Free Web NovelAt the staff member’s words, Sung Uijae turned to look at me. Ignoring his gaze, I pulled up the Status Window.
Automaton 239 (A)
A being that remains in A Brilliant Tomb.
It still moves, reenacting the glory of that era.
After checking one, I quickly shifted my gaze elsewhere.
Automaton 314 (B)
A being that remains in A Brilliant Tomb.
It still moves, reenacting the glory of that era.
Automaton 17 (D)
A being that remains in A Brilliant Tomb.
It still moves, reenacting the glory of that era.
Automaton 159 (A)
A being that remains in A Brilliant Tomb.
It still moves, reenacting the glory of that era.
Automaton 140 (C)
A being that remains in A Brilliant Tomb.
It still moves, reenacting the glory of that era.
'Ah....'
It was easy to grasp the situation.
The automatons mixed in among the people didn’t look like “dolls” at all. They cowered as if terrified, screamed, ran all over the place, and copied a whole range of expressions. Really, just like humans.
A situation where humans and dolls were indistinguishable was, in a word, utter chaos.
Then the staff member’s voice rang out again.
“They say there are civilians mixed in who still haven’t evacuated. But they don’t know where the civilians begin and end....”
So they were worried they might hurt civilians if they screwed this up?
The automatons pretended to be frightened and slipped into the crowd, then suddenly turned violent and launched attacks at the Hunters. Then, when the Hunters used Skills to subdue them, the dolls twisted their faces in agony and screamed.
Those screams triggered a chain reaction. Out here, even a moment’s hesitation could turn dangerous fast.
“Move.”
Taking advantage of the instant the Hunter in front of him flinched, Chase smashed an automaton’s head in and ground the shattered remains beneath his foot. Crunch. The sound of something hard being crushed sounded like bones breaking, or maybe just pottery shattering.
I watched Chase’s movements for a moment.
Contrary to expectations, the bastard cutting down automatons while scanning his surroundings was judging the situation pretty coolly. In the first place, if you hesitated to kill the dolls in a situation like this... well, that was no different from deciding to die yourself.
He really was an S-rank Hunter. The bastard was good at getting control of the scene. Even if each automaton had a different Rank and made countermeasures tricky, none of that meant much under an S-rank Hunter.
“Aaaagh—!”
With a short scream, an automaton was neatly incinerated. Chase stepped over the wreckage without a care and launched himself somewhere else.
Watching those hesitation-free movements and the fire he wielded however he pleased, I naturally thought of Kwon Taehan.
'Was Kwon Taehan this good too?'
I hadn’t had many chances to watch that bastard fight in person, so it was hard to compare. Besides, this was outside the Dungeon, so Chase looked like he was holding back to some extent too.
Then, all of a sudden, Chase turned his head this way, and our eyes met. The moment he saw me, he twisted up the corner of his mouth and said something.
'What the hell is he saying?' ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Unfortunately, because of my English skills, I couldn’t understand the bastard at all. The scene was too loud to hear, so I’d have to roughly guess from the shape of his mouth, but my English wasn’t good enough for that.
Left with no choice, I ignored him, crushed the sparks jumping near my feet under my shoe, and looked elsewhere.
The situation was still a complete mess, and mana kept surging endlessly out of the split rupture and spilling into this side.
“Seowon.”
When I called Joo Seowon, they answered in surprisingly steady shape.
“...What.”
'Being outside the Dungeon makes this level okay?'
Either way, I didn’t waste any more time and yanked them sharply to my side. Joo Seowon flinched, but maybe because the situation was what it was, they behaved themselves. Or maybe it was because we’d just had that little argument.
I grabbed Joo Seowon’s arm and transferred the protective gear I was wearing onto it.
“What is this.”
“Remember the thing I brought back from Shanghai before?”
“.......”
“I had it processed. It’s pretty useful as armor.”
“Why are you giving this to me? Keep it yourself.”
Instead of answering that nonsense, I reached out and flicked the area near Joo Seowon’s index finger with my finger. They checked the proof of the covenant engraved there and jolted.
Well, the best method would have been getting seriously injured while saving people—bad enough to force a withdrawal, but still recoverable. But that wasn’t as simple as it sounded, so statistically it was better to block off any chance they might actually die beforehand.
I had no intention of throwing myself in as top-priority combat manpower either. In the first place, did I really need to have that kind of sense of duty...?
'Why the fuck would I?'
Then Sung Uijae suddenly strode over this way and grabbed me by the shoulder. It happened so fast my body was shoved backward on reflex.
“What?”
“How did you know?”
“Know what.”
“Did you just take a shot in the dark? I’m asking how you figured it out.”
I caught Sung Uijae’s hand and pulled it off me as I answered blandly.
“The mana was high. Looking at the clothes, they didn’t seem like Hunters... but they also looked a little too strong to be civilians, so I got suspicious.”
“.......”
“They said they’d given evacuation orders, but there are way too many people, aren’t there? And there are no monsters. At a glance, shouldn’t you be suspecting the people side?”
Of course, it was bullshit.
It was true that after my Rank went up, I’d become more noticeably sensitive to other people’s mana than before. But not to the point where I could distinguish detailed mana signatures in a situation like this, with Hunters and monsters all mixed together.
'And there’s also the mana coming out of the Dungeon.'
As expected, Sung Uijae didn’t look like he believed me either. Still, under normal circumstances he probably would’ve just given me a suspicious look, then given up and gone on his way. But right now, it seemed like even his side wasn’t in a position to be picky.
The hand I’d shaken off immediately came back up and gripped my shoulder tight again.
“Hey, Hunter Seo. Get it together. The situation’s serious right now.”
“Yeah.”
“They’ve barely managed to seal this place off as it is. If this goes wrong, the whole city could be in serious trouble. Are you really going to act like this? As long as the suspects are hiding among the people, they can’t even evacuate the civilians.”
“.......”
“With this many Hunters gathered here, why do you think the situation still isn’t wrapped up and they’re struggling? Just being able to distinguish them would help. A lot.”
I’d thought he was just some bastard who spent every day screwing around, so it was kind of surprising to see him act serious. Still, was it because this was his own country?
When I just looked at him leisurely without answering, Sung Uijae glanced around, then lowered his voice and made a proposal.
“If this is one of your ‘appraisal’ Skills, I can help you keep it under wraps. You don’t want it getting out, right?”
“.......”
“Hey, with me, it’s already... been obvious for a long time.”
Sung Uijae curved his lips up and looked at me with easy composure. It didn’t seem like he was sure I’d help... more like he had a habit of seizing the upper hand in a conversation like this.
I stared at him for a moment, then smiled.
“You’re talking like you’re granting permission.”
“What?”
“If it were me, I’d take a different attitude.”
I had no intention of refusing to help at this point. I’d only stepped back a little because I was curious how he’d respond.
But even seeing my attitude, Sung Uijae didn’t hesitate.
“Do you want a deal? Or a favor?”
“.......”
“I’m asking for a favor.”
Well, this... wasn’t even fun, since it was too easy. I looked at him sourly for a moment, then calmly turned my gaze toward the rupture.
“If you want to resolve this efficiently, it’s better to abandon this site.”
“What?”
“When a Dungeon Break happens, usually the Dungeon boss comes outside too, but I don’t think that’s the case this time.”
“.......”
Maybe because I sounded far too certain for what was technically just a guess, Sung Uijae’s expression turned strange in an instant.
But he didn’t argue.
'He’s in no position to be choosy.'
“Then how do we clean up the scene?”
“Split the Hunters up. The ones going inside go in, and the ones staying outside clean up outside. You’ve got mana detectors, don’t you? It’ll take a while, but still.”
“.......”
At my words, Sung Uijae slowly nodded.
Watching his back as he headed back to the staff again to get the situation under control, I spoke to Joo Seowon.
“We’re going inside the Dungeon.”
“.......”
“Stay quiet in there too.”
A little later, Sung Uijae came back and quickly organized the personnel to be deployed inside the Dungeon. It was surprisingly simple. The strategy was to shove every high-rank Hunter into the Dungeon except for two A-rank Hunters and three B-rank Hunters.
As I stepped calmly into the Dungeon, I curled my lips into a faint smile.
Even if I knew the type of Dungeon and even the method to break it in advance, there were plenty of Dungeons where there was nothing I could do. No, more like most of them.
Just because you had prior information on a Dungeon didn’t necessarily mean you had the advantage.
'Guess that was only natural, since I’d been weak as shit all this time.'
But this Dungeon was different. Because this one... was a board where I held the absolute advantage.
As I stepped into the Dungeon, I lowered my voice and spoke to Sung Uijae, who was fiddling with his gear.
“Oh, and for reference... there are no civilians outside.”
“.......”
“Not a single one.”
“You little fucker....”
In other words, there was no need to distinguish the “people” and pick out civilians—they could just kill every last one of them.
Because I’d only told him after we came into the Dungeon, Sung Uijae’s expression instantly turned vicious. I let out a small snicker, then gave a short explanation.
“You would’ve cross-checked it even if I’d told you earlier anyway, so what’s the difference.”
“.......”
“Wouldn’t you?”
At that, the bastard fell silent again, and I brought up this Dungeon’s Status Window once more.
S-rank Gate (A Brilliant Tomb)
An old city that once flourished brilliantly.
But now only traces remain, merely imitating the prosperity of that time.
Dungeon Boss — Tower of Glory
Other information on lifeforms within the Dungeon...... See More
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