Nonhyeon-dong Dungeon Explosion Incident (5)

‘That was just my luck.’

At the guidance message floating before her eyes, Ye Hyeonseong clicked her tongue. Of all things, this had to be what they got.

“Conditions met……?”

“Damn it, was this the kind of dungeon with a hidden boss?”

“Get ready! Snap out of it and get ready!”

The Awakened who checked the message returned to battle formation. Even those who had relaxed drew their weapons with tense faces.

The moment they set their stances, the ground rumbled.

Kugugugu…….

With the rumbling, a monster began to stick its head out from the red dungeon entrance.

A head that looked almost human, long gigantic fangs, a huge tiger-like body, and a tail as long as its massive frame.

Because its shape felt oddly familiar, Ye Hyeonseong immediately checked its information.

‘Looks like a chimera modeled after the Four Fiends.’

There was no reason to be newly shocked just because the motif for an otherworldly artificial creature was familiar. There were many worlds with similar legends.

And a creature that was mere fiction on Earth could be a real, living organism in another world.

Or, through the Interstellar Network, a Constellation who could peer into other worlds might have borrowed a convincing motif from somewhere else.

The Constellation that seemed to be the culprit behind Do-ol was bragging about its achievements, even going so far as to change its Constellation name.

‘Who the hell is that bastard, anyway?’

At the Constellation messages that felt like a provocation, Ye Hyeonseong ground her teeth.

“Another S-rank?”

“That dungeon—what was its initial rank supposed to be……?”

“When is the Hyeonghok guildmaster getting here!”

“They said he thought it was over and went back to the office…….”

“They said he’s coming back now…….”

After confirming the identity of the newly appeared boss, the Awakened shouted over one another. Someone called for an Awakened who was S-rank like the monster.

It seemed the message had reached him, thankfully, but they would have to hold out for a few minutes until he arrived.

“There have been a few dungeons where Do-ol showed up before, right?”

“Those were divine beasts and yokai for species, though.”

“Either way, the basic traits should be similar, right? Someone pull up the clear records—”

“It’s attackable now!”

The boss summon completed. Do-ol was now in an attackable state.

“Going in!”

“Damn it, stop jumping the gun!”

The Awakened, grouped by guild and raid team, began the assault on Do-ol.

‘Is there even a place for me to join?’

Watching the fight start, Ye Hyeonseong thought.

In a situation like this, where many were facing a single target, there was not much for Ye Hyeonseong to do. The people coordinating inside would handle most attacks—cutting them off or blocking them as needed.

‘If that thing were a type that used magic, I might’ve had something to do…… but I don’t remember Do-ol being that kind of monster.’

And as Ye Hyeonseong recalled, all of Do-ol’s attacks were physical. There was no way for her to help by intercepting spells.

‘And its fear skill isn’t the type I can block, either.’

Buuung—

Peobeobeong!

Keoeo……!

Pummeled by the Awakened’s focused barrage, Do-ol roared. The sound was like it was flustered by the onslaught.

‘Even Hyeonyeong stepping in with a skill would be awkward here.’

There were not just one or two melee Awakened pressed up close, attacking. The ranged attacks flying in from the back were the same.

No matter how she looked at it, there was no gap to fill. If she forced her way in half-baked, she might even reduce their overall firepower.

‘And they don’t look like they care about me anymore, either.’

Ye Hyeonseong’s gaze shifted toward where the Sinwol Guild members were gathered. Not just other guild members, but even Geum Seoa and Ha Seongchan seemed to have completely forgotten about her.

‘Given the monster’s rank, I guess that makes sense, but still.’

As she assessed the situation, Ye Hyeonseong quietly pulled out the Cybernetic Spirit Summon Ticket.

Just because there was no opening to jump in did not mean she could go home. So while there was breathing room, she decided to take care of what she had been wanting to do.

The moment she used the ticket, a flash of light burst. After shining once, the ticket crumbled into particles of light.

The light particles drifted toward Ye Hyeonseong’s outer-pocket. Seeing where the light went, she pulled out her phone.

The screen was already on, and a guidance message appeared.

As the completion message appeared, an Interstellar Network message appeared in the air.

‘Is this the type with a preset name?’

Unlike natural-element spirits, Cybernetic Spirits often required the summoner to name them personally. Ye Hyeonseong had even kept a few names in mind in case she had to do it herself.

‘I’m not great at naming things, so if it’s just assigned for me, that’s fine.’

Ye Hyeonseong checked the summoned spirit’s information.

As the item description had said, its initial rank was B. Its skills ranged from C to A.

‘It seems like it has most of what I need…… but the name is Nemesis?’

Seeing the name set on the Cybernetic Spirit, Ye Hyeonseong recalled a few names she had seen and heard in the dungeon where she got the ticket.

‘Libra, Athena, Yustitia…… and now Nemesis too. That’s impressively consistent.’

As if it knew Ye Hyeonseong had finished checking, the Constellation withdrew its gaze and departed with a single line.

‘I should at least send a greeting, right?’

She searched for ‘The One Who Created the Mystery of Cybernetics’ in the Interstellar Network window. Using that name, she sent a private message saying she would take good care of the spirit.

‘That’s enough for greetings…… so I should test it…….’

Kwajangchang!

She was just about to test Nemesis’s skill while watching the brawl with Do-ol.

With a loud crash, a broad-built person dropped down in front of Ye Hyeonseong.

It was not someone who had been knocked away while fighting Do-ol. It was someone who had practically flown in, sprinting from the far end of the road.

“Huff……!”

“What the hell, what just exploded—”

“Move!”

The newcomer, who had arrived by smashing the road pavement, shouted at the Awakened on site.

Then he leveled the tip of the greatsword in his hands—longer than a person—at Do-ol.

“S-Song Jiwoo?”

“Damn it, everyone up front, pull back right now!”

Those who recognized the intruder cried out urgently. The Awakened who had been aiming for Do-ol’s face and neck hurriedly retreated.

Tadak

As they pulled back, Song Jiwoo stomped and sprang high. Closing the distance in an instant, he swung his greatsword.

Paaak!

A streak of red aura, launched along the sword’s arc, carved a deep wound into Do-ol’s neck.

Kyaaak……!

Do-ol, grievously wounded, screamed and thrashed. It rampaged wildly, wrecking the road.

“Gaaah!”

“The back too! Fall back in the rear too!”

“Retreat! Use ranged attacks—!”

Even those still near Do-ol were forced to withdraw.

‘That guy—seriously. Just because he’s strong, he never stops to think before landing a hit.’

Watching Song Jiwoo’s back as he landed again, Ye Hyeonseong clicked her tongue.

Song Jiwoo had a habit: whenever he saw a big, strong-looking enemy, he opened by throwing out a huge skill first. He did not consider the overall battlefield at all.

There were two reasons that bad habit formed.

First, obviously, Song Jiwoo was S-rank. It was widely known that most S-rank Awakened were either strong and self-willed, or capable and a little unhinged.

The second reason lay with the Constellation sponsoring Song Jiwoo.

‘Yeah. That bastard Ares.’

Ares, the god of war from Greek myth, had plenty of tales about doting on his children. After taking form as a Constellation, that temperament manifested in a slightly warped way.

In short, he became a shameless doting fool.

And Song Jiwoo was one of the Awakened sponsored by that kind of Ares.

‘Caring for your contractor is fine, but if you praise everything they do like that, no wonder your contractors end up with that kind of temperament.’

She wondered what process could possibly have given him that disposition when he was reborn as a Constellation.

‘……No. I don’t even want to know.’

Anyway, the important part was that Ares’s coddling likely contributed a large share to Song Jiwoo’s reckless behavior.

‘Well, they resemble each other, in a way—but as a war god, he probably also instinctively thrills at high-violence situations. Still annoying either way.’

“Either way, aura works. Alright, you all match my tempo!”

As if he did not care what anyone else thought, Song Jiwoo charged back at Do-ol. When he swung again, Do-ol tried to block by thrusting its fangs forward.

“That guy’s ignoring the raid team outright again—!”

“Leave it. It’s not like he started doing that yesterday.”

“You heard him! Match the guildmaster’s fight!”

“No, why should we—this isn’t even our guild—”

Seeing Song Jiwoo enter the fight, the Awakened made comments one after another.

Among them, many who were not from Hyeonghok voiced dissatisfaction. They were unhappy that they had to match someone who was not even their guildmaster.

“Wouldn’t it be fine to just leave it to Song Jiwoo? He looks like he’s pushing it back just fine alone.”

A few Awakened looked like they wanted to take their hands off the fight.

That thought was not strange. Song Jiwoo was swinging his greatsword with vigorous energy, and Do-ol was busy just blocking and dodging his attacks.

“No, we can’t. The monster we’re dealing with is still S-rank. If we just step back, who knows what could happen.”

“And when that guy goes berserk like that, he can’t see anything except the thing he’s fighting…….”

“More than that guy, we need to stay for collateral reasons too. He could break something by mistake again, or the monster that’s been getting hammered could try to run.”

“Though today it doesn’t look like it’ll run, does it? If it’s a chimera based on Do-ol, it has that trait of latching on and not letting go…….”

“Either way, withdrawing is a problem. If you really don’t want to help, then at least standby nearby…….”

In the end, the Awakened agreed that since the battle was not over, leaving was not an option.

Soon, each raid team either joined in as support on their own terms or stood by nearby. Hyeonghok’s raid team had long since attached themselves as Song Jiwoo’s support.

‘The situation doesn’t seem too bad, at least…….’

Ye Hyeonseong kept tracking the flow of battle. After Song Jiwoo took the frontline, the momentum shifted in the raid teams’ favor.

However much she complained, a proper combat-type S-rank was a being who could flip the tide of a fight alone.

‘The issue is the others who’ve become support positions.’

The current tactic was one strong person standing up front, with the rest supporting that one person.

For Song Jiwoo, the “one up front,” there was no particular issue. He had been swinging his sword energetically from start to finish.

Among the supports, Hyeonghok’s raid team was fine. They had likely served Song Jiwoo as their leader for a long time, so matching his patterns would not be difficult.

But everyone else was the problem.

‘They’re from other guilds, so they probably haven’t synced up with Song Jiwoo much. And Song Jiwoo isn’t their superior to begin with.’

Lack of experience coordinating was a problem, and unwillingness to coordinate was a problem too.

‘Earlier it was fine because there was enough “share” to carve out according to battle contribution, but not now. At this rate, it’s obvious Song Jiwoo will take most of Do-ol’s share.’

And there was one more issue besides that. It was the fact that the raid teams participating were not a single unified team.

‘It’s an alliance where each guild sent one team. And an alliance where no one has taken command.’

In other words, there was no leadership layer.

The team leaders might communicate to some extent, but compared to having a clear command structure, their coordination was bound to be inferior.

Once Ye Hyeonseong laid out all the issues, the solution came to her quickly.

‘In the end, they need a commander.’

If there was a commander who could judge and decide, both the coordination problem and the battle-share problem would be solvable.

‘Then the question is: who does it…….’

Ye Hyeonseong’s eyes swept the battlefield quickly.

By Awakened rank alone, Song Jiwoo was clearly number one.

But Song Jiwoo’s aptitude was as a vanguard who boosted allies’ morale. He lacked the temperament for giving tactical instructions.

‘If you exclude him, it drops to A-rank…….’

Among the A-ranks here, there were a couple with decent leadership. But if it dropped to A-rank, the earlier problems returned.

‘And among them, there still isn’t anyone who can truly take control of everyone.’

Maybe within their own team, but no one had the charisma to persuade and command this many people. If someone did, the alliance would have been moving like one team already.

Just as she was about to settle for B-rank solutions, a Constellation spoke to her.

“I was thinking there needs to be a commander here.”

Ye Hyeonseong answered the Constellation.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

One Awakened near Ye Hyeonseong asked.

“Ah, a Constellation asked what I was thinking.”

Ye Hyeonseong replied lightly.

“Ah…… well, it is a problem that there’s no commander-in-chief for the raid.”

The Awakened immediately agreed. Standing back on standby, the problems must have been obvious.

“So at least now we could coordinate a bit—huh? Me?”

After checking the Constellation messages, Ye Hyeonseong let out a stunned voice without thinking.