The boss room of the Graveyard Fortress had fallen into a heavy silence.
This time, the Commander Skeleton had died after being completely annihilated.
Not a single Skeleton soldier was in sight, either.
They had all fled.
After losing their boss twice, they had apparently decided that this place was no longer their home.
Kim Siul stood alone in the middle of the empty boss room.
Meanwhile, hidden from sight, Kang Ho-cheol and Baek Ga-hyeon stared at him in a daze.
“He became… much stronger than he was during the first battle.”
Baek Ga-hyeon recalled the battle from moments ago in amazement.
BOOM—!
The sight of Siul shooting forward with a violent burst of displaced air had been particularly striking.
With just a single kick against the floor, he had crossed the Skeleton soldiers’ encirclement in an instant.
His speed was on an entirely different level compared to the first battle.
‘It was almost like… he underwent Reawakening in the middle of the fight.’
Siul had passed straight through the Skeleton soldiers and appeared directly in front of the Commander Skeleton.
Then he swung his longsword with all his strength.
Along with the skill ‘Earth Split.’
‘I was surprised that he used a B-Rank skill, but the attack was blocked. There was no way the boss of a B-Rank Dungeon would fail to stop such a straightforward attack.’
Once his attack was blocked, the Skeleton soldiers’ counterattack inevitably followed.
The spears thrust by the soldiers pierced Siul’s back one after another.
Yet at that moment, the one who collapsed with a faint groan was not Siul, but the Commander Skeleton.
Tracker’s Blade had embedded itself in the back of the Commander Skeleton’s skull.
‘He used his own body as a shield while launching the real attack with the dagger he threw into the air.’
It was a strategy that caught the enemy completely off guard.
However, several conditions had been necessary for that strategy to work.
‘He needed the physical ability to reach the boss in the first place, along with an attack powerful enough to draw every eye in the room. And that man pulled off both.’
Siul’s registered Awakening Rank with the Hunter Association was D-Rank.
Until halfway through the Dungeon, Baek Ga-hyeon had wondered whether he might actually be C-Rank, but the battle just now and the Earth Split skill proved that he was at least a B-Rank Hunter.
That alone was puzzling enough, yet there was still more to be astonished by.
‘That rapid healing was truly terrifying.’
Siul’s back had been riddled with holes from the Skeleton soldiers’ spears.
And yet, as though none of it had ever happened, his body had already returned to a perfectly uninjured state.
Judging by the extraordinary nature of his trait alone, Baek Ga-hyeon felt that Siul was a cut above even herself.
‘How is that man a D-Rank Hunter…?’
Baek Ga-hyeon denied it with a cold, stiff expression.
“Do you understand now why I even summoned the undead?”
Kang Ho-cheol’s voice broke Baek Ga-hyeon out of her thoughts.
He, too, still looked shaken.
“I cannot figure out that guy’s rank at all. He looks like a B-Rank Hunter right now, but considering how he blocked your trait back at the shop, I would not even rule out the possibility that his potential reaches S-Rank.”
Confusion clouded Kang Ho-cheol’s eyes.
“I have been a Special Hunter for ten years. Including my time as a regular Hunter, I have spent fifteen years in this line of work. And yet… this is the first time I have ever met someone whose Awakening Rank I cannot even begin to gauge.”
Those were not words one would normally hear from a veteran like Kang Ho-cheol.
Baek Ga-hyeon likewise could not erase the humiliation of having failed to steal Siul’s memories from her mind.
For different reasons, both of them came to regard Siul as someone who urgently needed to be investigated.
And there was one other thing.
They even began to feel uneasy about the rumor they had previously dismissed as mere superstition—that when a Black Gate opened, disaster followed.
* * *
“Good work, everyone!”
In front of Yongsan Station, where the Gate had disappeared after the Dungeon was cleared, Siul and the other party members exchanged farewells while organizing their equipment.
“This Raid went smoothly again.”
“For a Skeleton Dungeon, it was surprisingly easy.”
Lighthearted jokes went back and forth, followed by laughter.
Then Siul carefully stepped forward in front of the group.
“Um… there is something I would like to tell everyone. Could you spare me a moment?”
Everyone’s attention turned toward Siul.
Siul cleared his throat once.
“Ahem!”
Then he began.
“After today’s Raid, I am planning to go back to working alone from now on.”
The sudden declaration made the team members flinch.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Is it because our skills were not good enough…?”
“Did we rely on you too much, Siul?”
There was no hiding the disappointment in their questions.
“No. That is really not it.”
Siul firmly denied it before immediately adding,
“I truly enjoyed working with all of you. The combat, our teamwork, and the atmosphere—everything.”
He meant every word.
Raiding with Min Hyung-sik’s team had been a valuable experience that allowed Siul to understand what it was like to fight alongside others instead of always fighting alone.
“It is just… my circumstances have changed now.”
Siul explained his position as concisely as possible.
“I no longer have any reason to keep working in B-Rank Dungeons. From now on, I intend to focus on clearing A-Rank Dungeons.”
That was as far as his explanation went.
He did not explain why, what criteria he was using, or what circumstances had led to the decision.
There were simply too many things he could not reveal.
‘Quests do not appear in B-Rank Dungeons anymore. If I want to encounter an enemy with an Obstacle Danger Level of 10 or higher, I have to enter at least an A-Rank Dungeon, and that would be too much for this team.’
Min Hyung-sik’s team had an average rank of C+, so they did not even receive requests for A-Rank Dungeons.
Siul no longer had a reason to remain with the team.
“That is good news.”
After a brief silence, Min Hyung-sik was the first to speak, smiling.
“You completed the mission you were aiming for. I knew from the beginning that you were not someone who would stay with us for long.”
Min Hyung-sik assumed that Siul had completed one of his missions as a Special Hunter and calmly accepted his departure.
“It is disappointing, of course, but thank you for everything. I learned a great deal while working with you, Siul.”
Min Hyung-sik shook Siul’s hand one last time.
The others behind him still looked reluctant to see him leave, but one by one, they soon smiled and offered their support.
“You worked hard, Siul!”
“Good luck in the A-Rank Dungeons!”
“Let us grab a drink on our day off!”
The farewell was brief, but it was far from insignificant.
The members of Min Hyung-sik’s team scattered and went their separate ways, while Siul picked up his equipment bag and headed home.
“Siul!”
Just then, hurried footsteps came racing up behind him.
When Siul turned around, he saw Park Do-hyun waving while running toward him, breathing heavily.
“Do-hyun?”
Park Do-hyun hurried over to Siul.
“What is it?”
“Well, I just suddenly thought of something….”
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Park Do-hyun continued.
“Siul, is there a particular A-Rank Dungeon you are looking for?”
“No. Nothing specific yet.”
“Then that is perfect!”
Park Do-hyun smiled brightly and pulled out his smartphone.
“I told you before, right? Everyone in my family is a Hunter. Actually, my father is an A-Rank Hunter.”
A gleam appeared in Siul’s eyes.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. My father runs a small-to-mid-sized Guild. It is not very large yet, but they occasionally win ownership rights to A-Rank Gates and are steadily building up their track record.”
“Really?”
“Yes. If you want, I can introduce you to him. Should I give my father a call?”
It was an unexpected proposal, but to Siul, it was an opportunity worth its weight in gold.
After all, it was practically impossible for a Hunter officially registered as D-Rank to be given a chance to participate in an A-Rank Dungeon Raid.
Siul had already been wondering whether he should contact Jang Jin-young of the Great Tiger Guild again.
“I will explain everything properly to my father. I will tell him that you are a Hunter who operates regardless of your official rank. I do not know the details, but you are in a position where you cannot reveal the truth, right?”
When Siul looked as though he were thinking about how to explain himself, Park Do-hyun smiled and waved his hand.
“Come on, there is no need to explain it to me after everything we have been through together. Whatever your official records say, as long as you are skilled, my father will definitely be fine with it.”
“…Thank you very much. I owe you one, Do-hyun.”
“I am the one who owes you after everything you have done for me. I just want to repay you, even if it is only a little.”
Without wasting another moment, Park Do-hyun called his father right there.
Just as Park Do-hyun had said, his father did not care what Siul’s official rank was.
He evaluated Siul solely on the basis of his experience and accomplishments thus far.
And the result was—
“He says you can start next Monday!”
* * *
A familiar scene unfolded inside Siul’s studio apartment.
A tabletop grill, a pair of tongs, a package of beef on the table, and several cans of beer.
There was one difference, however.
Tonight’s feast had a clear reason behind it.
“Here is to reaching B-Rank!”
Siul congratulated himself aloud as he placed the meat on the grill.
SIZZLE!
“Why do I like it when the smell of beef gets into my apartment…?”
Siul sniffed the air and savored the scent of wealth.
Then he opened a can of beer and took a refreshing gulp.
“Ah, I am happy.”
No other words suited his current mood better.
A B-Rank Hunter.
It was a position where one could afford to own a home in Seoul and drive an imported car.
Of course, a house or a car did not mean much to someone with only months left to live, but the fact that he could now afford nearly anything he might suddenly need was a considerable advantage.
‘Once the income from A-Rank Dungeons starts coming in, I can buy even better equipment.’
Better equipment would allow him to complete Quests faster.
Completing Quests faster would allow his Awakening Rank to rise again before long.
Once his Awakening Rank rose, the Dungeons he could enter would change, and his income would increase even further.
‘Is this what they mean when they say the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?’
His quality of life kept improving.
Before his death, he was finally getting to experience the wealthy lifestyle he had never been able to enjoy before.
Naturally, the best possible conclusion would be for all of this growth to culminate in another confrontation with the Judgment Dragon.
‘I really did get this far incredibly fast.’
It had not even been a full month since he had received his death sentence.
That made him even more hopeful.
Perhaps, if he threw everything he had into the remaining five months, he might actually be able to create a miracle.
“Hmm.”
However, his pleasant fantasies did not last long.
Siul suddenly stopped moving his chopsticks and looked up at the ceiling.
“The problem is what comes next.”
Thanks to Park Do-hyun’s introduction, he now had a chance to enter an A-Rank Dungeon.
As far as opportunities went, it was an incredible stroke of luck.
But it came with problems of its own.
‘I will probably have to enter the boss room with the rest of the party.’
When he had been working with Min Hyung-sik’s team, he had been able to monopolize the boss.
From now on, however, he would have to fight the boss together with the rest of the team.
‘I am worried about the risk of failing the Quest even before anyone discovers my immortality trait.’
The mandatory condition for completing the Quest was to ‘personally eliminate’ an enemy with an Obstacle Danger Level of 10 or higher.
If a Quest appeared when they encountered the boss of an A-Rank Dungeon, but another Hunter killed the boss instead, the Quest would count as a failure for Siul.
“That would mean doing all that work only for it to end in nothing….”
Siul took another sip of beer and groaned quietly.
‘I cannot just brush it off by saying that failing once is no big deal. I would lose the consecutive success record I have built up until now.’
Siul’s current streak stood at four consecutive Quest successes.
According to the information provided by the Quest Window, he would receive a Bonus Reward on his fifth consecutive success.
The reason he desired that reward even more was that the Bonus Rewards improved in stages as the number of consecutive successes increased.
‘It would be such a waste to lose the streak at four. No, it would be worse than a waste. It would be disastrous.’
He would have to build his consecutive success count all over again from the beginning.
‘How can I make sure I get the boss to myself…. Should I wait for an opening and only move when I can land the finishing blow? Would that even be possible in the chaos of a boss fight?’
The odds would be little better than gambling.
If he forced himself to focus solely on the boss, there was also the risk that the other team members would think poorly of him and refuse to let him participate in the next Raid.
“…….”
A heavy silence settled over the room.
The meat on the grill crackled as it slowly burned black.
Deep in thought, Siul spent a long while shifting his eyes back and forth.
Then, at last—
“Ah.”
Something occurred to him.
A particular term that had been used almost jokingly until now suddenly crossed his mind in an entirely different light.
‘Special Hunter?’