-]|[-

After that initial start, the raid continued, with every single one of them (even Miho!) hoping not to run into any more of those nasty things.

Unfortunately, they did, in fact, run into many more ‘dildos with teeth,’ as they kept teasing Miho about. The damn creatures were everywhere, ripping themselves from the ground, the walls, and even the ceiling on occasion. They were straight up antagonists in a snuff film looking to abduct the innocent heroes. Miho, Soohyun, and Joohee watched as the weaker Hunters started farming experience. Each of the creatures gave a fair amount for such weak enemies.

‘No, I suppose calling them weak is unfair. We’re just strong.’ Miho thought to herself as she watched Songyi slice one in half with her new dagger, trying to get a feel for it. It was extra challenging because she had to be fast, so as to not get any of the nastiness on her. To her credit, the girl was doing just fine. ‘If it hadn’t been for that first warning from Soohyun, some of us would probably have been bitten. A regular party even of A-Ranks might have lost a couple members if they were unlucky enough. Stealth monsters are always such a pain.’

Finally, they exited the tunnel they were in, only to find a steep, downhill incline waiting for them. “How cold do you think this place is going to get?” Soohyun complained a little. “We’ve been going downhill for half an hour, and now this?”

“Quite strange. Usually it gets hotter the deeper you go.” Jinchul muttered.

“Must be a dead planet.” Heejin said, “It’s only hot underground because of the earth’s molten core. Makes you wonder how these beasts even evolved here…”

They started walking down the hill only to twitch as a faint crash sounded from behind them. It was getting louder, causing them all to turn around. Their eyes widened as Miho sprang into action, jumping and launching a punch that utterly shattered a gigantic ball of ice that had been looking to crush them.

“Traps?!” Jinho yelped as they saw more giant ice balls rolling for them and looking to crush them. He summoned his shield and blocked one of the boulders. It crashed against his shield and sent a wave of cold at them.

“What the hell is this supposed to be? Indiana Jones?” Songyi complained as an arrow detonated another huge ice ball.

Soohyun had enough of that and held up her hand, grabbing the balls with her Ruler’s Hand and crushing them all in one go. “What in the hell?” She asked in confusion. “Since when do beasts make traps like that? What made those traps? Certainly not the damn dildos!”

Joohee let out a groan, “Can we please stop calling them that?”

Jinchul rubbed his chin, “I’ve seen intelligent beasts, but never that intelligent. Keep your guards up.” He ordered the lower levels.

“Right.” Songyi and Heejin both said while Jinho nodded.

They continued down the hill and came upon a new tunnel that was partially blocked with thick stalactites and stalagmites of ice. Joohee raised her hand and used a Ray of Light to melt through them almost instantly. “Well, that’s not suspicious at all.” She giggled as they continued to walk through the twisting cavern until they came across a huge room.

“Are those homes?” Heejin asked incredulously as she stared at the large creations built directly into the ice. They even looked fairly industrial! “What in the world are we facing here?”

As they stepped in, loud shrieks erupted from all around them as dozens of huge creatures started to burst from the dwellings. They all looked like crosses between Orcs and Goblins, being in between them in size. Some were barely bigger than Songyi, while others were huge and roughly three times their size. They were all wearing various levels of furs and armor, covering blackish-gray skin. All of them had exposed faces, revealing fanged maws.

“Kobolds!” Miho called out. “Careful, they’re smart!”

One of them proved her right as it pulled a literal cannon off its back and shot an enchanted cannonball at them. Jinho hurried and dropped his shield into its path. The explosion made him grunt and forced him back a few paces.

“OI!” Songyi yelled furiously. “Only I’m allowed to shoot shit here!” She said as she shot her arrow. The powerful bolt found its mark right inside the eyehole slot in the cannoneer’s helmet. Blood burst from the wound as the creature fell back, dead. The Kobolds howled in fury and charged at them. “I’ve got the ranged guys!” Songyi yelled as she leapt away, finding a small post atop one of the dwellings. She drew her bowstring and charged her shot with mana. When her arrow found its mark (a cannon) the entire thing detonated and sent metal shrapnel through a group of the Kobolds.

She took aim again as the small army turned their ranged weapons her way. Her eyes widened and she leapt away as over a dozen cannonballs smashed into the building she had been standing on. Huge explosions shattered the building and sent chunks raining down onto the ice below. A second wave chased her with their attacks, detonating uselessly against the icy wall. She landed over a dozen meters away, now behind the main line of cannoneers, and found her shot. Her arrow sped through the air and hit another cannon with enough force to make the Kobold lose control of the weapon and point it at its fellows. “Hehehe, how’s that?” Songyi giggled as the unfortunate cannoneer shot one of its fellows point-blank. A ludicrous amount of gibs rained down as the poor Kobold was turned into a mist of blood.

She grinned as she admired her handiwork, before she felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. She dove forward, just barely dodging the blade that would have taken her head off. She pitched off the building and grabbed the ledge, flipping around with her new dagger in hand. “Fuck you!” She glared at the stealthy Kobold who had almost gotten the drop on her. Songyi jammed her dagger right through its armor, lifting it off its feet, and driving it down into the roof of the hut. The Kobold screeched as she pulled her dagger out and then sank it into the creature’s eyeball with a sick squelch. She took a deep breath as its struggles ceased, “After those fucking things, I guess a bit of blood isn’t so bad.” She turned back and aimed her bow to continue taking potshots.

Jinho had his shield out and grunted as one of the larger Kobolds crashed against it. It had a large blade that looked almost like a butcher knife in its hands, and was raining blows down on Jinho’s shield, making him slide back on the ice.

Heejin pointed her wand and drew a rune on the ground, just in front of Jinho. It erupted into a wave of icy spikes that impaled four of the Kobolds in one go. The one Jinho was fighting let out a screech of rage as Jinho pushed and flung it backwards. He summoned a spear in his free hand and threw it, impaling the creature and launching it off its feet. The spear vanished as Jinho leapt into the air. “Quake of Provocation!” He yelled as he smashed the huge bulwark into the ground. A pulse of red blasted all around him and taunted the enemies. They turned and flung themselves at him, only for a secondary effect to activate. A huge earthquake ripped through the cavern as pulses of red continued to blast out. All the Kobolds caught in it took a massive amount of damage. “Thank you, big bro!” Jinho beamed. He never would have had that skill if the shield Jinwoo had crafted for him out of the mammoth hadn’t given it to him, just like Heejin’s wand.

Some of the Kobolds survived, and he charged, shield bashing one of them. He had built his strength enough that the Kobold went flying back and got impaled on the sword of one of its fellows. It also knocked it back and formed a pileup.

Heejin waved her wand and an icy-blue beam erupted from the tip. The entire, bloody mass of Kobolds was frozen solid as a tiny glacier was born in the room. Heejin then looked like she was going to wield her wand like a sword. She dashed forward and swiped her arm. A jagged blade of ice formed at the tip and cut through the massive ice cube like butter, killing all of the frozen Kobolds within.

“Nice job!” Songyi beamed as she double-high-fived Heejin and then pulled her into a hug. Jinho shook a fist in victory for a moment.

Jinchul chuckled lightly. “They’re making an exceptional team.”

“Yup.” Soohyun grinned, “We’re real proud.” She winked at the three attackers. “Are you not going to jump in?”

“I’d be taking experience away from them.” Jinchul reminded them. Jinho, Songyi, and Heejin were decently close in level at this point, but the gap between him and Jinho, the weakest of the three, was still fairly large. “So not unless I’m needed.” He scratched the back of his head. “I can’t say I like getting all this experience for zero effort though.”

“Free eats is free eats.” Miho laughed.

“Let’s let our students get stronger.” Joohee smiled as they continued through the bloody cavern. “…And another downhill.” This one was steep enough that they just started sliding down. Thankfully, they were ready for the icy boulders this time and didn’t flinch when they started dropping. They made their way through the path laid out before them, coming across another blocked path that Joohee melted them a way through.

“Woah!” Jinho’s eyes widened as they stepped into a new cavern. There was only one single Kobold inside this room, but it was on its knees and appeared to be praying of all things. The walls of the icy caverns had been carved out, and runes appeared to be lit up everywhere. It looked almost like a temple. As they entered, the Kobold’s attention was drawn to them.

It stood, revealing a skinny but muscular body that appeared almost humanlike in proportions. Unlike all the other Kobolds, its skin was a deep wine color, and it was covered in white runic markings. It was very tall and had a staff in its left hand. “Magical user!” Jinho readied its shield.

The Kobold Shaman was called Inonoch and it was an orange-named beast to Heejin, Songyi, and Jinho. It let out a furious screech that seemed to shake the entire cavern. Surprising them, it teleported right in front of the group and raised its palm.

Jinho raised his shield just in time for its palm to strike, unleashing a fiery detonation that made Heejin and Songyi hiss from the heat. Jinho got thrown onto his back and groaned.

“Jinho!” Songyi cried out as she fired an arrow at Inonoch’s head. It swung its staff and deflected it before jumping back, right as a rune from Heejin drew itself in the ice where it had been standing and erupted into a pillar of fire.

Inonoch raised its hand which started to pulse with flames before it ran forward. Jinho had just gotten to his feet when the Kobold dodged a laser from Heejin by leaping high into the air and flipping. Jinho raised his shield as the large Kobold crashed into him with another explosion, forcing him to his knees.

The Kobold rolled off his shield and got behind him, whipping its staff out at Jinho’s head. Jinho dodged it and allowed his shield to vanish. He had two odachi in hand instead. With a roar, he started swiping again and again, but the speedy Kobold teleported away.

Songyi rolled backwards just as Inonoch appeared behind her, its blazing hand already flying towards the space her head had just occupied. With a cry, she swiped her dagger at its leg, drawing blood and an agonized howl from the creature. It teleported away again but it hobbled when it appeared once more. It held its staff in both hands, which glowed a ghastly green. It let out another cavern-shaking howl before thrusting it skyward. Screams erupted as what appeared to be souls flew out of the head and started dive-bombing the three Hunters.

“Oh no, we are not dealing with no Shadow-Monarch-like nonsense!” Songyi cried out as she fired hundreds of quick arrows, first at the souls, which ignored them entirely and forced the Hunters to dodge. None of them wanted to be hit by a single one. And then, when that clearly didn’t work, at Inonoch itself.

The Kobold slammed its staff down and summoned a barrier around itself. The arrows all peppered it but failed to shatter it. The souls continued to chase after them, and finally, they made mistakes. A soul struck each of them, making them howl as their bodies felt the agony of being frozen alive without actually having it happen.

[You have been cursed. Total HP has been cut by thirty percent.]

They all were in agony, and the worst part was they couldn’t even heal themselves. Their HP bars had shrunken, and they were all still technically at full HP. “Damn it!” Heejin hissed, holding back tears. “Why couldn’t we get that blessing too?!” She ground her teeth at the pain.

At least the ghosts were gone.

“Should we jump in?” Soohyun asked seriously.

“They haven’t asked for help.” Miho said softly. The way she had her arms crossed with one finger tapping on her bicep told them all how agitated she was.

Jinho was furious as he leapt forward. Heejin aimed her wand carefully, ready to burn the bastard if he so much as hinted at going for that attack once more. Songyi got as far as she could before kneeling and drawing an arrow. She started to pump mana into it.

Jinho got there first, attacking the barrier with a roar. It flashed but did not crack. “Quake of Provocation!” He taunted Inonoch, making it screech as its footing was disrupted and it started taking damage from the earthquake. It almost fell over before blowing Jinho back with another explosive palm strike. It raised its staff again to summon more souls, only for a red laser from Heejin to light the entire staff on fire. It howled in fury and agony as it looked at its mangled and burnt fingers.

“Die, you son of a bitch!” Songyi was surrounded by a miasma of magical power as she launched her unstable arrow. It flew through the air accompanied by a sonic boom, shattering the icy ground and throwing up a mist of ice crystals. Inonoch let out a gurgle as her arrow straight up cut it in half.

And yet, the shaman was still not dead. It crawled with its entrails hanging out of its torso, reaching out for the area it had been praying at when they found it. Jinho drew his greatsword and swung it down. That white flame appendage appeared once more and slashed straight through Inonoch, bisecting and immolating it.

[You have defeated Inonoch!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[The Curse has been lifted. HP restored.]

They all sighed in relief as the icy agony vanished immediately. “That was so much harder than yesterday!” Heejin kneeled and took a few deep breaths.

“You guys did great.” Joohee said as she cast her golden light on them. They weren’t hurt but it still warmed their frozen bones.

“Thanks, Joohee.” Songyi smiled tiredly at their healer in thanks. “Shall we-”

The cavern began to rumble as the molten red runes on the walls began to flicker. “What’s happening?” Jinho cried out as one-by-one, the runes disappeared.

And as the final one vanished, a red pulse escaped outwards, shattering the wall of the cavern and opening up a deep, dark hole. “No, don’t tell me!” Soohyun gasped.

“A Double Dungeon.” Jinchul said grimly.

And before anyone could say another word, deathly wails sounding like the howls of the damned erupted from within the new tunnel.

-]|[-

Jinwoo twitched the second the Gate came back into view. There was a vivid purple glow to it, and it was crackling with electricity. None of them had ever seen anything like it before.

Kihoon yelled. “What the hell is going on?!”

“It’s a Barrier!” Bora said, “And it appears to be a seriously powerful one, too.”

“But who could have cast it?” The red Tank growled out.

Jinwoo sighed, “This Dungeon has already been a mess. If I had to guess, whoever is casting this Barrier is also capable of hiding his mana signature like a False Ranker. That’s probably why the Mana Meters registered this Gate as the weaker one.”

And like his words summoned the being personally, a tidal wave of mana smashed into them. It made almost all of them develop intense flop sweats. Several of them flinched, “Is this the boss?!” Bora gasped as her hand shook just a tiny amount. “Gina, Hajoon! Help me take this Barrier down!”

Jinwoo realized something was wrong just in the nick of time. “No, wait!” He grabbed Gina and Bora’s shoulders and pulled them back.

“What are you doing?!” Hajoon, the final mage in the blue robe, yelled as his magic connected to the barrier. Instantly, his eyes started to bleed, and he fell to his knees, coughing blood.

“Curse Magic!” Gina gasped as she dragged her friend back with some basic telekinesis. “Semi! We need Holy Magic!” When she didn’t respond, Gina turned around, “Semi, what-” Her breath caught in her throat.

A sea of burning red eyes was approaching. There had to be over a hundred of them. Bora and Jiwoo were shaking lightly in place as a single Orc with a huge mane of black hair approached Kihoon. It leaned down into Kihoon’s face before roaring in a foreign language into his face. “KRERAK TU SHEENA WEEGUDU ARAKNAKA!” The other Orcs all chanted the same battle call.

It then leaned back up and seemed to glitch. Its head twisted and turned and creaked on its neck before the glow in its eyes changed. “Humans.”

“They speak?” Jiwoo whispered in shock.

“I am Kargalgan. I wish… to meet with you.”

“It’s being puppeted by someone else.” Bora whispered back.

“Are you the one who blocked off our exit, Kargalgan?” Kihoon asked.

“That’s right. I am the almighty shaman of this proud clan. Human strength cannot destroy my Barrier.” The puppeteer taunted them. “You have two choices, humans. Die at the hands of my soldiers or follow them.”

“Kihoon! We can’t trust anything they say! Live or die, we may as well just fight here!” The red tank yelled.

‘No, we only have one chance.’ Kihoon thought to himself. “We will follow.”

“KIHOON!” Several of the team yelled. The Orc simply turned around, and the entire group started to walk away.

“Hunter Sung.” Kihoon called out as he started walking after the Orcs. They quickly grouped up, realizing their leader had something of a plan. “You’re strong…” He said quietly, “Maybe even stronger than Hunter Cha. I don’t know for sure. But these guys sent out twenty High Orcs as a scouting team and a hundred more just as intimidation. There might be thousands of these damn monsters inside this Dungeon. Even you wouldn’t be able to stand against that kind of army without help. Not if you’re a Fighter like Vice Guild Master Cha.” He clenched his fists by his side, “So the second we see the boss, we’re going to attack. I doubt we’ll be able to kill it, but we should at least be able to buy a little bit of time when Kargalgan is too distracted to maintain his Barrier. You need to drop the pack the second we do and race out of here to contact the main Strike Squad. We need Guild Master Choi. He’s the only one capable of dishing out the kind of AOE damage we need.”

Jinwoo was silent for a moment, “You’ll all be throwing your lives away. You know that, right?”

Gina looked at her feet, “A Hunter’s job isn’t to leave the Gate alive. It’s to close the Gate.” She said softly. She was blinking rapidly, but her face was resolute.

“This is what they pay us the big bucks for.” The red tank sighed.

“Jinwoo…” Semi put her hand on his arm. “It’s not long…” She was holding a book in her other hand, “But this is my will. If you could… just make sure my family gets it…”

Jiwoo forced a smile. “You shouldn’t even have been here today, Jinwoo. You already helped us out of a tough spot… but this is our job, not yours…”

“You’ll have to congratulate Miho, Soohyun, and Miss Joohee for us.” Bora said with a sad smile.

‘This aura of despair… It reminds me of the Double Dungeon.’ Jinwoo sighed. He reached up to Semi’s diary but surprised her when he pushed it back to her, “No one’s dying today, Miss Semi.” He said, shocking her. “You said that I couldn’t face this many Orcs alone, Captain.” He smiled thinly, “But you’re wrong. I’ve faced far more than that alone before.” They stared at him in shock as he continued to walk. “I’d like to apologize… it looks like I’ll be clearing this Dungeon after all.”

What could any of them even say to that? Where in the hell could he have faced thousands of enemies at once before?!

No one had an answer as they silently followed him.

-]|[-

“Miss Cha?” The mining foreman asked, “I thought it was your day off. What are you doing here?”

Despite herself, Haein had not been able to get her mind off of Sung Jinwoo. Last night when she should have been sleeping or just enjoying the peace of her room, she was rolling around in bed, alternating between screaming into her pillow and clutching it tightly. Not only did she not believe he got lost, but then there had been the very mild flirting after she had sniffed him without thinking.

So she had contacted her guild’s manager asking for information on Jinwoo, only to find that not only had Jongin made the same requests, but that Jinwoo’s files were all blocked by the Association. She should have just left it alone, but the lingering thought that he was a spy warred with how illegally good he smelled, and she couldn’t leave it alone.

And so, here she was, on her day off. Surrounded by E and D-Rank humans who smelled like complete refuse that worked for her guild. She tried to not let her discomfort show on her face. “Hello, Foreman. I’m looking for a Hunter named Sung Jinwoo. Did he come to work today?”

“Sung?” The man grimaced, “He’s inside the Gate, Miss Cha. The Tier-Two Squad’s Porter never showed up, so he volunteered to fill in for them.”

“Are you serious?!” She exclaimed. ‘Is he insane?! How could an E-Rank willingly enter an A-Rank Gate?! He doesn’t have any lives to spare!’ She thought to herself as she stared at the Gate.

She barely listened to the Foreman as he spoke. “Yeah, apparently he’s a friend of a friend for Misses Gina, Semi, Jiwoo, and Bora.” That caught her attention, “They were chatting before going in.”

‘Seriously? He knows some of our Hunters? By association if nothing else?” That confused her. She had nothing against E-Ranks of course, but that was weird in and of itself. “And… he was at the boss’s lair yesterday. Something fishy is going on.’ She thought resolutely and turned to the foreman. “I’ll be going in too.”

“Huh?” He blinked as he walked forward with her, “Is there a problem, Miss Cha? Should I call for reinforcements?”

“No, this is a personal matter. Don’t worry.” She almost stepped in before she reached for her hip and came up with only air. ‘…I didn’t think I’d be going into a Dungeon on my day off. I don’t have any of my gear.’ She turned to the foreman, “Sorry, could I borrow a weapon off you?” A moment later, she was standing there with a pickaxe in her hands and a completely deadpan look on her face. “Uh…” She trailed off, “Do you have… any swords? Or Spears?”

He chuckled, “We’re miners, ma’am. We don’t have anything like that.”

“Forget it then. I shouldn’t need one.” She said and handed it back to him. She walked up to the Gate… and then stopped short. Everyone stood there silently for a moment as she fidgeted, before whirling around with a massive blush on her face. “Thank you.” She managed to get out before grabbing the pickaxe. “I’ll be off then.” She bowed and ran inside. The foreman let out a chuckle.

-]|[-

“Oh my God…” The other Healer managed to get out as they stepped into a titanic, almost cathedral-like room filled with statues, banners, and most importantly, High Orcs flanking them on either side. “There’s got to be at least a thousand…” He whimpered. All the Orcs were hooting and hollering and slamming their weapons on the stone below as Jinwoo’s party was escorted down the proverbial red carpet.

At the other end of the hallway were five Orcs. Four of them looked extremely powerful, covered in actual armor made of what looked like bone, or the skins of animals they’d killed. And all of them were flanking one sitting on a throne, wearing a robe and various bones and skulls. He had tattooed green lines and runes all over his arms and probably everywhere else too. “I bid you welcome, human worms.”

All of the Hunters were sweating heavily as they sensed just how powerful this army was. ‘This is terrifying.’ Gina was biting her lip, ‘I’m not certain even the main squad could take this many! Especially if their spellcaster is even close to a match for Guild Master Choi!’

“Hunter Sung, please, just stick with my plan.” Kihoon whispered, at least partly in terror, “We can’t let this many Orcs escape this Gate, and anyone who comes to check on us will just get trapped too.” He looked over at Jinwoo and was struck dumb to see him smiling just slightly.

“Do you fear me, humans?” Kargalgan asked as he took off his bone mask. The instant he did so, a tsunami of magical power hit them. Every single one of those strong, B-and-A-Rank Hunters felt themselves get ripped apart. It was all in their imaginations, but in that instant, every single one of them felt themselves die.

Gina was trembling in place, her face blue and her eyes shrunken to pinprick, ‘H-How can he wield such powerful magic?’ She gasped for air.

Bora was shaking like a leaf, ‘C-Compared to him, I’m nothing but a t-third-rate magician scamming regular people with parlor tricks.’

Kihoon sounded broken “W-w-w-w-w-w-why have you brought us here? Y-Your warriors could have just k-killed us on the spot.”

“For fun.” Kargalgan replied, and the Mage with the staff felt his bladder let go. “For the remaining time inside this Dungeon, I shall entertain and feed my men by killing you off, one by one.” The rest of the High Orcs cheered so loudly one of the B-Ranks fell to his knees and held his ears.

‘F-Fun?’ Kihoon thought to himself in horror. ‘T-That’s all our lives are worth? Fun?’ His sword shook in his hand from how tightly he gripped it as fury started to overtake fear. And then, just as he was about to charge, a hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him back. “Hunter Sung!” He exclaimed as Jinwoo walked past.

“I have to say.” Jinwoo sounded entirely unconcerned, which helped a few of the weaker-willed members to stop shaking as he walked forward. “I’ve never met any beast with an aura as intense as yours.” He even had his hands in his pockets.

“Hehehe, that shouldn’t be a surprise.” The Shaman retorted.

“I feel kind of bad, though.” All of them noticed his shadow darken and start wiggling behind him. “This is such a bad matchup.” The shadows surged under their feet, making some of the humans yelp in fright. “For you, of course.”

All of Jinwoo’s shadows rose up. Igris, Blades, and Beste flanked him from behind, while his bigger shadows like Tank, Titan, Cerbie, Buryura, Kasaka, and Chief flanked or even covered the other Hunters. They were safe between Cerbie’s legs. And then, of course, were the foot soldiers surrounding them all. The elves smirked maliciously while the knights stood stoically, the bears roared, and the yetis slavered.

“What the hell is this?!” Kihoon choked out.

“A-Are these all summons?!” Hajoon gaped, “H-How is this possible?! I can barely summon two! And I thought Sung was a Fighter!”

Jiwoo let out a hysterical-sounding giggle. “‘Without help,’ huh Captain?”

“How could a human possess such ominous magical power?!” Bora hadn’t blinked since the shadows started to move. And she had a feeling she wouldn’t until this fight was over, either.

-]|[-

“Ugh, that’s creepy.” Joohee shivered for reasons completely unrelated to the cold. The unearthly howling was coming straight out of a horror movie.

“This isn’t like our Double Dungeon. That Shaman was sealing away whatever is coming.” Soohyun realized as she narrowed her eyes and activated her Gaze of the End. “Mr. Woo, you’re likely going to have to join them. These things are much stronger than the Kobolds.”

Jinchul uncrossed his arms and readied his fists. “Defensive formation!” He barked, causing Songyi and Heejin to actually take their place in the backline. Jinho was in front with his shield ready, while Jinchul was ready to strike out as the strongest among them.

“Miho, Joohee, we might need to help as well.” Soohyun said seriously as the howling got closer and closer, “Whatever these things are, there might be hundreds of them.”

“Got it.” Miho and Joohee readied themselves to actually fight, if needed. And then the first of the beasts erupted out of the hole, and even Miho found herself at a loss. “What the hell is that?!”

The creature in question looked like it came straight out of a horror novel. It had a horribly emaciated body, with all of them being able to count its ribs even from a distance. Diseased-looking grey skin covered with pustules was stretched taut across its body. It had large, gangly limbs which ended in sharp claws. Its head was a literal deer skull, but its jaw was filled with teeth that wouldn’t have been out of place on a crocodile. And to finish the horrifying picture off, its antlers looked like they were bleeding, with scraps of velvet hanging off of them.

[Wendigo]

Was the name hovering above the creature. None of them had ever seen one before. Jinho, Songyi, and Heejin gulped as they saw the very orange name, the color being the darkest for Jinho. Even Jinchul saw it in orange.

And then things got worse, as dozens of the creatures started to crawl out of every inch of the dark tunnel, crawling on the ground, the walls, and even the ceiling. It was a straight-out horde rush.

Songyi paled as she readied her bow. She pulled back with four fingers, arrows forming between each of them so that she could fire three at a time. She began charging them with mana, though she had to fire quickly so she wasn’t able to put too much into each. They flew through the air, starting to cause hundreds of small explosions at a time. She aimed mostly for the ones crawling on the ceiling so that they wouldn’t just drop into the middle of their formation. The Wendigos screeched with fury as she peppered and blasted them, killing some outright when she got direct hits but also just knocking them dozens of meters down from where they were climbing. “Ugh, they’re tough!”

Heejin was right there with her, aiming her wand and drawing her runes. She scrawled a connected line on the ground which erupted into geysers of fire that raced forward, catching their enemies with horrifying screeches as they began to burn. Especially since they were still running for them, except now they were on fire. “Their resistance is high!” She called out as she switched tactics. She wrote directly on the air and summoned a horizontal cyclone that blew the Wendigos back and intensified the flames.

“Oh, god, they’re eating each other.” Jinho sounded horrified as he watched one of them cannibalize the other’s burning body even while it was still alive. His eyes widened, “Shit, they get stronger if they do that! Mr. Woo, we need to take them out, quick!” He called out as he burst forward, “Quake of Provocation!” The Taunt erupted from him but did not affect the enemies since their resistance was so high. “Shit!” He cursed as the earthquakes ripped out afterwards. Those at least did damage, but not enough to take out even a small number of them.

“Reckless!” Jinchul chided him angrily as he punched a Wendigo away, accompanied by the sound of breaking ribs. The creature’s bile smelled absolutely vile even from a distance. He grabbed Jinho and hauled him back. “You’re the only Tank here, Jinho! You can’t leave the girls undefended!”

“But Miss Miho and-” Jinho protested.

“Unless they actually fight, you need to pretend they’re not there.” Jinchul said as a bolt of lightning streaked by them and hit a charging Wendigo. The bolt stunned the creature and then split off a dozen times, striking others and electrocuting them. “Otherwise you might make a mistake when they really aren’t.” But he had no more time, as the wave of enemies crashed against them.

Jinchul proved to be a devastating kickboxer. His punches shattered bones and sent Wendigos flying while his kicks sometimes even drew blood. Each punch was strong enough to kill most of the enemies in a single blow, but he was getting completely swarmed by them.

Jinho did his best as well, keeping mind of their Ranger and Mage and swapping back and forth between his greatsword and spear-and-shield. He threw his spear and called it back every time a Wendigo got around Jinchul and aimed for his back and used quick bursts of motion to cut-and-immolate with his greatsword. He did his best to never get too far from their most vulnerable members.

They were doing an excellent job as well. Songyi was blowing off heads with increasing ease with every shot as the experience points slowly started to pile up and her level steadily climbed. Heejin also found her casting increasing in speed. They thanked their lucky stars that the level ups were also bringing their Fatigue to zero and their MP to maximum each time. “Heejin, ceiling!” She called out for a swap and summoned an arrow that looked more like the bolt from a small ballista. She pumped it with mana until she saw the wood starting the fray.

When she fired it, a sonic boom followed. She ripped apart over two dozen of the scary creatures with one shot and the massive follow-up explosion. Beside her, Heejin aimed upwards and started rapidly scrawling on the ceiling with her laser. Every rune she finished lit up with electrical power. A Wendigo crossed over it, and it detonated, sending wide forks of lightning in every direction and searing them. They fell to the ground in twitching heaps.

But there were just too many of them. Jinchul let out a grunt as one managed to catch his arm and yanked him. He lost his balance and started to fall as another tackled him. He caught its throat with a punch that decapitated it, even from his back, while the other Wendigo started to drag him.

Jinho got barreled into when one of the mad spirits leapt over his astral projection. It crashed into the shield he just barely managed to raise and mindlessly clawed at the bulwark in an attempt to get him. Songyi blew its head off, but another took its place and then another, forcing Jinho to the floor.

With their Tank and Warrior distracted, Heejin and Songyi were undefended. Heejin used an ice blade to cut a few down before being forced to write a Barrier into existence around her. The masses of cannibalistic spirits crashed into them and instantly started to wear it down. Songyi did the only thing she could. She leapt away and fired more arrows, only for the Wendigos to leap after her. She screamed as one of them speared its needle-like fingers through her leg and yanked her. Its maw tried to clamp itself on her throat, but she managed to clamp her own hand around its throat to hold it back. She drew her Knight Killer from her inventory and repeatedly stabbed it in the skull.

As she tossed it away and tried to roll to her feet, another knocked her down. She heard Heejin scream in fear and pain after the sound of shattering glass rang in her ears. Just as it was about to clamp its jaw around her head, it found itself missing its head entirely. She sobbed in relief as she heard Miho hiss, “Enough.”

Joohee healed all of them as the Wendigos covering Jinho and Jinchul flew up into the air and squished against the cavern’s ceiling. Songyi stumbled to her feet, her heart hammering in her chest as a blazingly bright burst of light erupted and evaporated thirty of them.

“Sorry, Songyi. We should have intervened sooner.” Joohee hugged her as the scared girl clutched onto her.

“N-No.” Heejin rubbed the exposed skin in her now-ripped armor furiously. “W-We have to do our Job Change quests solo. W-We can’t r-rely on you guys forever.” She said as she watched their strongest member work.

Miho was simply flashing around the cavern, her claws disemboweling and straight-up cutting Wendigos apart. They were covered in poisonous green, leaving behind hissing wounds that dissolved the enemies. She landed and opened her jaw, unleashing a fire breath that took out another three dozen.

“I hate to say it,” Soohyun said as she patted Jinho (whose armor was very conspicuously missing the arm armor) on the shoulder in reassurance. “But she’s right.” She glared out at the enemies as she summoned a Spatial Divergence on the tip of her finger. She made the tiny red ball erupt, and the ensuing gravitational waves completely shredded a group of over fifty of them.

“I don’t like it.” Joohee frowned as she raised the Blood of Ashborn. It shone with golden light and then a Celestial Beam shone from the ceiling, burning another huge wave of the monsters to ash.

Songyi swallowed her tears and summoned her bow once more. That had been the scariest moment of her life, but she was not going to let it break her. She started firing once more, helping their seniors take out the horde. Heejin, Jinho, and Jinchul followed suit.

Finally, it was over, and a blood-soaked Jinchul grimaced. “That was singularly awful.” He muttered. “Those things were as rabid as insect-type beasts. It was no wonder that the Kobolds sealed them away.”

“Now I know why Jeju fell.” Heejin shuddered at the thought.

“And why we failed so many times to take it back.” Jinho still had a scared look on his face and his regrown arm’s fingers were trembling.

“And we’re not done.” Miho grimaced as she looked at the gaping cavern still ahead of them. She eyed the weaker members. “Joohee, Soohyun, and I can take care of it.”

Songyi swallowed heavily and resolutely started to step forward. “A couple injuries didn’t force Jinwoo to quit.” She said firmly.

Heejin started to walk as well. “If he can deal with pain, fear, and injuries like those for four years, so can we.”

Jinho shuddered and summoned his spear. “And we should have his army train us too. Obviously, we need to learn to fight swarm tactics.”

Jinchul said nothing and made his way forward.

Proud smiles crossed Miho, Soohyun, and Joohee’s faces. Joohee summoned a bunch of Angels to start digging out the Essence Stones and followed behind her friends while drinking a Mana Potion, just in case.

They quickly reached the largest cavern yet, and it had a ghastly green glow to it and an ominous mist. They readied their weapons as a gigantic deer that stood taller than even Titan formed out of the mist. Like the Wendigos, it was emaciated and skeletal.

[Cursed Ancestor]

It was a red name that made them gulp. It let out a braying call and charged them before diving into the frozen ground like it was water.

It didn’t swim through the ice so much as gallop through it. It erupted out beneath their feet, sending them scattering. Jinchul roared as he punched it, earning a satisfying crack. Songyi was ten meters in the air and pulling back three arrows loaded with so much magical power that they seemed to be warping. She fired them and they flew true, landing in its flank and then erupting with magical explosions.

The Cursed Ancestor let out a pained roar as it stumbled out of the smoke, gaping holes leaking diseased blood out of its flank. Heejin waved her wand and launched a trio of wind blades at the creature, which sliced its other flank open. It howled and threw its head to the sky. Instantly, the diseased blood leaking from it began to bubble and boil before more Wendigos started erupting from the puddles.

“Not this time.” Joohee hissed as she summoned four Kinships.

“What the hell?!” Jinchul blurted as he eyed the summons.

The four Kinships rowed through the air, divine missiles erupting from it and blowing the summoned Wendigos sky-high.

“That’s so cool!” Songyi whined.

“DON’T GET DISTRACTED!” Miho roared, but it was too late.

The Cursed Ancestor was enveloped by that ghastly light, its wounds regenerating instantly. “Shit, it can heal!” Jinho called out unnecessarily. It lowered its head like it was about to bull rush them, but instead, its antlers began to pulse and glow. “Oh that’s not good.” He deadpanned as he got between it and Heejin, its target. A ball of fel light started to form between them before a straight up beam of energy fired from its horns, crashing into Jinho’s shield.

The young man groaned as he tried to force it back, his feet digging into the icy ground below. His bones felt like they were vibrating in place. Heejin immediately acted, firing a beam of icy cold at the ceiling and growing stalactites on it. Once they grew big enough, their sheer weight proved too much and they broke off, falling towards the beast.

With a mighty crash, the falling missiles impaled the beast and caused it to let out a choked cry of agony.

Jinho let out a gasp of relief as he almost fell forward with the lack of pressure on his shield. It was damaged and nearly broken through, forcing him to drop it. He rushed forward and leapt up, swinging his greatsword down. The astral blade bit deep into the thrashing Cursed Ancestor, cutting into its neck.

It let out another howl towards the sky and this time, dozens of the same ghosts that Inonoch had attacked them with flew out. “Not these again!” Songyi yelped as they all turned and ran.

All except Joohee. “Radiance!” She cried out, a giant ball of holy light shining above her head. The ghosts all evaporated away, unable to keep their form. Jinho, Jinchul, Songyi, and Heejin were invigorated as Joohee buffed them. “You can do it! Finish this thing off, guys!” She cried out as the Cursed Ancestor finally jerked itself away from the stalactite and healed itself once more.

“I’m going to break those stupid antlers.” Songyi hissed as she summoned a large bolt once more. She began charging mana into it as Heejin waved her wand. A large rune wrote itself directly onto the beast’s flesh, before chains erupted out of it and locked it in place. The Cursed Ancestor brayed and howled as it tried to escape, before aiming its antlers at Heejin once more. “NOT THIS TIME!” Songyi yelled as she fired her arrow.

It hit the antler and snapped one of them off entirely. The energy destabilized and a massive explosion rocked the entire cavern. When the smoke cleared, the huge, skeletal deer was stumbling almost drunkenly. Jinho roared as he swung his greatsword, cutting off one of its legs with his blade. The astral projection followed a quarter of a second later, cutting into its throat.

It gagged and spilled blood everywhere as Jinchul appeared above it and smashed his fist into its skull. The bone fractured instantly and sent shards into its brain. It let out a deathly noise as it crashed to its knees and didn’t move again.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

Songyi sighed in relief as the System confirmed that the Dungeon boss was slain. “If I ever have to fight another fucking spirit again…” She grumbled.

“You guys did great.” Miho hugged her tight. “Good job, girl.” Songyi smiled and nuzzled into the older woman.

Jinchul looked at his armor and grimaced at how beat up it was. This was supposed to be quality gear. “We definitely have issues to work on.” He smiled slightly to take the sting away, “But that’s what this System is for.”

Heejin took a deep breath. “Yeah… but we all need to do our Job Change quests soon. Hopefully we’ll get something for dealing with giant hordes like that.”

Jinho nodded. “But let’s hurry up and get out of here. We had to travel quite a long way from the entrance.”

“Yeah.” Songyi stopped cuddling Miho, “And if I ever see another god damn ice Dungeon, I’m blowing the whole thing up.” Everyone started to laugh.

-]|[-

Closer to the entrance, Haein let out a small gasp at the sheer wall of mana that hit her. It physically generated wind which blew her hat off her head (and into a puddle of purple blood DAMN IT! She liked that hat!). Still, she had no time to worry about her wardrobe. Not when there were twenty High Orc corpses surrounding her. “I have no idea how Kihoon’s team was possibly able to take out this many.” She said as she tied her hair into a ponytail, “But if the magical power I just sensed is coming from the boss, then they’re in terrible danger.” She grabbed her pickaxe and ran off, “I have to hurry!”

…

Deeper into the Dungeon, Kargalgan let out a laugh. “You must be a fool to confront my army with such a meager one! We outnumber you ten-to-one.” He eyed the beasts, “Even if some of them look quite strong.”

“You shouldn’t look down on my boys.” He patted Beste on the shoulder, “And girl. You’ll regret it.” A screen popped up in front of him as he activated his new skill for the first time.

[Monarch’s Domain has been activated.

All Shadow Soldiers fighting within the Monarch’s shadow will receive a 50% stat buff.]

‘I didn’t even need this for Metus. This guy sure is strong. He’s definitely an S-Rank himself.’ Jinwoo thought as the blue flames that accented the shadows turned purple.

Kargalgan still wasn’t worried despite feeling all of the soldiers get stronger by a decent amount. “Go.” He said nonchalantly.

Jinwoo smirked, “Go have fun. Cerbie, protect them.” He said as the shadows capable of making noise roared in approval.

Chief roared as he leapt into the air, activating Blood Rage. He crashed down into a pile of High Orcs with his dual hammers, causing fiery explosions that shattered stone and bone alike. About a dozen Orcs were turned into giblets that splashed about in purple splashes of blood.

Igris held his sword up in front of him as the Orcs approached him. The second they got close enough; his sword suddenly appeared at his side in a lazy-looking hold. Multiple flashes sparked around him in that millisecond, and every single Orc fell apart into multiple chunks that started staining the stone beneath.

Buryura and Kasaka roared and hissed respectively. Kasaka surged forward and swallowed half a dozen Orcs just by moving. Another half dozen leapt onto her back and started chopping away at her scales, causing relatively small wounds that didn’t even reveal the inner purple fire. Buryura stepped forward and speared a trio of Orcs onto her right-front claw. Another Orc chopped her left leg off and tripped her. She roared going down and slammed fangs-first onto another Orc, cutting it in half.

Blades was having the time of his life. The speedy Ice Elf Commander was flashing around at unimaginable speed… for the Orcs and watching humans. Everywhere the purple shadow flashed, heads, arms, legs… every body part imaginable simply flew away from Orc bodies like they were spring-loaded.

Behind the group, Titan was watching their flank. The gigantic mammoth trumpeted his fury at the approaching horde and swiped his trunk at them. The wind pressure from that attack was strong enough to rip apart their enemies. He started stomping forward like an unstoppable glacier, his every footfall crushing red-skinned beasts underfoot.

“What the hell, man…” Hajoon felt weak at the knees. “Th-There’s so many of them! How can Sung possibly have the mana to summon this many?!” He felt completely useless in comparison. “And those five in particular… they feel as strong as S-Rank Hunters…”

Jinwoo wasn’t paying much attention to them. His eyes were narrowed, ‘The elites, the yetis, the elves, and the bears are having a great time, really.’ He watched his soldiers carefully. ‘But the knights, the werewolves and gnolls, the giant centipedes, the gila monster, the scorpions, and the roadrunner aren’t doing too hot.’ Whereas the first group was taking out dozens without injury and the second group were taking out half-a-dozen for each trade, the knights were struggling. They were dying four or five times for every kill they earned. The rest were even worse. The gnolls and werewolves were dying eight-to-ten times for every beast they took out. The desert creatures were the worst of them all because they were being hampered by the environment. They weren’t able to burrow into sand for ambush tactics and were instead getting swarmed. They were killing a decent amount of orcs through poison and their sheer bulk, but every time they died, they were draining a lot more of his mana than the rest for every death. The Roadrunner was the only one doing somewhat okay, since its speed and long legs kept it out of reach for the most part.

Speaking of his mana.

[MP: 6826/9690]

It was going down at a steady clip, and far too quickly for his liking. He summoned back the weakest/most-draining shadows. “Guess I should pitch in too.” His Daos appeared in his hands and he vanished.

Instantly, he appeared elsewhere in a tidal wave of beast blood. Every swipe of his blades parted magically-reinforced flesh and bone like they were butter. He was moving so quickly that the bodily fluids seemed to be following him as he sliced and diced. When he cleared up a group of the beasts, getting flashes of their disbelieving eyes as their heads flew through the air, he stopped and slashed out, unleashing an Umbral Rend that cut up twenty of the monsters at a distance.

“…” Kihoon was in complete disbelief. “…What is happening?” He asked, turning around to look at his teammates. “Are you seeing this?!”

Gina’s heart was hammering in her chest. “Over a hundred magical summons, some of which could wipe the floor with us.”

Semi had a pretty dark blush on her cheeks, “Movement that the Vice Guild Master might be jealous of…”

Jiwoo had a massive grin on her face as she watched Jinwoo swap his Daos for his gauntlets as he dodged a swipe from an Orc like he had eyes on the back of his head. He punched it in the spine so hard its body broke the sound barrier and rammed another three Orcs through one of the iron gates around the hall. “Freaking spatial magic that allows him to change his equipment on the fly…”

Bora still hadn’t blinked. Her eyes were starting to turn red from the strain. “Even ranged attacks that put most of ours to shame…”

The Assassin who had given Jinwoo the cold shoulder outside the Gate sounded like he was in a little bit of despair. “H-He’s a one-man raid squad…” He said as Cerbie turned to a group of approaching Orcs and howled. All three heads started breathing hellfire at them, turning the High Orcs into oily, black char marks on the ground.

Kargalgan was apparently done being passive. “Hymn of the Fire Dragon.” He roared. In front of him, what looked like a wheel of spells ratcheted to a specific slot and a red dragon head appeared above his own. It blasted fire that Choi Jongin would have been happy to compete with at them, killing Kasaka, Buryura, Chief, and several yetis and mammoths in one blow. “Your soldiers are little more than puppets. How foolish of you to act all high and mighty when they’re doing all your work. Know your place.”

Jinwoo scoffed as he glared back at the boss. “Says the one literally sitting on his throne and kicking back.” The Shaman’s eyes narrowed. “And your army is the only one dwindling. I can bring my guys back as many times as it takes.” He said as all the ones Kargalgan had killed respawned and took out over a thousand MP in one go to do so.

“Hymn of the Guardian.” Kargalgan growled in response. What looked like a giant piece of diamond appeared in the air above the shaman. “Accelerate.” The ultra-hard shield launched at Jinwoo, causing a huge explosion as it landed. Jinwoo flew out of the cloud of dust and stone chips, skidding on his feet. “Gravity Acceleration.” Kargalgan chanted next.

Jinwoo smirked a little as he dodged back. The space he had just been standing in visibly warped and the ground shattered. Large boulders rose out of the ground and floated into the air. Kargalgan wasn’t done. Again and again, the ground shattered in tubes of warped spacetime, rising into the air as Jinwoo dodged each and every time. “My girlfriend does that better than you!” He taunted the Shaman as he landed.

Kargalgan’s teeth started to grind for the first time. “Your insolence is getting on my nerves, human.” He hissed, “Antigravity. Accelerate.” He growled as the floating stones broke the sound barrier on the way down.

“Temper, temper.” Jinwoo continued to taunt the shaman as he flexed his right arm. His gauntlet strained a little as he threw himself at the boulders and punched, causing a shockwave that knocked them all away. “You’ll have to do better than that!” He said as he landed, having saved a bunch of his weaker shadows.

“Grrrrr…” Kargalgan was starting to get really mad. “Hymn of Dragon Fire.” He chanted for a second time.

“Beste.” The only one of his Elite Knights who had yet to kill a single beast raised her hand beside him. Her ice met the Shaman’s fire and froze it solid.

“What?!” Kargalgan choked in shock as the frozen tube of flame fell to the ground and shattered. “Impossible!”

“They all like to say that before they get punched in the mouth.” Jinwoo smirked at the beast.

“Hymn of Volcanic Eruption!” Kargalgan snarled as the floor beneath them began to glow. Beste immediately fell to her knees, her icy magic freezing the floor and containing the volcano of power beneath. She bared her teeth as bursts of lava started erupting in random weak spots on the floor, taking out shadows and Orcs alike. She began using more and more power, the ceiling above starting to get obscured by her storm. “You cannot keep this up forever, human.” Kargalgan grinned at seeing his magic defeat Beste’s. He put his elbow on his throne and fist on his cheek. “I wonder how long you’ll-” A snowflake landed on his arm. “ARGH!” He howled as a jagged ice flower erupted from the snowflake, piercing his arm. “HOW DARE YOU!” He roared in more fury than anything. “HYMN OF BLAZING FIRE!” He roared at the ceiling, which started to erupt in flames. The snowflakes started evaporating and molten slag started to rain down, landing on beast and shadow alike.

“That looks painful, almighty Shaman.” Jinwoo chuckled as the beast slammed an arm onto the seat of his throne.

“My men are superior in quantity and quality.” Kargalgan hissed as he watched one of his Orcs take out six knights on his own with his axes and acrobatic spin kicks. “When your magical power inevitably runs out, my men will capture you, AND I ASSURE YOU, HUMAN, I CAN KEEP YOU ALIVE FOR YEARS TO PROLONG YOUR SUFFERING!” Kargalgan roared out.

“‘Inevitably runs out?’” Jinwoo asked as he looked at his MP, which had fallen to under a quarter of his total. “You sure like to hear the sound of your own voice.” He said as he bought one of the max-level Mana Potions he had access to, which restored five-thousand MP in one go. “And you said you had my army beat in quality and quantity, didn’t you? Why don’t I… correct that assumption.”

“What?!” Bora blurted out from between Cerbie’s legs. The group had moved towards the doors as the fighting intensified. None of them wanted to get in Jinwoo’s way, and those indiscriminate blasts from Kargalgan had worried them. The loyal pup continued to guard his master’s team, burning any Orc that came near to ash.

“Are you telling me he somehow has more of these summons?!” Hajoon yelled in frustration.

Oh no, Hajoon, it was much worse.

“Arise.” Jinwoo intoned, his voice dark. And hundreds of High Orcs rose from the grave. The red shadows rose to their feet, their eyes glowing pits as they stared at their stunned former comrades.

“What?” Hajoon choked out.

“Oh my god!” Semi gasped at the sight. “He-He just raised their corpses! He’s-”

“A necromancer.” Gina got out, her entire countenance dumbfounded.

It was a look that Kargalgan was wearing too. “You-You turned my soldiers into the undead?!”

Jinwoo smirked in the direction of some surviving High Orcs, “You’ll join my shadow too, soon enough.” He said, and the beasts collectively took a step back in fear. High Orcs were intelligent beasts. They even had culture. A fucked-up culture, to any modern human at least, but one that was only a couple millennia removed even from human consciousness. The idea of being unable to find glory in death, the idea of being slaves in death…

That was terrifying beyond words.

“And of course…” Jinwoo said as one of his daos appeared in his armored hand. He pointed the tip squarely between the shaman’s eyes as his own glowed ominously. “-that includes you.”

“I-It can’t be…” Kargalgan said before his body glitched and rewound. Jinwoo’s sharp eyes caught it. “You- You’re…” he trembled as realized the sheer and utter doom staring him in the face. “A mona-” His word was swallowed up by another rewind as it started to feel like his entire psyche was shattering. ‘But then why? Why were we brought here?!’ He asked himself, ‘When I first awoke in this place, all I could hear was one command.’ The same command that repeated inside every monster’s head.

KILL ALL HUMANS.

They needed no reason. They needed only to obey.

And so, as the Shadow Orcs started to charge, Kargalgan stood almost mechanically and cast his hand out. “Go! Slaughter them!” He commanded his four strongest minions. “And bring me their heads as tribute!”

The four Orcs charged just as Haein reached the Boss Room. “What’s going on?!” She exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the rivers of blood slicking the floor and the hundreds of shadowy beasts fighting the High Orcs. She felt faint even looking at this many monsters, much less smelling them.

“Vice Guild Master!” Bora called out.

Haein whipped around and her eyes widened, seeing all her guildmates underneath Cerbie’s leg. She raced over. “What’s going on?” She asked, “Is everything okay? Are these all his summons?!”

Jiwoo let out a hysterical-sounding giggle. “Yeah… and so are the ones not yet deceased!”

“Huh?!” Haein asked in shock.

“H-Hunter Sung is a necromancer.” Kihoon said, still sounding stunned. “A-All these shadows are monsters he’s killed. H-He raised over a quarter of these High Orcs as undead shadows!”

“And they keep regenerating every time one dies.” Hajoon still sounded a little out of it.

Haein’s jaw dropped as she turned to Jinwoo and his literal army. “How?! Why?! Why did he come join the mining team and now the Strike Team as a Porter of all things?!”

Semi took a deep breath, “Sheer, dumb luck… and maybe a bit of boredom as he waits for his reevaluation…” She let out a chuff of half amusement, half disbelief. “I-If he hadn’t been here… we’d all be dead.”

Haein could believe it. She looked at the shadowy Cerberus, and, hoping that it was as friendly as the Tier-Two Squad’s rescuer apparently was, jumped up on top of its head to get a better view. Behind her, Cerbie’s tail wagged and both of the side heads turned to a middle one to give her a short bark. “Good boy?” She said hesitantly. Both heads barked again and turned back to the action.

Blades’s tiny dagger was somehow holding back one of the savage High Orc generals’ massive, Igris-sized sword. The beast was straining while Blades was merely showing his slasher grin. The armored beast roared, pushing the shadow back and swiping the massive blade through him, only for the shadow to vanish and appear behind the Orc. All that was missing was a creepy laugh as the Orc’s head and arms fell off.

Another two generals were facing off against Igris. One had clawed gauntlets, and the other had a large sword. Igris parried a slash from behind and ducked under a swipe of the blade. He was much faster than either of them, dancing around the attacking Orcs and not even bothering to attack to show them the futility of their actions.

But the brutes were pretty dumb, and therefore not interested in learning the lesson. They chased after Igris, attacking in tandem and trying to get any sort of hit on the lethal knight. Finally, they forced Igris into a seemingly bad position, only for the Black Knight to stab his sword into the ground and use it to vault over them. When he landed, he slashed at the sword-wielding brute with such power that the Orc went flying back.

Straight into Titan’s path. The mammoth trumpeted as it slammed its trunk down on the Orc, popping the brute like a blood blister. The mammoth shook its trunk off with a snorting sound. Another of the generals attacked the largest shadow, flinging its axe at it. The axe landed squarely on Titan’s ice-covered forehead and dug in… like… a few centimeters. Even if it had been alive, it wouldn’t have bled. The shadow turned to the High Orc with a ‘really?’ expression all over its furry visage, the axe hanging from its icy armor like a useless arrow.

The general howled and raced to collect its axe, only for Beste to cross its path and tap it on the chest. The High Orc looked down in shock, only to find its entire body frozen below the neck. Her clawed fingers pierced the ice like it was not even there, and then the beast’s chest. Blood spurted from its mouth and onto her face as she tore out its heart. The blood seemingly evaporated off of her as she dropped the heart in front of the frozen Orc, leaving it to slowly die in its icy cocoon. 

And that left only one general left.

No, never mind, Igris had just impaled it and tossed its useless corpse at Kargalgan.

“Incredible…” Haein watched from her perch. ‘And even his summons don’t smell bad…’

Below, the assassin turned to Kihoon, “Let’s get in there.”

Kihoon sighed, “Why bother…” He sounded a little despondent, “We’d just get in Hunter Sung’s way.” He clenched his fist beside him.

“Good choice.” Kargalgan snarled at them. “The audience shouldn’t dream of taking the stage.” He said as he finally climbed down to their level. He glared at Jinwoo, “And I’ve had just about enough of your insolence, HUMAN! Hymn of Sleep! Hymn of Impediment! Hymn of Blindness!” He yelled as three magic circles appeared around Jinwoo.

And then they shattered like glass. Jinwoo chuckled as he brushed off his shirt. “Sorry.” He said to the shaman’s disbelief, “But I told you this was a bad matchup. Curses and poisons don’t really work on me.”

“Curse immune too?!” Semi pouted, “Drat… He really doesn’t need any help!” She drooped.

“Hymn of the Guardian!” The blue diamond formed in front of him.

“That shield is getting on my nerves too.” Jinwoo said as Beste walked beside him and accepted the Orb of Avarice. “So I’m going to shatter it.” The orb glowed in her hand and a gigantic ice spike erupted towards the shaman. The point hit it square in the center face and cracked it, before a wave of frost shattered it entirely and smashed Kargalgan into the back wall.

The frozen shaman was nearly stapled to the wall and finally lost his mind. “HOW DARE YOU?! He roared and flexed his muscles. “Hymn of Rage! Hymn of Strength! Hymn of the Giants!” The ice exploded outwards as he grew to a truly staggering height.

“BE CRUSHED LIKE THE INSECT YOU ARE!” Kargalgan roared with a booming voice as he raised his foot and slammed it down on Jinwoo.

Only for Jinwoo to be several feet away when the dust cleared. “Got to say… not really a fan of giants. So this gets on my nerves.”

“HYMN OF DRAGON FIRE!” The giant boss’s chest outright expanded with air before he breathed out a calamitous wave of fire. Jinwoo sidestepped calmly as it burned a path through where he had been standing. Once that stream of fire was extinguished, cracks started appearing through the air as though his magical wheel was infecting reality. Dozens of smaller magical circles erupted with dragon heads, all of which breathed hellish streams of fire. Hundreds more Orcs and Shadows alike died as the flames evaporated their bones. Streams of molten stone lay all over the ground.

Beste was even forced to freeze a few beams solid to protect Cerbie and the Hunters.

Haein watched while nibbling on one of her knuckles. ‘He’s not the only incredible one. This boss is the most powerful I’ve ever seen! Magic on par with Jongin, incredible defenses, an army, and now this! We may have needed the entire Guild to take on this Dungeon!’ Below her, her guildmates were coming to the same, stunned realization.

“Do you still dare to defy the mighty Kargalgan after that?!” The Shaman roared into the smoke.

“Yup.” Jinwoo deadpanned as he erupted from the smoke at head-height with the giant. He was only a distraction though, as a blue fireball smashed into Kargalgan’s chest and sent him stumbling back several paces. The three Black Mages were revealed when the smoke below Jinwoo cleared, one of them holding the Orb of Avarice. Jinwoo had one of his daos in hand. The blade was crawling with shadows while his hand was glowing purple with the power of Ruler’s Hand. He threw the sword like a spear. It flew through the air like a missile, spewing shadows behind it. Kargalgan raised a hand to try to block it, only for it to hit his arm and go right through his wrist. It buried itself into his right eye. The Orc’s agonized howl rang through the air as Jinwoo grabbed a rope and chilled there.

“All you’ve done is make a bigger target.” Kargalgan slammed a hand through the space he had just been in, only for Jinwoo to speedily dodge it too. “You didn’t really think a pure Spellcaster could contend with a Fighter once his protection was ripped away, did you?” His two daos appeared in hand.

“HYMN OF VOLCANIC ERUPTION!” Kargalgan roared, the biggest magical wheel so far appearing behind him.

The ground started erupting below Jinwoo’s feet. The entire ground this time looked like a bed of burning coal. Jinwoo rolled his eyes. “You’ve tried this one already.” He called out as he dodged the eruptions of lava beneath his feet. He used Ruler’s Hand to pull himself up, launching a cross-shaped Umbral Rend at the Shaman.

“GAH!” Kargalgan howled a little as a huge amount of blood splashed down in front of him from his new wounds.

Jinwoo landed, his weapons disappearing. He reached back, “Why don’t we give this a try?” He ripped one of the giant chains from the wall, whipping it at the boss. To his credit, Kargalgan hadn’t accepted his fate. He grabbed the chain and yanked, eager for a weapon to use against his hated foe.

Jinwoo raced after the chain and grabbed onto it for the ride. He flew around Kargalgan thrice and wound the chain around the High Orc’s torso, before landing and using all his strength to yank the giant down. A colossal plume of dust and grit rose up.

Gina and Semi let out little whines as, above, Haein’s eyes sparkled. “He’s so cool!”

Jinwoo smirked as he saw that there were no more regular Orcs. Honestly, Kargalgan might have killed as many as his Shadows did. “Arise.” And so his army grew. He strolled up to Kargalgan with the four High Orc generals flanking him, “When spellcasters lose their protection, they’re finished.” He smirked down at the haughty High Orc Shaman, who had shrunken down to regular size.

“I won’t lose.” Kargalgan growled out in complete denial over what was happening to him. “I can’t lose!” He roared as a final burst of magical power erupted from him. “I’M INVINCIBLE!” He screamed as his former generals attacked. He showed a surprising amount of martial prowess, being able to parry the huge blade of the armored Orc Shadow with his bare hands. He ducked under another’s charge and wrapped his arms around the shadow’s waist, throwing him away. And then a flying axe took off an arm. He howled in pain as the final shadow crashed into him from above, making the stone outright ripple from the impact. When Kargalgan was able to see again, his generals were above him. The armored Orc’s sword was raised high. “N-” His head hit the floor, followed by the rest of his body.

Jinwoo had been ignoring all screens except for his MP, so he smirked when he saw just how much experience he had just collected.

Bora let out a slightly hysterical chuckle, “I-It’s really over. He just soloed an A-Rank Gate.”

Haein hopped down from Cerbie as they all started to make their way over to him. He was muttering, “I know I beat the boss, but taking all the loot might be a bit much.” He looked at Kargalgan, “But I’m sure they won’t mind if I take more shadows.” He smirked as he used his spell.

It was the most violent one to date, with the mana spiraling above the monster’s corpse and causing a small whirlwind before forming into a shadowy version of his former foe. The wind even stopped the Hunters short for a step, before they continued. “Good, looks like becoming a shadow mellowed you out.” Jinwoo said, “Now, what was your name again? Kar-Gargle? Something.” Semi opened her mouth to remind him while half her guildmates goggled at him not even remembering the monster’s name, but Jinwoo spoke before she could. “Sorry, I forgot. I’ll just name you Tusk.”

Jiwoo and Gina sputtered.

“Well it’s… descriptive, if nothing else.” Haein even forgot about the smell from her guildmates as she smiled at him. He turned around with a shocked look on his face as he saw her. She bowed her head, and every one of guildmates followed suit. “Thank you for saving this Strike Squad, Hunter Sung.”

Jinwoo raised his hands, “I’m just glad I was here to help. If Miho hadn’t been a brat, I wouldn’t have been.” He said quietly.

Semi giggled, “Thank god for Miho then.”

“Quite lucky indeed. With the number of monsters I saw when I came in, a Dungeon Break might have caused a second Jeju…” Haein said quietly. Several of the Strike Squad flinched. She looked at him curiously, “Uhh, aren’t you going to dismiss them?”

Jinwoo twitched, “Oh, right.” He turned to summon his shadows back, only for a screen to pop up. With his high perception, he read it in an instant. “Aww crap, now that I’m feeling how many I have, I can’t store nearly this many yet.” He groaned and rubbed his chin. He sighed, “Damn, looks like I’m going to have to get rid of a bunch of them.”

“HE HAS A LIMITATION!” Hajoon threw his hands up in exasperation, earning quite a few laughs.

Jinwoo summoned his worst-performing shadows: the werewolves, gnolls, and most of the desert creatures. “Sorry all, but I can’t keep everyone. Cancel Extraction.” Chief let out a small, mournful howl as the last of his comrades vanished. “Sorry boy.” He patted Chief on the leg. With his current strength, he could store one thousand shadows. That was still over half that he’d have to leave behind. “Well, I guess I could do this… Manufacture.” He declared, and his audience flinched as one of the shadowy Orcs compressed into a blazing red mask that looked like a snarling maw.

“Are you serious?!” Kihoon gaped, “You can craft equipment out of them?!”

“Oh sure.” Gina laughed in disbelief. “That may as well happen too.”

Jinwoo looked at it for a moment. “Crap.” He said before dismissing it and trying it again. He frowned, “Ugh, I wish this skill was more consistent.” The Hunters deadpanned as Jinwoo tried a couple more times before he got a good one. “Finally! Hunter Cha, can you try this on?”

Haein looked at it dubiously as she accepted it. ‘It’s… kind of ugly.’ She thought, ‘But I won’t be rude.’ She put it on, allowing it to cover everything below the eyes. The second she was finished securing it, it flashed and pulsed. She gasped as it melted into her skin, vanishing. “What did you do?!” She exclaimed and patted her face a few times, before twitching and blinking rapidly. She hesitantly turned to Semi, who was closest to her, and leaned in.

“V-Vice Guild Master?” Semi blushed as Haein sniffed her.

“I-I can’t smell anything bad!” She exclaimed when she pulled back. “My…My mana smell.” She looked like she wanted to cry as the rest of her squad gasped.

“It should only block the smell from Hunters and filter it from beasts, so you can still judge an enemy’s strength.” Jinwoo said. “Also, if you consider any human an enemy, it won’t block it, so you’ll know when they’re around and can avoid them.”

“Th-thank you.” Haein choked out as the other girls in the guild squealed and hugged her. “Thank you so much! You’ve done so much for our Guild already and-”

Jinwoo chuckled and held out his hand, “If I can help, I always will.” He said kindly and her cheeks turned pink as she grabbed it for a shake. His smile turned into a teasing smirk. “Want me to make you a new pickaxe too?”

“EEP!” Haein’s face erupted into a massive blush, “I-I wasn’t- It was my day off! I didn’t have any of my gear!” She stammered as everyone burst out laughing.

“Just kidding, Hunter Cha.” Jinwoo continued to chuckle as she steamed in embarrassment. “Now, I do feel bad that you guys are getting totally ripped off with this raid. Tusk even burnt most of the bodies so I can’t even help you guys collect the Essence Stones. So…” He gave them all some glances to see what equipment they were using before turning to the army. “Manufacture.” And with that, the conga line of Orcs started getting transformed into gear. At first, Jinwoo just dismissed the bad ones. But then he got an idea right before he dismissed one of the rejects, ‘Wait, if I just put them into my inventory I can sell them later! Give weaker Hunters a fighting chance!’ While it looked similar, he was now storing them instead of dismissing them.

“Woah, this armor is amazing!” Gina exclaimed as she examined herself. She could feel how much stronger she was just wearing this stuff. It even looked pretty sexy and matched her eyes!

“Th-this is too much, Hunter Sung… You already saved our lives…” Kihoon tried to say no to all this even as he stared at his new black-and-red shield in disbelief. It was just so light…

“What the hell, man?!” The Assassin was staring at his new daggers in shock. “I’ve never seen weapons this good! The Auction House would probably bankrupt themselves trying to buy just one of these!”

“Guess craftsmen haven’t refined their crafts enough yet.” Jinwoo chuckled even as he noted the information down. “But don’t mistake me, guys. This isn’t charity.” Jinwoo said, “You guys are good people. I’ve been in Strike Squads before where I felt the need to keep a closer eye on the Hunters than the beasts. And Miho? She only joined the White Tigers at all because one of the Strike Squads she joined got overwhelmed, and one of the members tripped another Hunter in an attempt to distract the beasts so that they could get away. Kim Chul, the A-Rank who died in the White Tigers’ Red Gate Incident, straight up wanted to abandon half the team because ‘C-Ranks were dead weight.’” Several of them flinched and an ugly frown crossed Haein’s face. “You guys weren’t like that.” Jinwoo faced Semi. “Even when you thought I was a lowly E-Rank, you still made the effort to try to reassure me and settle my nerves. You tried to make me feel welcome despite thinking I was the lowest of the low.” A pleased smile and a small blush rose on Semi’s cheeks. “And I know that even if you didn’t particularly care for me-” He turned an amused look at the Assassin, who flushed and looked away. “You would have protected me with your lives.”

He smiled at them, “So I’d much rather see you guys be strong and continue to safely clear dangerous Gates. Consider these gear pieces to be both gifts and investments.”

His pride absolutely rankled, but Kihoon wasn’t an idiot either. And after that heartfelt speech, he couldn’t even bring himself to even pretend to want to reject them. “I suppose all I can say is ‘thank you,’ then.” He smiled at Jinwoo, “If you ever need anything, just give us a call.” He shook hands with the Shadow Monarch.

“Then I suppose it’s time we get out of here.” Jinwoo said, winking at the girls. “We have a party to get to, after all.” Gina, Semi, Jiwoo, and Bora all beamed. “Cancel Extraction.” Hundreds of High Orcs still went to waste, sadly. He grabbed the Essence Stone from Kargalgan’s body and tried to give it to Haein, but she refused it and forced him to take it. With that, the group left the Dungeon behind, glad the terrifying encounter was behind them.

-]|[-

Miho stretched as they exited their dungeon. Soohyun ripped off her heavy coat, “Man, that was such a drag. It was colder in there than in the Red Gate!” She complained. Joohee giggled as she took out her phone, having felt it rumble the second they were back in reality. “Oh! Looks like Jinwoo hit it off with Gina, Semi, Bora, and Jiwoo. Looks like he invited them for a party with us.”

“I could do with some fun after that Dungeon!” Heejin grinned while Songyi nodded eagerly, “It’ll be nice to see them again.”

“You guys coming?” She looked at Jinchul and Jinho.

“No, thank you.” Jinchul said, “I should go report to the Chairman.”

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!” Soohyun sang, earning a snort from the blonde.

“Fun will have to wait… I’m pretty tired after that raid. It’s been years since I’ve been in one like that.” Jinchul replied.

“Fair enough.” Joohee smiled at him, “The invite is open if you change your mind.” He nodded and walked to his car.

“Let’s see, maybe I can call Jinwoo and see if they’re done with their Dungeon.” Miho had checked the group chat and Jinwoo had sent that message a while ago. “Let’s see…” She opened up the party page and stopped short.

“Miho?” Soohyun turned around when she noticed that Miho had stopped. Aaaand her eye was twitching. “What’s wrong?”

“WHY THE FUCK IS JINWOO LEVEL NINETY-FIVE?!”

Songyi, Heejin, and Jinho started to sputter. Soohyun started to cackle like hyena. Joohee could only facepalm.

-]|[-