"Kwa-jik!"
The sword plunged deep into the stem, more than expected, and Ham Seo-rin was montarily shocked.
‘Was this just a random buff spell? And it's this effective?’
Although Ham Seo-rin was a low-rank hunter, he had been through mandatory service and explored nurous dungeons. He had an understanding of his own strength and how much a standard buff spell could increase physical power. But now, seeing the difference just from the caster alone, he couldn't help but be amazed.
‘What difference does it make?’
"Crunch!"
Ham Seo-rin focused on tearing the stem in front of him. Though his guild mbers seed to feel inferior to Jeong Da-on, an S-rank hunter, he didn’t share their sentint. Talent was sothing you couldn’t control.
Was the world ever fair?
‘Even if I’m a low-rank hunter, if I work hard, I can succeed! No, if Jeong Da-on continues to help us like this, we’ll make it through easily!’
What he lacked wasn't talent, but rather support from those around him.
If Jeong Da-on kept helping with the dungeon, clearing these plant monsters would be a walk in the park.
‘I just need to keep asking for help. She’ll definitely help again!’
Jeong Da-on, the hero of low-rank hunters, was willing to help. Surely, she would keep assisting him.
Ham Seo-rin swung his sword at the stem in a trance. The tough outer layer of the stem cracked, and sap began to flow out.
“Don’t leave any sap behind, harvest it all!”
The sap was valuable as an ingredient for potions, and it was one of the more expensive byproducts of the Butterfly Teeth plants. This sap was crucial because it would dry up if the plant died, so it needed to be harvested before that happened.
Previously, in their last attempt, they hadn’t even thought to gather the sap because they were so focused on escaping. But now, with a bit of leisure, they were able to collect it.
"This buff is insane. With this, I could fight all day!"
"S-rank really is sothing. Wow, how much would one bottle go for?"
"At least a few hundred, I’d say? Hey, bring the next bottle! This one’s full."
With this, Ham Seo-rin and his guild mbers gleefully filled glass bottles with the Butterfly Teeth sap.
Swooosh!
However, not long after, a massive shadow cast over them.
Ham Seo-rin looked up.
“…Ugh, disgusting!”
It was such a grotesque sight that it made him involuntarily grimace. From a distance, the flower blossoms appeared beautiful, but up close, it was nothing more than the gaping maw of a monster with thousands of sharp teeth.
Of course, there was no reason to be too worried. Being a plant, its movents were slow.
Holding a glass bottle in his hand, Ham Seo-rin shouted without turning back.
"Jeong Da-on Hunter! Now’s the ti! We can attack that flower now!"
Now, they just had to wait for Jeong Da-on’s attack to finish off the Butterfly Teeth monster. But—
“...Jeong Da-on Hunter?”
Even when he called again, there was no attack on the Butterfly Teeth.
He had clearly told Jeong Da-on when to strike, but she had missed the timing.
‘Sigh, what can you do? She's still a beginner.’
Ham Seo-rin kept a positive attitude. Even though Jeong Da-on had natural talent, she was still a novice who had just begun dungeon explorations.
There was no reason to be too harsh on her for moving slowly in a situation like this. It was his job to guide her.
"Jeong Da-on Hunter?"
But still, despite calling her na, there was no sign of an attack.
Was she nervous?
This ti, Ham Seo-rin turned around.
"Jeong Da-on Hunter! Quickly, cast your magic..."
It was only when he realized sothing was wrong that it was too late.
"...Where did she go?"
When they had charged toward the Butterfly Teeth, Jeong Da-on had been right there with them, but now, she was nowhere to be seen.
Instead—
"What’s that?"
The gloomy man who had followed Jeong Da-on, the one wearing the mask, was standing there. From his fingertips, a black liquid seed to be flowing.
It wasn’t surprising that he was a hunter capable of using magic, but—
Ssshrriikk!
The black liquid slithered like a snake, moving toward Ham Seo-rin and the guild mbers.
‘Is he trying to attack ?’
Ham Seo-rin tried to dodge in shock.
"Everyone, be careful...!"
But before he could even finish the warning, the terrifying black liquid slid smoothly into the ground.
"What’s going on, Ham Seo-rin?"
"Hey, where did Jeong Da-on go? Why is that old guy the only one here?"
The guild mbers, who hadn’t seen what the man had done while they were harvesting the sap, were chatting away.
But Ham Seo-rin swallowed hard. Sothing wasn’t right. Sothing was happening.
‘That man… what’s going on?’
At so point, the man had removed his mask, revealing his face.
Ham Seo-rin had initially assud he was older due to his graying hair, but his face, now revealed, was surprisingly youthful. Was he in his early to mid-thirties?
Ham Seo-rin felt uneasy.
‘Wait, where have I seen him before?’
"Hey, isn’t that... the guy...!"
As Ham Seo-rin tried to recall the identity of the man, one of the guild mbers shouted.
"Isn’t he the guy from... that video where he fought Jeong Da-on?"
"Ugh, you’re really bringing up that embarrassing past?" the man muttered, his voice cold and dismissive.
Upon hearing that, Ham Seo-rin froze in realization.
"J-Jas Chen! The A-rank hunter from the Hunter Guild headquarters...!"
"He was supposed to be in prison, wasn’t he?"
"Then why the hell is he following Jeong Da-on? Did they reconcile?"
The guild mbers started whispering in confusion. Jas Chen’s face darkened at their words.
Ham Seo-rin could feel cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Creeeeek, creak!
From the stem where they had been harvesting the sap, an unsettling sound echoed, sothing like a gulp or a crack.
Ham Seo-rin suddenly realized what was happening.
If the black liquid was soaking into the ground, it ant that...
"Everyone!"
Ham Seo-rin grabbed his glass bottle and shouted.
"Stop gathering, run! Quickly!"
But the guild mbers ignored him.
Even though Ham Seo-rin was the guild leader, he was the one who had gone into debt to bid for the dungeon. He wasn’t respected as much as a true leader.
"Why run? The Butterfly Teeth is still far from coming down. We’re not leaving until we harvest everything!"
"Where did Jeong Da-on go anyway? Soone find her. Maybe she ran off because she got scared?"
"Haha, no way an S-rank hunter would do that. I’ll call her. Jeong—!"
Ssskkrrack!
A vine shot out from nowhere, slapping one of the guild mbers across the face just as he was about to call Jeong Da-on’s na.
The sudden attack froze the guild mbers in place.
Amid the silence, Jas Chen spoke calmly.
"Don’t call that na carelessly."
Ham Seo-rin stared at the vine that had just struck the guild mber’s face in shock.
"It can’t be..."
Just monts ago, the Butterfly Teeth had been a flower with a single large stem. But now, black vines were bursting from the stem.
What was even stranger was that these black vines seed to be spreading from the plant in agony.
Throooom!
The main body of the Butterfly Teeth, which had been descending to consu Ham Seo-rin and the guild mbers, was now releasing pheromones into the air, writhing in pain.
"What the hell...!?"
"Ahh, I hate this!"
"I... I can’t breathe!"
Before anyone could fully process what was happening, the black vines wrapped around the bodies of Ham Seo-rin and the guild mbers.
The feeling of the cold, slippery vines coiling around them was like a snake constricting their bodies.
"Agh...!"
Ham Seo-rin struggled to cut the vines but found them quickly wrapped around his wrists, disarming him in seconds.
And at this point, the true mastermind behind all this was clear.
"Why... why are you doing this to us?!"
Trapped by the vines, Ham Seo-rin shouted in anguish.
Jas Chen. The A-rank hunter from the Hunter Guild headquarters who had secretly followed them.
Ham Seo-rin couldn’t understand why he was doing this.
"What did we do to deserve this? What’s your goal? Where have you taken Jeong Da-on?"
His heart burned with frustration, and tears nearly filled his eyes. He clenched his teeth.
"Was Jeong Da-on the goal?"
It had been his decision to ask for Jeong Da-on’s help!
Was there soone else aiming for Jeong Da-on?
"How did you deceive her? Coward!"
Jeong Da-on was a naive young hunter, soone willing to help even soone she had just t.
Soone like Jas Chen, an infamous hunter, would have had no trouble manipulating her.
"You think I deceived her?" Jas Chen replied, his tone mocking.
He didn’t even care that they were struggling in front of him. His arrogance was palpable, like the true villain he was.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
"A small man cannot follow the clouds of heaven. Even if I tell them, those foolish, mud-like scoundrels can’t possibly understand the ambitions of a great man."
"What...?"
"What the hell is this guy saying? Hey! Are you going to stop this or not?"
"Tch, you fools."
Skkrrrip!
The vines squeezed tighter around the guild mbers' throats.
"I’ve traveled to many countries and gained much experience. When I saw this Butterfly Teeth cluster, I knew imdiately what to do."
Suddenly, Jas Chen pulled out a folding fan and waved it with an elegant flair.
"So what...?"
"I must say, I comnd you. Throwing food to the monster and waiting for it to drop its guard—that’s an efficient tactic."
At those words, Ham Seo-rin flinched.
There was sothing about it that clicked.
"No... what do you an by—?"
"I enjoy working with those willing to do anything for their goals. It’s so easy to manipulate them. Once they’ve bowed down, they’ll do whatever I say."
With the fan spread wide, Jas Chen concealed his face and looked down on Ham Seo-rin with piercing eyes.
Ham Seo-rin felt a chill running down his spine.
"If you’re willing to throw your comrades to the monsters as bait, that’s even better."
Ham Seo-rin and the guild mbers swallowed hard, exchanging tense looks.
"How could you...?"
"I arrived in Korea last night at 8 p.m., and it only took half a day to gather all this information. To throw a friend to a monster as bait and escape... it’s quite efficient."
Jas Chen’s eyes scanned Ham Seo-rin coldly.
"No, was it not a friend but just a tool?"
"No, that’s not it!" Ham Seo-rin shouted, trying to deny it.
They had nearly failed last ti when they were caught off guard by the Butterfly Teeth. Ham Seo-rin had sacrificed one of his guild mbers to save the others, using the distraction to kill the monster with an explosive device.
The monster had eaten the explosive with its al, and when it exploded, it was the only way for the team to escape.
Now, as they entered the dungeon again, they faced a massive Butterfly Teeth, having grown even larger due to the nutrients it had absorbed.
And now, Ham Seo-rin had no doubt that it was the sa monster—possibly even the sa one that had consud their friend.
But none of that mattered now.
The only thing that mattered was that they could harvest the high-quality, expensive byproducts from this massive monster.
"Everyone, rember? That was right before Na-young was about to be consud!" Ham Seo-rin shouted to his guild mbers.
"As the guild leader, I did what had to be done! I saved all of you!"
"I know, we know!"
"Of course, Na-young would have wanted us to survive rather than die!"
"And we compensated for it. It’s normal for hunters to die while raiding dungeons...!"
"Hahaha!"
Jas Chen laughed heartily.
That laugh echoed oddly through the Butterfly Teeth cluster.
After a long laugh, Jas Chen suddenly stopped and spoke again.
"I’m not saying this to bla anyone. In fact, I’m complinting you."
"Complinting us? Who are you mocking?"
"To survive, the weakest must be discarded. It’s the way of nature."
Jas Chen’s piercing gaze seed to cut straight through Ham Seo-rin.
"I expect you to follow my orders from now on."
"Who the hell would listen to your orders?!"
"Oh, you’re rebelling? Well, that’s a good opportunity for . Go ahead, rebel. I specialize in breaking those who make foolish moves."
Ham Seo-rin felt an unsettling vibe from Jas Chen’s words.
Last night, he had claid to gather all the information in just half a day.
And the way he spoke about breaking others... it wasn’t aid at them in this mont.
No, it was a desperate plea directed at soone else, showing off his strengths, trying to convince soone.
But who would Jas Chen, who ruled here like a king, need to appeal to?
Jas Chen smiled.
"Now, I don’t have much ti."
With a soft, scratching noise, Jas Chen ran his fingernails across his own neck. It was as if he were scratching an itch.
Despite the unseemly motion, he spoke with an air of grace.
"Let’s see how long you can last."
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