6

THE LIZARDS

The squad made its way to where the gate had appeared. It was an abandoned construction site for an apartment building.

“They say the economy isn’t doing so well……” Dongsuk clicked his tongue in disapproval.

Unfinished apartment buildings stood scattered in the area like huge tombstones. If there was a cemetery for giants, it would’ve looked like this.

“Did you know?” Jinho leaned in closer to Jinwoo and whispered to him. “The president of the company embezzled nine hundred billion won and escaped abroad two months ago, leaving all the employees and investors in a tough spot.”

“……”

No matter how many hints Jinwoo had given him, Jinho wouldn’t leave him alone. It seemed like Jinho wasn’t able to quite fit in with the eight others, since they were all original members of the squad.

“Dude, you always this quiet?”

He’d started calling Jinwoo “dude” at some point. Jinwoo was growing weary of ignoring him.

“……Can’t you take a hint?”

“Hee-hee, I’m not very used to taking hints from other people.”

Was this guy an optimist or was he just clueless? Jinwoo raised an eyebrow at Jinho’s bright smile.

But I really……

Jinwoo tended to get more sensitive whenever he approached a gate. It wasn’t something he could control. For other hunters, raids were all about money, but for Jinwoo, it was about survival. It dredged up a ton of painful memories, so he couldn’t help but get twitchy.

“Here we are.” Dongsuk stopped.

Wow…… The hunters looked impressed.

“Are you sure this is a C-rank gate, bro? Seems a bit big.”

“You really think the association would bullshit us? They said the investigators checked it out twice.”

The portal floating in midair was reminiscent of a black hole. This was what they called a gate.

A gate’s rank was determined by a measure of the magic wavelengths emanating from within. The Hunter’s Association notified people of the rank after they evaluated the level. After that, strike squads or guilds would request permission to raid it. A- or B-rank gates were mostly taken by large guilds because they were too dangerous for freelance strike squads. Freelancers usually dealt with low-rank gates, with C rank being the highest they could safely tackle.

Dongsuk stepped in front of the gate and looked back. “All right, everyone, I’ll head in first. Please stick close.”

One by one, the other hunters followed as the tank led the way.

Just in case……

Jinwoo started to do some light stretching. Next to him, Jinho produced his weapons. His sword and shield seemed to sparkle. They were obviously very expensive, not the sort of thing a newbie could easily purchase on his own.

He said he’s not used to taking hints from others, so maybe his family’s rich?

He hadn’t struck Jinwoo as that type.

Jinho sensed Jinwoo’s stares and puffed out his chest. “You’re an E rank, right, dude? I’ll make sure to protect you, so please just stick with me!”

Jinwoo blinked. Who’d protect whom?

“……Well, thanks, I guess.”

“We should get going, too.”

Putting aside Jinwoo’s doubts, the two of them safely passed through the gate.

It was quiet inside the dungeon.

“……”

It was quiet and dark.

Dongsuk gave his first order. “Gyuhwan, light up.”

“Yes!” Gyuhwan Jo, a mage hunter, conjured a sphere of light. The place flooded with radiance.

Dongsuk lowered his shield and cocked his head. “What? Where’re all the beasts?”

“Yeah, and why were the lights off?”

Typically, glow stones lodged in the walls of the dungeon lit the way. This time, there were no such stones to be seen anywhere.

Jinho whispered in Jinwoo’s ear, “Are there really dungeons without any magic beasts?”

“Shhh.” Jinwoo pressed a finger to his lips.

His ear twitched. He could hear countless footsteps in the distance.

Jinwoo spoke. “There are magic beasts. They just aren’t here yet.”

Jinho swallowed nervously.

Skrrrt, skrrrt, skrrrt…

Soon, the others were able to hear what Jinwoo was hearing. Dongsuk realized just how serious the situation was.

A dungeon without glow stones……?

“What moves as a group, lives in the dark, and heads toward the light?”

Oh no. Dongsuk’s and his colleagues’ faces turned grim.

“Bugs!”

“They’re bugs!”

“Why does it have to be fucking bugs?!”

Dongsuk barked, “Everyone, positions! Incoming! Forward!”

A bunch of creatures were rushing straight for them.

“This isn’t an ant colony, is it?”

“Don’t say that kind of shit!”

Among magic beasts, insect types were especially a pain in the neck. They came in swarms, and every single one of them was powerful and hard to kill.

Ants were the worst of them all. Many a hunter had lost their lives by unwittingly stumbling into an ant colony.

SKRRRT, SKRRRT, SKRRRT…

The sound of the bugs’ legs scraping against the ground made their skin crawl. That meant they were close.

Dongsuk raised his shield up to his chin. They still couldn’t see any insects, though. The squad members were causing a commotion behind him.

“What’s going on? I don’t see anything!”

“But they sound close!”

“Dongsuk, do you see anything?!”

Jinwoo yelled, “Up!”

What? Dongsuk instinctively looked up.

SKRRRT, SKRRRT, SKRRRT!

Huge bugs were coming at them from above. Seconds later, and those bastards would’ve dropped right on top of them. With beasts that attacked as a group like insect types often did, once the hunters’ formation broke, that’d be it.

If we hadn’t spotted them when we did……

Dongsuk felt a chill run down his spine. There were different kinds of insects, but fortunately, none of these was an ant.

He called out, “Shoot! Shoot them so they drop! Once they’re down, I’ll go aggro!”

Arrows and magic attacks flew at the insects.

Fwssshhhh, fwit!

BOOM!

SKKKRRREEEEE—

SKKKRRREEE—

Once the hunters knocked some of the bugs to the ground, the rest took to the ground themselves, ready to fight.

Tanks were important at this point in the battle. Dongsuk got the magic beasts to focus on him by using his aggravation skills. The beasts all turned to him at the same time, as if they’d planned a synchronized move.

“Over here, bugs!”

SKKKRRREEEEE!

Tens of insects all charged at Dongsuk.

CRASHHH!

CRNNN-CRASH!

KRSH!

His shield blocked all of the insects’ attacks. Their powerful jaws and claws couldn’t break through the shield. Dongsuk the tank kept the horde back with his steady stance.

“Wait for it…! Wait for it…!” He was priming for just the right moment.

He held steady, waiting for the ideal time for a counterattack even as the insects relentlessly assaulted him. He was looking for an opening when the bugs were in a position that would allow aggro to continue working on them even as the damage dealers launched their attacks.

This is it!

This was the start of the real battle. This was the reason people called them hunters!

Dongsuk yelled out a single word.

“Go!”

With that one command, the squad unleashed all their firepower on the bugs.

SKKKRRREEEEE!

SKRAWWW!

Magic beasts were screeching everywhere.

Jinwoo watched the battle from the back of the party. That had been the agreement. He imagined how he would handle the situation while watching the others fight.

This is frustrating.

He had to stop himself several times from joining them. He could see the beasts’ weak points. He could also see the hunters making frequent mistakes and missing those weak points. No wonder Jinwoo was frustrated being forced to stay back and watch.

Because of their group chemistry, though, Dongsuk’s squad wasn’t sustaining much damage. Dongsuk’s laid-back attitude before the battle hadn’t been all bluster.

“Jinsuk! Eleven o’clock!”

“Bro, they’re coming from the right, too!”

“Juntae, Sukmin, Gyuhwan! Take the right!”

“Got it!”

“Chuljin, your wrist is swollen. Fall back for now!”

“This is nothing, bro!”

“Do you think we’re done after this? We don’t know how long this’ll go on, so take it easy. Pace yourself.”

“All right.”

It might’ve been because they’d been a squad for a long while, but the communication among them was excellent. Good communication makes for good teamwork. They were completely different from the disorderly association hunters.

And that one isn’t so bad, either.

Jinwoo’s gaze shifted to Jinho.

When a magic beast bit off a part of his shield, Jinho immediately kicked both it and the beast away and swung his sword. The expensive blade beheaded the magic beast with a dull clang. He was doing well for a D-rank newbie.

He’s using good weapons to make up for his lack of skills and experience.

There was a reason hunters went out of their way to obtain expensive weapons.

Jinho made eye contact with Jinwoo and gave him a thumbs-up.

“……”

He looked almost puppylike, so Jinwoo felt he had no choice but to return the thumbs-up. Satisfied, Jinho turned back around.

SKREEEE!

The fierce battle was drawing to a close. Once the hunters had mostly cleared the field, Dongsuk ordered, “Grab all the essence stones! We’ll divide them by nine.”

“Will do.”

“This is my favorite part.”

“Same.”

After watching his exhilarated squad members, Dongsuk walked over to Jinwoo.

“Oh boy. We’re safe because of you.”

“Excuse me?”

“You were the first one to see the bugs coming from above, weren’t you? How’d you know they were there?”

“I had a……hunch,” Jinwoo said vaguely. He couldn’t exactly say it was due to his high perception stat.

“Oh, really? A hunch…… We got lucky, then. I don’t know what would’ve happened if we hadn’t seen them in time. Phew…”

Dongsuk put his hand on his chest and exhaled. Just then…one of the hunters who was searching the bugs waved at Dongsuk.

“You need to see this!”

The squad had gathered together. Dongsuk headed over to them.

“What?”

“These look weird.”

The other hunters parted to let Dongsuk get by. He squatted down and studied their surroundings. He didn’t see anything strange. There were just dead bugs scattered everywhere.

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by ‘weird’?”

One of the hunters pointed at the leg of a nearby bug. “That wound doesn’t look like it’s from us.”

“……” Dongsuk frowned. After inspecting it closely, he said, “It looks like……something bit it?”

“Right? That’s not the only one. Look over there, and that other one, too. That one’s completely missing a wing. These things were already beaten up before they fought us, huh?”

Dongsuk’s face hardened. That’s why the battle hadn’t been particularly challenging despite the sheer number of them.

“What did these things fight before us……?”

At that moment, Jinwoo felt like Dongsuk and some of his crew were staring in his direction. When Jinwoo glanced over at them, they all turned away.

Jinwoo’s suspicions were confirmed.

I knew it……

What he’d thought at the beginning had been right.

The squad really had good chemistry because they’d been working together for a long time. Plus, no members had ever been killed in action. But how was that possible without a healer? Everyone, even great hunters, made mistakes because they were only human. Even this squad’s formation had almost broken moments ago.

Jinwoo had a rough idea what was going on. He couldn’t help giving a small smile.

Maybe……I can use these guys.

If they did what Jinwoo expected, it might be possible.

Dongsuk stood up with a smile on his face. “Okay, we’ll go deeper. If the rest of the dungeon is like this, we should be able to clear it soon.”

He’d spoken loudly on purpose. It likely wasn’t for his regular squad, since they were already clustered around him.

Meanwhile, Jinho approached Jinwoo with a big grin on his face. “Dude, did you see me? You saw me, right? I destroyed those beasts with a…” He lightly slashed the air.

Jinwoo asked, “Aren’t that sword and shield expensive?”

“Hmm? Oh, my father wanted me to have something special for my first raid.”

“Then you should be careful, too.” Jinwoo patted Jinho on the shoulder before following the other hunters who were moving deeper inside the dungeon.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jinho scratched his head, bewildered, but chased after everyone.

The cave stretched on, but they didn’t see any magic beasts. This dungeon had been a straight path so far, so they couldn’t have missed anything.

“Is that all? Whatever we saw at the entrance?”

“Nah, no way.”

“This is all very strange.”

“Still, there should be a boss, right?”

“If there wasn’t, the gate wouldn’t be open.”

The hunters quarreled over why the spacious dungeon was so empty.

“Wait.” Dongsuk stopped walking.

There were some little collisions because he’d stopped so suddenly. One hunter bumped his nose into the back of another’s head and got all whiny.

“F—Bro! What the heck?”

“Gyuhwan, give me some light.”

Gyuhwan moved the sphere of light that was floating above the middle of the group to where Dongsuk was pointing.

“Oh my God……”

“Are those all…?”

The hunters gasped quietly.

Insect wings, legs, bodies, and even heads: The remains of bugs were strewn everywhere. The number of carcasses increased the deeper they went.

At the end of the corridor was a huge chamber.

“It’s the boss’s lair,” someone muttered.

Dongsuk nodded in agreement. “Everyone, ready your weapons.”

The hunters immediately armed themselves. Everyone looked tense. They tiptoed their way to the entrance of the room.

Dongsuk led the way, and they all cautiously entered the boss’s lair. But the silence didn’t last long.

“J-jackpot!” the hunter with a red nose exclaimed. He was the one who’d bumped into someone’s back earlier.

It was normally taboo to yell like that in a dungeon. The noise could attract the attention of a beast that could’ve otherwise been avoided. But no one told him off.

“Whoa…”

“How much do you think that’s worth?”

“This is sick!”

Everyone was too preoccupied with excitement.

“Hold on.” As Gyuhwan moved the ball of light high in the air, more of the chamber was revealed.

“Those are mana stones!”

“This entire wall is covered in mana stones!”

The hunters’ eyes twinkled brighter than the stones were sparkling in the light.

Mana stones were one of the treasures that could be found in dungeons. They had weaker magic than the essence stones harvested from magic beasts but were usually found in large clumps, so hunters could make a lot of money from them.

This time, they’d found an incredible trove. The stones covered an entire section of the rounded wall of the cave.

“At a rough calculation…” A hunter who was good at math counted quickly on his fingers. “If we harvest all of them, it should come out to more than one hundred million won? If we divide it by nine, each of us will get over ten million won!”

“““Whoa…””” Grins spread across all the hunters’ faces.

At the back of the group, Jinho elbowed Jinwoo in the side after hearing that. “Dude, give me your contract.”

“What for?”

“Trust me and give it here. I know the law like the back of my hand.”

Jinwoo shrugged and handed his contract to Jinho. Jinho took it and went over to Dongsuk.

“Excuse me, sir. I have a question for you.”

All their gazes swiveled to Jinho.

He showed them the contract. “Sir, this is Jinwoo’s contract. As you can see, there is no mention of essence stones other than the ones that come from hunting.”

Everyone realized what Jinho was saying.

—It was customary to equally divide treasure or rare items found in a dungeon among all party members. This was different from battling magic beasts, because with magic beasts, they could harvest essence stones from only the ones they defeated themselves.

That meant these mana stones had to be divided by ten, not nine. The other hunters’ eyes narrowed, but Dongsuk walked in front of the group with a smile on his face.

“Of course we’ll divvy these up equally. We know that very well. We just have something to take care of first.”

He pointed at something up ahead.

Jinho jumped in surprise. He thought Dongsuk was pointing at him. He flinched but then turned around. There, curled in a corner of the room, was a spider as big as a house.

“Oh……!” Upon seeing the huge beast, Jinho stumbled back with his hand over his mouth.

The sleeping spider didn’t move a single muscle. There were mountains of insect carcasses around the beast. The half-eaten insect exoskeletons covered in saliva sort of looked like food waste that had spilled out of an overturned trash bin.

“That has to be the boss.”

“Did that thing eat the other bugs in the dungeon?”

“It really gorged itself, didn’t it?”

The hunters muttered to one another as they took in the spider.

Dongsuk gathered the squad around him. Jinwoo and Jinho also huddled up.

“As you all well know, the gate closes when the boss is killed, so let’s grab the mana stones from the wall before we take on the spider.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Dongsuk turned to a bald hunter. “Chuljin, did you bring the tools?”

Chuljin Lee shook his head. “No… Who knew we would find mana stones in a C-rank dungeon? I left all the mining tools in the car.”

“Dude… Didn’t I tell you to be prepared for any situation?”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m really sorry.” Chuljin smiled sheepishly and bowed in apology to Dongsuk, everyone in the squad, and even Jinwoo.

Dongsuk scratched his head. “Oh boy, this is annoying. Can you two please stay here? We’ll be back with the tools.”

When they tried to leave, Jinho stopped them with a question, puzzled. “You want just Jinwoo and me to stay in the boss’s lair?”

Dongsuk smiled reassuringly. “You’ll be fine. That thing isn’t waking up even though we’re talking so loudly, right? I have something I need to tell my squad anyway, and we’re thinking of taking a quick smoke break, since we can. We’ll be right back.”

Inside his head, Jinwoo scoffed at Dongsuk’s lengthy explanation.

They’re showing their true colors now. But really, all of them trying to leave at once? How dumb do they think we are?

They were probably looking down on them for being a lower rank. Dongsuk acted exactly as Jinwoo had expected, though the situation was a little different from what he’d imagined.

This was Jinwoo’s fourth year working as a hunter, and over time, he’d met many different hunters. Among them had been a hunter named Mr. Oh. After he quit freelancing, he had started helping the association with odd jobs to pass the time.

“Beware the lizards.”

That was something Mr. Oh frequently said.

When participating in a raid, there would often be times when hunters ran into danger. It didn’t happen every raid, but some unscrupulous hunters would sometimes sacrifice others in such a situation, even though they’d fought together as colleagues up until that point. This could be anywhere from ditching people who weren’t part of the original squad or even hunters who were of a lower rank. This was done to buy themselves time to escape. It was like a lizard cutting off its own tail when running away.

Cutting off its own tail……

Mr. Oh referred to such hunters as “lizards” and this act as “cutting off its own tail.”

According to the rules, the minimum number of party members needed in order to attack a C-rank gate was ten. However, Dongsuk’s squad had consisted of only eight regular members.

“You know how hard it is to have a healer in a strike squad! This is just how we roll.”

As Dongsuk himself had said, they’d raided many C-rank gates in the past.

No wonder they’d never needed to bring in two more permanent members.

What they wanted was a tail they could cut off every time. That was why they’d accepted any hunter, whether they were an E rank or a newbie.

Currently, Dongsuk was planning to ditch Jinwoo and Jinho, though for a different reason than usual.

This is good for me.

Jinwoo had figured out what Dongsuk was up to, but he kept quiet. This was actually what he wanted. It was the first day on the job for Jinho, though, and unlike Jinwoo, he wasn’t particularly confident that he could protect himself.

He anxiously said, “No, I mean…… It’d be better if everyone stuck together.”

Jinwoo noticed one of the hunters at the back of the group reaching toward his sword in its sheath. Jinwoo put his hand on Jinho’s shoulder.

“Understood. We’ll keep an eye on the spider.”

The hunter took his hand off his sword.

“Jinwoo……?”

Jinho looked like he was at a loss, but Jinwoo shook his head at him without saying a word. Even though Jinho was a noisy kid, Jinwoo couldn’t let him die like this. He’d even tried to include Jinwoo in the divvying up of the mana stones, though that meant he himself would get a smaller share.

Dongsuk smiled at the both of them. “We parked the car right out front, so it won’t take too long.”

The eight members of Dongsuk’s squad left the boss’s lair in a hurry. The sound of their footsteps receded quickly.

Jinho rounded on Jinwoo. “Dude, why’d you say that? What if the beast wakes up? Then what?”

He seemed petrified of the spider.

He really sucks at reading between the lines.

Jinwoo tutted in his head. Explaining every little thing would be a pain, too. Instead of responding, he started stretching.

Dongsuk turned around and looked in the direction of the boss’s lair. The hunters who were following him also stopped in their tracks. They were quite far from the chamber now. The other two wouldn’t be able to hear them from this distance.

Dongsuk wiped the smile from his face and addressed Gyuhwan, gesturing with his chin at the path to the lair.

“Gyuhwan, block the entrance.”

“Should I blow it up?”

“Yeah, but take it easy. We have to go back inside later.”

Chuljin spoke up. “Why make things so complicated? Why not just kill those two already?”

Dongsuk glowered at Chuljin. He didn’t have to fake a smile for their guests any longer.

That, at least, was convenient for him.

“I-I’m sorry.” Chuljin cast his eyes down in fear.

Dongsuk tsked. “What if we woke up the spider? When’re you planning to mine and haul away those mana stones?”

“I’m sorry—”

Gyuhwan interrupted. “Speaking of the spider…… It could wake while we dig up the mana stones, no? How do we avoid that?”

The spider had filled its stomach with hard-to-kill insect-type magic beasts. They could sustain a lot of damage if the spider attacked them while they were preoccupied.

“That’s why.” Dongsuk smirked. “I want to feed those two to the spider.”

“Ahhh.” Gyuhwan nodded, finally understanding Dongsuk’s master plan.

They didn’t know when the spider was going to wake up. It could be ten hours, one hour, or one minute from now. So the plan was to rouse and feed the spider in advance. The shock wave from a collapsed entrance would wake even the most lethargic beast.

Dongsuk continued. “We can excavate the stones once the stuffed spider goes back to sleep.”

They had a five-day work permit from the association, and they still had four and a half days left. They could afford to wait a while, and even if the spider didn’t go back to sleep in time, they could still kill it and harvest as many mana stones as possible before the gate closed. It wouldn’t be possible to dig them all up in an hour, but they wouldn’t have to share them with Jinwoo and Jinho, so it wouldn’t be much of a loss.

Wouldn’t that be better than mining the mana stones in a constant state of fear? After all, safety first!

Of course, that’s the worst-case scenario……

If everything went well, they would dig up all the mana stones, kill the spider, and not have to share a single won with the other two. Jinho’s expensive weapons would be a bonus.

His sword and shield cost at least a couple hundred thousand.

They had nothing to lose.

Dongsuk smirked. “Block the entrance, and we’ll grab a smoke.”

“You got it,” Gyuhwan responded quickly, summoning a blinding light to the tips of his fingers.

“……” Jinho’s eyes were fixed on the spider. He even breathed carefully.

He had a fearful look on his face when he asked, “That spider, it’s not gonna wake up, is it?”

“I don’t know.” Jinwoo gave a curt reply. He could guess what was going to happen next, but he was a little worried Jinho would faint if he told him the truth.

It just hit me……

These were the first words Jinho had uttered in the past five minutes. He seemed terrified, considering how chatty he’d been earlier.

Suddenly…

KABOOM!

The entrance to the boss’s lair collapsed with an explosive thundering.

“H-huh? Wh-what?” Jinho rushed over to the entrance, but a mound of rubble now had it barricaded. The rocks wouldn’t move no matter how hard Jinho pushed on them.

Jinwoo meandered over.

“Hnnngh! Help me, dude!” Jinho was still trying to clear a path.

What was that guy’s name? Gyuhwan Jo?

Jinwoo had seen a bright light flashing right before the explosion. That guy was a C-rank mage hunter who controlled light. It was absolutely his work.

Jinwoo placed his hand on the mound of stones.

I can definitely get out of here if I want to.

He could feel the weight of the stones through his arm. They weren’t as heavy as he’d thought. When he applied slight pressure with his hand, he could feel them shift.

But he had no intention of leaving.

“Wait!” Jinho seemed to have had an epiphany. His face was flushed red as he turned to Jinwoo.

“Those bastards are trying to kill us! They don’t want to share the mana stones, so they’re trying to kill us using the spider!”

He catches on quick, doesn’t he?

Jinwoo sighed to himself internally but played along. “You’re right. We’re in trouble.”

“Ack!” Jinho’s cheeks suddenly turned from red to white. All the blood had drained from his face.

Jinwoo knew why even without asking. There, in Jinho’s eyes, was the reflection of the spider.

Jinwoo spun around.

Crrrk, crrrrrk.

Awakened by the explosion, the spider was now raising its massive body. A body the size of a house. Several dozen eyes. A revolting mouth. And long, outstretched legs.

The spider looked even more terrible in motion than when it was asleep.

“Uuugh……,” Jinho groaned. He was frozen stiff in fear.

Meanwhile, Jinwoo kept his eyes on the spider as he called up Kasaka’s Venom Fang from his inventory.

It’s mine.

This was a good opportunity to test his upgraded abilities. Kasaka’s Venom Fang automatically appeared in his right hand.

Whoosh…

It was like the dagger had been in his grip the whole time. Jinwoo tightly clutched the weapon’s hilt.

This was why hunters were called hunters! It was time to do some true hunting.

“W-w-wait, dude!” Jinho unexpectedly grabbed Jinwoo’s sleeve as he stepped toward the spider. “Wh-wh-what are you doing?”

Jinho’s hands were trembling.

Jinwoo pointed over his left shoulder with his thumb. “Going after that thing.”

This was why he’d followed Dongsuk’s squad in the first place. He wanted an opportunity to kill all the beasts by himself when they cut the tail, so to speak. It was a good chance to gain both experience and essence stones.

I wish this boss hadn’t eaten the other bugs……

He could’ve picked up more rewards. That was the one letdown.

Since he didn’t know anything about Jinwoo, Jinho stared at him in disbelief.

What is this dude talking about?

He remembered hearing that some people went crazy after a traumatic experience. The E-rank hunter in front of him wanted to take down the boss of a C-rank dungeon. If that wasn’t crazy, what was?

Jinho asked him, “You’re going after it?”

Jinwoo rubbed his forehead, as if troubled. “Then are you gonna kill it?”

Jinwoo turned around before Jinho could even open his mouth. He didn’t need to hear the answer. Jinho could barely stand on his quivering legs. Jinwoo hadn’t expected anything from him from the start. Rather, he was glad Jinho didn’t try to help.

He’d just get in my way.

Jinwoo approached the spider. The arachnid also seemed to notice them and turned with its eight legs.

It was coming. The spider took its time like it was curious about this prey it had never seen before. It slowly approached, digging its long, thick legs into the ground.

Hwoooo…

Jinwoo felt like he was suffocating as the gigantic body gradually filled his entire field of vision. His heart started beating faster.

Ba-dump, ba-dump.

He took a deep breath in an effort to collect himself. He needed to stay calm.

He recalled how he’d felt when he’d stood at the top of the stairs leading to the Blue Venom-Fanged Kasaka in the instance dungeon at Hapjeong Station. He didn’t feel as much pressure from this spider as he had the kasaka.

That meant it was definitely doable. He wouldn’t have stayed behind anyway if he’d thought it would be impossible to defeat the boss.

Crrrk.

He was close enough to the spider now to be able to see his own reflection in its glassy eyes. Jinwoo squinted.

Its skin looks quite tough…… Will I be able to do enough damage with this dagger?

The knife didn’t have the reach of the steel sword. He would need to focus more of his power in order to deliver a deep-enough cut. He changed his grip on the dagger so the blade was pointing down. He thought this would be better for causing damage.

Crrrk.

The spider finally stopped in front of Jinwoo. It then raised two of its legs and bent them in an L shape.

What’s it doing?

Jinwoo didn’t dwell on this very long. His eyes shot open.

BOOM!

If he hadn’t twisted his body instinctively, the spider’s legs would’ve crushed his chest. The spider lifted its legs from where it had smashed the ground behind Jinwoo and folded them back into itself.

Crrrrrk.

Rocky debris fell from its legs.

Jinwoo peeked behind him. The stone floor of the cavern had noticeable holes in it.

If I get hit by those legs, it won’t just be painful.

Jinwoo’s eyes narrowed. It was time to focus.

It’s coming!

Shhhk!

The spider’s legs had moved at the speed of a bullet before, but he could see its movements clearly now.

Left.

He ducked to avoid the left leg.

Right.

He twisted his body to one side to escape the right leg and advanced a step.

Right.

He dodged the leg that had aimed for his head again and took two steps forward.

Left. Right. Right. Left. Right. Right. Right. Left. Left.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The spider’s legs kept making holes in the ground with a loud, ear-piercing sound. One by one, Jinwoo evaded the arachnid’s attacks and closed the gap between them little by little.

Jinho couldn’t believe his eyes. “I-is he even human?”

The spider’s attacks were so brutal that, even at a distance, it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. But Jinwoo continued dodging every single strike and got closer to the magic beast. His calm demeanor and clean moves gave Jinho goose bumps.

“That’s an E-rank hunter?”

No, that wasn’t possible. Had he been in Jinwoo’s place, his body would’ve been torn apart like a rag. He wasn’t sure if he could’ve avoided the attacks even once or twice, but Jinwoo had avoided them flawlessly so far.

For an E-rank hunter to do something that he, a D rank, couldn’t do? There could be only one explanation.

He’s a false ranker……!

Jinho’s face turned grim.

Some talented hunters had excellent control over their own magic. They could even lower their levels if they wanted to. There were hunters who hid their magic power on purpose in order to receive a lower rank. They were called “false rankers.”

And most false rankers had ill intentions.

Some of them are serial killers who target lower-rank hunters in low-rank dungeons……

Hunters were the only people who could enter dungeons, so they were the perfect place for hunters to commit crimes.

Jinho swallowed hard. All at once, he was more afraid of Jinwoo than the spider.

Why did I want to do this again……?

He suddenly felt like he was about to cry.

Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!

While Jinho was lost in his thoughts, the spider had continued its assault. Jinwoo had evaded its onslaught and was now confident of his victory. Its head was nearly within his reach. It had been easy to close the distance to the spider because its pattern of movement was simple.

I should aim for its eyes first.

Aiming for the target’s weakness was the basic rule of raids. Jinwoo decided to start with its vulnerable eyes.

If I can just stab one with this dagger!

Jinwoo was about to make his move when…he got the sudden impression that the spider’s attacks were slowing down.

Shhhk! Shhhk!

Was he just growing accustomed to its quick attacks?

BOOM! BOOM!

No, that wasn’t it. While his eyes could be deceived, his ears never lied. The gap between those ear-piercing blasts were growing as the spider slowed.

Jinwoo had always trusted his good hearing. He was struck with an ominous feeling.

He looked closer and noticed the muscles near the spider’s mouth twitching.

Why is it starting to move its mouth now…?

He was about to jump up three meters toward the spider’s head, but he hesitated. Jinwoo made a split-second decision to change his direction and threw his body to one side instead. Right as he did…

Shwaaaaah!

A murky liquid shot out of the arachnid’s mouth.

Jinwoo tumbled to the ground but quickly regained his footing and looked back. The spot where he’d been standing was charred black and smoking.

Frrrshhhhh…

The stones on the ground melted.

He gulped.

If I’d jumped straight up……

The stones wouldn’t have been the only things melting.

The spider rushed at him as if sensing Jinwoo’s agitation.

Shhhf, shhhf.

Jinwoo raised his head. It was right in front of him.

Shhhhk!

He leaped to avoid the spider’s legs.

BOOM!

The spider renewed its onslaught.

“Crap!”

He got close to the beast a few more times but had to retreat to escape its digestive acid.

It was harder to deal with the spider now that it had two attacks. If Jinwoo got closer to avoid its legs, stomach acid would shoot out. If he backed away because of the acid, the spider would strike with its legs.

“Dammit!”

In frustration, he tried attacking the spider’s leg with the dagger. No matter how hard he stabbed, though, he couldn’t even make a scratch because of its thick hide.

He bit his lower lip.

This isn’t good.

The spider was using only two legs to strike Jinwoo, but Jinwoo was throwing his whole body around to avoid its attacks. It was obvious who would get tired first.

Fatigue.

Not surprisingly, his fatigue was increasing rapidly. His speed would decrease if his fatigue level reached seventy, and he wouldn’t be able to move properly if it reached ninety because he’d be completely out of breath.

He didn’t have much time.

If I can get closer to it faster…

Speed. Speed was his problem.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Wait, speed?

A thought occurred to Jinwoo as he was narrowly dodging the spider’s legs.

I have that!

The only skill he could actually use. He’d forgotten about it because he hadn’t had much use for it until now.

Dash!

As soon as the message popped up, Jinwoo’s body moved faster, like he was on rocket boosters. It was much easier to avoid the spider’s legs.

Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He effortlessly danced between the spider’s legs coming down like lightning and got right in front of the beast’s face. The panicked arachnid hastily spit out some digestive acid.

Shwaaaaah!

But Jinwoo didn’t have to rush this time thanks to the speed boost. He easily avoided the acid blast and jumped up to his opponent’s head.

Shiiing!

The dagger sliced at the spider’s eyes diagonally.

“Nice!”

The drain debuff of Kasaka’s Venom Fang had been successful.

CRAAAAAHHH! The spider screeched and stumbled.

Jinwoo didn’t waste this chance. As soon as he landed on the ground, he leaped up again, using the spider’s body to reach its head.

The beast started waving its legs around, but the blind attacks didn’t work on Jinwoo.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

All they did was gouge more holes in the ground.

Jinwoo reached the top of the spider’s head and started stabbing its multiple eyes.

Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!

CRAAAAAAAHHHH!

Shhhk! Shhhk!

CRAAAAHHH!

The spider flailed like crazy, but Jinwoo continued to hold on and stab its head.

CREEEE! The spider started to falter. Jinwoo’s attacks were working. His hands sped up.

Finally, the arachnid’s huge body buckled on one side.

THUUUD!

Jinwoo kept going until he was sure the creature was dead.

Shhhk! Shhhk! Shhhk!

Cree, screeee…

As soon as the spider took its last breath, the messages poured in.

“Yes!” Jinwoo flung his blood-soaked arms up in victory.

His level had been raised three times, most likely due to it being a boss.

“Stat screen.”

[Name: Jinwoo Sung]
[Job: None]
[HP: 2,600]
[Fatigue: 0]

[Level: 21]
[Title: Wolf Assassin]
[MP: 390]

[Stats]
Strength:	53
Stamina:	30
Agility:	38
Intelligence:	30
Perception:	32

(Available ability points: 0)

He had jumped from level 18 to level 21 in one fell swoop.

But that wasn’t all. He’d received yet another message.

Ping!

I can finally use the gold?

This was good news, but there was no time to check out the shop here.

Rrrumble…

The cave shook a little.

They had to leave before the gate closed. He could check out the shop later.

Jinwoo was about to slide back down to the ground when something shiny in the middle of the spider’s head caught his eye.

An item?

He hadn’t received a message about acquiring an item, though, and wasn’t able to harvest it automatically by extending a hand. What could it be?

Jinwoo soon figured it out.

Ah, it’s an essence stone.

No matter how much of a hurry he was in, he had to take what was his. He ripped out the essence stone hidden inside the spider’s head. It would be worth at least 10,000,000 won, since it was a C-rank essence stone. It was a pretty good trophy for an awesome victory.

Jinwoo jumped down from the boss’s head.

Thump.

He landed lightly and turned around this time to see multiple glimmers shining from the spider’s stomach.

He was puzzled. He’d heard of some magic beasts having two or three essence stones, but there were too many for it to be that.

What’re those?

When he opened the stomach and cut out its intestines with his dagger, the carcasses of half-digested insects fell out. The lights were emitting from these bugs.

“No way!”

Jinwoo searched the bugs one by one. Each had an essence stone. Some were small because the spider had been digesting them, but most of them looked fine. There were more than ten in total.

“This is insane!”

He’d come here to make money to pay a single month’s rent, but this would be enough to cover a whole year!

“Boss.” He turned around to see Jinho. “Please put them in here.”

Jinho stored all of Jinwoo’s essence stones carefully in his bag. He then took out a thermos and poured something into the cap.

“Are you thirsty, boss? Please drink this. It’s water.”

The water was icy enough to cause condensation on the outside of the cap.

Why’s this guy being so nice?

Jinwoo was bewildered but took the cap anyway, since he was dehydrated.

Glug-glug.

The water soothed his parched throat.

“How is it, boss?”

At some point, Jinho had also started referring to Jinwoo as “boss.”

“Hmm… It’s refreshing.” Jinwoo returned the cap. “Also, whatever you saw here…”

Before Jinwoo could finish his sentence, Jinho assured him that he had nothing to worry about. “Of course! I’ll take this secret to the grave!”

“Well, you don’t have to go that far.”

“Yes, I do. This is my promise to you, boss.”

“Um…… Sure. If you’re okay with it.”

“Don’t worry, boss.”

It wasn’t like people would believe that an E-rank hunter had killed a C-rank boss anyway. It was quite convenient, though, that Jinho was going to keep Jinwoo’s secret.

I thought he couldn’t take a hint, but he sure picked up on this quickly.

“Do you have anything else you’d like to say, boss?”

“……No.”

This feels weird.

Jinwoo thought it was odd that Jinho was being so polite, but he had a theory.

I guess I did technically save his life.

Being polite to the person who had rescued him made sense. If he thought about it that way, he understood where Jinho was coming from.

He was slightly off the mark, however.

RRRUMMMBBBLE.

The dungeon shook again, then stopped. These tremors were a sign that the gate was closing soon. It would get progressively worse, and by the time the door was about to shut, it would feel like an earthquake.

“Let’s go.”

“Yessir.”

Jinwoo headed toward the entrance. As if on cue, a light shone near it, and mounds of stones collapsed.

Baaang!

Dongsuk and his squad ran in. They were dumbfounded to see the dead spider lying behind Jinwoo.

“What, it’s really dead?”

“Those two actually killed it?”

“Was the spider just super big but super weak?”

“I mean, how else could an E ranker and a D ranker kill it?”

“Bro, what should we do now?”

Dongsuk scratched his chin as he looked at Jinwoo and Jinho. The gate would soon close, since the boss had been killed. It was too late to dig up the mana stones on the wall. They hadn’t gotten their gear ready, and there was less than an hour left.

It was time for a change of plans. Dongsuk loudly called to Jinho.

“Jinho Yoo!”

Jinho flinched and took a step back. His face showed how nervous he was.

Dongsuk smirked. “We did some research on you because your weapons looked real nice, and it turns out your dad’s quite famous, isn’t he? Myunghan Yoo of Yoojin Construction.”

“S-so?”

“We’ll give you a chance because we’ve got something we’d like to say to your dear old dad, but we’ll all be in trouble if what happened here gets out. You’ll need to become our accomplice if you want to live.”

“Your accomplice?”

Dongsuk motioned at Jinwoo with his chin. His discomfiting gaze made Jinwoo’s brow twitch for a second.

“Kill Jinwoo Sung.”

“What?” Jinho was appalled.

Dongsuk laughed as if Jinho’s expression was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.

Originally, Dongsuk had intended to kill both Jinho and Jinwoo. While waiting outside, though, he’d done some research on his phone and discovered Jinho’s father was the owner of a prominent domestic construction company. That had given him an idea.

What if we film him killing Jinwoo Sung and blackmail Myunghan Yoo?

Myunghan Yoo’s projected net worth was at least 10,000,000,000,000 won. If they played their cards right, they could make several times more money than what the mana stones were worth.

“That’s the only way you can walk out of here alive! Kill Jinwoo Sung with your own hands, and we’ll spare you. If not, we’ll kill you both.”

Dongsuk’s eyes turned vicious. “What’re you waiting for? What happens in a dungeon stays in a dungeon anyway. Don’t tell me you, a D rank, are afraid of some E ranker?”

Jinho looked to his side.

Jinwoo replied with a shrug. That meant Jinho could do whatever he wanted to do.

Jinho drew his sword, a determined look on his face.

Guess he finally made a decision.

Dongsuk began smiling. However, the choice Jinho had made wasn’t the one he’d been expecting.

Jinho stood by Jinwoo’s side, sword in hand.

“Whoa, you wanna team up with him to fight us?” Dongsuk muttered to himself.

The balls on this rich brat! Just because he’d gotten lucky and defeated one C-rank boss!

Gyuhwan whispered to him, “What should we do?”

Dongsuk lowered his voice so Jinwoo and Jinho couldn’t hear him. “Get rid of Jinwoo Sung first. We need to hold on to the ATM. We’ve already suffered too many losses today.”

“Gotcha.” Blinding light started gathering in Gyuhwan’s hand.

Jinwoo narrowed his eyes.

They really want to do this.

This was the first time Jinwoo was facing off against another hunter. Nevertheless, he didn’t have even the tiniest intention of going easy on anyone threatening his life. Just then…

Ping!

The familiar notification bell sounded.

Urgent quest?

Jinwoo looked up.

The quest screen automatically came up on display before he could tell it to open. That had never happened before.

Jinwoo’s eyes widened.

The goal of this quest is to kill Dongsuk’s entire crew?

Then, out of nowhere, there was a brilliant flash before his eyes. Gyuhwan had shot an arrow of light at Jinwoo.

Blam!

The blast threw Jinwoo against the wall.

Wham!

Part of the cavern collapsed on top of Jinwoo.

Krrrrm.

“Boss!” Jinho made to run to Jinwoo’s side, but Dongsuk called out to him.

“Jinho Yoo!”

Jinho stopped in his tracks, startled.

“He’s already dead, so don’t worry about him and get over here.” Dongsuk motioned to him with his finger.

Jinho looked back at Jinwoo. As Dongsuk had said, Jinwoo was lying motionless under the rubble.

“Y-you…… You murderers……!” Tears welled up in his eyes.

Dongsuk and his squad snickered at Jinho’s accusation—because it was true. They’d lost track of how many people had died by their hands in dungeons.

While Jinho confronted the jeering squad, Jinwoo, buried under the debris, couldn’t believe what he was seeing from under the rubble. Through the gaps between the broken rock, he watched the text of the quest changing.

A few of the words glitched out and then smoothly re-formed.

It was a clear threat. He would die if he didn’t complete the task that had been set for him.

So I have to kill them if I don’t want to die?

The content was shocking, but Jinwoo wasn’t fazed for long. That feeling quickly changed to relief. He couldn’t believe it, but it was true.

One worry had been plaguing Jinwoo ever since he’d started receiving messages and seeing his ability stats.

—What if this weird phenomenon suddenly ends?

Because this had all started arbitrarily, it could end just as suddenly, couldn’t it? This uneasy feeling constantly plagued him.

However, things had become clearer with this urgent quest. This was neither coincidence nor benevolence. Had it been benevolent, the quest would have been to escape this dangerous situation, and it wouldn’t have threatened him with a death penalty.

The system had its own objective. It was not to “make Jinwoo Sung stronger” but rather that it “needed a strong Jinwoo Sung.”

When necessary, I’ll even need to kill other hunters without any reservations……

He gleaned the system’s intentions from this quest. Jinwoo felt relieved again.

Thank goodness.

It wasn’t arbitrary. Its purpose was clear.

He’d wanted to get stronger every time he’d experienced a crisis. He’d wanted to escape the unstable lifestyle that made him feel like he was constantly hanging on the edge of a cliff. That fateful day, an opportunity had presented itself the moment he’d been in the most peril. The system’s objective and Jinwoo’s were completely aligned.

The system will use me, and I’ll use the system.

That was all he needed. This phenomenon wouldn’t suddenly disappear as long as its objective remained.

Jinwoo rose from the rubble.

As expected of a C-rank hunter’s magic. His HP was down by almost half after just one attack.

Jinwoo couldn’t afford to hold back anymore. His eyes were filled with malice. He stepped toward Dongsuk.

“Huh?” Dongsuk and his squad belatedly spotted Jinwoo from where they were swarming around the frightened Jinho.

“What the—? He’s alive?”

“Gyuhwan, you’re losing your touch!”

“What a joke; he’s an E ranker.”

Dongsuk scratched his chin again. “Gyuhwan, you shouldn’t have held back.”

Gyuhwan’s face reddened. “I…… I guess you’re right.”

Dongsuk wasn’t right. Gyuhwan definitely hadn’t held back. He’d used up a third of his magic power, so how was Jinwoo still standing? Did he miss? No, it wouldn’t have been that loud if he had. Gyuhwan had a ton of questions, but he didn’t get a chance to ask because Jinwoo spoke first.

“Since you like to play with people’s lives…”

The eyes of the squad members were fixed on him. He stopped right in front of them. Jinho was startled, but the other hunters didn’t really react. Some of them sneered at him.

Jinwoo continued talking in a monotone. “…I’m guessing you’re prepared to deal with the consequences?”

“Ha!” Dongsuk scoffed at him.

“What did this bastard say?”

“I’ll take care of him.” A hunter with narrow eyes sidled up and slung his arm around Jinwoo’s neck. “Dude, it seems like you don’t know what’s going on here.”

His expression gradually shifted as he flexed his arm.

……What the hell? Why can’t I move him?

He was attempting to put Jinwoo in a headlock, but try as hard as he might, he couldn’t pull down Jinwoo’s head. Wasn’t this guy just an E rank? Sweat formed on the narrow-eyed man’s forehead.

Why is he so strong……?

Suddenly…

Shhhk.

…Juntae’s head fell to the ground.

Whud.

“J-Juntae!” Dongsuk’s lackeys recoiled.

“Wh-what?”

“How did that bastard get a dagger?!”

“Where did it come from?!”

The strike squad retreated a few steps as they drew their weapons. Kasaka’s Venom Fang had appeared in Jinwoo’s hand. Blood dripped from the edge of the dagger.

Ping!

Seven left to go.

Jinwoo eyed each squad member like a predator sizing up its prey.

Dongsuk gulped. He was surprised by the dagger suddenly appearing in Jinwoo’s hand, but he was even more shocked by Juntae’s death.

How could an E-rank hunter kill a D ranker in one hit?

He didn’t know what kind of trick Jinwoo had pulled, but the kid gloves were off. They needed to be careful, though.

Dongsuk exchanged glances with the man next to him.

Gyuhwan, give him one more hit.

Gyuhwan nodded subtly. He wouldn’t fail this time! Light began emitting from the fingers of the determined hunter.

Before he could shoot his arrows of light, though, Jinwoo appeared before him.

“H-huh?” Gyuhwan’s jaw dropped.

Jinwoo glared at him.

Take down the mage hunter with the strong firepower but weak HP.

He’d finished calculating everything in his head. He stabbed Gyuhwan in the neck.

Shhhk.

“Ackkk!” Gyuhwan clutched at the hole in his throat and fell to the ground.

Thud.

“Kill him!”

“Gaaahhh!”

The order prompted all the hunters to jump at Jinwoo at once.

Jinwoo focused his senses and homed in on his enemies’ movements. All sound faded away, and time slowed down. He was making full use of his level-thirty-eight agility attribute. He either blocked or avoided countless strikes from swords, spears, and arrows in close proximity.

The hunters’ eyes widened in shock.

H-how can an E ranker move like this?

He’s too fast!

I can’t hit him!

Their faces went pale.

Speed is relative. In their eyes, Jinwoo was a blur.

Jinwoo wove around the hunters, striking their weak spots one by one.

The special effects of the Kasaka’s Venom Fang dagger threw the hunters into chaos.

“I can’t m-move my body! Ackkk!”

“Magic? Is this magic?”

“You son of a bitch!”

“Argh!”

“Wh-who the fuck are you?!”

“Waaaahhh!”

There was nonstop screaming from every direction. The five hunters who surrounded Jinwoo hit the ground in no time.

Thud.

Thud.

Ping!

Jinwoo turned to look at the last hunter standing. It was the huge, bearded Dongsuk.

Dongsuk threw his shield to the ground with a defiant look on his face. He let out a roar.

“Graaaaah!” He pushed off and rushed at Jinwoo.

Tok, tok, tok, tok!

The hunter weighed the situation as he ran. He was a tank and a high C ranker. Jinwoo was probably a damage dealer. Even though Jinwoo seemed pretty fast, he probably didn’t have the power to penetrate Dongsuk’s Reinforcement skill.

There’s no way he can get off a critical hit with just a dagger!

When they collided, Jinwoo Sung would be the one to go down! As the gap between them narrowed, Dongsuk angled his body so his shoulder would strike Jinwoo first.

“Reinforcement!”

Right then, his vision suddenly spun, and he found himself looking at the dungeon’s ceiling.

Thud!

His head rattled, and his neck and back hit the ground hard. He tried to get up, but his body refused to listen. Despite straining as hard as he could, Dongsuk could only lie there.

“Koff!” Blood flew out of his mouth.

Did he…… Did he throw me?

Had he, Dongsuk Hwang, lost to this boy? Had he really lost to him in a battle of physical strength? “How could an E ranker……?”

There had to have been a mistake. Jinwoo had defeated five C-rank and three D-rank hunters in a blink of an eye. There was no way this guy was an E rank.

Jinwoo stood over Dongsuk. The seasoned hunter was having trouble controlling his own body. The victor was clear. Had they been sparring or brawling for sport, it would’ve ended there, but Jinwoo had no intention of letting him go.

“W-wait.” Dongsuk raised his hand. “P-please spare my life! I can give you m-money. As much as you want. Please have mercy…”

“Three times,” Jinwoo told him coldly. “You tried to kill me three times, and you have the nerve to ask me to spare your life?”

The first time had been when he’d blocked the entrance of the boss’s lair. The second was when he’d ordered Jinho to kill him. And the third was when he’d ordered Gyuhwan to shoot him. Each instance had been Dongsuk ordering Jinwoo’s murder. And that wasn’t counting this battle.

Tit for tat.

After Jinwoo had survived the underground temple, he’d resolved to give as good as he got, for better or worse.

An eye for an eye. There was no room for compromise.

Dongsuk started frothing at the mouth in rage when he realized begging wouldn’t work. “Do—do you think you can get away with this?! Do you have any idea who my younger brothe—?!”

Crack!

He couldn’t continue, because his neck was broken. “Hkkkkk…”

Dongsuk’s eyes rolled back.

Ping!

The quest was finally over.

“Whew…” Jinwoo withdrew his hands from Dongsuk’s head and gave a heavy sigh loaded with many different emotions.

He gazed at his hands. Even if it had been a one-sided fight, he’d just killed eight people, yet his hands weren’t shaking at all.

Is this normal?

Jinwoo placed his hand on his chest and felt his heart.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

His heart was beating normally, like nothing had happened.

Maybe……

For the first time, he considered the possibility that being able to see the system might not have been the only change in him since he’d returned from the underground temple. He didn’t dwell on it for long, though, as his thoughts were interrupted by the familiar notification sound.

Ping!

As he’d sort of been expecting, there were rewards. Jinwoo didn’t hesitate.

Check.

Ping!

Ten ability points plus a skill?

Jinwoo’s eyes went wide at the sight of these fantastic rewards. Ability points were always good, but what really got his attention was the new skill.

If I didn’t use the Dash skill when I was fighting the spider……

He’d been able to kill that boss only because of Dash. Skills could completely change the outcome of a battle. There was a reason why rune stones, from which hunters could learn skills, were incredibly expensive.

Jinwoo chose to check Skill: Murderous Intent right away.

Check reward three.

Ping!

It was rare for a skill to be able to decrease all of an opponent’s abilities even temporarily. Just like other debuffs, the effect most likely wouldn’t work on someone with high resistance, but Jinwoo would be able to easily overwhelm most enemies when it was activated. Furthermore, since it could affect several people at once, this opened up infinite possibilities as to how it could be employed.

This is pretty cool.

The rewards were as massive as the penalty would’ve been.

Wait…… These rewards aren’t that great if I think about it.

The penalty had put his life on the line. Was this all he was getting?

Jinwoo looked around. He frowned at the horrible scene. He’d witnessed many a death during his time as a hunter, but he still couldn’t get used to seeing dead bodies.

This was the result that the quest had demanded. He felt that the rewards weren’t good enough for a mission that required so many deaths, though Jinwoo supposed he couldn’t have avoided the fight with Dongsuk’s crew, even if it hadn’t been for the quest.

It’s true, there’s no end to human greed……

He shook his head.

The cave trembled again.

RUUUMMMBLE—

The tremors were even worse than before. It was time to leave the dungeon. Before he did, though, he needed to take care of a couple of loose ends, starting with Jinho.

Jinwoo’s eyes moved toward him. Jinwoo felt sorry when the startled newbie hunter quickly looked down to avoid his gaze.

What should I do with him?

Jinwoo had no intention of harming Jinho. There was no need or reason to. Still, it would be troublesome for Jinwoo if other people found out about what had happened here.

I should at least make sure he keeps qui—

His thoughts were cut short when Jinho dropped to his knees and quickly bowed his head. “Please spare my life, boss!”

“……”

Jinwoo had a hunch that dealing with Jinho would be easier than he thought.