The time for the boss's spawn was fast approaching. The six hunters gathered in the clearing, waiting to see if any of the remaining participants would show up.
Glancing at his status window, the Thief let out a bewildered, "Huh?"
"The Doctor already left the dungeon?"
In other words, he had forfeited. Since this wasn't a survival-type dungeon but rather a reward-type one where hunters could hunt monsters to their hearts' content, leaving midway was temporarily allowed.
It was essentially a declaration: I have no intention of roaming around in a pack to hunt the boss monster, so I'm opting out entirely.
Whoever left probably had their reasons. That was fine, but... what about the others who were still inside the dungeon?
"Then why haven't Calain and the Archer shown up?"
"The Archer might already be here, hiding and watching us, right?"
"Ah, true. But what about Calain?"
This led to a logical assumption: the Archer must have persuaded Calain to hide. If he showed his face here, he'd be branded as a common enemy by the rankers and become a prime target.
The Archer was definitely lurking in the shadows, waiting for a sneaky opportunity.
'He doesn't communicate with us at all... What's he going to do if he wanders around alone and ends up dead?'
The Thief and the Fighter. The relatively composed Paladin and Bard. Even the taciturn Puppeteer thought the same.
[Boss Spawn in 3, 2, 1...]
As the countdown rang out from their status windows, their hearts pounded with anticipation.
While clearing mini-dungeons and training, they had harbored deep desires stemming from their inner gaming addicts.
They could swing swords effortlessly without any prior practice. Their bodies moved nimbly, allowing them to scale walls and do parkour. Dolls literally came to life and moved just like in a video game.
Just as a certain farmer could naturally handle farm work, they could instinctively execute flashy combat maneuvers.
So, everyone was eager. They couldn't wait for the chance to unleash the combat abilities they had honed like video game skills against a massive monster.
[Defeat the boss to acquire experience points.]
Finally, something materialized before them.
"......"
Everyone's gazes slowly traveled upward, their necks craning back as far as they would go.
The Thief gulped loudly.
Even the usually calm Paladin stood with his eyes wide open, momentarily incapable of forming words.
It was as colossal as a five-story apartment building. It possessed six arms, an obscenely massive head, and walked upright on two legs.
Kieeeek—!
As it unhinged its jaw, a horrifying screech tore through the air, accompanied by thick green drool dripping from its maw. It seemed to have over a hundred teeth, and peering down its throat was like staring into a bottomless black hole.
There was one fact that the rankers, no, that any human, would likely overlook:
Facing a direct, life-threatening situation in reality is worlds apart from playing a game.
And another thing.
Reality does not wait for you to get ready.
The monster brought all six of its arms crashing down at once, targeting a different hunter with each one. Boom, crash! Bang! Earth-shattering impacts echoed simultaneously.
"Aaaagh!"
The Fighter screamed, completely forgetting his pride. He narrowly dodged the attack, but he wore the most terrified expression of them all.
"Ah...!"
"I'll get you out!"
The Puppeteer hadn't even managed to dodge; her leg was pinned beneath one of the monster's massive arms. The Thief abandoned his plan to throw a dagger and desperately hugged the Puppeteer from behind, trying to pull her free.
The Paladin gritted his teeth. Swinging his +3 enhanced sword, he slashed at the arm crushing the Puppeteer.
Slash! Blood splattered. The monster shrieked and threw its jaws wide open. A maw the size of a house lunged at the Paladin, who quickly leaped out of the way.
At that moment, the Archer realized something.
Ah, I can shoot that.
Thwack! An arrow buried itself deep into the monster's left eye. The beast let out a roar so agonizing that just hearing it made their skin crawl, the sound shaking the entire area.
"Why are the Bard and Fighter just standing there blankly?! Attack!"
The sudden shout from the Archer snapped the other rankers back to their senses.
However, this was not a game. Everything was playing out exactly contrary to their expectations.
There was no way to predict who the monster would target from one second to the next; its erratic logic was impossible to read.
Unless, of course, someone could read the monster's mind in that split second...
"Anyone with low agility, hide in the forest and attack from there! Ranged attackers, move!" the Paladin roared, diving away from a terrifying fist that hammered down like a giant mallet with a deafening Boom!
The Archer was already hidden away, out of sight.
The limping Puppeteer bit her lip hard and signaled the Bard with her eyes. The two swiftly retreated into the thicket.
The hunters were so overwhelmed by the chaos that they lacked the spatial awareness to observe their surroundings.
Consequently, no one was truly paying attention to Belsus.
Even though this was likely his first time fighting a monster of this magnitude, Belsus remained utterly calm. While he didn't dodge every single attack flawlessly, he expertly avoided any crippling blows while landing the highest number of effective strikes.
"Uwaaaah!"
The Fighter, boasting the highest strength stat among the rankers, tried to scale the monster's arm but was swatted away, violently crashing into the ground.
The Puppeteer, rather than retreating further, suddenly charged forward.
In the wide-open clearing, her small frame looked incredibly fragile. She was so petite and light that her approaching footsteps didn't sound like heavy thuds, but rather a soft pitter-patter.
"Your leg is injured! I told you to get back!" shouted the Thief, blood trickling down his forehead.
But the Puppeteer didn't waver.
"It's either fight or die."
"What?"
"I want to live here! I don't want to go back to my original world. To do that, I have to fight tooth and nail every single second!"
The Puppeteer bit down fiercely on her own hand. Crimson blood poured from the deep bite marks.
The cotton doll she summoned absorbed its master's blood, its belly turning a dark red. It rapidly grew in size, attempting to face off against the monster. However, with a loud Smack!, it was sent flying by a single blow from the beast.
"Dodge!"
At that very moment, the monster unleashed its Area of Effect (AoE) attack.
Vwoooom... A violent shockwave ripped through the area. For a moment, everyone went deaf, a strange ringing echoing in their ears.
From the Paladin to the Thief, everyone was blown backward. However, there was exactly one person still standing in front of the monster.
"Everyone, fall back. I will finish this." Belsus spat out blood-mixed saliva and declared to the group.
Even though the situation was clearly dire, the reason nobody had retreated entirely was due to their lingering attachment to the boss monster. If they backed out completely, they wouldn't receive a single drop of experience points.
The same went for Belsus.
-There are three things you need to be careful of. Can you follow them?
As he charged head-on toward the monster, only the voice of the person who gave him his scythe echoed in his mind.
-There will be other hunters in there... People who know me. Do not let them find out about my existence.
-Unless your life is in immediate danger, do not enter the subspace. The subspace must remain a secret as well.
And lastly...
-Make sure you land the last hit on the boss monster.
Belsus wasn't standing there to slay the monster for the sake of others.
He was there to keep his promise to Heaan.
He was there to snatch the experience points for himself, leaving the others in the dust.
'The Archer will definitely try to fire an arrow at the exact moment the monster is about to die, aiming for the final blow.'
Belsus's eyes flashed. A faint, silvery halo briefly illuminated his pupils, the visual cue of his unique innate ability activating, recognizable only to those who knew him well.
'...0.4 seconds from now, the monster will strike down over there.'
His reading ability could only foresee the monster's intentions by a single second, but that one second was enough to determine victory or defeat.
[Hunter Belsus has defeated the Boss Monster.]
---
[The Boss Monster will appear on the field in 10 minutes.]
Calain lifted his head after receiving the system notification. He was about to head in that direction when someone blocked his path.
"Hey."
It was undoubtedly... that cheeky brat he had seen before.
The kid he had spotted with Belsus; the one who tried to pull some trick by feeding him a sandwich, who had then subjected him to unforgettable humiliation when he tried to threaten him.
Heaan smirked, standing squarely in Calain's way. He carried himself with an oddly overflowing sense of confidence.
Had he really come all the way out here just to gather herbs?
"It was me. The one who ruined all your plans."
"......"
"I'm the one who made Belsus strong."
It was an obvious provocation right to his face, yet it was one he couldn't ignore.
Calain knew it was a trap.
But he had no choice but to take the bait and pursue.
"Pissed off? Then try and catch me."
In the next instant, Heaan vanished. He opened his subspace to lose Calain, and whenever Calain wandered around aimlessly, he would crack the door open just enough to step out and toy with him relentlessly. Honestly, he was scared to death, but he held it in. He had to keep Calain occupied.
'That's the only way our Belsus can take the last hit.'
[Boss Spawn in 3, 2, 1...]
Blinded by rage and frantically chasing the rat-like brat, Calain entirely missed the system message.
Instead, he succeeded in grabbing Heaan by the hair from behind just as the boy slipped out of the subspace.
"Urgh...!"
Heaan was brutally kicked in the stomach and sent rolling across the ground. Calain's heavy boots slammed down on him a few more times.
He wasn't beating the boy because he had lost his mind. It was to instill fear.
And more importantly, to verify whether the kid before him was a secretly powerful hunter disguised by his looks, or genuinely weak.
'If he entered this dungeon, it means he's a hunter too.'
Pinning Heaan's sprawled body down with his foot, Calain pressed the tip of his sword against the boy's neck.
Slice. He dragged the blade slightly, and blood immediately trickled down.
He was a hunter weaker than himself.
"Die."
This time, Calain's sword was truly about to plunge straight through Heaan's throat.
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