Kang-hyeok had noticed the eyes of Seong-ho's group on him.
He'd simply been ignoring them as best he could, to pretend he hadn't.
They wouldn't touch him in a situation like this, either.
Besides S2-rank Hunter Yu Chan-seok, there were first- and second-team Hunters all around.
With so many eyes watching, they wouldn't lay a hand on him carelessly.
"Haah......"
Just being around Seong-ho's group was enough to pile on the stress.
Only after the loads were packed and the meal finished did they slowly resume the march.
While hunting skeletons and ghouls, Yu Chan-seok furrowed his brow and studied the map.
"Something's off......"
"Is there a problem?"
At Seong-ho's question, Chan-seok showed him the map.
"According to this, there should be a three-way fork right ahead of us. But......"
"It's...... a two-way fork."
"For now, let's fall back and check the route again......"
Rrrrumble!
Before Chan-seok could finish, a massive earthquake struck.
"Wh-what is that?!"
"An earthquake?!"
"An earthquake, in a dungeon......!"
"L-Leader!"
At the Hunters' cries, Chan-seok whipped his head around.
The two paths that had been there began to rotate to the side.
And a new path appeared.
"This is......"
"Isn't the dungeon's structure changing?!"
At Seong-ho's shout, Chan-seok's face twisted.
"......It seems we'll need to focus on getting out of the dungeon."
Once a dungeon boss was slain, the Dungeon Gate would close within twenty-four hours.
Fail to leave within that time, and you'd be trapped in the dungeon forever.
No — could you even survive at all?
If the dungeon vanished...... there was a chance they'd vanish along with it.
Not once had anyone stranded in a vanished dungeon come back alive.
'Ngh......'
Seong-ho gritted his teeth.
Of all places to run their live-combat test.
The Hunters didn't fall into much of a panic.
There were two whole S-rank Hunters here.
They wouldn't die in a B-grade dungeon.
"More to the point, how did the guild even make this map......"
"There may be a cycle to the structure changing. The survey team must have happened to visit when the maze wasn't shifting."
Even the clearing where they'd camped that morning was nowhere to be found.
Thoom!
The Hunters flinched and stopped in their tracks.
An immense mana had made itself felt up ahead.
"Is...... is there a boss room?"
"......"
Even S-rank Hunters Yu Chan-seok and Lee Seong-ho gripped their weapons with tense faces.
"We'll retreat slowly."
At Chan-seok's order, the Hunters nodded quietly.
As they fell back, they shuddered at a presence at their backs.
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
Skeletons appeared behind them.
And with them, a Dullahan.
"What the......"
"L-Leader, it's not just one!"
At Kim Jun-su's voice, Chan-seok's face contorted.
The porters hurriedly pressed themselves against the walls.
So the Hunters could fight freely.
"......We'll cut down the Dullahans and get out of here fast. Hunter Lee Seong-ho, watch the rear!"
"Yes, understood!"
Just as Yu Chan-seok charged at the Dullahans.
Seong-ho's group watched the opposite side, weapons gripped tight.
CRASH! Ka-ka-krash—!
The porters watched Chan-seok fight and quietly breathed easier.
While the first- and second-team Hunters handled the skeletons, Chan-seok alone cut down the horde of Dullahans.
Glancing over, Seong-ho marveled at Chan-seok's fighting.
'So that's an S2-rank......'
Overwhelming, no doubt about it.
Several times stronger than himself, an S3-rank Hunter.
Feeling reassured, Seong-ho turned back around —
Slash!
"Huh......?"
The head of Kim Jun-su, standing right before him, was gone.
Fwoom!
Something swept past Seong-ho's side in a great gust of wind.
"What the—!"
By the time he snapped his head up, all he could see was Jun-su collapsed on the ground.
"Kyaaaah!"
At the same moment as Kang Ji-hye and the other female Hunters screamed, a huge commotion erupted behind them.
"L-Leader!"
At someone's voice, Seong-ho's group whipped around.
A skeleton clad in jet-black armor, gripping a greatsword.
Different from a headless Dullahan.
'D-Don't tell me......'
Seong-ho broke into a cold sweat and stumbled backward.
His heart pierced by the greatsword, Chan-seok trembled, blood spilling from his mouth.
"R-Run......"
Splurt!
Chan-seok died before he could finish the word.
"Gh...... aaaagh!"
The Hunters began to flee, faces stricken with terror.
"Run!"
"I-It's a Death Knight!"
As the panicked first- and second-team Hunters started to run, the bewildered porters began running too.
Even Seong-ho's group scrambled to get away.
Right now, they had to run.
As Kang-hyeok chased after Seong-ho's group, he flung every last load out of his pack.
Then he climbed onto the back of the skeleton he'd summoned.
"R-Run! Keep running!"
At Kang-hyeok's terrified shout, the skeleton pumped its legs desperately.
Meanwhile, an enormous roar rose up behind them.
CRASH! Ka-krash!
"Gyaaaagh!"
"S-Save......!"
"Aaaaaagh!"
Roars and screams tangled together.
The distance from Seong-ho's group had stretched to hundreds of meters.
"Hah...... hah...... hah......"
The porters running with Kang-hyeok gasped for breath, their pace steadily slowing.
No matter how high your strength and agility, without stamina it was meaningless.
That was why most Hunters invested in stamina first.
The porters, too, had surely raised theirs.
But after two or three hours of marching, sprinting at full tilt was bound to be exhausting.
"M-Me too......"
A porter's voice came from behind.
The young porter he'd talked with the day before.
"Fuck!"
Kang-hyeok cursed and leapt down from the skeleton.
"Carry that guy on your back!"
The skeleton hoisted the young porter onto its back and ran alongside Kang-hyeok.
"Hah...... hah...... th-thank you."
"Quiet! My stamina isn't high either! Rest up a bit, then get off and run!"
The young porter nodded.
"Ah...... I-I'm Jeong Su-chan."
"So what?!"
"Haha...... figured I'd at least say my name before I die."
"Shut up! We're going to survive, no matter what—!"
Kang-hyeok stopped short at the sight of the wide clearing that opened up before them.
"......Fuck. We're screwed."
It was no ordinary clearing.
A throne set hundreds of meters ahead.
To its left and right, countless Dullahans and Liches stood guard.
Seong-ho's group, who'd gone on ahead, were already clashing with them.
What now?
Run back?
Behind them was the Death Knight.
Ahead, a mass of Dullahans.
For Kang-hyeok, an E-rank Hunter, it was nothing short of a hopeless situation.
"Get out of my way, all of you!"
The beam of flame Seong-ho unleashed was blocked by a barrier the Liches raised.
Fwip!
"Damn it......!"
As the Dullahans moved, B-rank Hunters Seong Su-hyeon and Yu A-yeon swung their blades, faces white with terror.
"Aaaah!"
Slash—!
"Guhk......!"
Su-hyeon and A-yeon lost their heads and collapsed.
Ji-hye and Yu-jin scrambled over to Seong-ho.
"S-Seong-ho! P-Please, save us......!"
"You want to live, then fight! How am I supposed to kill all these bastards on my own!"
Paralyzed with fear, they couldn't manage any proper response.
Just then, Kang-hyeok came into Seong-ho's view.
"Y-You fucking bastard! Make yourself useful for once! At least play bait!"
Kang-hyeok quietly edged backward.
As if he'd volunteer to be bait — was he insane?
Even the porters were trying to keep their distance from Seong-ho.
"Those sons of bitches!"
A few Dullahans seemed to spot the porters and turned toward them.
"Damn it......!"
"S-Scatter!"
"Gh-gyaaaagh!"
Some of the porters doubled back the way they'd come.
If the Death Knight had chased the other Hunters in the opposite direction......
This might be their chance to escape.
'If I go now......!'
KABOOM—!
A massive explosion erupted at the entrance.
-Kh......
"Oh, fuck......"
Kang-hyeok's face flooded with terror.
Su-chan, who had gotten off the skeleton's back, also stumbled backward.
The Death Knight had stationed some of the Dullahans at the entrance.
It had cut off their retreat.
Then, slowly, it walked toward the throne.
-You wretched vermin of humans.
"A-A monster......"
A monster that spoke?
So it was possible to communicate with the Death Knight?
Everyone stared at it, faces stricken with shock.
At some point the Liches and Dullahans had stopped fighting and drawn back.
-How dare you enter my domain and run rampant as you please...... I will not grant you an easy death.
Hunters and porters alike stared at the Death Knight, gripped by terror.
-Tear their limbs off!
At the Death Knight's command, the Dullahans hurled themselves forward as one.
Slash—!
"Gyaaaagh!"
Even the porters were left sprawled on the ground, limbs severed.
Resisting to the very end, Seong-ho wet himself, legs shaking.
Death had come right up to his face.
How could he not be afraid?
The skeleton guarding Kang-hyeok was destroyed in a single instant, too.
Fwoom!
"Hiik!?"
Su-chan sank to the ground, weeping.
Slash—!
"Gyaagh......!"
His left arm taken, Kang-hyeok rolled across the floor.
Su-chan, too, had his limbs severed, and begged a Dullahan for mercy.
"S-Save me. Please...... please......"
Tears spilled from Kang-hyeok's eyes as well.
This was the worst pain he'd felt in his entire life.
Why did he have to suffer something like this?
He'd even set aside an allowance for his parents, hoping to repay a fraction of the care they'd given him.
His sister was about to start college.
'I can't...... I can't die yet!'
Kang-hyeok scrambled to his feet and began to run.
Another Dullahan appeared before him.
He changed direction and slammed into a barrier the Liches had raised.
CRASH!
"Gyak......!"
Watching the Hunters and porters flail, the Death Knight felt satisfied.
These were things that had set foot in its domain and attacked its subordinates.
Of course they had to die in agony.
Fallen to the floor, Kang-hyeok gritted his teeth at the Dullahan standing over him.
This was the end.
His family's faces flashed through his mind like a passing lantern.
He'd only just moved out and started adjusting to life on his own.
Maybe his parents had been right, and he should have taken a steady job at some company.
Then he wouldn't have ended up dying like this.
Clatter.
Kang-hyeok's right hand brushed against something.
The blade of a Hunter who'd lost his life moments ago.
"Ugh......"
Fine — if he was going to die, he'd at least die swinging!
The Dullahan looked down at Kang-hyeok with a contemptuous face.
"Gyaaaagh!"
When Kang-hyeok swung the blade, the Dullahan lightly raised its own straight sword.
CLANG—!
It didn't so much as budge.
A blow he'd put his whole soul into, blocked with effortless ease.
Thud!
The Dullahan's foot drove into Kang-hyeok's gut.
"......?!"
Agony hit hard enough to make his eyes bulge from their sockets.
Sent flying dozens of meters, Kang-hyeok crashed to the ground.
Had his organs ruptured?
With a blank face, Kang-hyeok let out an empty laugh.
'This is such bullshit...... seriously......'
The Dullahan was slowly closing in on him.
It felt like a reaper of hell drawing near.
'So I'm about to die.'
Fear and emptiness surged through his mind.
Ding!
A notification chimed at his ear.
Kang-hyeok slowly lifted his eyelids.
[Soul memory data No. 297,381,421,234 has been restored.]
[Status will be automatically adjusted.]
[The reward for the 'Reincarnation' quest has been processed as 'Delivered.']