Something's Wrong
'That damn squad leader bastard! Treating me like a scrub? This is payback for the parking lot, right?'
Choi Mi-ran was out hunting without Kim Seong-hyeon for the first time in ages.
Her new party members were mostly low-rank rookies.
As a guild senior who'd synced up with the expedition team's core hunters, teaming up with these total greenhorns felt like a massive humiliation.
But.
Her rank was C+.
Over ten years since awakening, she was the tragic hunter who'd never broken through to B-.
The strategic team deemed it her limit, and her colleagues weren't far off in their thinking.
Still, she'd held on as a support handling the party's miscellaneous tasks rather than dealing direct damage to monsters.
Luckily, Choi Mi-ran had a sharp tactical sense, scoring high in tactical evaluations over raw stats.
That's why Kang Moo-hyuk had assigned her to issue party orders.
"Argh, this is frustrating! Even a field mouse is faster than that—can't you land a single stab? Hey, tank! Did you boil your shield or what? Grip it tight and take the hits with your body!"
"Damn... a perpetual C+ acting like a senior."
The tank grumbled as Choi Mi-ran smacked his back to hurry him up.
"......"
Choi Mi-ran heard the tank's rebellious complaint but let it slide for now.
No personal feelings in combat.
Even at her low rank, she knew what it meant to be a hunter.
The tank, meanwhile, half-assed her orders, swinging his shield like a weapon. The rest of the party suffered for it.
Finally, as the field mouse slipped out of their response range and into another party's territory, she reorganized the formation and glared at the tank.
"Hey, did you just call me 'damn' earlier?"
"Huh? Me? No way. It was 'damn scrub,' not 'damn.' You're a C+ scrub senior, right? Why, did mentioning your rank hurt your pride? Sorry about that."
Was this a fight or what?
'He's poking at me on purpose?'
It was a situation Choi Mi-ran often faced outside the guild.
Stagnant hunters got no respect anywhere.
No seniority system here, and guild tenure didn't earn you jack in the hunter world.
Only because it was Taeseong Guild—and because expedition leader Do Kyung-hoon had taken a shine to her—did she get any senior treatment.
She knew that full well.
'Hold it in, hold it in. Can't screw up the hunt just to beat this punk's ass. Already on the squad leader's shitlist. I'll get him later.'
Unlike Choi Mi-ran, who still thought she was blacklisted from the parking lot incident, Kang Moo-hyuk was evaluating her coolly.
'Choi Mi-ran. Support with high tactical awareness. Evaluated as a promising freelancer early on, but stuck at C+ for five years. Why?'
Some geniuses hit A-rank within years of awakening; others never crossed B even in a lifetime.
Given that reality, one could write her off as growth-capped.
But.
'Too few hunting records for her awakening date and current age. She missed prime growth years stuck outside gates.'
Kang Moo-hyuk saw it differently.
Her hunting experience was pitiful compared to same-rank, same-age hunters in top guilds.
That was the bottleneck on her growth, he diagnosed.
"The field mouse is fleeing."
"Better call it a miss."
As Joo Se-ah said, it was less a flee than a whiff.
The field mouse, gradually cornered, had half-escaped the training grounds.
They'd caught maybe eight.
Only five fully killed; the other three were mid-finish, limbs or tails severed.
"We failed to cut off the escape. Inside a gate, that'd be a fail."
Escaped monsters often looped back as threats in gates.
Hence guilds had mobile cutoff parties.
Iron Will did too, but theirs overextended chasing kills, got pinned, and needed backup—scrumming the formation and letting mice slip.
"No dead hunters is the win. Review today's footage from the camp cameras."
Kang Moo-hyuk ordered injury treatment and camp maintenance. As he prepared to send scouts for potential ambushes.
"What is it?"
"!!"
Watusi? Think massive African cape buffalo for an easy mental image.
Horns protrude from both sides of the head, each up to 2.4 meters at the tips.
Hence the snake monster with giant watusi-like horns was dubbed Watusi Snake.
'Horn charge and armored hide make it a top 4-star. Recon party can't handle it.'
Not just tough—suicidal.
Joo Se-ah, sharing the comms, spoke up.
"I'll go. Location?"
"Guild master."
Kang Moo-hyuk turned to her; she shrugged.
"I know the guild master can't jump at every fire. But they're underprepared. Save the hunters first."
He considered alternatives to Joo Se-ah, but nothing panned out.
Watusi needed a veteran B-rank party, but mismatched speeds meant delayed rescues—picking them off piecemeal.
Or send a solo A- to end it quick. Only Jang Deok-gu fit, but as tank, he lacked speed.
Joo Se-ah was the optimal play.
He nodded in agreement.
"Please."
"Got it."
As she stepped off after getting coords, she caught Kang Moo-hyuk's troubled look and couldn't resist.
"Squad leader Kang. I get we avoid easy paths. But don't pick dangerous ones on purpose."
With that, she launched—vanishing from the grounds in a blink.
Kang Moo-hyuk watched her shrink to a dot on the horizon, voicing concerns.
'Goblins aside, field mice then Watusi Snakes? Neither mobs ambush like this. Targeting base camp precisely. Hitting scouts. Doesn't feel random.'
To check what he'd missed, he headed to the situation room.
Arriving on-site, Joo Se-ah first spotted the 15-meter horned serpent.
The Watusi Snake was mid-meal.
Coiling to suffocate then swallow prey—like an earth anaconda.
Hunters attacking to free their trapped comrade couldn't pierce the hide.
"You snake bastard!"
Eyes flashing, Joo Se-ah charged the Watusi Snake.
Sensing danger, it shut its swallowing maw and sprang back.
Spring-like recoil put distance; it tried retreating with prey.
The threat registered it as tough.
No hunt worth the hunger.
Beast instincts trusted the warning; it abandoned the meal.
"Who said you could run?!"
Sudden presence up close panicked the snake.
Far enough? No?
Couldn't flee—attack time.
Swiveled head, horns forward.
Even stronger monsters hesitated at these horns.
Win, but mortal wounds possible.
Weakness meant death.
Gate monster basics: pure wild instinct.
"Horns at me?!"
Leaping to head height, Joo Se-ah landed on the snout and gripped a horn.
The snake figured victory.
Trusted the horn's poison.
Shhh!
Ignoring her blackening hand, Joo Se-ah looked down.
"Poison? Pfft."
Like a signal, the venom receded from elbow to hand.
In the brief window of a snort, she purged it—raised fist high.
Activated tank basic.
"Strength Boost."
Boom!
Thunderous crack as fist smashed head to ground.
Instant death.
Skull shattered, yellow brains oozing.
Joo Se-ah extracted the freed hunter from the coils, relieved.
"Phew, still breathing."
Glancing at her heroics, guildmates rushed up.
"G-Guild master!"
"Anyone hurt—?!"
"??"
They puzzled at her hardening face mid-sentence.
Handing off the KO'd hunter, she ordered.
"Back to camp. Tell squad leader Kang too."
"Huh??"
They saw her shift to combat mode.
Skin-tingling aura heated the air.
Mana blaze warmed their bodies.
No need for words—all turned where she glared.
The forest rustled.
"Wh-what's that......"
"Go. No time to fight protecting you."
Urged low, they grabbed the comrade and bolted.
Fleeing south, they glanced back.
"Holy shit. What the hell......?"
Emerging from woods: more existences.
Watusi Snakes.
Dozens, not one or two.
'Snakes in packs?'
Strong big ones moved solo or small groups.
Prey supply.
Territory respect outside mating ensured food.
But these defied hunter common sense.
"Tell camp. Something's... off here."
"Field mice in packs, fine. But Watusi way off-script. Changes in North Pocheon ecology?"
Kang Moo-hyuk focused on anomalous behaviors from retreating hunter reports.
Gong Du-ri chimed in.
"Not worried for guild master? Send backup."
"If she didn't request, she's fine."
"Dozens of near-20m snakes?"
"Rough, but not dangerous. Bigger issue elsewhere."
No worry for Joo Se-ah.
Unusual patterns or not, 4-stars wouldn't kneel the Indomitable Witch.
'Prioritize grasping this situation.'
Not why Joo Se-ah told hunters report first.
She wanted his input on the weirdness.
'North Pocheon too small for dozens of Watusi Snakes.'
He dug his notebook for similar cases.
"Here."
Watusi King Cobra.
'King of snakes.'
4-star and below snakes under its rule.
'Weird part: even King Cobra wouldn't flood this tight space. It's evolved old Watusi shedding skin. Needs abundant prey, long time. Not like goblins brute-forcing numbers...'
Flash of insight hit Kang Moo-hyuk.
"Ah... so that's it?!"
Understanding dawned; his face darkened further.