Chapter 207

After suffering so much in L-rank dungeons, it even looked somewhat decent by comparison.

The problem was…

“That person couldn’t be…”

I watched the awakening light slowly fade before turning my gaze to So Yeri the Hunter.

So Yeri the Hunter was quietly peering into the hospital room.

I widened my eyes.

That sister was So Yeri the Hunter?

“…I’ll tell you everything once we clear the dungeon.”

In the end, So Yeri the Hunter spoke up.

It seemed what she wanted to hide in this dungeon was that.

I had a ton of questions, but I didn’t pry further.

Right now, there were more important things than the past.

With So Yeri the Hunter aside, the other three had each failed, leading to stat reductions—that was an issue too, but there was a bigger problem.

‘Memory—So Yeri,’ which meant So Yeri the Hunter… no, to avoid confusion, I’d call her Lee Jin-ah for now.

Anyway, we had to protect Hunter Lee Jin-ah.

Normally, this place would have manifested as an A-rank dungeon, so Hunter Lee Jin-ah wouldn’t have been in any real danger.

But if it was an SS+ rank dungeon, even the trash mobs would boast insane damage, so we needed to take the lead and sweep through ahead of her.

Whether it was because we’d suffered through so many L-ranks or because we’d gotten stronger, the dungeon’s monsters weren’t as tough as I’d feared.

—Sring!

Of course, a swarm of medical scalpels boasting ridiculous cutting power came rushing in midway, putting us on edge.

—Kuwang!

Once Shin Jae-heon swung his Flame Sword and blew them all away, things quieted down.

“……”

We usually bantered idly during dungeon traversal just to ease the tension, but today everyone was silent.

I was no exception. It was hard to open my mouth.

Probably because we’d all seen someone else’s memories… just like me.

Everyone had seen a lot, but no one was talking about it.

In a way, it was like we’d stolen and read someone else’s secret diary.

“For now, we have to be careful of the past So Yeri Hunter, right?”

Still, we had to do what needed doing.

If the current So Yeri Hunter crossed paths with her past self, she’d die for sure.

More precisely, the moment the past So Yeri Hunter saw the current one and thought, ‘Why the hell am I keeping her around?’—it’d be game over.

“…Ah.”

I paused for a second.

Lee Jin-ah looked completely different from the current So Yeri Hunter, didn’t she?

“She probably won’t recognize her.”

So Yeri the Hunter said, as if reading my mind.

“Even so, running into her won’t end well.”

Hunter Joo Yian said. Fair enough. No idea when or how, but Lee Jin-ah would transform into So Yeri Hunter’s appearance. I nodded.

“Then we should sweep every path that sister might take.”

I felt So Yeri the Hunter glance at me over my ‘sister’ reference.

Of course, we had no time to spare her a look.

—Drurururuk!

A gurney used for transporting patients was barreling toward us from afar at high speed.

—Pang!

I grabbed a nearby rod and hurled it at the gurney.

Even in an SS+ dungeon, a random rolling rod being A-rank was luxurious beyond belief.

—Kwajik!

Of course, that meant the damage landed perfectly.

The gurney, a trash mob in an SS+ dungeon, collapsed in one hit, sprawling limply on the floor.

And so we pressed forward rapidly.

“Have you cleared this dungeon before we arrived?”

I glanced back at Hunter Joo Yian and Shin Jae-heon.

Since they’d entered first, they might have intel on the dungeon.

“Yes. Back when it was A-rank, the boss was a giant syringe.”

As Shin Jae-heon said that, a dozen massive syringes—clearly what he meant—charged at him.

A skill flashed in his status window, and Maletia’s sword traced a semicircle through the air.

—Hwaruruk!

A semicircle of flames engulfed the syringes.

—Kieeeek!

All that remained were some smoldering syringe wreckage.

He pointed at them and said,

“Since those are trash mobs now, probably not this time.”

Difficulty ramped up, so the boss changing made sense, but…

If the previous rank’s boss became trash, that meant the difficulty had spiked hard.

And moreover.

“If the trash mobs are this easy, how strong is the boss?”

Conventionally, easy trash meant a nasty boss.

As I fretted over the future, we finally reached the dungeon’s top floor.

MRI? I’d heard the term plenty, familiar enough, but I had no clue what it meant exactly.

But seeing the massive machine plunked in the room’s center, I got the gist.

“…Isn’t that the noisy tumbler thing?”

The kind from dramas? Where you gotta take off necklaces, remove hairpins, all that?

As I narrowed my eyes,

—Giiiing!

The culprit tumbler spotted us and started moving.

Thankfully, its rank was SS+.

Normally you’d tense up for an SS-rank boss alone, but somehow an SS+ felt reassuring now?

Wouldn’t Maiden Lady just shatter it with one L-rank slap?

Of course, no time for idle thoughts.

[That Guy >>> Heading in with full buffs.]

High boss rank meant bursting it hard at the opener was key.

Our trio’s buffs lit up Shin Jae-heon’s buff window like crazy.

The MRI device—who knew where its eyes were—seemed to scan us.

The moment the final buff appeared in Shin Jae-heon’s skill window,

he dashed forward.

—Kuwakwang!

A brutal roar kicked off the boss fight.

Long story short, the boss was no pushover.

More precisely, the instant Shin Jae-heon’s sword slammed down for the opener, I knew something was off.

Now S-rank myself, I was in my usual tank-DPS hybrid spot, letting me see Shin Jae-heon panic too.

—Zing!

As Shin Jae-heon brought his sword down on the MRI device’s core,

it slipped somehow, twisting his trajectory.

“!”

Even mid-swing, he corrected fast, but it was no use.

—Kagagak!

Amid the kuwakwang roar, Maletia’s sword merely scraped the MRI device’s side.

95% after opener damage? Grim.

Following Shin Jae-heon, I unleashed my afterimage-wrapped sword and figured out why he’d slipped.

A faint translucent aura enveloped it, then a weird buff popped up, sliding my sword away.

“Gonna be tough to hit up close.”

Shin Jae-heon saw even my afterimage slip and gripped his sword with a troubled look.

That was when it happened.

—Thud!

This boss had some utterly bullshit skills.

Every time it used Magnetic Field Expansion, our party’s HP plummeted in the status window.

By the hundreds of thousands.

In the end, Field Hospital appeared over Hunter Joo Yian’s head. I bit my lip.

Using an L-rank heal skill would wreck her eyesight, obviously.

But I couldn’t tell her not to heal.

Otherwise, we’d all be found dead in under ten minutes.

No choice.

We had to end this fast, before Hunter Joo Yian lost her vision!

……

I thrust my sword with dozens of afterimages stacked. That instant.

“What the hell is this?!”

A curse slipped out.

Pole? What— As I blinked in shock, debuffs piled onto the party’s status windows one by one.

Only Shin Jae-heon got S Pole? That thought crossed my mind—

—Fwoosh!

Invisible energy spread around us. Clanking echoed from outside.

Something was being dragged into the room.

And then.

The moment I slipped ever so slightly toward Shin Jae-heon, my whole body lurched toward him.

“!”

Seemed he felt it too.

I barely twisted my outward swing inward.

—Chaeng!

My sword clashed with Shin Jae-heon’s.

“What, so N Pole and S Pole stick together now?!”

What kind of skill—

No time to gripe.

A barrage of junk rained down on me and Shin Jae-heon, plastered together.

The stuff dragged in by that ‘Magnetism Manifestation’ skill earlier.

“!”

So dense it blotted out my vision in shadows, metallic objects hurtled toward us.

Like they meant to smash us flat.