A-Rank Dungeon Conquest (2)
The interns entered the gate.
Seo Duho Team Leader and Yeon Soso. And Father Stefano were watching their movements from a considerable distance.
“Even for this level of dungeon, it would be at least B-rank at best. As expected, the dirtiest area… sending our interns…”
Seo Duho said. Father Stefano nodded in agreement.
“Yes, Seo Brother. And it’s unfortunately dark attribute. And a dungeon full of undeads and ghosts. It might be quite difficult for the interns. As you know, the party composition for interns is not good. Three people is too few.”
“Hmm. What Father Stefano says is true. That’s why we accompanied them with Father Stefano and Team Leader Yeon as responsible officers.”
Seo Duho recalled the intern raid party composition. Tank, Healer, and Operator.
These three had achieved outstanding results in the intern dispatch program, but this dungeon was A-rank, making the battlefield very disadvantageous for them.
No main dealer in a small party. And if the opponent is undead, the matchup isn’t good.
Monsters, living monsters, fear death and pain. But undeads were different. Even if a limb is cut off, it doesn’t change their decayed expression.
Even if the head flies off, they continue attacking.
Domain-type dungeon. So even the undead groups visible around are numerous. To continuously deal with them with mediocre firepower, the stamina will quickly deplete.
But most importantly, undeads raise hunters’ MCI very quickly. Without proper MCI management, they will quickly reach the limit line.
So if we go for a long battle, it will be very difficult. Does Lee Minsu know that?
Lee Minsu’s bet with other hunters.
To win that bet, not only the current area but also the boss area must be conquered. To secure first place, you must conquer the boss area.
“Domain-type dungeon. There are multiple connected parallel dungeons, but they converge into one dungeon as the boss area. If Lee Minsu Brother is really aiming for first place, many strategies will be needed.”
Father Stefano’s words were correct. If you enter the boss room too late, the evaluation score will be low. But if you enter too early and retire, the worst result.
“Fortunately, with Sister Seong Arin, MCI management is easy.”
“Indeed. Arin’s divine power. Father, don’t you find it amazing?”
“Yes. I don’t know what oath she made, but at such a young age, having such high divine power is unusual.”
As Father Stefano said, White Cross Church priests acquire divine power through oaths.
In Flame, Seong Arin, who is lively and has no employees who don’t know her, and now at 20 years old, having divine power that Father Stefano recognizes is surprising.
Well, there is no one in Flame without a story.
Seo Duho, with his own intuition, was sure that Seong Arin’s oath was definitely related to Lee Minsu.
And if that’s true, it’s very good for Flame.
Lee Minsu. He’s still an intern and operator…
He thinks that this Lee Minsu will soon become a core power of Flame. Father Stefano seemed to be curious about this Lee Minsu at the right time.
“With Seong Arin’s divine power, we can withstand undeads to some extent. And Jang Donghyuk Brother’s tanking ability is highly evaluated. But divine power is not infinite. We need a dealer to directly deal with the undeads… Can Lee Minsu Brother do that role, Soso Brother?”
Father Stefano’s words startled Soso. Soso, who had been following behind the two, was in the middle of eating dried squid.
“W-what? Minsu is not only an operator but also a flame sorcerer at the same time. Just like Managing Director Maria did sniper and operator at the same time.”
“Flame sorcerer. I read his job application too. And the report that rose after the solo trip with Soso Brother recently… huh? Why are you doing that?”
Soso suddenly lowered her head.
“Ah, no! It was a solo trip, but nothing happened at all.”
“Nothing happened? The report clearly says that some treatment was done for Lee Minsu intern’s mana heart disorder…”
“W-well! That… that problem was solved during the trip!”
Father Stefano showed a puzzled expression.
Seo Duho immediately thought there might be something between a man and a woman from Soso’s reaction, but turned the conversation.
“Then Team Leader Yeon would know well. The awakening rank of Lee Minsu intern recorded in the report was definitely C-rank, right?”
“Yes.”
At that, Father Stefano thought for a moment. Then said.
“If we explain Seong Arin’s divine power as awakening rank, it’s A-rank. And Jang Donghyuk Brother was B-rank. If Lee Minsu Brother is C-rank, then it’s A, B, C ranks gathered.”
Awakening rank. Flame’s raid party is small.
Guild Leader Yuri and Raid Team Leader Yeon Soso both have A-rank awakening.
Considering that awakened with normal talent reach A-rank after 40s, both are famous in the hunter world for no reason.
But Soso quickly denied the words.
“Absolutely not! Minsu is… really a great flame sorcerer!! That’s what I… I know best!”
“Indeed. From the reports so far, I confirmed that his operating skills are excellent…”
“Operating skills are not the only thing; his skills as a dealer are clear!”
Soso shouted, and Father Stefano was surprised. Team Leader Seo supported Soso.
“True, whether A or C, in the end, awakening rank is the total amount of mana possessed by the mana heart. How to use it is the awakened’s skill.”
“That’s correct.”
At that, Father Stefano, who had been silent for a moment, said.
“Then this mission might be an opportunity to see his talent not only as an operator but also as a dealer. Clearly a mission requiring the firepower of a dealer. So if he has seen through the danger of this dungeon, he won’t just hide his body on the operating site.”
After saying that, Father Stefano closed his mouth. Although Soso said that, she still didn’t fully trust Lee Minsu.
It’s understandable.
Team Leader Seo knows Father Stefano’s past. Ordinary priest Father Stefano.
The small church of the White Cross Society he belonged to and what happened to the village where the church was when villains and monsters attacked.
And during the intern’s document screening, the executive who read Lee Minsu’s document showing the most fierce enmity towards villains and passed the document without a word was him.
So, Father Stefano is the one who expects Lee Minsu more than anyone else. The greater the expectation, the more cautious it is.
How will this mission go.
And Seo Team Leader felt the same way.
He had only observed Lee Minsu as leader for a month, but in fact, Seo Team Leader highly evaluated Lee Minsu.
Even when he was in the chronic, he didn’t feel this way with the world’s top chronic elite raid members.
Not a B-rank dungeon like before, but an A-rank dungeon. But he seemed to have the confidence to evaluate first place again.
Seo Duho is an excellent information analyst. He knows that the objective intern’s power is clearly inferior to the current dungeon rank.
But Lee Minsu might produce a result that surprises himself again. Seo Team Leader thought that.
***
“Everyone stop. And continue stopping until my next instruction.”
Sweat was flowing on Donghyuk Uncle’s forehead. Of course, it was natural. A ghoul knight of a size far exceeding 2 meters.
The ghoul knight was right in front of the group. Only 3 meters away. The ominous black breath it exhaled was all visible. Of course, Uncle would be tense.
But I gave the instruction to the group not to respond in any way and to stop as is.
“5 minutes. Just hold for 5 minutes.”
Donghyuk Uncle nodded vigorously.
And after the 5 minutes I said, the ghoul knight turned its back and left us as if nothing happened.
“Phew. We survived. A ghoul knight… Seeing such high-level monsters up close for the first time. Even if it’s a parallel dungeon, A-rank is A-rank.”
Uncle was right. Among undeads, ghoul knight is a very high-level monster. The monsters met in the intern program so far weren’t that dangerous.
That guy from a moment ago would be comparable to the boss of a B-rank dungeon.
And Uncle, a moment ago, was very puzzled as he asked me how the ghoul knight that was right in front of us was just sent away.
“What happened? If that guy had swung his weapon and charged, it would have been a big problem.”
“It wasn’t luck. I just responded according to the information I knew and the pattern I observed from the dungeon.”
“You predicted exactly that it would return in 5 minutes?”
“Sort of.”
I briefly explained. I sent an operating drone in advance to confirm that there was a guy. Undeads, especially guys like ghoul knights, have dangerous physical strength, but.
Instead, as undeads, they don’t have as good detection ability as normal monsters.
Considering the scouting pattern of that guy, the maximum range was within 3 meters.
The ghoul knight was at an important passage leading to the center of the dungeon. So we couldn’t avoid it by going around.
But since I already knew the pattern of that guy from my analysis, there was no need to confront it.
“But thanks to you, Minsu, we passed without lifting a finger. It’s amazing. It was about time to get used to it. Your operating is really like a ghost.”
“Right? As expected, Senior Minsu is amazing.”
At Donghyuk Uncle’s words, Arin smiled happily, feeling good. But I still didn’t relax my tension.
“Undeads become much stronger at night. So move as much as possible during the day. And since we don’t know what will happen at night, we have to conserve stamina as much as possible…”
At that moment, Arin’s body glowed in a greenish color. That light enveloped Donghyuk Uncle.
“How is it? The MCI should have decreased a bit.”
“Well done. Arin.”
“Yes, Senior!”
We were monitoring MCI in real time through the earpiece.
Donghyuk Uncle’s MCI was currently 65. Since the uncle has a high limit line, he’s still okay, but he has quite a bit of mental contamination.
That MCI quickly dropped to 40 by Arin’s divine power. It was a well-timed spell.
As expected, Arin is amazing.
Since the opponent is undead, we could use combat orders with that divine power, but since it’s a dangerous dungeon, it’s much better to use it to maintain the party’s MCI.
As long as that divine power exists, the two of them won’t exceed the limit line until they reach the boss area.
I have no problem from the beginning.
And Arin, who knows that fact, whispered in my ear.
“Senior! It’s a bit disappointing that I couldn’t receive your divine order?”
“It’s okay. I’m fine with that.”
“Aw, I know you’re disappointed. Then…”
She whispered in a more sticky voice.
“At night, I’ll do something even better for you. Don’t get jealous, okay?”
I quickly pretended not to hear Arin and gave the next instruction, lest Donghyuk Uncle hear it.
“Wherever we go, there are full of undeads. The next route probably won’t be able to pass quietly like now. Everyone, prepare for battle. Preheat the Ancient Gears too.”
“Understood, Minsu!”
“Yes, Senior!”
I want to enter the boss room with as little combat as possible. And as fast as possible.
I didn’t want to cooperate with boss fights with other guilds unnecessarily.
By defeating the boss alone first, we can get the highest score.
For a normal solo A-rank dungeon, it’s actually impossible with this power.
But this mission is a domain-type dungeon. In each area’s parallel dungeon, every time other guild hunters kill monsters diligently, the boss’s power weakens.
And ordinary hunters would avoid monsters by taking a difficult path like me, or try to confront them directly.
There will be enough manpower. Those guys are more body than head.
In other words, we have a time advantage. So we rushed through the dungeon as quickly as possible, conserving the party’s mana and stamina as much as possible.
Then, we stopped in front of a bridge crossing a disgusting-smelling river.
“We have to catch those guys directly.”
A group of dozens of goblins are occupying the bridge. And not ordinary green, but black undead goblins.
At my words, the two raised their Ancient Gears.
Donghyuk Uncle’s shield. And Arin the rosary hanging on her neck. And I woke up Ruby in the position of the mana heart.
When I measured my awakening rank a while ago, it was definitely C-rank.
The lowest rank in the party was awakening rank, but it didn’t matter.
The 1st stage seal released by Elder Yeon Moon-woo’s secret technique. And the mastery of flame spells I accumulated at Eins was the same.
I have enough to rank up.
At the same time, I shouted to the group.
“Let’s quickly exterminate these half-dead goblins.”