Anyway, I set off again towards the boss battle location.
The boss battle in this dungeon features a bunch of ‘Orc Intermediate Warriors’ as unit commanders, flanked by a multitude of lower-ranked warriors.
I’m not sure if orcs even classify themselves like that, but hey, the system says so, so whatever.
[Obsession]
– Untouched corpse of a grown Big Boar x 36
– Rune of Absorption x 2
– Intermediate Mana Stone x 86
– Defeat enemies using daggers while in stealth. (191/10,000)
That was my progress before lunch. Considering I ran around half the day, I was pretty satisfied with this outcome.
Nom-
The party members were enjoying a peaceful lunch, each munching on their prepared food.
Staring blankly-
The Lizard Squad on guard duty was intently watching Arin eat. I thought maybe they wanted some, but when I offered, they jumped back in shock.
When the orcs kept their watch facing outward, I guessed it was part of the lizardmen’s nature.
“Cough-cough- Can’t those lizardmen turn their heads the other way? It’s cramped.”
“Oh, right. Hey guys, turn your heads the other way.”
“Churak!”
(Seriously, do you guys stare at others eating like that? Such poor manners.)
(Poor manners? What’s that? If they don’t share, just take it!)
(I want to eat. Big Boar!)
Damn, communication really wasn’t happening…
Just then, I sensed a group approaching within my sensory range.
The party of ten, rare in an intermediate dungeon, seemed to have just finished a hunt, with blood splattered all over them.
But as they entered closer into my range, I realized not all that blood was from monsters. I could identify the subtle difference between monster blood and hunter blood thanks to the lingering magical energy.
‘… Are they villains?’
Given they weren’t exactly heading our way, they seemed oblivious to our presence. Two women and eight men.
Looking at their gear, only one was ranged; the rest were melee fighters. That meant the lone ranged guy must be the key.
‘What now…’
I didn’t want to disturb the group that was just relaxing. But if I snuck away, Yeon-hee would definitely ask where I was going. And since they hadn’t harmed us, I had no real justification to attack first.
‘… Was I like this in my past life? I probably need to restrain myself a bit.’
It felt strangely foreign that I was pondering whether I could kill a potentially threatening opponent when I spotted one.
……
Fortunately, they veered to the left, away from us. I couldn’t hear their conversation since they were too far, but judging by their lip movements, they seemed to be talking about how to distribute the loot from taking down another party.
‘Those guys… Apex Guild.’
They wore thick chain-like golden necklaces and had snake tattoos on their necks. Clearly, those charms and tattoos were symbols of the Apex Guild, a group formed from ex-convicts, which explained their cheap looks.
Anyway, they moved further away, and we hit the road again after our meal. I didn’t see a need to change the route we originally intended to take.
‘If we meet, we meet.’
To be honest, I felt like chasing after them and picking a fight. Those necklaces would probably sell for over a million won…
But before I could get lost in those thoughts, the approaching orcs took priority. There were definitely more than I remembered.
– Kwoooo!
“Here comes the sixth match today!”
“Ugh- Meeting a lot of them today!”
“Fifty of them this time! They shouldn’t be clustering like this…”
Judging by past data alone wouldn’t cut it anymore. These monsters were behaving entirely differently than before.
[Skeleton Bomb]
Kaboom!!
There were too many, so I decided to start with a bomb. A few got caught in the blast radius, their heads popping like balloons.
Then, I immediately penetrated deep into enemy territory with Arin.
“Il-wol, don’t keep crouching and trying to swing upwards! You need to set up a downward attack posture!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
For sure, I was used to using the ground to destabilize my opponent’s center. It seemed I still retained traits from my days as a guide, always looking for the escape route first by exploiting the enemy’s weaknesses. She pointed out my stance, which was unexpected.
‘I can really feel it’s helpful.’
Fighting beside her, swinging swords together, we began to sync our movements more and more.
When I was thoroughly enjoying the harmony of her nimble footwork meeting my sturdy lines…
Chill―
‘Huh?!’
I felt a sudden chill and turned to see Yeon-hee staring at me intently. Her vacant eyes were fixated on me, and I couldn’t shake off the creepy feeling.
‘……’
Still, I had no plans to stop what I was doing. It was rare for opportunities to come by. Given Arin’s emotional ups and downs, she could drop out of the party at any time. I needed to learn as much as possible while I could.
The fleeting chill disappeared quickly, and Yeon-hee refocused on the battle.
‘Phew… That was intense.’
“Hehe- Level up.”
Bae Joo-ah’s level increased at the end of the battle, and she radiated light. Other summoned creatures were also steadily leveling up through continual combat. They were facing higher-level opponents, meaning they likely enjoyed positive experience scaling.
Yeon-hee was level 47, while I was at level 50. It felt like we were the only ones being left behind, but it couldn’t be helped.
If I wanted to level faster, I could head straight to Nargul’s dungeon, but I needed to wait until my fellow party members grew stronger. In the meantime, I also had to complete my quests.
“Rock Spear!”
Smash―!
“Wow! What’s that? What is it? New skill?”
“Pwahaha! Just unlocked a new skill! This is fantastic! Maybe fighting those spear-wielders helped a bit?”
Bae Joo-ah manifested a slender stone spear mid-air and slammed it into the ground.
It was merely a sharp rock falling from the sky, but it could potentially wipe out monsters in one hit if it landed.
“Rock Spear! Rock Spear! Rock Spear-! Kyaahahaha!”
Gaining a new skill was a big event that happened maybe once or twice a year during our hunter lives, so even if she seemed a bit too enthusiastic, everyone understood her excitement. Arin even joined in, urging Joo-ah to show more.
Though she sometimes swore, Bae Joo-ah had been the calm one keeping our party grounded, and now her excitement was infectious, keeping the overall mood lively during combat.
Though I knew I shouldn’t let my guard down just because of this lively atmosphere, there are times when riding that wave and pressing forward is necessary.
In the end, we shifted our conservative approach to the boss battle and decided to face it directly.
And four hours later…
We arrived at an expansive hilly terrain where the boss battle would take place after enduring ten more fights. Hills of various heights extended endlessly.
Among them, a poorly constructed structure resembling a fortress stood on the highest hill.
The orcs would jump down through the gate inside there to face off in the boss battle. Since they would start fighting from atop the hill, it would put us hunters at a disadvantage.
Moreover, there were a thousand orcs, while just a hundred hunters were permitted.
Among the thousand, there would be ten Orc Intermediate Warriors. We were about to see them pushing down with their hundred-strong squad.
There was a translucent barrier around the hill occupied by the orcs, extending 500 meters. Once the number of entrants inside broke a hundred, the battle would begin.
Already, fighting was happening within that translucent barrier, and even though it was obscured during the boss battle, it was clear the hunters were struggling quite a bit.
Rune of Absorption (Intermediate) Gain +5 Magic Power on defeating enemies.
‘Hehe!’
On the way here, I snagged the highest-grade Rune of Absorption (Intermediate) that I could get.
I swapped it out with the one I had and, thanks to the amassed corpses of Big Boars and lower-ranked orc warrior bones in my inventory, I felt as fulfilled as a farmer after a bountiful harvest.
Other party members were also making satisfactory gains, and the party atmosphere was peaking.
But right before the boss battle, an irritating group wandered inside.
‘It’s those guys from earlier. Are they planning on crashing the boss battle? Or do they mean to stab us in the back during it?’
It was a party of ten from the Apex Guild.
They registered, took a spot a few meters from us, and began evaluating the looks of passing hunters as they chuckled.
The blood smeared on them was noticeably thicker than before. And it wasn’t just me who noticed.
Arin and both Joo-ah and Yeon-hee were keeping a watchful eye on those with a distinctly dark aura.
“Those people… are they the ones?”
“Yeah. Probably. They don’t even bother hiding it. The smell of blood is overwhelming.”
“Why aren’t they penalized?”
“Because there’s no way to confirm it. They could just claim self-defense after being attacked first. Nobody knows who those people are. Who would even be able to find out, right? Unless a memory reader was present.”
“……”
‘A similar power is indeed around.’
Yeon-hee and I remembered the three men we took out in the goblin dungeon. Of course, we had acted in self-defense, but no one would be aware of what transpired in the dungeon.
‘Jeong Hyo-chan, it was fortunate he let it slide for us.’
The one who had investigated Yeon-hee, the ‘Judger of Truth and Lies,’ Jeong Hyo-chan, I hadn’t seen for a while. Not sure if he’d stopped coming to mid- and low-level dungeons, but…
Anyway, if the order went as planned, we’d end up facing the Apex crew at the boss battle.
And this calculation was evidently not lost on just us. There had been a noticeable increase in parties opting to skip to the following round to avoid them.
Though the rules state that once registered for a boss battle, you can’t change, there are staff members who demonstrate some flexibility based on the overall atmosphere in the field.
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