[
[
The shield's durability rapidly dropped and was soon destroyed.
As the explosion's smoke cleared, only Hong Euiyoon remained standing in the spot where the worm had been, surrounded by its shattered remains. Since the shield had broken, he was covered in fragments and dust. However, he didn't even think to brush them off.
"What the hell…."
Hong Euiyoon blinked and looked down at his hands, his expression saying, 'This skill isn't supposed to be this strong.' Beside him, Lee Jungin let out a quiet sigh.
"Haa…. Hunter Hong Euiyoon really is strong. No wonder people call you Hellfire…."
Hong Euiyoon lifted his head and slowly looked at Yoon Seo and Lee Jungin.
"You bastards did something to me—"
At that moment:
[The dungeon has been cleared: Number of Hunters: 11 | Time taken: 1 hour 20 minutes]
[Guild experience points gained: 590,000]
[Current guild experience: 10,128,480,000]
As the unbelievable message appeared in the air, not only Hong Euiyoon but also Lee Jungin's eyes widened in shock. Kim Jinhae, who had been rushing over, stopped in his tracks and stared at the message window.
Even for Navy, clearing a B-rank dungeon boss this quickly was unheard of. Boss monsters evolved during battle. Even if hunters ranked one tier higher than the boss coordinated carefully planned strategies, it would still take half a day to defeat one. But Team 2 not only located the boss quickly, they also took it down in no time at all.
There was only one possible explanation.
Overwhelming firepower.
An absolute force strong enough to crush the boss's regeneration and defenses at each phase.
"Ah, shit. This is so damn anticlimactic."
Clicking his tongue, Hong Euiyoon stored his spear in his inventory. Despite the team's swift success, he was frustrated that he hadn't been able to contribute to the boss fight.
On the other hand, Yoon Seo was inwardly thrilled that he hadn't stood out.
'If they're this shocked, Team 2's hunters must be even more stunned.'
They had probably been trying to stay hidden but were spotted by the boss and decided to use a skill to keep it in check. But it had died in a single blow…. The one who attacked must be the most shocked of all.
Everything had gone exactly as Yoon Seo had planned.
Clearing his throat, Yoon Seo spoke.
"Team 2's hunters are truly incredible. I knew the boss monster wouldn't stand a chance against A-rank hunters, but I never expected them to defeat it this quickly. They must have some powerful skills. Just as Guild Master Yoo Juncheol said, they were hiding their true abilities."
"No matter what, this is ridiculous…. Did Hunter Kwon Jihan step in?"
"Ah, seriously. That bastard Kwon Jihan said he was here to test our abilities, so why the hell would he step in? Is he playing games with us or what?"
Hong Euiyoon roughly ran his hand through his red hair.
Kim Jinhae, now closer, looked much more at ease after seeing the clear message.
"Is everyone unharmed?"
"Nothing. Hunter Kim Jinhae, you worked hard too."
"I didn't do anything."
"At least you know. You just waited quietly inside the shield."
"...."
This time, Kim Jinhae didn't argue with Hong Euiyoon. Meanwhile, Lee Jungin retrieved a mount from the guild's subspace. This time, Lee Jungin took the wheel.
On the way to the portal, both Lee Jungin and Hong Euiyoon wore unsettled expressions. They had cleared the dungeon far more quickly and effortlessly than expected, without anyone getting hurt, and that made them even more uneasy. Kim Jinhae, on the other hand, didn't care about uneasiness or anything else; he was simply happy at the thought of leaving the dungeon.
Yoon Seo suppressed the grin threatening to rise and looked out the window. A barren landscape beneath a blazing sun. A sight one could see on Earth as well, yet the fact that this was an alien planet still felt strange. Not that he would ever come back here.
'Success.'
The fact that he had used
Tonight, he would celebrate his plan's success by splurging on a paid rental of an expensive new drama.
[Recalculating personal experience with the latest dungeon experience added….]
[Unused experience: 13,283,191,000]
[Congratulations! Reaching 1,000,000,000 experience has unlocked the VIP category in the shop!]
[Use experience points to purchase items, skills, or expand inventory capacity.]
'Seriously? What the hell is VIP now?'
Yoon Seo barely paid attention to the alert log. Since he had no intention of ever entering a dungeon again, he didn't even bother opening the shop tab. He pressed his lips together to stop himself from humming when suddenly, another log appeared in front of him.
[Dungeon Clear MVP: Yoon Seo]
Screech! The vehicle came to a sudden halt.
[Dungeon Contribution: Yoon Seo 7 / Others 3]
[The God of Life is delighted.]
[The God of Death is proud of you.]
[The Gaia System grants Dungeon Clear MVP Yoon Seo a special reward.]
[The Gaia System gifts you the item 'Is That True?']
['Is That True?'
Rank: A
If you ever wonder whether someone is telling the truth or lying, ask this memo.
Usage Limit: 0/1]
"...."
"...."
"...."
Three pairs of eyes bore into Yoon Seo.
At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to pass out.
***
5. Perfect
The moment Yoon Seo exited the Homyeongsan Dungeon, he was dragged straight to Seokyoung's headquarters.
In a room with a two-way mirror, like something out of a crime drama, he had to explain how he had ended up as the dungeon's MVP. Since he planned to lie from start to finish, he made sure to stick to one consistent excuse, blaming everything on the Gaia System to avoid contradicting himself.
"I already told you, I used an attack-boosting item. I didn't expect it to be that effective either. Do you think I'm happy about wasting such a good item? And now I have to go through an interrogation on top of that?"
['Kang Myeonghee' has activated the
['Kim Sura' has activated the
['Oh Inbee' has activated the
[The
The interrogators were A-rank hunters equipped with detection skills. There were only two hunters inside the room, but since three skill alerts had popped up, it was clear that someone on the other side of the mirror was also using a detection skill.
Fortunately, all detection-type skills in the world, except for Gaia skills, were sufficiently blocked by Yoon Seo's
"Where did you obtain that item? This was your first dungeon entry, and you had never fought a monster before."
"The Gaia System gave it to me as soon as I entered the dungeon. Said it was a first-dungeon-entry gift."
['Kang Myeongheei' has activated the
['Kim Sura' has activated the
['Oh Inbee' has activated the
[The
"State the exact item rank and name."
"It was A-rank, and the name was…."
Yoon Seo quickly racked his brain.
"'Let's Take It Easy'."
"…Excuse me?"
"Let's Take It Easy."
['Kang Myeongheei' has activated the
['Kim Sura' has activated the
['Oh Inbee' has activated the
[The
The hunters confirmed that Yoon Seo was telling the truth, yet they still tilted their heads in confusion. What kind of ridiculous name was that? But it wasn't like Yoon Seo could help it, this was the first thing that popped into his head. Because, honestly, he really wished they would take it easy.
Similar exchanges continued.
From the other side of the mirror, Yoo Juncheol and Kwon Jihan watched the interrogation unfold, an interrogation that was completely one-sided. Yoo Juncheol's brows were furrowed, but Kwon Jihan's face was full of intrigue.
"He's definitely deceiving them with some skill we don't know about. If it's enough to fool
"..."
"I told you we should've followed that guy. Thanks to you, we wasted our time."
Kwon Jihan criticized Yoo Juncheol. Before entering the Homyeongsan Dungeon, Yoo Juncheol had ordered Kwon Jihan to track Hwashim. Kwon Jihan had insisted that Yoon Seo was the most suspicious, but Yoo Juncheol had stubbornly fixated on Hwashim. In the end, Kwon Jihan had followed his Guild Meader's orders, and this was the result.
Hwashim hadn't used a single noteworthy skill throughout the battle. The only thing he had done was send an urgent guild message upon spotting the boss. That was the full extent of his contribution in the dungeon.
"I admit my mistake. In the next dungeon, just stick to Yoon Seo."
"What next dungeon? Now that he knows he has to be careful, he'll go out of his way not to reveal his abilities, even if it means getting himself hurt. This time, he messed up because he didn't know about the MVP system."
The MVP selection system had been updated about a year ago. To qualify, a single person had to contribute at least 70% to a boss raid. It was such a rare occurrence that even active hunters sometimes questioned whether the system actually existed. So it was only natural that Yoon Seo, who had lived completely detached from dungeons, hadn't known about it.