The Black Thorn Valley gate — an A-rank Dungeon located on the outskirts of Seoul — was exuding a thick aura of death, as if to prove that its upgrade to S-rank had happened overnight.
Titan Guild was constructing a defensive perimeter around the gate in preparation for any unforeseen emergencies, while the main forces of the Zenith, Valhalla, and Aegis joint coalition had assembled at the entrance.
Amid that grim atmosphere, Han Seyeon of Valhalla swept his gaze across the Zenith formation.
Normally, low-ranking Hunters in poor equipment would have been standing at the front. But this time, familiar faces from Zenith’s top-tier combat force were holding the front line at Eunseong’s side. The lower-ranking Hunters filing in behind them were armed with high-grade equipment. Han Seyeon took it in with an air of mild surprise and spoke up.
“I heard you opened the guild vault — and it certainly shows. Everyone’s properly equipped. Seems like you went all-in for this raid, Baek Eunseong.”
Yoo Cheolmin of Aegis crossed his arms and added his own comment.
“Not much S-rank experience, so at least the preparation is thorough.”
“……”
Eunseong didn’t bother answering either of them, grumbling to himself on the inside. Being pressed down on all sides by the sheer presence of S-rank Hunters was already draining, walking back into a Dungeon was its own source of dread, and now on top of all that, the two guild leaders were getting on his nerves.
Why is everyone being so intimidating. Aren’t we raiding the same Dungeon? We should be cheering each other on, not sizing each other up.
But not a flicker of that showed on his face. Eunseong ignored their remarks, gave his coat a light sweep, and walked slowly forward to stand before the Zenith guild members who had their eyes fixed on him.
The moment his gaze settled on them, the Zenith guild members fell into a hush. Eunseong scanned the rows and found Kang Mujin near the back of the formation. Even among the crowd, he spotted him instantly.
…Don’t get hurt.
He swallowed the words he could never say out loud and let his gaze drift briefly to Han Jia beside him. Then, burying the tremor in his chest as best he could, he opened his mouth.
Eunseong’s voice cut cleanly through the roar of the gate, amplified by an amplification item.
“You are guild assets. Don’t die stupidly — every single one of you comes back alive. Do not cause even a single won of damage to my guild’s assets.”
The guild members from other factions were taken aback by the sheer capitalism of it — but the eyes of Zenith’s Hunters burned with fierce resolve. Having been given generous supplies and equipment suited to each of them, it was impossible for their mindset not to shift.
The massive crimson vortex split open like an enormous maw, as if to swallow the Zenith guild members whole. At the very front stood Eunseong, with Zenith’s core officers arrayed beside him.
Cha Taekyung, S-rank magic swordsman. Seo Jiyun, S-rank head mage. And Kwon Dohun, S-rank main tanker.
Any other day, low-ranking Hunters would have stood at the front. Combat broke out the moment you crossed a gate more often than not, and using them as bait at the front was Zenith’s way of doing things. But not this time.
“Kwon Dohun, take the lead. Cha Taekyung, Seo Jiyun — secure the left and right flanks.”
At Eunseong’s level-headed command, Cha Taekyung hefted his massive greatsword onto his shoulder with a grin.
“Didn’t expect you to put us at the front, sir.”
“You eat expensive meals — you’d better be worth it.”
Eunseong raised his chin and narrowed his eyes.
“Clear the path.”
Zenith’s elite Hunters took their positions at the vanguard. That fact alone told the guild members that this raid was different from anything before.
“Alright. Let’s move.”
Eunseong forced strength into his trembling legs and was the first to step across the threshold of the dark red gate.
The moment they crossed into the Dungeon, a thick, murky purple mist closed over them, obscuring visibility and wrapping around every inch of exposed skin. A damp, nauseating wave of lethal miasma surged forward like a blade driving straight into the lungs.
The interior of the S-rank Dungeon, Black Thorn Valley, was a ruin. Whatever mutation it had undergone, the valley had become a death trap. Not a single blade of grass had survived — everything was withered to a crisp.
From the very first step, a crushing wave of terrible mana pressure closed in from all directions.
Then, a string of translucent system windows flickered into view before him.
[You have entered the S-rank Dungeon, ‘Black Thorn Valley.’]
[Warning! A special environmental effect, ‘Lethal Miasma,’ permeates the entire Dungeon.]
[Lethal poison seeps in through respiration and skin contact.]
Over the red, flashing warning windows, a new message overlaid itself.
[The effect of the ‘A-rank Antidote’ suppresses the progression of poisoning.]
Eunseong pulled his sleeve up over his mouth against the foul air.
Ugh… it’s so much worse than reading it in the novel. If I hadn’t had everyone take the antidotes beforehand, we’d have been done for right at the start — forget even making it to base camp.
Without hesitation, Eunseong jerked his chin toward Cha Taekyung.
“Haah. You were absolutely right, sir. Poison mist at the entrance, of all things…”
Cha Taekyung gave an unsettling grin, greatsword in hand, and called back to the rest of the formation.
“Everyone, put on the masks we were issued!”
The guild members had barely a moment to be struck dumb by the scene before them. At Cha Taekyung’s shout, every single one of them moved in perfect unison, pulling mana-filter gas masks firmly over the lower halves of their faces.
Because every guild member had taken an A-rank Antidote before departing from headquarters, they weren’t immediately incapacitated even in the midst of the poison mist.
Cha Taekyung gave calm, measured instructions.
“Teams One and Two, begin base camp setup! Team Three, clear the area within a three-hundred-meter radius. Team Four, install the blue barrier stones once the area is clear! It needs to be done before the monsters lock on to us. Move!”
The guild members moved swiftly. They drove barrier stones into the ground at measured intervals. Simultaneously, the advance scouts slipped soundlessly into the purple mist. It was flawless — as though they’d rehearsed it.
One of the Hunters setting up base camp adjusted the gas mask over his face and muttered in a voice drained of color.
“So that’s why we took the antidotes before we left. Damn.”
“It’s not just the antidotes, either. These masks have mana filters — they’re insanely expensive. Did the boss go all-in on this Dungeon or what?”
“No way.”
“…Yeah, you’re right. But seriously, how much did all this cost? Just one of those blue barrier stones runs in the hundreds of millions, doesn’t it? How much money does this guy have?”
“Who knows. But clearly a lot, if he’s handing all this out.”
Han Jia, listening from beside them, pulled her mask straps snug and nodded along. Then she leaned slightly toward Kang Mujin.
“The poison mist — it almost seems like the guild leader knew about it in advance, doesn’t it? The antidotes, and then the masks on top of that. Without them, we could have just been dead weight in here.”
Han Jia’s words cut sharply into Kang Mujin’s ears.
Kang Mujin said nothing, gripping the hilt of the Lord of Darkness, and fixed his gaze on Eunseong — who was some distance back, unhurriedly dusting off the hem of his coat.
It wasn’t simply a matter of having money. A-rank Antidotes were obtainable with enough resources, sure — but mana-filter gas masks were high-grade specialty equipment, difficult to source. And yet he’d managed to issue them to everyone right on time.
Can this really be a coincidence?
Kang Mujin’s dark eyes narrowed sharply behind his mask.
He knew the boss’s weakness in the last Dungeon too. Cancelling his schedule. Replacing every guild member’s equipment. And now this preparation.
He was moving like someone who had lived through what was going to happen inside this Dungeon firsthand.
…Don’t tell me Baek Eunseong also came back from the future.
The sense of wrongness he’d felt from the moment the supplies were handed over had now settled into a suspicion he could no longer dismiss. On top of that, the fact that he’d given him items with no reason and no conditions attached — and come down to the training room himself in the middle of the night — was equally suspicious.
Krreeeee—!
Then, from somewhere deep in the thick purple mist, a sound that seemed to tear the air apart shrieked through the valley. Before the last of the blue barrier stones could even be set in place, the monsters of Black Thorn Valley that had been lying in ambush made their appearance. Dump-truck-sized spiders, mutated black from absorbing lethal venom, came pouring down the valley walls like a waterfall.
“Mutant spider swarm incoming at the front!”
The scout’s urgent cry had barely finished when the main tanker at the vanguard, Kwon Dohun, slammed his massive shield into the ground.
“Don’t let a single one through until the barrier is up!”
The instant Kwon Dohun’s taunt skill pulled the spider swarm’s aggro, Cha Taekyung’s greatsword cleaved through the air. The S-rank magic swordsman’s sword aura ripped through the poison mist and sheared through the spiders’ thick carapaces, and right behind it, Seo Jiyun’s fire magic incinerated the swarm’s retreat route — beginning an overwhelming slaughter.
But the sheer volume of S-rank monsters was beyond imagination. Several mutant spiders that had broken through the flanks reared their forelegs toward the Hunters at the rear.
“Ugh — hold them back!”
While the other Hunters scrambled to raise their shields and unleash their skills in a desperate effort to deflect the spiders’ attacks —
Schhhk!
A bone-chilling slash tore through the darkness, and a jet-black arc carved through the mist.
The spider that had been lunging for the Hunters never even managed a scream. Split cleanly from head to abdomen in a single stroke, it crumpled to the ground.
One leap. One clean, unadorned strike. Kang Mujin held his ground, cutting down the spiders that pressed through the perimeter one after another. The result of a crushing combat instinct forged from experience in a past lifetime, combined with the overwhelming power of the weapon Eunseong had placed in his hands.
Kang Mujin’s performance was impossible to miss.
And from the safety of the rear, watching him, Eunseong stood with his hands clasped behind his back — screaming internally with everything he had.
