ICPBAG CH 05

Of course, the guild Hunters on our side didn’t seem to have any issues. Choi Minseong was already enthusiastically unleashing attacks.

The number of monsters detected on the radar was at least fifty, but the boss had yet to reveal itself.

It was a dungeon occupied by a stealth-type boss. Now I understood why there had been an error in the level assessment.

“I’m the one giving orders to our team! Shut up and mind your own!”

“This isn’t the time to split teams! This is a joint raid! Rookie Hunter, I’ll apply a shield—please move to the entrance. The boss is in stealth, so I’ll use a dispel skill. Stay at the entrance, and when the ground turns black, that’ll be your signal—”

“Kang Lee Seo! Who do you think you are, ordering my team around? Don’t you know your place? Hey, Park Juhwan, where are you going? Get back here!”

Song Seokwoo’s furious shout rang out. The rookie Hunter, Park Juhwan, already looked pale with fear.

This was the worst. My own superior was the worst, but the future of that man, Park Juhwan, was just as pitiful.

I swallowed a sigh. After sweeping aside nearby enemies, Choi Minseong caught his breath and met my eyes.

“Just give up. He’s not the kind of person you can reason with anyway.”

“Since it’s a stealth-type boss, the fastest confirmation happens at the entrance once stealth breaks. It’s best to station the rookie there.”

“I agree. But what can we do? Command authority belongs to Team Leader Song. Skip the entrance check and use your dispel skill. I’ll poke around.”

Choi Minseong was right. The authority to command lay with Song Seokwoo. The overall raid command was his as well.

I bit my lip and opened the skill window.

[Dispel] Removes all status effects and stealth in the surrounding area.
However, if it collides with the target’s ‘Defense’ skill, the success rate decreases.

After signaling Choi Minseong, I activated the dispel skill. Since it was instant-cast, the result appeared immediately.

[Dispel] Skill use failed.

That was the downside—the high chance of failure.

It had clashed with the target’s defensive stance. The skill had been cleanly countered and rendered useless, but it was too early to be disappointed. I hadn’t expected it to succeed in just one or two attempts anyway.

So I had no choice but to keep trying until it worked.

[Dispel] Removes all status effects and stealth in the surrounding area.
However, if it collides with the target’s ‘Defense’ skill, the success rate decreases.

The repeated casting made my insides churn, but I couldn’t stop.

Keeping as much distance from the monsters as possible, I began fully supporting Choi Minseong.

If only I could use my locked skills.

The thought crossed my mind with lingering regret. Though I was actually A-rank, I had to do my best as a B-rank infiltrator.

Suddenly, the ground twisted violently, enough to distort my vision. The darkened surface began to crack open.

Suppressing the nausea rising in my throat, I leapt to the highest nearby point. Choi Minseong quickly followed behind me.

“Well, not much of a deal, I’d say. Just a high-level weakling.”

Despite clearly having expended quite a bit of stamina, he was still bragging. That meant he was fine—for now.

That was a relief.

“Good work. Still, it’s level 7, so from here on we should follow the team leader’s instructions.”

“Ah, that bastard. Noona, just rest from here on.”

I was about to say I was fine when the ill-tempered Song Seokwoo appeared. He looked like he had rolled in monster corpses—his state was a mess.

“Hey, Choi Minseong. What did you just say?”

“What do you mean?”

“That ‘bastard’? Bastard, huh?”

“You must’ve misheard. You did. You, specifically.”

“You punk—how old are you? Want to get kicked out of this district, huh?”

“My apologies. Please let it slide just this once.”

“Hah. Crazy bastard.”

As Choi Minseong replied without any sincerity, I lightly tapped his arm. Enough. That’s enough.

I finally understood why Cha Wooshin always insisted on including me in joint raids.

By nature, raids required a support role, and it was necessary to smooth things over with the temperamental Association personnel. On top of that, someone had to act as a brake for the unruly guild members.

Of course, Cha Wooshin seemed to enjoy situations like this.

A few days ago, one of the guild members had run into a national Hunter by chance while walking down the street.

The Hunter happened to be the face of a popular convenience store bread advertisement.

The guild member recognized him instantly, ran up, and punched him in the face without warning.

The reason was absurd.

“Why is there no red bean in red bean bread, you bastard!”

Apparently, the product the Hunter advertised just didn’t suit his taste.

No—more than that, he probably just couldn’t stand seeing national Hunters acting as advertisement models everywhere.

When Cha Wooshin heard about the outrageous behavior of his subordinate, he laughed for a long time, clutching his stomach. Judging by that reaction, he enjoyed any kind of entanglement with the Association.

“I apologize.”

Choi Minseong, noticing my look, straightened his posture and bowed his head.

Since he was bowing in my direction, I subtly stepped aside.

It needed to clearly look like he was bowing to Song Seokwoo.

“Team Leader. It seems the boss will reveal itself soon. How should we proceed?”

I asked calmly. Song Seokwoo, who had been glaring displeased at Choi Minseong, opened the raid status window.

“Ahem. Two here, and these two over there. Kang Lee Seo, you stay here and maintain buffs. Throw in heals periodically. Choi Minseong, you’re on point.”

I heard Choi Minseong mutter a curse under his breath, but I pretended not to notice.

“Everyone to positions! Move it!”

At Song Seokwoo’s command, everyone immediately moved into position.

Hopefully, we would complete the mission safely like this.

I cast a shield over the entire raid.

But one spot in the national Hunter team was empty.

Adjusting my vision, I confirmed—it was Park Juhwan, the rookie Hunter.

A bad feeling crept in.

[Park Juhwan, where are you!]

Sensing something was wrong, Song Seokwoo quickly opened communications. I, too, sharpened my senses.

Park Juhwan had left the designated range.

Not the entrance—I would have noticed. Then the opposite direction.

A rookie Hunter, who normally moved only according to orders, leaving formation during combat… it was a bad sign.

The fog was thick.

“Team Leader.”

We couldn’t wait forever for an unresponsive signal.

“Please maintain buffs. I’ll find Hunter Park Juhwan.”

[Kang Lee Seo. Don’t act up. Stay where you are.]

Song Seokwoo responded in a warning tone.

Among the team, only Song Seokwoo and I could perform support roles. No—there were two of us.

At that moment, the boss revealed itself along with a chilling presence. As expected, it was an opponent manageable with our current raid composition.

“This could be an emergency. I’ll report as soon as I locate him, then warp.”

Warp was a teleportation skill. The standard procedure was to defeat the boss, collect the spoils, and warp out of the gate. Once the boss died, the gate would close after a certain time, so there was no room for delay.

[Forget it. I’ll go. You stay put.]

“What if he’s infected?”

[…]

“Hunter Park Juhwan may be infected. Does anyone here besides me have a purification skill?”

Silence fell over the communication channel. Even Song Seokwoo seemed at a loss for words.

Spike-type monsters had low attack power but high infection rates. That was why even experienced Hunters found them troublesome.

Given Park Juhwan’s departure from range and lack of response, infection was the most likely explanation.

When infected by a monster, there was a golden time window before full transformation.

That was when Purification was needed.

Not all support-type Hunters could use purification.

Song Seokwoo swallowed hard. There was no alternative to what I had suggested. The others likely thought the same.

[Report the situation first when you find him.]