Yoo Chae-young tilted her head in confusion.
‘Master?’
It was clear that Kang Hyun spoke informally to Aden.
‘An E-rank as the master of an A-rank?’
Not the other way around?
“That golem is a bit different from the training golems you know.”
“Huh? Aren’t all golems the same?”
A torrent of knowledge poured out from the demon specialist.
“That’s a ‘Cragheart’ type. When its feet are on the ground, its elemental resistance is maximized. It channels all elemental mana into the earth.”
“Oh…”
“Let’s use 4-circle magic, <Stone Henge>. Just break them physically.”
“Got it!”
Yoo Chae-young, who was listening in, thought:
‘What… how does he know all this?’
Just now, he had perfectly recited the strategy for this dungeon.
‘Seonghwa’s team only figured this out after several tries and detailed research.’
Information about monsters is a guild’s most valuable intellectual asset.
It’s often how guilds showcase their capabilities.
For example, take an undead dungeon.
If a party consisted solely of physical damage dealers, they’d be doomed against physical-immunity trash mobs like ghosts.
That’s why new dungeons are so dangerous.
The mortality rate for Awakened is exceptionally high.
This is also why guilds are crucial.
One of their roles is to provide this kind of strategic information.
Which made Chae-young, Seonghwa’s Support Team Leader, all the more astonished.
‘He’s Aden’s master… is he just theoretical? Maybe he’s a monsterology PhD?’
If so, he was a very desirable talent.
Monsterology PhDs were extremely rare and difficult to cultivate.
Moreover, most of them came from Thea.
And even then, they were practically nonexistent in Korea.
Aden nodded at the information and cast a magic circle in mid-air.
“Hey, lower the output, or the blast sound will burst your eardrums.”
“Yes, Master!”
“How many circuit lines are you drawing? Simplify them into the central mana road.”
“Yes, Master!”
“You’ve input the wrong elemental constant. Use earth instead of ice.”
“Yes, Master!”
Yoo Chae-young watched the two with fascination.
‘He’s also deeply knowledgeable about magic. Is he analyzing magic circles just by sight?’
Was that even possible?
She wasn’t a mage, so she didn’t know.
But it was certainly a skill she’d never witnessed before.
“Aim for the core in the right chest. That’s their weak spot.”
This, too, was a weakness Seonghwa had uncovered after thorough research.
‘…He’s far more skilled than I thought.’
At this point, she could accept if he had been hired through connections.
‘Like me, he’s not physically strong but excels in specialized areas.’
With his deep knowledge of magic and monsters, he was an incredibly valuable asset.
“Alright, fire.”
The magic circle glowed, and massive rocks levitated.
Yoo Chae-young blinked in surprise.
‘Already?’
Casting 4-circle magic this quickly?
“<Stone Henge>!”
Five boulders, each the size of a person, launched at the golems.
Boom!
Bang! Boom!
The golems shattered spectacularly.
‘Aden is impressive, too.’
Though F+ rank herself, Yoo Chae-young had an eye for talent.
She could tell the mana formula was highly sophisticated.
‘She must’ve been promoted to A-rank purely on her magical ability.’
A-rank is notoriously difficult to achieve.
It’s not something attained by raw strength alone.
Most current A-rank Awakened earned their rank through rigorous accomplishments and proof of skill.
But Aden’s magic alone was clearly sufficient for A-rank.
‘His output is a bit lacking, though. It feels like she’s holding back deliberately.’
Her mana stats didn’t seem particularly high.
At best, she was probably B-.
Even so, that still placed her in the upper tier of mages.
“Shall we move on?”
The next monsters appeared—a group of Stone Goblins, the weakest in this E+ rank dungeon.
“Kang Hyun-nim, would you like to show us something?”
Kang Hyun hesitated briefly.
“I’ll go later.”
This was a dungeon manipulated by the Abyss Legion Commander.
You never knew what might happen.
It was best to conserve mana.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“I’ll step in after observing a bit more.”
His decision to hold back during the test was unusual, but Kang Hyun wasn’t particularly concerned about evaluations.
“Um… Okay.”
Chae-young replied, accepting it.
Well, he’s a theory guy. Even if he’s weak in actual combat, it’s fine.
For now, Aden stepped up to handle the monsters again.
While evaluating Aden, Yoo Chae-young was suddenly addressed by Kang Hyun.
“Team Leader Yoo.”
“Yes?”
“Step back four paces.”
“Huh?”
What was he talking about so suddenly?
Yoo Chae-young, puzzled but obedient, took a few steps back.
Then, something burst from where she had been standing.
Boom!
“Kyaaah!”
What on earth was that?
“A S-Stone Worm?”
Why was that here?
‘A mid-level monster you’d expect in a D+-rank dungeon?’
It was a massive creature, tough enough that Yoo Chae-young, an F+-rank, couldn’t even scratch it.
It was a durability-focused type, taking even a C-rank Awakened considerable time to defeat.
‘This shouldn’t appear in this dungeon.’
Moreover, this was an open dungeon owned by Seonghwa, where the types of monsters had already been fully identified.
This was clearly an unexpected situation.
The Stone Worm charged forward quickly, heading straight for Yoo Chae-young.
“A-Aden!”
She screamed for help.
But it was too late.
The creature opened its massive mouth.
Just as she turned pale in despair—
Shing—
Kang Hyun quietly muttered beneath his mask.
“【Vera】”
A command to his own weapon.
Sharp energy enveloped his sword.
Slice—
The Stone Worm was cleaved cleanly in half with a single stroke.
“…Huh?”
Half of the Stone Worm’s body fell to the ground beside the stunned Yoo Chae-young.
Thud.
What just happened?
‘He split the Stone Worm in half…?’
And with a single blow.
By an E- rank.
Kang Hyun gazed down at the Stone Worm.
‘This dungeon is definitely behaving abnormally.’
Abyss legion commander.
What was their objective here?
‘More than just distorting the dungeon, are they trying to kill Awakened?’
The intent was unclear for now.
But he caught a glimpse of Yoo Chae-young in his peripheral vision, staring at him with wide eyes.
“…”
“…”
He mumbled awkwardly, as if to explain himself.
“…The sword’s really sharp.”
“…?”
“Expensive swords really are something else.”
Hearing this, Yoo Chae-young turned her gaze to his weapon.
She recognized it.
It was Red Moon, the highest-tier blade from the Awakened shop, priced at just over 100 million won.
However, it was known mainly for its light weight.
It wasn’t a treasure-tier item and didn’t even live up to its price.
‘…He’s saying it was the sword? That’s ridiculous.’
As Yoo Chae-young stayed silent, Kang Hyun, perhaps feeling awkward, turned to Aden.
“Hey, you messed up the formula. Do it right.”
“Huh? Really? Wait, isn’t this correct?”
Aden, focused on his task, seemed unaware of what had just occurred.
Yoo Chae-young was left standing there, dumbfounded.
‘That guy… What was that just now?’
Her curiosity was overwhelming, but now wasn’t the time for questions.
They needed to deal with the unexpected situation at hand.
“We suspect a dungeon anomaly. We need to leave immediately.”
A dungeon anomaly—a phenomenon where a dungeon undergoes drastic changes.
For instance, a known dungeon might transform into an entirely different one or its rank might suddenly increase.
“Does this happen often?”
“Not at all.”
Awakened typically didn’t worry about dungeon anomalies.
The odds of encountering one were so low that it was like avoiding cars due to fear of accidents—an excessive concern.
“I’ll guide us to the entrance immediately.”
A newly formed dungeon with unknown details.
Compared to an already identified dungeon, the former posed exponentially higher difficulty and mortality rates.
This was a catastrophic situation.
Fortunately, this was an open dungeon.
“Here’s the entrance… huh?”
However, the entrance was blocked.
The gate had been distorted.
There was no way out.
“Oh no….”
Yoo Chae-young slumped to the ground.
‘Judging by the appearance of the Stone Worm, the dungeon’s difficulty has drastically increased. But with the current team….’
An F+-rank.
An E-rank.
And an A-rank.
Given the dungeon’s new level of difficulty, only Aden was a viable combatant.
‘But Aden has no experience. Soloing isn’t an option.’
The initial judgment that this dungeon wasn’t solo-able had been based on it being E+ rank.
With the dungeon rank now higher, the situation was far worse.
‘Kang Hyun showed a glimpse of exceptional ability, but….’
At best, it seemed he had delayed having his rank reassessed.
He likely wasn’t far beyond E-rank.
That level of power was nowhere near enough.
‘We’re doomed….’
This was the kind of catastrophic accident you only ever heard about: a dungeon anomaly.
Aden, realizing the gravity of the situation, began to tremble.
“Master, w-what do we do now…?”
“Disciple.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Relax.”
Kang Hyun spoke with an almost absurd calmness.
“We’ll clear it ourselves.”
Kyle had always been one to overcome the impossible.
To him, a trial like this was just another day.
###
Kyle, the Great Hero.
To earn that title, he had overcome countless insurmountable obstacles.
A closed high-rank dungeon?
That level of adversity was practically routine.
“Wh-What!? Just the two of us!? This is a dungeon anomaly! A dungeon anomaly!”
“What’s impossible about it? If we try, we can do it.”
“No, we can’t! I lack experience, and even though you’re amazing, your mana pool is small! There’s no way we can clear this!”
Kang Hyun scoffed.
These days, people gave up before even trying.
“I have the experience, and you have the mana pool.”
“What?”
“Just do as I say. What were all those magic lessons for? You traded them for candy, huh? No confidence, kid!”
Smack!
“Ow!”
His oddly relaxed demeanor felt almost surreal.
Yet Yoo Chae-young found herself inexplicably reassured by his calmness.
“Miss Yoo Chae-young? Stay close to me. If anything shows up, just scream.”
“O-Okay.”
Even though clearing the dungeon seemed impossible, she instinctively followed his orders.
Without realizing it, Yoo Chae-young moved closer to Kang Hyun.
Oddly enough, standing behind him eased her fears the most.
Kang Hyun walked ahead.
‘I won’t be able to keep my word magic a secret in this situation.’
This was a life-or-death scenario.
Survival came first.
Explanations could wait.
‘I’ll worry about excuses later.’
Clearing the dungeon was the priority.
“There’s a golem! And it’s massive!”
A 7-meter-tall golem, almost the size of a house.
Even at a stretch, this was far beyond anything that should appear in an E+ dungeon.
“It’s coming! Its strides are huge; it’s incredibly fast!”
“A mage’s essential quality.”
“St-staying calm.”
“Deep breaths.”
“Hoo… Hoo….”
Yoo Chae-young, without realizing it, followed along.
“We’ll use <Stone Henge>.”
“That won’t work! Not with 4-circle magic!”
“It’ll work. If I’m the one casting.”
Kang Hyun placed his hand on Aden’s back.
“Remember when I cured you of your blood stones? Hand over control of your mana pathways like you did then. I’ll calculate the output.”
As Kang Hyun’s hand rested on Aden’s back, a strange sense of calm washed over Aden, both physically and mentally.
“…! Understood!”
Yoo Chae-young observed the magic circle forming.
‘The structure is the same as earlier, but it’s much larger.’
And faster.
Much faster.
It had to be thanks to Kang Hyun’s intervention.
“Fire it.”
“W-Wait! The targeting array is empty!”
“I left it blank on purpose. I’ll fire it by instinct.”
“What!? Can you even do that?”
“I can.”
The magic circle lit up.
Rocks, far larger than before, began to rise.
