Chapter 7
“Gather!”
At the shout, the stone golems converged in one spot, forming what looked like a small wall.
“Advance!”
The 1.5-meter-tall, 3-meter-wide wall began to move forward. The black wolves charged recklessly, but they couldn’t stop the massive wall’s momentum.
Thud!
One black wolf bounced off the wall, and I didn’t miss the opportunity to thrust my sword into it.
Splat!
Another one jumped out from the side, but I rewarded it with a punch from a stone fist—an actual stone fist.
Ding-!
[Your level has increased.]
The notification sound rang cheerfully.
“Teeth!”
Thwack!
“Experience points!”
Thwack!
I followed behind the stone golems, taking care of any wolves that managed to jump over the wall. In an instant, the number of black wolves, which had started at around twenty, was cut in half.
“Fight!”
I issued another command. The stone golems spread out, punching and kicking the remaining black wolves. While they didn’t deal heavy damage, the wolves’ claws and teeth couldn’t penetrate the golems, allowing them to persistently harass the creatures.
After some time passed, the wide cavern no longer had a single black wolf standing on four legs.
[Your level has increased.]
“Already level 10, huh?”
The recent hunt raised my level by another two. Although the golems weren’t at full capacity, I still gained experience from the kills they made. All in all, summoning the golems turned out to be a good decision.
Flash!
[A new quest has been unlocked.]
As soon as I reached level 10, a new quest appeared. Without delay, I opened the quest window.
“Check quest.”
[Quest]
- Category: Main
- Objective: You have acquired the minimum qualifications. To fully regain your power, you must collect the scattered fragments. (Progress: 1/7)
- Restrictions: None
- Reward: ???
- Failure: ???
“Hmm….”
The quest’s description was puzzling, as I couldn’t make sense of it. I had no idea where to find the scattered fragments. Both the rewards and consequences were unclear. Just as I was trying to figure out what the quest intended, a new one appeared.
Ding-!
[Quest]
- Category: Sub
- Objective: Hunt the dungeon boss. Defeat the boss of the dungeon you’ve entered. (Progress: 0/1)
- Restrictions: None
- Reward: 10 points
- Failure: The destruction of three golems
“What?”
The first thing that caught my eye was the failure condition. Just when things were getting easier with the golems, now the penalty for failure was their destruction. Those mana stones weren’t exactly cheap.
“Are you on my side or not?”
I couldn’t help but wonder whose side the quest was on. At least with this sub-quest, the objective was clear: hunt the boss. The only thing I could infer from the main quest was that there was still a boss left to defeat.
“I’d better get moving.”
The quest mentioned that the boss remained but didn’t say it was already in the middle of a fight. I quickly stored the stone golems back into my dimensional space and hurried on.
****************
“These guys call themselves hunters….”
Deok-hun sighed as he watched his nephew and friends. He found it pitiful how three of them were struggling against a single black wolf.
“The Hunter Agency must be rotten to give people like this a C-rank.”
In the past, a C-rank hunter could easily take down up to 6th-grade monsters. But over time, as more monsters appeared and more people awakened, the hunter ranks became more segmented. E- and F-ranks were introduced, which caused some hunters’ ranks to drop. However, some, like Dojae, managed to barely qualify as hunters and benefited from the changes.
“They’re hopeless.”
Shim Young-jin swung his sword horizontally, aiming for the black wolf, but the wolf easily dodged the attack by jumping.
The wolf, drawn by the scent of fresh blood, showed no fear of Young-jin’s sword. Instead, the smell of its fallen kin only made it more ferocious.
“They lack both physical ability and teamwork.”
The synergy between Youngjin, the damage dealer, and Kim Jun-soo, the tank, was a disaster. Despite supposedly being teammates, their coordination was completely off.
“Hey! Jun-soo, what are you doing?!”
“Ah… Got it!”
“Hurry up!”
Finally responding, Jun-soo rushed forward just in time to block the wolf’s claws with his shield.
“Youngjin!”
“Damn it! I know!”
Clang!
“Damn!”
“S-sorry.”
In a proper tank-and-damage-dealer combo, the tank would block the enemy’s attack, and the damage dealer would take advantage of the opening. But the two kept getting in each other’s way, missing that crucial timing. Naturally, this only played into the black wolf’s favor.
“Growl!”
The wolf charged at the fallen Young-jin.
Pounce!
Jun-soo, staring blankly as the wolf leaped over him, was too stunned to act, while their healer, Seong Min-ho, could only watch helplessly.
Thud!
Slam!
“Tsk. When hunting medium-sized beast monsters, you don’t switch places with the tank right away.”
Deokhun grumbled in a harsh voice as he rushed forward, kicking the black wolf away just before it could reach Youngjin. The wolf slammed into the wall, leaving a clear imprint of Deokhun’s boot on its chest.
“The boss room is next. Get your act together before we go in.”
Deokhun frowned deeply. Whether or not they understood his expression, Youngjin and his friends exchanged glances and smiled.
“Yes, Uncle! Let’s go, guys!”
“Okay!”
“Let’s do this!”
They were brimming with confidence. Youngjin led the way, opening the door to the boss room.
***************
It had been about 20 minutes since Youngjin’s group and Deokhun entered the boss room.
Boom!
“Ugh.”
Drip…
Kim Junsoo, shield in hand, was pushed back. The dungeon boss, Cerberus, roared, raising its heads high.
“ROAR!”
“GROWL!”
“SNARL!”
Each of its three heads made different noises, and all six of its eyes were locked onto Youngjin.
Swish!
The beast’s claws, larger than an adult man’s palm, slashed at Youngjin’s torso. Though he blocked with his sword, the force knocked him back, causing the claws to rake across his chest.
“Urk.”
Fortunately, the claws didn’t pierce his leather armor. The expensive gear Deokhun had provided did its job.
“Heal!”
Minho quickly used a healing spell on Youngjin. The armor had protected him from external injuries, but it couldn’t absorb all the impact. As a result, his ribs were cracked, making it hard for him to breathe.
“Th-thanks.”
Youngjin stood up again, while Junsoo positioned his shield, ready for another attack.
‘Is this the limit?’
Watching from behind, Deokhun shook his head. While Cerberus was taking damage, their side was suffering far worse. If this pointless battle of attrition continued, they would be wiped out.
‘Where did all their confidence come from?’
The healer was already drenched in cold sweat, and the tank was so battered that there wasn’t a single part of his body that was unharmed.
Only Shim Young-jin, who had been continuously healed, was merely a little tired.
Shim Young-jin had asked Deok-hoon to stay back and observe them, wanting to prove themselves.
But rather than feeling proud, Deok-hoon now just felt sorry for them.
‘They still have a long way to go.’
Deok-hoon, who had been sitting, now got up, ready to finish things himself.
At that moment, the door to the boss room opened.
Creak—
Thud—
‘Golem?’
A stone golem entered the boss room with its heavy footsteps.
This was a sight he had never seen before.
A monster entering a boss room?
Sure, dungeons are unpredictable, but this went beyond his common sense.
Srrrng—
Deok-hoon partially unsheathed his sword and stood up.
But he didn’t attack immediately.
The mana he sensed from the golem was negligible, and strangely, the golem didn’t react to him.
Typically, any monster, whether strong or weak, would show hostility toward humans. But this stone golem displayed no emotion toward him at all.
More importantly, something else caught his attention.
‘Was there ever a golem like that?’
No matter how he looked at it, the golem’s form was too sleek.
There are many different types of golems, so he couldn’t definitively say this kind didn’t exist. But this one felt more human-like than monster-like.
‘It looks oddly familiar.’
Deok-hoon had a vague feeling that he had seen this kind of golem before.
Then, a memory suddenly flashed in his mind.
‘Metallic Hero?’
The appearance of the stone golem resembled a hero from the Wonder Cinematic Universe, specifically Metallic Hero, one of the few movies he actually made time to watch despite his busy life.
The stone golem looked like Metallic Hero’s suit, but made of stone instead of metal.
‘What the hell is that?’
While Deok-hoon was lost in thought, the stone golem walked directly toward Cerberus, the dungeon boss.
Deok-hoon fully drew his sword and kept a close eye on the golem.
If it threatened his nephew and others, he was prepared to strike it down at any moment.
For now, though, he was too intrigued by this strange sight to intervene.
**************
Thud—
Thud— Thud—
Do-jae, who had just entered the boss room, paused momentarily before walking forward again.
‘I should have entered without the golem armor.’
The reason Do-jae had stopped was purely because he was startled.
Who wouldn’t be surprised when an A-rank hunter had their sword drawn toward you?
But since Deok-hoon didn’t attack and just watched him, Do-jae continued toward the boss.
‘I have no idea why he’s not joining the fight.’
Do-jae hadn’t expected Deok-hoon to stand by and observe instead of participating in the battle.
Since the boss room had already been unlocked, it meant there was a fight in progress. With a quest at hand, Do-jae had entered with the intention of landing the final blow.
He planned to remove the golem armor and explain everything afterward.
‘Honestly….’
He had momentarily forgotten that he was still wearing the golem armor.
‘The boss hunt takes priority! I can’t let them steal my experience points.’
Pushing aside thoughts of Deok-hoon, Do-jae summoned his golems and sword from his subspace.
Boom—
“What the…. What the hell! A golem!”
When three golems appeared, Shim Young-jin finally noticed Do-jae’s presence.
-“I’ll help.”
Do-jae’s voice resonated from within the golem armor.
“Huh, it talks?”
“Young-jin, move!”
While Shim Young-jin was momentarily distracted by Do-jae, Cerberus charged at him.
Caught off guard, Shim Young-jin tried to dodge but tripped over his own leg and fell.
“Ahhh!”
Shim Young-jin squeezed his eyes shut.
A moment later, he cautiously opened one eye to find Do-jae standing in front of him, blocking Cerberus with both arms.
-“Latch on.”
Following Do-jae’s command, the three golems clung to Cerberus’s legs.
Since the golems were made entirely of stone, they were incredibly heavy.
Cerberus’s movements visibly slowed down.
Leap—
Seizing the opportunity, Do-jae jumped onto Cerberus.
Thanks to the strength stats he had invested in, he could now jump 1.5 times higher than before.
“Grrrr.”
Do-jae wrapped his arms tightly around the middle head of Cerberus.
Even so, Cerberus was still a boss monster.
His grip wasn’t enough to completely subdue the monster, and Cerberus thrashed violently in an attempt to throw him off.
-“Attack!”
Do-jae shouted to Shim Young-jin and the others.
Suddenly snapped back to attention, Shim Young-jin and Kim Joon-su began attacking Cerberus.
“Grrr!”
“Woof woof woof!”
“Graaaah!”
A brief but intense fight ensued.
When Cerberus finally began to falter, no longer able to muster any strength.
Swoosh—!
Do-jae, still clinging on, plunged his sword deep into Cerberus’s back.
No matter how tough the boss’s hide was, it couldn’t withstand the sharp tip of Do-jae’s sword combined with his force.
Thud—
At last, Cerberus collapsed.
Its red tongue lolled out as it breathed its last breath.
Ding—.
[Your level has increased.]
[You have cleared the quest.]
[You have received a reward.]
[Points +10]
No matter how many times he heard it, Do-jae always enjoyed the sound of the system notifications.
But that wasn’t the end.
Ding—
[You have acquired a new title.]
[‘Wolf Slayer’ has been added.]
[Beast-type monsters fear you. Their movements are slowed by fear.]
[You deal 30% additional damage to beast-type monsters.]
[Loot from beast-type monsters will be automatically stored in your subspace.]
“Oho….”
Do-jae’s eyes lit up as he confirmed the new messages.
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