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THUD—
KUDANGTANG!
The monsters that had slammed straight into Infinite Corridor’s entrance bounced back.
“Huff……!”
As the monsters were pushed away, an Awakened who had survived by a hair’s breadth let out the breath they’d been holding without realizing it.
“That just now…….”
“Fall back for now!”
The rebounded monsters were charging again. The Awakened who had stepped in to fight reset their stances.
“Are you okay?”
Hyeonseong asked as she joined the group.
“I’m okay. Thank you—”
“Uh…… Ye Hyeonseong?”
Someone murmured as if they recognized her face.
“Yes.”
Hyeonseong took off the cap she had been wearing and tossed it into Infinite Corridor. The moment she revealed her face, a few people showed subtle disappointment.
‘They were probably expecting someone from Sinwol or Hyeonghok.’
To most eyes, Infinite Corridor looked basically like a crude optical camouflage—like seeing the scenery through a glass cup or prescription lenses, with the view beyond it slightly distorted.
And that kind of distortion also appeared fairly often in barrier-type skills. Among the guilds with headquarters nearby, there were a few high-ranked Awakened with defensive skills that produced similar effects.
‘If they’d contacted those places, it’s only natural they’d expect someone from there to show up, but…….’
She understood it, but it still didn’t feel great.
“Rather than wasting time being disappointed, focus?”
Hyeonseong spoke in a somewhat curt voice, gesturing at the monsters.
“That might look like nothing, but it’s basically an unbreakable shield, so don’t worry about defense.”
As she spoke, Hyeonseong unfolded Infinite Corridor again. This time, a raptor-shaped chimera that had been diving from midair bounced off the Corridor.
“What are you all doing? Snap out of it!”
Hyeonseong shouted at the people still frozen. The Awakened flinched and stared down the approaching monsters.
Either way, the mood shifted to a clear understanding: they had to stop the monsters first.
“Let’s stay grouped up and kill them one by one.”
“Should we hit that lion head first?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Moving!”
The Awakened, now collected, rushed as one toward the quadrupedal chimera barreling in.
‘They were going for the weakest one first?’
Hyeonseong checked the monster info.
The chimera they called “lion head” was B-rank. Two other chimera monsters nearby were A-rank, so yes—it really was the weakest.
‘Then my job is…….’
KWAEAEK—
From above, the raptor chimera shrieked and tried another dive at the Awakened cluster.
Hyeonseong spread Infinite Corridor over their heads.
THUD—
KAEAEK……!
‘Blocking the ones that try to close in.’
Since the monsters had scattered in all directions, the number charging this way wasn’t that large.
And the chimeras circling this area didn’t seem to understand coordinated attacks. Most of the time, they launched reckless solo charges. When they “teamed up,” it was only because their charge timing happened to overlap.
Watching their patterns, Hyeonseong figured she could hold them off alone for a while.
‘Just need to pull out what I’ll use as weapons.’
KUDANGTANG!
After knocking away an A-rank quadrupedal chimera, she quickly pulled out the items she needed.
What Hyeonseong took out was a pickaxe and several offensive skill cards she’d received from Hyeonyeong.
‘If it comes to it, I might have to take one down myself.’
By chance, Hyeonyeong had time yesterday, so Hyeonseong had replenished a few types of skill cards. Since they were skills that fired blade energy, she could use them without approaching the monster.
“Ugh……!”
“Don’t overdo it—fall back!”
“Duck!”
PAJIK!
Meanwhile, the Awakened clinging to the B-rank chimera continued their desperate attacks. While blocking other charging chimeras with Infinite Corridor, Hyeonseong assessed the battle.
‘Two swordsmen—swinging like their lives depend on it, but the damage isn’t going in. Even if I assume their personal rank and skill rank generously, they’re probably C or lower. Same for the archer. The lightning mage and the buffer, too…….’
Overall, the firepower against the B-rank chimera was lacking. But judging by their strained faces and movements, no one was holding back on purpose.
So the conclusion was simple: their overall ranks were low.
‘If they can’t bring down a B even with multiple people focusing it, their average rank might be close to D.’
Hyeonseong grimaced internally. The chimera those people could handle ended with the one they were currently fighting.
‘Even if they manage to kill it, they’ll be exhausted afterward.’
If it were only stamina or mana recovery, she had ways to help—she could lend them standard potions.
But there was no way to help with mental fatigue from fighting a stronger monster, or problems like skill cooldowns.
‘When were reinforcements arriving? And what was happening in other directions?’
Blocking another raptor chimera aiming at them, Hyeonseong looked up.
Several drones were flying overhead—sent by the police and Sinwol System to observe the site in real time. Similar drone coverage was probably spread across other directions too.
‘If only I had a way to check what they were seeing directly…….’
“Uh……!”
A voice that was almost a scream cut off her thoughts. Hyeonseong turned toward the sound.
Two chimeras were charging the Awakened cluster at the same time.
“Tch……!”
Clicking her tongue, Hyeonseong unfolded Infinite Corridor in midair—and gripped an A-rank Mana Pierce skill card.
THUD—
KWAANG!
The diving chimera bounced off Infinite Corridor. At the same time, Hyeonseong’s Mana Pierce struck the quadrupedal chimera square in the head.
KKEAEK! KKEAEAEK!
KUHEOHEONG……!
The raptor chimera, flung back into the air, let out a furious screech.
The quadrupedal chimera that took the hit was knocked far away. It staggered as it got up—looking like it had fallen into a status ailment.
“Huh……!”
Only then did the people fighting the B-rank chimera react with shock.
“Focus!”
Hyeonseong shouted again. At that timing, the chimeras charged the Awakened cluster once more, and the battle kept going.
‘Should I just jump into that fight too?’
Hyeonseong hesitated. If she could focus solely on combat, she would’ve joined long ago—but right now she had to help with defense in between.
‘Can I keep up the barrier while fighting……?’
“Over there! There are more over there!”
Thankfully, her dilemma was resolved quickly. Awakened from a nearby guild arrived and joined the fight.
“Ha—!”
KWAANG—!
An Awakened who took position near Hyeonseong hurled a spear with a shout. The throwing spear pierced straight through the torso of an A-rank chimera hovering in the air.
KKEAEK……!
Maybe its defense was low, because the A-rank raptor chimera died in a single hit.
“Step back! We’ll take it from here!”
“Anyone injured—!”
Some of the newcomers ran toward the group that had been fighting the B-rank chimera. Two swordsmen injured by claws quickly retreated and received treatment.
‘Thank god.’
Watching the reinforcements strike at the remaining chimeras, Hyeonseong finally exhaled in relief.
“Good work.”
The Awakened who had thrown the spear approached Hyeonseong.
“You were the one holding that line, right, Ye Hyeonseong?”
“Well…… I wouldn’t put it that grandly.”
Hyeonseong answered awkwardly at the natural praise.
“Still, that’s what happened. I’m Geum Seoa.”
They introduced themself.
“Geum Seoa…… Then you’re with Sinwol.”
Hyeonseong remembered immediately. An A-rank lancer from the Sinwol Guild, which belonged to the Sinwol Group alongside the Sinwol System.
“More importantly, what’s going on right now? Where are the others?”
Hyeonseong asked.
“It’s a long story if I explain everything……. The short version is: everyone scattered after the monsters.”
According to Geum Seoa, Hyeonghok’s S-rank guildmaster had taken three supporting guildmates and chased a monster said to have evolved into S-rank.
Meanwhile, combat personnel from various guilds—ranging from A down to C—divided zones by team to eliminate nearby monsters.
“……But even that isn’t enough right now.”
“Why not?”
“If you stayed here the whole time, you might not know. Those things scattered incredibly fast. The fast ones are probably already passing through the neighboring districts by now.”
“Already?”
It hadn’t even been that long since the dungeon explosion. And yet the monsters had spread far enough to easily cross a whole neighborhood.
“Isn’t that a disaster?”
“It is. That’s why the whole area around Nonhyeon-dong is under emergency response right now.”
At Geum Seoa’s words, Hyeonseong pulled out her phone. Sure enough, multiple disaster alerts about the Nonhyeon-dong dungeon explosion had come in. The hunter terminal would also be receiving a stream of notifications aimed at Awakened.
“Then what do we do?”
Hyeonseong asked.
“We’ve cleared the monsters rampaging here, so we need to sweep this area and check for any that are hiding.”
Geum Seoa glanced somewhere. Following their gaze, Hyeonseong saw Sinwol Guild members gathering three chimera corpses into one place.
“And if we can figure out the cause of the explosion, even better…….”
“Ah, about that. I’m pretty sure nobody at the scene knows.”
Hyeonseong cut in.
“Do you have a theory?”
“I was right nearby when it blew, so I got the messages. Look.”
Hyeonseong dug through her message log and showed the alerts she’d received at the time of the explosion.
“……A dungeon exploded the moment it spawned? That wasn’t just a rumor?”
Geum Seoa frowned.
“Yes.”
“What the…….”
Geum Seoa fell silent, looking like they had no words.
“Either way, we don’t know the cause. Though in some sense, it’s kind of obvious.”
Unexplainable phenomena involving dungeons or monsters usually had one painfully obvious “cause.”
‘Someone got bored and decided they wanted to see something fun, so they pulled a prank.’
As if to prove Hyeonseong’s thought, Constellation messages appeared.
“Explosive-type dungeons……?”
One of the Sinwol Guild members gathered near Geum Seoa muttered. It seemed this message had been broadcast to multiple people at once.
“What does that mean—opening explosive-type dungeons?”
“Does it mean dungeons that break the moment they spawn, like this, will keep appearing……?”
People spoke with bewildered faces.
“Right now, what matters is dealing with the remaining monsters.”
Hyeonseong said, glaring at the Constellation messages. They were absurd and infuriating, but there was no time to be angry.
“Agreed. And it’s not just the ones that scattered—apparently monsters are still pouring out at the blast point.”
Geum Seoa nodded.
‘Makes sense. It’s still loud over there.’
Hyeonseong’s gaze went toward where the dungeon had exploded.
Chimera monsters were still bursting out from that spot. Awakened were holding them back to prevent them from scattering further.
“Then let’s regroup and move. And Ye Hyeonseong, if possible, I’d like you to come with us.”
“Uh…… Ye Hyeonseong too?”
One Sinwol Guild member voiced doubt.
“Ye Hyeonseong can be useful in multiple ways.”
Geum Seoa looked at Hyeonseong—an expression asking for consent.
“If there’s anything I can do to help, I will.”
Hyeonseong accepted immediately.
‘If I’m going to keep chasing monsters anyway, moving together is better.’
“Great. Then Ye Hyeonseong will move with us.”
At Geum Seoa’s words, the Sinwol Guild members nodded. A few still looked uncertain, but none openly objected to Geum Seoa.
“Then shall we move? We can introduce ourselves properly while we walk.”
Geum Seoa said, holding a hunter terminal.
“Where are we heading?”
A Sinwol Guild member asked.
“Over there.”
Geum Seoa pointed in a direction—the dungeon explosion point where monsters were still pouring out.
‘The ones that fled were probably already being tracked anyway.’
With a destination set, the group sprinted toward the battlefield.
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