Chapter 18
[BOOM!]
The center of the red earth suddenly heaved.
Something—
an enormous mass emerged from beneath the ground.
Mangi and Jaemin drew their weapons at the same time.
Mangi immediately asked,
“Do you know what that thing is? Any idea?”
Kang Jaemin couldn’t answer right away.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t in any of the monster guides I studied, and I’ve never seen any information about it either. This is my first time seeing something like that.”
The creature that had risen from the ground was protected by a huge outer shell that looked as hard as steel.
Sharp, needle-like tentacles wriggled and vibrated like antennae around its body.
[Pshk!]
One of its tentacles stabbed into the ground.
The small mob monster standing there was instantly torn to pieces.
“Did it just kill one of its own kind? Wasn’t that thing basically its subordinate?”
“Maybe it’s just advertising how stupid and simple-minded it is?”
The monster had only one eye.
And that single eye began staring directly at Hong Mangi and Kang Jaemin.
“Chef. That thing… we can’t cook it, can we?”
Mangi answered without hesitation.
“I wouldn’t eat that even if someone gave it to me for free. Let’s just kill it.”
[THUD!]
The ground shook again.
Ugh….
It wasn’t an earthquake.
It was simply because of the monster’s sheer weight.
Just from its appearance alone, it was clearly a boss among bosses.
At that moment,
the boss let out a deafening roar and charged toward Hong Mangi and Kang Jaemin.
[KWA-BOOM!!]
“Move!”
The instant Hong Mangi shouted,
Kang Jaemin drew his blade and rushed forward first.
“Running away doesn’t suit me!”
Jaemin threw himself forward.
His body traced a swift arc through the air.
His dagger plunged toward the side of the boss’s heart.
[CLANG!]
“Ugh! What the hell?!”
Jaemin’s dagger was blocked by the boss’s arm.
Its right arm looked like nothing but a massive lump of muscle.
—Grrrrrraaaah—
[BANG—!]
With a single punch from the boss,
Jaemin’s body was sent flying through the air.
[THUD!]
He crashed straight into the ground.
Blood immediately trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“…Damn it….”
Kang Jaemin struggled to get back to his feet.
But his right arm had been violently bent and twisted from the impact.
It seemed he couldn’t put any strength into it at all.
He couldn’t even properly grip his sword.
Hong Mangi pressed his lips together.
I have to finish this.
The boss charged at him with the crude simplicity of some ancient primitive beast.
This was the first time Hong Mangi had ever faced a special-grade monster.
His hands and feet were trembling.
But running away wasn’t an option.
The boss’s single eye kept moving constantly.
It seemed to be tracking Hong Mangi, searching for a weakness.
[Wooooooo—]
The boss raised both hands.
An enormous shadow fell over Hong Mangi’s chest.
[BOOM!]
In that instant—
Hong Mangi activated Shadow Movement.
His body melted into the shadow beneath his feet,
then reappeared behind the boss.
[SLASH!]
The Shadow Dagger sliced across its back.
No blood sprayed out,
but a cut finally appeared across the boss’s thick hide.
“Hah… this might actually be doable.”
Feeling as though he had found an opening, Hong Mangi began moving even faster.
From its back,
to its side,
then all the way down to its thigh.
One strike at a time.
Small,
but precise.
Like a ninja, he rapidly carved into the monster with quick, relentless strikes.
The boss screamed in pain.
Then the eye on its chest began glowing.
It spun around and around, trying to track Hong Mangi as he continued cutting into it.
But—
“Too obvious.”
Hong Mangi lowered his body and moved from one shadow to another.
[Shadow Storm — Activated]
The shadows stretching across the sand transformed into sharp blades.
Those vicious blades tore into the boss with tremendous force.
[GYYYYAAAAAAARGH!!]
And then—
This is the end.
Hong Mangi thrust his dagger straight ahead.
[CRACKLE—!]
Its heart was torn apart.
The enormous monster’s body staggered.
One step.
Two steps.
Then—
it collapsed.
[Whoooosh—]
As the red dust slowly settled,
two glowing items were left on the ground.
One was a sword.
The other was a suit of armor.
Hong Mangi picked up the sword first.
It had a long shape somewhere between a dagger and a full-sized sword.
Its surface was dark crimson, and the tip of the blade seemed to pulse faintly like a beating heart.
Bloodline Sword…?
The description stated that whenever it attacked, it absorbed a certain percentage of a monster’s health.
The absorbed life force would then be used to restore the wielder’s own health.
“This is pretty good. It’s not ridiculously heavy like the Blood-Eyed Greatsword either.”
Next was the armor.
It was made from tough leather combined with tightly fitted red metal plates.
It looked heavy,
but when he lifted it, it was as light as a feather.
Blood Armor…?
According to the description, once a certain amount of damage accumulated, it would automatically generate a Heart Protection Field.
It also reduced damage from close-range attacks.
Hong Mangi casually collected both the Bloodline Sword and Blood Armor.
Kang Jaemin, who had barely managed to regain his senses and had watched the rest of the battle, spoke.
“That was seriously insane. You fought that thing all by yourself and beat the living hell out of it….”
“No. I was only able to fight it alone because you went in first.”
Hong Mangi shared the credit with him.
Seeing that, Kang Jaemin politely lowered his head.
“Thank you. Seriously… I have nothing but respect for you.”
Hong Mangi placed his newly acquired sword inside its sheath before putting it into his inventory.
As though blood had seeped into it, the inventory window flashed and turned crimson.
Today was the day after we finished clearing the dungeon.
“Hunter Hong Mangi. We’ll now conduct your interview for an official rank reassessment. Please follow me.”
Through the Association, I had applied for a Hunter Rank Reassessment.
No matter how many reassessments I had gone through before, I had always remained an F-rank hunter.
I had entered dozens of dungeons.
And every single time—
“F-rank. F-rank. F-rank….”
Coldly.
Mechanically.
That one letter had always followed my name.
But this time would be different.
I can actually look forward to this.
A small meeting room.
Across the round table sat a man and woman in formal suits, along with an evaluator holding a laptop.
“Hunter Hong Mangi. We have received the report regarding your recent BX-02 dungeon clear. With no proper raid party and accompanied by only a single B-rank hunter, you successfully cleared the dungeon.”
The evaluator continued.
“We have also confirmed that in a dangerous area with a survival rate below thirty percent, you took the lead in combat and defeated a boss-class magical beast.”
I nodded.
There was no reason to hide anything.
It was simply the truth.
However, what the evaluator said next was exactly what I had expected.
“However… how should I put this? Your numerical stats are still below average. According to the basic scan, the abilities you naturally possess don’t even meet the standards of a D-rank hunter.”
He looked down at the results.
“You are still at the level of an ordinary F-rank hunter.”
I quietly smiled.
Right.
It had always been like that.
According to the system,
this body had always been nothing more than an ordinary F-rank body.
“And yet, the fact that you defeated that boss is difficult to understand.”
“And this wasn’t only a one-time occurrence, correct?”
“We’ve also received reports that you displayed exceptionally overwhelming performances in several previous dungeons….”
I spoke quietly.
“I worked hard. And I also understand why you’re looking at me with suspicion.”
I leaned back slightly in my chair and continued.
“It’s always been like this. My numbers were low, and my results were terrible. But….”
Slowly,
I met each of their gazes.
“Results and numbers are important inside a dungeon. That much is true.”
“But isn’t there something even more important?”
The evaluators remained silent.
I continued.
“Can you reach out and grab the hand of a teammate who’s about to die?”
“When everything around you is falling apart, can you endure until the very end?”
“Rather than judging someone only by the rank written on their weapon, the expensive mana stones they obtained, or how much their combat power increased…”
I looked directly at them.
“I think we also need an evaluation that measures strength through the scars left on each person’s hands.”
One of the evaluators quietly nodded and opened my file again.
Inside it was a Statement of Achievement, personally written by Kang Jaemin.
…If that man hadn’t been there, I would never have made it out alive.
Hong Mangi did not overcome the crisis simply by relying on his weapons, skills, and raw combat power.
He understood the flow of the dungeon. He even took the mental state of his allies into consideration, then accurately broke through the enemy’s openings.
It was a battle that personally showed me his abilities are far beyond what should belong to an F-rank hunter.
Throughout the entire battle, he moved like a ghost as he subdued the enemy.
There was another document beneath it.
《Dungeon Mental Infection Recovery Report》
Recovery Subject: B-rank Hunter, Kang Jaemin
Person Responsible for Recovery: F-rank Hunter, Hong Mangi
Recovery Method: Sensory stimulation through food + psychological stabilization skill
After reading everything, one of the evaluators quietly raised his head.
“Psychological stabilization skill? This skill isn’t in the Association’s records.”
He looked through the document again.
“Although we would need to search the records in more detail… isn’t this normally the type of skill used by healers?”
He looked at me.
“Mr. Hong Mangi, you’re not a healer, are you?”
“No. I obtained it recently. I almost died using it, too.”
“You obtained it? And you used it… through food?”
“Yes. I make food, feed it to someone, and wait. That was my method.”
I added,
“The skill disappeared after being used once.”
“Hmm… unusual.”
Silence.
The three evaluators exchanged glances.
Then one of them stood, took the laptop, and left the room.
He entered another evaluation room.
A few minutes later—
[Ding.]
A message appeared on the bracelet-shaped identification device around my wrist.
[Hunter Rank Evaluation Result]
— Previous Rank: F
— New Rank: D
— Special Notes: Possesses indirect support abilities outside of direct combat; record of clearing a dangerous zone independently
— Remarks: Reassessment available if necessary
“Hunter Hong Mangi has been reclassified as D-rank.”
“…Thank you!”
It still didn’t feel real.
I stared at my wrist for a long time.
D-rank.
The D wasn’t for Death.
It wasn’t for Down, either.
And it definitely wasn’t for Drop.
It was the D of moving upward—
something I had proven through my own strength.
That night,
I turned on the lights at the food stall.
There were no customers.
Only Poming fluttered around the bubbling pot, keeping the place lively.
“Chef! You seem especially happy today. We don’t even have a single customer, so what are you so happy about?”
“Do I?”
“Is the new employee not coming to work today?”
“Kang Jaemin? Yeah. He got injured in the dungeon, so he needs to rest for a while.”
Poming immediately puffed herself up.
“Oh, really?! What a slacker! How long has it even been since he agreed to start working here, and he’s already skipping work? Maybe I need to teach him a lesson?!”
“There’s no need for that.”
“Ugh! Even so! Huh?!”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter at Poming’s angry huffing.
I chuckled.
“What? Are you bored?”
“It’s not that I’m bored! Since we don’t have any customers, I thought I could teach the new employee a few things. But now you’re saying he isn’t coming to work, so it feels kind of disappointing!”
“Hmm… then should we try cooking that?”
“What?”
“The Tin Bludder’s laryngeal muscle.”
I pointed toward the refrigerator.
Poming sniffed the air a few times before speaking.
“That’s the thing we saw in the dungeon, right? That super, super rare ingredient!”
“Yeah. You told me that back then.”
“Ooh, sounds good! It smells horrible, but that just makes it even more exciting to cook!”
That was when—
[Jingle—]
Someone stepped inside the food stall.
“Welcome!”
I greeted the customer cheerfully and turned toward him.
“Uh…?”
He was a huge man with a thick belly.
His face and both arms were covered in wounds.
His forehead had even been split open slightly, with a clot of blood still hanging from the injury.
“Welcome… but, um… are you okay?”
The man dropped heavily into a seat at one of the tables in the corner.
Then he spoke.
“Let’s have a glass of soju.”
