You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

• We are currently measuring the rank of a new monster.

As the system message appeared, Han Jae-young quickly retreated.

He nearly let a curse slip out due to the unexpected situation.

Out of nowhere, and worse yet, a monster that wasn’t even registered in the system appeared.

Of course, Han Jae-young was an S-rank Hunter.

He had the confidence and ability to deal with most sudden situations on his own.

That’s why he had sent all the guild members, including Shin Ji-eum, to clear the dungeon.

But right now, Da-on was behind him.

If he were alone, he would have felt more at ease.

Han Jae-young shouted towards Da-on.

"Step back!"

He knew Da-on was exceptionally good with magic and had great potential.

But facing a monster whose abilities were unknown was an entirely different story.

‘And now the dungeon’s difficulty is being reassessed.’

Such system messages meant that the monster in front of them was strong enough to increase the dungeon’s difficulty.

If it was an A-rank or higher…

‘I shouldn’t have sent Shin Ji-eum.’

He had only expected a battle against humanoid enemies, not a monster of this high rank lurking nearby.

On top of that, this narrow passage made it difficult to move or find space to maneuver.

And charging blindly into the monster's cave wasn’t an option either.

Most monsters are sensitive to their territory.

Of course, it was too late to regret it now.

Han Jae-young carefully observed the monster in front of him.

‘Is this really a monster?’

If it weren’t for the system message, he might have mistaken it for a person. In fact, it resembled the hunter he had seen earlier in the village, who looked almost like a mummy.

The arms and legs were extremely thin.

The face, if it could even be called that, seemed twisted in pain.

Its black, scleral eyes slowly rolled and fixed on Han Jae-young.

And in that moment, he had a gut feeling.

This was dangerous.

"Jeong Da-on, get out of here now! Right now!"

Han Jae-young shouted as he raised his arm.

• Kiiing!

Pahlak!

Countless energy bolts shot out from his sleeve.

They struck the monster’s body as it was about to rise.

However, the monster didn’t even flinch.

Of course, Han Jae-young didn’t expect this level of attack to take the monster down.

He was just trying to buy time and test the strength and reaction speed of the monster’s outer shell.

‘The outer shell isn’t all that tough for an A-rank monster.’

The bolts that embedded in the monster’s body didn’t seem much different from a slightly enhanced human’s skin. Even its reaction speed was slow.

It didn’t even try to dodge the bolts coming at it, which were easy to see coming.

‘Or maybe it wasn’t trying to dodge at all?’

Any living creature would instinctively avoid threats aimed at it, but this monster seemed to lack that kind of physiological fear.

The monster, riddled with bolts, moved sluggishly.

Despite the bolts sticking out from its body, it showed no sign of concern.

Its dull black eyes and slow movements made it look almost human, but something about it felt off.

Han Jae-young furrowed his brow.

"What the...?"

"It looks like a corpse is moving."

At that voice, Han Jae-young quickly turned his head.

"Why aren’t you running away?"

"Oh, were you serious about that?"

To his surprise, Da-on, who Han Jae-young thought had already fled after he shot the bolts, was now standing behind him with a nonchalant expression.

Leo, her familiar, was grooming itself like it was washing its face at her feet.

Da-on spoke to Han Jae-young, who was frozen in shock.@@novelbin@@

"I thought you brought me here on purpose to show me your cards."

"What...?"

"Anyway, be careful."

Da-on pointed ahead of Han Jae-young.

"It’s coming."

And just as she said, Han Jae-young felt the flow of air shift instantly.

It only took him a moment to realize that the monster was inhaling the air through its mouth.

And then...

Fwoom!

The monster shot a shockwave from its mouth.

"Ugh!"

Even though he was surprised, Han Jae-young quickly grabbed Da-on and rolled them both onto the ground.

Bang!

The shockwave rushed past them and slammed into the well wall, making a huge noise.

The shockwave struck so hard that the dust began to fall and the passage shook violently.

The path that Han Jae-young and Da-on had just passed through seemed about to collapse completely.

"If this keeps up, the well is going to collapse!"

They could end up buried alive with that monster if luck wasn’t on their side.

"What the hell were you thinking, not running away?!"

"I told you, didn’t I?"

Da-on stretched her arm over her head.

"What were you going to do if I had gotten out of here?"

With a light-hearted remark that didn’t fit the situation, Da-on’s arm was now wrapped around the snake’s eye.

Then…

Kuaaang!

A shockwave far stronger than the one the monster shot out flew up toward the ceiling.

Han Jae-young blinked, unable to understand what had just happened.

He stared up at the ceiling, or rather, the part of the ceiling that used to be the well’s ceiling.

"H-huh…"

Now, he could see the clear blue sky.

The shockwave Da-on fired from her bracelet had completely blown away the ceiling of the passage.

And thanks to the precise angle, the monster’s location had been buried completely under a mound of dirt.

The humid, musty air was replaced with fresh air flooding in.

Of course, the passage was still on the verge of collapsing, but to blow away the ceiling of the passage like that?

‘This is way too aggressive!’

It may have sounded like a joke, but this was the real deal.

Han Jae-young, a veteran with years of experience, had never met a hunter who was this unpredictable.

"This… what the hell were you thinking doing that? We could have gotten buried alive!"

"We weren’t going to do anything, it was going to collapse anyway. Did you not see the shockwave it shot out?"

"Still, that was reckless!"

"Relax, I calculated it all. The soil was softer than expected. Anyway, fighting in a place where there’s no escape would have been too disadvantageous."

While Han Jae-young stood frozen in shock, Da-on patted his shoulder as if comforting a rookie hunter.

Who was comforting who?

"Don’t freeze up like that. For you, who didn’t even get to make a move, fortunately, it’s not over yet. Look at that."

Boom! Boom!

The mound of dirt that had completely buried the monster began to shake.

It shook a few more times.

Kwaaang!

The buried monster shot up, bursting through the hole in the ceiling and disappearing out of sight.

It had gone up to the surface.

"Ugh, seriously."

Han Jae-young grimaced, grabbed Da-on with one arm, and leaped off the ground.

They couldn’t stay underground any longer or they’d get attacked from above.

"Agh."

Of course, as soon as he reached the ground, he let go of the arm that was holding Da-on.

Though she cried out as she was practically thrown to the ground, that wasn’t the real problem.

"What kind of magic…"

The monster that had just risen to the surface.

Around that monster, the magic in the area was swirling and being sucked in.

It was an absurdly intense suction force.

Han Jae-young could even feel the pressure as if the magic he was holding inside himself would be sucked away too.

‘Could the hunter from earlier have been taken by this monster?’

If the monster was absorbing magic like this, then it was easy to understand how the hunter had ended up looking like a mummy.

If they didn’t have control over their magic like Han Jae-young, it made sense.

Suddenly, Han Jae-young looked at Da-on, realizing something.

"Are you... alright? I shouldn’t have asked that."

"My ass isn’t alright."

Da-on, who had been tossed aside, responded nonchalantly.

Fortunately, neither of them seemed to be affected by the intense magic absorption.

Perhaps because it was angered.

The monster, with its empty black eyes, stared at them like the eye of a storm.

It was a strange sight. Even when seen in the dark cave, it had looked odd, but under the sunlight, it looked even more bizarre.

"That thing doesn’t look like a person, does it?"

It was just that it wasn’t a living person.

It moved like a corpse. The stiff movements and the hardened skin were the same.

"Is it a ghoul or a zombie or something like that?"

Just as Han Jae-young spoke…

• The system has classified the monster’s rank as S-rank.

• ??(Not Observed): S-rank

• The dungeon’s difficulty has been adjusted to A-rank.

Han Jae-young couldn’t believe his eyes.

Despite his considerable experience as a hunter, he had never seen a message like this before.

"That’s an S-rank monster?"

This was serious.

S-rank monsters had only appeared a few times throughout all of South Korea’s history.

If it really was an S-rank monster, then even Han Jae-young wouldn’t be able to handle it in this state.

At least, without using magic or items, it would be impossible to deal with.

But then Han Jae-young noticed something strange.

‘But still, the dungeon’s difficulty is A-rank.’

The monster was classified as S-rank, but the dungeon itself was A-rank. That meant they didn’t necessarily have to defeat this monster or there might be some weak point that made it easier to deal with.

He had to stay calm.

Han Jae-young slowly began to observe the monster.

It didn’t seem like it should be classified as an S-rank monster just by looking at it.

It wasn’t particularly fast, and its outer shell wasn’t thick enough to stop attacks.

The shockwave it released from its mouth was certainly dangerous, but it took time to recharge, so it wasn’t an immediate threat.

It was absorbing magic frantically, but Han Jae-young also had enough control to avoid being sucked in.

Overall, it didn’t seem like a very difficult monster, but if the system classified it as S-rank, there must be a reason.

There must be some hidden trump card.

"Grrr…"

Just as Han Jae-young was cautiously observing the monster, it suddenly slowly raised its hand to cover its eyes.

As if it had just seen sunlight for the first time.

Han Jae-young squinted his eyes.

‘Is its weakness sight…?’

"Yeah, it probably wanted to see the sunlight."

Han Jae-young turned his head.

It was, of course, Da-on speaking.

After all, apart from the monster, there were only two ‘people’ here, so it made sense.

"But what good does that do? It should have just died when it was buried. That would have been easier."

However, Da-on wasn’t talking to Han Jae-young.

Although her words were a curse, there was something eerie in her tone.

Goosebumps formed on Han Jae-young’s arm.

The monster, which had invaded the human realm and threatened survival, was an enemy. Its desires couldn’t align with theirs, and they could never understand each other.

But…

"I may not be able to atone for my brother’s sins, but I can offer you mercy."

Her words were like those of an absolute ruler granting mercy, or even seeking forgiveness.

Da-on’s words were directed at the monster, and it even seemed like there was a sense of pity.

Yes, Da-on was undoubtedly ‘communicating’ with the monster.

Then how many monsters were there here?

Han Jae-young, distracted by the words, belatedly realized.

The magical flow, which had been swirling around the monster, suddenly stopped.

And that halted flow of magic was now flowing into another monster, one disguised as a human.

• What it wears on its head is the bloodied crown of arrogance, and the hands that paid the price bear no glory.

Finally, when Han Jae-young realized what was happening right before his eyes, he was completely mesmerized.

• Still, I will faithfully perform my remaining duties.