Ch.3714. A-Rank Dungeon Conquest (2)

The interns entered the gate.

Team Leader Seo Du-ho, Yeon So-so, and Father Stefano were watching the interns’ movements from quite a distance.

“This dungeon must be at least BB-rank. As expected, they sent our interns to the filthiest domain…”

Team Leader Seo remarked. Father Stefano nodded in agreement.

“That’s right, Brother Seo. And of all things, it’s a darkness attribute dungeon filled with undead and wraiths. It might be extremely challenging for the interns. As you know, their party composition isn’t ideal with just interns. Three people is too few.”

“Hmm. You’re right, Father. That’s why you and Team Leader Yeon are accompanying them as supervising agents.”

Seo Du-ho briefly recalled the intern raid party’s composition. A tank, a healer, and an operator.

Although these three had achieved outstanding results in the intern field program, this dungeon was A-rank, making it a very unfavorable battlefield for them.

‘A small party without a main dealer. And facing undead means poor compatibility.’

Monsters—living creatures—fear death and pain. But the undead were different. Even with limbs severed, their rotting expressions wouldn’t change.

‘They’ll keep attacking even with their heads blown off.’

This domain-type dungeon had numerous undead groups visible all around. With mediocre firepower, continuously fighting them would quickly drain one’s stamina.

Above all, undead rapidly increased hunters’ MCI (Mental Contamination Index). Without proper MCI management, one would quickly reach the limit.

‘So a prolonged battle would be extremely difficult. I wonder if Min-su knows that.’

The bet Min-su had made with other hunters.

To win that bet, conquering just this domain wouldn’t be enough. He would need to defeat the boss area to secure first place.

“In a domain-type dungeon, there may be multiple parallel dungeons connected, but the boss area converges into a single dungeon. If Min-su is truly aiming for first place, he’ll need many strategies.”

Father Stefano was right. Entering the boss room too late would result in a low evaluation score. But entering too early and retiring would be the worst outcome.

“The fortunate thing is that Sister Seong A-rin’s presence makes MCI management easier.”

“That’s true. A-rin’s holy power—isn’t it remarkable even to you, Father?”

“Indeed. I don’t know what vows she’s taken, but such high holy power at such a young age is quite rare.”

As Father Stefano mentioned, priests of the White Cross Society gain holy power through vows.

Seong A-rin, known throughout Flame for her vibrant personality despite being only twenty years old, possessed holy power impressive enough to be acknowledged by Father Stefano.

‘Well, everyone at Flame has their own story.’

Team Leader Seo was certain, based on his intuition, that A-rin’s vow was definitely related to Min-su.

And if that were true, it would be very beneficial for Flame.

‘Mr. Min-su, though still an intern and an operator…’

He believed that Min-su would soon become a core force for Flame. Father Stefano also seemed curious about Min-su.

“With Sister Seong A-rin’s holy power, they should be able to hold their own against the undead. And I’ve heard that Brother Jang Dong-hyuk’s tanking ability is highly rated. But holy power isn’t infinite. They still need a dealer to directly handle the undead… Can Brother Min-su fulfill that role, Sister So-so?”

So-so was startled by Father Stefano’s question. Following behind the two, she had been eating beef jerky.

“Y-yes indeed! Although Min-su is an operator, he is also a flame sorcerer! Just like how Director Maria was simultaneously a sniper.”

“A flame sorcerer. I’ve read his job application. And I’ve also read the report from your recent field trip with him… Hmm? What’s wrong?”

So-so suddenly lowered her head.

“N-nothing! Though we went on a field trip alone together, absolutely nothing happened!”

“Nothing happened? But according to the report, you partially treated Brother Min-su’s mana heart disorder…”

“Th-that’s right! We… we resolved that issue during the field trip!”

Father Stefano looked puzzled.

Team Leader Seo immediately sensed that something romantic might have happened between them, but he changed the subject.

“Then you must know well, Team Leader Yeon. The awakening grade of Intern Min-su recorded in the report was definitely C-grade, correct?”

“That’s right.”

Father Stefano fell into thought briefly before speaking.

“In the case of Sister Seong A-rin, if we were to explain her holy power in terms of awakening grade, it would be A-grade. And Brother Jang Dong-hyuk was B-grade. If Brother Min-su is C-grade, then they have A, B, and C grades in order.”

Awakening grade. Flame’s raid parties were small but elite.

Both Guild Leader Yu-ri and Raid Team Leader Yeon So-so had A-grade awakenings.

Considering that awakened individuals with ordinary talent typically reach A-grade only after their 40s, it’s no wonder both were famous in the hunter community.

But So-so quickly denied this assessment.

“That’s absolutely not true! Min-su is… truly an exceptional flame sorcerer!! I… I know this better than anyone!”

“I see. From the reports so far, his operating skills are certainly impressive, but…”

“Not just operating, his skills as a dealer are also definite!”

Father Stefano was taken aback by So-so’s outburst. Team Leader Seo supported her.

“Well, whether it’s A-grade or C-grade, awakening grade ultimately refers to the total amount of mana in one’s mana heart. How one uses it depends on the awakened person’s skill.”

“That’s true.”

After a moment of silence, Father Stefano spoke.

“Then this mission might be an opportunity to see his talent not only as an operator but also as a dealer. It’s clearly a mission requiring dealer firepower. If he understands the dangers of this dungeon, he won’t just hide at the operating site.”

With that, Father Stefano fell silent. Despite So-so’s words, he didn’t seem to fully trust Min-su yet.

‘That’s understandable.’

Team Leader Seo knew Father Stefano’s past. Stefano had been an ordinary priest.

He knew what had happened to the small White Cross Society chapel where Stefano had served and the village it was in—what villains and monsters had done to them.

And during the intern document screening, it was Stefano who had led the approval of Min-su’s application after reading it and seeing his fierce hostility toward villains.

This meant that Father Stefano, more than anyone, had high expectations for Min-su. His caution matched his expectations.

‘I wonder how this mission will turn out.’

Team Leader Seo felt the same way.

Though he had only supervised Min-su for a month, he held him in very high regard.

Even during his time at Manseong, he hadn’t felt this way about Manseong’s elite raid members, who were considered world-class.

‘Unlike the previous B-rank dungeons, this is an A-rank dungeon. Yet he seemed confident he could achieve first place again.’

Seo Du-ho was an excellent information analyst. He knew that objectively, the interns’ strength was clearly inferior to the dungeon’s rank.

But with Min-su, he thought there might be another surprising result.

***

“Everyone stop. And remain still until my next instruction.”

I could see cold sweat running down Uncle Dong-hyuk’s forehead. Understandably so. A Ghoul Knight standing over 2 meters tall.

That Ghoul Knight was right in front of our party. Just 3 meters ahead. We could even see the ominous black breath it exhaled. Uncle had every reason to be tense.

But I instructed everyone not to respond and to remain still.

“Five minutes. Just endure for five minutes.”

Uncle Dong-hyuk nodded vigorously.

And after the five minutes I mentioned, the Ghoul Knight turned around and left as if nothing had happened.

“Whew. We survived. A Ghoul Knight… It’s my first time seeing such a high-level monster up close. I guess even in a parallel dungeon, A-rank is still A-rank.”

Uncle was right. Among undead, Ghoul Knights are very high-level monsters. The monsters we’d encountered in the intern program so far weren’t this dangerous.

‘That one just now would have been comparable to a B-rank dungeon boss.’

Uncle was very puzzled that the Ghoul Knight had just passed by us despite being right in front of us.

“How did that happen? If that thing had charged at us with its spear, we would have been in serious trouble.”

“It wasn’t luck. I just responded according to the information I knew and the pattern I observed in the dungeon.”

“You predicted it would leave after exactly five minutes?”

“Something like that.”

I explained briefly. I had confirmed its presence by sending an operating drone ahead. In the case of undead, especially creatures like Ghoul Knights, they possess dangerous strength but…

Being undead, they don’t have tracking abilities as good as regular monsters.

‘Considering that one’s patrol pattern, its maximum range was within 3 meters.’

The Ghoul Knight was at an important passage leading to the center of the dungeon. So we couldn’t go around it.

But since I already knew its pattern through my analysis, there was no need to confront it.

“But thanks to you, Min-su, we got through without lifting a finger. Man, I should be used to it by now, but your operating skills are truly ghostly.”

“Right? Senior Min-su is really amazing.”

A-rin smiled happily at Uncle Dong-hyuk’s words. But I remained vigilant.

“Undead become much stronger at night, so we need to move as much as possible during the day. And we should conserve our strength since we don’t know what might happen at night…”

At that moment, A-rin’s body glowed with a pale green light. That light enveloped Uncle Dong-hyuk.

“How is it? Your MCI should have decreased a bit.”

“Well done, A-rin.”

“Yes, senior!”

I was monitoring MCI in real-time through the in-ear device.

Uncle Dong-hyuk’s MCI was currently at 65. With his high threshold, he was still fine, but his mind was quite contaminated.

That MCI quickly dropped to 40 thanks to A-rin’s holy power. It was a well-timed spell.

‘She’s really amazing, A-rin.’

Since we’re facing undead, she could use her holy power for combat spells, but in this dangerous dungeon, it’s much better to use it to maintain the party members’ MCI.

With that holy power, neither of them would exceed their MCI limit before reaching the boss area.

‘I’m fine from the start anyway.’

Knowing this fact, A-rin whispered in my ear.

“Senior! Aren’t you a bit disappointed you can’t receive my holy spell?”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t matter for me.”

“Come on. I know you’re disappointed. So…”

She whispered with a slightly more sultry voice.

“I’ll give you something better tonight. So don’t be jealous, okay?”

Afraid Uncle Dong-hyuk might hear, I ignored A-rin and gave the next instruction.

“Undead are everywhere. I don’t think we can pass through the next route quietly like we just did. Everyone prepare for battle. And warm up your Ancient Gear too.”

“Got it, Min-su!”

“Yes, senior!”

I want to enter the boss room with minimal combat if possible. And as quickly as possible.

I didn’t want to unnecessarily cooperate with other guilds for the boss battle.

‘To get the highest score, we need to defeat the boss alone first.’

For a typical standalone A-rank dungeon, this force would be insufficient.

But this mission is a domain-type dungeon. In each domain’s parallel dungeons, the boss weakens as hunters from other guilds defeat monsters.

And typical hunters, unlike me, would confront monsters directly rather than avoiding them in such a meticulous way.

‘They’ll have plenty of manpower. Those guys act before they think.’

This means we have a time advantage. We continued to advance through the dungeon, conserving our mana and stamina as much as possible.

Then the party stopped in front of a bridge crossing a foul-smelling river.

“We’ll have to defeat those ones directly.”

Dozens of goblin hordes occupied the bridge. Not ordinary green ones, but black undead goblins.

At my words, both of them drew their Ancient Gear.

Uncle Dong-hyuk with his shield. A-rin with the rosary around her neck. And I awakened the ruby residing in my mana heart.

‘When my awakening grade was measured recently, it was definitely C-grade.’

Though I had the lowest awakening grade in the party, it didn’t matter.

The first-stage seal released through Old Man Yeon Moon-woo’s secret technique, and the flame spell proficiency I had built up in Eins remained intact.

‘I’m confident I can rank up.’

Simultaneously, I called out to my companions.

“Let’s crush these half-dead goblins quickly.”