“...I don’t think this is a test.”
Ji-hoon’s murmur was quickly drowned out by the commotion.
“Whoa, this is insane. What the hell is this!?”
“Can different teams end up merging like this?”
“Isn’t this a bug?”
The Hunters from each team became entangled, plunging the place into chaos.
The same was true around Ji-hoon.
“Hey, you’re from Team C, right? The team that took first place yesterday?”
“Uh, yes?”
“Wow, I’m seriously jealous. Should I just do a lying-down stream like you? Or did you lobby the S-ranks or something?”
There were still people who were jealous of him.
That was why he had tried to avoid crossing paths with the members of the other teams whenever possible.
‘Of all things, the Gate had to change into this mess.’
“Come on, just tell me. You’ve got a secret, don’t you?”
“There’s really nothing like that....”
Just as Ji-hoon began to speak—
GRAB—
“Hey, Kim Min-cheol. That’s enough.”
Kang Gi-tae intervened and shoved the people away.
“Ji-hoon looks tired.”
“Tsk, Kang Gi-tae. You might be a big shot in here, but outside....”
At the same time, the man who had been looking at Ji-hoon found himself unable to take his eyes off the bird and bear beside him.
WHOOOOSH—
Poppy and Choco had slightly raised their mana, constricting the man’s body with it.
“W-what is this...!”
“Hey. I’ll take care of my own future, so worry about yourself. Get lost.”
Kang Gi-tae lowered his voice as he looked down at Kim Min-cheol.
Drenched in cold sweat, Kim Min-cheol only managed to move again after Poppy and Choco withdrew their mana.
“Huff, huff... damn it!”
Ji-hoon watched Kim Min-cheol retreat, then spoke to Kang Gi-tae.
“Thank you.”
“For what? We’re a team now.”
A team, he says.
Even Poppy and Choco looked dumbfounded beside him.
[I would like to enumerate every discourtesy he committed against you yesterday, Big Brother.]
[To think one piece of food changed him that much. Even Choco isn’t that bad.]
Ji-hoon tilted his head as he listened to the two grumble, but then muttered to himself,
“I’ll watch him a little longer.”
“All right, let’s do our best again today! Yesterday’s first place will be today’s first place too! Even if the Gates have merged, we’ll hold on to the number one spot! Let’s go, Big Brother Jin-woo! Everyone in Team C!”
Kang Gi-tae shouted to the others with an energy completely different from yesterday’s.
Kim Jin-woo gave a faint smile, while Lee Min-jae followed behind Kang Gi-tae despite looking displeased.
Kim Ji-eun approached Ji-hoon while communing with the Water Spirit.
“Hehe... it’s thanks to you, Mr. Ji-hoon.”
“What did I do?”
“You did so much yesterday.”
Thanks to him, Team C was harmony itself.
It did not matter whether someone was E-rank or F-rank.
Everyone simply had to play their part.
“I’m counting on you again today.”
Ji-hoon smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
“I really didn’t do anything.”
[Big Brother, humility is not a virtue. You saw plenty of that in Hell, did you not?]
[Right. You’re supposed to inflate your own worth.]
“Please, you two, just be quiet... And you can’t release your mana like that just because you’re pissed off. Got it?”
The two drooped their heads dejectedly.
Ji-hoon then looked for the employee who had guided them to the Gate earlier.
‘They’re gone.’
Ji-hoon was sure the employee had entered with them.
Had they used an item like a concealment cloak?
SWISH—
He raised his head.
‘That’s....’
A tiny crack.
And through that crack—
RUSTLE—
Dust trickled down.
At the same time, the feather on his necklace and the Spines on the bracelet around his right wrist vibrated faintly.
“...Poppy, Choco.”
Ji-hoon’s lowered voice drew both of their gazes.
“Don’t let your guard down.”
[Understood, Big Brother.]
[Don’t worry!]
“Mr. Ji-hoon?”
Kim Ji-eun called to him then.
“What’s wrong? You’re just staring blankly at the sky.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Shall we gather the byproducts first?”
In any case, this mission was about gathering byproducts from within the Gate.
The other teams were already mining Mana Crystals or gathering medicinal herbs.
Kang Gi-tae and Lee Min-jae had already begun working for Team C as well.
“Let’s get going too.”
***
WHOOSH—
Baek Kang-hyeon frowned as he entered the Gate.
He was standing in the middle of a desert where a sandstorm raged without mercy.
“Hah!”
He erupted his mana and blew the sandstorm away.
Only then did his view clear.
“This place....”
There was nothing here.
Team C should have entered before him.
“Are you sure this is the right Gate?”
–It is, Branch Director.
“Is Hunter Jin Seo-yoon there too...?”
–Guild. Master. Branch Director?
Her irritation carried through her voice.
Baek Kang-hyeon let out a quiet sigh.
“Yes, Guild Master Jin Seo-yoon. Is this the right place?”
–That’s the right Gate. Yoon Do-ha checked as well, and he says Team C entered there.
“Then what in the world is this....”
Even when the mana within a Gate was imbalanced, it was rare for entry points to differ.
And even when they did, the difference was usually no more than ten meters.
Yet the area around him was now completely empty.
“I’ll begin searching for them.”
–Would our fainthearted Branch Director like some help?
Jin Seo-yoon spoke in jest.
Baek Kang-hyeon’s face hardened, however, and he answered in a low voice.
“...Perhaps.”
Baek Kang-hyeon’s eyes turned cold.
“I may need it.”
–...Are you serious?
“I am.”
The mana was fluctuating.
This was unmistakably a D-rank Gate.
But the mana had just intensified to B-rank.
For an instant, it had even risen to A-rank.
Now it had fallen back to E-rank.
“There’s a high probability that this is a Mutation Gate.”
***
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
The Gate was filled with the sound of Hunters swinging pickaxes to mine Mana Crystals.
“This reminds me of the beginning.”
Back when he had just returned and received an F-rank classification.
He remembered doing this sort of work with Mr. Oh Tae-sik.
[I miss those days. You were holding a pickaxe when we reunited as well, Big Brother.]
“That’s all in the past now, isn’t it?”
CLANG—
CLANG—
Kim Jin-woo, who had been silently swinging his pickaxe, wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and spoke.
“Shall we take a short break?”
At their team leader’s words, everyone gathered in one place and sat down.
“Wow... manual labor... really is... phew... exhausting....”
Kim Ji-eun handed out water bottles to the members, then gulped down her own water.
“Still, the Water Spirit is happy that I’m finally getting some exercise.”
“Because you don’t normally exercise enough?”
When Kang Gi-tae asked mischievously, Kim Ji-eun laughed, “Hehe.”
“Come on, I may not get enough, but it’s not like I don’t exercise at all.”
Ji-hoon smiled inwardly as he watched the two, who had grown close before he knew it.
He was glad they had taken first place yesterday.
“Enough joking around.”
Kim Jin-woo looked around at the others.
“What does everyone think?”
Everyone turned their attention to Kim Jin-woo.
“I think there’s something more to this, just like yesterday.”
“So you think so too, Big Brother.”
“Did you sense anything with your Detection Skill?”
“He probably didn’t sense anything.”
Ji-hoon answered in Kim Jin-woo’s place.
“H-how did you know?”
In truth, Kim Jin-woo had activated his Skill as soon as they entered.
But there were no places where a shimmer rose into the air.
Either the Mana Crystals really were all of the lowest grade....
‘Or someone is deliberately disrupting the mana.’
In any case, every member of the team came to agree that this space was also different from an ordinary Gate.
“We’ve mined all the Mana Crystals, so let’s gather medicinal herbs next.”
“This place is so barren. I think gathering medicinal herbs will be the hardest task.”
Kim Ji-eun sighed as she looked out at the sand-covered terrain that resembled a desert.
“No, wait....”
Kim Jin-woo narrowed his eyes.
Then he invoked,
“Mana Scanning (A).”
SHIMMER—FLASH—
A brief light spread around Kim Jin-woo’s body.
It was so fleeting that no one except those beside him would have noticed it.
“Big Brother, how many meters did you extend it?”
“...I pushed it farther—to one hundred fifty meters.”
“As expected of you, Big Brother! Not just anyone can become an A-rank Hunter!”
Kang Gi-tae made a great fuss.
And before him, Kim Jin-woo broke out in a stream of cold sweat.
“Something... is coming.”
“What? What do you mean...?”
Before Lee Min-jae could finish his question—
CRACK—
CRACKLE—
The ground slowly began to split in a spot roughly one hundred fifty meters away.
“The Monsters are respawning! Everyone, prepare for battle!”
SKREEEEEEK—!
KRAAH! KRA-KRAAH!
As the fissure formed, the Monsters that had inhabited the D-rank Gate began to respawn.
The Hunters readied themselves.
At worst, it would be a horde of goblins. Even if the Monsters were somewhat stronger, they would only be orcs.
They would not last a single blow against those gathered here.
“Ha! It’s been a while since I got to loosen up!”
Kang Gi-tae activated Strength Enhancement and stepped forward.
“W-Water Spirit! Come out!”
Kim Ji-eun summoned the spirit onto her shoulder.
“They appeared over there, but there’s also a tiny fissure to the right. I’ll keep watch on that side as well.”
Kim Jin-woo expanded his Detection Skill with even greater sensitivity.
Lee Min-jae drew a shield and one-handed sword from his subspace.
“Shield Enhancement (B)!”
SHING—!
Mana light gathered around the shield.
It was not as sturdy as Woo-jae’s, but it had become quite formidable.
Ji-hoon, meanwhile, said,
“Poppy, Choco.”
[Yes, Big Brother.]
[Just give the order.]
“Protect my teammates. Only step in when they’re in danger.”
At those words, Poppy and Choco growled and stepped forward.
“Let’s go!”
WAAAAAAAAH—!!!!
Every Returnee Hunter from Team A through Team N charged at the hordes of goblins and orcs ahead.
THUD—!
SLASH—!
SPLATTER—!
Blood sprayed with every sound of the Hunters’ battle.
The Monsters fell without mounting any meaningful resistance.
The Hunters gathered here ranged all the way from A-rank to F-rank.
“Ha! They’re nothing!”
And among them were even a handful who had made names for themselves as A-rank Hunters.
“As expected of Hunter Lee Min-hyeok! You truly are an A-rank Swordsman!”
Lee Min-hyeok raised his greatsword with a smirk.
He had been so bored from doing nothing but swinging a pickaxe that he thought he would die, only for an event like this to occur.
“Hahaha! Tell them all to come at me!”
After Lee Min-hyeok, A-rank Magic-Type Hunter Song Ju-min casually kicked aside the charred corpse of an orc.
“So this is all D-rank amounts to.”
Only after seeing how cleanly the Monsters had been dealt with did Kim Jin-woo breathe a sigh of relief.
Ji-hoon, however, offered a single remark.
“Orcs are C-rank, aren’t they?”
At the same time, every member of Team C stopped breathing.
Both the flow of mana and the Monsters’ corpses suddenly felt alien.
“...It can’t be.”
Kim Jin-woo activated Mana Scanning again.
This time, he concentrated the scan on the tiny fissure to the right.
And then—
“Urgh...!”
Kim Jin-woo clutched his throat and fell to his knees.
“Big Brother!? What’s wrong!?”
Kang Gi-tae supported Kim Jin-woo.
At the same time—
“Poppy!!!!!”
SWOOSH—
SKREEEEEEEECH———!!!!
A sharp blade struck Poppy’s enlarged wing and was stopped.
Had Poppy let it pass, Kang Gi-tae and Kim Jin-woo would have had their throats sliced open.
[You dare!]
BOOM—!
Poppy flapped his wing and swept it out in a mighty blow.
The Monster was sent flying into the center of the Hunters.
KABOOM—!
Though it was slammed into the ground, the Monster immediately rose to its feet.
The silhouette of the Monster, enraged that its blade had been blocked and it had been hurled away, came into view.
An elongated body.
And atop it—
WRITHE.
WRITHE.
Small things moved.
Dozens of eyes turned toward them all at once.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!!!
THUMP
A roar burst forth, striking the Hunters directly in their hearts.
Every Hunter of C-rank or below began foaming at the mouth.
“U-ur... gh....”
THUD
THUD
Lee Min-jae, who had somehow endured the roar, stepped forward alongside the B-rank and A-rank Hunters.
However—
“Huff... huff....”
“Fuck... wasn’t this place D-rank!?”
“Everyone, hold formation!”
Tension had left all of their bodies rigid.
Then the Monster’s true form came into view.
It had one enormous head and eight smaller heads.
“An A-rank Boss....”
“A Medusa...?”
It was a Monster known to be more difficult to face than most A-rank Bosses.
A Monster that unleashed petrification and mental attacks without pause had appeared as the Boss.
***
At the same time, in the Management Bureau situation room.
“Assess the situation! Something’s wrong with the Gate!”
Jin Seo-yoon was flustered.
“Heh heh heh, how fascinating. I’ve never seen a Gate like this before!”
Yoon Do-ha was engrossed in the footage like a madman.
–Dispatch reinforcements immediately!!!!
And Baek Kang-hyeon’s voice rang out as he called for reinforcements.
The situation room descended into pandemonium.
And for good reason.
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from D-rank to C-rank.]
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from C-rank to A-rank.]
And shortly afterward.
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from A-rank to S-rank.]
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from S-rank to B-rank.]
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from B-rank to A-rank….]
“...What is this?”
Jin Seo-yoon groaned under her breath.
After that, only silence swept through the situation room.
Chapter 22
“...I don’t think this is a test.”
Ji-hoon’s murmur was quickly drowned out by the commotion.
“Whoa, this is insane. What the hell is this!?”
“Can different teams end up merging like this?”
“Isn’t this a bug?”
The Hunters from each team became entangled, plunging the place into chaos.
The same was true around Ji-hoon.
“Hey, you’re from Team C, right? The team that took first place yesterday?”
“Uh, yes?”
“Wow, I’m seriously jealous. Should I just do a lying-down stream like you? Or did you lobby the S-ranks or something?”
There were still people who were jealous of him.
That was why he had tried to avoid crossing paths with the members of the other teams whenever possible.
‘Of all things, the Gate had to change into this mess.’
“Come on, just tell me. You’ve got a secret, don’t you?”
“There’s really nothing like that....”
Just as Ji-hoon began to speak—
GRAB—
“Hey, Kim Min-cheol. That’s enough.”
Kang Gi-tae intervened and shoved the people away.
“Ji-hoon looks tired.”
“Tsk, Kang Gi-tae. You might be a big shot in here, but outside....”
At the same time, the man who had been looking at Ji-hoon found himself unable to take his eyes off the bird and bear beside him.
WHOOOOSH—
Poppy and Choco had slightly raised their mana, constricting the man’s body with it.
“W-what is this...!”
“Hey. I’ll take care of my own future, so worry about yourself. Get lost.”
Kang Gi-tae lowered his voice as he looked down at Kim Min-cheol.
Drenched in cold sweat, Kim Min-cheol only managed to move again after Poppy and Choco withdrew their mana.
“Huff, huff... damn it!”
Ji-hoon watched Kim Min-cheol retreat, then spoke to Kang Gi-tae.
“Thank you.”
“For what? We’re a team now.”
A team, he says.
Even Poppy and Choco looked dumbfounded beside him.
[I would like to enumerate every discourtesy he committed against you yesterday, Big Brother.]
[To think one piece of food changed him that much. Even Choco isn’t that bad.]
Ji-hoon tilted his head as he listened to the two grumble, but then muttered to himself,
“I’ll watch him a little longer.”
“All right, let’s do our best again today! Yesterday’s first place will be today’s first place too! Even if the Gates have merged, we’ll hold on to the number one spot! Let’s go, Big Brother Jin-woo! Everyone in Team C!”
Kang Gi-tae shouted to the others with an energy completely different from yesterday’s.
Kim Jin-woo gave a faint smile, while Lee Min-jae followed behind Kang Gi-tae despite looking displeased.
Kim Ji-eun approached Ji-hoon while communing with the Water Spirit.
“Hehe... it’s thanks to you, Mr. Ji-hoon.”
“What did I do?”
“You did so much yesterday.”
Thanks to him, Team C was harmony itself.
It did not matter whether someone was E-rank or F-rank.
Everyone simply had to play their part.
“I’m counting on you again today.”
Ji-hoon smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
“I really didn’t do anything.”
[Big Brother, humility is not a virtue. You saw plenty of that in Hell, did you not?]
[Right. You’re supposed to inflate your own worth.]
“Please, you two, just be quiet... And you can’t release your mana like that just because you’re pissed off. Got it?”
The two drooped their heads dejectedly.
Ji-hoon then looked for the employee who had guided them to the Gate earlier.
‘They’re gone.’
Ji-hoon was sure the employee had entered with them.
Had they used an item like a concealment cloak?
SWISH—
He raised his head.
‘That’s....’
A tiny crack.
And through that crack—
RUSTLE—
Dust trickled down.
At the same time, the feather on his necklace and the Spines on the bracelet around his right wrist vibrated faintly.
“...Poppy, Choco.”
Ji-hoon’s lowered voice drew both of their gazes.
“Don’t let your guard down.”
[Understood, Big Brother.]
[Don’t worry!]
“Mr. Ji-hoon?”
Kim Ji-eun called to him then.
“What’s wrong? You’re just staring blankly at the sky.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Shall we gather the byproducts first?”
In any case, this mission was about gathering byproducts from within the Gate.
The other teams were already mining Mana Crystals or gathering medicinal herbs.
Kang Gi-tae and Lee Min-jae had already begun working for Team C as well.
“Let’s get going too.”
***
WHOOSH—
Baek Kang-hyeon frowned as he entered the Gate.
He was standing in the middle of a desert where a sandstorm raged without mercy.
“Hah!”
He erupted his mana and blew the sandstorm away.
Only then did his view clear.
“This place....”
There was nothing here.
Team C should have entered before him.
“Are you sure this is the right Gate?”
–It is, Branch Director.
“Is Hunter Jin Seo-yoon there too...?”
–Guild. Master. Branch Director?
Her irritation carried through her voice.
Baek Kang-hyeon let out a quiet sigh.
“Yes, Guild Master Jin Seo-yoon. Is this the right place?”
–That’s the right Gate. Yoon Do-ha checked as well, and he says Team C entered there.
“Then what in the world is this....”
Even when the mana within a Gate was imbalanced, it was rare for entry points to differ.
And even when they did, the difference was usually no more than ten meters.
Yet the area around him was now completely empty.
“I’ll begin searching for them.”
–Would our fainthearted Branch Director like some help?
Jin Seo-yoon spoke in jest.
Baek Kang-hyeon’s face hardened, however, and he answered in a low voice.
“...Perhaps.”
Baek Kang-hyeon’s eyes turned cold.
“I may need it.”
–...Are you serious?
“I am.”
The mana was fluctuating.
This was unmistakably a D-rank Gate.
But the mana had just intensified to B-rank.
For an instant, it had even risen to A-rank.
Now it had fallen back to E-rank.
“There’s a high probability that this is a Mutation Gate.”
***
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
The Gate was filled with the sound of Hunters swinging pickaxes to mine Mana Crystals.
“This reminds me of the beginning.”
Back when he had just returned and received an F-rank classification.
He remembered doing this sort of work with Mr. Oh Tae-sik.
[I miss those days. You were holding a pickaxe when we reunited as well, Big Brother.]
“That’s all in the past now, isn’t it?”
CLANG—
CLANG—
Kim Jin-woo, who had been silently swinging his pickaxe, wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and spoke.
“Shall we take a short break?”
At their team leader’s words, everyone gathered in one place and sat down.
“Wow... manual labor... really is... phew... exhausting....”
Kim Ji-eun handed out water bottles to the members, then gulped down her own water.
“Still, the Water Spirit is happy that I’m finally getting some exercise.”
“Because you don’t normally exercise enough?”
When Kang Gi-tae asked mischievously, Kim Ji-eun laughed, “Hehe.”
“Come on, I may not get enough, but it’s not like I don’t exercise at all.”
Ji-hoon smiled inwardly as he watched the two, who had grown close before he knew it.
He was glad they had taken first place yesterday.
“Enough joking around.”
Kim Jin-woo looked around at the others.
“What does everyone think?”
Everyone turned their attention to Kim Jin-woo.
“I think there’s something more to this, just like yesterday.”
“So you think so too, Big Brother.”
“Did you sense anything with your Detection Skill?”
“He probably didn’t sense anything.”
Ji-hoon answered in Kim Jin-woo’s place.
“H-how did you know?”
In truth, Kim Jin-woo had activated his Skill as soon as they entered.
But there were no places where a shimmer rose into the air.
Either the Mana Crystals really were all of the lowest grade....
‘Or someone is deliberately disrupting the mana.’
In any case, every member of the team came to agree that this space was also different from an ordinary Gate.
“We’ve mined all the Mana Crystals, so let’s gather medicinal herbs next.”
“This place is so barren. I think gathering medicinal herbs will be the hardest task.”
Kim Ji-eun sighed as she looked out at the sand-covered terrain that resembled a desert.
“No, wait....”
Kim Jin-woo narrowed his eyes.
Then he invoked,
“Mana Scanning (A).”
SHIMMER—FLASH—
A brief light spread around Kim Jin-woo’s body.
It was so fleeting that no one except those beside him would have noticed it.
“Big Brother, how many meters did you extend it?”
“...I pushed it farther—to one hundred fifty meters.”
“As expected of you, Big Brother! Not just anyone can become an A-rank Hunter!”
Kang Gi-tae made a great fuss.
And before him, Kim Jin-woo broke out in a stream of cold sweat.
“Something... is coming.”
“What? What do you mean...?”
Before Lee Min-jae could finish his question—
CRACK—
CRACKLE—
The ground slowly began to split in a spot roughly one hundred fifty meters away.
“The Monsters are respawning! Everyone, prepare for battle!”
SKREEEEEEK—!
KRAAH! KRA-KRAAH!
As the fissure formed, the Monsters that had inhabited the D-rank Gate began to respawn.
The Hunters readied themselves.
At worst, it would be a horde of goblins. Even if the Monsters were somewhat stronger, they would only be orcs.
They would not last a single blow against those gathered here.
“Ha! It’s been a while since I got to loosen up!”
Kang Gi-tae activated Strength Enhancement and stepped forward.
“W-Water Spirit! Come out!”
Kim Ji-eun summoned the spirit onto her shoulder.
“They appeared over there, but there’s also a tiny fissure to the right. I’ll keep watch on that side as well.”
Kim Jin-woo expanded his Detection Skill with even greater sensitivity.
Lee Min-jae drew a shield and one-handed sword from his subspace.
“Shield Enhancement (B)!”
SHING—!
Mana light gathered around the shield.
It was not as sturdy as Woo-jae’s, but it had become quite formidable.
Ji-hoon, meanwhile, said,
“Poppy, Choco.”
[Yes, Big Brother.]
[Just give the order.]
“Protect my teammates. Only step in when they’re in danger.”
At those words, Poppy and Choco growled and stepped forward.
“Let’s go!”
WAAAAAAAAH—!!!!
Every Returnee Hunter from Team A through Team N charged at the hordes of goblins and orcs ahead.
THUD—!
SLASH—!
SPLATTER—!
Blood sprayed with every sound of the Hunters’ battle.
The Monsters fell without mounting any meaningful resistance.
The Hunters gathered here ranged all the way from A-rank to F-rank.
“Ha! They’re nothing!”
And among them were even a handful who had made names for themselves as A-rank Hunters.
“As expected of Hunter Lee Min-hyeok! You truly are an A-rank Swordsman!”
Lee Min-hyeok raised his greatsword with a smirk.
He had been so bored from doing nothing but swinging a pickaxe that he thought he would die, only for an event like this to occur.
“Hahaha! Tell them all to come at me!”
After Lee Min-hyeok, A-rank Magic-Type Hunter Song Ju-min casually kicked aside the charred corpse of an orc.
“So this is all D-rank amounts to.”
Only after seeing how cleanly the Monsters had been dealt with did Kim Jin-woo breathe a sigh of relief.
Ji-hoon, however, offered a single remark.
“Orcs are C-rank, aren’t they?”
At the same time, every member of Team C stopped breathing.
Both the flow of mana and the Monsters’ corpses suddenly felt alien.
“...It can’t be.”
Kim Jin-woo activated Mana Scanning again.
This time, he concentrated the scan on the tiny fissure to the right.
And then—
“Urgh...!”
Kim Jin-woo clutched his throat and fell to his knees.
“Big Brother!? What’s wrong!?”
Kang Gi-tae supported Kim Jin-woo.
At the same time—
“Poppy!!!!!”
SWOOSH—
SKREEEEEEEECH———!!!!
A sharp blade struck Poppy’s enlarged wing and was stopped.
Had Poppy let it pass, Kang Gi-tae and Kim Jin-woo would have had their throats sliced open.
[You dare!]
BOOM—!
Poppy flapped his wing and swept it out in a mighty blow.
The Monster was sent flying into the center of the Hunters.
KABOOM—!
Though it was slammed into the ground, the Monster immediately rose to its feet.
The silhouette of the Monster, enraged that its blade had been blocked and it had been hurled away, came into view.
An elongated body.
And atop it—
WRITHE.
WRITHE.
Small things moved.
Dozens of eyes turned toward them all at once.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!!!
THUMP
A roar burst forth, striking the Hunters directly in their hearts.
Every Hunter of C-rank or below began foaming at the mouth.
“U-ur... gh....”
THUD
THUD
Lee Min-jae, who had somehow endured the roar, stepped forward alongside the B-rank and A-rank Hunters.
However—
“Huff... huff....”
“Fuck... wasn’t this place D-rank!?”
“Everyone, hold formation!”
Tension had left all of their bodies rigid.
Then the Monster’s true form came into view.
It had one enormous head and eight smaller heads.
“An A-rank Boss....”
“A Medusa...?”
It was a Monster known to be more difficult to face than most A-rank Bosses.
A Monster that unleashed petrification and mental attacks without pause had appeared as the Boss.
***
At the same time, in the Management Bureau situation room.
“Assess the situation! Something’s wrong with the Gate!”
Jin Seo-yoon was flustered.
“Heh heh heh, how fascinating. I’ve never seen a Gate like this before!”
Yoon Do-ha was engrossed in the footage like a madman.
–Dispatch reinforcements immediately!!!!
And Baek Kang-hyeon’s voice rang out as he called for reinforcements.
The situation room descended into pandemonium.
And for good reason.
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from D-rank to C-rank.]
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from C-rank to A-rank.]
And shortly afterward.
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from A-rank to S-rank.]
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from S-rank to B-rank.]
[Warning: Dungeon Grade is being recalibrated from B-rank to A-rank….]
“...What is this?”
Jin Seo-yoon groaned under her breath.
After that, only silence swept through the situation room.