Ugh, it appeared in the second room again! When I opened the second door, the Double-Headed mutt stared at me, though I didn’t know whether it was the same mutt as before. The obvious thing was that it was stronger and more frightening than ordinary mutts. The System had named it a warrior, and in the past, E-class hunters had to jump in as a group to kill it. The only positive thing was that it was located closest to the door among the mutts that were crawling inside.

The mutt behaved the same as it did in my recollections as it blew off other mutts running behind me and roared, claiming its dominance.

Aaargghhh!

The sounds made by two heads were truly intimidating, and no other mutts dared to come forward. However, I knew they would become hyenas and rip me apart as soon as I died or seemed weakened. I took a step back to create a space where I could move and distance myself away from it as I couldn’t handle it with my current strength. It was too big that it had to bend down to get through the door, so it was natural that Woo Yeon-Hee’s breathing became rapid when she saw it. I glared at the mutt.

“Do you want to fight one on one? Then, you better keep the curs back.”

It didn’t understand me, but it would’ve felt something from nuance. One of its heads looked back and made a threatening growl at the mutts following it. Since one of them was staring at me, an ambush wouldn’t work. It was better to counter the first rush by the boss when I was fighting more than ten enemies.

Both heads finally turned back to their original positions, and its limp body stiffened. Its tendons stood out and the blood vessels in its eyes were visible. The Double-Headed mutt was ready to fight, and I remembered my fear from the first time. However, I had countless combat experiences, and if I didn’t fear it, I could do this. I used Iron Skin to reinforce my left arm as my shield and began.

“Come on in. We don’t have time.”

***

‘Give me an order!’ Woo Yeon-Hee couldn’t hold back and was about to scream to Seon-Hu to let her heal. The blue sparks that splashed whenever Seon-Hu’s dagger moved through the air no longer seemed like a hope of victory. The mutts didn’t flinch when he stabbed it and instead, they beat him down with one hand. He had collapsed multiple times, and now he was back on his feet again. A dizzying amount of blood was coming out of his mouth and it continued to drip on the floor.

Although Woo Yeon-Hee didn’t know much about combat, she knew that the mutt was overwhelmingly strong and fast as Seon-Hu had warned her. The mutt didn’t even flinch when it was wounded. On the other hand, Seon-Hu’s condition became worse with every passing moment, as the mutt would bite his leg or strike him no matter how much he attacked it.

‘No!’ Woo Yeon-Hee stifled her scream when Seon-Hu’s body flew and the mutt strangled him against the wall. Seon-Hu managed to strike its arm with his dagger once before his body went limp. Her surprised gaze followed along with the dagger that Seon-Hu dropped into the pool of his blood. She seemed desperate to avoid using skills and arrows.

“Don’t heal or use Mary’s Hand when I fight with a Double-Headed mutt. No arrows, either. I might look like I’m dying, but I’ll be waiting for The Man Who Overcomes Adversity to kick in, and at that time, you…”

Woo Yeon-Hee recalled Seon-Hu’s instructions and moved her attention from the scene where Seon-Hu was struggling to the door.

“You have to run away like hell when the mutts are out of the Double-Headed’s control.”

Seon-hu had said so. He was a strong guy who had survived for a long time, and he was never wrong. It was dark, but the mutts beyond the door growled louder in excitement. She wanted to cover her ears but knew that the time to run was near. Then, the sight of Seon-Hu suffering from pain caught her eyes, and she remembered a memory from her childhood. Her entire family had gone fishing, and a fish had escaped from a plastic bucket. It fluttered for a while on the ground and slowly lost its strength, then her father’s large hand grabbed it. It started flailing again, but its weakened movement told her it was dying.

Seon-Hu was like that fish in her memory. Woo Yeon-Hee wanted to do anything if she could get him out of the mutt’s grasp right now. In her mind, she had already used Mary’s Hand and had run towards the mutt with a dagger countless times. However!

“Never use Mary’s Hand. It’s for the boss fight. You can’t handle such injuries. Just think about how you would survive even though I seem dying. I can’t help you more than this in that situation, so keep it in mind.”

Woo Yeon-Hee recalled Seon-Hu’s instruction once again. She had to obey his orders to increase their chance of survival by even one percent. Therefore, she shed her backpack so she could move faster.

Seon-Hu’s scream wasn’t as loud as it was hoarse and quiet, but it was a signal for her. The mutts began roaring in the dark and ran after her. She turned away from Seon-Hu for the first time and started sprinting. The growls were close by the time she returned to the first room.

“Huff…huff...”

Woo Yeon-Hee looked around while breathing heavily. It was difficult to find the correct direction as the room was dark, and her goal was to reach the entrance room because she remembered that Seon-Hu had installed traps there. Survival instincts made people discover hidden talents and raised their concentration. While Woo Yeon-Hee was pale from fear, she was trying to think fast and make a swift judgment.

She didn’t enter the entrance room because the traps were there as a last resort. However, she didn’t dare to open another door, so she ran along the wall. She ran into the corner and looked behind her with her bow raised as she trembled. Then, she saw the System’s notification message hanging in front of her.

[You have completed the quest ‘One on One Battle.’ Please decide on the first and second person to finish the quest by agreement.]

Another message appeared.

[You have gained 1 point.]

[Declan Extermination: Defeat Declan scout 28/60]

Then, the first message popped up again.

[You have completed the quest ‘One on One Battle.’ Please decide the first and second person to finish the quest by agreement.]

A new message showed up to replace all others.

[You have gained 1 point.]

[Declan Extermination: Defeat Declan scout 29/60]

Woo Yeon-Hee realized that Seon-Hu won and was on his way to her! However, her expectations were shattered instantly. The first thing she saw from the darkness was a pointed snout and the terrible fangs. She suppressed her instinct to shoot immediately.

“The first shot is important. You’ll be eaten if your shot cannot defeat the monster. So make sure you stay calm and shoot him in the eye.”

Then, the mutt jumped towards her as she shot her arrow.

***

I intentionally ran as I dripped blood. I succeeded in making them swarm towards me except for one that had disappeared to seek Woo Yeon-Hee. I couldn’t help it as I had to deal with more than twenty mutts. I managed to kill the Declan Warrior using the insignia and The Man Who Overcomes Adversity, but my whole body was creaking despite not feeling any pain. As expected, the actual battle was very different from my imagination as the mutt had been too powerful.

I kicked one as it charged me. Although I lost my balance, I managed to remain upright. The cub reached out from the side and ended up rolling around the ground as soon as I sliced its arm. I finished killing them all before The Man Who Overcomes Adversity disappeared. There were only twenty seconds left on the clock.

[You have completed the quest ‘Declan Extermination.’]

[You have obtained a ‘silver box’ for being the first one to complete the quest.]

[Your Strength has increased by 28.]

[Strength: F(50)]

I had no time to be concerned about the reward and focused on the next message.

[You have completed the quest ‘One on One Battle.’ Please decide on the first and second person to finish the quest by agreement.]

Woo Yeon-Hee was still alive because if she was dead, I would’ve been the only person to complete the quest. I limped out through the darkness. When I entered the first room, I noticed that the trait, The Man Who Overcomes Adversity, had ended as I couldn’t see or feel anything. All of a sudden, I fell to the ground.

Woo Yeon-Hee was probably in the entrance room, and traps might have saved her. Also, she would be trembling at the boundary between reality and the dungeon. The healer was over there, but my voice didn’t come out and my eyes dimmed.

I thought it was blood drooping on my face, but something else was falling from the ceiling on my face.

Drip. Drip.