The next day.
Hyun-jun absorbed 10 E-Grade Runes of Agility and then left the house.
He traveled by public transportation for over an hour and arrived near his destination.
“It sure is far.”
The Gate leading into the hunting ground was on the roof of a building.
Hyun-jun took the elevator up to the roof.
[F-Grade Hunting Ground: Mountain Region – Darak Mountain]
The hunting ground where they had agreed to meet today was a mountain field, the kind Hyun-jun had experienced once before.
But it wasn't exactly the same field.
There was the additional name, Darak Mountain, attached at the end.
A name like that was usually attached when a place had special terrain.
‘Didn't they say the mountain is shaped like terraced rice paddies?’
Because the terrain was unusual, it wasn't a very popular place.
Its accessibility by public transportation or car was poor, too.
It was a place where Hunters wouldn't bother coming to hunt unless they lived nearby.
‘On HunterNet, it was ranked near the bottom in usage.’
Why choose a place like this, of all places?
Wanting to meet inside was also very strange.
‘Is there any reason to meet inside if we're party hunting?’
Moving individually was dangerous, and hunting grounds were generally wide, so it was hard to find each other.
‘Meeting outside and going in together is the most convenient.’
According to the message, it was because he wanted to sync up with the other party members in advance.
Was that really the truth?
‘At this point, it's certain.’
This person called HunterHopefulA was a Rune Killer. He was showing strange behavior that couldn't be explained otherwise.
‘Since there are other party members, it doesn't seem like he's alone.’
At least two.
He was confident he could fight and win against two or so.
‘That doesn't mean I can throw the first punch the moment we meet.’
First, he had to find evidence that they were Rune Killers.
For example, Soul Traces.
If their source couldn't be proven exactly, they would have to spend the rest of their lives locked up in prison.
‘The important thing is to make them show their true colors.’
He absolutely couldn't let on that he was strong.
That way, they would come at him threateningly.
Hyun-jun closed his eyes and muttered.
“I am now a lousy melee dealer with 142 Runes. I am now a lousy melee dealer with 142 Runes. I am now.......”
Finishing his self-hypnosis, Hyun-jun snapped his eyes open.
With confident steps, he passed through the guard post and entered the Gate.
.
.
.
Unlike the grassland, the air was chilly.
The weather of the Mountain Region was similar to autumn.
Hyun-jun zipped his old jacket up higher, then checked his surroundings.
Trees packed so densely that he couldn't see where they ended.
Conifers and broadleaf trees soaring as if to block out the sky were mixed together.
The four paths running between them drew gentle uphill slopes.
“It's not that high?”
It wasn't a steep cliff or a rugged rocky mountain that would leave him out of breath.
But it wasn't comfortable flat ground like a walking trail, either.
“Shall I go?”
Carrying both tension and excitement, he went up the eastern slope among the uphill paths running in every direction.
They had told him to come this way.
Before long, flat ground appeared.
It was a fairly wide grassy field without trees.
There were no monsters in sight, and at the far end, there was another uphill path.
Hyun-jun crossed the flat ground and climbed the slope.
As he kept following it up, flat ground appeared again.
This time too, there were no monsters.
It seemed those who had gone up ahead had caught them all.
“So this is why it's called Darak Mountain.”
It was quite peculiar terrain.
Just when he thought it was a typical mountain trail, the trees would disappear before he knew it and flat ground would appear.
When he looked from below, it had seemed like there were only lots of trees.
“I should be careful.”
The slope was gentle, so walking wasn't hard, but because forest and flat ground repeated irregularly, it was difficult to judge distance.
An environment well suited for being ambushed by enemies.
Though even if he were ambushed, he didn't think he'd lose.
-Oh! Hey there!
It was then.
Someone's voice came from above.
A dark-skinned bald man was running down the gentle slope.
Hyun-jun immediately recognized that he was HunterHopefulA.
His appearance was exactly as it had been described.
‘He's more ordinary than I thought.’
“You're HyunjunAwesomeMan, right?”
“Hello.”
As they exchanged greetings, Hyun-jun checked the other man's outfit.
Leather armor that looked new.
The dagger hanging in the sheath at his waist also looked to be of quite good quality.
“I'm Kim Seok-dae.”
“I'm Go Hyun-jun.”
“I won't ask your age. Our party decided that everyone uses polite speech with each other.”
“That's nice.”
“This way. Everyone's waiting.”
“I didn't see anyone for so long, I thought I'd come to the wrong place.”
“Haha, sorry about that.”
Hyun-jun moved along with Kim Seok-dae.
“Besides you, Hyun-jun, the rest are people I've been hunting with for a few days.”
“Ah, I see. How many people are in the party in total?”
“4. That's about right, isn't it?”
For the Mountain Region, it was a suitable number of people.
Even though it was an F-Grade field like the grassland, the monsters here were mostly stronger creatures.
“There they are.”
“Is this HyunjunAwesomeMan?”
Soon, they met the party members who had been waiting.
Hyun-jun bowed his head.
“Hello. I'm Go Hyun-jun.”
They introduced themselves in turn.
Names, classes, number of Runes, and so on.
Everyone greeted him warmly.
‘Three, not two.’
These three, who had supposedly been hunting together for the past few days.
They must all be in on it.
One was an archer.
The other was a warrior holding a buckler in one hand and a stubby shortsword in the other.
‘If it comes to a fight, it'd be better to take out the woman with the bow first.’
Ranged fighters were tricky.
“Since we're not a beginner party with few Runes, we'll sync up a bit first, and if it seems good, we'll try catching some stronger ones too. Any objections?”
No one raised a hand.
“Then I'll assign positions. Warrior, please keep taking the lead. Hyun-jun, since you're a melee dealer like me, we'll wait right behind. Archer, if there are any clumped together at range, please pull aggro on them one at a time.”
After a short briefing, the party climbed the slope and arrived at a new flat area.
There were various kinds of monsters in the wide grassy field.
“We'll start right away!”
The hunt began immediately.
The monsters they encountered were the same as in the Mountain Region he'd gone to yesterday.
Horned Rabbits with sharp, long horns. Stone Pigs clad in hard rock armor. Long-Clawed Monkeys with sharp claws, and so on.
The hunting method was simple.
Pew!
First, the archer pulled aggro from range.
THUD!
The warrior blocked the attack.
“Now!”
Then Kim Seok-dae gave the signal.
Blocked by the shield, the monster fell into a temporary stun.
It was the melee dealers' timing to attack.
Hyun-jun deliberately moved slowly and took as much force out of his attacks as possible, pretending to be as weak as he could.
The hunt went on without anyone noticing his act.
While Hyun-jun stayed alert for when they would show their true colors, he also familiarized himself with party hunting whenever he had the chance.
‘It's not much different from what I saw in videos.’
Nothing was very different just because it was real combat. There would be differences in hunting style depending on the members, but it seemed that could just be adjusted inside the hunting ground.
‘I was thinking too hard about party hunting.’
That didn't mean this time was meaningless.
If he hadn't come here and experienced it, he wouldn't have realized that fact until much later.
He was glad he'd found out before entering a dungeon.
“Most of these are easy, so should we go catch the bear?”
During a break when they stopped hunting for a while.
Kim Seok-dae brought it up.
“A bear? There's a bear here too?”
“There's a Named Monster called the Green-Maned Tyrant. I think we could do it with our skill. What do you think?”
“Hmm, I'm in.”
Hyun-jun was dumbfounded.
‘Look at these bastards.’
Since he knew they were acquainted with each other, he could see right through their clumsy acting.
He could roughly picture in his head what they were hoping for.
‘Looks like they plan to throw me to the bear as bait, kill me, and catch the bear too.’
Or the bear was already dead.
Darak Mountain was a hunting ground with few people to begin with.
At the Tyrant's cave, a perfect crime that no one would ever find out about would be possible.
‘Flip that around, and it means it'd be fine no matter what I do to these guys.’
“How about you, Hyun-jun?”
“Sounds good. Let's go.”
Hyun-jun followed Kim Seok-dae.
As they moved, he didn't miss a single change around him.
He heard the archer's footsteps grow oddly faster.
The warrior, who had been in a position he could see from the corner of his eye, slyly moved toward the back and left his field of vision completely.
‘So it's about time.’
Hyun-jun readied himself to react at any moment.
“Tiring, isn't it?”
The archer spoke to him casually.
Hiding his tension, Hyun-jun only smiled.
‘She doesn't seem to have any idea that I've caught on.’
The mountain trek continued amid the tension.
Before long, they reached their destination.
“Right over there is the Tyrant's cave, the lair of the Green-Maned Tyrant.”
A flat grassy field and a cave entrance visible at its end.
At a glance it looked ordinary, but Hyun-jun's eyes caught things others couldn't easily see.
‘That's dried blood.’
Black traces remaining here and there among the grass.
They were too artificial to be traces naturally left by a fight with the Tyrant, as if someone had erased some of them.
“Okay, wait here! I'll go check it out!”
Kim Seok-dae approached the cave entrance.
It was then.
-#@$!
A sound echoed from inside the cave.
Kim Seok-dae paused for a moment, then strode into the cave.
Watching his back, Hyun-jun frowned.
‘A person's voice?’
It was certain.
What was inside the cave wasn't the Tyrant, but a person.
That was why he went in so confidently.
‘Crazy bastards. It's not a part-time job, and they're pulling two shifts in one day?’
Just as Hyun-jun was about to follow Kim Seok-dae.
“Where do you think you're going?”
The warrior blocked his way.
From behind, he heard the sound of a bowstring being drawn.
Hyun-jun curled up the corners of his mouth.
‘Now they're finally showing their true colors.’
As if he found that smile offensive, the warrior's voice turned fierce.
“You're laughing? You don't understand what's going on right now?”
“What's going on? Explain it with your own mouth.”
“This bastard.......”
The warrior swung his fist.
It was an attack with some force behind it, but to Hyun-jun's eyes, it felt endlessly slow.
Following its flow, Hyun-jun just turned his head slightly and dodged the fist.
Whoosh!
As the forceful attack missed, the warrior lurched awkwardly forward.
An exposed opening.
He meant to counterattack immediately, but his keen hearing caught the sound of the bowstring tightening.
‘Damn it. I lost track of the one behind me.’
Hyun-jun whipped his head around.
Right after, the arrow left the string.
Shhk!
The arrow flew toward the spot between his eyebrows.
Hyun-jun instinctively turned his head.
The sharp arrow grazed his cheek and flew past.
A red line was left on his cheek.
“Wh-What?”
The archer stammered in panic.
He'd dodged an arrow fired right in front of his nose?
She couldn't believe it even after seeing it with her own eyes.
“Kuagh!”
The arrow that flew past lodged itself in the shoulder of the unfortunate warrior.
The warrior clutched his shoulder and rolled on the ground, while the archer was flustered and didn't know what to do.
‘How did I dodge that?’
Hyun-jun was just as flustered.
Reaction speed and reflexes that surprised even himself.
Was E-Grade this much? A question mark naturally formed.
‘That's not what matters right now.’
Hyun-jun glanced at the archer and the warrior, then headed for the cave.
He would have liked to deal with them right away, but the survivor who must be inside the cave came first.
“C-Catch him.”
“Wh-What?”
“Catch that bastard!”
The warrior shouted belatedly, but Hyun-jun was already gone from sight.