CH.67 The Forest Covered by Snakes (1)
The next day, Clan Tower, 33rd floor.
I arrived early at the conference room and organized the tasks for the new recruits with Shin Yuna. To call it work would be an overstatement – it was just about placing the strategy plan report on the table.
Actually, this wasn’t an essential part of the horizontal clan culture; it was just something Shin Yuna had grabbed me and said, ‘If you’re a new recruit, you should take care of things like this!’.
There were a total of 8 members attending this mission briefing. All the participants in the raid party were present.
Before 9 AM, clan members started arriving at the conference room one by one. Among them was Kang Juyeon, and we exchanged nods as a form of greeting. Kwon Oh-jun, the leader of hunting team 5 and also the party leader, was the last to arrive. As he entered the conference room, the operation briefing officially began.
Tap-
Kwon Oh-jun put documents loudly on the table as he came in.
“First, I’ll deliver the announcements. The deployment date for this mission has been moved up. We’re leaving this afternoon, not tomorrow. This is a confirmed directive from higher-ups, so there’s no room for discussion. Make sure everyone finishes their preparations for deployment by this afternoon.”
This was followed by changes in the schedule announcement.
The scheduled date had been moved up by a day… to today, actually.
However, it didn’t seem to be that surprising, as everyone nodded in agreement with the changes. Of course, there were clan members who had doubts.
“Team leader, may I ask the reason for the date change?”
Holder, sitting diagonally to my left.
According to the booklet given to me by Shin Yuna, the Holder was Min Chae-hwan, a B-grade archer in hunting team 5.
Min Chae-hwan… The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t recall where I had heard it before. When reading the booklet, I had a strange feeling. Perhaps it was a faint memory in my mind. He was probably one of the extras that had passed by in the original. Anyway, Kwon Oh-jun responded to Min Chae-hwan’s raised hand abruptly.
“What did you just hear? I said there’s no room for discussion. It’s a directive from higher-ups. Don’t waste time and get ready for the deployment right away.”
“…Understood.”
I was actually surprised by Kwon Oh-jun’s sharp response.
‘Isn’t he speaking too harshly?’
Despite Kwon Oh-jun being a team leader who used casual speech without reservation, his reaction seemed excessive.
Min Chae-hwan might have felt something in Kwon Oh-jun’s response. Nevertheless, Min Chae-hwan accepted it without any change in his expression. It seemed like a familiar situation for him.
With that, Kwon Oh-jun resumed his mission briefing explanation.
“The location of the dungeon we’re targeting this time is in the middle of Jongno Inwangsan Field. Some of you might remember, but it’s a similar location to the tiger’s den dungeon that hunting team 4 tackled before.”
The clan members gathered in the conference room nodded as if they remembered. While passing the strategy plan report to others, I focused on his words.
Inwangsan Field. A field outside the boundary where S-grade monster ‘Divine Snake Woo Baek-ho’ appeared at the mountaintop.
Of course, there were no Holders who claimed to have discovered Woo Baek-ho yet. As a field known for its frequent appearances of tiger-like monsters, there were quite a few dungeons related to tigers.
Among them, the ‘Tiger’s Lair’ dungeon was one of the dungeons that hunting team 4 had tackled a few months ago in <Judgment of Fire> and was now generating profits as one of the main dungeons.
Tap-
Beep beep-
Kwon Oh-jun briefly put down the plan and turned on the beam projector. A detailed PowerPoint presentation about the destination for this deployment. Inside were… pictures of the unique-looking ‘snakes’.
“The location might be similar, but the appearing monsters and the dungeon’s characteristics are completely different. The main appearing monster, as you can see, is snakes. The dungeon is tentatively named ‘The Forest Covered by Snakes’.”
Beep-
Kwon Oh-jun used the pointer to advance the slides.
The first monster appeared. A long body and tail. In contrast, a snake with a broad face. It was the B-grade monster, Rapid Cobra.
“Rapid Cobra is a snake-type monster that focuses on speed, as its name suggests. While young snakes are already known for their speed, these are exceptionally fast. They probably possess related runes as well. Shin Yuna and Do Jae-hyun.”
“Yes!”
“Yes.”
We responded promptly to the sudden call. Kwon Oh-jun alternated his gaze between me and Shin Yuna before speaking calmly.
“Both of you are the only warrior-type members for this operation. You need to firmly hold the center and engage in tanking. If you get flustered by their speed and lose sight of the monsters, remember that their attacks will head toward the rear of our party.”
“Yes, I’ll remember that!”
“Understood.”
While Kwon Oh-jun was trying to instill fear, it wouldn’t be easy for either Shin Yuna or me to be flustered. After all, we both possessed the [Agile Agility] rune, which was agile in dealing with fast attacks. Through runes, we could easily deal with attacks of high speed, and if necessary, we could also use shields. Especially for Shin Yuna, who specialized in speed statistics, she could easily entice the monsters as an ‘evasion tank’.
‘Well, it’s me… I can use magic attacks if necessary.’
Considering the diversity of my runes, as Kwon Oh-jun had seen, there was no need to distance myself as a Multi-Holder.
As a matter of fact, my [Fiery Flame] was manifested faster than the magician-type Holders in our party. Since I only manifested magic power without casting spells. Whether it was me or Shin Yuna, we were both Holders of a higher level than ordinary C-grade Holders.
After a brief warning, the explanation continued.
It had been about two hours. Kwon Oh-jun’s explanations and the PowerPoint slides were well-organized. They depicted various snake-type monsters and their characteristics.
The special characteristics of the dungeon were neatly summarized in the PPT.
Even though the explanations were quite tedious, Kwon Oh-jun went through them meticulously, as the content was directly connected to the lives of the party members. He made sure not to miss any details to avoid any mistakes. He also mentioned the monsters for which scouting hadn’t been completed yet.
“Occasionally, an A-grade monster, Basilisk, is reported to appear in the middle section. Although it hasn’t been confirmed, the boss room monster is likely to be an A-grade as well. The characteristics, weaknesses, and all related information about these monsters are written in the strategy plan report… Make sure you memorize it until the afternoon deployment. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Got it…!!”
Energetic responses echoed from some of the party members. There were eight members in total for the deployment and raid party: me, Shin Yuna, Kwon Oh-jun from the warrior-type; Kang Juyeon and Kim Sung-cheol, both mage-type Holders; Lee Soo-mi, a Holder of the recovery-type; Choi Dong-wook, an assassin-type Holder; and finally, Min Chae-hwan, the archer-type Holder who had asked the earlier question.
After checking the members, Kwon Oh-jun lightly tapped the table, indicating the end of the meeting.
“Each of you, handle your morning preparation time and lunch on your own. Gather at the entrance of Inwangsan Field by 2 PM. That’s all.”
The Forest Covered by Snakes. This was the dungeon I was lucky enough to embark on right after joining <Judgment of Fire>.
***
ippotranslations
***
There wasn’t anything specific needed for the dungeon raid. I had enough equipment, so there was no need to meet Choi Yoo-min.
Moreover, the equipment that had been damaged during the last Swirl Leviathan hunt had all been repaired. Due to the late deployment, there was a chance we might camp within the dungeon. However, I had already prepared for that with Shin Yuna in the morning.
All that was needed was confidence and appropriate tension.
“…You don’t have to be that tense.”
Kang Juyeon, walking next to me, said.
Since there was no one to go with me to the entrance of Inwangsan Field, I was heading there with Kang Juyeon.
By now, I had gotten to know her a bit and didn’t feel uncomfortable when we were together. Unlike yesterday, Kang Juyeon seemed much more relaxed today. She was the one giving advice first, as I could tell.
…Coincidentally, Shin Yuna wasn’t here today.
Did she get mad at Shin Yuna yesterday?
“Various situations supported it, but you have experience hunting A-grade
monsters alone, don’t you?”
“That was really lucky.”
I wonder why she’s suddenly bringing up a topic from the past.
Even if I face it now, I wouldn’t be able to defeat Grizzly Drake now if I were to face it again. …Or could I? If I poured out all the runes I had, maybe I could somehow…
Anyway, hunting an A-grade monster alone. Even now, when I’ve grown much stronger since then, it’s not an easy task.
“I know. Still, compared to an ordinary C-grade Holder, you’re outstanding, and that’s why your party inclusion was suggested, taking into account that you wouldn’t be a nuisance to a B-grade party. Taking all that into consideration, Do Jae-hyun, your party inclusion was advocated.”
Kang Juyeon smiled slightly as if she were going to show herself.
I also responded and said, “Thanks for taking care of me since I joined as an intern. Going to higher-level dungeons with members of the clan who are doing well. I’m lucky.”
“…No.”
Kang Juyeon, whose face seemed to flush for some reason, averted her gaze. As we exchanged such light conversations while walking…
We had already arrived at our destination without realizing it. Among the clan members, we seemed to be the first to arrive, as no one was at the entrance. We found a nearby bench and sat down for a moment.
“Ah.”
While sitting on the bench, Kang Juyeon suddenly remembered something and rummaged through her magic bag. She took out a small bottle and handed it to me.
“…Here”
“What is it?”
A uniquely shaped bottle emitting a green light. Judging by its contents, it was clearly a special type of ‘potion’.
“Detoxification for preventing paralysis due to venom.”
“…Venom?”
“Yeah. Snake-type monsters often carry venom… It’s not a problem with other types, but paralysis venom is dangerous when it takes effect.”
The potency of poison varied depending on the type, but in the case of paralysis venom, it was fatal to the warriors. If a warrior-type, who was supposed to be at the forefront tanking, got paralyzed due to venom and couldn’t move, it could lead to danger for the party.
Kang Juyeon was concerned about this and handed me a [Detoxification Prevention Potion]. If you drank it in advance, you wouldn’t be affected by the poison for a certain period.
It was a thoughtful gift that considered my attributes. However…
‘I have Poison Resistance 8, though…’
When facing the Poisonous Iguana in the Academy Underground Dungeon, I had trained my poison resistance. My poison resistance value was already at 8. My [Venom] was also at level 5, which meant I was almost immune to deadly poison. It was even effective against most snake venoms. I felt sorry for Kang Juyeon, who had prepared the detoxification prevention potion, but in reality, it was useless for me.
“…Thanks. I’m lucky, huh?”
Nevertheless, I accepted the potion with a raised corner of my mouth. Ignoring the thoughtfulness of the gift giver would be one thing, but… If I refuse Kang Juyeon’s gift, the atmosphere might become cold again, just like yesterday.
Honestly, I’m afraid to imagine how things would turn out.
