Ssshhk, ssshhk.
Sharp tearing sounds struck the damp cave walls chaotically.
Chae-ho lightly twisted his head to let the incoming arrows pass by, then immediately stomped forward.
His sword cleanly pierced beneath the jaw of the Lizardman warrior charging toward him.
"Keugh!"
With a short scream, the monster stiffened and collapsed.
Chae-ho pulled out his sword and scanned the surroundings.
"The right defensive line is collapsing! Requesting backup!"
A party member serving as the frontline in another direction shouted urgently.
Chae-ho kicked off the ground without hesitation.
Two Lizardmen had slipped through a gap in the shield wall and were swinging their crude swords.
Chae-ho did not try to forcefully knock away their weapons with strength.
The moment their shoulders moved, he read the direction their center of gravity shifted and lightly tripped their feet.
His heavy kick struck the back joint of the knee of a Lizardman that had lost balance and staggered.
"Kuaaagh!"
An ice arrow from the mage flew in and struck the completely broken-down monster.
The crisis on the right side was resolved instantly.
Over the past several days, Chae-ho had cleared countless Grade C dungeons as a short-term mercenary.
This was after politely declining Choi Min-seok's offer to join the party permanently after their first Grade C temporary party.
If he stayed with one party for too long, both his tactics and his role would inevitably become fixed.
His goal was not immediate money or building a stable record.
He needed unfamiliar, difficult environments and battlefields where unexpected variables appeared.
He avoided the rough swordsmanship of Lizardman warriors and read the trajectories of trap arrows flying through narrow passages.
He repeatedly trained by coordinating with different party members and analyzing the flow of battle.
Just because a fight broke out did not mean he would immediately activate his skill and charge in.
The first priority was observing the monster's center of gravity, the direction of its gaze, and the slightest movements of its joints.
'Seeing something and having your body react are different things.'
As Chae-ho stood still and caught his breath, the temporary party leader carrying a shield approached him.
"Hunter Lee Chae-ho. Good work. Thanks to you, we finished earlier than expected."
"Good work. Are you injured anywhere?"
"No. With you covering the flank so perfectly, how could I get hurt? That foot sweep earlier was truly something else. I almost want to ask if you're really a Grade D Hunter."
The party leader laughed heartily.
"I was lucky. Their feet happened to get tangled with each other."
Chae-ho gave a suitable excuse and lightly bowed.
Using weapon maintenance as an excuse, he turned away and moved back behind the formation.
There was no trace of pride or showing off in his attitude.
***
The next day's party destination was a Grade C mutated insect dungeon located on the outskirts of the city.
A sharp acidic smell that stung the nose filled the entrance.
As befitting someone with porter experience, Chae-ho skillfully checked the filter of his gas mask and inspected the condition of his equipment bindings.
This party was also a team formed through a one-day temporary recruitment.
Two tanks, three damage dealers, and one healer.
The composition was not bad, but today was the first time any of them had worked together in actual combat.
"Large insect-type monsters are troublesome because of their acidic poison needles. Frontliners, pay attention to your shield angles. Rear line, never leave formation."
Not long after the party leader gave his heavy instructions, a scraping sound came from deep inside the cave.
The unpleasant friction grew louder.
Then, from the darkness, red beetle-shaped monsters the size of adult men began pouring out.
"They're here! Maintain formation!"
The party leader shouted and slammed his massive shield into the ground.
However, the number of monsters was far greater than expected.
Moreover, instead of approaching for close combat, they clung to the cave walls and ceiling, raising their swollen red abdomens.
Fssshhhk!
With a horrifying sound like a downpour, dozens of poison needles flew forward like a barrage.
"Aaaah!"
"Hide behind the shields! Mage, cancel casting and activate defense barriers!"
The party members panicked under the attacks pouring from every direction and lost their formation.
The two shield warriors hurriedly blocked the front, but it was impossible to stop every poison needle firing in arcs from the ceiling and side blind spots.
The ground struck by the needles bubbled with a sizzling sound, and acrid smoke filled the narrow cave.
'The angle is bad. We'll collapse like this.'
Chae-ho's eyes, watching the situation from the rear, turned cold.
Simply focusing on defense would never break through this barrage.
Someone had to force their way through the gaps between the projectile trajectories and disrupt the flow.
Chae-ho tightened his grip on the sword handle and quietly inhaled.
'Time Deceleration.'
For a brief moment, the world slowed.
The red poison needles flying through the air began moving as slowly as if swimming through thick water.
The Hunters' shouts and explosion sounds that had been tearing at his ears stretched out like pulled taffy.
Chae-ho did not rush in immediately.
Only 0.1 seconds.
During that brief moment, he drew the trajectories and impact points of dozens of poison needles entering his vision.
He examined the direction of the monsters' gazes, the tension in the legs clinging to the walls, and the slight angles of their swollen abdomens.
'Three from the left diagonal. Five in the front blind spot.'
The moment he understood the pattern and weakness, Chae-ho immediately canceled the skill.
The world's speed returned.
Between the explosions erupting from all directions, Chae-ho threw himself forward.
"Hunter Lee Chae-ho! It's dangerous!"
The healer in the rear shouted in shock.
Running into the middle of a storm of blind poison needles without a shield looked no different from madness.
But there was no unnecessary movement in Chae-ho's actions.
He did not perform a large evasive maneuver or roll across the ground.
Instead, he stepped half a pace forward toward the deadly cluster of poison needles flying from the left and slightly twisted his shoulder.
Ssshhk!
The poison needles passed by, barely brushing his clothing.
Chae-ho did not stop moving.
He lightly tilted his head to avoid the attack falling from the ceiling and bent his waist to let the frontal barrage pass.
Walking only on the blind spots he had already identified, his appearance was like someone moving through rain without getting wet.
At every dangerous moment, Chae-ho activated and deactivated Time Deceleration in extremely short 0.1-second intervals.
He checked newly changing trajectories in the extremely slowed vision, then escaped again with only the minimum necessary movement.
A meticulous design that wasted no movement.
Using this method, he conserved the 11-second daily limit while his combat efficiency continued rising sharply.
After completely breaking through the gaps between the projectile trajectories, Chae-ho saw the monsters hanging from the ceiling.
The distance was clear.
Chae-ho kicked off the ground and leaped.
The monsters hurriedly opened their jaws and prepared their next attacks.
But Chae-ho's sword was faster.
Slish!
The blade avoided the thick exoskeleton and tore through the thin joints and undersides of the insect-type monsters one after another.
"Kieeeek!"
With strange screams and sticky fluids spilling out, the monsters fell from the ceiling one after another.
When Chae-ho instantly cleared the group firing from the most troublesome angles, a noticeable hole appeared in the barrage.
"Now! Push forward!"
Chae-ho shouted the moment he landed.
The party members, who had been completely tense, finally recovered and gripped their weapons again.
"F-frontline forward! Mage, fire spell!"
The party leader shouted and drew the monsters' attention again.
Flames erupted from the mage's fingertips, and the warriors' spears shattered the insects' thin legs.
With the pressure of the poison needles gone, the flow of battle changed completely.
Instead of stepping to the front and cutting down enemies recklessly, Chae-ho created the timing and paths where his allies could use their strength properly, then struck through openings.
When a party member's shield began to be pushed back, he kicked a monster's leg to break its balance.
When a poison needle threatened to interrupt the mage's casting, he knocked it away with his sword.
Not a single reckless action.
He did not steal finishing blows to make himself stand out.
He simply filled the gaps where Hunters needed him most, at the exact moments they needed him.
Before long, only the corpses of burned insects remained scattered throughout the cave.
***
"Haa, haa..."
After the battle ended, the Hunters collapsed onto the ground and breathed heavily.
The healer responsible for treatment gathered mana with trembling hands and checked the injured party members' minor wounds.
Chae-ho wiped the fluids from his blade against the monster's hard shell and quietly placed the sword back into its sheath.
Click.
The light friction sound echoed through the quiet cave.
The party members' gazes turned toward Chae-ho all at once.
What had happened during the barrage moments ago did not feel real.
Even while watching with their own eyes, they could not understand how he had passed through that storm of poison needles without suffering a single injury.
The party leader swallowed and cautiously approached.
"Hunter Lee Chae-ho... how did you avoid that just now?"
"I was lucky. Their firing angles were predictable. I saw some openings."
Chae-ho answered indifferently while checking his equipment.
"That was luck? We couldn't even open our eyes. We were just lowering our heads."
One of the damage dealers added with a dazed expression.
"That was incredible. If it wasn't for you, we would all have been full of holes and carried out in ambulances."
Admiration and shock poured from the party members' gazes, but Chae-ho only lightly shrugged.
"There may still be remnants left. Check your weapons and reform the formation first."
Seeing him calmly give the next instructions without excitement, the Hunters could no longer object and hurriedly nodded.
This was not the only place.
Among the various temporary mercenary parties Chae-ho had passed through, quiet rumors had already begun spreading.
He did not put himself forward or act arrogant.
He did not blame teammates for mistakes.
But whenever the party faced danger, he overturned the flow of battle with unbelievable precision.
Positive evaluations continued spreading about a Grade D Hunter with the ability to see through the rhythm of combat.
'The mana consumption was appropriate, and the split usage timing wasn't bad.'
While the other Hunters gathered their equipment, Chae-ho briefly reviewed the battle in his mind.
0.1-second skill activations.
Predicting projectile trajectories and using minimal evasive movements.
The motions he had engraved into his mind countless times in the training room were working naturally even in unfamiliar real combat.
He exhaled with satisfaction and picked up the small mana stones scattered on the floor, placing them into his pocket.
"Hunter Lee Chae-ho. We're ready."
At the party leader's respectful voice, Chae-ho turned around.
"Let's go."
Without adding anything else, Chae-ho stepped toward the dark passage leading to the boss room.
Behind him, the footsteps of the Hunters followed closely, carrying a strange mixture of tension and firm trust.