A-Rank Dungeon Raid (1)

I let the hunters' stares wash over me without a flicker of reaction, then steered Arin behind my back.

"Oh-ho. Playing the boyfriend, are we? Putting on a show?"

"Don't talk that shit. Get lost."

I looked around as I answered. Every face was familiar — interns from the big corporate guilds like Manseong and Sigurd. The hostility in their eyes had only grown since the last time we'd crossed paths.

Did their bosses chew them out?

Flame ran on a pretty freewheeling atmosphere, but most hunter guilds were rigidly hierarchical. These guys had been demolished by Flame three times over. And just as the corporate guilds had pulled strings on the dungeon selection, there was no way the interns who'd tanked their guilds' reputations had heard anything kind from the people above them.

"Dating... and a girlfriend, even. Senior, I guess we really do look good together to other people."

Even surrounded by the hunters' swaggering threats and killing intent, Arin whispered it in a voice overflowing with happiness. I, of course, was looking at the wickedly sharp spear that had materialized behind those hunters at the same instant.

Did Arin summon that?

Nuns of the White Cross Church typically specialized in support — healing, buffs, that sort of thing. But nuns and priests with sacred power as high as Arin's were a different breed. That sacred power could manifest miracles in the real world that went well beyond what mana could do.

"But Senior, those pieces of trash. What are they saying to you right now?"

The spear Arin had summoned was aimed with perfect precision at the backs of those hunters' heads — as if the moment any of them so much as laid a finger on me, she would kill them on the spot.

"Huh? Where do you think you're looking? The one who needs to get lost is you—"

They hadn't even noticed the threat of that holy spell. I already knew perfectly well how pathetic the hunters in front of me were.

This isn't going to work as it is.

I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no intention of swallowing the fight they'd picked. But the convenience store clerk was looking terrified.

"Arin. Let's go outside for now."

I ignored them and walked out with Arin. Outside was even worse.

The intern field assignment — and even here, factions had already formed. Corporate-guild hunters on one side, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunters from independent guilds like Flame on the other. A larger number of corporate interns blocked my path, and the opposing faction naturally fell in behind me.

What is this now?

Among the hunters who'd taken my side was Dong-hyuk.

"Minsu, well..."

Dong-hyuk filled me in under his breath.

"Happens all the time. This A-Rank dungeon raid isn't a solo clear — it's a joint operation. Looks like they want to establish dominance before it starts."

I almost laughed. There were young hunters like me in the mix, but there were also plenty of older ones like Dong-hyuk.

Hunters really are just hunters, huh.

Just like the public image. Hunters were basically thugs.

"But as you can see, Flame — our interns — have been beating those corporate guilds over and over. So..."

To summarize what Dong-hyuk was saying: because Flame's interns had so thoroughly crushed the interns of multiple corporate guilds, the smaller guilds' interns had started treating Flame as their representative. And conversely, the corporate-guild interns had come to thoroughly resent Flame.

These guys really have nothing better to do.

The sight of fully grown adults trying to play schoolyard bully was laughable, but the provocation was clearly aimed at Flame.

Then I can't just let it slide.

Pyotr's contract. That contract included a condition to expand Flame's influence by absorbing subordinate guilds. And regarding the distribution rights of those subordinate guilds, Pyotr and Solaris had agreed to a separate incentive. So this wasn't some petty bullying game to me.

A Manseong intern who had no idea about any of that calculation shouted at me.

"You lot were swaggering around like you were something just because you cleared a few B-Rank dungeons. Heh. Got lucky a couple of times and now you don't even know your place."

"That's why you lost to us three times? Sounds like you're the ones who don't know your place."

"You little—"

"Don't just talk. Win once, like a real corporate guild. How about it?"

Their eyes grew even more vicious at my reply. But honestly, I was bored. Compared to the bone-chilling gaze unique to someone truly unhinged — like the Doubtful Monster — these guys had the eyes of a tame puppy.

I kept matching the one who wouldn't stop picking the fight. He got so worked up he drew his mana sword.

"You operator piece of shit! A guy who just hides at the back of the raid party!"

"Don't talk out of your ass. That's you."

I was done with this farce. The moment he drew his mana sword, I instinctively formed Blue Flame.

In an instant, the atmosphere around us went ice-cold.

"I-is that a blue flame?"

"B-Blue Flame? Isn't that the fire only a fifth-circle or higher pyromancer can produce?"

"Wasn't he an operator? That intern? How is he casting fire magic?"

My Blue Flame was no longer the lighter substitute it used to be. I had undone the first-stage seal on Ruby. So even if I couldn't return to the level I'd had at the point of my third-year graduation — at the very least, the amount of mana I could use now meant I had the qualifications to contract with an S-rank Ancient Gear.

And the method of accelerating mana. The fundamental principle of constructing a mana circuit in an instant to fire off a spell. I remembered all of it, in my head and in my body. Which meant the Blue Flame that formed on instinct already far exceeded the size of a large sphere. That alone put me well beyond the level of an ordinary Eins graduate.

"What's the matter? You already drew your sword."

The Manseong intern was hesitating. Of course I knew why. Pyromancers were common enough, but pyromancers who could produce Blue Flame were not. Tense to the point of breaking, he finally tucked his tail.

"Whatever. Even if I beat an operator like you, it wouldn't mean a thing to Manseong. You're not even worth fighting."

"So you didn't just chicken out on me?"

"What! I was going to let you off this once, you little—"

His face twisted at the continued provocation. But once he'd already backed down, there wasn't much more he could do.

Wait. I might be able to use this.

I quietly dismissed the Blue Flame. Conveniently, a crowd this large had gathered. And right in front of me was a fool who'd gotten himself worked up over the cheap pride of being a corporate intern. I tossed him a line.

"Fine, whatever. But if we annoy you that much, how about a bet?"

"A bet?"

"Let's wager on the evaluation results of this mission."

His eyes changed. If he was with Manseong, he'd already know the backstory of this mission. The dungeon zone assignments would already have been completed in the corporate guilds' favor. A slimy smile spread across his face.

"Alright. Let's do it. And it's not some boring B-Rank this time — it's an A-Rank dungeon. So the winner of the bet gets...?"

"The ranking rewards for this intern program. Winner takes all."

"Heh. Fine. Don't go crying about it later."

He looked supremely confident. Certain of victory.

"Alright, alright! Don't just stand around here! Return to the locations assigned to your respective guilds!"

A Hunter Association staffer finally came out and dispersed the crowd. I caught him exchanging a few extra words with the corporate-guild interns.

"Dirty bastards. Nothing to them but a big mouth. Anyway, Minsu. That was so you. Felt great watching it."

Dong-hyuk clapped me on the shoulder, grinning.

"But you've mellowed out a lot, huh? Back at Eins, you'd have already wrecked that hunter."

"That's... childish, isn't it. We're not academy cadets."

"Hunters are childish by nature."

"Still, Senior. Seeing you like you were at Eins made my heart race!"

"Don't say weird things. If anyone hears, they'll think you're a lunatic."

I pushed away Arin, who was trying to slip her arm through mine, and headed back to where the rest of Flame's people were waiting.

"Sorry for the delay!"

I quickly handed out the drinks I'd bought to Father Stefano, Soso, and Team Leader Seo Duho. Team Leader Seo leaned in and whispered.

"I hear you caused another scene?"

True to the Intelligence Team. Even though he'd been right here, he'd already figured out why I was late.

"Well... it just happened."

"Good grief. I'd be scared of a guy with a kitchen knife, and you went up against someone who drew a mana sword. I don't know where you get the guts. Our intern really is something else."

It wasn't sarcasm. He looked like he meant it as praise.

"And you even put a bet on it. This... Minsu, you weren't waiting for this situation on purpose, were you?"

"Of course not..."

Of course, I had made convenient use of the trouble that had sprung up out of nowhere. Team Leader Seo spoke with interest about the reward I'd put on the bet.

"And the reward for this field assignment is an Ancient Gear, isn't it. Since it's an A-Rank dungeon raid, the Association will take a fair cut of the harvest too. You bet pretty big. If our interns take all of it, that'd be a jackpot, wouldn't it?"

He was right. That was exactly why I'd made the bet in the first place.

"That only works if we take first place. This dungeon isn't going to be easy."

"True enough. They assigned us the filthiest zone, of all things. Well then, let's get to the briefing."

Team Leader Seo Duho explained the precautions for this mission. And once all the dungeon-entry procedures were complete, the interns began the A-Rank dungeon raid.

"So this is an A-Rank dungeon..."

Dong-hyuk's voice was thick with tension. He was an experienced new intern, and he'd been through plenty of dungeons on the intern field assignments so far — but this seemed to be his first time participating in a high-level dungeon of A-Rank caliber.

That's the normal reaction, I suppose.

I'd actually snuck into A-Rank dungeon raids back when I was at Eins, but an A-Rank dungeon was the kind of place that even a veteran like Dong-hyuk had every reason to be nervous about.

"You don't need to be that tense, though. This A-Rank is a Domain-Type Dungeon."

"That's true, but..."

The criteria for an A-Rank evaluation were varied. The AA-Rank dungeon Flame had cleared — the Uiryeong Man-Eater — had been a Standalone Dungeon, packed with high-grade monsters in an extremely confined space. The number of monsters itself was small, but each one was so powerful that the clear difficulty was high.

A Domain-Type Dungeon, on the other hand, had multiple parallel gates existing across a single terrain. It was essentially several dungeons bundled into one, so the monster count was far higher than a Standalone.

But the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠monsters that appear are less dangerous than in a Standalone.

The trade-off was that if a dungeon collapse occurred and all those monsters poured out through the gates, the civilian casualties would be far greater — which was why it warranted an A-Rank.

"Even with how well we've been doing, I can't believe they'd send us — not even a corporate guild — into the most dangerous zone."

Dong-hyuk was right. Even among dungeons belonging to the same Domain-Type, the parallel dungeons each had their own difficulty differences. The dungeon our party had entered was no easy one — comparable to BB-Rank if measured as a Standalone. True to form, the atmosphere was ominous from the very entrance.

"And there are only three of us. With that many monsters..."

And as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠befit a Domain-Type Dungeon, packs of monsters could be seen roaming among the abandoned buildings. Worse, they were undead — the type hunters hated dealing with most.

"Well, we have Arin. You don't need to worry too much."

"R-right. We have a nun from the White Cross Church. Even against those disgusting undead..."

Arin flushed, taking my words as a compliment.

"Then let's go for a blitz all the way to the zone boss! I'm counting on you for the operating, Minsu!"

Dong-hyuk checked all his gear and was about to charge in. I called him back.

"Hold on a second."

"Yeah? What's up? Want me to help move the operating site equipment? Stealth gear and that kind of thing?"

"No, that's not it..."

I said to Dong-hyuk, who was looking at me in confusion: