Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: The Magma Golem Emerges
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"C-rank Rock Golems. No need to worry."
Kang Han spoke as if to reassure me.
"No, even if you say not to worry..."
I swallowed the rest, not wanting to sound weak.
One fortunate thing was that the Rock Golems weren't close by.
The sluggish flow of bright red lava seemed dangerous even to them, so they just glared at us from the safe ground each had secured.
"One, two, three, four... twelve."
Twelve Rock Golems, each as tall as a four-story building.
"What kind of difficulty is this?"
I could feel viscerally that this was on a whole different level from the guerrilla dungeons that Kang Han or Han Ji-seong had swiftly handled before.
Then, suddenly, a chilling premonition ran down my spine.
"Those guys... they're the dungeon boss, right?"
I asked Kang Han.
But there was no reply.
Instead of his usual curt explanation, he stared intently at the center of the volcano, where lava was endlessly surging.
Why?
What's over there?
And before I could voice the question...
Gurgle, gurgle.
The volcano's crater began to churn.
The viscous lava's surface bulged upward.
Finally, massive bubbles burst forth with a popping sound.
"Crazy."
Someone muttered, and with that, a gigantic hand emerged.
Rooooar—
It was a giant—no, a golem—so enormous it was hard to take in at a glance.
Boom!
When the thing finally hauled itself fully out of the crater, the ground shook.
No, the entire volcano trembled along with the massive golem.
And atop the information window I was staring at, a new one popped up with a brief message.
"Ah, this is bad. Not a great start. As you can see, viewers, both guilds are surrounded by Rock Golems right now!"
Caster Lee Gi-dae shouted.
One screen showed the overall situation inside the dungeon, while another captured the hunters up close, their vivid expressions and movements. Two feeds in total were being broadcast.
The viewers' reactions were playing right into what Lee Gi-dae wanted.
It was a C-rank dungeon, but with inexperienced hunters and a small scale, he wanted to amp up the tension.
"Some comments asking why no commentator today—it's not our regular broadcast. The Ansan City dungeon is unfolding so intriguingly that we slotted in this special stream. Sometimes doing a casual personal broadcast like this is fun, right?"
Lee Gi-dae quickly caught a few speeding real-time chats and responded before shifting topics.
"Ah! The boss is finally showing itself! That's... gotta be a Magma Golem! Even I've rarely seen one that size!"
Lee Gi-dae strained his neck, veins bulging, peering deep into the screen as he bellowed.
But he wasn't exaggerating.
The Ansan City dungeon's boss was exceptionally massive for a Magma Golem.
"This raid is turning out so thrilling. My mistake thinking a C-rank small dungeon would be a chill broadcast! Haha."
He let out an awkward laugh, lifting his cup to wet his throat and mask his expression.
His face had stiffened without him realizing.
'This won't be easy. Might lose one or two hunters.'
No, casualties could be even higher.
Was this karma for starting it just to snag some Embargo exposure? A wry smile tugged at his lips.
But when he set the glass down, caster Lee Gi-dae's face lit up with pure excitement.
"Here we go—the attack begins! Of course! Hunters can't just stand around gawking forever! Justice Guild and Taesan Guild are going textbook: take out the surrounding mobs first, not the boss!"
His voice rose with the surging viewer count, excitement building.
The only ones left in the relatively safe basin were me and Taesan's healer.
Everyone else charged toward the black ground, where lava could splatter up at any moment.
The Justice Guild members, who had seemed so ordinary around me before, switched fully to raid mode, leaping several times their height effortlessly as they sped away.
Even Han Ji-seong, who usually stayed back with me, insisted on aggressive attacking this time and left with the rest.
Boom!
Kaboom—!
"Dodge!"
The area around was chaotic with battle, but my little basin stayed quiet.
Taesan's healer plopped down on the ground with a weary face, but I chose to stand and watch Justice Guild's fight.
The first thing I saw was Lee Yu-chan perched high up.
He was on a precarious rock ledge barely wide enough for his feet, supporting the front line and seemingly guarding Han Ji-seong, who was positioned alone a bit farther out.
But something felt off.
Lee Yu-chan's specialty was ultra-fast arrow barrages that were hard to follow with the eye.
And despite the distance, our eyes kept meeting.
"That fool should focus on the fight."
The reason was obvious.
He was worried about me.
Who's out here on a sheer cliff with no safety line? Who should be worrying about whom?
I waved my hand firmly, signaling him to ignore me.
Thankfully, Justice Guild's assault on the Rock Golems proceeded smoothly.
As usual: Han Ji-seong whipped up a blizzard for AoE damage, then the others rushed in to smash the frozen golems.
Taesan, however, struggled.
"Get closer!"
"Guildmaster! My flame-resistant suit's burning—I can't go nearer!"
"Injuries heal anyway! Don't worry, stick to it!"
I could guess the situation just from the shouts.
The already exhausted healer sighed deeply every time Guildmaster Kwak Ho-young urged the team, saying heals would fix any wounds.
Then it happened.
Taesan was overextending, facing two Rock Golems at once.
"Argh!"
"M-Myung-ho hyung!"
They'd failed to watch the Magma Golem amid the chaos.
A red-hot rock hurled by the dungeon master struck one hunter.
"Damn! Pull Jeong Myung-ho back! Get him to the healer!"
One Taesan hunter scooped up the injured Jeong Myung-ho and rushed to the basin on Kwak Ho-young's order.
"Ugh, grrr!"
The injury looked severe.
Thanks to quick reflexes, he avoided being fully crushed, but his right arm was completely mangled instead.
At least the burns stanched the bleeding somewhat—small mercies.
"Take good care of Myung-ho hyung."
With those brief words, the Taesan hunter dashed back to the fray.
"S-Such a major injury... I can't heal it perfectly..."
Taesan's healer muttered, face ashen.
B-rank, right?
It was already rare for a mid-tier guild like Taesan to have a healer, but even he seemed outmatched by Jeong Myung-ho's state.
'Should I pretend not to notice?'
The thought flashed, but a better idea hit.
"Want me to help?"
"B-But Justice Guild's in combat too..."
"Don't worry about that. Hey, Jeong Myung-ho-ssi. How about a deal?"
I explained quickly.
"I'll heal you, but instead of returning to the fight, protect us here?"
"Grr, y-yeah. Please, hurry..."
"Promise?"
After confirming his nod, I pulled a potion from my sub-space.
The one I'd used on Im Cheong-su's wound.
"It'll hurt, so bear it."
I uncorked it and poured straight onto Jeong Myung-ho's injury.
"Gah, grrr, uuuugh!"
Even my minor burn had hurt like hell—what about him?
Jeong Myung-ho writhed in agony but couldn't even thrash properly.
Eyes bulging, body shuddering, drool streaming.
I worried for a second if I'd shock a guy who could get proper treatment outside into death, but I trusted a hunter's resilient body and mind that had survived rampages.
"Ugh, grh..."
Thankfully, I was right.
Synergizing with the awakened's natural healing, his wound recovered at rapid speed.
Soon, it vanished without a scar.
"Haa, haa. Th-thank you."
Polite even now.
Jeong Myung-ho bowed to me faintly, then passed out.
Stamina depletion.
"You can handle stamina recovery, right?"
"Y-Yes!"
Taesan's healer grabbed his hand and cast.
Strengthen Body and Mind.
With stamina refilled, Jeong Myung-ho came to quickly.
He staggered up and swatted away incoming rock debris aimed our way.
Behind him, Taesan's healer cautiously asked,
"Um... Does Justice Guild use potions like that often?"
"Huh? Oh, not really."
They didn't work well on others when I tried.
I planned to save it for my own surprise injuries.
"Ah, I see..."
But the healer's reaction was weird.
He'd been subtly avoiding my gaze since earlier, and now he seemed to doubt my "not often."
"So that's why you got here so fast..."
He muttered to himself, clearly misunderstanding big-time.
"No, I did use one earlier."
"Ah, got it."
This could spread some odd rumors.