Chapter 2: Chapter 2
"As expected of our berserker," an Archer patted his back.
Another berserker slapped the Archer's shoulder and sulked, "He's not the only Berserker..."
"Yes, yes; but he's got the lead Berserker."
There were five classes: Mage, Tank, Berserker, Healer, Archer.
Hunters would choose these classes. The first hunter of each class to enter the dungeon would receive the "lead" of the class and have the same perks but boosted.
Berserkers could deal more melee damage and have stronger melee spell damage,
Archers could deal more ranged damage and have a speed boost,
Mages would have more Base Mana and spell damage,
Tanks would have more Base Defense and Health,
Healers who did not have the skill Heal, would temporarily receive the skill and those that did have the skill had boosted Healing effects.
Usually healers were the cameramen and they would stay by the sidelines to record the dungeon run while helping to heal. Cameramen were needed for researchers to analyze dungeons and for hunters to review their own performance.
"Ah, that's enough dallying," Rion smiled at them, "let's quickly clear this dungeon and get back home."
Rion stiffly walked away as the camera zoned in on him.
Reminded of the fans he'd gained ever since his impressive debut, Rion couldn't help but make an effort to become a more sociable person.
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…
…
It all went wrong.
They did nothing wrong, yet everything still went wrong.
It was the usual result of a dungeon run.
Usually it wasn't that the humans were incompetent, but that the dungeons were too difficult. Still, dungeons always had the possibility of being beat.
However, this time the result in front of them was completely unsurpassable. An unmountable existence that far shadowed their power.
Beating such a thing was impossible. A flat zero percent chance of victory. Victory wasn't an option, only survival could be fought for.
[Sentinel]: I have been watching you humans very closely… Your efforts have been impressive.
The hunters quickly tensed while facing the gray and blank humanoid that had closed eyes.
"Wh-what the hell is that?"
A veteran hunter who'd never before seen such a terrifying existence couldn't help but voice their fears.
No one knew how to respond to the hunter, rather they all shared the same question.
Rion tightened the grip on his sword while glaring at the being whom was tagged as the 'Sentinel'
Just a few minutes ago, they'd cleared the last section of the forest and had finally acquired the key to open the boss gate.
According to dungeon patterns, the boss must've been something similar to a goblin, an orc, or a kobold; however, they were seeing something completely different.
The dungeon hadn't shown any peculiarities that would demonstrate it having such a terrifying existence. Rather, the dungeon was a mere C-Class— a difficult but doable clear.
So why was it like this?
[Sentinel]: Humans… I shall now test you.
The words were short but were even more terrifying than the previous words.
The aura flowing from the Sentinel grew larger and more horrifying.
"...Fuck."
Voices around Rion were all cursing as they looked at the Sentinel with petrified gazes and awaited the being's judgement.
The hovering Sentinel flew closer to them and suddenly raised its arms.
"...Is this the ending?" One of the hunters couldn't help but voice their internal thoughts.
Their questions went unanswered.
As if relieving them of a pressure, the fearsome aura surrounding the Sentinel disappeared.
[Sentinel]: Your opponents… will be..
As if paying the utmost attention, the Sentinel began pointing at random directions with a careful expression.
The ground rumbled as huge existences began rising from the floor.
"H-High Orcs?"
A massive, stronger, and nearly unkillable Orc who had its usual regeneration powers on steroids.
Rion's eyes narrowed seeing the warriors falter.
"Hunters!" The B-Class ranker yelled.
As if breaking out of their stupor, everyone turned their faces towards the black-haired eastern asian descended talent, Rion.
There were a total of three High Orcs. The difficulty was beyond a C-Class dungeon.
Rion accumulated mana into his throat.
As the lead Berserker, it fell upon his responsibility to ignite his comrades' wills.
"Fight!"
The electrifying words shocked the hunters into a regained composure.
The old veteran hunter with years of experience scoffed with a menacing smile.
"Tch- Are we going to let the youngster we're supposed to take care of, take the lead? Hunters!"
Their postures regained the will to fight and their blood began boiling, ignited by the prospects of survival and fight.
With hearts beating madly and energy traversing throughout their entire body, the hunters yelled their war cries at the High Orcs.
"FIGHT!"
The High Orcs snarled in response and stomped their feet against the floor.
A war for survival began.
…
Rion dodged the High Orc's massive club the size of a tree attempting to smash him into bits. It was a wonder how a monstrosity of such size still had such speed.
The young talent narrowly evaded a sweep from the enemy and retreated for a gained space. Having done his part, the hunters behind the High Orc rushed in to strike at the High Orc's ankles.
Naturally, the bigger they were, the bigger the fall.
The High Orc groaned in pain and smashed against the hard floor.
"Fucking kill it quickly and come help!"
The hunters for the second and third orc yelled their pleads.
Mana rushed in the soles of Rion's feet as he quickly dashed to intercept the crawling High Orc.
He had less than a few seconds to kill the High Orc before it's regeneration healed it's mangled ankles.
Naturally, as the lead berserker, it should be him with the most boosted damage to strike the tough hide of the Orc.
The High Orc's cries abruptly stopped.
Off in the distance, a High Orc kicked away a Tank. With the Tank's shield gone, the terrifying green tribal tattooed menace rushed to stomp on the fallen Tank.
For the other hunters, it was a dilemma. If they cut the ankles of the High Orc to prevent it from running, its tremendous weight would crush the Tank alive.
Even worse, if they did nothing, the High Orc would stomp the Tank into bloody bits.
The cameraman dutifully pointed the camera away as the hunters closed their eyes in despair.
It would be their first casualty of the night.
Nearly depleting his mana reserves, Rion's body sailed through the air towards the savage High Orc's head.
With the rest of the mana he had accumulated in his body, Rion's fist began glowing in power.
Quickly soaring towards the High Orc's head, Rion smashed his fist into the High Orc's—
"Ugly fucking face,"
A horrible sound of mana striking against flesh sounded throughout the forest.
The Hunters cheered the name of Rion.
Of course, this wasn't the name of the mana move executed. Still, the intentions behind the smash had been powerful enough to tear a hole into the second High Orc's ugly face.
The massive monster fell onto its side. After all, a monster with no brain was no different to a corpse.
Although Rion was the only one with enough mana reserves to save the Tank, it also meant that with his depleted mana capacity it would hinder him from piercing the tough hide of the third and last surviving High Orc.
The Hunters would have to kill the last and strongest High Orc without their Lead Berserker.
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…
…
Heaving a sigh of relief, the wounded; but fortunately living hunters, killed the last High Orc.
The Lead Mage too had depleted her massive mana capacity to create a spell strong enough to pierce through the High Orc's heart.
A massive shard of ice was embedded in its chest.
Still, though relieved, the hunters warily watched the Sentinel that watched them carefully.
With a tense atmosphere, the Sentinel slowly approached the wary hunters.
[Sentinel]: Humans… congratulations.
The gray humanoid suddenly disappeared and the burden of the overbearing presence had finally been unshouldered.
For the first time, the hunters smiled. The dungeon had finally been cleared.
Rion stared blankly at the floor, next to the Tank who repeated his thanks for saving his life.
If Rion's attack had failed, he too would have died along the Tank.
If that had happened, probably more lives would have fallen.
In a sense, it was also because of the Tank's risk in life that the second orc had been so simply taken care of.
"Rion, once again… What a great job," Gerard patted his shoulder and sat down next to them.
"Ah… I still haven't thanked you for saving me from that Kobold's arrow…"
He chuckled.
"It really was magnificent. Your contribution was massive so the EXP you'll gain won't be small."
Rion sighed, "Let's just get out of here…"
They all picked themselves up and headed towards the portal of the dungeon along with the others.
"Hunters! Today we've successfully done our job and came back alive! Another threat to our cities, our families, and our peace has been eliminated. I thank you all for coming and fighting next to me."
The veteran hunter in charge of the run exclaimed to the others.
"Finally, let's all cheer for us, who saved our comrades and ourselves."
The old hunter's eyes twinkled with gratitude towards Rion's way.
The dungeon clear had been successful.
As the hunters exhaustedly walked out the dungeon portal back into the parking lot they had united at, a pleasant feeling ran through their bodies.
Some felt the electrifying feeling more than others, naturally, those that had had a better performance in the dungeon.
Rion's shoulder shone brilliantly as the roman numerals switched from XXI to XXII.
"Congratulations, Rion."
The veteran hunter approached the young man with a great smile as the hunters clapped for Rion's well-deserved level up.
Gerard slapped both of their backs, "Now, let's go drink!"
The humans yelled with more enthusiasm to drink than in their fight against the High Orcs.
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…
Rion calmly stared at the picture of his family, a distant memory that had been broken apart many years ago.
With a sullen mood, he was back again in his spacious house, but unable to sleep.
After the demise of his parents, he was raised alone by his grandmother. His grandfather had passed away from the shock of losing both his sons and his daughter in law.
A few years later, his grandmother too peacefully passed away.
He had no familial ties left but the estranged family of his mother who he had no idea of.
He grew up quietly by himself.
After that he'd met Cha Si-Eun. Similar to him, she was of eastern asian descent— specifically from Korea and he, of Chinese descent.
Their break up had been terrible. Rion decided that as a hunter, an occupation that required people to willingly give their lives away, Si-Eun should meet someone else.
After all, it was unfair for her to be with someone who'd be obliged to be indifferent about his wishes and her wishes to save a stranger civilian's life if the situation ever arose.
It wasn't uncommon for non-Hunter partners of Hunters to remain single after an unfortunate night.
Rather, it was strange to see a Hunter date someone who was not a Hunter as maintaining such a relationship would be difficult.
Hunters worked and exhausted themselves to clear dungeons. Having time for other things was a luxury. For such a life that was unsavory, they were gifted acknowledgement and riches to live their statistically short life spans.
For someone like Rion who had not much motivation to live by himself with no other family, his occupation fit snugly with him.
Though he bitterly thought it might have been nicer if he'd met Si-Eun before he'd ever decided to be a Hunter.
Awakened from his thoughts, he noticed his phone vibrate and light up to see a message from the person he was thinking about.
He wasn't cold enough to block the texts of the woman who'd melted his stone heart and had given him a sweet but temporary joy. Still, he had no desire to read the text lest he gave in to his desires and did something selfish.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone