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Translator: penny
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Kang Jik Guild's Dungeon Outing
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I gathered the guild members.
After creating Kang Jik Guild and while working on conquering Han Semi, I had made some mercenary contracts in the meantime, but I had no plans to pack my schedule tightly during the spare time. Nor did I want to waste the resting guild members by letting them twiddle their thumbs.
Above all, we needed to hit a dungeon to help Yi Su-a adapt to her abilities while we had the time.
"Let's raid a dungeon."
There's no rule saying a mercenary guild can't run its own dungeon raids.
The whole point of a mercenary guild is that small guilds struggle with the nitty-gritty prep for high-grade dungeons, so most join up with bigger ones to hunt. For low-grade dungeons, they usually just grab their own light gear and head in solo.
So we took just my sub-space inventory and set off for a D-grade dungeon.
A dungeon tough enough to handle any surprise high-grade monsters without breaking a sweat.
With two double SSS-grade hunters on board—and Kang Hana, an S-grade with full SSS-grade potential who's just not registered yet—it felt a bit overly cautious. But since Yi Su-a had never used her abilities on actual monsters, we decided against pushing the grade higher to avoid any pressure.
Plus, Yi Su-a was the only one with real combat skills.
Not even I could use sparks at a usable level yet.
She was still focused on leveling up her Pyromancer class first, so there was no helping it.
"Oppa. Semi unnie says she wants to come too—did you get her message?"
Im Hyeji asked me on the way to the dungeon.
"And do what? Taxi us to the exit?"
Obviously, having the Semi Guild Master tag along on a Kang Jik Guild outing didn't fit.
Even as backup in case of trouble, she wasn't a combat hunter, so it wouldn't mean much.
"She has a shield skill, though?"
"...Tell her to come if she wants. Guess she really has nothing better to do."
She was pitching her C-grade barrier skill, at least.
No real reason to stop her, so I said sure.
Truth be told, I planned to keep Semi Guild as a tight subcontractor down the line—using them to send our SSS-grade hunters out on comfy hunts. Shutting her out completely wouldn't be smart.
About twenty minutes after we arrived at the dungeon, Han Semi showed up lugging a massive magic backpack.
"Jik-ah!! Everyone!!"
Gone was the charismatic, warm guild master vibe from inside her guildhall. Instead, her bright smile and ditzy charm blended right in with the young women—no awkwardness at all.
Everyone knew her pretty well, so no one looked burdened.
"Where's your gear?"
"With Oppa."
"Huh?"
I showed off my sub-space to Han Semi, who already knew my secrets.
"Whoa... insane!! This could be seriously useful if you play it right!"
"Already am."
Couldn't exactly brag about the magistones we'd swiped from her guild's dungeon raid right in front of the Semi Guild Master, so I kept the hidden perks under wraps.
Biting back the urge to spill, I stashed her backpack in my sub-space and we headed in.
A lean five-person party.
Four registered hunters excluding me, with the lowest rank being A-grade. Absurd lineup.
Doom news for the D-grade monsters inside.
Everyone's steps were light.
Except for Yi Su-a, who was tense.
"Su-a unnie, you don't have to be so nervous."
"Yeah... first time's got me shaky."
"I'll let you know if monsters show up, so don't worry."
With Han Semi here, we could've handled an A-grade dungeon. Even if Yi Su-a panicked, we'd make it out alive.
I had my perfectly safe 'Gate' escape to a secure zone for starters.
Or Han Semi could warp us all to pre-set exit coordinates in one go.
Mana would be tight for five people, but doable.
And if worst came to worst, Resurrection was prepped on both Im Hyeji and me.
Above all, Kang Hana's pinpoint scouting meant we'd never even get into a fight that could go south.
"Unnie, four ratlings approaching from 40 meters left."
We stuck to safe spots away from monster packs, picking fights only where we could control the numbers.
Just the right amount we could handle easily.
Scores of seconds after Kang Hana spoke, the four D-grade ratlings came into view.
Rat pup-lookalikes—not tough opponents.
Just big enough to gross out newbies.
"Eww, nasty."
Fwoosh!
Yi Su-a called them gross, but her eyes sparkled as she already summoned her embers.
Her first hunt, brimming with excitement.
She gripped a wooden wand that reached her elbow—nobody knew where she'd bought it—and flung half a dozen embers.
They rocketed out like bullets, slamming home with pinpoint accuracy.
Boom!!
Even the tiny embers packed serious punch.
The ratlings spotted the incoming embers and scattered in panic, but D-grade trash had no prayer against a double SSS-grade hunter's strikes.
Two embers missed; the rest took out one ratling apiece.
"Whoa! Unnie! What's your hit rate?"
"Nice shot!! They're all dead."
"Su-a-ya, is there anything you can't do?"
Yi Su-a didn't blush at the praise—instead, she beamed and latched onto my arm.
"All thanks to Kang Jik-ssi."
"Eh?"
I mean, it was just a handful of ratlings. Giving me credit?
But Yi Su-a, who knew the root of her own talent, dropped info even I hadn't realized.
"Kang Jik-ssi's semen boosts talent too, y'know? I think that's it. When I sing or dance, that talent goes up. When I hunt, hunting talent spikes. Back when the buffs wore off, my aim wasn't this sharp."
"..."
"..."
Less unknown info, more something I'd never even considered.
Talent worked like that?
Well, talent wasn't locked to arts or sports—but I'd never dreamed it applied to hunter skills too.
"Whoa, for real? Come to think of it, lately my heals feel more calculated? Like, I judge who needs it first way faster."
"...Scouting's gotten easier for me too..."
"...Aren't you guys just semen smoothies?"
Not purely the semen's doing, of course. Keeping your cool for your first real monster fight came down to the person.
Talent boosts helped, but they didn't erase nerves or fear.
Still, glad it was paying off.
"Su-a-ya. You could jump straight to B-grade or even A-grade. That firepower's nuts."
And Han Semi pulled off her self-appointed role to a T.
I'd figured she'd have nothing to do, but as a top-ten guild master, she showered Yi Su-a with credible, confidence-boosting advice perfectly tuned for a dungeon newbie.
Yi Su-a and Im Hyeji had the experience to offer pointers too, but Han Semi's outsider evaluator perspective carried more weight.
She helped with hunter power feedback at her own guild, so her tips had real pro depth.
"Su-a-ya. When facing groups, don't try to wipe 'em all at once. Power gap's huge now, so it's fine—but mana management is key in multi-target fights. You can do AOE with embers, and they have homing, right? Try tagging one with a couple embers first, then follow up with a sure-hit AOE blast."
Anyone could've said it—basic feedback.
But pulling an efficient tactic straight from her skill options on the fly? That took serious experience.
[Lv. 1][SSS][Ember]
＊ Handles small embers.
＊ Before the ember fully extinguishes, destructive power increases by 1% per unit of burn.
＊ (Special Effect) The ember explodes once more.
＊ (Burning Effect) The next ember homes in on a burning target. Deals 20% bonus damage to burning targets.
Burning effect plus the special effect.
Still level 1, but this was SSS-grade skill material—pro tactics ramped up the firepower fast.
Once one hit a target, the burning ember stuck around. Incoming embers homed in guaranteed, so the poor thing had no dodge unless it snuffed the first one out naturally.
Too bad the monsters were such pushovers to test variants on.
"I love it!!"
At least we'd nailed one goal of the outing.
We wandered slowly, stacking Yi Su-a's field experience. Midway, we hit a safe zone, rolled out a big picnic mat, and I finally flexed my luggage-hauler skills to the max.
Stuff poured from my sub-space.
Camping table. Chairs. Fresh foods. Meats.
"Whoa!!"
Han Semi, seeing it for the first time, gushed in awe.
Dungeon outdoor barbecue.
Before lighting the charcoal with the torch, I beckoned Yi Su-a.
"Ember cue!"
"Got it!!"
Fwoosh! Blazing embers lit the charcoal like pros.
Then out came the Hanwoo beef slabs beside it.
I beckoned the next person.
"Meat cue!"
"..."
Kang Hana chucked a lettuce leaf at me while setting the table.
"I'll handle it!"
Han Semi dashed over from plating sides, snatched the tongs, and took her spot by the fire.
A romance-filled first outing for Kang Jik Guild's dungeon trip.
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