4

THE S-RANK LUGGAGE CARRIER

An E-rank hunter volunteering to go inside an A-rank dungeon?! The group erupted in pandemonium.

“You want to go when it’s absolutely swarming with high-level beasts in there?”

“What the heck are you thinking, Sung?”

“You’re still young with so much to live for! Don’t go risking your life just for a little bit of extra cash!”

The excavation team swarmed around Jinwoo.

Yoonsuk tried to smooth things over with Kihoon. “My goodness! That young man only started working yesterday, so he raised his hand out of pure ignorance.”

“What’s his rank?”

“He’s a…” Yoonsuk glanced briefly at Jinwoo and lowered his voice. “He’s an E rank, which is way too low, so why don’t you pick someone else? It’s too dangerous for him.”

Kihoon deliberated seriously.

That man is an E rank……?

Kihoon had made eye contact with him earlier. He definitely didn’t sense any kind of incredible magic power from him, but he had a certain… He couldn’t explain, but…he could feel a sharp and focused energy coming from Jinwoo.

I don’t think he’s an E rank.

Kihoon didn’t think Jinwoo was a hunter of the lowest rank. Of course, there was no reason for Yoonsuk to lie to him, but Kihoon was certain of that.

Besides, do ranks even matter for luggage carriers?

Their only responsibility was to haul the gear. If the luggage carrier at the rear of the group was in serious danger, then that meant the strike squad had already failed. If an A-rank hunter couldn’t survive the raid, then what did it matter if the luggage carrier was a C rank or an E rank? Death would be inevitable.

Once Kihoon reached that point in his thought process, he decided he didn’t want to waste any more time debating. There had been enough delays, and they hadn’t even started the raid.

Kihoon gazed at Jinwoo. “No, I’ll take him.”

“Is it too heavy?” Kihoon asked.

Jinwoo shook his head. “No, I’m good.”

The large pack on Jinwoo’s back was filled with extra clothes, weapons, protective gear, and more for the strike squad. It was quite big, but it wasn’t particularly heavy thanks to Jinwoo’s high strength stat.

It doesn’t look like it’s too much for him.

After examining Jinwoo’s condition, Kihoon turned toward the gate. Jinwoo also swiveled his head to take it in. A huge gate as big as yesterday’s floated in midair before his very eyes.

No, is this one a little bigger?

Yet they said the amount of magic emanating from today’s gate was less than the one from yesterday. Since the difficulty level of the raid was decided by the level of mana and not by the size of a gate, the second-unit hunters had been put in charge of this raid.

Yeah… The mana coming from this gate is considerably weaker than yesterday’s.

Jinwoo could confirm that as he stood at the threshold. The association’s evaluation appeared to be correct.

But then why…? A weird, ominous sensation passed him by, similar to the one he’d had before entering the red gate.

……I’m sure it’s nothing.

Kihoon gave the order. “Let’s move out.”

The strike squad that had been waiting outside the gate started to head in. One by one, the hunters entered the dungeon.

……

Jinwoo, who’d been warily eyeing the gate, followed them.

The interior of the dungeon seemed normal. Having felt anxious about his strange premonition earlier, Jinwoo let out a relieved sigh after noticing that the passageways were much smaller than the dungeon from yesterday.

Whew.

They fortunately hadn’t been teleported to a different world, either, though this squad was fully capable of clearing a red gate. There were eleven A ranks and six B ranks. In a guild other than the Hunters, the members of this squad would never have been relegated to the second unit.

Jinwoo chuckled.

I’m not even a member of the strike squad, so let’s not get too invested in the situation.

Both today and yesterday were technically vacation days for Jinwoo. He’d simply have more things to stare at today. There was no need to get all sensitive about having joined a “second-tier” group. And with that, he allowed himself to take a chill pill.

“No need to be too nervous.” A female healer walking at Jinwoo’s side, who looked to be in her late twenties, struck up a conversation. She was probably trying to lighten his mood after seeing his tense expression.

“Kihoon—our leader—and all the other hunters here are outstanding at their jobs. Except me anyway.” The healer offered a friendly smile.

Jinwoo hadn’t been afraid, but whatever nervousness he was holding on to was expelled like air from a deflating balloon at her mellow expression.

Jinwoo fought back a sudden urge to laugh and smiled back. “Oh, okay.”

The healer looked pleased with the result.

The front-liners, having confirmed that the entrance was clear of magic beasts, gave the signal to advance. “Let’s move.”

Jinwoo and the healer kept up with the strike squad. They moved slowly in order to keep an eye out for potential threats.

“If it’s too heavy, I could help you.” The healer kept glancing at Jinwoo’s cargo. He wordlessly handed over the carton of water he was holding in his left hand.

“Eek!”

He quickly took back the carton as she struggled to keep a hold of it. The whole squad froze and stared at her.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She bowed apologetically to everyone.

From that point on, she never offered to help Jinwoo again and kept glaring at him. Jinwoo held in his snickers and kept walking nonchalantly.

It had been a while since he’d had a laugh inside a dungeon. In these situations, if someone dropped their guard, they could find themselves in danger in the blink of an eye. Especially the places Jinwoo found himself in these days… It gave him chills to this moment whenever he thought about the level of difficulty of the higher floors inside the Demon’s Castle.

However, today was different. He was a third-party member on this raid, which wasn’t a bad position to be in every so often.

That was when…

Jinwoo halted. It took another beat before the other hunters in the strike squad picked up the same disturbance.

“They’re coming!”

Every hunter in the squad instantly shifted into battle mode even before Kihoon gave any orders. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Jinwoo was highly impressed.

This is how high-rank hunters roll……

They were on a totally different level compared to the motley crews he’d always been a part of before. Even the clumsy healer was ready with a clear, transparent glow around her hands.

I’m guessing I won’t have anything to do here.

Jinwoo was both disappointed and relieved.

At that moment, the magic beasts came into view. Were they animals? Maybe dogs?

Kihoon narrowed his eyes.

Tmp-tmp-tmp-tmp-tmp.

A pack of magic beasts resembling hyenas was racing toward them. Their sizes were that of midsize cars.

Kihoon blinked in confusion.

Dungeon jackals?

His suspicions were confirmed as they drew closer. The magic beasts were indeed dungeon jackals. Kihoon lowered his shield and relaxed his defensive posture, not bothering with a Provocation skill. When one of the jackals leaped for his neck, he easily struck it down with his shield.

“Hnnn!”

“What?”

“Dungeon jackals?”

The other squad members also loosened their tense shoulders with mystified looks. Soon, the dying cries of the whimpering jackals echoed throughout the cave.

“Hnn!”

“Hnnnn!”

“Hnn!”

They eliminated the creatures swiftly. More than ten jackals were turned into jackal carcasses on the ground in no time. The hunters dusted themselves off, clearly baffled.

“What was that?”

“It was over even before I could cast a single spell.”

“Why did jackals spawn in an A-rank dungeon?”

“Right?”

“Did those association idiots mess it up again?”

Their voices grew louder. Speaking in low tones was an absolute in dungeons, but even the basics flew out the door given the surprising appearance of the dungeon jackals.

“Hmm…” Kihoon scratched the back of his head as he stared at the corpses.

Why did C-rank magic beasts appear here?

Kihoon looked around with a mien of disbelief. Everyone else had similar expressions. All except one.

Jinwoo was gravely examining the dead jackals.

These aren’t ordinary monsters.

Jinwoo squinted. The fur around the jackals’ necks had been flattened—evidence that they’d been tied up somewhere.

That means something in here was raising them……

They had to be intelligent magic beasts. Jinwoo recalled the Ice Slayers from the red-gate incident. It was a well-established fact that magic beasts with intelligence were tricky to deal with no matter what species they were.

My premonition…might be correct.

This wasn’t a good sign.

“What’re you staring at so intently?” The healer also squinted at the jackals.

“Shh!” Jinwoo lifted his index finger.

Thmp, thmp.

Thmp, thmp.

He could hear the sound of marching farther inside.

The real trouble is coming.

Jinwoo straightened up. The other hunters finally caught on to the fact that something was very wrong.

“Oh, fuck……”

“G-get ready!” Kihoon forced out the command.

Finally, the silhouettes of the enemies slowly came into view on the other side of the dark cave. The hunters’ eyes grew huge.

“High orcs?”

“What are high orcs doing here?”

High orc warriors that appeared to be well trained stood in a row. There were twenty-two in all. That many high orcs would’ve been tough opponents already, but high orc warriors were worse.

“Something…something’s wrong,” someone muttered quietly.

For a group of low-rank beasts to ambush them right before a confrontation with a group of magic beasts considered extremely powerful even among other high-rank enemies was highly unusual.

Shp! Shp!

The high orcs pointed their spears at the hunters.

These hunters and high orcs are evenly matched.

Jinwoo positioned himself in a corner. He wanted to observe the situation and look for an opportune time to intercede.

The healer clearly thought differently. “Please go hide yourself so you won’t get hurt!”

Her words rubbed Jinwoo the wrong way. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try to settle his ire.

The battle began shortly afterward.

“Graaahhh!” Kihoon activated his Aggro skill to lure the high orcs to him, but the provocation didn’t have much effect.

It wasn’t long before the beasts and brawler-class hunters were fully engaged in battle.

Shhhhk!

Shiiing!

Krak!

Blood splattered everywhere, and screams rang out.

“Gaaah!”

Finally, the mage hunters rained their spells down on the orcs.

Boom! Kaboom!

Those struck by the arrows of exploding light lost their heads. But nothing came after the initial volley. Spells worked well against the orcs, but the problem was that casting took far too long.

“Aaargh!”

The orcs were proving to be superior in hand-to-hand combat.

“Heal! Heal!”

“H-hurry!”

The increasing injuries kept the healers occupied.

“H-Healer!”

The female healer from before was also busy running around and treating fallen hunters. “I’m coming! On my way!”

She dropped to her knees next to a hunter writhing in pain after losing an arm and started chanting.

Hwoooom…

Accompanied by a blinding light, the limb slowly started growing back. The light was that of a regeneration spell, which only A-rank healers had the ability to cast.

A long shadow fell on her as she was focusing on the wound. She looked up. A high orc she’d thought to be dead was brandishing an ax, seemingly heavily winded.

“Oh……” The blood drained from her face at the sight. Unfortunately, there were no allies nearby.

As the orc raised its ax, she shielded her patient with her body instead of running away. “No!”

She waited for the pain, but nothing happened. Every second felt like a minute. She peeked up at the orc.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“A-argh…” The orc was floating, trembling in midair.

“How……?”

What was going on? She couldn’t help but stare at the sight.

At that moment…

Kri-krsh.

The high orc’s head split off from its body along with part of its spine, like someone had ripped it off by force.

Whud!

……?

The healer gaped at the orc’s fallen remains.

“Huh……?”

The magic beast’s head remained afloat.

……Damn, got some blood on me.

Jinwoo frowned, then chucked the orc head he’d been grasping.

Krak!

The severed head struck a second orc, sending it tumbling to the ground. That orc’s neck was bent at a strange angle, and the chances of it getting back up seemed slim.

Two down.

Jinwoo darted in a different direction. He’d activated Stealth mode. Neither the high orcs nor the hunters could detect Jinwoo’s whereabouts. Because he was trying to avoid being accused of interfering with another’s raid, Jinwoo had been eyeing the perfect opportunity to jump in. But then he remembered his Stealth skill. With it, he could run around as he pleased with no repercussions.

Jinwoo’s lips curled up into a grin.

Shall I get started, then?

That was when…

“Gaaaah!”

Jinwoo spotted the leader of the strike squad, Kihoon, locked in a desperate struggle against three high orcs.