Chapter 17 – The Hint (３)

That was close.

Gijun barely made it to the destination.

The journey here had been fraught with danger.

Even for him, hunting proficiently in the Rapalam Mountain Range was no easy feat.

Whenever more than two Monsters grouped up, he had to bolt.

Still, having finally arrived, Gijun let out a long breath.

But no NPC was in sight.

Instead, only a massive boulder stood there.

What’s this?

He couldn’t make sense of it.

The Quest was supposed to be waiting — all he’d done was follow the light.

Huh?

Then something clicked.

The light from his badge still pointed straight at the boulder.

More precisely, at a specific spot on it.

No matter which way Gijun moved, the light stayed fixed on that section.

A single, unwavering point.

No way.

That realization made Gijun think.

Maybe, just maybe, something lay within that single point of light.

Let’s take a look first.

Gijun brought his hand up to it.

At that moment, a small smile touched the corner of his lips.

There it is. The mana is moving.

And he meant exactly that.

What looked like solid rock on the outside was actually hollow inside.

Instead, that empty interior was brimming with mana.

Especially where the light pointed — a mana core pulsed there, writhing like a living thing.

A mana core.

Every living being carries mana, and a core exists where that mana gathers.

Humans have three: the brain, the heart, and the lower dantian.

Three in total.

Regardless, this rock — or what appeared to be rock — truly held a core within it.

Which meant this mana core was the secret to starting the Quest.

Alright, so…

The answer came easily.

Break it.

Probably something would pop out once this rock was smashed.

Not that breaking a rock was difficult.

But he doubted it was meant to be destroyed by magic.

If that were the case, there’d be no reason to show him the mana core at all.

So the method was simple:

Reverse the direction of the mana flow along the circuits composing the core.

Others might struggle, but for Jun — this was practically child’s play.

After all, this was something he’d been taught at the Academy.

In Dungeons, destroying the core was a frequent necessity.

They trained for exactly this kind of situation.

Jun pressed his palm against the rock and poured in his mana.

In an instant, he analyzed the circuit and sent his mana flowing in the exact opposite direction.

At some point, the rock began to emit a blue light.

About a minute later, the rock started to shake.

The boulder — massive as a house — trembled violently, sending harsh tremors through the ground.

Just a little more.

Mana was being sucked in at an incredible speed.

Roughly ten minutes passed like that…

Crack!

A large fissure split the rock right down its center.

Jun didn’t stop. He kept pouring in his mana.

Eventually, the crack branched into dozens of fractures, spiderwebbing across the entire boulder.

CRRRRRASH!

And then the enormous rock collapsed in on itself.

Done.

It had cost a massive amount of MP.

His mana efficiency had improved, yet even he was nearly drained — almost completely empty.

Light streamed out from inside the shattered rock.

Not just any light.

A Portal.

It was exactly that — a Portal.

At the same time, a message flashed before his eyes.

[Discovered Dungeon: ‘Nest of Flames.’]

A message that he’d found a Dungeon called the Nest of Flames.

Nest of Flames…

The name carried an ominous weight.

He felt sure something incredible was waiting inside.

Time to go in.

There was no need to hesitate.

Without a second thought, Jun stepped forward.

As his body crossed into the Portal, his vision washed over with brilliant light.

*

Whoosh! Fwoosh, fwoosh!

‘…’

The place Gijun arrived at was a fitting match for its name: the Flame’s Nest.

A space utterly encircled by lava.

Gijun stood on a rock jutting up from the middle of the molten sea.

All around him, nothing but lava stretched in every direction.

The rock was so narrow that a single step forward would plunge him straight into the magma.

What surprised him, though, was that it wasn’t all that hot.

If this weren’t a game, his body might have burned to cinders on the spot.

‘So what now?’

Gijun didn’t know much about games.

He’d hardly ever played one, after all.

But he wasn’t stupid.

No—he was a very clever man.

So he thought.

If he kept going the way he had so far, surely there was a way through.

‘I just need to think.’

What could he do here, and how?

Let’s find a clue.

‘First… this is definitely a Quest related to my class.’

Gijun’s class: Flame Seeker.

Broadly speaking, that made him a mage.

‘…Then there’s probably something to do with Mana.’

A mage is all about Mana, isn’t it.

So he’d have to navigate this place using something tied to Mana—or magic.

Gijun cast Fireball first.

Then he hurled it somewhere.

Whoosh—crackle!

A burst of flame bloomed over the lava, then vanished.

Gijun repeated the same action several times.

Then he smiled.

‘Easy.’

Because he’d figured it out.

What to do here, and how.

‘The Fireball’s intensity was different.’

Watching the flame flare up, he noticed a difference.

At certain spots, the fire blazed especially fiercely.

What could that mean?

‘That Mana is concentrated there.’

Plain as day.

Where Mana gathered, the flame burned hotter.

What’s more, those Mana-dense spots were connected in a straight line.

What did that imply?

‘A path.’

Right.

It meant there was a route hidden amid this sea of lava.

That path led to one wall.

A wall that showed nothing.

But he wasn’t fooled.

After all, he’d walked this far over nothing but boulders, hadn’t he?

‘Then let’s go.’

Gijun stepped forward without hesitation.

One wrong move and he’d fall into the lava, game over—but he didn’t doubt for a second.

That what he’d found was the answer.

Step-

Gijun laughed.

Because it was exactly as he’d predicted.

His Stamina hadn’t drained at all.

Meaning his guess had been right.

A message flashed up.

[You have achieved an incredible Achievement!]

[You found the path in an impossibly short time!]

[A new Stat, ‘Flame Affinity,’ has been added!]

[Flame Affinity]

-When Flame Affinity increases by 1, Fire-type attack power increases by 1.5%, and Fire resistance increases by 1.5%.

‘Huh?’

An unexpected reward dropped into his lap.

He couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

[Name : Jun]

[Class : Flame Seeker]

[Level : 28]

[Strength : 1+20]

[Agility : 1+20]

[Stamina : 1+20]

[Magic Power : 32+40]

[Special Stats]

-Flame Affinity : 1

A new stat had appeared on his status screen.

A special stat: Flame Affinity.

It was only a paltry 1, but even a 1 wasn’t something to dismiss.

Because that single point meant a 1.5% boost to both his Flame resistance and Flame attack power.

And he’d already pocketed this reward just from taking a single step forward.

‘If this is only the beginning…’

Then the rewards waiting ahead were definitely worth getting excited over.

Gijun strode forward without hesitation.

And finally, he reached the end.

A wall showed nothing but blank stone.

But in that instant…

RUMBLE—

The wall shuddered, and a doorway groaned open in the stone.

A moment later, the door swung wide, revealing a cave beyond.

And at that very moment—

Grrrr…

Grrrrrrrrr…

A low growl echoed out.

Not just one or two.

A quick count put them at dozens or more.

Ding!

A chime rang out, and another window appeared.

A Quest window.

[A Class Quest has been unlocked.]

[Nest of Flames]

-Slay 50 Flame Hounds

-Time Limit: 20 minutes

-Reward: ???

-Failure results in Quest cancellation.

Gijun tensed.

It was because of the line at the very bottom.

‘Quest cancelled.’

It meant the quest would be voided if he couldn’t take down fifty of them in twenty minutes.

‘Can’t let that happen.’

There was no way he could afford to lose this quest.

Not just because of the reward—but because of what Ruf had said.

That he might find a clue about the path ahead.

That ominous remark.

A powerful premonition surged through him.

A certainty that once he completed this quest, something monumental awaited.

GRRRAAAH!

YIP! YELP!

Flames wreathed their bodies, head to toe.

Which meant just getting near them could drain his Stamina.

These were definitely tricky bastards.

But Gijun looked at them and smiled.

Right before starting the game, he’d bought a Flame Robe.

And it came with the Flame resistance option.

What’s more, the Fire Affinity he’d just unlocked also came with a Flame Resistance option attached.

‘It really does feel like someone’s helping me out with the timing.’

If he hadn’t had the Flame Resistance option, he’d have been at a massive disadvantage in that fight against those things.

Of course, that alone wasn’t enough.

The Robe’s resistance wasn’t high enough to let him take on dozens of them at once.

But Gijun already knew a way around it.

It was something the Academy had drilled into him thoroughly.

‘Wrap myself in Strong Wind.’

That was the literal method.

You cloak your body in wind magic to block external attacks.

It couldn’t absorb physical blows like Ice or Earth attributes could.

But a wind-attribute barrier was specialized in blocking intangible attacks like magic.

Not just anyone could pull it off.

Even being able to use wind magic didn’t make it possible.

To make it work, you needed to be armed with masterful spell control.

Naturally, Gijun could manage it.

With expert finesse.

Gijun cast Strong Wind on the spot.

Wind surged from Gijun’s palm, coiling around his body at his will.

The Strong Wind wrapped every inch of him, forming a defensive barrier across his entire frame.

I need to finish this as fast as possible.

The MP drain was no joke.

And considering he had to keep this up until the fight ended, his mana might burn out in no time.

A guttural howl ripped through the air—Krrrroar!

In that instant, the Flame Hounds were right in front of him.

Gijun had a Fireball ready and hurled it at them without hesitation.

BOOM!

The Fireball landed dead center in the pack of Flame Hounds.

Then it merged with the wind element from his Strong Wind spell, triggering a massive explosion.

Its blast was already on a whole different level from the Fireballs he’d used back in the Red Goblin Dungeon just a short while ago.

*

The plan had worked.

His fire resistance and the Strong Wind barrier shielded him from the Flame Hounds’ flames.

It wasn’t easy, of course.

One wrong move and Gijun wouldn’t have been standing here at all.

Hoo, hoo…

Even so, he’d managed to take down every last Flame Hound.

But there was one problem.

-Defeated Flame Hounds: 50/50

Even after killing all fifty Flame Hounds, the Quest remained incomplete.

He scanned the area again and again — not a single one left in sight.

Did I miss something?

He was sinking into thought when—

Grrrrr…

A savage growl rumbled from up ahead.

Then—

Crack!

A heavy footfall shook the ground.

[The Player’s skill level is too high.]

[Adjusting the difficulty of the Quest: Nest of Flames.]

[Quest rewards have been upgraded.]

[Defeat the Named Monster: Hellhound.]

…

A Quest difficulty spike.

Whether to welcome that or dread it…

That thought flickered through Gijun’s mind, but a smile quickly spread across his face.

‘This is…’

A pretty damn tricky situation.

He didn’t have enough MP left to take the bastard down.

‘What do I do?’

His brow furrowed at the unexpected hurdle.

He needed to think.

Had to find a way to break through this deadlock.

One wrong move and the whole Quest could slip through his fingers—a real crisis.

Then his eyes landed on something.

‘Ah, right—that thing…’