Not So Solo Leveling VIII (Patreon)

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-]|[-

The amount of Mana emanating from the two S-Rank Hunters was beyond belief. Ahn felt suffocated even being near it. This was going to be a disaster! A fight between two S-Ranks could rearrange the city! And that was to say nothing of what would happen if Thomas Andre decided to raise a fuss. They had to stop this!

“You looking for a fight, Baek Yoonho?” Dongsoo had a massive smirk on his face. It appeared as though he was going to get to have some fun after all.

“Oh, I think I am, Hwang Dongsoo.” With his worry for his weak sister inside the Red Gate, Yoonho was itching to let off some steam. His claws sharpened as he prepared to swing.

And then the two S-Ranks attacked. A massive eruption blew out several square meters of the ground beneath them. Lightning crackled as pavement and dirt alike cracked and got blown away. Ahn, Hyun, and the observing first division manager Joo Sungchan were almost blown away entirely.

And then the eruption died down, “Heh, not bad.” Dongsoo was still grinning even with his red-lensed sunglasses now cracked on the left side. “You stopped the both of us.”

Woo Jinchul was standing beneath them, gripping Dongsoo’s fist and Yoonho’s wrist. Little bolts of lightning crackled around them and his dress shirt and blazer’s sleeves had been shredded up to his shoulders. The two S-Ranks backed off and Jinchul’s arms trembled. “If you two hadn’t held back, both of my arms would have been broken.”

Dongsoo snorted, “You really should drop this shitass Association of yours. We could use guys as brave and tough as you in the Scavengers.”

“I’m good where I am.” Jinchul rubbed his wrists and forearms. “And if you’re thinking Mr. Ahn over there discovered a Reawakening, you can forget it. I was the first to suspect that of Sung Jinwoo and used a state-of-the-art Mana Meter to measure his rank. He’s still very much an E-Rank and couldn’t possibly have killed your brother, much less an entire Strike Squad.” Yoonho’s eyes widened at the new bit of information.

Dongsoo laughed as he tossed his ruined sunglasses on the floor and stomped them. “You think I don’t know that? The more likely thing is this Yoo Jinho guy had overpowered gear due to daddy’s money and did it himself.” He smirked, his red eyes shining with an evil inner light, “I came here first because it was just an excuse to kill someone.” Ahn, Hyun, and Joo swallowed heavily. Dongsoo started walking away, “Forget it. You killed my vibe. I’m gonna go hit the hay.” And then his phone buzzed and he stopped, grabbing it from his pocket. After a moment, he growled, “You’re fucking kidding me.” He growled again, now legitimately angry. He held back the urge to crush his phone and glared at Jinchul, “Hurry the fuck up. Apparently my vacation is over early, and I have to get back to America. Lucky sons of bitches.” He spat on the ground as he walked to the car and slammed the door when he got in.

As the car drove away, the tension left with it. Well, most of the tension. “How long have they been in there?” Yoonho asked.

“About seven hours at this point.” Ahn replied, wiping his forehead.

“Then it’s been seven days.” Yoonho growled, “The weaker Hunters would have already been culled at this point.” He glared at Ahn, “Hwang Dongsoo was here for this Sung Jinwoo. Do you really think he Reawakened? That my sister regained her power?”

“Yes sir.” Ahn replied, “Though again… I don’t have any concrete proof.”

“Then we can ill rely on your intuition, Manager Ahn.” Joo sneered. “In my opinion, Kim Chul is miles more qualified than some nameless, inexperienced Hunter. And ranks don’t just flip flop. Miss Baek Miho’s incident was unfortunate, and she should have retired rather than chase past glories.” He adjusted his sunglasses smugly, “Kim Chul is an exceptionally skilled Hunter whose fighting capabilities are comparable to those of our most seasoned Strike Squad. He’s the only one we can rely on to get them through this.”

-]|[-

Kim Chul was apoplectic as he stared at Heejin. ‘WHY THE FUCK DOES SHE FEEL STRONGER THAN ME NOW?!’ And the fucking little E-Rank! It felt like she was just edging into A-Rank territory. Kim Chul’s senses weren’t that great, but his instincts were top notch. He was instantly able to feel that all six of them were stronger than the rest of their group, with the E-Rank being the only one below him.

Neither of the two girls looked any different. Both were still wearing their warm jackets as they were welcomed back by the rest of the squad. “Where were you guys? You were gone for hours!”

“Oh, we cleared out the Frost Bears.” Soohyun said cheerfully.

“By yourselves?!” Go Myunghwan gaped.

“Well, they did most of the work.” Songyi rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

“Include me in that.” Heejin rolled her eyes. “I took out like one bear. They got hundreds.” She pointed at the leaders.

No, that was wrong. Kim Chul ground his teeth to dust. It was impossible. Clearly some sort of dark magic was at play here. Neither of those two girls could have gotten such a huge jump in power in any other way! Something was wrong here. WHAT THE FUCK HAD THEY DONE?!

“What’s our next step, boss?” Another C-Rank asked.

“Well, it’s bedtime, so tonight we rest.” Miho said simply. “Tomorrow we’ll go after the Yetis.”

“Wouldn’t it be smarter to take out the Mammoths first? They’re closer, aren’t they?” Yoon Kijoong asked, remembering the directions Soohyun had pointed in.

‘Not a chance in hell.’ Miho thought to herself, ‘We have no idea if the Mammoths or the Ice Elves are the Dungeon Bosses and there’s no way we could leave EXP on the table like that.’

Of course, none of them would understand that, so Joohee chimed in, “They’re the weaker enemies.” She said, “Taking out the weak links just makes more sense.”

“Yeah, but the Ice Elves are intelligent and will be trying to find us.” One of the B-Ranks commented, “They’ll figure out that the Frost Bears are dead before too long.”

“Then we’ll just have to kill any scouts they have.” Miho said firmly. “Come on people, let’s get to rest.” She clapped her hands to make them jump. None of them missed Kim Chul’s suspicious gaze on them.

-]|[-

“Having bear meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is getting old.” Miho grumbled. At least in the isle she had variety.

“Don’t you still have some of the meat from the isle?” Joohee asked, “The Zinogre was tasty.”

“Nah, I’m out of that. Or at least out of the good bits.” Miho replied, “Plus, I’d have to share.” She smirked slightly, eyeing the rest of the Squad eating in their own groups around their own fires.

“Greedy.” Soohyun nudged her, grinning. “We’re going after the Yeti next, right?”

“Yeah.” Jinwoo said, “The Ice Elves are the most likely bosses since there’s two of them to only one mammoth. We should do them last.”

“Can the rest of these guys even fight enemies like that?” Songyi asked quietly, inclining her head over to the rest of the group. “Other than the jerk, I mean. None of them feel strong enough to fight even the Frost Bears.” Her massive increase in stats had made her senses far sharper, which she found amazing.

“In groups, sure.” Joohee replied, looking over, “Two of the B-Ranks could take one Frost Bear together, so I think three could take on a Yeti easily.”

“But expecting them to be able to do that is out of the question if their numbers are anything like the Frost Bears.” Heejin said quietly.

“It’s a moot point anyway.” Jinwoo said, “We’re not bringing any of them with us.”

“Mhm.” Miho nodded in agreement. “There’s a reason we did those C-Rank Dungeons the way we did. Anyone not in our party getting kills will completely waste the EXP.”

“Oh!” Songyi gasped, “I thought it was just because you didn’t want anyone to know what you could do!”

“Nope.” Joohee shook her head, “Non-Party Members steal the EXP and it all goes to waste since they can’t use it. They can’t even level up.”

Soohyun stood and stretched, “Welp, time to go, I guess. Last thing we want is the elves sneaking up on us before we’re done clearing the rest of the enemies.” They all got to their feet as well. “Alright guys, we’re off to take care of the Yetis.”

“About damn time.” Kim Chul stood and grabbed his axe. “Let’s go.”

They deadpanned at him, “Why are you acting like you’re coming with us?” Miho leered at him.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Kim Chul snarled, glaring at her. “I’ve been itching to get my hands on these guys. You’re not leaving me behind.”

“No, you’re not.” Miho deadpanned, “Your job is to defend the rest of these guys if the Ice Elves show up.”

“I’M NOT A FUCKING BABYSITTER, BAEK MIHO!” Kim Chul’s rage exploded over her words.

Miho shook her head. “If you’d use that damn brain you apparently have rattling between your ears, you’d realize that this is the best use of our resources. We’re already a well-oiled team and kill them efficiently, Heejin and Songyi can help with the cleanup, and you, the Tank, can do your job and tank if the most dangerous enemies show up.” She appeared directly in front of him in a burst of speed and yanked him down by the front of his armor, “But you don’t care about that. You only care about your fucking ego.” She shoved him back. He smacked against a tree and hacked from the impact. “You can be damn sure that when we get out of here, my brother will know you’re not ready to be any kind of leader. You might be a strong Hunter but you’re a weak, pathetic man.”

She walked back to the group, “Stay safe, everyone.” She said, before all six vanished in a flash of purple light.

Woo Chunghee, one of the B-Ranks, swallowed nervously as he stared at the fallen Kim Chul. “Uh… you good, Chul?” And like that question made him snap, Kim Chul stood, grabbed his fallen gear, and started stomping away. “Wait! Kim Chul! Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to go kill those fucking Mammoths MY OWN DAMN SELF!” He yelled, eyes bloodshot from sheer fury. Treat him like a fucking E-Rank, would she?! Well, he would show her! He’d clear this fucking Dungeon on his own!

“No, wait! Kim Chul! KIM CHUL!” The rest of the squad yelled at his retreating back in horror. He didn’t even pretend to listen to them… and now they were all alone without even one A-Rank to help them if any enemies came.

In the shadows of the trees, some of the Shadow Soldiers shrugged at one another. Kasaka had a sweatdrop and Buryura rolled all eight of her eyes.

-]|[-

“Alright Songyi!” Soohyun said cheerfully. “Time to put those stats to good use.”

“Right!” Songyi grinned in excitement as she raced up one of the trees. Like all of them, they were much taller than any earthen trees. She cast her gaze out, focusing on her perception. Already she could feel what a huge difference just one single day had made. They were right at the edge of the Yeti territory, which she quickly mapped out. The terrain was very different compared to where they had fought the bears. Less trees and far more rocky terrain. It wasn’t quite mountainous, but it was close, with many huge boulders or rocky crags everywhere. There was much more open space. And she could see hundreds of Yetis beating the hell out of each other for territory across the many leagues.

They were absolutely gigantic, ape-like creatures that were, on average, just a tiny bit smaller than Tank. They had black skin with dark red, tiger-like stripes. Tufts of fur covered their forearms, the front of their thighs, and their backs and chests. Their muscles were just as big as they were, huge and hulking. Songyi could fit inside just the calf of one of them with room to move around. Finally, they had massive, sabretooth-like tusks jutting from their jaws. They could definitely tear a human apart with a hilarious amount of ease.

Hunting them would be annoying because there were actually many groups of them congregating far apart. “Rival clans, maybe?” She mused, before an impish smile crossed her face. She summoned her bow and stood on her tree branch.

Down below, Jinwoo smiled, “Looks like someone is eager to start the fun.” Most of them smirked as they sensed Songyi’s mana building.

The shadowy arrow in her grasp was starting to writhe with magical power. To her surprise, a screen popped up in front of her.

[You have acquired a new skill: Overcharge.

Imbue magical energy into your weapons to empower them.

Warning: Doing so can lead to the item in question being destroyed if it cannot handle the amount of magical energy.]

Well, better not push her luck too much, then. She fired her arrow, and it zoomed off into the distance, exploding in a gigantic burst that seemed to set the snow on fire. All ten of the yetis were incinerated instantly and she smiled gleefully as she got a swarm of [Level Up!] messages.

She was still grinning proudly as she leapt from the tree and dropped back down to the group and informed them of what she had seen. “So, they’re pretty spread out, huh?” Miho grumbled, “That’s going to make this a pain.”

“Let’s form some groups then!” Soohyun said cheerfully, “Jinwoo can send kill squads out to help us. We can do me and Miho, Joohee and Songyi, and Jinwoo and Heejin for some variety!”

“A strong physical fighter with a ranged or magical option, huh?” Miho grinned, “I like it! Lowest kill count owes the rest of the group massages!” Songyi blushed madly and Heejin’s cheeks pinked too.

“I guess me and Jinwoo auto-win then.” The emerald-eyed beauty grinned at Miho.

“Nu-uh!” Soohyun wagged her finger, “Shadow kills don’t count. Only your own kills!”

“Oh, but your little red attack can take dozens in one go. That doesn’t seem fair.” Jinwoo grinned, “Not that I’d say no to giving you a massage.” He hugged her from behind and growled lowly in her ear. For the first time, he felt like he experienced a flawless victory as Soohyun went red.

-]|[-

Kim Chul burst from the trees and glared at the snowy field he found himself in. He could spot some of the mammoths and instantly could tell how huge they were. No earthly animals could get this size and still be able to walk. He hadn’t even seen Tank himself, but they were all just a meter shorter on average than that monster, though they weighed much more. They all had thick brown fur and tusks the size of trees.

There were also dozens of them, and Kim Chul was nowhere near arrogant enough to think he’d be able to take them all on with no backup all at once. He spied on them as they moved in a herd, keeping himself low as he got in range. With a quick yell, he used his Taunt skill. He knew full well how far it traveled and was able to ensure he’d only get one with it.

Its eyes reddened instantly as it trumpeted, turning around to face Kim Chul. Chul ran away, dragging it from its herd so he could get to it alone. Once he was near the trees, he set his feet and glared at the charging behemoth. It continued to stomp its way towards him, trumpeting furiously and shaking the ground with each step.

Chul readied his shield as it reared back and brought its trunk slamming down towards him. With a roar, Chul blocked the mighty blow and felt his knees quake from the impact. ‘STRONG!’ He thought as he dodged another slam, before bringing his axe down on the trunk with an angry roar.

Blood absolutely flooded the snowy terrain as he cut two meters off the sensitive appendage. The mammoth went wild, stomping its feet in agony. The trumpeting sounded wrong now, burbling from the blood blocking the airway.

The furious beast lowered its head and charged. Chul met it head on, catching its tusks with his shield and being pushed back from its sheer strength and bulk. His shield was gashed from the impact, but he managed to set his feet and shove its head back. “Take this!” He yelled as the axe changed into a hammer. He swung the bulky weapon, scoring a hit on the right tusk and cracking it. The mammoth made another unnaturally shrill noise of agony as its tusk broke and clattered to the ground, now muddy from the blood.

The mammoth swung its head, catching Chul with its other tusk and sending him flying with a scream. His armor even cracked slightly from the blow. But the mammoth was also unbalanced because of its missing tusk and flopped to the ground. Chul quickly found his feet and leapt at the mammoth, raising his hammer above his head. “DIE!” He roared, slamming it right into the mammoth’s skull and shattering it, releasing a damn tidal wave of blood that covered him.

Chul breathed heavily for a moment before lifting his weapon. “Yeah, I can do this.” He said, “I’m the Great Kim Chul! These things are nothing to me!” He yelled, slamming his hammer down on it again. You know. Just to make sure it was dead.

After a moment, he ran off to repeat the process. He had more of these damn things to kill.

-]|[-

A green beam hit one of the Yeti right in the chest, startling it. It didn’t hurt at all, but a character quickly appeared on its chest. It snarled angrily and started to stomp its way towards Heejin, before the rune on its chest detonated. Ice completely encrusted it and its entire clan, freezing them solid.

Jinwoo let out a whistle, “Not bad, Heejin.”

She grinned, “And to think I almost rejected the System when you guys first offered it.”

He chuckled slightly, “Why is that?”

“You brought Songyi here to show her how dangerous being a Hunter was, didn’t you?” She answered with a seeming non-sequitor.

He raised an eyebrow as he punched her ice, shattering it and its captives in one blow. “That’s right.” He said, “I wanted to see how she would react.”

“So you could decide whether to offer the System or not?” Heejin sidled up to him.

He nodded, “She’s my sister’s best friend.” Jinwoo replied. “Normally I would have just done my duty and brought her in to scare her straight. She’s been skipping school to go on raids.” He smirked mirthlessly, “Something that was partially my fault since she was on our Strike Squad with neither of us realizing we technically knew one another. Since she was just sitting outside as filler so the girls and I could enter the Gates legally, she got a very bad idea of what raids were really like.”

“Wait, she’s your sister’s best friend but you didn’t know her by sight?” Heejin looked confused, “But then why…?”

“She reminded me of me.” Jinwoo said, “In all the bad ways. Too stubborn for her own good and with few prospects for her future. The ability to invite an additional Player is new. Something we only unlocked the very day we entered this Dungeon.” Heejin’s eyes widened in shock, “That gave us a new option, but it was only going to be one I used if she saw what I had to show her and still wanted to be a Hunter.” He side-eyed her, “And you haven’t answered my question.”

She chuckled slightly, before they both leapt away from each other. A trio of yetis had tried to jump at them. Heejin quickly wrote a rune with deft, dexterous movements and a howling wind surrounded her wand. She swiped her arm and the wind howled before one of the yetis stopped moving. It groaned before its torso started sliding apart and it collapsed in a bloody heap.

Jinwoo smiled as he punched one of the yetis and sent it hurtling across the crags, its entire chest shattered from the impact. He negligently dodged a punch from the final yeti before uppercutting it so hard that its head flew off its body. Blood spurted around him as the beast fell to its knees and collapsed as he walked back over to Heejin.

She giggled, “I can’t believe just how much of a difference the System and your gear made.” She smiled at him, “You asked why I almost refused? It’s because I had the realization you wanted Songyi to have.” He blinked in shock, “This raid… it was a disaster, front to back. If you guys weren’t here, we all would have been dead. I… that was hard for me to come to terms with.” Heejin admitted.

“What changed your mind?” Jinwoo asked as they spotted another group of yetis approaching. “Also, us being here did make it worse, for the record. Dungeons we enter as a group get upgraded in difficulty to compensate for the increased amount of EXP needed for all of us.” Heejin’s jaw dropped, “All those C-Ranks we did were actually B-Ranks.”

“Wait, but then that means-” Heejin seemed to be having an existential crisis as she did the mental math. “I’m in an S-Rank Dungeon.” She whimpered.

“An S-Rank Dungeon whose ass you’re kicking.” He clapped her on the shoulder to get her to focus up. “We planned for a B-Rank and knew we’d be able to keep everyone alive anyway, even if we had to be sneaky about it. It’s just none of us expected those morons at the Association to mis-rank this Dungeon AND for it to be a Red Gate on top of it.” He smiled at her, “And even with all that, you and Songyi both rose to the challenge. The girls are proud of you both, you know?”

Heejin went pink. “…And you?”

He gave her a cheeky grin that made her go even redder, “Oh, I didn’t think my opinion would be so important, Heejin. But yeah, I’m proud too.” He smiled genuinely as she went beet red and rushed off to fight more Yetis. Or bury her face in the snow. Whichever came first.

Jinwoo just laughed and followed. After a quick Arise, of course.

-]|[-

“So you know Songyi is totally hot for Jinwoo, right?” Soohyun smirked as she lifted a group of flailing yetis into the sky. They then rocketed towards the ground and threw up huge plumes of rock and snow as she pancaked them, killing them instantly.

Miho snorted as she carved through a group herself. “He’s practically her knight in shining armor now.” She laughed, “Not only protecting her and making her feel safe, but also giving her the ability to reach for her dreams…”

“It’s cute.” Soohyun smirked. The two zoomed across the landscape, coming across a group of Frost Bear Shadows that was busy mauling a large group of yetis. “You snooze, you lose, boys!” She called out as she zoomed by and decapitated a yeti. Miho almost appeared to be in three places at once as she disemboweled a trio of the beasts.

The bears roared, “There, there.” Miho leapt up onto the leader’s back and patted its shadowy fur. “You’ll just have to be faster next time.” She winked before she and Soohyun zoomed off once more. The bears roared competitively and charged in another direction, eager to kill more yetis. “So, we doing anything about it?”

Soohyun rolled her eyes, “Well, we know Jinwoo won’t make a move.”

Miho smirked, “He probably hasn’t even noticed, the doofus.”

“He might be a doofus, but he’s our doofus.” Soohyun laughed before they landed on a crag full of Yetis. Soohyun raised her hand and used her new blue attack, the ball of swirling energy sucking up rocks, snow, and beasts alike into a chaotic, swirling mass that she sent off into the distance.

Miho grinned as she summoned her spear, “Let’s try this out!” Her hands started to glow as she used Ruler’s Hand. She chucked the spear with all her might, watching as it shattered the sound barrier and killed two approaching yetis just from the shockwave. It blew straight through the beast’s maw, shattering its fangs and almost decapitating it. It then changed directions and shot off towards another Yeti, still at full speed.

The spear then became a flashing red comet through the air as it zigged and zagged in every direction, taking out a dozen yetis before coming back to her hand. “Hooo, I love that skill!” Miho exclaimed.

“I still don’t know why the System gave it to me.” Soohyun deadpanned, “I already have telekinesis!”

“Well, it doesn’t cost any Mana.” Miho reminded her. “Maybe it has some hidden effects, or it upgrades into a more powerful skill?”

“Hmm, let me try it out.” Soohyun said, dark shadows engulfing her hand. “Ruler’s Hand.” She intoned, clenching her hand into a fist. The yeti she targeted imploded. Its torso shredded and shrank into a singular point in space and time. And then a massive burst of radiation charred the surrounding group of yetis to ash. “HOLY FUCK!” Soohyun squealed, stars in her eyes. “I just fucking black holed it!”

Miho picked her jaw off the ground, “Man, mine and Jinwoo’s seems almost lame in comparison!” She pouted outrageously.

“I’ll have to be super careful with it!” Soohyun grimaced as she thought through the implications. “If I use that next to normies I’d probably give them super cancer.” Miho snorted as they went off in search of more prey.

“You’re mine, boys!” Miho grinned as she sped up, her claws itching to find more flesh. And then Igris appeared from behind the yetis, decapitating the entire group in one smooth motion. “Igris you bitch! Those were mine!” Her jaw dropped as he gave her a thumbs-down and then blitzed away for another group. Soohyun started to cackle.

-]|[-

“Soooo, uh…” Songyi sounded bashful all of a sudden, even as she fired another arrow that blew a yeti’s brains out. “Is Soohyun dating Jinwoo?”

Joohee almost fell over giggling. “Is this the time for that?” She unleashed another swarm of Guiding Bolts, her artillery blowing huge craters in the landscape and even collapsing some of the rocks of the crag.

“I’m just asking.” Songyi blushed, “Not like these guys are particularly difficult to kill.” She summoned three arrows at once, firing each in a slightly different direction. One decapitated a yeti, another cut one in half, and the final had its landing leg taken out mid-leap, causing it to fall flat on its face right in front of Songyi. She fired one more arrow point-blank, causing a large splatter of blood that she had to leap away from with a grimace on her face. “Yuck.”

Joohee giggled some more, “Yeah, it is a bit nasty. I still don’t like it much even if I’m able to ignore it.” She grinned, “Thankfully I can do this now.” She pointed her morningstar and her Ray of Light blasted clean through another of the beast, searing and leading to a bloodless kill.

“Lucky.” Songyi muttered as they finished clearing the area. She wiped her brow, “Man, I almost feel like I’m cheating with this gear.” She muttered as they took off running for the next group.

“Well, don’t. Gear is as important to a Hunter as their skills are.” Joohee said softly. “Even Jinwoo would have been able to make a living safely if his gear hadn’t always been junk.” She sighed. “One time his dagger broke the very first time he used it against an enemy. He had to spend the rest of the dungeon just trying to punch things.”

Songyi grimaced, “Okay, but why don’t Hunters just grab weapons from enemies? They use them, right? The Elves have bows.”

Joohee opened her mouth before closing it, “Huh, why don’t we take weapons from Dungeon monsters?” She stopped, as did Songyi, before she opened her inventory. “Hmm, I still have the loot from one of the other dungeons we ran. I should clear this out.” She summoned a Goblin’s spear and looked at it, before grimacing, “Oh, maybe that’s why. This thing is junk.” She tossed the spear gently to Songyi.

Songyi looked at it and tilted her head to the side. “Durability almost at zero. No Mana detected nor any reinforcements from Mana Crystals. Wait, if this thing is this bad, how do the monsters hurt us with them?” She asked in confusion.

“Maybe they power them with their own Mana?” Joohee accepted it back before trying to do so. She channeled her Mana within, only for the spear to glow lightly before shattering in her hand. “…” She stared at the small shaft of wood that remained in her fist before rolling her eyes and dropping it. “Let’s just go.” She sighed in exasperation. The two took off running again, though they changed directions when they sensed that Tank and his bears were now where they had been heading.

“…So seriously, are they dating?” Songyi asked, a small blush on her face.

Joohee looked over at her, “And me. And Miho.”

Songyi tripped and faceplanted. Joohee burst into giggles anew.

-]|[-

It was several hours later when they finally joined up once again. “Have a good hunt?” Soohyun asked cheerfully.

Jinwoo smirked, “More than good. I did have to craft some of my weaker summons to free up their slots for some yetis though.”

“How is that scaling anyway?” Miho asked curiously, cocking her hip.

“The weapons have a higher chance to become higher grades now, and I’ve just about doubled the number of shadows I can store.” Jinwoo responded, “But it’s scaling off Intelligence. Or maybe Mana.” He let out a despondent sigh. “Guess that means actually putting points into it.”

“Well, it’s not all bad. Your mana pool will increase quickly.” Joohee said, patting him on the shoulder.

“It does kind of suck that it doesn’t outright increase your damage though.” Songyi said, making a face. “Is it really worth it for just more adds? If you get any big bosses you can always just clear up a couple slots, right?”

“Hmm…” Miho rubbed her chin between her thumb and pointer, “I don’t think you should continue neglecting it like you have been, but I’d say Songyi has a point. Nothing you do to Intelligence will make you stronger directly. It’ll only give you more Mana and more Shadows. You haven’t failed to resurrect a Shadow since Black Scar, but that doesn’t mean you never will again.”

“I would say you need to at least get it to a hundred and ten or so. That way it’s in line with your other skills instead of being a bunch of points down.” Heejin said, “It would give you a huge Mana boost and hopefully a lot more Shadows. You can keep alternating, just make it Strength and Intelligence instead for a while.”

Miho grinned cheekily, “So glad I don’t have to worry about that.” Jinwoo grumbled at that. “Anyway, bring us back to camp, Soohyun.”

“You got it!” Soohyun winked at her and in a blink, they were halfway across the Dungeon World.

“Oh thank god!” One of the B-Ranks exclaimed the second they spotted them. “We were terrified here!”

“What?!” Joohee gasped as she instantly felt what was wrong. “Where in the world is Hunter Kim?!”

“He abandoned us!” Go Myunghwan spat. “He was so mad that you left him behind that he just fucking charged off to, I don’t know, prove himself against the mammoths or something! Not even a minute after you guys left!”

“That damned fool!” Miho snarled, her face partially transforming as her fangs grew and her eyes slit. “Soohyun, can you teleport some of us there?!” She whirled to the purple-haired woman.

“No can do.” Soohyun grimaced, “It’s on cooldown for a bit. It wasn’t super far but it was far enough.”

“Soohyun, you, Heejin, and Songyi stay here.” Jinwoo commanded, “Joohee, hop on!” He offered the redhead a piggy-back. She hopped on and then he, Miho, and Joohee vanished.

“Damn that fool!” Soohyun snarled, “Girls, keep your guards up. I’ve seen this movie before.”

“So have I.” Songyi deadpanned, “As soon as the party splits up, the villains show up.”

Heejin merely sighed.

…

They landed in mammoth territory in minutes before gulping down some Fatigue Potions. “I’m fucking hungry.” Miho growled, “And instead of eating I’ve got to come find this stupid fuck.”

“Well, at least that should be somewhat simple.” Jinwoo deadpanned as they noticed the trail of dead mammoths. He then realized there was no sign of the guy. “…Hopefully.”

Joohee blinked, “He killed five by himself.”

“His skill was never in question.” Miho growled, “If only his intelligence wasn’t underage.” Jinwoo and Joohee both sputtered and began to laugh. Despite herself, a smirk crossed her face. “Let’s go.”

“In a moment.” Jinwoo grinned, ‘Free eats.’ He thought to himself as he said, “Arise.” The five mammoths rose as the rest of his Shadows erupted in a burst of black. “We might as well start clearing these things.”

Joohee sighed and brought up the System before sending the other girls a message. They were already here, so they might as well… The trio took off, staying together this time since there were far fewer mammoths than yetis. They were just far stronger and packed into tighter groups. “How did he even fight these things? I can’t imagine he took out an entire group.”

“He has the Taunt skill.” Miho responded, “Most likely he was getting them alone and beating them in duels.” She vanished, eviscerating a mammoth in a whirlwind of claws.

“Okay, so maybe not underage, but definitely close to room temperature.” Jinwoo laughed as he crossed his daos before unleashing a black ‘X’ that cut five whole mammoths into three pieces each.

“I’d say ‘don’t be so mean’ but…” Even Joohee couldn’t bring herself to defend the idiot. She called down a Celestial Beam, burning a charging group of them to cinders. She then leapt at another, cracking it over the head with her morningstar. Its eyes went white before it collapsed, faceplanting onto the snowy field.

Meanwhile, the Shadows were hard at work. Igris and Tank both could solo a herd each. Igris’s sword flashed this way and that, carving through fur and bone with the greatest of ease. Tank on the other hand got gored by a charging mammoth, only to barely move before turning to glare heatedly at it. He brought his paw up and then slapped the mammoth, shattering its tusks and turning its entire head into the world’s worst steaks.

The giant bear huffed and started to gnaw on the beast.

“OI!” Jinwoo roared, “No eating them! Spit that out!” He chided the Shadow, who roared at him mournfully. “You’re not alive anymore, boy! You don’t need to eat!” Jinwoo crossed his arms, not even flinching as a mammoth tried to swipe at him with its trunk. A trio of regular frost bears practically flew into it, knocking it off its feet and attacking madly. The mammoth was quickly shredded and Jinwoo glared, “Not you either!” He hissed at the sad bears who just wanted to eat the mammoths.

Joohee giggled over the Shadows’ antics as she dodged a charge and landed on the mammoth’s back. A quick Guiding Bolt sent the dead mammoth to the ground.

“Hmm, looks like the knights and the bears are between B and A-Rank.” Jinwoo watched as both sets of Shadows had difficulty taking care of business against the mammoths solo. They had to group up to kill them, usually in packs of two or three. The centipedes from the Penalty Zone were doing well on their own, as were the other creatures he had picked up in there. Their sheer size was to their favor. And, of course, his new mammoth Shadows were fighting against their living brethren with zero compunctions. He could tell they were slightly downgraded like this though. They were Elites rather than Knights.

Other Shadows were doing much worse. The Gnoll Sentinels and even the Gnoll Chieftain, which were the last few Shadows he had from some of those old Dungeons, were struggling unless they joined up with stronger Shadows. He had some giant snakes as well from the B-Rank Dungeons, which were being led by Kasaka. The former boss was doing fine, but the weaker snakes not so much. They were, like the bears and knights, having to fight in groups and still taking deaths. Buryura’s acid was doing very well thankfully, so the giant spider was having a grand old time.

Jinwoo drank a Mana Potion as he noticed it was starting to get under half. Keeping himself topped up was important. Miho landed near him, “Okay, where the fuck is Kim Chul?” She asked aggressively, growling.

“You don’t think he’s dead, do you?” Joohee asked, worry plain on her face.

Jinwoo grimaced, “He probably bit off more than he could chew. I can’t sense him anywhere.”

“But how?” Miho glared around the area before jumping on top of Tank. “Be a good boy and stand up for me.”

Tank roared and did so, now standing at his full height while Miho used him as a watchpoint and just whirled around a few times. She grimaced as she thanked the giant bear and leapt down. “I can’t see this fucker anywhere.”

“Well, it is snowing pretty heavily.” Joohee grimaced. She was right too. It hadn’t been snowing much for a winter ‘wonderland’ until a few hours ago, but now it was coming down in sheets practically. “If he… died a while ago…” Which he probably had seeing as he only took down five mammoths, and he had left the campsite immediately when they had gone after the yetis, “He’s probably buried in the snow.”

Miho snarled, “Then the only way we’re finding him is if he shows up himself, or if Jinwoo spots his body with Shadow Extraction’s ghost business.”

“And that’s if he didn’t manage to get into the trees before bleeding out.” Jinwoo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. And then they were surprised by Kasaka, Buryura, and the Gnoll Chieftain coming up to them. “Hmm? What’s the matter, guys?”

The three made noises and did whatever counted as ‘kneeling’ for their species.

[Kasaka Lv. Max

Rank: Elite]

Jinwoo’s eyes widened and he grinned.

[Buryura Lv. Max

Rank: Elite]

[Gnoll Chieftain Lv. Max

Rank Elite]

[Your Shadow Soldiers have reached the required level for an advancement. They may advance to the next rank if the Monarch allows.]

[Elite “Kasaka” has requested permission to advance to the next rank.]

[Elite “Buryura” has requested permission to advance to the next rank.]

[Elite “Gnoll Chieftain” has requested permission to advance to the next rank.]

[Elite “Cerberus” has requested permission to advance to the next rank.]

[Accept requests to advance to the next Rank?]

“Hell yeah!” Jinwoo was very happy. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but the first time had taken far longer. ‘I guess that’s what S-Rank Dungeons do.’

The Shadows all let out exclamations of joy as the shadows writhed around them madly, what looked like ghostly hands touching them. All three of them grew bigger. The Gnoll Chieftain had already been about three meters tall, and now he was about five. His muscles bulked up too. It even gained a bit of armor on its thighs and forearms and now was dual-wielding Greathammers. The ghostly armaments had blue flames engulfing them permanently now. He crossed them over his head with a triumphant roar as [Elite “Gnoll Chieftain” has been promoted from “Elite” to “Knight.”]

Kasaka didn’t change overly much. It seemed to molt instead, with a much bigger version of itself rising from its former shell, which vanished into shadows. Its head had changed, now looking much more like a King Cobra with a flared hood. The tip of its tail had changed as well, gaining a nasty-looking bladed tip. [Elite “Kasaka” has been promoted from “Elite” to “Knight.”]

Buryura was the final one, but other than growing far bigger, did not change overly much. The ghostly blue flames seemed to shine out of more of its body and its exoskeleton did now resemble armor much more heavily. [Elite “Buryura” has been promoted from “Elite” to “Knight.”]

Cerbie was the final one, and he also grew in size. He was now as big as Tank was. His claws lengthened and sharpened, and he also grew another pair of horns on each head. More of that blue fire started to crackle along its spine and necks, with the middle head now looking like it had a fiery mane. [Elite “Cerberus” has been promoted from “Elite” to “Knight.”]

He was also able to actually name them, seeing as how their names had been unofficial until now.

“Congrats!” Joohee clapped for the four Shadows. She had seen some of them promote before but hadn’t expected it to happen again so soon.

“Yeah, good job!” Miho grinned as she slapped her hand against the Gnoll Chieftain’s leg. All four of them were now on-par with top level A-Ranks.

“You four have done good work.” Jinwoo agreed with the sentiment. “Now go fuck up some more mammoths!” The four immediately got to work. He smiled at his two girls, “Hopefully things are going as smoothly for the other girls.” He said as they got back to work.

-]|[-

“Sweet, sweet EXP! Keep on coming to mommy!” Soohyun cheered as she, Songyi, and Heejin kept getting levels for free. Them more than her, obviously. “Even distance doesn’t mean squat if we’re in the same Dungeon!”

“The System is so broken.” Heejin sounded completely awed.

It had been hours since Jinwoo, Miho, and Joohee left, but they were not done yet. There may have been fewer mammoths than yetis, but there were still whole herds of them to deal with. AND the mini-boss too!

Songyi sighed, “Honestly, I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t have it. Can we invite anyone else?”

“I’m going to be inviting my cousin Jinho.” Soohyun replied, “Only reason I haven’t done that already is that we found out we could do it legit this morning IRL, and we were going to meet him tomorrow for our final Dungeon.”  She pursed her lips a bit, “But after that, Joohee will be the only one who still has an invite left. Unless the System throws something else at us.”

The girls ‘ahh’d’ in understanding. None of them noticed a single set of footsteps walk away from the campsite, the being creating them invisible.

-]|[-

“Ugh, I’m going to be really happy once we can get some sleep.” Joohee sighed as she chugged another Fatigue Potion. Unfortunately, neither they nor a single Shadow had seen hide nor hair of Kim Chul. The man was truly lost, unable to even be raised as a Shadow.

“Yeah, these things aren’t a real replacement for sleep.” Miho sighed. The only thing left to do now was the mid-boss, which they could see was a mammoth with both black and blue fur that was even bigger than Tank was by about half. It had two sets of tusks which were much thicker than the others even accounting for the size difference.

“Well, let’s get this over with.” Jinwoo said, before they charged at the mammoth. The Elderfrost Mammoth was an orange-name, so they weren’t really expecting it to be that difficult.

The second it saw them, the mammoth stomped and let out a really loud trumpet, rearing up on its hind legs.

[Elderfrost Mammoth has used Everfrost Reinforcement.

HP increased by 300%.

All stats increased by 30%.]

The boss instantly became covered in thick frost armor like the Frost Bears had been. Its legs were reinforced, and its skull and spine were even more protected, as was its belly. Despite how thick and heavy the armor had to be, it didn’t appear to be weighed down much at all nor hampered in its movement.

“Now that’s more like it!” Miho said cheerfully as Jinwoo’s Shadows surged forward. The mammoth stomped and the ground beneath it shattered completely in an expanding circle. The Shadows were all caught up in it and decimated, bringing Jinwoo’s Mana to almost zero. The three of them were even forced to leap up to evade the shockwave. The only Shadows that survived were Igris, Tank, and the Gnoll Chieftain, who were all able to leap over it. Kasaka and Buryura were destroyed instantly.

“Holy wow this thing is scary.” Joohee exclaimed, “It took out Knight Shadows in one blow! Is it really an orange name?!”

“I don’t know!” Jinwoo grinned as they landed, “BUT I KNOW I WANT IT!” He unleashed a cross-cut Umbral Blade at it, watching as his attack cracked armor and sliced fur and flesh alike. The Elderfrost Mammoth extended its trunk. Another deafeningly loud noise erupted from it as thousands of huge shards of ice flew at them.

Tank stepped up, snarling and slavering, before roaring and unleashing a huge pulse of Mana and an ear-popping soundwave. The same thing that had defeated so many of his Shadows when the huge bear had been alive. The shards shattered, glimmering in the sky as the tiniest flakes of ice.

Joohee burst into golden flame, rising into the sky like a conquering angel. It was the first time Miho and Jinwoo had seen it, and now they gawked at how utterly gorgeous she looked in her Seraph form. Both of them also felt a large increase to their stats just from being within her golden aura. Rather than increased personal defense and pure attack like Miho’s draconic transformation, Joohee’s Angelic Transformation provided an AOE buff to all allies within her range. It even provided some defense buffs on top of it. Truly appropriate for her.

Joohee raised her hand into the air and a huge, golden fireball appeared above her head. [Guiding Bolt] had evolved during the fight against the mammoths as it had reached max level, transforming into [Golden Star.]

She swung her hand down at the Elderfrost Mammoth and the Golden Star descended as though a second sun was crashing to earth. It hit the angry boss head-on and erupted into a pyre of golden flames. A tremendous shockwave hit them from the explosion while the mammoth let out a shrill shriek of agony. The fire stuck to it like napalm, searing it even as it thrashed and tried to put itself out.

It reared up again and stomped, blowing the flames out with the shockwave once more, but the damage was done. Its Everfrost Reinforcement was cracked or outright melted, and large patches of fur had burned off, leaving a horrible smell in the air and large patches of cooked flesh.

Igris, Tank, and the Gnoll Chieftain had even been affected by Joohee’s Golden Aura. They all raced forward, with the Gnoll Chieftain arriving first. Its two titanic hammers crashed into the Elderfrost Mammoth’s tusks, shattering them into shards of ivory. Igris arrived next, slicing through the right side of the beast’s flank. Jinwoo mirrored his Elite Knight, gashing its left flank.

It reared up in furious agony, ready to cause another earthquake and wipe out these insects gnawing at it. And then Tank arrived, his jaws snapping onto the mammoth trunk. The Elderfrost tried to cry out, but with its trunk being savaged it came off as more pitiful than intimidating. Tank’s claws shredded the mammoth, ripping through flesh and tearing off its enchanted ice. Finally, with one save jerk of his head, Tank ripped the trunk right off the mammoth’s face. Blood gushed from the wound as the mammoth again tried to bring its weight down, but Tank was up to the task of holding it up.

The Chieftain smashed its knees with his hammers as Jinwoo and Igris both set their feet and punched, shockwaves rippling through its exposed flesh from both sides. The sound of shattering bones rang through the air, as well as a heavy exhalation of breath from the Everfrost.

“DOWN BELOW!” Miho yelled gleefully as she fell from the sky. She had fully transformed as well into her draconic form and was flying faster than even the fastest jets had ever been capable of as she descended. Her spear was pointed straight at the creature’s spine as she crashed into it with thunderous force. The entire landscape quaked as she both impaled it and shattered its spine with her landing. It finally fell, Tank and the other Shadows backing up.

The Elderfrost wasn’t quite dead yet, and it tried to use one last trick. Mana rose in the air as it tried to use one more attack: an icy blizzard that would freeze its enemies down to their marrow. Jinwoo, Joohee, and Miho leapt into action. Jinwoo’s fist crashed into the left side of its head, Miho’s the right, and Joohee’s morningstar into the crown of its skull. Three sickening cracks that all melded together roared through the icy field, and the beast collapsed.

[Level Up!]

“Phew!”  Joohee landed and transformed back, as did Miho. She wiped her sweat away, “That was tough for an orange name.” She said as she put away her weapon.

“Screw the beastie!” Miho grabbed her and dipped her as she squeaked, stealing a heavy kiss. “PUAH!” She exclaimed, leaving Joohee’s face burning red when they broke for air. “You look like a damn GODDESS in your transformation, Joohee!”

“Mihoooo!” Joohee blushed madly, hiding her face.

And then Jinwoo stole her away, giving her a kiss of his own that had her toes curling. They could visibly see steam rising from her head. “You’re so damn sexy.” He growled at her as she rubbed her thighs together. “Our Angel.”

“You guys…” She continued to steam in both embarrassment and pleasure.

“Let’s wrap up and go rest.” He smiled at them, “Miho, you and Songyi definitely have a point. The regular Shadows were completely useless against this guy. Even the stronger ones got one-shot. You couldn’t even call them ants.” He jerked his head at the Everfrost.

“Yup.” Miho nodded, “Not their fault, obviously, but it’s why I think you should continue leveling your actual stats rather than wasting the points by completely switching to Intelligence. Imagine if you were too weak to resurrect this thing. You’d be pissed!”

“You know it.” Jinwoo said, turning to it. “Arise.” He smiled as the massive Everfrost Mammoth rose before him in Shadow form. “Perfect. Elite Knight like Igris. Now what to call you?”

“Everfrost?” Joohee asked, smiling lightly with her embarrassment under control.

“Bit of a mouthful.” Miho muttered, “Jinwoo usually goes with simple shit and Tank is taken, so why not Titan?”

Jinwoo grinned sheepishly as Joohee giggled, “Titan it is.”

Miho yawned, “Let’s go back to camp. I could eat a fucking mammoth and sleep for a week.” Both agreed with the sentiment.

-]|[-

“Welcome back.” Soohyun glomped them as soon as they appeared in the middle of the camp. “You guys look super tired.”

“Hungry more than tired.” Jinwoo kissed her gently before sitting at the fire and grabbing a shank of bear meat. He was just hungry, so they’d try the mammoth tomorrow before they went after the Ice Elves. He didn’t feel like waiting for it to cook.

“But yeah, we’re tired as hell.” Miho sighed and she and Joohee kissed their girlfriend as well and grabbed their own shanks of meat.

“We figured you would be, so we made sure there would be plenty of food ready when you arrived.” Heejin patted Miho on the shoulder with a smile. “We even found spices in the Store to make it tastier.” She murmured, lowering her voice so that the other guys wouldn’t overhear.

“Wait!” Songyi looked around, “…Where’s the asshole?” None of the three said anything and her head fell, “Fuck, he’s dead, isn’t he?” The rest of the White Tigers let out both exclamations of dismay as well as grunts of not quite satisfaction, but uncaring apathy. He had abandoned them to their possible dooms, after all.

Heejin bit her lip, “Did you… turn him into…?” She didn’t finish her question, looking at Jinwoo.

He shook his head, “We never found him, nor did we sense him at all. With the snow, his body was probably covered.” Even trying to get the bears to search with their sensitive noses hadn’t worked, seeing as how none of them actually had Kim Chul’s specific scent and the entire area was drenched in blood anyway. That and the snow made searching a pain.

Heejin didn’t have a chance to respond as all six of them stiffened. Weapons appeared in their hands as they turned, “Come out!” Jinwoo called out, “You think you can hide auras as strong as that from this range?”

The rest of the B and C-Ranks panicked as an army of about a thousand Ice Elves started appearing. They had felled many trees in the area and there were still plenty of them that had to stick in the trees, snickering down at them. Miho let out a groan, “You’ve got to be fucking shitting me.” She tore through the rest of her shank of meat as she eyed the veritable sea of malicious smirks.

“So it’s true. Not all of you are trash. A few of you are quite skilled. More than I was told.” The leader said. He had wild white hair and three gleaming purple Essence Stones on his forehead.

“What was that?” Miho glared at him.

“Did you just call us ‘trash?’” Soohyun did as well.

“?” The Ice Elf looked surprised. “You understand our language?”

Joohee almost rolled her eyes as she looked at Heejin and Songyi, both of whom also had looks of surprise and comprehension on their faces. ‘Oh System…’ She thought to herself. The others all looked astonished and were looking back and forth between the elves and the Party.

Jinwoo stepped forward, “How did you sneak up on us?” He asked the leader. “Your signatures haven’t moved in days. Hell, it still feels like you’re in your territory.”

The Ice Elf grinned maliciously. “Ah, a tiny but useful trick, though not one of mine.” He waved a hand at an empty space beside him, “Might I introduce my Queen?”

And then, in a swirl of enchanted ice, another being that didn’t quite look like an elf but was similar enough appeared. All of a sudden, both of them could be felt as the snow died down. They had been hiding their presences through the falling snow.

She had pale skin rather than blue like the elves, along with blue hair and massive horns sticking out of the side of her head. She also had some strange protrusions coming from her forehead that looked almost like branches. She had quite the sexy-looking dress on and what looked like a fox with no legs made out of ice sat over her right shoulder. She was also very tall. Probably over eight feet in height. Taller even than the ice elf King.

She gave them an ice-cold, placid look and said nothing.

“You’ll have to forgive Beste.” The elf said with a smirk, “She’s not much for conversation with lesser beings.” All of them narrowed their eyes. “But that’s not really important. The fact that we can communicate is. There’s someone I’d like to introduce you to.” He chuckled and then waved his other hand at a different elf. One Jinwoo recognized, “You’ve met before. He’s the one who informed us that there was someone powerful amongst the humans. They’re quite interested in dueling you, so-”

Miho appeared behind the elf as his head disappeared, her claws out. “And?”

The elf was silent for a moment, before a shit-eating grin crossed his face. “How amusing.”

Miho lunged at him, and he drew a dagger, clashing it against her claws as she flipped over his head. The horse went down in a spray of arterial blood as they both landed with their respective peoples.

He chuckled as he landed, “I’ll make you an offer you’ll be quite interested in.”

“But before that-” Beste spoke for the first time, her expression still placid but with the faintest stirrings of interest. She had an absolutely musical voice. That was the only way it could be described.  “What are you six doing mixing around among the human refuse? You are not one of them, so why pretend?”

Jinwoo blinked, “What are you talking about?”

“Ahahaha!” The Elf King laughed, “I suppose you aren’t aware.” He tapped the side of his head, “We hear voices in our heads all the time.”

“Voices which demand we hunt and kill the worthless humans.” Beste said. “But they are silent in your presence.”

Jinwoo and the girls all looked at one another. ‘The System strikes again.’ They knew it had to be the System, because the elf Miho had easily slaughtered had once targeted Songyi just ten days ago. It had to be due to them being Players.

The King shrugged his arms, “I suppose it matters not, if you weren’t even aware. Regardless, we have no reason to fight each other. We’re not interested in losing people either.”

“So here is our deal. You hand over the refuse behind you, and we will let you go in peace.” Beste turned her chin up at them.

“Oh, but we have some questions for you.” Jinwoo said, “Who are you? Where do you come from? Why kill humans at all? It can’t just be an annoying voice in your heads.”

“We are-” The Queen started to say, before she visibly and noticeably glitched. That was the only possible explanation. Outright graphical artefacts engulfed both her and the others around her for half a second and it sounded like she was being rewound. “You hand over the refuse behind you, and we will let you go in peace.”

The Party stiffened in shock. What the hell was that?

“Well, what do you think?” The King chuckled, “A good offer, no?”

“I think not.” Jinwoo rolled with the punches the best he could, and figuring they’d get nothing more, simply moved onto the fight.

The King’s expression fell. “We have you outnumbered a thousand to six. Do you intend to make enemies of us unnecessarily?”

Jinwoo grinned, “You sure about that?” The girls all smirked as his shadow erupted, scaring the shit out of the C-Ranks and B-Ranks behind them. His Shadows rose. Knights, gnolls, werewolves, bears, and mammoths all rose, filling the empty clearing that the fight was to take place in.

They were still outnumbered, but it was now five to one. “What a waste of time.” Baruka, contrary to his words, was smiling.

“A waste?” Jinwoo was still smiling too, “You really think so?” The King had an absolutely giddy look on his face.

The King raised a hand before swinging it forward. The elves all charged as Beste lifted into the air of her own accord. The Shadows did so as well, surging forward to meet them. Beste clearly had no patience for fighting. “Queen’s Authority.” A flower made entirely of ice formed in the middle of the field, closer to Jinwoo and the girls. It exploded and sent sharp ice fragments tearing through the Shadow Soldiers. It cost Jinwoo a quarter of his mana instantly but shocked the two enemy leaders as the Shadows reconstituted themselves. “What?!” She exclaimed, before narrowing her eyes. A blizzard instantly erupted from her, and they could feel a heavy quality in the air that hadn’t been there before.

“Well that wasn’t very nice.” Joohee took to the air as well in her angelic form. Instantly, the blizzard seemed to be countered. It was still snowing, and the wind was still howling, but that heavy quality disappeared. She raised her hand above her head and created a Golden Star. She flung it forward, catching the charging elves in a golden inferno that took out a hundred of them in one shot.

Beste finally gained a real expression, one of severe annoyance. The icy fox around her shoulder charged forward, freezing the flames where they flickered.

“Those guys are too strong for us.” Heejin nudged Songyi, “We’re on mook duty.” She waved her wand quickly and created a fireball herself, flinging it at the elves.

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Songyi made her armor visible. “Go!” She waved at the C and B-Ranks. “We’ll cover you!” She drew her bow and headshotted an elf. She ran after the other escaping humans before taking to the trees and sending down arrows more powerful than anti-tank rifle rounds.

Jinwoo appeared next to the King, slashing at him with his daos. The elf blocked both blades with a single dagger and instantly drew a second dagger that he used to redirect Miho’s spear into the ground.

The King’s grin was almost childlike, “The name’s Baruka.” Their weapons made screeches as they disengaged, whispers of wind slicing divots in the snowy ground. “Who are you?”

Jinwoo summoned his gauntlets and greaves, putting away the blades. “Sung Jinwoo.”

Miho transformed as she also put away her spear, “Baek Miho!”

“Well met! I’ll have to ask those other girls’ corpses when I’m done with you.”

They all charged, and Miho and Jinwoo were instantly reminded of why a boss like this was usually far more dangerous than a boss like the Everfrost. The mammoth could take down A-Class Hunters with ease with its powerful strikes and ultra-tough defenses. But it was big. Slow. And a huge target.

Baruka on the other hand, didn’t feel like sitting still, and was just as strong and agile as they were, if not more so. His knives flashed with every movement, blocking Miho’s claws, trying to cut into Jinwoo’s arms, thighs, or other fleshy bits as he dodged punches and kicks.

He was even able to get through Miho’s armor, natural and manufactured, though only leaving annoying small cuts. Miho snarled, unleashing a blaze of fire directly into Baruka’s face, causing him to leap away in annoyance, his clothes burning and his face and hair singed. “How dare you?!” He snarled, before his eyes widened. He whipped around, seeing the cross-shaped beams Jinwoo had unleashed at him. He crossed his daggers, blocking the attack but being forced to slide back. That left him open for Miho to claw his back, leaving four gashes right along his shoulder blades. A hiss escaped him as he redirected the Umbral Rend, whirling around and just barely catching Miho’s forehead with his dagger. Blood flew from the wound as they all backed away from one another.

“Tch, why do we get stuck with the dedicated mage fight?” Soohyun complained, several meters away. She created a Spatial Divergence on the tip of her finger and pointed it at Beste. She burst it, sending a crushing wave of repulsive force.

Beste raised a hand and a titanic tower shield made of solid ice dropped in front of her. The technique hit the ice and rang like a gong, destroying it utterly. The shield had done its job though, weakening the attack to the point that only Beste’s dress was ruffled.

Joohee cast a Ray of Light at her, watching as it seared through her flesh, burning away her arm and part of her side. The Ice Witch looked shocked for a moment, before she turned to ice and shattered. “What?!” Joohee gaped. She then felt the hair on the back of her neck rise up and dodged to the right, watching as that icy fox rushed through the air she had just been floating in. The fox continued downward, smashing into the snow and creating a sea of ice.

“How… annoying.” Beste said as she reappeared in a swirl of snow. Her expression was no longer placid and as cold as her ice. She looked irritated. Her magical power surged, shooting up as a geyser and infusing into the snow. The blizzard started to get more powerful and there was a magical quality to it now.

A snowflake landed on Joohee’s arm, and she howled in pain as it instantly bloomed into a jagged ice flower. “Soohyun, don’t let it touch you!” She yelled as she created another Golden Star and held it above her head. The ice melted and she healed herself, hissing.

“Way ahead of you!” The snow was warping around her, looking like it was going to touch before turning into a long strand of snow as it fell around her, before forming back into a snowflake near her feet. “Tch, this will drain my Mana like crazy.” Her eyes widened, ‘And it might hurt Jinwoo or the girls!’ She instantly raised her hand and pumped mana into Gravitic Nihility. The blue orb rose above her head and started sucking all the snow in. It grew and grew in size as Soohyun kept an eye on Beste.

Beste showed her teeth in a silent snarl as she raised her hand. Her fox surged at Soohyun, looking to freeze her into an ice statue. Joohee got in front of the fox, pointing her own attack at it. The fox started to sublimate as the golden flames burned it away. Joohee fired the Golden Star down at Beste, and her attack was more powerful than the Ice Witch’s. The fireball hit her and erupted in a golden conflagration. And then just to be sure, Joohee summoned a Celestial Beam down on her location.

“There!” Soohyun threw her Nihility at the forest. The second it hit, what appeared to be a mountain of jagged ice peaks pointing sideways erupted into being. And then it instantly shattered as a visibly enraged Beste rose out of it.

“This is getting us nowhere.” Joohee sighed, chancing a look over at Heejin and Songyi.

The two girls were doing great. Heejin had turned into a little elemental mistress, summoning fire, ice, wind, and even lightning down on their enemies. She cast a lightning bolt with her wand that burned a hole through an ice elf, before dodging an arrow and catching it in her hand. She then raced forward and buried the arrow in the forehead of the elf who had fired it. She waved her wand, and icy stalagmites grew up and impaled the other two.

She straightened up, eyes widening as an elf speedily tried to stab her with twin swords, only for Tank to bite down on him and rip him in half. “Good boy.” She patted the huge bear on the leg before getting back to work.

In the trees, Songyi was sniping elves left and right, a giddy grin on her face as well. For someone who had been a complete and utter weakling even after Awakening, she felt amazing. She didn’t just stay in one spot, hopping from tree to tree and wrapping around the whole forest as she took her shots.

However, she had gotten predictable and, as she landed, an elf fired an arrow directly at her position. Frowning, she drew her string back and fired, knocking the elf’s arrow right out of the sky. “Gotta do better than that.” She smirked, charging her next shot. The elf grew angry and fired a flurry of arrows at her.

Her one charged shot blazed as it flew through the air, its shockwave knocking all the arrows heading towards her away and to the ground as they lost all momentum. Her arrow pierced straight through the elf and detonated when it hit the ground. The explosion was surprisingly big, taking out ten other nearby elves and, unfortunately, a few Shadows with it.

She then got in a little over her head as she fired at Beste. The Ice Witch instantly turned to her and shot a ball of ice at Songyi. “EEP!” She squealed as she got the hell out of the way, watching as a hundred meters of forest were frozen solid instantly. “…Okay, let’s not do that again until I’m stronger.” She mumbled as she refocused on the trash mobs.

“Any ideas?” Joohee asked as Beste dodged a Ray of Light. “Doesn’t seem like we’re getting anywhere.”

Soohyun smirked just slightly. “Just one.” And then she vanished and a surprised Miho took her place.

Miho only let her surprise show for a second before grinning. “Well, veggies are good too, I suppose.” She rushed at Beste, who did not look pleased as she was now forced to dodge madly. Miho was much faster than Soohyun or Joohee and her Perception was much higher as well. She threw her spear at Beste and controlled it with Ruler’s Hand. The spear burst into flames as she switched its form and pierced through another ice clone, though Miho could already smell where her true body was. She appeared within the tree line, her claws flashing.

Beste howled as Miho’s claws not only gave her a Glasgow smile but also cut her nose in half and completely blinded her as Miho slashed through her eyes. Her shriek was no longer musical as her magical power exploded around her, turning several square kilometers into a jagged ice crag as Miho leapt and backflipped away. She unleashed a Dragon Breath at it to melt some of the ice.

Titan was forced to use his earthquake technique just to keep the expanding ice field from killing the other Shadows, Heejin, and the humans. Songyi was far away enough to only develop a cold sweat as she watched.

Joohee still flew in the air and avoided the spikes, charging almost half of her Mana into a Golden Star and throwing the sun at the epicenter.

Several Hunters were forced to shield their eyes and finally, an emotion that wasn’t amusement showed on Baruka’s face. “BESTE!” He howled before his magical power erupted. It was such an explosion that his warm clothes were blown off. He then practically flew at Soohyun, blaming her for Beste’s pain as it was only after she switched places with Miho that his Queen was injured. It was her fault! He slashed at Soohyun with his dagger… only for it and his entire arm to warp and flow around her. “WHAT?!”

And then Jinwoo appeared, cutting his arm off at the shoulder. Soohyun smirked as she turned, “Looks like it’s over.” She said as a very small red ball blew his right leg off.

“BULLSHI-” Baruka started to say before Jinwoo’s gauntlet crashed into his face, muffling his voice. With his eyes glowing blue, Jinwoo smashed Baruka into the ground. The Ice Elf King shattered the snow dirt with his body before Jinwoo stood upright and raised a fist glowing blue with Ruler’s Hand. “FUCK YOU!”  Baruka roared as he thrust his dagger in his remaining arm at Jinwoo’s face.

Jinwoo brought his fist down and shattered Baruka’s dagger and arm with it, smashing it into the center of the elf’s chest and blowing a hole clean through it into the ground.

At the same time, Beste, battered, burned, and mutilated, staggered to her feet. She sensed Miho closing in and pulled out her last resort. An ice harp appeared in her hands, and she started to strum it, filling the air with a haunting melody. She sighed in relief as a blue glow engulfed Miho’s eyes, before choking as Miho rammed her entire arm through her heart, holding the blue organ in the air behind her. Beste instantly slumped with a death rattle as Miho yanked her arm back.

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

She sighed, “Well, at least it was quick this time. Fuck I’m tired.” She grabbed Beste by the leg and started dragging her over to where the fighting was finished. She grinned as she saw that Jinwoo had already raised Baruka and the rest of the elves. He did look a little irritated since he had to release most of his weaker shadows just to get a good platoon’s worth of elves, but there was nothing he could do about that. “Order up!” She grinned as she slung Beste’s body at his feet. “One ‘Ice Witch’ Beste, well done!”

Jinwoo smirked lightly as Soohyun giggled. Joohee’s lips quirked but she wasn’t much of one for morbid humor like that. “Now remember, Jinwoo. Her name is Beste. B E S T E.” Soohyun teased her man, making him give her a dry look.

“What did he name Baruka?” Miho asked curiously.

“Blades.” Joohee giggled as Miho made the ‘bruh’ face.

“Arise.” He rolled his eyes as his new Elite Knight stood and bowed to him. He confirmed her name as well. “And to think, the whole point of today was to give Songyi a lesson on Hunting.” Said girl pouted, elbowing him lightly.

“And now, you’re leaving with one more new Knight and three more new Elite Knights.” Soohyun laughed as the Shadows quickly got to work looting all the corpses. “Plus the four that ranked up to Knight! Good haul!”

“Yeah, that is great and all, but I just want to get to bed.” Heejin rubbed her eyes as Songyi yawned next to her. “I’ve had enough of bear meat and snow for the next decade.” She declared. The four main Players smirked at her.

The rest of the Hunters ran up, looking relieved. “Is it really over?”

“It’s over.” Miho said, feeling relieved herself. The C and B-Rank Hunters cheered, high-fiving one another.

“Time to go home.” Jinwoo declared, and as if he spoke it into existence, the Gate formed next to them. The Hunters who they had protected all cheered.

Miho held her fingers to her lips and gave a sharp whistle. “And remember, keep anything you saw in here to your fucking selves. We’ll reveal our strength when we damn well please.” She glared at them, and they all stiffened, nodding rapidly.

-]|[-

“Six in the morning.”  Ahn sighed as he checked his watch.

Yoonho looked tired and there were bags under his eyes. “They’ve been in there ten days already.” He rubbed them and looked at the sky. It wasn’t quite dawn yet for this time of year, but the sky was beginning to lighten up. “I-” His eyes widened as the Gate began to spark. “They made it?!” He smiled in complete and utter relief.

Joo smirked and adjusted his stupid sunglasses, “I told you Kim Chul would handle it.” And then his eyes widened as their guild’s two C-Ranks came out with a heavy looking crate between them. “Huh?”

And then all of the B-Ranks exited except for Heejin, each all carrying their own crates. Yoonho’s eyes widened, “All of them?” He whispered in shock.

Ahn let out a sigh of relief and pumped his fist as Jinwoo and the girls all exited, and Baek Yoonho froze as he felt the overwhelming magical power passively emanating from the four leaders. He didn’t even notice how much stronger Heejin seemed.

He did notice when the Gate closed and his First Division Manager screamed, “IT CLOSED?! WHERE’S KIM CHUL?!”

Miho’s step hitched just slightly as she grinned at Yoonho, “Sup, bro.”

“Miho.” Yoonho let out a relieved smile. He’d figure out the rest later. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Ugh.” She groaned, “I can’t even be mad at you for being an asshole. You take all the fun out of it.” She shook her head, “Whatever. We’re exhausted so we’re going home.”

He snorted, “Yes, because wanting my little sister to be safe makes me an asshole.” He rolled his eyes, “…Kim Chul?”

“The moron committed suicide by mammoth… we think.” Soohyun told her former Guild Leader, who balked at the knowledge of just what they faced in that Gate. She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, “We never actually found a body.”

Miho walked up to him and gave a light, backfisted jab to his chest, “You sure know how to pick ‘em.” She said dryly. “Insubordinate. Refused to heed a more experienced Hunter’s directions once his pride got licked. Oh, AND he abandoned the noobs-” She jerked her finger at the B and C-Ranks, “-for several hours while we were busy clearing out the yetis. It was legit the only actual job we gave him.” With every word spoken, Yoonho winced more and more. Off to the side, Ahn started smirking at Joo, who was looking paler and paler by the moment.

“Yeah, if he wasn’t dead, I would one-hundred percent be advocating for giving him the boot.” Heejin said, coming closer as well.

“I understand.” He smiled at his sister and her friends, bowing, “Thank you for keeping everyone else safe.”

Miho chuckled, patting him on the shoulder as she and the Party walked past. “Come on girls. We’ll drop you off.”

Heejin bowed lightly to Yoonho, before chasing after Miho. Jinwoo, Joohee, Soohyun, and Songyi all walked by as well. Yoonho’s eyes turned gold for a moment, before he twitched. ‘…Wasn’t Miss Heejin a B-Rank…? And wasn’t the girl supposed to be an E-Rank?’ His eyes went back to normal before he called out to his sister, “Miho, will you and Soohyun be coming back to the White Tigers?”

She turned back and smirked at him. “Hell no! We’re making our own Guild.” She stuck her tongue out and pulled her eyelid down.

“You damn brat.” Yoonho shook his head but couldn’t help but laugh. Jinwoo got in the driver’s seat with Joohee next to him and the other girls stuffed into the back. The engine roared to life and they raced off. Once they were gone, he muttered, “I almost wish Dongsoo had stuck around. I would have loved to have seen that ass whooping.” Before he turned to his Guildmates and started asking them questions. “What’s in the crates?”

Yoon Kijoon grinned sheepishly, “Honestly, loot I don’t feel we have any right to.” He opened the crate and Yoonho’s jaw dropped as he saw the sheer quantity of Essence Stones within. Not a single one was anything less than A-Rank.

In the Jeep, the party was busy with the rewards for clearing the S-Rank Gate. With his Perception so high, Jinwoo would have had to actively try to crash or even run a red light. “Anyone get anything good?”

“I got a bow!” Songyi chimed in cheerfully, “Won’t be using it though. It’s better than the one you made for me, but I can’t level it up.” She grinned, “I’m thinking of selling it.”

“Don’t.” Miho nudged her, “We have no idea how good your bow can become. It might end up being weaker even when you max it out.” She already knew what she was going to do with her new spear: add it to the Fang of the Wyverns.

Songyi winced, “You have a point.”

“Besides.” Heejin grinned, “It’s not like we didn’t take our rewards from that raid!” They gave all of the Frost Bear and yeti Essence Stones to the White Tigers. All of the mammoth and ice elf stones, on the other hand, were all theirs. She summoned one, spinning it on the tip of her finger like it was a basketball.

“Honestly, I’m wondering when the System is actually going to toss a crafting system at us that isn’t limited to specific, System-given recipes.” Soohyun raised her hand and one of the daggers that had belonged to Baruka popped into her hand, “What the heck am I supposed to do with a dagger? I’m a straight mage!”

“A straight mage with higher attacking stats than most A-Rank Fighters.” Joohee deadpanned, smirking for once.

Soohyun grinned and flashed a peace sign. “And what stats they are! Check ‘em!”

Name: Yoo Soohyun

Level: 71

Job: Abyssal One

Fatigue: 0

Title: Beast Menace

HP: 17600

MP: 12410

Strength: 95

Agility: 120

Perception: 112

Vitality: 100

Intelligence: 210

Available Ability Points: 0

“There was even another bonus at two-hundred intelligence! Now I’m getting a hundred and sixty Mana for each point!” She cheered.

“Huh, good to know.” Jinwoo muttered.

Miho smirked, “Mine are hot shit too.”

Name: Baek Miho

Level: 74

Job: Sovereign of Annihilation

Fatigue: 0

Title: Beast Menace

HP: 18600

MP: 2130

Strength: 180

Agility: 150

Perception: 125

Vitality: 104

Intelligence: 83

“Why are your job titles so cool?!” Songyi whined, “And when do I get a job?”

“You probably already have the quest.” Soohyun told her, “We got our quests at level forty. Just make sure you don’t do your daily quests when you finally get around to doing it. That saved our asses when we did them.”

“Got it.” Songyi quivered in excitement. She really wanted a real class.

“And we have the quest.”  Heejin declared, showing off her screen with the Job-Change Quest.

“Don’t do anything with the screen. Just minimize it.” Jinwoo ordered, “Otherwise you’ll open a damn Gate inside my dad’s Jeep.”

Songyi quickly zipped her lips and put the quest request away. “I leveled a lot too!” She said cheerfully, “I don’t think I’m S-Rank yet though.”

Name: Han Songyi

Level: 54

Job: None 

Fatigue: 0

Title: None

HP: 13350

MP: 2130

Strength: 110

Agility: 100

Perception: 100

Vitality: 83

Intelligence: 83

Available Ability Points: 0

“You’re not.” The four leaders said as one. Miho smiled at her, “Close, but no cigar. Same for Heejin. You might have the level but you’re missing a month-and-a-half of daily stats compared to us at that level.”

Heejin giggled as Songyi pouted at how confidently they had said that before she showed her stats off.

Name: Park Heejin

Level: 61

Job: Wizard

Fatigue: 0

Title: None

HP: 13850

MP: 6810

Strength: 70

Agility: 110

Perception: 110

Vitality: 85

Intelligence: 150

Available Ability Points: 0

“Pretty solidly A-Rank. Still a decent bit to go before I think you can conclusively say you’re S-Rank.” Joohee told her.

“Honestly, I’m just happy I have the ability to grow stronger. Master Baek is going to realize something is wrong though. I’d be surprised if he didn’t already notice my jump to A-Rank.” Heejin said.

“My brother might be a meathead but he’s not stupid. He’ll definitely figure it out.” Miho sighed before smirking. “Too bad for him we won’t have an invite for him.”

“Why not?” Songyi blinked at her.

“Because we already think we know what we’re going to do with Joohee’s.” Miho said, remembering the talk they had about just what would be happening once they got reevaluated. It was something that was kept pretty secret, but Yoonho had already gone through it so she knew how the Association would play it. “Anyway, don’t keep us in suspense, Joohee!”

The redhead smiled slightly.

Name: Lee Joohee

Level: 72

Job: Seraph of Light

Fatigue: 0

Title: Beast Menace

HP: 17600

MP: 6810

Strength: 150

Agility: 132

Perception: 110

Vitality: 100

Intelligence: 150

Available Ability Points: 0

“Wow, you’re somehow making the Strength/Intelligence build work.” Songyi muttered. “Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.” She meme’d. They all giggled lightly. “Your turn, Jinwoo!” All the girls but Heejin smirked at that. Songyi immediately blushed and looked at her knees.

‘Jinwoo?’ Said male raised an eyebrow in confusion, before smiling.

Name: Sung Jinwoo

Level: 75

Job: Monarch of Shadows

Fatigue: 0

Title: Beast Menace

HP:22600

MP: 3610

Strength: 186

Agility: 121

Perception: 120

Vitality: 120

Intelligence: 110

Available Ability Points: 0

“Ugh, you’re a level ahead.” Miho grumbled, “I’ll catch up! I swear it!”

Jinwoo’s competitiveness rose up, “Good luck!” He said cheerily. “You’re going to have a lot of ground to cover once we get into our S-Rank Dungeons again.”

“Wait! I have an EXP penalty in there!” Miho sounded horrified as everyone else, even the confused Songyi and Heejin, started to giggle. “FUCK!” And now Jinwoo burst into delighted laughter as well.

-]|[-

That’s a wrap for this one!

This didn’t end quite the way I had originally intended. The yetis may have been canon for this dungeon (just omitted entirely by the anime as they were legit one-scene wonders) but the mammoths were my own thing to add to the difficulty with the party coming in. I also added Beste, obviously, and made Baruka a bit stronger.

However, the original way that this was supposed to end was they defeat Baruka and Beste and relax, thinking it’s over, and the real Dungeon Boss awakens from its slumber: A titanic mammoth that basically was ‘all your powers combined’ for the beasts inside the Dungeon. Extreme mana, extreme strength, ice powers, etc.

But, even if this series might be Rule of Cool, I realized that it was just too over the top for this early in the story. That Shadow would have been a fucking General, and it is WAY too early for that. SO I’ll save it for another day. LOL

And as I’m sure you all noticed, Jinwoo and the girls are a good bit stronger than Jinwoo was at the same point in canon. Heejin is the same level canon Jinwoo was when he came out of the Red Gate, though, as stated, she’s missing a month and a half of stats.

Why am I making them stronger? Don’t worry about it. Let me cook. :evilgrin:

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed!