20 Chapter 19 (1/2)
Even when the bugs chomped and bit at him with terrifying intensity, Hwang Dong-Seok remained steadfast and waited for the chance to counter-attack.
….To make sure that the aggro wouldn't deviate from him even if the damage dealers landed a crippling blow to the enemies.
'This should be enough!'
With that thought, the real hunt had finally begun. To hunt, the real reason why the Hunters were called Hunters in the first place!
Hwang Dong-Seok roared out.
”Attack!”
Along with that short but manly shout, all the accumulated firepower of the team poured out on the marauding insect horde.
Kiiieehhhk...
Kiieehhkk!!
The pained screams of the monsters rose up from here, there, and everywhere.
Jin-Woo stood at the back and observed this situation as it unfolded. That was the contractual obligation he had to adhere to for this raid.
He inwardly simulated how he'd fight alone as his eyes continued to take in the battle happening in front.
'How frustrating.'
Jin-Woo had to suppress his urges to rush out there several times already. He could see so many open gaps within the ranks of the monsters. And he also spotted the Hunters missing those gaps and continue to commit simple errors.
So, how could he not feel frustrated when he was not allowed to do anything and simply had to stand around?
Even then, the damage to Hwang Dong-Seok's team proved to be surprisingly non-existent. It was all because their teamwork was rather excellent.
It seemed that the relaxed demeanour of Hwang Dong-Seok before the raid began was not just for a show, after all.
”Jin-Seok-ah! 11 o'clock!”
”Hyung, they are coming from your right, too!”
”Joon-Tae, Seok-Min, Gyu-Hwan!! Take care of the right!”
”Okay!”
”Cheol-Jin, your wrist's swollen up. Retreat to the rear.”
”Hwang hyung, this ain't much to fret about.”
”You wanna go back only after sweeping clean the entrance? We don't know how long this raid will take, so stop being hasty from the get-go. Control your pace, got that?”
”Roger that.”
Perhaps because they've been working together for so long, they were able to communicate quite smoothly. Being able to communicate quickly like this would inevitably result in an excellent teamwork as well.
It was a world apart from the ragtag bunch of Hunters brought together by the Association.
'What's more surprising is that this kid turns out to be pretty handy, too.'
Jin-Woo's gaze shifted over to Yu Jin-Ho next.
When a monster bit into his shield, he kicked it away and swung his sword quickly at it. The expensive sword easily separated the monster's head from its body.
For a newbie rank D Hunter, he was defending himself admirably well.
'His kick-a*s gear is filling up the hole left behind by his lack of skills and experience, huh.'
Indeed, it was not for nothing that pretty much all Hunters struggled hard to get themselves good equipment.
When their gazes briefly met, Yu Jin-Ho quickly raised his thumb up.
”.....”
Because of his expressions that looked as if he was desperately pleading for a positive response, Jin-Woo was left with no choice but to reciprocate the same gesture as well.
Looking rather satisfied now, Yu Jin-Woo turned around.
Kiiiehhhk....!
Whatever the case may have been, the end of the battle was drawing nearer. Once the coast was more or less clear, Hwang Dong-Seok issued another order to his dongsaengs.
”Don't forget the magic crystals! We split them exactly nine ways!”
”Yep.”
”This is my favourite part of the raid.”
”Me too.”
Hwang Dong-Seok confirmed his giggling dongsaengs collecting the loot, and walked closer to Jin-Woo.
”Aigoo, we survived all thanks to you.”
”Excuse me?”
”Well, you were the first one to alert us about them monsters coming up from above, weren't you? How did you know, though?”
”It was.... a gut feeling.”
Jin-Woo came up with a half-cooked story on the spot.
Quite obviously, he couldn't come out and say that his Perception Stat was high, now could he?
”Oh, really? A gut feeling, huh.... Well, we got lucky today. I don't even want to imagine what might have happened if we didn't discover them in time... whew-woo.”
Hwang Dong-Seok patted his chest while speaking up.
It was then.
One of the Hunters rummaging through the carcass of the insect gestured at Hwang Dong-Seok to come closer.
”Hwang hyung, please come over here for a sec.”
The dongsaengs had all gathered in one spot. So, Hwang Dong-Seok went there to join them as well.
”Mm?”
”Something's a bit off about these crawlies.”
The Hunters parted ways when Hwang Dong-Seok arrived, allowing the bearded man to squat down and take a look at the surroundings. He couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary, though. No matter where he looked, all he could see was the dead insects.
”What's off about these?”
Hwang Dong-Seok tilted his head.
One of the dongsaengs pointed at the leg of the insect monster closest to him.
”I'm pretty sure that wound didn't come from us.”
”.....”
Hwang Dong-Seok's expression crumpled slightly. He took a closer look before raising his voice.
”Looks like.... something took a big bite out of it, doesn't it?”
”Right? That's not the only one with wounds like that, you see. Looky here. This one, that one over there, and over there, too. Looks like that one's missing a pair of wings as well. Could these creepy crawlies have been beaten down already before fighting us?”
Hwang Dong-Seok's expression hardened even more.
Now he realised why the battle went off so smoothly when compared to the number of the monsters they had to fight.
”Could it be that.... these things were fighting against something else?”
It was then.
Although it had been for the briefest of all brief moments, Jin-Woo still sensed the gazes of the several members of this team landing on him.
Their eyes shifted away as soon as Jin-Woo displayed a hint of sensing them. With this, he was certain now.
'As I thought....'
His initial suspicions proved to be correct.
Seeing that their teamwork was so good, they must've been fighting together for a long, long time already. And without anyone dying, too.
However, would such a thing be possible without a Healer backing them up?
No matter how good Hunters were, they were still humans at the end of the day. Inevitably, they would slip up sooner or later. Well, only a short while ago, didn't their formation nearly break apart from the attacks of the bugs?
A bigger picture finally formed inside Jin-Woo's head and a subtle smile formed on his lips.
'Maybe.... I can use them to my advantage.'
As long as they acted within his calculations, that was.
Hwang Dong-Seok smiled and stood back up.
”Well, now. Why don't we go in a little bit deeper? We might be able to clear this dungeon rather quickly if this keeps up.”
Hwang Dong-Seok deliberately spoke up with a loud voice.
He didn't do that for the sake of his dongsaengs. Well, the original members of the team were already surrounding him, to begin with.
In the meantime, Yu Jin-Ho smiled brightly and approached closer to Jin-Woo.
”Hyung, did you see it? You saw it, right? With this, I kicked some serious monster a*s today, didn't I?”
Yu Jin-Ho swung the sword around in the air. Seeing this, Jin-Woo quietly asked him.