The chain of status windows kept appearing one after another until his eyes almost hurt.
He had definitely entered the dungeon alone. The official at the entrance had literally asked if he had come by himself, so there was no way he could be mistaken.
And yet there was already another hunter inside.
Not only that, in that tiny span of time, the dungeon had already been cleared and the reward claimed.
As proof of the clear, the sky above the dungeon split open and light poured through it.
Glancing back at the path that now led to the exit, Gong Siyoung bit his lip.
“What the hell is this?”
A bug?
He had never heard of a bug like this.
He sifted through the status windows, but it was difficult to get any more information than what was already displayed.
With the boss monster gone, the dungeon would either close soon or, if luck turned bad, begin regenerating.
Either way, there wasn’t much time left.
After a brief moment of thought, Siyoung turned and headed deeper in the direction opposite the entrance.
Bug or not, now that he was here, he needed to confirm the identity of whoever was inside.
True to its flame attribute, the deeper he went, the hotter the air became.
The dungeon’s signature thick dust smell hung in the air, and flakes of ash drifted through the empty space.
Siyoung pulled up the hood attached to his hunter suit.
With the boss monster gone, any remaining monsters were surely already disappearing or on the verge of it.
That still wasn’t reason enough to relax.
His cautious steps gradually quickened as he scanned the surroundings.
While walking and checking the elapsed entry time, a figure appeared from the opposite side.
At first, he thought it was a monster.
There was no way a person inside a dungeon would stroll around that casually, almost lazily.
Even the gait itself looked strangely dry and unnatural.
Siyoung calmly activated a skill.
+
[Using skill ‘Deep Eyes.’ Detects the skills and attributes of the observed target.]
— Target: (Unknown)
— Class: (Unknown)
— Possessed Skills: None.
— Special Trait: <The Chosen>
+
“…What?”
The figure was clearly a person standing right in front of him, and yet he could learn nothing.
Aside from the title that had just been granted as a reward, nothing at all could be identified.
To hide the unease creeping over him, Siyoung pulled his hood down even lower.
‘Did he hide it with a unique skill?’
Even so, something felt off.
If it were hidden by a skill, the information should have been masked or displayed as ‘Deleted.’
But all he saw was the bizarre word Unknown.
No matter how he looked at it, it was suspicious.
Whatever that man’s identity was, it was definitely not a good sign.
Instinctively, Siyoung formed an ice spear and leveled it at the approaching man.
Faced with the aggressive stance, the man flinched to a stop.
Neither Yurian nor Gong Siyoung spoke first.
As they exchanged guarded looks, Siyoung’s questions only deepened.
The man had the youthful face of someone in his early twenties.
Yet unlike that face, he was fairly tall, and his build was solid all over.
The physical type?
It didn’t quite match the face…
At first Siyoung thought his hair was green.
It wasn’t.
It was white, close to silver, crusted over with dried green blood.
Whatever reason he had for walking around drenched in monster blood like that, it was revolting just to look at.
The eyes set into his small pale face looked like sapphires.
Not pretty so much as handsome.
There was something unreal about him, like he wasn’t a living person at all but some character out of a game.
And in one hand, he carried a long sword.
Blood that still hadn’t fully dried dripped from the blade.
Maybe his unique skill had something to do with swords.
Without taking his eyes off the weapon, Siyoung spoke.
“State your affiliation and your name.”
The danger signs were obvious.
Gong Siyoung lifted the spear in warning.
The man, who had been loosely letting the sword hang at his side, arched a brow.
A flood of emotions crossed his face in quick succession.
Curiosity. Doubt. Mixed with joy and surprise.
And… relief?
Whatever it meant, the man looked genuinely excited and strangely happy to see him.
His thoughts showed so openly on his face that it almost made skills feel unnecessary.
Despite the absurd thought, the spear aimed at him gleamed sharply.
Siyoung repeated himself.
“State your affiliation and your name.”
The man paused for a moment, then let the sword drop to the ground with a clatter.
His raised hands fluttered rapidly in surrender.
“Wow, this is seriously amazing. No, I definitely don’t know this language, so why can I understand it? Huh? I’m talking just fine too. What kind of sorcery is this?”
Words came pouring out in a rapid-fire flood, as if he’d been holding them back with immense effort until now.
The fidgety tone shattered what little tension remained.
“You want my affiliation and name? Wow, but how am I even hearing this? It’s like everything you say just drops straight into my ears.”
He chattered brightly, but his posture was clear.
The man was actively signaling that he had no intention of attacking, both hands placed behind his head.
Then he dropped smoothly to his knees.
The movement was so natural it was suspicious.
Like someone who had surrendered many times before.
Siyoung’s gaze sharpened.
‘Is he insane?’
Even among hunters, there was never any shortage of lunatics.
The kind who sneaked into dungeons just to see monsters one more time, kill one more, or raid them behind the Bureau’s back.
Was this guy one of those?
“Well, affiliation is a little complicated. I could say the Iberium Empire, but strictly speaking I’m not exactly from there. You’d have to split it by maternal or paternal line… if it’s my mother’s side, then I’m from the Eastern Continent, and if it’s my father’s side, then it’d be the Kingdom of Kalian, though that’s not entirely exact. So for now, I guess saying I’m with the 81st Monster Subjugation Battalion, 1st Camp Mercenary Unit would count as an answer?”
Siyoung understood the words.
He understood the sentences.
But understanding the meaning behind them was another matter entirely.
The Iberium Empire. The Kingdom of Kalian.
Those unfamiliar place names were one thing, but what the hell was a Monster Subjugation Battalion?
‘He’s actually a total nutcase.’
As if to tell him to shut up, Siyoung lightly struck the ground with the butt of his spear.
Apparently the man had enough sense to notice the icy glare, because he immediately closed his mouth.
“Your name?”
“Yurian.”
The ordinary name came out in an ordinary way.
Mulling the name over, Siyoung snatched up the sword lying on the floor.
It was heavier and colder than expected.
Looking at it up close, the entire blade was soaked in blood.
“Did you kill the boss monster?”
“What’s a boss monster?”
Yurian tilted his head.
His blue eyes drifted toward the sword Siyoung was now using like a staff.
His lips parted slightly before he spoke with careful caution.
“But you really shouldn’t hold the sword upright like that.”
At the same instant, the center of the blade cracked apart.
Startled, Siyoung reflexively used a freezing skill.
The broken halves froze midair with a sharp crack.
Now encased in ice, the ruined sword dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Wow.”
Yurian’s eyes widened.
His gaze toward the sword rolling across the floor was filled with admiration.
“You just suddenly froze my sword?”
It was hard to tell whether he was surprised or mocking him.
Flustered, Siyoung looked down at the chunk of ice that had once been a sword.
As if reading his discomfort, Yurian spoke lightly.
“It’s fine. You didn’t break it. I busted it earlier while cracking a Hellhound’s skull.”
“Hellhound?”
“Yeah. There were a ton of them over there.”
His neat finger pointed precisely toward the direction opposite the entrance.
Toward the center of the dungeon.
Which meant…
“You mean the boss monster?”
“No. I said Hellhound.”
“I’m saying wasn’t that the boss monster?”
“No, it wasn’t. It was just a Hellhound. A whole pack of them swarming around.”
“So that’s the boss— ah.”
Siyoung stopped himself and just closed his mouth.
There was no answer to be found in arguing like this.
Staring at Yurian’s blank face, Siyoung slowly stepped closer.
He didn’t seem to have any hostile intent, but there was no telling.
Keeping hold of the man’s wrist, Siyoung summoned another system notification window.
Yurian simply blinked and watched.
“What are you doing? Why are you suddenly grabbing my hand?”
Yurian looked back and forth between his captured hand and Gong Siyoung, tilting his head.
At the airheaded, hyper reaction, Siyoung clicked his tongue in warning.
“Quiet.”
Normally, even if you could access someone else’s combat logs, it was basic etiquette not to look.
But was this really the time for etiquette?
And since the other side wasn’t even trying to pull his hand away, it counted as consent enough.
Making the judgment entirely to his own convenience, Siyoung activated the skill.
+
[Using skill ‘Combat Analysis.’ Viewing target’s combat record.]
— Loading logs… —
[(Unknown User) used skill ‘Unknown’.]
[Boss monster takes severe damage.]
[(Unknown User) used skill ‘Unknown’.]
[Boss monster takes severe damage.]
[(Unknown User) used skill ‘Unknown’.]
[Boss monster takes severe damage.]
[Boss monster enters incapacitated state.]
[Boss monster dies.]
— End of log —
+
“…What is this?”
The same pattern repeated so mechanically it almost looked like an error.
Every single time the unknown skill was used, the boss monster took a devastating critical hit.
Not long after, the record ended with its death.
That was it.
It was too bizarre to even call it a combat log.
Combat Analysis was an A-rank skill.
Even with limitations depending on the target, it should at least have revealed the skill’s level or name.
But the record in front of him was utterly useless.
Other than the fact that everything was Unknown, it revealed nothing.
What kind of bullshit situation was this?
There was nothing more worth checking.
This wasn’t just strange.
It was every possible kind of strange all at once.
What kind of disaster would happen if they just let something like this roam free?
Gong Siyoung formed a pair of handcuffs out of ice around the man’s wrist.
“Ah— cold!”
Yurian yelped in surprise as the frost rapidly spread around his wrist.
Whether he made a fuss or not, Siyoung calmly grabbed him by the collar.
“You’re coming with me.”