Chapter 68: After the Snowfield
At that time, outside the White Giant Tree.
The raid leader, Ui-jun, touched the severed part of his left shoulder.
The spot where his arm had been cut off.
Fortunately, thanks to the quick hemostasis, his life was not in danger at all.
Besides, Sa-hyeok had even taken off his coat and given it to him, so there was no chance of freezing to death.
Ui-jun looked up at the top of the giant tree.
At the hole Sa-hyeok had jumped into.
“……What’s going on inside?”
He couldn’t see inside the tree, so there was no way to grasp the situation.
Only the occasional roaring sound told him that a battle was taking place inside.
Who he was fighting, how he was fighting.
He didn’t know anything.
But……
‘I don’t think Hunter Min will lose.’
There was no basis for it, but he just felt that way.
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Inside the White Giant Tree.
The man, the healer, and the archer.
These three assailants vanished without a trace, burned in the white flames.
Not even ashes remained.
Even the metal equipment they were using had burned away.
Strangely, there was no soot left where they had been lying.
Only they themselves and everything related to them had burned away.
It was proof that the white flames were something completely different from ordinary flames.
Whoosh-
The white flames soon died down.
Thus, the battle in the boss room was concluded.
However, there was nothing left.
Because there was no evidence left in his hands.
The weapons they used, their clothes, even the bottle containing the boss’s blood that the man had drawn, all vanished in the white flames.
Everything related to them had been incinerated and destroyed, to the point where it was hard to believe that the three of them had even been there.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely without gain.
Before the man disappeared, Sa-hyeok saw the tattoo on his upper body, the mark of Antenon.
It was an unexpected harvest, obtained while frantically tearing at the clothes in an attempt to salvage anything.
‘Antenon…… Did these guys orchestrate this?’
It was certainly a group capable of orchestrating such a thing.
Everyone knew that the number of new technologies developed by Antenon was beyond imagination.
It wouldn’t be strange if they had hidden a technology that could cut into the side of a dungeon.
The strange thing was the question of ‘why’ Antenon would do such a thing.
They needed the Snow King’s blood?
Couldn’t they just buy it at the item auction house?
If there were no items available, they could just win the bid for the Snow Dungeon entry ticket and send in their own Hunters.
Even if the ticket price was expensive, a company like Antenon wouldn’t hesitate to spend that much money.
Why did they go through such a complicated method?
What was it all for……
“Krrr……”
A very small and low growl.
Sa-hyeok turned his head towards the direction of the sound.
“Ah, you were still here.”
He had forgotten because of the fight with the man.
The boss of this dungeon, the Snow King.
Covered in blood, chained, and even had its blood drawn.
It was a wonder it was still alive, its appearance was so haggard.
But even in that state, it didn’t hide its hostility towards humans, towards Sa-hyeok.
Its eyes were wide open, as cold as the snowfield.
Sa-hyeok also looked directly into its eyes and took a stimulant from his hip sack.
“Ugh, I’m dying, really.”
Come to think of it, he had fought more than five battles in less than a day.
He was somehow managing with stimulants and health potions, but he couldn’t deny that it was crazy.
But somehow, even in the midst of all that, his internal mana showed no signs of depletion.
He hadn’t even touched a mana potion.
“……What is it, my body?”
The research institute that conducted the detailed examination said that my body’s mana efficiency was abnormally good…… but since they didn’t know the reason, well.
“Well, whatever, good things are good things. I save money on mana potions, and I don’t have to die from mana depletion shock. You think so too, right?”
Saying that, Sa-hyeok looked at the boss.
It was already dead.
Sa-hyeok took out a Mubuchamdo from his back pocket and threw it at the boss’s neck.
Swish!
Confirmation kill.
The blade pierced the boss’s throat and returned to Sa-hyeok.
Picking up the returned Mubuchamdo, Sa-hyeok muttered.
“How am I going to replace the two broken Mubuchamdos……”
I don’t know.
Let’s get out of here first.
He couldn’t leave the patient outside for long.
Sa-hyeok walked towards the hole to jump out of the giant tree.
But-
“Hmm? There were stairs?”
Now that he thought about it, this giant tree itself was shaped like a multi-story building.
Sa-hyeok went down the stairs to the lower floor.
There, he found a giant Ice Armor Bear lying dead in a gruesome state.
It was three times bigger than the Ice Armor Bears he had seen before.
“A mid-boss level individual, I guess.”
On the floor below that, there was the carcass of a giant Snow Wolf.
And on the floor below that, there was the carcass of a giant Snow Snake.
This giant tree was made up of seven large cavities, with a mid-boss on each floor from the first to the sixth, and the boss on the top floor.
The monster carcasses Sa-hyeok was looking at were all dead mid-bosses.
That meant……
“Did those Antenon bastards kill one monster on each floor and climb all the way to the top floor?!”
As he went down, Sa-hyeok thought.
‘I should come back for them later.’
As he exited the giant tree, Ui-jun came running from afar.
“Hunter Min-nim!”
“Is your arm alright?”
“It’s alright. But what happened inside the tree……”
“Let’s talk about that later, outside.”
Whirr-
Clatter!
Sa-hyeok wrapped Ui-jun tightly with the metal bandages.
Ui-jun said.
“……Again?”
“You don’t want to stay in this snowfield for another two days, do you?”
“……”
Sa-hyeok slung Ui-jun over his shoulder and started running.
Towards the entrance, where they had entered this dungeon.
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Meanwhile, the raid members who had separated from Sa-hyeok and Ui-jun and were heading to the entrance first were still on their way.
“How much further do we have to go?”
“We’re almost there.”
“Didn’t you say that before?”
At that moment.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
In the distance, they saw something speeding across the snowfield.
It was so fast that they could see a thick fog of snow rising in its wake.
“……What is that? A bear?”
“Wait, is that coming towards us?!”
It was true.
The unidentified high-speed moving object was running towards the raid members.
“Draw your weapons!”
“Prepare for battle!!”
Even the injured hurriedly took out their weapons and prepared for the situation.
But before they could even complete their formation, it arrived first.
Screech!
Leaving a long skid mark on the snowfield, it came to a halt. It was……
“Hu…… Hunter Min-nim?”
It was Sa-hyeok.
“What? Why are you all drawing your swords? Take out the key, the key. The gate is just a little further.”
“Ah, yes, but what is that you’re carrying on your back……”
“It’s the raid leader-nim.”
“The raid leader-nim?!”
Ui-jun was almost unconscious, unable to withstand Sa-hyeok’s speed.
“Anyway, let’s get out quickly. The emergency treatment is done, but his injuries are serious.”
“Di…… Did you perhaps catch the boss?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?!”
Weng –
Bang-ul-i, who was pulling the snowmobile, flew to Sa-hyeok’s side.
[You’ve arrived, Hyung-nim.]
“You’ve worked hard pulling the snowmobile too. Let’s go.”
A while later, they exited the snowfield through the gate.
As they stepped out of the gate, the warm autumn sun shone down on them.
Sa-hyeok said to Ui-jun.
“We, Kwonmu-mun, will keep this gate until the government retrieves it.”
“Thank you. You’ve worked hard.”
Okay.
Sa-hyeok clenched his fist inwardly.
“Please get well soon, Raid Leader-nim.”
The Snowfield raid thus concluded.
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Meanwhile, in a hospital room of a hospital affiliated with the Orang Guild.
A young woman with messy long hair and dark circles under her eyes was being briefed on the investigation results by Ui-jun in the hospital bed.
She was ‘Thunder Emperor’ Jeon So-dam, the master of Orang.
An S-rank Hunter and Korea’s strongest Lightning Sorcerer.
“As you can see in this picture taken by Hunter Min Sa-hyeok and I, there was an unidentified black portal inside the Snow Dungeon. It seems that monsters leaked out through that portal, and……”
“Why did it appear?”
“We don’t know. Hunter Min Sa-hyeok fought with the assailants who seem to have created the portal, but they all committed suicide by self-immolation, leaving no bones behind.”
“Suicide by self-immolation that leaves no bones behind…… Did they use the
At that time, in the Vice Master’s office of the Kwonmu-mun Guild Headquarters.
Vice Master Jeong-kwon said to Sa-hyeok.
“That white flame is probably the result of activating an item called
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Of course you haven’t, ordinary Hunters have no use for it. It’s an item that’s strictly used for suicide and destruction of evidence, so it’s a restricted item.”
“But with that level of firepower, it would be useful for subjugating monsters.”
“Impossible. The reason it has that much power is because the user’s strong will to commit suicide amplifies the firepower. Anyway, you definitely heard the words ‘Protective Aura’, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
The words that his opponent in the snowfield had mentioned.
“Protective Aura is a technique used by martial artists, a kind of barrier created using mana. It manifests as a heat haze around the user.”
“Aha……!”
“I’ve heard that mages have a similar technique called ‘Aura Shield’.”
The heat haze-like energy that surrounded the man was indeed Protective Aura.
“But why was telekinesis nullified by a simple barrier?”
“Have you ever heard of ‘Innate Vital Energy’?”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“We Hunters accumulate and utilize energy called mana or Gi (氣) within our bodies. There’s a special force that holds this accumulated mana in the center to prevent it from leaking out of the body. That’s ‘life force’. That’s Innate Vital Energy. Mages seem to call it ‘Aura’.”
“Innate Vital Energy and Aura……”
“And Protective Aura is a technique controlled by the release of Innate Vital Energy.”
“Ah……!”
Sa-hyeok finally realized.
“Protective Aura is like exposing a part of one’s life force. But what is it that your telekinesis can’t interfere with?”
“Living beings……”
“Then it’s only natural that your power wouldn’t work on life force, wouldn’t it?”
The moment he understood why his telekinesis didn’t work directly on the man.
Since the man was covering his weapons and clothes with his life force, there was no way telekinesis would have worked.
“But Master-nim, why didn’t you teach my seniors about Protective Aura……?”
“Because it’s not time for you to learn it yet.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a technique that draws out and controls life force. It’s not easy to learn, and it can be dangerous if you learn it improperly.”
“Aha……”
“But that’s not important right now.”
“It’s Antenon.”
“That’s right. Were they definitely Antenon Hunters?”
“I confirmed that at least one of them had the Antenon mark tattooed on him.”
“Then did you share that information with Orang?”
“No.”
Jeong-kwon looked intrigued.
“Why?”
“Orang is the guild with the closest technological partnership with Antenon among the Five Major Guilds. There’s no need to tell a group that’s close to Antenon, ‘I killed a former Antenon member’.”
“You’re right.”
At that moment.
Brrrring-
Jeong-kwon answered the phone.
“I see, I understand.”
After hanging up, Jeong-kwon said.
“Remember the Snow Wolf we released with a tracking device in the Snow Dungeon? Its body has been found.”
“So it did escape the dungeon.”
“But there’s a problem.”
“What kind of……”
“There are signs of childbirth on the body. It seems to have given birth before it died.”
“If that’s the case……!”
“The bodies of the cubs haven’t been found yet. In other words, the monster cubs are still roaming around.”
Sa-hyeok jumped up from his chair.
“I’ll go.”
