Ch.144Weekend Work for Everyone – 3

“Just to let you know in advance. Please don’t rely on me too much once we’re inside.”

That’s what the Sole Arbiter said right before we entered the dungeon.

He added that it might feel disappointing, but asked for our understanding.

But no one—not me, not Soohyun, not Dasom, and not even Hyunwoo Lee—showed any sign of disappointment at his words.

Rather, Hyunwoo Lee let out a sigh of relief, as if thankful.

‘That’s a relief.’

Yes, it truly was a relief. Honestly, I had been worried about it.

The Sole Arbiter’s level has now surpassed even A-grade.

Although his grade measurement still shows B-grade, they say.

No one actually believed that was true.

Father seemed convinced of this as well.

That’s why he told me to learn as much as possible from the Sole Arbiter.

Even though our classes are different, he said I would definitely gain something!

That’s why I was worried. Because the Sole Arbiter is such a good person.

It would be troublesome if he swept through everything alone in the dungeon for our sake.

We need to gain something too.

Beyond just material things, we need foundations for further growth.

One practical experience, one mana operation at a time.

In that situation, he told us not to rely on him too much.

I nodded in agreement with his intention to let us experience and face challenges ourselves—as expected of the Sole Arbiter.

I was simply grateful for how he always looked after us.

‘…But I never expected something this absurd to happen!’

When the Sole Arbiter first suspected our clan’s delegate, it hurt my feelings.

It’s natural to feel that way when a clan member who has been doing their best is under suspicion.

But at the same time, I could understand the Sole Arbiter.

Because what was happening now was absolutely inexplicable!

‘Mist Tigers! There hasn’t been a single report of Mist Tigers appearing in this dungeon?!’

Changes in dungeon environments or monsters are rare, but they do happen occasionally.

However, even those occasional changes occur according to certain patterns.

And when a dungeon’s interior changes, it can naturally be detected from the outside.

But this time, all those patterns were broken.

It wasn’t a change cycle, and this wasn’t even a place where changes had been reported.

Even right before entering, there was no sign of any change!

“Unni! How’s your mana situation?”

“Oh, yes! Still good. I can handle three or four area spells easily. Dasom, how about you?”

“I still have plenty too. I should be able to heal without problems.”

That’s a relief. Dasom’s condition is the most important.

No matter how perfectly Hoobae and Soohyun guard the front and rear.

Inevitably, minor injuries will occur.

Healing those injuries quickly and properly is the most crucial step in dungeon conquest.

“Hoobae! Is your arm that got hurt earlier okay?”

“It’s perfectly fine! Senior Dasom Yoo healed it completely! Ahaha!!”

The mist is still thick, and Mist Tigers are howling at the bottom of the hill.

Even in this situation, Hoobae showed no sign of intimidation.

I’m not the only one drawing courage from that. Dasom too, and Soohyun…

Ah, maybe Soohyun gets hers from the Sole Arbiter rather than Hoobae?

“Everyone.”

At that moment, the Sole Arbiter, who had been quietly dealing with the Mist Tigers beside us, spoke up.

“It seems a larger one is approaching.”

“What? …Oh, no! By larger one, do you mean!”

The Sole Arbiter nodded in response to Dasom’s question.

A larger one. At those words, I immediately turned to examine the mist below the hill.

Then I began to sense a different, though faint, mana presence from within.

“It seems Hana has noticed too. What do you think?”

“It must be the boss. So that’s why the Mist Tigers’ attacks have slowed down.”

“That could be, or it might be because they’ve taken too much damage. Anyway.”

Sling—

The Sole Arbiter adjusted his grip on his sword and smiled slightly.

“Let’s do our best again, like last time. It should be better than that wave of corpses we faced before, so don’t be too tense. If you just avoid mistakes and keep up what you’ve been doing, we’ll be fine.”

*

The boss will be much more dangerous than the Mist Tigers we’ve faced so far.

With a tense face, Unni Hana wraps mana around her fingertips.

“Soohyun. Be careful.”

I’m always grateful for Unni’s concern.

But this time, rather than being careful, I wanted to push myself a little harder.

The Sole Arbiter is right beside us. I need to show him.

How much stronger I’ve become, how much I’ve grown.

My goal was to prove that I can now stay by his side.

Kuheheung!—

A dark shadow appeared in front and suddenly leaped high into the air.

It seems to be aiming for our rear while keeping its sight fixed on the front, but that won’t work.

The Sole Arbiter trusted me with the rear, and I absolutely cannot fail!

Though I couldn’t see clearly, I raised my sword as my body moved forward.

Then I thrust hard through the hazy mist, and a familiar sensation transmitted to my hand.

Pook!—

It’s not deep. If I had been just a bit faster, I could have cut through its hide completely.

Checking my sword, I saw only a slight trace of blood—not enough to cause significant damage.

“Soohyun!? H-how did you do that?”

From my perspective, it was a disappointing and unsatisfactory attack.

But in Unni Hana’s eyes, it seemed quite impressive.

“It’s nothing. Focus, Unni.”

“Oh… y-yes! Sorry!”

You shouldn’t be impressed by something like this. It’s embarrassing in front of the Sole Arbiter.

If I was going to attack, I should have inflicted a serious wound on the boss from the start.

Then it would have been the Sole Arbiter who was impressed, not Unni Hana.

As that thought crossed my mind, I suddenly felt frustrated.

If only I had done it properly, Kim Soohyun. Why couldn’t you do it right?

Do it properly. You absolutely cannot let your guard down.

That woman, Rina Lee, is hovering around the Sole Arbiter.

She possesses overwhelming power that I can’t even dream of matching right now.

She’s constantly looking for opportunities to take my Sole Arbiter away.

In such a situation, falling behind even slightly means I can’t keep the Sole Arbiter.

I closed my eyes. With all this mist, vision doesn’t mean much anyway.

It’s far better to heighten my other senses to their limits.

Only then can I make up for that disappointing strike!

Sasasa!—

I can hear it. From beyond the mist, the footsteps of the boss targeting us.

I can feel it. The breath of the monster ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness.

‘Right side.’

At first I thought it was coming from behind, but its position had changed.

And Senior Dasom Yoo was standing in that direction.

It must have instinctively targeted the one receiving protection first.

I would have preferred to warn her first, but there was no time.

“Eek!?”

I gently pushed the senior aside while swinging my sword again.

From bottom to top, left to right. This time to inflict definite damage.

Skat!—

The sensation from my sword was extremely unsatisfying.

I failed to cut cleanly again. I tried to slash its belly but only managed to cut its leg a bit.

“Ah! N-nice! Soohyun! Thank you!”

Senior Dasom Yoo seems pleased with just that, but I’m not.

I bit my lip until it bled. That’s the second mistake already. This isn’t good enough!

“Ice Spear!”

What’s more, Unni Hana landed her spell perfectly.

She targeted that moment when the boss’s air time was extended as it tried to avoid my attack.

Kuheung!—

At the boss’s scream, Unni Hana and Senior Dasom Yoo clenched their fists saying, “Great!”

But I wasn’t pleased at all. Rather, I felt even more pathetic about myself.

What’s the point of noticing first if I can’t inflict any meaningful damage?

“Soohyun!”

At that moment, I instinctively turned at the sound of Hyunwoo Lee calling my name.

There I saw Hyunwoo Lee narrowly avoiding the boss’s attack.

Why would he call me in a life-or-death situation?

My sword, my hand, my instinct answered that question for me.

Chwaaak!—

Was it just coincidence? Or was it intentional?

Thanks to Hyunwoo Lee’s narrow escape, the boss came directly toward me.

To escape into the mist, it had to pass right by me.

In that situation, my job was to cut down the creature with all my might.

“Nice! Comrade!”

Hyunwoo Lee raised his hand in celebration.

I looked at him briefly before focusing again on the boss in the mist.

…Thank you, Hyunwoo. Thank you, comrade. Thanks to you, the Sole Arbiter smiled too.

*

Wow. They’re fighting much better than I expected.

The boss I sense through the mist is at least an A-grade monster.

I told them not to rely on me, but my hands are actually trembling.

Should I step in or not? Should I hold back or not? I was torn.

I’m trying my best to restrain myself for the sake of the team members’ growth.

Practical experience is an irreplaceable resource.

How fortunate they are not to have to fight an Elder from the start like I did!

But what if my consideration becomes greed instead?

What if someone gets injured because of it? What should I do then?

These thoughts made me restless without even realizing it.

“Kut!”

A long line of blood appears on Soohyun’s shoulder from the boss’s claws.

Immediately, Dasom rushes over to heal her.

The reason she can do this despite the possibility of another attack from the boss:

“Ice Wall!”

This time, an attack targeting Dasom is thwarted by Hana Kang’s magic.

And Hyunwoo Lee, who rushed in right after, quickly cuts off the creature’s front leg.

Clearly, the boss is the one ambushing from the mist.

Yet the one accumulating injuries is not the ambushed party but the ambusher.

It seems they’ve all adapted quickly after dealing with the Mist Tigers.

‘Maybe I… don’t need to step in?’

I was planning to let them handle it and only step in when they got tired.

But at this rate, it seems fine to remain silent.

Woong!—

At least until I felt that slight tremor on my skin.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

This is a bit much. Now there’s not just one boss but two?

I was aware of monster mutations and gate incidents.

But even I didn’t know a dungeon could have two bosses.

I clicked my tongue and turned toward the other boss that was targeting the team from behind.

Fortunately, only the individual is different—not an entirely different monster.

Another boss Mist Tiger. That means I can handle it from my position.

‘Since it’s come to this, maybe I’ll try out a new technique.’

I recently succeeded in gathering and fusing fragments of something that was broken in a previous battle.

It would have been quite unfortunate if it was single-use, so this is fortunate, I suppose?

Come on, boss friend. First time facing an Elder’s power?

Puhwak!—

Blood sprays through the mist.

And at that spot, a dark shadow writhes.

Hmm, maybe I should take a few more from Sujin Hyun next time I see her.