22
"Mr. Woojin?"
Baek Woojin, who had been staring in the direction the Silence Monkey disappeared, turned his head at the voice calling him.
"Thank you so much for saving me."
"I was merely fulfilling the role we agreed upon before setting out."
Baek Woojin drew a firm line against the mage's belated thanks.
If she were a capable fighter who could handle herself like Jang Hyena, he would have been inclined to form a bond, but by all accounts, it seemed better to leave today's party of three as nothing more than a passing encounter.
"As expected of someone on the verge of D-rank promotion."
"Honestly, I was a bit anxious, but now I can trust you with Jisoo."
"Thank you for the kind words."
They were people he'd never see again after today, but there was no reason to ruin the atmosphere, so he responded to their praise moderately, not too blandly.
"Then let's resume moving forward."
"Kim Jisoo. Don't scream like earlier, okay?"
"T-that couldn't be helped..."
"Sure it couldn't~"
"Shh."
The tanker restored the party's mood, and perhaps thanks to having suffered one ambush already, the party advanced forward to find goblins in a more alert state than before.
Following behind the mage, Baek Woojin focused on the other vision that became visible as his senses expanded, pondering seriously.
'Would it be better to suggest turning back now?'
Having regressed didn't mean he knew about every monster. However, thankfully, he did know a fair amount about the Silence Monkey.
Similar in size to monkeys commonly seen in zoos, with ordinary yellowish-brown fur that was nothing special. If not for the two-forked tail above its rear, it was a monster virtually indistinguishable from a regular monkey.
The Silence Monkey could generate a special magical wavelength from the bells attached to the ends of its two-forked tail, allowing it to completely erase all sound within a certain radius centered on itself.
Excluding that, its physical abilities didn't differ much from an actual regular monkey. This had already been proven through numerous experiments.
Yet the Silence Monkey received an E-rank rather than F-rank classification because of their high intelligence.
Partly because they were weak, and partly because they were omnivorous, if hunters didn't attack first, they would simply hide quietly. But when battles broke out with other monsters within the dungeon, they would appear like ghosts and cause all sorts of chaos.
Bringing other nearby monsters along, or throwing stones ground together with poisonous herbs that induced paralysis or coughing.
Normally, these would be easy to deal with, but in the midst of intense combat, the chaos they caused could become quite fatal.
Since their physical abilities were at the level of ordinary monkeys, the Silence Monkey itself posed no threat to hunters.
However, the one that had targeted the mage earlier was somehow different.
The tanker and dealer walking ahead had brushed off the stone that flew targeting the mage's head as nothing serious, based on the flimsy grounds that they hadn't heard any sound.
'If it had been a direct hit, she would have been critically injured at minimum.'
He couldn't precisely estimate the speed at which the stone flew, but what was certain was that even if a grown man threw a stone with all his might, he couldn't match the velocity of the stone that had flown targeting the mage.
It was a silent ambush, and without the other vision gained from his expanded senses, let alone reacting in time, he would have only realized what happened after the mage's head was cracked open, just like the others walking ahead.
Seeing the stone buried deep enough in the ground to be invisible, he actually wondered how they could spout such nonchalant words about it merely causing a bump.
'If I bring it up now, I'll just be the weird one.'
They hadn't even noticed the situation where the mage's head nearly got cracked open earlier.
There was no way they would accept it if he brought that up again and suggested leaving the dungeon.
The Silence Monkey that had targeted the mage's head earlier had deviated significantly from the known information in many ways, but it didn't seem impossible to handle if he tried, so he leaned toward observing a bit more for now.
As long as the exit didn't close, he was confident he could escape alone, which was why he could make this choice.
**
"Icicle."
As a soft incantation left the mage's mouth, five icicles formed above her head and shot toward the goblins rushing at the tanker.
Keck!!
Even before considering speed, the icicles were quite large, so the charging goblins were pierced through their bodies by the sharp icicles and fell, tumbling to the ground just as they had been running.
"As expected, Jisoo."
"At this rate, I'm going to leave without swinging my sword even once today."
"What are you talking about. If my mana runs out, you'll have to step in."
The mage who had instantly killed five goblins with a single spell incantation, and the tanker and dealer guy who were busy praising her.
'There really are all kinds of people.'
Standing in the rear, Baek Woojin drew his dagger and approached the fallen goblin corpses, skillfully splitting their chests open.
One heart, two hearts.
The hearts stacked up one by one in the bag.
One could tell from the heavy bag, but contrary to concerns, the hunting proceeded quite smoothly.
The tanker properly drew aggro as befitting his role.
The mage, Kim Jisoo, perhaps due to some special skill, not only chanted quickly but also demonstrated exceptional power and accuracy.
"Dinner's on me tonight!"
"You didn't swing your sword even once and you're only offering one dinner?"
"Hey, you're not really going to go without swinging it even once, are you? Kim Jisoo's mana pool isn't infinite either. Right?"
"I still have plenty to spare."
"She says so."
As one could tell from hearing their conversation, the dealer guy, who was in the melee dealer position, hadn't swung his sword even once while they dispatched dozens of goblins.
It would be normal to think he had no opportunity to swing it thanks to the mage Kim Jisoo's performance, making it a bizarre situation, but surprisingly, that wasn't the case at all.
There were clearly several situations where goblins latched onto the tanker, but the dealer guy only threatened them to keep them from coming closer, without ever directly swinging his sword at the goblins.
Then the mage Kim Jisoo, who finished her spell incantation, would take out the remaining goblins, or if the number was small, the tanker would smash their heads with his shield or dispatch them with the sword in his other hand. That was how the hunting had progressed so far.
'Prejudice isn't good.'
From what he had observed so far, the dealer guy was undeniably a freeloader, but seeing as the tanker and mage Kim Jisoo, who seemed to be acquainted with each other, didn't say anything about it, there was also a sufficient possibility he was simply conserving his strength.
Puk.
When he split the chest of the fifth and final one, a familiar black stone embedded in the now-still small heart caught his eye.
'That makes three already.'
Listening to the voices of the three coming from behind, Baek Woojin naturally grasped the heart.
Then the magic stone embedded in the heart turned to powder and was absorbed into his ring.
He just needed to bring the hand wearing the ring close, and the magic stone would be absorbed automatically.
A perfect crime.
The hunting wasn't even over yet, and he had already gained over 10 million won, putting Baek Woojin in an increasingly good mood. He shoved the heart, now with a gaping hole where the magic stone had been, haphazardly into the corner of the bag and stood up.
"Alright, enough chatting. Let's move."
The tanker, who had been watching Baek Woojin sling the bag onto his back, wrapped up the atmosphere that had grown chaotic with banter, and each took their positions again.
Kieeeek!!
"Die, you bastards!!"
The number of icicles Kim Jisoo could produce at once was five.
The group of goblins they encountered this time had seven, and the two surviving goblins charged at the tanker.
Thwack!!
One had its head smashed against the shield worn on the tanker's left hand, and the other was killed instantly with its jaw pierced by the sword.
"Everything's good, but these things have no satisfying feel to them."
"Showing off how strong you are."
"What are you talking about."
While the tanker and dealer exchanged chuckles, Baek Woojin quickly split open the chests of the goblins that had died with large holes in their bellies and collected their hearts.
"Everyone."
Baek Woojin, who had collected the sixth heart, closed the bag's opening and stood up.
"I think it's about time we head back."
"Ah, is it full already?"
"Yes."
"Keuh~ So I really didn't get to swing my sword even once today."
At the news that the collection bag was stuffed full, all three rejoiced without exception and agreed with Baek Woojin's suggestion to return.
"We just need to retrace our path, so I'd like to pick up the pace a bit."
"That's fine. I haven't done anything except butchering either, so I have plenty of stamina left."
"Good. You carry Jisoo on your back."
"Kim Jisoo, come on~"
"If you sneakily grope my butt again like last time, you're dead."
"Jisoo. I have preferences too, you know. And your butt isn't even worth groping, so why would I grope it?"
"What's wrong with my butt?! Why?!"
Since all that remained was to head back now, Baek Woojin naturally waited until the mage and dealer's not-so-funny banter came to an end.
"I'm sorry."
"Not at all. It's nice to see you're so close."
"Haha... Hey! Keep it down a bit. Are we the only ones here?"
"Oops."
"Ah."
The mage only then remembered Baek Woojin's presence, needlessly smacked the melee dealer on the back, and got on his back.
"Follow along well, Mr. Woojin. Let's get moving. If you're struggling at all, please let me know anytime."
"Understood."
With the tanker leading the way, Baek Woojin's party retraced their steps at a fairly brisk pace.
Keruruk.
Kekek.
"Halt."
The tanker, following the traces they had left behind, raised his hand and stopped the party following him.
"There's a group ahead."
"Damn, no luck at all. Jisoo, get down."
The dealer set the mage down on the ground and drew the sword he had been swinging at nothing but air all day.
"Please look after our Jisoo."
"Yes."
Leaving those words behind, the tanker and dealer rushed into the bushes where the goblins' distinctive unpleasant cries could be heard.
Not long after, the goblins shrieked.
Those shrieks ceased in what felt like less than 10 seconds.
"It's over, so let's move quickly. Just in case, Jisoo, walk on your own."
The dealer, who suddenly poked his head out of the bushes, announced that cleanup was finished, and the party moved on again to find the exit.
Keruruk!!
"What, more again?"
Kekek, kekekek.
"Han Byungsoo. Did you mark the path properly?"
"Didn't you see the goblin corpses we killed on our way here?"
"Fuck. Then why do they keep showing up?"
"How should I know, bastard. If you have time to yap, get ready."
When the tanker and dealer rushed in again to deal with the goblin group, Baek Woojin, who remained in the rear with the mage, quickly scanned the surrounding treetops.
Ukikik~!!
And he found a monkey sitting on a tree not far away, grinning with a wide mouth.
The creature swayed its two-forked tail, hopped about, and then smacked its bright red bottom at Baek Woojin before launching its body in the direction the tanker and dealer had charged into.
"Ha, I knew the luck was too good."
"Huh?"
As the mage, Kim Jisoo, turned around and blinked, Baek Woojin threw the bag slung over his shoulder to the ground, drew the sword bound at his waist, and spoke.
"How many more times can you use magic?"
"Huh? Oh, I think I can use it about four more times. But why?"
Baek Woojin hid Kim Jisoo behind his back at the sound of more goblins coming from a direction slightly apart from where the battle was taking place.
"It seems we're being herded."