As the Hunters all moved to leave, Yoo Jin-Ho asked with a confused expression.
"You want me and Jin-Woo hyung to stay behind in the boss room alone?"
Hwang Dong-Suk answered with a warm smile.
"This thing hasn't woken up even with all the racket we've been making, so what could possibly go wrong? Besides, we've got some things to discuss with the boys, so we'll smoke a quick cigarette on the way out. We'll be right back."
Listening to Hwang Dong-Suk's drawn-out explanation, Jin-Woo suppressed a smirk.
'So you're finally showing your true colors. But they're all going? Aren't they treating us a bit too much like idiots?'
They looked down on them because of their low ranks. Just as expected, Hwang Dong-Suk began to make his move. It was a little different from the scenario Jin-Woo had anticipated, though. Jin-Woo had been working as a Hunter for four years now and had met many Hunters during that time. One of them was a man called Mr. Oh. He was a Hunter who had wrapped up a long freelance career and started helping out with the Association's work as a pastime.
"Watch out for the lizards."
That was something Mr. Oh used to say often. When you go on a raid, there comes a moment when you're placed in danger. At those times, some unscrupulous Hunters deliberately sacrifice a fellow member who was on the team just moments ago—because they aren't a core member, or because they're weaker. All to buy themselves time to evacuate safely. Just like a lizard dropping its tail to escape.
'Tail cutting…'
Mr. Oh called those Hunters "lizards" and that kind of behavior "tail cutting." By regulation, the minimum raid party for a C-rank Gate is ten. But Hwang Dong-Suk's fixed team only had eight members.
"You know how hard it is to get a healer-type Hunter to join a private raid party, right? We've always done it this way."
They'd always done it this way, and yet they kept going in and out of C-rank Gates frequently.
'Of course, they never needed to fill those two spots.'
They always needed tails they could cut at a moment's notice. There was a reason they accepted anyone—E-rank Hunters, newcomers, it didn't matter. And right now, Hwang Dong-Suk had decided to abandon Sung Jin-Woo and Yoo Jin-Ho, though for a slightly different reason than usual.
'This works in my favor.'
Even though Jin-Woo had read Hwang Dong-Suk's intentions, he gave nothing away. In fact, this was exactly what he wanted. But there was a big difference between Jin-Woo, who was confident in his own abilities, and Yoo Jin-Ho, who had only started working as a Hunter today. Yoo Jin-Ho spoke with a voice laced with anxiety.
"No, but still… Wouldn't it be better if we all went together?"
Jin-Woo noticed one of the Hunters in the back moving his hand toward his waist. He placed a hand on Yoo Jin-Ho's shoulder and spoke.
"Go ahead. We'll keep watch here."
The Hunter's hand stopped midway to his waist.
"Hyung…?"
Yoo Jin-Ho was puzzled, but Jin-Woo said nothing and simply shook his head slightly. He was a noisy kid, sure, but he couldn't just leave him to die here. Hadn't Yoo Jin-Ho insisted on carrying Jin-Woo's contract over to get him a share of the loot, even though it cost him personally? Hwang Dong-Suk looked at the two of them and smiled.
"We parked the car right up ahead, so it won't take long. See you soon."
Hwang Dong-Suk and the other eight Hunters filed out of the boss room. Their footsteps faded quickly. Yoo Jin-Ho confronted Jin-Woo.
"What are you doing saying that, hyung? What if that thing wakes up?"
He seemed genuinely terrified of the spider.
'This guy hasn't caught on to the situation at all.'
Jin-Woo clicked his tongue inwardly. Explaining everything one by one sounded exhausting. Instead of answering, Jin-Woo began to slowly stretch.
***
Hwang Dong-Suk turned back toward the boss room at that point. The Hunters following him stopped too. They had come far enough from the boss room that voices couldn't carry back. With a smile on his face, Hwang Dong-Suk jerked his chin at Cho Gyu-Hwan, who was standing beside him.
"Gyu-Hwan, block off the boss room entrance." "Should I blow it up so it collapses?" "Yeah, but don't go overboard. We need to get back in there in a little while."
Lee Chul-Jin spoke up.
"Hyung Hwang, why go through all that trouble? Why don't we just kill them both right there and be done with it?"
Hwang Dong-Suk furrowed his brow and glared. There was no longer any need to keep up the pleasant host act. At least that was one relief.
"I-I'm sorry."
Lee Chul-Jin looked down, seemingly intimidated. Hwang Dong-Suk clicked his tongue.
"And if the spider wakes up during the fight? When are we supposed to mine and move the mana crystals?" "I'm sorry."
Cho Gyu-Hwan chimed in.
"Hyung Hwang, since you brought up the spider… What if it wakes up while we're mining the mana crystals? The damage could be enormous."
This was a creature that preied on those terrifying insect-type beasts to fill its belly. If they were ambushed without any defenses during the mining operation, the casualties could be severe.
"That's why."
Hwang Dong-Suk grinned.
"Feed it those two, obviously." "Ah—"
Cho Gyu-Hwan nodded in understanding. Right now, no one could tell when the spider would wake up. It could be ten hours, one hour, or even one minute. So the plan was to wake the spider up and feed it something first. An impact strong enough to collapse the entrance should rouse even the densest beast from sleep. Hwang Dong-Suk continued.
"Once the spider is full and falls back asleep, we mine the mana crystals then."
The Association had granted them five days. There were still four and a half left. They would wait, and if the spider didn't fall asleep within that window, they'd just kill it and mine as many mana crystals as they could before the Gate closed. They wouldn't be able to mine everything in an hour, but with Yoo Jin-Ho and Sung Jin-Woo's share removed, they could recover a decent amount of their losses. Besides, wasn't that better than working with nerves fraying the whole time? Safety came first, after all.
'Of course, that's the worst-case scenario…'
If things went well, they'd reduce the two rookies' share, mine every last mana crystal, and claim the spider too. The expensive equipment Yoo Jin-Ho was carrying would be icing on the cake.
'That sword and shield have to be worth at least a few hundred million won.'
There was absolutely no downside to this deal. The corners of Hwang Dong-Suk's mouth curled upward.
"Block the entrance, then let's go grab a smoke." "Yes, hyung."
In a brief, almost perfunctory reply, brilliant light gathered at Cho Gyu-Hwan's fingertips.
***
"…"
Yoo Jin-Ho's eyes were fixed on the spider. Even his breathing was cautious. With a terrified expression, he asked.
"That spider thing—there's no way it'll wake up, right?" "Hard to say."
Jin-Woo kept his answer short. He had a rough idea of what was going to happen, but telling Yoo Jin-Ho the truth seemed like it might make him pass out.
Come to think of it…
That was the first thing Yoo Jin-Ho had said in five minutes. The fear must have really gotten to him. This was the same guy who wouldn't stop talking earlier. Just then—BOOM. With a thunderous crash, the boss room entrance collapsed in a heap of rubble.
"Huh? Huh? Huh!"
Yoo Jin-Ho rushed toward the entrance. But the fallen boulders had completely sealed it shut. He shoved as hard as he could, but the stones wouldn't budge. Jin-Woo walked over at a leisurely pace.
"Nngh—! Hyung, help me push!"
Yoo Jin-Ho was still straining to move the pile of rocks.
'Cho Gyu-Hwan, was it?'
He had seen a flash of light before the crash. A C-rank mage who wielded light. It had to be his doing. Jin-Woo rested a hand lightly on the rock pile.
'If I really wanted to, I could get out of here easily enough.'
The weight of the stones traveled up through his arm. It wasn't as heavy as he'd expected. With a slight push, he felt the wall of rock tremble. But he had no intention of leaving.
"Ah!"
Yoo Jin-Ho suddenly stopped pushing and shouted as if he had figured something out. His face flushed red, he turned to look at Jin-Woo.
"Those bastards are trying to kill us! They blocked the entrance because they didn't want to split the mana crystals—they want the spider to eat us!" 'He caught on pretty fast.'
Jin-Woo sighed inwardly but played along.
"Right. We're in big trouble." "Huh!"
In an instant, Yoo Jin-Ho's face went from red to white. All the color drained from it, as if the blood had been sucked right out. Jin-Woo didn't need to ask why. Reflected in Yoo Jin-Ho's wide eyes was the silhouette of the massive beast. Jin-Woo turned around.
"Krruk. Krooruk."
Shaken awake by the impact, the spider was slowly raising its enormous body. A creature the size of a house. Dozens of eyes. A grotesque mouth. Long, long legs. Seeing it move alive was far more terrifying than when it had been lying still.
"Nngh…"
Yoo Jin-Ho let out a moan. His whole body had gone rigid as stone. Jin-Woo, on the other hand, kept his eyes locked on the spider and calmly summoned 'Kasaka's Venomfang' from his inventory.
'That's mine.'
This was a good chance to test out his boosted stats. 'Kasaka's Venomfang' appeared in his right hand on its own—as though it had been there from the start. Ssslk—just like that. Jin-Woo gripped the dagger's hilt tightly. This was why Hunters were called Hunters! The real hunt was about to begin.
"W-wait, hyung!"
Just as Jin-Woo was about to move toward the spider, Yoo Jin-Ho grabbed his sleeve in a flash.
"What… what are you going to do?"
Yoo Jin-Ho's fingertips were trembling. Jin-Woo pointed over his shoulder with his left thumb.
"I'm going to take that thing down."
That was the only reason he had been tagging along with Hwang Dong-Suk's group this whole time. If Hwang Dong-Suk pulled a tail-cutting move, he would get to devour all the monsters in the dungeon by himself. It was a golden opportunity to hog all the experience points and mana crystals.
'If only the boss hadn't eaten all the other monsters already…'
There would have been more to claim. That was a shame. But Yoo Jin-Ho, who knew nothing of Jin-Woo's situation, looked at him as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
'What is this hyung saying right now?'
He had heard somewhere that when a person endures an unbearable psychological shock, they sometimes lose their grip on reality. The E-rank Hunter in front of him was claiming he'd take down the C-rank dungeon boss by himself. If that wasn't crazy, what was? Yoo Jin-Ho, his face blank, asked one more time.
"You're going to take that thing down yourself?"
Jin-Woo scratched the back of his head, looking troubled, and shot the question back.
"Well, do you want to do it?"
Yoo Jin-Ho opened his mouth to respond, but Jin-Woo had already turned away. There was no need to hear the answer. Yoo Jin-Ho was barely standing on wobbly legs. From the very start, Jin-Woo hadn't expected anything from him. It was a relief that the kid hadn't insisted on coming along to help.
'He'd only be in the way.'
Jin-Woo approached the spider slowly. The creature seemed to spot him too, pivoting its body with its eight legs. It was closing in. The spider didn't seem to be in any rush, perhaps curious about this unfamiliar prey. Pushing off the ground with its long, thick legs, it crept closer little by little.
"Hoo…"
As that enormous body steadily swallowed more of his field of vision, the air grew thicker in his lungs. His heartbeat started to quicken. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Jin-Woo steadied his breathing and tried to calm the surge of excitement. He had to stay composed. At the same time, he recalled the feeling of standing at the end of the second floor of the Hapjeong Station instant dungeon for the very first time. The venomous blue blade, Kasaka. But the pressure coming from the spider in front of him wasn't nearly as overwhelming as that. In other words, this was manageable. If he had judged from the start that this boss was unbeatable, he wouldn't have stayed behind.
"Kroorooook."
The distance had closed enough that his face was reflected in the spider's smooth, black eyes. Jin-Woo's gaze narrowed.