“We are going to an 8-star dungeon.”
Pfft.
Instead of answering, Bi-soo spat the drink she was sipping in my direction. Thanks to her, some very, very unpleasant droplets landed on my face.
"... Hey."
"Oh my. Sorry. But I think I must have misheard something. It sounded like you said an 8-star dungeon?"
"Yeah. You heard right."
"Holy shit. Have you forgotten you almost died in an 8-star dungeon back then?"
At that, Maria’s ears perked up.
“An 8-star... dungeon? I don’t think I’ve seen any recent records of that...”
It was only natural for Maria to show interest. The 8-star dungeon where we caught the Giant Treasure. It was a place detected in advance by the company Do I-su runs, and since we dealt with it without a word, it was never revealed to the world.
Hmm.
At this rate, it would be difficult to continue the conversation.
“Actually, there’s some information I need to reveal. I kept quiet because no one seemed to care, but.”
My relationship with Umbrella Industry. If nothing else, this was one thing I had to disclose to all my companions. They couldn't work without knowing where they were being led.
"So... you're saying... you can know a dungeon will be created just by detecting its waves in advance? Especially a Poison Dungeon...?"
The person who understood my words best was, of course, Kang Jeong-hyeon. What's more, ironically, he couldn't hide the instinctual interest welling up inside him. Blood can't be denied, I guess.
It seemed a bit of the scientist's tendency to seek knowledge still remained in him.
"Yes. As I mentioned before, Bi-soo, Iron Arm Uncle, and I were able to catch the Giant Treasure by joining forces."
"My goodness..."
Maria let out a deep sigh.
"An 8-star difficulty is a tough place that even the Glory Guild has to form joint teams to clear. On top of that, the Giant Treasure is a notoriously infamous Monster... and the three of you took it down alone..."
"We were lucky. We actually came close to dying, too."
Was it just my imagination? When I said the three of us cleared the dungeon, the way they looked at Iron Arm Uncle seemed to change slightly. It wasn't that they didn't trust him before, but now they showed a genuine confidence in him.
However, even Iron Arm Uncle had a worried look on his face.
"Even so, isn't an 8-star dungeon too dangerous? We also need time to get in sync..."
"We need to make money. We'll earn enough to match all of your tiers and pay off Jeong-hyeon's loan in one go."
"That's true, but..."
"If you feel that bad about it, there's always the option of having Iron Arm Uncle pay it off instead of raiding the dungeon."
"So, when is the dungeon raid?"
"..."
Look, Kang Jeong-hyeon. This is how cruel the world is. Kang Jeong-hyeon's jaw dropped at Iron Arm Uncle's half-joking words, and seeing it, Bi-soo cackled with laughter.
"The raid will happen next week. It's an 8-star dungeon that the three of us cleared, so don't worry too much. If things go wrong, I can handle it by myself."
"Ooh... how reliable."
"Of course, if that happens, all the profits will be mine."
"You vicious bastard...!! I can't let that happen!!"
Everyone seemed tense at the mention of 8-stars, but I thought differently. It would be stranger if a team composed of four S-rankers couldn't handle that much. For some reason, it felt like someone was missing.
Nah.
It must be my imagination.
"So?"
Gu Geon-yi asked the research labs director with a serious face.
"In conclusion... we have failed to analyze the molecular structure of this substance."
The research labs director swallowed dryly and lowered his head. Even by his own standards, Gu Geon-yi had waited for this research with considerable patience.
Dark matter.
A black mass discovered at the site of Yoo Ji-won's body, who had turned into a Chimera. The unidentified substance, found by Glory Guild staff while cleaning up the scene, was being stored at the Gangnam research lab. At a glance, it looked like a piece of burnt trash, but the more one looked, the more unsettling it became.
Not only was it a distinctly different black from anything commonly seen, but it also periodically squirmed its body(?) as if it were alive. Just like a virus searching for a new host. The director of the Gangnam research lab had spent several nights engrossed in studying the Dark matter, to the point of getting nosebleeds.
And the conclusion he reached was singular. This substance could not be analyzed. That was all he could report to Gu Geon-yi, who had waited so patiently.
'I'm fucked.'
The research labs director winced inwardly. The story of Gu Geon-yi's humiliation had already spread throughout the Gangnam research lab. That was why the director's heart burned with anxiety.
He knew why Gu Geon-yi was so interested in this substance. Gu Geon-yi had unusually opened a top-secret Glory Guild report to the research labs director. He believed this Dark matter was related to Yoo Ji-won's transformation into a Chimera and had ordered an investigation into its limitless potential.
The fact that Yoo Ji-won, a mere E-rank healer, had broken through Gu Geon-yi's absolute defense skill, the Wailing Wall, was a huge shock even to the director. What if Gu Geon-yi, an S-ranker, could harness the potential of this Dark matter? It was a study that sparked his curiosity as a scientist, even before any orders from above.
However, the result was utterly disappointing.
"No." Gu Geon-yi shook his head.
"That's not the answer I want."
"Yes... sir?"
"I don't care who made it or what its molecular structure is. I just want to know if I can put it in my body."
"...!!"
That was insane. It was no different from suicide. Had he not already experienced what kind of Monster Yoo Ji-won had become?
'Reckless...'
The research labs director couldn't understand Gu Geon-yi. Although he could be overly emotional at times, he was fundamentally a cautious person. He was not a fool who would carelessly inject an unidentified substance.
Who on earth had clouded his judgment and made him so desperate? No matter how hard he thought, only one person came to mind.
"Mix this thing into an Ether ampoule."
"Representative!" the research labs director cried out convulsively.
"That's too dangerous. If something goes wrong..."
"If something goes wrong, what."
Gu Geon-yi cut him off.
"Are you going to say I might die?"
"..."
"Don't worry. You'll still get your salary even if I croak."
"That's... not what I meant. You know that."
"Cut the chatter and do as I say. Of course, I have no intention of killing myself. Let's proceed by mixing in just 0.1%."
Gu Geon-yi, who had been brooding, suddenly gave a gentle smile and tapped the director's shoulder.
'Right...
If it's only 0.1%...'
One one-thousandth.
As with all medicines, if the dosage is minuscule, the effect is also small. No, at one one-thousandth, it might even pass without him knowing he'd been dosed. An Ether ampoule is a solution processed to allow the injection of a Core extracted from a Monster into a Hunter's body.
Naturally, it was an item Hunters were desperate to get, and the higher the value of the raw material, the Core, the more the price would skyrocket. Of course, not much would change just because an S-ranker like Gu Geon-yi took one ampoule. This was because the efficiency of the ampoule decreases when one's Ether is already full.
And that very reason was the basis for the insane act Gu Geon-yi was contemplating. Minimum efficiency added to minimum efficiency. The test would begin with an infinitesimal amount, so small it was doubtful it would have any effect at all.
"Inject it."
Gu Geon-yi ordered the research labs director with an indifferent face.
Shhhhhhwing.
A bundle of plants unfurled from Kang Jeong-hyeon's unwrapped right arm. Surprisingly, the thing(?) was not the thick form seen at the previous examination site. Hideous plants resembling nerve bundles stretched out in all directions, and whenever they did, their targets ended up skewered.
A creature famous for making a nuisance of itself even while dying. That's why it was one of the Monsters that regular Hunters found extremely tricky. Moreover, the size of a fully grown one was so enormous that it was half the size of an adult man.
With dozens of these one-meter-long venomous bees roaming the air, each one felt like a boss Monster from a low-level dungeon. However, the notoriously tricky Venom Bees were being neutralized by a single Hunter.
Kang Jeong-hyeon.
The creatures couldn't even properly counterattack against the plants coming from his arm before their bodies were pierced through.
Shunk!!!!
Even as its body was being pierced, the Venom Bee fired its stinger, embedding it in Kang Jeong-hyeon's arm—that is, the exotic plant. Its momentum was so vicious that even knowing it was a plant, Bi-soo couldn't help but flinch.
"Ugh... Jeong-hyeon, are you okay?"
"Huh? Ah, yes... I'm fine. I don't really feel any pain or anything..."
"You can control it freely like your own body, but you don't feel pain... That's a total cheat."
Bi-soo shook her head and gave a bitter smile. It seemed that plant took to Bi-soo's Buffs quite well. The sight of the branches spreading out like a fish in water, dominating a zone of several dozen meters ahead, was truly a spectacle.
At first, the sound of wings was so loud everywhere it made my ears ring, but now only a few of them were left.
"It's dangerous!"
Shunk.
The Venom Bee's nuisance act didn't discriminate its targets. When lodging their stingers in the plant didn't work, more of them started firing stingers our way. Whenever that happened, Iron Arm Uncle would raise his shield-type device to protect us.
"Keuk."
But the power of the stingers was so great that some pierced through the shield and embedded themselves in Iron Arm Uncle's body. Each time, Maria would appear, pull out the stinger, and infuse him with healing energy. Normally, the Venom Bee's poison couldn't be neutralized, but that story changed when the healer's tier was 'S'.
Iron Arm Uncle would grimace for a moment, then jump back up as if nothing had happened and continue to protect us. A sharp attacker, a supporter, and a healer. It was an unintentional recruitment, but they were surprisingly in sync.
"This is great! At this rate, we can break through in a few minutes!!"
"It's all good, but..."
Bi-soo looked at my face with a displeased expression.
"Hm?"
"Why aren't you doing anything?"
"What are you talking about? I am doing something."
I answered her with a nonchalant face.
"Cheering."
"Do you really want to die?!"
As she yelled, a drop of sweat clinging to her chin fell. It seemed that just as the plant absorbed Buffs well, Bi-soo's Ether was also draining quickly.
"As the leader of the Irregular team, I'm taking this time for verification."
"Verification?"
"Yeah. You and Iron Arm Uncle might not know, but Jeong-hyeon and Maria have never fought alongside me."
Before entering the dungeon, we had neatly sorted out our titles. Iron Arm Uncle, who used to be called Clan Leader and Oppa, was now 'Iron Arm Uncle', and the rest of us decided to just comfortably call each other by name. Adding honorifics like 'Oppa' or 'Noona' was up to each individual.
Maybe because it reminded me of my sister at home, but calling her 'Maria Noona' felt strange, so I was just using her name.
"Hmph. Nice excuse. Aren't you just trying to slack off? No wonder you accepted everyone into the Irregular team..."
"Stop grumbling. I have my reasons."
On the outside, I was acting slick and slacking off, but I had my own circumstances. To deal with this many Venom Bees, firing the Poison Flame was the best way. However, if I got too absorbed in burning them, there was a possibility that the Black Ether, the source of the Poison Flame, could end up hurting my teammates.
You can't burn down the whole house just to catch a flea. And so, through such a rational method, I was earning an unearned income. It was definitely not because I was too lazy to move.
Yes, that was right.
"Whew."
In the end, Kang Jeong-hyeon eliminated all the bees in front of him. He collapsed, completely exhausted, and the rest of us collected the Venom Bees' stingers. While not as good as the Horn of Taurus, these stingers were also used as a pretty sturdy Material.
And for some reason, I heard there were many older men who would grind them up and drink them as a health supplement. If they met a Venom Bee in person, I doubt they would ever think of such a thing. In any case, we were preparing to leave.
However.
The scale of this dungeon was larger and more magnificent than we had thought.
Bzzzzzzzzz.
"Huh. Fuck."
Bi-soo, who had been stuffing stingers into her backpack, spat out a final, curse-like scream. The sickening sound of wings flapping. Because a number of bees equal to, no, even greater than what Kang Jeong-hyeon had killed were flying in from the opposite side.
"Oh, an 8-star is an 8-star, after all."
"Is this really the time for that kind of talk?"
Urgency leaked from Bi-soo's voice. Kang Jeong-hyeon forced himself to his feet, but he seemed quite drained from controlling the Buffed plant. Above all, he lacked practical combat experience, so he wouldn't be accustomed to fighting for a long time under this kind of pressure.
Papak.
Without hesitation, I used Poison Step and dashed forward. At the same time, I adjusted the output range on the Pracel on my wrist. 'There are a lot of them.
I'll need 50%.' The Poison Flame was as difficult to handle as an unregulated flamethrower, but my current position was a good distance away from the group. In a place like this, I could unleash my ability freely without any problems.
Just as the large bees were about to spread into formation, I raised my right hand and aimed at the entire swarm. Guided by the Pracel, the haze on my palm transformed into Poison Flame and spewed out black fire.
Fwoooooosh. Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
The bees floating in the air exploded like fireworks. It seemed they had some kind of volatile substance in their bodies. Hundreds of bees fell to the ground without being able to land a single attack against the black flames.
In a matter of seconds after I released the Poison Flame, the attacking bees were annihilated in vain.
"Thank goodness. The Cores are intact."
I had been startled when the bees started exploding. Because if the Cores inside them had also exploded, it would have defeated the purpose of coming to a Poison Dungeon. But fortunately, the Venom Bees left things behind when they died.
Black Cores. And stingers.
A bonanza was scattered all over the ground, matching the insane number of bees. I could see the dazed faces of my comrades in the distance. Perhaps because they had never seen the power of the Poison Flame up close, they all had expressions as if they'd been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.
"Monster..."
Of all people, it was Maria who called me that with a blank face.