Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Misunderstandings and Misconceptions
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Jeong Ye-rin.
She was a B-rank hunter.
At the same time, she possessed the healer trait.
A B-rank healer was no light position.
She could heal all but the most severe wounds and boost a party's sustainability in a dungeon to the absolute limit.
That was Jeong Ye-rin, the B-rank healer.
Impressive enough on its own, but what gave her background even more weight came from elsewhere.
The guild.
The guild she belonged to was Phoenix Guild.
One of the top five major guilds in Korea.
A rare healer trait combined with a major guild.
Anyone else would envy her and see her as a role model.
But Jeong Ye-rin herself found it all meaningless.
If she were just an ordinary guild member, she might have enjoyed moments like this.
But.
Unfortunately, she wasn't simply a member of Phoenix Guild.
The guild master was her father.
And she had two older brothers above her.
Her father was the guild master.
Her eldest brother held the position of vice guild master.
Barring any surprises, he'd inherit and run Phoenix Guild after their father.
Her second brother was much the same.
Not quite the same power as the eldest, but he wielded authority over the guild's dungeons and personnel decisions.
And both her father and brothers were A-rank hunters.
There was no room for a B-rank like her to squeeze in.
Others might tilt their heads in confusion at what the problem was.
If her father ran the guild and her brothers had it locked down, wasn't that great?
She could coast her way to the middle ranks without effort.
That was how most people saw her.
In fact, she even had the title of team leader and commanded her own team.
But sadly, it was far from the happiness others imagined.
She and her two brothers shared different mothers—they were half-siblings.
Even if that were the case, things might have been different if they were magnanimous and looked out for her.
But the world wasn't so kind.
That single difference in mothers made her brothers see her as a thorn in their side.
A presence they'd eventually have to remove. That was how they viewed Jeong Ye-rin.
Of course, in a well-regulated country, they couldn't just eliminate her outright.
So instead, they subtly disadvantaged her, assigning her to dangerous dungeons on purpose.
This time was no different.
'A Goblin Lord in the dungeon...'
A variable had appeared in the dungeon assigned to her team, of all places.
She'd thought it was a simple goblin dungeon, but an A-rank monster like a Goblin Lord had shown up.
"Ha..."
She couldn't help but sigh.
The Goblin Lord was the leader monster that commanded all goblin-type monsters. Naturally, it was also the dungeon's master.
A monster on a whole different level from regular goblins, befitting its status as a leader.
That alone was headache-inducing, but there was an even bigger problem.
It controlled hordes of goblins beneath it and acted strategically.
That was why so many hunters struggled to clear dungeons where a Goblin Lord appeared.
If her team members had higher ranks, she wouldn't worry much.
But unfortunately, she—the B-rank healer—was the highest-ranked in the non-combat class.
The rest were a mix of C-ranks and D-ranks.
And she, the B-rank, was a healer—a non-combat type.
No matter how many times she died and revived, taking down a Goblin Lord was impossible.
She'd have to report to the guild and forfeit.
She and her team would face penalties, but it was better than losing lives.
'They didn't assign this on purpose, did they?'
She knew full well her brothers saw her as a thorn.
Still, she wanted to believe this assignment was pure coincidence.
She hoped they weren't that trashy.
And so, Jeong Ye-rin sat in a cafe, pondering the issue.
At that moment.
A man's mutter drifted from nearby.
"The Goblin Lord's weakness..."
The words reached her ears purely by chance.
'Goblin Lord?'
She hurriedly scanned her surroundings.
A man was there, intently fiddling with his smartphone.
'What is he doing?'
Jeong Ye-rin watched him closely.
"Without goblins, the Goblin Lord is powerless..."
The Goblin Lord can't use its power without goblins?
What did that mean?
Jeong Ye-rin kept listening intently.
And she reached one conclusion.
'The Goblin Lord has no power without its goblin subordinates!'
It was shocking, but doubt crept in first—was it true?
It sounded ridiculous.
Conventional wisdom held that Goblin Lords had no weaknesses.
It commanded hordes of goblins.
And it acted strategically, making it a top-priority target for elimination when it appeared.
The standard strategy was to unleash a powerful area attack to create an opening, then have the party's strongest hunter engage it directly.
So she could dismiss what she'd overheard.
Yet a corner of her mind clung to a 'what if?'
Forfeiting the dungeon would bring guild penalties.
That would shake her position as team leader and bring discipline to her team too.
It could soon escalate to doubts about her leadership.
A major problem.
But knowingly charging in was suicide.
That was just as serious.
'I absolutely can't let that happen.'
That was exactly what her brothers wanted.
"Let's give it a shot."
Jeong Ye-rin clenched her fist.
Nothing to lose.
If the man was right, she wouldn't need to rush the Goblin Lord from the start.
She could whittle away the goblins bit by bit, no matter how long it took.
'Worst case, we forfeit.'
Of course, assuming what she'd heard was true, it could upend hunter strategies entirely.
But she couldn't believe it blindly yet.
'Let's verify it.'
She decided to test him lightly.
Jeong Ye-rin stood and approached the man.
"Excuse me."
She called out to him.
The man lowered his smartphone and looked at her calmly.
Jeong Ye-rin greeted him deliberately while slipping him her business card.
A subtle show of pressure—her affiliation with Phoenix Guild.
But the man emotionlessly stated his name in a curt tone.
"Ah, sure. I'm Yi Kang-hyun. No business card."
He gave only his name.
Jeong Ye-rin was slightly shocked.
'Ha.'
It was absurd too.
From his words alone, he was clearly a hunter.
Yet he only gave his name?
He wasn't intimidated by Phoenix Guild's name at all.
'He's a bigger deal than I thought.'
Even now.
She could see annoyance and arrogance in his expression.
'To this degree...'
He exuded confidence that he could handle any situation.
Confirming that far, she felt a measure of relief.
'Someone like him probably wouldn't spread false info.'
His name was Yi Kang-hyun, right?
Undoubtedly a remarkable hunter.
Jeong Ye-rin memorized the name Yi Kang-hyun as she stood.
Of course, she didn't forget to thank him.
If she succeeded in clearing the dungeon, she'd seek him out again.
If everything he said was true, he was talent she couldn't let slip away.
Of course.
'What a weird woman. Better keep my distance.'
Yi Kang-hyun's thoughts were the complete opposite of hers.
The Holy Knights were ascending the mountain.
"Halt here for a moment!"
The column stopped at the lead man's shout.
The man's name was Berter Leovain.
He was the second son of the Leovain Duke family, a major power in the Karn Empire.
"We'll rest briefly, then resume the search! Everyone, stay vigilant even while resting!"
He was currently the vice commander leading the Holy Knights of the White Church.
Right now, they were carrying out the church's vampire extermination operation.
It wasn't particularly dangerous.
From the start, their goal was simply to cull lesser vampires and weaken Baalcherit's forces.
Baalcherit was a full five-star vampire.
A being that could single-handedly annihilate a city—that was a five-star monster.
'If I could capture that one with my own hands...'
Take down Baalcherit himself?
Inheriting the Leovain Duke family would be no dream.
He'd been pushed out of succession solely for being the second son.
Berter resented that deeply.
'I'm more capable than my brother, yet this treatment.'
After yielding succession, he'd joined the church right away.
Fortunately, his skill and family background let him become a Holy Knight.
Soon after, he rose to vice commander.
Not commander, which was disappointing, but unavoidable.
For an outsider to reach vice commander of the Holy Knights was unprecedented.
"Ha..."
Berter sighed.
During the vampire hunt, one had escaped.
These Holy Knights had pushed this far to catch that single fleeing vampire.
All the way to mountains bordering the Demon Realm.
And this was Sail Kingdom territory, neglected or not—if discovered, it'd be a headache.
"Um, Vice Commander?"
One of the Holy Knights spoke up.
"Do we really need to chase it? It's not even an adult vampire. I doubt it'll cause much trouble."
The Holy Knight had a point.
A child vampire fleeing? Normally, they'd ignore it.
Catching a child vampire wouldn't boost their record much.
Yet they'd come all the way to the Demon Realm border for this one.
In another nation's territory, no less.
Technically, they were invading foreign soil.
The Holy Knight couldn't comprehend.
But Berter shouted back.
"It is our duty as Holy Knights to protect the people in the church's name!"
Shut up and listen.
However.
'That sword it was carrying...'
Berter had seen something else in the fleeing vampire.
A child vampire clutching a sword in its bosom as it ran.
'Definitely a magic sword.'
A magic sword that granted immense power to its wielder.
It matched the description from church texts perfectly.
Greed sparkled in Berter's eyes.