NOVEL NEXT Chapter 31
“Kuwagwagwang-!”
With a loud explosion, dust flared up. The view was obscured by a thick smoke and rising dust, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead. Who emerged victorious—did we survive?
“He must be dead, right?! No way he’s alive!”
“…Don’t say such things.”
“Why not?”
“If I say not to, then don’t!”
The middle-aged hunter yelled at the only other hunter from a different clan that hadn’t fallen. He anxiously chewed his lips and quietly closed his eyes.
‘…….’
The sound of falling objects that had been echoing in the room gradually faded away, and Park Mu-taek pressed his hands to his ears. With E-rank weak hearing, he concentrated on the sounds—something seemed to be crunching, with a “crack! squelch!” noise. Who was eating whom? Was the wolf eating the spider? Or was the spider eating the wolf? His heart racing, the dust finally settled.
“Ah, Mister! Mister!”
At the voice of the excited hunter, the middle-aged hunter let out a small sigh.
“It seems the wolf has won.”
Screeeeeech—
The door to the boss room, which had been shut, started to crack open slowly. Taking a deep breath, the middle-aged hunter gripped the shoulder of the other clan’s hunter.
“Let’s be quiet. Is your mind even intact?”
“Why, why?”
“Don’t be delusional. Up until now, we fought together because we needed each other. But Aranea is dead now. Do you really not understand what that means?”
It was only because of the formidable enemy Aranea that the hunters and Skull Wolf had fought together. But when that formidable enemy died, how would the enemy of their enemy turn? Especially if that enemy was a monster? Seeing the middle-aged hunter’s still pale face, he whispered.
“Listen carefully. The joint front is over. We need to get out of here immediately. Fortunately, the beast is preoccupied with eating, so we need to go now.”
The hunter gulped nervously and nodded his head. The middle-aged hunter picked up two of his clan members among the three fallen below.
“You take care of your clan member. I will do the same.”
“Understood.”
“If you get caught, you die.”
Nodding at the serious eyes of the middle-aged hunter, the hunter swallowed hard. The two of them then cautiously tiptoed through the opened door without making any sound…
***
“…That’s what happened.”
When Yoo Ah-hyun woke up, she frowned in disbelief.
“So you got completely screwed, huh? You didn’t take anything?”
“The next day, the representative clan sent a search party. But there was nothing at all.”
“Hey! Does that make any sense? Didn’t those guys sneak some stuff?”
It was obvious that what came out of the dungeon belonged to the hunters who cleared it. Even if clans or taxes took a cut, there should still be thousands returned per person.
“Who knows?”
Who could ever know what happened in the dungeon? After a long while of hiding her frustration, the hunter, Joo Seong-in, offered her a cup of water.
“This doesn’t make sense at all.”
Aranea’s rank was B-.
Even that web could have been utilized in countless ways. Not to mention, Aranea’s potent poison was an invaluable item that was hard to come by. How could there be nothing when Aranea was firmly occupying the boss room? What? Nothing at all?
“Aaaargh! My dooooon! My money!”
“Sister, you just woke up after two days. Calm down a bit.”
“Calm? Do you think I can calm down?! Do you know how much all this is worth?!”
Not being able to believe it while half awake, the female hunter sighed.
“Ah~ it’s the hospital.”
“Hang up, I said.”
“Oh, I hung up. It’s just a habit. So?”
“What?”
“No way! Ugh, damn it hurts. Are you okay?”
“You seem to worry pretty quickly. I have F-rank regeneration, you know.”
“Weak regeneration? I’m so damn jealous.”
Even though it’s only F-rank, recovery skills are always useful. Comprehending this, Yoo Ah-hyun had to lay back down again due to the pain.
“So what did the clan leader say?”
“…They said they would organize one more search team.”
Well, at least they weren’t completely idiotic. But what Yoo Ah-hyun really wanted to know was something different.
“Hah. Not that. I know that guy. He must’ve said something to me.”
Seeing Joo Seong-in hesitating awkwardly, she pressed him again.
“Why? Just say it already.”
“That is…”
“Hey, what did the clan leader say? I could find out immediately with just one phone call, you know?”
…”You’ve been demoted.”
“Demoted?”
Yoo Ah-hyun tilted her head in confusion.
Demotion. That’s just what it meant. Her position in the clan was Team Leader. If she’s demoted…
“To Vice Team Leader?”
“To a team member.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Due to insufficient prior investigation, your capabilities are in question. Also, there was a complaint from that clan regarding this incident.”
“A complaint? Ha. That’s ridiculous. Sure. Let’s hear it. What did they say?”
“They said one of their clan members died while protecting you… and that you were a hindrance.”
Died protecting her? —Ah, a bitter smile crept onto Yoo Ah-hyun’s lips. They must have been talking about that warrior.
‘Damn. That feels awful.’
It wasn’t entirely incorrect either. But that warrior had sacrificed himself by his own choice, and had he not, it was highly likely that none would have made it out of the dungeon. That death had significant meaning, and the female hunter proved that it was meaningful.
He met a magnificent death—yet they dared to judge the thoughts of the deceased?
Yoo Ah-hyun gritted her teeth.
‘So that’s how they’re going to play it?’
It’s quite convenient while a person is down.
Of course, she could guess the reasons behind this to some extent. Cutting ties. Shifting responsibility for the numerous deaths compared to the expected difficulty of the dungeon. Furthermore, they likely aimed to keep her in check as her position within the clan was rising. It seemed absolutely certain that both clans had colluded.
In other words, dirty politics.
‘Aranea appeared!’
Who could predict what would happen in the dungeon? Based on her previous experiences, all she could do was guess. So she had always been thoroughly prepared.
Seeing Yoo Ah-hyun clench her fists, Joo Seong-in sighed deeply. The crumpled hospital bed sheet mirrored her feelings.
‘I really didn’t want to say this.’
And that sentiment was mutual.
A party consisting of merely two C-class and eight D-class members met Aranea and hadn’t been completely wiped out. That was truly a miracle. If it were another clan, rather than a demotion, they would have been rewarded.
—Though assistance from some wolf did play a part.
“This is infuriating, honestly.”
Not having a cigarette to smoke. No, not being able to smoke was what really bothered her.
“Sis, what do we do now?”
“…….”
“Ji-taek. Ji-hoon. They’re all dead. All… dead.”
“Seong-in.”
Joo Seong-in seemed to be thinking hard before finally letting out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry to say this right after you wake up, but I can’t keep going like this anymore.”
“You?”
“Damn it! How can this be right? Don’t you all know how we fought? Without you, we’d all be dead!”
Perhaps enraged by his own thoughts, Yoo Ah-hyun was briefly at a loss for words seeing his elevated emotions.
“Without you, we’d all be dead! Damn it! A complaint?!”
“Seong-in. It’s a hospital.”
“How is there a complaint from that clan?! They lay claim, and then they shit, and in the end, it’s all together!”
“Joo Seong-in!”
In contrast to before, Yoo Ah-hyun stopped him. Joo Seong-in gritted his fists in anger but she completely understood his feelings. He was still young, after all, he didn’t know just how dirty this industry was. Even if they thought of each other as comrades who fought alongside them, once they escaped the crisis, it was likely they’d look out for their own skins.
And Yoo Ah-hyun knew that all too well.
That was simply the difference.
“What you’re thinking, I think the same. Those who died. Including you, they were all my team members.”
“Sister.”
“You’re quitting? Fine. Go ahead. I also wondered just how much longer I had to rot in this damn clan.”
“……!”
“So what about the families of the deceased?”
“I heard they were contacted. As for compensation…”
That means, in any case, it was all a scheme to keep her in check. They probably just wanted to offload all the responsibility onto her. She could say they had at least maintained the bare minimum in terms of courtesy.
‘Damn it.’
That didn’t mean she could accept it. It was all a jumble in her mind. The clan she had to escape from. What needed to be done going forward. How to counter the clan leader’s schemes. Just thinking about it made her head throb.
“Sigh. Should I just live freely?”
“That’s a bit…”
It’s easy to call it free, but truly a lawless way of life.
All dungeon expeditions were decided by the representative clan of that area. Therefore, the only way for a free agent to snatch up a dungeon would be to stake a claim on an undiscovered dungeon—or—
‘Kill everything in sight.’
But she lacked the ability for that and hated the idea even more.
“Honestly, I still can’t wrap my head around this. You must be feeling it even more.”
“Mm….”
Most importantly, it didn’t sit right that her team members had died.
Even if she understood it by her mind, accepting it emotionally was always difficult. An awkward silence fell in the hospital room. Perhaps it was a moment of sorting thoughts. Or maybe it was mourning them. By now, she should be used to it, but letting someone go was always a hard and painful thing.
As though breaking that silence, the door creaked open.
“Who are you? If you’ve come to the wrong room…”
“Long time no see.”
“Mister? What face are you showing right now!”
Yoo Ah-hyun raised her hand to stop Joo Seong-in, who was about to descend upon the visitor in disbelief, and immediately understood the situation. There was only one reason that he would come to find them.
“Ah, so that’s what this is.”
Yoo Ah-hyun scoffed at someone. The middle-aged hunter nodded with a bitter self-deprecation.
“You catch on quickly. It’s always the tail that gets cut first.”
Hunters obstructing monsters are an indispensable existence. As such, they must remain as idols. And an idol must never fail under any circumstances. It’s better for the clan to take the blame for failures than to place it on an individual…
“Those up top certainly think alike.”
“…Well, I didn’t know I’d be the tail either.”
“What a coincidence. I’m in the same boat.”
Joo Seong-in, finally catching on, gave an awkward smile, prompting the middle-aged hunter to wave his hand dismissively.
“I’ve unintentionally heard most of the conversation outside. So, would you like to join me?”
“I take it you know of a good place?”
The middle-aged hunter tilted his head, Park Mu-taek rubbed beneath his nose.
“Ah, that’s right. I got ahead of myself. Someone wants to meet you.”
Who on earth? As the two exchanged puzzled glances, their eyes widened in wonder.
It was someone who entered the room who was too famous for words. Someone you couldn’t possibly not know if you were a hunter. The way he swayed his coat felt almost surreal.
“No way, the Dawn of…”
“That’s correct. He’s the leader of Team 3 of the Dawn. They said he could help.”
Suddenly, a lifeline came down from the sky, no, it was something far sturdier than Aranea’s web! If he helped them, nothing about the upcoming events would be a problem. Clan leader? Just some local guy. What could the leader of a minor clan say to the leader of the Dawn? Not only the money they lost but possibly an amazing chance to enter the Dawn if they played their cards right.
Seeing the two nodding like madmen, the team leader gave a wry smile.
“I apologize, but could I ask you about what happened that day?”
“Hmm. Of course. Ask away~.”
“Wow… Sis, right now.”
“Shut up. Oh, sorry, that slipped out. So, what do you want to know?”
“I want to hear about that wolf you saw. I need details.”
The two exchanged bewildered glances. The wolf? It was clear he was referring to the Skull Wolf. But why would someone of the Dawn’s caliber be chasing after something like the Skull Wolf? That was the only thing they didn’t understand.
“Alpha. That’s the name of the Worg that we believe has evolved and we are currently tracking. Embarrassingly, we lost him completely after starting the chase from Jirisan.”
Team leader Gu Jin-ha rubbed his tired eyes.
“You must know just how dangerous the creature is. We need to catch it as fast as possible.”
“Oh my~ you certainly do think deeply~.”
“Sis…”
“So.”
Pausing for a moment, Gu Jin-ha continued.
“Will you tell us what you saw about that wolf?”
***
“Grrrr?”
My ears are itching. Is someone talking about me?
“Kuwheeeek!? Kwahhak!”
This guy was making such a racket, did I mistake that? I put my claws to the neck and squeezed, cutting off its breath. After gaining taste, raw meat is becoming hard to swallow.
[You consumed a wild boar. Satiety is rising.]
[Satiety has reached maximum capacity. Thanks to the Gluttony (D) Lv.6 skill, satiety is converted to experience points.]
[Experience has reached maximum capacity. Lv.6 -> Lv.7]
Aranea had foolishly munched away, but thinking back, there was no need to do that. Why didn’t I just use the Gluttony skill I had been using well? Why on earth was I stuffing my face with that repulsive meat? Was that why the hunters scrambled to escape?
‘No way that’s how it went down.’
In fact, she didn’t even know they had run away. She was so overwhelmed by the terrible taste that it had clouded her thoughts. The mere recollection of that flavor still sent chills down her spine.
‘Well, since they were monsters, I guess they would flee.’
A bit disappointing, but it would have felt odd to communicate with them. I guess it worked out in the end.
‘Honestly, I was hoping eating some web would yield a similar skill.’
But that didn’t happen. It just raised my satiety, and I converted it entirely to experience.
‘Well, having hit level 7, right?’
Shall I check once more?
[Dungeon’s Fear (Skull Wolf) Lv.7] [EXP 709 / 57128]
[Up 0.06%]
[Body Length 1.87m] [Height 88.9cm] [Weight 97.8kg]
First, the previous 0.1% reach upgraded to 0.06%. I had used 0.1% and cleared the dungeon, which resulted in a 0.06% increase.
‘Also, the title has changed.’
The title that had remained the same when I took care of the sewer’s disaster has transformed into “Dungeon’s Fear.” It seems to be a better title than “Tyrant of the Mountain.”
[Dungeon’s Fear: Given to the one who instills terror in the dungeon’s boss. All beings within the dungeon experience fear and dread.]
‘…This looks promising.’
If it applies to other dungeons, that’s incredibly useful. I could utilize it in battles as well. I then checked my status.
Pre-evolution [Strength 123] [Agility 140] [Stamina 210] [Magic Power 94] [Perseverance 1]
Post-evolution [Strength 159] [Agility 177] [Stamina 231] [Magic Power 140] [Perseverance 4]
A marked overall growth in stats. Comparing it to before reaching level 19, it was astonishing growth. Especially the magical prowess was superior to anything else, directly connected to the Skull Wolf species.
[Skull Wolf: The first evolution of Marang. A Worg exposed to magic over a long time. It has high affinity for magical energy.]
Thanks to this, the speed at which magic power increased was irrational, reaching a staggering 4 per level. In comparison to when I was a Worg, that’s almost double.
‘…The experience might be higher than that.’
Now I couldn’t earn experience as an animal at all. To make matters worse, the required experience was shockingly high. Even after consuming an exceptionally strong monster like Aranea and finishing all the webs without leaving a trace, I only managed to reach level 6.
‘How can it start at 30,000?!’
Starting at 30,000 and climbing to 57,000. Put simply, it meant I had gained over 200,000 experience from a single Aranea.
How in the world would I level up now? In South Korean dungeons, perhaps I’d need to sweep through an entire dungeon? Stat-wise, I’d say I was at hunters’ level. Though I’d still be outmatched by the two best I’d seen in the maze—the middle-aged hunter and the female hunter.
‘Fighting might be a different story.’
Having greater status didn’t mean I couldn’t win. In fact, it might be easier to defeat them.
The reason was obvious.
[Skill List]
Gluttony (D) Lv.6, Tentacle Multiples (E) Lv.5, Detection (D) Lv.4, Regeneration (D) Lv.1, Stealth (D) Lv.6, Scouting (E) Lv.7, Weak Hearing (E) Lv.5, Weak Instinct (E) Lv.1, Weak Vision (E) Lv.7, All Damage Reduction (D) Lv.4, Hardening (D) Lv.5, Transformation (E) Lv.4, Weak Poison Resistance (F) Lv.8, Threat (F) Lv.7, Gluttony (D) Lv.3, Swimming (F) Lv.7, Diving (F) Lv.7, Excellent Resilience (D) Lv.1, Perception (E) Lv.5, Charge (E) Lv.5, Wind Slash (D) Lv.3, Weak Smell (E) Lv.6, Excellent Intuition (D) Lv.2, Suggestion (F) Lv.5, Magic Recovery (D) Lv.2, Ash Flame (D) Lv.2, Pain Nullification (D)
[Remaining Skill Points 6]
I unknowingly shut my mouth to restrain an eager smile. A total of 27 skills held. Just thinking about how each skill would impact combat…
‘Whoa.’
It was still a bit premature, but soon enough, I would likely be strong enough to fight Aranea 1:1 without losing. I seemed to have already surpassed the monstrous wolf.
‘…It’s definitely stronger after evolving.’
In fact, I had worried a lot about losing the characteristics of the abomination type. My previous combat style was heavily reliant on that form. There were many other conveniences as well.
‘But there are changes.’
While it wasn’t as easily transformable as when I was a slime, I could still change my appearance anytime. Of course, it was solely in appearance, and to change essential properties required magic.
‘Fur can become tentacles.’
Tentacle Multiples could be used without any issues. The fur combined to form tentacles. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use it from my hairless head.
‘And the most encouraging news is.’
That I could now acquire C-rank skills. Right now, I didn’t own any C-rank skills. For reference, I’d need 8 skill points to acquire them. F takes 1, E takes 2, and D takes 4. As expected, the necessary skill points require multiple accumulations.
‘…This is kind of painful.’
One C-rank skill for every 8 level-ups. Surely, those C-rank skills have their worth.
‘Just look at Ash Flame or Wind Slash.’
Even if they were D-rank skills, they inflicted plenty of pain on Aranea. Along with these, if I added a few other skills including my intuition, I’d be able to overwhelm an opponent whose power and agility surpassed mine head-on.
‘I’m stronger now.’
While I couldn’t just walk around the city, I felt confident I could hold my own against anyone other than monsters like Hong Yu-ri or Jeon Woo-taek.
So let’s get moving.
‘Gu Ma-jun.’
I wasn’t sure if he was still in Daegu, but I planned to search for a man named Gu Ma-jun, connected to the rogues.
—To the Temple of War.