Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Monsters on the Shore
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As Kwak Ho-young drew closer step by step, Jang Su-ho's face grew stiff.
"Long time no see, Jang Su-ho. You look well."
Jang Su-ho didn't answer.
Instead, he simply took one more step toward me, standing right beside him.
Jang Su-ho and Kwak Ho-young shared a long-standing grudge.
"You were impressive in the Gangnam Station Dungeon. It would've been great if you'd been like that back in our guild. Did you reach out to Team Leader Yoo? He'd have been thrilled to see you thriving."
Team Leader Yoo—Hunter Yoo Jin-rok—was the guild master back when Jang Su-ho belonged to Taesan.
He had trusted Jang Su-ho to the very end, deploying him at least as rear-guard protection.
Until that day when Jang Su-ho, swayed by his close friend Kwak Ho-young's persuasion, recklessly shifted to the front-line assault team and lost control, injuring several people.
Afterward, Jang Su-ho was expelled from Taesan and transferred to Justice Guild, while Hunter Yoo Jin-rok took the blame and stepped down as guild master.
Hunter Yoo Jin-rok led a few more dungeon raids as team leader but ultimately retired after sustaining a severe injury.
Of course, that too had been Kwak Ho-young's doing—the new guild master at the time—who schemed to fully purge Hunter Yoo Jin-rok.
"How dare you so casually speak his name."
As Jang Su-ho snarled at Kwak Ho-young, the man theatrically raised both hands lightly and backed away.
"Whoa, scary. Still haven't tamed that temper? What if you end up hurting someone in Justice Guild too?"
That bastard.
I grabbed Jang Su-ho's arm—half-blocking my path ahead—tugged him back, and spoke.
"We'll worry about our guild members. So the guild master who botched the raid should slink off and reflect quietly, okay?"
"What, reflect?"
"If that's too much trouble, smash your forehead into the dirt. Oh, or are you prancing around like this because failing the raid on national TV was just too humiliating?"
"You fucking—!"
Normally, he'd flash that thick-skinned smirk and fire back.
But the failed raid must have hit him hard—he was flopping around pathetically at every jab.
I deliberately raked his ego raw, then turned to Kang Han.
"We're busy, Guild Master. No point wasting time on trash like that. Let's head in."
"Agreed. And Hunter Kwak Ho-young."
Kang Han called him without the 'Guild Master' honorific.
"Speak that garbage to my guild members one more time, and I'll handle it myself."
"......"
Look at him. Not a peep.
Textbook bully—strong preying on weak, weak crumbling before strong.
One hand on Kang Han's back, the other on Jang Su-ho's, I shoved them toward the gate and delivered the parting shot.
"Gotta hurry. Some guild up ahead wasted everyone's time without clearing it. Tsk tsk."
He's probably itching to crack my skull right now.
Go on, try it.
Strike the back of my head and eat a bolt from Kang Han?
The rowdy mood in Justice Guild, stirred by some pathetic fool, sharpened to a knife's edge once more before the gate.
Kang Han, Lee Yu-eul, Jang Su-ho, and Han Ji-seong led the way, with me at the rear alongside Lee Yu-chan and the camera crew live-streaming our raid.
"Justice Guild entering."
"Be careful."
With the association official's oddly foreboding send-off as our last words, we surrendered to the black, rippling gate.
The creepy sensation—like sinking into thick, black ink—faded quickly.
The first thing to jolt my senses awake was the massive roar of crashing waves.
I instinctively drew a breath, lungs filling with salty sea air.
And before I could even open my eyes, the worst possible sound rang out.
"Kerruk."
"Kyaaak!"
Monster cries, dangerously close.
Snapping my eyes open in shock, I was greeted by a horde blanketing the pristine white sands of a stunning beachscape.
Their forms defied simple classification.
Some had two legs, others five.
A few sported rigid crab-like shells; others oozed across the ground like jellyfish, shapeless and slimy.
No backing away, though.
The gate loomed right behind me.
"Damn it."
Lee Yu-chan beside me clenched his teeth and muttered.
Activating Know as Much as You See, info panels swarmed my vision—far too many to parse.
Dizziness hit simultaneously, the world spinning.
"Urk."
Taesan's footage had shown the beach somewhat cleared by the end.
No way the dead monsters had respawned.
A chill raced down my spine as my gaze drifted past the teeming mass to the deep, blue sea beyond.
How many more are lurking in there?
While the rest of the guild and camera crew froze in the unforeseen chaos, Kang Han swung his spear in a wide arc, unleashing a storm of crackling electricity.
"Kyaek!"
"Kiit!"
Screams erupted from every direction.
Through clouds of black ash as monsters disintegrated, brilliant yellow lightning hammered down relentlessly like a thunderstorm.
"I'll handle the right!"
"Left's mine!"
Inspired by Kang Han, Jang Su-ho and Lee Yu-eul shouted and charged their flanks.
The brutal onslaught left no room for words for what felt like ages.
By the time Jang Su-ho's shield and Lee Yu-eul's fists were drenched in black gore...
"Uwaaa—Uwoooong—"
The Yungkaders, adrift far offshore, unleashed a prolonged bellow. The monsters ebbed back like a receding tide.
But not a full retreat.
Hundreds of black eyes fixed on the humans from the shallows, swaying like kelp in the waves.
"Yu-chan, get Nayeo-ju up."
"Yes, sir!"
Confirming our footsteps fading toward the secured rocky zone, Kang Han swung his spear wide once more.
Drip—
Monster blood trailed from the spear tip, painting a long streak.
Sensing the bloodlust from those lurking in the gentle waves prickling his skin, Kang Han pivoted toward the Yungkaders.
It had closed in near the shoreline.
Larger than anything summonable in sim training.
The Yungkaders resembled a mobile island.
Most of its bulk submerged, its rounded dorsal shell protruded above the surface, teeming with parasitic monsters.
All of them its minions, under its command.
Have to drag it onto land.
Kang Han steadied his breath, calculating.
Without flight skills, striking it meaningfully while afloat was impossible.
Only one option remained.
Slaughter as many minions as possible to lure the master ashore.
Lee Yu-chan and I scrambled up the rocky terrain.
Not a manicured trail—even this modest hill demanded hands and feet, practically crawling.
Two reasons we braved separation from the group to claw upward.
One: optimal range and elevation favored archer Lee Yu-chan.
Two:
"H-Hunter-nim... here!"
A voice choked with sobs echoed from a crevice.
"Justice Guild. Any injured...?"
I trailed off.
The man who'd called—cradling two others whose faces and bodies were shredded, pulverized, utterly bloodied.
One critical, two minor?
Seeing them up close, their wounds were far graver.
Spotting us, the lone conscious survivor sagged in relief, fat tears streaming.
"P-Please... save my friends... my friends..."