Chapter 9
The damp smell of moss stung Chaeho’s nose.
As he walked, Chaeho quietly let out a breath. Every time a faint pulse throbbed near his temple, a needle-like headache flashed through his head.
It was the recoil from using his skill.
He had activated it for barely 0.7 seconds to avoid the Orc Warrior’s attack and cut the back of its knee.
Yet even for such a brief instant, perceiving the flow of the world in a distorted state placed a considerable burden on his brain.
Chaeho kept his expression firm and suppressed the pain.
There was no reason to show it outwardly.
The headache was not severe enough to interfere with combat.
Holding his worn iron sword as usual, he took his position slightly off to the right side of the front line, where he was supposed to provide support.
"Everyone, stay alert. This is the final area before the boss room."
Party leader Choi Minseok, who was walking at the front, turned around and raised his voice.
His gaze swept across the party members before briefly stopping on Chaeho.
Until recently, he had looked at Chaeho with doubt, seeing him as nothing more than a D-rank Hunter who used to work as a porter.
Now, however, his eyes were different.
There was clear trust in them.
The other party members were the same.
Even during the break, they had constantly watched Chaeho from the corners of their eyes. And after they resumed their march, they still glanced toward the right side whenever they had the chance.
As if the most reliable shield in the party were standing there.
This is uncomfortable.
Chaeho clicked his tongue inwardly.
His role was only to support the front line.
He had no intention of stepping forward, nor did he plan to take the lead and cut down monsters himself.
He had only interfered in the previous battle because he couldn't simply stand there and watch the mage die.
It wasn't long before they encountered another group of monsters.
Four ordinary orcs jumped out the moment they turned a corner in the passage.
"Front line, engage! Healer, fall back!"
At Choi Minseok’s command, the battle immediately began.
The sound of weapons cutting through the air echoed through the cave, followed by the violent clash of metal and blunt weapons.
The battle went smoothly.
The front-liners pushed the orcs back with their shields, while the spearman and mage took advantage of the openings to inflict fatal wounds.
Even then, Chaeho strictly stayed within the limits of his role.
He lightly knocked aside the clubs of orcs that swung toward the right side and struck at the ankles of those trying to circle around their formation.
He did not force himself to finish them off.
He simply removed whatever obstacles made things difficult for the front line.
The battle ended quickly.
"Phew... Good work."
One of the front-liners wiped the sweat from his forehead and bowed his head toward Chaeho.
When the man had lost control of his shield for a moment, Chaeho had perfectly redirected the incoming attack and saved him from danger.
"Good work."
Chaeho answered briefly before sheathing his sword again.
The smooth hunting continued.
By now, the party members had practically accepted it as fact that the porter experience written on Chaeho’s résumé had to be fake.
Someone who had only spent his career carrying luggage could never possess such precise distance control and battlefield awareness.
At this rate, it seemed they could reach the boss room without encountering any serious danger.
Just as the tension in everyone’s shoulders gradually began to ease—
Thump.
Thump.
The rocky ground beneath their feet shook heavily.
Choi Minseok, who had been leading the group, suddenly stopped and raised a clenched fist.
It was the signal to halt.
The moment the party stopped moving, the vibrations coming from deeper inside the dungeon became even clearer.
Those were not the footsteps of an ordinary monster.
A tremendous sound, like a massive block of iron rolling across the ground, was approaching at regular intervals.
"Everyone, ready your weapons."
Choi Minseok tightened his grip on his shield and growled in a low voice.
Something appeared from the darkness.
The faces of the party members instantly turned pale.
"Chwiiiiik!"
The creature emerged while releasing harsh breaths through its nose.
It was a monster on an entirely different level from an ordinary orc.
It stood well over three meters tall, and its entire body was covered in dark-red skin that looked as though it had been drenched in blood.
In both hands, it held enormous, crude iron maces as thick as tree trunks.
A Charge-Type Mutant Orc.
It was a higher-class monster that appeared only extremely rarely even in C-rank dungeons.
There hadn't been a single mention of such a mutant in the dungeon records provided by the Association.
"What the hell?! Why is that thing here?!"
The mage standing at the rear shouted in a trembling voice.
The Mutant Orc had no intention of giving the party time to recover from their shock.
Its glowing red eyes swept across the group before its massive shoulders pulled back.
Then, in the next instant—
"KWOOOOOOORGH!"
With a crazed roar, it kicked off the ground and charged.
It wasn't merely running.
Its overwhelming mass accelerated forward, rushing straight at the party like a runaway locomotive.
"Block it! Front line, group together!"
Choi Minseok shouted until the veins in his neck bulged. He hurriedly pressed his shield against the shield bearer beside him and prepared to endure the impact.
But it was nowhere near enough.
BOOM!
With a horrifying collision, one of the shield bearers was blasted backward before he could even scream.
"Urgh!"
The shield bearer flew through the air before crashing and rolling across the ground.
Their tightly formed defensive formation was ripped apart in an instant like a sheet of paper.
And the power behind the charge had barely weakened even after sending one shield bearer flying.
The instant their defensive line broke—
The Mutant Orc, still moving at full speed, swung its merciless mace toward Choi Minseok and the healer directly behind him.
"Damn it!"
Choi Minseok hurriedly raised his shield, but his stance was completely broken.
If he took the impact like this, his bones would be shattered.
Worse, the healer behind him would not escape unharmed either.
There was nowhere to dodge.
There was no time to create distance.
At that desperate moment, when everyone’s thoughts froze completely—
Chaeho, who had been watching the charge from his support position on the right, narrowed his eyes.
Time Slow.
At Chaeho’s will, the flow of the world stretched out as though everything had fallen into thick mud.
Inside his vision, the mage’s distorted lips as he screamed, the shield bearer tumbling across the ground, and even the individual specks of dust drifting through the air moved at an unbelievably slow pace.
Chaeho calmly turned his gaze toward the monster.
The Mutant Orc was charging forward like a mad beast.
Its forearm muscles were stretched tight.
Its ankle twisted at a certain angle as it kicked violently against the ground.
And its brutal mace was already raised toward Choi Minseok’s head.
Within a single breath, countless calculations passed through Chaeho’s mind.
Trying to stop that head-on with strength would be insane.
Even if he tried to deflect the trajectory of the attack, there was no way his D-rank strength could directly withstand that creature’s size and speed.
His sword would break.
His arms might even be torn apart.
Chaeho immediately searched for an area outside the monster’s field of vision.
The Mutant Orc was completely focused on Choi Minseok directly ahead of it.
Because both of its arms were raised, its sides and legs were entirely exposed.
The blind spot beside it.
The place that offered the least resistance and remained outside its vision.
Without hesitation, Chaeho threw himself toward it.
Even under his slowed perception, his own body felt frustratingly sluggish.
However, he had already been standing on the right side of the Mutant Orc’s charging path.
He only needed to take one diagonal step to place himself where his sword could reach the creature’s right leg as it passed.
The mace was just about to strike Choi Minseok’s shield.
Chaeho waited for the exact instant when the monster’s weight completely shifted onto its front foot.
Its right Achilles tendon was pulled taut as it prepared to push off the ground with explosive force.
The worn iron sword gripped tightly in Chaeho’s hand smoothly cut through the air at a diagonal angle.
Slash.
No matter how tough its hide was, the ligaments around a joint became vulnerable when the muscles were stretched to their limit.
The sharp blade cleanly severed the monster’s thick tendon before sliding free.
At the same time, Chaeho deactivated the skill and took a large step backward.
The world returned to its normal speed.
"KRAAAARGH!"
A bizarre scream erupted from the Mutant Orc just as it was about to smash Choi Minseok.
The tendon in its supporting right leg had been severed.
Unable to withstand the monster’s enormous body weight and the acceleration of its charge, the leg collapsed.
The tremendous kinetic force pushing the creature forward immediately went out of control.
Its massive body lost balance and twisted like a spinning top.
It shot past Choi Minseok and flew straight toward the solid rock wall of the dungeon.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact shook the entire cave as though it were about to collapse.
The Mutant Orc crashed headfirst into the wall, causing chunks of stone to rain down.
Its enormous mace slipped from its hand and rolled across the ground.
Overwhelmed by the impact, the monster could only release animal-like groans and could not properly stand back up.
Choi Minseok, who had tightly shut his eyes at the edge of death, suddenly opened them while gasping heavily.
The monster that should have smashed him apart was now buried against the wall, coughing up blood.
He could not fully understand what had happened during that tiny fraction of a second.
But instinct told him that this was their only chance.
"Attack now! Right now!"
Choi Minseok shouted until his throat nearly tore and charged first with his shield raised.
The party members, who had been frozen in shock, finally came to their senses and drew their weapons.
"Die, you bastard monster!"
The mage swung his staff and unleashed fireballs one after another.
The spearmen drove their weapons into the Mutant Orc’s thick neck and chest.
Still struggling helplessly against the wall, the Mutant Orc was brutally torn apart without managing even a single proper counterattack.
Thrust.
Finally, Choi Minseok’s longsword pierced deeply into the area around its heart.
"Krgh..."
At last, all strength drained from the Mutant Orc’s enormous body.
Blood foam spilled from its mouth as it slowly slid down onto the ground.
The battle was over.
Among the thick clouds of rising dust, only the party members’ rough breathing echoed through the cave.
After pulling out his sword, Choi Minseok dropped to the ground.
His entire body was drenched in sweat.
The horrifying memory of nearly having his head crushed by the creature’s mace sent a chill crawling up his spine.
He turned his head and looked at the Mutant Orc’s corpse slumped against the wall.
Its body was covered in cuts and burns.
But Choi Minseok’s gaze went directly to its right ankle.
There was a clean cut through the thick hide and muscle.
Not even an inch of error.
That single wound had been responsible for stopping that savage charge.
Choi Minseok slowly turned his head toward the back.
Toward the area behind the formation where everyone else had been panicking.
Chaeho stood there.
As always, there wasn't the slightest change in his expression.
He was simply flicking the dark-red blood from his blade onto the ground.
During that brief instant—
While no one else had been able to react to the beast’s charge, Chaeho had not recklessly tried to kill it.
He had calmly understood that he could not defeat it in a direct contest of strength.
Instead, he had struck precisely at the single weakness needed to redirect its charge.
A calculated movement that had saved his companions and completely brought the situation under control.
Choi Minseok swallowed dryly.
The disguise of a former porter had fallen away.
In its place stood a terrifyingly capable Hunter who seemed to regard a C-rank dungeon like nothing more than a casual walk through his own backyard.
As though they had planned it beforehand, the rest of the party also turned toward Chaeho.
The trust they had shown him only moments earlier had now transformed into absolute awe.
No one dared to speak carelessly.
Even their breathing seemed to quiet down.
Meanwhile, the healer examined the arm and shoulder of the shield bearer who had been sent flying, using healing magic to reduce the impact.
After confirming that the shield bearer could stand on his own and move his arm normally, Chaeho calmly wiped his blade with a cloth.
Then he spoke as if nothing unusual had happened.
"If there’s no problem moving, let’s get going."
