GM Ch61

The intruder, who let out a suppressed groan, glared at Joo Myunghwan with murderous eyes. Joo Myunghwan sneered and placed the tip of his sword on the intruder’s remaining leg.

“Talk.”

“H-Hunter Joo Myunghwan… Isn’t this dangerous?”

Lee Min-jae, who was following Joo Myunghwan, asked cautiously. He couldn’t predict what a crazed Joo Myunghwan might do. There were too many eyes watching to pass this off as an unfortunate dungeon mishap. Especially since it was impossible to silence Yoon Soohyuk.

“As long as I don’t kill him, it’s just a fine.”

“But—”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“O-Okay.”

As Joo Myunghwan exploded in anger, Lee Min-jae took a few steps back.

“Now talk, you bastard! Before I cut off your other leg.”

Joo Myunghwan spoke only in Korean. But the intent of stabbing the intruder’s intact leg with the sword tip was clear enough without needing to be said in English.

The intruder’s face, twisted in pain, had turned purple. It meant the wound had become poisoned.

“You don’t want to see this.”

Soohyuk blocked Minjun’s view, stepping back repeatedly. He didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping Joo Myunghwan. And neither did Minjun.

The dungeon was a lawless world, but there was an unspoken rule everyone acknowledged. If you aimed for someone’s life, you had to be prepared to risk your own. Even in Korea, where most hunters were registered with the government, this rule held true.

Regardless of personal feelings about Joo Myunghwan, it was understandable why he was going to such lengths to uncover the mastermind. If he handed the intruders over to the National Security Agency, Joo Myunghwan wouldn’t be able to take any further action.

Sneaking into a dungeon during a raid without permission was illegal. Since the Capital Defense Command was a military facility, the punishment could be even harsher. However, if the intruder kept his mouth shut, Joo Myunghwan would never find out who was behind the attack.

The fact that someone had hired two A-class hunters meant the person held a significant grudge. If Joo Myunghwan couldn’t find out anything, he wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly.

“Fuck. Just talk already.”

Joo Myunghwan stabbed the intruder’s leg with the sword tip. The intruder let out a strange noise and rolled his eyes back.

At that moment, Minjun saw the thorny vine pattern spreading from the intruder’s neck.

It was a sign of an imminent explosion from someone poisoned by Whispering Poison. If the thorns spread to his face in an instant, the hunter’s body would explode.

“Hunter Joo Myunghwan! It’s dangerous. Step back! Now. Guild leader, a shield!”

Minjun shouted urgently. But Joo Myunghwan looked at him as if he were talking nonsense.

“Look at his neck.”

The hunters who had been standing far from Joo Myunghwan turned their eyes to the intruder, who was making choking sounds. When they saw the black thorny vine pattern creeping up from his neck to his jaw, a few hunters felt a sense of foreboding and stepped back.

The fastest to move was Soohyuk. A brilliant golden shield formed around him.

“Over here!”

Soohyuk activated his defensive skill, prompting the hunters who had been hesitating to move quickly. They didn’t know exactly what was happening, but they trusted that the barrier created by an S-rank hunter would be safe.

“Why are you so scared? You’re supposed to be an S-rank—”

“Gwaaaah!”

Joo Myunghwan couldn’t finish his sentence. The intruder, who had been writhing and twisting, let out an inhuman sound.

In that instant, Joo Myunghwan threw himself forward.

Boom!

As soon as Joo Myunghwan entered the barrier, the intruder exploded. A blinding flash filled the dungeon, causing some hunters to collapse in fear.

Soohyuk was the first to regain his senses. He checked the durability of the barrier and clicked his tongue.

∥Skill Durability: 012/100

The durability of a barrier created by a skill was measured differently from that of weapons or armor. The fact that the barrier, which could withstand multiple attacks from an S-rank hunter, was almost destroyed by a single explosion indicated just how powerful the blast had been.

“Damn.”

As the flash subsided, Soohyuk was left speechless by the scene before him. A 20-meter radius around the intruder had been obliterated. The ground, which had been soaked with poison, the poisonous plants, and even the toxic mist had all vanished.

The swirling pattern left on the ground resembled those seen in explosion incidents overseas. However, the gaping tear in the center, as if struck by a giant axe, was different.

Soohyuk recognized it as similar to the moment when the giant wolf spirit had appeared in the Grassland Dungeon. Beyond the torn space was a pitch-black abyss, and visible black mist was seeping out.

It was an ominous sight.

“Snap out of it!”

Soohyuk shouted, sensing something emerging from the tear along with the black mist. It was a dark, skeletal figure. And it wasn’t alone. The skeletons, with blue glowing eyes, wore old, dirty helmets and armor, and wielded equally worn weapons.

“Undead?”

Until now, no dungeon monsters had ever been undead. Monsters were usually mutated or synthesized versions of animals and insects found on Earth, or amorphous beings without a fixed shape. Skeleton-like undead had never appeared before.

Moreover, the monster information window was filled with question marks.

Despite his confusion, Soohyuk moved without hesitation. He deliberately deactivated the nearly destroyed barrier and activated another defensive skill.

At the same time, he drew his sword and charged forward.

“Guild leader!”

Minjun called out from behind, but Soohyuk didn’t look back. Engaging in close combat with an unknown monster was foolish.

∥Using skill .

‘Flash Strike’ was a common skill among weapon-wielding hunters, but it manifested in various forms. When Soohyuk swung his sword, a golden crescent-shaped slash shot towards the undead.

It was a kind of probing attack. Yet, the five undead in the path of the sword slash were all split in two at once. The split bones turned to dust and vanished.

“What the…?”

Soohyuk tilted his head at the sight of the undead being sliced like tofu. They looked terrifying on the outside but seemed hollow inside. Minjun, watching the scene from behind, suppressed a bitter smile.

Undead monsters like skeletons came in various types. The higher their rank, the shinier their bones and the better their armor. ‘Mid-tier skeletons’ with cracked black bones and worn-out armor couldn’t be easily destroyed. True to their undead nature, they would reassemble no matter how many times they were broken.

But that didn’t apply to an S-class hunter like Soohyuk. Moreover, Soohyuk’s skill contained holy power. It was common knowledge that undead were weak against holy power.

Minjun wasn’t surprised that Soohyuk used holy power.

‘He’s my follower, after all.’

Minjun hadn’t yet acquired a proper divine status. However, it was natural for Soohyuk, who was recognized as a follower by the system, to possess holy power.

“Is that… a skeleton?”

“Undead?”

“We’ve never encountered undead before.”

“The monster information isn’t showing up.”

The hunters, who had finally come to their senses, murmured in confusion. They couldn’t fully grasp what was happening and could only watch as Soohyuk effortlessly cut down the skeletons.

“Why aren’t you moving?!”

“Hunter Ju Myunghwan.”

“If you want the lowest evaluation, stay put. You bastards!”

Lee Min-jae tried to stop him, but Joo Myunghwan cursed and rushed out of the barrier. The hunters had no choice but to follow him.

Minjun was no exception, but his mindset was different. He could easily handle mid-tier skeletons even as a C-class hunter.

“What the hell?”

“They’re reassembling.”

Unlike the calm Minjun, the hunters who were facing skeletons for the first time were flustered, making repeated mistakes as they fought the skeletons. Joo Myunghwan swung his sword wildly but couldn’t slice through the skeletons as cleanly as Soohyuk, making his movements even more frantic.

Minjun kept an eye on Joo Myunghwan’s situation while helping hunters who seemed to be in danger. The quick-witted Ha Sung-wook followed him, lending a hand.

The hundreds of skeletons were quickly dealt with. The tear in the space, which had been elongated, gradually shrank.

Just as everything seemed to be ending.

Black smoke began to flow rapidly through the now-narrow gap that was too small for skeletons to pass through. As everyone stood bewildered, the black smoke spread across the ground.

“Everyone, fall back!”

As expected, Soohyuk was the first to react. Some hesitated, but most of the hunters, including Minjun, moved instinctively.

The black smoke quickly gathered in one place and began to take a concrete form.

A skeleton knight on a horse made of dark red bones appeared before the hunters. The knight’s eyes, hollow but glowing with a crimson light, shone menacingly from beneath a helmet. It was armed with a spear and shield that gleamed as if brand new, and its armor looked equally pristine.

The hunters tensed up at the sight of the ominous skeleton knight.

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