“That necklace must definitely have a cooldown.”
At the end of Narghul’s dungeon, it was much smaller than the detection stone Narghul had been using, allowing me to make that judgment.
The guy pulled out a club-shaped donpa with a long handle from the space.
If it’s not that weapon, then surely he has another ability that immobilizes people for a certain period.
Oh Seung-jae turned his body towards Yeon-hee instead of the clearly dangerous four-member party and soon showed meaningful movement.
Swoosh—
While I had been waiting for the guy to react, I seized the moment when his attention was completely focused on Yeon-hee and jumped in.
I quickly stabbed the dagger, shaped as short as possible for engraving the mark, into the gaps of his armor.
Flump! Stab! Thwomp──!
“Kuhehk-?! Eek!!”
Thwack-!
“Oh?”
With both hands, I swiftly attacked and engraved four marks, then fell back and returned to Yeon-hee’s side.
Crackle—
“Whoa- I was surprised at how he countered immediately after dodging my attack aimed at his eyes. He’s got some pretty good sense, huh?”
A part of my left shoulder burst from his counterattack, and a message popped up saying I had resisted his skill.
“Kuhehk- Kek-! Ugh…!”
Blood gushed out from between the gaps of his armor.
Now, six marks were stacked, and the energy of the flames also grew larger.
The guy finally seemed to notice the existence of the marks, and he freaked out watching what floated on his shoulder.
“W-what the hell is this?!”
“?!! That guy! Everyone, apply ‘color’!”
The four-member party quickly reacted when Oh Seung-jae, who had been attacked, revealed himself as his stealth vanished.
Whoosh──!
The four-member party surrounded themselves with the ability they called ‘color’, used during the mimic event. Their movements became as nimble as swallows flying low.
Oh Seung-jae, having suffered considerable injury and seeing the explosive acceleration of the joining four-member party, sensed the dire situation and activated the artifact.
Whoooooo──
As soon as he activated it, a wing-like whirlwind fluttered behind his legs, and he began to sprint away at lightning speed from the four-member party’s joint attack.
“What, what’s up with that guy?! He’s way faster than us?!”
“It’s an artifact! Chase him!”
“We have to catch that guy before his stealth activates again!!”
The four-member party followed him, leaving afterimages behind.
I expanded my senses, leisurely watching Oh Seung-jae and the four-member party’s chase, waiting for the moment when they would intersect with another party.
“I need to make them think it’s going to explode from my ability.”
One of the hunter’s rules is not to easily show your skills to other hunters.
No matter how many days I had teamed up with the four-member party, I definitely didn’t need the members of the assassination group ‘Veil’ to know that [Flame Explosion] was my ability.
“Il-wol? Can that mark explode even after it falls off?”
“Clap, clap, clap!!”
“Oh wow— as expected. There’s a whole plan behind this.”
Within the range of my senses, it was a technique that could be triggered at any time.
We walked hand in hand in the direction where he fled, and before long, the distance between him and us widened to over 3 kilometers.
“It’s about time to explode.”
I used the achievement reward ‘Summoner’s Assistant’ gained from forming a relationship with Yeon-hee for [Flame Explosion] level up.
=====
【Flame Explosion Lv.5】
– All accumulated ‘Flame Marks’ will explode simultaneously.
– Deals 1,300% damage of Magical Attack Power.
– For each ‘Flame Mark’ exceeding five, attack power +300%.
– Ignores all beneficial effects and armor except [Invincible].
– With each explosion, the target’s maximum health permanently decreases by 500.
– Tracks the location of the target hit by Flame Explosion until the end.
– Enemies hit by Flame Explosion five times will surely die.
=====
Once again, attack power skyrocketed, and the ability to destroy maximum health doubled, soaring to 500.
“Whoa… Did it rise significantly after reaching level 5? 500 health could almost mean instant death for top B-class dealers, right?”
I felt a tingling in one part of my head due to the immense power of my skill, combined with the new ability to track.
“If even once I hit with Flame Explosion, I can track the position…? That means I can’t help but focus more on this skill, can I?”
It was an incredibly useful ability for when an enemy hit by my skill survived and ran away, like now.
Of course, if the monster was tough enough to escape even after being hit by Flame Explosion, that would be a headache on its own.
“[Flame Explosion]… How much further can it improve?”
I began to feel a bit scared, wondering if it was a skill I could really handle.
Waving away the description of Flame Explosion, I refocused on Oh Seung-jae.
Fortuitously, a party of three teams had gathered in the direction Oh Seung-jae had fled, and I waited for the moment when about twenty hunters overlapped and activated [Flame Explosion].
Of course, the result reflected my intention not to harm the other hunters. Such delicate control would be hard to execute without being a sense ability user.
Bzzzzzz────
With the activation of the skill, a deafening explosion resonated over several kilometers away, piercing my ears.
BANG───!!
Soon after, with a tremendous roar, a massive black flame shot up into the sky from the depths of the dungeon, creating a grand spectacle as it obliterated a huge swamp in its wake.
“Whoaahh─! Wow──!”
Yeon-hee gaped in awe as she looked at the still-rising pillar of flames.
“So pretty—”
“Seeing it from this far, it really is a spectacle.”
It was a moment that made me crave popcorn.
Kaboom──!
The byproducts of the swamp impacted by Flame Explosion exploded in a series of detonations in mid-air.
The hunters near Oh Seung-jae had already dispersed in all directions, staring blankly at the pillar of flames in shock.
“Whoa— level 5 [Flame Explosion] is incredible. Did it vanish without a trace?”
With [Flame Explosion], Oh Seung-jae left not a single piece of evidence and simply disappeared.
– You eliminated a villain threatening the safety of this world!
– You eradicated the atrocious seed of evil that plunged many into pain.
– Randomly increases stats!
– Strength: 305 (+15)
“Whoa?! Strength increased by 15?!”
What does it mean to reach over 300 in strength?
It means I wouldn’t fall far behind even when grappling with the strongest werewolf in C-class, nor could I be easily outmatched by an Orc High-Rank Warrior, as I could now engage in combat solely based on stats against the Orc Low-Rank Warrior.
“Joo Ye-seul gave me 10, right?”
The light mage ‘Joo Ye-seul’ who made people bite the dust for fun in Narghul’s dungeon.
The stat I gained from taking down that person was 10.
Receiving a reward much higher than that made me smile, but a feeling of unease also accompanied it.
“The big reward means that jerk was way worse than that girl. Wow… he’s something else, really.”
I stuck out my tongue and moved away from the explosion area, holding Yeon-hee.
“Okay. Artifacts drop even if other things disappear.”
As the explosion occurred, the artifact boots the guy was wearing were blasted away, and I grabbed them and immediately stored them in the space before returning to the scene.
By the time I arrived, hunters were just beginning to gather, discussing the chaos.
The four-member party was searching the area thoroughly, trying to find even a hint of what Oh Seung-jae had left behind, but they weren’t really talking to anyone else.
“While they were with us, they were chatty. Seems they’re picky about people.”
After a bit of commotion, since there were witnesses who had been harmed by him, proving the crime wouldn’t be an issue.
“We’ll seize all assets and distribute them to the victims.”
“Not sure if that will suffice as compensation… But at least it’s lucky we caught him now…”
We waited until those whose bodies had been petrified by paralysis were freed from their status ailments, and then moved again for the boss battle.
The people we saved followed behind us because the entrance and exit were different, so they couldn’t go back.
They bowed their heads repeatedly to Yeon-hee and the four-member party, promising to repay us as soon as they got out.
However, since we had already scanned the equipment they wore, we didn’t expect much about it.
Having encountered them, we fought the boss battle, and again cleared it without issue.
“Ah, come on. This is too much. Why is my luck so bad?”
“This isn’t just bad luck… Something feels off.”
“……”
Heuk-a finally burst out in frustration after checking the rewards from the boss battle.
“Intermediate Rune of Poison… Four days straight of intermediate runes from a boss battle? How is that even remotely possible?”
No matter how much a lower-tier dungeon could be in C-class, it was frustrating not to get a single high-rank rune.
“I’ve had good luck for a while. Is luck ultimately consumable?”
I tried to understand the situation with my own reasoning.
After clearing the dungeon, we had to undergo a brief investigation by the Hunter Management Bureau due to that jerk Oh Seung-jae.
But as I was coming out quietly after the investigation, the employees and hunters were having a little dispute.
“Isn’t it too obvious to try to cover it up now?!”
“No… There have been so many incidents lately that combat personnel are only being assigned up to C-class.”
“What?! You’re just coddling the high-rank hunters. I’ve seen articles saying surplus personnel are piling up, you know?!”
“That’s the office staff—”
While we, the ones who had pursued that jerk, stood quietly aside, the rest of the hunters vehemently protested against the management bureau employees who came late to the investigation.
“Regardless, they’re government employees. They aren’t to blame for anything.”
If I were to blame someone, it would be the management level overseeing personnel deployment.
“Phew~. It was going well until it exploded at the end. Anyway, thank you for your hard work.”
“Yeah, you too, Heuk-a.”
“Hmm… But I have one thing I’m curious about.”
“Yeah?”
“That ominous pillar of black flame. Were you possibly…”
“……”
Heuk-a was very curious about who cast [Flame Explosion] and seemed to be suspicious of us, but when Yeon-hee kept silent, he didn’t ask further.
After parting from them, it was still not even four, so we naturally held hands and walked home.
Just then, I got a call from Baek Ah-rin.
“Looks like the promotion test has ended.”
“Oh, yes, sounds good… Heh… Yes. Then, see you there.”
We decided to meet at a cafe in the bustling area, and there I would finally be able to see Ah-rin after several days.
“Over here, over here!”
She greeted us as always with a bright smile and had noticeably grown since we last met in just a few days.
Just as I reached level 60 and gained ranks, it was natural for her to have done the same.
However, considering that her jump in rank was greater than I had anticipated, I was just a little surprised.
“How did it go?”
As soon as Yeon-hee met her, she asked about the promotion test results. Given Yeon-hee’s personality, asking such delicate questions isn’t common, but it shows how much she trusts Ah-rin.
“I passed with flying colors!! Kyaah-”
Despite her lively expression, her condition was quite the opposite.
“For a breezy passing, you sure look pretty rough… Who was the examiner to leave you in this state?”
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