Chapter 63: 33.1

Chapter 33 Part 1: Mountain Ant

An ominous thought crossed my mind, but I shrugged it off. Right. What could possibly go wrong on a Certified Hunter test? I opened my eyes and found myself in an unfamiliar place. Sunlight peeked through the dense foliage. The Jungle was so dense that you couldn’t see all of the sky. The ground was covered in moss and the air was damp and cool against my skin.

Jungle-type dungeons are easy to survive in. There is an abundance of food supply in these dense forests. So my first impression wasn’t so bad. It was so much better than a desert or a glacier field.

“It’s a birch forest dungeon.”

Lee Eun-Woo said. If it’s the Birch Forest Dungeon, then it’s probably the dungeon on the outskirts of Seoul. The difficulty level is suitable for beginners, it’s too hard for the average person, but just right for beginners. Indeed. It was the perfect place for a Hunter Exam.

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been here before.”

“Inside this dungeon?”

“Yes. I was on a tour with the guild leader.”

Usually, ordinary people who are not eligible to enter the dungeon rarely enter it. You have to be accompanied by a qualified person, and the guarantor has to take all the responsibility if something dangerous happens, and it’s actually more of a financial burden… Than anything else. How much does it cost for an unqualified person to enter a dungeon? I remember it was at least a thousand units… 

“That’s great…” Kim Ju-il murmured softly.

It seems that a guild as big as the Blue Serpent would bring them in to gain experience with the concept of investment.

“By the way, it looks like our goal isn’t just to survive for a week.”

I said what I wanted to say earlier. The mission map lay on the ground that we were standing on. I touched the scroll and a window immediately popped up.

「Notice: You have made contact with the ‘Hunter Test Scroll 13‘」

「Message will be delivered soon.」 

「Mission: Explore the dungeon and find another scroll.」

“A Reconnaissance mission?”

“Good, at least they don’t ask you to deal with monsters directly.”

I guess they gave us this mission because most of the missions beginners do are reconnaissance. Except for some Hunters with excellent combat capabilities, this field is in the most demand.

“Still, I’ve been here before, so I feel a bit relieved.”

“Why don’t we find a place to camp and move on?”

Everyone nodded at Lee Eun-Woo’s suggestion. We have a week to find something, so it’s better to get moving, even if it’s the first day. Walking through the bushes is still physically demanding. The air is cool, but it’s hard to navigate through the sparsely populated area where the concept of a “Path” doesn’t exist. I walk slowly for a while, wary of my surroundings.

“So, how old is everyone?”

“I’m 22.”

“I’m 25. There’s not much of an age difference between us, is there?”

“Yeah?”

The novice hunters quickly relax. Asking them to stay on their toes surrounded by bushes where nothing is happening might be too much to ask for them.

“How old is Seo-Ha and Eun-Woo….?”

“I’m 20.”

“Seo-Ha is the youngest!”

It’s understandable. These are the people who are supposed to be the best in the academy. I’ve heard that there’s a culture of hunter wannabes forming their own leagues and mingling with each other, as if being a hunter means you’re better than everyone else. They believe they are special in a celebrity-like way.

“I’m just right above you, I’m 23 years old.”

Lee Eun-Woo acted like his tongue was on his cheek. His smile is so smooth, though he’s probably gagging on the inside.

“I’m the oldest. It’s a little overwhelming.”

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No one was expecting this, but Kim Ju-il said it anyway. I didn’t reply.

❖

“There’s nothing out of the ordinary about it so far… Is it really a dungeon? This gate is nothing special.”

“I know. The teachers would often scare me a lot in the academy.”

Kim Ju-il and Min Da-Lae seem to have good chemistry. Lee Eun-Woo doesn’t interrupt their conversation except for the occasional chiming in. I don’t make a habit of interrupting bullshit, so I just keep my mouth shut.

“Shall we set up camp?”

“I think so.”

“But do you have any clue where the scrolls are? It’s too hopeless to find them like this.”

They dutifully set up camp while muttering under their breath. Looks like they didn’t waste their time at the Academy. I don’t want to hear the bullshit from earlier, but Kim Ju-il has a point. Hunter Examiners don’t want us to just wander around and find the scrolls by luck, and I’m sure they’ll try to give us hints in some way. It would be impossible to explore the entire dungeon in a week.

“Yeah, well, maybe something will happen sooner or later.”

“Hey, What if it’s like capture the flag or something, like you’re going to come back and take it?”

Kim Ju-il passes it off as a joke, but Lee Eun-Woo seems to be already guessing about different ways the examiners could have sent us a message. Most of them are passed on during the day but nothing happened. If that’s the case, there’s only one most likely way.

“…Shall we decide the order of the night duty?”

Lee Eun-Woo and I hadn’t spoken to each other, but we were both thinking similar things, and he glanced at me after I spoke up.

We’ve known each other for a long time, so I had a pretty rough idea of what’s running through that head of his. He probably thought that ‘At least there’s one person in their right mind inside this camp.’ or something like that.

❖

The order of the night watch was set separately, but they weren’t particularly trustworthy, so I did not fall asleep too deeply.

I can survive for a week with a moderate amount of light sleep to keep my senses sharp. Not having trustworthy colleagues is a pretty big risk.

-Kiruk… 

‘Yep exactly as I thought.’

-Kirururu… 

I heard a monster making a sound.

“Everyone wake up!”

Min Da-Lae shouted at the same time.

‘But It’s too late.’ 

She should have warned us before the monsters got this close, but I can’t blame them. We’re just beginners after all, just a bunch of hunter wannabes. It’s natural to be this clumsy.

“It’s a Mountain Ant!”

My knowledge of monsters was still useful. Everyone was already facing the monster with weapons drawn outside the tent.

‘A mountain ant.’ 

True to its name, it is an ant-like monster with a giant body. Its serrated mouth is like a shredder, and the antennae on its head detect movement instead of the eyes.

“Form up like we talked about before!”

Lee Eun-Woo naturally took command. Min Da-Lae stood in front, with Kim Ju-il and I behind her. Lee Eun-Woo was at the very back. It was a standard formation.

“Everyone, follow my lead.”

The call of the party is often given by the mage or healer in the back, so there was no protest. The ant waited a few moments for us to set up camp… It seemed to be a tamed monster.

“There must be a tamer nearby.”

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