ALL NOVEL Chapter 7
In front of a mysterious portal that had settled in a commercial area near Yeonsinnae, countless people buzzed.
“Is the support from the B Rank Hunters here yet?”
“We’re running out of time! When will we even get to enter?”
“Honestly, let’s be real. Do you think the people who went inside are still alive? If we rush in with our insufficient power and casualties occur, can you take responsibility?”
It had already been about two hours since the dungeon appeared.
The deaths of the civilians swept into it were becoming increasingly certain.
Amidst this, a middle-aged man blurted out something that had been left unspoken.
Their argument was heated, but the conclusion was not much different.
A woman who had been advocating for entry bit her lip tightly, and the young man who had been playing the mediator also sighed.
Truthfully, even they couldn’t imagine the people caught in that B4 Rank Dungeon were safe.
As silence enveloped the group, a woman rushed in, panting hurriedly.
“…Has the rescue team been organized?”
“Who are you? You can’t just barge in here…”
“I asked if it’s been organized.”
At Baek Seo Ha’s stern question, the young man had no choice but to answer.
“As you can see, not yet.”
“…….”
Upon hearing this, Baek Seo Ha immediately strode toward the dungeon’s entrance, the portal.
“Hey! What are you doing right now?”
“Damn it, it’s chaos all around. I told you, we’re short on manpower!”
Seeing this, the Hunters quickly rushed to block her path, but everyone lost their words when they met Baek Seo Ha’s gaze.
Her raw emotions were clearly evident, as if she would tear them apart if they obstructed her way.
“Um, um…”
As everyone froze, Baek Seo Ha entered the dungeon without hesitation.
And moments later, a buzz began to spread.
“Wasn’t that just Baek Seo Ha?”
“Ah? Right! I think I saw her from afar when I was with the Clear White Guild support team.”
“An A Rank has entered to support?”
“Should we just follow her in?”
During this, the middle-aged man spoke up, sounding incredulous.
“What kind of nonsense is that? The Clear White Guild’s first attack team is still clearing the dungeon.”
“Oh? Now that you mention it…”
Though no firm conclusion was reached, everyone felt it.
Something unusual was certainly happening.
#
The Halloween Knight was one of the original undead that I had used over there as well.
Of course, it wasn’t an advanced undead, but at least it boasted simple yet excellent performance in close combat.
Crackle!
Crack!
“Keheh!”
Under the might of the Halloween Knight, the Devourer and Revenant, now only bodies, were being utterly smashed.
Crack!
Creak!
Thud!
The two remaining Skeleton Archers hurriedly attempted to support, but they each got a hit and their heads were crushed.
It was certainly a positive situation, but I stiffened my expression.
I clearly recognized the coming problem.
‘I won’t last long.’
Thank goodness the immediate crisis was averted, but it was barely created using the Death Energy borrowed from Song Ha Yeon, a beginner Necromancer.
Naturally, its sustainability couldn’t be that good.
To have this level of performance was almost a miracle.
‘There’s no way I can take down a Giant…’
Even if I saved up all my strength, two undead of Devourer level would likely be my limit.
As I only brought one magic stone, it was, of course, impossible to do the same thing again.
That meant if the rescue team didn’t arrive, we were genuinely as good as dead.
Calmly sorting through the facts, I closed my eyes and fell silent. All I could do now was pray.
‘…….’
Just as I was about to send my wishes to Serejia, whom they oddly called the goddess of harmony in that world, a multitude of presences began to be felt outside the corridor once again.
Creak.
Creak.
Not the rescue team, but the presence of undead.
Feeling a surge of betrayal within, I shouted in my heart.
Serejia! How could you!
Soon, new undead revealed themselves, and the girl next to me looked at me with a face filled with both despair and hope, sending me an expectant gaze.
I averted my eyes and mumbled an evasive answer.
“Uh, I might die here…”
“……”
In that short moment, the light of hope vanished from the girl’s eyes.
Then, a new hope arose.
Boom!
“Anyone hearing this, please respond!”
A voice echoed from somewhere beyond the corridor.
It was an unexpected appearance, but I easily recognized who the owner of that voice was. Seo Ha.
I had anticipated she would still be in the dungeon, but it seemed she had cleared it faster than I thought.
“Here! Over here!”
The girl instinctively sensed it was the rescue team and urgently began to call for help, as the violent sounds of battle drew closer.
Boom!
Crack!
Holding my breath in wait, I saw the Skeleton Giant, which had been guarding the corridor, torn apart and shattered into pieces.
Seeing that scene, I turned the Halloween Knight, which still barely had some time left, back into ash.
I thought that somehow, it seemed we had survived.
#
【Baek Seo Ha, rescued 2 civilians trapped in the B4 Rank Dungeon safely.】
【An example for Hunters, Noblesse Oblige.】
【Rushed in right after hearing the news of successful clearing of the B3 Rank Dungeon.】
Later confirmed, the dungeon that occurred in the basement of Yeonsinnae was rated as B4 Rank.
And its boss was Kobold Bain.
An ancient Kobold that had transformed into a subordinate of what people commonly referred to as a Lich.
【Disaster Management Headquarters reemphasizes the importance of early warning for dungeon seeds.】
After the incident, mourning for the victims who couldn’t be saved continued, while the internet went completely wild.
– Wow, how did she survive in a B Rank dungeon? She’s really lucky.
– They say this is the first case of rescuing civilians caught in a dungeon above B Rank. Foreign media is going crazy too, haha.
– But really, Baek Seo Ha is amazing. They say it was practically a solo clear.
– For real, can a two-year awakened one take on a B Rank dungeon solo? She’s basically a national treasure.
Even the general public, who heard about the event only in fragments, reacted like this.
Among those who were directly involved in the situation, Baek Seo Ha became a subject of heated interest.
“Essentially, we can say she took down two B Rank bosses by herself. In just one day.”
Somewhere in Seoul, a heated discussion continued among officials from various sectors of South Korea.
“Moreover, the Puppet Spider is notoriously known as one of the tougher bosses in B Rank.”
“With her talent, she’s likely to reach S Rank before long, right?”
S Rank.
The meaning of that word was never simple.
In this era, it was said that having an S Rank Hunter was equivalent to national strength.
“…If she achieved this in just two years, the likelihood is high.”
There were currently three S Rank Hunters in Korea.
‘Mage’ Seo Min Ah, ‘Kong’ Choi Ha Min, and Lee Ji Cheol, who was called a tyrant in both good and bad senses.
Considering the population, it wasn’t a small number, but frankly, it was far too insufficient to protect a nation.
“Does everyone remember what happened in Hungary?”
Hungary, which mobilized its only S Rank Hunter, Gerger, and dozens of A Rank Hunters against the emergence of S4 Rank dungeon.
However, they ultimately failed at clearing the dungeon, losing all their national strength and still living in dependence on other powerful countries.
There was no guarantee that something like that wouldn’t happen in Korea.
“If only Chae Hwa In were still alive…”
In fact, there had originally been one more S Rank Hunter in Korea.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say there had been only one in the beginning.
She, Chae Hwa In, was the world’s first to receive the S Rank title, the best hunter of the first generation.
But now she was gone.
During a time when dungeon grading hadn’t yet been clearly classified, she had lost her life after being forcibly sent to support an S Rank dungeon raid in the U.S.
“…I still get chills thinking about it.”
There were still many discussions about that incident.
Some claimed the U.S. hatched a conspiracy out of fear of Chae Hwa In’s power, while others said they sacrificed her, a foreigner, during a crisis. Such absurd tales, though not entirely unfounded.
The despair of sending the country’s hero to a foreign land only to receive back a cold corpse was beyond words.
“There were major losses on various fronts. It was quite significant.”
Her body is still enshrined in a corner of a memorial park in Seoul.
Perhaps she still remained there without achieving spiritual enlightenment.
“Anyway, it’s a critical time. Given the circumstances surrounding the returnees, it shouldn’t happen, but please keep a close eye on foreign movements that may lead to a talent drain.”
With those final words, everyone in the room returned to their positions.
#
After the incident involving the dungeon, I found myself drowning in the internet again, wrapped in my blanket at home.
【Dungeon accident survivor Imo Yang: “I don’t remember much about what happened inside. It just felt like a continuous moment of panic.”】
【Expert Yoo Hae Man: “The dungeon rescue was unusual. That’s why the survivors could hide.”】
Is this what they call ego-searching?
Checking the public’s reaction to the incident I experienced was surprisingly interesting.
“It seems like the last spell did its job too…”
Though I shattered the magic stone in the Devourer’s mouth, I cast a confusion spell on the girl who was with me just before the rescue with the one shard I had left.
Because of that, while she would remember running away with me, it’s likely she wouldn’t recall the finer details.
– Is there anyone who still doesn’t support Baek Seo Ha?
– Baek Seo Ha! Baek Seo Ha! Baek Seo Ha! Baek Seo Ha!
– A beacon of light among the third-generation wannabes…
I knew, but wandering through the community, Baek Seo Ha’s popularity was beyond what I had expected.
It seemed like reactions were akin to that of other sports stars or musicians.
– Still just an A Rank. She can’t compare to Shin Yoo Ha or Choi Ha Min. No matter how much she’s praised, it won’t matter.
┗ Her experience doesn’t even compare, right? In a year, she’ll turn it all around.
Tatata.
Whenever negative opinions about Seo Ha arose, I would earnestly type rebuttals.
Knock knock.
As I was passing the time idly, I heard a careful knock on the door. It was Seo Ha.
“Oppa, do you want to go for a walk today? It’s not good for your health to stay in the room all the time…”
After the dungeon incident, Seo Ha was worried about my increasingly lazy health and was fretting that I might be traumatized.
Thanks to that, I had been lazily slacking off.
“…Can’t we go some other time?”
“Ah, okay. I understand.”
Her dejected voice made my heart feel heavy, but there was no helping it. I needed to achieve today what I had failed in the last promotion match.
‘I can’t stand two wins, zero losses.’
Just winning once more would mean promotion. The probability was virtually one hundred percent.
Before long, it was my third promotion match, and it truly was about time for it to work.
Boom!
[You lost.]
[You lost.]
[You lost.]
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Ugh!
I turned off the computer and mercilessly pounded my blanket.