Giant Dungeon (1)

Ilseong Guild and the Money-Blowing Guild.

The moment news of their guild battle broke, a flood of articles began pouring out.

[(Breaking) A spectacular debut for the Money-Blowing Guild? Ilseong Guild chosen as its first guild-battle opponent! A bloody sibling rivalry in the making?]

[(Breaking) Guild battle reportedly prompted by the size of Ilseong's investment!]

[(Breaking) Ilseong: bold or insane? Betting 60 trillion won on a 20% stake in the Money-Blowing Guild...]

—?? Ilseong Guild and the Money-Blowing Guild are fighting?

—Yep, at Sangam Awakener Stadium. But what the hell is that investment amount? lmao

—60 trillion for 20%? Didn't they buy 10% for something like 5 trillion last time?

—Yeah. But back then all he had was an F-rank record. Things are pretty different now.

—They cleared an A+ gate and recruited the Sword Phoenix. But 60 trillion? Do they even have that much money...?

—Ilseong does have that much cash stockpiled. They're loaded lol

—3 trillion for every 1% stake; that's ridiculous;

—You fuckers were saying Kim Minwoo alone was worth 100 trillion lmao

—Is Ilseong for real? Did they seriously set the price based on what the nationalist fanboys were saying? lol

—Sorry;; Didn't think they'd actually value him at 100 trillion... My heart swells with pride...

—Isn't this some kind of loophole? Guild investments don't count as gifts.

—Who knows if it's a tax dodge or not. People are definitely going to talk, though. Looks like they're paying way too much...

—Isn't that why they're having the guild battle? If they really beat Ilseong's first team, wouldn't 60 trillion be a bargain?

—That's 300 trillion for 100%, you know? That's what a tier-1.5 guild on the world stage is worth lmao. Ilseong's only tier 2.5 lol

—Ugh, tsk tsk. Look at their potential. Beating Ilseong's first team would mean the three of them can clear S-rank gates.

—Yeah. High potential comes with a premium. That's how the world works. If they really pull it off, there'll be less backlash.

—Can they even win? Ilseong Guild might be stuck in fifth place forever, but they're an insurmountable wall for the guilds below them. They're better fighters than you'd think;;

—They can win if they're exceptional. But are those three that good? Apart from the Sword Phoenix, they're newbies who awakened less than three months ago.

—They've got a shot. Kim Minwoo's summons can tank while the Bow Phoenix wipes everyone out lol

—What shot? lol One prayer from a priest and all the undead are fucking dead lmaooo

—Yeah. And you know their guild master, the great Cheolmin, is an archer with an S-grade achievement, right? You think one of Korea's best archers is a pushover?

—Bet Kim Minwoo gets sniped right away and all his summons disappear.

—Nah, the Bow Phoenix will shoot down every arrow lol

—Been watching too many movies? Hitting arrows with arrows? Like that's gonna happen lmao

—Kim Minwoo's good with a sword. He can deflect them himself. I'm more worried about Siwoo; what's he even gonna do? lol

—For real lol. Bet he's the first one out. His level can't be that high either.

—Everyone keeps telling them they're good, so now they actually believe it lmao. I'm an A-rank awakener, and this is obviously a fucking terrible idea. Later.

—Agreed. Should've waited a few more months. What a shame; it'd suck to lose momentum right when they're taking off.

Public opinion was largely the same.

The Money-Blowing Guild? Sure, everyone knew it had tremendous potential. It had cleared an A+ gate, and its members were incredibly talented Super Rookies.

But what good was a strong roster? Seo Yerim had joined less than a month ago. She had only recently switched to archer, too.

They simply hadn't had time to practice working together.

And Ilseong Guild's members?

They were seasoned awakeners who had fought together for years, if not decades. They had plenty of high-level awakeners, excellent equipment, and a balanced team composition to boot.

They had cleared S-rank gates several times, even if those gates were on the lower end.

That was the strength of the first team of Korea's fifth-ranked guild.

And these three wanted to take them on?

However difficult an A+ gate might be, it couldn't compare to an S-rank gate.

No matter how you looked at it, they were overreaching. It was hard to see this as anything but a reckless move by their guild master, Kim Minwoo.

That was why public opinion was so negative.

Then another breaking story appeared, heating up the discussion even further.

[(Breaking) Money-Blowing Guild enters the A-rank gate Land of Giants! A three-person raiding party...]

—Looks like their first guild outing. Don't tell me they're going in to practice teamwork? lmao

—Their guild battle's the day after tomorrow, and they're practicing NOW? My heart swells with pride...

—Isn't the guild battle going to get canceled? Even if Land of Giants has a small map, it'll take three days to clear.

—Nope. A top-ten guild's first team can clear it in half a day.

—By first team, you mean a full thirty-person party, right? There's three of them lmao

—They can just leave from the midway zone. At least they're getting some practice in now.

—Guess we can judge their chances by how long they take to clear it?

—I'll give them credit if they clear it within half a day.

—Half a day, my ass lol. Stop guzzling that nationalist Kool-Aid, for fuck's sake lmao

—Ah, is this where the bubble bursts?

—Still, it was fun while it lasted, right? Have a drink~

* * *

A scorching desert.

Sand blew across the landscape stretching before them. Soon, a horde of undead set foot on its sands.

Specters and skeletons, along with Cedric and Merhen.

An army numbering in the thousands assembled in an instant. As Cedric surveyed his surroundings, his gaze settled on Seo Yerim.

"Did you change classes?"

"Yes. Things just worked out that way..."

"Good. Congratulations."

"You look a little different too, Cedric."

"My previous appearance was the odd one. Park Siwoo, it's been a while for you as well."

"Yes, sir!"

Siwoo greeted him enthusiastically before turning to Merhen.

"But who's she...?"

"A fellow legion commander. Her name is Merhen. She's a mage."

Merhen nodded.

"Wow, are you really undead? You look just like a person."

"... Yes. I'm a banshee."

"A banshee? You're nothing like the ones I know. You're really beautiful."

"... Thank you."

"I'm just telling the truth."

The easygoing Park Siwoo introduced himself first, followed by Seo Yerim.

"Oh, hello."

"Hi."

Once everyone had gotten acquainted, Minwoo spoke.

"Let's go hunting, everyone."

The three of them and the undead army began walking across the desert.

Before long,

Seo Yerim narrowed her eyes, Divine Bow in hand. Her vision reached far into the distance, as though she were looking through a telescope.

She spotted a group of giants far away.

"Monsters over there. Four total. One priest, one mage, one warrior, one knight."

"... Wow. Archers are awesome."

Park Siwoo murmured in admiration. Understandably so: he couldn't see anything where she was pointing.

Just an endless stretch of desert.

"What's so impressive about that? Seeing far away is what archers do."

She shrugged and looked at Kim Minwoo.

"So, Minwoo, how do you want to handle this? Should I snipe one?"

"Think you can reach them?"

"I can."

He nodded in satisfaction at her confident answer.

What made an outstanding archer?

Usually, it came down to one question.

'How far is their effective range?'

Range was an archer's alpha and omega. And by that measure, Seo Yerim was an awakener close to the pinnacle.

The Divine Bow's powerful enhancements not only extended her vision, but gave her mana arrows the power to fly farther than ordinary ones.

Of course, some S-rank archers could probably shoot as far as she could.

'But that won't last long.'

They couldn't match her potential.

How were they supposed to beat an archery genius wielding an SSS-grade Divine Bow?

"I'll take the priest."

"Go ahead."

She drew the Divine Bow's string taut, a mana arrow forming against it.

Then,

WHOOSH!

The arrow flew with a faint whistle.

Far away, among the gathered giants, a tiny hole opened in the giant priest's head. Blood spurted out as it crumpled to the ground.

An instant kill.

The startled giants began charging toward the source of the arrow.

Nearly four meters tall, they sent sand flying with every pounding step.

THUD!

THUD!

"Should I take out more?"

Seo Yerim asked calmly as she watched the giants charge with murderous expressions.

The warrior and knight, with helmets covering their heads, would be a little trickier. But if she shot their legs and forced them to crawl, she could finish all of them before they reached her.

"Let's do that when the groups get bigger. Siwoo."

"Yes, Minwoo?"

"Let's see how much you've improved."

"I think you'll be surprised."

Grinning, Park Siwoo summoned his Holy Sword. Amid a burst of pure white light, the sword appeared in his hand.

"I'll go on ahead, then!"

A swordsman below level 150 charged three giants well above level 400.

[The Giant Mage uses Root Bind (A)!]

[The Giant Warrior uses Taunt (A)!]

[The Giant Knight uses Right-Angle Slash (B)!]

The giant warrior's Taunt, roots to bind his feet, and a sword descending on the spot the Taunt would draw him to.

It was a clean combination, one even a competent A-rank swordsman couldn't ignore.

But Park Siwoo...

'Is an SSS-rank swordsman.'

The level difference allowed the Taunt to take effect. Siwoo's body moved toward the shield-bearing warrior, and sword and magic rained down on him.

At that instant, he leaped up and kicked off the warrior's shield. Airborne, he evaded the roots on the ground and deftly deflected the knight's sword. Then—

SLASH!

His Holy Sword was already carving into the giant knight.

The warrior desperately tried to hold his attention. Unfortunately, Taunt had a cooldown.

After using it once, a warrior was useless for a few seconds.

Just like that one.

Siwoo focused entirely on demolishing the knight, slicing through the mage's spells with his Holy Sword or dodging them.

Every time Taunt took effect, he adjusted his movements as though he'd expected it. Truly worthy of SSS rank.

Before long, the giant knight collapsed. His next target was the mage that had been interfering.

"Graaaagh!"

The warrior, now the last one standing, struggled to the bitter end.

'What a shame.'

A warrior who was outclassed by the damage dealer was little more than a meat shield.

Finally, the giant warrior fighting all alone crumpled as well.

It had taken barely three minutes to deal with all three.

Having wiped out the giants, Siwoo turned toward them with a grin.

"Well? I'm pretty good too, aren't I?"

"Well, you're better than you were on the deserted island. You were just a snot-nosed kid back then. You've improved, huh?"

"I've been running gates until I'm sick of them. This is the least I should be able to do."

Minwoo nodded.

Now that he had a rough idea of Siwoo's ability, it was time to try fighting as a party.

Merhen, Cedric, and Dolsoe joined the other two.

"Let's practice working together."

Siwoo and Yerim nodded.

From then on, they advanced at breakneck speed.

They would encounter a group.

Before it could approach, the priest would die with an arrow between its eyes.

A gesture from Merhen rendered every mage useless. Collapsing in a fountain of blood was an added bonus.

Dolsoe, Cedric, and Park Siwoo handled the knights and warriors.

While the dependable Dolsoe held the front line against the onslaught, the other two attacked in a seamless flow, leaving giants collapsing and coughing up blood.

Four.

Eight.

Twelve.

Even as the groups of giants grew larger, nothing changed.

The only difference was that, from twelve onward, Merhen and Seo Yerim began actively providing covering attacks.

'This is practically auto-hunting.'

Only two hours had passed.

They had already left the midway zone far behind. They hadn't even put the specters and skeletons to use yet.

Kim Minwoo hadn't stepped in either.

There simply hadn't been anything to stop them.

'At this rate, we might finish in another two hours.'

Their clearing speed was so fast it was almost a problem.

And when four hours had passed in total...

[The gate boss, 'Giant Prince Operian,' has fallen!]

[Gate clear rewards will be granted!]

The boss was demolished, and the gate was cleared. As befitted an A-rank boss, it had brought plenty of minions along to make a nuisance of itself.

But that made no difference.

How was it supposed to beat one EX-rank and four SSS-ranks?

The skeletons thrown in as meat shields had all been smashed, but their core fighting force remained unharmed.

Park Siwoo spoke with a broad smile.

"Wow, it's so fast with the three of us. Ten levels in four hours? This is sweet!"

"Sure is. On that note, let's do another run."

"Huh?"

"You've still got plenty of mana and stamina. Might as well get you some more levels."

The three left the gate and immediately came face-to-face with a crowd of reporters staring at them, mouths hanging open.

Their surprise was understandable.

They couldn't possibly have imagined a four-hour clear.

And this wasn't even their top speed. If Minwoo and his summons joined in, they would be much faster.

"M-Mr. Kim Minwoo! Could we get a quick interview...!"

"A little later. We'll be back soon. See you."

Before anyone could say another word, the three vanished into the gate again.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"But..."

Left standing in the spring chill, the bewildered reporters could only stare at one another.