Chapter 211 – Observation

They say when three women gather, a dish will break, don’t they?

Inside the car heading to the Little Snake Dungeon, a lively conversation was in full swing.

“You were at Hongdae when the dungeon break happened, Su-a?” Hwang Da-yeon asked.

“Yes. Were you there too, Team Leader?” Hyun Su-a replied.

“Yeah. I saw people running in droves and just followed without knowing what was going on. Turns out it was a dungeon break,” Chae So-hyun answered.

“You’re lucky you evacuated early,” Hyun Su-a said.

“What about you, Su-a?”

“I couldn’t even run because a monster broke through. I had to fight.”

“Were you okay? Aren’t Rock Lizards still tough opponents?”

“They are. But I could handle one. The problem was the three that showed up after.”

“Three of them appeared?”

“How did you get out?”

At their questions, Hyun Su-a smiled as she recalled the situation.

“Just in time, the Guild Master showed up and saved me. Those tough Rock Lizards collapsed in an instant.”

Hearing about Min Do-jun’s heroics, Hwang Da-yeon’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “So, after that, you started seeing Do-jun as your lifesaver?”

“No, that’s more recent. There’s a separate story for that.”

“What is it? What’s the story?”

“That was the first time I met the Guild Master. I was running the Mantis Dungeon back then…”

The chatter among the three women didn’t stop. Each of them had a connection to Min Do-jun, providing enough anecdotes to talk for hours. In just a week, the trio had become remarkably close, bonded by their shared link to Min Do-jun. Especially Hyun Su-a and Hwang Da-yeon, who were the same age and had even dropped formalities with each other while entering dungeons together.

If Min Do-jun saw this, he’d probably slap his forehead for worrying unnecessarily.

“Oh, hold on. I’ve got a call,” Chae So-hyun interrupted the conversation to answer her phone while driving.

After finishing the call, she relayed the message to the backseat, “The Guild Master says to wait before entering the dungeon when we arrive.”

“Huh? Why?” Hwang Da-yeon asked.

“He wants to observe how we hunt.”

“Really?”

“Does that mean the Guild Master will enter the dungeon with us?” Hyun Su-a inquired.

“That’s right.”

Unable to hide her joy at the thought of entering a dungeon with Min Do-jun after a long time, Hyun Su-a beamed. But soon, realizing his likely intent, she gave a wry smile.

“Da-yeon, you must be thrilled.”

“Huh? About what?”

“The Guild Master is observing because of you. He wants to make sure you’re hunting well.”

“It’s not because of me. Strictly speaking, it’s because of my dad,” Hwang Da-yeon replied.

She knew that Min Do-jun’s care for her was largely influenced by her father. ‘He saved me because I’m my dad’s daughter. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have used that precious elixir on me,’ she thought. Though it was just a guess, even if it were true, she had no reason to feel upset. They weren’t particularly close to begin with. ‘Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter. He’s still my lifesaver,’ she concluded. She couldn’t help the feelings that arose from being saved.

“We’re here, girls,” Chae So-hyun announced.

The three arrived at Cheonggyesan and waited in front of the dungeon. After about 20 minutes, three male hunters emerged, having finished their run. It was their turn to enter, but Hyun Su-a and Hwang Da-yeon waited for Min Do-jun as instructed.

At that moment, one of the male hunters, finding it odd that they weren’t entering despite being geared up, approached them. “What are you doing? Not going in?”

“We’re waiting for a party member,” Hyun Su-a replied.

“A party member? Another woman?”

Judging by the fact that both were women, he assumed it might be another female hunter, but he was wrong.

“No, a man,” Hwang Da-yeon answered.

“Haha, whoever he is, that guy’s lucky. Partying with two beautiful women like you in a 2-to-1 ratio.”

It wasn’t clear if he was genuinely envious or mocking them, but one thing was certain: the men were openly eyeing their figures.

“Hmm, face, body. Not a single flaw. Why are such perfect ladies doing dangerous hunter work?”

“Exactly. If something happens to you, your boyfriends would be heartbroken.”

“The hunter you’re waiting for must be a boyfriend, right?”

“What? Then is it a love triangle?”

The rude remarks made the women’s faces stiffen. They needed to correct the misunderstanding before it went further.

“He’s not a boyfriend,” Hyun Su-a clarified.

“Oh? Then you don’t have boyfriends?”

“No way such pretty ladies are single.”

“We are single,” Hwang Da-yeon confirmed.

“Then how about being my girlfriend?”

“Hey, you already have a girlfriend.”

“Ugh, you always ruin the moment.”

“How about dating me instead? I’m the highest level among us.”

“Level isn’t everything. Skills matter more.”

“Pfft, haha.”

The men snickered, and Hwang Da-yeon, unable to hold back, interjected with an incredulous tone, “What are you doing right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re blatantly harassing us.”

“Harassing? When did we do that?”

“You were leering at us with creepy looks just now, and you’re still making weird comments about skills and stuff.”

“Haha, we were leering creepily? That’s ridiculous.”

“My eyes are naturally like this.”

“Should someone with eyes like mine just not live?”

The men collectively played dumb.

“And what’s wrong with talking about skills?”

“We meant skills literally, but you’re the one taking it the wrong way.”

“Seems like the dirty mind here isn’t ours, but this lady’s.”

“I like this type. A bold woman, isn’t that great?”

“What did you say? You son of a-” Hwang Da-yeon started to curse, but Hyun Su-a stepped in.

“Stop it.”

“Why? These jerks need a good cursing to snap out of it.”

“What? A cursing?”

The men, who had been smirking moments ago, now twisted their faces into menacing scowls.

“This little brat thinks we’re pushovers just because we’ve been nice?”

“We’ve been giving you attention because you’re pretty, and now you’re crossing the line, huh?”

“What? You-” Hwang Da-yeon flared up again. Unlike Hyun Su-a, she had little patience. She wasn’t the type to stay quiet after being openly insulted.

But at Hyun Su-a’s glance toward something, Hwang Da-yeon felt her anger subside.

“You little brat, why stop mid-curse? Go on, keep running your mouth if you want to get hurt.”

“…”

“What? You were all tough a second ago, why so quiet now?”

“Because I’m here.”

At the sound of a third party’s voice, the men turned their heads in unison. But just as quickly, they snapped their heads back.

Slap! Slap! Smack!

All three hunters clutched their cheeks and fell to the ground. They hadn’t even seen who hit them. They could only clutch their stinging, almost dislocated jaws in pain.

“Guild Master!”

“Are you okay?”

“We’re fine, but…” Hyun Su-a looked down at the male hunters.

All three were bleeding from their mouths, unable to regain their senses.

“Get up,” Min Do-jun commanded.

The hunters didn’t react immediately.

BOOM!

With a stomp of his foot, the ground cracked, and dirt flew up.

“Don’t play weak. Get up.”

Finally coming to their senses, the hunters forgot their pain and scrambled to their feet.

“Do you know why you got hit?”

Raising their heads at Min Do-jun’s voice, the hunters wore shocked expressions. They recognized the face from TV.

“S-S-rank Hunter Min Do-jun?”

BOOM!

Another stomp cracked the ground again.

“Who are you speaking informally to?”

“S-sorry, Min Do-jun Hunter-nim.”

“Fine. Do you know why I hit you?”

‘So it was Min Do-jun Hunter who hit us?’

They hadn’t even seen who struck them, but the situation made it clear it was him.

“I don’t-”

“I know! I know!” one quick-witted man answered hurriedly, glaring at his companion who had started to say otherwise.

‘Idiot. Even if you don’t know, just say you do!’

If they had answered that they didn’t know, they might have all been in serious trouble. Besides, it wasn’t a situation where they could claim ignorance.

‘Who would’ve thought the party member they were waiting for was an S-rank hunter…’

Of all people to mess with, they had picked the wrong target.

“If you know, then say it. Why did you get hit?”

“We, uh, picked a fight with your party members. We’re sorry.”

“You got that right. So you admit you deserved it?”

“Yes.”

In a situation like this, quick admission was the only way to save their skins. Sure enough, Min Do-jun’s murderous expression softened slightly. Just a little.

“The rest of you aren’t answering?”

“I-I admit it.”

“I admit it.”

The men nodded repeatedly to save themselves.

If this could end things, they’d be lucky, but Min Do-jun had no intention of letting them off easily.

“Since you deserved it, you wouldn’t complain if I hit you one more time, right?”

“…”

Getting slapped again like before? It would hurt like hell, but if it meant getting out of this situation, they could take it.

“F-fine. We’ll take it.”

“We did wrong, so we should take it.”

“Good. I’ll make it a clean single hit.”

The punishment was swift.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The hunters, struck in the stomach, dropped to their knees.

“Urghhh!”

Vomiting was just a bonus.

“Why not the cheek, but the stomach…?”

“I never said I’d hit your cheek.”

“Ugh…”

The men felt a slight sense of betrayal as they retched, but they didn’t know that Min Do-jun had actually held back from hitting a more critical spot.

“Once you’re done throwing up, apologize and get lost. And don’t even think about reporting that I hit you. Unless you want to die.”

“W-we’ll keep that in mind.”

“S-sorry.”

As the men bowed their heads and turned to leave, Min Do-jun called them back.

“Who are you apologizing to right now? The people you should apologize to are over here.”

“Ah…”

Realizing they had the wrong target, the men turned to Hyun Su-a and Hwang Da-yeon and bowed deeply.

“We’re sorry for the harassment.”

“We’ll never do it again.”

“I just hope we never cross paths again,” Hwang Da-yeon said with a displeased expression. The men felt the same way about avoiding future encounters.

Only after the harassing hunters disappeared did Min Do-jun relax his fierce expression.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, Guild Master, I feel much better,” Hyun Su-a replied.

“Thanks, Do-jun. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve gotten sick from the stress,” Hwang Da-yeon added.

They all seemed relieved, but Min Do-jun felt a lingering dissatisfaction.

‘I should’ve just killed trash like them.’

If his guild members hadn’t been there, he might have actually done it.

‘How dare they mess with my guild members. It pisses me off.’

Suddenly, memories of partying with the Emperor Guild in the past came to mind.

‘Back then, my party members would fawn over the Emperor Guild members just to look good…’

Individual strength was important, but a guild’s reputation couldn’t be ignored either.

‘I hope one day the Guardian Guild reaches that level.’

So that his guild members would never be looked down on, no matter where they went.

“Let’s go,” Min Do-jun said, leading his guild members into the dungeon.

* * *

About four hours later, the portal turned blue, and Min Do-jun’s party emerged.

“Guild Master!” Chae So-hyun, who had been waiting at the entrance, approached and asked, “How was the observation?”

“Hmm…”

What should he say? Unable to answer immediately, Chae So-hyun’s face clouded with concern.

“Why? Were there too many issues?”

“No, quite the opposite.”

Contrary to his worries, the relationship between the two women was as close as sisters. Their hunting wasn’t just following a set strategy; it was dynamic and efficient.

‘What surprised me most was that Hyun Su-a was stronger than I expected.’

Her skills were hard to believe for someone at just level 800.

‘I didn’t even need to observe.’

He had come in intending to offer advice, but it felt almost embarrassing to have done so.

‘I can trust Da-yeon to them now.’

Everything was running perfectly. He felt in control of his life.

‘Now, if I can just succeed in my revenge against the remaining ones…’

At that moment, the long-awaited call from Shin Kyung-min came through.

-Hunter, were you in a dungeon? I can finally reach you now.

“Yes, I was in one for a bit. What’s the matter? Is it about what you mentioned before…?”

-That’s right. I’ve secured a dungeon.

‘Finally, a dungeon run with Shin Kyung-min?’

The implication was clear. The time to kill him had come.