«Haaagh, haaagh!»

«No time for gasping! Block him, Turka!»

«Understood! Uwooooh!»

Turka stepped forward and thrust his shield up. An instant later a fist black as charcoal slammed into it. Crack! The impact rang out like a cannon shell punching through steel.

The attacker was a B-rank humanoid monster—a Craul. It stood two meters tall, shoulders wide enough to stack three heads on each side. Its featureless skull bore only a crocodile-like snout jutting forward.

The thing pulled its arm back for a follow-up strike. But Turka drove his shield forward first, shoving hard.

“Kyahaak!”

No real damage—but that didn’t matter. The whole point had been to carve open an opening.

Go Byeonggap, who’d been hiding behind Turka, lunged in like a falcon. He drove his two-handed sword straight forward in a clean thrust.

The Craul crossed its arms to block—a reflex that proved utterly pointless.

«Die!»

“Kyaha!”

The blade, laced with internal energy, punched clean through the Craul’s Karma Barrier. It didn’t take long for the B-rank monster to become so much severed meat.

One more down—but it felt like scooping a single cup from a lake.

“Kyahahak!”

“Kieeek!”

«Man… these things just don’t quit.»

Roughly twenty Craul stood with their maws gaping, each letting out a horrible shriek.

The monster camp and their own camp. The air between the two facing formations was thinner than ice.

Go Byeonggap kicked a mangled monster corpse from under his foot and barked his order.

«Don’t break formation! Keep the battle lines!»

«Understood!»

«Kiriyan, Dorma. Hit those bastards first—make it something flashy if you can!»

«You got it!»

«Understood!»

Dark spears and lightning bolts materialized all around. As the strange currents stirred on their side, the Craul pack reacted instantly.

They charged as one, the sound of scraping metal spilling from their ranks. Their momentum was nothing like the lesser monster scraps he’d faced before. The air itself felt wrong—a sinister aura that made his skin prickle.

«Fire!»

The moment the shout left his lips, dozens of projectiles launched. Harsh reports rang out as shards kicked up from the ground all around. Yet despite pouring out such devastating firepower, he couldn’t fully halt the enemy’s advance.

If those had been lesser monsters, that last volley would have wiped them all out. But the creatures before him were built from different bone and sinew than the scraps he’d been dealing with until now.

“Kyahahak!”

«Keurreureuk!»

The two groups collided. Great wave crashed against great wave, sending a violent shock rippling through the air.

They were outnumbered. But that wasn’t reason enough to be helplessly swept away. Not when they had Go Byeonggap—a pillar solid enough to hold the line.

‘Two in the front first. The three on the flank go in one sweep.’

Byeonggap’s calculations came fast. His body moved on its own now—feet hitting the proper footwork, arms and hips meshing like a well-oiled gear train.

The longsword, coated with internal energy, flashed once. Blood bloomed everywhere in that instant.

In the blink of an eye, the Craul were reduced to scattered limbs and severed pieces, tumbling across the floor without even understanding why they were dying.

Byeonggap didn’t pause for a breath. He kept moving, stealing glances sidelong to read the flow of battle.

He trusted the goblins completely—but a fight against a strong foe could go sideways any second, in ways no one saw coming.

These monsters were born combat masters. No matter how hard the goblins steeled their resolve, they were bound to show an opening.

«Guok!»

No sooner had he thought it than a groan came from behind. Turka’s thigh was stained red. A minor wound—nothing serious.

Turka shook himself in one sharp motion, flinging the Craul off. No sooner had it hit the ground than a sphere of darkness streaked in, turning the monster into a pincushion. Then Turka, blood up, finished it for good.

Bamond rushed to invoke the power of healing. Go Byeonggap turned the Craul’s neck into a gushing fountain of blood and shouted.

«Bamond, conserve your strength! If the wound isn’t serious, leave it!»

«Ah, under stood!»

Minor injuries could heal themselves through Breathing Circulation. If Bamond burned through his power on trivialities, they’d be left floundering when it truly counted.

Go Byeonggap swept his hawk-eyed gaze wide, taking in the full field. Five enemies left.

‘The kids are spent. I have to take them.’

Veins bulging on his forehead, Go Byeonggap pulled his internal energy upward. The released energy surged into his blade, whipping up a storm.

“Kyahahak!”

«Hyaaa!»

He swung the baseball bat in a wide, sweeping arc. The sword aura shot forward—straight and fast. Three Craul charging head-on were neatly bisected by the crescent-shaped blade of energy, while the other two barely managed to dodge.

Of course, dodging that didn’t mean they’d avoid the follow-up.

“Kyahk!”

The sword lashed down like lightning, cleaving a Craul diagonally. But even with its body split in half, the bastard still threw a punch.

Too close—no angle to dodge.

‘Hardening.’

He hardened his body on instinct, bracing for impact. A pitch-black fist slammed into his left cheek. The dull ache bloomed, but it was bearable.

The Craul that had launched its final attack crumbled into nothing.

“Kiyahaaahk!”

The last one thrust a knife-sharpened hand at him. A heavy concentration of karma gathered at its fingertips.

If that thing hit me, even with my hardening ability, it’d hurt like hell. Just as that thought crossed his mind, the sphere of darkness and the lightning bolt slammed into the bastard’s body.

“Kuhack!”

The creature’s body staggered hard. Go Byeonggap didn’t let the opening his subordinates had made go to waste—he swung his sword. The blade moved in a fluid, unpredictable dance, carving out chunks of severed flesh with each stroke.

“Kuu…”

Another battle ended. What remained in the hidden world was the metallic stench of blood and an eerie stillness.

Go Byeonggap glanced at his wristwatch out of habit. 11:37… 38 in the morning.

‘Almost four hours since I entered the rift, and we’re not even halfway there yet.’

Normally, by this time, he’d have smashed a B-rank rift clean through and be digging into a bowl of hangover soup.

An A-rank rift typically holds over three hundred and fifty monsters. They’d taken down a hundred and fifty Craul so far, but there was still a long way to go.

«Anyone hurt…! No—no way no one’s hurt.»

Every single member of the raid team had a wound on them, big or small.

The shield-bearers had taken the worst of it. Changsik and Taesik, despite being close-range fighters, seemed to have avoided fatal injuries thanks to their animal-like instincts.

Go Byeonggap handed out potions to the two giant goblins and told the rest to sit down and do breathing circulation.

Truth be told, he could’ve handed out potions and dumplings after every fight to keep his squad in peak condition. But he chose not to.

In cruder terms, Go Byeonggap was working his men hard.

‘If you want fast growth, a good dose of hardship is non-negotiable.’

The reason the goblins’ manual mastery rate had been climbing so slowly lately was that the fights they were handling were too easy.

Of course, that didn’t mean fighting lower-tier monsters was a cakewalk.

But to squeeze out enough momentum for real growth, the fuel just wasn’t there.

It’s not like in a game where killing a strong monster drops XP like candy, but the principle wasn’t all that different.

«Everyone, get out here. Time to work.»

Go Byeonggap opened the gate to Asvillam. Normal and hob goblins popped out of the large oval passageway like mushrooms after rain.

«You know the drill, right? Get it done quick. Come on, hurry it up. Hurry.»

«Yep!»

«Let’s move it!»

Go Byeonggap pushed the workers along. Hovering and nagging while others did the heavy lifting was a pretty ugly look, but he had no choice.

This was an A-rank rift, wasn’t it? A damn dangerous place. No time to take it easy like usual.

He lit up a cigarette and surveyed the aftermath of the battle.

‘Smoother than I thought. The kids are keeping up well.’

For an A-rank rift, it was standard for three or four S-rank hunters, or one or two S-rank backed by a team of high-rank hunters, to form a subjugation team.

Whatever the case, an S-rank Hunter was absolutely essential. They served as the linchpin of the raid team.

In that sense, Byeonggap did his part as the linchpin. The raid members clung to him like a tenacious burr, too.

‘Still, I can’t let the kids collapse on me.’

«Bamond.»

«Ah. Yes… yes, My Lord.»

«Take out the jerky from the backpack and hand it out to the kids.»

«The jerky? As you command.»

Bamond unzipped the backpack slung over his shoulder. A black plastic bag came out, and from inside it, strips of jerky.

It was Gold Dragon Meat, made into jerky. For the record, Gold Dragon Meat had an outstanding effect on restoring vitality. Expensive, sure, but it earned every penny.

The raid members tore off a strip each and chewed. The exhaustion that had been carved into their faces vanished.

«My Lord, the transport work is finished.»

«Oh, right, Yukbung. You finished quick. Good work.»

«Heh heh, not at all.»

The foreman kid with an armband on his sleeve let out a sheepish laugh.

«Alright, take the kids and head back now.»

«Yes, sir! I’ll see you again later. Take care!»

«Got it. All of you, raid team—up. Let’s move.»

«Yes sir! Understood.»

The pace wasn’t all that fast, so they couldn’t afford to dawdle. After a short break of about ten minutes, they pressed on with the subjugation.

* * *

As the monster corpses piled up, the wounds covering his body multiplied. His limbs grew heavier and heavier, and his lungs wheezed like they were seizing.

The reek of blood, grime, and sweat clung to him, a nauseating stench.

«Haaaah, haaah!»

«Hoooh, hoooh…»

The raid team sucked in ragged breaths. “This is killing us” was written plain as day on their foreheads.

«Tired?»

«Ah, no, sir!»

«No, my ass, with the way you’re gasping. We’re almost there—hang in a little longer.»

«Yes, sir!»

The boss would show up soon. Byeonggap handed out enough jerky and potions to the raid members.

‘4:19. It should be surfacing any time now.’

Byeonggap’s group pushed forward through the hidden world without wasting time. If they dragged their feet and the sun went down, trouble would pile up on all sides.

And soon enough, the boss monster they’d been waiting and hoping for revealed itself.

No—‘revealed itself’ was a bit of an awkward way to put it.

‘It’s a Raven!’

A Raven. A tricky monster with a cloaking ability.

The number of minion monsters backing up the boss wasn’t that large. Even so, the Raven’s blind attacks were extremely threatening. It could literally have you losing your nose while your eyes were wide open.

«Cluster up!»

«Huddle together!»

«Switch formation! Stand in a cross formation!»

«Yes, sir!»

Two ranged dealers and one healer took cover in the center.

Turka and Orka, along with Changsik and Taesik, each took a compass point and stood guard.

Go Byeonggap stood at the very front of the formation, his eyes locked on the Raven. For an instant, the creature’s body blurred, then slowly dissolved into the background. It was using its cloaking ability.

«Everyone, focus on its presence. If you track it with your eyes, you’ll be too late!»

«Understood!»

The Raven and its monster pack surged forward like a wave. Go Byeonggap traced the Raven’s trail through the chaos.

A ripple in space. He didn’t miss it—lunged forward instantly, swinging his sword.

Crack! Sparks sprayed through the air as the Raven’s form was revealed.

«You’re playing with me, you bastard!»

“Hyaaah!”

The final battle of this subjugation had begun.

Go Byeonggap latched onto the Raven with relentless obsession. No matter what, he couldn’t let it reach his goblins.

If it was just raw combat power, Go Byeonggap overwhelmed the Raven. But the fight refused to end easily.

The Raven—this cunning freak—knew damn well it was outmatched. So it strained every nerve to scatter Go Byeonggap’s attention.

Strike, then a swift vanish; retreat.

Hide among the lesser monsters, then pop out for another assault. The bastard fought like a seasoned out-boxer.

“You son of a bitch, scraping at my temper!”

Go Byeonggap swung his sword in a wide arc. But the blade only cut through empty air.

A ripple in space, and he felt the Raven’s presence pull away. Go Byeonggap immediately steadied his stance, ready for the follow-up.

But the Raven’s presence was veering off somewhere unexpected. Toward the raid team.

‘Damn it!’

The raid team was stretched to its limit just holding back the lesser monsters. They had no strength left to weather a blind strike from the Raven!

‘At this rate, they’re done for!’

Go Byeonggap spun on his heel.

The air shimmered like heat haze, warping and twisting. From it, a sharpened arm—like a spike—shot out, reaching straight for Turka.

Even though he’d warned them to watch for hostile intent, Turka hadn’t sensed the attack.

Go Byeonggap gritted his teeth and launched himself forward.

Crunch!

“……!?”

«Krrr… Got you, you damned bastard.»

He barely managed to block in front of Turka. The spike-arm dug slightly into his shoulder.

The Raven tried to pull back immediately but couldn’t. Because Go Byeonggap had grabbed its arm in a death grip.

“Hyaaah!”

«Stop gasping and just die.»

He swung his sword. An immense storm of internal energy howled around the blade.

Crushing Force

The sword-wind storm swallowed the Raven and all the surrounding monsters whole.

“Kyahak!”

“Gack!”

Those caught in it shattered into dust particles and died screaming.

«My Lord! Are you all ri—»

«The fight’s not over! Stay focused until the end!»

«Y-yes, sir!»

Go Byeonggap and his party set about mopping up the remnants with diligence. With the Raven gone as a hidden variable, the clean-up was over in no time.

4:59 PM.

The nine-hour A-rank rift subjugation had finally come to its end.

* * *

«Good work, everyone.»

«You worked hard too, My Lord!»

«Aye, I’m just glad we got through it without casualties. Get yourselves healed and rest up. Eat plenty. I’ll be back tonight.»

«Yes, sir!»

The subjugation was over. Go Byeonggap stopped by Asvillam for a moment to check on his people and wash the grime off himself.

When he stepped back outside, the sky had turned dark. He drew in a deep lungful of the open air.

“Phew… Huh. Heh-heh! Hahaha!”

The laughter bubbled up unbidden. Damn—he’d actually pulled it off. He’d successfully subjugated an A-rank rift. How was that even possible?

His body was wrecked, but his brain was a firework display of euphoria. The raw pleasure of achievement.

And the payout wasn’t just a pat on the back. One A-rank clear would net at least seventy million won. That was several times his usual earnings, and he’d made it all in a single day!

Instead of popping a celebratory drink, Go Byeonggap lit a cigarette. The smoke never tasted so sweet.

‘Let’s just get back to Seoul and slam a bowl of hangover stew. I’m starving to death.’

He climbed into the car quickly. Even with a fast run, it’d be eight at the earliest by the time he hit Seoul. He worked the wheel, mulling whether to eat there or stop on the way.

“What kind of backwoods road doesn’t have a single streetlamp?”

It wasn’t quite midnight yet, but with mountains on all sides and no lamps, it was pitch-black. All he had to trust was his headlights.

He was creeping the car forward cautiously when, all at once, the surroundings blazed bright. And roughly three seconds later. A monstrous roar gouged into his eardrums.

Boom! Ba-boom, boom!

“Wha—what the hell!?”

The chassis shuddered violently, and the windows screamed. He slammed on the brakes by reflex and whipped his head toward the source of the sound.

In an instant, every trace of color drained from his face.

“No—no fucking way!”

It was beyond the guardrail to his left. A wide basin and the power plant complex built atop it. The same place he’d passed that morning.

But now… a colossal inferno was roaring up from that very power plant.