Chapter 7: The Sudden Wave

As the situation settled, the Tanker, who had just narrowly escaped death, took a ragged breath and looked at Se-hyeon.

“Huff… huff… I thought I was a goner for sure. You saved our lives. Thank you.”

Judging by the deep gouges and damage across his equipment, his words weren’t an exaggeration. He had truly been on the brink.

“I was worried I might be overstepping, so I’m glad I could help,” Se-hyeon replied.

At that moment, one of the melee dealers asked cautiously, “Excuse me… but considering the power of that magic… what is your rank?”

Though the man was clearly older than Se-hyeon, he spoke with deep respect. Not only was Se-hyeon their savior, but he clearly possessed a level of power far beyond their own.

“I’m D-rank.”

Upon hearing “D-rank,” the party members exchanged looks of “I knew it.”

“Of course! But if you’re D-rank, you could be in an E-rank dungeon. Why come to an F-rank one…?”

Usually, E-rank hunters were the main force for F-rank dungeons, while D-rank hunters tackled E-rank dungeons. F-rank hunters, being only slightly stronger than average civilians, mostly worked as porters or for corporations to gain experience. For a D-rank like Se-hyeon, an E-rank dungeon would typically be more lucrative.

“I just awakened recently, so I came in to get a feel for the atmosphere.”

The revelation that he had just awakened sparked fresh surprise.

“Ah! I see. Haha, well, thank you regardless. The whole party could have been wiped out, but thanks to you, we’re all safe and sound.”

“Truly. Thank you so much,” the Healer added. “When that Kobold was right in front of my face, I actually started crying because I thought it was over.”

Se-hyeon brushed off the gratitude with a casual expression. “Right. Anyway, what do you plan to do with these carcasses?”

He was bringing up the loot distribution. Even though he had finished them off, they were the ones who had been directly engaged.

“Being alive is enough for us,” the Tanker said firmly. “We cede all rights to these kills to you, Mage. Everyone agree?”

The party nodded in unison. “Let’s just call it a valuable lesson learned.”

“I agree.”

“Then I’ll accept them without hesitation,” Se-hyeon said. He pulled out the business card from earlier and dialed the number.

It barely rang before it was picked up.

— “Yes! This is Assistant Manager Park Sang-su from Taekwang!”

“I’m the person you gave a card to earlier. I have some kills for collection. Please send a porter; I’ll pin my location on the app.”

— “Oh! Understood! How many are we talking about?”

“Ten.”

There was a stunned silence on the other end.

— “Ten? Already? You barely just went in!”

Park had assumed a solo rookie might bring in one or two at best.

“Please make it quick.”

— “Ah! Yes, right away!”

Se-hyeon hung up and turned back to the party. “I have to wait here for the porter. What about you guys?”

The Tanker, acting as the representative, replied, “We were planning to rest anyway. We need to check our gear and recover mana. We’ll wait with you until the porter arrives.”

“Suit yourself.”

Since it didn’t bother him, Se-hyeon immediately cast Vitality Absorption.

Swoooooosh!

The residual vitality of the ten Kobolds was siphoned into the ring instantly. Having confirmed the absorption, Se-hyeon plopped down on the ground. The others followed suit, beginning their equipment maintenance.

As they waited, the Tanker scooted closer. “By the way, you saved our lives and I haven’t even asked your name. I’m Hong Dae-cheol. I’m twenty-eight and, as you can see, a Tanker. These guys are all my friends, same age as me.”

“I’m Jang Se-hyeon. Twenty-two, Mage. It’s rare to see a whole group of friends awaken together.”

“Haha, well, not exactly. We actually met on a community forum and became friends there. I don’t know what you’ll think, but all of us—except for our Healer, Yu-seon—started out as F-rank porters.”

While most F-ranks worked as porters, Healers were rare enough to be welcomed in parties regardless of rank.

“I see. So you worked your way up to E-rank?”

“Yeah. Even if we hit our limit at D or C-rank, we’re happy. The pay is better than the porter days, and at least we can call ourselves Hunters now. Hahaha.”

Dae-cheol seemed genuinely content. It was clear he had faced his fair share of mistreatment during his time as a porter.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Se-hyeon said the words, but he smirked inwardly. If it came down to who had it harder, Se-hyeon would win that contest any day. He had spent years dreaming of being a porter while working construction and convenience stores on an hour of sleep. At least porters got to sleep.

As they chatted…

“Aaaaagh!” “Run! Get out of here!”

In the distance, a group of Hunters came sprinting toward them in a panic.

“What? What’s going on?” Dae-cheol stood up, alarmed. “Hey! What happened?”

One of the fleeing Hunters shouted back, his voice cracking with fear. “Run! An Elite spawned! The mobs are swarming!”

Dae-cheol’s face went pale. “An Elite? Dammit! How many?”

Elite monsters were mid-bosses that rarely appeared unless specific conditions were met. When they did, they acted as a beacon, causing all nearby monsters to cluster and trigger a Dungeon Wave.

“At least a hundred! Don’t just stand there! Run! Two parties already got wiped out! We’re going to set up a defensive line at the entrance, so get back there now!”

The Hunter didn’t wait for a response; he kept running. If they abandoned the dungeon now, it could lead to a Dungeon Break. The plan was to gather everyone at the narrow entrance to hold out until the Association sent reinforcements.

Se-hyeon stood up slowly. “Ho, an Elite and a Wave…”

A hundred Kobolds didn’t sound like much of a “wave” in a vacuum, but in a cramped dungeon filled with low-rank Awakened, it was a death sentence.

“Se-hyeon! Let’s move! We’ll be swallowed up! We have to regroup at the entrance!”

Dae-cheol was following the standard manual: consolidate, defend, and call for help. But Se-hyeon stepped forward instead.

“You go ahead. I’m going to check the situation.”

With Boots of Wind, Se-hyeon knew he could escape any trap. He wanted to see the wave for himself before deciding to retreat.

“What? Check the situation? Don’t be crazy, let’s go!”

Dae-cheol, who believed curiosity killed the cat, couldn’t fathom Se-hyeon’s logic.

— KRAAAA-AAAAARGH!

A massive roar echoed through the cavern. Moments later, a swarm of over a hundred Kobolds appeared, led by a hulking Elite, hot on the heels of the straggling Hunters.

“Se-hyeon! We have to—”

Dae-cheol reached out to grab him, but Se-hyeon was actually smiling. He muttered to himself:

“Ho? They’re all bunched up nicely. Perfect.”

“Perfect?” Dae-cheol stared at him, bewildered. “Se-hyeon?”

Ignoring him, Se-hyeon began to weave his magic.

“Is this the first time I’ve tried the max limit? I wonder how strong it is. If it’s not enough, I’ll just bolt. Shadow Orb!”

Black spheres began to manifest. One, two, ten… they kept appearing until exactly thirty Shadow Orbs hovered in the air.

The party stood frozen. They thought his limit was five. But thirty? The mana cost alone should have been staggering. Usually, each orb cost 100 mana, but thanks to the Fragment of Kartemian, Se-hyeon’s cost was halved to 50. Still, thirty orbs meant 1,500 mana in a single burst.

The thirty orbs rose into the air.

Voom! Voom!

Firing them straight ahead would likely hit the fleeing Hunters. Since Se-hyeon couldn’t perfectly control thirty orbs at once, he decided to use them like an aerial bombardment.

With a flick of his wrist, the orbs rained down on the Kobold swarm.

Swish! Swaaaaak!

BOOM! KA-BOOM! ROAR!

The simultaneous explosion of thirty Shadow Orbs was cataclysmic.

— SCREEE! — Yip!

The Kobolds at the center were vaporized instantly. Those caught in the overlapping blast radius were shredded by the shrapnel and shockwaves. For a moment, time seemed to stop. The charging monsters and the fleeing Hunters all froze in shock.

“What… what just happened?”

Even Se-hyeon looked a bit surprised by the devastation.

“Heh. That took out more than half of them? Stronger than I thought. I was going to run after one test, but one more of these should clean it right up. Shadow Orb.”

Woooooong!

Another thirty orbs manifested.

Swaaaaash!

They shot into the air and dived into the remaining cluster of monsters before they could even recover from the first strike.

BOOM! CRASH! KA-BOOM!

The second wave of explosions was just as brutal.

‘This is incredible. If it’s this strong without even having full control, what happens when I can move all thirty freely?’

On the outside, Se-hyeon remained calm, but inside, he was reeling. The overlapping explosive damage of thirty spheres was enough to level the entire area.