Chapter 50

Lee Yoo-kyeong, the Vice Squad Leader of Hong Gyeong-pyo’s team, clicked her tongue and spoke.

“Could you please explain what’s going on right now, Squad Leader.”

As if someone had poked him in the side, Hong Gyeong-pyo flinched and answered.

“We’re a little short on people for the Dungeon.”

“Six out of our ten squad members are going in. How are we short?”

“In the Squad Leader’s judgment, we were short, so I asked Choi Gi-woong for some support. Asked him to help us out.”

“And those are the people he sent?”

Lee Yoo-kyeong pointed to the trio standing in the distance.

Lee Won-sik holding a shield, Choi Soo-jung with a bow on her back, and Kim Soo-gyeom fiddling with a Longsword were there.

“Squad Leader.”

“Uh, yeah. Go on.”

“I thought I might have misheard yesterday, so I looked it up again.”

“You really had to go and look it up?”

“They’re D-Rank, and they have zero experience in C-Rank Dungeons.”

“They said they’ve cleared a D-Rank Dungeon once.”

“Yes. With Choi Gi-woong. Seeing how short the Raid time was, I’m one hundred percent sure they got carried by Choi Gi-woong.”

Just then, Choi Soo-jung, who had ended her call, was saying something to the other two.

Immediately after, a look of anticipation bloomed on the trio’s faces.

Seeing this, Lee Yoo-kyeong slapped her forehead.

“Look at that. See that expression? That’s the face of someone about to cause trouble. They’ll rush a Monster without thinking and get hurt.”

Sighing deeply, Lee Yoo-kyeong glared at Hong Gyeong-pyo.

“Do we really need to grovel like this? Will Choi Gi-woong take us to Jeju Island if we do this?”

“Why are you overreacting? We’re just entering a Dungeon together.”

“Normally, I wouldn’t say anything either. I’d just think of it as a field trip and let it go. But in this situation where it’s already hard to find a Dungeon because of the 2nd Division, the thought of sharing Experience Points…”

“That’s not it.”

“…What’s not it?”

Hong Gyeong-pyo added seriously.

“Choi Gi-woong got us this Dungeon in the first place.”

“What do you mean…”

“Choi Gi-woong got rid of Deputy Director Kim Ho-seon a while ago. The guys from the 2nd Division stopped being a pain in the ass around then, too.”

Lee Yoo-kyeong’s eyes widened.

“That was because of Choi Gi-woong? How? How could Choi Gi-woong do something even Head of department Kim Yoon-joong couldn’t?”

At her bewildered question, Hong Gyeong-pyo shrugged.

“I don’t know the details either. So don’t complain. If anything, this is an opportunity.”

Lee Yoo-kyeong’s expression turned serious.

If it was an opportunity, it was indeed an opportunity.

If the other teams found out about this, all hell would break loose.

They would all be fighting to take on this trio that felt like dead weight.

Having finished her calculations, Lee Yoo-kyeong rubbed the back of her neck and said.

“Choi Gi-woong will be angry if they get so much as a scratch on them.”

“That’s why we have to handle them with care.”

“I should just tell them to stay in the back. Like they’re really just on a field trip.”

Hong Gyeong-pyo shook his head.

“I think Choi Gi-woong wants them to participate in the Raid together.”

Lee Yoo-kyeong let out a groan.

“…I feel like a royal guard escorting a princess and a Prince to a Hunting Ground.”

“Choi Gi-woong said they’d pull their own weight.”

“That’s because you’re the type to believe him even if he said he could make bean paste blocks out of red beans.”

Lee Yoo-kyeong let out a deep sigh.

“Fine. I’ll mark them myself. I just need to make them feel like they’re participating in the Raid, right?”

Civilians who don’t know much about the world of Awakeners might think all Hunters are more or less the same.

Not at all.

The higher the Rank, the more exponentially an Awakener’s power increases.

The benchmark for that is C-Rank.

A D-Rank can only face five E-Ranks, but a C-Rank can easily defeat twenty D-Rank Hunters.

In that sense, C-Rank is the standard that separates the rookies from the seasoned Hunters.

Kwang! Whoosh! Thwack!

Hong Gyeong-pyo’s team possessed the strength to clear such a C-Rank Dungeon without issue.

This was the result.

It took them less than 10 minutes to get through the first gate.

The one Orc they intentionally left behind was for the visiting princess and Prince.

“Would the three of you like to try facing it?”

Lee Yoo-kyeong gestured with her chin at the Orc that had become a lab rat and smiled.

“Don’t feel too pressured. We’ll intervene immediately if we judge it to be dangerous at any point.”

The three rookies nodded at her smile.

“Thank you for the opportunity!”

Lee Won-sik, who had spoken confidently, stepped forward first.

To draw the Orc’s Aggro.

“Chwik!”

The Orc, enraged at being turned into a test subject, charged recklessly and struck Lee Won-sik’s shield.

Kooong!

This very moment, with the Hand Axe embedded in the shield.

This was the most important part.

Because whether one could block the maximum force with minimum strength determined a Tanker’s aptitude.

“His form is pretty good.”

“He’s a D-Rank, right? His strength seems to be C-Rank level.”

“His Potential Rank must be around C-Rank.”

The spectating team members nodded, saying he was quite good.

On the other hand, Hong Gyeong-pyo and Lee Yoo-kyeong sighed.

“He’s nervous, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Lee Yoo-kyeong nodded.

“His posture is fine, but his strength is excessively concentrated. It might be okay for a short fight, but it’ll be tough for a Dungeon Clear.”

“His expression seems fine, though?”

“He must be the type who doesn’t show it when he’s nervous.”

Next was Choi Soo-jung.

Arrows poured from her drawn bowstring.

Pyut-

An arrow lodged itself right in the left forearm of the Orc that was striking Lee Won-sik.

“Chwik!”

The Orc dropped its Hand Axe and screamed.

“Better than I thought?”

“I know, right? I was nervous because they said she was D-Rank, but at this rate, isn’t she pretty useful?”

This time, too, the team members were impressed, but only Hong Gyeong-pyo and Lee Yoo-kyeong clicked their tongues in pity.

“She missed.”

“Right. Looks like she was aiming for the heart.”

“She was putting way too much power into it from the start. At that rate, even if she does well a hundred times, one mistake could lead to big trouble.”

Kim Soo-gyeom’s case was better, at least.

Because he was a case of properly controlling C-Rank power.

Kim Soo-gyeom’s Longsword accurately pierced the heart.

With the Orc’s head lolling, the three began to talk excitedly amongst themselves.

About zeroing in, about slowly getting used to it.

To Lee Yoo-kyeong, they looked like clueless young masters and ladies sharing their joy after succeeding in their first hunt by chance.

“It’s a relief they seem happy.”

That was enough.

Later, when they went back, they just had to tell Choi Gi-woong things like, ‘It was a great experience,’ ‘It was amazing,’ ‘I succeeded in a hunt.’

As long as they said that, it was fine.

The point where Lee Yoo-kyeong tilted her head in confusion was after passing the third gate.

“Somehow, it seems like they’re getting better as we go.”

Pyut- Pyut-

Seogeok-

Kwaaang!

The more opportunities they were given, the more their shortcomings improved.

Their center of gravity was stabilizing, and the sloppy aim of the arrows was finding its mark.

They couldn’t have overheard the whispers from behind.

No, even if they had, those weren’t things that could be improved right away.

Pyut-

An Orc, its heart pierced by Choi Soo-jung’s arrow, collapsed.

“…At that level, I don’t think she’s D-Rank.”

Lee Yoo-kyeong said in a bewildered voice.

“What is it? Their Potential Ranks are obvious. Did they get a Buff or something?”

Curious, Lee Yoo-kyeong sidled up to the trio.

Despite having just taken down three Orcs, Choi Soo-jung and the others weren’t even breathing heavily.

“Looks like you’re relaxing more as we go.”

At Lee Yoo-kyeong’s question, Choi Soo-jung tilted her head.

“Huh? Relaxing?”

“You look much better than when we first came in. Aren’t you more relaxed?”

“Ah…”

Choi Soo-jung smiled sheepishly.

“Actually, I got rid of all my nervousness before we even came in, thanks to our Squad Leader.”

“…Really? Then why at first…”

“Ah. He said it would take at least until the halfway point. The time needed to zero in.”

Her words were filled with a deep trust in Choi Gi-woong.

‘It’s not like they’re some religious cult.’

This was even more intense than Hong Gyeong-pyo.

She glanced to the side. Come to think of it, Kim Soo-gyeom was the only one who had looked displeased from the start.

Was there something he didn’t like?

‘If Choi Gi-woong hears about this…’

Startled, Lee Yoo-kyeong quickly perked up her ears.

“I was the only C-Rank. I was the only one in this team…”

It was hard to understand what he meant. She looked at Lee Won-sik for a translation.

“You don’t have to worry about this guy. More importantly, thank you so much for the opportunity, Vice Squad Leader.”

The three of them bowed their heads to Lee Yoo-kyeong. For people with Choi Gi-woong backing them, all three were equipped with humility.

Seeing that, Lee Yoo-kyeong decided to put her questions aside.

In any case, as long as they pulled their own weight, there was no reason to dislike it.

Lee Yoo-kyeong’s dry expression gradually softened as well.

The next time Lee Yoo-kyeong felt suspicious was when the Dungeon had passed the halfway point and they were moving to the sixth gate.

Dungeon Raids are usually easy at first and get progressively harder.

Because it’s dark, cut off from the world, and the level of Monsters toward the end becomes unimaginably high.

That’s why the team leaders of teams that have passed the halfway point become extremely tense from then on.

It was the same for Hong Gyeong-pyo and Lee Yoo-kyeong.

They managed the condition of their exhausted team members and proceeded with the Raid as slowly as possible.

Because you never knew when or where an accident might occur.

But Choi Gi-woong’s three people.

“They seem to be getting more comfortable as we go.”

Lee Yoo-kyeong said in a tone of disbelief.

“Did you know? The number of Monsters that trio has killed is now equal to the six of us, starting from this gate.”

Of course, that was partly because Hong Gyeong-pyo hadn’t been on the front lines for the sake of the team’s training.

Nevertheless, the performance they were showing was unbelievable for people with a Potential Rank of D-Rank.

Thwack! Pyut- Seogeogeok-

As if they had trained for more than a day or two, the three moved as one, coordinating with each other. So it was only natural that their efficiency was several times higher.

By the time the Raid was 80% complete, Lee Yoo-kyeong had thrown in the towel.

It had reached a point where the three of them were the main force raiding the Orc Dungeon.

Behind the team members who were panting from exhaustion, the trio flew around, full of energy.

‘Did their Potential Rank go up?’

It was absurd, but Lee Yoo-kyeong couldn’t help but think that.

“…Isn’t it tough? You should rest a bit as you go.”

She asked, worried they might be overdoing it, but the answer she got was ridiculous.

“Compared to training with our Squad Leader, this is heaven.”

“Right. I feel like I’m on vacation today.”

“What vacation? He said we have more training after this.”

At that, the three of them grimaced.

To Lee Yoo-kyeong, it just looked like they were exaggerating.

“By any chance, what are your Ranks right now?”

Just before the Boss Monster, unable to hold back any longer, Lee Yoo-kyeong asked bluntly.

Asking for someone’s Rank was extremely rude. But Lee Yoo-kyeong was curious enough to risk it.

They were definitely not D-Ranks. They were C-Rank, and high-tier ones at that.

What on earth could make that possible?

‘Unless they made a contract with a Demon…’

“We’ve thought about that too, and we think it might be because of our Squad Leader’s training.”

The three said with meaningful smiles.

“Our Squad Leader’s training is a bit… special.”

Immediately after hearing that, Lee Yoo-kyeong ran to Hong Gyeong-pyo.

Her face was flushed red.

“Can’t you get us into Squad Leader Choi Gi-woong’s training too?”

“Yeah. You worked hard. Good job.”

He abruptly hung up the phone.

He wondered if he should soothe Choi Soo-jung, who was nagging him about his soulless tone, but he wasn’t in the right mind for it.

“He may be a Demon going in, but he will be human coming out.”

In a place where all the key executives of the association were gathered.

Yang Won-hoon, who had entered the lab with a commanding presence, soon clutched his face.

“Why on earth…”

He was engulfed in despair.

Yang Won-hoon’s experiment had failed. He had not become human.