Ch.27Leveling Is Dangerous (3)

Even though it’s said to be the most manageable C5-rank dungeon among C-rank dungeons, in reality, C-rank dungeons themselves aren’t easy places.

Song Hayeon fell into a brief reminiscence and spoke.

“I remember when I first tackled one after my promotion. I was completely overwhelmed back then.”

As Song Hayeon said, the monsters in C-rank dungeons were indeed quite strong.

It would be unfair to even compare them to D-rank.

But.

“…Is this all I’m up against?”

Crash!

Despite this being her first battle, Baek Eunha slaughtered the monsters with remarkable ease.

She acted as if this level of stat increase wasn’t even a challenge.

“…Aren’t you taking them down too easily?”

“It really is easy.”

Certainly, Baek Eunha’s combat style showed a clear difference from other necromancers.

Each undead moved naturally like flowing water, and their combat coordination was even sharper than actual hunters.

Simply put, it was the difference between ordinary soldiers and thoroughly trained special forces.

That’s what Baek Eunha’s undead possessed.

‘Usually she seems so unreliable and trivial…’

However, Baek Eunha’s skill as a necromancer was genuine.

An unrivaled number one. At least among all the people Song Hayeon had seen so far.

“…Add your own flavor. While paying attention to what I pointed out.”

After finishing the first battle, Baek Eunha left only those words before laying down a prepared mat and sitting on it.

“…The final blow is mine.”

“I won’t take it, so don’t worry.”

All recent dungeon raids had been like this.

Song Hayeon would battle the monsters, and Baek Eunha would finish them off at the end, then provide feedback and new tasks.

And then repeat from the beginning.

After going through this process dozens of times, Song Hayeon had become capable of doing quite a variety of things compared to before.

“Undead call.”

Whoosh!

Crack.

Creak.

As usual, she summoned an elite skeleton unit including the Skeleton Masher, and then called two Warriors among them to infuse them with new spells.

“Bone Armor. Bone Crusher.”

Crack!

Crunch!

The two skeletons made loud bone-cracking sounds as they transformed into armor and a blunt weapon, attaching themselves to the Skeleton Masher.

Using undead as materials to synthesize weapons and armor.

This was one of the special enhancement techniques she had learned from Baek Eunha.

‘She said that later on, I wouldn’t even need to specify forms, but would naturally be able to mix and use them?’

That level of mastery was unimaginable right now.

However, even this much was quite helpful.

Boom!

Crack!

With the Skeleton Masher now even more powerful than usual, the bodies of the C5-rank Mother Trees were shattered and torn apart.

Thud!

Thwack!

As the battle was wrapping up, the Skeleton Warriors summoned by Baek Eunha finished off the opponents with simple attacks.

“Did you level up?”

“…Gained one level.”

The dungeon’s experience distribution formula is simple.

The total amount is divided by the number of participants in the battle, with those who contributed the most and those who dealt the final blow receiving larger portions.

In this case, Song Hayeon was the former and Baek Eunha the latter, so there was a high possibility that it would be split roughly half and half.

“I haven’t heard anything on my end.”

During this past month, Song Hayeon hadn’t gained much except for one level increase.

But she had no regrets.

Her skills were improving day by day as she watched and learned directly by Baek Eunha’s side, and eventually, Song Hayeon would be the one receiving help anyway.

In other words, it was an investment for the future.

“Don’t forget my contribution, okay?”

“……”

The two continued to raid the dungeon following the same process.

When they had progressed through roughly one-third of the dungeon, something unexpected happened.

“…Huh, why are these ones already dead?”

The scattered remains of Mother Trees on the floor.

Though it was hard to tell exactly, there seemed to be about five of them.

“Something’s not right.”

Song Hayeon and Baek Eunha were momentarily puzzled, but neither had ever heard of infighting among dungeon monsters.

This meant something unusual had occurred.

And at that moment, they began to sense someone’s presence from the other end of the corridor.

“…Our paths have crossed.”

What eventually appeared was a blond man with a somewhat unpleasant smile.

#

‘My experience points…’

I clicked my tongue in disappointment looking at the cold, dead Mother Trees.

They must have accumulated quite a bit of experience, as I had leveled up from the beginning, and I thought I might just barely reach level 20.

The loss of these five was significant. It could be compared to missing out on three cannon fodder soldiers in a game.

“A two-person necromancer team, just as the information said.”

I glanced at the man who had started speaking incomprehensibly from the opposite end of the corridor.

Whatever the case, it was clear he had approached with malicious intent.

“Who are you? Unauthorized entry is completely illegal.”

Song Hayeon, having noticed this as well, asked with a somewhat sharp tone. The man replied:

“I am Johan of Styx.”

Who’s that?

I tilted my head and looked at Song Hayeon.

Song Hayeon was slightly surprised by the man’s answer and spoke again.

“By Styx, do you mean one of the three major guilds in England? What exactly is your purpose?”

“Purpose… If I had to say, it’s recruitment. It seems the higher-ups are quite fixated on acquiring talent.”

Even while saying this, the man didn’t seem particularly interested in that aspect.

Song Hayeon frowned and snapped at him.

“You call that an explanation? I don’t understand what’s going on.”

But that was enough for me to understand the situation to some extent.

‘I knew it was only a matter of time before word got around…’

It’s been 1 year and 6 months since my return to Earth. By now, I’m aware of most global political trends.

A returned individual with the title of a rookie hunter possessing remarkable talent. In other words, I was essentially a top-level talent that would be coveted anywhere in the world.

‘It’s only natural, really.’

Honestly, if I were in their position, I would have tried to acquire such talent by any means necessary.

However, I didn’t expect foreign entities to make a move this quickly. Given the lack of special contact, it seemed that even the upper echelons in Korea were still just watching cautiously.

It was certainly troublesome, but somehow I didn’t feel too bad about it.

As I snickered to myself, Johan addressed me from across the way.

“I’m not interested in the small one. Are you Song Hayeon?”

“Yes, I am.”

“The upper echelon of Styx wants you.”

At Johan’s words, I lowered my head in embarrassment.

Wait, he wasn’t talking about me?

“I’m not interested at all, so please leave.”

Ignoring my misunderstanding, the atmosphere was rapidly deteriorating.

In response to Song Hayeon’s clear rejection, Johan chuckled as if something amused him and continued.

“Right. I think the same.”

“What’s with the flip-flopping nonsense?”

“Joining forces to face Helena? That’s the real joke.”

“What? Who?”

“If we turn you into undead and make you a subordinate, wouldn’t that be a much more efficient use of talent?”

Though his words were incomprehensible, Johan’s intention was clear.

The murderous death energy that had emerged was now filling the corridor.

“Fake Resurrection.”

Though the form was different, it was clearly a spell to summon the necromancer’s symbol, the bell of death.

Crack.

Crunch.

Following this, the scattered corpses of the Mother Trees began to gather and merge.

What eventually formed was a massive tree emitting a putrid smell. The death energy emanating from it was quite ominous.

“A-Are you insane? This is a national issue!”

“How naive. This level of transgression won’t cause any problems.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I don’t know what you did at the entrance, but your actions must have been detected somewhere. If you mess with us now, you’ll be caught too!”

To Song Hayeon’s words, Johan replied with a smile.

“Hey, do you know how many S-rank hunters belong to Styx?”

“What?”

“A whole three of them. Three.”

That was all he said, but somehow his point was perfectly clear.

“Do you think a garbage country with just three S-ranks can stand up to a top-tier guild from England?”

That statement wasn’t wrong.

Despite its small population, Korea could be called a hunter powerhouse, but it couldn’t compare to the world’s major powers.

That was also why Helena could act so freely at national events.

Currently, the difference in standing was, regrettably, as vast as heaven and earth.

“Completely insane…”

Song Hayeon seemed utterly disgusted by Johan’s forceful approach.

However, she soon brightened her previously furrowed expression and began to speak again.

“I understand your position, but are you sure about this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that if you continue like this, we’ll have to respond aggressively as well.”

Song Hayeon turned to me with a confident face. However, that action was in vain.

In fact, I had already retreated and hidden myself behind the dungeon’s terrain features.

“…What are you doing over there instead of helping?”

“Ah, well, you know. With two opponents now, my stomach is kind of…”

“……”

Song Hayeon’s gaze, full of disbelief and betrayal, pierced my conscience sharply.