Chapter 14
Chapter 14
The boss monster of the Broken Arms Factory dungeon—the First-generation Combat Golem MK-II, or Mark Two for short—was notorious among C-rank and lower hunters for being one of the most troublesome opponents.
The reason?
It used firearms.
And not just any ordinary assault rifles—it wielded twin heavy machine guns, its upper body wrapped in belts of ammunition, and the moment hunters stepped into the boss room, it would unleash a barrage of bullets.
Without proper defenses, a hunter's body would be riddled with holes in seconds.
So, how did it compare to the Corpse Giant in terms of difficulty?
'Obviously, the Corpse Giant is way worse.'
Though the Zombie Burst dungeon had a lower entry rank, the Corpse Giant was essentially a boss monster not meant to be defeated.
Mark Two, on the other hand, had to be killed to clear the dungeon.
And that meant it had clear weaknesses.
First, the reload time—after its initial barrage, it had to reach into the ammo bag strapped to its back to refill its machine guns.
That was a clear opening, the perfect moment to strike.
But there was an even bigger vulnerability.
'After three full volleys, the recoil dampeners and cooling systems in its arms need time to reset.'
In other words, while the first move belonged to the boss, if a hunter could withstand the onslaught, the fight would swing overwhelmingly in their favor.
And right now, Joo Do-gyeom's party had Kim Han-yul—a summoner with Implementation Art.
After effortlessly clearing through the broken scrap golems littering the dungeon, they arrived at the boss room entrance.
Do-gyeom spoke first.
"Do you have an empty slot in your Implementation Art stock?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Delete one. Something you don't need."
"Hmm..."
Han-yul nodded without much thought and closed her eyes.
She had filled her slots with various items just in case, but some were clearly useless in actual combat.
When she opened her eyes again, she said:
"Done. What do you need?"
"A large steel shield."
"To block Mark Two's opening barrage? Will that even work?"
"It'll be enough."
As always, Do-gyeom spoke with absolute confidence, and despite her doubts, Han-yul followed his instructions.
A strange feeling settled over her.
'Why does it already feel like he's the leader and I'm just a subordinate?'
At least, not yet.
But even as she thought that, her body moved on its own.
Soon, two massive steel shields materialized in her hands.
Do-gyeom stowed his warhammer into his inventory and gripped one in each hand.
"I'll take point. The moment it enters cooldown, we suppress it."
"Anything else?"
"No."
With that short reply, Do-gyeom kicked open the boss room door—
And immediately,
RATATATATAT—!
A storm of bullets poured toward them.
But Do-gyeom was already ahead of it.
He channeled his inner energy into the steel shields—but this wasn't just ordinary reinforcement.
[Skill Acquired: Art of Adamantine Will (1-Star)]
Art of Adamantine Will (如意金剛氣).
A martial technique that transformed the nature of ki, granting two major effects:
Think of it like the Ruyi Jingu Bang—Sun Wukong's legendary staff.
It could harden, lengthen, or shorten, but it couldn't completely change form.
And at 1-Star mastery, even attempting to alter an object's shape was impossible.
To wield such power, Art of Adamantine Will needed to reach at least 5-Stars.
Its learning curve and execution difficulty were among the worst—even harder to master than Heaven-Binding Qi Art or Earth-Binding Qi Art, two of Do-gyeom's signature techniques.
In the future, even with Do-gyeom's guidance, only a handful of people ever managed to use it effectively.
But for Do-gyeom—who had once been a Martial God—maintaining Art of Adamantine Will was effortless.
So much so that advancing through the bullet storm with his shields raised was as easy as eating cold rice.
To be precise—
If the goal had been just killing Mark Two, the fight would have ended the moment the first barrage stopped.
Do-gyeom could have swapped one shield for his warhammer, dashed in, and shattered Mark Two's core with a single strike using Mandatory Death Eye.
But he held back.
Because this dungeon's true objective was Kim Han-yul's growth.
For her Implementation Art to evolve, they needed to suppress the boss, not kill it outright.
So instead, Do-gyeom steadily closed the distance, step by step.
WHIIIR—! CLICK-CLICK-CLACK—!
Mark Two finished reloading and prepared for its third barrage.
Or so it seemed—
RATATATATAT—!
The bullets came again.
Do-gyeom didn't flinch.
He just kept doing his job.
From behind his back, Han-yul could only click her tongue in disbelief.
'I knew his offense was monstrous, but this defense is top-tier too...?'
A close-combat hunter who excelled in both attack and defense?
They weren't unheard of.
But true masters of both were practically nonexistent.
A common saying in the hunter community:
"Those who dig shallow wells everywhere never shit gold."
Han-yul agreed wholeheartedly.
Every hunter she'd met who lacked focus had been a complete mess.
But Do-gyeom?
He had the offensive power to one-shot a Corpse Giant—
And the defensive prowess to block a bullet storm with just two shields.
His movements showed no hesitation, no wavering.
Only absolute certainty.
Was that why?
Just watching his back made Han-yul's heart pound strangely.
This was the first time she'd ever felt so thoroughly protected.
'Even so...'
She was sure of one thing.
'This guy... He must be crazy popular.'
If he could just get along with people, that is.
Lost in these thoughts, the third barrage finally ended—
And silence fell.
At the same time—
Do-gyeom hurled one of his shields.
It happened in an instant.
The shield shot forward like a javelin, shattering the boss monster's left arm.
No—technically, the skill he used was spear-throwing technique.
[Skill Acquired: Wind-Piercing Javelin (1-Star)]
He had just used a shield instead.
The second shield followed—
CRACK—!
Mark Two's right arm was destroyed next.
SCREEE—!
The boss's single eye flared red—
But before it could react, Do-gyeom blurred forward, warhammer already in hand.
BAM—!
Its head was obliterated.
Its already broken arms were completely torn apart moments later.
[Skill Upgraded: Heavenly Strength Steps (3-Star)]
"Huuup—!"
Do-gyeom inhaled sharply, gathering ki—
Then swung his warhammer in a massive arc, sending Mark Two's torso flying.
BOOM—!
The tank-tread lower body rolled several times before crashing into a wall.
ZZZT—!
Broken circuits sparked wildly.
With a glance, Do-gyeom kicked the remaining wreckage, flipping it onto its back.
Now armless and immobilized, the boss monster could only emit mechanical whines.
SCREEE—! SCREEE—!
Ignoring it, Do-gyeom stowed his warhammer and turned to Han-yul—who was staring in shock.
"Implement it. Kim Han-yul."
"......"
She couldn't even speak—just gulped hard, nodded, and rushed forward.
Dropping to her knees before the ruined boss, she stared intently at it.
Do-gyeom spoke again.
"Believe it. You can do this."
"...Yeah."
She nodded once more.
Inside the boss room.
Had she ever spent this much time in one before?
Honestly, Han-yul didn't even notice—she was too entranced, examining every broken part of the First-generation Combat Golem MK-II.
She started with the torso.
Then the head.
Next, the arms—the core of its combat functions—and finally, the legs, which also served as its main stabilizers.
She wasn't a robotics expert.
Or a mage.
Just a former office worker at a chemical company who became a summoner after awakening as a hunter.
So she didn't understand its mechanisms.
But she could imagine how they worked.
Lost in thought, she repeated the process over and over—until suddenly, she jolted upright.
Just as Do-gyeom had said—
'I... I really think I can do this.'
Implementing a boss monster.
If she succeeded, all her abilities would skyrocket.
Not just her combat strength—but her entire future path would become clear.
Swallowing hard, she turned to look for Do-gyeom.
He was sitting cross-legged against a wall, eyes closed.
Han-yul let out an involuntary chuckle.
"Pfft... Seriously, how are you so relaxed?"
Do-gyeom answered without opening his eyes.
"No reason not to be. The fight's already over."
Then he opened them and asked:
"Feeling confident now?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna try right now. So..."
She was about to ask him to watch over her—but stopped, suddenly embarrassed.
"Never mind. I'll do it."
"Kim Han-yul. Your ears are red."
"Shut up. Here I go."
Closing her eyes, she focused.
The embarrassment faded quickly.
Instead, the image of a fully intact First-generation Combat Golem MK-II began forming in her mind.
Mana gathered before her outstretched palms, colliding and crackling with electric sparks.
ZZZT—!
It wasn't as easy as she thought.
Even with her enhanced imagination and belief, the process resisted her.
But that was normal.
'It's a boss monster, after all.'
Trying to implement something like this should be hard.
Hell, at her current level, failing wouldn't even be strange.
'Just opening the possibility is already...'
A huge achievement on its own.
Just as she thought that—
"Kim Han-yul."
Do-gyeom's voice cut in.
"Throw away that weak mindset of 'I can try again later.'"
Huh? This bastard—does he think this is easy!?
She wanted to shout, but couldn't even open her mouth.
The thread of comprehension she'd almost grasped felt like it was slipping away.
"What you possess has already far surpassed mere 'potential.' Believe in yourself. You can create anything—and one day, you'll even reach the realm of true creation. You're not someone who should struggle against some C-rank dungeon boss. If you can't believe in yourself, fine. I'll be proud for you. You're already an incredible hunter, Kim Han-yul."
Seriously—
"You're so damn noisy!"
Han-yul shouted, her eyes snapping open—
And light erupted from her.
A smile spread across her face.
Before her, flashes of mana flickered wildly—
Then took shape.
In an instant—
The shimmering energy solidified into steel armor.
A single-eyed head with a glowing red lens formed first, followed by the torso.
The wheeled lower body came next.
Finally, the arms, recoil dampeners, ammo belts, and twin machine guns materialized.
Immediately, a message appeared:
[Skill Upgraded: Implementation Art (Level 4 → Level 5)]
A two-level jump in one go!
She had never experienced this before.
She'd only heard rumors from top hunters in the community—never dreamed she'd achieve it.
Stunned, Han-yul looked at Do-gyeom—
But he wasn't looking at her.
His gaze was fixed on the boss room entrance.
"Kim Han-yul."
"Huh? What?"
"They're coming."
No need to ask what.
WHIIIR—!
The distinctive whirring of broken golems reached her ears.
Turning, she saw—
Dozens of scrap golems pouring into the boss room.
Their earlier commotion must have drawn aggro.
Do-gyeom's voice was calm.
"You can handle this, right?"
Han-yul grinned.
"Of course."
Then she pointed at the incoming horde and commanded:
"Mark Two—attack."
WHIIIR—!
An alarm blared as Mark Two's eye flared crimson—
RATATATATAT—!
A bullet storm shredded through the golems, turning them into swiss cheese in seconds.
Not a single one made it past the entrance.
This was overwhelming firepower Han-yul had never possessed before.
Her heart pounded wildly as she watched—
CRACK—!
A shattering sound echoed.
[Objective Complete: Boss Monster Defeated (1/1)]
[Return to Earth? Y/N]
The system message confirmed it—
The boss monster Do-gyeom had wrecked was officially finished.
Heart still racing, Han-yul turned to Do-gyeom with trembling eyes.
He spoke first.
"We'll discuss contract details back on Earth."
His tone left no room for refusal.
That attitude—which had sometimes annoyed her—now just seemed cool.
Han-yul nodded.
"Sounds good, Team Leader."
"Returning."
The moment he spoke, his body vanished in a flash.
Han-yul followed immediately.
"Return."
Her entire body was still trembling with excitement.