“Good work, Tower Master.”
After the battle ended, Jung Seojin approached and spoke.
“It was an excellent finish, but you don’t look entirely satisfied.”
…How did he know?
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about something.”
“You, Tower Master, are troubled?”
“About the direction of my magic.”
That was all I said, but Jung Seojin nodded as if he understood.
“Thinking about one’s own style is perfectly natural. Since it’s a problem without a definite answer, it may take some time. But I don’t think there’s any need to rush.”
Well, I had only just learned two-stage magic.
As Jung Seojin said, there was no need to be impatient.
“Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
At that moment, Jin Bora grabbed my arm.
“More importantly, let’s go! We’ll be late for the boss fight!”
Oh, right. I had completely forgotten.
After that brief incident, we resumed our journey toward the boss zone.
At the final stretch of the vast lava field, an endless sea of molten rock spread out before us.
And on a peninsula-like protrusion of land stood a ruined marble temple.
This was the location the association had identified as the boss spawn site.
Many people had already gathered.
As we stepped into the temple, a few people acknowledged us.
“Oh, the Academy folks are here too.”
“I’m making great use of your equipment!”
“Seriously, sorry to ask, but do you have any more left?”
Before we knew it, Jin Bora and I had become famous in this lava cave.
Looking around, I saw that most of the people in the boss zone were wearing resistance gear that I had crafted.
Some wore it over their clothes like a vest, others wore it under their equipment, and some even wrapped it around their arms or necks like accessories.
It was kind of a proud feeling.
“Are you all here to join the boss fight as well?”
A huge man with a hammer slung over his shoulder approached us.
“Ah, yes. Why?”
“If you’re Academy students, that’s practically a guarantee of skill. If you’re interested, why not join our party—”
“Don’t fall for it. That party already has three tanks. It’s a mess. How about joining our well-balanced party instead?”
“If the three of you are willing, we’d be happy to have you in our guild party.”
Suddenly, competition erupted to recruit us.
Field dungeons had scheduled boss monster spawns.
To take them down, players usually formed parties or even full raid groups.
But in reality, field dungeon bosses weren’t strong enough to withstand the attacks of so many people.
With concentrated firepower from a few parties, bosses typically went down in under five minutes.
It usually turned into a simple damage race.
I was confident in my firepower, and more party members would just complicate reward distribution, so I had no intention of expanding our group.
“We’re planning to go in as just the three of us.”
“Oh, really?”
“That’s a shame.”
Fortunately, the recruiters didn’t push too hard and backed off.
We settled down near the temple and waited.
“Ugh, there are way too many people. It’ll be hard to get any rewards, huh?”
Jin Bora glanced around and continued.
“But let’s not get too hung up on rewards! We’ve already made 30 million won here!”
“You’re the only one fixated on rewards.”
“Why are you always picking a fight?!”
As I was used to their bickering, I simply watched while eavesdropping on a nearby party’s conversation.
“How much longer until the boss spawns?”
“Yaaawn, dunno. It’ll show up when the time comes.”
“But how does the association even predict when a boss will appear?”
“…Well, I heard they have a specialist for that.”
Right.
Just like my ability lets me peek at other players’ status screens, some people have the power to read dungeon information.
When a dungeon opens, the association dispatches these specialists, and the information they gather gets posted on various websites.
Of course.
‘Eia, how much time is left?’
-Five minutes until the boss spawn.
I wasn’t behind on information either.
The Grand Archive of the Mage Tower contained extensive records on all sorts of dungeons.
As long as I knew the dungeon’s name, I could learn about the boss’s traits, spawn signs, and exact location.
-By the way, Tower Master. Perhaps…
‘What is it?’
-…Never mind.
As we waited and chatted, an association officer in uniform arrived at the boss zone.
This meant the boss fight was about to begin, and players started standing up with tense expressions.
Checking his watch with a neutral face, the officer announced:
“The boss fight will begin in three minutes.”
As expected, Eia’s information was accurate.
Field dungeon boss fights were over in an instant, with multiple parties attacking at once.
What mattered most was landing a decisive hit.
I began preparing by checking my mana and setting up my magic circle in advance.
Now the officer announced that one minute remained.
-Tower Master.
Eia’s voice called out again.
It had been acting strangely for a while now.
-This might sound alarming, but… I strongly recommend you and your companions leave the boss zone immediately.
‘Huh? Leave now? After coming all this way? Right before the boss fight?’
-The signs of the boss’s emergence do not match the usual Lava Cave boss.
What?
“Senior! Hurry up! We need to get in more hits!”
Jin Bora and Jung Seojin had already moved further inside.
…Seriously?
Didn’t they just say not to worry too much about rewards?!
“Now, the Lava Cave boss fight will begin!”
“Ooooooh!”
I called out loudly for the two of them, but my voice was drowned out by the deafening cheers from all around.
‘Damn it! Eia, respond! If it’s not the usual Lava Cave boss, then what is it?’
-There is a possibility that an irregular entity has appeared instead of the original boss.
‘An irregular…?’
After the roar of excitement, an eerie silence fell.
The time had come, but nothing had appeared.
The association officer anxiously checked his watch.
And then—
Splash!
From the edge of the temple ruins, a hand emerged from the lava sea.
A monster slowly pulled itself onto solid ground.
Its skin was molten red, its massive body reminiscent of a sumo wrestler, with an overgrown belly.
It had a grotesque beast-like face with sharp fangs.
In its hands, it wielded a twin-bladed weapon.
‘What is that monster?’
-Searching… There is no record of it in the Hunter Association database or my own data. Checking the Grand Archive…
As I urgently shouted for Jin Bora and Jung Seojin—
“The boss is here! What are you all waiting for?”
A reckless man nearby charged at it.
The monster rolled its eyes toward him and exhaled a pale breath.
“Hraaah!”
The swordsman, his blade coated with mana, swung at it.
Clang!
The weapons clashed with a sharp metallic ring.
Then, the swordsman’s arms flung upward like a puppet with its strings cut.
A massive gap in strength.
The monster closed in on his exposed side.
“…W-wait, what?”
Slash!
A diagonal cut appeared on the man’s body, and blood sprayed like a fountain, staining the temple floor red.
He looked down in disbelief at his wound.
A second later—
His head flew high into the air.
“…H-hurk!”
“Kyaaaah!”
Screams erupted from all directions.
At last, everyone here was beginning to realize—
Something was very, very wrong.
The monster, having just decapitated a human like a toy, slowly knelt and pressed its hands to the ground.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The ground split apart with a harsh crack.
The entire boss zone, which had been extending out as a separate terrain, broke away from the surface and began drifting into the sea of lava.
Players who had sensed that something was off and attempted to flee were forced to stop in their tracks.
“D-Did it just seal off our escape route?”
Shhhk!
The boss plunged into the crowd of humans. Before everyone’s eyes, an arm flew high into the air.
“Aaaargh!”
That scream was just the beginning. One by one, people’s body parts started flying—arms, legs, and even heads.
Chunks of flesh split apart, spraying blood in an almost surreal scene.
“W-What the hell is this?”
“This is insane!”
Panic consumed the players.
These were unlicensed players attempting to prove themselves as professional hunters by tackling low-rank dungeons. They weren’t accustomed to death.
To them, dungeons were just another game. They entered hunting grounds, followed pre-analyzed strategies, and took down monsters accordingly.
Everyone aspired to become a professional hunter, but how many were truly prepared for what it meant?
In reality, one didn’t even need to become a hunter. Simply farming low-rank hunting grounds consistently was enough to make a living. Many players chose to settle for that.
And the thing about those players—
The moment an unpredictable variable arose in battle, they crumbled faster than anyone could believe.
The boss zone was swallowed by chaos in an instant.
Shhhkk!
Crash!
Flesh tore, and blood splattered. I was witnessing a massacre unfold.
Players, hailed as humanity’s miracle for fighting monsters, were reduced to mere scarecrows the moment their morale broke.
“What the hell are you all doing? You’ve seen people die in dungeons before.”
“If you’re not gonna fight, get out of the way!”
Aggressive players from guilds stepped forward.
At least being part of a guild meant they were serious about becoming professional hunters.
And they were certainly different. Even as people died right in front of them, they remained unfazed, moving strictly according to their formations.
But in reality—
“T-Team leader!”
“Fall back! Fall back for now!”
Even they were no match for the irregular boss monster.
The monster was intelligent. It ignored the tankers wielding shields at the front and suddenly dashed sideways, assassinating a sniper in an unguarded position.
Then, as the players faltered at their comrade’s sudden death, it exploited their openings, taking them down one by one.
People might get used to death, but watching a teammate—someone they had just been joking around with—lose their head was a different matter entirely.
Even the guild players were starting to waver.
“S-Seven people are already dead!”
“What’s going on? Boss monsters in field dungeons are supposed to be weak!”
Everyone was panicking, fleeing in terror. They were nothing more than a disorderly rabble.
I wanted to fire attack magic, but with people running around in every direction, I couldn’t risk it.
It wasn’t just me—archers around me were hesitating as well.
At this rate, things were going to get dangerous.
“Oh!”
“Over there…”
Just then, people murmured and pointed in unison.
Zzzzzzt!
Two men were crossing the gap between the ground and the temple using a thread of mana, their weapons resting on it.
If they could do something like that—
“They’re hunters!”
“Professional hunters are here! We’re saved!”
A collective sigh of relief and excited cheers erupted. The hunters landed amidst the players.
“I am Kang Hyun, a certified Rank 5 hunter. Everyone, stay calm.”
“And I am Choi Jincheon, also a Rank 5 hunter. This isn’t anything special. Occasionally, bosses can be a little tougher.”
Their composed demeanor reassured the panicked players.
But I was still uneasy.
This was an irregular. They were too relaxed for the situation.
“The hunters are here! W-Watch out in the front!”
“Stay back, everyone. We’ll handle it and ensure the rewards are distributed—”
CRASH!
Like bowling pins, the players at the front were sent flying as the boss monster surged forward.
One of the hunters, startled, hastily reached for the sword at his waist.
Boom!
He barely managed to draw the sword halfway before colliding with the boss monster.
His stance crumbled instantly, his body bending awkwardly as he let out a strangled gasp.
Behind him, the bald hunter scoffed in exasperation.
“Hey, hey. Don’t scare everyone. This is just a Rank 2 boss monster—”
“S-Senior! This thing is—!”
Clang!
The boss retrieved its twin blades and threw them toward the bald hunter in the blink of an eye.
“Guh!”
The startled hunter instinctively raised his arms to block.
The tip of the blade barely stopped at his chest.
“Damn, that was close! This Rank 2 boss monster sure is aggressive—”
Crunch!
His body was suddenly crushed against the ground.
All eyes turned to the back in shock.
A colossal arm of lava had risen from the sea.
“A L-Lava Golem?!”
RUMBLE!
The lava sea roared as house-sized Lava Golems emerged one after another, encircling the now-isolated boss zone.
“This is insane! Even the hunters got taken out!”
“What the hell is happening?!”
An irregular boss monster in the center and massive monsters from the sea.
We were completely surrounded.
And to make things worse, the bald hunter, who had been coughing up blood and trying to flee, failed to dodge the irregular’s sword.
Blood spurted from his chest as he fell off the cliff.
Everything had happened in mere moments.
What followed was nothing short of a slaughter.
With the hunters defeated, the players completely lost their will to resist and ran for their lives.
“Ugh! P-Please, help!”
As the boss prepared to bring its twin blades down on a fallen middle-aged man—
Thwack!
A gust of wind carried in Jung Seojin, who intercepted the descending blades with both hands.
“…W-With his bare hands?”
Jung Seojin didn’t falter in strength.
Realizing its opponent was no pushover, the boss tried to withdraw its weapons for another strike.
BOOM!
A potion came flying out of nowhere, shattering against the boss’s face in a small explosion.
The monster staggered backward.
“Yeah! Direct hit!”
Jin Bora appeared, holding potions in both hands.
“I’d rather die than work with you, but orders are orders.”
“That’s my line.”
While the two of them bought time, I rushed to the remaining Rank 5 hunter.
If he went down too, we were done for.
“Hey!”
I grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
His eyes were unfocused, as if he was barely conscious.
Damn it. How did such a weak-willed guy even pass the hunter qualification exam?
“Snap out of it!”
There was no time to be polite.
I grabbed his collar and slammed him against the stone wall behind him.
A loud thud echoed.
Smack! Smack!
After a few sharp slaps, his vacant eyes finally started to regain focus.
“W-Who…?”
