CHAPTER 12

"Over here!"

It was a rather hairy man with a large body.  He greeted me with a fake smile that could even be seen as fake. 

"Sung Jinwoo-ssi?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, glad you made it.  Shall we introduce ourselves?"

The man briefly introduced his teammates.  Eight of the Hunters, including himself, were a group that had been working together for a long time.  The ninth Hunter, like me, came after seeing the job post to fill the headcount.

As I greeted them, I looked over their faces.  Due to his raised sense stat, I was able to discern the relative strength between the gathered Hunters.

And they were pathetically weak; they were hardly touching the boundaries of C- - and D- -. 

'Five of them are about the same level.  Four of them are below. So it's five C- - -ranks and four D- - -ranks?'

Raiding a C-rank Gate had rules.  It required a minimum of 10 people, and half of the party had to be at least C-rank.  Only then, the Association would give raiding permission. It seemed like their need for me, just to fill the headcount was true.

"Now that we've all been introduced, I'll explain a few things."

Hwang Dongseok, a C-rank Hunter, had a relaxed face born from experience.  As he began to explain the various rules and warnings in this Raid, someone approached me.

"So- looks like we're both tagalongs."

The young man with a bright face was the other Hunter recruited by Hwang Dongseok to fill the headcount.  However, unlike me, he was not a noncombatant; he was a D- - -ranker who would be participating in battle.

His name was Yoo Jinho, 22 years old.  The man I am looking for. So with my most friendly smile, I greeted him, then we had a small talk. I stopped myself from getting too friendly after all I had to show him he needs I don't him to that I need him.  

After that, I turned back to Hwang Dongseok.  Yoo Jinho, who had hoped for a conversation, scratched his head and returned to his spot.

"Hyungnim, let's just go in already."

"It's just going to be us fighting anyways, so why explain all that?"

"Yeah, I suppose it's all falling on deaf ears."

As his team members complained, Hwang Dongseok laughed and clapped his hands.

"Alright then, I'll stop the explanations here.  Let's head on in."

Everyone began the last-minute preparation before heading to the Gate.

"Ah, before that, if you two could just sign this real quick."

Hwang Dongseok handed me and Yoo Jinho a piece of paper.  It was a simple contract.

"You just have to write your name at the end and sign."

My contract stated that I would not be involved in combat or be given part of the loot.  Instead, I would receive 2 million won at the end of the Raid. It was the same as the conversation I had over the phone.  However, a line at the end caught my eye,

'No matter what accident befalls in the Dungeon, they would not take any responsibility…'

Compared to an official Raid under the Association, a private Raid had no compensation if something happened.  Hunters could not even obtain insurance; their lives involved too much danger.

Reading the line, it officially hit me that he had entered a raiding party.

Before signing, I asked Hwang Dongseok,

"So what do you need me to do?"

"Not much, just follow us around and carry the baggage."

"Baggage…?"

Hwang Dongseok gestured to a large backpack his teammates were unloading from a Bongo.  

"Inside it are food, clothes, equipment, first aid kit, etc…"

'They're all scrubs.' and I didn't care, it's not like they would be living that long. 

"Here you go."

"Mine as well!"

Hwang Dongseok checked the two men's signatures and then proclaimed loudly,

"Then, let's go!"

The party headed towards the place the Gate had appeared.  It was an abandoned construction site for an apartment complex.  The construction had been halted partway.

"Tsk. I suppose the economy's not doing that well..."

Hwang Dongseok clicked his tongue.  The traces of the unfinished building stood like a gravestone.  It would be a fitting memorial to a giant.

"Did you know?"

Yoo Jinho walked up to my side and spoke in a lowered voice,

"I heard the investors and the employees who worked here lost everything and are struggling to live these days.  But the president of the company ran away from the country with 900 billion won two months ago."

"..."

Although he gave me repeated indications that he did not want to talk, he did not appear to want to leave my side. Is it some kind of intuition fate or just sense is better at picking up the danger? 

"Hyung, are you usually a man of few words?"

Before I realized it, Jinho was calling me Hyung.  Even ignoring him was becoming tiring.

"...You're really bad at taking a hint."

"I grew up without having to, haha"

I wasn't sure if the boy was just optimistic or stupid or if he was just acting according to his intuitions.  

"Over here,"

Hwang Dongseok stopped the party.

Oooh-

The Hunters gasped in awe.

"Hwang hyung, are you sure this is a C-rank Gate? It's a little big."

"Psh, do you think the Association would lie? I heard their surveillance team already checked it out twice."

A black hole-like entrance that hung in the air, was the Gate.  

Waves of magic power would seep from the Gate, and the amount of magic power in those waves would determine the rank of the Gate.  Once discovered, the Association would send special teams that would measure the magic power with a device. The resulting information would be made public, and individuals or Guilds would request raiding rights from the Association.  

Most of the B-rank and A-rank Gates would be picked up by large Guilds.  Those were too dangerous for an individual to lead a private party into. Instead, private parties would request and reserve C-rank or lower Gates.

Hwang Dongseok stopped before the Gate and turned to his party.

"I'll go in first, please follow after."

The Tanker took the vanguard, then one by one, the rest of the party followed.

I slightly stretched my body.  Next to him, Yoo Jinho was taking out various pieces of equipment from his bag.  The sword and shield he wielded sparked with radiance. Even at a glance, they were high-quality equipment.  It was not something a beginner Hunter would be wielding.

"Hyung, you said you were E-rank, right? I'll make sure to protect you. Please stand close to me."

I scratched the back of his head.  It was harder for me to control myself from laughing. Who was going to protect who?...

"...Sure, thank you for that," I said in a scram tone

"Let's go in as well."

Two of us safely entered the Gate.

The inside of the Dungeon was quiet.

"..."

It was silent and dark.

Hwang Dongseok gave his first command.

"Gyuhwan, make a light."

"Yessir."

The Mage-class Hunter Jo Gyuhwan created a floating light.  Their surroundings became lit. Hwang Dongseok lowered his shield and tilted his head.

"What? Where are the magic beasts?"

"I wonder. There's no light, either."

Normally in Dungeons, glowing rocks would be placed here and there throughout the cave to light the way.  But this Dungeon did not appear to have any.

Yoo Jinho whispered to me,

"Hyung, are there any Dungeons with no magic beasts?"

"Shh."

I put a finger to his lips, and his ears perked.  From a distance, I heard numerous footsteps approaching.

I spoke,

"It's not that there aren't any. They just haven't come yet."

Yoo Jinho gulped.

skitter-

The party soon heard the noise that I heard.  Hwang Dongseok felt something was off.

'A Dungeon with no glowing rocks…?'

"What lives and moves in the dark and is attracted to the light?"

Right!

Hwang Dongseok and his teammates' expressions darkened as one.

"Bugs!"

"It's bugs!"

"Fuck, why of all the things, bugs?!"

Hwang Dongseok shouted at the party,

"Everyone, to your positions! They're coming! Faces forward!"

Somewhere ahead of the tunnel, numerous "bugs" were heading this way.

"This isn't an ant's nest, is it?"

"Don't say something like that."

Of the many types of magic beasts, insect types were particularly troublesome.  They were hard to kill; they moved in groups; on top of that, even a single one of them had a good amount of power.  And of the insect types, the worst were the ants. Many Hunters mistakenly entered the nest of ant magic beasts and met tragic ends. And their numbers itself is a problem for a physical attacker. 

skitter skitter skitter-

The sound of bugs moving across the floor became louder and louder.  They were nearing the party. Hwang Dongseok raised his shield below his chin.  But the insects did not appear. His juniors muttered from behind him.

"What? Where are they?"

"I can still hear them."

"Dongseok hyung, do you see anything?"

I interrupted them as I knew these morons will die if this continues,

"Above!"

'What?'

Hwang Dongseok reflexively looked up.

skitter skitter-

Giant bugs were coming at them across the ceiling.  If the warning had been a little late, the bugs would be falling on their heads now.  Against the magic beasts that clumped up on the ground like insects, losing your balance spelled a death sentence.  

'If we had discovered them just a little later…'

Hwang Dongseok's insides squirmed.  Thankfully, he did not see any ants among the attacking bugs.  He gathered strength in his throat,

"Shoot! Shoot them down! I'll grab the aggro when they fall!"

Arrows and magic flew across the air toward the bugs. Seeing them all busy and not looking at me I activate sprint and instantly cast a fireball synchronizing with the magician's fire attack. 

woosh- thwack!

bang! Boom! As fire erupted on the collision killing hundreds of them. 

screeeeech!

scree-

 Buggs scream in pain while their flesh burns alive from the flares.

I was disappointed that I didn't hear the ding you have leveled up but it was understanding after all I am pretty high level but I am sure that I was very near to leveling up maybe it was more than 80% to 90% Exp for the next level. 

I just need ten to twenty percent of exp to level up again.  

After this is the C Rank dungeon and I have killed more than a hundred of them. 

And that's the reason I like a magician class where you can easily get rid of small fires with just a simple AOE spell. 

"Wow, Gyuhwan, the power of your magic has grown up quite a lot." Said other guys on the team. As they started to praise him as they didn't know it was my attack as I synchronized with the magician's attack.

"No guys it's nothing," said Gyuhwan he looked pretty confused but very fondly accepted the praises. 

A few of the bugs fell due to the Hunters' attacks, the remaining ones jumped to the ground of their own volition. Their intent was to fight the Hunters. Now would begin the Tanker's role in the fight.

Hwang Dongseok used a taunting skill and grabbed the attention of the magic beasts.  As if ensnared by some promise, all of them turned their gazes toward Hwang Dongseok.

"Over here, you insects!"

screeeech!

Dozens of magic beasts charged toward Hwang Dongseok.

crash!

clang! clang!

His shield blocked every one of their attacks.  Even with their strong claws and mandibles, the bugs were not able to get through the shield. The Tanker Hwang Dongseok skillfully held off the bugs.

"Hold.  Hold. Hold!"

He was waiting for the right time.

Even as the bugs continuously bit and tore away at his defense, Hwang Dongseok calmly waited for the moment of opportunity.  He wanted to make sure the aggro was focused on him even when the Dealers began their counterattack.

'This should be good enough!'

Now would begin the real hunt.  The bugs would learn why Hunters are called Hunters!

Hwang Dongseok roared with strength,

"Deal!"

In response to the single word, the entire team's firepower rained upon the bugs.

screech-!

screeeeeech-!

The cry of the magic beasts rang forth here and there.  As part of the Raid agreement, I was done with my part, lest they die so soon.  I watched the party's battle from the rear.  As I analyzed the battle. 

'How frustrating…'

I thought as I looked at them it felt like they were playing some kind of shitty RPG game on easiest settings and I am a pro of Dark Souls.

I suppressed the urge to step forward.  There were too many openings in the magic beasts; unfortunately, many of the Hunters seemed to miss those openings completely. And they were so slow. Yet, I was forced to stand in the back, doing nothing. It was frustrating.

Nonetheless, the damage dealt and the exp I got was as I am sure without my fireball. These guys would take forever to deal with bugs and even then they would surely have few deaths on their hands. 

Hwang Dongseok's team was minimal.  Their teamwork was that good. But only as good as a D-rank good team. And to me, it looked like they were very bottom of the D and C ranks.  

And in a dungeon, they appeared to have a very carefree attitude as if they were some kind of big shot. Maintained before the Raid was not for nothing.

"Jinseok, 11 o'clock!"

"Hyung, from the right, too!"

"Joontae, Sukmin, Gyuhwan! Take the right!"

"Yessir!"

"Cheoljin, your wrist is swelling.  Get to the rear!"

"Hwang hyung, I can handle this much!"

"You think we'll be done after this? We don't know how many more battles are waiting here, don't go all out from the start! Control your pace!"

"Alright, alright, I got it!"

Having been through many battles together, even their conversations showed experience.  Proper communication in battle was the key to teamwork. Compared to the chaotic formations of the Association's Hunters, these men were different.

But still, it looked like they were playing a children's game with so many openings in their standing and defense.

'Even he's doing just fine.'

I looked over to Yoo Jinho.  As a magic beast crashed into his shield, Jinho kicked away the bug and swung his sword. The expensive blade cut straight through its head. Even as a mere D-rank Hunter, Jinho was putting up a good fight.

'I guess the equipment's covering for his lack of power and experience. Still being rich in the hunter's world won't get you much further, especially in later stages where everyone is rich.'

There was a reason why Hunters sought good equipment.

Meeting his eyes, Yoo Jinho made a thumbs-up at me.

"…"

Relenting under Jinho's bright and hopeful gaze, I returned a thumbs-up back at the young man.  Yoo Jinho looked satisfied.

screeee-

Regardless, the battle was nearing its end.  As the rest of the party cleaned up the remaining magic beasts, Hwang Dongseok ordered his subordinates,

"Grab all the magic cores! We'll be dividing it up exactly 9 ways. Even though most of them burned to a crisp so do their cores we still have few"

"Yessir."

"This is my favorite part."

"Me too."

Watching his teammates work happily, Hwang Dongseok approached me.

So I am planning on crossing over before ending the Solo leveling story around the Demon Castle Arc. And the crossover will be with the Fate universe.

What do you think?

It could be with either

Fate Stay Night.

Fate Zero

Fate

Fate Grand Order

Fate/Apocrypha

I could make him as one of the Beasts of Calamity.

What do you think about it.

Fun Fact.

"Poison-fanged Giant Sand Centipede": The name translation is almost word for word literal.

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