Chapter 33 – Savior

In a pitch-black cave without a single light.

Crackle-

The electric light summoned by Min Do-jun illuminated the surroundings.

The female hunters were startled.

“Ca-can you use magic too?”

“Yes. I told you I’m a magic swordsman.”

“I don’t really know what a magic swordsman is…”

Min Do-jun let out a small sigh.

“Have you been to the Tarantula Dungeon before?”

“No. It’s my first time.”

“I’ve been once.”

At the hunters’ answers, Min Do-jun sighed inwardly.

‘They’re rookies.’

While he was a veteran who had cleared it hundreds of times, these two hunters were different.

‘I wonder if they’ll be of any help in hunting.’

Min Do-jun couldn’t give a positive answer to that question.

‘I hope they don’t get in the way.’

Since he could clear it alone anyway, there was no need for help from the female hunters.

He just hoped they would take care of themselves so as not to be a bother.

With that in mind, Min Do-jun added a few pieces of advice.

“I’ll take the lead, so follow about 5 meters behind. Always be on guard. And don’t keep magic on unless necessary. It can draw aggro. Do you have any fire attribute magic?”

“Yes. I have Fire Shield.”

“I have Fire Hand.”

“Use those two only when caught in spider webs. What about attack magic?”

“I have Earth Drive and Wind Cutter.”

“I have Wind Blade and Wind Slash.”

“Don’t use Earth Drive as it could collapse the cave. Fight with wind attribute magic and prioritize targets aiming for you. Don’t worry about my side. Let’s go.”

Min Do-jun said only that and took the lead.

He had said everything he needed to say.

But the two hunters looked bewildered.

‘What’s with this guy?’

‘Why is he acting like a leader when his level is lower than mine?’

Not knowing Min Do-jun’s skills, they were simply dumbfounded.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Oh, we’re coming.”

At Min Do-jun’s call, the two decided to follow him for now.

Thump thump-

The three advanced using the electric light as a torch.

The hunters walked keeping a distance of over 5 meters as Min Do-jun said, but it was simply due to wariness towards the man.

‘A magic swordsman…’

‘Is it a job that raises strength and magic power?’

They had partied with many people before, but never met someone who used both sword and magic.

‘How interesting.’

Min Do-jun using magic while holding a sword was interesting, but that was all.

They didn’t expect him to be strong.

After all, his level was significantly lower than theirs.

Whish-

At that moment, spider webs flew out of the darkness.

Just when they thought they were too late to react, the electric light suddenly moved strangely.

Crackle-

The spider webs disappeared, blocked by the electric light.

‘Wh-what?’

As the hunters were surprised, spider webs flew in once again.

Crackle-

Again, they were blocked by the electric light.

‘The skill seems to move as if it’s alive.’

Every time spider webs flew in, the electric light moved in an odd direction, acting as a shield.

The hunters kept making surprised expressions.

They had never heard of or seen a skill that could move freely like that to block attacks.

Woong-

Min Do-jun buffed his weapon and leapt out.

At the same time, he fired Charged Lightning and summoned Fire Blast.

Whoosh!

The flames brightly lit up the cave.

The surrounding tarantulas kept shooting spider webs, but they were all blocked by the flames.

Slash-

Screech!

Slash-

Shriek!

Before the hunters could do anything, the situation was resolved in an instant.

“…”

“…”

The hunters had blank expressions as they watched three tarantulas disappear into smoke.

“Hee-young unni. You said you’ve been to the Tarantula Dungeon once?”

“Huh? Y-yeah.”

“Are they normally this weak?”

“No… Absolutely not…”

For Jung Hee-young, who had experience in the dungeon, it was an unbelievable sight.

In her experience, it took three people working together to barely take down one tarantula.

‘But how is he killing them so quickly?’

Kim Hye-ji, who was visiting the dungeon for the first time, was also dumbfounded.

‘I heard this was quite a high difficulty dungeon…’

The man before them found hidden tarantulas and killed them with just a few sword strikes.

[Experience +1,760] (100% contribution)

[Experience +1,760] (100% contribution)

[Experience +1,760] (100% contribution)

While the hunters were bewildered, Min Do-jun was frowning at the notifications.

‘Without the necklace effect, the experience is low.’

Still, it was doubled due to his characteristic, but there was quite a difference from when he used to get 2,640 each.

“…Let’s go.”

The two continued to advance.

Slash!

Screech!

Slash-!

Shriek!

Min Do-jun took the lead and slaughtered the tarantulas.

The mages wanted to join the hunt, but they couldn’t.

The monsters were falling before they could even cast their skills.

‘Amazing…’

The two could only blankly watch Min Do-jun’s massacre.

Perhaps because they were distracted.

They didn’t notice the spider webs flying at them from the side.

Whish!

Whish!

“Ah!”

“Ugh!”

Sticky spider webs wrapped around the two.

They tried to break free, but couldn’t do anything against webs that could hold down even a bull.

But they had countermeasures.

‘Fire Shield.’

Jung Hee-young burned away the binding spider webs with a shield of fire.

‘Fire Hand.’

Kim Hye-ji also cut through the webs with her burning hand.

Free from the restraints, they immediately raised their staves.

‘Huh?’

But they couldn’t see where the enemy was.

Since they didn’t see which direction the webs came from, they couldn’t find them.

Whish!

‘There!’

Jung Hee-young, who blocked the web with Fire Shield, launched a skill.

‘Wind Cutter!’

Blades of wind flew into the darkness.

Screech!

While she was preparing her next skill after landing an accurate hit, Kim Hye-ji also searched for the enemy that bound her and launched a skill.

‘Wind Blade!’

Whiiiing-!

Slash!

Shriek!

The tarantula screamed, but didn’t die.

Kim Hye-ji had a slightly surprised expression.

‘It’s not dead?’

She thought it would be weak, but it was tougher than expected.

She launched more skills as follow-up attacks, but couldn’t kill it.

‘I’m out of skills.’

To make matters worse, she had used up all her attack skills.

This was the weakness of mages.

The problem was that they had no other means of attack besides skills.

Screech!

As the tarantula charged with its fangs bared.

Slash!

Slash!

Min Do-jun, who had finished off the other monsters, delivered the finishing blow.

[Experience +493] (28% contribution)

[Experience +581] (33% contribution)

“Th-thank you.”

“Th… Thank you.”

But as luck would have it.

[Spider Venom has dropped.]

[Automatically rolling according to party rules.]

‘Huh?’

The monster targeting Kim Hye-ji had the desired item.

‘Oh no.’

Min Do-jun made a troubled expression.

The contribution for the last tarantula he killed was 33%.

The item allocation probability in the roulette is strictly based on contribution.

‘33% is a decent chance.’

67% vs 33% probability.

Statistically, Kim Hye-ji had a higher chance, but Min Do-jun’s percentage was not small either.

It was enough to have expectations.

But.

[The winner is Kim Hye-ji.]

As they say, bad premonitions never fail.

Min Do-jun’s expression hardened at the unwanted notification.

“Huh? Spider Venom?”

Kim Hye-ji didn’t even know what item she had obtained.

“What is this used for?”

She tilted her head, unable to understand even after reading the description.

‘Damn it!’

Min Do-jun swallowed a curse at the sight.

The item he so desperately wanted had fallen into the hands of a woman who didn’t even know how to use it.

He was furious and dumbfounded.

‘Stay calm. It will drop again if we keep hunting.’

There was no need to rush.

If they hunt steadily, it will drop again someday.

“…Let’s go.”

And so the hunt continued.

Slash!

Shriek!

Slash!

Screech!

Min Do-jun’s sword dismembered the monsters.

His movements were rougher than before, as if venting his frustrations.

After hunting monsters like that, the three were able to see light after an hour and a half.

It was the exit.

“Ah! That must be the exit over there!”

At the thought of finally escaping, the two hunters moved their feet, but Min Do-jun had no intention of leaving.

“Come this way. We’re not leaving yet.”

“What?”

As he turned his back, the hunters followed with bewildered faces.

“Wh-why?”

“We came to hunt, so there’s no need to leave early, right?”

“…”

Honestly, they didn’t want to hunt anymore.

‘We’re barely getting any experience anyway…’

In the hour and a half, the tarantulas they had killed could be counted on one hand.

The reason was none other than this.

Min Do-jun had taken the lead and killed almost all the monsters.

It was only natural that they didn’t feel like hunting.

“Follow me.”

“…”

“You can’t leave alone anyway.”

It’s impossible to escape alone.

Everyone has to escape together for it to be recognized as a clear.

At Min Do-jun’s words, they had no choice but to move their feet.

Slash!

Shriek!

[Experience +1,760] (100% contribution)

[C-grade Magic Stone has dropped.]

[Automatically rolling according to party rules.]

[The winner is Min Do-jun.]

Slash!

Shriek!

[Experience +1,760] (100% contribution)

[Kite Shield has dropped.]

[Automatically rolling according to party rules.]

[The winner is Min Do-jun.]

Kite Shield was a C-grade item.

Min Do-jun didn’t need it, but he could sell it for 60 million won.

Meanwhile, the two mages were locked in a fierce battle with one monster each.

‘Wind Cutter!’

Slash!

Screech!

‘Wind Blade!’

Whiiing!

Screech!

After an intense fight, they were able to kill their share.

“Phew…”

Wiping away cold sweat, they turned to see Min Do-jun splitting the head of the last remaining tarantula.

‘Wow…’

‘Already…?’

While they each killed one, Min Do-jun had hunted five.

An overwhelming difference.

‘How is this possible…’

‘Is, is this really level 353?’

It was a moment when they realized that level wasn’t the only measure of strength.

“Let’s go.”

“Um… Do-jun.”

Min Do-jun stopped at Kim Hye-ji’s call.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry, but could we rest a bit? I’m really exhausted.”

It was only natural, having hunted for nearly 3 hours straight.

Especially for mages with low stamina.

On the other hand, Min Do-jun with his high stamina didn’t feel any fatigue.

“If you’re tired, stay here. I’ll hunt alone.”

“It’s scary alone…”

“Then stay together.”

“Unni… You’ll stay with me, right?”

Jung Hee-young nodded when Kim Hye-ji looked at her.

She hadn’t said anything, but she wanted to rest too.

“We’ll rest a bit and follow you.”

“Keep going straight in the 2 o’clock direction. Don’t accidentally take a different path.”

“Understood.”

With those words, Min Do-jun disappeared.

Kim Hye-ji plopped down on the ground.

“Haa… So tired.”

Jung Hee-young also rested on the ground.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not too difficult?”

“Not as much as I thought…”

It was tiring, but not difficult.

“That hunter is just so strong…”

“Haha, that’s true.”

Since Min Do-jun swept everything away by himself, there was less tension.

“Honestly, I was anxious when we first entered, but now…”

The uneasiness she felt about being with a man was gone.

Rather, she felt uneasy without Min Do-jun now.

“Should we get going soon?”

“Yeah.”

Afraid they might not find Min Do-jun if they rested too long, they got up.

‘Fire Hand.’

Whoosh-

Flames blazed from her hand, illuminating the surroundings.

Using the flames as a torch, they walked in the 2 o’clock direction Min Do-jun had mentioned.

With somewhat hurried steps, as if scared.

‘How far did he go?’

They walked quickly to catch up, but couldn’t see Min Do-jun.

Then.

Whish!

“Ugh!”

Spider webs flying out of the darkness wrapped around their entire bodies.

‘Fire Shield!’

Jung Hee-young, who immediately broke free, launched a skill to find the tarantula that ambushed her.

Slash!

Shriek!

They managed to kill it through their combined efforts, but.

“Huh?”

Fighting frantically, they lost their sense of direction.

“Uh, where were we…?”

With everything looking the same, it was easy to lose direction if you took your eyes off for a moment.

‘Was it this way?’

After walking aimlessly following their intuition, they suddenly stopped.

Grooowl-

“…”

“…”

They didn’t stop on purpose.

Something huge was blocking their path.

Grooowl-

It was a giant tarantula.

So enormous that it made the large cavern look small.

Tremble tremble-

Kim Hye-ji’s legs shook without her realizing.

Jung Hee-young was frozen as well.

They never imagined they would suddenly encounter the boss.

Grooowl-

‘I, I need to move.’

‘Hurry…!’

While the boss made strange noises, the two desperately tried to move their petrified bodies.

But dominated by fear, their bodies wouldn’t listen.

‘We need to run away now while it hasn’t noticed us!’

After much effort, their feet finally moved.

It was fortunate.

If they could just back away and escape like this, they could survive.

Grooowl?

But it seems their assumption that the boss hadn’t noticed them was wrong.

Whoosh!

Spider webs shot out like a cannon, striking Jung Hee-young.

Thud!

“Kyaa!”

“Unni!”

Jung Hee-young was sent flying and rolled on the ground.

It was fortunate she had Fire Shield on, otherwise the damage might have been fatal.

“Urgh…”

Even with the shield, she felt tremendous pain.

Thump- Thump-

The boss approached, moving its legs as thick as telephone poles.

“U-unni! Are you okay?”

“Uurgh!”

Pain surged through her, as if her ribs were broken.

Drip- Drip-

The boss that had approached drooled as it looked at its two prey.

“Ah.”

At that moment, the two thought:

This is how we die.

But as if there’s no law saying people must die.

Ta-da-dat-

A savior appeared.