Defense Battle, Pitch-Black Daedalus (F).
Seonghyeon walked through the dark labyrinth with one hand against the wall.
“Ugh…… Why is it so pitch-black?”
No matter what, it was still a dungeon, so he had thought it would be similar to a Ranked Match.
But now that he was actually inside, it was quite different from what he had expected.
【F/Pitch-Black Daedalus】
『Boss: ???』
『Clear Condition: Defeat the hidden boss monster of the labyrinth (0/100%) and escape from the labyrinth.』
『Progress Requirement: 60%』
『Time Limit: 99:55:15』
First was the information provided by the system.
If this had been a Ranked Match, there would have been information on the monsters and boss he needed to defeat, allowing him to establish a rough strategy.
But in the System Window for a Defense Battle, a great deal of information was restricted.
‘In any case, it means I have to kill the boss…….’
Of course, the restricted information itself was not a problem.
After all, he had not taken first place in the Tutorial or Ranked Matches by looking at the mission information.
As usual, he immediately opened the Skill Window.
『Meteor (EX)』
[Objective Setting] Precision
001. Deathwing
002. Deathwing
……
605. Skeleton Swordsman
……
890. Mimic
891. Fallen Fairy
……
898. Minotaur (Mission Target) ◀
899. Other Location (Set Viewpoint)
900. Saved Target (None)
As expected, if it was a labyrinth, the boss had to be a Minotaur.
Compared to the Ranked Matches so far, there were many different kinds of monsters.
But he was not particularly concerned.
‘For now, I should try doing it the way I always have.’
Then,
KABOOOOM—
Before long, he felt the impact sound reverberate through the dungeon.
Now all he had to do was wait for the System Window saying it had been cleared.
‘…….’
Was a Defense Battle a little slow?
‘…….’
It had already been ten minutes since he used Meteor.
No matter how long he waited, no notification appeared saying the dungeon had been cleared.
It was bewildering.
He had never used his skill twice inside a dungeon before.
But he was not especially worried.
‘Do enemies with huge health pools not go down in one shot?’
He did wonder whether Meteor was a skill something could survive in the first place.
But if it had survived, he simply had to feed it another one.
『Meteor (EX)』
[Objective Setting] Precision
……
898. Minotaur (Mission Target) ◀
899. Other Location (Set Viewpoint)
900. Saved Target (None)
KABOOOOM—
Meteor’s heavy roar echoed once more.
Now, it had definitely been cleared…… or so he thought.
Another ten minutes passed.
The System Window was still silent.
‘……Why is it not working?’
For a moment, he went blank.
Even though he had used Meteor twice, the usual solution had not worked at all.
However, he had no time to remain confused.
Now he knew that Meteor would not necessarily solve everything.
If he wanted to break through the situation, he had to stay calm.
First, he equipped the dagger in his Inventory.
【Equipment】
-Honed Goblin Dagger (New!): A dagger carefully honed by the Goblin Centurion. As equipment suited for goblins, it is shorter than an ordinary dagger, but correspondingly lighter.
Attack Power +5 (+2)
[Light Outfit correction applies, Attack Power +1]
[Solo Armament correction applies, Attack Power +1]
Critical Damage +10%
[Additional correction applies when attacking a vital point, +10%]
Whether he could face monsters with this was unknown…….
But it would be better than having nothing.
And he had to check what the problem was.
“Mission Window.”
【F/Pitch-Black Daedalus】
『Boss: ???』
『Clear Condition: Defeat the hidden boss monster of the labyrinth (100%/100%) and escape from the labyrinth.』
『Progress Rate: 13%』
『Time Limit: 99:34:02』
『Reward: ????』
The information displayed in the dungeon mission window was unexpected again.
The boss monster defeat, which was part of the clear condition, had been completed at 100%.
Then that meant he had defeated the boss…….
So why had he not been removed from the dungeon despite achieving the condition?
He quickly found the reason.
The clear condition was to defeat the hidden boss monster of the labyrinth and “escape” from the labyrinth.
In other words, aside from defeating the boss monster, “escaping from the labyrinth” was also part of the mission.
“Damn it.”
He was not good at solving mazes.
It seemed this dungeon was the worst possible match for Seonghyeon.
As he wandered through the labyrinth like that,
WHOOOSH—
CRACKLE!
He saw a black mass with a red tail of light slowly flying toward him.
Its appearance somewhat resembled a bat, and its face was…….
It looked like something an ordinary person would not easily approach.
CRUNCH!
[Defeated - Deathwing (171)]
However, he was undeniably an Awakened person.
A single low-intelligence bat monster was not a problem.
A single one was…….
Come to think of it, there had been about six hundred Deathwings and two hundred Skeletons.
‘They will not all rush me at once, will they?’
A chill ran down Seonghyeon’s spine.
Deathwings were beasts, and Skeletons had no brains.
There was no way they would know anything about fair conduct in battle.
Would they care about ganging up or stabbing vital points?
His weapon was far too poor for him to keep moving like this.
The moment monsters swarmed him, setting Meteor’s target would not be easy either.
‘Running away will probably be difficult too…….’
Since the approaching speed was slow, he would probably be faster if he ran.
The problem was that this was a labyrinth blocked off on all sides.
If there were walls, escaping would be impossible.
If there were walls…….
‘?’
‘……Do I really have to do this like a maze?’
Seonghyeon suddenly had that thought.
Until now, Meteor had destroyed everything inside dungeons.
Whether it was the goblins’ mountain fortress or the Wasps’ castle, it had spared nothing and treated them all equally.
Then, was there anything particularly different about the walls of this dungeon?
Of course not.
This place, too, was an F-Rank Dungeon like the others.
The saying that all things became equal before Meteor.
This time as well, he did not spend long thinking.
『Meteor (EX)』
[Objective Setting] Normal
……
898. Minotaur (Mission Target)
899. Other Location (Set Viewpoint) ◀
900. Saved Target (None)
He fixed his gaze on the wall beside him and called up his skill.
‘I am a genius…….’
KABOOOOM!
Before he could even admire himself for the novel idea, Meteor struck the labyrinth wall.
It was an immense roar and impact.
And Seonghyeon immediately regretted it.
‘Ah…… damn it…….’
He was shoved by the shock wave and slammed into the opposite wall.
It hurt terribly, but fortunately, not enough to kill him.
With this, several things became clear.
First, compared to his overwhelming skill, his body was definitely not on the same level.
Second, if he was directly struck by Meteor, even the skill user could be in danger.
And lastly,
‘Ugh…… Let us think a little more carefully…….’
Because he kept firing Meteor first and solving things afterward, he had unknowingly forgotten.
That he himself was an intelligent being capable of thought.
At some point, whenever something blocked him, he had developed the habit of firing Meteor first.
Seonghyeon brushed off his dirtied clothes for a moment and calmed himself.
Fortunately, the monsters were not swarming him.
That did not mean he could accurately know their locations.
So for now, he had to hammer away at the dungeon a few more times.
Of course, before that, he would have to put more distance between himself and the impact.
***
The training room of the Ansan Branch.
In the Crisis Management Team, training for F-Rank Hunters was in full swing.
Recently, several F-Rank Hunters had joined as members of the Association.
Perhaps the appearance of Meteor Lord and the news of Eraser’s subjugation had been enough to stir the patriotism of Hunters.
Over the past few days, the number of Hunters applying to the Association had greatly increased.
Thanks to that, the number of Hunters affiliated with the Association, which had always been insufficient, was also returning to normal.
That much training was necessary.
“Now, everyone. Today will be the final course of your basic education. You have to focus well until the end today so there will be no problems in the field.”
Min Ju-ho of the Crisis Management Team was in charge of training Group 3 of the F-Rank Hunter Team.
“You all remember what I explained about Defense Battles over the past two days, correct?”
“Yes.”
The work assigned to F-Rank Hunters affiliated with the Association was deployment to Defense Battles.
And several Defense Battles appeared every day in Ansan alone.
What was needed to clear the various Defense Battles that appeared was experience.
Naturally, most F-Rank Hunters were people who had not awakened long ago, so there was no way they would have such experience.
That was why the Association trained them around the basic rules they had to follow in Defense Battles.
Even if they lacked experience, it was the safest way to prevent Dungeon Breaks.
“Since you all remember well, today we will proceed with practical training.”
“Practical training? Right away today?”
At the mention of practical training, the Hunters looked flustered.
Seeing that, Min Ju-ho quickly added an explanation.
He explained how the practical training would be conducted.
“Ah, you will not be going straight into a Defense Battle. We will conduct it through a simulation program.”
After finishing his explanation, Min Ju-ho smacked his lips in regret.
In truth, if they had properly learned the rules, practicing in an actual Defense Battle would be the most effective.
That was because simulations alone lacked realism, and quite a few Hunters made mistakes in actual combat as a result.
[Simulation, F-Rank Defense Battle Case 21, Territory of the Werewolf, is starting.]
It was unfortunate, but the simulation training had no choice but to begin.
“Now, what did I say you should do first as soon as you enter?”
“Analyze the mission!”
The first rule established by the Association was mission analysis.
Unlike Ranked Matches, Defense Battle missions were not described in detail, so interpreting them properly was important.
“Yes, good. What comes next?”
“We must not recklessly search for the boss and attack it!”
A Defense Battle was not cleared immediately just because the boss was defeated.
Since the boss’s identity was unclear, provoking it was the same as suicide.
“What is the final rule?”
“A Completion Rate of 60% is appropriate.”
A 60% Completion Rate was the minimum safeguard to prevent a Dungeon Break.
After all, the Association managed Defense Battles solely to prevent Dungeon Breaks.
They should not greedily attempt every mission in pursuit of Defense Battle rewards, nor should they boldly challenge the boss…….
Of course, this rule was not absolute.
If someone had the ability to defeat the boss easily and clear all missions at 100%, then they could ignore a rule or two.
There probably was no one with that level of ability among F-Rank Hunters.
F-Rank Group 3 cleared the simulation exactly according to the rules.
Because of that, Min Ju-ho felt even more regretful.
‘Ha…… It is at times like this that going to an actual Defense Battle would really leave an impression…….’
And just then.
BEEP!
BEEP!
An emergency bell rang, shattering the peaceful atmosphere of the training room.
The Hunters who had been training leisurely now had tense expressions.
Min Ju-ho picked up the receiver.
“Yes, this is the Crisis Management Team.”
[This is the Situation Room. We have a Defense Battle report.]
Whether by coincidence or fate, the call was about the occurrence of a Defense Battle.
It was precisely when they needed an actual Defense Battle for practical training.
If the Defense Battle that had appeared was F-Rank, Group 3 would be able to deploy immediately.
“Ah, yes. What is the location and Defense Battle rank?”
[The location is Wondan-gu, Ansan City……. The rank is F-Rank.]
“Yes, we will deploy immediately.”
F-Rank Group 3 swelled with tension.
Whether Min Ju-ho knew their feelings or not, he merely smiled broadly.
And so, the forced field practice began smoothly.