At the entrance of the dungeon, the air was fresh but carried a weight of seriousness, as if the forest itself held its breath, the dungeon portal now sealed, marking the dungeon as cleared. The group emerged, battered and bruised, their steps heavy with exhaustion. Akira, having leveled up once again, was in peak physical condition. He briefly steadied Victor by holding his arm before letting go, his expression unreadable but his movements deliberate.
The low hum of cars reached their ears, and their weary eyes turned to see a line of gleaming T.E.RR.A Agency vans parked nearby. Agents, clad in their distinctive black-and-gray uniforms, hurried over to them. One of the agents stepped forward—a middle-aged man with sharp eyes and an imposing presence.
"Are you all right, respectable Stars?" he asked, his voice steady but urgent. "Let us help you." He gestured toward his team, which immediately began unpacking supplies.
"We're fine," Grido said firmly, dusting himself off. Despite his depleted mana and stamina, he maintained a composed demeanor. "I'll explain everything. Start helping them first they're in worse shape," he added, pointing at Anna and Victor.
The agents nodded and rushed to assist Victor, who could barely stand, and Anna, who swayed with exhaustion. Akira leaned back against a boulder, his expression distant and silent as ever, though his eyes flickered with something unspoken—a tension that seemed to pull him inward.
Grido approached the lead Terra agent, his voice steady though his eyes betrayed lingering exhaustion. "The dungeon is cleared," he began. "We defeated the mutant Thermos, a water-type boss with slimy attributes. The monster was different from anything we've seen before—its power was much greater than a regular C-rank dungeon Thermos, and its size was unprecedented."
The agent frowned, pulling out a tablet and swiftly jotting down notes. "More mutants, huh? What about the magical stones?"
Grido shook his head. "I think you already know it was a water-type territory dungeon—just a small island that turned out to be the boss itself. Any magical stones were rendered useless; the ocean devoured them in seconds after we killed the creatures. We took the task to clear it because our guild cares about the safety of the people, even though the reward from your agency is low and the magical stones can't be retrieved from such dungeons."
The Terra agent sighed deeply. "That's true and we are grateful to you Silver , but this isn't the first time we've seen this. Reports of evolved monsters and bosses have been coming in from all over Korea. Since the great inventor Shiro Shoto's passing, predicting dungeon levels has been… unreliable. The technology we've borrowed from other companies isn't as advanced as his, and it's showing."
Grido's jaw tightened. "So you're saying this isn't just a single isolated event?"
"Not at all," the agent replied grimly. "We've had cases where a predicted D-rank dungeon turned out to house B-rank threats. Without Shiro's constantly updating devices, our readings are often inaccurate, leaving STARS unprepared." He glanced at the weary group. "We're thankful for your efforts here. If not for you, the situation could've been much worse."
Grido nodded, his gaze drifting to Akira, who stood silently against the boulder. The agent hastily saluted. "Thanks for the assist."
After that, the Terra agents began to organize their equipment. Grido looked back at his team. Anna and Victor were receiving aid beside the ambulance. Grido ambled over, making cautious, steady steps despite his exhaustion.
"Anna," he said, his voice strong but gentle. "Take Victor and go with the medics. He's too hurt to stand by himself, and you're not doing well either. Let them help you both. I'll call you later."
Anna hesitated, glancing at Akira, then back at Grido. "But—"
"No arguments," Grido said firmly. "You need to get better too. I'll take care of things here."
Anna nodded reluctantly and headed toward the ambulance. She looked at Akira, her voice quiet and shaky. "Akira... thanks. I'll catch up with you later."
Akira looked far away, as if he hadn't heard her at all.
Grido stepped closer to Akira. "That's enough for today. Go to our guild healers or a hospital. Rest up. As for the money and the dungeon distribution report, come to the guild in two days. We'll sort it all out then." He paused, then added with a hint of apology, "And I'm sorry about the 25% distribution of the magic stones. Since this dungeon was evolved, we didn't get any. If this had been a regular C-rank dungeon, the plan was for Victor and Anna to handle the creatures while I worked with my beast, Glothan, and you would have ridden alongside, catching the corpses and bringing them to the small island to extract the magic stones. But who would have thought the island itself turned out to be the boss? That's why you can never be sure what to expect in a dungeon. When Shiro Shoto was alive, we had a security knowing exactly what to expect from a dungeon, but now..." He trailed off, his tone laced with regret.
Akira looked at Grido for a moment but said nothing. He simply nodded and set off, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. Though his physical condition was at its peak after leveling up, his mental strength was not.
"Akira," Grido called after him as he turned.
Akira paused, cocking his head slightly but not turning fully around.
"Thanks," Grido said, his voice thick with sincerity. "I have a lot of questions for you—ones I know Anna and Victor want to ask you too. What you did back there…" He trailed off, his gruff demeanor softening. "I know you didn't do it for us, but we were in the mix. Because of that, we're alive and kicking. So… I wanted to say thanks."
Akira's lips twitched into the faintest of smiles, but his eyes remained distant, as if he were looking through Grido rather than at him. "Hah, see you later, Beast Tamer," he said, his voice calm and soft, and then walked into the distance.
Grido stood there, watching him leave, a small, knowing smile on his lips. "For real, that kid… is a strange one," he said quietly to himself.
The sun had begun to set by the time Akira reached Cha-Jong's house. His black usual dungeon clothes were torn, with dried blood still clinging to them. Despite his disheveled appearance, he exuded strength and calmness. The raid in the dungeon had tested him, but gaining levels had made him even stronger—a stark contrast to his ragged attire.
The door opened, revealing Cha-Jong's surprised face. Akira blinked; he had expected Cha-Jong's wife to welcome him, as usual.
"Akira?" Cha-Jong said, surprised. "Weren't you in a dungeon raid? How are you here already?"
Akira's lips curved upward slightly. "I could ask you the same thing. Didn't you have a raid today?"
Cha-Jong opened the door wider and gestured inside. "Come in. We need to talk."
Akira walked through the doorway, feeling the usual warmth of the house. As he entered the living room, a small shape rushed towards him.
"Big brother!" Yuna exclaimed cheerfully as she leapt into his arms. "I missed you!"
A rare softness settled upon Akira's features as he enfolded her in a gentle embrace, his arms cradling her closely for a heartbeat. "I missed you too, Yuna," he murmured softly. She smiled at him and then ran off to her toys.
Akira, still smiling slightly, followed Cha-Jong to the living room. It was already set for tea, and the fragrant atmosphere was inviting. Cha-Jong motioned for Akira to sit, and they sat opposite each other in chairs facing inward.
They both sat down, and the mood shifted as Cha-Jong's face became serious. "So," Akira said, articulating each word, "what about today's raid?"
Cha-Jong leaned back a little and sighed. "We didn't even get to begin one."
Akira looked confused. "Why?"
"The dungeon was not stable," Cha-Jong said, picking up his cup of tea but not drinking from it. "There was too much mana coming out of it—far more than there should have been. Sylvara, our guild leader, thought that it could be an evolved gate. She didn't want to risk anything and canceled it to have it rechecked again."
Akira was calm, but his eyes narrowed slightly. "An evolved dungeon?"
Cha-Jong nodded. "It's confusing everyone. Even our guild has been having a hard time with these problems."
Akira leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "We cleared our dungeon today," he said.
Cha-Jong's face brightened for a moment. "Oh, nice! Good job." But his smile vanished when he heard the sharp tone in Akira's voice. "Wait… was it an evolved one too?"
Akira nodded. "Yes."
The smile fell off Cha-Jong's face. "What—wait, a new kind of dungeon? And you still cleared it?"
Akira nodded again. "It was bad. The team I was with… they weren't prepared for something like that."
"Tell me everything," Cha-Jong said, leaning forward. "What happened inside?"
"At the beginning, I thought there were enough people on the team," Akira said, his expression unreadable. "But more mutant monsters kept coming, and the mana they had was bound to be consumed."
"Mutants?" Cha-Jong repeated, scowling.
"They were more numerous than us," Akira continued, his voice level. "They kept coming, wave after wave. At first, the team handled them well—impressive, even. But that was all."
Cha-Jong's brows knitted together. "What do you mean?"
Akira looked serious, his voice heavy. "They couldn't keep up. The mutants outnumbered us, and every time we thought we had killed all of them, more showed up."
Cha-Jong leaned forward, frowning as he processed Akira's words. "Their attacks were tougher than normal for Aqua Variant Genea, and… they could hit targets from far away," Akira said, his voice even but firm. "They told me that's not something they should've been able to do."
He paused for a moment before asking, his voice cautious. "Akira, how did you clear that dungeon? Did… something weird happen to you?"
Akira's eyes widened slightly at the question, and he was truly taken aback. "Weird? What kind of weird thing could happen to me?" he asked, sounding quite doubtful.
Cha-Jong hadn't meant to ask that. The words had slipped out before he could think, driven by curiosity. For a moment, he froze, but his thoughts raced. He couldn't shake the thought—that no one could survive such a deadly place alone, not even Akira. Sure, he was strong, but not strong enough yet to clear an evolved C-rank dungeon by himself. Cha-Jong knew that all too well.
"The only possible way would've been... that," he thought. "That monster. The only thing that would make sense on how they cleared that evolved dungeon would've been if he came out from inside the boy again."
The monster—the one inside Akira, the one that surfaced when the Vampire nearly killed him. The thought of it coming out again terrified Cha-Jong.
Akira asked again, his voice firm. "I asked you, what kind of weird thing could happen to me?"
Cha-Jong swallowed hard, his mind racing as he tried to find the right words.