Yeon-hee started showering with a still half-asleep face.
I poured Irmana’s water over my head and sank into deep thought.
The bone-chilling cold water jolted my senses awake.
“Huh… I feel more alive now.”
I constantly had to keep my wits about me and be alert.
I am a skeleton.
A monster whose instincts take precedence over human emotions.
I am a being of darkness that could easily fall into negativity at any moment.
* * *
Golden Mimic Tanya.
She was tuned into a feeling that she had never experienced in all her life as a mimic.
Awk-bak-
She watched herself bite her nails.
“Biting one’s nails is an impulsive, unconscious, and addictive habit rooted in anxiety, instability, and tension.”
She reflected on one of the vast pieces of knowledge in her mind.
“Am I in a state of anxiety and instability?”
That was something completely unacceptable for a perfectly crafted being like a mimic.
First, she needed to eliminate the cause of her condition, but there was nothing she could do about it right now.
“Why did the ability to mimic transform into something like this?”
It was indeed Tanya who was granted the ability to sense the evil beings around her.
Though she didn’t understand why that ability was granted at that time, it was simply because she wanted to help in any way possible.
“To defeat the Great Evil One and reclaim my skill… There must be only one being that would come up with such a crude concept.”
It must have been the ‘Guide’ known as the system that lived in Il-wol’s world.
A ‘Guide’ that, unlike mimics, inevitably became an unstable existence.
That being grotesquely altered the ability of [Mimicry], creating variables for Il-wol.
However, the ‘Guide’ was a huge law that even Tanya’s master could hardly influence.
The ability that had already changed was something even she had no control over.
“Surely, the aura of evil will seep in and taint me. Given that I’ve already acquired the ability of [Essence Devouring] that creates minions, if it continues like this… ”
But the wheels had already started rolling down the hill.
The ‘Guide’ had an amazing ability to suggest the most desiring direction for those standing on the path.
If it continued like this, the urge to increase her minions would become hard to suppress.
“Do you have some worries?”
The only subordinate of Tanya, the Brown Mimic ‘Tiny,’ asked with concern.
“It’s interesting how my state improves every time I enter and exit spaces that our eyes can’t reach.”
“You mean that place that Il-wol calls the Dark Space.”
“Yes. Rather, it would be better to stay there for a long time and shake off all the aura of evil. I don’t know why everyone is in such a hurry.”
“How could I not come out when my master calls?”
“Hmm…”
Tanya then realized why that uncomfortable feeling was sprouting within her.
“I have nothing I can do.”
“Excuse me?”
“I need to devise a plan. It won’t be an easy path, so I have to prepare.”
“Oh wow- Are you going to create a new path?!”
“Hehe- I don’t even know why I’m doing this, but this must be part of my master’s arrangements. I don’t know how many tens or hundreds of years it would take, but I’d better try at least once.”
As soon as Tanya made up her mind, she felt a strange sensation as if her chest was cleared.
Voooong—
“Hmm. But first, we need to confirm our tasks. It’s time for selection. Tiny.”
“Yes!! I’ll prepare right away, Master!!”
Hearing the command from Golden Mimic Tanya, the Brown Mimic dashed through the open dimensional gate into another world.
Watching the back of her loyal subordinate, Tanya nodded in satisfaction and absentmindedly gazed at Il-wol, who was flying in the sky with her master in his arms.
“Friend…”
* * *
“Even after the chaos yesterday, no one is stopping it. Isn’t it a bit too indifferent, considering how few casualties there were?”
Joo-ah remarked as she saw that the area around the Gate of the Direwolf Dungeon was as usual.
“Even the news didn’t cover it yesterday. I guess the fewer the casualties, the less attention it gets…”
“Do people have to die for it to become important news? That’s just ridiculous.”
It was an unprecedented event where dozens of ogres poured out through the gate into another dungeon.
But the problem was that the same phenomenon occurred in many other dungeons.
And among them, the dungeon we were in had the least casualties.
“The Lesser Dragon Turtle appeared in a B-rank Minotaur dungeon… The media has been flooded with it. They said there were over seventy casualties… At this rate, the hunters will be wiped out.”
Joo-ah spoke worriedly, and Ha-yoon waved her hand.
“More hunters are awakening than are dying, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Is that a reliable statistic?”
“That’s official data from the Hunter Management Bureau.”
‘What a relief…’
Even so, the gap between the awakened hunters and F-rank hunters was clear, so humanity’s strength was undoubtedly dwindling.
“Even if it’s a Lesser rank, a Dragon Turtle is still an A-rank upper monster. They said all the high-rank hunters were called up. Still, they managed to prevent a dungeon break?”
“I heard Il-hwan’s Ilseom Party was active in that. I think that person is now A-rank.”
“Ilseom is everywhere.”
“Hmph…”
“I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about Ah-rin.”
Since the entrance rules for the dungeon had not changed, we entered directly.
We started exploring towards the boss battle a little faster than yesterday.
Since we couldn’t fight the boss yesterday, I thought about doing a speedrun, but the teammates suggested it wasn’t worth the trouble, so we continued the usual approach.
Having encountered the dungeon once before.
Our companions had grown while overcoming small crises.
Yeon-hee’s summoned creatures and my minions too.
If there were no variables, this dungeon felt dull enough to yawn at.
And so, by three in the afternoon, we arrived at the boss fight as the fourth party.
Surprisingly, the other three teams were parties that had camped out in this dungeon the previous day.
“I feel like it’ll take longer for the other parties.”
It seemed we needed to wait until enough people arrived for the boss battle.
“I see it. It looks more magnificent up close.”
“Wow— That’s the one we only heard about.”
A gigantic wolf enveloped in an impressive aura was waiting for the boss battle to start.
The immense wolf stood ten meters high, equivalent to the height of a three-story apartment.
With its pure white fur and massive horns, the energy it radiated was fitting to be called a spirit beast, and the distorted space and lightning around it were enough to make one kneel in awe.
In fact, the reason we had attempted to enter this dungeon for three days was because of that creature.
‘Despite its appearance resembling an S-rank monster, it’s not truly at that level.’
It meant that there was no need to be overly frightened by its exterior.
However, single boss fights were generally at a higher level than a raid boss fight, so it would still provide ample experience.
“Is that monster the one we have to fight…”
“Truly a monster worthy of a boss fight.”
“It’s enormous. Bigger than the Lizardman boss.”
“Comparing it to such trash is an insult to that wolf.”
“That tail looks so fluffy… I wanna touch it…”
“Eun-young unnie, saying that in this situation.”
‘Everyone seems to have a relaxed demeanor.’
The number of participants was as high as one hundred.
Unless they had decent resistance, anyone attacked by that thing would be unable to fight for some time. Skills should absolutely not be hit.
While waiting for the hundred participants to gather, I moved to another area to deal with Big Boars, Prosphidi, and Hanjaring to pass the time.
Those hidden monsters were hard for other hunters to spot, but they were clear to my senses, so I swept away all the food in the area.
After about forty minutes, finally, the gathered one hundred entered the area where the boss battle was going to start.
The moment we stepped inside, the huge shadow of the wolf cast on the ground made us look up instinctively.
“Let’s, let’s begin.”
“Do we really not need to call Castle and Sword Dragon?”
“It feels too protective, so that’s only for exceptional situations.”
We fought without Yeon-hee’s top-tier summoned creatures.
Of course, it was at the request of my teammates.
Rumble!
Dozens of lightning bolts, about the size of a human torso, erupted from the Dire Wolf’s horn and struck the ground.
– Oooooh!!
– Be careful; once you’re stunned by that creature, even dispelling won’t work!!
– Il-young, fall back, and shields forward!
The hunters who entered with us could hardly manage anything against the Dire Wolf’s overwhelming destructive power, focusing solely on defense.
In fact, the correct strategy was to exhaust its mana while defending, then defeat it.
But we were different.
Our relatively low-defense companions had to bolster their defenses with summoned creatures, while the rest rushed to attack the monster.
The scene of Alpha Rakan, Dotti, and dozens of Lizardmen surrounding and attacking the wolf was truly magnificent, with even the boss monster shuddering at the destructive force.
Only the sounds of the battle filled the air, rattling our senses.
Boom!
The sound effects like a raging storm continued for several minutes, and I observed not just our party but all the hunters from above, prioritizing support for those who looked in danger.
And the last blow fell to ‘Alpha Rakan,’ who had challenged me in the morning.
Crack—
Rakan’s attack nearly split the wolf’s head in half, a creature so enormous its arms couldn’t reach.
– What kind of monster is that!
– Isn’t the summoned creature stronger than its master?
– The ability to control strong summons is Yeon-hee’s skill, so what nonsense are you saying, Jae-young…
– I thought the skeleton up in the sky was the only one strong. Yeon-hee is indeed a monster.
– They say she’s a prime candidate for the next S-rank Hunter. Truly impressive.
The people who fought alongside us looked half-crazed as they witnessed the summoned creatures’ efforts.
Especially the fact that Alpha Rakan brought such destructive power purely through physicality surprised me once again.
Boom!
Eventually, the massive Dire Wolf fell to a group lynch.
– You contributed to defeating the Dire Wolf Mutant!
They allocated the spoils according to contribution, and naturally, our party monopolized the top ranks.
– If it’s that strong, please just get away from the top…
– Let us live a little.
As we swept up all the mana stones and runes, complaints erupted from here and there.
But since a small reward was given to all hunters who cleared the boss battle from C-rank up, it was merely a small grievance.
I skinned the Dire Wolf’s hide and cut off about half to throw to other party members.
‘If I want the rewards to be sorted properly, I need to handle some criticism.’
In that instant, the hunters began to bicker over who’d claim the spoils.
Inevitably, disputes were bound to arise.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
