Seonwoo Yeon had a question.

Why was the fourth S-class so cruel to the number one hunter? From his usual demeanor, Kim Kiryeo wasn’t a bad person. He helped others and stayed away from greed. Yet, when it came to Jung Haseong, he seemed to change in a peculiar way.

‘To make Jung Haseong do something like that, is he out of his mind…?’

What just happened seemed far from friendly. Seonwoo Yeon always tried to understand others’ intentions, but it was never an easy task.

‘I don’t know.’

Perhaps Kim Kiryeo might be trying to force out Haseong’s potential under pressure, similar to what happened in Hadong. Or maybe there was a special reason why he started to dislike Jung Haseong. On the other hand, he could be enjoying pointless sadism, like tearing off the wings of a dragonfly that was just in his hands.

‘The fact that the association president suddenly protected that person at the press conference. Anyway, there are more than one or two things that I don’t understand.’

As Seonwoo Yeon frowned and looked at Kim Kiryeo, the blonde man at the end of the room happened to glance in their direction. When their eyes met, he gave a slight nod from afar, which made it even harder to grasp the truth.

‘Haa…’

Despite the Hunter’s true awakening level being fully revealed through the third awakening test, why does it still feel so suspicious? Why does it seem as though something is being hidden?

***

Yahoo, I’m excited!

If I were to express it in Earth terms, being able to stick with an S-Class Hunter all the time is like having a premium bus service, isn’t it?

“Hunter Esther, shall we go in then?”

“Yeonie! We’ll be back soon. Keep a good watch over here~”

A little later, Esther and I decided to take on the first exploration of the iron gate. As a self-proclaimed appraiser, I checked and found no more traps, so we decided to slowly attack the gate. Moreover, although it may be unfortunate for the outsiders, we were somewhat lucky.

“Oh my, a blue monster.”

“And only one?”

This place is a high-difficulty dungeon with formidable opponents, even for an EX-Class. However, considering the ranks of the chosen challengers, the outcome was already quite predictable.

“Since they didn’t die instantly from the curse, I guess they’re boss-level.”

And then we entered the first iron gate.

…Boom!

Esther grasped the coral-colored orb she retrieved from her item box and activated her magic. Drawing on the orb’s power, she fired a condensed magic bullet at the monster that appeared before her.

‘You know how to use other attacks besides curses?’

Judging from the way she handled the equipment, it seems that Esther usually enjoys using this type of fighting style.

“What is the name of that crystal orb?”

Is that something that can be said when facing a demonic beast up close?

I was now chatting leisurely without even looking at the monsters. That’s how overwhelming Esther’s power was in this gate.

“This? It’s an item called the Dragon Palace’s Jewel.”

“It looks expensive.”

“It’s actually quite expensive. This is the first epic-grade equipment made in Korea, after all.”

Shoooooo… Boom! freewebnσvel.cѳm

The monster that had been hit by the S-class attack was about to crumble into dust.

Clang.

We confirmed that a familiar-looking key had fallen to the floor. The first room had a simple structure where all we needed to do was kill the monster inside.

“I’ll pick it up. Stay here.”

“Huh? It’s over already? Is there a trap?”

“I don’t think there is one.”

I walked through the dark surroundings toward where the key lay.

Tak, tak.

Amidst the sound of my footsteps, I could hear Esther continuing our conversation.

“Even if something is expensive, how can it be as good as Haseong’s [Sword of Sunset]? It’s not just anything; it’s the very first legendary item.”

Hmm. [Sunset Sword].

That’s a completely unfamiliar name to an alien archmage.

“But then, Kiryeo used that precious sword for such a purpose…”

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s just get out of the room.”

Anyway, we completed the first exploration surprisingly easily. The subsequent stages weren’t much different either.

“I’ll participate from now on.”

When we were reporting on the iron gate we had been through, that number one ranked person finally came to his senses and started to attack.

“What was the situation at that gate?”

“It was similar to what I just heard. There was a beast inside, about the size of a wild boar, and after defeating it, a key appeared.”

About 3 minutes later, I glanced at Jung Haseong’s group that had entered the second iron gate and came out. There was a faint burnt smell, but seeing that both of them returned with their faces still fresh, it seemed that this gate was too small a vessel for such S-rank power…

‘The leader is the best!’

With the stable ride, I proceeded quickly with the dungeon raid, relying on the abilities of the S-rank hunters. Red, blue, green, yellow… We defeated all the various types of unknown gatekeepers prepared for us.

‘That color indicates the monster’s resistance attribute.’

As I continued the raid, I began to grasp the characteristics of this gate, but I didn’t bother explaining it. What good is resistance to attributes anyway? Jung Haseong had just burned the red creature guarding the fifth iron door— a monster resistant to fire— leaving no trace behind.

‘How scary.’

The power of the S-rank completely disregarded the trivial rules of this gate.

They were born with exceptional awakening levels beyond the standard. Moreover, Seonwoo Yeon was also a capable wizard in this world, so as long as the monster didn’t have resistance against her attribute, she could roughly handle it.

‘Hmm.’

So, am I the only useless one here?

‘I, I worked so hard in my past life, so I deserve to slack off a bit, right?’

Squeak squeak.

I tried to cover up my incompetence as I entered the seventh iron door.

-Kieeek, clank.

This door was the final room that didn’t require a key. If so, the final clue to get out of the gate…. must be hidden behind that tightly locked eighth iron door at the end of this corridor.

One, two, three, four…

Are there exactly seven keys?

“It’s the same number of locks.”

“It seems like the trap that Haseong’s group fell into was in a room we had to visit. If we don’t clear that, we won’t have enough keys.”

A few minutes later, we had broken through most of the iron doors connected to the hall and were left with only the final task. We now stood in front of the eighth iron door, the only one that was tightly secured with multiple locks.

‘It’s really comfortable.’

Since this iron gate is a room that can only be entered by obtaining all the keys, there must be a high probability that there will be a boss. However, I didn’t feel any tension. After all, beside me were three Awakeners classified as upper-rankt, two S-ranks and one B-rank.

‘Hahaha!’

Especially, the rewards for this gate wouldn’t be noticeable to S-class people, so if I do this well, I might be able to snatch the rewards for myself, right? Dreaming of a rosy future, I worked diligently. Every time I did that, the number of locks that were holding the door down decreased by one.

“Ah, it’s done.”

Clang.

However, the moment I inserted the last key, the eighth room’s door suddenly swung open inward.

“Ugh!”

We were instantly engulfed by the black smoke that burst out from the open door. Fortunately, the smoke wasn’t toxic to humans; it was merely a signal indicating a new space transition.

‘Wait, if there’s a space transition at this time…’

As the black smoke dispersed rapidly, I lifted my head and quickly surveyed the surroundings. What I saw was a mysterious space where square platforms were arranged like a chessboard.

‘Is this the boss room?’

Damn it!

I was certain that the final door would also be limited to two people, so I was initially shocked by this situation. I didn’t think they’d put all the hunters in one room at this point.

Then what is the second thing that is surprising?

It was the sound of wings flapping that I’d been hearing since a while ago.

-Ddddk…

-Crrrr…

– Flap, flap.

White wings. Small bodies. The swarm approaching in clusters might look like moths at first glance, but how could there be any ordinary insects inside this gate?

“Kyaak!”

“How many of them are there…!”

This was an emergency.

From the start, a huge number of monsters rushed at us.

‘Hiiik!’

Originally, nothing beats flames for dealing with flying insects. However, the room we were standing in was narrower than I thought. This means that there is very little room to attack. If Jung Haseong used flames here, it would surely end up taking out people as well.

‘I’d prefer to avoid being burned or suffocating.’

Esther, perhaps reaching the same conclusion, quickly moved to the center and took direct action to handle the situation.

Srrrk…

She activated her awakening ability, the [Curse] skill.

‘Good job!’

Thud thud.

As soon as the white moths were struck by Esther’s curse, they fell helplessly. However, it wasn’t just the monsters affected by her actions. There was also one awakener present who wasn’t listed as S-rank.

“Ahhhhh!”

Then, a scream spread from the corner of the room.

‘Oh no!’

Seonwoo Yeon, who had screamed, was clutching her head in pained expression.

***

Haseong was furious.

According to the rule that only two people could enter one room, at least this B-rank should have been left outside. Why on earth is this damn gate? Why does it always make humans suffer like this?

“Staff! For now, stay behind me…!”

Haseong wanted to protect Seonwoo Yeon, but in this situation, there was nothing he could do. The power of the curse basically had the characteristic of penetrating the protective ability of defensive equipment. Even if he gave his own items to that staff, it wouldn’t make much difference.

“Ugh!”

Furthermore, even Haseong, who was an S-rank, wasn’t free from the effects of the curse.

Nausea.

Pain.

And the mysterious tinnitus.

Who would have thought that a brief exposure to a skill would cause this much weakening?

“Something is strange! Where on earth are these moths coming from?”

Of course, Esther was also confused.

Ddeukkk…

She had originally intended to use the skill briefly, but the black void continued to vomit out small monsters as if to stop her.

“Ugh…”

If the duration of the leader of the magic tower’s skill was long, the association’s staff would suffer fatal damage.

‘No. In this case, it would be better to kill them one by one with a sword!’

Jung Haseong thought he had to hunt without using skills, even if it meant forcing himself. So, he raised his head with difficulty to persuade Esther, who was also an S-rank.

‘Huh?’

But at that moment, something strange happened. While those exposed to the curse were groaning in pain, a hunter quietly walked out from the northern part of the room.

“…!”

A face without the slightest disturbance. Kim Kiryeo approached Esther with steady steps, not breaking his posture. It was unbelievable. While the rest of them were on the brink of collapse, how could this person remain unaffected by the storm of curses…!

“You’re surprising me!”

Tuk, tuk.

Kim Kiryeo tapped Esther on the shoulder and whispered briefly in her ear. Esther then raised her head with a surprised expression. Soon, they were all staring at the ceiling above their heads, beyond the darkness of this room.

“Aha!”

Esther, as if realizing something, used her support skill to shoot a sphere of magical energy upwards.

Boom!

With this, the monster generator hidden in the ceiling was destroyed.

“As expected, Kim Kiryeo, you’re the best! How on earth were you able to pinpoint exactly where the monsters were coming from in this chaos?”

Esther seemed to highly regard the other’s [Appraisal] ability, but… the hero had a different perspective. That man had just ignored the curse, meaning he had disregarded the influence of an S-rank ability.