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Sergeant Seol Myeonggeun was dissatisfied with Byeong-gi.

When they arrived at the place he had pointed to, he was surprised to see monsters appearing. He had even reported how many would appear.

But that was it. He didn't help in killing the spiders.

Occasionally, he assisted members caught in a spider's web but otherwise showed no effort, holding a bone that didn't even look like a weapon.

"Sergeant Seol."

"What?"

"This spider web is tougher than I thought."

"What?"

At the man’s comment, Seol Myeonggeun put magic power into his gauntlets and tried to tear the spider's web.

Teeing-

"Huh?"

The spider's web, which he thought would break easily, stuck to his gauntlet instead.

"It doesn't work. I can't even cut it with my sword."

"That's strange."

"But that guy is good at tearing out the webs with that odd bone. He doesn't seem to be using any special method."

"It doesn’t matter. Let’s not worry about useless things."

Seol Myeonggeun didn’t give much importance to the fact that a man who was only level 21 could easily tear the spider webs.

The rescue operation continued, and, as time passed, Seol Myeonggeun began to doubt Byeong-gi's skill.

'Isn't his skill level too low?'

They wiped out several more waves of Poison Spiders.

"I really don't like him."

"We don't like him either. We don't know what might happen to the missing people, and despite that, he looks too calm."

Byeong-gi was now collecting poison pouches and mana stones while covered in the Poison Spider’s bodily fluids.

When the battle concluded, Byeong-gi asked for ownership of the monster's corpses.

They had no option but to agree, because that was Lieutenant Yoo So-eun's order, but Seol felt hot under the collar to hear him even ask for the dropped items.

Sergeant Seol had just gotten rid of a monster and found a cool-looking Great Sword.

However, Byeong-gi asked for it because it was necessary to deal with the Boss.

'I was going to hang it in my room for decoration….'

When Seol-ah asked him to, Seol Myeonggeun had no choice but to hand over the 'decorative Great Sword' to him.

'What a waste.'

When a considerable amount of time had passed, Byeong-gi stopped the party.

"Looks like a Boss monster has appeared."

"Sergeant Seol!"

"I saw it."

As soon as Lee Byeong-gi finished speaking, the system notification window popped up for all of them.

Woo Seol-ah talked with Lee Byeong-gi and urged the party onward.

"Let's move quickly."

"Seol-ah! If we just wait here, the Boss will be summoned."

"There must be a reason why Byeong-gi Oppa is in a hurry."

He didn't understand why Woo Seol-ah would follow Lee Byeong-gi.

"A little faster."

Even now, the crew was running at maximum speed. When Lee Byeong-gi urged them to go even faster, Seol Myeonggeun became angrier.

"We are doing our best."

At his response, Lee Byeong-gi looked frustrated and took off ahead of them.

"There is no other way. Seol-ah, I'll go first."

"Oppa?"

"Mr. Byeong-gi. It's dangerous to go alone!"

Seol Myeonggeun didn’t understand his behavior. Above all, Yoo So-eun was unlikely to be unforgiving if something happened to Lee Byeong-gi.

'But how can he run faster than us at that level?

He and the crew could barely keep up with Woo Seol-ah.

Whoosh-

There was a sound like a plane breaking the sound barrier, and Lee Byeong-gi shot forward.

Wheeesh-

“Kyaaak!”

“Gasp!”

A tremendous shockwave hit the party behind Lee Byeong-gi, forcing them to stop.

Seol Myeonggeun couldn't believe it even after seeing it. Was that a speed at which a human could run?

The crew beside him were similarly stunned.

As Byeong-gi disappeared, the system notification announcing the Boss's appearance popped up.

<SYSTEM: 0 seconds remaining.>

<SYSTEM: Arachne has awoken.>

"Sssssh!"

They heard the Boss monster's sharp cry ahead in the cave where Byeong-gi had disappeared.

"We don't have time to waste. Let's go after him."

"What? Right!"

***

When Woo Seol-ah entered the cave, she saw Arachne attacking Lee Byeong-gi.

The images of her parents and younger brother being torn apart by monsters, appeared in her mind.

They always came to mind whenever she saw hunters dead or in danger at the gate.

After clearing the Hyehwa-dong Gate, Lee Seong-jin and Yoo So-eun had taken Woo Seol-ah to her home, and there they found three bodies half-eaten by monsters and abandoned.

The decomposition had progressed quite a bit, but Seol-ah could tell at a glance that they were her family.

At the time, Woo Seol-ah passed out from crying, and Yoo So-eun took pity on her and brought her into her own house.

Woo Seol-ah went on without food or drink for several days, but after a certain point, she realized she had to live.

From then on, the world she saw outside was strange. Her hatred for the unknown system and monsters swelled until she threw herself into hunting for gates.

Woo Seol-ah found herself in the spider caves, as she tried shaking those memories away.

"Oppa, dodge it!"

She drew her flaming sword while warning him.

Despite her concerns, Byeong-gi easily dodged Arachne's attack.

"Seol-ah! Deal with her for a second!"

"What?"

'What is he trying to do?'

She wondered for a moment, but when Lee Byeong-gi split a nearby cocoon with his sword, she recognized the missing hunter.

It could have been done after they defeated Arachne, but Lee Byeong-gi was in a hurry.

'He must have a reason.'

She thought that Lee Byeong-gi knew something she didn't.

"Shueek!"

Arachne's attacks continued, so Woo Seol-ah couldn’t afford to think any longer.

"Shadow Dance!"

Woo Seol-ah's flame sword burned Arachne's web.

Clank, clank, clank-

"Gasp!"

The webs went up in smoke, but Arachne was undamaged. It was blocking the sword with its numerous legs.

Woo Seol-ah tightened her grip on the sword and exhaled a heavy sigh. Steam condensed on the lenses of her gas mask. She had been through a lot of gate-hunting up to this point, and she had been well aware that Arachne would be a formidable adversary.

***

When Seol Myeonggeun arrived with the crew, the battle had already begun.

Woo Seol-ah narrowly dodged Arachne and seemed to be looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

Meanwhile, Lee Byeong-gi was pulling out spider webs from behind as if he had no intention of helping her.

As he cleared the webs, Seol Myeonggeun could see he was rescuing the missing hunters.

'Couldn’t we do that after defeating the Boss?'

In Seol Myeonggeun's opinion, it seemed logical to save the missing people later. No matter how low Lee Byeong-gi’s level was, helping Seol-ah in battle seemed more beneficial for their operation. But he remained focused on his own business.

'He doesn't know what's more important.'

"Miss Seol-ah!"

"Don't worry about me. Please help Byeong-gi Oppa!"

Seol Myeonggeun couldn’t understand Woo Seol-ah’s order either.

"Move these people out!"

Lee Byeong-gi urged them on.

"Quickly!"

When Woo Seol-ah barked that, Seol Myeonggeun ordered his crew to help Lee Byeong-gi.

"Shaheek!"

Suddenly, Arachne changed the direction of her attack. Even Woo Seol-ah was caught off-guard.

"Sergeant Seol!"

'Hup!'

Arachne's blade-like forelimbs fell on the crew. There seemed to be no way to dodge it.

Seol knew he could not stop the attack, but his body moved before his brain anyway.

'At least me!'

Seol Myeonggeun threw himself forward and closed his eyes shut.

"Careful!"

Clank-

'Huh?'

Lee Byeong-gi, arriving before he knew it, blocked Arachne's attack with a sword.

'How?'

Seol Myeonggeun’s eyes grew wide.

He had thrown himself forward with the determination to die. However, Lee Byeong-gi had easily blocked Arachne's attack.

Even the level 40 Seol-ah struggled against Arachne, but the level 21 Lee Byeong-gi blocked it without difficulty.

"Sergeant Seol Myeonggeun, please help Seol-ah."

"What?"

"Quickly!"

"Got it!"

***

"Blade Breaking Technique!"

Kwurreung!!

With a tremendous roar, the Great Sword Lee Byeong-gi held shattered.

Spark! Whoosh! Papa baba babat!-

Even while Woo Seol-ah and Myeonggeun blocked Arachne, they were surprised by the tremendous sight unfolding before them.

"Such destructive power!"

"It's the first time I've seen a skill like that."

The crew belatedly joined the battle after moving the missing hunters to safety.

"As expected of Byeong-gi Oppa! So-eun Unnie was right."

"What? Do you know about Byeong-gi?”

"Yes, I owe him my life. The same goes for So-eun Unnie."

"?"

Arachne's eggs exploded with Lee Byeong-gi's attack. However, even with that tremendous wave of destruction, half of the eggs remained unscathed.

"Sergeant Seol! The eggs are hatching!"

"What?"

When Seol Myeonggeun turned to look at the urgent cry of one of his crew, a massive number of baby spiders crawled out of the nest.

'Was he in a hurry because of that? How did he know?'

He was curious, but now the important thing to do was deal with Arachne.

Rumble-

The sound of thunder, now louder than before, again echoed through the cave.

The baby spiders and the remaining eggs exploded with Lee Byeong-gi's attack.

<SYSTEM: Arachne, having lost her babies, begins to run wild.>

Arachne spewed poisonous smoke.

However, the gas masks and protective clothing they had prepared beforehand kept them safe.

"Sssssssh!"

Arachne let out a strange cry and rushed at Lee Byeong-gi. It seemed she completely forgot about Woo Seol-ah and Seol Myeonggeun.

"Byeong-gi Oppa, be careful!"

Even with Seol-ah’s warning cry, Lee Byeong-gi laughed loudly.

"Hahaha! This is it!"

He didn't look tired, even after using two consecutive attack skills. Woo Seol-ah and the other crew members tried to protect Lee Byeong-gi by surrounding him.

“Mr. Byeong-gi, step back—”

Seol Myeonggeun couldn't continue speaking.

Lee Byeong-gi’s eyes showing through the lens of the gas mask were not expected. They were filled with madness.

'Why do his eyes look like that?!'

Lee Byeong-gi ignored this and shouted.

"Everyone, get back!"

PABABABABABANG-

His body disappeared from sight, and a second later, a tremendous shockwave hit Seol Myeonggeun.

"!!!"

"!!!"

He took out the bone he had used earlier to evade Arachne's attacks and destroy the remaining eggs, then ran straight at her.

Sssssssh-

Woo Seol-ah and the other crew members suddenly saw several copies of Lee Byeong-gi trailing behind the first, before they spread out to surround Arachne.

"H… How the heck?"

"What skill is that?"

The crew, including Woo Seol-ah and Seol Myeonggeun, were rendered speechless.

"Shueh!"

The faster Lee Byeong-gi moved, the louder Arachne's desperate scream resonated in the cavern.

"It's been a while since I’ve seen that."

"What?"

"He's better now, but he was like that before too. He slaughtered all the monsters alone. It felt like he was dealing with his sworn enemy."

"Alone?"

Seol Myeonggeun asked with surprise, but Woo Seol-ah didn’t answer.

Her face turned red as she remembered the image of him dealing with Werewolves alone in Hyehwa-dong. Fortunately, her face was covered by a gas mask, so no one noticed.

But the reason Seol-ah blushed wasn't because Lee Byeong-gi's fighting looked cool.