The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C50
$50
“I’ll help you when that time comes. It’s okay to slip away quietly or pretend to be injured and step back for a moment. Of course, it would be best if it’s not during combat, but we can’t avoid the small fry monsters. We can adjust the time to enter the boss monster’s room, right, Woo-hyun-ssi?”
I had planned to ask via text message first, but I had forgotten due to being preoccupied yesterday. Nevertheless, Halo beat me to it, as if seeing through my thoughts.
“Thank you.”
There was no need for long explanations with Halo, who knew the secret. I quietly expressed my gratitude.
“What are you doing there?”
Lee-han, who had just arrived, called out to us loudly. I gave Halo a look to follow me as I returned to where people were gathering.
“It’s because Woo-hyun-ssi likes it,” Halo whispered just before we arrived. The words without a direct object felt both affectionate and heavy.
This is why I didn’t want to ask for favors.
The feeling of using people wasn’t very pleasant. Especially if it was someone who had feelings for me.
“Hyung, you’ve been getting along well with Halo lately.”
Lee-han, now completely comfortable with casual speech, looked suspiciously between me and Halo. Having already seen me in pain, it wouldn’t be good to give him more clues.
“I just asked about the skills used in the last battle.”
Though he didn’t seem to believe it completely, Lee-han couldn’t ask further and turned his gaze forward due to Seo-heon’s arrival right on time.
“Everyone’s here.”
Seo-heon looked around at everyone, his eyes lingering particularly long on me, and I avoided his gaze by fiddling with my guild device that hadn’t even rung.
“Let’s prepare for teleportation.”
Even as the hunters gathered specifically for teleportation moved, his heavy gaze showed no sign of leaving.
“There will be a final check before departure.”
Seo-heon’s heavy and strict voice had the power to instill tension in people. Even I, who had wanted to run away just moments ago, instantly regained focus.
“First, we’ll basically fight by switching between two teams. Of course, for the boss monster, we’ll use the most appropriate formation for the strategy.”
“Yes.”
Confirming that everyone was tense and focused, Seo-heon continued.
“In the rear, support types Halo Daniel-ssi and Kim Lee Hye-ssi.”
“Yes!”
“Yes.”
The contrast between Lee Hye-ssi’s crisp response and Halo’s relaxed one was almost laughable.
“You two should prioritize not getting injured at all. We can somehow continue the battle as long as you two are there.”
“Understood.”
“The following will be in charge of ranged combat in the middle. First, Shin Lee-han-ssi who mainly uses space manipulation skills, Kim Juhee-ssi who specializes in imbuing tools with destructive power, Lee Seokju-ssi who makes bombs using certain objects, and Park Gangui-ssi who has the ability to change terrain. Please be well aware of your abilities and engage in combat.”
Even if it was content they already knew, the process of rechecking and running combat simulations now was important. Ihwa always went through this process right before important battles, and everyone had a serious attitude as its effectiveness had already been proven. Seo-heon’s use of speech patterns and honorifics he didn’t use in private helped reinforce this.
“At the very front will be myself and the Vice Guild Master. And Byun Gyeongju-ssi, who has invisibility transformation and exploration skills, will be in charge of reconnaissance in case of emergencies.”
With these words, a clear blueprint was drawn for me as well.
“Yes.”
The briefing ended with this concise response. The teleportation preparations had long been completed.
“We’ll depart now.”
The view rippled and the background changed dramatically. I closed my eyes briefly due to the dizziness that never seemed to get familiar, no matter how many times I experienced it. When I opened them, the entrance to the A-rank dungeon spread out before us.
“We’ll enter according to formation.”
As it was an A-rank dungeon, its form reflected the boss monster’s characteristics. Since this dungeon’s boss monster was a slime, it had a round shape with slimy green liquid flowing on the floor.
“Dungeons with slimes are always unpleasant to enter.”
Most guild members subtly agreed with the complaint heard from behind. It was true that it instinctively caused discomfort.
[The boss monster of this dungeon is a dividing slime. If you don’t follow the strategy precisely, it can become quite tricky, so don’t let your guard down thinking its attack power isn’t that high.]
This was what we heard in yesterday’s meeting. To summarize the long advice that followed, it meant don’t let your guard down and protect yourself.
“Why are you going so far ahead?”
I caught up with Seo-heon who was walking in front. Whether it was his habit or not, whenever we entered a dungeon together, he always stood two or three steps ahead of me even though we were both at the front.
“This is comfortable for me.”
I could only guess that it might be because the person he trusted most was himself.
“So the rumors were true.”
I heard whispering from behind as they saw us standing side by side, but I had no way of knowing what rumors they meant.
“Prepare for battle.”
Seo-heon warned, lightly ignoring the chatter. The body’s tension came before sensing the presence. I felt something approaching through the green liquid with my whole body.
In the distance, goblins covered in slime emerged. While individual creatures weren’t threatening, the sheer number of dozens rushing at once created a sense of pressure. Just as everyone was about to take battle stances and use their skills,
Boom-
With a thunderous sound, the floor that had been green until a moment ago was covered in ice. Huge icicle-like ice pillars pierced through all the goblins. Unpleasant green blood stained the ice.
As always, when Seo-heon takes action, there’s no room for training.
“Since it’s the entrance, let’s move quickly.”
The entrance area filled with small fry was enough for just Seo-heon and me at the front.
Still, it must be a bit shocking to see from the front. Especially for those who had never fought with Seo-heon and had only seen videos, they might not know how incredible his power was.
If they fought alongside him just once, they’d stop saying he doesn’t seem like a power type.
Separate from his power being known as incredible, because he rarely stood on the frontlines as part of a team, some newly awakened hunters had misconceptions.
Since we’ve gone on a big subjugation after a long time, such rumors will probably disappear for the next 3 years.
As I was thinking, I suddenly felt strange realizing I wouldn’t be around 3 years from now.
“What are you thinking about? You need to focus.”
No matter what distracting thoughts I had during battle, other people didn’t notice and passed by, but Seo-heon’s intuition was too good.
“Yeah. It’s been a while, so I got lost in thought.”
Seo-heon, who had been wearing a strict expression until just now, grinned. It was a refreshing smile without any intention or purpose.
“Indeed.”
I tried to recall when I had last seen such an open expression, but it felt very distant.
“You must be tired too.”
I didn’t know since I had never lived like Seo-heon, but calculating everything and manipulating things to one’s liking probably required more energy than expected.
“I’ve never thought about it that way, but lately it has been like that.”
Seo-heon, who had momentarily looked tired, instantly returned to his original self. Once again, the sound of the ground trembling was heard, and adult goblins about five or six times the size of the ones we saw earlier appeared. Seo-heon used the glacier spear skill he had used before.
“They’re quite tough.”
Unlike before, some survived. About half had deep wounds and were as good as dead, but the rest either had shallow wounds or, even if deep, seemed to have bodies sturdy enough to move.
[Using A-rank skill, Path of Fire. A path is created where the fire demon passes.]
I created flames that sewed up the wounds Seo-heon had inflicted on the monsters like thread. The monsters that had relaxed as the ice melted became more agitated when flames arose from their wounds. The goblins with severe injuries fell to their knees, but those with lighter wounds stood up staggering.
“Die!”
However, they ultimately collapsed under the onslaught of spears and bombs. Juhee-ssi, who always got excited during battle, was grinning with near madness as she stabbed sharp spears even into already fallen monsters. Familiar with this, Lee-han cleared the corpses to another space, creating a path to move forward.
“This is the first peak area.”
Not all areas in a dungeon are densely populated with monsters. Depending on the habitat, there were areas with high monster density and areas without, and usually, the high-density areas were called peak zones.
This kind of talk only comes up when entering high-rank dungeons of A-rank or above.
“Yah!”
People shouted their own battle cries as they defeated the monsters rushing from the front. Initially, monsters of C-rank or below all fell to Seo-heon’s and my attacks, and this was the method for dealing with monsters of B-rank or above.
“Six o’clock direction, a large number of lizard-type monsters are expected to appear.”
Halo, standing at the rear, warned. So far, he had no particular task and was protecting Lee Hye-ssi while reciting where monsters would appear.
As a gathering of veterans, the battle progressed without anyone getting injured. I was probably the only one feeling rushed by the unexpectedly large number of monsters.
Time…
Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. It wasn’t due to the heat from fire-type skills, nor was I injured anywhere, but tension was creeping in. Fifteen minutes left, soon it would be time for my skills to turn off.
This could be cutting it close.