Chapter 114. 13th Month’s Maze (3)
Seonwoo-yeon had a question.
Why was the Fourth S-Class so mean to the top-ranked Hunter?
As could be gleaned from his usual behavior, Kim Gi-ryeo wasn’t a bad person.
He helped others.
Avoided greed.
Yet whenever he met Jeong Ha-seong, he acted oddly differently.
‘How can he make the Jeong Ha-seong Hunter do such things? Is he out of his mind…?’
What just happened was clearly far from warm-hearted.
Seonwoo-yeon always tried to understand the intentions of others, but that was absolutely no easy task.
‘I don’t know.’
Maybe Kim Gi-ryeo was trying to pressure that Awakened into unleashing their potential, just like what happened in Hadong.
Or perhaps there was a special reason he started to dislike Jeong Ha-seong.
Alternatively, he could simply be enjoying the sadistic fun of tearing at the wings of a dragonfly without any reason.
‘The Association President suddenly covering for that person during the press conference is perplexing too. In any case, there are more things I don’t understand than things I do.’
Just when Seonwoo-yeon’s frown deepened as she stared at Gi-ryeo.
The blond man at the edge of her vision turned to look this way by coincidence.
As their eyes met, he nodded lightly from afar, making it even harder to grasp the reality of the situation.
‘Ha….’
That Hunter had just revealed his true Awakening Level with his third Awakening Test.
Why did it seem so suspicious?
Why did it feel like he was still hiding something?
*
Yay, this is exciting!
Being able to hang out with an S-Class is like riding a premium bus, Earth-style, right?
“Esther Hunter, shall we go in?”
“Yeon-i! We’ll be back soon. Just stay safe here~”
Moments later.
Esther and I decided to lead the first exploration of the iron door.
As a self-proclaimed appraiser, I checked and found no more traps, so we’d gradually proceed with the Gate攻略 (攻略 means strategy or conquest in this context).
Moreover, though it may be unfortunate for outsiders, we were rather lucky.
“Oh my, a bright blue monster.”
“And there’s only one?”
This place was a high-difficulty dungeon featuring formidable foes, considering it was EX-Class.
But given the ranks of the chosen challengers, the outcome was predictably clear.
“Since it isn’t dying immediately from a curse, it looks like it’s trying to pose as a boss.”
We stepped through the first iron door.
Kugugu…! Bang!
Esther held a coral-colored orb she pulled from her Item Box and activated its magic.
Borrowing the power of the artifact, she shot a condensed magic sphere at the monster before us.
‘She can use other attacks besides curses, huh?’
Looking at how she handled her equipment, it seemed Esther often enjoyed this fighting style.
“What’s the name of that orb?”
Is that something you can casually ask when a monster is right in front of you?
I hardly paid attention to the monster and chatted leisurely.
Such was Esther’s power that she exerted overwhelming influence in this Gate.
“This? It’s called the Pearl of the Dragon Palace.”
“It looks expensive.”
“Actually, it is. This is the first Epic equipment made in Korea.”
Shuu…! Bang!
As the monster crumbled to dust from the S-Class’s ferocious attack.
Ding!
We confirmed a familiar-shaped key falling to the ground.
The structure of the first room was simple—just needed to kill the monster inside.
“I’ll pick it up. You stay here.”
“Oh? Is it already over? What about traps?”
“Doesn’t seem like there are any.”
I walked through the dark backdrop toward the key’s location.
Thud thud.
Between the sounds of my shoes, I could hear Esther’s casual conversation.
“But isn’t it a shame that no matter how expensive it is, it can’t match Ha-seong’s [Sword of Sunset]? That’s not just anything; it’s the first Legendary item!”
Hmm. [Sword of Sunset], huh?
That’s a pretty unfamiliar name to someone like me, an alien great mage.
“But Gi-ryeo took that precious sword and used it for such things…”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing. Let’s just head out.”
But anyway.
We finished the first exploration in a way that felt almost empty.
Of course, the next processes weren’t too different.
“Now I’ll join in too.”
By the time we reported the iron door we had just explored, the top-ranked Hunter finally got his act together and began the攻略.
“How was that door?”
“It was similar to what you just described. There was a large monster inside, like a wild boar, and when we took it down, a key dropped.”
About three minutes later.
I discreetly glanced at Jeong Ha-seong’s party as they exited the second iron door.
There was a faint smell of burning, but seeing both of them with perfectly clean faces indicated that this Gate was likely too small to contain S-Class power…
‘Leaders are the best!’
Smooth ride.
Thus, I proceeded swiftly while relying on the abilities of the S-Class Hunters.
Red. Blue. Green. Yellow…
In any case, I pummelled all the various unknown gatekeepers prepared for us.
‘So that color indicates the monster’s resistance attribute, huh.’
As I proceeded with the攻略, I was starting to get a feel for the Gate’s characteristics, but I felt no need to explain anything.
What good is resistance when Jeong Ha-seong just burned away that red monster guarding the fifth iron door without a trace?
‘Scary.’
The strength of S-Class disregarded this pathetic Gate’s rules.
They were born with exceptional Awakening Levels.
Additionally, Seonwoo-yeon was also a capable magician in this world, so as long as it wasn’t a monster specifically designed to resist her attributes, she could roughly hold her own.
‘Hmm.’
So, was I the only useless one in here?
‘I’ve worked hard in my previous life, so I can afford to slack off a bit, right?’
Squirm squirm.
I took my time, downplaying my own inadequacies as I entered the seventh iron door.
Screech, clank!
This door was a final room that didn’t require a key.
So, the last clue to escape the Gate must be…
Definitely be behind that tightly locked eighth door at the end of this corridor.
One, two, three, four…
We gathered seven keys.
“The number of locks matches perfectly.”
“It seems that the trap Ha-seong missed had to be a room we had to go through. If we don’t clear that, we’ll end up short on keys.”
A few minutes later.
We had smashed through most of the iron doors connected to the hall and were now left with only the final step.
Standing in front of the only door tightly secured with locks, the eighth door.
‘It feels incredibly pleasant.’
Since this door could only be opened with all the keys, there was certainly a high chance that a boss would be inside.
But I didn’t feel the slightest bit of anxiety.
Two S-Classes and one B-Class.
There were three high-level Awakened individuals next to me.
Hahaha!
Especially the S-Class Hunters couldn’t care less about the reward from this Gate, so if things go well, wouldn’t I be able to snag the rewards for myself?
I diligently moved my hands while dreaming of rosy futures.
With each action, the number of locks binding the door decreased by one.
“Ah, done.”
Clink.
However, the moment the final key was inserted.
Suddenly, the door to the eighth room swung open inward.
“Ugh!”
We were instantly engulfed by a rush of black smoke pouring from the opened door.
Fortunately, the smoke wasn’t toxic to humans.
This was simply a signal announcing a transfer to a new space.
‘Wait, if it’s space transfer at this timing…’
As the black smoke dispersed rapidly, I raised my head and hurriedly surveyed my surroundings.
What appeared instead was a mysterious space, with square platforms resembling a chessboard clustered together.
‘Is this the boss room?’
Damn it!
I had thought that even the last iron door would limit it to two people!
I was caught off guard at this moment.
Who would have thought they would cram all the Hunters into one room?
As for the second unsettling surprise…
That was the flapping sound I had been hearing since a while ago.
Flap flap flap.
Swoosh…
Flap, flap.
White wings, a small body.
Though it looked like a swarm of moths coming at us, there couldn’t possibly be ordinary insects in a Gate like this.
“Ahhh!”
“How many are there…!”
It was an emergency.
From the start, an enormous number of monsters surged upon us.
Hiiiii!
There’s nothing better than flames for killing flying pests.
But the room we stood in was smaller than expected, leaving little room for evasive maneuvers.
However, if Jeong Ha-seong were to unleash flames here, people would definitely be caught in it too.
‘No thanks to either burning or suffocating.’
Esther must have come to the same conclusion, as she quickly darted to the center to suppress the situation herself.
Swish…
She activated her Awakening Ability, the Curse skill.
‘That’s right!’
Thud thud thud.
As soon as Esther’s spell touched them, the white moths fell helplessly.
However, her actions didn’t only entangle the monsters.
There was one Awakened not registered as S-Class present.
“Ahhh!”
A scream erupted from the corner of the room.
‘Oh no!’
Seonwoo-yeon, the one screaming, was clutching her head in pain.
*
Ha-seong was furious.
By the rule that only two people could enter one room, at least this B-Class could have been left outside.
Why the hell did this damn Gate have to cause such suffering for humans?
“Staff! Just stay behind me…!”
Ha-seong wanted to protect Seonwoo-yeon, but in this situation, he had no option for running away either.
The power of the curse inherently had the property of penetrating defensive equipment.
Even if he stripped off his own gear and handed it to the staff, it wouldn’t improve the situation.
“Ugh!”
Moreover, even Ha-seong, an S-Class, wasn’t free from the curse’s impact.
Nausea.
Pain.
And those unbearable mysterious sounds in his ears.
He never expected to experience such severe weakening just from a brief exposure to a skill.
“Something’s off! Where are all these moths coming from…?”
Of course, Esther was just as flustered.
Flap flap flap.
She initially intended to use her skill briefly, but the black void seemed to reject that and endlessly spat out small creatures.
“Ugh…”
If the duration of the magic tower owner’s skill continued to increase, the damage accumulated could become fatal for the Association’s staff.
‘No way. In this case, it’s better to take them out one by one with a sword!’
Jeong Ha-seong thought he had to proceed with the hunt without using skills, no matter what.
So, he weakly lifted his head to convince the S-Class Esther.
‘Huh?’
But in that moment.
A strange event occurred.
As those exposed to the curse groaned in pain, a Hunter quietly stepped out from the northern side of the room.
“…!”
With an expression completely void of agitation.
Kim Gi-ryeo approached Esther confidently, not a single posture out of place.
He couldn’t believe it.
While everyone was on the verge of collapse, how could that person remain unfazed amidst the storm of curses…!
“Whoa!”
Tap tap.
Kim Gi-ryeo lightly tapped Esther’s shoulder and whispered briefly in her ear.
Then, Esther looked shocked and lifted her head.
Soon, they both turned their eyes together towards the ceiling above them.
“Aha!”
It seemed Esther had realized something. Using her support skill, she shot a sphere of magic power upwards.
Crash!
And just like that, the monster generation device hidden in the ceiling was destroyed.
“Of course, Gi-ryeo is the best! How could you be so precise in finding the source of the monsters in this chaos!”
While Esther seemed to appreciate his Emotion ability…
The perspective of a hero was quite different.
That man had just defied the curse.
In other words, he disregarded the effects of an S-Class.
