Chapter 47

The appearance of the overwhelmingly massive magic beast made all the team members hold their breath.

In that brief moment, Siyoon enhanced his eyes.

A synergy effect occurred between his enhanced vision and the Wind of Horus effect.

As a result, Siyoon was able to analyze the magic beast in meticulous detail.

‘What a grotesque creature.’

The tree magic beast had a truly horrific appearance.

Its desiccated branches, uncharacteristic of an ancient tree, were pitch-black as if rotting.

The surface of the trunk, which served as its main body, was covered in half-melted, dried corpses of other magic beasts.

It was as if they had been absorbed by the tree magic beast.

“Given its extraordinary appearance, is it the boss?”

“I’m not sure. It seems to have a habit of absorbing other magic beasts.”

As the tree magic beast moved away, Jang Taeju and Seo Eunhyun muttered softly.

At the same time, they further concealed their presence and remained on high alert.

They were seasoned enough to immediately translate their judgments into action.

They were definitely on a different level compared to the hunters Siyoon had met previously.

“We should avoid combat as much as possible, unless absolutely necessary.”

All three men agreed with Siyoon’s statement.

With a magic beast like that roaming around, there was no need to draw unnecessary attention.

Furthermore, there was no telling how long the exploration would take.

It was a situation where they needed to conserve their stamina as much as possible.

Siyoon didn’t explain this separately, but they all understood the fact.

Chwak.

Under Siyoon’s cover, the party slowly advanced through the tropical rainforest.

They moved quietly, just as they had agreed upon beforehand.

During their advance, Siyoon sensed the presence of a magic beast.

‘It’s approaching from about 20 meters away to our right.’

His senses had grown sharp due to the significant increase in his stats.

Right after entering the dungeon, he had enhanced his entire body, and these further heightened senses detected the magic beast.

“We should change direction. Its path overlaps with ours.”

“There’s a magic beast? What’s its exact location?”

“To our right. It hasn’t noticed us yet, so hiding nearby is also an option.”

Following Siyoon’s instructions, the party hid themselves in the lush underbrush.

Before long, a frog-like magic beast passed by, flicking its tongue.

After seeing it with their own eyes, they no longer doubted Siyoon’s words.

As the situation repeated itself, Jang Taeju was impressed.

“Were you a marksman from the start? Your ability to detect magic beasts is incredibly seasoned.”

Siyoon detected the magic beasts at least five steps ahead of even these seasoned veterans.

Thanks to this, they could explore safely without engaging in combat.

This was a level that rivaled or even surpassed that of a marksman of the same rank.

“Handling firearms naturally broadened my field of vision.”

Siyoon gave only this much of an answer to his question.

It was actually somewhat true.

While combining shooting with close combat, vision and senses were the most important factors.

Of course, his relentlessly honed combat instincts were also included.

But detecting the enemy’s approach in advance was also a core element.

‘I should keep Enhancement active at all times.’

As Siyoon’s proficiency rose, the efficiency of Enhancement also increased.

With his stamina replenished by the Patience of Nature, maintaining it wasn’t difficult.

As long as he wasn’t stacking enhancements on his body, his stamina recovered faster.

However, even without combat, the exploration was not smooth sailing.

After walking around the area for a while, Siyoon suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

The party members immediately reacted to his action.

“Hmm?”

“What is it?”

“Is another magic beast approaching?”

At his action, the party members went on alert and readied their weapons.

Siyoon shook his head and spoke.

“The scenery isn’t changing.”

“What do you mean?”

Seo Eunhyun expressed his doubts.

Having walked while scanning the surroundings, he hadn’t felt anything amiss.

But they couldn’t ignore the words of Siyoon, who had the best eyes in the party.

Siyoon explained in a bit more detail.

“It means we’ve been walking in circles around the same place for a while now.”

“It’s probably not a mistake. Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes.”

Siyoon answered as he walked over to a tree.

A thin piece of cloth was tied to its branch.

It was a marker Siyoon had set up as he passed by earlier.

“I set up a marker the moment I became suspicious, so I’m certain. We’ve just returned to this exact spot again.”

“Hah, then how many times have we seen this marker?”

“About twice in the past 30 minutes.”

The expressions of the three men stiffened upon hearing the exact figures. The time and frequency were also important.

However, the fact that they had returned to the same spot was the most remarkable point.

It meant there was some hidden rule within the dungeon.

‘There’s no way to know for certain right now.’

Siyoon had studied various dungeons.

By his estimation, there was a high probability that this place was a boundary dividing the regions.

There were cases where one couldn’t proceed to the next area unless certain conditions were met.

But this was merely a guess.

It was unreasonable to conclude it as fact.

For now, they had no choice but to investigate other directions and gather information.

“Anyway, we can’t proceed any further in this direction, so let’s investigate another direction.”

Even in an unconquered dungeon, there is always information that allows for it to be cleared.

It was still too early to get tired.

Siyoon and his companions headed elsewhere.

* * *

Siyoon’s party walked straight along what they believed to be the boundary.

The tropical rainforest was teeming with magic beasts as much as it was overflowing with vitality.

Because of this, they frequently ran into them despite their efforts to avoid combat.

Just like right now.

Teong!

Standing at the vanguard, Jang Taeju shoved the magic beast’s body with his shield.

In the meantime, his mace fell like lightning, brutally crushing the mantis’s head.

Seo Eunhyun engaged the magic beast charging from the flank.

-Kiaaaaaah!

It was a deformed magic beast with the head and arms of a mantis and the torso of an orc.

It was an Aindar, classified as a mid-rank magic beast.

Seogeok!

But it was no match for Seo Eunhyun.

The reverse-grip daggers in both hands traced dazzling arcs, dicing the Aindar into pieces.

He blocked an attack with his left dagger while simultaneously slitting its throat with his right.

It was an agile movement, seemingly executing offense and defense simultaneously.

-Kiriririk!

-Crararak!!

An Aindar, using its kin’s corpse as bait, dropped from the sky.

It had leaped using the wings on its back to attempt an attack.

Their speed was so fast that even Seo Eunhyun missed it for a moment.

Pakang!

At that moment, a bullet flying from behind pierced through the joint of the Aindar’s arm.

But that wasn’t all.

Tatatatatang!

In a brief instant, before even a single breath could be drawn.

Seven bullets tore through the wind and surged forward, blowing off the Aindar’s wings and head.

It was accurate and rapid fire.

Thanks to this, the Aindar blocking the front plummeted, and the ones hiding behind it were exposed.

Jin Baekseon didn’t miss that opening.

Seogeok—!

Jin Baekseon drew his sword toward the falling Aindar.

A single, cleanly connected line.

As the flash of his blade, which shone pure white for a brief moment, faded, the magic beasts were cleaved in half.

He had sliced through the corpses and the magic beasts beyond them all at once.

Hudududuk.

“It’s over.”

Jin Baekseon shook the blood off his sword, leaving the falling corpses of the magic beasts behind.

Just as he said, the surrounding magic beasts had been completely cleaned up.

“The magic beasts that appear here are definitely strong for a B-Rank dungeon.”

“It’s a tropical rainforest. It’s an easy place for them to grow, so it can’t be helped.”

Aindar were quite troublesome magic beasts.

They possessed hard bones and hide.

Furthermore, thanks to the wings on their backs, they were agile and capable of leaping attacks.

But the party easily subdued such creatures.

Siyoon played a major role in this process.

“Your shooting skills are outstanding.”

“Not bad.”

The moment the Aindar approached, Siyoon accurately targeted its knees and ankles.

Because it was a firearm enhanced up to +7, its power was considerable.

It was enough to instantly pierce through even their hard bones.

With their leg joints shattered, the Aindar had no choice but to use their wings.

But even that was neutralized in front of Siyoon’s gun.

Their wings were punctured by bullets, and their sickle-like front legs were snapped off.

The Aindar met their deaths without being able to put up a decent fight.

“Much better than that noisy guy.”

“Did you know him?”

“Just once, we took a commission together. His skills were mediocre compared to his way with words.”

Seo Eunhyun sighed.

“He complained endlessly throughout the commission, making such a racket.”

“Hmm.”

Siyoon recalled the crossbow man who had been constantly grumbling.

He certainly had the impression of someone full of complaints.

But that wasn’t important right now.

“To think there would be a structure in a place like this.”

Actually, they didn’t have to fight just now.

But the single reason they forced the engagement was simple.

They had discovered the Aindar gnawing on an unidentified structure.

They hadn’t noticed it when they first saw it from afar.

Its surface was covered in moss and vines, so at a glance, it looked like a tree.

However, it was not a tree, but a pillar.

Seuik.

Siyoon casually brushed the vines away with the back of his hand.

Beneath them, there was a faintly engraved heart symbol.

It was heavily corroded by the passage of time and in poor condition.

But it was undoubtedly an extraordinary structure.

“It’s definitely suspicious.”

“Is it some kind of trigger needed to progress the dungeon?”

“We’ll know once we touch it.”

Siyoon was certain because this was a dungeon.

Such abandoned structures were generally necessary elements for dungeon progression.

It was verified information, not a mere guess.

Of course, he didn’t know why such an openly suspicious structure was connected to it.

Very little was known about dungeons, after all.

“I’ll do it first.”

“No, I will.”

Jang Taeju blocked Siyoon as he was about to place his hand on the pillar.

“Even if we can replace the vanguard in the current party, there’s no one to replace you, our guide and marksman.”

“You’re right.”

This was not a decision made for Siyoon’s sake.

It was a judgment for the greater goal: the survival of the entire party.

Now that Siyoon had demonstrated his outstanding qualities as a guide.

It would be a disaster if he got caught in an unexpected situation and was injured or killed.

Understanding this, Siyoon took a step back.

“Then I leave it to you.”

“I like that you’re quick to understand.”

Jang Taeju flashed a grin and placed his hand on the pillar.

With a faint flash of light, the vines were torn away.

It was a moment of flinching at the unexpected situation.

[ You have made contact with the Heart Pillar of the entrance area in ‘Enseodotar’s Rainforest’. ]

[ Hidden conditions are partially unlocked. ]

[ Slay magic beasts to cross from the entrance area to the central area. ]

[ 0 / 100 ]

A message popped up in front of each of them with a flash.

Seeing this, Siyoon fell into thought.

‘So the areas really were divided.’

The moment he saw the word ‘entrance area’, Siyoon’s guess turned into certainty.

The reason they had been walking in circles without advancing earlier.

It was because they hadn’t met the conditions to proceed to the next area.

But something still felt off.

It was the content of the message.

‘Only a portion of the hidden conditions was unlocked?’

It was true that touching the pillar activated the condition.

But it meant that the details were hidden because they hadn’t met the other conditions.

In cases like this, it was connected to the dungeon’s Hidden Route.

The Hidden Route was, as the name suggested, a hidden path.

It had a higher chance of yielding rarer items than progressing through the dungeon normally.

Of course, they could proceed just by slaying 100 magic beasts.

“Slaying 100 magic beasts, huh.”

“It’s a simple yet difficult condition.”

The party members who saw the message pondered over the condition.

However, no one else cared about the Hidden Route like Siyoon did.

It was natural. The conditions for a Hidden Route were extremely demanding.

To them right now, clearing the dungeon itself was more important than the Hidden Route.

But Siyoon was different.

‘A Hidden Route. I didn’t expect to find one, but this is good luck.’