A-Rank Dungeon - ??? Apocalypse (2)

Even while they were sprinting toward the advance party, the Constellations’ chatter didn’t stop.

‘At least that means the situation over there isn’t that bad.’

All of their reactions were boredom and disinterest. Unless they were colluding through some back channel humans couldn’t know about and faking the mood, it meant the advance party’s situation wasn’t absolute worst-case.

‘If they were getting slaughtered, there’d definitely be some of them going wild with excitement. Still, it’s not exactly “good news,” either…….’

If they were bored, it meant there was nothing worth watching. In other words: the advance party was safe, but they also weren’t engaged in any flashy or desperate battle against the monsters.

‘Which basically means it’s a stalemate.’

In a situation like that, just having the team members she sent ahead link up could tilt things in the advance party’s favor.

Still, she couldn’t let her guard down. Not many Constellations found “we got more people, so we’re winning now” to be entertaining.

‘Either way, catching up fast is what matters.’

Hyeonseong ran hard. Keeping up with the speed of C-rank-and-above Awakened was tough, but she couldn’t show it.

“Over there!”

One of the members in front shouted. A rising clamor started to reach Hyeonseong’s ears.

“They’re right there!”

“How’s it look?”

“The fight’s almost over!”

“What about injuries?”

“We’ll have to check up close! But everyone’s alive!”

The people who got eyes on the advance party relayed what they saw.

“Ah—just now, the last android went down!”

“Everyone okay?”

Now Hyeonseong could see the advance party too.

Around that time, the remaining monsters the advance party had been dealing with were all cleared. Someone immediately shouted a question toward them.

“Two injured!”

“Nothing major. Just needs a bit of healing or some recovery potions poured on—”

“But injured is still injured!”

The moment they merged, the atmosphere turned chaotic in an instant as they stopped to check each other’s condition.

Two advance-party members had been grazed by gunfire, so the healers treated them immediately. After treatment, they took a five-minute breather on the spot.

“So far, we’ve made it without anything too serious.”

While Hyeonseong was collecting wreckage and parts from the mechanical monsters the advance party had taken down, Kwon Seojin approached. Hyeonseong glanced sideways at him.

“Yeah.”

Hyeonseong answered flatly.

“But you’re impressive, you know?”

Kwon Seojin kept talking. Hyeonseong had answered curtly on purpose to create distance, but it didn’t seem like the other woman intended to back off.

“About what?”

“Splitting the team quickly and cleanly, for one. And ordering the advance party to come out fast earlier, too. Especially that last one—if you’d been even a little late, I think it could’ve been a disaster.”

Hyeonseong had replied without much care, but Kwon Seojin came back with a surprisingly earnest answer.

And she wasn’t wrong. The advance party had run into the monster pack not long after leaving the school building. If they’d been late, they might’ve been attacked along with the building itself.

Still, Hyeonseong figured it was just good timing. Once she explained the risks of staying inside, everyone understood quickly.

It was something anyone could have thought of—she’d simply been the first to say it out loud.

“It was just timing. And it’s not like that’s something only I could think of. If you ask me, Kwon Seojin, you looked like you were doing well too.”

She tossed out a polite compliment.

“You really think so?”

And immediately, the question came back. Hyeonseong checked Kwon Seojin’s expression from the corner of her eye. Somehow, she looked genuinely shocked.

“I already told you that outside the dungeon.”

“You did.”

“Anyway, you seem like you’re good at it, so have some confidence. But is that all you needed?”

After the quick praise, Hyeonseong asked what she actually wanted. Pointless small talk couldn’t possibly be the real reason.

“Ah, I was just wondering when we’d leave again. Even if we’ve got time, we can’t rest forever, right?”

Kwon Seojin answered right away. It still felt like it wasn’t her real purpose, but Hyeonseong decided to let it slide.

“I was about to get us moving again anyway.”

Monsters might be converging after sensing the commotion. Staying put too long wasn’t wise.

It was far safer to go looking for them than to sit still and draw them in—because when you’re the one moving, you have more tactical options.

“Alright—let’s move.”

Hyeonseong called out loudly. At her voice, the team checked their equipment and skills again.

“Where are we headed?”

A few members asked.

“First, we look for someplace like an infrastructure control facility or a research facility.”

Depending on the field, certain facilities could reveal the number, level, and even current locations of mechanical monsters. If they found something like that, they could drastically cut down the clear time.

“The problem is, where would a place like that be?”

“Research facilities are usually toward the outskirts, but……”

“Infrastructure control varies so much by field.”

The team looked like they were about to spiral into deliberation.

“So we start by looking for somewhere like a government office.”

Unless it was a secret lab, a legal research institute would likely appear on maps you could obtain from a government office. And infrastructure control facilities even more so.

“A government office…… so is that area the most likely?”

At Hyeonseong’s words, Kwon Seojin pointed somewhere. It was the tallest building in the field.

“In fields shaped like this, it usually is. Even if it’s not that exact building, one of the buildings around it is often a public office.”

Hyeonseong answered while recalling other future-style fields she’d seen and dungeon info she’d read. It wasn’t a sure thing, but most future-style fields did lean that way.

“Then we should make that direction our initial target.”

“Yeah. Let’s head that way. And if we spot places worth checking on the way, we’ll investigate them too.”

It wasn’t uncommon for dungeons to hide clues in the field that helped with monster hunting. And even aside from that, anything that looked tactically useful should be noted.

With their direction set, the team moved again, aiming first for the tallest central tower Kwon Seojin had indicated.

“Feels like more monsters are approaching from the left—radio response detected!”

They weren’t going to stroll comfortably to the center. Not long after resuming movement, they ran into monsters again.

This time: 30 mechanical monsters and 17 zombies.

It was a sizable number, but the fight ended without much trouble—because team members with engineer and programmer-type traits spotted the approach early.

“Looks like this dungeon is the kind that doesn’t throw insanely hard monsters at you, but overwhelms you with numbers.”

After they finished cleaning up, one member said.

“Yeah. Even the few A-ranks mixed in felt like low-end A-ranks.”

“If only it keeps going like this……”

While listening, Hyeonseong collected fragments and parts from the mechanical monsters again.

Even shattered scrap could sell for a decent price, and today there were quite a few parts left in relatively intact condition.

If they split the settlement across this many people, everyone should still walk away with something meaningful.

“No one got hurt this time, right?”

“Yeah, nobody!”

“Then just mana and stamina potions, and—”

Since there weren’t even minor injuries, they departed immediately. A few people who needed recovery drank their potions as they moved.

They didn’t forget to keep scanning the surroundings as they traveled. Most buildings they passed were damaged in one way or another, with traces that made it look like riots had once broken out.

It was another familiar sight in fields like this. No one knew if this had been a real world once, but if it had, it fit a world that had collapsed for unknown reasons.

‘Still, nothing here looks particularly useful.’

Hyeonseong’s eyes swept the streets and buildings quickly, but nothing jumped out as something they could leverage. There were no supplies worth grabbing, and the buildings didn’t look great as cover either.

‘The buildings are packed too close together. If you slip into one of those alleys, it’s basically a trap. And buildings that big are easy to blow apart with bombing or biochemical attacks. Honestly…….’

As she scanned, her gaze shifted to the elevated rail line hanging in the air. A train sat on it, stopped dead.

‘That might actually be something we can use.’

“What’re you looking at?”

Kwon Seojin spoke as Hyeonseong stared up at the train.

“Just seeing if there’s anything useful.”

“Ah…… so did you find anything?”

“Not sure yet.”

Hyeonseong answered lightly. A few ideas had occurred to her, but she couldn’t be sure they’d be usable without confirming more conditions.

“They’re approaching from the rear again!”

Right as the conversation was about to continue, a team member with a programmer trait shouted. More mechanical monsters were chasing them again.

“How many this time?”

“Forty-one signals detected!”

“Wait, I think there’s another group coming too!”

A member with an engineer trait raised their voice.

“So how many total?”

“If there’s another group, does that mean we’re getting surrounded?”

Others asked urgently.

“We’re not surrounded. Both groups are approaching from the rear.”

“If they merge, it’ll be almost seventy mechanical monsters.”

“Even without zombies?”

“Then basically everyone on combat duty has to—”

“Which direction exactly?”

Hyeonseong demanded loudly.

“Over there!”

The programmer pointed. They were standing in the middle of a wide intersection, and the incoming direction was the route the team had already passed through.

“If they’re only coming from one side, we don’t need to reposition.”

“Should we build formation here?”

The team asked. Hyeonseong hesitated.

‘Based on the pattern so far, holding here is correct. There hasn’t been any rear ambush or airstrike pattern yet.’

But she didn’t decide immediately. Something about it felt off.

“Can you tell altitude too, not just the flat coordinates?”

Hyeonseong asked the programmer and engineer.

“Hold on. We probably can……”

Both of them moved their hands quickly in the air, like they were pulling up a display that showed the detected signals.

“Got it! Most are ground-level, but……”

“There are eight flying.”

“You don’t know the exact model, right?”

Hyeonseong pressed.

“I can get the height. Model—I’d have to see it directly……”

“Then just the height—no, never mind.”

Footsteps shaking the ground and metallic sounds were already starting to carry. If Hyeonseong could hear them, the others had noticed the approach long ago.

“Kwon Seojin, can you see them from here?”

Hyeonseong asked the woman who’d been sticking close to her side. If Kwon Seojin was a normal A-rank, her vision should be far sharper than theirs.

“Yes, I can.”

“Tell me the altitude and type of the ones coming in by air.”

She needed to identify the airborne units before choosing a formation.

“Two are drone-types…… and the rest look like flying robots?”

“And if you want to be precise……”

“They look perfect for carpet-bombing, yeah.”

“Great, that’s exactly what I wanted to know! Run!”

Hyeonseong shouted urgently at the team. If they were dealing with bombing monsters, they couldn’t fight in an open area like this.

At her shout, the raid team sprinted in the direction they’d originally been advancing. As they ran, Hyeonseong scanned the street again.

‘That one’s flimsy, that one’s glass exterior—no good……. Damn it, is that the best option?’

No matter where she looked, she couldn’t see anything like a subway entrance or an underground access point. Once she ruled out buildings that would obviously collapse after a few bombs, only one option remained.

“That one!”

Hyeonseong pointed. The team ran toward the building she indicated.

‘If biochemical attacks come in, we’ll have to endure with immunity and purification skills.’

As they rushed inside, Hyeonseong quickly checked the nameplate by the main entrance.