Ch.26Leveling Is Dangerous (2)

“Yes. Among the recently emerged Asian rookies, they’re quite exceptional.”

In a massive structure near Cambridge, England, at the annex of Guild Styx, two men were conversing.

“Indeed… Quite a tempting talent.”

Their gaze was fixed on a monitor displaying combat footage of Song Hayeon, a Korean hunter.

Song Hayeon’s growth was truly remarkable. After officially qualifying as a hunter, she had already reached B-rank in just a few months. At this rate, her progress wasn’t far off from the early careers of current S-rank hunters.

“Do you think she could become Helena’s rival if she continues to grow?”

Styx is known as one of Britain’s three major guilds, though it ranks second among them.

The reason was simple. The current top guild, Calliope, boasted the S-rank hunter Helena, whose prowess was simply overwhelming.

“…That remains to be seen. However, I’m certain she will become an extremely powerful necromancer.”

After a moment of silence, the man contemplated something before speaking again.

“If we bring her to our guild and have her join forces with Johan, we might be able to surpass Helena in the not-too-distant future.”

“I see…”

Johan was Styx’s exceptional rising star. He also possessed a title in the necromancy field and was their trump card against Helena.

In other words, the man was suggesting that Song Hayeon’s talent was on par with Johan’s.

“In that case, we should take decisive action.”

“If you give permission, I’ll send Johan.”

“Johan himself?”

The man’s suggestion was quite bold. But somehow, his intention was clear.

“As you suspect. Seeing a more refined talent in the same field would naturally draw her interest.”

And if Song Hayeon were to refuse joining Styx…

“Wouldn’t it be better to crush a competitor early by showing them their place?”

“…You haven’t changed. Well, if a treasure cannot be possessed, diminishing its value is indeed the way of a gentleman.”

Originally, overwhelming forces through powerful necromancy was Guild Styx’s specialty.

That’s why they named their guild after the river Styx, which connects to the underworld.

However, after Helena appeared and certain events transpired, that symbolism now belonged entirely to her.

Clenching his fist until veins popped out, the elderly man spoke, containing his anger.

“Even if it takes over a decade, we must make her pay.”

“…I always keep that in mind.”

“I look forward to good news.”

Two days later, a hunter boarded a plane at Cambridge Airport.

His destination was South Korea.

#

“Did you hear about that?”

“About what?”

“The bus driver who takes two hours to clear a D-rank dungeon.”

“Oh. Of course I’ve seen it. It’s all over the community these days.”

It had been a month since I formed a two-person raid team with Song Hayeon.

During that time, we had unintentionally become quite famous.

– When someone first posted about it, I thought it was nonsense.

– For real, who would believe there’s a silver-haired, red-eyed beautiful hunter? I obviously didn’t think it was true.

– If a newbie looked like that, honestly, I’d give them a carry too.

– What nationality is she?

┗ Korean.

┗ Huh, really?

Initially, what drew attention was, amusingly, the unusual combination of Song Hayeon and myself.

My exotic appearance with silver hair and red eyes is hard to find anywhere in the world. Add to that Song Hayeon’s bright and beautiful presence.

It was more than enough material to become a hot topic.

– I see they cleared another dungeon today. With that insane pace, how quickly must their levels be rising?

– They must have hit level 15 by now. I’m so jealous. I want a pretty noona to carry me too.

– But how much money did they pay to have a promising B-rank hunter stick with them instead of leveling up themselves? It’s beyond imagination.

Once we became a topic of conversation, attention naturally shifted to our abnormal clearing speed.

In this month alone, we had cleared eleven dungeons.

Though they were all small dungeons, by common sense standards, it was an absurd number.

‘I killed everything myself though…’

But the opinions of those internet phantoms didn’t matter much. After all, only results counted.

“Status window.”

Ding.

【Baek Eunha】

▶Title:

▶Level: 17

There were still no changes to other sections.

The title field remained empty, and there was still no sign of a stats section appearing. Perhaps it would never appear.

However, there was a significant change in the most important section: level.

A whopping 17.

17 it was.

Considering the days when I was struggling at level 1, the difference was truly like heaven and earth.

“Heheh.”

I am no longer a fragile fallen leaf that crumbles at a touch. I could at least be considered a small hummingbird or badger now.

‘I can summon many more undead too.’

Moreover, after completing our recent dungeon, I passed the evaluation and my hunter rank increased by one level.

So contrary to my concerns, my growth so far could be described as very smooth.

“Book of Death.”

Whoosh!

At level 14, before our most recent dungeon, I still couldn’t open it.

But now, what about now?

With anticipation, I slowly and very carefully picked up the book’s cover.

Creak.

Grip.

Crunch!

“…Did it, did it open a little?”

It still wouldn’t open completely.

But the gap between the pages had definitely widened enough to barely see inside.

Around this point, surely.

“It’s Jack.”

Jack Calista. The last generation of the Frost Tribe who worked as an assassin before becoming undead.

Classified as a species slightly different from humans, but in appearance, they were indistinguishable from humans.

The medium to summon him was sleeping in these pages.

‘Surprisingly considered the weakest…’

The other pages wouldn’t budge no matter how I tried to open them.

I gave a pitying glance through the gap in the pages containing Jack’s medium.

As I was consoling poor Jack, a message arrived from Song Hayeon.

Ding.

[Master, good news!]

[What.]

[We got approval for a C5-rank dungeon! It’s the day after tomorrow, in Cheongju. You’re coming, right?]

It seemed that due to our recent achievements and rank increase, we had finally received approval for a C-rank dungeon that had previously been denied.

I lay on my bed and pondered for a moment.

‘Ch-Cheongju is quite far.’

But it was a C-rank dungeon, even if the lowest grade.

If we cleared it, could I finally reach the dreamed-of level 20?

Surely by then, I’d be able to use the Book of Death, at least partially.

It was too great a temptation to refuse just because it would be difficult.

Ding.

[Come pick me up on time.]

[Yes. Since it’s far this time, don’t forget your license?]

[…Shut up.]

The journey to reclaim my prime was gradually becoming more concrete.

#

Vroom.

Screech.

Thud.

“I-I feel like I’m dying…”

Cheongju was farther than I thought. The traffic was a bit congested, so we had to drive for over four hours.

I was completely weakened by car sickness and side effects. Despite keeping my eyes closed to avoid being conscious of Song Hayeon, I ended up like this.

Bang!

“You held up pretty well though.”

Song Hayeon closed the driver’s door and made an insensitive remark.

She used to be so attentive at first, but lately she’d been quite inconsiderate of her heaven-like master’s hardships, which was quite vexing.

“…Walk ten meters behind me.”

“Ah. Yes.”

I sulkily pulled my hood down and followed behind Song Hayeon.

We arrived at the entrance checkpoint and began the now-familiar verification process.

I hadn’t forgotten my license, and all the entry procedures for the C-rank dungeon were confirmed. There shouldn’t be any problems.

But then.

Ding.

“Um? Excuse me…”

As the staff member frowned, a foreboding feeling began to creep in.

Sure enough, the staff member was looking directly at me.

“The database shows you as a C-rank hunter, but have you not renewed your license?”

“Ah, well, that’s…”

This was bad.

Glancing to the side, I saw Song Hayeon glaring at me, looking ready to hit me after driving for five hours straight.

“The license code matches, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but I’ll check by phone and process it for you. Please wait a moment.”

Thankfully, after confirming with the responsible department, the staff member completed our entry registration, warning me not to forget the renewal next time.

“……”

I deliberately avoided Song Hayeon’s subtle gaze.

#

How much time had passed since the two entered the dungeon?

Choi Tae-wook, who was sitting and organizing related documents, tapped his head with his hand as he suddenly felt dizzy.

Thump.

Thump.

“Huh, have I been working too much lately?”

At that moment, he began to see something like a black haze in the corner of his vision.

It was extremely ominous, triggering an instinctive revulsion as a living being.

“Uh…”

That was the last thing Choi Tae-wook remembered.

Thud.

Step.

Step.

Someone who appeared behind the collapsed Choi Tae-wook slightly turned their head to look at him, then calmly entered the dungeon.