Chapter 60. FLUKE (2)
But there was no time to think anymore.
Even at this moment, the situation was moving quickly.
Guh!
Zzap!
A chilling ice pillar erupted from the ground.
The cultists used ice to alter the dungeon’s terrain, mercilessly pushing their opponent back.
The Awakened levels of these believers were A, C, and C.
With only one other Awakened at the same level as them.
Still, Ahn Yoon-seung couldn’t catch a break. He simply didn’t have any proper attack skills…!
‘The range difference is too vast!’
It was bound to be hard to face a Hunter who was using such a broad skill with just a blunt weapon.
‘Ugh.’
Kim Gi-ryeo watched Yoon-seung, who was struggling in battle, with anxious eyes and braced his legs.
Even in this chaos, his frozen feet wouldn’t budge.
“G-Gi-ryeo hyung! Please help me…?!”
Ahn Yoon-seung turned around with a panic-stricken face, getting pummeled by their assault.
But Gi-ryeo had nothing specific to say to him.
‘What the hell can I do as an F-Class?’
Even if he joined the fight, it wouldn’t help.
Gi-ryeo shook his head, indicating not to expect anything from him.
Then Ahn Yoon-seung gasped as if he realized something.
‘He’s hesitating to engage because he might kill a person!’
Typically, stronger Awakened could easily kill someone with even the smallest mistake.
“Ah, I understand! Then for now, I’ll do my best to…!”
Ahn Yoon-seung, looking flustered, forced himself to confront the attackers.
But wait a minute.
Now that he looked closely, the 3:1 odds didn’t seem that bad.
Pfft!
Someone’s body flew backward.
It was Yoon-seung’s tackle. By just raising his shield and colliding with the opponent, he delivered significant force.
“Ugh!”
Thud!
The C-Class Awakened from the Nachalsawon faction fainted upon hitting the wall.
Only 2 remained.
‘After defeating so many golems… how are they still okay?’
The thieves gulped as they watched the wild Yoon-seung.
Nothing was going as planned.
Typically, stealing meant the opponent was exhausted from fighting monsters.
Bang!
“Ugh!”
Ahn Yoon-seung was still in unexpectedly good shape.
On top of that, with the elite guild Neo Sisters backing him, it was quite overwhelming, even against Hunters of equal rank.
‘It can’t be helped.’
The cultists exchanged glances momentarily.
Then they took something out of their pockets.
‘What’s in that pouch?’
The question was fleeting.
Hmph!
They threw the items they pulled from their pockets towards Yoon-seung.
Then, the thinly wrapped powder burst in the air, sticking to Yoon-seung’s body.
‘Is this some kind of knockout item?’
He had seen a scene like this before and felt a bit worried. Fortunately, the powder’s effect was far from what Gi-ryeo had envisioned.
No, actually.
It would have been better if it were a knockout drug.
“I’m losing my mind.”
Rumble.
Gi-ryeo’s senses sharpened at the noise faintly echoing from beyond the corridor.
As if a four-legged beast were galloping…
Kaaaaaar!
And sure enough.
Not long after, a gigantic monster appeared in the golden room.
‘A gorilla?’
Huge fists.
Developed upper body.
Its arm muscles were so much overpowering that its lower body looked ridiculously slim.
[Grid]
[Grade: A]
The boss of this dungeon burst forth from its chamber.
In other words, the identity of the powder they threw was…
“Grrr…”
“Yoon Seung-ah! Run!”
A monster-luring scent!
Gi-ryeo quickly realized the attackers’ intent and shouted to Yoon-seung.
But fleeing with two enemies in front of him wasn’t exactly a piece of cake.
“Wait, ugh!”
Yoon-seung attempted to escape clumsily but ended up getting caught by the ice magic binding his legs.
Creak.
By the time the white frost covered his body,
the frenzied giant monster lunged at Yoon-seung.
“Aaah!”
Oh right, Grid was also a type of golem.
The issue was that this biological golem was quite advanced, and it would take time to figure out how to stop it.
‘Damn it. I brought him here to overcome his trauma, and it’s only going to get worse!’
Gi-ryeo braced himself for his skin to be ripped and pulled his legs free.
He finally broke the grip of ice, but it didn’t matter much.
‘Oh no!’
Ahn Yoon-seung was just knocked down by the boss monster.
Guh!
Thud!
After taking a body slam, Ahn Yoon-seung struggled to get up.
Seeing this, Gi-ryeo hastily popped a mana booster into his mouth.
Now what good would it do for an F-Class to jump in anyway, but he had to at least avoid the worst-case scenario.
“What?! He got out of the ice already…!”
Just when the ice mage was about to shout in surprise.
Gi-ryeo stretched out his hand and activated a spell. It was a simple water magic.
“Ugh!”
Splash!
As a torrent of water poured over Ahn Yoon-seung’s head,
“Grrrrr?”
And indeed, as the powder covering Ahn Yoon-seung was washed away, the boss’s actions came to an abrupt halt.
“Grr! Grr!”
With the traces of the magic tool that was stimulating it suddenly fading, it couldn’t help but be confused.
‘Water-type Awakened?’
Swallow.
The cultist, who had been holding his breath to avoid attracting the boss’s attention, gulped nervously.
Did they barely manage to deal with Yoon-seung, and now this hunter who had been staying quiet was stepping in?
‘What rank is that guy? I can’t feel any magic power from him at all!’
Normally, this luring scent alone would have been sufficient.
But they had overrun the gate within an hour, leaving too few monsters attracted by the scent.
Plus, one side was using water-type skills.
No matter how many times they threw it, the powder would be washed away…
“Ah, uh!”
But at that moment.
Crunch!
While they were lost in thought,
next to them, the C-Class cultist sprinkled more powder on Kim Gi-ryeo.
Much to the ice mage’s dismay. How much was that worth?!
“Hey! No matter how much you sprinkle it, it’ll be washed away in no time! What are you doing?”
“B-but! The monster was looking this way, and I panicked!”
Grid puffed out his breath, glancing around, finally locking onto a new target.
“No, but still…!”
But that person.
Why wasn’t he washing off the luring scent this time?
“…”
The blond hunter covered in powder quietly gazed up at the boss with his third eye.
‘Did he have one more set of that powder…?’
Just so you know.
Kim Gi-ryeo had exhausted all his magic creating water to wash off Ahn Yoon-seung and could no longer produce any more.
“G-Gi-ryeo… hyung?”
Inhale.
He took a deep breath. Then left one final message.
“Yoon Seung-ah, you quickly drink a health potion during this opening.”
“Uh?”
Just as he finished his sentence, the enraged Grid began to rampage.
“W-W-Woo!”
Crash!
Gi-ryeo immediately distanced himself from Yoon-seung, as Grid swung his fists at the oncoming target.
Thud!
With every blow from the boss monster, the beautiful golden walls of the dungeon were chaotically destroyed.
But who cares about gold right now? Someone’s life was at stake.
‘Hraaaak!’
Thud!
Fortunately, the good news was that Grid’s massive size made him slow.
“Ugh. I really can’t do anything unless my hyung helps….”
While Gi-ryeo distracted the boss, Ahn Yoon-seung finally completed his health recovery.
The thief exclaimed in shock.
“Why hasn’t he washed that off right away?! That madman! Is he really trying to take on the boss by himself?!”
To this, Yoon-seung replied,
“You guys should feel lucky. Do you have any idea how much he’s holding back right now?”
“What?”
“He’s holding back because he’s afraid of killing someone!”
In other words, they should back off before they crossed the line.
Ahn Yoon-seung gave the attackers in front of him a sympathetic look.
The steady expression on his face and his unwavering faith gradually threw the thieves into confusion.
‘Save me!’
Of course, they weren’t as confused as this side’s situation.
‘If I get hit even once, I’m dead for real!’
Thud! Thud!
Gi-ryeo continued his dizzying game of tag.
The human body was small and quick.
The monster gorilla found it hard to change direction due to its weight, so Gi-ryeo managed to hold out somehow.
Guh!
Rumble…
But since the prey wasn’t being caught, did the boss get angry?
In that moment.
Grid, the master of the gate, activated his unique ability.
‘What the hell?’
One side of the dungeon crumbled, and the void filled the space.
Gi-ryeo abruptly halted his escape, realizing the path was cut off.
‘Ugh.’
Whooooooosh.
The sound of a fierce wind echoed from the other side of the cliff.
He didn’t even need to look down to know.
If he fell, he would die.
‘Damn it.’
Without hesitation, Gi-ryeo turned to escape another way.
“Goooaaaaar!”
However, every time Grid roared, the abyss mercilessly widened.
There was less and less room to escape.
He felt like a warrior driven into a coliseum.
‘What’s Ahn Yoon-seung doing? Hurry up and take them down!’
The only escape route was through the northern corridor they had entered, but wasn’t that blocked by the thieves?
—Ice Field!
As if things couldn’t get worse.
A shabby incantation flowed from the corridor.
The ice mage was spreading magic everywhere to bind Ahn Yoon-seung’s legs.
‘The whole place is an ice rink!’
The passageway was frozen so smoothly like a mirror.
If he stumbled and fell in such a tense situation…
‘I’d be in big trouble.’
Thud!
A chilling thought surged through his mind.
The alien in the guise of Kim Gi-ryeo gritted his teeth and ran.
Why was he so unfortunate?
All he wanted was to earn some money today.
“Haah, haah!”
But regrettably, his misfortune peaked soon after.
‘Crap, the room…!’
Growl…
Another collapse occurred with Grid’s roar.
This destruction was fatal.
With no time to turn, the southern end of the dungeon suddenly vanished.
“Ah.”
By the time he turned around, he was already cornered by Grid.
The giant monster swung its massive paw aimed at where Gi-ryeo stood.
Yet, even if the sky fell, there had to be an escape.
‘The bottom is clear!’
Just as the attack was about to come down,
Gi-ryeo dashed forward, burrowing into the monster’s frame.
Originally, he planned to slip past the monster like this.
‘Ha! You foolish gorilla!’
But then.
Slippery!
With a deflating sound, a chilling sensation surged through his bloodstream.
“Oops.”
As he realized the room had become too small, it became hard to find a spot without ice.
“…….”
Gi-ryeo was struck by fear.
He had been so focused on escaping that he didn’t check his feet.
As a result, he slid down the icy path laid by the enemy and.
‘Huh!’
But wait.
His fall, due to slipping on the ice, actually allowed him to dodge the monster’s attack.
Woosh!
The monster’s fist narrowly brushed past his nose.
Had he not stepped on the ice, his head would have surely exploded.
‘Phew.’
Just as he was relieved.
Gi-ryeo’s foot grazed Grid’s left leg.
Thud!
With the added acceleration, ramming into an A-Class monster meant that his ankle would break.
‘Ugh! I got hurt. What good would this contact accident do to a golem…?’
While pondering this, Gi-ryeo quickly shut his mouth.
“Goooaaar!”
Right after that.
The massive beast tipped forward and tumbled straight into the endless abyss below.
‘Huh?’
Let’s summarize again.
Grid was a monster with an upper body grotesquely developed.
When he attacked, his weight shifted forward.
Relatively weak legs had just been on the icy surface.
Roar…
Oo… O…
O…
In that moment, Grid’s legs felt a weight from Kim Gi-ryeo.
It wasn’t intentional.
He simply slid, and his toes happened to stop there.
From then on, physics applied naturally.
Whether it was an A-Class or a B-Class.
The coefficient of friction affected them equally.
“Hmm.”
By accidentally sliding on the ice.
The monster swung wildly above it.
As the monster’s stance became unstable, he delivered a kick, making the monster nosedive into the abyss.
‘Uh…’
Gi-ryeo watched the darkness with a bewildered expression.
Then something suddenly rose before him.
Flare.
A mysterious object bathed in pale light…
‘No, am I really going to die like this?’
The reward for defeating the boss.
Grid died, and the gate recognized Kim Gi-ryeo as the top contributor to the hunt.
