Hyunseok didn't like standing in front of everyone. That didn't mean he outright refused to, but rather that he avoided it whenever it wasn't necessary.
From the start, he never wanted to become a Slayer. But things had changed somewhat. Now, he didn't particularly feel repulsed by the act of slaying itself. Still, he had no desire to push forward and loudly proclaim, "Look at me! I'm great!"
Park Sunghyung was considerate of that tendency, so he organized the Rescue Squad to be between 5 and 10 members in size.
The 5-member teams were already well-known guilds inside Korea, famous for their skills and performance. Even those that weren't at that level still had outstanding Slayers forming 10-member teams. But Sunghyung attached Hyunseok's guild to a guild called Aion.
Among the Rescue Squad's members, Aion was comparatively on the weaker side. From their perspective, it was natural that they would want to join up with stronger teams, after all, they were about to risk their lives.
But instead of being placed with a strong, prestigious guild, they were told to team up with a completely unknown guild of just three people. Naturally, irritation boiled over.
This wasn't a joke. This was a life-or-death situation. At first, they had been happy to be chosen for the Rescue Squad, but now it felt like they were being pushed to their deaths.
Aion's guild master, Kim Munyeol, frowned.
Damn it. There must've been some kind of mistake.
Looking at them, it was obvious they didn't even have proper items prepared. No, that wasn't exactly it. They didn't need to prepare them. After all, they had someone with absurd stats in their guild who made items unnecessary. But to the outside eye, they just looked like a guild with nothing of value.
One of Aion's members, the eldest Park Daeyoung, openly complained:
"What the hell? This is the team we're supposed to work with? They're total rookies. And two of them are girls. Don't tell me this is a mistake, contact Union again!"
Frankly, Guild Master Kim Munyeol felt the same way.
It couldn't be helped that Hyunseok's guild, Inha, was being underestimated. They weren't acting out of malice; their reaction was only natural.
Hyunseok understood their feelings well. He ignored Daeyoung's words, stretched out his hand, and introduced himself politely.
"Please take care of us. I'm Hyunseok, Guild Master of Inha. Who's the Guild Master of Aion?"
Kim Munyeol stepped forward, trying his best to hide his disappointment.
"That would be me, Guild Master Kim Munyeol of Aion. Excuse me, but… what kind of weapon do you use?"
He had no weapon.
"I just use my body."
He uses his body? Unbelievable.
Fighting barehanded was extremely inefficient. Even Slayers skilled in martial arts usually used weapons, that was common sense. To hear that this person used "just his body" was almost absurd.
Still, Munyeol swallowed his doubts and cautiously asked again.
"Forgive me for asking, but… what are your stats?"
It was rude to ask. Stats were the very foundation of a Slayer, like demanding to see someone's secrets. But since they were about to risk their lives together, verifying this much was reasonable. This wasn't a game.
Hyunseok hesitated for a moment.
Currently, with the Title System in effect, his stats were at 101, plus 284 bonus stats. If he invested them all into Strength, his strength alone would be near 400.
…How do I even say this? What's a believable number?
After a pause, Hyunseok replied,
"Well… mine are considerably high. You don't need to worry about that. I can't give exact numbers, but if you contact Union, they can provide you with a reliable confirmation."
His stats were too high to explain outright. If he revealed the truth, they wouldn't believe him and might think he was insane. It was better to let Union vouch for him.
But that hesitation, the way he faltered, looked like something else to Aion's members. To them, Hyunseok seemed utterly lacking in confidence.
Munyeol cursed inwardly, while Daeyoung cursed out loud.
"Bullshit. Let's just call Union right now!"
❋ ❋ ❋
Meanwhile, Park Sunghyung found himself in a tricky spot.
He knew full well that Hyunseok's guild, Inha, was the strongest force he could imagine. Hyunseok alone was enough.
But Hyunseok never revealed his abilities. Sunghyung had heard vaguely from Jongwon that Hyunseok had some kind of trauma from elementary school that made him avoid attention, though he didn't know the details.
Now what do I do…?
Hyunseok's powers weren't a secret, and no one had forced him to hide them. Yet here he was, keeping silent, pushing the issue onto Sunghyung instead.
After a brief moment of thought, Sunghyung made a decision.
"If you really don't like it, we can switch members."
Though the Rescue Operation was urgent, if they started off in conflict, it could ruin everything. All they needed was to put Hyunseok into the dungeon and the problem would be solved. There was no need to stir trouble from the beginning.
"But in that case, Aion will be removed from the Rescue Squad entirely. There are plenty of applicants waiting, after all. Better to exclude guilds that cause disharmony from the start."
Hearing this through Union, Kim Munyeol frowned.
After a brief meeting, Aion contacted Union again. They knew they were among the weaker guilds, and wanted to work with stronger allies. But they also knew they could easily be replaced.
Reluctantly, they chose to accept the risk and continue with the operation.
Even Park Daeyoung, though he grumbled, stayed.
Union sent another message:
Inha Guild is one of the strongest powers within Union. They have simply remained unpublicized for special reasons. They were not placed with Aion without cause.
But Daeyoung didn't believe it.
"Yeah right. What a joke. This is humiliating."
❋ ❋ ❋
Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.
Despite the rocky start, Inha and Aion entered the dungeon together.
[Due to excessively high stats, the dungeon's difficulty has been raised.]
[Safe zones and recovery areas within the dungeon have been removed.]
Hyunseok began worrying, though, to others, it was a luxury.
Should I just wipe everything in one hit and clear quickly? Or should I take it slow and use this to train Pyeonghwa and Minseo…
This dungeon wasn't particularly difficult, only time-consuming.
Each room had monsters with time-locked respawns. The enemies were Orcs and Twinhead Orcs, among the top-tier monsters known.
Hyunseok considered his options.
They're all tense. Well, that's natural. Even I'UET lost two people the first time they entered a dungeon.
Tension was safer than overconfidence.
But because the safe zones were removed due to his stats, he decided it would be best to clear quickly until survivors were secured.
Leading at the front, Aion's Guild Master Kim Munyeol pushed forward. The dungeon had about 7 rooms, according to Union's reports, and 5 were already cleared.
So the survivors must be in the 6th or 7th room.
As they walked, Hyunseok reflected on Sunghyung's intentions.
He probably set things up this way to protect me while also balancing the situation… If Inha alone succeeded, all eyes would be on us. But pairing us with Aion splits the focus and provides cover. Still, to earn proper rewards, I'll eventually have to go all out.
He grinned to himself.
Besides… I have work tomorrow.
And Minseo had school.
❋ ❋ ❋
They advanced further.
Kim Munyeol reassured himself: The difficulty isn't that high. We brought food and water. And even if Union's words can't be trusted, surely these guys aren't completely useless.
Just then, Park Daeyoung sneered at Hyunseok,
"Even a rookie guild master looks more nervous than me. Pathetic."
But before Hyunseok could respond, a sharp voice cut through the air.
"Excuse me, but isn't that too much?"
Everyone turned.
It was Kang Pyeonghwa.
Hyunseok blinked. In his memories, Pyeonghwa was shy, reserved, and too timid to express her feelings. But now, she stood up boldly, confronting Daeyoung.
Her face flushed when her eyes met Hyunseok's, but she didn't back down.
"Guild Master Hyunseok is the leader of Inha. You can't just talk down to him like that!"
Daeyoung faltered for a moment, then reddened, about to snap back.
But before he could, Munyeol interrupted.
"There's combat up ahead!"
Everyone turned. Ahead, a group of Slayers were locked in battle with one Twin-head Orc and four Orcs.
"Pyeonghwa, there are wounded!" Hyunseok shouted.
"Yes! Understood!"
She rushed forward. A severely wounded Slayer lay bleeding heavily. Minseo quickly cast a healing field, and Pyeonghwa raised her staff.
"Heal!"
The wounded man's condition rapidly stabilized.
Aion's healer, Choi Gangshik, froze in shock.
What the…? She restored that much HP in one cast? Did I missee?
He had never seen a Heal like that.
In truth, Pyeonghwa wasn't using normal Heal. She had chosen the rare skill Ratio Heal, which restored 30% of a target's max HP in one cast.
Though it consumed more energy and had a long cooldown, it could bring someone back from the brink of death instantly.
To Hyunseok, this was far more useful than even Advanced Heal.
"Excuse me! We'll assist!" Hyunseok called, rushing forward.
Munyeol and Daeyoung swore furiously.
"You crazy bastard! Don't just jump in!"
"You suicidal maniac!!!"
In dungeon combat, reckless intrusion was taboo. It disrupted aggro and coordination, potentially getting allies killed.
But Hyunseok charged forward without hesitation.
Munyeol cursed, sprinting after him.
"That lunatic—!"
The other healers and supports looked on, horrified.
"He's insane…"
"To just dive in like that…"
Even the Slayers locked in battle were alarmed, shouting warnings:
"Third-party interference! Watch the aggro!"
(End of Chapter 20)
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