Ch.143Weekend Work for Everyone – 2

“Hana! Barrier on the flank!”

“Yes, Examiner! Ice Wall!”

“Dasom, you must protect yourself at all costs. If you get hurt, we’re in serious trouble!”

“Understood!”

“Soohyun. Stay close to these two. Got it?”

Originally, my plan was to put Soohyun at the front while I watched over everyone.

After all, the ones who need to grow in this dungeon are these friends, not me.

That’s why I volunteered for this B-rank dungeon with a decent level of difficulty.

But now the situation was different. Completely different.

“How are you holding up? Can you manage?!”

“This is way better than getting hit by you, Examiner!”

BOOM BOOM CRASH!—

Hyunwoo Lee smiles as he deflects countless claws raining down from beyond the fog.

One small mistake and he’d be covered in long bloody gashes—he really has nerves of steel.

This is a good thing. When the vanguard shows fear, that fear tends to spread to the rear.

KYAAK! KUHUNG!—

“Examiner. It seems they keep coming. What should we do?”

“Keep moving for now! If we stay still because we can’t see, we’ll be completely surrounded! Hana! Whenever you have mana to spare, use flash magic to check our surroundings! No need to overdo it! Just enough for Hyunwoo to see what’s nearby!”

“Understood! Light!”

A bright white flash erupts from Hana Kang’s hand, briefly illuminating beyond the fog.

Thanks to this, our completely blocked vision expanded, if only by a little.

And beyond that, I could confirm there was a hill with some elevation.

“Hyunwoo! Head toward the hill ahead! On higher ground, the fog should be thinner and those creatures will have limited angles of attack! I’ll cover the flanks, so focus solely on breaking through ahead!”

“Confirmed! I’ll pick up the pace, so everyone keep up with me! HYAAAH!!”

Hyunwoo advances forward, swinging his sword in all directions like a windmill.

Before the distance could widen, we hurried to close the gap.

KURHUNG!—

Howls echo from beyond the fog again.

Their numbers are increasing. If we delay any longer, we’ll be completely surrounded.

This damned fog blocking our vision is a serious problem.

“Everyone run to the hill!”

“What about you, Examiner?!”

“Don’t worry about me, just go!”

At this point, it’s better to prevent them from approaching at all.

After sending Hana Kang, Dasom Yoo, and Soohyun up, I pulled my sword inward.

When I felt a faint wind gather along the blade, I immediately thrust it forward.

KWAGWAGWA—

KIENG! KURHUNG!—

Since I can’t see, it’s hard to deliver fatal blows. But slowing them down is enough.

As their presence receded slightly, I turned and caught up with the others who had gone ahead.

‘Shit. How did things get so messed up?’

Biting my lip, I recalled what happened 30 minutes ago.

“This is the place.”

The dispatcher who guided us to the entrance gestured.

There was a dungeon guarded by several ability users waiting for us.

Plus, there were several other dungeons in the vicinity.

“So this is the Dire Wolf dungeon.”

“Yes, Ms. Kang Hana.”

The dispatcher points to Hana Kang and continues.

“Be careful. After the Monster Cataclysm, reports say the Dire Wolves aren’t what they used to be. Originally, once you took down the elite ones that charged first, the rest would be quite manageable, but now almost all of them have reached the level of the boss’s royal guards.”

As a member of the Magic Tower Clan, he seems concerned about the clan master’s daughter.

No matter how well she does at the Academy as a Plat rank, outside she’s at best B-rank.

This dungeon is supposedly at that B-rank level, but whether that’s still true is unknown.

From the dispatcher’s perspective, he couldn’t shake his uneasiness.

“Just recently, members from another clan barely completed the subjugation after taking casualties. According to them, the usual approach with a small number of B-rank personnel won’t be enough.”

The dispatcher glances at us as he says this.

Unlike Hana Kang who’s rated B-rank, the others are still below that.

That includes Hyunwoo and Soohyun, and even Dasom Yoo who’s Gold rank.

Of course, Gold can reach up to B-rank level, but it’s not guaranteed.

“Well, having a reliable ally does put my mind at ease.”

The dispatcher makes eye contact with me and smiles brightly.

If I weren’t here, he probably would have advised against this dungeon.

“Seojin Baek, right? It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Honor is too much. You’re making me uncomfortable.”

“I say that because you’re quite famous. The clan master specifically asked me to take care of you. Honestly, you make me more nervous than Ms. Kang Hana.”

I just asked for a reasonably difficult dungeon, that’s all.

What did that guy say to make him interpret it as needing special care?

“Dungeon reaction is increasing.”

“I have much more to discuss, but we’ll have to stop here. I leave it in your hands, Mr. Baek. These days, the injury rate for ability users has been rising exponentially. Everyone’s worried.”

“I understand. We’ll come back in one piece, so don’t worry unnecessarily.”

SHAAAA—

As soon as we finished our greetings, the entrance to the dungeon opened.

If we don’t complete the subjugation in time, monsters will pour out.

In the early days of gate appearances, this turned the whole country into a wasteland.

That’s why the government pushes clans so aggressively to subjugate dungeons.

With gates appearing that ignore suppressors and monsters becoming much stronger, they’re desperate.

If dungeons start acting up too, it would truly be the return of “catastrophe.”

“Alright team, let’s get to work!”

Hyunwoo, who was in front, cheerfully shouts and disappears into the dungeon first.

He doesn’t seem to mind working on weekends. Not normal, anyway.

*

I didn’t know then. The abnormal one wasn’t just Hyunwoo.

We were told it was just an ordinary dungeon with no special characteristics.

But as soon as we entered, we were greeted by fog so thick we couldn’t see an inch ahead.

I immediately sensed something was wrong.

Nothing in the dispatcher’s briefing mentioned being careful of fog.

When that thought hit me, two possibilities came to mind.

One, the dispatcher lied to us. He gave us false information.

Two, even dungeon environments have started changing randomly.

“Hana. That dispatcher, he’s trustworthy, right?”

“Yes. He’s worked under my father for a very long time.”

Inbeom Kang has a good eye for people. And so does Hana Kang.

If neither of them saw anything suspicious, he’s probably not a traitor.

That narrows it down to one possibility.

A dungeon that was perfectly normal until recently changed today.

‘Just my rotten luck. Why today of all days?’

But shortly after, I realized that was an understatement.

I shouldn’t have complained about bad luck then. Damn it.

“T-these don’t look like Dire Wolves?!”

As Dasom Yoo said, the monsters attacking from beyond the fog weren’t Dire Wolves.

Their shapes were blurry, but they looked nothing like wolves.

And soon, Hana Kang’s near-scream reached my ears.

“Fog Tigers! W-why are they here?”

SWOOSH!—

Yikes. I almost got injured before Hyunwoo.

As an examiner, I couldn’t show my face if I got hurt before a Bronze-ranked student.

‘These damn cat bastards!’

I swing my sword through the impenetrable fog.

Visually, there’s nothing but hazy mist.

But when my sword falls, a “KEENG!” scream is heard from within.

I didn’t cut it in half, but I definitely felt the blade connect.

It will probably retreat from the frontline and collapse from blood loss.

“They’re going around back! Soohyun! Get ready!”

“Got it!”

At Hyunwoo’s shout, Soohyun smoothly thrusts her sword behind her.

With a sad “KURHUNG!” sound, the creature’s body is pulled out.

Fog Tiger. Despite “tiger” in the name, it’s much smaller than a real tiger.

But its danger is disproportionate to its size, hence the “tiger” designation.

True to their name, they hide their bodies in the fog and attack.

Their front legs are extremely long, allowing them to reach out like human arms and swipe with their claws.

Otherwise, they grab prey and drag them into the fog to devour them instantly.

Fog Tigers aren’t higher ranked than Dire Wolves. They’re also B-rank.

The problem is, we weren’t told Fog Tigers would appear in this dungeon.

We had been focusing only on Dire Wolves since that’s all we expected.

Less than five minutes after entering the dungeon, fog suddenly appeared and this happened.

Even I’m very confused, so I can only imagine how the others feel.

Of course, if I went all out, clearing this dungeon wouldn’t be that difficult.

But why are we here? To improve the team members’ practical abilities.

And to enhance their cooperative play.

‘The Silver Gatekeeper ability not activating is probably for that reason too.’

Right now, carrying the team is less important than letting them develop.

Both the Gatekeeper trait and The Third Eye seem to recognize this.

“Ice Spear!”

“Junior! Step back a bit!”

“Cover the gap, Soohyun!”

And the team members seem to read my thoughts, approaching the battle accordingly.

The cooperation skills they showed during the Academy gate incident have improved.

When Hyunwoo gets injured, Dasom Yoo immediately approaches while Soohyun temporarily fills the gap.

Meanwhile, Hana Kang uses powerful area magic to restrict approaches and buy time.

Then Hyunwoo returns to the front, and the formation returns to normal.

‘Not bad. Actually, this is really good.’

Yes, at this rate, I can feel confident about the next trial.

KUGUGU!—

Something more intimidating than the usual Fog Tiger was approaching from beyond the mist.