Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Morning.

Maybe it was because I had slept later than usual.

Still lying in bed with my face half-puffy from sleep, I absentmindedly stared at Sima Qian’s Shadow Dagger hanging on the wall.

It was a dagger that had helped me overcome several small crises until now.

Sima Qian’s Shadow Dagger.

The Ninja’s Leather Armor.

And the Blood-Eyed Greatsword I currently had equipped.

They were all things I was genuinely grateful for.

Calling them mere weapons and equipment didn’t feel quite right.

In a way, they were more like companions that had helped bring the Hunter named Hong Mangi back to life.

But still—

“I’m getting a little… tired of them.”

While sitting on the bed, I drew the Shadow Dagger and sheathed it again several times.

Should I try getting something else?

Maybe it was a luxury.

But at this point, I wanted to try using some different equipment for once.

Then what was the obvious answer?

Dungeon.

It was time to enter another dungeon.

Whether it was high-grade equipment or some unique material, what I needed right now was growth.

Hmm… Where should I go this time…?

I casually looked through the dungeon list until my eyes stopped on one entry.

[BX-02: The Sleeping Dragon of the Desert Wasteland]

Entry Difficulty: BX

Recommended Party Size: 3–5

Boss Rank: A–A+ (Estimated)

This place looks pretty good… It’s close to the food stall too.

Choosing this place was moderately insane.

BX-02 meant it was the second dungeon among the BX-class locations.

It was far stronger than BX-07, the dungeon I had visited last time.

The advantage?

The rewards would be just as great.

The disadvantage?

It was just as easy to die there.

Well, might as well try.

But going alone would be too much.

I needed a party.

It would be nice to have at least one other person with me, but my current official rank was still F.

No matter how much word about me had begun spreading around, officially, I was still an F-rank Hunter.

There probably weren’t many Hunters who would willingly step forward and join me.

Especially if I told them I planned to enter BX-02.

They’d probably laugh their asses off at me.

Then suddenly, one name came to mind.

Kang Jaemin….

I immediately called him.

“Hello!”

“Jaemin! Are you free to enter a dungeon today?”

“Oh, I’d be grateful! Of course! I was actually feeling a little stiff, so this is perfect. I’ll fight with everything I’ve got!”

“But… it’s BX-02. Are you okay with that?”

“Huh? BX-02 means… Hmm….”

There was a brief silence.

Then his answer came.

“Sounds good. Let’s go. As long as you’re there, Chef, there won’t be any problem.”

“Okay!”

I ended the call with a cheerful flick of my finger.

The entrance to BX-02.

According to the information available about this place, the interior looked like Mars.

The ground was cracked and dry, there was no such thing as a clear blue sky, and blood-red mist floated overhead.

Heat supposedly rose from cracks scattered throughout the ground as well.

Perhaps because the dungeon was so brutal and troublesome, the entrance was unusually quiet.

“Hmm… There’s almost nobody here.”

“Yeah.”

I looked around.

It was silent everywhere.

Maybe because it was a high-level dungeon, even fewer people than usual were around today.

Then someone nearby approached us.

“Hey, you brats! You two seriously planning on going in there by yourselves?”

Another person nearby chimed in.

“BX-02 can wipe out even A-ranks if their party composition is bad. What the hell are an F-rank and a B-rank supposed to do in there?”

“You trying to get yourselves killed?”

“You doing this for some livestream or something? Give it up. Seriously. You’ll die.”

Comments like these weren’t anything new anymore.

So I simply ignored them out of habit.

Jaemin patted me on the shoulder.

“Ignore them. We just have to show them.”

“Obviously.”

And just like that, we took our first step into the red wasteland.

“Kgh….”

The dungeon was exactly as the information had described it.

It feels like the air itself is pricking my skin.

Every time I inhaled, my throat became drier.

Jaemin checked the edge of his blade and slowly scanned our surroundings.

“Chef. Ahead of us, in the blind spot to the right. There’s something there.”

“Hm?”

At that exact moment, the ground shifted.

Then it split apart.

[GRRRRRRRR—!!]

Massive teeth.

A smooth texture like stretched leather.

Its head split into three separate sections, and as the mouths on either side opened, thick saliva dripped from them.

“Never seen one of those before….”

Kang Jaemin narrowed his eyes.

“Chef! Its body is moving as if it’s controlling three separate movements at once. I can feel it. If we rush in blindly, it’ll surround us and attack together.”

Slightly tense, he muttered under his breath.

Could that be the high-grade monster that supposedly only appears in BX-02… a Tin Bludder? If that thing appeared right away… this is going to be a serious pain….

Jaemin immediately adjusted his stance and moved forward.

I drew the Shadow Dagger as well.

The Blood-Eyed Greatsword would have been useful, but I decided I needed more mobility for this fight.

“Hoo….”

A short breath.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t flinched the moment I saw it.

It was the instinctive sense of danger any person would feel upon seeing an unfamiliar monster.

That feeling crawled up from my toes and ran straight along my spine.

But—

“Let’s go! I’ll take it first.”

“What? Chef, are you serious?”

“I was just thinking it might turn out to be a useful cooking ingredient.”

Jaemin laughed at my casual remark.

“Sounds good. Then I’ll put on a proper blade dance too. You take the finishing blow, Chef!”

The magical beast spread all three of its mouths wide and charged.

BOOM!

Dust exploded into the air.

[KIEEEEEK!]

One of the magical beast’s three heads opened its mouth and let out a grotesque shriek.

Kang Jaemin instinctively lowered his body.

His feet swept across the sand as he slid forward.

At the same time, his dagger sliced through the air.

Slash!

The blade accurately cut beneath the jaw of the first head.

“One head is down, but the body’s still completely fine. That means the real one is somewhere else.”

His mind raced.

He had already realized that among those three heads, they needed to find the real one.

He shouted,

“Chef! I think we only need to deal with one of the two remaining heads!”

“How do you know?”

“The throat! The timing when it swallows is different!”

“Good!”

Kang Jaemin rushed forward once more, moving in a zigzag pattern.

Red sand sprayed to either side as the second head lunged at him.

Jaemin performed a spinning slash with his dagger.

BOOM—!

The false head scattered uselessly like smoke.

“Two of them were fake?”

Hong Mangi quietly muttered,

“Then there’s only one left.”

SWISH!

Hong Mangi activated Shadow Movement.

Among the red shadows spread across the desert, he slipped into the dark gap beneath the magical beast’s feet and instantly teleported.

From there, he immediately activated Shadow Storm.

[Shadow Storm – Activated]

[Nearby shadows transform into blades / 5 seconds of Stealth + Continuous Damage]

A black wind rose from the center of the swirling red dust.

It swept straight toward the magical beast’s head.

The creature’s massive body was blasted backward.

“Nice one, Chef!”

“Jaemin! Finishing blow!”

Kang Jaemin raised his dagger and charged.

Hong Mangi moved even faster, almost as though he had surrendered his body to the flow of the shadows.

Then—

Both of their blades struck the exact same spot.

Right along the centerline of the magical beast’s head.

[KIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!]

Among its three heads, only one had ever made a sound of pain.

That remaining head—

was its true body.

“It’s over…!”

Across the red desert,

the creature rolled around and thrashed violently.

Then finally—

its head dropped limply to the ground.

Pop—!

The area around its heart began glowing before suddenly bursting apart.

At the same time, a horrible odor spread through the air.

“Ugh… This smell is a little….”

Kang Jaemin covered his nose in disgust.

From the creature’s dead body, a strange combination of meat-like flesh and mucus had been exposed.

Beneath it was reddish fatty muscle that, despite everything, looked like it might actually taste savory if grilled.

Hong Mangi quietly approached, knelt down, and inspected the flesh.

[Tin Bludder’s Throat Muscle can be acquired.]

[Rare Ingredient / Rich in Unsaturated Fat / Strengthens the Central Nervous System]

[When processed into food, temporarily increases reaction speed.]

Jaemin stared at him.

“Chef… You’re not seriously thinking about cooking that, are you?”

“It looks pretty good.”

“…You were actually serious.”

“It’d be a bit much to judge it by smell alone.”

Hong Mangi glanced around before summoning Poming.

Poming appeared and immediately made a shocked expression.

“Gasp! Chef! That’s a ‘Throat Muscle’! You can only get one from each Tin Bludder! You absolutely have to take it~!”

“Thanks.”

Poming suddenly looked around.

“Huh? We’re in a dungeon? Has the time finally come for me to fight too?!”

“Nope. Go back.”

Poming was immediately unsummoned again.

Hong Mangi carefully lifted the meat.

It still carried a sizzling residual heat, along with the smell of slightly charred meat.

“This is tonight’s menu.”

Kang Jaemin shook his head.

“Ugh… I don’t think I can eat that.”

“Poming and I will try cooking it first.”

Then something else caught his eye.

A bright crimson mana stone.

“You should take that too, Chef. The rule in this line of work is that the person who lands the finishing blow gets the drop.”

Kang Jaemin looked at it enviously.

It was a high-purity A-rank mana stone with a bright crimson glow, dropped from the heart of the Tin Bludder.

But Mangi quietly shook his head.

“You take it.”

“Huh? I already got experience from the fight. I’ve gained more than enough.”

“I got the meat.”

With a faint smile, Mangi opened his inventory.

Jaemin gave him an incredulous look.

“You actually consider that a valuable drop?”

“It’s important to me.”

“As expected, Chef. You really are thoughtful… and you act like a true leader.”

“I don’t want you doing all the hard work while I take everything.”

“Ha! Thank you very much! I’ll serve you loyally!”

“If an A+ mana stone drops next time, that one’s mine.”

“O-Of course!! Obviously!”

The two laughed.

Then, in the middle of the desert, they settled down in the only place where some shade could be found.

Minor monsters appeared every now and then, but every single one of them was nothing more than an annoying, useless creature.

One stupid monster had four legs but only knew how to properly use two of them.

Another meaningless magical beast flapped its own wings, buried itself in sand, and somehow self-destructed.

After cutting down several of them, Kang Jaemin muttered,

“The boss should be showing up soon….”

“Probably.”

“Before that, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“What?”

Jaemin looked at him.

“Chef. You’re F-rank, right?”

“Yeah.”

“If you clear this dungeon and get evaluated again afterward, wouldn’t you at least reach D-rank?”

Hong Mangi remained silent for a moment before answering.

“If it were that easy, it would’ve happened a long time ago. I’ve never been evaluated as D-rank before, remember?”

“But things are different now.”

Jaemin sheathed his sword at his waist and sat down.

“You just defeated an A-rank magical beast. You weren’t alone, sure, but the decisive blow was yours. And that Mental First Aid thing you used on me before? Honestly, if that were officially registered as a skill with the Association, it would be incredible.”

“That was a one-time skill, so it disappeared after I used it. Still… maybe I should go get evaluated again.”

“Of course you should. All the abilities you’ve shown so far… saving people, giving them another chance, and even directly killing monsters like you just did. Eventually, they won’t have any choice but to acknowledge you.”

Mangi gave a small smile.

“Strangely enough, hearing you say that makes me look forward to it.”

“Right? Honestly, Chef, the fact that you’re still F-rank right now is almost insulting.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

They lit a small campfire.

The flames flickered gently.

Mixed with the heat of the red desert, warmth gradually spread through the shaded air around them.

Mangi held the Shadow Dagger in his hand.

“I guess it’s about time I said goodbye to this thing.”

“You don’t like it anymore?”

“No. It’s just… too familiar.”

Mangi slowly ran a finger along the dagger’s blade.

“It’s helped me a lot. But I think I’m ready to change weapons now.”

“What do you want? A sword? A bow? Or maybe some ridiculous overpowered item like ‘Gloves of the Heart’?”

“I don’t know. I just want something that fits me perfectly….”

Mangi looked upward.

There was no real sky in the red desert.

Only heat, light, and an endless sense of emptiness stretched above them.

“If nothing good drops, I could always just buy something. But I’d much rather get it directly from a dungeon. It’d be nice if something decent dropped here….”

At that moment—

The ground shook.

THUD.

“…What was that just now?”

“Yeah… what was that?”

“Hmm….”

Kang Jaemin’s expression stiffened with tension.

THUD.

The campfire they had lit shook violently.

Only then did Kang Jaemin rise to his feet.

His expression turned serious.

“That… is the boss.”