Chapter 68

Seonwoo Yeon nodded as though she understood.

Of course, there was always the possibility of something unexpected happening. But if you worried about every minuscule risk, you would never succeed in this industry.

“Take care, and good luck.”

“Ah, yes!”

Seonwoo Yeon soon disappeared through the gate.

I glanced at the place where she had vanished and stretched lightly.

“I guess I’ll browse the web while I wait.”

Long live automatic hunting!

***

Inside the gate.

Seonwoo Yeon cautiously continued her exploration, the scent of flowers tickling her nose and soft grass brushing beneath her feet. Before long, a monster came into view.

—Buuuuuu...

A honeybee the size of a human forearm buzzed past her. Its beating wings produced a noise like an enormous fan.

Beep.

[Scout Bee]

[Grade: C]

[Description: A common monster found in the Killer Bee’s Nest. When it senses danger, it releases a pheromone that attracts a swarm of bees.]

Seonwoo Yeon nodded as she checked the information displayed by the analyzer.

‘Good. Nothing’s different.’

The monsters she needed to be most wary of in this gate were precisely these scout bees. The moment one was attacked, it would summon its nearby companions, so she had to proceed carefully.

Seonwoo Yeon quietly circled behind the monster without alerting it, then delivered a decisive strike.

“Kiiiek!”

Whoosh.

It worked.

Seonwoo Yeon’s awakened ability was wind. Compared to many other abilities, it offered distinct advantages in both speed and silence.

‘That should do it!’

She successfully killed the scout bee.

However, just as she approached its corpse to retrieve the magic stone—

—Buuuuuung.

Once again, the buzzing of wings echoed overhead.

Seonwoo Yeon looked up in surprise and saw another scout bee flying menacingly toward her.

‘Two scout bees?’

She hurriedly activated her skill against the monster that had suddenly appeared.

Whoosh.

A blade of wind severed the bee’s head, and its body immediately dropped to the ground.

Yet even after defeating it, Seonwoo Yeon could not shake her unease. She had been told that scout bees did not ordinarily travel in groups.

Then why had two identical monsters appeared one after another?

“Why is this different from what I studied beforehand?”

A faint sense of foreboding settled in her chest.

And that unease soon became reality.

—Buuuu...

A deafening noise began to rise from the enormous beehive embedded in the center of the dungeon.

‘Was I too late to kill the second scout bee?’

Seonwoo Yeon realized what had happened.

The scout bee had already summoned reinforcements.

Still, that alone should not have been a serious problem. Attempts to assassinate scout bees failed all the time.

‘I’ve heard that experienced hunters sometimes deliberately provoke scout bees when they want to hunt efficiently.’

There was a reason the Killer Bee’s Nest was considered relatively easy even among C-Class gates.

The total number of monsters inside was usually quite low.

Ordinarily, provoking a scout bee would not cause any major trouble.

—Buuuuuung.

—Buuuuuuu...

—Wuuung...

Seonwoo Yeon’s body stiffened at the sight unfolding before her.

“Ugh...”

Why were there... so many monsters?

The sky filled with swarming bees. Their numbers were so vast that they cast an enormous shadow across the dungeon, which only moments ago had been bathed in clear sunlight.

—Buuuuuuuuuuuung...

This number was far beyond anything that could be considered normal.

Seonwoo Yeon immediately realized that something had gone terribly wrong.

‘The staff must have registered the gate’s saturation level incorrectly!’

It was a mistake by the Hunter Association.

When a gate was left uncleared, the number of monsters inside gradually increased. Normally, once approximately six days had passed, the gate would be marked as being in a ‘saturation state.’

That label served as a warning. It indicated that the gate contained significantly more monsters than usual and had therefore become more dangerous.

But if that warning had not appeared...

‘They must have entered the gate’s creation time incorrectly. The system should have marked the saturation state automatically.’

Cold sweat poured down Seonwoo Yeon’s face.

—Buuuuuuung!

What was she supposed to do?

Even now, the swarm was drawing closer.

‘R-Run! I have to run!’

Seonwoo Yeon instinctively sprinted toward the entrance.

However, just as she was about to retreat through the gate, a particular warning flashed through her mind.

‘Ah!’

There was one thing a hunter must never do.

Never pass through a gate while monsters were still hostile toward you.

Gate creatures did not ordinarily venture outside. But if a hunter had already drawn their aggression, the monsters could easily follow them through.

‘I can’t leave like this!’

If she wanted to escape, she first had to divert the bees’ attention.

But flying monsters possessed incredible speed. There was no chance she could outrun them on human legs.

“Kyaak!”

While Seonwoo Yeon hesitated, the swarm surrounded her.

Whoosh.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the oncoming bees and fought back.

Whoosh!

She activated Air Cutter, a basic wind-attribute skill.

The corpse of a monster sliced cleanly in half fell heavily to the ground.

“Heuk!”

But this was only the beginning.

There were still far too many bees left.

‘This is disgusting!’

Her face pale, Seonwoo Yeon continued fighting.

This was a battle between a B-Class hunter and C-Class monsters, so she held an overwhelming advantage in terms of raw firepower. The number of killer bees steadily dwindled.

Unfortunately, the same was true of Seonwoo Yeon’s mana.

‘It’s getting harder to breathe.’

Her mana was being depleted at a terrifying rate.

If this continued, her body would reach its limit before she could finish killing the swarm.

‘Please... Someone help me...!’

Seonwoo Yeon was rapidly descending into panic.

It was at that moment—

“...I think she should be about halfway through by now.”

Faintly, through the thunderous buzzing of countless wings, came a human voice.

“Let’s see. I’ll just take a quick look at how much progress she’s made...”

The man who emerged from the gate wore his usual cold expression.

The moment he noticed Seonwoo Yeon desperately fighting near the entrance, he abruptly stopped and stared at her in confusion.

“What’s all this?”

“Kiryeo-ssi!”

Hunter Kim Kiryeo had entered the nest.

***

“What’s all this?”

I had never imagined I would encounter such a scene.

Who could have guessed that a B-Class hunter, who should have been roaming freely throughout the dungeon, would be cornered like this?

Something was clearly wrong.

“It looks like the Association made a mistake when registering the saturation level! There are far more monsters than there should be. I-I’m so lucky you came...”

For a moment, Seonwoo Yeon was so relieved that she seemed to forget I had entered the gate illegally.

Unfortunately, there was only one answer I could give her.

“Hunter Kim Kiryeo, can you help me?”

I answered her question plainly.

“No. I can’t help you.”

What else could I possibly say?

What could an F-Class Awakener do inside a nest filled with C-Class monsters?

However, if I revealed my weakness now, all the bravado I had displayed yesterday would become meaningless. After thinking for a moment, I added an explanation.

“I believe I’ve told you this before. I don’t want to rely on my awakened abilities unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Now is absolutely necessary!”

“Is it?”

For reference, the monsters inside this gate were regarded as weak because their individual magic values were particularly low for C-Class creatures, even after accounting for the fact that they relied on numbers.

The conclusion was obvious.

“Listen carefully, Hunter Seonwoo Yeon. This is a problem you can resolve immediately, as long as you don’t panic.”

“...!”

“Why would you ask someone {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} else to interfere with something you’re perfectly capable of handling yourself?”

I delivered my excuse with complete confidence.

Your abilities are more than sufficient to clear this gate, so I won’t help you.

It was a good excuse.

“W-What? What did you just say...?”

Of course, from Seonwoo Yeon’s perspective, my response must have been entirely unexpected.

“Stay calm and take them down one at a time.”

There was nothing else I could do.

I raised both hands to show that I had no intention of intervening.

Seonwoo Yeon’s lips trembled in disbelief.

“Kim Kiryeo, you...!”

At that moment, the hunter, shaking with what looked like a profound sense of betrayal, suddenly began running toward me.

The kind-hearted Earthling probably had no intention of stabbing me.

The problem was the countless killer bees pursuing her.

I lowered my hands as I watched the monsters gather behind her like a dark storm cloud.

“Kiryeo-ssi! Please, don’t do this! Please do something about them...!”

Buuuuuu.

Hearing them from such a close distance, the beating of the bees’ wings sounded remarkably ominous.

Even so, I did not panic as the C-Class monsters approached.

After all, there was no possibility of me intervening in the first place.

“Huh?”

Buuuuuung.

A moment later, the swarm chasing Seonwoo Yeon closed in around us.

Then something strange happened.

“Ugh, it stings!”

Pak!

It truly was a bizarre sight.

The cloud-like swarm of killer bees continued to target Seonwoo Yeon alone. They attacked her relentlessly while completely ignoring the other hunter standing beside her.

“H-How? Ack!”

Countless bees deliberately veered away from the spot where I stood.

Unable to understand why she alone was being targeted, Seonwoo Yeon stared at me with wide, bewildered eyes.

But what could I do?

That was simply their nature.

‘As expected, it’s exactly the same as last time.’

This was why I had remained so calm all along.

The bees inhabiting the [Killer Bee’s Nest] were not inherently aggressive.

Carelessly using their stingers could result in their own deaths. Therefore, killer bees only initiated an attack against creatures they perceived as threats to their nest.

In other words, they completely ignored an F-Class whose mana was comparable to that of a newborn ant.

‘Is this... something I should be happy about?’

For some reason, my eyes grew moist.

In any case, that was why I was safe.

“Aaaah!”

Seonwoo Yeon, on the other hand, seemed to be having a very difficult time.

Despite desperately fighting off the swarm, the number of wounds left by their stingers continued to increase.

‘Poor thing.’

It was deeply uncomfortable to stand by and watch someone suffer.

So I decided to give Seonwoo Yeon a few tips that might help her survive the crisis.

“Hey, Seonwoo Yeon-ssi!”

Incidentally, the killer bees inhabiting this dungeon also existed on Alphauri.

Thanks to that, I knew a great deal about their weaknesses.

“I’ll tell you where the dungeon boss is!”

“What did you say?”

“If you can’t deal with the entire swarm, kill the queen bee! Once the queen dies, the others will scatter on their own!”

Buuuuuung.

My shout cut through the deafening roar of countless wings.

“Do you see that enormous beehive over there? The brown one!”

“I-I see it...!”

“Look carefully at the pattern on its surface. Can you see the largest spiral?”

I pointed directly toward the place where the queen bee was concealed.

“The queen is in the center of that spiral.”

“I-I understand! Then what should I do...?”

“Pierce it with your skill. Tear through the nest and kill the boss inside.”

That was the quickest way to clear the Killer Bee’s Nest.

Locate the hidden queen and finish it off with long-range magic.

It was an extremely simple strategy.

‘There are a few minor side effects to using this method, but that shouldn’t matter.’

However, even after learning how to defeat the boss, Seonwoo Yeon’s expression remained grim.

“The entire nest? How am I supposed to use such a powerful skill? I already used up all my mana...”

She claimed to be out of mana.

I found that difficult to accept.

As someone who had personally experienced complete mana depletion, I could tell that Seonwoo Yeon still had plenty of energy remaining.

‘She seems completely discouraged.’

I looked at the rigid B-Class hunter with pity and eventually reached a conclusion.

She was clearly overwhelmed by anxiety.

Perhaps the best solution was to say something reassuring and ease her tension, especially since her magic was not functioning properly.

‘That should work, right?’

Having organized my thoughts, I stepped closer to Seonwoo Yeon and spoke to her gently.

“Seonwoo Yeon, you still have plenty of mana left, don’t you?”

“What?”

“The fact that you can still speak and breathe is proof of that. Keep going until you can’t breathe anymore.”

For now, I needed to calmly reassure her that she still had a large reserve of mana.

“After all, awakened people like us don’t die from something like that...”

Once I explained this, Seonwoo Yeon would finally be able to relax.

Even if she pushed herself for a little while, there was absolutely no risk of her dying.

‘What could possibly be more reassuring than hearing that your life isn’t in danger? Now she won’t hesitate.’

Smile!

Confident that Seonwoo Yeon’s tension had eased, I raised my head proudly.

However, what greeted me was the Earthling’s grim expression.

‘Hmm?’

Seonwoo Yeon was staring at me with a deathly pale face.

What was wrong with her?

Was she already suffering from oxygen deprivation?