Chapter 199

―Crack!

A satisfying sound echoed from the end of the stick held by high school student Shin Yuri.

It was already the umpteenth time.

Even right after awakening, a dealer was still a dealer. She instinctively knew exactly where to strike to shatter the instruments.

“Every music class, I wanted to smash them all!”

…Of course, it might not have been about talent at all.

In any case, Shin Yuri seemed to be gaining confidence with each monster she smashed.

“Easier to break than I thought?”

Shin Jae-heon, assisting her from the side, was no different.

With his C-rank stats, he couldn’t bring his full strength to bear in an A-rank dungeon, but he knew the weak points of these instrument monsters precisely.

If he’d had even B-rank stats, handling the trash mobs wouldn’t have been an issue.

But his current stats were C-rank.

He’d quickly noticed the vast gap between Shin Yuri’s ‘S’-rank and his own designated C-rank abilities.

It could’ve been disappointing, but instead, he stayed vigilant of his surroundings.

―Crack! Thwack!

Even as Shin Yuri gleefully bashed everything around her, he knew she was tense.

Because he’d noticed her constantly keeping an eye on him.

So Yeri glanced back at the two of them now and then as she took the lead.

Boosted by her treasured item’s bonus rank correction, the monsters caught in So Yeri’s Afterimage skill exploded without leaving even dust behind.

“Let’s clear this fast! The students are in danger!”

So Yeri called out as she turned back.

Shin Yuri was staring intently at the tip of her conductor’s baton.

Doesn’t have Afterimage yet? If I show it again, maybe she can use it?

So Yeri didn’t know exactly when Shin Yuri had learned the Afterimage skill.

But since it was Shin Yuri’s skill, maybe watching it repeatedly would spark something.

“Yaap~!”

So Yeri deliberately activated Afterimage in an exaggerated show.

“Ooh…”

Shin Yuri let out a few gasps of admiration, then—surprisingly—swung her stick just like So Yeri had.

And an afterimage began trailing from the tip of her stick.

As expected, our Yuri hunter’s got talent!

So Yeri cheered inwardly as she pressed forward.

That was when it happened.

―Kreeeeek!

Not the sound of an instrument, but a spine-chilling screech rang out, and the wall beside the corridor they’d just passed burst open.

A massive trumpet thrust its head out.

“!”

The metal trumpet looked tough to handle at a glance.

Shin Jae-heon, right next to it, could’ve dodged easily.

But his instinctive choice was to position himself in front of Shin Yuri.

“Eh?!”

Shin Yuri, who’d been facing forward, reacted a beat too slow.

And just before the trumpet whipped down at them with impossible flexibility—

So Yeri’s conductor’s baton pierced straight through the trumpet.

―Crunch!

The A-rank dungeon monster trumpet crumpled flat, as expected.

As Shin Yuri sighed in relief and looked ahead, Shin Jae-heon lowered the stick he’d been holding.

The diagonally gripped stick was unmistakably a defensive stance.

So Yeri turned to him while blocking the monsters lunging from ahead.

“Don’t leave student Shin Yuri’s side. But you can’t get hurt either.”

Shin Jae-heon’s eyes widened at her words. So Yeri gave a faint smile.

“You’re scared, aren’t you?”

Shin Jae-heon gaped blankly for a moment before nodding.

As if he’d realized something.

And after that, he moved with even greater caution.

So Yeri smiled quietly.

With two S-ranks, there was no way clearing the dungeon would’ve been hard.

Besides, it was an early gate incident dungeon—its difficulty wasn’t even that high.

“We’re alive!”

Students and staff embracing each other on the sports field came into view.

Stepping out through the gate exit, the school building—which had been half-destroyed before—was back to normal.

“What the heck happened?”

“No idea. Was it a dream or something?”

People murmured in confusion, but they were too busy sneaking glances at Shin Yuri and Shin Jae-heon.

They knew those two had done something.

“What exactly went down?”

Some even asked directly, but Shin Jae-heon and Shin Yuri just shook their heads.

“No clue.”

They glanced up at So Yeri, but she just shrugged.

That’s not what’s important right now!

“No other places got hit like this, right?”

She jumped in quickly.

It was about time for the gate at Eunryeong Apartments to open.

They’d cleared faster than in the past, so if they hurried, they might just make it in time for the Eunryeong Apartments gate.

But acting like she knew a dungeon had spawned there would be trouble.

It’d look super suspicious, wouldn’t it?

Right then—

One of the students shouted out of the blue.

“Mom’s not picking up!”

“Mine neither.”

“You don’t think something happened at home too, do you?”

“Dude!”

One of them, checking the internet, yelled urgently.

“Look at this! Strange phenomenon at Eunryeong Apartments! Evacuate our school area too!”

“What?”

At that, Shin Yuri and Shin Jae-heon whipped around simultaneously.

Their faces went pale.

“Eunryeong Apartments too?”

Their eyes met. As if by prior agreement, they bolted forward.

“Gonna head home sick!”

“Thanks for everything!”

Then they sprinted off toward the apartments.

They didn’t look remotely sick, but no one tried to stop them.

Instead, someone chased after them.

“All dealers like that? They adapt crazy fast.”

Naturally, it was So Yeri, who’d been watching.

She sneakily checked Shin Yuri’s status window before activating a skill.

She’d started late, so she planned to catch up.

No flight skill available, but something similar would do.

―Crunch!

An ominous sound rang out from the sports field ground where So Yeri had pushed off.

So Yeri flinched mid-leap.

“Hunter Shin Yuri’s strength is no joke.”

Better not mess with her.

But even as she thought that, the ground was falling away far too quickly below.

“Eeeek, oh no.”

Falling like this means death! Wait, S-rank, so maybe not?

But she had no intention of testing it.

Flailing in midair, So Yeri hunter rummaged through her skill window and belatedly spotted a good one.

The moment she activated the skill—

―Shwoosh!

Her vision sliced vertically downward in an instant.

―Crunch!

The asphalt where she landed shattered, sending chunks flying.

“Gasp.”

Startled, So Yeri hurriedly backed away from the spot.

She’d tried using a skill to catch up and nearly wrecked the whole neighborhood!

In the end, she opted for plain old running and shot forward at full speed.

Unfamiliar skills really were tricky.

Her stats were so high that catching up to the high schoolers wasn’t hard at all.

The two had spotted the Eunryeong Apartments gate right on the verge of closing and were sprinting toward it.

“That one! Looks just like the school exit!”

They were clearly instinctively sensing the mana rippling around the gate too.

Shin Jae-heon nodded at Shin Yuri’s shout and leaped into the gate with her.

“Our hunters don’t even hesitate!”

Of course, there wasn’t time to hesitate.

So Yeri, following right behind, barely slipped into the Eunryeong Apartments gate a few seconds after them.

The system window popped up, and the air around them shifted abruptly.

The first thing they saw upon entering the dungeon: residents fleeing from Eunryeong Apartments.

As expected, aside from the three who’d just entered, everyone inside was a civilian.

In the original timeline, neither Shin Jae-heon nor Shin Yuri had entered the sudden Eunryeong Apartments gate, so the civilians must’ve been massacred by the monsters.

―Crash!

Suddenly, a mid-floor balcony window on the apartment shattered, and a mechanical arm burst out.

It looked just like an appliance plug.

“Kyaaack!”

People screamed as they poured out of the apartment.

Some were even resisting the monsters with baseball bats and the like.

“Over there!”

―Thwack!

But civilians couldn’t take down a B-rank monster.

Shin Yuri dashed forward and kicked the monster flying.

“Eh, Yuri?”

They seemed to know each other. Shin Jae-heon grabbed the man.

“Auntie!”

Auntie??? So Yeri’s eyes went wide.

Ah, is this the lady who took care of hunter Shin Jae-heon instead of his abusive uncle?

She vaguely remembered hearing about her in passing.

“Run, quick!”

“What about you?”

“I can smash those things!”

His aunt stared at him in bewilderment.

“What do you even—”

No time for explanations, so Shin Jae-heon gave a vague reply.

“Gym class wasn’t for nothing!”

With that, he charged into the apartment entrance alongside Shin Yuri.

A very Shin Jae-heon answer.

Fortunately, no more monsters were emerging outside, so they just needed to sweep the interior.

“Ah, lemme borrow that bat!”

Shin Jae-heon snatched the baseball bat from his aunt’s hand as he ran.

He handed her the stick he’d been holding.

“This one’s longer—better for you!”

Then he dashed inside without looking back.

So Yeri, who’d been watching the scene, slipped away from the crowd’s eyes and leaped up toward the upper floors of the apartment.

This time, she successfully leaped without wrecking the ground, reaching the rooftop in just a few bounds.

Looking down, she saw the residents checking on each other’s safety.

“…”

In the original timeline, everyone trapped in this gate—the residents below—had died. Only then did hunter Shin Yuri and hunter Shin Jae-heon enter.

Since just the two of them had gone in, only they remembered the details, but the inside must’ve been a total slaughter.

Nothing but corpses to see.

But now was different. They could save everyone.

Just like hunter Shin Yuri had yearned for over the past ten years.

“Here I go~!”

With a slightly lighter heart, So Yeri flung open the rooftop door.

―Crack! Crunch!

Of course, it was locked, so it tore off with an ominous sound.

“Oof.”

So Yeri scratched her head.

Am I actually suited to being a dealer?

No time for deep self-reflection, though.

She had to help clear the dungeon.

She dashed quickly into the apartment interior.