A One-Second Difference

With a shout, Tae-hyun immediately loaded a bomb into the spear launcher and charged forward.

"Da-bi! Fire as soon as it's loaded! Cain, Sang-yun, get to the front! Su-hyeok, deal damage however you want!"

The group moved in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠perfect unison. Unlike Cain and Sang-yun, Tae-hyun moved close enough to practically cling to the scorpion.

At this rate, if Da-bi fired the spears and they detonated, Tae-hyun would be caught in the blast! But Lee Da-bi didn't worry. She knew all too well that Tae-hyun wasn't the type to get caught by such attacks.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a series of deafening blasts, the massive steel spears were launched, slamming directly into the scorpion's torso.

—Screeeech!

"Nice shot, Da-bi!"

Running alongside the beast, Tae-hyun leaped onto the spears embedded in the scorpion's body. It was a spectacular stunt performed against a wildly thrashing giant scorpion!

Unleashing a torrent of burst damage with his sword, Tae-hyun added one more attack to the mix.

"Detonate!"

The bombs attached to the tips of the giant steel spears embedded in the scorpion's body went off! It was a ruthless, multi-stage assault.

Rumble-boom!

Countless shards of explosive debris grazed past Tae-hyun, but he remained completely unharmed. The real danger lay in the boss monster's attacks, not his own explosions.

—Skreee!

With a chilling screech, countless smaller scorpions began pouring down from the ceiling. Although they weren't classified as regular monsters since they were summoned by a boss, their sheer numbers made them highly troublesome in this situation.

"Great! I'll take care of—hey, where are you guys going?!"

Cain, who had been beating his chest to activate his aggro-drawing skill, froze in bewilderment. The newly spawned scorpions completely ignored him and rushed straight past.

Their target... was Lee Da-bi!

"Hey!"

At Tae-hyun's sharp shout, Cain's heart dropped. If he messed up here and Da-bi died, he would be teased and tormented for a whole year! He had to stop them!

However, the scorpions were incredibly fast, leaving Cain no time to cast another skill.

Damn it, the damage from Da-bi's spear launcher must have been too high. All the aggro is pulled to her.

Tae-hyun turned his head. Will she make it in time?

Da-bi's class wasn't just a simple merchant; she was a Golden Bishop ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Archisus, so she should be able to hold her own to some extent in a situation like this.

...As long as she spent gold!

But would Da-bi actually spend her precious gold? Tae-hyun couldn't help but worry. Knowing her personality, she would rather die than part with her gold...

"Ugh... Ugggh!"

With a tearful face, Da-bi pulled out her gold. She hated doing it, but she had no choice. Most of her powerful skills as a Golden Bishop required a gold sacrifice to activate.

If she died here, she would only get in Tae-hyun's way.

I have to use it! I have no choice!

Thwack!

At that moment, one of the rushing scorpions quickly whipped its stinger forward. Caught off guard by the sudden strike, Da-bi took a hit.

But that triggered her passive effect: skill activation upon taking damage.

"Huh?"

A massive, roaring pit of fire erupted right in front of Da-bi, instantly incinerating the oncoming swarm of monsters.

Watching this, Jeong Su-hyeok let out a startled cry. No matter how he looked at it, that was the exact same spell he used!

"Whoa! You were a mage?!"

"No, I'm not..."

Thanks to that, the rest of the fight became a breeze. The summoned scorpions were wiped out, and the boss was still temporarily immobilized.

Tae-hyun, Cain, and Sang-yun rushed in and began pummeling it mercilessly.

Thud! Bam! Crack!

As the scorpion's outer shell shattered, exposing its weak points, their attacks grew even fiercer.

"Yong-yong, Heuk-heuk, Golgol-i, get out here!"

With the newly added Golgol-i joining the fray, their combined damage output was staggering. In an instant, the giant scorpion collapsed with a final, agonizing shriek.

We just need to hunt two more, and then for the final one, we can pull all the regular monsters together.

"Alright, let's move! We don't have time to waste! I'll transform again and clear the path, so the rest of you pack up all of this and follow me!"

Whoosh!

Tae-hyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dashed ahead, while the remaining members quickly gathered the steel spears, hoisted the heavy launchers onto their backs, and followed.

As Cain struggled with his load, he glared at Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk.

"Hey, can't you guys carry some of this? You're both huge."

—I must remain unburdened to fly.

—Me too.

—I am nothing but bones... cough, cough...

"..."

Fine, Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk had been with Tae-hyun for a long time, so it made sense they had picked up his shameless habits. But Golgol-i had barely just met Tae-hyun! How was he already acting exactly like him?

Aren't Death Knights supposed to be honorable, chivalrous undead warriors? Cain grumbled to himself.

But what could he do if they refused? He just had to carry it.

—Do not worry, we shall protect you!

—We swear on our knightly honor to keep you safe!

"Tae-hyun is clearing all the monsters anyway, so what exactly are you protecting me from..." Cain muttered, trudging forward.

Meanwhile, Lee Da-bi was carrying an even heavier load but moving with ease. Cain had never envied merchant classes before, but at this moment, he was deeply jealous.

"Hmm..."

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"No, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Do we really need to go this far?"

"What do you mean? Is there a better way?"

"No, not that... The only reason we're pulling and clearing monsters in such a complicated way is because of this dungeon's trait, right? The one where the remaining monsters get stronger every time we kill one."

"Yeah?"

"Well, looking at the community boards, other teams just reset and try again when they get this trait."

"..."

Cain froze in shock. Oh. Why didn't I think of that?!

Unlike the main tournament, the qualifiers allowed unlimited retries. If you got a tricky dungeon trait, you could simply exit and re-enter until you got an easy one. In fact, teams seriously aiming for top records only ran the dungeons when they got the easiest traits.

"There's no way Tae-hyun doesn't know this. Why isn't he resetting?"

At that question, Choi Sang-yun, who was running alongside them, chimed in.

"Because that guy is a total masochist..."

"?!"

"If he were the type to give up and back down just because a dungeon trait was a bit difficult, he wouldn't have gotten this famous. If anything, this probably fired him up even more. Besides, we're bound to run into these kinds of traits in the main tournament anyway, so he's probably treating this as practice."

"But still! We have to pass the qualifiers first before worrying about that! Isn't he being a bit too relaxed?"

"Well, it's not like we're only going to run this once, so what does it matter?"

"Ah. True."

Cain was convinced. They could always try other dungeons...

Right. Let's just treat this run as practice, and we can aim for a serious record in a different dungeon with an easier trait!

However, Cain's prediction was completely off. Team KL's absolute best record wouldn't come from an easy dungeon, but from this exact run.

36 minutes 43 seconds → 32 minutes 17 seconds.

When they re-entered the dungeon after their first clear, they happened to get the exact same dungeon with the exact same trait. Thanks to their familiarity, they shaved off all the wasted time from their first run and finished a whopping four minutes faster.

Elated, the group immediately challenged it again.

"Alright! Let's run the other dungeons too! We need to memorize the maps!"

...But they couldn't replicate their previous success.

33 minutes, 34 minutes, 36 minutes, 33 minutes...

Even in dungeons with traits that the community boards classified as "easy," they couldn't even break into the 32-minute mark!

"Uh... wait, what?"

"Now that I think about it, just because a trait is considered 'easy' doesn't mean it's easy for us."

Tae-hyun quickly realized the reason. Traits that increased the number of regular monsters were classified as easy for normal parties, but for Tae-hyun, it meant spending more time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pulling and gathering them.

On the contrary, the trait where monsters buffed each other upon death was much easier for them to handle. After all, Tae-hyun's team pulled everything and wiped them out all at once anyway!

Other parties would inevitably get blocked or surrounded and be forced to fight mid-pull, but Tae-hyun's team had no such issue.

"By the way, can we see the other teams' records?"

"Yes. If you exit the dungeon and look at the wall in front, it shows the current time rankings."

"Does it show which team set the record?"

"No, it only shows the times and ranks."

The system kept the team names anonymous, only revealing the times and placements.

Well... if a team got a great time, they'd probably brag about it anyway.

There was no reason for a pro team to hide a stellar record.

"Then let's go check our rank."

Tae-hyun's team walked over to the wall. As they walked, they wondered:

I wonder what rank we are?

I hope we broke into the top 30. Is that too greedy?

What are the other teams' times like...

Even if we're low right now, we'll improve as we keep practicing.

"Huh?"

"Uh... what?"

"Whaaaat?"

Everyone blinked, staring blankly at the rankings.

They were in... first place?

"Are... are the pro teams not trying yet?"

"No, I don't think that's it... I've seen most of the pro teams hanging around the dungeon entrances. Except for the Beijing Fighters."

"Tsk, tsk. What are they doing instead of practicing?" Tae-hyun remarked, offering some hypocritical concern.

In any case, they had snagged first place on their very first day of trying. And they had done so with a massive gap of over ten minutes ahead of second place.

If the gap had been small, they might have said, We can't let our guard down. But with a difference this massive, they couldn't even say that. It proved that Tae-hyun's strategy was working incredibly well—to a degree that other teams couldn't even begin to emulate.

At this rate...

Even if we don't want to get complacent, is there really any need to worry?

Both Tae-hyun and the others felt a wave of relief wash over them.

Could they be holding back?

Maybe the other pro teams are waiting until the final day to reveal their real times...

Such worries crossed their minds briefly, but since everything was anonymous, what would be the point of doing that?

"We... did it, right?"

"Yeah. Looks like we did. At this rate, we don't need to stress too much and can just practice casually."

"Awesome! Let's have a feast once we pass the qualifiers!"

Cain already had a bright grin on his face, as if they had already qualified. Normally, Tae-hyun would have scolded him, but seeing a record like this, he didn't feel like it. The results were undeniably spectacular.

Someone replied dismissively, but the curious onlookers ignored them. No one liked waiting.

Hmm... Maybe we shouldn't reveal it right away. Letting them stew for a bit isn't a bad idea.

With the community doing the speculation for him, Tae-hyun decided to hold off on any announcements. Sometimes, silence generated far more hype than speaking up!

Having secured first place, Team KL spent the remaining days of the qualifiers casually checking the rankings and practicing just enough to keep their reflexes sharp.

"Still no one has beaten our record today."

"Second place is at 38 minutes... I heard a rumor that it might be the New York Lions. Apparently, their time got leaked."

"Is that just marketing?"

Tae-hyun's team chatted lightheartedly as they left the dungeon entrance.

And then, exactly one hour before the qualifiers were set to end, the leaderboard shifted.

Someone had just snatched first place from Team KL.