The iron door opened, and Siul stepped into the boss room.
Dense mana pressed heavily against his shoulders.
If Do I-hyeon had accompanied him this far, he would probably have been drenched in cold sweat and struggling to breathe.
‘A-Rank Dungeon boss rooms really are spectacular every time.’
Siul slowly swept his gaze around the room.
The bell tower’s ceiling soared high overhead, while strangely twisted cracks pulsed across the circular floor.
Above all else, the master of this room radiated overwhelming charisma.
The king of stone statues, with the body of a lion and enormous wings.
It lay sprawled out as though seated upon a throne and leisurely let out a yawn.
‘So that’s the boss of this Dungeon, the Stone King of the Bell Tower.’
Dozens of Gargoyles occupied the air and the railings around it, staring down at Siul.
They stood ready to attack the instant he tried to approach their king.
“One-versus-many fights don’t even scare me anymore.”
Just as Siul tossed out the joke, the space beside him suddenly distorted.
Zero released its Invisibility and revealed itself.
“Woof!”
It proudly stepped forward, as though telling Siul that he was not alone.
Siul smiled, walked over, and stroked Zero’s head.
“Reliable as always.”
It might have looked like a tiny baby creature, but in terms of combat power, it was an ally that far surpassed the Gargoyles.
“Let’s go.”
Siul gave the quiet command and stepped forward to launch the first attack.
But at that moment, a dizzying vibration ran through the tips of his feet.
GRRRRNNNK!
Stone pillars suddenly erupted along the cracks.
Not just one.
The entire floor split into square stone pillars that began rising and falling unevenly.
“W-What the hell?!”
Siul staggered.
The stone pillars repeatedly rose and sank, throwing the terrain into chaos.
“Damn it…!”
The section of ground beneath Siul suddenly plunged downward as though being dragged away.
Siul hurriedly threw himself toward a pillar on the opposite side, only for that floor to sink as well, causing him to lose his balance.
Beneath the pillars stretched a fissure swallowed in darkness like a black hole.
Siul could not even begin to imagine what kind of hell awaited anyone who fell into it.
“Whoa, whoa…!”
Unable to hold on any longer, Siul toppled backward.
As though it had been waiting for that moment, the pillar tilted to one side, trying to throw him off.
WHOOSH!
Just before he fell, Zero’s tail wrapped around Siul’s waist and yanked him back.
Using the momentum, Siul gritted his teeth and regained his balance.
“Thanks!”
The terrain churned violently in every direction.
Above him, the flock of Gargoyles slowly spread their wings as they prepared for battle.
And the Stone King of the Bell Tower, the one controlling all of it, raised its head.
‘This boss isn’t going to be easy either.’
Siul let out a sharp grin and released his mana.
“What a miserable battlefield. So….”
His body shot forward like a cannonball.
“Let’s finish this quickly!”
【Skill ‘Dungeon Dash’ has been activated.】
Zero spread its wings behind him and took flight with equal enthusiasm.
Two shadows charged fearlessly into the Stone King’s domain.
* * *
CLANG—! CLANG—!
Outside the iron door to the boss room, the sound of a pickaxe striking stone continued endlessly inside the barrier-protected safe zone.
Do I-hyeon repeatedly brought the pickaxe down with all his strength, trying to pry the Mana Stones embedded in the ground free.
“Whew…!”
The Mana Stone Mining Pickaxe Siul had given him was far sturdier than he had expected and fit comfortably in his hands.
As Do I-hyeon grew accustomed to the equipment, his mining speed noticeably increased.
Before long, purple Mana Stones had piled up behind him like a small hill.
“He’ll be shocked when he gets back, right?”
Do I-hyeon grinned to himself.
In his head, he indulged in the kind of innocent fantasy befitting a nineteen-year-old.
— You mined all of this yourself?! That’s amazing. That settles it. Become my partner. I’ll recruit you as a Special Hunter.
He got carried away imagining what he would do if Siul returned after defeating the boss and said something like that.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
But after swinging the pickaxe over and over, his shoulders gradually began to ache.
Do I-hyeon temporarily set aside his dream of being recruited as a Special Hunter and wiped away his sweat with a towel.
Then his gaze drifted toward the iron door leading into the boss room.
‘I wonder if Hunter Siul is doing all right….’
Not a single sound came through the barrier.
It was a space that blocked even the vibrations caused by colliding mana.
‘Should I loosen the barrier just a little so I can at least listen?’
For a moment, worry crept in.
Then the sight of Siul fighting flashed through his mind.
The way he had charged straight through the middle of a flock of Gargoyles.
The unwavering look in his eyes even in dangerous situations.
‘Why am I even worried?’
Do I-hyeon scolded himself for the foolish thought.
‘Hunter Siul will probably handle it like it’s nothing again.’
The phrase he had casually thought to himself—
Like it’s nothing.
For some reason, those words lingered in Do I-hyeon’s mind.
‘He really did act like it was nothing….’
The sight of Siul swinging his sword without showing the slightest hint of pain even after his left arm had been severed.
And then… the sight of that arm regenerating in the blink of an eye.
‘He didn’t use any special item, so it must be some kind of healing Trait, right?’
That was the only explanation Do I-hyeon could come up with based on what he knew.
But soon, he tilted his head.
Do I-hyeon read practically every genre of book related to Hunters.
Just a few days ago, he had read the autobiography of Er Mika, the world’s greatest healing Hunter.
— Even with a high-level healing Trait, instantly regenerating a severed body part is considered nearly impossible.
That was clearly what the book had said.
‘Even Er Mika said it was impossible….’
Naturally, questions arose.
Just what kind of Trait did Siul possess that allowed him to restore his body at such an extraordinary speed?
“Uuugh…!”
Do I-hyeon pressed both hands against his throbbing temples.
The more he thought about it, the fewer answers he found.
His head only grew more tangled.
After agonizing over it for a while, Do I-hyeon finally shook out his hands and reached a firm conclusion.
“I don’t know! Hunter Siul is just ridiculously amazing!”
He gave up on complicated deductions.
It was the simplest conclusion he could reach.
Feeling much lighter, Do I-hyeon picked up the pickaxe again.
CLANG—! CLANG—!
Another purple Mana Stone popped out of the ground.
“Good, good. I’m going to mine so many that Hunter Siul nearly faints when he sees them!”
* * *
FLAP!
Zero’s tail remained wrapped tightly around Siul’s waist as it beat its wings continuously to keep them suspended in midair.
Covered in blood, Siul looked down below.
The boss room was a complete wreck.
Square stone pillars rose and fell as though alive, twisting the entire battlefield, while Gargoyle corpses lay scattered across them.
All of the blood covering Siul belonged to them.
“I thought you’d attack together with your subordinates, but you still haven’t moved?”
Siul caught his breath and looked straight ahead.
The Stone King of the Bell Tower, a gigantic stone monster shaped like a winged lion, glared at Siul without moving.
Its crimson eyes reflected nothing but him.
“Are you scared, or are you just lazy?”
Only then did the Stone King open its mouth.
“GRRRRROOOAR!!”
A lion’s roar powerful enough to tear at Siul’s eardrums erupted.
Cracks spread through the stone pillars as the entire chamber trembled.
“Oh, how terrifying.”
Siul’s utterly emotionless remark finally prompted the Stone King to move.
The Stone King spread its enormous wings and tore through the air, charging viciously toward Siul.
“Zero.”
Siul immediately responded in kind.
“Woof!”
Zero barked powerfully and lifted the tail that held Siul’s body.
Then it swung with all its might.
WHOOOM!
Siul’s body flew forward like a stone launched from a catapult.
In midair, Siul and the Stone King of the Bell Tower collided head-on.
“GRRRR!”
The Stone King viciously slammed down its forepaw and crushed Siul’s head.
Flesh and bone burst apart instantly, and Siul’s body was torn to pieces.
Twitch—.
Yet the shattered pieces of flesh quickly began knitting themselves back together.
Siul finished regenerating one arm first, and before the rest of his body had even fully recovered, he drove his dagger into the Stone King’s side.
“GRR!”
The Stone King thrashed in pain.
‘As expected, it can’t easily deal with attacks like this.’
Siul’s mouth, which had only just regenerated, was already smiling.
During his previous Dungeon Raid, Siul had learned a new way to use his regenerative ability through his battle against the Slimes.
Even before their bodies had fully regenerated, the Slimes had already begun writhing and making their next move.
In fact, because their forms were incomplete, their movements had sometimes confused their opponent even more.
‘Never give the enemy time to think. This is the true terror of immortality.’
Constantly.
Without allowing a single moment to breathe.
Attack again and again without stopping.
It was a combat tactic only Siul could imitate.
“Zero!”
At Siul’s shout, Zero’s Fire Breath engulfed the Stone King.
FWOOSH!!
The compressed flames burned through the Stone King’s wings, melting its stone feathers and throwing it off balance.
‘Now.’
Siul dropped onto a stone pillar below.
The instant he landed, he used the recoil to leap again.
Looking up at the falling Stone King of the Bell Tower, Siul infused his longsword with mana.
‘Let’s finish this.’
The mana-clad sword strike tore through the air.
The Stone King made one final desperate attempt.
Even as it fell, it opened its enormous jaws wide and bit down on the approaching Siul whole.
CRUNCH!
Its razor-sharp teeth snapped shut, tearing Siul’s body apart once again.
But the result was the same as before.
His ruptured body regenerated, and Siul’s arm simply continued the motion it had already begun.
SWISH!
The Stone King’s head separated from its body and spun through the air.
Its bisected body then disappeared into the pitch-black depths beneath the stone pillars.
【Quest Successful!】
【You have splendidly dealt with an enemy threatening your life by beheading it.】
【You have received 3 Level-Up Points as a reward.】
【Current Accumulated Points: 9】
Siul finished regenerating as he scanned the flood of notification windows with his eyes.
When he finally landed atop a stone pillar that had stopped vibrating, the additional notification he had been waiting for appeared.
【Consecutive Quest condition fulfilled!】
【You have successfully completed 7 consecutive quests and will receive a Bonus Reward.】
‘There it is.’
The moment Siul had anticipated most from this raid had finally arrived.
The seventh consecutive Bonus Reward.
Naturally, he could not help wondering what kind of reward he would receive.
Since the rewards became better as his consecutive success count increased, this caught Siul’s attention even more than reaching 9 accumulated points.
‘Come on. Show me what it is.’
As though answering his request, the Quest Window displayed the next message.
【Please choose one of the following two rewards.】
【3 Level-Up Points or Hidden Roulette】
Siul’s pupils trembled briefly.
Three Level-Up Points.
It was an extremely valuable reward, equivalent to receiving the reward from an entire quest without having to complete one.
‘I suspected the Bonus Reward might increase by one point each time, but three points is seriously huge.’
At lower ranks, he had not understood the true value of Level-Up Points.
But after raiding A-Rank Dungeons, his perspective had changed completely.
‘Clearing Dungeons only gets harder from here. But the truly exhausting and troublesome part is that simply finding a Gate becomes another mission in itself.’
Siul was on the verge of reaching A-Rank.
After that, he would have to start searching for S-Rank Dungeons.
The problem was that there were only a handful of S-Rank Gates in the country.
Even if an opportunity to enter an S-Rank Dungeon arose, clearing it alone would realistically be impossible.
That meant there was a possibility he could fail the quest because he did not satisfy the condition of personally defeating the target.
‘Securing the points now before my consecutive streak breaks would definitely be the safer choice.’
Even as Siul thought that, his eyes moved toward the other option.
【Hidden Roulette】
‘What exactly is that?’
The name alone gave him no clue whatsoever.
And that only made him more curious.
What other outrageous thing might come out of it?