“That’s it.”
The Crimson Venom Snake was biting something with its sharp fangs. Seeing the scales peeled off in patches on its large body, the lake water must have been quite toxic. Whether from pain or an itch, the Crimson Venom Snake irritably spat out what was in its mouth.
Thud.
“Whoa!”
My companions recoiled in horror. They weren't afraid of the boss Monster, but of the lake water clinging to its surface.
“This bastard…!!”
I quickly threw myself forward to block the water splashing toward my comrades. I turned my head to glare at the Crimson Venom Snake, but it had already vanished without a trace. To think a being that manifests from my Ether could be so disloyal. …Was it offended that I told it to bow its head?
Sizzle.
The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils. Since my body wasn't that large, the lake water must have splashed on someone. I turned my head to check for casualties, and my expression hardened slightly.
“Ugh…”
The injured person was Maria. In place of Iron Arm, who had already been poisoned multiple times, her slender body had blocked the poison splashing toward him. One of Maria's shoulders was burned so badly it was hard to look at.
I rushed over in a single step and reached for her shoulder.
Shwaaa…
Normally, she would not have suffered such an injury. An S-rank Healer should have been able to recover with Self-Healing alone. But there was no sign of healing on her shoulder.
She had used all her strength to treat her companions, leaving no Ether for her own recovery. I could feel firsthand how deadly the poison in this dungeon was.
“Lady Maria…!!”
“I am all right.”
Even while flinching from the pain as I healed her, Maria offered a gentle smile to Iron Arm. Indeed, at times like this, I could see why she earned the nickname ‘saint’. But I couldn't help but say something harsh to her.
“In battle, a healer’s safety is the top priority. As someone who belonged to the nation's top guild, you couldn't have been unaware of that.”
A Hunter injured on the battlefield can go out and fight again. On the premise that there is a healer. On the other hand, what if the healer themselves gets hurt?
That means the guild has no more chips to play with. For that very reason, healers are to be protected above all else. That was precisely why I was lecturing Maria.
Because she had not followed the most basic principle. However, Maria's thoughts seemed a little different.
“As you can see… I’ve used up all my Ether. For the time being, I am neither a healer nor anything else.”
“…!!”
“You asked me, didn't you, Hae-seon? If I was used to pain. Someone who is used to it simply endured it instead.”
I looked at Maria with new eyes. Maria’s disposition to save people was far more desperate and earnest than I had imagined. Even if she wasn't a healer type, she would have dedicated her entire being to caring for those in danger.
“…I was mistaken.”
“Pardon?”
“I thought the time you were taking for self-reflection was simply because of some moral puritanism.”
“…”
“I’ve learned this time that you are a much tougher person than I thought.”
Maria offered a faint smile without a specific reply. It was faint, but it was a smile far more dazzling than the one I had seen on TV commercials.
Shwaaa…
While Maria changed her clothes after I finished healing her, I tended to the minor wounds of my companions. But just as I was checking the team members' conditions and about to stand up, a sudden wave of dizziness hit me.
Stumble.
“Oof.”
“Hae-seon!”
Bi-soo rushed over and quickly supported me.
“Huh. Why am I like this.”
“…It seems stranger that you’re even asking that.”
“Hm?”
“Think about it. You summoned that brutish monster, spewed fire like a brute, and spammed your healing energy like a brute. How could anyone but a monster withstand all that?”
“…Is that so? But why do you keep saying brute. The one who is actually a brute is…”
As Bi-soo let go of the arm supporting me, I couldn't help but stumble once more. My body certainly felt empty inside. Not only my Black Ether, but even the poison and healing energy that tormented me daily were gone.
Everything was for the sake of catching the boss Monster before me. I sighed at the boss Monster the Crimson Venom Snake had spat out… no, at the fish head.
“We caught it, but… to think this thing is a boss Monster…”
A fish with jade-white scales. It looked to be less than a meter long. It was a size that would be considered trivial not just in a dungeon, but even on a large fishing vessel.
This fish head made us struggle that much? A scorching killing intent rose from within my chest. Squama’s unusually large eyes trembled violently.
Thwack.
A brutal kick landed on Squama’s body.
Huh.
But my foot is still here. The one cursing and kicking was none other than Bi-soo.
“Fuck! Die! We almost died, didn't we?” -Keng!
Squama shrieked miserably as it was sent flying. We’ve only now dragged it out of the lake, but countless lives must have been lost to this fish head.
“Die! Die!” …At this rate, there won't even be bones left to collect.
I strode over and grabbed Bi-soo’s shoulder.
“You’ll regret it if you keep that up.”
“What? Why would I regret it? Because of this bastard, we went through all that hell…!! Die!”
Thwack, thwack.
“The poison could spread to your foot.”
“Oh, shit! That would be a problem.”
Bi-soo stopped as if nothing had happened and walked away. Seeing her turn away without a second thought, it seemed she had already beaten it enough to feel better. She who had earned the nickname ‘Red-haired Witch’.
Though they called her ‘Witch’ to emphasize her charm, the nickname suited her perfectly in reality as well. Did the public know that her personality was far fiercer than a witch’s? -Kerrr… A boss Monster registered with Other Attributes ‘S’ due to its deadly poison and ‘hide’ ability.
However, its physical level was merely ‘E’. Especially now that it was out of the water, it was on the verge of death just from Bi-soo’s kicks.
Kling.
A black blade began to emerge from the Pracel on my wrist. Although I had stopped Bi-soo, that didn't mean I was going to spare this thing. I just wanted to send it off cleanly and simply, in one blow.
Not all boss Monsters were like this, but those of a certain class left behind ‘Materials’. This dumb-looking fish head was no exception. If it kept taking kicks, there was a risk the ‘Material’ would be damaged.
“Farewell.”
Stab.
The black blade accurately pierced Squama’s gills. The fish head, which had been flailing in pain, went rigid. The dungeon conquest, which had been many times harder than a straightforward brawl, was finally over.
The process of defeating it was difficult, but everything after that went smoothly. Squama’s jade-white scales would become the rarest cosmetic ingredient in the world. As Iron Arm carefully cut the surface of the scales, Bi-soo’s face filled with greed.
“Unni… I don’t care about the other stuff, but we have to take that. You know that, right?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah…”
Bi-soo was one thing, but Maria’s reaction was also quite unusual. I thought she would say she didn't need such things, but for her to respond like that meant she was quite interested. As Bi-soo placed the scales in her arms as if handling a sacred treasure, Iron Arm extracted something else from the fish’s belly.
“This is it. This is the source of the ‘hide’ technique that Squama uses.”
A palm-sized pouch contained a transparent liquid. At a glance, it looked like a simple organ, but it was not. As Iron Arm had said, the transparent liquid inside ‘hides’ everything in the world.
A magical liquid that makes any chemical colorless and odorless. The Hunter Association called this item ‘Stealth’.
“You can name your own price for this. It’s especially hard to come by in the black market.”
The act of hiding something is bound to be used more in dark places than in bright ones. Though not as valuable as the Gold Eternal Flower, ‘Stealth’ was also an item that fetched hundreds of millions of won. It didn't just crudely mask taste and scent.
As we had just experienced, its effects progressed without us even realizing our bodies were being encroached upon.
“Hae-seon… are you thinking of selling this on the black market…?”
Maria asked with an innocent face. The nuance was clear: was he really thinking of disposing of an item that could be used for crime? Reading her expression, Iron Arm gave an awkward laugh.
“Ah. Hahaha. Lady Maria. Just because it's sold on the black market doesn't mean it's necessarily used for bad things." "It can be used for processing medicine for wealthy people with weak stomachs, and there are countless other uses. Isn’t that right, Hunter Cheon Hae-seon?”
Iron Arm shot me a desperate look. With hundreds of millions of won on the line, he seemed to want to reassure her somehow. But unfortunately for him, the answer he wanted did not come.
“That’s true, but I have no plans to sell it on the black market.”
“Pardon?”
Iron Arm asked again, looking as if he’d been hit on the back of the head.
“Why would I give this to someone else? It’s such a useful item.”
“Useful…”
“Use… ful?”
“So you mean, you’re going to use it yourself?”
“Where on earth would you use such a dangerous item?”
Maria and the others gaped as if they were dumbfounded, and I gave a wicked smile.
“The day I need it might come soon.”
Soon, Bi-soo’s dejected voice came from behind me.
“Wow, that guy is more dangerous than the black market.”
Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!
‘What in the world is happening?’
His hands and feet were trembling. He had never been this scared, no matter what monster he faced. Glory Guild’s 3rd Team Leader, Kang Tae-poong.
He was the assault-type S-rank Knight the guild prided itself on. Team 1’s Gu Geon-yi, Team 2’s Yeon Ji-seon, and Team 3’s Kang Tae-poong. These were the elite teams that Glory Guild boasted of.
Although Team 3 was the weakest in terms of overall strength, there was no elite team from any other domestic guild that could surpass even them. Kang Tae-poong had a belligerent personality and was a typical fighter with nothing in his head but the enhancement of his martial power.
In terms of pure ‘strength’, Gu Geon-yi was the clear winner, but the general consensus was that Kang Tae-poong was not far behind in combat technique and speed. The nation’s top fighter, Kang Tae-poong. And he was currently getting beaten to a pulp.
‘How… can he get this strong?’
Kang Tae-poong’s ultimate goal was Gu Geon-yi. For the day to come when he could make Gu Geon-yi surrender on the dueling stage. That was the dream of Kang Tae-poong, who was a fighter before he was a Hunter.
Even when Gu Geon-yi was focused on business-related matters, Kang Tae-poong devoted himself solely to absorbing Ether and training. In fact, the gap between them had been gradually narrowing.
But now.
Kang Tae-poong’s dream, which he thought he could achieve with just a little more effort, had been shattered to pieces.
Bang!! Bang!! Gu Geon-yi.
He was now a completely different person. He had always possessed inhuman strength, but now it felt like he was fighting a large Monster. Just a slight graze had broken two of his bones, an S-ranker himself, which said it all.
What was even more surprising was his speed. In speed, where he had always held a slight comparative advantage, Gu Geon-yi was now faster than him.
“Hup!!”
Kang Tae-poong mustered his last ounce of strength and struck Gu Geon-yi's temple with the side of his heel. Was it a mistake? Somehow, Gu Geon-yi’s hand movements seemed slower than before.
Crack.
With a brutal impact sound, his heel accurately struck the temple. Despite being the one who attacked, a chill ran down Kang Tae-poong’s spine. Because even if it were Gu Geon-yi’s grandfather, not just Gu Geon-yi, he would have suffered a fatal injury from that attack.
‘Damn… I was on the defensive, so I unconsciously used my full power…’
A look of bewilderment appeared on Kang Tae-poong's face, but it did not last long.
“You need more training.”
Belying the attacker's worries, Gu Geon-yi calmly assumed a stance.
‘It can’t be…!’
A shadow of shock fell over Kang Tae-poong’s face. Gu Geon-yi lightly kicked Kang Tae-poong’s leg, tripping him, and with that, the duel was over. As he turned his back, his dry words reached him.
“Thanks for your help.”
“…!!”
Watching Gu Geon-yi walk away, Kang Tae-poong wore a bewitched expression. Gu Geon-yi had always been strong, but never to this extent. Wasn’t this like a child growing stronger year by year?
For a Hunter whose skills had already fully blossomed to power up this much was unheard of.
‘What sort of trick did he pull?’
Thump, thump.
Kang Tae-poong stared blankly at the receding figure of Gu Geon-yi. His back, as large as a great mountain, blocked the view, so he couldn't see it. Gu Geon-yi’s ‘killing intent’, growing darker by the moment.
And spreading across his entire face, the Demonic transformation.