Ch.25Leveling Is Dangerous (1)

In the end, Song Hayeon and Baek Eunha returned to the dungeon via home after riding in the car again.

Baek Eunha’s face had turned pale after being crammed in the narrow car three times, but Song Hayeon’s attitude remained firm.

“…You brought this on yourself.”

“Ugh.”

After verifying their identities at the entrance checkpoint again, the staff member showed a suspicious reaction due to what had happened earlier, but after glancing at Song Hayeon, a B-rank hunter, they approved their entry.

Thus, the two were finally able to enter the D1-rank dungeon.

Whoosh.

Wheeee.

“It smells like wild beasts.”

Song Hayeon was now a professional hunter who could be considered upper-middle tier. She was also skilled at gathering information.

“With terrain like this, I’m guessing we’ll encounter Gray Wolves or Yellow Monkeys?”

Song Hayeon was trying to show off her knowledge, but for some reason, her master kept giving her an annoyed look.

“Um, Master?”

To the slightly dejected Song Hayeon, Baek Eunha said:

“…Take out everything you normally use.”

“Ah, yes!”

Surely she couldn’t be upset just because she had to ride in the car for a while?

Song Hayeon kept glancing at her master as she began summoning undead through the prepared medium.

Whoosh.

“Undead call.”

Poof!

Crick.

Cri-crick.

Undead began to emerge from the ground with bizarre bone-cracking sounds.

Skeleton Warriors, Archers, and more. The sight of these seemingly powerful summons lining up in formation was truly magnificent.

POOF—!

The highlight among them was the Skeleton Masher.

Looking at its blood-red bones and massive body compared to other skeletons, it seemed like even decent hunters wouldn’t stand a chance against it.

“What do you think?”

Song Hayeon looked at Baek Eunha with a confident expression after creating this spectacle.

Surely this level of power wouldn’t fall behind even among B-rank hunters. Her master would definitely be impressed.

But Song Hayeon’s expectations were shattered in an instant.

“…It lacks fundamentals.”

“What? Why?”

From Song Hayeon’s perspective, there was nothing wrong.

The time it took to assemble her forces was short, and the quality of each undead was excellent.

But Baek Eunha walked among the skeletons, then began tapping on the Skeleton Masher’s skull with mana-infused fists.

Tong!

Tong!

Toong!

“…See?”

“Uh… see what?”

When Song Hayeon asked again, not understanding the intention, Baek Eunha replied with a whining tone.

“…The skull is empty.”

Of course the skull is empty—what else would it be? Song Hayeon almost blurted out something rude to her master.

Unaware of Song Hayeon’s thoughts, Baek Eunha gave another instruction.

“…The medium.”

She probably wanted to demonstrate herself. With some doubt, Song Hayeon handed over the medium for the Skeleton Masher she had carefully created.

Thud.

Taking it, Baek Eunha frowned and carefully examined various parts of the bones.

Then she took a stance as if about to cast necromancy.

“……”

But after waiting in that position for about 10 seconds, she sighed deeply and started whining again.

“…There’s no sincerity in the materials. It’s not satisfying.”

Finally, Song Hayeon realized.

‘Ah.’

As she had heard before, Baek Eunha was an old necromancer who had lived for over 100 years in the other world.

In other words, her master was an exceptionally stubborn old-timer.

#

Poof!

Crack.

Cri-crick.

“H-how about this time?”

Song Hayeon definitely had talent. Even in this short time, she showed improvement with each correction.

But from my perspective, it was still far from satisfactory. It would be embarrassing to introduce her as my disciple.

“…That’s not how you do it.”

“Ugh.”

But I decided to stop giving advice.

The conversation was becoming difficult, and because we’d spent too much time near the entrance, the dungeon’s monsters were coming to greet us.

Grrrr.

Kyaong!

“…They’re here.”

As Song Hayeon predicted, the monsters inhabiting this dungeon were a pack of Gray Wolves.

The advance party consisted of five wolves. An easy number to handle.

I stepped forward slightly and gathered my death energy.

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

Of course I didn’t. I had brought Song Hayeon along merely to prevent entry restrictions.

But just as the battle was about to begin, I felt a rising sense of crisis and had to call Song Hayeon again.

“Um, excuse me.”

“Oh! Yes. Should I help after all?”

“Could you… move about 10 meters away where I can’t see you…”

“Ah. Yes.”

At those words, Song Hayeon gave me a pitying look and disappeared from my sight.

Feeling the debuff finally lifted, I quickly took a combat stance.

Kyaaong!

Tap.

Tap.

The first to attack were the two wolves at the front. A coordinated attack from both sides. In response, I began reciting a spell I had prepared.

“Curse Blind.”

Swish!

Kyaong!

Kyeng?

The Gray Wolves that had been baring their fangs stopped in confusion.

Eventually, they seemed to locate me by smell and resumed their attack, but that slight gap was enough.

I stepped aside to avoid their attacks while surrounding my hand with death energy and touched the area near the Gray Wolves’ hearts.

Then, as I lightly uttered a spell, the death energy that flowed into the Gray Wolves’ bodies activated a curse of corrosion.

Keheng!

Kyeng!

Thud.

Two Gray Wolves collapsed and convulsed, with no time to even feel pain.

By the looks of it, their death would be confirmed in about 5 seconds.

After that, it was simple.

“Undead call.”

Whoosh.

Crackle.

Crackle.

[Grrrr.]

[Kruk.]

In an instant, the Gray Wolves, now covered in death energy, were reborn as faithful servants of death.

I didn’t hesitate to give the command.

“Attack.”

[Krrruk.]

Kyeng!

Kehik!

Crunch!

Crunch!

The battle ended quickly. Unlike previous cases, now I could use at least some of my own death energy.

That difference was truly enormous.

“Keeek…”

With the death cry of the large Gray Wolf that had been the pack leader, the battle came to an anticlimactic end.

Song Hayeon, who came running at the sight, wore a shocked expression.

“Wow…”

Seeing that face, I felt smug.

Song Hayeon was also a necromancer, and she must have clearly felt how amazing my skills were from the battle just now.

“Weren’t you Level 1? How is this possible?”

This was exactly the reaction I wanted.

I grinned broadly, feeling all my previous frustrations wash away.

“Heh.”

Achieving maximum efficiency despite having terrible hardware.

Perfect skill.

Champion-level control!

“There’s fur on you.”

Rub.

“Eek!”

Thud!

Lost in self-praise, I collapsed to the ground with an unseemly scream when Song Hayeon suddenly touched the back of my neck.

“D-don’t… touch me…”

“Ah! I-I’m sorry.”

In the suddenly silent dungeon, only an unwelcome notification sound rang out.

Ding.

【Level up!】

#

Lee Seungcheol, an employee of a subsidiary organization of the Association who managed dungeon entry records, watched Baek Eunha and Song Hayeon enter the D1-rank dungeon and thought to himself:

‘They’re going to have a rough time.’

It wasn’t difficult to guess their purpose. Judging by the difference in their ranks, this was probably a one-on-one growth assistance.

It was a method occasionally used among the higher-ups.

‘Those silver spoons.’

But Lee Seungcheol knew the ordeal they would soon face.

‘They all think the same. Just because you’re B-rank, you think you can do everything alone?’

There was always one person every couple of months.

A high-rank hunter coming to conquer a low-rank dungeon alone.

But amusingly, after conquering the dungeon once, they never came back to do the same thing again.

‘They realize it’s tougher than they thought.’

When conquering with a party, each person only needs to focus on their role. But when fighting multiple monsters alone, that becomes impossible.

With the difference in basic specs, they wouldn’t lose, but they certainly couldn’t fight efficiently.

Moreover, dungeon conquest isn’t just about combat. Sometimes you have to navigate mazes and analyze hidden rules using your brain.

Doing all that alone was like voluntarily taking on unnecessary hardship.

So what happens? They end up using all their strength and still taking a long time.

‘That B-rank fighter who came last time didn’t come out until dawn, right?’

He still couldn’t forget that disgusted face when they emerged after entering confidently as if they would finish in an hour.

In the end, those who tried solo conquests as side jobs all realized it wasn’t worth it and returned to their original parties.

The two who just entered would surely follow the same pattern.

‘Wow, neither of them is even a vanguard? You should carry someone when it makes sense to. What are they thinking?’

That settled it.

A woman who didn’t seem particularly skilled in close combat, and a cute girl who had probably never been in a fight in her life.

Even their visible equipment and consumables were pathetically inadequate. Their lack of preparation showed their inexperience.

Lee Seungcheol could already see their future.

‘Since they won’t be coming out for a while, maybe I’ll get my junior to cover and go eat.’

However, just two hours later.

His prediction was completely off the mark.

“Really, Master. How could you not give me even one?”

“……”

“Are you still upset? Come on, that can’t be it, right? Would the great Lord of Death be upset over something so trivial?”

“…Shut up.”

Two hours.

Only two hours had passed since they entered the dungeon.

Moreover, their appearance barely suggested they had been in any proper battles.

It didn’t make sense.

“D-did you clear it?”

“…We came out because we finished, didn’t we?”

At Song Hayeon’s nonchalant response, Lee Seungcheol just stood there, opening and closing his mouth.

After completing their exit processing and seeing the two off, Lee Seungcheol scratched his head and thought:

‘That’s strange…’

Then he called his senior who was on vacation.

Ring ring.

[What?]

“Senior, is it normal for a D1-rank dungeon to be cleared in two hours? With a party of one B-rank and one D-rank?”

[B and D, like a carry? Why are you asking nonsense while I’m resting? Even with a four-person party, six hours would be considered fast.]

“That’s what I thought.”

[If you’re going to talk nonsense, I’m hanging up. I don’t want to talk about work during my vacation.]

Click.

“That’s really strange…”

Hearing his senior’s words confirmed that this wasn’t a normal clearing speed.

“Are all B-ranks not created equal…?”

Song Hayeon and Baek Eunha.

Lee Seungcheol decided to firmly remember the names of these two unusual people.