Chapter 383. Sumr Farming (3)
"Oh my God. Lord..."
True to his experience as a veteran hunter, he had a personal instinct about where the error had occurred. But right now, the unmoving wall wasn't the only problem.
"Does anyone here happen to have an item called [Collapse Particle]?"
Jung Haseong and Esther even drew their tip-tier weapons, but failed to destroy the structure before them. anwhile, in this room, the next wave of enemies had already appeared long ago.
"Right. As expected, since it's classified as illegal and the gate to obtain it has long been discontinued, this isn't sothing that cos easily."
"If it were Kang Changho, he would have had it."
"Better not to ntion humans who are better left unheard of."
There's a monster right in front of —and yet, my feet are stuck so helplessly.
"Director, it really won't move?"
"What the... is this?"
"No, hey, everyone. But this isn't the ti to worry about that. There's a monster behind us right now..."
It was around the ti they were montarily stunned, staring at the unmoving rotating wall. Apparently, making loud noises in front of a hostile monster wasn't exactly a good idea.
Boom, boom, boom.
The massive communal creature beca increasingly violent in response the more the conquerors showed fear.
"Oh my."
Finally, the enemy drew near. The hunters had to deal with the S-rank beast imdiately, even more urgently than with the closed door.
"That's the monster that drove the Indian hunters back in an instant...!"
Jung Haseong recognized the approaching monster faster than anyone and imdiately moved to respond.
Boom!
He forcefully launched a sphere of flas. The deafening roar, loud enough to burst the eardrums of a weak ordinary person, made the enemy flinch and stagger backward.
I don't know if they can even understand what heat is, looking like that!
It didn't seem to feel any pain, but that was fine—enough distance had been created. Jung Haseong drove the monster back with full force until a safe space was secured, then imdiately followed up. Using his frequently employed technique out of habit, the 'Fla Barrier,' he kept the enemy from approaching.
"Haseong-ssi!"
And at that mont, perhaps having finally given up on the wall, Seo Esther's group also joined the fight. Even after being pushed back by all kinds of flas, it was obvious that the sturdy monster would imdiately advance again.
"Ha... for now, let's at least start by taking out the minions among those newly appeared trash ones."
"Yes."
"Even if we manage to keep the monsters restrained, what on earth are we supposed to do about this impossible door?"
The door wouldn't budge even with two S-ranks pulling together. On top of that, they didn't have any discontinued items, like [Collapse Particle], that could resolve such a special situation. So how were they supposed to overco this problem?
"This is perplexing."
Haseong paused for a mont, pondering the question.
At this point, they could focus on taking down the second boss monster in front of them... If that happened to be the final ruler of this gate, clearing the dungeon would sohow open a way forward.
"Whether an exit appears or the dungeon collapses with an automatic escape chanism, clearing the gate ans the conquerors' survival."
The problem was that this ideal solution was nearly impossible. Setting aside whether they could defeat the monster, they had originally been told that a new path would appear behind after a brief change, so the likelihood of this beast being the final obstacle was quite low.
"Ah!"
Then, at that mont, soone's sudden shout echoed. Haseong had just been lost in thought, and in that brief instant, the situation ahead intensified.
Swoosh...
A one-ard creature trudged forward through the rolling flas. The small white flying units that had always played a supporting role were now nowhere to be seen—perhaps completely burned by the fire.
But by the ti most of the black, acrid smoke had cleared, a very classic scene ca into the hunters' view.
"Defense is..."
The boss creature walked out completely unscathed, without so much as a trace of soot. Seeing it, the conquest team shouted aloud.
"This is really no joke."
"Are you kidding ? It's still like that even after taking Jung Haseong's skill?"
A headache was forming. Yet, in the midst of the current crisis, there was little point in feeling guilty.
"A dungeon with a broken door... this isn't so poorly assembled container—what kind of lightning strike is this, any way?"
When hunting, it was only natural that a grip might break. As a hunter, he was just exerting his strength, but he never imagined that, by sheer bad luck, the passage would get blocked like this.
Pang!
Jung Haseong pushed back the monster attempting to approach once more. For now, the destructive power of his skill was still effective, but as his mana decreased, maintaining the effort would beco difficult, and soon cold sweat began to form on his forehead.
"Was I being too arrogant...? I just got a little carried away, thinking that maybe we could handle this even without Hunter Kim Giryeo."
This was starting to feel like it was going to be a long and grueling ordeal.
***
And the ominous premonition proved to be entirely accurate.
"Fall back, further back!"
"Pull at the sa ti! All together!"
"Huh? I think it's actually starting to move now!"
It was, in fact, several hours later. Over the past few hundred minutes, the dostic S-rank hunters had endured an exhausting battle. The continuous influx of normal-ranked enemies felt almost unnatural. On top of that, the second boss-class monster that appeared had an unprecedentedly sturdy surface. No matter how many explosive skills they landed, it felt as if no damage was accumulating.
"Is this even a monster ant to be conquered like this?"
For a mont, it seed almost reasonable to think that way—the monster that had brought the hunters in India to the brink of death displayed imnse power.
But around this ti...
"It worked! It's moving! The inner door is turning!"
Fortunately, the leader of the Korean Magic Tower Guild made a tily contribution.
Setting a scheduled ti to have the guild's second team enter imdiately was, without a doubt, an excellent move.
I was only thinking about dealing with the monster... and yet, you went ahead and set up all the contingencies in advance.
Above all, Esther quickly identified the weaknesses of certain monsters.
Grrrrr.
The monster, which had been roaring and boiling with fury, was now completely immobilized.
To add, on the other side of the double wall where they were trapped, A-rank awakened individuals hastily gathered by the Korean Magic Tower were assembled. As everyone pressed their strength against the narrow gap of the door, Jung Haseong, sweating profusely, seized the mont to offer praise.
"I've thought this before, but now that I see it again, it seems that Director Seo is especially skilled in this ability."
"What is it?"
"You're incredibly quick to grasp strategies, aren't you?"
For reference, the inside of this dungeon was always shrouded in a faint mist. As a result, distant objects were hard to see, and even the enemies seed to perceive humans primarily through their organs rather than their eyes.
Magic power. In this gate, it was the elent that stood out above all else.
"Hmm."
So, just in case, they tried adjusting their mana to deceive the enemy.
"Let's just say it's thanks to the early training I've been repeating since childhood."
"Early training?"
"I like that ga. Even aside from PIXY's influence, the dungeon has a lot of similarities to it. Except for the part where you can't buy coins with money to start fresh from the beginning."
Esther rolled her eyes toward the air and gave a half-hearted answer.
Her attempt worked quite well. The monsters in this gate struggled to accurately perceive humans when their mana dropped below a certain threshold. But after a grueling 1 hour and 30 minutes of accumulating these tiny incrents, the walls were soon able to slip out of the enemies' detection range.
"So that's why the monsters in this gate fly around wildly when they get outside..."
Moreover, a hunter's magic could easily deplete even without using consumable items. The hunters who had entered the dungeon rapidly fired their skills, consuming mana. After keeping a suitable distance from the monsters, they huddled together in one spot and began another tentative attempt.
"Everyone, don't make any loud noises. From now on, when I count to three with my fingers, push the wall to the right."
"Yes, Guild Master."
It ant that they joined forces with the rescue team from outside to push against the wall gap once more.
"On!"
By the way, he was worried about what would happen if the situation didn't improve even with this reinforcent.
Kikikikk.
"It's done."
The door moved. At the start of the effort, the difference was so small that it was hard to tell if the wall was even turning. After hanging on for 20 minutes, the progress was still minimal, with only about a nail's width of extra space gained in a slow, painstaking struggle. But after a grueling 1 hour and 30 minutes of accumulating these tiny incrents, they finally created enough space for a person to pass through. They had successfully rotated the dungeon's double wall physically.
"Everyone can get through. The bigger ones will have to squeeze their bodies a bit, though."
At that mont, for a brief second, the image of a certain hybrid awakened individual flashed through his mind...
"Hmm."
For reference, the mbers of the Korean Magic Tower who had entered to find Esther had, under the guild leader's orders, gathered specific awakened individuals. From right to left: A-rank, A-rank, A-rank, and A-rank. And the awakened attributed each of them, from the first to the last, was the sa: [Physical Enhancent].
Jung Haseong glanced over those who had co to assist him and fell into thought.
"No matter how much of an S-rank hunter soone is, they can't generate more raw strength than those naturally gifted awakened individuals... As expected, their peak in bare-handed strength is just a bit higher than mine."
But there was no ti to regret it.
"I'll be the last to leave. Everyone else, be careful as you exit since your magic power is low."
They couldn't afford to waste ti in such a dangerous situation. Finally opening a path to the outside, they didn't hesitate and slipped through the gap in the door they had forced open.
"Just in case, let's drink our mana potions after we've moved a bit away from the room."
"Yes."
"Yes!"
While the wall was being rotated, the monsters in the hallway had slightly increased in number again, but with South Korea's elite hunters assembled there, it wasn't a significant problem.
"The exit... no, the entrance we ca through."
When their feet were first trapped, each minute felt like a year with tension—but finally, hope appeared.
"Luckily, the monsters living here were truly as simple and dumb as beasts."
As they fled, the second-phase boss seed about to pursue, flinching for a mont, but then imdiately stopped, unable to leave the room due to the system's constraints.
"Well, among dungeon monsters, there hardly seem to be any that are truly cunning like humans..."
In other words, this is just a failed attempt at strategy—but not every human effort is ant to end in success, right?
Jung Haseong, feeling that he had gathered enough information for now, pressed forward. As they continued moving, all the hunters were able to escape by crossing the familiar blue corridor.
Woong, woong, woong.
Leaving that distinctive sound behind, they finally returned to the familiar sights of the modern world.
"Is everyone all right?"
"Ah, so soone from the association ca as well."
"We were shocked when we got the report from the Korean Magic Tower Guild. Not just one, but two S-rank hunters trapped because of a closing wall! Goodness, what on earth happened in there!"
Just how many hours had slipped by in the anti? Jung Haseong glanced at his wristwatch, then swept his gaze once more over the crowd gathered around him as he pondered.
"By now, the raid on the Indian gate might already be over."
Back when the white, bee-like creatures were going down so easily, he'd even let himself hope that they might wrap things up before the fourth S-rank returned.
"The second boss of this dungeon is just too heavily armored."
Having experienced it firsthand, Jung Haseong realized that no matter how much he thought about it, this dungeon would likely require Hunter Kim Giryeo's help. The thought left him montarily dejected.
But on the other hand, it could also be seen in a positive light. After all, for soone so seemingly cold-hearted, it was puzzling how he managed to uphold public decency so impeccably.
"Hunter Kim will definitely help us."
In any case, Kim Giryeo wouldn't ignore an S-rank gate like this. Deep down, Jung Haseong felt certain of it.
"But this is really just a passing thought—surely his business trip to India wasn't sothing that had been orchestrated from the start, was it?"
Did Kim Giryeo go abroad, partly as a preliminary investigation, knowing that a gate like this would appear in Korea? For a mont, such baseless suspicions did cross his mind.
"Everyone, you really worked hard. None of us expected such chaos to break out."
"Guild Master, do you know how frantic we were, thinking sothing terrible was about to happen?"
"Yes. I'm grateful our secretary was worried about us, too. In the anti, it's already dinner ti, so let's all take this mont to regroup."
"Yes!"
"Yes."
During their movent, they had taken down a large number of enemies. In other words, logically, there was little risk of a dungeon break for the ti being, so the awakened hunters soon began to rest.
"It might be about ti to get back in touch with Hunter Kim Giryeo. Things were so misaligned earlier that he might not even know an S-rank has appeared in the country yet."
In any case, I thought we were done for today. Feels like I've aged ten years in a single day.
By the way, it takes an average of eight hours to fly from here to New Delhi. When will I finally get to see the blonde-haired Awakener?
.
.
.
A few more minutes passed.
"Hunter Jung Haseong, you were really impressive earlier!"
"I've always thought only our guild leader was impressive... but as expected of soone who keeps the number one spot, your skills are on a completely different level. It was an honor eting you today."
"Excuse , but what's the secret to your strong ntal fortitude? Both Guild Master Esther and you, Jung Haseong... I can't understand how you manage to stay so composed in a dungeon when such chaos is unfolding."
"Are you really trembling in fear over sothing like this? You've gone through sothing like the [Labyrinth of the 13th Month], everything else in the world will start to feel trivial."
"This conversation, which almost prompted that very answer, took place at a small mudfish soup restaurant in a quiet town.
Just monts ago, the hunters were still worrying about food, but thanks to their successful escape before hunger set in further, they were finally able to have a proper al.
"Luckily, there was a restaurant close to the gate."
Slurp.
It's winter now, and outside the sun has set, making the temperature quite low. So Jung Haseong filled his stomach with hot soup.
"But what about you, Hunter Esther? Are you really not going to eat?"
"She said she's not in the mood for rice today and will just eat so jerky from the field."
"In the mood for... rice?"
But right as they were chatting...
Boom...
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