Chapter 239. The Gluttony Incident (3)
Splash!
Esther grabbed Jeong Ha-seong’s sleeve, stopping him in his tracks with sheer force.
Then she quickly began to explain.
“First, I hastily heard this on my way here, but the Hunter Association has put in a request to Japan’s Imabari. An S-Class dispatch request.”
“I see.”
“Honestly, it’s uncertain if they’ll actually come, but at least they said something first.”
The Curse Mage with auburn hair recalled the pledge that the Japanese had declared on air in the past.
If an S-Class Gate were to occur in Korea, the Imabari Guild would send all their top-ranking Awakened for free.
“And they’ve also started negotiations for support from healers and buffers in Singapore.”
“Yes.”
“It won’t do us any good to rush things…”
“Ms. Hunter!”
“Oh! Looks like they’ve arrived!”
At that moment, a figure with long hair rushed towards them in front of the Gate.
An A-Class Awakened civil servant.
“Ms. Seonwoo-yeon! Over here! Here!”
The arrival of Seocher.
“Alright. Now that everyone’s here, let’s organize things.”
“….”
“Ha-seong, remember, our goal is not to clear, but to recon.”
“Yes.”
“We need to assess the number of monsters and the layout of the dungeon, and if possible, prioritize hunting A-Class monsters to prevent any potential breaks.”
“Got it.”
“And we’ll base our tracking on Neo’s Team 3.”
With the Mage’s words, Jeong Ha-seong raised an eyebrow and then frowned, as if resigning to something.
“We need to find the survivors who have a low chance of survival without assistance first. That’s non-negotiable.”
“I understand.”
Clang!
The sharp sound of metal rang out.
“Then let’s hurry with the rescue.”
The S-Class Hunters of Korea continued discussing various issues related to the rescue plan.
Since this dungeon had a much smaller area compared to the Kagoshima Raid, there weren’t many ways to exert the influence of the S-Class, making it difficult to pull a large number of people in…
“You don’t need to worry about secondary damage.”
At that moment, the young hero gripping the Sword of Sunset spoke.
Thanks to his training, he could no longer harm his allies recklessly. He openly shared that collaboration with S-Class was now possible.
“Unless a melee breaks out. Now, simply using skills won’t cause burns anymore.”
“Oh.”
“Moreover, Ms. Esther isn’t the type to fight up close with the enemy. …Yes. It’s definitely doable.”
Jeong Ha-seong displayed a steady demeanor, contrasting his past self-deprecation.
“Trust me, please release the fire resistance item.”
The suggestion was to maximize his attribute attack gear instead of defensive ones to speed up hunting.
Esther smiled slyly.
“How reliable you are.”
But the hero’s requests didn’t stop there.
“Ms. Esther, you don’t need to concern yourself with the secondary damage issue either.”
“What did you say?”
“If the situation seems unfavorable, could you use your awakening ability to suppress the enemy as quickly as possible?”
Jeong Ha-seong’s expression slowly morphed into one of familiarity.
An A-Class Awakened team was lost, and due to some bizarre mutation, an S-Class Gate emerged… and a blond man was blocking its collapse with his life.
Faced with this precarious disaster, Korea’s Fire Mage soon regained her form.
Like a machine made of metal that joined steel to steel, she maintained her cold composure.
A hunting machine, with the most Gate clears, who truly lived up to her epithet.
“I have greatly increased my resilience through training. Whatever curse you use, I will definitely withstand it at least once, so I ask you to proceed that way.”
The hero standing before the Gate displayed a calmness that verged on madness.
Seeing this, Esther nodded, understanding the anxiety and perfectionism he hid within.
Moreover, her desire to save lives, even at the cost of her own flesh, was mutual.
“Alright. There will be no regrets later.”
Finally, by checking the status of their recovery potions, their preparations were complete.
The rescue team, composed of Jeong Ha-seong, Seo Esther, and the supporter Seonwoo-yeon, soon stepped into the Otherworldly Passage, accompanied by a strange wind sound.
*
Once they entered the dungeon.
This was the first S-Class Gate in Korea, which would later be referred to as the [Six-Legged Corridor].
Originally, this was a separate world where the A-Class dungeon called [Hwaecheon Labyrinth] was located, but due to an incident, the interior had already changed.
‘The path is angled. It’s entirely different from the circular Hwaecheon Labyrinth which rotates.’
However, since the structure was simple, it didn’t seem all that unfamiliar.
Swish.
Soon, Seonwoo-yeon’s activated skill, [Seocher].
The civil servant with black hair focused all her mental energy on the characteristics of the person she was searching for.
Often hard to encounter due to their striking style, but if you watched with patience, you’d definitely recognize that person’s kind eyes.
A face with frequent smiles.
Piercings, a similarly colored shield, and all the rest, including their voice and height.
“…!”
Seonwoo-yeon suddenly looked up and pointed somewhere in the dungeon.
Shortly after, a scream of discovery burst out from the Association employee’s mouth.
“Found him! Hunter Ahn Yoon-seung is alive! He is about 600m away from here and continues moving!”
Successful activation of Seocher!
Inwardly, Esther cheered with minor triumph.
It might not be enough to fill her belly at a single meal, but at least the person they wanted to save was still alive.
“Moreover, if the defensive Hunter is alive, the chances of the whole team being safe are high. Hunter Ahn Yoon-seung is someone who fulfills his duties!”
That was the end of their conversation.
The Awakened rescue team, having entered the dungeon, immediately began their tasks without hesitation.
The words of a certain S-Class promising to clear a path weren’t false.
Indeed, the inside of the dungeon had remarkably few obstacles.
‘Even the monsters spotted here are at most A-Class…’
At that moment.
With the sharpest hearing among them, Jeong Ha-seong suddenly halted.
Without a word, he made a fist and raised it.
Recognition.
He pointed with his index finger, then spread his two fingers into a V, bending them just once.
-‘There’s one monstrous beast over there.’
A warning signal in their field.
‘If Hunter Jeong Ha-seong went out of his way to inform us, it must be S-Class…’
Stealthily.
Understanding the intent, Seonwoo-yeon held her breath and created distance from the people in front of her.
However, barely a few seconds passed, and the black-haired civil servant received the chilling fear of her entire body standing on end.
Hissss…
A sound of something crying echoed.
This was an S-Class common monster that emerged from the current bizarre mutation Gate, a nimble reptilian creature measuring 120cm in length that differed from the dragons appearing in the Japanese archipelago.
In reality, it was a much weaker entity than the Black Dragon.
Splash.
The creature stuck upside down to the dungeon wall extended its purple tongue and licked its eyeball.
It seemed to be cleaning the glass for better vision.
‘It has six legs.’
Aside from the slight excess in the number of limbs, the beast appeared very similar to Earth’s large armored lizard.
The Fire Mage and the Curse Mage exchanged looks.
According to what they had agreed upon before entering this dungeon, they were to avoid combat with S-Class monsters as much as possible.
But this time, there was no choice.
In some cases, the aforementioned lizard might have happily wandered off another path and passed through safely.
However, as seen now, that S-Class monster had changed its mind and occupied the straight path right before them. So…
Nod.
At Esther’s nod, Jeong Ha-seong immediately initiated a surprise attack.
Wham!
A spear of fire appeared in the air.
Focusing magic power into a single line, blue beams of energy poured down like a heavy rain onto the lizard.
The S-Class monster seemed to have sensitive senses, as it recognized the enemy as soon as Ha-seong utilized his magic power, yet it could not dodge all those spears.
“Groaaah!”
Jeong Ha-seong successfully damaged the creature’s right legs as intended.
Furthermore, as soon as the Fire Mage took away the enemy’s mobility, Seo Esther unleashed her spells in rapid succession.
Fssss…
With the painful sound of inflammation boiling over.
The two hunters began their hunt of the encountered beast in perfect synchronization.
And while they continued their first engagement with the S-Class, deep within the dungeon—
Click!
A sound echoed from somewhere deep within the dungeon, indicating the lowering of some lever.
Thud!
With that noise, one of the grim traps installed in the dungeon lost its shape and crumbled.
Here, they had been utilizing the corpse of the A-Class monster they had directly taken down to progress toward their goal.
Kekekek.
Specifically, they had put the consciousness of the incapacitated main body (Kim Gi-ryeo) to sleep.
Now they were controlling a new corpse, temporarily using it as a golem, steering it mentally.
This recently collected amphibious body, while having slightly stubby limbs, still had a lot to offer.
As could be seen, it could manipulate the structure of the dungeon to deactivate traps.
Now, all that was left was to complete the final task using this dead body.
There it is!
Lowering his gaze, he finally discovered the monster in question.
A mid-sized reptilian creature covered in a sandy-colored exterior.
That was the S-Class boss monster of the dungeon.
At the same time, it was the greatest threat to Ahn Yoon-seung’s team nearby.
Having continually observed it since the moment of dungeon entry, he knew that monster was tracing the scent of humans that Yoon-seung’s team had left behind.
This body has slightly short limbs, but I like the fact that there are many of them.
Wiggle wiggle.
I moved the legs of the controlled amphibious body busily, having found my target.
By the way, this just occurred to me: humans certainly seem to have too few limbs. If they just had about four more, it would be perfect. Then I could open books with both hands while brushing my teeth… Anyway.
After advancing to an appropriate distance, I began the planned action.
Hey! Blockhead!
Jump!
With all my might, I sprung up and crashed into the side of the S-Class monster.
Bring it on!
This action is generally referred to as “aggro” in Earth’s lingo.
Earlier, I mentioned that this is the mid-late section of the dungeon—where Ahn Yoon-seung’s team is currently wandering.
However, my main body is currently incapacitated due to a trap, so my only option is to buy time with these antics until the real S-Class Hunters show up.
Hissss.
After taking a couple of headbutts, the problematic S-Class monster finally lifted its heavy rear.
Whoosh!
The dungeon boss changed its posture and lightly pushed me away with its long tongue as if to tell me to stop.
I persisted in my irritating behavior, undeterred.
Then, a few seconds later, the opponent finally began to demonstrate the reaction I desired—it fully rose and charged at me.
“Groaaah!”
That’s it.
As soon as I caught the attention of the monster, I diligently moved my short legs to escape along the right side of the corridor.
Had this been a normal fight in nature, this body would’ve been caught by that S-Class monster long ago.
But now, this corpse was controlled by a highly proficient alien Great Mage.
Thud!
Using my unique magical sensing ability, I predicted the position of the incoming attack half a beat earlier and rolled away.
And the more I nimbly continued to evade, the further the distance between the S-Class monster and Ahn Yoon-seung’s team grew.
The provocation tactic was a success.
Using the leg of the seized corpse, I scurried sideways.
Then, as the dungeon boss became enraged at the elusive provocateur, it snorted loudly from behind.
Now, I only needed to shift my weight and nimbly turn around the corner in front of me.
Got it.
But then suddenly, an unsettling sound crept into my mind.
Ahh!
This wasn’t a sound I was directly experiencing as ‘me.’
Due to my severely lacking magic power, I had cast a low-quality golem control spell, which meant I couldn’t really utilize the various senses of the six-legged amphibian.
If so—
What?!
The human scream ringing in my head might mean fresh information coming from the main body, which still had the faintest sense.
*
About 11 minutes after the rescue team composed of Esther, Jeong Ha-seong, and Seonwoo-yeon entered.
Thud, thud, thud.
Thanks to a skilled appraiser who had previously disabled all the traps, they could proceed without hindrance.
However, they soon reached the center of the dungeon.
There, the rescue team witnessed an unbelievable scene.
As if to bear witness to the fierce battle, gouges marked the floor of the long hallway, and a familiar figure of an Awakened was discovered.
Leaning against the wall, there sat a Hunter in silence, head bowed.
As the damaged holes in his suit revealed crushed muscles and bloodied bones, Seonwoo-yeon, without realizing it, let out a high-pitched scream.
“Ahhh!”
It was the moment when Kim Gi-ryeo’s physical form collided with the real S-Class.
