The man at the center of this tale was called Sen by everyone, though his full name was Seneos, a 26 year old with hair that was a mix of gray and white. To everyone who knew him, he was nothing but a random citizen with the lowest hunter rank. He had gotten his rank quite quickly compared to most hunters but it had apparently been legal as the Korean Hunter Guild had approved it.
The Korean Hunter Guild or KHG was an institution that monitored and controlled those madmen with magical powers called Hunters who had nothing better to do with their lives than fighting against monsters in pursuit of money and strength.
Most were quite unsure on how to view the Guild, but it had been a huge boon to Sen's life. At least he wanted to believe it was the case.
However as he looked in his half-emptied glass of soju, he wondered if anything had changed at all. His hazy mind couldn't tell.
To top it off, that very soju he had been drinking was quite possibly one of the worst thing that ever entered Sen's mouth. It's taste was so strong and putrid Sen felt like it had burnt his taste buds.
It didn't matter to him at the moment though. Between his infernal hiccup and the headache that made him wince every few minutes or so, he couldn't quite bring himself to care.
"Perhaps you should stop there, kiddo." The bartender told him. The alcohol had already ruined Sen to the point where he could hardly see the bartender's face. He recognized him by his voice.
"Damn old man, *Hiccup* just let me finish this glass. You get your money anyway, so be happy." Sen tried to glare at the bartender, but his attempt came off as quite funny to said old man. Sen was simply glaring at the bottles of whisky arranged on the shelf behind the aged bartender who tried to muffle his chuckle.
"He's right Sen. Stop there and get healed. Your mission starts in like what...An hour ? What if you fall asleep ? You know mages aren't allowed to do anything to unconscious people without their consent. If you fall asleep and your little girlfriend can't heal you, don't come back here crying like a bitch." Another old man said as he put his hand on Sen's shoulders. That very old man was a bit different from the bartender, he had a black leather armor and a sword strapped to his hip.
"*Sigh*...How many times do I have to tell you ? You can't bring weapons inside." The bartender said to the old hunter who simply shrugged him off.
"One hour you say ? Pshhh, pretty sure I can remain standing for an hour. The dungeon is only five minutes away from here. Y-You know I am never late for my missions anyway *Hiccup*"
The old man pinched the bridge of his nose and grabbed Sen like he would grab a toddler.
"Huh ? The hell you doin' ?!" Sen tried to protest. His efforts were for naught in the end. He was dragged off to the tables at the back of the poorly lit bar and was thrown on one of the couches. It had always been one of the few things that made Sen like this bar.
"He reached his limit, hasn't he ? Let me handle him for the time being." A girl who seemed a bit older than Sen said. The old man furrowed his brows, but she answered his question before he even let it out.
"He will come back here after the mission. You will be here too, since you have nothing better to do with your life. I have matters to attend to sadly, so you'll be handling him as soon as he comes back. And of course, you won't have the magic lady to make him sober in an instant." The girl said as she finished her own drink. A few dozen bottles of vodka were lying on her table, all emptied.
However she didn't let out a single hiccup, her skin retained it's natural paleness and she behaved with all the grace the people in this bar knew her to have. Not a single trace of all the alcohol she had absorbed could be seen on her sharp and cold face.
"Hmph, I can just dodge the little fucker." The old man retorted. He had the feeling that he shouldn't have done so when the girl looked at him in the eyes. Those bright red eyes of hers were more unnerving than the gaze of any monsters the man had ever faced.
"What is he for you to dodge him, your wife ?"
"Pffff...." The bartender who had approached them to clean up the girl's table chuckled once more, and muffled his voice again. He never liked attracting problems, and mocking hunters was definitely asking for those to come.
"Are you guys *Hiccup* gonna ignore me for an entire hour ?" Sen said as he finally had enough. He was literally between them and yet they acted like he was invisible.
"Of course not, bring that depressed face of yours here. I'm going to heal you." The girl said. Nevermind what she said, she didn't wait for him to move on his own.
"Argh ! Why did you ask me if you were going to grab me anyway ?!" Sen asked as he winced because of the strength the girl was applying on her fingers. It seemed like his reaction amused her, if her smug grin was of any indication.
Sen spoke no more though. He simply allowed her to heal him and moved away once she was done. After the blinding light her palms emitted had washed over his face, his headache disappeared instantly.
He got up and was about to leave without saying anything, but the old hunter grabbed his sleeve and clicked his tongue.
"Sen, Jeol here got you a mission...But have you even read the details ?"
Right after he heard the old man's question, Sen froze.
"...No, I didn't."
"And why is that ?" The old man pressed. He looked a bit done with Seneos' antics.
"Because I didn't want to...."
"The details are pretty important though...."
The girl named Jeol listened to the conversation and sighed. Of course he hadn't read the details.
"W-Well I can't read !" Sen exclaimed before getting slapped on the side of his head.
"You moron, of course you can read. But hey, you sure as hell cannot focus on a text when you have more alcohol in your blood than oxygen you booze leech !"
Before the old man could continue ranting to him, Sen ran out of the bar and found himself in the busy streets of Seoul.
He patted his body to check on his equipment and saw that the sheath on his hip was empty. Of all things possible, his dagger was missing.
"Hey, moron !" He heard Jeol calling out to him and turned around in time to catch his dagger. Looking at her he started to sweat.
"Did you...Did you just throw a dagger at me ?" Sen asked, looking at the weapon warily.
"Yes I did. You were about to go without it." She answered while tilting her head.
"You...Nevermind, I am going to ignore this murder attempt. Where can I find you tonight ?"
"As always, I will be working at the guild. Do not come though. We are getting an inspection today. From what I have heard, the inspectors are a real pain this time."
Jeol returned inside the bar and Sen went on his way.
As he previously mentioned, the dungeon was only a few minutes away from the bar. The gate was located in a child's playground and this very fact made Sen frown as he arrived four minutes later.
'I always thought people were crazy with their theories, but it is really weird that so many dungeon gates spawn in playgrounds, schools and hospitals. The weaks are getting targeted or something ?' Sen thought as he kicked some rocks and posted himself against one of the few cars in the parking lot next to the playground.
He was getting ready to wait for at least fourty minutes, however he heard the sounds of multiple bikes only ten minutes after he arrived. It was definitely the hunters. Normal citizens weren't exactly allowed to ride bikes without helmets on.
Immediately after they arrived, Sen felt something was amiss.
' A tank, three healers and two damage dealers ? Maybe I am wrong, but it looks like that's how they built their team. Those three can only be healers or support mages with their staves and that guy is obviously a tank, though he looks like he can do some damage himself.' Sen thought as he analyzed the team.
The tank was easy to recognize since the man was a hulking mass of muscles and was wearing only tight jeans with some random shoes and iron gauntlets.
Sen didn't know what to make of the two others whom he assumed were damage dealers. He quickly got an opinion on the long haired man, and it was an interesting one.
"I am never riding a bike again ! This thing ruins asses faster than I do" He exlaimed as soon as he got down. He hadn't been riding his own bike unlike the others. The one who had been driving for him was the other damage dealer, a purpled haired woman with the most disagreeing face Seneos had ever seen.
Her sharp features mixed in with her sour expression made it seem like everything and everyone around was annoying. Everyone except the fire mage it seemed, as Seneos instantly learned.
"Y-You didn't have to come with me, you know ?" She told her colleague who frowned.
"How am I supposed to get you in my bed if I don't get closer to you, dumbass ?" He responded without a care in the world before moving towards the tank.
"What...." The girl simply stood in the same position, as though she was paralyzed.
"I already told you, Hojosa, bikes are much better to go from one point to another. Now if you want comfort for your ass, then buy a limousine or something." One of the healers said. Seneos had to do a double take once he heard the man speak. He wasn't just another member of this team, but the leader of it.
'I wouldn't have picked up on this sort of charismatic aura if I wasn't a hunter myself, but he must have a commander sub-class or something like that.' Seneos voiced his thoughts out loud, and the leader seemed to have heard him.
" We didn't even introduce ourselves and you are already analyzing us ? At least the guild didn't lie when they said their porter was a serious guy. I would've liked to answer your question, but I don't know what a sub-class is." The man said. The two other healers, one being a girl who looked like she wasn't even old enough to drink, approached their leader while the long haired mage and the tank started to laugh for some reasons.
"It refers to video games, boss. People didn't wait for the dungeons to appear to imagine hunters or adventurers, whatever they are called in games. Classes are like....The paths y'know ? The sub-classes are like the secondary paths....Or maybe it's the other way around actually since the games came first. Can't say." The male healer said.
"Way to explain things you don't understand yourself."The healer girl mocked her colleague who kicked her in the leg. While they bickered like children, the leader called out to the other members of his team.
"Hey you morons ! Come here quickly !"
"Oi wait a second boss, before you bore us to death with the mission's details...Hahaha, you won't believe what our dear fire mage told me." The tank said. His impressive height and his scarred face would have made him scary, if he wasn't laughing so hard he was actually starting to cry.
"What is it ?"
"Hojosa...Pfff, tell him yourself, I can't man."
Watching the team members interact, Sen only had one thought.
'This is perhaps the weirdest team I have ever seen. They are like a team of teenagers with more power in their hand than they have any right to possess.'
He shivered a bit when he remembered that those people were high rank hunters who could turn him to mush in a few seconds.
"Alright so here is the thing. We decided to have a little friendly competition, me and the big guy. We will see who can kill the boss faster and without taking any damage." The fire mage said, prompting his leader to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.
"And what is the funny part ?"
A silence ensued for a few seconds, the fire mage wanting to add a little suspense to the reveal while the tank continued to laugh, his right hand over his mouth to block his voice.
"The winner gets to sleep with our little shadow mage over here." Hojosa proclaimed proudly, putting his arm over the shadow mage's shoulders.
The leader instantly facepalmed while the two other healers stiffled their laughs.
"Oi, get ready for it girl." The tank said, winking at the mage who couldn't appear more livid with her clenching teeth and killer glare.
"Touch me you moronic hulk, I dare you nay I double dare you. I'll strangle you to death with my powers faster than your ape brain can process what is happening to you."
Her threats felt a bit flat with how the tank kept laughing and shrugged her off.
Meanwhile Sen had already gotten ready to enter the dungeon, with a haversack full of potions on his side. The fire mage and the tank had been too busy laughing to notice the healers lending their potions to Sen, but apparently it didn't matter much to them.
They just rolled with it and the entire team entered the dungeon.
Up until the moment they reached their objective, the room of this dungeon's boss, everything seemed fine to Seneos. Just like he had thought, this was a nice and easy mission with a huge pay.
Looking at the creature that served as a boss for this dungeon, the feeling didn't leave Seneos. It was nothing more than a green hulking figure standing at 5 meters and wearing some sort of primitive leather armor.
Sen could only laugh a bit when he saw it.
'It kinda looks like a green version of the Tank.'
And he wasn't the only thinking like that.
"Holy damn ! Is this your cousin ?!" The fire mage said with his weird speech pattern as he pointed at the orc while looking at his teammate.
The tank smacked him on the head and walked towards the boss who was growling at them.
"Let's see if you can keep laughing after I beat your ass and get to beat her ass ! " The tank said, pointing at the shadow mage.
"Oh really ?! You think you can beat me ? I'm going to ruin this thing and then ruin you " The fire mage said, a vein popping on his forehead as he smiled widely.
The two brazen members of the team instantly shot towards the boss and started attacking him.
With how easily they dodged his attacks and how much damage they inflicted to them, Sen knew this was going to be easy.
As such he decided to sit down and watch them fight, like he was watching some sort of action movie.
The room in which they had found the boss was intriguing in itself and Sen had more than enough time to be amazed by it. He looked at the intricate ceiling full of primitive drawings, and marveled at the sight of the massive pillars of the throne room. They were at least a 30 meters tall, or at least Sen thought so while looking at them.
' Usually boss rooms are quite fitting for the boss they house, but this one....The room dwarfs that huge orc, as if he doesn't even belong here. It's like the room was designed for a much bigger.....'
His train of thought trailed off as the team made the Orc lose his footing. It nearly fell down but used the wall on the right side of the room to support itself. It growled once more at the team who was too busy fighting him to notice a little something.
The wall had been shaken due to the size of the orc and it groaned, but not like a door would.
Something as big as the pillars groaned like a giant just woke up due to the previous shock , and Sen looked up to see two holes opening up in the wall. His eyes quickly widened as they found two glowing red orbs that sent shivers down his spine.
'Those are.....Eyes ?!'