Chapter 101 – Survivor

There was no way sunlight could suddenly shine in a completely enclosed cave.

Min Do-jun and Kim Ji-hoon immediately went toward the light source and saw a survivor with active flame magic.

It was a woman wearing a robe.

“A survivor!”

“Are you alright?”

The woman weakly nodded as she dispelled her magic.

She had lit the flame magic after hearing human voices, and fortunately they found her.

“You don’t look alright…”

Blood was stained across various parts of her body.

“It’s not my blood. It’s my guild members’…”

Then she fell silent.

Her inability to continue speaking suggested significant psychological trauma.

“You’re the one who pressed the help request, right? From Hope Guild?”

“Yes…”

“I’m Kim Ji-hoon from Emperor Guild. This is Hunter Min Do-jun from Ilsan branch. We’re here to help, so you can relax now.”

“Ah… thank you. I’m An Cho-hee from Hope Guild.”

Right after introductions, An Cho-hee frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, my legs hurt so much…”

Lifting her robe revealed her legs had turned black.

“You’re infected with poison.”

Kim Ji-hoon, having faced the boss before, recognized it immediately.

“Poison…?”

“Yes. When hit by the Black King Centipede’s poison, it turns black starting from the legs. This confirms you faced the boss.”

Kim Ji-hoon showed a somewhat relieved expression.

He had been worried there might not be a boss.

‘That’s good. There is a boss.’

Min Do-jun felt the same way.

Meanwhile, An Cho-hee was just confused.

“I didn’t see it release anything…”

“You probably didn’t notice it spraying because the poison is black. Even minimal skin contact allows it to penetrate and cause poisoning symptoms like this. Without knowing the strategy, infection was unavoidable.”

Min Do-jun was internally impressed by Kim Ji-hoon’s explanation.

‘As expected of someone with experience, he knows more details than what’s available online.’

An Cho-hee also looked somewhat surprised.

“H-how do you know so much?”

“I received training about the boss at my guild and have killed one before. Haven’t you received training?”

“No…”

Hope Guild ranked around 30th among mid-upper tier guilds.

Their curriculum differed somewhat from Emperor Guild, which ranked first.

Still, they could have learned about the boss if they wanted, but thinking they wouldn’t encounter it, they hadn’t paid attention – which became their downfall.

“What happened? How did you end up alone?”

“Ah… well…”

An Cho-hee explained the situation to the two.

They encountered the boss while hunting for about 5 hours, and the inexperienced guild members recklessly charged in.

“I tried to tell them to run away, but they just rushed in. Then two died instantly and while the rest were trying to escape, everyone…”

She trailed off, seemingly recalling the memory.

“Who was the leader?”

“…I was. I had the highest level among party members. I also had experience clearing the centipede dungeon…”

“Excuse me, but what’s your level?”

“1,820. The other party members were newcomers who just reached level 1,600.”

“Ah…”

Kim Ji-hoon sighed with regret.

The fortunate point was that the survivor was high-level.

‘With a level 1,800 mage helping, we three could clear it.’

The only concern was that the mage before him was poisoned.

Just then, An Cho-hee asked about the poison with worried eyes.

“Um… what happens when poisoned? Surely I won’t die like this?”

“No, you won’t die, but pain will gradually rise from your legs and your body will start stiffening. It takes about 6 hours for complete paralysis. Though not life-threatening, it’s still dangerous since you’ll be unable to move.”

“…”

“Don’t worry too much though. A healer’s magic can cure it.”

Despite being told not to worry, An Cho-hee’s expression remained troubled.

It was impossible not to worry about becoming paralyzed.

“I understand the situation. But where’s the boss?”

“It should be at the end over there… why? Surely not…”

“Yes. Your guess is correct. We’re going to kill the boss.”

An Cho-hee was shocked at Kim Ji-hoon’s words.

“J-just the two of you?”

“Three with your help.”

An Cho-hee’s pupils shook.

‘They’ll kill what six people couldn’t with just two?’

Though not knowing much about the boss, one thing was certain.

It wasn’t something that could be killed by just two people.

She could tell just from seeing two guild members get torn apart instantly when they charged in.

‘Not only fighting the boss but asking for my help too…’

It would be impossible to win even with her help.

Unless there was an S-rank hunter.

‘Wait.’

A thought suddenly crossed her mind.

“What are your levels?”

The thought that the hunter before her might be S-rank or close to it.

But.

“2,043.”

“1,700.”

Below expectations.

One was even lower level than her.

A hopeless situation.

‘He said he’s from Ilsan branch…?’

An Cho-hee quickly looked away from Min Do-jun.

Regardless of affiliation, his level was too low.

‘If we’re killing the boss, he’s the only reliable one…’

Kim Ji-hoon from Emperor Guild.

High level and considerable knowledge about the boss.

Above all, he had experience killing one, so he could be trusted and followed.

‘But can we kill it with three people?’

An Cho-hee shook her head.

No matter how she thought about it, it seemed impossible.

“I appreciate you coming to help, but trying to kill the boss with three people is too reckless. I’m not even in good condition…”

“Your upper body isn’t stiff yet so you can still cast magic, right? Just providing ranged DPS from afar would be plenty helpful.”

“I don’t know if I can provide proper DPS as a supporter…”

“What? You’re a supporter?”

Kim Ji-hoon asked in surprise.

He thought she was just a mage, not knowing she was a supporter.

“Yes… I’m a supporter. I only have one attack spell. The rest are support spells.”

“…”

Modern mages typically focus entirely on magic power, so their damage output is high.

However, that only applies when they’ve learned attack skills.

It was different for supporters who filled most slots with support skills.

“Hmm…”

Kim Ji-hoon swallowed as his plan fell apart.

While a supporter wasn’t unhelpful, what he wanted was a DPS.

‘With only one attack skill, we’ll have to forget about damage. This might take some time…’

Though it would take longer, killing the boss wasn’t impossible.

‘That’s assuming Hunter Min Do-jun is around my level though.’

Kim Ji-hoon strongly believed.

That Min Do-jun was hiding his strength.

Though he showed weakness throughout hunting at Namhansanseong, this time would be different.

He had set up a situation where Min Do-jun would have to show his skills.

‘Can he still hide his abilities before the sweet fruit of a boss?’

Kim Ji-hoon thought not.

There was a high chance he would pour out all damage to claim contribution.

‘The Guild Master dismissed it as rumors, but where there’s smoke there’s fire. Looking at his track record, he’s definitely not a weak hunter.’

Having this conviction, he brought Min Do-jun using the boss as bait.

He couldn’t give up after coming this far.

They had to clear the boss even with just a supporter.

“Even supporter help would be valuable. How about joining our raid believing in me?”

“Hmm…”

After considering, An Cho-hee eventually nodded.

“Alright.”

She changed her mind because of Kim Ji-hoon’s confident attitude.

‘He’s the only reliable one between them. High level plus Emperor Guild…’

Though Min Do-jun seemed somewhat unreliable, there must be a reason for Kim Ji-hoon’s confidence.

“Before raiding the boss, could you tell us what skills you have?”

“Yes, first…”

An Cho-hee briefly explained her learned skills to Kim Ji-hoon.

‘These skills might work on normal centipedes but won’t help much against the boss. Would’ve been better if she was a DPS…’

Though internally disappointed, Kim Ji-hoon didn’t show it and explained specific tactics.

“Once Cho-hee takes a safe position, Do-jun and I will start attacking. When we pull it into range, that’s when you start supporting. Focus on damage spells – other status effect spells won’t work and will just draw aggro.”

“Understood.”

“Do-jun, you’ll run in with me focusing damage on its head, but be careful about when it sprays poison, okay? When I signal, immediately dodge toward its tail. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Though he already knew the strategy, Min Do-jun simply nodded without comment.

“Shall we go then? Cho-hee, I’ll support you – please guide us to where the boss is.”

“Yes…”

Kim Ji-hoon helped An Cho-hee stand.

While moving with support.

“Ugh!”

An Cho-hee groaned after walking just a bit.

Pain shot through her with each step.

“It, it hurts too much to walk…”

“This won’t work. Get on my back.”

Though hesitant, An Cho-hee had no choice but to climb onto Kim Ji-hoon’s back.

For Kim Ji-hoon with his high strength, carrying An Cho-hee was nothing.

“You’re light as a feather.”

“…It’s that way.”

An Cho-hee pointed forward with a reddened face.

The two moved following An Cho-hee’s guidance.

After walking about 30 minutes?

An Cho-hee pointed to one side with fear-filled eyes.

“…It’s there.”

Where she pointed was a giant centipede so dark it was hard to distinguish at first glance.

It was the Black King Centipede, this dungeon’s boss.

“It really is huge.”

True to its name as king, it was over four times thicker and longer than other centipedes.

Though that meant more surface area to attack, its shell and skin were on a completely different level of toughness compared to normal ones.

“Remember? Only attack the head. Other parts are too tough – attacks won’t do anything.”

“Are, are you really going to fight?”

An Cho-hee asked, seemingly afraid now facing the boss.

“Of course.”

‘That’s why we came in.’

Swallowing those words, Kim Ji-hoon set An Cho-hee down in a corner.

Being over 100 meters away, the boss hadn’t noticed their movements yet.

“As planned, we’ll pull it over and you support from here. Can you do that?”

“Yes… I’ll try.”

Kim Ji-hoon drew his weapon with a grave expression.

“Well then, let’s start…”

“Wait.”

Min Do-jun raised his hand.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

“What? Ah… go ahead.”

Kim Ji-hoon lowered his weapon, deflated.

‘Well, it’s his first time facing a boss, so being nervous is understandable.’

Even he was sweating with experience, so of course Min Do-jun would be too.

After waiting 10 minutes for Min Do-jun.

“Why isn’t he coming back?”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

Anxiety appeared on their faces.

“Let’s wait a bit more.”

Another 10 minutes passed thinking he might be doing number two.

“He’s taking too long…”

“Did something happen…?”

After not appearing for 20 minutes, Kim Ji-hoon finally moved.

“I’ll go look for him.”

Kim Ji-hoon returned shortly after going down the path Min Do-jun took.

“What happened?”

“…He’s not there.”

“What?”

“I looked deep inside thinking he might have gone far, but he’s nowhere.”

“S-surely not…”

“Yes…”

Kim Ji-hoon said with a troubled expression.

“It seems he ran away.”