"What's today's situation?"
The woman exhaled a thin stream of smoke from her long pipe. The scent was strong, the kind that made your lungs itch just being near it.
Her secretary, standing at a distance with a gas mask on, checked the tablet in her hands.
"There was a dungeon breach ten minutes ago in Mirang District."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Rank?"
"Still unconfirmed. But Phoenix Guild and Ironclaw are already fighting over the rights."
"Tch." She clicked her tongue. "And the civilians?"
"Inside the dungeon. About one hundred were pulled in."
The woman waved her hand as if swatting away a fly. "Those dogs. Always more concerned about who gets the spoils than who lives or dies."
"Should we dispatch someone from our side?"
"Send Hye-in quietly. Tell her she has three hours to enter and clear the dungeon before the others come to a decision."
The secretary hesitated. "Jiyeon-nim, there are already A-rank hunters deployed at the scene. If the other guilds catch wind of our involvement—"
The woman let out a short laugh. "Hyein-ah is an S-rank. One of the only ten in the world. Do you think she'll be caught that easily?"
"...Even so," the secretary lowered her voice, "she may be forced to prioritize evacuation. Depending on the rank of the dungeon... even Hyein-ah can't clear an B-rank, much less an A-rank dungeon alone. So what if happens if the dungeon turns out to be B-class or higher?"
A sigh escaped the guild leader's lips. I'm sure she was just as concerned the secretary. Sometimes, she forgets that Hyein is also just a human.. "Fine. Start the auction process. Get us in legally. Send back up on site already so we can get them in once the rights are secured."
She stood up from her chair, but her shoulders sagged slightly. Her sharp eyes were dulled by fatigue. Dark shadows clung beneath them.
"Jiyeon-nim—!"
The secretary stepped forward in alarm. "You shouldn't push yourself—"
"I'm fine." The woman slapped the reaching hand away, her voice cold. "I may look like this, but I'm still an A-rank. I can handle myself."
The room fell silent. The only sound was the faint hiss of smoke escaping the pipe, still burning on the table.
"...Understood."
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
I opened my eyes to the sound of someone's voice.
"Noona! Noona! Wake up!"
It was the boy from earlier. The same one who had been crying and holding onto the lamp post. His face was streaked with tears, eyes swollen red. He was shaking me with both hands, panicked and desperate.
"N-Noona ," he sobbed. "You weren't moving. Hic. Hic."
"I'm alright, don't worry..." My voice came out hoarse. "Just... give me a second."
I sat up slowly, feeling the cold press of stone beneath my palms. The air felt damp here, just like the cave beneath my cafe. And the dirt stuck to my skin and refused to leave even if I wiped it on my shirt.
The dungeon was dim, lit only by patches of fluorescent moss glowing faintly blue on the walls.
I glanced around. Maybe thirty people had been dragged in with me. They huddled in groups near the stone wall, faces pale and stunned. Some held hands. Some whispered prayers, hoping for a miracle to save them from this nightmare. Most just trembled, staring blankly ahead—either their minds hadn't caught up yet or they were silently waiting for the hunters to save them.
None of them looked awakened...
Am I the only one...?
Even if I have a unique skill, its not even a combat ability...
I pulled the boy closer and shielded him with my body.
Was this a beginner-type dungeon? Or did we just hit the cosmic lottery and get tossed into something high ranked?
『 Quest: Escape the Labyrinth』
『 Description: Mazes are a lot more fun when there aren't monsters lurking around every corner. Unfortunately... this one has plenty. Find the exit—before something else finds you first!
Time Limit: None.
Reward:
‣ +2 Luck
‣ Skill Acquired: Blessed From Coffee! 』
...What?
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
I was ranked ninth among the S-class hunters in Korea. My combat skills weren't the most destructive or flashy—but my ability was something no one else in the world possessed.
Perfect Stealth.
Even other S-rank hunters couldn't detect me unless their sensory skills surpassed mine, and only two people in the entire world were L-ranked. Both of them always had their whereabouts unknown.
In other words, I was the ideal assassination-type. A ghost among hunters.
The guild leader always assigned me to clean-up duty—tracking down rogue awakeners who had gone off the rails, hunting down criminals who thought their ranks made them untouchable.
So I rarely entered dungeons unless I absolutely had to.
Today was one of those days.
I crouched on the rooftop across from the breach site with my black facemask on my hood up, watching the chaos unfold. Six A-rank hunters stood around the swirling portal—two from Phoenix, two from Ironclaw, and two dispatched by the Hunter Association itself.
I could walk right past them and no one would even know.
I tapped the earpiece embedded in my collar. "Entering the dungeon now. No resistance expected."
"Copy," Chiyeon-nim's voice crackled through. She was the guild's secretary, and an A-ranker just like the guild leader. "The auction rights are still being negotiated. Make it quick. Prioritize civilian extraction—then assess the dungeon rank if possible."
"Understood."
I jumped from the rooftop and landed silently behind a supply truck. With one smooth movement, I slipped past the line of hunters. Not even a flicker of awareness from any of them.
I stepped through the rift without hesitation.
『 Entering Dungeon: Lost Labyrinth 』
The light faded—and then I was inside.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
Dungeons ranked B and above functioned differently than the lower ones. Unlike C-rank or below, where you materialized right at the portal entrance, making it easy to exit in case of danger, higher ranked dungeons dropped you at random locations inside.
It was disorienting to most hunters who couldn't withstand the sudden shift in space and mana pressure. And it was dangerous.
But this... this was strange.
The scent of blood lingered faintly in the air, but there were no bodies on the ground, no blood trail, no signs of a struggle.
I walked straight for several minutes. The narrow passage curved slightly now and then, but offered no detours, no branches, no signs of a typical dungeon structure.
This couldn't possibly be an S-rank... right?
Considering I'd been spawned somewhere deep inside, the lowest it could be was a B-rank. Still, fighting monsters wasn't my goal—my priority was saving civilians.
When I reached at the end of this long passage, I was met with a stone wall that loomed before me. It was impossibly massive and it seemed like a huge maze, just like its name this dungeon suggests.
『 Do not enter. 』
My eyes widened. So he speaks now.
The constellation I was bound to rarely said anything. Most of the time, he stayed quiet. Observing. But here he was, sending me a direct warning. A rare occurrence unless my life was in an impossible danger.
Still... what choice did I have?
"Too late for that," I muttered under my breath, stepping closer.
If even one person was still alive in there, I had to go.
Hunter or not, I wouldn't abandon someone who still had a chance. Not when I could do something about it.
That was the one line I refused to cross.
Even if the maze devoured me whole... I was going in.
"What rank is this dungeon?" I asked, hoping my constellation was still feeling chatty. If he'd broken his silence once, maybe I could squeeze out more information.
Silence.
Of course.
Clicking my tongue, I activated one of my skills—Feral Sight (S). It let me read traces left behind on the ground: footprints, scent trails, mana ... It was perfect for stealth missions and scouting ahead.
But instead of a footprint, I saw something far worse.
A massive handprint pressed into the stone wall like someone, or something, had leaned on it.
And it wasn't dried or old. The faint shimmer of residual mana was still fresh.
I stared up at it, my throat tightening.
Whatever this thing was... it was huge. Easily fifty, maybe a hundred times the size of a grown man. Just the imprint of its fingers stretched across the entire height of the maze wall.
Even my trained instincts began to ring with panic.
『 S-rank. 』
My constellation responded.
"No..." I whispered.
My heart dropped.
Could any of the civilians still be alive in here? And even if they were... could a solo hunter like me get them out? I don't know if I can even survive this dungeon myself.
A new message appeared.
『 You will die. 』
I stared at the words.
No sugarcoating. No vague metaphor. It was a brutally honest sentence... from a mysterious entity who almost never spoke this much.
And still, I stepped forward.
"I have to do this."