Ch.40Temporary Parties Are Dangerous (3)

I couldn’t understand the meaning of this behavior at all, and Gyeongje Lee, who was sitting next to me, started shouting in confusion.

“W-what are you doing…?”

Swish!

Thud!

“Gah! Keuack…”

Flop!

After Henry’s attack, Gyeongje Lee collapsed weakly in his seat, convulsing.

The strike point was the nape of his neck—instant death, of course.

And finally, their true identities began to be revealed.

“As expected, a perfect shot. Hehehe. I thought I was going to die laughing.”

Yongcheol Park, who had clearly been the first to engage in a battle of nerves with Henry, spoke to him with a casual smile.

The meaning was extremely simple.

They had known each other from the beginning.

Bang!

Bang!

Crash!

[Hey, you fucking bastards! Open the door! Open it right now!]

The boss room door absolutely cannot be opened from the inside.

Minji Gwak, gripped by terror, pounded on the door until her arms felt like they would break.

Crash!

[Hey, fuck, open it quick…]

[ROAR!]

Then, as the boss’s presence was finally felt, her voice faded. From what I could tell, she seemed to be using her assassin skills to escape from the door.

Without showing the slightest concern about this fact, even Yongtak Hong, the leader, joined the conversation and urged Henry.

“Did you see? How was it?”

“Lizard Wolf. Particularly strong among C2 ranks.”

“Oh dear, this is going to be troublesome. I should pray that she loses some strength before she dies.”

Through the sight-sharing spell cast earlier, the gang was using Minji Gwak, trapped inside, as a disposable scout. Quite cruel and calculated.

It was clear now. These three were a team. And in the worst possible way.

The thug, Yongcheol Park, bared his teeth with a meaningful smile.

“…Now there’s only one left.”

Their malicious gazes slowly began to turn toward me.

#

Yongtak Hong’s involvement in illegal activities was quite recent.

After being blacklisted in the industry due to conflicts with party members, he struggled to earn a proper income for a year.

By chance, he met Yongcheol Park and Henry, who were in similar situations, and formed a party as human hunters.

‘This dungeon is a jackpot.’

He had a strange feeling from the moment they encountered the Mucus Lizard group at the entrance of the dungeon.

Mucus Lizards could be considered one of the most profitable monsters in C-rank.

As their numbers grew to dozens while exploring the dungeon, Yongtak and his companions exchanged signals with each other without exception.

Swish.

The intention was to bury the rest of the party members and take all the spoils.

‘With this much money, we could immediately flee abroad and live extravagantly.’

In reality, few people would care if someone died in a hastily formed party like this, but given the times, they couldn’t frequently commit such illegal acts.

After all, a long tail gets stepped on.

However, this case was different. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve their financial goals with just one operation.

For this reason, Yongtak and his companions began analyzing the party members without hesitation, staging various situations.

The results were as follows:

‘The most troublesome one is that woman. Assassin types can be a headache if you give them an opening.’

Looking carefully, she also possessed quite good stealth skills. If they failed to kill her in one go, she might hide throughout the dungeon, looking for openings or waiting for rescue teams in a prolonged battle.

So to deal with her decisively, they trapped her in the boss room.

‘The fire mage is also annoying. Someone who crawls into places like this probably has nothing to lose. He might even self-destruct if things go wrong.’

They deliberately adjusted their formation and killed Gyeongje Lee instantly through Henry’s shooting.

Only one remained: Baek Eunha, the youngest participant in the party and a necromancer.

‘This one seems to be nothing special.’

The undead he summoned was quite strong, but judging by the fact that he only summoned one at a time, he seemed to be near his cost limit.

Wondering if he might be hiding some means, they pressured him during battle by questioning his contribution, but there was no notable change afterward.

Moreover, he usually stayed apart from the group, unable to participate in conversations, and even showed tears when several people verbally cornered him—showing a lack of courage.

That was literally the extent of his ability.

“Hehehe. No parents here to help you, what will you do? That’s why adults always say: don’t follow just anyone.”

“Don’t tease too much. It will be a good lesson. At least in the next life.”

Amidst such mockery, Henry, who had been deep in thought, spoke up.

“Let’s capture and sell.”

“What?”

“I have a sales route I’ve used before. With the right skills and items, we can transport.”

“Is that really possible?”

“High demand. Combined with the spoils, no problem living comfortably.”

In other words, Henry was suggesting they make a big score this time and then disband the party.

Since the other members had been thinking about the same issue, there was no hesitation. Everyone nodded willingly.

“Hehehe. Lucky you! I don’t know what’s waiting for you, but at least you won’t die here.”

Crack.

Crunch.

Yongcheol Park began approaching Baek Eunha, flexing his fists that were as big as pot lids.

Baek Eunha was completely terrified, not moving at all.

From the party’s perspective, he was like prey caught in a trap.

However, the cold voice that eventually came from Baek Eunha’s mouth made the group feel something was off.

“You’ll regret this.”

“Regret what? You childish little miss. Don’t you know that connections and influence are useless here? What exactly are you going to do when you’ve been too scared to say a word until now?”

Yongcheol Park dismissed him with a rebuke, but Yongtak, who was watching, detected something ominous in his demeanor.

“Step back! Something’s different from before…”

But it was too late. As Yongcheol’s fist struck, the sound of flesh being crushed and a terrible scream echoed.

Shriiiiek!

Squish!

“AAAAARGH!”

What followed was truly horrific. Yongcheol’s right arm, which had seemed capable of crushing his opponent just moments ago, was now dropping chunks of flesh as if rotting and crumbling.

“F-fuck! My arm! My arm!”

Baek Eunha, who had created this horrific scene, had raised his head at some point and continued speaking calmly.

“Such a fuss for a thug.”

“Y-you bastard!”

Yongcheol, having lost his reason, activated a skill and charged at Baek Eunha.

Whoosh.

Considerable magical power gathered in his remaining left arm, and that fist was swung directly at Baek Eunha’s head.

However, Baek Eunha dodged it with remarkable ease. Simultaneously, he lightly touched near Yongcheol’s heart with his right hand and stepped back.

Whoosh.

Thud.

Hiss.

Squish.

“Guk! Kehek! Kuhuk!”

With just that, the battle was over. Yongcheol collapsed, clutching his heart, and died on the spot. What had happened to his right arm had likely been replicated inside his body.

Silence fell within the dungeon.

Despite appearances, Yongcheol was a hunter ranked in the upper-middle tier of C-rank—by no means an easy opponent.

“…Strong. Take the vanguard. Better avoid physical contact.”

Click.

Clatter!

At Henry’s tense words, Yongtak nodded and activated a defensive skill.

Whoosh.

“Iron Wall!”

Accordingly, Yongtak’s entire body glowed brightly, and Baek Eunha began chanting a spell as if he had been waiting for this.

“Undead call.”

Poof!

What was summoned was a red-boned skeleton like the one seen earlier. It was certainly strong, but one wouldn’t be a problem.

Just as he was about to charge forward without hesitation, an unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.

Poof!

Poof!

Poof!

It wasn’t just one. Four Skeleton Mashers were staring at Yongtak with cold, glowing eyes.

And then.

“Undead call.”

Poof!

[Grrrr.]

[Gruk.]

Two beast-type undead he had never seen before were newly summoned, flanking Baek Eunha as if to guard him.

Poof.

[Gruk. Gigik.]

Finally, an ordinary skeleton was summoned, crouching on the ground, and Baek Eunha sat on it cross-legged, resting his chin on his palm, and spoke.

“What are you doing? Not coming to kill me?”

That emotionless gaze was clearly not that of someone who couldn’t even refute when bullied earlier.

Rather, a more sinister aura than that of mere murderers like themselves was emanating from him.

From behind Yongtak, who was trembling in awe of the scene before him, came the voice of Henry, similarly plunged into despair.

“…Shit.”

That crude curse from someone who had been so cool-headed indicated that all their plans had gone to waste.

Facing the two frozen men, Baek Eunha glanced at his fingers and began to utter incomprehensible words.

“8 minutes left.”

“……”

When Yongtak and Henry remained silent, Baek Eunha wiggled one finger and stood up.

Simultaneously, the voices of the dead flowed in from somewhere, echoing loudly throughout the dungeon.

[KEEACK!]

[KIAAA!]

[KYAAAK!]

Looking at the two men who flinched greatly at those sounds, Baek Eunha murmured softly.

“If you’re not coming, I’ll just go to you.”