Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“What is it?”

“Look at that. It’s a Shadow Dagger!”

The two of them stared intently at my Shadow Dagger.

“Isn’t it a fake?”

“No way. Why would there even be a fake one?”

Right.

As if something like this would be fake.

I spoke to them.

“If you don’t want me in your party, I’ll look somewhere else.”

The two immediately waved their hands, stopping me.

“No! No! Come on, why are you being so sensitive?”

“Just come with us!”

I casually looked over their equipment and physiques.

Neither of them seemed to be particularly high-ranked Hunters.

“By the way, what are your evaluation ranks?”

“I’m B-rank, and this guy is C-rank.”

“Ah…”

The dungeon we were about to enter was considered somewhere around the intermediate-to-high level.

If I had to put an exact rank on it, it would probably be around B+.

One B-rank Hunter, one C-rank Hunter, and an F-rank Hunter.

Normally, this wasn’t a dungeon such a party could easily hunt in.

But I had the weapons and equipment that had once guaranteed Sima Qian victory before he passed on to the afterlife.

The Shadow Dagger and Ninja Armor.

If these work properly…

I could probably display combat ability beyond B-rank.

The status window had definitely told me earlier.

If I made use of materials obtained from dungeons, my abilities would increase.

That meant I could gain experience from hunting monsters directly, while also increasing my stats through cooking.

Jackpot.

The corners of my mouth naturally rose toward my ears.

The Hunters preparing to enter the dungeon noticed me grinning and spoke up.

“Hey, what are you so happy about? Why are you smiling like that?”

“Ah? Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“We might end up being companions on the road to the afterlife, so we should at least introduce ourselves. I’m B-rank Hunter Geum Gwangsan. As you can probably tell, my specialty is beating things to death with this mace.”

“I’m F-rank Hunter Hong Mangi. I’ll just do my best.”

The man beside the B-rank Hunter Geum Gwangsan introduced himself as well.

“I’m C-rank Yu Buyeon. Nice to meet you.”

The older-looking man continuously polished his worn-out armor.

“Then let’s head in.”

Following Geum Gwangsan’s words, we stepped into the dungeon.

A swamp as dark as pitch.

Every time we took a step, mushy mud and rotten branches wrapped around our ankles.

Faint presences could be felt all around us, while black mist obscured our vision and made it difficult to tell which direction we were going.

Geum Gwangsan looked around and spoke in a low voice.

“Be careful. Take the wrong path here, and you might never find your way out.”

Yu Buyeon replied as though it were nothing troublesome.

“We just need to stay alert.”

Just then, black liquid suddenly burst from the swamp.

A sleek snake shot out.

It was a Black Swamp Snake.

“Damn it!”

Yu Buyeon quickly swung his sword, but the swamp snake twisted its body and avoided the attack.

The Black Swamp Snake raised its head and writhed, almost as though showing off just how venomous it was.

“If it bites you, you’re dead!”

“Stay sharp!”

Geum Gwangsan and Yu Buyeon, B-rank and C-rank respectively, swallowed nervously as they watched the Black Swamp Snake’s movements.

Unlike their confidence from moments earlier, they were now completely tense.

Hong Mangi, however, remained calm.

What was the Shadow Dagger’s ability again? Ah!

He gripped the Shadow Dagger and activated Shadow Movement.

[Shadow Movement – Invincible for 3 seconds.]

Okay. Three seconds of invincibility.

Hong Mangi instantly slipped behind the Black Swamp Snake and drove his dagger downward.

[Kikheheek—!]

Shadows spread across the Black Swamp Snake’s head, immediately paralyzing it.

Hong Mangi cut through its neck in a single strike.

[You have obtained the Black Swamp Snake’s Venom Sac.]

Nice! Loot!

It was the first time he had ever obtained an item from a monster of this level.

Geum Gwangsan spoke in surprise.

“Oh, so it’s not a fake? Are you really F-rank? That was amazing.”

Hong Mangi quietly wiped his Shadow Dagger clean.

“Hehe. I guess I just got lucky.”

“Good! Perfect! Let’s go a little deeper!”

After seeing Hong Mangi’s flawless performance with his own eyes, Geum Gwangsan looked excited enough to want to reach the very end of the dungeon.

The three began moving deeper into the swamp.

Then—

[Kiiiik— Kiiiik—]

A gigantic armored knight slowly rose from beneath the ground.

It began approaching them while dragging a sword covered in wavering red light.

Geum Gwangsan, who had been moving ahead of the others, abruptly stopped.

He turned around.

“Ah, hold on… That thing… it’s a B-rank monster.”

Yu Buyeon seemed to recognize it as well.

“No. Let’s go back. We can’t kill that thing.”

But Geum Gwangsan clenched his teeth and began spinning his mace.

“If we kill it, we’ll hit the jackpot. Why would we turn back? I’m going first.”

He charged forward with his mace and smashed it down hard at the knight.

But the knight blocked the blow with its heavy shield before swinging its own sword.

[Shiiing—!]

Geum Gwangsan barely dodged.

Even so, the shoulder section of his armor was completely sliced away.

I almost died!

This time, Yu Buyeon rushed forward.

“Urarararat!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs and charged toward the knight.

But—

[BOOM—!]

The knight swung its shield like a baseball player swinging a bat.

With a single strike, Yu Buyeon was sent flying.

Whew… This one looks rough.

A B-rank and C-rank Hunter couldn’t even put up a proper fight.

They had been thrown around and nearly cut apart.

It clearly seemed like an opponent that Hong Mangi, an F-rank Hunter, should have no chance against.

But Hong Mangi immediately activated Shadow Storm.

[Shadow Storm – Deals continuous damage to enemies within range + Grants Stealth.]

The Swamp Knight lost track of its surroundings and dropped its shield.

It seemed unable to locate Hong Mangi for a brief moment.

Hong Mangi didn’t waste that opportunity.

Using Shadow Movement, he appeared behind the knight and repeatedly drove the dagger into its body.

[Shuk— Shuuuk!]

[Shuk!]

Critical weak-point attacks.

“Keugh—!”

With only a short groan, the monster’s body collapsed as though melting away.

[You have obtained a Fragment of the Swamp Knight’s Red Sword.]

Hong Mangi obtained another item.

Whoa… This is insane.

Geum Gwangsan stared at him in disbelief.

“Were you always this kind of monster?”

“Uh… I’m not sure…?”

Hong Mangi gave him a faint smile.

Yu Buyeon looked equally dumbfounded.

“I seriously thought I was going to die… But if this guy is with us, couldn’t we even hunt the dungeon boss?”

“U-Umm…”

Geum Gwangsan cautiously glanced toward me.

Defeating a dungeon boss meant conquering the dungeon itself.

The moment someone became registered as a dungeon conqueror, their name would be officially recorded in the Hunter Association’s registry.

That was how difficult it was.

There were barely any cases of it happening without a party containing at least an A-rank or S-rank Hunter.

Perhaps a competitive spirit had awakened inside Geum Gwangsan.

He opened his mouth.

“Think you can do it?”

Everything so far had been handled without too much difficulty.

But a dungeon boss was on an entirely different level.

While Hong Mangi hesitated for a moment, a faint mist began rising around them.

“W-What is that?!”

“Something’s coming!”

A beam of red light sliced through the mist like a laser.

At the same time, a grotesque breathing sound began echoing from somewhere nearby.

Geum Gwangsan muttered nervously.

“Something… Something’s coming!”

At that moment, the black swamp violently surged.

A gigantic shadow emerged.

“It’s the boss monster!”

“Grullak?!”

The dungeon boss, Grullak.

A monster classified somewhere between A-rank and B-rank.

The moment Geum Gwangsan shouted, a gigantic tentacle suddenly shot out and wrapped itself around Yu Buyeon.

“Aaagh!!”

[Swoosh!]

His body was dragged into the air.

Geum Gwangsan quickly swung his mace, but it was useless.

At the same time, a second tentacle shot from the opposite direction and wrapped itself around Geum Gwangsan’s waist, lifting him into the air.

“W-What the hell is this…?!”

Grullak’s tentacles slowly began crushing them.

“G-Ghhk…”

“Uuurgh…”

Geum Gwangsan’s ribs creaked as if they were about to snap.

Yu Buyeon thrashed desperately, unable to breathe.

Then—

[Whoooosh!!]

Hong Mangi activated Shadow Movement.

He moved onto the tentacle and drove his dagger downward.

[Kereerek—!]

The tentacle immediately lost its strength and was severed.

The same happened to the other one.

“Huff, huff!”

“Thank you! Mangi!”

Freed from their restraints, Geum Gwangsan and Yu Buyeon barely managed to survive.

Grullak suddenly let out an ear-splitting roar.

“Graaaaaaagh!”

At the same time, the mud around them began surging violently.

“Fuck! What the hell is this?!”

Geum Gwangsan clenched his teeth.

Yu Buyeon tried to push himself off the ground, but the swamp had already risen all the way to his waist.

[Tsupapapat!]

Something resembling black tentacles burst from beneath the ground and wrapped around both men.

“Uugh!”

“Not again!”

Yu Buyeon screamed.

Geum Gwangsan swung his mace, but the soft, slippery tentacle smoothly bent aside and avoided the attack.

The tentacles tightened more and more.

Then—

[Whoooosh!]

Hong Mangi leaped onto the tentacles binding Geum Gwangsan and Yu Buyeon.

And with a single strike—

[Slice.]

One of the tentacles was severed.

Yu Buyeon dropped to the ground.

“Huff… Huff… Th-Thank you.”

Geum Gwangsan also cried out desperately.

“Ugh! Mangi! Save me!!”

“Ah! Yes!”

Hong Mangi immediately moved.

His dagger sliced through the tentacle.

Geum Gwangsan, whose life had just been saved, struggled to push himself back to his feet.

“Haa… Haa…”

As Geum Gwangsan gasped for breath, Hong Mangi quietly turned his head toward Grullak’s enormous body.

A faint red light was leaking from Grullak’s abdomen.

Is that its weakness?

At that moment, Grullak charged toward them once again with a deafening roar.

Geum Gwangsan shouted.

“Watch out!!”

But Hong Mangi was already rushing straight toward Grullak.

Black mist bloomed beneath his feet.

The Shadow Dagger shone fiercely.

His target—

The abdomen where Grullak’s red light was leaking out.

“Die!”

[Bzzzt!]

The moment the dagger pierced directly through its heart, Grullak’s gigantic body began convulsing violently.

[KRAAAAAAAGH!!!]

Its scream shook the entire swamp.

At the same time, the black swamp that had been surging like waves slowly returned to its original state.

Grullak struggled one final time before its enormous body gradually began sinking.

The dozens of eyes covering its body also lost their light one after another.

For a moment, silence filled the swamp.

And then—

[You have obtained Grullak’s Magic Stone (A-rank).]

[You have obtained the Swamp Predator’s Hide.]

[You have obtained Poison Heart Grass (毒心草).]

[You have obtained the Essence of the Black Swamp.]

“Haaah… Is it over?”

After collecting the Magic Stone and all the other items, Hong Mangi dropped to the ground, his chest rising and falling heavily.

“Haa… That scared the shit out of me…”

For an F-rank Hunter like him, this was the first time he had ever experienced such a desperate situation.

As he repeatedly rubbed his chest in relief, Geum Gwangsan and Yu Buyeon could only stare at him with their mouths hanging open.

A little while later.

The swamp was still just as gloomy.

Neither of the two men said a word during the entire journey back toward the entrance.

Eventually, Yu Buyeon broke the awkward silence.

“Um… I’m alive right now, right?”

Geum Gwangsan let out a short breath.

“Yeah. We survived.”

He turned his gaze toward Hong Mangi.

“Thanks to someone.”

Then he called out.

“Hey, Mangi! At this point, you look like the B-rank Hunter and I look like the F-rank.”

Geum Gwangsan burst into hearty laughter.

Hong Mangi gave an awkward smile and flicked the blood from his dagger.

Yu Buyeon smiled brightly.

“You were actually pretty incredible.”

After catching his breath, he added one more thing.

“Are you really F-rank? Shouldn’t you go back to the Association and get reevaluated?”

Hong Mangi chuckled quietly.

What am I supposed to do now?

He had thought he was going to retire.

And now, somehow, he had become strong enough to defeat a dungeon boss on his own.

And then there was—

The ordinary A-rank Magic Stone sitting in his hand.

How much money would I get if I sold this?

It was the first A-rank item he had ever held in his life.