The air in the dungeon was tight and filled with the grimy smell of blood.
Lee Minho stood in the now quiet space, surrounded by six corpses. He closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath in and then out his mouth. He opened his eyes to find the system waiting.
[Quest completed! 180 EXP claimed! Destructive potential increased +12!]
[New Skill:
• Gaze Of A Monarch Lv. 1: When active, targets are instantly intimidated by your gaze, inducing fear and doubt.]
Minho stared at the rewards. Then he stared at his hands. He hadn't just killed a person - he killed six of them. He could feel his inner self screaming at what he had just done, but it was all muffled. Before he could overthink what he had just done, another screen appeared.
[Fuel your destructive core!]
[Consume Mana (cores) of your fallen enemies to complete Main Quest!]
"Hmm. How do I even do that?" Minho muttered to himself.
[Extend a hand over the desired subject and absorb.]
"Oh... okay." He nodded, moving to where Soojin's decapitated body lay. He extended his hand and a swirl of energy flowed from the body into his palm.
[Sources of Mana consumed: 1/10]
In the next minute, Minho had collected all the mana cores of the corpses.
[Sources of Mana consumed: 5/10]
"Maybe I shouldn't have burnt that guy." He scratched his head, looking at the ashes of hunter Kim. "But nonetheless, I still have more to consume." He looked around. "I can't go killing innocent people now, can I? Where do I get—" he paused, sighting the bag where he had been storing monster cores and mana crystals before being stabbed. He grinned and ran to it. He quickly picked it up and turned the bag in, emptying it on the ground.
"Alright then, here we go." He extended his hand and absorbed all the mana.
[Sources of Mana consumed: 42/10]
[Main quest completed! 40 EXP claimed! Destructive potential +5!]
[New Skill: Flame Resistance Lv. 1]
"This all feels like a dream. A wild one too." Minho smiled faintly.
[Remaining 32 sources of mana consumed are being converted to destructive energy...]
Minho stroked his chin - a habit he got from his father. Despite hating the man so much, he couldn't stop what was already in his blood. "Hmm. There's a lot I need to understand about this—" A sudden heat burst inside his chest. "Ack!" He clutched his chest, his body shaking and going red, veins swollen across his face. It felt as if his heart was contorting and dipped in fire.
[Conversion complete!]
A sudden burst of energy erupted Minho's body. The pain finally seemed to calm down. He looked up, gritting his teeth as he exhaled - a hot steam escaping the corners of his mouth. He looked back down, shaking his head. "You could just kill me already, man. What the hell is this?"
[Do you wish to exit?]
"Of course I do. What will I be doing in here?" He shrugged, but a thought crossed his mind. He turned to look at the corpses. "Right. How do I explain this to the Hunter's Association?"
The dead end slowly warped and became a gate. Minho could hear noises from outside. Probably people who had come searching for them.
Outside... (right before the gate opened)
A search team had been sent from the White Tiger Guild, to find out why the dungeon mysteriously disappeared and where the hunters who entered were.
"Ahh, hunter Yung. I'm telling you, this is a wrong location." A young man groaned, exaggeratedly opening his arms wide. Taeksoo, A-rank mage of the White Tiger Guild.
"This came from the Hunters Association." His second replied. A taller figure with broader shoulders. Park Yung, A-rank tank of the White Tiger Guild.
"Are you saying the Hunters Association are above mistakes?" Taeksoo raised an eyebrow, clearly getting bored.
"What I'm saying is—" Yung started but got interrupted by the sudden reappearance of the dungeon gate. His hand instinctively made its way to the hilt of his sword. "Well this shuts you up, doesn't it?" He turned to Taeksoo.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Taeksoo waved his hand dramatically. "Let's go check it out."
Hunter Yung and Hunter Taeksoo made their way towards the gate, accompanied by the other members of the search team. "Stay alert everyone!" Yung raised his voice, enough for everyone to hear.
They took even steps until they made their way into the dungeon. The first thing that visited them was a cut off hand of human, before the entire scene unfolded itself. The dungeon was entangled in the strong smell of blood.
"I think I'm going to throw up." Yung said, eyes scanning the area.
Two C-rank hunters from behind threw up after seeing the scene. "Well those two did it for you. They would've passed out if it were the Jeju island raid then." Taeksoo replied, covering his nose.
"What kind of monster is in this place?" Yung muttered, stepping over the severed arm. Following Taeksoo who had went ahead to check the bodies.
"Gods... wait isn't that... Ah, shit! I know this one. Oh Soojin." Taeksoo said, squatting down next to Soojin's head, while the body was a few feet away.
"What could've done this? Aren't they all C-rank hunters?" Yung asked.
"Yes, six C-rank hunters and an E-rank." Someone replied from behind.
"And they're all dead in a D-rank dungeon? Doesn't make any sense." Yung exhaled. Then he heard a groan from ahead. He quickly unsheathed his sword and signaled the team to stay alert.
"Reveal yourself before I cut off your air supply." Taeksoo spoke, raising one hand as a strong wind filled the dungeon. "What kind of monster are you?"
Minho slowly crawled out from behind a stone pillar, raising his hands in surrender.
"A human?" Taeksoo raised an eyebrow, but his gaze became one of disgust. The wind growing more intense than it was, his voice dropping low. "Where you the one who did this?"
Taeksoo looked at Minho - pale, shaking hands and terror driven expression - a near perfect imitation of the E-rank hunter he was supposed to be. Before he could speak up, one of the hunters in the search team spoke up, stealing the eyes of everyone.
"Lee Minho?"
Minho tilted his head, confused.
"That's the E-rank hunter. He couldn't have single handedly killed six C-ranks." The hunter added, running to Minho.
Minho recognized him. It was Yonsuk. They met during the evaluation and had a little conversation. Yonsuk was hailed B-rank while he was slapped in the face with the E-rank status. But to say Yonsuk would remember him from such a short meeting and even his full name at that, was all fascinating.
"How are you? Do you remember me?" Yonsuk said, crouching next to Minho.
Taeksoo palmed his face and dropped his hand, stopping the wind. They all went to him.
"Y-yes. I think I do." Minho answered.
"Good. What happened here?"