Chapter 21: Promotion Exam (2)

A semi-transparent, 2D dungeon map made of holograms floated before me.

This is seriously complicated.

The dungeon, split into twelve branches, resembled an ant colony with its maze-like structure and winding passages. Even seasoned hunters would inevitably get lost here.

Of course, this didn’t apply to me, since I had my map hack enabled.

We’re here.

I checked our location, marked by blue dots on the map. Then, I scanned the red dots scattered throughout the dungeon.

Those red dots must be monsters.

Behind a rock-sealed cave at the six o’clock position, a red dot wearing a crown shape indicated the boss monster.

So, the device to open the boss room must be… this.

Within a small chamber on the dungeon map, a key-shaped icon glowed.

This must be the mechanism to unlock the boss room in the Demon Sealing Cave.

I placed my finger on the Parsley navigation window and tapped the small room marked with a key-shaped icon.

Set destination.

A thick blue arrow appeared, tracing the path from the cave where Kim Junhyun and I stood to the room where the key was located.

Simultaneously, a voice echoed in my mind.

“Let’s go, Junhyun.”

“Hyung? What did you just do?”

Junhyun asked, still looking bewildered. To him, it must have looked like I was simply gesturing at empty air.

So I replied, “I took a screenshot.”

About ten minutes after entering the dark cave in the four o’clock direction:

I stopped.

Inside the narrow cave, a three-meter-long snake slithered around sluggishly.

“A Thousand-Year White Snake,” I said.

Thousand-Year White Snakes were generally classified as C-rank monsters—relatively strong and possessing balanced elemental immunities. A C-rank hunter should be able to handle them easily.

At least, that was how it should have been.

“But… don’t those snakes look a little strange?” Junhyun pointed out.

“Hmm.”

He was right.

Normally, Thousand-Year White Snakes had silver scales. But the one we encountered had mottled skin, as if afflicted by some kind of disease.

Did the Alliance Headquarters tamper with them before releasing the monsters?

“Shiss?”

Then, suddenly,

The Thousand-Year White Snake whipped its head around in our direction.

The instant its blood-red eyes locked onto mine,

“Shiiiiiek—!”

It lunged forward, mouth agape, like a coiled spring.

“Brother, it’s dangerous!”

Junhyun threw himself in front of me, blocking the snake’s path. He swung his left fist with all his might at the onrushing serpent.

Thwack!

“Shiss?!”

The monster’s torso caved inward from the massive punch. It was a blow that should have been fatal.

But…

“Shiss! Shiiiss!”

“Huh—?!”

The Thousand-Year White Snake, its chest crushed, staggered briefly before lunging at Junhyun again.

“Damn it…!”

It was an unexpected situation, but Junhyun was no amateur.

I gripped the charging monster’s torso with both hands and exerted my strength.

Junhyun’s forearm muscles bulged, hidden beneath layers of fat.

Crack!

The sound of shattering bones echoed as blood splattered.

Yet, even then…

Sssssss!

Krrr?

The Thousand-Year White Snake, still restrained, began coiling around Junhyun’s arm.

I narrowed my eyes.

That should have been a fatal wound.

No matter how resilient a monster might be, crushing its vital point should kill it.

Yet, this creature had already faced two supposedly fatal injuries and was still moving freely.

“H-hyung! Something’s wrong!” Junhyun shouted urgently.

Despite being the one holding it, he was now the one whose movements were being restricted.

Hmm, I didn’t want to reveal my hand so early, especially since we’re live-streaming.

Originally, I’d planned to leave the small fry to Junhyun while I focused on gathering clues from key searches and boss monster extermination.

But it seemed unavoidable.

I raised a hand toward Junhyun and said, “Junhyun, stay put.”

“Y-yes?”

Whoosh!

A baseball-sized fireball ignited in my palm.

Junhyun’s face instantly paled with panic.

“Hyung?!”

“Stay still if you don’t want your hair burned off.”

I launched the blazing mass without hesitation.

Shriek!

“Whoa?!”

Thud!

The fireball grazed Junhyun’s face and struck the Thousand-Year White Snake’s head dead center.

Gurgle.

The monster’s body convulsed as its head melted away, then slumped into lifelessness.

Junhyun threw the snake aside, his face deathly pale. “Hyung! You fired a fireball right at my nose! I thought I was going to die…!”

“At least I’m not dead,” I replied nonchalantly.

For days, I’d been holed up in the Shinwa Guild’s training hall, relentlessly practicing Fireball. I was confident I could land a headshot every time.

So even if my head gets smashed, I can still die.

For some reason, my durability had increased dramatically, but apparently, I wasn’t immortal after all. Still, it was hardly time to relax.

Hisssss.

A chilling snake-like hiss echoed from the dark depths of the cave, where shadows clung to the walls. I checked my navigation. Over thirty red dots blinked ominously ahead of me.

I must have cranked up the difficulty way too high.

“Hyung, what should we do? These things seem to have physical attack immunity,” Junhyun said, his voice tense.

My Fireball could obliterate them instantly. But…

The problem was, my Fireball was far more effective against pinpoint targets than sweeping areas.

If I miscalculated the power, the explosion in this narrow cave would engulf both Junhyun and me.

Moreover, considering the upcoming boss fight, I needed to conserve a certain amount of mana.

So, what was the best way to handle this situation?

Was there a way to use my Fireball as efficiently as possible?

That’s when it happened.

“The situation seems pretty serious, hyung. I’ll get ready for now.”

Junhyun, wiping sweat from his forehead, pulled something from his suit.

It was a small crystal fragment dyed crimson red.

“A fire-attribute stone.”

“Yes. Since fire seems to be effective, I’m going to charge up a fire-attribute projectile.”

“Charge…? Oh.”

Right, that bastard Kim Junhyun had the Inhale (吸氣) skill.

This ability allows him to absorb mana objects or mediums into his body, convert that mana, and then project it as a projectile.

Furthermore, the shape of the projectile could be altered according to the caster’s will.

The potency is proportional to the amount of mana contained within the object.

An object, huh.

My gaze settled on the crystal shard Junhyun was about to swallow.

It was a property stone, no bigger than a speck of dust, containing only a tiny amount of mana.

Eating it would probably just let him shoot a few fireballs, maybe something on the level of Firebolt.

In that case, maybe this would be better.

“Junhyun, stop moving.”

“Huh?”

“Wait a second.”

With a flick of my finger, I made Junhyun lower the hand holding the crystal shard.

Then,

Whoosh!

I conjured a Fireball in my other hand and said, “Eat this instead.”

”…Huh?”

“Eat this.”

“You want me to eat your Fireball, hyung?”

“Yep.”

It was definitely possible.

As long as I wasn’t directly aiming and launching it at someone.

The Fireball hovering in my palm, still in its preparation phase, was essentially a solidified mass of condensed Mana.

Junhyun scratched his head and replied, “Uh, hyung. It’s possible, but… it’s really inefficient.”

“Inefficient?”

“Not trying to disrespect you, hyung, but… isn’t Fireball a skill that only costs one or two Mana?”

“Ah.”

I understood his point.

Why bother painstakingly absorbing the one or two units of Mana needed for Fireball…

when it would be simpler to just swallow an attribute stone?

I held out the azure-flaming Fireball to Junhyun.

“Enough talk. Just eat it.”

Seeing is believing.

Given our limited time, it was better to have him experience it firsthand than waste time explaining.

“Hmm… Hyung, wouldn’t it be easier if you just shot the Fireball yourself?”

“Do you want to eat it, or should I feed it to you?”

”…I’ll eat it.”

Only then did Junhyun finally open his mouth.

He lowered his head and swallowed the Fireball I had charged in my hand, as casually as eating a rice ball.

“You eat well. How’s the taste?”

“Taste? What taste? With such a tiny amount of Mana—it’s barely enough to tickle my liver…”

But just as he finished speaking, nonchalantly patting his bulging belly…

“Huh? W-wait!”

Gulp.

Junhyun’s eyes nearly popped out as he stared at his suddenly swollen stomach.

And then…

Whoosh!

Light seeped into the cave’s rock walls.

A glow reminiscent of a campfire erupted from beneath his suit, radiating from his abdomen.

Horrified, Junhyun looked at his stomach and asked with wide eyes, “Wh-what’s going on?”

“H-hyung? Isn’t this a Fireball?”

“It is.”

“N-no, it’s not a Fireball!”

It was, in fact, a Fireball.

To be precise, it was a Fireball brimming with 150 units of Mana—enough to cast a five-times S-class attack skill.

“N-no, this…”

But before Junhyun could finish his sentence,

Shiiiiiiiit—

A low, mournful cry echoed from the distance.

Drawn by the light emanating from Junhyun’s abdomen, over thirty Thousand-Year White Snakes had gathered in an instant.

“Junhyun, deal with that Mana yourself now. I’m going to take a break.”

“W-wait a minute, hyung.”

Junhyun muttered, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

“I… I think I have indigestion.”

”?”

“This… the mana’s too much. I got… indigestion…”

“Indigestion?”

“Yeah, just for a moment. I need to rest until my stomach settles down…”

What time is there for rest?

Shaaaah!

A horde of serpents, each capable of swallowing a human whole, was charging at us.

I gave Junhyun, who stood pale-faced, a wry smile.

And then…

“This is the best cure for indigestion.”

Thwack!

I slammed my palm hard against his back.

“Gah?!”

Manager Mi’s emoticon and death cry flashed across his vision in quick succession.

Junhyun’s horrified gaze darted to me momentarily before he stammered,

“H-hyung… nim… what… burp. Blech!”

His mouth fell open.

Immediately after…

Pwaaaah!

A torrent of fire erupted from the his wide-open mouth.

Whoosh!

It looked just like a human breathing fire.

The entire cave lit up with the waves of otherworldly energy emanating from the blast.

At the same time, a searing heat engulfed us, as if we’d been thrown into the midday summer sun.

The monsters rushing toward us couldn’t resist Junhyun’s fiery puke—no, his fire breath—and could only writhe helplessly in the flames.

“H-Hyung, what are you doing…”

“Now, this way.”

Junhyun turned to face the remaining group of venomous snakes and slapped his back again.

Fwoosh!

“Cough, Hyung, wait…”

“This time, over there.”

Whoosh!

“Hyung… Puh!”

“There’s still some left. Fire.”

FWOOSH!

After a few more waves of fiery cascades had filled the dark cavern, I nodded, surveying the charred remains of the monsters.

“Not bad.”

The flames were pure Mana.

Though acrid smoke filled the cavern, it too quickly dispersed, dissolving back into Mana.

“See? Feeling better after I patted you on the back?”

Junhyun, who had just finished vomiting waves of flames, raised his head, looking exhausted.

“Y-yeah, Hyung. Though I still feel like I might heave a few more times. My stomach’s killing me… Ugh!”

Clearly, a few breaths alone weren’t nearly enough to purge the Mana from his system.

“What was that, Hyung? When did you learn such a brutal skill?”

“Who knows?”

“No, seriously. Even when you swallowed that S-rank attribute stone before, it wasn’t this intense…”

“Save the chatter for later. Let’s move.”

The real dungeon crawl starts now.