A-Rank Dungeon Raid (3)
Dong-hyuk's shield flared to life.
It was a specialized A-Rank Ancient Gear. Flame didn't hesitate to put even that kind of expensive hardware in an intern's hands.
Arin's rosary, too. They said it was procured directly from the Vatican.
That was why the two of them, their gear blazing, carried an entirely different presence. When you spent that freely on equipment, it was no mystery how Flame held onto an S-Rank guild ranking with so few people.
Which is also why they're drowning in money trouble.
I set the thought aside and focused on the fight. Arin, our nun, laid down a buff, and Dong-hyuk, our tanker, took point. Until now, that combination alone had been enough to put the monsters down. Dong-hyuk was a tanker who swung a weapon as well — a damage-tank — and Arin could cast offensive holy spells on top of her support.
But monsters of that caliber, and in those numbers? We're short on firepower.
Filling that gap was my job as the dealer on this mission. I'd already finished briefing the two of them on tactics.
"Alright, then — wait. You sure you're okay without an Ancient Gear?"
Dong-hyuk asked me that just before we charged. He wasn't wrong. I didn't have an Ancient Gear.
No — I have Ruby, technically.
But Ruby was currently standing in for my mana heart. Which meant I couldn't tap an Ancient Gear's signature mana amplification, or any of its special options.
"I'm fine, Dong-hyuk! Let's charge!"
For now, it wouldn't be a problem. The moment I'd spotted those goblins on the bridge, I'd already run every possibility through my head. In the thought-battle that had ended in an instant, the result had been their total annihilation, without a doubt.
"Everyone, get behind me!"
Dong-hyuk's gear flared even brighter. A massive yellow shield took shape — a wall of mana that towered well above his already imposing frame. It was hemispherical, large enough to cover Arin and me as well.
"Gyaaahahahah!"
Whether it was because they were undead, their shrieks were even more repulsive. They'd spotted us. Rotting bodies lurched into motion at once, closing in to surround us. Ordinary goblins were child-sized, but this was a high-rank dungeon, and most of these things — goblins or not — stood as tall as a grown man.
"You reeking piles of corpse!"
Dong-hyuk charged like an enraged bull. Spikes jutted from his shield, and several goblins were sent flying on impact.
Ancient Gear, all right. The performance is the real deal.
It looked like the shield had offensive power built into it, not just defense. Arin's body shone brighter too, the light radiating from her rosary. Pale green holy power coiled around all three of us without pause — a spell that raised our resistance to the demonic energy rolling off the undead.
My turn, then.
The goblin line wavered for a beat. Time to turn that crack into chaos.
Blue Flame. Firepower...
Time to drop something big right in the middle of them. I raised my hand and summoned a fireball.
Blue Flame
High-compression fireball — C-Rank output, A-Rank RPM
C-Rank. A fireball at that awakening grade, sure.
Which was why it was barely the size of a baseball — far smaller than a typical fireball. I hurled it into the goblin pack the way you'd throw a pitch.
"Meat's about to fly!"
The instant I shouted, Dong-hyuk's shield thickened. Then the blast hit.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM—
"Wh-what? What kind of fireball is—"
The shockwave shoved Dong-hyuk's massive frame back several steps, even with his shield fully deployed. The ten goblins that had been blocking his path evaporated in an instant. No — they became chunks of meat.
Faced with the shocking sight of their comrades being reduced to ash, the undead goblins screamed.
"Gwaaaaaaah!"
"Gyaaaaaaah!"
If I'd still had a status window the way I used to, the goblins' status ailments would have been right there in my field of view.
For a moment I pictured a status window like that in my head. Even without one, it was obvious they'd been utterly stunned by the fireball's power.
At this level... at least I haven't forgotten what I drilled into myself back at Ains.
I shouted to both of them at once.
"Now! Dong-hyuk, Arin!"
At that, Dong-hyuk swung his mace. He'd packed all kinds of gear, but against the undead, blunt weapons were still king. Better to burst a body outright than to hack at it clumsily. Then Arin's holy spell incinerated the goblins where they stood.
For a moment, I clutched my chest.
As expected... high-compression spells still have recoil. But it's bearable.
I gritted my teeth and hurled another fireball at the remaining undead.
The clash on the bridge. After that, there was one more small skirmish with the undead.
"Hell. I feel like I've been possessed. Just this zone alone, the monsters you can see with the naked eye number in the triple digits. And we've already made it this far after only two fights?"
Dong-hyuk muttered, as if he couldn't believe it. He wasn't wrong. The party had already covered a considerable stretch of the dungeon we'd entered. Night had fallen, so we couldn't push any farther. Even so, compared to a typical dungeon-clearing pace, we were moving extremely fast.
A parallel dungeon of an A-Rank dungeon. Our party's progress so far is around 72%. Compared to a typical clear...
I glanced over the clear data from other dungeons that Team Leader Seo Duho had sent me through the in-ear comm. True to his Manseong background, the data he provided was excellent quality.
Our party is in the top 10% for speed.
I'd have preferred the top 5%, but those records belonged to parties packed with at least A-Rank hunters. This wasn't bad. Our competitors were rookie interns, after all.
Well. I'm a rookie too, I suppose.
Come to think of it, this was my first time stepping out as a dealer since graduating from Ains. But I'd done so much dungeon gig work back then that the dungeon's own dank, unpleasant atmosphere felt strangely familiar.
Dong-hyuk picked up where he'd left off.
"I already heard from Team Leader Seo that your awakening rank is C. So I figured I'd run myself ragged covering the gap... but at this rate, I'm just getting carried, aren't I? Hell, I was getting carried even when all you did was operate."
"You're making too much of it, Dong-hyuk. It's not that big a deal."
At that, Arin smiled with a look of proud satisfaction.
"Come on, sunbae. He's right. At C-Rank... a third-tier spell is generally the limit. At best you'd be torching a single undead with a fireball. You've already blown past common sense."
Even as she said it, Arin snuck a worried glance at me. I pretended not to notice and kept talking.
"If you really want to pump me up, save the praise until we take first on this mission. We'll camp around here for the night."
"Deal!"
"Sounds good!"
I'd already scouted a decent campsite with the drone. Not far from a route that would take us straight into the boss zone once morning came — and at the same time, the number of visible monsters nearby was low. An ideal place to spend the night.
We set up camp in one of the ruined medieval-style buildings. The party quickly finished a meal of the field rations we'd packed before entering the dungeon.
"The drone helps, but it's not omnipotent. We'll keep watch in this order."
With that settled, everyone pulled out their sleeping bags and climbed in.
First watch was mine. Outside the ruined building, without lighting a fire, I sat among the fallen stones and kept watch on the surroundings.
"Hah..."
I let out a careful little sigh. No — it was closer to a faint groan.
I expected it, but the pain is filthy.
With Ruby's first-stage seal released, I could use a certain amount of mana now. But the amount I could use was still the meager mana of a C-Rank awakening, just as it had been measured not long ago. I'd wrung every last drop of efficiency out of that mana.
Back at Ains, I'd already mastered the theory and the circuits for producing high-tier fire magic — Blue Flame. Absolute mana might be lacking, but depending on which circuits you amplified it through, and how you transformed it, the efficiency was a completely different story.
Especially with fire spells.
That was why the baseball-sized Blue Flame I'd produced was nothing like the ordinary kind. It was a high-compression fireball spinning at an RPM no C-Rank awakener should ever have been able to reach. Evaluating myself coldly, it could stand comparison with the fire magic of at least a B-Rank — or a sloppy A-Rank. That was the conclusion I reached.
But as I'd expected, power that exceeded the spec came with enormous recoil. Forming that high-speed fireball had sent the mana inside my body into a sudden acceleration. The recoil of that acceleration felt like my mana heart was burning away — a searing pain no fire mage should ever have been able to feel.
They said burning pain was the worst of every agony a human being could feel.
And this was the moment I experienced that knowledge with my own body. If Dong-hyuk and Arin hadn't been right there, I might have screamed outright. Fortunately, the pain had subsided for now.
Just as Professor Seong Chaerin and old man Yeon Moon-woo had warned, I could feel it properly now — my body was anything but normal. I thought I understood why opening the seal would shorten my lifespan.
But because of that, I was able to keep my reason even colder. This burning pain was the price of the wrongs I'd committed. And a vivid brand, seared into me so I would never forget the vengeance I had to carry out.
I'll return this pain of a heart burning away to Red Lake, exactly as it is.
I planted that resolve even deeper within myself. But even so, at this rate I couldn't fully recover the skill I'd had at Ains. Just as it had been for Dong-hyuk and Arin, having an Ancient Gear or not made an enormous difference in combat efficiency.
Right now, Ruby isn't an Ancient Gear. She's a mana heart.
That was why this wager mattered. If I could get my hands on a large quantity of gear through the reward, there was something I absolutely wanted to test.
While I was lost in thought, my watch ran out. Dong-hyuk, next on the rotation, came out right on time.
"Minsu! You did good. You must've been even more worn out from casting today. Get inside and grab some sleep."
"Thanks, Dong-hyuk. You take it easy too."
I went back into the ruined building where Arin would be sleeping. But something unexpected kept me from falling asleep right away.
"Sunbae. I told you this afternoon, didn't I? That I'd give you something even better tonight."
From behind me, as I lay down in my sleeping bag, Arin's quiet voice reached my ears.