Chapter 6

‘Hellish Lee Sooah Team’

As I saw the Medusa creeping closer, the word resurfaced in my mind.

‘Is this why they called it hell?’

Certainly, other hunters could feel the fear.

The anxiety that made it hard to breathe.

‘Damn it. How did it come to this? I’ve never dealt with a Medusa before.’

‘Because of that damn Chae Suhyeon.’

Suddenly, anger surged within me.

If everything had gone according to plan, I should have been celebrating Chae Suhyeon’s S-Rank first place today and then shaking off the hardships with a wild night.

But I ended up joining the Blue Guild, unexpectedly, due to a heavy blow to the back of my head (backstabbing).

And now, I found myself in this situation.

‘Damn it. This is infuriating.’

‘This sucks.’

It was frustrating that my life plans had gone awry, but I was even more furious that Chae Suhyeon seemed to have pushed me into this predicament directly.

I recalled her laughing and holding Lee Jinhyeok’s hand at the press conference.

‘Damn it.’

‘I will survive no matter what.’

I gritted my teeth.

I flinched as I tried to step up against the Medusa.

“Stay back. An E-Rank has no chance.”

The Hunter Lee Sooah quickly placed her hand on my chest, blocking me.

Swoosh.

A nauseating sound echoed as the Medusas swiftly approached.

‘Let’s see. First, let’s check the information.’

It was slightly different from what I had thought.

I used to believe that making eye contact would turn you to stone, but that wasn’t the case in the dungeon.

Instead, they were incredibly fast, and if you triggered a skill within a certain range, you’d immediately turn to stone.

How do you take down a Medusa?

– You need to max out your resistance skill. They’re too fast to catch. I’ve seen many who thought they could take them on and ended up dead.

– That thing is incredibly fast. You definitely can’t capture it. You’d need to pour several thousand points into agility. Just invest in resistance points.

– The more you attack, the faster it gets. You can never catch up, so make sure to focus on resistance skills. Don’t bother being stupid.

According to the information on the internet, everyone unanimously agreed that resistance skills were essential.

The atmosphere seemed to convey that there was no solution without it.

“Look at this. It seems like I have to step up.”

I leveled up my skill right away and started assessing the situation to see what I should do.

If I didn’t take action, everyone would surely turn to stone.

Even the Hunter Lee Sooah here.

I glanced at Sooah.

She had a pained expression on her face.

It seemed like she felt she couldn’t step up personally due to the circumstances.

“Is she just going to command from the back?”

From what I had heard, most S-Rank Hunters couldn’t actively engage in dungeons anymore due to mental abnormalities.

“That would be about the same as having nothing.”

Swoosh.

While I was deep in thought and preparation, Medusa finally began to attack.

Flash.

A sickening green light spread out.

And then, the Hunters nearby immediately turned to stone.

“Ah, f*ck!!!! Everyone… Get away! This is an impossible speed to handle.”

Everyone seemed to have been well-prepared, but just like what I had seen on the internet, they turned to stone before they could even do anything.

“Ugh. That f*cking b*tch. If only they didn’t have that skill, we’d be fine.”

One Hunter cried out in despair.

He was right.

Besides turning people to stone, they were known to have no other offensive abilities.

However, it was said that after turning someone to stone, Medusa would destroy them so they couldn’t be restored.

Uwaaaah.

Screams echoed from all directions simultaneously.

Of course, most of those screams couldn’t continue until the end.

They turned to stone.

Due to the cave-like structure of the dungeon, the screams reverberated, creating an even creepier atmosphere.

It felt like a scene of collective torture.

In a short time, about 10% of the Hunters had turned to stone.

And they were quickly moving closer to us, tightening the noose.

“Hah. External help…”

“We managed to get in touch, but it might take some time.”

“Ugh. What the hell is the Dungeon Management Bureau doing?”

Lee Sooah, with a deeply furrowed brow, expressed her irritation.

“Ms. Sooah. Just a moment. I think I need to take a shot at this.”

I had no choice but to step up. It was inhuman to just stand idly by in the face of this horrific sight.

“Jihoon! Stop! Don’t get involved!”

It seemed that they were trying to hold me back, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that. In that short time, 40% of the Hunters had already turned to stone.

‘I definitely leveled up my resistance skill. Then it’s practically invincible. My base stats aren’t bad either.’

I pulled out a decent sword from my inventory.

In fact, calling it decent was somewhat comical. It could only be considered a basic sword in gaming terms.

“Oppa, you don’t need to invest much in weapons anyway, right? I just need to succeed first. It’s better for you to invest in me quickly. Let’s not waste investments.”

“Other guys seem to fight well with this, don’t they? You should be capable enough too, right? Thank you, Oppa~”

F*cking b*tch.

Every moment, I had no choice but to reflect.

Tatatatatat.

I headed towards the nearest Medusa.

“Jihoon!!!! I said stop!!!!! You might die!!!!”

I could hear Lee Sooah’s desperate cries from behind, trembling in worry.

Uwaaaah!

At the same time, the screams of other Hunters were a chaotic mix. Now, 70% of the Hunters had turned to stone.

‘Shit, this is bad. I need to handle this quickly.’

‘It’s okay. I have my resistance skill.’

Kyaaaah!

The Medusa definitely used its skill, staring right at me. Of course, I felt that it had no effect.

The Medusa’s face showed a hint of panic.

Strangely enough, I saw a glimpse of Chae Suhyeon’s face reflected in the Medusa’s visage.

Was it because I recalled all the times I had suffered at Chae Suhyeon’s hands? I wasn’t sure.

But one thing was clear.

‘Shitheads are the same whether they’re Chae Suhyeon or you.’

In that moment, staring at the Medusa, a strong thought surged through me.

“Yeah. From now on, I’ll have to do it like this when I explore the dungeon.”

With the Medusa in front of me, flustered because my skills weren’t working, I gripped my sword tightly.

Then, as if I were playing golf, I swung at the Medusa’s head with full force, shouting inwardly.

“Goodbye, you f*cking Chae Suhyeon. Damn b*tch.”

Swish.

Her neck was cleanly severed.

As her body quickly hardened into stone, it began to shatter with a strange sound.

“Phew… I think the stress is starting to lift.”

What a tumultuous day it had been.

I had felt joy at Chae Suhyeon’s ranking, then anger due to our breakup, found motivation in joining the Blue Guild, and was flustered by the appearance of a Medusa.

And just a moment ago, it felt incredibly satisfying to have decapitated Chae Suhyeon.

“Not bad.”

I spontaneously said with a light tone, feeling good.

Aaaah!

The screams ringing in the dungeon snapped me back to reality.

This wasn’t the time to be feeling good.

Others were still in danger.

If the people who had already turned to stone were to shatter, it would be horrific.

Tatata-tak.

I began to dash around, beheading the Medusas.

“This b*tch.”

“This damn thing.”

“Get lost.”

“Go away, you f*cking b*tch.”

Had I invested so much time into Chae Suhyeon?

I was filled with deep rage.

With powerful full swings, I slashed at the Medusa’s neck.

I was happily venting my stress.

“Ugh… wh-what…”

“Weren’t you E-Rank…?”

“Th-thank you!!”

The hunters who hadn’t yet turned to stone looked flustered at my appearance, yet simultaneously acted like they had found their savior.

Then, they all naturally began to retreat.

As I frantically dealt with the Medusas, before long, only one remained.

“Come here. Where do you think you’re going?”

The Medusa had initially appeared so confident, but it was clear she was now panicking at the sight of her fallen comrades.

I was slightly trembling, flinching and backing away.

“Hey. Where do you think you’re running? You can’t escape.”

Chae Suhyeon, no, Medusa was curled up in a defensive stance.

Of course, despite using my skills several times, they had no effect on me.

“Keep it up. It won’t work on me.”

Swish.

I dragged my sword across the ground as I approached Medusa.

It felt like it was something I had to do.

As I got closer, Medusa was at a loss for what to do.

“Hey. You worthless bitch. Good riddance.”

After saying my last words to Chae Suhyeon, I sliced her in half.

Watching the remains of Medusa crumble into stone made me feel quite complicated.

“I was really serious about this. Damn it.”

“Did I play with you?”

As I lowered my head, I heard the sound of surviving hunters approaching from behind.

“Um… Jihoon? Are you okay?”

The first voice I heard was from Lee Sooah.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Could you possibly release the hunters who have turned to stone?”

A somewhat polite tone came from another managing hunter.

“Yes.”

I quickly moved around, touching the hunters who had already turned to stone.

Under my touch, they soon returned to their original forms.

“Ugggh… What the… Am I alive?”

“Ahhh… Huh? What’s going on?”

“Oh? What? Did the dungeon management team come?”

“Oh. I… I survived. Wow.”

Those who had returned understood the situation and began to cheer.

“Phew… It was a chaotic situation, but it seems to have ended well.”

I didn’t sweat much, but I wiped my brow slightly.

“Um… Jihoon…?”

Was she following me as I moved around to restore things? I heard Lee Sooah’s voice behind me.

“Uh oh. Did I get too cocky?”