Chapter 14
It was the next day, after Chaeho had finished the upper-body strength training he had planned.
His thumb stopped while scrolling across his smartphone screen.
Chaeho quietly stared at the recruitment board displayed on it. Posts looking for short-term mercenaries filled the Hunter-only network one after another.
[C-Rank Party Looking for Short-Term Support. Departure Date Undecided. Preference Given to Hunters Who Can Remain on Standby.]
He let out a short breath and placed the smartphone on his desk.
"Standby, huh."
His income had increased noticeably since he started working as a short-term mercenary.
Compared to the days when he had been called nothing more than a porter, stuck behind the party and forced to handle every unpleasant task, the amount of money entering his bank account was on an entirely different level.
The problem was the irregular lifestyle.
He always had to remain on standby because he never knew exactly when a party would depart, and he constantly had to change his schedule according to the party leader's demands.
But there was something else that frustrated Chaeho even more.
As long as he moved together with other people, he could never fully control the flow of battle himself.
The split-second sensation of activating and deactivating his skill, combined with the results of pushing his body through extreme training...
A party was simply too restrictive for him to properly test everything in actual combat.
I can't keep moving according to someone else's rhythm forever.
Through extreme reflex training, he had increased his daily skill usage time to thirteen seconds.
Now, he needed to experience controlling an entire battle from beginning to end under his own command.
Chaeho immediately opened the laptop on his desk.
He wasn't stupid enough to simply grab a weapon and charge into a Gate without preparation.
Attempting a solo raid without being ready wasn't courage.
It was recklessness.
He moved the mouse and accessed the Hunter Association's private database.
His search conditions were clear.
A D-Rank dungeon.
And a stable Gate where solo entry was permitted.
Dozens of entries filled the screen.
He immediately eliminated dungeons with overly complicated terrain or too many unpredictable monster variables.
If he wanted to improve his basic abilities without relying on his skill, he needed somewhere that offered a reasonable level of danger while still maintaining a clear battlefront.
After scrolling for quite some time, his eyes stopped on one entry.
[Dry Reef Cave. Danger Rank: D. Party Limit: 1–4 People.]
The Gate's location and the mana-wave readings recently measured by the Association were extremely stable.
Chaeho clicked on the dungeon's detailed information.
Information about its main monster, the 'Rake Ratman,' appeared across the screen, including its ecology and attack patterns.
Its hind legs possessed powerful muscles, allowing it to leap forward at high speed, while its sharp front claws were used for rapid consecutive attacks.
Chaeho opened a notebook and picked up a pen.
He carefully wrote down their jumping distance, how their center of gravity shifted when landing, and the attack angles they preferred.
And he didn't stop there.
He opened a map of the dungeon and memorized every blind spot where the monsters might hide in ambush.
Most important of all was an emergency escape route for the worst possible situation.
If too many monsters appeared for him to handle, or if something went wrong with his body, he needed to be able to retreat at any moment.
At the third intersection, there was a collapsed stalactite pillar. From there, a route led directly back toward the entrance.
Chaeho studied that shortest escape route dozens of times until he had completely memorized it.
Only after cross-checking every piece of information did he finally take his hand off the mouse.
This wasn't a reckless gamble.
It was a carefully calculated field test.
He put on the protective equipment hanging in his wardrobe and firmly secured his sword sheath around his waist.
Then he packed some hemostatic medicine and emergency food into a light backpack.
Without hesitation, he left the room.
Dry, cold air brushed against the tip of his nose.
After crossing through the Gate, Chaeho stopped walking and widened his field of vision.
Rough stone walls surrounded him from every direction, while sharp rocks hung down from the ceiling.
Just as the Association's information had stated, the dungeon was fairly spacious, but its overall structure was simple.
With one hand resting on the handle of his sword, Chaeho silently moved forward.
Each time the soles of his shoes touched the dry ground, a faint scraping sound echoed through the cave.
It was a dark environment with almost no light, but his senses, sharpened through relentless training, didn't miss even the slightest movement in the surrounding air.
He hadn't walked very far when he heard a faint scratching noise behind a massive pile of rocks to his right.
Chaeho stopped.
Keeping his breathing shallow, he focused his eyes on the gaps between the rocks.
A pair of red eyes flashed in the darkness.
Then an ugly rat-like creature, roughly as tall as a person's thigh, emerged.
It was a Rake Ratman.
Drool dripped from its mouth as it scraped its sharp front claws against the ground.
Back when Chaeho had worked as support in a C-Rank party, simply being stared at by a creature like this from the rear line would have made his entire body tense.
He would tighten his grip on his dagger and wait until the shield bearer blocked the monster's vision.
Only then would he barely find an opening to stab it.
But now...
The Ratman standing before him looked ridiculously crude.
Kiiik!
With an unpleasant shriek, the creature flexed its hind legs and launched itself forward.
It shot straight toward him with considerable speed.
Chaeho didn't activate his skill.
I can see it.
Even without slowing down time, its trajectory was perfectly clear to him.
Compared to dealing with hundreds of rubber bullets flying at him from every direction in the training room, a single straightforward charge like this was so predictable it almost made him yawn.
The instant the Ratman was airborne, Chaeho shifted his body slightly to the right.
The creature's claws sliced through empty air, passing uselessly beside his cheek.
The moment its attack missed, its side was completely exposed.
Chaeho smoothly drew his sword.
Without the slightest hesitation, the blade precisely shot toward the airborne creature's neck.
Slash!
A chilling cutting sound echoed through the cave.
Dark blood sprayed through the air.
The Ratman couldn't even scream properly before crashing into the ground.
Its body twitched twice before becoming still.
