Chapter 39
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: First Expedition (2)
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Burrow Rat Dungeon.
"Hey, Ged! Put up a barrier!"
"Got it!"
They were veteran hunters, through and through.
Their teamwork was flawless, and the early stages of the dungeon proceeded smoothly without a hitch.
The burrow rats were massacred without so much as a squeak.
But there were casualties all the same.
"Ugh...!"
"Just hang in there a bit longer..."
Toward the rear of the formation, healers were tending to the wounded.
A real dungeon raid was combat in every sense of the word.
A battlefield where death was a very real possibility.
'...Talk about thorough rejection.'
The F- and E-rank members, including me, were relegated to rear guard duty.
Even when we rushed forward occasionally to lend a hand, they were E-rank hunters handling it.
All the F-rank hunters like me were left with was nursing the injured and standing watch.
"...Haha. You cadets are still green as grass, huh."
A black F-rank hunter who looked older, helping tend to the wounded alongside me, spoke up.
"Yeah. What's your class, sir?"
"...I'm a swordsman. But my grades were crap, so I barely graduated at the bottom of the class."
"..."
These small dungeons didn't need non-commissioned officers' help.
That's why F- and E-rank hunters looking for work had no choice but to tag along on these minor expeditions.
A hunter's real job was racking up achievements.
Without them, your pay took a serious hit.
I gritted my teeth.
"Sir, you..."
"...Yeah?"
The F-rank hunter paused in wrapping a bandage and looked at me.
I shot back.
"Doesn't it piss you off... even a little?"
"...Well..."
My words made the F-rank hunter trail off for a moment.
Then he hung his head low and muttered softly.
"...Nah. If anything, I'm just grateful."
"..."
His answer hit me like a ton of bricks.
I had no reply for him.
I turned my gaze to the front lines.
"Squeak!!!"
Clang!
A burrow rat's incisors clashed against a hunter's sword.
"Grrr...! Help! This thing's got some serious strength!"
"Fall back!"
Krzzzt!
A thunderbolt streaked in, incinerating the burrow rat.
With that one down, the battlefield settled into a lull.
Expedition leader David Gandhi scanned the surroundings before shouting.
"Alright! Ten-minute break here!"
The hunters who'd just been fighting returned to the rear, utterly spent.
In the end, I hadn't gotten a chance to join the initial sweep.
There simply hadn't been an opening for me.
"Alright, let's move."
"Huh? Where to?"
"While the attack hunters rest, us E- and F-ranks have to stand watch."
"...Pardon?"
It wasn't like the E- and F-ranks had been slacking during the raid.
They'd been hauling gear, acting as shields, or caring for the wounded.
"Come on, no complaints. Everyone to your posts."
Even though they were exhausted too, they were bossing around their comrades under the pretense of sharing credit.
It rubbed me the wrong way.
At least Lee Jung-tae would occasionally let me fight up front.
Occasionally.
"Hey! Cool! Watch out!"
Someone's shout.
It was Cool, the uncle we'd just been talking to.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
"Wha—what?! Wha...!!!"
A hidden burrow rat lunged at the uncle.
A nearby D-rank hunter grabbed his axe to help.
But he was too slow to handle it.
I bolted straight there.
"Raaah... RAAAAH!!!!"
Slash!!!
My sword cleaved the burrow rat's neck in one stroke.
Its head tumbled across the floor.
Good thing I made it in time.
It had been a single step's difference.
Cool's eyes went wide.
"You okay, sir?"
"Y-yeah... Th-thanks."
To an F-rank like Cool, burrow rats were a tough matchup.
Especially their incisors—they could tear through an adult man's body.
By rights, watch duty should rotate regardless of rank to conserve stamina.
And if it was a monster E- and F-ranks couldn't handle, a C- or D-rank hunter had to be present during watch.
Strictly speaking, this was a violation.
"..."
David was sitting on a wooden plank, staring at me.
I met his gaze without flinching.
A nearby E-rank hunter approached and offered Cool a hand.
"Hey, Cool! You good?"
"Y-yeah... I'm fine. No harm done."
Cool stood up.
He turned to me and said.
"Thanks... Really, thanks to you."
"...Just doing what anyone would. A hunter doesn't abandon comrades."
I said it loud enough for the expedition leader to hear.
Hoping it'd change his ways.
The expedition cleared the midsection without issue and pushed into the latter half.
The Burrow Rat Dungeon had no designated boss monster.
Just a ton of them.
"Ged! Heal!"
"On it!!"
"Leader! Three burrow rats at 11 o'clock!"
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
The dungeon echoed nonstop with the rats' screams.
This was an expedition specialized in hunting burrow rats.
They knew them better than anyone and exactly how to fight them.
"Good! Push all the way like this!"
"Wooo!!!"
"Yeah!!!"
The clash of metal.
Screams.
Grunts.
Beast howls.
Explosions.
All sounds overlapping in chaos.
That was when it happened.
"Argh! Aaaah!!"
One hunter got swarmed by three burrow rats.
He'd strayed from the defensive line acting alone.
Zzzzt...!!!
A burrow rat tore the flesh clean off the hunter's arm.
White bone gleamed as blood sprayed.
"Aaaah!!! My arm!! My arm!!!"
Chomp. Chomp.
The rat chewed on his flesh.
The others charged at him too.
"L-leader!!! Ged!!"
"...Ngh...!"
Breaking the line now would cost who knew how many lives.
Ged was a valuable subordinate.
But David couldn't risk everyone to save him.
David ground his teeth.
"...Press on... Press on!!! Ignore him and keep pushing!!!"
The leader prioritized the mission.
Ged wouldn't hold it against him.
Sacrificing one for the many.
"Aaaah! Aaah!!!"
A burrow rat's incisors headed for Ged's throat.
In that instant, they cracked.
"Squeak...?"
Not just the incisors—its mouth split in two.
Kang Tae-hyun had broken formation and sliced the rats attacking Ged.
"Squeak!! Squeak!!!"
Tae-hyun gripped his sword and charged them without hesitation.
He jammed his blade into one's mouth, severing its tongue.
Then swung a few times before shoving it back in.
"Squeak! Squeee... "
Tae-hyun knew their weak spot was inside the mouth.
The expedition leader couldn't help but be stunned.
Just a first-year at Hunter Officer Academy. A 17-year-old kid.
Movements no teenage body should produce.
Groooowl...
Tae-hyun twisted the blade deeper into its mouth.
Pfsh!
It pierced the skull straight to the brain.
In seconds, all three burrow rats were dead.
"Hngh...! Hngh!! ...Thought I was done for... Thanks! Thank you!!!"
Ged tearfully thanked Tae-hyun.
But greetings could wait.
Tae-hyun immediately started staunching Ged's wounds.
'...'
The expedition leader stared, dumbfounded.
...In Tae-hyun, he saw his younger self.
...Freshly B-rank, he'd valued comrades over results.
Couldn't stand seeing them hurt. Saved them even if the raid failed.
That was his justice.
But what came back? Reprimands, mission failure penalties, a court-martial questioning his leadership.
The verdict: demotion.
'You idiot! Hunters!! Complete the mission first. Wanna save lives? Be a firefighter, cop, or doctor! Don't drag that pathetic sense of justice into the dungeon! A hunter shines brightest in death! Dying in the dungeon is the most honorable end!'
His superior's words ate away at him.
Even the friend he'd saved—now missing a leg—blamed him for it.
For tarnishing his honor...
Days later, that friend went back into a dungeon minus one leg and died.
After that, he became a hunter who put missions first.
Ten years passed.
"...Leader!!!!"
"Huh?!"
His subordinate's shout snapped him back.
Up front, burrow rats were swarming.
Mission failed...!
Too many wounded, stamina drained.
No way to clear this horde.
They'd have to wait for another shot.
He yelled.
"All members!!! Retreat!!!"
At his command, the expedition began falling back.
"Huff...! Huff...!"
David fled from the rearmost position as leader.
But the rats' counterattack was fierce.
This dungeon shouldn't have been this hard.
Yet today, the burrow rats were unusually ferocious.
An odd mana flow.
No one had mana to enrage them like this—unless...
'Who the hell...! The team's the same...'
The only newcomer was Kang Tae-hyun.
...Thud!
"...Huh!"
What cruel twist of fate.
David tripped over a burrow rat corpse.
'Damn...! Get up!'
As he tried, one latched onto his leg.
"Aaaaaaaah!!!!"
His agonized scream echoed through the dungeon.
A trailing subordinate spotted him.
Their eyes met.
"...!"
"..."
The subordinate squeezed his eyes shut and ran past David.
Abandoning a comrade for the mission.
"Ah..."
The subordinate didn't look back.
David hung his head in despair.
Two rats gnawed his legs.
'...Yeah. For a hunter... dying in the dungeon... is honorable.'
David pulled a suicide bomb from his pocket.
Standard issue for hunters.
This way, no pain.
Staring at it, he thought of the friend who'd suicided in a dungeon.
'...That guy... Hope he's doing well over there...'
The one who'd voluntarily returned to die because of me.
They'd fought over a woman.
Suddenly, academy memories flooded back.
Was this the life-flashing-before-your-eyes thing?
Just resentment that his friend went first.
Click.
David disarmed the safety.
'...Big bro's coming too...'
He pressed the detonator.
And slowly closed his eyes.
Tears streamed from David's eyes.
Press.
...Press.
"...?"
David opened his eyes.
The detonator was pierced by an arrow, ruined. The two rats on his legs were pinned dead by arrows.
"This is...?"
He touched an arrow.
It dissolved into green liquid and flew off.
He followed its path.
"Haa... haa... haa... Leader... I came to save you."
"...You."
There stood Kang Tae-hyun, panting, bow in hand.
Sweat soaked him—he'd rushed here.
David barked.
"Hey!!! What the hell are you doing? You got a death wish??? Burrow rats are swarming! Ditch me and run!"
"...The burrow rats are handled."
"...What?"
David whipped around.
Tae-hyun's clones were massacring the horde.
'Clones? Elemental? Or... assassin class?'
Tae-hyun hoisted David onto his back.
"Sorry, Leader. Mana's critically low now. I'll drag you if I have to."
"Y-you...!"
Tae-hyun recalled his clones.
The rats seemed endless—no one, not even Tae-hyun, could take them all.
Then he sprinted full-tilt out of the dungeon.
'Current sustainable duration: 10 minutes 23 seconds. Whew, that was close.'
I pressed my temple hard.
Dizziness nearly made me hurl.
Can't remember the last time I dipped below 10% mana.
Saving the leader at the end forced me to overextend on clones.
But I tested the new technique perfectly.
Clones were the real deal.
Super efficient performance.
Plus, arrows from the bow could summon clones.
'...This should cover CDT.'
Prep's done.
Need rest tomorrow for Monday's CDT start next week.
Expedition over—no need for rewards.
I stood to leave.
The African savanna sunset glowed.
"Wait."
David hobbled over on crutches.
He stared silently into my eyes.
"..."
He bowed his head deeply.
Gratitude.
I awkwardly scratched my head.
David kept his head down awhile.
"L-leader... You don't have to..."
"...You."
He looked up at me.
"...You... change the world, alright? With that strength, you can save everyone. Save them all. Make sure no more pointless deaths... Fix this world. Wherever I am, I'll cheer you on."
His eyes burned with resolve.
Senior hunter's advice.
I replied.
"Yeah. I will..."
A world without senseless deaths.
That's the only one I want.
(To be continued)