Whew, it’s finally starting. This time, I won’t make any mistakes!
At Paju Stadium Square, Jin Seoyun’s secretary, Jang Seonggeun, clenched his fists as he surveyed the area with renewed determination.
During the Open Dungeon raid at Daechi Station, he had failed to notice the masked hunters entering the portal, endangering the Samcheon Guild hunters.
Although the intruders had used stealth, any trace of their presence would have been enough to summon reinforcements and mount an immediate pursuit. But he hadn’t noticed anything until the raid was over.
Since that day, Jang Seonggeun had vowed to improve.
Not only had he thrown himself into his work during business hours, but he had also ventured into dungeons after hours to raise his level.
Today, he was determined to redeem himself.
“Wow, I heard a B-rank Open Dungeon appeared, but there are so many hunters here!”
“It’s not just a lot; the Samcheon Guild hunters are here too! I even saw Jin Gijun and some other famous ones!”
“Who?”
“Han Sungbin and Jin Seoyun! There was also this really handsome hunter, but I can’t remember his name. He looked familiar, though...”
Around the stadium square, clusters of people—ranging from teenagers to office workers and the elderly—had gathered to watch the spectacle.
What started as a small crowd had grown to over 200 as word spread, forcing the police to step in and manage the crowd.
Jang Seonggeun stood at attention, scanning the onlookers with a grim expression.
Even though the police were keeping civilians away from the portal, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.
Especially after what had happened at Daechi Station, his vigilance was heightened.
But as he remained on high alert:
Step, step...
A figure caught his eye.
It was an elderly woman with a hunched back and a cane, her white hair flowing as she slowly approached, having somehow evaded police control.
She stopped in front of him and spoke.
“Excuse me... Do you know where I can find the chicken shop around here?”
It was an innocuous question, one anyone could answer.
But Jang Seonggeun didn’t respond.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the old woman now standing directly in front of him.
The question was eerily familiar—it was exactly what he’d heard back at Daechi Station.
A question that felt strangely out of place.
And indeed, there were no chicken shops anywhere near Paju Stadium.
Rather than answering, Jang Seonggeun drew his sword.
Whoosh!
He swung it swiftly, stopping just short of the old woman’s face—not to harm her, but to confirm his suspicions.
Then:
Clang!
The old woman raised her cane and blocked the blade.
Her movements were unnaturally quick for someone hunched over and frail-looking, deflecting the attack with precision.
Creak, creak!
The sword and cane locked together, grinding against each other.
Jang Seonggeun gritted his teeth as he glared at her.
“...Is this how you infiltrated last time?”
“You’ve got a sharp memory, young man. Hoho! But...”
Despite being found out, the old woman remained calm.
Clang!
She deflected his sword to the side and leaped backward with surprising agility.
“Do you really think you can stop us?”
Then, she swung her cane in an X-shape through the air.
The movement seemed harmless at first.
But suddenly:
Wooooom!
The air in the stadium square began to tremble, and then:
Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhhh!
Over ten purple portals appeared in every direction.
“What the...? Portals?!”
“AAAAHHHH!!”
“Is this a dungeon break?! Everyone, run!”
Panic erupted in the square.
The appearance of so many portals was anything but ordinary.
And although a few civilians breathed a sigh of relief when people, not monsters, emerged from the portals, it wasn’t good news.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Masked hunters stepped out of the purple portals, swinging their swords and unleashing deadly auras at the crowd.
The explosions were deafening.
If the unarmed civilians had been caught in the blasts, they would have been killed instantly.
Fortunately, disaster was averted.
Leap! Thud! Leap!
The Samcheon Guild hunters quickly moved to shield the civilians, using their shields to block the attacks.
But that was precisely what the masked hunters were aiming for.
With the guild hunters focused on protecting the civilians, the defense around the portal had weakened.
The masked hunters immediately shifted their assault toward the portal.
“You bastards...!”
“Gah!!”
Despite their best efforts, the Samcheon Guild hunters were outnumbered.
One by one, they fell, injured and unable to hold their ground.
“Damn it...!”
Jang Seonggeun abandoned his standoff with the old woman and sprinted toward the portal.
He intercepted a masked hunter, deflecting their blade and countering with a powerful kick that sent them flying.
“Block the portal! Their target is the dungeon!”
“It’s too late, Secretary Jang!”
“What?!”
“They’ve already gone inside...!”
Jang Seonggeun’s eyes widened as he turned toward the portal.
The B-rank Open Dungeon portal, where Jin Gijun, Kang Hyunsoo, and the others were conducting their raid, rippled with the aftershock of intruders.
***
Boom! Crash! Ka-boom! Rumble!
Thunderous explosions echoed endlessly before the towering fortress walls.
The B-rank Open Dungeon was filled with chaos, explosions, and shockwaves. Waves of demon soldiers kept pouring out from the castle gates, only to be met with the relentless storm unleashed by a hunter wielding a massive axe at the heart of the battlefield.
One word could sum up the scene: chaos.
“Hahaha! You think you can overwhelm me with sheer numbers? Bring it on, you fools!”
At the very center of the pandemonium stood Jin Gijun, laughing uproariously.
Wave after wave of demon soldiers armed with spears rushed forward, but every swing of Jin Gijun’s colossal axe obliterated entire units in one go. The overwhelming power gap between him and the enemies wasn’t just evident—it was absolute. It was only natural for him to laugh in the face of their futile efforts.
But Jin Gijun wasn’t the only one enjoying himself.
Farther away from the walls, standing in the middle of the plains, Kang Hyunsoo watched the battle unfold with a smile tugging at his lips.
‘Ah... Sweet. So sweet. This is truly delicious.’
Even though he was doing absolutely nothing—just standing there idly watching the chaos unfold—his rewards were pouring in.
[Lv 330. Demon Baron’s Battalion Soldier has been defeated.]
[Experience gained.]
[Level up!]
[Reward: Strength +3, Agility +1, Intelligence +1.]
Every time Jin Gijun struck down a monster, experience points flooded into Hyunsoo’s status. In fact, he’d even leveled up.
At first, Hyunsoo thought he wouldn’t earn much experience since he was in a party with such a high-level hunter. But thanks to the title effects he possessed, his level-ups came surprisingly fast.
He wasn’t the only one impressed.
“Wow! This is my first time raiding with the Vice Guild Leader, and he’s amazing!”
“Every time I see him fight, it’s unreal... My brother really knows how to handle a fight.”
“Whoa! He’s so cool!”
Han Sungbin, Jin Seoyun, and Yoo Hana stood beside Hyunsoo, marveling at Jin Gijun’s raw strength.
They wanted to jump into the fray, but Jin Gijun had confidently declared he would handle everything alone. Jumping in recklessly might do more harm than good, considering the scale of his attacks.
Jin Gijun’s overwhelming power was awe-inspiring, but it wasn’t flawless.
Amidst the chaos at the gates, a new threat emerged—demonic archers atop the walls. Jin Gijun, locked in combat, failed to notice their appearance.
It could have been a critical moment, but no intervention was necessary.
Slice! Slash!
“Where do you think you’re aiming?”
“Guaaaah!”
[Lv 330. Demon Baron’s Battalion Archer has been defeated.]
[... ...]
[Lv 330. Demon Baron’s Battalion Archer has been defeated.]
[Experience gained.]
Bang Ilhyung and Na Yeongjin swiftly scaled the walls and eliminated the archers before they could pose any significant threat.
With that, there was truly nothing left for Hyunsoo to do.
‘This... This is too easy. It’s starting to feel a bit... wrong.’
Perhaps it was because he had never experienced such ease before.
Hyunsoo couldn’t deny that sitting back felt oddly comfortable, but a small part of him was nagged by guilt.
From his previous life until now, he had always handled everything himself.
Whether it was being gaslit by Seo Jieun and Choi Taehun, who coerced him into giving up hidden pieces, or soloing dungeons post-regression, Hyunsoo had always been the one to bear the brunt of the labor.
It wasn’t out of pride but sheer necessity. If he didn’t step up, nothing got done.
That’s why standing idle felt so foreign to him.
“What’s wrong with that, Master?”
Swallow’s carefree voice broke into his thoughts. “Think of this as a vacation. Everything’s working out perfectly, even if you don’t lift a finger.”
As if to emphasize his nonchalance, Swallow was lounging mid-air, using the sky as his pillow.
Hyunsoo gave him a skeptical look. But the truth was, Swallow wasn’t entirely wrong.
Jin Gijun and his team not only cleared out the demon forces at the gates and on the walls but also swept through the castle’s interior, taking down demon knights and mages alike.
The sheer spectacle of the Samcheon Guild’s elite hunters was overwhelming.
Eventually, Jin Gijun stepped back, his booming voice signaling the end of the skirmish.
“Hmm! Is that all they’ve got?”
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“It seems so, Vice Guild Leader. Great work, as always.”
“You did amazing, big brother.”
“Wow, everyone here is so cool!”
Not a single enemy remained within the castle.
All that was left was the portal near the fountain deep within the castle grounds—the gateway to the boss’s chamber.
‘Maybe I’ve been taking it too easy, but... I guess everyone deserves a break now and then.’
Hyunsoo reassured himself. While he believed in earning his accomplishments, he recognized that sometimes, it was okay to rely on others.
This time, it wasn’t just about his growth. He was repaying the Samcheon Guild’s kindness while completing the Absolute Beauty Quest without taking a single hit.
‘Let’s just ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) ride this bus for now. It’s not a bad thing.’
“This time, too, everyone just sit back! I’ll take care of the boss monster myself!”
“Thank you so much! You guys from Samcheon Guild are amazing!”
“I’ll assist from the sidelines, Vice Guild Leader.”
Like Yoo Hana’s excitement, everything seemed like it would conclude smoothly, with Hyunsoo merely observing the boss battle from a safe distance.
He began heading toward the boss portal alongside the others, a rare smile on his face.
But just as he approached the portal with a light heart—
“...!?”
BOOOOOM!!!
A sudden surge of energy blasted toward him, creating a massive explosion that engulfed Hyunsoo completely.