CH.98 Stained Rock Pile (10)
The boss monster Barg is at minimum an A-grade monster.
While I could leisurely defeat it if I took my time, Yoo Eun-seol did not delay.
The six wolves that were guarding were Barg’s guardian monsters.
They were targeting the party members in the back.
I had to swiftly take down the boss and go assist them.
“Bloom a single flower.”
The ultimate skill unfolds without hesitation.
[Snow Plum Blossom]’s [Snowy Drifting Plum Blossom].
[Snowy Drifting Plum Blossom] is a skill used together with rune magic.
Moving the two short swords at an extremely fast speed, it continuously slashes and cuts the opponent.
The path of the cuts is from the opponent’s knees to the calves behind them.
It viciously cuts both the front and back, leaving massive scars.
The blood that blooms like flowers within.
The falling petals were not my plum blossoms, but the opponent’s blood.
Barg, an A-grade monster, could not withstand that lethal move for even 10 seconds.
Gruhh…
Thud!
The huge body fell onto the rocky mountain, making a loud noise.
I, who had instantly taken down the boss monster, immediately moved my body.
Since the mage Kim Chae-eun was afflicted by an abnormal status, Do Jae-hyun was solo tanking.
As a fellow party member, and as a senior Holder…
I had to go help them…
“…Huh?”
Having dashed to the entrance of the boss room in one breath, I was bewildered.
The wolf-type B-grade monsters that were clearly six in number…
Were all lying defeated as corpses.
And the wounds engraved all over their bodies.
Were clearly traces left by a sword.
Wolves defeated by physical attacks, not magic.
It meant the warrior Do Jae-hyun alone had taken down all six wolves.
***
“Holder Do Jae-hyun? How did this…”
“Ah, haha…”
Do Jae-hyun smiles awkwardly as he scratches his head.
Seeing that, Yoo Eun-seol realized she had misunderstood something.
‘He wasn’t an ordinary C-grade.’
When they first entered the dungeon, honestly, she was disappointed.
She finally found a Holder with the ‘aura of a dragon’, and his skills also seemed decent.
She even went so far as to save him from a crisis…
But he introduced himself as a C-grade Holder.
An ordinary student Holder attending the academy.
And this fell short of the criteria for the party member Yoo Eun-seol was looking for.
Minimum B-grade.
And that was the minimum, he had to surpass A-grade.
Even if Yoo Eun-seol wanted to raid…
To raid the dungeon <The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon>, considered the highest difficulty in history. She couldn’t bring a mere C-grade Holder.
‘Was he hiding his strength?’
But as they challenged the dungeon together.
His exceptionally outstanding skills began to stand out.
Do Jae-hyun perfectly fulfilled his role as the tanker in a 3 person party split into damage dealer, tanker, and support.
He blocked the monsters’ attacks sturdily at the front without any particular injury, and sometimes defeated the monsters himself when Yoo Eun-seol’s attacks didn’t reach.
And now, the battle inside the boss room.
By ‘almost solely physical attacks’, he alone defeated six B-grade monsters.
Introducing himself as a C-grade Holder…
He proved without a doubt that he was by no means at an average C-grade level.
“The rest room… seems to have appeared where the boss was sitting.”
Yoo Eun-seol didn’t bother asking.
Why was Jae-hyun so much stronger than ordinary C-grades, or what was the trace of electrocution left on the wolves’ corpses…
That process was merely in the realm of curiosity.
What was important was the result.
The result that Do Jae-hyun was the ‘special Holder’ she was looking for.
“I’ll give up the rewards from the rest room. I hope you two can split it.”
“…Eh?”
At the sudden declaration, the two were bewildered.
Do Jae-hyun waved his hands busily and spoke urgently.
“That doesn’t make sense. When Holder Yoo Eun-seol took care of most of the hunting…”
“But didn’t I see Holder Do Jae-hyun handle it alone just now?”
As Do Jae-hyun made an embarrassed expression, Yoo Eun-seol smiled slightly.
“I’m joking. If you had enough time, the two of you could have cleared the dungeon together. Since I directly experienced that, giving up the rewards should be no burden. Rather, I have something to discuss alone with Holder Do Jae-hyun…”
Yoo Eun-seol turned to look at Kim Chae-eun.
“Could you give us some space? You can go check out the rest room.”
“The t-two of you?”
Embarrassment colored Kim Chae-eun’s face.
More than talk of giving up the rest room rewards, she seemed much more surprised that Yoo Eun-seol had something to discuss alone with Do Jae-hyun.
“Yes. It’ll be quick.”
“Ugh…”
Kim Chae-eun lowered her head and let out a groan.
Then after alternately glancing between Do Jae-hyun and Yoo Eun-seol, seemingly agonizing over it…
She finally nodded reluctantly.
“I understand… senior.”
In an extremely deflated voice.
Kim Chae-eun entered the rest room alone.
Not knowing the reason, Yoo Eun-seol simply nodded.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Dungeon raid?”
After Kim Chae-eun left for the rest room.
A conversation on the rocky mountain hillside.
At Yoo Eun-seol’s sudden words, I asked back in bewilderment.
What could an S-grade Holder like Yoo Eun-seol have to discuss alone with me…
The proposal I got from her was, surprisingly.
Forming a ‘2 person party’ for raiding a specific dungeon.
Yoo Eun-seol nodded.
“Yes. It’s a somewhat special dungeon, so there are conditions to enter it. I’ve been looking for party members. Coincidentally, Holder Do Jae-hyun meets those conditions. So I was hoping if you’d be willing, to clear the dungeon together…”
It was a bold proposal.
Dungeon raiding with just Yoo Eun-seol and me.
It was likely an experience no active Holder had gone through.
Moreover, this was information I hadn’t seen in the original work either, so it made me even more bewildered.
Yoo Eun-seol was an S-grade Holder who occasionally appeared in the latter half’s confrontation with the <Villain> clan. But such detailed content about dungeon raids wasn’t mentioned.
It was completely new information to me.
I carefully asked her,
“May I know roughly what dungeon it is? I’m still anxious to just accept the proposal…”
I know Yoo Eun-seol isn’t a villainous character.
On the contrary, she has such inner qualities, confronting and fighting the representative villains, <Villain>, in the latter half.
Knowing that, I joined the Stained Rock Pile Dungeon raid without hesitation.
But this case was different.
A dungeon raid with just an S-grade Holder and me…
Anyone could see it was strange.
If I readily accepted and got beaten to death, I’d have no one to complain to.
Fortunately, Yoo Eun-seol seemed to understand.
Nodding, she replied,
“Holder Do Jae-hyun has probably heard of it too. The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon.”
“Dragon’s Breath…?”
The moment I heard the dungeon’s name.
A familiar feeling hit me, just as she said.
<The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon>.
That was definitely…
Yoo Eun-seol’s solo conquest that allowed her to rise to an S-grade Holder, and the dungeon was rumored to be the stage for it.
Once I connected those dots, I tilted my head and asked.
“Isn’t that a dungeon whose raid has ended?”
A dungeon Yoo Eun-seol already completed the raid alone.
The dungeon’s first discovery, first clearing…
Solely by Yoo Eun-seol alone.
Its contents were so famous that <The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon> was a well-known dungeon to the public.
Saying let’s raid it together didn’t make sense.
Yoo Eun-seol nodded briefly before asking again.
“Has Holder Do Jae-hyun heard of double dungeons?”
Double dungeons.
A special medium existing inside a dungeon.
Connecting to another dungeon through it, a dungeon within a dungeon.
Other than the peculiar method of entry, the structure itself was the same as a normal dungeon.
There was no way I wouldn’t know about it.
“Yes, I know about it. There are more overseas than domestic… Oh!”
I calmly answered then flinched midway.
Double dungeon.
And <The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon>, whose raid was already completed.
Connecting those dots, a faint answer emerged.
“Could the dungeon you’re trying to raid be…”
“Yes. I’m trying to raid the double dungeon inside The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon. It’s in the boss room, a location only I know. That double dungeon requires two Holders with special conditions to enter… Holder Do Jae-hyun meets those conditions.”
Yoo Eun-seol’s eyes turned to me.
Her hair, clothes, everything is pure white.
That atmosphere of a white snowflake seemed to reach her gaze.
“So while clearing the dungeons together, I’ve been looking for a chance to tell you.”
You don’t have to answer now…”
If it’s alright, we can have a more detailed talk later…”
Additional words like that rang out, but.
Honestly, they didn’t go in my ears well.
She is an S-grade Holder.
Even though I got stronger recently, the fact that I, who just reached B-grade, will be doing a dungeon raid with an S-grade Holder… was quite worrisome,
That I wouldn’t be able to accomplish much, and that it would be too dangerous.
So I honestly told her this part.
“I’m very grateful for the offer but… it will be difficult.”
“May I ask why?”
“Well… I’m better than ordinary C-grade Holders, but still, I just barely made it to B-grade… and with my skills, raiding a dungeon with Holder Yoo Eun-seol seems lacking and dangerous. I appreciate you thinking highly of me but I still think I’m insufficient in many aspects to raid such high dungeons.”
Dungeon raiding with Yoo Eun-seol!
It sounds like something I’d happily accept but thinking about <The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon> difficulty, those words don’t even come out.
From the dungeon’s entrance, A-grade monsters appear slithering about, the boss room has an S-grade monster… moreover there are rumors it has power surpassing normal S-grade.
The double dungeon within such a dungeon.
Its difficulty absolutely wouldn’t be easy.
I really want to accept the offer too but with my current level, it is near impossible.
But despite my polite refusal…
Yoo Eun-seol’s expression didn’t change much.
Instead, in an extremely tranquil attitude she replied to me.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Holder Do Jae-hyun already has sufficient skills, and if there’s lacking parts, I can teach you.”
“Huh? What is that…”
Leaving aside the talk of having sufficient skills…
Teach me?
What kind of nonsense is this?
But before I could fully understand those words.
Yoo Eun-seol smiled slightly and held her hand out to me.
“Let me properly introduce myself. I’m Yoo Eun-seol, who will be a specialized instructor at the academy starting next semester. If it’s alright with you… I’d like for Holder Do Jae-hyun to take my classes as well.”
Bang-
Like being hit on the head with a huge bell.
What is this, again.
Yoo Eun-seol is an academy instructor?
Just how and what is going on here?
