Kim Songcheol appeared in front of the Guardian Hall.

Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su, who were drinking beverages in front of it, waved their hands.

“Brother, how was Guam?”

Park Ha-su asked directly. They had only heard that Kim Songcheol was ‘going to Guam’. They didn’t know the detailed inside story.

“It was good. I even rode a yacht.”

“A yacht?”

“Yeah, a yacht.”

“You’re still so cool, brother.”

“But is it just a trip sent by the country? Trainees aren’t allowed to go abroad, are they?”

Lee Yong-chan asked.

“It’s just… like a workshop.”

“I’m jealous, brother. But have you ever traveled abroad?”

“Abroad? No way. I couldn’t even go on a school trip. You?”

“I couldn’t go either. My school didn’t even go on field trips.”

It’s been almost 10 years since the Gates and Hunters appeared.

Those in their twenties now had experienced this situation since they were elementary and middle school students.

“Brother, did you go on a school trip?”

“I went to Japan.”

“Huh?”

“A school trip… abroad?”

The two of them widened their eyes.

They looked like people who had encountered something impossible.

“Yeah, when I was in high school, there were no Gates.”

“Wow, I’m jealous.”

“I wish I had been born about 10 years earlier.”

“…I don’t think it’s something to be that jealous of. But where’s Hye-seong?”

“Oh, here he comes.”

Park Ha-su pointed behind him. Kang Hye-seong was walking there.

He spotted his teammates, took out his earphones, and put them in his pocket.

“Brother! Did you have a good trip?”

Kang Hye-seong ran over quickly and bowed to Kim Songcheol.

“I had a good trip.”

“But you seem to have lost some weight?”

He looked Kim Songcheol up and down and said.

The weight loss wasn’t because of Guam. He rested and ate well in Guam.

Instead, he hadn’t slept properly for the past two days because he was studying second-tier Circle theory. He was so engrossed that he literally forgot to sleep and eat.

If he hadn’t entered the Dungeon today, he would have gone to bed quite late last night as well.

“Oh really? Did I lose some weight? Oh, that’s right. Take these, everyone.”

Kim Songcheol rummaged through his bag and pulled out a few souvenirs. They were keychains, T-shirts, and such.

He hadn’t had time to give them out because he’d been studying Circle theory as soon as he arrived.

“Thank you, big brother!”

The team members were beaming. It seemed this was the first time they had received souvenirs from someone who had traveled abroad.

“Shall we get going?”

Team 24C entered Guardian Hall.

After changing into their Illusion uniforms in the changing room, Park Ha-su was waiting.

Park Ha-su was always quick with his Illusion uniform.

“Big brother, look at this.”

Park Ha-su slightly opened his Combat Uniform top. Inside, a palm tree printed on his chest was visible.

It was the T-shirt Kim Songcheol had bought him as a souvenir.

“Why did you bother wearing that? You could have just worn a functional short-sleeved shirt.”

Kim Songcheol said this, trying to act nonchalant, even though he was secretly pleased.

“I have to wear what I received, sir.”

“What? You’re wearing a short-sleeved shirt? I should at least attach a keychain.”

Kang Hye-castle’s voice was heard from inside the changing room partition.

Soon, Lee Yong-chan and Kang Hye-castle also came out. Keychains were dangling from both their waists.

“How do we look, big brother?”

“How do you look? You look cool. Let’s go.”

Kim Songcheol chuckled and walked out. His team members followed behind him.

Team 24C stepped onto the Stone Slab.

Kim Songcheol, familiar with the process, set up the configurations.

Soon, he pressed the transfer button, and the four people were moved into the Dungeon.

Flash!

“…It’s night?”

Lee Yong-chan said.

It was dark all around. Kim Songcheol looked up at the sky. A red moon shone in the pitch-black sky, devoid of even stars.

The lowlands took on a strange glow from the red light.

The moon was immensely large.

It wasn’t difficult to distinguish objects around them just by the moonlight.

“Has it ever not been daytime…?”

Kang Hye-castle murmured.

E-rank and F-rank Dungeons are fixed to daytime.

That was a fact everyone knew, provided they hadn’t fallen asleep in class.

The Swordsmen’s eyes glowed blue. They had enhanced their night vision through Aura.

Kim Songcheol currently had a vision range of 20-30 meters. The Swordsmen would be able to see up to 50-70 meters.

“Let’s move.”

High cliffs blocked the left, right, and rear.

The only open path was the uphill one ahead.

Kim Songcheol walked in that direction.

Large pebbles underfoot ground against each other, making noise.

It was entirely a field of stones. Pebbles as large as a fist and as small as a fingernail covered the ground.

When he reached the top of the incline, a gentle downhill slope appeared below.

Below the downhill, the terrain widened like a funnel and opened up.

Since it wasn’t visible far away, beyond 30 meters, there was only black darkness, like a Taoist Master.

“It seems to be a wave type.”

Kim Songcheol said.

A wave-type Dungeon is one where monsters charge in waves, and you must destroy them.

The Portal appears when the last wave is dealt with.

Normal wave-type Dungeons had this kind of terrain.

However, it couldn’t be called an ordinary wave-type Dungeon.

From the start, wave-type Dungeons are structured for multiple teams to cooperate.

Cooperation is so important that if you only put them in a wave-type Dungeon, they would save each other’s lives.

However, only Team 24C was teleported here.

‘What is this?’

Kim Songcheol tilted his head.

But there was no time to think for long.

Thump-thump-thump!

Several footsteps were heard from ahead. Of course, they weren’t human. They were the footsteps of creatures with four legs.

“Prepare for battle.”

Kim Songcheol said. The two Swordsmen stepped slightly forward.

In wave-type Dungeons, the Swordsmen’s role focuses more on defense than offense.

Their role was to block incoming monsters from reaching the Mage, rather than going out to fight.

Thump-thump-thump!

Soon, crimson eyes appeared from the darkness.

The red eyes reflected the moonlight and shone brightly.

A magic circle appeared in front of Kim Songcheol. From its center, a sphere engulfed in flames appeared and shot forward.

The Fireball flew, illuminating its surroundings, and exploded upon impact with the monster leading the charge.

Boom!

Simultaneously with the explosion, flames spread in all directions, illuminating the surroundings.

Wolf-like monsters were revealed. The monster directly hit by the fireball simply burst apart, and the surrounding monsters were caught in the explosion and sent flying in all directions.

Some had lost their legs, and others had their upper bodies tattered.

“This is just the first stage. Conserve your mana.”

When Kim Songcheol said that, Kang Hyecase canceled the Fireball she was casting. Instead, she cast a light magic spell that consumed less magic power.

“Light.”

A large ball of light flew forward.

It illuminated the monsters charging 50 meters ahead, fixed in its beam.

“Fireball, Fireball.”

Kim Songcheol’s Fireball tore through the battlefield.

Bang, bang!

Red flames shone brighter than the moon, emitting explosion sounds.

Monsters fell like frogs hit by stones.

They were like leaves falling in autumn.

“Brother, you’re going to clear it all by yourself, aren’t you?”

“They can’t even get up the slope.”

The Swordsmen stood firm on the hill, looking down.

Monster corpses were piled up. The light floating above them illuminated the bodies arrogantly.

“You never know what might happen. Be ready.”

Kim Songcheol said, watching the battlefield.

The first wave was complete.

The monster corpses slowly disappeared.

Now it was time for the second wave.

Screech!

Monsters slightly larger than wolves appeared.

Again, the monsters could not overcome Kim Songcheol’s magic.

They all exploded before reaching the slope.

The third wave ended, and the fourth wave began.

Among the smaller monsters, a large foe appeared.

It was only relatively small; the other monsters weren’t that small either.

They were almost the size of calves.

The large foe was a bipedal humanoid monster, seemingly three meters tall.

The foe screamed and charged. Other monsters were trampled under its footsteps.

“Mana Blade.”

Kim Songcheol clenched his fist.

A 4-meter blade formed in front of him and fell towards the monster.

It was a full-power casting.

Whoosh!

The foe quickly raised its arm to block, but the blade, still powerful after cutting through its arm, plunged into the foe’s head.

It had split more than half of its head.

The foe fell with a ‘thud!’, and Kim Songcheol dealt with the remaining monsters as expected.

Thus, the fourth wave ended, and the fifth wave began. The number of large monsters gradually increased. There were also more small monsters.

Because of this, monsters slowly began to push forward.

The large monsters were taking up a lot of Kim Songcheol’s firepower.

This dungeon was clearly designed with Kim Songcheol’s combat power in mind.

Eventually, the miscellaneous monsters climbed the slope and reached the Swordsmen.

“Cha-ha!”

Park Ha-su let out a loud shout for no reason and cut down the monster that was right in front of him.

After that, when the sixth wave began, Kang Hye-castle also joined the battle, and from the seventh wave, everyone had to genuinely confront the monsters.

The eighth wave became even more difficult.

During the ninth wave, they almost broke through.

The tenth wave began amidst tension.

Kim Songcheol’s magic tore through the battlefield. Magic was fired, concentrated on a large monster.

Kang Hye-castle also didn’t rest.

Lightning fell from the sky.

Blades of magic split the space.

Fireballs devastated the surroundings.

Meanwhile, the swordsmen cut down the approaching monsters.

Kang Hye-castle used barrier magic to block the monsters’ movement. So many monsters were climbing the slope that it was more effective to do so.

It was definitely overwhelming.

Not only Kim Songcheol, but everyone was drenched in sweat.

No one was idle, but they were short-handed.

That was something everyone felt.

Team 24C barely managed to stop the tenth wave.

The team members’ eyes wavered.

What was most upsetting right now wasn’t the swarming monsters, but the uncertainty of when this wave would end.

“…When does this end?

Park Ha-su said. A hint of fear was in his voice.

Confidence was fading. The confidence that they could endure until the wave ended.

This difficulty level couldn’t possibly be from an E-rank dungeon.

Something was definitely wrong.

Normals would die.

If something went wrong inside the dungeon, that is.

Kim Songcheol looked at Park Ha-su. The T-shirt he bought as a souvenir was slightly visible inside his collar.

“What are you worried about?”

Kim Songcheol said. Lee Yong-chan, who was gasping for breath, and Kang Hye-castle, who was gauging his remaining mana, both looked back at him.

“Just trust me. I’ll send you back no matter what.”

As Kim Songcheol smiled as usual, the team members’ expressions relaxed one by one.

He didn’t say it to rally the team’s spirits.

Kim Songcheol was serious.

Thus, the eleventh wave began.

The team members’ eyes were alive.

Because their leader was holding strong.

Monsters swarmed like a cloud of locusts.

The monsters’ glowing red eyes in the darkness were countless.

However.

This is ridiculous…?

Kim Songcheol, who was striking the monster with lightning, noticed something.

The number of large monsters mixed with the Director had not changed.

31, 32…

It was definitely the same.

Kim Songcheol knew this because he had been counting from the beginning.

The continuously increasing number remained constant.

That meant the difficulty hadn’t increased after the tenth wave.

It was strange.

Kim Songcheol instantly squeezed through a gap, cast a light magic, and shot it forward.

He hadn’t yet checked the darkness where the Taoist Master was still far away.