## Chapter 158 – 158. Dungeon Survival
158. Dungeon Survival
“Kuaaaaak!”
A blue flame erupted on Eun Sangmin’s body as he confidently strode ahead. The energy protector on his shoulder was flashing repeatedly.
Suddenly. Without any warning, flames engulfed Eun Sangmin. He screamed and rolled on the ground. The energy protector only absorbed the damage, so the pain was all his.
“Aaaaaaak!”
Han Harin and I were shocked and rushed towards Eun Sangmin. I quickly took off my top and tried to extinguish the flames on his rolling body. But it wouldn’t go out. The blue color and the way it burned suggested it wasn’t ordinary fire.
“Damn it. There’s no water here…! Senior Sangmin, are you okay?!”
“Aaaak! Aaaak!”
“There has to be a way…! Senior Sangmin! Mana release! Use your mana to put out the fire!”
My idea was to forcefully explode the mana inside his body to extinguish the blue flames. Even if it wasn’t ordinary fire, I thought mana might be able to do it.
“Kuaaaaak!”
But Eun Sangmin was in a panic and couldn’t hear me properly. He was out of his mind with the pain of his whole body burning.
“Senior Harin! Can’t you use gravity to put out the flames?!”
“It’s impossible! That’s not ordinary fire. If gravity could put it out, it would have been gone already!”
“Hwaaaaaak!!”
Eun Sangmin let out a scream-like shout and released mana. But the blue flames only briefly diminished and then immediately flared up again.
“Give up. You can’t extinguish the inferno with your level of mana release.”
I looked towards the voice. Three people emerged from behind a tree. Two men and one woman.
One of the men was holding a spear, and the blonde woman was holding a bow. My gaze was drawn to the man in the center.
He was a black-haired man wearing a black coat, with no weapon in his hands. He was staring at us with a blank expression.
‘It’s Kang Seoksu!’
Kang Seoksu. A C-class hunter and mage.
I knew about him because a few years ago, newspapers and TV had excessively promoted him as the greatest genius mage in Korea.
‘That bastard wasn’t there on the assembly day.’
Come to think of it, there wasn’t a rule that said you had to participate on the assembly day.
“It’s over.”
At Kang Seoksu’s words, I quickly looked at Eun Sangmin.
The blue flames on Eun Sangmin’s body had disappeared. And the energy protector on his shoulder had changed from blue to red. He was confirmed to be eliminated.
“We’ll take the eliminated contestant.”
A staff member from the association, who had been watching the situation, supported Eun Sangmin. Eun Sangmin had no injuries, but he was breathing heavily.
“Shit…”
I clearly heard Eun Sangmin’s small mutter as he was being taken away.
Whoosh!
An arrow flew towards us. I quickly drew my sword and deflected the arrow. Then I glared at the woman who had shot it.
She was a blonde woman. It didn’t look like she had dyed her hair; it seemed her hair color had changed due to awakening.
She had B-cup breasts and a slender figure with long, graceful limbs. She wasn’t as good-looking as Han Harin, but I couldn’t deny she was quite a beauty.
“You guys should get eliminated like that man.”
Kang Seoksu swung his right hand. A magic circle of light appeared in front of him, and then a sharp rock, about the size of a watermelon, flew towards us at a considerable speed.
“I’ll block it.”
I didn’t dodge. It was because of Han Harin’s voice that I heard when the magic circle appeared.
A translucent gravity shield appeared in front of me. The sharp rock hit the gravity shield and shattered, falling to the ground in pieces.
“You are… the younger sibling of that Han Ahyeong.”
Kang Seoksu recognized Han Harin. It wasn’t surprising. Han Ahyeong was a famous hunter known by most Koreans.
“But you’re ridiculously weak compared to Han Ahyeong.”
“……”
Han Harin glared at Kang Seoksu without saying a word and threw a gravity sphere. The transparent magic barrier surrounding Kang Seoksu blocked the gravity sphere. The barrier broke, but the gravity sphere also disappeared.
“Hmm. Is that all you’ve got…?”
Mana emanated from Kang Seoksu’s body. The force of it made his coat flutter violently. He was definitely about to use some powerful magic.
He was on a completely different level than Eun Sangmin, who barely made it as a C-class hunter.
‘…Damn it. The pressure I’m feeling is no joke. I was looking for a chance to use Flash, but… should I use it now?’
I gauged the distance.
If I used Flash, I could close the distance in one go. And if I used Flash continuously to attack… it seemed possible.
Just as I was about to move, I heard a whirring sound from the sky. Both Kang Seoksu and I looked up.
There was a drone delivering a white food box. The drone was moving towards a spot a little further away, not towards us.
“It wasn’t here.”
Kang Seoksu clicked his tongue.
“Getting food is the priority. You guys are lucky.”
Kang Seoksu said to us.
My eyes twitched. I didn’t like his attitude, as if he thought he could kill us anytime.
“You’ve got a serious case of middle school syndrome. Aren’t you 24 years old? At that age, middle school syndrome is a mental illness.”
“That’s a cheap provocation.”
“Next to you…”
I was about to say something but stopped myself.
I was about to say, ‘Can that blonde bitch next to you still talk like that after getting taken by me?’ but I held back.
‘It’s a broadcast. A broadcast. I have to hold back.’
Even if it was edited out in the recording, there were many people on site, so rumors would spread. I had to be careful with my actions and words and not cross the final line.
“Seoksu hyung. Isn’t it better to give up on the food and deal with them here? I think those two are dangerous too.”
The man with the spear asked Kang Seoksu.
“We can deal with them anytime. Right now, it’s important to secure food and maintain proper condition. There isn’t as much to eat in this forest as you might think.”
They turned away from me.
Crack.
Manroe (卍雷) appeared in front of me. Lightning rotated in a swastika (卍) shape, concentrating power at its center.
“You’re a lightning user…!”
Kang Seoksu hurriedly deployed a magic barrier.
Kwarurururung!
Lightning shot out from the center of Manroe. It wasn’t aimed at Kang Seoksu. It was aimed at a slightly higher angle. The blue lightning raced towards the sky.
The lightning accurately hit the drone and the food box. The drone was destroyed, and the food box shattered, falling to the ground.
“That bastard, the food…!”
“Haha. Since I have to starve, you guys have to starve too.”
If I can’t have it, I’d rather destroy it.
If I can’t have it, neither can you.
That’s me.
The prince of hypocrisy.
Yours is mine. Mine is mine.
“…If your wish is to be eliminated right now, I’ll grant it.”
Kang Seoksu’s coat fluttered again.
“Seoksu hyung! Twelve hunters nearby are coming here! They must have seen the food exploding from the lightning.”
“…Tsk.”
“Oh, what? You’re not going to do it?”
The blonde woman, who was drawing her bow, tilted her head.
“If twelve people gather here, there’s a high chance they’ll target me.”
Kang Seoksu was famous. Hunters would realize his danger and naturally try to eliminate him first.
“The dungeon survival is only on its first day. There’s no need to show all my cards on the first day.”
“Aww. How boring.”
Kang Seoksu’s team turned and began to leave the area.
I kicked an arrow that was lying on the ground, sending it up into the air. I caught the arrow with my right hand and used mana to accumulate power to the limit.
‘Lightning.’
Pajijijik.
I confirmed that blue lightning was swirling around the arrowhead and threw it at the back of the blonde woman’s head.
“Jungmi noona!”
Kang Seoksu moved. He reached out and grabbed the arrow I had thrown.
I saw the energy protector on his shoulder flash. It meant he had taken damage.
Kang Seoksu glared at me fiercely and then disappeared.
‘He was a bit slow to react when I shot Manroe earlier too. Aside from magic, he doesn’t feel that overwhelmingly strong.’
The man with the spear was the one I was worried about. In my opinion, he was probably a sensory-type ability user. In the current situation, a sensory-type ability user was a treasure.
With that ability, you could find monsters or hidden things and sweep up survival points.
The real contenders for the win were Kang Seoksu’s team.
‘Was Kang Seoksu’s ability sensory amplification?’
As the name suggests, it was an ability that temporarily amplified the senses. From what I remembered, it amplified not only the five senses of the body but also the ‘mana sense.’ That was why Kang Seoksu was called a genius mage.
‘If two conditions are met, I can face Kang Seoksu alone.’
One was that Kang Seoksu was not using his ability. The other was that I was close to him.
‘If I use Flash, I can win.’
Those conditions were very difficult to meet. The first condition might be easy, but as long as he had a sensory ability user next to him, it wouldn’t be easy to approach him.
“Yujin-ah. Look here.”
“……”
I looked at the ground that Han Harin was pointing at. It was cleverly hidden by leaves, but a red magic circle was drawn between the leaves. It was a magic circle using monster blood.
“Inferno is a high-level magic. Even for that man, it’s impossible to use it right away. Senior Sangmin was caught in a magic trap.”
“…From now on, we have to be careful even when looking at the ground. Let’s go, senior. I heard they’re gathering here, so we need to run away quickly.”
I left the place with Han Harin.
•••
“Yes! The first eliminated contestant has been decided! He’s engulfed in blue flames and screaming in a way that’s frightening to watch. But he’s safe thanks to his energy protector.”
Main MC Jo Seokhu smiled wryly even after speaking. He had tried to sound cheerful, but seeing Eun Sangmin screaming so desperately was a bit scary. This scene would probably be edited very short.
“Hong Suwon-ssi. What do you think?”
Hong Suwon, an executive of Bluebird, one of the top 10 guilds in Korea, stared intently at the screen.
“It’s a magic trap. If you look closely at the ground, you can see a trap hidden there.”
“Ah. We have footage. They’re drawing a magic circle on the ground using the blood of a monster they caught earlier.”
“As expected of Hunter Kang Seoksu. Inferno is a magic that’s difficult even for ordinary mages to use. Moreover, the fact that he drew a magic circle there means he perfectly predicted that his opponent would come that way. Amazing. Hunter Kang Seoksu. I’m always impressed when I see him.”
Baek Jieun clicked her tongue inwardly.
Hong Suwon had been praising Kang Seoksu since earlier.
‘It’s so obvious. Mister.’
Kang Seoksu was not currently affiliated with any guild. Hong Suwon must have participated here to scout Kang Seoksu. When it came to someone like Kang Seoksu, behind-the-scenes work started from such small things.
Then, the screen showed Kang Seoksu’s team and Sung Yujin’s team facing off.
‘If Yujin loses, I’ll have to comfort her.’
Even to her, it seemed almost impossible for Sung Yujin’s team to win in a head-on fight against Kang Seoksu’s team.
But the situation didn’t go as expected.
“Ah! They’re retreating.”
“Hunter Kang Seoksu must have decided that food is more important. He’s looking at the future, not just the present.”
“Oh?! Hunter Sung Yujin shoots lightning and destroys the food! The lightning is powerful and cool!”
“…It’s better to destroy it than give it to the enemy. It’s a good decision. But I wonder if it was really necessary…”
Hong Suwon said with a displeased expression. From his point of view, he wanted Kang Seoksu to be perfect.
Baek Jieun, who had been quietly watching the situation, opened her mouth when Sung Yujin appeared.
“Hunter Sung Yujin made a good decision. It’s better to burn the food than give it to the enemy.”
“…Hmm. You’re right.”
Kang Seoksu’s team turned their backs and began to retreat.
Sung Yujin, holding an arrow, threw it with all her might at them. Kang Seoksu raised his hand and blocked it, so the attack failed.
“Wh-what! How cowardly to attack from behind…!”
“Cowardly? It’s the fault of the one who showed their back. Don’t you know the saying, ‘Don’t show your back to a beast’? Hunters shouldn’t show their backs to the enemy carelessly.”
“……”
Hong Suwon glared. Baek Jieun didn’t avoid his gaze. If Hong Suwon was an A-class hunter from a large guild, Baek Jieun was an A-class hunter from the Hunter Association. She had nothing to lose.
‘Why? If you’re unhappy, try me.’
Unlike her combative inner thoughts, she wore a pure and innocent smile on the outside.
•••
Rest area.
Hunters could use the rest area once a day for one hour, based on midnight. Fighting was strictly prohibited here, and there were no cameras inside. You could use the bathroom, shower, and laundry facilities. If you used it for more than an hour, you would receive a penalty.
The rest area we found at 10 PM was a luxurious two-story cabin.
“Senior. Let’s rest here.”
It was later than I expected, but we arrived safely.
‘Actually, I roughly knew the location of this place.’
Before participating in the dungeon survival, I contacted Baek Jieun and got some information about this dungeon. That’s what connections are for.
“I don’t care about anything else, but being able to shower here is great.”
“Yes, it is.”
I smiled mischievously and opened the front door of the cabin.
My face instantly contorted.
Inside the cabin, I was face to face with Kang Seoksu, who was sitting on the sofa. Kang Seoksu looked surprised to see me, but then he curled up one corner of his mouth.
‘Shit. I’m fucked.’
