Chapter 49
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: First Time Seeing a Saintess Who Handles Magic Well?
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Once the thief party's introductions wrapped up, Hankyeol stepped forward and gave a quick rundown of their own members.
The Wings Guild had two C-rank hunters and four D-rank ones.
Plus D-rank Sihyun and Areum, who was tagging along for observation purposes.
The thief party's men's eyes turned toward the two beauties.
Hankyeol cleared his throat a few times to pull their attention back to him.
"Ahem! We'll split the rewards by party. No objections, right?"
"Of course not."
With the agreement settled, the two men exchanged a light handshake.
Next, Kang Dojun, the leader of the thief party, spoke up.
"I assume you've heard the basics already. Time to brief you on the dungeon. I'll keep it simple."
As Dojun began his explanation, the group listened intently.
The main monsters inside were undead types like skeletons.
Due to the skeletons' nature, they slowly revived unless you took out the boss controlling them.
It had been a race against time, so they'd pushed ahead aggressively.
But the dungeon's massive size had kept them from reaching the boss room.
In the end, everyone died except for them, who barely escaped using the thief's stealth skill—that was the gist of it.
"It's tragic about those who didn't make it..., but they did blaze the trail. We gathered early today, so if we push through till evening, we should clear it for sure."
"I see..."
Everyone's expressions except Sihyun's grew tense.
They now grasped the dungeon's unique traits and dangers for today's raid.
A time attack.
If they didn't clear the dungeon fast, the monsters they'd passed would revive behind them.
They had to beat the boss before getting sandwiched from both sides.
"At least they carved out the route—that's lucky. Let's do this!"
"Yeah, let's go!"
With the info exchange done,
they finished gearing up for battle and entered the gate.
Areum released Sihyun's arm from her linked hold.
Instead, she stuck right by her side, hiding behind her back as they went.
Sihyun gave Areum a quick sidelong glance before following the group.
'Stealth skill, huh...'
A faint unease prickled at her.
Even in her second go-around, she felt zero trust vibes from the thief party's men.
She could excuse leader Kang Dojun as a B-rank,
but the D-rank guys were the same.
Even now, instead of scanning the dungeon, they kept sneaking glances this way.
Totally laid-back dudes, no tension at all.
"Areum."
"Y-yes?!"
Sihyun called her in a quiet voice.
Separate from her wariness of the unfamiliar men,
she couldn't let Areum's hard-won time go to waste.
"Not scared?"
"W-well... yeah..."
The reply came in a tiny, creeping whisper.
Sihyun smiled lightly and said,
"What do you think fear comes from?"
"Uh... um..."
"Listen up. Trauma or whatever—there are all sorts of reasons."
Sihyun looked straight into Areum's eyes.
Their gazes met.
"I think the biggest is fear of the unknown."
"Ah, yeah. That makes sense."
"You heard the briefing just now? About the undead dungeon's quirks."
"Yes."
Areum nodded, and Sihyun grinned softly before continuing.
"Review time. On the first lecture day, what did I say to do right as we enter a dungeon?"
"Hm... Predict what monsters might show up?"
"Spot on! You were paying attention."
"Hehe..."
Praised by Sihyun, Areum's face lit up with a goofy smile.
Savoring the cute reaction, Sihyun kept the chat going.
"So, no need to be scared anymore, right?"
"...?"
Areum looked puzzled.
Sihyun added more explanation.
"What's in front of us are just plain skeletons. So the boss has to be something that controls skeletons—probably a skeleton mage at worst."
"R-right...?"
"See? No unknowns left. We know it all now."
"...Aha!"
Areum's eyes widened like they might pop out.
Covering her equally wide-open mouth with one hand, she thought,
'Professor's right—it's really not a big deal!'
The dungeon had felt so oppressively daunting before.
Now it was like the fog had lifted, everything bright and clear.
Of course, that didn't mean she could charge monsters with her skills yet.
But at least the suffocating dread was gone.
Areum gazed at her professor with eyes full of admiration.
Sihyun smirked, basking in the look.
She felt pretty good about enlightening her student so well.
Right then,
the men up front kicked off their first fight.
Sihyun patted the top of Areum's head lightly, like a stroke, then looked ahead.
"Next lecture was on undead, perfect timing. Looks like you'll get some preview today, Areum?"
"Yeah! Hehe."
"See? Skeletons aren't so bad."
Sihyun pointed at the Wings Guild side amid the two groups battling.
"They all have an original form, right? Humanoid or goblin-type."
"Yes! Totally!"
"A goblin with a bow versus a goblin skeleton. Which scares you more?"
"Both!"
Caught off guard by the answer, Sihyun scratched her cheek and eyed Areum.
She wore a sheepish little smile.
'Still, good thing her tension's eased up a lot.'
Sihyun chuckled and said,
"Point is, yeah, apply the undead countermeasures, but don't overcomplicate it."
"Got it!"
"Perfect! Now watch how they fight closely. Try skills if needed."
"Yes!"
Areum's face turned laser-focused as she observed the men's battle.
Meanwhile, Sihyun eyed the thief party.
Leader Kang Dojun dazzled with flashy moves, unilaterally mowing down skeletons.
True to his B-rank status, his motions were the quickest and smoothest in the dungeon.
Dojun's solo performance outshone the entire Wings Guild men's combined efforts.
Nearby, the C-rank thief focused on evasion.
The two D-ranks used stealth to target weak spots and strike.
'Smooth role switches.'
When the C-rank stealthed, the D-ranks naturally shifted to evasion.
A fixed party indeed—they fought with real cohesion.
In the end, the first skirmish wrapped up with Dojun's brilliant display.
Once their side's monsters were cleared, the three thieves took a breather,
while Dojun joined the Wings Guild to help mop up.
"Whew, good work."
"Numbers make it tough."
After the fight,
the men wiped sweat from their brows and chatted lightly.
Dojun gave them a moment to catch their breath, then suggested,
"Instead of slowing revives, how about we just push faster?"
"Hm, you blazed the route, so you know the boss room's rough location?"
"Yeah. Should be smooth sailing."
"Then let's do that."
The talk flowed seamlessly, and the group pressed deeper into the dungeon.
As things loosened up, Areum turned to Sihyun with a question that'd bugged her.
"Professor, Professor."
"...Yeah?"
"Wh-what does 'slow the revival' mean?"
"Oh, smashing them to bits."
"Smashing?"
Sihyun nodded.
"Remember? Skeletons revive slowly unless the boss is down."
"Yes."
"They don't all pop back at once. Shattered bones gather and slowly reform."
"Aha...! So smashing delays the revival?"
"Exactly."
Smash them enough to hinder revival, and your rear stays safe.
But it eats time, slowing the clear.
Go light and move fast, and you speed up but risk instability.
Hunters pick what fits them.
'There are other ways, though.'
With holy power users or mages,
depending on skill, you could sever the link to the controller.
But Sihyun stopped there.
No one on Earth talked holy power,
and magically, it was too advanced for Areum right now.
The group followed the thief party's lead, steadily advancing through the dungeon.
Fights broke out periodically, followed by short breaks.
"H-heal incoming!"
"Oh, thanks, kid."
"Hehe..."
Areum used her skill to heal a Wings Guild man's arm scratch.
His thanks drew a giddy giggle from her.
Like that, they pushed half a day into the dungeon.
They took a lunch break in a clearing, pulling out packed meals.
"Sihyun, Areum. Here."
"Th-thank you!"
Sihyun and Areum shared bentos prepped by Wings Guild.
Then Kang Dojun looked at Areum and said,
"Student, huh? Support type? Bright future ahead."
"N-no, not really!"
"Nah, super rare job. Guilds'll be lining up. Got a fixed party? If not—"
"...Dojun."
Sihyun cut him off on purpose.
Areum looked uncomfortable but couldn't refuse.
Areum shuffled behind Sihyun, bento in hand.
Sihyun adjusted her seat and said,
"Areum's already affiliated."
"Ah, gotcha. Too bad, but oh well."
Dojun shrugged theatrically.
Not a hint of regret.
Mouth smiling, eyes sharply scanning the two women.
As Dojun chatted with his party, Sihyun let out a soft sigh.
The thief party's men kept shooting sly glances their way whenever they could.
Lunch over, the raid resumed.
Dojun hit on Areum and Sihyun at every chance.
After a few more fights, while Sihyun and Areum talked with Wings Guild folks,
Dojun quietly conferred with his party a bit away.
"That white-haired chick's hot but cold and rude."
"Right, boss? Staring daggers like we can't even look."
"Wanna threaten and wipe 'em?"
"Again? Back-to-back might tip the Bureau."
The man voiced worry, but Dojun smirked.
"Heh, dungeon accident—what can they do?"
"True! How'd they prove it's us?"
"Boss is mine. No issue, right? You doubting me?"
"Hahaha! When have we ever?"
The thief party huddled, plotting as usual for them.