CH 11

The plain was vast, spreading out in all directions. They walked for a long time, uninterrupted by any mobs.

Looking back, Hong Jae-woo and his flag were already quite far behind.

Seo-ah winced. While the terrain was flat, it was still difficult to cross because there was no paved road and they had to pass through waist-high bushes. And since she had the same stats as an average person, it was natural that her muscles ached from the strain.

However, Kang Soo-jung, who was also an E-class hunter, looked fine.

Seo-ah reflected on herself. “Soo-jung, can you raise your stats by exercising?”

“Yes, to a certain extent. There are limits for each level.”

“What are your stats? Oh, sorry, is that a rude thing to ask?”

Kang Soo-jung grinned. “Heh, I don’t usually tell anyone this, but my combined muscle strength and agility is around 38. I’m almost at the maximum level. After this raid, I’ll probably reach 40 and upgrade my skills.”

“Is 20 the maximum for each stat?”

“Yes, for E-class hunters. I heard that the next level’s limit is about 50,” she explained.

Seo-ah opened her status window with a grim look.

[ Stats: Insignificant and cannot be displayed (Values below 1 are not displayed). Physical Strength: 3. Mental Strength: 10. ]

‘Oh dear, I need to start exercising as soon as we get out of here.’

Baek Eun-hee improved her offensive capabilities when she was with her, but she herself was so weak. That was a little unfair.

“But it’s a little strange. It’s too quiet…” Kang Soo-jung climbed up a large rock and scanned the area.

Earlier, monsters had appeared every ten steps. Now, even the reeds were still.

“Eonnie,” Kang Soo-jung said tersely.

“Huh?”

“Take out the firecrackers. There’s something wrong here.”

At those words, Seo-ah took one out and looked around. Then, she caught a glimpse of the rock that Soo-jung was standing on.

“Soo-jung… Come down here.”

“Why?” Kang Soo-jung slowly lowered her gaze. “What the hell is this!?” she screamed, jumping off quickly.

Something like an eye stared up at them.

“This is the boss! There were no mobs around because of it!”

At that moment, Seo-ah set off the firecracker signal. But it didn’t work. It was a dud. The same was true for the other one. It was as if they were deliberately given defective products.

“Damn, this is crazy.”

The one-eyed rock rumbled and emerged from the ground. Its surroundings collapsed around it.

“Eonnie, watch out!” Soo-jung pulled her back violently.

On the monster’s head were the words labeling it a Stone Knight.

“That’s supposed to be an E-class boss? Things have been going haywire since the appearance of that Roaring Bear!”

Kang Soo-jung had seen E-class gate bosses before. Their aura was usually white or sky blue, since they were the same level as her or just a little higher.

Enemies who were far stronger had a black aura.

In their case now, it was dark blue.

“It’s a D-class boss!”

Thanks to the instinct of a hunter, Seo-ah realized it too. She felt the oppressive force emitted by the Stone Knight.

“Eonnie!”

As soon as she turned to Kang Soo-jung, a stone as large as a human fist flew towards her. She dodged, barely avoiding it.

“Hah…”

“What are we going to do with this? Crap!” the girl jumped over the stone aimed at her feet.

“Don’t use such harsh words, Soo—Ack!”

It was impossible for Seo-ah to avoid all of the stones and pebbles. The Stone Knight’s skill was simple, but each shot was a threat to both of their lives.

The two decided to run away, but it wasn’t easy. The boss was fast and Seo-ah was too slow. She fell and got scratched up despite trying not to get in the way, but her efforts were not enough.

“Eonnie, we’ll die if we keep doing this! I’m going to face it!” Soo-jung pulled out her knives and flew towards the boss.

“Soo-jung!” Seo-ah followed her movements closely, so that she could use ‘Recovery’ immediately if she got hurt.

Fortunately, she was not too fast.

Kang Soo-jung jumped and did a somersault. Unfortunately, before she could deal any damage, she was interrupted by the Stone Knight’s frenzy. It stomped and tried to crush her.

Seo-ah ran without hesitation. “Get up!”

The girl managed to leap back just as the monster’s foot made impact with the ground.

“Wow, I almost died. I really did faint for a second there. How did you wake me up?”

“It’s not the time to be asking that. We’re not in the clear yet.”

“I know, I know. Why isn’t he coming after us yet?”

Park Seo-ah quickly cast ‘Recovery’, and Kang Soo-jung ran back into the fray. This time, she slid onto the ground and aimed for the Stone Knight’s ankles. Her passive skills, ‘Flying Legs’ and ‘Attack Weaknesses’ activated.

‘Attack Weaknesses’ was a skill that could literally identify the enemy’s weakness. Her twin knives would circle around the spot and strike—right now, they were hurtling towards the stones above the monster’s feet.

A fine line appeared on the stone.

“That’s amazing!”

The Stone Knight stomped angrily, trying to catch Kang Soo-jung, who avoided it skillfully and continued to attack.

“How can you catch me when you’re so slow? You damn rock!” she taunted.

Inwardly, though, she was puzzled. What she was dealing with now was at the very least a D-class boss. Originally, she had a hard time catching the intermediate- and high-level monsters in E-class gates. There was also the matter of her current speed, which was much better than her usual capabilities.

‘Whatever! This is so exciting!’

Very close to where the battle was taking place, Seo-ah concentrated on Soo-jung. The faint light surrounding the girl’s body grew brighter.

She didn’t even realize that her mana was running out because she was so focused on using ‘Recovery’ every time Soo-jung got injured.

By the time there were numerous marks on the Stone Knight’s ankles, Kang Soo-juung suddenly stepped back, sheathing her twin knives.

“Ha!” She drove her fists into the damaged stone.

Clang!

She had used her ultimate skill, ‘Clenched Fists’. It could only be used for a single blow, but it was quite powerful for an E-class skill, and today it seemed stronger than ever.

Rumble. Rumble.

The Stone Knight’s body tilted to one side as its ankle crumbled.

“Success!”

“Good job, Soo-jung!”

The stone monster was not able to move properly because its balance was off.

Seo-ah’s praise encouraged Kang Soo-jung even more.

“Yes! If we catch it, we can share the spoils! Our strategy is working!”

Kang Soo-jung excitedly faced the Stone Knight alone.

However, it wasn’t the boss of the gate for nothing. As soon as it collapsed, the stones that made up its shoulder came hurtling towards one point.

“Eonnie…!” Soo-jung came running, but it was already too late.

The speed at which the stones flew was impossible to avoid for Seo-ah. She closed her eyes tightly.

She felt someone embrace her tightly as she lost consciousness.

***

The world was silent. Her body was as heavy as soaked cotton, but her heart was at peace.

She realized at once that she was in a dream.

‘I want to sleep more. I don’t want to wake up.’

Since the death of their parents, Seo-ah had been taking care of her younger brother and handling their livelihood. They lived on a pension, insurance, and part-time jobs, but now she had reached the limit. Why else would she have opted to become a hunter when she’d promised never to step into that world?

Her childhood dreams of becoming a psychological counselor had literally become a dream.

‘I just wanted to live a normal life.’

Ding.

While Seo-ah was immersed in self-pity, the system bell rang.

[ Mission 1 – Clear! Please select your completion reward. You may choose two skills from the list. Once selected, the skill cannot be refunded. Other skills may be activated beyond your control. ]

‘Oh, right, the mission reward.’

But before she could take a look at her choices, there was a new notification.

[ The time period for reward selection has passed, so the system will choose your rewards at random. ]