“When I first entered this dungeon, its attribute was fire.”
Gong Siyoung narrowed his eyes, recalling the ash-filled sky from before.
There was no way a place that had been dry and brittle without even a trace of moisture could suddenly turn into an ice kingdom.
“Either the gate information is wrong. Or the system window is bugged. Or the dungeon itself is completely screwed.”
None of the information mentioned during the briefing matched.
The dungeon that had been labeled A-rank turned out to be B-rank upon entry. The attribute had changed, and even the overflow data was different.
“But there’s no way the Bureau made a mistake, right?”
Woo Yujin tilted his head as he asked. Gong Siyoung shook his own.
There had never been a case like that.
The only reason this dungeon had been flagged before was because of its unusually short cooldown. Even when Bureau-affiliated hunters entered right after the initial clear for a post-operation report, nothing like this had been reported.
No matter how much he thought it through, it didn’t make sense.
Unless the dungeon had decided to mess with them on purpose, there was no way this should be possible.
“…Let’s move.”
Strange or not, once inside a dungeon, their objective remained the same—kill the boss monster.
And Siyoung had another objective as well.
‘It should be somewhere around here…’
Even if the environment had changed, the entire terrain wouldn’t have.
Judging by the gate’s position and direction, this was roughly where he had encountered Yurian.
Which meant the sword had to be somewhere around here.
The problem was—
Everything was buried under snow.
He had frozen the sword in ice, so it had to be somewhere beneath this white expanse.
It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack—no, worse. Finding a chunk of ice in a snowfield.
Could his luck really be this bad?
Clicking his tongue, he stomped down hard. He scraped at the snow with his foot, but it was pointless.
“What? Is there something there?”
“Nothing.”
Woo Yujin had already rushed over, hovering around him. Stepping right into Siyoung’s footprints, he began poking at the ground with his foot.
The distraction was irritating enough that Siyoung was about to turn away when—
“Huh?”
Yujin suddenly looked down at his feet.
“There’s something here. An item?”
He dug through the piled-up snow and pulled out a solid chunk of frozen stone.
At the commotion, Gu Jayeong immediately approached.
“A sword… stuck in ice?”
Twitch.
The corner of Gong Siyoung’s eye flickered.
Without hesitation, he turned and strode over, as if he had been leading all along.
In Woo Yujin’s hands was a heavily frozen mass, snapped cleanly in two.
If his memory was correct, it was definitely the sword Yurian had been carrying.
Intrigued, the two of them began chattering over it, debating whether it was an item and whether they could take it.
That was when—
Siyoung reached in between them.
The moment his hand touched it—
Crack—!
The ice shattered with a sharp, grinding sound.
“Whoa, shit! You scared me!”
Startled, Woo Yujin stumbled back to avoid the flying shards.
Sharp fragments of ice scattered in all directions. A second later and he would’ve been pierced clean through.
Clutching his chest, Yujin stared at the shards embedded in the ground.
“You could’ve said something! Damn, that scared me! And when did she get all the way over there—”
He glanced back to see Gu Jayeong already standing safely behind Siyoung.
“Jayeong, that’s seriously cheap. You just ditched me?”
“What, you want me to go down with you? You dodge on your own.”
“…Fair enough.”
Clicking his tongue, Yujin pouted slightly.
Siyoung ignored them and picked up the sword.
The two of them fell silent, watching him.
A brief stillness settled over the group.
“…I dropped it last time I entered.”
“But you don’t even use a sword, Hunter Siyoung.”
His main weapon was an ice-forged spear, and he primarily used freezing abilities.
In practice, he was much closer to a ranged dealer. A sword didn’t suit him at all.
Siyoung knew that.
Yujin and Jayeong knew that too.
The sword’s sudden appearance was strange enough—but Siyoung claiming it was his made it even more suspicious.
“It’s mine.”
It had been Yurian’s, but there was no need to explain that.
Siyoung tucked the sword under his arm.
As he walked away, Yujin and Jayeong exchanged glances.
“…That’s pretty suspicious.”
“Agreed.”
It wasn’t like Gong Siyoung to rush for an item like that. And objectively, it wasn’t even particularly impressive.
It didn’t even seem compatible with him.
So why was he insisting on taking it?
Yujin brushed the snow off his shoulders as they followed behind.
“What if it’s actually some insane item we don’t know about? Like an S-rank rare or something…”
“Doubt it. It looks pretty shabby.”
Jayeong shrugged. At a glance, it was barely better than scrap.
Yujin shook his head.
“They say the better the item, the worse it looks. Hey, don’t you have that skill? The one that checks item rank—you showed me before.”
“I do, but…”
If she used it, Siyoung would notice.
It was only a B-rank skill, but there was no way someone like him wouldn’t pick up on it.
It’d be like announcing, “Hey, I’m being suspicious.”
And even if it really was an S-rank item—
Fighting Gong Siyoung over it wasn’t worth it.
“You’re not picking a fight. Just checking what it is. Look at him—he’s acting weird. He’s definitely hiding something.”
Woo Yujin, a close-range dealer, was proficient with all kinds of weapons, including his chainsaw.
To his eyes, Siyoung’s handling of the sword looked… clumsy.
“No matter how broken it is, who holds a sword like that? I’ll bet one finger he’s never held one before.”
Jayeong found herself slightly intrigued.
Stopping at a distance, she flicked her fingers.
+
[ Using skill ‘Observer’s Scale’. Appraising item rank and attributes. ]
― Item Name: (Unknown User)’s cherished sword
― Rank: F ~ SS
― Trait: Currently in a very bad mood (F)
+
The moment the skill activated—
Siyoung turned around.
More startled than Jayeong, Yujin flinched.
“Uh—wow, the weather’s great today, huh?! Hahaha!”
The snowstorm suddenly intensified.
Spitting out the snowflakes that had gotten into his mouth, Yujin waved his hands.
“I was just looking! Didn’t mean anything by it, seriously!”
“…Stop doing pointless things and move.”
Siyoung snapped his head forward again.
Watching the sword sticking out from under his arm, Yujin nudged Jayeong.
“So? What’d it say? What rank is it?”
Jayeong let out a quiet sigh, her gaze lingering on Siyoung’s back.
“It says it’s in a bad mood right now.”
“…What?”
She shrugged.
“First time I’ve seen something like that. An item that ranges from F to SS.”
Whatever it was, it wasn’t normal.
She was about to explain more, then decided it was too much effort and shut her mouth.
“Move already!”
Siyoung barked from the front.
Missing his chance to ask more, Yujin hurried after him.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!”
Siyoung shot them an irritated look. Whispering or not, he could hear everything they were saying.
‘Like I’d want to carry this piece of junk.’
Even if it were an SS-rank item, he had zero interest in taking someone else’s belongings.
And honestly, swinging around some worn-out sword like this?
He’d rather just die.
He wanted to finish off the monsters and get out.
Once he returned the sword to Yurian, he wouldn’t have to feel guilty anymore.
Just thinking about cutting ties made his motivation burn hotter.
+
[ Approaching core zone. Monsters in this area are awakening. ]
+
The system window appeared just as the snowy mountain loomed ahead.
The ground trembled.
Rumble—
A massive shadow rose from beneath the earth.
+
[ 「Boss Monster (A)」 has appeared. This area is now designated as the monster’s domain. ]
+
The crouched giant slowly rose to its feet.
Chunks of ice fell away from its body.
In a world without sunlight, its pale blue mask gleamed vividly through the snowfall.
Its massive, nearly ten-meter-tall body moved as if awakening from a deep slumber.
Facing the three hunters now in battle stance, the giant spoke.
〈I am the guardian of Niflheim. This is the domain of the chosen.〉