, Sexy Guy’s here?”
“Heard you cleared a D-rank gate with Blanco last time?”
“They say he listens real well. Cute kid. Wanna run a job with me this time, bro?”
The old-timers greeted the newbie with exaggerated warmth. I walked up to each one and gave a crisp ninety-degree bow. In the underworld of villain society, showing proper respect to your seniors was extremely important.
“Hey! Mir! I already called dibs on Sexy Guy! Stop trying to steal our youngest!”
“Steal? Who’s stealing… Ah! Team Leader, then let me come too. Our team members are mostly resting today anyway, so I’ve got nothing going on.”
“Really? Blanco, what do you think? Okay if Mir tags along?”
“…Mir’s a healer. He’ll definitely be useful.”
“Alright! With Mir joining, let’s head out as a four-man team today.”
And so, today I ended up heading to the gate with the addition of a hyung named Mir.
Mir hyung was naturally wearing a mask too, so I couldn’t see his full face, but there was something slightly different about him compared to the others. His eyes had this gentle, almost sorrowful quality… how should I put it… it gave off the vibe that he really, really loved pulling gacha. For some reason, it made my sphincter tighten.
“Sexy Guy, there’s something you should know about today’s gate.”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“First off, we’ll be going as an exploration team today.”
An exploration team… the kind that searched for resources and hunted monsters indiscriminately. For someone like me who needed to gather souls, that was perfect.
“But… two teams that went in there have already gone missing. We don’t know if they just farmed everything and bailed, or if something happened inside.”
“Is that so?”
When farming in a guild-managed gate, all byproducts except mana stones had to be sold through that guild. It was written in the contract, but there were always people who didn’t follow the rules.
“Still, the Jan-yeong Guild apparently sent in troubleshooters. They’re going to investigate if something went wrong inside and handle it right away.”
“Understood.”
“Anyway, this one might not be as easy as last time. There could be powerful monsters the exploration team missed, and in the worst case, we have to consider that raiders might be hiding in there.”
“…I see.”
“So what do you want to do? If you’re worried, you can sit this one out. If something sudden happens, we might not be able to look after you. When you’re young, surviving is more important than pushing yourself.”
I roughly understood. Even though the Jan-yeong Guild had sent troubleshooters, there was no confirmation that the situation was resolved. On top of that, if high-rank monsters or raiders appeared, someone as inexperienced as me would have a high chance of dying.
But.
“I’m fine. I’ll do it. No, I really want to do it.”
I had no excuse to refuse today’s job and rest. The Rank Battle was next week, and today was practically the only time I had left to gather souls.
“Good! Then let’s register and head out right away. Mir, Blanco. You two ready to leave now?”
“Yep.”
“All prepared.”
And so our group of four set off toward a new D-rank gate in Paju.
The scorching heat that hit me the moment I entered the gate.
“Whew… this place really is a furnace, huh?”
It certainly looked like one. The passages and structures all seemed carved from black stone. There were no delicate engravings or decorations. It was a practical yet overwhelming form made by crudely stacking massive boulders together.
And beneath them, a river of bright red, boiling lava flowed.
“Whoa… if you fall in there, they won’t even find your corpse.”
“Maybe the missing people stepped wrong and fell in?”
Just like Mir hyung said, that seemed entirely possible. One mistake and falling in there would be truly fucked. With that kind of lava, even hardening wouldn’t save you—you’d melt in an instant.
“Let’s proceed carefully. Move out.”
“Moving out!”
After replying crisply to the Team Leader’s order, I raised my tension.
After that, the battles against monsters continued nonstop.
“Sexy Guy, these lava slimes occasionally spit magma, so hit-and-run is key. Shift your center forward to attack, then immediately pull it back to retreat. Like this.”
“Yes, thank you for the lesson. I’ll try it right away.”
“Atta boy!”
Following the Team Leader’s teachings, I focused on shifting my center of gravity during combat. I had a feeling this would definitely help during the Rank Battle. Hit-and-run tactics had always been an incredibly effective strategy.
After that, the four of us continued efficient hunting. The Team Leader’s skill went without saying, and I managed to kill quite a few monsters by following his instructions. Senior Blanco diligently gathered various materials as usual. Mir hyung quickly healed the burns from splashing magma and other minor wounds.
“Alright, let’s take a short break.”
Following the Team Leader’s order, we settled down in an open area.
‘How many points have I gathered…?’
Oh. Nice. Just a little more and I could do a ten-pull. I’d probably killed around seventeen monsters so far?
‘Definitely faster point gain when you’re on an exploration team.’
There were far more monsters than when we were on a closure team. The danger level had risen accordingly, but for me, who needed to collect a lot of souls, this place was practically heaven.
‘Let’s replenish some energy first.’
I’d used hardening for defense here and there, and I could feel my stamina draining in real time. The Team Leader must have noticed I looked a bit tired and suggested an early break out of consideration. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m hungry too, that’s why I called for a break.”
As expected, the Team Leader really was an amazing person.
I sat back down and unwrapped the Joy chocolate that Ha-eun had given me. The intensely sweet and creamy flavor. Thanks to the simple sugars, I could feel my stamina recovering quickly.
After about ten minutes of rest.
“Alright, shall we get moving again? Hm? Wait a second…”
The Team Leader’s eyes sharpened.
“There’s something here. Everyone, be careful.”
What? What did he mean something was here?
“Uh… Team Leader? This is…”
Mir hyung’s bewildered voice. The moment I quickly turned my head to look at him.
Something was wrapped around his neck. Something thin, transparent, like a thread.
And then.
Schwaaaaack—!
Mir hyung’s head fell clean off. It was severed so neatly it looked like it had been cut by a blade.
“It’s an ambush! Team Leader! Sexy Guy! Watch out!!”
The moment I tried to look around at Blanco’s shout.
Tadadadak— BOOM!!
Someone wielding a massive axe charged at the Team Leader. But the Team Leader swiftly raised his sword and blocked the axe.
“You fucking raider bastards…”
“Team Leader! Hold them off for a bit! I’ll go find the ones hiding!”
Blanco shouted as he dashed forward with a dagger in hand. And then.
“Huh…?”
I felt something wrap around my neck.
My mind snapped into focus.
Mir hyung had died from this exact attack just now. The hyung who had been talking to me and healing us just moments ago was now gone forever.
The Team Leader, Senior Blanco, and Mir hyung too. They were all such good people that I had forgotten.
The place I belonged to was the Labor Office. This was an open D-rank gate.
This was the true bottom of hunter society, where real villains mingled.
Steel Body (Hardening)
Crack, crackle—
I activated hardening on my neck where the thread was wrapped. Then.
Screeeeech—
The thread trying to cut my neck couldn’t dig in and only produced friction.
“What? A body transformation ability? Interesting.”
A man’s voice came from behind me. And then.
“This bastard dares to ambush us?”
Clang—
Blanco’s surprise attack on the man.
“Whoops. That was close!”
But the man blocked it. And then.
Crash!
The sound of something shattering came from the Team Leader’s side. When I looked over, green smoke was rising.
“Cough! Cough! These bastards used poison…!”
The man fighting the Team Leader with the axe quickly retreated, pulled something out, and drank it. Then he spat at the Team Leader with a mocking laugh.
“I prepared in advance because I figured there might be someone like you who could actually fight. Your body’s gonna go numb real fast. Oh, and don’t worry, I already took the antidote!”
“Fuck… you cowardly pieces of shit…”
“Kuhahaha! Did you really think raiders would fight fair and square?”
The raiders ambushing an exploration team. There were only two of them, but they were extremely clever. The moment they spotted our party, they identified the healer and took him out immediately. Once they confirmed the Team Leader was strong, they dumped poison on him. No wonder two parties had already fallen to them.
“These bastards… they killed Mir hyung…”
I briefly debated whether to go after the thread-using assassin or the axe-wielding bastard.
“Sexy Guy, run. They’re not opponents you can handle.”
Senior Blanco, who was fighting the assassin, said that.
‘As expected, these people really are good people.’
This was clearly a moment of crisis. Yet they were trying to sacrifice themselves to save me. I felt incredibly grateful for that heart of theirs.
Other than Ha-eun, no one had ever treated me well. But precisely because of that, I couldn’t just run away alone.
Without saying a word, I gripped my sword tighter. Then I charged toward the axe man the Team Leader was fighting. While Blanco was holding his own evenly, the Team Leader, poisoned, looked extremely exhausted.
“Uaaaaaaah!!!”
I gathered every ounce of strength I could muster. I poured ninety percent of my remaining stamina into mana.
“Who the hell is this kid?”
The man raised his axe the moment he saw me.
Steel Body (Hardening)
I concentrated hardening on my arms, wrists, and the joints of my lower body. So I wouldn’t lose even slightly in a contest of strength.
And then I brought it down.
KWAAAAAANG—!!
‘Got him!’
The man had raised his axe to defend, but my sword dug into the axe blade. Thanks to the solid clash of metal, I was able to forcibly pin his movements.
“Team Leader!!”
If the Team Leader landed a blow now, we could kill him. However.
“Huk… huk…”
The Team Leader, who had been about to charge, dropped to one knee. The poison seemed to be spreading faster than expected.
“This fucker’s gonna die!”
Thud!
“Guh!!”
His kick slammed into my chest.
It would’ve been good if I could have hardened quickly, but I had almost no stamina left.
Crash—
I lost my grip on the sword and tumbled pathetically across the ground.
“This son of a bitch scratched my weapon?”
The man pulled out my embedded sword and walked toward me. Then he raised his axe.
‘Ah… fuck, I’m really going to die here…’
My head was filled with the thought that I was completely fucked when suddenly.
Shuk—
“Kuh… guh…”
A blade burst out from the man’s chest. A pitch-black dagger about the length of my forearm.
Thump!
The man collapsed forward. What I saw was.
‘A woman…?’
It was definitely a woman. Her head was completely covered by something like a full-face motorcycle helmet, and she wore all black tights. But the curvaceous lines of her body clearly proved she was female.
Yet something was strange. I couldn’t properly recognize her. To be precise, I could only barely register the fact that ‘a woman is there.’ No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t process her specific movements or exact form in my mind.
And I knew one famous person with that kind of ability.
“Team Leader, Sexy Guy. You okay?”
Blanco approached us. Behind him lay the corpse of the thread assassin with his neck severed. It seemed she had dealt with the assassin first before saving me.
“H-Happiness…?”
“Team Leader, you let your guard down. Getting done in by these punks.”
“Haha… how embarrassing.”
Happiness.
A woman with an absurdly cheerful codename. She was incredibly popular, even if her real face had never been leaked. Rumors said she was beautiful, and thanks to her amazing figure, she even had a fan cafe.
And she was a very famous villain.
Not a low-level villain grunt like us who roamed open gates, but a real villain. An officially designated S-rank evil by the Association. They said if she had been a hunter, she could have aimed for S-rank.
“Poisoned, right? I’ll heal you.”
“Please.”
Happiness muttered something quietly and gestured. A faint light sparkled across the Team Leader’s body before fading away.
“Whew… thanks for saving me.”
Happiness’s ability was ghosting. The power to act outside others’ perception, just like earlier. She was also famous for having healing abilities. A truly broken awakener.
“By the way… there’s something I’m curious about.”
Happiness suddenly turned to look at me.
Then she walked over. Very slowly.
“You there.”
“…Yes…?”
There wasn’t a single trace of emotion in her voice. It was seriously fucking scary. What on earth was she going to say to me? Was she going to kill me…?
No, I hadn’t done anything wrong, right?
No matter how much of a villain she was, why would I assume she’d lash out at me? Maybe… maybe she was going to praise me for having the guts not to run away despite being weak?
I was spinning hopeful scenarios like crazy when the words that came out of her mouth were completely different from what I expected.
“Where did you get that mask?”
A freezing cold voice.
“That’s not something someone like you should have. Answer me properly.”
I couldn’t see her face, but the rage was transmitted loud and clear.
I instinctively realized.
I was completely, utterly fucked.