Chapter 99

Chapter 99

“An elite unit made up solely of Hunters? Our Ministry of National Defense tried to set something like that up, but it fell through. Looks like Britain actually managed to pull it off.”

“That’s because our country has conscription. There was all kinds of backlash about giving Hunters special treatment.”

After James Hunter finished introducing himself and his squad members and returned to his seat, Hunter Joo Minjeong and Jeong Seojin, who had plastered themselves to my side, started chattering about our country’s situation.

Come to think of it, I had heard talk about something like that about two years ago. Of course, as Jeong Seojin said, the discussion got shelved once the special-treatment controversy erupted.

“Now that the brief introductions are over… we’ll check everyone’s readiness and then begin the Britten Dungeon raid immediately. If anyone needs extra time apart from the readiness check, please let me know.”

After James Hunter returned to his seat, Adam Rogers stepped forward and brought the scattered situation under control in an instant. Maybe it was because he was an S+-Rank Hunter. The charisma he displayed in dungeon-related situations was considerable. I found myself clenching and unclenching my hands for no reason, recalling the Adam Rogers of recent days.

‘…I have no idea what changed in his mind.’

Lately, Adam had been noticeably kind to me. No, could I even call it kindness? If kindness applied to how one treated people, then what Adam Rogers was showing me was on a slightly different track.

“Seohee, are you all set?”

See, this is what I mean. I dazedly nodded at Adam Rogers, who approached me from a distance, his eyes crinkling into a full smile.

“Yes. I’m all set.”

“That’s good to hear. Once we enter the dungeon, I’d appreciate it if you’d stay by my side as much as possible. I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”

Jeong Seojin was going to be glued to my side anyway, so why…? Even if he had been assigned as my personal escort, his words and actions were honestly a bit excessive. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed this excess.

“What the… Hunter Yoon Seohee. Did something happen between you and that S+-Rank knight over there?”

Hunter Joo Minjeong, who had been watching everything Adam did, asked in a bewildered voice. I deeply sympathized with her feelings and shook my head. Meanwhile, Adam responded to a call that happened to come in and headed off toward the soldiers in the distance.

“No, nothing major really happened. Maybe it’s just….”

“But there’s something… hmm. No, I mean… he always acted like he was being friendly in his own way, but this isn’t just friendly anymore… isn’t it more like being affectionate or making a move?”

“It’s definitely making a move.”

“What?”

Jeong Seojin, who had been watching Adam Rogers return to his seat with his arms crossed, tossed out a remark in a dissatisfied tone. Naturally, Hunter Joo Minjeong’s gaze, which had been fixed on me, shifted to him.

“What, really…? Does our Hunter Yoon Seohee have some kind of pheromone that attracts S-Ranks or something? That Shadow bastard, Jeong Seojin, and now Adam Rogers….”

“W-well, maybe they just want to get close to me because I’m the ‘Equipment Adjuster’?”

“There’s no way S-Ranks would go that far for just that reason. You know their pride could pierce the top of Mount Everest, right?”

That was true. Unable to deny her words, I just let out a groan. But even so, interpreting Adam Rogers’ attitude as affection toward me was equally nonsensical. As Hunter Joo Minjeong herself had just said, gaining favor from an S-Rank was never easy.

“But there really isn’t any reason for Adam to feel favorably toward me….”

“We’re probably never seeing that guy again once this job is done safely anyway. Just ignore him.”

Jeong Seojin spoke in a firm voice, as if trying to cut off my worries about Adam. I reflexively stopped myself from arguing with him and shut my mouth. As he said, once this expedition was over safely, I’d likely never meet that man again.

‘Right, let’s not worry about useless things.’

I already had a mountain of things to focus on. For now, there was the dungeon raid, the matter of Mr. Yoon Juyeong, and then Jeong Seojin’s… ah.

‘L-let’s just forget about that.’

I shook my head to erase the memory of Jeong Seojin’s not-quite-a-confession that had suddenly resurfaced. Who would have thought that something I’d barely managed to forget amid the sudden kidnapping attempt and the shocking confession that followed would come back like this?

I focused on the shout announcing the start of the dungeon raid that happened to ring out from a distance, forcibly shoving the fragment of memory that had popped up into a corner of my mind.

* * *

True to its name, the dungeon bearing the name of Britten, the land of legendary knights, had most of its monsters associated with knights. There were ones shaped like swords or shields, ones that appeared wearing armor like a second skin, and even ones that seemed like a combination of all three.

“Defense team!”

“Yes! Deploy shields, everyone!”

*Thud.* The hunters standing in the front line slammed their shields into the ground. At the same time, a blue-tinted barrier spread out in triple and quadruple layers, blocking the laser-shaped attacks fired by the enemy. Immediately after, those standing behind the shield-bearers gripped their weapons and aimed at the enemy.

“Fire!”

At the same time as James Hunter’s shout—he was standing in the front line alongside those acting as the barrier—the gun muzzles of those positioned in that line spat fire. The bullets they fired flew toward the massive ‘sword’ that was shooting something like a beam at us.

*Boom!*

The bullets, imbued with the mana of at least A-Rank hunters, struck the greatsword directly. But the monster blocking our path didn’t stop. It dragged its metal body, broken and scratched in places, and attacked us again.

—*Wooooong*—

“Front line, deploy barrier again! This time, I’ll take the rear!”

At James Hunter’s shout, the hunters in the front line raised their barrier once more. “Shield deploy!” With his booming cry, the blue membrane wrapped around us again. But this time, James Hunter wasn’t inside that blue membrane. As he’d said, he had already dashed toward the monster before the barrier spread.

—*Wooooong!*

The ‘sword,’ perhaps intending to keep James Hunter in check while attacking us, began firing laser beams in all directions like a shotgun. The blue membrane surrounding us once again blocked the creature’s attack without fail. And James Hunter, too, dodged the barrage of attacks pouring from the creature with swift speed, then immediately took its rear.

“It’s over!”

With a thunderous shout, his knife pierced the jewel attached to the monster’s hilt. *Pajik!* With a small sound like an electric current, the greatsword-type monster’s body crumbled into light particles and vanished.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.

“This time, the ‘Knight’ is attacking! Everyone, prepare!”

James Hunter, having succeeded in taking down the greatsword-type monster, rolled once on the spot to dodge a strike that came crashing down at him. He had already stored his knife in his inventory, and now he charged straight at the Knight, holding a shield barely large enough to cover his face. *Thwung!* The ‘Knight,’ struck by his shield, let out a hollow metallic sound and was pushed back.

“Third line, fire!”

Seizing the opening, James Hunter’s resounding command rang out. But this time, there was no sound of gun muzzles spitting fire. Instead, what rained down on the ‘Knight’ was a barrage of arrows.

*Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!*

With a sound more like chunks of metal falling than arrows raining down, the ‘Knight’s’ iron body was dented in several places. But the Knight didn’t stop moving. Even as hundreds of arrows struck it directly, it charged at James Hunter once more.

“First line, shield deploy!”

James Hunter gave the creature no leeway. He quickly retreated from his position and then, to block the ‘Shield’ that was charging toward us at that moment, ordered another shield deployment.

*Hwaak!* Once again, the blue membrane blocked the strike of the ‘Shield’ rushing toward us. *Bang!* After confirming its attack had no effect, the ‘Shield’ flew through the air like a boomerang toward the ‘Knight.’

“Damn, the ‘Knight’ and ‘Shield’ are combining! First line, third line, open fire!”

Spotting that sight, James Hunter urgently ordered the hunters in the first and third lines to attack. *Click,* the heavy iron pieces finished loading and fired their bullets; *kiiik, pusyuk!* The bowstrings, drawn to their limit, were released.

Hundreds of arrows and dozens of bullets flew unerringly toward the ‘Knight.’ James Hunter wasn’t idle either. He had already grabbed his knife again and hurled it like a projectile straight at the ‘Knight’s’ core.

—*Wooooong……!!*

But this time, the enemy was a step faster than us. The ‘Knight,’ having caught the ‘Shield’ flying toward it in one swift motion, spread a blue barrier as if mimicking our own formation. *Bang, kwabang, kwakwa-bang!* The creature’s barrier performed its role admirably. The blue membrane blocked all the arrows and bullets fired at it.

“Tch!”

James Hunter’s thrown knife did manage to pierce the barrier and penetrate the creature’s gauntlet, but that was all it did. James Hunter used the retrieval magic enchantment on his equipment and immediately retreated back to where we were.

“Single line, shield deployment ready! The bastard’s about to use a charge attack!”

True to his words, the ‘Knight’ holding the ‘Shield’ had already taken a stance, its shield thrust forward. It stared directly at James Hunter, pulled one foot back, and lowered its posture. And then.

“Localized shield deployment!”