Team 24C was not surprised by Kim Songcheol’s sudden action.

They had already received a brief explanation through a magic message.

That American is not an American.

He is one of the pursuers disguised as an American.

At first, Kim Songcheol also thought he was naturally an American.

However, there were three pursuers.

Even though it would become a 5-on-3 situation if the American joined Team 24C, they continued the pursuit.

These two points were suspicious.

Crucially, Kim Songcheol was able to discern the fake American by his senses.

The fake American had not mastered Aura, even though America employed swordsmanship using Aura.

“Gah!”

The fake American immediately rolled his eyes back and fell forward. He was completely unprepared for the sudden attack.

Then, one of the pursuers who was chasing them screamed in surprise.

“Aaaah! Kaeshyugin!”

Her movements suddenly accelerated. To mages with poor dynamic visual acuity, it looked as if her body was stretching out.

It was a truly instantaneous burst of acceleration.

It was a speed that even a swordsman would find difficult to counter.

She closed the distance in the blink of an eye and checked on the fallen American’s condition.

Kim Songcheol paused for a moment at that sight.

It was more unexpected than anything else.

He thought they would run away if their disguise was exposed. But to rush out and protect a comrade…

However, there was no time to be sentimental.

“…Initiate a preemptive strike with magic.”

Kim Songcheol had the swordsmen stand by and began unleashing magic with Kang Hye-seong.

Kang Hye-seong’s Lightning Spear flew, and Kim Songcheol’s Hawk’s Blockade tore through the air and fell.

Kagang!

The other pursuers who followed blocked and deflected the magic.

But there was magic that could not be blocked.

When Kang Hye-seong’s Fireball flew, they quickly scattered left and right.

Even amidst that, the female staff member took care of her unconscious comrade.

She hugged her comrade and threw herself, rolling on the ground.

“Annihilate them. Swordsmen, just hold your ground.”

Kim Songcheol’s command was given.

One of their opponents was unconscious.

A 3-on-4 situation.

It was time for aggressive defense.

“Let’s go.”

Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su exchanged glances, then dashed forward, scattering their Aura.

Kagang!

Two pursuers immediately rushed out and began to engage Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su.

The swordsmen exchanged blows, gauging each other’s strength.

Then, at some point, a pursuer’s sword accelerated and shot towards Lee Yong-chan’s neck at an incredible speed.

He didn’t know how they were using mana, but their movements, which accelerated in bursts, were quite threatening.

However, Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su had no intention of subduing their opponents.

Hadn’t their leader commanded them?

To hold out.

Then there was no need to overexert themselves.

Kagang!

Lee Yong-chan, who was already preparing to withdraw, parried the rapidly approaching longsword and quickly retreated.

Their attacks were threatening, but not enough to quickly defeat opponents determined to buy time.

While the swordsmen were fighting, the female staff member stood up, sword in hand, and glared at Kim Song-chan and Kang Hye-seong.

She had to face two mages alone.

A determined resolve was evident on her face.

But there were two opponents.

Having two mages was different from having two swordsmen.

“Hold.”

“Bind.”

Kang Hye-seong and Kim Songcheol’s incantations came out simultaneously.

For a mere moment, a 2nd Circle Hold froze the female staff member’s body, and in that time, a 3rd Circle Bind activated, sending mana chains flying to bind her entire body.

“Thunder Strike.”

A relaxed stream of electric shock fell.

“Kuaaaak!”

The female staff member endured it once. This was because she had prepared herself and raised her mana beforehand.

“I’ll break free…!”

“Thunder Strike.”

However, she couldn’t continue to withstand the electric shocks that followed, two and then three times.

Eventually, steam rose from her head as she collapsed to the floor.

Kim Songcheol immediately confirmed the deaths of the unconscious female staff member and the fake American, then prepared to join the swordsmen’s battle.

There were very few magic spells that could help in a battle between swordsmen.

This was because swordsmen constantly changed positions, making the risk of hitting an ally too high.

There was a limit to how much Kim Songcheol could alter trajectories.

However, magic that didn’t matter if the coordinate calculation failed, that is, magic without the worry of hitting an ally, was entirely possible.

Kim Songcheol narrowed his eyes, trying to capture their movements as much as possible, and continuously cast Hold magic.

Fit!

The moment Lee Yong-chan, who was retreating helplessly, had his arm slightly cut, the enemy’s movement paused for a fleeting moment.

Lee Yong-chan, as if he had been waiting, kicked off the ground and lunged forward.

A pale blue aura flowed from his sword, clearly tracing its trajectory.

Swish!

Lee Yong-chan brushed past the enemy. The opponent flailed their arm once, then collapsed into nothingness.

The same went for Park Ha-su.

With Kang Hye-seong’s help, he defeated the enemy.

“Whew…”

Kim Song-cheol looked around at the enemies’ corpses and let out a small sigh.

He killed to survive, and he killed to protect his teammates as a leader.

He hadn’t started being a Hunter thinking he wouldn’t experience such things, but he couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

“You all fought well. Better than when you spar with me, huh?”

…Is that so? Thank you, big brother!”

When Kim Song-cheol gave him a thumbs-up, Park Ha-su stared blankly for a moment before raising his voice.

The atmosphere brightened a little.

Team 24C quickly left the scene. There was no need to stay with the corpses.

Kim Song-cheol looked at the sky to gauge their direction. Since it was a similar coniferous forest, direction was important to find the portal.

He had just heard a warning to be careful of the north.

He planned to move east first, sweep the entire lower area, and then head north.

However, they hadn’t gone far east before they reached the end of the map.

The way the end of the map was marked differed in each dungeon, but in this dungeon, the ground simply cut off.

Ahead was a cliff with no end in sight.

“Whoa, if we fall, there won’t be a single bone left.”

“You can’t fall anyway.”

At Lee Yong-chan’s words, Kang Hye-seong raised his hand and tapped the air.

There was an invisible wall there.

Each time his finger hit the wall, there was a thudding sound.

“I’m just saying, man.”

Lee Yong-chan glared at Kang Hye-seong as if telling him not to be petty.

Team 24C moved a little further south and began heading west.

They planned to move in a zigzag pattern to find the portal.

As they moved south, surprisingly, the coniferous forest thinned out, revealing a rocky terrain.

As expected, it was a terrain where they couldn’t let their guard down, just like the coniferous forest, because there were many places to hide.

“W-wait!”

As they were passing through the rocky terrain, a male staff member in a combat uniform peeked his head out from behind a large rock in the distance.

“Are you Korean!?”

He scrutinized Team 24C, then quickly walked out. He prominently displayed his right shoulder.

There was an American flag there.

However, they had already been deceived before, so they couldn’t just blindly trust his words.

Lee Yong-chan even raised his sword and aimed it at him.

In the unexpected atmosphere, the American stopped walking and raised his hands.

“What are you doing!? This is no time for jokes!”

He genuinely got angry.

His shouts echoed loudly.

“Who is the President of America?”

Lee Yong-chan asked, completely unconcerned.

“What?”

“Who is the President?”

“Damn it, what are you trying to do!?”

“Answer! Who is the President of America!?”

“Damn it, Trump!”

The American said.

“That seems right, brother?”

At that, Lee Yong-chan looked back at Kim Songcheol.

“…I’m sorry. There were guys who wore your combat uniform and pretended to be Americans.”

As Kim Songcheol explained on his behalf, his eyes suddenly changed.

“Wearing our combat uniform…? What kind of foes were they? Were there foes wearing armor? Tell me, quickly! Who were they!?”

He shouted, approaching him step by step. Lee Yong-chan stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder.

“They were just foes wearing leather clothes. Using longswords. Four of them. Similar in build.”

“Then it’s not them… It seems they just stripped them from corpses… Damn it, couldn’t even recover the bodies…!”

He mumbled to himself, then grabbed Lee Yong-chan’s combat uniform with both hands.

His eyes were filled with an intense, unexplainable emotion.

“I have to get revenge. Help me. You can help, right? We made a pact, didn’t we? Earthlings in the dungeon have to help each other!”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Lee Yong-chan tried to shake off his hand, but he was surprisingly strong and couldn’t shake him off at once.

“Calm down first. What happened?”

As Kim Songcheol calmly asked, he spoke a few words with anxious eyes.

“There were many. Enemies. We were few. I saw six, but it must have been eight, of course. Two teams moving together. So we just got wiped out.”

“What? Did you run away alone?”

Lee Yong-chan asked, with a hint of accusation.

Then his eyes widened. He immediately frothed at the mouth and grabbed Lee Yong-chan by the collar.

“What do you know!? I was the leader! That look! That expression! You can tell! The team members knew! That I was the only one who could escape! So they threw themselves in! To save me! Should I have died there!? I didn’t run away! I just couldn’t die!”

He let go of Lee Yong-chan’s collar and approached Kim Songcheol.

His bloodshot eyes were clearly visible.

“I have to get revenge. My reason for living is only one. There’s nothing but revenge. Help me. You can help, right? Huh?”

Kim Songcheol calmly shook his head.

“I can’t deploy my team members for personal revenge.”

“You…!”

He gritted his teeth and pointed a finger at Kim Songcheol’s face. He had a lot to say, but it seemed he was choked up and couldn’t speak.

“But if we happen to encounter the foes by chance, we can fight together.”

At Kim Songcheol’s words, his gaze softened a little. Kim Songcheol was indirectly admonishing him.

He had no intention of helping this American escape, but in such an unstable state, he might endanger the team.

“Whew… alright.”

He soon let out a long breath and nodded. He seemed quite calm.

He even raised both hands, making a gesture as if he was conceding.

“Yeah, that’s right. I admit it. I might seem crazy, but I’m not. I’m just desperate. Thinking about it again, there was no need for that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said ‘if you encounter them,’ right? I’m sorry, but you don’t get to choose that. You can’t avoid those bastards. You need to prepare. Otherwise, there’s no chance of winning.”

“Can’t avoid them? What does that mean?”

Lee Yong-chan asked.

“Those guys have a reconnaissance method. I don’t know what it is, but it’s wider than yours or mine.”

He turned back to Kim Songcheol and continued.

“Those guys knew our movement path. They waited for an advantageous point and then started the battle. We didn’t even know the enemies were approaching! And you’re saying we should avoid those enemies and just slip into the portal? Ha! Rather than hoping for that, isn’t it better to prepare? There are eight of them!”

Kim Songcheol carefully observed his expression.

‘Is it true?’

He wanted revenge. There was enough reason to draw Kim Songcheol’s team in.

Also, Kim Songcheol’s response would be completely different depending on the veracity of the testimony.

Even if there were 8 opponents, if they simply encountered them, they could escape.

If it were Kim Songcheol, that is.

But if they had a reconnaissance method, it would be at least a surprise attack.

In that situation, even Kim Songcheol wasn’t confident he could protect all his teammates.

“I’ll ask you one thing.”

“What is it?”

“If you were the leader of this team, what would you have done?”

“Of course, I would have prepared…”

“No, I’m asking seriously. Think carefully before you answer.”

Kim Songcheol’s gaze seemed to pierce through him.