"Keep your vision wide. Make sure you watch the trees as well."
Chae-ho's calm voice cut through the dense forest path.
The party leader walking at the front nodded and tightened his grip on his shield.
"Like Hunter Lee Chae-ho said, stay alert. Grade C forest-type dungeons are open in every direction, so we never know when an ambush will come."
The smell of damp earth and thick grass stabbed at their noses.
Dense branches tangled together overhead, blocking the sunlight and making the inside of the dungeon as dark as early evening.
This was another party Chae-ho had joined as a one-day temporary mercenary.
One tank, two damage dealers, one healer, and Chae-ho.
Because the group was small, their defensive line would inevitably become thin if monsters poured in.
Rustle.
Suddenly, a strange sound came from the bushes on the right.
It was not leaves brushing against the wind.
It was the sound of something heavy stepping on the ground and springing away.
Chae-ho stopped walking and placed his hand on his sword handle.
"Right side."
The moment his words fell, three gray shadows burst through the bushes.
Wolf-type monsters as large as adult men.
Blade Wolves.
"Growl!"
"Monsters ahead! Form up!"
The party leader shouted and charged forward.
The damage dealer holding a sword followed closely behind.
Blade Wolves were not overwhelmingly powerful in terms of raw attack strength.
But the real reason they were difficult was something else.
They did not run straight toward their targets.
They bounced off thick tree trunks, hid themselves inside bushes, and suddenly leaped out, boasting irregular and extremely fast mobility.
Clang! Crash!
One Blade Wolf's front paw was knocked away by the party leader's shield.
But the creature twisted its body in midair, landed, and immediately slipped into the damage dealer's blind spot.
"Damn, why are they so fast?!"
The damage dealer swung his sword in panic, but only cut through empty air.
With the dynamic vision of an ordinary Grade D Hunter, it was difficult even to follow their zigzag trajectories.
The two frontline Hunters focused on holding the attention of the two wolves at the front, desperately swinging their weapons.
They needed to somehow restrict their movement and land magic or ranged attacks.
"Healer! Move back!"
At that moment, the remaining wolf cleverly bypassed the formation.
It had waited for the moment when the frontline fighters were distracted by the other two.
The wolf that circled around the side at high speed turned its gaze toward Chae-ho and the healer guarding the rear.
"Crazy! The rear line is breached!"
The party leader turned around late and shouted in shock.
But the distance had already grown too great.
The wolf's speed was overwhelmingly fast, and there was no time to provide backup.
Crack!
The wolf scratched the ground and surged forward fiercely.
The predator closing the distance at such speed that afterimages remained made the healer unable even to scream before collapsing.
Distance: 3 meters.
2 meters.
Seeing the wolf that had instantly reached right beneath her, the other party members tightly closed their eyes.
A Grade D Hunter taking that speed head-on was almost impossible.
But Chae-ho stood firmly in place without the slightest panic.
He did not activate the skill recklessly.
There was no reason to waste his precious daily usage time.
Chae-ho adjusted his grip on his sword and calmly fixed his gaze.
Using only his natural dynamic vision, he followed the wolf's irregular trajectory until the very end.
As he focused enough for his eyes to become dry, he could see the rhythm of the creature's muscles contracting and expanding.
'Now.'
The wolf, having completely closed the distance, gathered strength in its hind legs to tear into Chae-ho's neck.
The decisive instant when it kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
A quiet switch turned on inside Chae-ho's mind.
'Time Deceleration.'
The shouts of party members and the wolf's breathing stretched out like pulled taffy.
The wolf that had leaped into the air moved incredibly slowly, as if submerged underwater.
Chae-ho's gaze moved rapidly.
The angles of the monster's four legs suspended in the air.
The tightly pulled muscles in its neck.
The shift of weight loaded onto its front paws.
All information poured into Chae-ho's mind at once.
'It's airborne. It can't change its trajectory anymore.'
A leap was a powerful weapon.
But once its feet left the ground, it carried the fatal weakness of being unable to change direction.
Chae-ho calculated the exact landing point.
After confirming the pattern, he immediately canceled the skill.
The time used was only around 0.1 seconds.
The world's speed returned.
The sharp fangs of the wolf flying through the air approached right in front of Chae-ho's nose.
Chae-ho did not retreat.
Instead, he stepped half a pace forward toward the wolf's landing point.
At the same time, he raised the sword hanging at his waist.
It looked as if Chae-ho had not stabbed the wolf.
Rather, the wolf itself had flown forward and impaled itself on the tip of his sword.
Squelch!
"......!"
There was not even time for a death cry.
The blade passed beneath the wolf's jaw and pierced the vital point below its throat in one motion.
The momentum from its tremendous speed became the poison that took its own life.
The wolf's body, pierced by the sword, struck Chae-ho's shoulder and crashed into the ground.
Splatter.
The smell of blood rushed up.
The wolf rolled across the ground, kicked its legs weakly a few times, then went limp.
Chae-ho calmly shook the blood from his sword.
It was an extremely clean and simple movement without any unnecessary force.
***
"......"
The healer sitting on the ground inhaled sharply.
The party leader holding his shield at the front also turned toward Chae-ho with a dazed expression.
They could not understand what had just happened.
He had read the trajectory of a wolf flying at that speed, stepped half a pace forward, and countered it?
A Grade D Hunter?
"Hunter Lee Chae-ho. That just now..."
The party leader was about to speak when—
"Graaaang!"
One of the remaining Blade Wolves fighting at the front reacted to the death of its kin and roared.
It stepped on the party leader's shield, jumped high, changed direction, and charged toward Chae-ho.
"Danger! It's coming again!"
The damage dealer shouted urgently.
But Chae-ho's eyes did not waver.
If anything, they looked more relaxed than before.
Through the first exchange, he had perfectly understood the Blade Wolf's unique leap timing and momentum patterns.
The angles at which they launched themselves from terrain.
The degree to which their knees bent before jumping.
Everything had become familiar.
Chae-ho lowered his sword diagonally toward the approaching second wolf.
Slide.
The wolf glided across the ground, stepped on a tree root, and leaped again.
The exact same pattern as before.
'Time Deceleration.'
A brief activation.
The world slowed once again.
But this time, there was no need to observe for long like the first time.
It was no different from a problem where he already knew the answer.
Chae-ho only checked the angle at which the wolf's chin lifted slightly, then immediately canceled the skill.
The skill duration was less than half of the previous one.
As speed returned, Chae-ho's body blurred like an afterimage.
He slightly twisted his head to avoid the wolf's incoming front paw.
The cold claws brushed past his cheek.
At that moment, Chae-ho's arm moved cleanly.
Slish.
The sound of tearing leather and splitting bone echoed through the forest.
His sword entered the wolf's thinnest side and precisely tore through the area near its heart.
"Yelp!"
The wolf screamed and rolled across the dirt.
After suffering a fatal wound while carrying acceleration, it rolled several more meters before stiffening with foam at its mouth.
There was no interruption from beginning to end.
Even against an enemy that used its greatest advantage—speed—as a weapon, Chae-ho was not swept away.
Instead, he chose a method of using the enemy's own speed against it while spending less of his own strength.
The party members could only watch in a frozen state.
Chae-ho lowered his sword and caught his breath.
'It's definitely visible now. I'm getting used to it.'
The sensation of controlling the ability only at the most decisive moments.
That was producing extreme efficiency.
Watch with his eyes.
Find the pattern.
Intervene briefly the moment he was certain.
Then end the situation.
Chae-ho quietly smiled as this fighting style became fully integrated into his body.
"Let's take care of the last one."
Chae-ho turned his head and spoke toward the frontline.
Only then did the party leader and damage dealer, who had been standing blankly, flinch and point their weapons at the remaining wolf.
After seeing two of its kin cut down in an instant, the last wolf had already lost its courage and lowered its tail.
"Uh, uh! Hey, damage dealer! Block the right side!"
The party leader hurriedly raised his shield.
The flow of battle had already completely shifted.
Before long, the final wolf fell to the damage dealer's sword.
***
The forest became quiet again after the battle.
Only rough breathing and the smell of monster blood remained as proof that a battle had just taken place.
"Whoo..."
The party leader placed his shield on the ground and wiped away sweat.
Then he approached the healer who had collapsed.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Yes... I'm okay, but..."
The healer stood up with trembling hands and glanced at Chae-ho.
The other party members' eyes were also all focused on him.
Chae-ho was calmly extracting the mana stone from the fallen wolf's corpse with a dagger.
"Hunter Lee Chae-ho."
The party leader carefully approached and spoke.
"Yes."
Chae-ho answered without raising his head.
"That just now... how did you do it? The wolf was flying through the air, but you didn't dodge. You actually stepped forward."
Clear admiration filled his voice.
Chae-ho casually wiped the blood from his dagger with a cloth and answered indifferently.
"When they are airborne, they can't change direction. I thought if I matched the landing point, I could catch it."
"You matched the landing point? At that speed?"
"I was a little lucky. Their movements were quite straightforward."
Straightforward.
The monster that had been bouncing in every direction and making the party lose their composure.
The party leader and damage dealer looked at each other, unable to respond.
"If it was luck, why did you take down the second one much faster and cleaner than the first? Honestly, I couldn't even see the trajectory of your sword."
The damage dealer clicked his tongue.
"Are you really a Grade D Hunter? You didn't come from some top guild pretending to be weaker, did you?"
"It should say Grade D on my resume."
Chae-ho casually answered while gathering the mana stones and standing up.
There was no sign of pride or desire for praise.
His expression simply said that he had done what needed to be done.
"Check whether your weapons are damaged. We still have some distance left before the inside area."
Chae-ho looked around and spoke.
The party leader was the one giving commands.
But somehow, the center of the party had completely shifted toward Chae-ho.
"Ah, yes. Everyone check your equipment and let's move immediately!"
The party leader raised his voice hurriedly and reorganized the formation.
Chae-ho returned to the very back and watched the surrounding bushes.
'I can reduce the time even more.'
The sensation he had felt while defeating the second wolf still remained at his fingertips.
Maintaining the skill for a long time and slowing the world was certainly safer.
But it was an inefficient method that consumed a limited resource.
See with his eyes.
Predict with his brain.
Let his body react.
Insert the skill into that flow for only a very brief instant.
Just 0.1 seconds or less.
That alone allowed him to pierce the vital points of monsters that a Grade D body should never have been able to handle.
After repeatedly confirming in actual combat that his judgment was correct, Chae-ho lightly tightened his grip on his sword handle.
***
The deeper they entered the forest, the more ominous the atmosphere of the dungeon became.
Sunlight no longer entered at all.
The moss covering the ground was slippery, making it easy to lose footing.
"Walk carefully. You'll hurt your ankle."
Chae-ho lightly grabbed the delayed healer's arm and warned her.
"Thank you..."
The healer answered quietly with a flushed face.
The party leader walking ahead stopped and raised his hand.
"Mana reaction ahead. I think we're near the boss room."
Tension appeared on the party members' faces.
If the normal monsters were Blade Wolves, the boss would certainly be even faster and more deadly.
"Maintain formation and enter slowly. Hunter Lee Chae-ho, please secure the rear."
The party leader turned around and asked politely.
It was different from the stiff instructions he had given when they first entered the dungeon.
Now, he spoke as if he fully trusted Chae-ho with the rear.
"I'll handle my role."
Chae-ho answered briefly and turned his gaze forward.
With each battle, his body felt lighter.
The sensation of using the skill in short bursts was becoming completely familiar.
No matter what variable appeared, he felt he could handle it with his current senses.
Chae-ho silently tapped the thumb resting on his sword sheath.
Click.
With a small friction sound, the blade slid out slightly.
'Faster. Shorter.'
Chae-ho muttered inwardly while watching the frontline fighters' paths as they prepared to enter.
"Let's go."
At his brief words, the frontline fighters tightened their grips on their weapons and entered the darkness first.
The healer followed.
Chae-ho stepped in last.
From inside the boss room came the heavy breathing of a massive beast.
Chae-ho did not stop walking.
The moment a huge shadow flickered in his vision, the tip of his sword quietly lowered toward the ground.