Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Dungeon Survival
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“Kuaaaack!”
A bluish flame erupted over Eun Sang-min’s body as he confidently led the way. The energy protect on his shoulder flashed repeatedly.
Suddenly. Without any warning whatsoever, the flames burst into life on Eun Sang-min’s body. He screamed and rolled on the ground. The energy protect absorbed the damage instead, but the pain was all his.
“Aaaack!”
Han Ha-rin and I rushed toward Eun Sang-min in shock. In a panic, I stripped off my shirt and tried to smother the flames on his writhing body. But they wouldn’t go out. The blue color and everything made it clear this wasn’t ordinary fire.
“Damn it. There’s no water here...! Sang-min sunbae, you okay?!”
“Aack! Aaack!”
“There’s got to be something... Sang-min sunbae! Mana burst! Use your mana to put out the fire!”
The idea I came up with was to forcibly explode the mana inside him to extinguish the blue flames. Even if it wasn’t normal fire, mana should do the trick, I figured.
“Kuaaaack!”
But Eun Sang-min was in full panic mode and couldn’t even hear me properly. The agony of burning alive kept him from thinking straight.
“Ha-rin sunbae! Can’t you smother it with gravity?!”
“No way! That’s not normal fire. If gravity could put it out, it would’ve been gone already!”
“Huaaack!!”
Eun Sang-min let out a scream like a battle cry and released his mana. The blue flames shrank for a moment but soon roared back to life.
“Give up. You can’t extinguish Inferno with mana bursts at your level.”
I turned toward the voice. Three people emerged from behind a tree: two men and one woman.
One man held a spear, and the yellow-haired woman had a bow. My gaze locked on the man in the center.
He wore a black coat and held no weapon. A black-haired guy staring at us with a blank expression.
‘It’s Kang Seok-su!’
Kang Seok-su. A C-rank Hunter and mage.
I knew him because newspapers and TV had hyped him up as Korea’s top genius mage a few years back.
‘That bastard wasn’t at the assembly.’
Come to think of it, there was no rule saying everyone had to attend assembly.
“It’s over.”
I hurriedly checked on Eun Sang-min at Kang Seok-su’s words.
The blue flames on his body vanished. And the energy protect on his shoulder shifted from blue to red. Elimination confirmed.
“We’ll take the eliminated contestant.”
An Association staffer who’d been watching stepped in to support Eun Sang-min. His body was unscathed, but he was breathing raggedly.
“Fuck...”
I clearly heard Eun Sang-min mutter as he was led away.
Swaeek!
An arrow flew at me. I swiftly drew my knife and batted it away, then glared at the woman who’d shot it.
The yellow-haired woman. Not dyed—probably her awakening changed her hair color.
B-cup chest, long slender limbs. A sleek build. Not as good as Han Ha-rin, but undeniably a beauty.
“You two get eliminated with that guy.”
Kang Seok-su swung his right hand. A magic circle of light appeared before him, and a rock spike the size of a watermelon shot toward us at high speed.
“I’ve got it.”
I didn’t dodge. Han Ha-rin’s voice rang out the moment the magic circle formed.
A translucent gravity shield materialized in front of me. The rock spike smashed into it and shattered, crumbling to the ground.
“You... You’re Han A-young’s little sister, right?”
Kang Seok-su recognized Han Ha-rin. Not surprising. Han A-young was a Hunter so famous most Koreans knew her.
“But compared to Han A-young, you’re ridiculously weak.”
“...”
Han Ha-rin silently glared at Kang Seok-su and hurled a gravity orb. The transparent magic barrier around him blocked it. The barrier cracked, but the orb vanished too.
“Hm. That’s your level, huh...”
Mana poured from Kang Seok-su’s body. His coat billowed wildly in the backlash. He was definitely prepping some powerful spell.
The power radiating from him was leagues beyond Eun Sang-min, who’d barely scraped C-rank.
‘...Damn. The pressure’s no joke. I was waiting for a chance to use Moment... Should I now?’
I gauged the distance.
Moment could close it in one go. Follow up with more, and... it might work.
As I moved to act, a droning rumble came from the sky. Han Ha-rin and Kang Seok-su both looked up.
A drone delivering a white supply box. But it was heading a bit away from us.
“Not here, huh.”
Kang Seok-su clicked his tongue.
“Securing supplies comes first. You guys got lucky.”
He said it to us like it was nothing.
My eye twitched. That attitude—like he could kill us anytime—pissed me off.
“Full-on chuunibyou mode, huh. Aren’t you 24? At that age, it’s a mental illness.”
“Cheap provocation.”
“The one next to—”
I stopped myself.
I almost said something about fucking the yellow bitch next to him and asking if she’d say that. But I held back.
‘It’s being broadcast. Broadcast. Gotta hold it in.’
Even if they edited the recording, too many people on-site. Rumors would spread. Had to watch my actions and words, not cross the final line.
“Seok-su hyung. Shouldn’t we skip the supplies and take them out here? Those two look dangerous to me.”
The spear guy asked Kang Seok-su.
“That level’s easy to handle anytime. Right now, securing supplies to stay in top condition matters more. There’s not as much food in this forest as you’d think.”
They turned away from me.
Pzzt.
Manroe appeared before me. Lightning swirled in a 卍 pattern, condensing power at its center.
“Lightning ability user...!”
Kang Seok-su hurriedly deployed his magic barrier.
Kwarung!
Lightning shot from Manroe’s center. Not at Kang Seok-su. A bit higher. The blue bolt streaked toward the sky.
It struck the drone and supply box dead-on. The drone exploded, and the box shattered, raining down to the ground.
“You bastard, the supplies...!”
“Haha. If I starve, you starve too.”
If I can’t have it, might as well destroy it.
If I can’t win, nobody can.
That’s me.
Prince of hypocrisy.
Yours is mine. Mine’s mine.
“...If dropping out right now is your wish, I’ll make it happen.”
Kang Seok-su’s coat billowed again.
“Seok-su hyung! Twelve Hunters nearby are heading here! They must’ve seen the lightning and supplies explode.”
“...Tch.”
“Huh, what? Not doing it?”
The yellow-haired woman tilted her head, bowstring drawn.
“If twelve gather here, they’ll target me.”
Kang Seok-su was famous. Hunters knew his threat level and would naturally aim to eliminate him first.
“Dungeon Survival’s just day one. No need to show my all yet.”
“Aww. Lame.”
Kang Seok-su’s team turned and started leaving.
I kicked an arrow on the ground up with my foot. Caught it in my right hand and channeled mana to max power.
‘Lightning.’
Pzzt.
Blue lightning coated the arrowhead. I hurled it at the yellow-haired woman’s back.
“Jeong-mi noona!”
Kang Seok-su moved. He reached out and snatched the arrow I threw.
I saw his shoulder energy protect flash. He took damage.
Kang Seok-su glared ferociously at me before vanishing.
‘Even when I fired Manroe earlier, his reaction was a beat slow. Without magic, he’s not that impressive.’
The spear guy bugged me. Probably a detection ability user. In this situation, detection was treasure.
With it, you could find monsters, hidden stuff, rake in survival points.
The real championship contenders were Kang Seok-su’s team.
‘Kang Seok-su’s ability is Sensory Maximization, right?’
As the name implied, temporarily maxing senses. Not just physical five senses, but ‘mana sense’ too, from what I recalled. Part of why he was called a genius mage.
‘Two conditions, and I could take him solo.’
One: him not using his ability. Two: get close.
‘Moment would let me win.’
Meeting those was tough. First was doable, but with a detector by his side, closing in was hard.
“Yu-jin. Look here.”
“...”
I looked where Han Ha-rin pointed. Cleverly hidden by leaves, a red magic circle drawn with monster blood peeked through.
“Inferno’s advanced magic. Even that guy couldn’t cast it on the fly. Sang-min sunbae hit a magic trap.”
“...Gotta watch the ground from now on. Let’s go, sunbae. They said more are gathering here—better run.”
Han Ha-rin and I fled the area.
???
“Yes! First elimination decided! He’s screaming in terror, wrapped in blue fire. But the energy protect keeps his body safe.”
Main MC Jo Seok-hu forced a wry smile even after speaking brightly. The pitiful screams unnerved him. This scene would probably be edited super short.
“Hong Su-won-ssi, your thoughts?”
Hong Su-won, executive of Bluebird—one of Korea’s top ten guilds—stared at the screen.
“Magic trap. Look closely at his feet—the trap’s hidden there.”
“Ah, footage incoming. He used blood from that monster they caught earlier to draw a magic circle on the ground.”
“Classic Kang Seok-su. Inferno’s too much for average mages. And pre-drawing it there means he perfectly predicted the enemy’s path. Impressive. Every time I see Hunter Kang Seok-su, I’m amazed.”
Baek Ji-eun inwardly clicked her tongue.
Hong Su-won had been singing Kang Seok-su’s praises nonstop.
‘So obvious, uncle.’
Kang Seok-su had no guild. Hong Su-won was surely here to scout him. At that level, backroom deals started early.
The screen next showed Kang Seok-su’s team facing off against Sung Yu-jin’s.
‘If Yu-jin drops, I’ll comfort him.’
To her, Sung Yu-jin’s team had almost no chance head-on against Kang Seok-su’s.
But things didn’t go as expected.
“Ah! They’re backing off.”
“Hunter Kang Seok-su prioritizes supplies. He’s thinking long-term, not just now.”
“Whoa?! Hunter Sung Yu-jin blasts lightning, destroying the supplies! So powerful and cool!”
“...Better to destroy than give to enemies. Solid call. But was it necessary...?”
Hong Su-won said grudgingly. He wanted Kang Seok-su perfect.
Baek Ji-eun, who’d been quietly watching, spoke up as Sung Yu-jin appeared.
“Hunter Sung Yu-jin made the right call. Better burn supplies than hand them over.”
“...Mm. Fair point.”
Kang Seok-su’s team turned to retreat.
Sung Yu-jin gripped an arrow and threw it full force at their backs. Kang Seok-su blocked with his hand, so it failed.
“Wh-what! Sneaking an attack on their backs...!”
“Sneaky? The ones showing backs are at fault. Ever hear not to turn your back on a beast? Hunters can’t show enemies their backs carelessly.”
“...”
Hong Su-won glared. Baek Ji-eun met his eyes. He might be an A-rank from a mega guild, but she was the Association’s A-rank. No backing down.
‘What, pissed? Try me.’
Her fierce thoughts contrasted her outwardly pure, innocent smile.
???
Rest area.
Hunters could use rest areas once a day for one hour from midnight. No combat allowed, no cameras inside. Toilets, showers, laundry available. Overstay, and penalties hit.
The one we found at 10 p.m. was a fancy two-story cabin.
“Sunbae. Let’s rest here.”
Later than planned, but we made it safely.
‘Truth is, I kinda knew where this was.’
Before Dungeon Survival, I’d messaged Baek Ji-eun for dungeon info. Connections are for this.
“Not sure about the rest, but showers here are nice.”
“Yeah.”
I grinned lewdly and opened the cabin door.
My face twisted instantly.
Kang Seok-su sat on the sofa inside. He looked surprised to see me, then smirked with one corner of his mouth.
‘Fuck. We’re screwed.’