When I opened my eyes, I saw my three party members.
"Huh?"
One of them looked familiar. A solid build. A shield and sword. A sharp gaze.
It was Park Jeongsu, the guide who had helped defeat the Goblin Great Chief yesterday.
She noticed me as well. When our eyes met, a smile spread across her face.
"Well, what are the odds?"
'It really is a coincidence.'
I was glad to see her. Someone I knew was better than a guide I had never met. I had already confirmed her skills too.
"Ms. Park Jeongsu."
"Ha-ha, we meet again, Mr. Lee Junhyeok."
She came over and held out her hand. It was the same firm, callused hand as yesterday.
"E-grade already. I never imagined you'd move up so quickly."
"I was lucky."
"Luck......"
She gave a quiet laugh.
"Do you remember what I told you yesterday? I said, 'I think you'll rise higher than me.'"
Of course I remembered. She had said it after we defeated the Goblin Great Chief, hadn't she?
"It seems my eye for talent wasn't wrong."
She shrugged and gestured behind her. I saw the other two party members.
The man looked to be in his early thirties. The spear in his hand had to be worth several million won at least.
The woman was in her mid-twenties. The bow on her back was engraved with runes. Magically enhanced equipment. That could not have been cheap either.
Both wore relaxed expressions. They did not seem to be entering an E-grade Dungeon for the first time, and their confidence showed.
"All right, let's start with introductions."
"I'm Kim Dohyeon, a Spearman."
"I'm Lee Seoyeon, an Archer."
It was my turn.
"I'm Lee Junhyeok, Development-type."
I hesitated for a moment. Should I tell them? But there would be no hiding it once the fighting began.
"My skill is still F-grade."
"......"
Silence.
Kim Dohyeon's eyebrows rose. Lee Seoyeon looked as though she could not believe her ears.
"Wait, F-grade?"
"How is an F-grade in an E-grade Dungeon...?"
The two looked at each other, plainly flustered. I understood. Under ordinary circumstances, it made no sense.
"Don't worry."
Park Jeongsu interjected. Her voice was full of confidence.
"This man ran into a mutation in an F-grade Dungeon yesterday. An E-grade Great Chief appeared, and he killed it with a spear without even using a summon. I saw it myself."
"...Really?"
The look in Kim Dohyeon's eyes changed from suspicion to curiosity.
"An F-grade killed an E-grade boss? Without a summon? Himself?"
Lee Seoyeon looked me over again, her gaze sweeping from head to toe.
"His Grade is F, but his skill isn't."
Park Jeongsu spoke with certainty.
"I vouch for him. You can trust him."
At a D-grade Hunter's assurance, the two slowly nodded. They did not look fully convinced, but they seemed willing to accept it for now.
"Then let's get moving."
Park Jeongsu took the lead.
We followed a narrow path between the ravines. Sheer cliffs rose on both sides. Hardly any sunlight reached us. The air was cold and damp.
Had about ten minutes passed?
Our view opened up.
"......"
My breath caught.
It was a ruined temple.
The massive stone structure had half collapsed. Pillars that must once have supported the temple lay scattered everywhere. A cracked altar. Moss-covered statues. The sky showed through the broken ceiling, and the red light of sunset poured over the ruins.
It was beautiful. And eerie.
And then.
"Those are..."
Giants stood throughout the temple.
Bodies made of stone. They stood a good 3 meters tall. Their limbs were as crude as boulders. A dark red core was embedded in the center of each chest, pulsing darkly like a heart.
Golems.
Dark red light leaked from their eye sockets. Proof of their corruption.
"They say those things originally guarded the temple."
Park Jeongsu spoke in a low voice.
"After the temple was abandoned and consumed by darkness, they turned into that. Now they're just monsters."
'Golems...'
They were fairly famous monsters, if not as famous as Goblins. Tough and slow, but each blow was heavy. Their weakness was the core. Shatter the dark red stone in their chest, and it was over.
The problem was that getting close would not be easy.
RUMBLE.
Stone creaked. The light in their eye sockets intensified. Their heavy bodies slowly turned.
THUD.
One step.
THUD.
Another step.
The ruins shook. Dust showered down.
"Prepare for battle."
Before she even finished speaking, everyone drew their weapons.
'Aim for the cores.'
When Weak Point Detection activated before my eyes, vivid red dots appeared on the Golems' chests.
"!"
At that moment, my body moved first. My mind only belatedly registered myself kicking off the ground and surging forward.
'Why am I moving?'
I did not know. My instincts had simply given the command.
"Huh...?!"
"Wait, what is that guy doing?!"
I heard flustered voices behind me, but had no attention to spare. My vision was fixed solely on that one red dot.
The distance between the Golem and me vanished in an instant. It raised one boulder-like arm and prepared to smash it down.
'If that hits me, I die.'
But it was slow. Everything looked as though it was moving in slow motion. I could clearly read the arc of the Golem's arm as it came down through the air.
I stepped aside to dodge the crushing blow and thrust my spear forward at the same time. Toward the red dot, with all my weight behind it.
THUD!
The heavy sensation of piercing stone traveled through my palm. Cracks spread through the dark red core before it shattered.
The Golem's massive body swayed, then toppled straight forward. The ground shook violently, and a cloud of dust billowed up.
Only after the dust settled could I turn around. All three of them stood frozen with their mouths open.
Kim Dohyeon was the first to let out a disbelieving laugh.
"...You definitely said this was only your second time entering, right?"
Lee Seoyeon shook her head and looked at Park Jeongsu.
"Jeongsu, is this really his second time? It makes no sense for him to be F-grade after doing that."
Instead of answering, Park Jeongsu stared blankly at me. Only after a long moment did she nod. Her gaze was different from when I defeated the Goblin Great Chief. Back then I had won through ingenuity, but this time I had won through sheer combat ability.
She approached and asked.
"Are you all right? You're not hurt?"
"Ah..."
I scratched my head.
"I'm sorry I rushed off alone without saying anything. My body reacted before I could think..."
'I mustn't act on my own.'
Why had I moved? The instant the weak point entered my vision, my body had reacted before my mind.
'Was it because of the cave?'
The pack of bears. The Orcs. The moments I had instinctively swung my spear to survive. It felt as though those experiences had been carved into my body. With the Spearmanship skill added on top, could the combat instinct itself have been imprinted into me?
'I need to control myself when fighting with a team.'
Still, one thing was certain.
'I'm getting stronger.'
I was growing stronger at a rapid—no, abnormally rapid—pace. So fast that other people could not comprehend it.
I was just beginning to savor my growth.
"But......"
Lee Seoyeon suddenly spoke and pointed in one direction with a trembling voice.
―THUD, THUD.
"Were there always this many Golems in this Dungeon?"
What looked like dozens of Golems were approaching.
***
The Awakened raised his spear.
Five Primitive Humans and three Orcs followed behind him. Until recently, they had been killing one another, but now they belonged to the same group. Because that was what the Ruler had decided.
They entered the forest. The Primitive Humans moved ahead, found a herd of deer, and signaled its location with a gesture. The Orcs silently spread out to either side and cut off the escape routes. The Awakened waited at the front.
The twang of bowstrings rang out. Startled deer fled. Just as expected, they ran this way.
His spear flashed. The lead deer fell. The ones behind it were struck by Orc clubs and tumbled to the ground.
It was a clean hunt.
As the sun began to set, they returned to the cave. The Awakened headed straight to the temple, dragging the largest deer behind him.
He stood before the altar built of stone. The Ruler's statue looked down at him. He drew his dagger and cut open the deer's chest. Then he removed the still-warm heart with both hands and placed it on the altar.
The Orcs who followed him knelt as well.
"...Thank you again today."
He bowed his head. The power the Ruler had bestowed. The bond the Ruler had forged. Thanks to those blessings, the hunt had ended safely today as well.
Someday, he wanted to meet the Ruler in person. Not during a Descent, but in the place where the Ruler resided. That was the Awakened's only wish.
That was when it happened.
The wind stopped.
The birds fell silent. The forest grew still. Something was wrong. He instinctively raised his head.
The sky was darkening.
Storm clouds rushed in. Quickly. They spiraled together over the temple. There was no thunder or lightning, only black clouds covering the sky.
"Grrrr..."
The Orcs let out uneasy growls. The Primitive Humans emerged from the cave and looked up at the sky. They were trembling with fear.
But the Awakened did not move. He could not look away.
The altar was glowing.
CRACKLE!
Space tore open. Cracks spread through the air, and a gap began to open. Blue light leaked out.
Beyond it, he could faintly see a different landscape. A stone floor. A high ceiling. Torches. A completely different world.
His heart pounded madly. Something deep in his chest was pulling him forward, as though he had been tied to a string whose other end lay beyond that rift.
Instinct whispered to him.
The Ruler was there.
Then.
He could reach him through that gap.
The Awakened's hand trembled. It was not fear. The moment he had awaited had finally come.
"......!"
He stared through the rift.
Flames kindled in his eyes.
***
The last Golem fell.
CRASH.
Dust billowed up. I stood blankly with my spear in hand. Was it over? Was it really over?
Gasping for breath, I looked around. The temple floor was buried beneath rubble. Shattered arms. Crushed heads. Cracked cores...
'How many did we kill?'
Ten? Twenty? At least more than that.
My legs trembled. My whole body was soaked in sweat, and my stamina was nearly exhausted.
The others were in the same condition. They were leaning on their weapons or sitting on the ground, barely catching their breath.
"Everyone... alive?"
Park Jeongsu asked. Her voice was completely hoarse.
"Barely..."
Kim Dohyeon gave a weak laugh.
"I think I'm going to run out of arrows... I need to bring more next time..."
Lee Seoyeon held up an empty quiver.
I only nodded. Even speaking felt like a waste of energy.
For a while, no one said anything. Everyone was busy catching their breath. Only the sound of ragged breathing echoed through the temple.
Kim Dohyeon broke the silence.
"...Mr. Lee Junhyeok."
"Yes?"
"This really is only your second time, right? And you're really Development-type?"
That question again. It was getting embarrassing to answer.
Lee Seoyeon cut in.
"I've been watching you carve a path at the front this whole time. How do you stab the Golems' cores so accurately? You kept finding things none of us could even see."
What I had done was simple. Whenever Weak Point Detection activated, I could see where the cores were.
"Even most combat-type Hunters couldn't do that. If you're F-grade and Development-type, it makes even less sense."
Kim Dohyeon shook his head.
Park Jeongsu gave a quiet laugh and spoke.
"Exactly. I thought you were impressive yesterday, but you seem to have gotten even stronger in a single day. Your movements are sharper."
I answered vaguely.
"I was just... lucky."
It was a ridiculous excuse, but everyone seemed willing to accept it. A Hunter had no obligation to reveal their skills.
That was when it happened.
A familiar window appeared before my eyes.