Free Web NovelQuite a lot had changed in the new year, but some things hadn’t.
I was still working at SH Guild as an appraiser, still making contact with other hunters, and laying out plans for what came next.
Do Yehyun had gotten a lot quieter since the end of the year, but he still stuck to me every time I ran a dungeon.
‘Guess the good outweighs the shitty?’
But I was rich in empathy, so I knew well enough that saying it out loud would land badly.
Anyway, he just needs to do what he’s told.
C-rank Gate (Canyon of Hell)
Following the shape of the canyon, fire flows in place of water.
Dungeon Boss – Hellhound
Other dungeon-dwelling lifeforms info....... See more
“Would you like to view information on ‘Hellhound’?”
So of course he followed me again today when I said I was going in.
“Canyon of Hell” would be a four-person run: two SH hunters at C-rank, me, and Do Yehyun.
“Everyone got your gear?”
One of the SH hunters looked us over. We all checked the artifacts we’d use last and signed that we were good.
‘We’re here as support anyway, so I won’t need to step in.’
I entered the Gate, bored out of my mind.
The moment we crossed, I was hit by the bizarre sight of fire pouring along every winding cut of the canyon where water should be.
“No matter how often I come, I never get used to dungeons.”
One of the SH hunters muttered. Fair enough. We don’t go to the same place every day—it’s insane to expect “getting used to it” when it’s a different dungeon each time.
“Let’s go.”
At my words, the others started moving.
We walked a long stretch, watching our footing so we didn’t slip into anything. Honestly the heat was the real problem; just walking was draining. I kept snow falling, wrapping us in a weak layer of mana to cool us down.
“The snow can’t reach the ground. It dissipates first.”
As the SH hunter said, the flakes I sent up were fairly large, but they vanished before touching the floor. Only when I made them nearly hail-sized did I feel ice kissing skin.
“Hold.”
At Hunter Kim’s word, we all stopped cold. He used water, and among us he was the best at mana detection.
“There’s something there.”
Where he nodded, a pillar-like shape stood.
‘No, not a thing.’
Hell’s Nepenthes (D)
Dissolves all life with flowing magma.
A kind of plant. Not the safe exterior-world kind—more a plant-type monster.
“Should I pop it?”
The other hunter beside Kim asked. He was mid-thirties, stocky for his height, a body-reinforcement type.
While Kim hesitated, I cut in fast.
“Leave it.”
“...Why?”
“It’s better to find the boss. You don’t touch those things.”
Poke something like that and it becomes a headache. And with magma inside that “vessel,” if it bursts we’ll melt and become one with the canyon.
Kim considered, then nodded carefully.
“I think Hunter Seo’s right.”
“Then the dungeon boss is....”
The boss’s location was obvious now. All of us turned our eyes toward the massive canyon at the dungeon’s center.
“...Let’s go down.”
We all nodded at Kim’s lead.
Down below, the central canyon looked very different from above.
‘Couldn’t gauge the scale from up top, but up close it’s huge.’
Do Yehyun followed in silence. I’d learned while running with other hunters that he barely talked even with people he knew; in dungeons he was the picture of quiet.
‘He barely talks to Seowon at home too.’
And objectively chatty Joo Seowon also went quiet when it was just him and Do Yehyun.
After a long walk along the canyon, I reached out and stopped Do Yehyun with a hand.
“Careful. It’s right ahead.”
Kim nodded, slid a step back, and set his stance.
And then, in the distance, the dungeon boss finally showed itself.
Hellhound (C)
A dog that lives in hell.
Its whole body is covered in black fur and it breathes fire.
“Why is... a dog that big?”
Because it’s not a dog, it’s a monster. I glanced at the hunter stating the obvious and looked back at the boss. The hellhound was, without exaggeration, about the size of a midsize car. No wonder it looked so crisp from far away.
“Okay, I’ll open. Uihyeok oppa, put on your artifacts and follow when I trigger my skill. Yehyun, hold position in the back.”
“Got it.”
“Yes.”
“And Hunter Seo, wait in the rear and support with ice if it gets dangerous.”
“Okay.”
We agreed and prepped. I answered and let my eyes sweep the dungeon.
‘But is this... alright?’
Normally, water-using hunters match well with fire-attribute dungeons. That’s why Kim up front mostly runs flame types. He’s C-rank, but with {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} good combat sense, sometimes joins B-rank runs too.
But today’s dungeon weirdly didn’t look favorable for Kim.
‘For a simple fire-attribute dungeon, the temperature’s way too high.’
Before entry, we’d considered the heat and equipped items that lowered body temperature. Even with cooling artifacts, I’d had to keep casting snow the whole way here—the ambient heat was that bad.
Meaning: you need enough water to smother fire, but the water was evaporating before it even touched anything.
‘And the boss is only C-rank.’
The boss wasn’t the problem. The environment was fucking us.
–Grrr....
Right on cue, a bark signaled the start.
The boss pawed the ground like it was wary, then lunged for us in an instant.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The sound of paws hammering the floor was crisp.
Water’s Path (C) is activating.
Kim’s skill triggered, water racing from his hands and sweeping the ground.
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The roar of a waterfall-level torrent filled the air.
“Ready!”
“Yeah.”
With their long practice together, the body-reinforcement Hunter Choi moved in immediately. Artifacts on both hands, he finished his checks and charged the mutt.
Thud!
With a dull crack, the hellhound skidded back. Kim seized the opening and dumped water over it.
Sssshhhh—
Maybe clearing wouldn’t be so hard—was that worry needless?
But then, the hellhound we thought had been swept away came bounding back.
Kim stopped giving orders and focused entirely on casting at the hellhound.
Instead of dumping volume to smother flames, he narrowed the stream to a razor and fired it straight like a blade.
Even so, when the water hit, it didn’t kill.
‘It’s too hot.’
In the span between casting and contact, the water evaporated and its power cratered.
And the hellhound that took the weakened stream... reacted like a very reasonable animal.
“This is bad—Seongeun!”
“Fall back for now!”
Translation: the dog was pissed.
Choi grabbed it from behind and wrestled it down, rolling with it across the ground.
“Ghh!”
“No!”
Where his body pressed close to the hellhound, burns bloomed angry red—visible even to the naked eye.
“I’ll go.”
“No, don’t.”
“...Huh?”
I clamped down on Do Yehyun’s arm as he prepped a cast. Whatever he said, sending him in right now would be insane.
“Don’t.”
“If I don’t get close, I can’t use the skill.”
“You can. You’ve got other skills.”
“They’re weaker. If I mess up, they might hit the boss too.”
“So you want to go up close? March near that mutt and get hurt too?”
I didn’t need any noble self-sacrifice. Even if he could self-heal, I hadn’t brought him to use him up like a consumable.
I gave him a short look and said:
“Wait.”
Coldly speaking, Choi’s burns looked dramatic because they covered a wide area, but they weren’t life-threatening.
‘Sure, it hurts, but not my problem.’
And while Kim was close with him, he wasn’t the type to lose his cool over an injured ally. The fact he hadn’t immediately called for Do Yehyun proved it.
‘Then...’
I called to Kim, who was focusing on defense.
“I’ll freeze it.”
“...Sorry?”
At this temperature, conjuring ice solo was a stretch. I could make it, but unless I cranked Mimic to max, anything underwhelming would last a few seconds at best before vanishing.
‘But freezing water is different.’
Not creating ice from nothing—just freezing what’s already there. I hadn’t done it in a dungeon, but outside it was plenty doable.
Kim seemed to get it and nodded.
“Control it precisely. Don’t hit Hunter Choi.”
“Got it.”
“I’m not gonna count to three. Now.”
Water burst from Kim’s hands at once.
Water’s Path (C) is activating.
Mimic (S) is activating.
And with a power I now used almost naturally, I flash-froze Kim’s water the moment it formed.
