I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Chapter 48: Dungeon Raid (2)

TL: SHW

“Mages, shield!”

At Oh Hyun-wook’s signal, the mages cast their spells.

For kids raiding a dungeon for the first time, their movements are smooth. There are still some parts where the timing is off, but so far, it’s passable.

“Combat over. Check if the monsters are dead.”

The battle with the five pixies ended quickly.

There have been three battles so far. The total number of pixies defeated is thirteen, excluding the one Oh Hyun-wook handled in the beginning.

The second battle was better than the first, and the third was better than the second. The kids’ movements, which were awkward at first, are gradually becoming smoother.

As we get closer to the dungeon core, the number of pixies increases. From my perspective, the number is cute enough to make me scoff, but it might be a bit different for them. Still, seeing the color returning to their faces, which were pale from tension…

It doesn’t seem to be all bad.

“This one’s still alive.”

Seo Han-seong, who was checking a fallen pixie, stabbed his sword into its neck without hesitation.

Though it may have been an unfair contract, a guild is still a guild. Seo Han-seong and Oh Hyun-wook, who have been through a dungeon with a guild, are roughly mimicking an official raid party.

Oh Hyun-wook. The pig bastard.

No.

The little piglet.

For the others, whose faces I’m seeing for the first time after coming to past, it’s hard to be mistaken. But for someone like Park Seo-hyun, whom I’ve seen even twenty years later, it’s inevitable to overlay the familiar face.

Like the witch Park Seo-hyun or the pig Oh Hyun-wook.

The same goes for Hong Seok-young and Yoo Ji-eun.

Even though it’s been over two months since I’ve been here.

Even though I know that person is not the silly Hunter who adopted me.

Even though that girl is not the annoying Hunter who used to call me a parachute and get annoyed.

I still think of the familiar faces first.

Oh Hyun-wook is no exception.

“All cleaned up?”

“Yeah.”

“The runes?”

“Checked. No problems.”

Park Seo-hyun’s voice wavered slightly as she answered. She might have recalled the incident in Myeong-dong.

Still, Park Seo-hyun didn’t show it and helped Choi Jin-woo clean up the pixie corpses.

Oh Hyun-wook checked his friends once more to see if there was anything they missed.

The stiff face he has… hmm. Is it similar to the pig I know? I’m not sure. If you dig out the features buried in all that fat, you might get a face like that.

That pig was huge. He was pretty tall, but even wider. It was a wonder how he managed to work as a Hunter with such a body.

But his guild… as much as I hate to admit it, it was one of the top guilds in the country, and the pig was famous for his speed despite his heavy-looking body. There’s a reason why that pig bastard was considered the second-best Hunter in Korea after Hong Seok-young, even though he got stabbed by a guild member.

That’s beside the point. Look at that piglet over there, stiff-faced and alert.

It’s hard to believe that this small, skinny kid will grow into that massive figure. His thin body is filled with muscles, though….

“Then let’s move out.”

Honestly, who would believe that this little piglet will become that pig?

Life is…

* * *

The raid continued similarly afterward. They encountered a few more pixies but quickly dealt with them under Oh Hyun-wook’s instructions.

It’s not as interesting as I thought, since they’re doing well.

Well, Oh Hyun-wook’s instructions aren’t particularly special. At this point, their skills are all about the same. Maybe except for Park Seo-hyun and Oh Hyun-wook. But that’s because I know the answers.

Picking out the ones without talent is easier. But isn’t that too cruel? Even for me, it’s hard to do that.

I looked at Oh Hyun-wook and Seo Han-seong again.

As they easily defeated the group of pixies, while the other kids gradually relaxed, those two maintained their tension until the end. It must be thanks to their experience with the guild.

…I still can’t believe it. Did that pig bastard really have such a troubled past?

If he overcame such a past to become a renowned Hunter, shouldn’t he have become a more respectable adult? Not someone who’s always drunk and crawling around on all fours.

The piglet, who hasn’t become a pig yet, tends to ignore me, but he was still a diligent student. He never replied, but when I pointed out his movements, he tried to correct them and occasionally tries to kick at my neck…

Is that diligent…?

“The dungeon core will appear soon.”

“Already?”

At Oh Hyun-wook’s words, Lee Seung-yeon asked in surprise.

“According to the exploration report. Though it’s rare, sometimes the location of a dungeon core in a C-rank dungeon can change. We can’t let our guard down until the end.”

How did that small, scrawny, slightly arrogant but diligent Oh Hyun-wook turn into a pig who grew sideways…

…I thought about it. When I think back on Oh Hyun-wook’s life, I can’t help but guess a few things.

I took my eyes off Oh Hyun-wook for a moment and looked at Park Seo-hyun behind him. Yoo Hye-eun, too. Then back to Lee Seung-yeon.

It must have been the same for Park Seo-hyun.

Park Seo-hyun, who survived the horrors of Myeong-dong, became a gloomy woman who grinned all the time, and Oh Hyun-wook became a pig drowning in alcohol.

Come to think of it, Oh Hyun-wook, who used to spew harsh words to everyone regardless of age or gender, only acted like a decent human being in front of Park Seo-hyun or Yoo Ji-eun. It’s understandable for Park Seo-hyun, his fellow alumni from Pilot High School, but Oh Hyun-wook had a strangely soft spot for Yoo Ji-eun.

Now that I know Yoo Ji-eun is Yoo Hye-eun’s younger sister, everything makes sense.

Oh Hyun-wook definitely couldn’t forget the incident in Myeong-dong.

If he had such circumstances, how much better would it have been if he had told me. Then I wouldn’t have asked Yoo Ji-eun if she had dirt on Oh Hyun-wook, saying I wouldn’t tell it was her who told me!

Back then, I wondered why Yoo Ji-eun cursed at me so much.

Expecting me to understand without saying a word is too much to ask.

I continued to eavesdrop on the kids’ conversation, harboring resentment with no one to listen.

“Still, for a C-rank dungeon, it seems easy?”

Seo Han-seong, who had been inside dungeons before, was evaluating the level. Choi Jin-woo tilted his head and looked back at Park Seo-hyun.

“Seo-hyun, didn’t you say you’ve been in a dungeon before? Is he right?”

“Uh, I don’t really know…”

Park Seo-hyun shrugged slightly.

“I went in with my grandfather… They were all A-rank.”

“……”

“I was too young to remember well.”

“Really?”

“Ah, but I think Seo Han-seong might be right.”

This time, Sun Sun-jin spoke up.

“I also went into a training C-rank dungeon with our master. It was a training dungeon, so it was much easier than a regular C-rank dungeon, but this place seems even easier than that. Lee Seung-yeon, don’t you think so?”

“Now that you mention it…”

Of course. After weeding out the weak ones, it would be embarrassing for Daseon if it wasn’t easy.

“But doesn’t that mean our skills are that much better?”

It’s a shame if there isn’t someone making frivolous comments.

Lee Seung-yeon scratched his head as everyone’s attention turned to him.

“No, after all the training we had with the principal and Teacher Woo, it’d be unfair if our skills hadn’t improved.”

“That’s… true.”

“Besides, pixies aren’t strong individually. As Teacher Woo mentioned in class, they’re tricky for novice Hunters because they fly, move in groups, and call for reinforcements. But look, how many have we encountered so far?”

Even though their analysis is somewhat absurd, it’s commendable that they’re trying to analyze the dungeon.

“The highest number was five, right? Even without Hye-eun, it’s fewer than our combat personnel. We’d have hands to spare even if each of us took on one.”

I gave them a point for accurately pointing this out.

No, wait. On second thought, giving points like this seems unfair. Hunters don’t really care about fairness, but this is a school. So we should consider fairness.

Would the kids who haven’t been in a dungeon have chosen to avoid it?

I added a point for the rest of the kids as well. Since it’s their first time in a dungeon and they’re keeping up well, they deserve it.

If anyone has a problem with my grading, they can become the teacher themselves.

“And…”

“It’s supposed to be easy.”

Oh Hyun-wook, who had been quietly listening to his friends chat, interrupted.

“No matter how much that person is watching over us…”

That person?

Has he never called me ‘teacher’ all this time?

Isn’t that too much? He diligently attended my rune classes, though?

That pig bastard!

“If it was a dungeon we couldn’t clear by ourselves, the principal wouldn’t have let us in.”

…This piglet, acting sharp.

“And don’t you remember what the principal said when we enrolled?”

At Oh Hyun-wook’s words, the kids tilted their heads.

“He said he checked all the dungeons around the school. To see if they were dangerous.”

“Oh, right.”

“He said he raided the ones that looked like they were close to a dungeon break, and left the others alone. I think the principal sorted things out back then.”

Hmm.

So, he thought of that.

Reluctantly, I gave Oh Hyun-wook another point.

Gathering information about the dungeon while inside is essential for a Hunter, but it’s also important to collect information that can only be known from the outside. A dungeon raid isn’t something you succeed in just by being good yourself.

For now, without a mana meter, they raid dungeons as they come across them. But once the mana meter is available and dungeon breaks can be prevented in advance, dungeon raids will take on a different aspect.

Sometimes, stable dungeons are mined for resources by various guilds. In the process, some guilds might set traps inside the dungeon to penalize others. Identifying and reporting such actions requires more than just good raiding skills.

Oh Hyun-wook was good at that. Didn’t Oh Hyun-wook have the most reports against other guilds? Many guilds that looked down on Oh Hyun-wook for always reeking of alcohol got caught. Well, ‘caught’ isn’t the right word. The ones committing illegal acts were those bastards. I also had a hard time because of them.

What Oh Hyun-wook did was a kind of hammer of justice.

“That person also said he wouldn’t step in unless we were in real danger, but think carefully.”

Hmm.

“That doesn’t mean we’ll ever actually be in danger. We probably won’t face any real danger.”

Hmm.

“Look at the level of the monsters we’re encountering. It’s obvious. It was just to give us a sense of tension. He’s probably watching us from behind, clicking his tongue because we’re doing well.”

Hmm.

Oh Hyun-wook glanced back at the path they had taken. He was roughly looking in my direction. Judging by his wandering eyes, he hadn’t pinpointed my exact location.

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue just as Oh Hyun-wook said.

Provoking people like this… He still has a long way to go before evolving into a pig.

People naturally feel pain when their vulnerabilities are hit, and I enjoy crushing those who act overconfidently. It feels so satisfying when those who underestimated me because of my age and background end up apologizing, tearfully admitting they were wrong…

No, never mind that.

No matter how much an easy dungeon it is after being weeded out, it’s simple to raise the difficulty of a dungeon raid.

“Let’s go again.”

“Yes!”

I watched the kids start to move again, relaxed.

Throwing someone into extreme situations is a good way to see their true nature.

I’ll make them realize through their own experience why there’s a saying about being careful with one’s words.