In the event of a Gate opening up, all the Hunters in that district would be asked to come, that’s why they tended to gather within the exact area.
“Since this raid is being supervised by the Association, it should be safe, no?”
Bae Yoonshin glanced around fugitively as his worry started to build up.
Lately, there have been cases where a low-rank gate turned out to be a Red Gate.
It wasn’t just Bae Yoonshin; other Hunters were looking around uneasily well.
“He’s here!”
The others also brightened at the sight of the approaching hunter.
It was Park Jongryeo.
The hunter simply ignored them as he walked by.
“Park Jongryeo’s here. That means it’s safe.”
Bae Yoonshin was confused as to why the other hunters felt somehow at ease when Park Jongryeo arrived. Bae Yoonshin couldn’t understand the other hunters’ reaction.
A hunter standing at his side snickered at Bae Yoonshin’s blank, confused look and elbowed him in the side.
“Listen, any raid with Park Jongryeo will be easy. The Association isn’t aware of this because his rank is unregistered.”
Bae Yoonshin looked perplexed. “So he’s not a registered hunter?”
“No, he is, but he skipped his rank evaluation.”
Is that even possible? Rank evaluation is a mandatory process to register as a hunter. But this Park Jongryeo managed to skip it?
This doesn’t put him at ease, at all.
“Why put your trust in a hunter who doesn’t have a clear rank?”
“You’ll see once you enter the dungeon.”
Park Jongryeo stares at the entrances to the dungeon called “Gates”.
When one entered through the Gate, one would arrive at a place called ‘dungeon’. The rank of this particular dungeon was approximately C rank.
They’re about to begin.
Bae Yoonshin couldn’t believe it. Park Jongryeo was dealing with the monsters inside this dungeon without so much as breaking a sweat.
Since they entered, no one has lifted a finger but Park Jongryeo. All the other hunters did was simply follow Park Jongryeo as he eradicated every single monster they came across.
Even monsters that required three or more B-rank hunters to defeat. Park Jongryeo killed them with a single shot.
Since Park Jongryeo took care of the monsters. All that is left for them to do is mine the essence stones from the corpses of magic beasts killed by Park Jongryeo.
As Bae Yoonshin picked up the essence stones, he sensed something, he looked over at Park Jongryeo, only to see the hunter standing still.
Something was off here.
The sensation from the dungeon is completely different from before.
Could this be..
Bae Yoonshin quickly spun his head around and met Park Jongryeo’s hard gaze.
At this point, even Park Jongryeo had sensed something was very wrong as well.
Bae Yoonshin loudly shouted at the rest of the hunters.
“Everyone!! Gather around! Hurry!”
As soon as he finished shouting, a tremor was felt on the ground, followed by a roar.
Hunters of the raid team also sensed the change in the surroundings.
“They are coming!”
“Oh my god…”
“Get….. Get ready for battle!”
Bae Yoonshin forcibly squeezed his voice out.
From the darkness of the cave on the far side. The eyes of the Hunters grew wide from shock.
“High Orcs?!”
“What the hell? Why High Orcs?”
Bae Yoonshin clenched his jaw.
‘Why are the monsters from A-rank dungeons appearing here?’
This is supposed to be a C-ranked dungeon.
The raid team is composed of 1 B-rank and 11 C-rank.
Many well-trained High Orc warriors now stood in rows before the Hunters’ eyes. Their number was twenty-two.
‘How are we supposed to defeat them?’
To think, right after the attack of the low-ranked monsters, they now had to battle these high-ranked monsters famed to be the toughest even among the high ranks.
The High Orcs pointed their lengthy spears at the Hunters.
Soon, the battle began.
“Kroooaaar!!”
Melee-type Hunters engaged in a bitter close-quarters battle.
Swiiiish!!
Swish!
Crack!!
Blood splattered everywhere and a scream reverberated out.
Not too long after that, magic spells fired from the mage-class Hunters slammed into the High Orcs.
Bae Yoonshin was so preoccupied with the High Orc he was fighting, that he didn’t notice a tall shadow suddenly loomed over him. By the time, he raised his head.
It already holding an axe while breathing heavily right behind him.
“Ah…..”
Bae Yoonshin’s face was drained of all color, then. Unfortunately, no one could save him in time.
When the Orc raised its axe up high, Bae Yoonshin closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
However, she couldn’t feel any pain, no matter how long he waited.
He slowly opens his eyes and witnesses something hard to believe.
“Keu…. Kuehhck…..”
The Orc was actually floating in the air, its entire body trembling quite noticeably.
“But, what…..?”
What was happening here?
Bae Yoonshin’s eyes opened even wider.
But then…
Burst!
The High Orc was literally impaled. A stone spear was erected from the ground below and pierced through its chest. Even the High Orc’s heart was now visibly impaled on the blade of the spear.
Now that was a display of terrifying power.
‘……..??’
While staring at the lifeless body of the High Orc now on the ground. A powerful magic energy wave crashed into the group like a tsunami from the far end of the cavern.
‘How could this be….?’
This was from the boss of this dungeon?
The scale of the magic energy emission inside the dungeon was on another realm altogether compared to the one felt outside the Gate.
Other Hunters also must’ve sensed that absurd amount of magic energy by now, because they began shivering as well.
“W-what the hell??”
“Why am I getting goosebumps, all of a sudden?!”
Watching the complexions of the Hunters get paler by the second, Bae Yoonshin came up with a theory.
‘If, let’s say that there is a boss that can hide its presence, then….’
The wall that wasn’t there when they entered. And the boss that bared its fangs only after the barrier had been erected.
‘No way…. Did it lay a trap and wait for Hunters to enter the dungeon?’
When thinking like that, a chill ran down Bae Yoonshin’s back.
And sure enough….
….From beyond the darkness of the dungeon’s interior, the countless sounds of footsteps, far greater than before, reverberated loudly.
Comment