"Meow."

"..."

"Meow."

"... Hunter."

Sanarae, crouched down with his long body folded in on itself, asked Seo Jio.

"Can you please do something about this pet cat?"

"Dana must really like you, Hunter Sanarae. How fascinating."

"I'm fascinated too, but more than that, I'm scared..."

"What a joke."

"Everything sounds like a lie when I say it, doesn't it?"

"Ahaha!"

Jio burst out laughing and tugged Dana toward him.

"Of course not. I'm sorry. Were you very frightened?"

"It wasn't that scary, but this friend makes me kind of uneasy..."

"I'll take Dana with me."

"Mrrrrooow..."

Even as Dana let out a dissatisfied cry, she was dragged away by Jio.

The Hunters marveled at her enormous body and abundant mass of fur.

"You said this is what an anticat looks like after growing up, right?"

"Yes. I first met her in the Jewel Vein."

"It's amazing enough that a monster can grow this much, but she is unexpectedly cute."

"I'm not just saying this because she's my daughter, but she really is a cute and well-mannered child."

"You really take care of her like an actual child. That's incredible."

In a world where even taking care of an ordinary pet was difficult without a fair amount of affection, raising a monster that could chew through a person's head at any moment with love was nearly impossible.

"Do you have to be at this level to tame an anticat?"

"This seriously seems like a world first."

"My patriotic hype is off the charts. Hunter, can I go around bragging that I know you?"

"You idiot, get a grip. Why are you hitting on him like that?"

One of the Hunters, who had been joking around and easing the tension, asked awkwardly.

"Um, but... you can drive out the heat with this friend?"

"To be precise, she will call the people who can drive out the heat."

"Oh..."

The Hunters fell strangely quiet.

One of them muttered.

"... The sunlight spirit-summoning Hunter..."

"Shut your damn mouth."

"Okay."

They were well aware of how the Hunter named Seo Jio had become famous.

Hadn't there been quite an uproar when he summoned the ghosts of some children into reality?

Skills related to souls were not that common to begin with.

The most representative position among them was necromancer, but no matter how one analyzed the situation at the time, it had not been anything like that.

'Even if it is spirit summoning... what exactly will it feel like?'

'I heard skills that handle souls are a considerable burden.'

'Since it's the ability of his raised monster, is the burden on the trainer himself on the lighter side?'

'No one has ever tamed an anticat before, so who knows...'

Ignoring the Hunters' gazes, Jio asked Kang Seodam while dragging Dana along.

"May I begin?"

"..."

He slowly nodded.

"... Please."

At that, the cat cried.

"Meow."

"..."

"Meow."

The cry spread.

Sanarae was still crumpled up against a tree trunk, keeping his distance.

"Squad leader, what are you doing here?"

"That cat is too scary."

"Enough with the bullshit overreaction, seriously."

"I've never felt so wronged."

It was true that it was not pleasant.

"No one believes me..."

That cat called the dead.

'But that is not its ability.'

The anticat merely played the role of a bell that rang according to its master's command.

And the master who had made that bell was "Hunter Seo Jio."

Sanarae watched the situation while feeling inwardly appalled.

The cat's cry was not very loud.

It was neat, like a person imitating a cat's meow, and a modest voice.

But it spread clearly like a jade bead rolling across a silent room.

"Meow."

It was at that moment.

"..."

Among the shadows cast by the trees of the rainforest, several human figures appeared.

"... Um, excuse me..."

"... Pardon us."

Dressed in white priestly robes, they hesitantly addressed Seo Jio.

"May we be with you for a moment?"

Their eyes were red-rimmed.

"... Ah."

Kang Seodam's face twisted.

As the situation unfolded, the Hunters' expressions also began to stiffen little by little.

"... What..."

"... Those people, don't tell me..."

"They're priests."

"I've seen that face before."

"I'm sure it was in the report materials..."

"... They're from the previous subjugation force."

Dead people were speaking in the intact forms they had had while alive.

The Hunters, who had lost their composure because of the harsh environment, noticed the seriousness of the situation one by one.

What they were looking at now were the priests of the previous subjugation force, who were already dead.

One Hunter muttered.

"They have shadows too."

It meant they had physical forms.

"So, this is..."

"..."

"... Hah..."

It meant the dead had returned to the providence of the living.

'This easily?'

With only a few cries?

There had been no grand ritual.

There had been no long prayer.

Without even the slightest pain to draw down a miracle, Seo Jio had summoned the priests' souls as if he were calling over a passerby nearby.

His utterly unbothered calm sent a chill down their spines.

"..."

The Hunters broke out in cold sweat.

They did not dare turn their heads, yet they were conscious of the existence of Hunter Seo Jio standing among them.

Their bodies grew tense with a reverence close to fear.

Around then, Seo Jio opened his mouth.

"Welcome."

Then he continued.

"We need your help. Priests of the Sun are skilled at handling heat, are they not?"

"... We are."

"We intend to remove the heat here and make the dungeon's environment somewhat calmer."

"Please command us."

The priests bowed their heads.

"Even if our souls melt away... we will be with you."

"We are only grateful if we can follow the will of the Sun like this."

"Please tell us what we must do, and when we must move."

"W-We will somehow try."

"If you would grant us the chance..."

At those words, Jio smiled.

"There is no need to melt."

Their role was only to gather the heat.

"My son will handle containing the gathered heat."

"... Then we..."

"I will send you to the place you wished for, so you need not worry."

"..."

The priests within the shadows lowered their heads deeply.

"... Thank you."

Soon after, the forms of the priests vanished.

"..."

"... Wh-Where did they..."

"Fuck."

Only then did the priests whose mouths had been tightly shut open them.

"D-Did that really just...?"

All of them were incoherent, but that was only sincerity born from confusion pushed to its limit.

They could not believe what they had just seen, yet they could not bring themselves to chatter about it with the others either.

Seeing how they did not dare even look toward Seo Jio, Garasani approached with a smile.

"Then shall we begin?"

"Yes. Let us start with the heat first."

"What will you do after that?"

"I think we need to open up the water."

"It would be best to gather as many priests and magicians as possible."

"The more the heat subsides, the more some monsters will rampage, so we should prepare to subdue them as well."

"We should be able to eliminate a considerable number of dangerous monsters in the process."

Watching them exchange words, Hunter Yu Jina of Collector looked around at the raiders.

"What is everyone doing?"

"Uh, well, um... Just now..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"But...!"

"Hey."

She grinned as she spoke.

"We have work to do."

It was pressure.

"..."

"... R-Right."

Pressure not to dig into Hunter Seo Jio.

At that, suspicion began to bloom in the Hunters' minds.

Even after seeing such an absurd miracle, Collector was merely guarding the surroundings.

They could only think there was some kind of secret.

'This isn't simply a monster's ability...'

They thought.

'... Could he really be a saint, no joke?'

'Isn't it similar to the miracles the Moon Cult's saintess sometimes shows?'

'Don't tell me that pervert of a Collector mated with some monster and had a child?'

'He could be an S-class pretending to be A-class...!'

Most of the Hunters guessed that Hunter Seo Jio was a top-tier saint or a hidden S-class.

There were also a few Hunters who thought he was a child Bi Sabeol had created in some insane way.

Collector's ghost stories and infamy made that possible.

And none of them thought Seo Jio might not be human.

"... Haha."

Except Sanarae.

"This is terrifying."

"I would appreciate it if you restrained your remarks."

"I'm saying I'm scared."

"That is irreverent, Hunter Sanarae."

"..."

And except Collector and the Gardener too.

"... This is driving me crazy."

In the end, Sanarae decided to shut up once again.

SCREEEEEECH!!!

Whether the Tree of Life, sensing the dungeon's change, had bestowed frenzy once again, or whether they had simply gained the will to act as the heat was drawn away, the night monsters began to run wild.

CAW!! CAAAAW!!

GRRRRRRRR...!!

KREEH, KRAAAAAH!! AAAAAH!!

They made grotesque noises and attacked every human.

"Protect the fragile magicians, you muscleheads!"

"Fuck, as one of the tanks listening, that feels real shitty, you damn mages!"

The Hunters, who had been prepared in advance, dealt with them skillfully.

If they had been clumsy Hunters, it would not have been strange for them to have died long ago, but the Hunters gathered here were all veterans.

With plenty of recovery items and plenty of healers, there were no Hunters afraid to throw themselves into danger.

"Healer, show us mercy!"

"Here's your mercy!"

"I love you...!"

"The healer's grace shall know no end!!"

"Anyone who hurts, scream!!"

"Aaaagh...!!"

"Aaagh, over here, aaaagh!!"

"Scream louder, I can't tell you apart from the monsters!!"

"Kraaaaaaaaaagh!!!"

A Hunter was fundamentally a profession that lived by ruining the body and risking the life.

There were no Hunters here who feared pain, and moreover, there were plenty of healers, precious high-grade personnel called nobles.

On top of that, the roles of damage dealers and tanks here were clear.

They only had to protect the magicians and priests from the rampaging monsters while they handled the heat.

With the healers behind them, that was.

"Not a single downy hair on the healers will be touched before they kill me!"

"Hey, what about us! What about the magicians!"

"Mages, survive on your own!!"

"Fuck you bastards! You think all we do is eat for free?!"

In the chaos, the priests and magicians were a little dumbfounded.

"Wh-What is even happening right now?"

"The fact that it's actually going smoothly is even more ridiculous..."

"Hey, this is seriously working, right?"

They were in the middle of gathering the heat of this enormous dungeon into one place.

GURGLE.

"You're so pretty when you eat well."

GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE, GRUMBLE.

"Oh, you're doing so well. So pretty."

GRRRRRRUMBLE!!

"Our Honey is doing well."

Honey was taking the gathered heat and swallowing it down in great gulps.

For some reason, Honey seemed to be getting larger and larger, but the Hunters ignored it.

If they had to contain the heat, the burden would have been heavy, but if they were merely moving it to a single point, it was fairly manageable.

"Aaaagh, I'm so hot I'm dying...!"

"I knew it as soon as I started choking!"

"I'm never coming to a rainforest-type dungeon again!"

It was by no means easy work, so the magicians vented their anger.

There were magicians who gathered only heat with their skills or techniques, and there were magicians who drew in wind and moisture in the air to gather heat.

And the priests of the Sun silently and steadily focused on gathering the heat.

"..."

"... Huu..."

Some even shed tears.

It was because they felt an intangible force that pulled in the heat they themselves could not draw out.

The priests who had heard what Hunter Seo Jio's anticat had done struggled to hold back their tears.

When they thought this was their last collaboration with their brothers, they could not help but feel sorrowful.

"... Uh, doesn't it feel a little cooler?"

"Hey, fuck, this really is having an effect."

"This is fucking insane..."

By the time they had done this for about three hours, the Hunters could also feel a significant change.

"It's definitely easier to breathe."