Chapter 11: Preparing the Way (5)

The person who he least expected to see was staring back at him with a straight face and brought Raydel away from the Plague Doctor and the skeleton.

Sheryl used that moment to grab Minnie and pull her back. Han let go of Raydel who got to his feet safely with a 'thud' sound. He stared at Raydel before asking a question.

"Ray, did you block me?"

"..."

What?

"I called you so many times, but you didn't pick up any of them."

Why are you asking me this right now?! Raydel shouted in his head. His eyes frantically moved to the boss who stood guarding the skeleton. It looked at the surrounding hunters as if to test their abilities, reminding Raydel of his current condition.

"Don't touch me. I'm infected," he whispered, stepping back from Han. He was a bit relieved that Han grabbed the back of his collar because the area had the few number of bloodstains. Therefore, Han had not been infected like he was.

The other saw his expression and realized it.

"You really blocked me."

And what about it?!

"Can we talk about this later?!" Raydel interrupted. "Do you see the countdown? We have only five minutes left." He pointed his thumb at his body that was covered in blood. At first, he was about to briefly explain the situation to Han, but when he saw that Han was looking for something in the air, he remembered something.

This guy had 'that power'.

'That power' that made him the most powerful hunter in the novel.

Then, there's no need for me to explain the situation to him. Raydel thought while patting his arms that hurt as if they were broken. He looked at Shane and Sheryl who was stunned by the fact that someone came to help them. Above their heads, the time was still counting down.

[4:46 minutes]

The Plague Doctor raised its cane up and bent forward, getting ready for the fight. At the same time, the skeleton behind it pulled Raydel's dagger out and broke it into pieces with one clench!

Crack.

The broken pieces of dagger fell to the ground.

Then, the skeleton stepped out of the spot it had been standing in for so long.

"It's also level ninety," Shane, who had just examined the monster with his phone, said. "They both are the bosses of the dungeon."

"Only four minutes and a half left," Sheryl shouted. "You! The one that just arrived! You have to help us kill the skeleton before the time is up!"

Normally, other people would ask why they needed to kill the skeleton within the time limit. But Raydel noticed that Han's eyes were still staring at the emptiness in the air. His expression did not change at all, but he snapped his eyes toward Raydel. They were a little wider than usual. Raydel tried not to show any reactions. Han must have known by now that Raydel was infected with a disease that would make his body explode when the time was up.

Dungeon always had these kinds of wicked conditions and traps. Han should have been used to it by now, but Raydel felt weird because of the way that Han seemed to be shocked when he realized that Raydel was dying…

"High-ranking hunters have arrived!?"

The others turned to look at Han. Relief washed over their faces. Someone checked Han's rank and was left with his jaw dropped as he collapsed onto the ground hopelessly.

"He has no rank!?"

Raydel forgot that in the beginning of the novel, Han still had not taken the ranking test for hunters yet, so he would not have a rank for now.

"How can a hunter with no rank get to the boss room?!"

"What about other high-ranking hunters?! Have they arrived yet!?"

"Am I really going to die here…"

Hopelessness spread out faster than forest fire. But then, someone yelled out.

"Look! The door is opening!"

The door that had been sealed off since the Plague Doctor appeared started to move. The hunter ran toward the door, trying to find a way out. But when the door was finally open, they were stunned by the hissing sounds of something behind the door.

"The giant rats!?"

About ten monsters gathered in the darkness. When they saw humans, they began to run into the boss room. One of them jumped at the nearest hunter, instantly igniting the fireworks of chaos.

The hunters screamed and ran around in all directions. They started to fight against the giant rats.

Sheryl shouted an order.

"Shane! And you, the girl! Go help the others kill the monsters!"

Then, she turned to Han.

"And you! Help me kill the skeleton!"

Even in a crisis, Sheryl still had the best focus here.

"Raydel and I will fight with the Doctor. You aren't infected yet, so kill the skeleton now," Sheryl said before realizing that Raydel had no weapon. She stopped midway and searched herself for a spare ordinary artifact.

But Han threw him a dagger first.

"It's yours."

Raydel blinked before looking at the familiar dagger in his hands, confused.

This was from the hospital dungeon… Han had kept it for him.

There was no time to be baffled. The Plague Doctor charged at Sheryl who almost couldn't dodge it in time. The knife of the boss cut into her sleeves, leaving a wound. Then, instead of chasing after Sheryl to kill her, it retreated to stand in front of the skeleton and raised its cane to parry the blow from Han.

Clunk!

The shield appeared around the Doctor in an instant, blocking Han's sword from penetrating through its armors to its body. In that instant, Raydel noticed something. At first, Hans seemed surprised to see the shield, but then, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He whispered, "Oh…"

Han continuously slashed at the shield.

The sounds of the sword smashing into the shield was competing with the cracking sounds of the shield that began to have cracks in it. Each powerful strike let Raydel know that no ordinary hunters could have this much strength. Han's smile somehow gave Raydel a goosebump. According to Han's personality in the novel, even though he always kept to himself, he always expressed his feelings when he cleared dungeons solo. This man loved when he found an enemy who was at the same level as him or stronger because his goal was to become the No.1 hunter in the world.

However, Han's power now was not enough to kill the Doctor with one single blow. So, no matter how many times he attacked, the boss still stood protecting the skeleton.

And the time remaining grew less and less.

[4 minutes]

"We have to get the boss away from it!" Raydel said. Sheryl gritted her teeth as she watched the fight.

"Can you rub more blood on yourself?!" Sheryl asked while smearing the blood from the ground on herself. But the Doctor did not even look at them and still focused on Han only.

Raydel pursed his lips. It could be that the Plague Doctor did not give them any attention because Han, who was not infected, was closest to the skeleton. So, the boss' priority right now was to protect the skeleton, not to kill the infected.

He waved at Han and shouted, "Han, get away first. Don't get close to the skeleton just yet!" Han heard him and followed his order.

Even after Han stepped back, the Plague Doctor still stood between them and the hunters and would not chase after the infected.

Don't tell me that it'll only protect the guardian from now on? Raydel thought. He glanced at the countdown and cursed under his breath.

[3:50 minutes]

"ARGHH!"

The scream yanked Raydel back to reality. The hunters that were fighting with the giant rats started to get overwhelmed. One of them was mauled by the giant rats, leading to disgusting and horrific noises. The others screamed and ran away, almost giving a chance to some of the monsters to attack Raydel and the hunters that were fighting with the bosses. Shane came into the scene and blocked them. Minnie who was standing next to him could not do much apart from swinging the sword in her hands left and right. She was still crying with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Shane asked the girl who sniffed and shook her head in fear.

A giant rat charged at them, but the situation with the Plague Doctor was so critical Raydel had to shift his focus back to the monster.

"We don't have time now. Let's fight it head-on." Sheryl decided.

She held her dagger firmly and dashed toward the Doctor in the blink of an eye. The monster swung its cane at her flank, but Raydel was waiting for it. Even though his dagger was just an ordinary artifact, it still could block the boss' attack for a moment. He cut along the length of the cane with his dagger. The sharp tip of the dagger stabbed into the cracking shield!

The Doctor suddenly bent down to avoid their attacks before turning around to parry Han's blow that almost destroyed the skeleton. It moved at a speed faster than lightning.

Raydel had not given up yet. He thrusted this dagger until its tip touched the shield and fixed it in place like a hook. Then, he used all he had to drag the boss away from the skeleton.

But the Plague Doctor was too heavy!

It was as if its body was entirely made of stones. Raydel felt like he was dragging a huge statue. He gritted his teeth. His hands were hurting from it. All he wanted was to pull the boss away for even an inch to give Han a chance to kill the skeleton. Then everything would be over.

"...!"

Raydel was startled by the shluck sound. Sheryl lunged her dagger into the Doctor's shield and helped him pull it away from the skeleton.

But even when two hunters worked together to drag it, the Doctor did not move at all. The difference in ranks meant an enormous gap in strength and power. At that moment, Raydel knew that they would not succeed even if every hunter in the room tried to drag the boss. No one came close to its power except…

Raydel cursed.

The Plague Doctor threw him and Sheryl away.

Their bodies rolled across the room on the ground. When they finally got to their feet again, they both cursed out loud because one of the giant rats broke through the other hunters and charged at them. Both Raydel and Sheryl no longer had a weapon because their daggers were still stuck in the Doctor's shield, so they had to stand with their backs against each other, trying to push the rat away with their feet.

[3 minutes]

"...!"

The giant rat bit Raydel's pants, startling him. A sword suddenly cut the rat into two pieces before he had the chance to kick it away.

It was Han who ran back to help him. He tried to dodge the exploding cooties on the rat but failed, and drops of blood were sprinkled over Han's cheeks. Raydel felt his heart drop to his feet.

In the blink of an eye, the Plague Doctor felt the presence of a new infected patient. It charged right at Han.

Even Raydel was shocked by the sudden movement of the boss. But he regained his composure first, so he shouted at Han, "hold it there!"

Raydel should have explained his plan more, but as soon as his eyes met Han's, it was like he remembered the time when he used to clear dungeons with Han together. That might be the reason why Han instantly understood his plan. Or maybe… it was just the right time, so Han threw Raydel his weapon.

Han grabbed the two daggers stuck on the shield of the Plague Doctor, pulled Raydel's out, and forced the boss to stay in place, shocking it with his power.

Raydel never thought Han would ever throw him his sword like this.

He reached for the sword entirely made of steel. As soon as his hands wrapped around the hilt, he almost collapsed because of its weight. Still, he withstood it and ran dragging the sword toward the skeleton which now had no one to protect it. It looked up and bent forward as if to leap the other way.

It was Sheryl who ran in and blocked its escape.

"...!"

Her face distorted as she collided into the skeleton. It climbed on top of her and grasped her fragile neck with its free hand, nailing her down while trying to find where it could run to. Sheryl hooked her legs around its legs, fixing it in place with her whole body as she struggled to breathe.

Raydel, who finally caught up to the skeleton, plunged his sword down at it. The sword was strong enough to penetrate through its skull, but Raydel's eyes widened when the sword crashed into the sturdy bones inside. The skeleton did not die instantly but squirmed and screamed.

The same ability as the miniboss.

The scream shook the boss room and increased the monsters and the Plague Doctor's power.

Shit! Raydel cried silently. He saw that both the giant rat and the Doctor were rushing toward him, so he planted his feet into the ground and poured all his strength into penetrating the skull of the skeleton with his sword. But the inside of it was stronger than a diamond and its scream hurt his ears to the point he almost fainted.

Sheryl coughed up blood, and Raydel could feel the bitter taste of blood in his throat. His head felt so heavy as if something was pressing on and squeezing it. In a few seconds, he would lose his consciousness and the time would run out. Then, he, Sheryl, and everyone would die…

But he had no more power left to push the sword deeper into the skull.

In his blurry vision, Raydel sighed and suddenly saw… tentacles wrapping themselves around his hands.

They grabbed his fingers and wrapped around his bandaged middle finger. Raydel could still feel other tentacles crawling over his body before slowly pressing itself on his neck and face, slithering around as if to see which organ it wanted the most.

Raydel closed his eyes and thought of one word.

At that exact same second, he heard something cracking!

The sword in his hands pierced through the skull and plunged into the ground!

The scream stopped instantly. Raydel opened his eyes and took a huge breath when he noticed… that the skeleton stopped moving. Its grip on Sheryl's throat loosened. Then, Raydel heard a 'thud' sound behind him.

The giant rats fell dead on the ground while the Plague Doctor stood still.

The countdown above everyone's head stopped at [2 minutes].

It changed into a new message.

[Successfully fulfilled the condition 'Stop the Boss' Movement'.]

[Successfully stopped the curse.]

Silence.

Then, all remaining hunters cheered at the top of their lungs.

"They're all dead, right?!"

"We survived!"

"My God, I can't believe it!"

Happiness filled everyone's face. Raydel stepped away from the skeleton before helping Sheryl to sit back up. Her necks had purple bruises all over. She coughed up more blood while heaving. Once Raydel was sure that she was alive, he felt a surge of relief so strong he collapsed next to her.

On the other side of the room, he saw that Shane and Minnie were still alive as well.

Sheryl coughed. Raydel patted her back softly as he heard Han walking toward him. He bent down and pulled the sword out of the skeleton. His eyes examined the dead monster before meeting Raydel's as if to say something.

Raydel did not say anything. "..."

It must have been about blocking his number for sure.

He hasn't said any excuses to the protagonist when a light appeared above everyone's head.

All of the hunters had their jaws dropped before pointing at it.

"The boss is about to drop an artifact?!"

"That light…"

"Legendary artifact!"

It was a given that when it was a legendary artifact, everyone paid all their attention to it right away.

It was one of the most precious items one could get from clearing a dungeon. Anyone wanted a legendary artifact to increase their power or sell it at an incredibly high price. Raydel reckoned that this was probably the reason why these middle-ranking hunters took the risk and entered this A-rank dungeon. If they were lucky enough to get a legendary artifact, it could be considered a 'life-changing' incident.

It was because legendary artifacts had another 'use' to them.

Raydel suddenly felt that something was off.

He stole a glance at the Plague Doctor that still stood frozen like a rock. Firstly, he reminded himself that this was a mutated dungeon. Secondly, he counted the number of the surviving hunters.

Twenty-five people…

How lucky it was that the number of the surviving hunters were more than half of what they started with. But Raydel did not think for a second that they were safe now because the number of deaths had not reached the number that the mysterious lady told him.

So, if he guessed it right…

"The coin's falling down!"

"Hey! Don't push me!"

"Let me see it!"

Raydel squinted his eyes to avoid the artifact's light. It formed a clear shape and shone a dazzling light while floating in the air. Then, they all heard the notifications from their phones.

Everyone looked at their phones. Raydel saw the message sent by the government.

[Congratulations! You successfully defeated the boss. We want to offer a special prize to all the surviving hunters.]

[We will give '100,000 del' to the one hunter that could bring the legendary artifact as the evidence of being the one who cleared the dungeon.]

Raydel completely forgot the 'other side' of this country.