Hey guys!

So, here’s chapter 4. I had been hoping to post something else, but I just wasn’t able to finish it. Was exhausted the last week and lost one of my best writing nights. Good thing I still had this and one more in my backlog.

-]|[-

“!” Jinah’s jaw dropped when she saw Jinwoo enter their apartment. “J-Jinwoo?! Who are they?!”

Jinwoo chortled a little bit at the look on his sister’s face. “Hey Jinah, these are Joohee, Soohyun, and Miho.”

‘They’re even on first-name basis?!’ Jinah felt like her brain was an old-timey scratching record.

“They were the ones with me inside the Double Dungeon.” He finished, not knowing what she was thinking about.

‘Oh. Oh. Okay, that makes a lot more sense.’ Jinah thought to herself. She bowed to them, “Thank you for putting up with Jinwoo.”

“Oi, oi, what are you saying now?” Jinwoo grumbled.

Soohyun laughed, “You two are cute. Don’t worry, we’re keeping him.” She winked at Jinah.

“Anyway, I grabbed your favorite.” Jinwoo ignored their antics and raised his arms. Jinah blinked when she saw the boxes of fried chicken, soda, and alcohol.

She started to drool. “You’re my favorite brother!”

Joohee blinked, “Aren’t you her only brother, Jinwoo?”

Miho laughed, “Your sister’s a riot, Jinwoo.” They all walked in and took seats on the sofa and on the carpet around the table.

“Holy, you grabbed a lot! You’re usually super stingy! Did something good happen?” Jinah asked innocently, and didn’t notice Joohee flinch slightly.

“Well, I suppose time will tell if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.” Jinwoo answered as he and the older girls cracked open their drinks, while Jinah pouted over being the only one to have to drink coke. They all took sips and then blinked when a screen popped up.

[Harmful substances have been detected in your body.

Buff: Detoxification has been activated. You are now being healed.]

‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ Jinwoo, Soohyun, and Miho all had the thought run through their heads.

‘I can’t even get drunk after all that?’ Jinwoo’s eyebrow twitched minutely. Jinah was too busy nomming on her chicken to notice the strange antics of the four.

Joohee was secretly a little relieved. She did not want to find out how embarrassing of a drunk she’d be, and she was worried about turning to alcohol after a disaster like that being viable. She hoped they’d be able to find healthier outlets.

The phone rang just then. Their landline, specifically, which made Jinwoo and Jinah blink towards it. “Not expecting any calls?” Soohyun chuckled a little bit.

“Nope.” Jinah stood and licked her fingers, “I’ll get it.” She picked up the receiver, “Hello? Sung Jinah speaking.” She listened to the person on the other end for a few moments, “One moment.” She turned to Jinwoo, “Uh, do you know someone named Yoo Jinho, big brother?”

Jinwoo choked a little. ‘How did he get our damn landline?’

“That brat.” Soohyun rolled her eyes and stood. She walked over to Jinah and took the phone from her, much to her confusion. “Jinho, what the hell are you doing snooping someone’s phone number like this? You better not be trying to bother Jinwoo!”

“S-Soohyun!” Jinho yelped in shock. “S-So sir was telling the truth, huh?” He said nervously.

“Oh, did he mention me?” Soohyun grinned, “Anyway, what do you want?”

“Well… I was… hoping to talk to him about something.” Jinho said a little evasively.

“Let me guess.” Soohyun rolled her eyes again, “Uncle is still on about making a Guild.”

“Ack!” Jinho choked a little.

“I can tell you straight up, Jinwoo won’t be interested.” She said, making Jinwoo raise an eyebrow from the couch.

“C-Can I at least speak to him?” Jinho stammered, “If he doesn’t want to join the guild officially, that’s fine. But I have a very good offer!”

Soohyun sighed, ‘Persistent, aren’t you, cousin?’ She looked over at Jinwoo, “My cousin has an offer for you. Are you willing to meet with him?”

Jinwoo stared at her for a moment, before snorting lightly, “Sure. Only because he’s your cousin. The four of us can go.”

“Well, that settles that, then. Where?” Soohyun asked Jinho and was given the details. “Okay! Stay out of trouble, Jinho.” She hung up.

Jinah giggled, “He was your cousin? I never heard Jinwoo mention him.”

“I ran into him on our last Dungeon.” Jinwoo took another useless pull from his drink. He sure wasn’t going to be wasting any more money on alcohol any time soon. “He’s a D-Rank Hunter. Small world, huh?”

“I’ll say!” Jinah laughed as they went back to their meal.

-]|[-

“Sir! Soohyun!” Jinho waved at them from the table he’d paid for. He bowed to Miho and Joohee, “Sorry, I don’t know your names.”

“Lee Joohee and Baek Miho.” Miho introduced both of them. “Nice to have a face to put to Soohyun’s names.”

They took a seat, “How’d you get my number?” Jinwoo asked as they sat down.

“I know someone at the Association.” Jinho replied, “Coffee?”

“I’m good.” Jinwoo said, while Miho and Joohee accepted. “I didn’t expect to see you again.” He said, “Or at least not without Soohyun bringing you over.”

“Well, you saved my life.” Jinho said softly, “I had to thank you properly. And, as Soohyun already told you, I do have an offer. How did the sale of the Essence Stones and Mana Crystals go?”

“Well.” Jinwoo smiled slightly, “I was able to make quite a bit.” 500 million Won, specifically. Minus taxes, of course. He’d gone from pauper to making more than the average salaryman made in a couple years off of that one Dungeon. His smile grew a little colder, “And you’ve kept your mouth shut, so there haven’t been any problems either.”

“Be nice.” Soohyun elbowed him, smirking, “He’s pretty damn intimidated already.” She turned to Jinho, “He’s not a False Ranker, by the by.”

Jinho gasped, “So a Reawakening?”

“Something like that.” Miho crossed her arms, still not on board with giving out unnecessary information.

“What’s this offer you have for Jinwoo?” Joohee asked.

Jinho shook his head and turned to Jinwoo, “In any case, sir, I have pride in being a Hunter. They tried to kill us first and paid the price for it.” He then gulped, “As for my offer, I’m putting together a Private Strike Squ-”

“The answer is no.” Jinwoo said, closing his eyes over the waste of time.

“Jinwoo. Let him speak at least.” Joohee jabbed him in the side.

“What’s there to listen to?” Jinwoo said after a jumpy motion from her stabby finger, “You know what we need to do, Joohee. Do you think we’d even have the time to entertain such a thing?”

“Jinho is smart, Jinwoo. Just listen.” Soohyun said, before eyeing Jinho. “That said, Jinwoo is right, cousin. This would have to be a hell of an offer for him to change his mind.”

“Haven’t you learned anything?” Jinwoo sighed before Jinho could respond, “Raiding isn’t like extreme sports. Hunters can easily kill you, not just magic beasts. Even after going through that horrible incident, you still want to fight in the dungeons?”

“I’m not too enthused about it either.” Soohyun crossed her arms, “I’ve been inside a disaster Dungeon. I know exactly how dangerous it is. Plus, after that Double Dungeon, I lost a lot of my power. I know exactly how dangerous being a D-Rank is. It’s not worth it, Jinho.”

“All I would need is for you to accompany me twenty- no, nineteen times!” Jinho said, standing up and holding Jinwoo’s gaze.

“Twenty?” Jinwoo slowed as he said the word.

“I get it.” Miho spoke for the first time in a while, “You want to become the Guild Master for the Guild your father is planning.”

“That’s right!” Jinho said, “My father wants to hire an S-Rank Hunter to be the guild master and make my older brother the Vice-Captain.”

“Bad plan.” Miho shook her head, “The Guild Master is the ultimate authority in the guild. Friction between both would be unavoidable.”

“Exactly.” Jinho said, “Plus, while I’ve Awoken, my brother hasn’t. It’s impossible for him to be the Guild Master himself.”

“And you are young, low-ranking, and have almost no raiding experience. You don’t fit into the plan. You’re trying to bring in results to convince your father.” Jinwoo deduced.

Soohyun smiled, “Well, look at you.” She giggled lightly, “I’m proud of you, Jinho. You’re finally trying to step out from your brother’s shadow and shine on your own.” Jinho blushed profusely.

Miho stood. “Excuse us for a few minutes.” She nodded over to the other side of the building, and the rest of them stood and followed her. “This actually could be very good for us.” She said, surreptitiously looking over at Jinho.

“How so?” Joohee looked curious.

“As you know, while officially our ranks are still A, A, and B, unofficially the Association has downgraded us to E. For you, that means a lot fewer raid calls, and they’re only calling for the easiest of raids. For me and Soohyun, my brother is being, as I’ve said many times, an overprotective asshole. He’s locked us out of taking C-Rank or higher raids with the Guild and has modified all of our Hunter’s contracts to that effect. Me and Soohyun cannot run any raids officially, unless we want to leave White Tiger and start taking E and D-Rank Gates from the Association, since White Tiger doesn’t buy any lower than C. It’s like he’s trying to push us out of the Hunter life without having to kick me out publicly.”

“To be fair, with the difficulty tweak that being in the same party would bring, B-Rank and A-Rank gates would probably be beyond us right now.” Soohyun patted her on the shoulder.

“That’s not really the point.” Miho said, “I agree. It would be a bad idea to join one. But right now we can’t run any Raids unless we happen to get an Instance Dungeon key from our dailies, and that means we can’t level up.”

“Meaning that this private Strike Squad works out in our favor.” Jinwoo finished, “But only if we can control them so that we can take all of the EXP ourselves.”

“Hire filler, who won’t actually enter the Gate.” Soohyun said, a smirk lighting up on her face. “Only the five of us will go in.”

“That could work.” Jinwoo smiled, “Shall we?”

“Let’s not rake poor Jinho over the coals.” Joohee said, “He’s obviously going to have to modify the deal to include us.”

“I don’t know about poor. We’re quite rich.” Soohyun snarked as they made their way back and sat down.

Jinho gulped, “…So?”

“What was your offer, out of curiosity?” Jinwoo asked him. Jinho handed him a PDA, and Jinwoo choked when he read the offer.

The girls read over his shoulder, “JINHO, ARE YOU INSANE?!” Soohyun barely kept herself from screeching. Even still, her voice was loud enough that it drew attention from the other patrons. “You can’t possibly think that Uncle will approve this!” She hissed, lowering her voice.

“It’s insanity. A building worth thirty billion Won for running 19 C-Rank Gates? You’d barely make a tenth of this back with maximum profit from the dungeons.” Miho said, “Do you think Jinwoo is an idiot?”

“If the Guild is successful, then thirty billion would be nothing.” Jinho said evenly, though they all noticed the bead of sweat on his brow.

Jinwoo chuckled, “Alright Jinho, I’ll play your game.” Jinwoo smirked lightly, “But this contract won’t do as-is. All four of us will need to be included.” He indicated the three girls, two of whom choked. Joohee looked like she was going to faint. “We’ll split ownership a quarter each. We’ll be the ones running the Dungeons, after all.”

“What?” Jinho gasped, “But… didn’t you three get knocked down to E…” He stopped, swallowed, and looked between Jinwoo and Soohyun a few times, “…What’s going on, Soohyun?” he wasn’t glaring, but his stare was steely, “You told me yourself when I visited you in the hospital. After the Double Dungeon you got demoted to E-Rank. And now you want to enter C-Rank Dungeons? With an ‘E-Rank’ Hunter?” He eyed Jinwoo.

“Don’t worry about it.” Soohyun said, “You’re right that there’s something going on. You’re family, so I’ll tell you that much. For now, the details aren’t important. All that matters is that the four of us have to keep running dungeons.”

“…I can modify the contract easily enough. But are you sure about this, Soohyun?” Jinho asked her as he took the PDA back.

“Yes.” Soohyun said simply.

“And one more thing.” Miho said, drawing his attention. “No one else is to enter the Gates. The five fillers must stay outside. Only the five of us at this table will be allowed to enter.”

“W-What?!” Jinho started to sweat harder, “A-Are you serious? But we need ten members to enter C-Rank Gates!”

“So all you’ll need to do is pay people to stay out.” Jinwoo said, “People would line up if they were told they’d be getting money for zero work. We’d use the same method Hwang Dongsuk used.”

“And as long as nothing goes wrong, we’d clear the Gates with no injuries.” Joohee said softly, “We’d be known as the Squad that completed nineteen raids without a single incident.”

“That would be sure to get your father’s attention, no?” Miho smirked at the realization on his face. “Do we have a deal?”

They most certainly did, and Jinho soon left to revise the contract. “A Guild building, huh?” Miho said airily, a smile on her face.

“You thinking what I think you’re thinking?” Soohyun chuckled lightly.

“It wouldn’t happen to be something along the lines of forming a Guild with four S-Ranks to rub into your brother’s face, would it?” The smirk on Jinwoo’s face said it all.

“You know me so well.” She purred in response.

-]|[-

“Why do you want to work out with us all of a sudden?” Jinwoo asked curiously. Jinah had joined him and the girls for their workout.

“Well, you stuffed me full of chicken yesterday.” Jinah stretched, “Need to lose that weight. Plus, I don’t need you getting a big head.”

“We won’t wait if you can’t keep up.” Jinwoo warned her.

“Don’t be mean to poor Jinah, Jinwoo!” Joohee scolded him again as they all took off running.

They were about two kilometers into the run when Jinwoo decided to bring it up. “What would you do if you had thirty billion Won, Jinah?”

“Ehh?!” Jinah almost tripped, “Where did that come from?” Her eyes widened, “Wait, that isn’t what Soohyun’s cousin offered, is it?”

“Ha! Shouldn’t have mentioned it, Jinwoo!” Soohyun teased him. She turned to Jinah, “It was something along those lines, though honestly, even for us, that’s a bit too hypothetical. I don’t think there’s any way he could actually get Uncle to approve that.”

“Well…” Jinah had paled, and her heart was racing, “I… I suppose I’d like to move to a bigger house. I… never really thought about it, you know. It was too unrealistic!” Honestly, Jinwoo wasn’t too sure either. Even the amount of money he had now seemed insane just two weeks ago. Unconsciously, he started running faster. He had a lot on his mind. “Jinwoo!? Slow down!”

“I think he’s lost in his thoughts.” Joohee giggled, “Don’t worry Jinah, I won’t leave you behind.”

“Well, I’m not letting him lap us. Later!” Miho took off faster after Jinwoo.

“Actually, this is perfect.” Jinah grinned, “What are your intentions with my brother?”

“Eep!” Joohee blushed profusely and took off a bit faster.

“Ack! Joohee, I’m sorry!” Jinah cried out as Soohyun burst out laughing.

…

Jinwoo and Miho were running full tilt as they talked, “So is that really the plan? You and Soohyun want to break your contracts with White Tiger?”

“I love my brother,” Miho said, “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to punt him in-”

“I get it!” Jinwoo laughed, “Honestly, I hope Jinah never awakens. I have no idea what I’d do. I certainly don’t want her anywhere near any Dungeons.”

“I get that.” Miho said, “And I know why he’s doing this. But I’ve only ever trained to fight. Even before I awakened, it was my life. I love it. And he’s trying to take it away from me.” She sighed, “He’ll be pissed, sure. But at this point, so am I.” She then blinked, “Hey, shouldn’t we be done already?”

They both screeched to a stop, “Yeah, we should. I think we probably went overboard.”

They opened their screens… and then blinked and turned to each other in confusion when they realized they were at thirteen out of ten kilometers for the day. “…It’s keeping track of extra exercise?”

“Secret quest?” Miho asked.

“Wouldn’t be surprised.” Jinwoo said, “I’m still more than good for another set.”

“Same.” The two dropped and then started doing even more pushups.

Soon, Joohee, Soohyun, and Jinah caught up. “Hmm? Are you two doing another set?” Joohee looked a little blue in the face at the sight.

“It’s tracking up to double.” Miho said as she did her 159th Sit-up. “We think it’s a secret quest.”

Soohyun let out a groan, “Sure, our strength stats are alright, but this is going to take us another hour.” She groaned as she dutifully got down and started pushing up.

“Uhhh… secret quests? Stats? What are you talking about?” Jinah asked, and they all froze, having been so comfortable that they forgot Jinah was clueless.

They all looked at one another, before chorusing, “Don’t worry about it.”

“…Sus.” Jinah said, before sighing, “Man, whatever. Keep your secrets.” She grumbled, “I’m exhausted. I’m going to head home.”

“See you soon.” Jinwoo waved goodbye to her.

“You should tell her, Jinwoo.” Joohee said when she was gone. “It would at least make her worry less if she knew you could grow stronger.”

“…Telling her is one thing. Her believing me is another.” Jinwoo said, “But I’ll think about it.”

As Soohyun stated, it did end up taking them an hour for the rest of them to finish. Miho and Jinwoo were done in twenty minutes and spent the rest of the time sitting on the bench comparing stats. Miho was still only two levels behind him due to the extra Dungeon Jinwoo ran, but her stats were a fair bit lower due to the ten points he got from his Emergency Quest. She was still pouting over it when Soohyun and Joohee arrived and sat heavily on the bench.

“We ready?” Jinwoo asked after the two girls had a drink, and they nodded. “Complete Quest.” He said, and they saw their rewards. “Huh, we don’t even get an extra three points for doing double the work?”

“Man, that’s lame.” Soohyun complained.

“The reward for the Secret Quest must be these loot boxes, then.” Joohee said, looking at them curiously.

“Great, more useless Gacha.” Miho groaned, “What the hell are Blessed and Cursed Loot Boxes?”

To their surprise, the text boxes in front of them expanded.

[Random Blessed Loot Box: Gives you something that you want.]

[Random Cursed Loot Box: Gives you something that you need.]

“Blessed.” Soohyun said immediately, “I’d bet a billion Won the cursed box would give us something we couldn’t use until like level 100 or something.”

“Blessed it is.” Jinwoo said, and they all accepted the reward. The boxes appeared in their hands, and the ribbons unfurled, allowing the boxes to open. Glowing iridescent orbs rose into the air, before forming into their rewards. “Keys! They’re all keys!” He said as his purple key dropped into his hand.

“Wow, that’s a first.”

“Oh no.” Joohee paled, “Read the description.”

Jinwoo looked at the screen for his own key.

[Item: Key to the Demons’ Castle

Item Rank: S

Type: Key

This key allows you to enter the Dungeon: Demons’ Castle. This item can be used at Daesung Tower in the Songpa District.

This Dungeon may only be entered Solo.]

“S?” Miho cried out, looking at her key for Dungeon: The Dragons’ Summit.

“Mine is too.” Joohee’s hand was trembling mildly as she looked at her key for Dungeon: Heavenly Gates.

“Holy… why the hell would the system do this?!” Soohyun cried out as she looked at her key for Dungeon: Cursed Seoul. “We can’t even team up! We have to run these solo!”

Jinwoo bit his knuckle, “The System hasn’t actually put us in over our heads a single time. Like I said… I think it needs us as much as we need it.”

“You’re not really thinking of going in, are you?” Joohee exclaimed in terror.

“Think about it. Think about the keys each of us received. Maybe mine and Soohyun’s are a bit… off… but Miho received a key for Dragons’ Summit. You got one for Heavenly Gates! These Dungeons must be tailored to us in some way. Plus, if they’re really as bad as you think, we have our Teleportation Stones.” He crossed his arms, “I’m definitely entering mine. We need to know how difficult they are.”

“I don’t disagree, Jinwoo, and far be it for me to tell someone to run from a challenge.” Miho said, clenching the magenta key in her fist, “But you need to hold your horses. This is too reckless. We need to at least level up a little bit before we start tackling these.”

“Also, while you and Miho might be able to handle it, and I at least have attacking magic of my own…” They all looked to Joohee, “Joohee is a healer. What’s the point of throwing her into a solo Dungeon?” Soohyun asked.

“This must be the System’s way of telling us that we won’t always be able to party up.” Jinwoo said, “And it also must be its way of emphasizing what we already guessed. It wants us all to be well-rounded. It wants us all to be able to fight and stand on our own two feet.”

“But what can I do?!” Joohee sounded a bit hysterical, “I don’t know how to really fight! I don’t have any attacking magic!”

Jinwoo took out the Rune Stone, “Here.”

She blinked owlishly at him, and he smiled at her, “Sorry Joohee, I should have given this to you already. I completely forgot.” She shakily grabbed the stone.

“Where did…?” She asked, staring at it.

“One of Hwang’s Strike Squad members.” Jinwoo said, watching as they all made faces, “…I found it strange as well. Especially for something I couldn’t make good use of.” He tilted his head, “And now you get a Dungeon dealing with Heaven? Angels? The System’s slapping us in the face with the idea you need to be able to fight on your own.”

Joohee clenched her fist, “I hate this…” She whispered before crushing the stone. Her eyes glowed, and she absorbed the knowledge of the spell. “Oh… you can channel it through weapons?”

“Can you?” Jinwoo blinked, “Kyuhwan certainly didn’t do that. Guess you’ll need a weapon.”

“Do I have to?” Joohee whined.

“Yup.” Soohyun’s eyes gleamed, “…and if any of my gaming was worth anything, then I think I know what Job the System might be pushing you towards.”

“Great.” Joohee said, and they all laughed at how dull it sounded.

-]|[-

It was on their third day after receiving their keys that one of them got another Instance Dungeon key from the random loot. With the knowledge that they all had difficult quests ahead of them, they immediately went over to the dungeon. The Nansan Mountain Park turned into a much more arid area, with dry, yellow grass dominating the landscape. They were baking under the intense heat of the blazing sun.

“Ugh, this heat.” Soohyun complained, shielding her face. “There’s barely any shade around. Let’s head over there!” There was a compound of sorts. It looked like it was made of compacted mud or mud-covered bricks. They made their way forward, cautiously looking around for enemies. It was as Jinwoo took a step forward that a small click was heard, and he leapt back. His dodge was just in time, as spears that would have skewered him sprang out of hidden holes in the ground. “Shit!” Soohyun stumbled a bit as she stepped back.

“These must be far more intelligent enemies than we’ve dealt with so far.” Miho grew even more cautious. “Or at least, they’re intelligent enough to set traps.”

“I wonder what they are?” Joohee asked, holding her Morningstar in a tight grip in her left hand and her book in her right. ‘I still can’t believe I let Soohyun talk me into this…’

They continued on, entering through a gate. They stepped cautiously, looking around for enemies. “Archers!” Jinwoo yelled as he caught sight of them on top of a parapet.

“Humanoid wolves?!” Joohee yelped as she saw them too.

[Gnoll Archer]

The enemies were indeed humanoid wolves with orange names, and they had enough dexterity to use bows and arrows. Jinwoo and Miho stepped forward, his swords and her spear swinging and knocking the arrows away from the group.

“Gravity Crush!” Soohyun yelled, her arm glowing purple, and the two beasts up on the high ground were crushed into the dirt. Her attack was a bit overpowered if anything, and it even crushed the structure itself. “Oops.”

Joohee couldn’t help but giggle as she aimed her weapon, “Guiding Bolt!” A large ball of light erupted from her Morningstar’s head and shot out a lot faster than she had been expecting. It struck a couple of regular, snarling Gnolls and erupted. The blinding light drew more and more enemies, and soon they were being swarmed by Gnolls and archers.

“I’m really glad I bought this second Dao!” Jinwoo grunted as he sliced an arrow in half and then carved up a Gnoll with a sword. He disappeared in a blur of speed, and all the group of archers saw were flashes of light before all five of them fell into chunks of gore, with him standing behind them. “Ooh, new skill! Don’t mind if I do, Deadly Storm.”

“Keep up, Jinwoo!” Miho laughed gaily as she threw her spear with deadly force. It actually moved so fast that a sonic boom ripped apart two archers as it passed them, before striking a Red Sentinel Gnoll. It howled as it was knocked back, but was tough enough to survive the throw. It was not tough enough to survive Miho planting both feet in its chest to crush it into the ground as she recovered her spear, before swiping it across its throat.

Soohyun raised her hand, her rings gleaming, and a few Gnolls rose with dark purple auras surrounding them. All of them struggled, swiping wildly at the air and trying to touch ground. They didn’t have a chance. She waved her arm, and they were suddenly turned into battering rams, smashing into their fellow Gnolls with crushing force. When they were all bloody and barely moving, she raised her hand towards the sky before bringing it down. The Gnolls all rose higher and higher, before racing down and turning into blood splatters on the ground.

With a few more fiery explosions from Joohee’s Guiding Bolts, the fighting came to an end. “Oof, all that for only one level?” Soohyun whined a bit.

“Speak for yourself. I didn’t even get one.” Jinwoo smirked a little bit.

“Over-leveled trash.” Miho snarked, smiling to show she didn’t mean it.

They continued to make their way forward and were surprised by the sheer degree of traps that these Gnolls had made. There were pitfalls straight down into spikes. There were rockfalls in tight corridors. Hell, there was a slow moving, spinning death wheel made of blades that even Joohee giggled morbidly over when Miho kicked one of their enemies into one. Soohyun floated them all above that one, with Joohee raining fire down to take out their foes. By the end of it, Jinwoo got his level up.

That was when they ran into their first real enemy. In the middle of what looked almost like an arena, a massive enemy awaited.

[Gnoll Chieftain]

A red-named, and equally red-furred Gnoll of preposterous size. Jinwoo, Miho, and Soohyun could have stood on each other’s heads and still only reached the beast’s chin. The second it saw them, it roared loudly enough for a skill to affect them momentarily, before Kandiaru’s Blessing canceled the effect.

“That’s one big boy.” Miho said softly, even as Joohee launched a Guiding Bolt at it. The Gnoll Chieftain looked pissed off at the sight and raised a gargantuan Warhammer. With a roar of exertion, it swung its hammer at Joohee’s attack, and to their shock, knocked it right back at them.

“Shit!” Half of them yelped as they dodged away, allowing it to pass between them. The explosion was a bit too close and almost knocked them over. A large shadow appeared above them, and Soohyun gasped, “It’s so fast!” She ducked under a swipe from the Warhammer that pulverized the walls they were near. “Scatter!”

It roared again in fury, chasing after Jinwoo. “Bring it!” He grunted as he dodged a crushing blow from above. His plan had to be aborted as the impact caused a crater that threw rocks and grit at him. The beast snarled as Miho’s spear pierced its shoulder, and it reached up and tore it out. It made to throw it at Jinwoo, but it vanished into the ether as Miho called it back via her inventory. Not expecting it to vanish, the Chieftain overbalanced, and Jinwoo reacted quickly, appearing in its range and unleashing a flurry of slashes with Deadly Storm. Thin little cuts appeared on its body, its hide proving to be thick.

Growling in increasing rage, the Chieftain roared again, and a red aura engulfed it.

[Gnoll Chieftain has used Blood Rage. All damage -50%. Stats increased by 25%.]

“Shit!” Jinwoo vanished in a blur of speed, and even then the Chieftain kept up. It appeared right in front of him, its Warhammer raised high in both hands, with the massive, bulky head on fire. Jinwoo could only cross his blades, crying out in pain as the blow crushed him, forcing him down to one knee. He lost a quarter of his HP even with his successful block, and his Dao both developed cracks. The Chieftain raised its weapon again for a second strike.

“JINWOO!” A very overpowered explosion knocked the beast snarling into the air, sending it spinning through the air. As it landed, a furious Miho appeared in front of it. Yelling in exertion, she pierced it through the chest multiple times, blood spurting from the small holes. She was forced to back away when Soohyun shouted.

“Spatial Rend!” The purple-haired beauty thrust her hand forward and launched her attack. The blast of magic crushed against the Gnoll Chieftain, twisting its body and wringing it like a towel. Blood spurted from multiple wounds as it spun through the air and landed in a crumpled heap. “Hey, are you okay, Jinwoo?” She and Joohee hurried over.

“I’m fine.” He grunted, but before he could say a thing, roaring rang in their ears again.

[Gnoll Chieftain has used Berserker Fury. Health restored. All stats increased by 25%.]

A red, whipping aura engulfed the beast, and they watched as its body twisted itself back together, and it rose, snarling and foaming at the maw.

Jinwoo instantly summoned Kasaka, Buryura, and the Gnolls they’d already killed. Or eight of them, at any rate, since he was still limited in the number he could summon. Instantly, his soldiers started peppering the Gnoll Chieftain with arrows, and Kasaka surged forward. His jaw lowered slightly as it went to bite down on the Chieftain, and instead had its jaws caught. He then got to witness the sight of a gigantic snake being slammed up and down, left and right by a massive humanoid wolf like it was no heavier than a pool noodle.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” All of them were slightly blue in the face.

“Buryura, acid.” Jinwoo ordered, and the spider obediently sprayed the Chieftain with its acid. Kasaka died from the spray, and the wolf burned and dissolved, and yet it was beyond pain. Even with muscles showing and blood smoking as its body was eaten away, it charged forward.

“Spatial Rend!” Soohyun tried it again, and this time, the heavy attack only caused its body and muscles to ripple as it was forced to stop. Its right arm was weakened already from the acid and was ripped off.

A Guiding Bolt from Joohee tore open its chest. A visible heartbeat later, Miho’s spear was buried in the beating organ, and its head was flying off as Jinwoo passed overhead. They all slumped in exhaustion as they were awarded a single level up. “All that for one level?”

“Why didn’t you lead off with that?!” Soohyun complained, pointing at Buryura.

“I think Joohee looks like she’s about to faint.” Miho said, sounding amused.

“I HATE SPIDERS!” Joohee squealed and then felt bad when the shadowy spider visibly wilted.

“Awww, you hurt her feelings!” Soohyun ribbed her as they all laughed. Even Joohee giggled a little. “Anyone get any good loot?”

“Does the Gnoll Chieftain count as loot?” Jinwoo smirked at his new Shadow. Miho grumbled next to him, before shaking her head. “I suppose we should go home then.”

“Yeah.” Joohee said, and tried to open up the dungeon clear screen, before she stiffened. “…We’re not done.”

“What do you mean we’re not done!?” Soohyun demanded.

“Was that not the boss?!” Jinwoo stared at the massive Chieftain’s Shadow and was shocked when it shook its head.

“Well… shit.” Miho deadpanned as they looked to the other end of the arena, which had a massive, temple-like door leading into the mountain. “Jinwoo, before you forget again, test Shadow Storage on one of us.”

“Right.” Jinwoo nodded to her, and smirked when Buryura sank into her Shadow. “Excellent!”

“Can you do more than one?” She asked, not at all surprised that he chose her for Buryura and not Soohyun or Joohee. Soohyun hid it better, but she certainly was as on board for being storage for a gargantuan spider as Joohee was. A quick test revealed that yes, it was one Shadow Soldier per customer, other than Jinwoo himself.

“Ugh, our weapons are looking a little rough.” Miho sighed, looking at the crushed shaft.

“You’re telling me.” Jinwoo groaned as he took in the cracks on his two Dao. “This is why I never spent actual money on weapons after that dagger. I wish that there was some way to repair these things. They’re good swords.”

[Repair Unlocked: Your weapon may be repaired for the cost of gold as well as materials from magical beasts. Would you like to repair your blades?

Cost: 500 gold. Gnoll Fangs.]

His jaw dropped, “I take it all back, System. Repair!” He commanded and grinned brightly when his weapons glowed and then looked good as new when they stopped shining.

“Hell yes!” Miho hissed, grinning as her spear was now fixed as well. Joohee then quickly cast heals on them, and with that, they walked over and had the Shadow Chieftain push the gates open. Rather than the temple they had been expecting, they came face-to-face with a deep, dark cave, which was descending down into the earth.

“Oh yes, shade!” Soohyun moaned in rapture.

“EEEK!” Joohee squealed, and they all stiffened as spiders started to rain from above. And not small spiders, either. There were black spiders, red spiders, and white spiders, and they were all about the size of a mid-sized dog. “WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SPIDERS?!” She wailed as she wildly swiped her weapon at one and crushed it like an oversized grape. She again squealed, this time in disgust.

“I’m so glad I’m a mage.” Soohyun laughed as she thrust her palm forward. A massive burst of force picked up ten spiders and crushed them instantly on the rock wall of the cave, causing a massive splatter of their fluids.

Miho and Jinwoo were both covered in green blood as they carved through the waves of spiders in flashes of speed. Jinwoo was making prodigious use of his new Dual-Blades skill and looked like a whirlwind of steel. Miho had abruptly created a new technique of her own: Stinger, which she was using to stab so quickly she appeared to have multiple spears. She’d already skewered dozens of them and even beat some of their buddies into the ground with them. Even Jinwoo’s Shadows were getting into the fun. The Shadow Chieftain was having a blast crushing the spiders, and Soohyun giggled and cheered when it swung its hammer and launched the spider like a baseball. “Home Run!” That got all of them to laugh as they continued to fight. Finally, the spiders stopped coming, and they continued down a slope.

“Uhh, does anyone hear that?” Joohee asked, wondering what that rumbling was.

“Let me guess.” Miho droned sardonically, “Boulders rolling after us?”

Soohyun continued walking but turned her head, “Yup.” She said nonchalantly.

“Honestly, how cliché can they get?” Jinwoo sighed in exasperation.

Soohyun pointed a hand backwards, and the boulders glowed purple before flying over their heads and continuing to roll when they landed. “Huh, thought they’d shatter.” They continued to jog, with boulders occasionally flying over their heads, before they got to the bottom and hit a cavernous room.

As soon as they got to the middle of the first floating platform, howling filled the room. “Oh, crap!” Soohyun gasped as more giant Gnolls seemingly fell out of the ceiling and landed near them. These beasts were built like the Gnoll Chieftain, though at about two-thirds the scale. They were armored, unlike the chieftain, and their hammers were all covered in flames.

[Gnoll Centurion]

And there were four of them, all with orange names.

They moved slower than the Gnoll Chieftain but seemed to be even faster for it. Jinwoo and Miho were able to match them in speed since they didn’t have the Chieftain’s skills, but Joohee and Soohyun struggled a bit since they’d been much less concerned with upgrading their stats evenly with their daily points. Jinwoo sent his Shadows to help them as he clashed with his Gnoll.

Their weapons caused bursts of flame with each strike, which added to the difficulty of fighting them. “What are these damn things made of? Napalm?” He snarked in irritation as he sliced its belly, only for its thick fur and armor to turn it into an entirely minor injury.

Miho cursed as she managed to stab it in the arm, only for its flesh to stretch. “Argh, I hate when they have all this loose skin and fur on top!” The Centurion swung its hammer down, unleashing a wave of fire at her. She acrobatically leapt over both the flames and it, landing on the Gnoll’s shoulders. With a roar, she punched it in the snout as it looked up to meet her eyes. It howled as she leapt off, though there was some whine in the noise too. She’d crushed its nose.

Soohyun raised her hand, and a purple glow engulfed the Centurion’s hammer, ripping it out of its hand. “Ah, ah, ah!” She wagged her finger ‘no,’ smirking all the while. And then the Centurions’s hammer swung and knocked the Gnoll flying. It let out a shrill whine as it flew through the air. Soohyun pointed her finger, and the glowing hammer followed it as it crashed onto the ground. She flicked her finger down, and the hammer accelerated at great speed, crashing right into the center of the Centurion’s chest. An explosion of flame blew in every direction as her improvised weapon crushed its chest, killing it instantly.

Joohee was having the hardest time of it, yelping as she dodged as best she could. ‘I really need some defense!’ She thought to herself. A wave of fire almost caught her as she struggled in frustration, before leaping forward. “HYAH!” She just yelled something out as she swung her Morningstar. The spiked ball slammed into its chest and, to her surprise, not only drew blood but pushed it back several steps. She even heard the crack of bone. ‘Have I really gotten that strong?’ She couldn’t help but think, only for her distraction to almost cost her.

The Centurion tried to crush her in a single blow, only for the Chieftain’s Shadow to protect her. Its hammer clashed with the Centurion’s, staggering the beast. With another yell, and with her heart beating a mile a minute, Joohee’s Morningstar started to glow with a dazzling light. She swung with all her might and was rewarded with the Centurion’s chest exploding. Blood from the dead Gnoll splashed her face, and she had a flashback to the Double Dungeon.

She froze completely, and it was a few seconds later that they finished up the rest of the Centurions. She didn’t even notice their Level Ups. Jinwoo wrapped her in a hug, “You’re okay, Joohee.”

She shuddered against him, and shook her head against his chest, “Why… why can’t I get past it?”

“This was your first fight.” He said, gently rubbing the back of her head, “Do you think I didn’t freeze up the first time I killed something myself? This entire time, you’ve never been out of the back line. It was bound to happen.”

“He’s right.” Soohyun and Miho joined them, with the magenta-haired beauty saying, “One of my only scars was from this exact situation. I killed one and froze. Another managed to get me in the back of the leg, before Yoonho knocked it back. We didn’t have a healer at the time, so I ended up needing stitches.” She patted her on the shoulder. “This will pass. You’ll see.”

“You just need to trust yourself and trust us too.” Soohyun planted a kiss on the side of her head. “You’re okay.”

Joohee blushed from the kiss, “I do trust all of you. Thank you.” She took a few deep breaths, before they took a small break for some snack bars. “Do you think we’re close to the end?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t sense anything, anyway. We should farm before we proceed anyway.” Miho said, “The names haven’t grayed out yet, so we can probably get a few more levels before the Boss.”

And they did just that, staying in the dungeon and going back and forth between the areas as the beasts respawned. Soon their names were all white, and then all gray, and they all found themselves at level 28. They found it weird that they didn’t manage to hit 30, but were hopeful that the Boss would get them there.

When they finally reached the bottom of the cavern, what looked like a stone castle awaited them. “Guess I’ll knock!” Soohyun yelled, pointing her hand at the drawbridge, before Jinwoo barreled into her and knocked her out of the way of an axe. “Holy crap!” She exclaimed, “Thanks, Jinwoo.” She pecked him on the cheek.

“He’s big.” Miho hissed, staring at the beast that had leapt from the parapets. It wasn’t as large as the Chieftain but looked even more muscular. It was also wearing armor. It had pitch black fur that was covered by chainmail and steel plates layered together. It was slightly hunched over and had a snarling maw and angry red eyes. It also had two giant axes, which it was holding in tight grips in its massive bear paws.

[War Chief Black Scar, King of the Gnolls]

“That armor is going to be tough to-” Miho started to say, before the War Chief roared.

Like with the Chieftain, a wave of energy erupted from it and affected them for a moment. Unlike with the Chieftain, he immediately followed up with an attack, throwing one of his mighty axes at Joohee. “Don’t you dare attack our Healer, you oversized chihuahua!” Jinwoo snarled as he braced and then swiped his blades at the axe with full force.

To his surprise, his full force was enough for a miniature squall to erupt from his blades, forcing him to stumble back, and also sending the axe flying in the opposite direction. Black Scar howled furiously as the axe hit him and broke off a small piece of his armor.

[Skill: Backlash has been created!]

Jinwoo ignored the screen for now as Soohyun thrust her arm at the beast, “Spatial Rend!” Intense gravity smashed into the War Chief like a whole herd of elephants, tearing some of his armor off and making it bleed.

Black Scar roared, and they all cursed when Berserker Fury activated for him, except unlike the Chieftain, his stats were doubled. The only ray of hope was that it would only last for three minutes. The War Chief vanished in a burst of speed so fast that even Jinwoo and Miho lost track of him momentarily.

His two axes bit into both of them simultaneously, sending blood flying through the air as their arms were nearly sliced completely off. It was only their stats that gave them the tankiness needed to avoid being cut in half entirely. Both of them lost half of their HP in those single blows. The War Chief then continued to stampede forward, flinging Jinwoo and Miho off his blades. He charged, slamming his weapons into the ground repeatedly as he moved towards Soohyun like a freight train. She yelled as she dodged upwards and backwards, floating away from the battle and hammering him with Spatial Rends. Because of Berserker Rage, Black Scar felt no pain, and simply blew through her attacks, leaping at her so quickly she couldn’t dodge.

Soohyun coughed out blood as she was crushed onto the ground, losing three-fourths of her HP. Black Scar raised his axes to bag his first kill, roaring in triumph. Only for Joohee of all of them to appear in front of him and thrust her Morningstar at his mouth. “GUIDING BOLT!” Their Healer yelled with fury on her face. The ball of light smashed into Black Scar’s maw and exploded.

The blast flung the Gnoll King away, and Joohee paid no attention to the clattering fangs around them. “Soohyun!” She quickly opened her book, which floated before her, and a yellow aura engulfed Soohyun.

“Ooooh, Joohee, I love you!” Soohyun slurred as her health returned. She sat up, grunting as she did and gritting her teeth. She glared at Black Scar, “I’m going to get you for that, motherfucker.” Her inner gamer escaped as she cursed the Gnoll.

Jinwoo and Miho both approved of her prioritizing their mage and had used the distraction to drink health potions. Their wounds healed, and they glared at the Gnoll King who had a bloody maw with most of his fangs broken. “Get out here.” Jinwoo growled, and their shadows surged. Kasaka, Buryura, the Chieftain, a couple archers, and the Centurions all erupted into the fight.

Buryura and Kasaka immediately spat acid and venom respectively, only for the War Chief to vanish. Buryura was cut in half in an instant, and Jinwoo appeared behind the Boss. He grunted furiously as he sliced the back of his legs, while Miho appeared in front of it and slammed her spear between his armor plates and into the Gnoll King’s clavicle. She twisted her spear and then had to get the hell away as he tried to cut her in half.

That distraction cost him, as the Centurions and the Chieftain all managed to get blows in on him, throwing him between them in an explosively fiery game of hot potato. Finally, the Chieftain knocked him into the air, and Kasaka bit him out of the air, thrashing him by whipping its head.

The War Chief burst from Kasaka’s head in flashes of steel, before landing, looking much worse for wear. And yet, he still managed to cut the Chieftain and two Centurions in half before another Centurion smashed him in the head again. Jinwoo then stabbed him in the leg, and Miho took out one of his eyes.

[Blood Rage has ended.]

Black Scar sagged in exhaustion as his spell ended, and yet he still continued to fight! He swiped at Jinwoo, and when he dodged back, threw his other axe at him before his feet even touched the ground. Jinwoo landed and used Backlash, sending the axe flying into the Gnoll King’s chest. A pained howl rang through the cavern, before being cut off by an explosive Guiding Bolt.

When the smoke cleared, Black Scar was huffing and puffing in agony. His one good eye widened as Miho’s spear pierced his throat and caused him to hack when it vanished. Blood poured from the wound as he clapped his paw against his throat. Jinwoo burst into existence in front of him and then hammered him with a barrage of punches. And then Soohyun caught his attention, and he got out of the way with Miho. Soohyun was floating above, body and eyes glowing a dark purple in her fury, while holding a churning mass of gravity above her head with both hands. “DIE!” She yelled furiously as she thrust both hands down. Black Scar, and everything in a ten-meter radius around him, flattened like a pancake. The Gnoll King himself was nothing more than a splatter of blood as she tiredly landed.

[You have defeated the Dungeon Boss.]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

They all slumped, sighing in relief. “Oof, that was rough.” Soohyun muttered as they all grabbed a couple bottles of water. Their fatigue might have been reset, but their thirst and exhilaration sure hadn’t.

“Finally level thirty.” Jinwoo smiled, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Thanks for sticking with us while we were farming.” Miho smiled, seeing that they had caught up. Jinwoo still had those extra ten stat points on them though.

“Of course!”

“Let’s see our rewards.” Joohee said, smiling slightly as she looked at her drops. “…” Her face shadowed a little bit. “You’ve got to be kidding.” She pulled… a brand-new Morningstar from her inventory. They all sputtered and started to laugh at the indignation on her face. She sighed in annoyance and put it away, “Well, at least this is good.” She eyed the ring on her palm.

[Black Scar’s Signet Ring

Rank: C

Type: Ring

Strength +5

Intelligence +5]

“Ooh, you got one of those too?” Soohyun smiled, showing off her own, “I guess duplicate items can drop.” She mentioned as they both equipped the rings.

“Oooh, don’t mind if I do.” Jinwoo smirked a little as he equipped a new set of gauntlets and greaves. They had higher attack power and a buff to strength and agility. Miho came out of it with a new spear as well, with the blade appearing to be coming out of a snarling wolf’s head. She also got a Rune Stone for [Berserker Fury] which she quickly crushed. He stood and walked over to Black Scar, “Arise.” He said, and for the first time in a while, the spell failed, with the wind nearly blowing them away. “Tch. Arise.” He tried it again and was again forced to take a step back when the spell failed. “Damn it!”

“I haven’t seen Jinwoo fail twice since Kasaka.” Joohee mumbled, “You can do it, Jinwoo!” She cheered him on, with Soohyun joining in. Miho simply stood in silent support.

“ARISE!” He called out… and despite looking like it was going to be successful, the shadows dispersed, and he could no longer hear the calls. It was the first time he had failed to raise a Shadow. “DAMN IT!”

“I guess these dungeons are overleveled for us.” Miho sighed and patted him on the shoulder, “For their supposed level, they seem much more difficult than others of the same rank.”

With little else to do, Jinwoo commanded both Kasaka and the Chieftain to enter his shadow. Miho got Buryura, and both Joohee and Soohyun got Centurions. With that, they ended their Instance Dungeon and returned to the real world.

-]|[-

A week passed, and that meant twenty-one more points for each of them. That still left them all at level thirty, and Jinwoo felt he was ready to at least look inside the Demon Tower with his current stats.

Name: Sung Jinwoo

Level: 30

Job: None 

Fatigue: 0

Title: Beast Menace

HP: 3725

MP: 590

Strength: 85

Agility: 50

Perception: 49

Vitality: 39

Intelligence: 39

Available Ability Points: 0

He was going to do it tonight, and knew the girls were still worried about him. He was most worried about Joohee, even after they figured out that they could enter a training area manifested by the System. This area gave them simulated beasts to fight and also allowed them to spar with one another. They didn’t get an ounce of EXP while inside, but it at least allowed them to hone their skills.

Joohee had done an amazing job when she had saved Soohyun from Black Fang, but that was in the moment to save their friend. They were very worried about her stepping into her own gate, where she would have no one to rely on but herself. They had worked her hard, making sure she was well prepared to dodge whatever she needed to dodge, and take her chances when they came.

That was why Jinwoo would be the only one entering his S-Rank Instance Dungeon tonight. If all went well, the girls would make their own attempts tomorrow.

At night, they made their way over to Daesung Tower, and Jinwoo used his key. Red energy sparked everywhere and formed into a fiery red gate. “Jinwoo.” Joohee said, and he turned around. He wasn’t at all surprised when she hugged him, holding him tightly. “You use that stone if it’s too dangerous, do you hear me?!”

“I know.” He said, squeezing back.

“We’re serious, Jinwoo.” Soohyun hugged him as well, “You come back to us.” Her voice was much lower with her second statement. Jinwoo reflexively hugged her back harder in surprise.

Miho didn’t hug him. Instead, she offered him a smirk, “Go kick some ass.” He smirked back, before turning and walking through. The Gate vanished, and they all went over to a bench and pulled up their party screens so they could at least watch his HP, MP, and Fatigue in real time.

…

Jinwoo’s eyes widened slightly as he took in the sight of the burning city before him. He clenched his fists slightly, “What the hell?” He couldn’t help but think. He quickly shook off the unnerving sight of his city burning. ‘If the Rank of the key matches the rank of the Dungeon, then I don’t stand a chance of surviving this.’ He knew this. They all did. But they needed to know just how strong they were getting. ‘If I give up just because I’m scared, I won’t get any stronger.’

He smirked slightly as a gigantic beast stomped up to him.

[The Gatekeeper of Hell, Cerberus]

The red name shone ominously above its heads. The three-headed dog was big enough to be able to swallow him in one bite. It was probably twenty to thirty meters tall, and probably longer as well. Its biggest fangs were bigger than he was. Having three heads to watch out for was going to be a huge pain. The mana it was exuding was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

‘But it doesn’t matter. I’m going to become even more powerful.’ He thought, before growling out, “I can’t let myself die here!” His shadow surged, summoning Kasaka and Buryura. He figured the two bigger beasties with ranged attacks would be a better option than the Chieftain in this case. He blitzed the beast, his swords flashing and scoring cuts on the Cerberus’s legs. The deadly gatekeeper roared and stomped around as Kasaka and Buryura shot their venom and acid at it, respectively.

The massive dog howled as the poison and acid smashed into it with force, but for the first time, the attack barely injured something hit it. The Cerberus looked more annoyed than anything. It roared, and Jinwoo cringed as the sonic attack hit him.

[Cerberus has used Rage

Cerberus will be in a state of Rage for three minutes. All stats doubled. Cerberus will feel no pain.]

“Oh, not again!” Jinwoo cried out as the beast rushed forward so quickly that neither of his shadows had a chance to react. Kasaka was caught by the right head and thrashed around like a limp noodle, dissolving into shadows once more. Buryura, on the other hand, had her face bitten by the middle head, and her skull was crushed instantly. She too dispersed into shadow.

Above, Jinwoo flew towards the Cerberus’s back, his gauntleted fist pulled back. “RAGH!” He roared as he punched it right on the spine. A shockwave blasted out from the impact, even blowing out some of the flames around them. The middle head of the beast flopped forward, its broken spine incapable of holding it up. Despite that, it continued to bark and snarl, feeling no pain whatsoever.

And Jinwoo wasn’t fast enough to dodge the furious left head, taking a savage bite to his left shoulder that nearly tore his arm off.

[HP: 1585/3725]

He screamed as it whipped him away, smashing him into a building. He hacked out a bit of blood as he lost more HP.

[HP: 986/3725]

He quickly summoned Kasaka and Buryura again, slipping away from the battle, clutching his arm as they distracted the beast. “Damn.” He grunted, opening the Store and grabbing a health potion. It only restored 500 HP, so he needed to buy three more just to feel comfortable.

He would have grabbed another, but Cerberus rammed into the building, having sniffed him out. The collapsing rocks tore another thousand HP from him, making him growl in fury as it tried to bite him again. His MP was also running low, he knew as he summoned Kasaka again. His snake bit into the Cerberus’s hind leg, drawing a deluge of blood.

It was enough of a distraction for him to get his revenge on Left. He climbed the beast quickly, grabbing its head by its fangs and swinging with all of his might. A horrendous snap rang through the air as he literally twisted its head backwards. It too flopped over, but went silent, unlike the middle head.

As he landed, its heavy paw was already waiting for him. He grunted out some blood as he flew away from the beast, smashing into a building’s wall and then through it. He continued smashing wall after wall, before finally hitting the ground a couple dozen meters away. He rolled to a stop, head swimming.

[HP: 238/3725]

“Status recovery!” He yelled and was rejuvenated as the injured Cerberus was barreling towards him. He leapt at it, summoning both his Dao as he yelled, “Deadly Storm!” He became a whirlwind of death, gouging out both of its eyes as he passed, leaving the Cerberus blind. He also carved up its face, leaving streaks of blood dripping from the cuts.

Kasaka rose up one last time, this time wrapping the Cerberus in its coils and squeezing as hard as it could. And that was when Rage finally ran out, and all the pain that it hadn’t been feeling struck it all at once. A loud canine whine rang through the burning night as Jinwoo appeared above it. “RARGH!” He roared as he passed by its head, slamming into the ground. The Cerberus’s head flew through the air and crushed a ruined car under its bulk. It stopped, its tongue lolling out.

[You have defeated The Gatekeeper of Hell, Cerberus!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

Jinwoo slumped to the floor and panted, even with his level ups restoring his fatigue. He breathed deeply for a few seconds, before grinning, “The girls are going to kill me.” He laughed a little hysterically.

He wasn’t sure he cared. Four level ups off of one boss this late in the game was amazing. “Thanks to you, I know how strong I am.” He turned to the castle and pulled his new Castle Key from his inventory. “If I were to open those doors now, I’d die. I’ll come back when I get stronger.” He put it back into his Inventory.

He then equipped the B-Ranked Gatekeeper’s Collar, which gave him +20 to both Agility and Perception, which was an amazing reward by itself. “Good thing this thing will be invisible and intangible.” He chuckled as he equipped it.

And then he looked at the screen for the final item he had acquired and accepted it. An ancient-looking scroll appeared in his hand, “What are you?” It told him, and his eyes widened when he saw that it was the formula for a craftable item. Specifically, “The Elixir of Life?!” His breath caught, and his heart began to race as he read the description.

[Formula: The Elixir of Life

Rank: ?

Three items are needed to craft this item. They can be found in the Demon’s Castle.

Elixir of Life: A mystical potion that cures all diseases, status conditions, and curses using powerful magic.]

“This…” He breathed out, his hands starting to shake. ‘Something I want, huh?’ He let out a shuddering breath as he placed it back inside his Inventory. “More like something I desperately need. Mom…” He pressed his hands to his face, simply breathing as he took in the possibility of his mom finally being able to wake up.

After a few moments, he stood, before walking over to the Cerberus. “I will not fail again. ARISE.” He declared, his eyes glowing blue with his magical power.

An eruption of shadows burst from the body, rising like a pillar into the sky. Jinwoo grinned brightly as it coalesced into the Cerberus he had just been fighting. Its body was all black like all of the others except for some crisscrossing scars, and also appeared to have flaming blue fur. It looked supremely badass.

It let out a howl, throwing all three heads towards the moon. Unlike all the other sounds it had made during their battle, it sounded utterly joyful. “Good boy.” Jinwoo continued to smirk as he watched it lay down and start wagging its tail.

[Cerberus Lv.6

Rank: Elite]

“Oh?” He had never seen the Elite Rank before. This Shadow must be a lot stronger than his other Shadows. “I think I’ll call you Cerbie.” He chuckled as it let out an approving bark. “Time to go home.” He summoned the key and inserted it, forming an exit Gate. He took a step, paused, and then let out an evil chuckle.

…

Miho, Soohyun, and Joohee were covered in sweat as they watched Jinwoo’s health and MP quickly have huge chunks of it taken out. Their hearts were stuck in their throats, and Joohee had already burst into tears multiple times as they saw the huge amount of damage he had taken. Joohee was sitting in the middle and was holding her two friends’ hands in iron grips that had Soohyun wincing. Miho’s face was like stone, and the only indication of her agitation was the aggressive tapping her left foot was doing. So aggressive, in fact, that the pavement beneath her feet had started to break.

And then they all let out sighs of unyielding relief as they saw their idiot get four level ups at once. “He must have been fighting a single monster.” Miho stated softly, feeling almost weak from her relief.

“Why didn’t he run?” Joohee whispered, closing her eyes and trying to get her heart rate under control.

“Maybe he figured we would kill him ourselves if he came back after scaring the life out of us with nothing to show for it.” Soohyun snarked. Despite herself, Joohee let out a wet giggle. They settled down to wait for him to return. Only minutes passed, and he was nowhere to be seen. “If he’s continuing, I’m actually going to murder him.” The purple-haired beauty snarled.

And for once, kind, thoughtful Joohee was nowhere to be found. “I’ll help.” She growled.

“Does this thing have a call function?” Miho again started tapping her foot, and they all gaped when the System changed the party screen slightly, showing that they not only had a call function, but a vid call function that would work between dimensions! “Call Su-”

Energy burst into a Gate in front of them, quite a distance away, and Soohyun let out a sigh, “Looks like he gets to live.” She chuckled. They stood and started to make their way forward, only to freeze as a massive paw with blue, flaming claws bigger than them stepped out. “Oh, holy fuck.” She let out a whimper.

“Hey girls!” Jinwoo was grinning like a dumb kid as he exited the portal riding Cerbie’s middle head. “I got us a new puppy!”

“YOU FOUGHT THAT?!” Joohee shrieked, wobbling like she was going to fall over.

“And it was well worth it.” He said as he dropped to the floor, absorbing Cerbie into his shadow. Buryura skittered out of the Gate next and immediately entered Miho’s. The Centurion inside Joohee’s Shadow was dismissed, and the Chieftain replaced it.

“How could it possibly have been worth it?!” Soohyun was still gaping.

“We wondered why the key came out of the Blessed Box.” He said softly and took the Formula out. They all read through it and gasped in unison.

“Oh, Jinwoo!” Joohee embraced him, “I can’t believe it! Your mom!” She sounded super excited for him.

“I know.” Jinwoo let out a shuddering breath. “I can’t either. But I’m nowhere near strong enough to face the tower right now.” He sighed.

“To be so close, yet so far.” Miho sighed, “We need to get stronger. We all need to get stronger.”

“Tell us everything.” Soohyun said, grabbing his hand.

“Cerbie was guarding the entrance to the tower. Like it was a castle.” Jinwoo said, “So he was an enemy I could defeat, but in the grand scheme of things, if I had tried to go any farther than that very first area, I would be dead. This Dungeon is no joke, and yours likely won’t be either.” He said, “Despite that, I still think you should enter it. It’s like we thought. The System doesn’t want us to die. I barely paid it any mind, but at one point it activated a Skill called Tenacity for me. When my health fell below 30%, it cut all incoming damage in half. It only lasted long enough for me to use Status Recovery, but it was there.”

“So you think we should still at least try our Dungeons out?” Miho smiled as she asked her question. Joohee flinched in his arms.

“Absolutely.” Jinwoo said, “We need to know exactly where we stand, and why the System is so hellbent on making us strong. If the items we get are just as strong as the ones I got, then we have to at least make the attempts.”

Soohyun sighed, “Then I guess we’re really doing this.” She looked at the night sky, “I just hope we really do know what we’re doing.”

No one really had an answer for that.

-]|[-

And that’s that! Hope you all enjoyed! I still have one more chapter for this in my backlog, but I’m not sure when I’ll be posting it. I’m currently working on the next chapter of Big Tiddy, finally, and hopefully will have that done before the middle of the month.