Woojin discreetly asked Sunggoo a question, "Hey, do you hear that sound?”

Sunggoo looked around, “Yes? What kind of sound? The sound of the wind?”

“...Yes. The wind is blowing pretty hard.” Woojin guessed only he could hear it.

Woojin was intimately familiar with dungeons and Alphen, so the voice might be something only he heard.

Bae Dohsoo spoke tersely, “Ok. Let’s get into position.”

Four team members stepped forward. They were all close combat fighters, so they all carried sturdy shields. Bae Dohsoo and his teammate took up positions behind the four.

Bae Dohsoo’s Awakened ability was Ignition, and his teammate wielded a bow. The team strategy was based around these four close combat fighters and two long range fighters.

Bae Dohsoo turned to Sunggoo and Woojin, “Well, the two of you are new to this, so please position yourselves in the rear. Let’s try to be in sync. When we turn the corner, we’ll find four normal Goblins.”

This was the first time Bae Dohsoo had attempted this two star Mine, but he’d studied it thoroughly. He knew it as well as the back of his hand.

“Keek?”

As expected, when they turned the corner, they found four Goblins. Goblins were small monsters with hideous faces, and they were usually armed with short clubs. When the Goblins caught sight of the Miners, they ran straight at them. 

Tahng! Tahng.

The shields held up beneath the blows of the clubs, protecting everyone. It was in these moments that Bae Dohsoo’s Ignition ability shone.

Hwaroo-rook.

Flame sparked to life in front of the Goblins’ faces, blinding them. They fell back, screeching, as they rubbed at their eyes. When the pressure on their shields disappeared, the frontline fighters lowered their shields and swung their weapons.

Ssssskuk, puk!

They mercilessly cut down the screeching Goblins. One Goblin turned tail to run, but it thudded to the ground not two paces later, a silent arrow embedded in its skull.

Ssweeeeehk.

It wasn’t a shot worthy of the Olympics, but the archer was still an Awakened, even if only F Rank. It was fast enough to take the life of a monster.

The team moved to decapitate the Goblins while Woojin and Sunggoo watched silently from the side. Woojin had seen sights far more gruesome, so he wasn’t bothered. Sunggoo had experienced one star dungeons, so he only frowned slightly. He wasn’t about to shame himself by throwing up.

Bar Dohsoo straightened from riffling through the Goblins, “We got lucky. There’s two Bloodstones. They’re also big enough, so we should be able to get 20,000 won for them.”

Woojin was mildly surprised. The Bloodstones were smaller than a single finger, but they were valued at 20,000 won. Even though he was risking his life, it seems coming to the dungeon was the right idea.

I guess 100,000 won isn’t too expensive.

Until a moment ago, it was a burdensome amount of money, but now it was laughable.

Bae Dohsoo turned to Sunggoo, “Ok. Let’s fight together at the next corner. What’s your ability again?”

Sunggoo stood at attention, “I can summon a fireball. After I throw one, I can throw another one after three seconds. I can throw six fireballs in succession.”

Bae Dohsoo looked at Woojin, “Ok. How about you?”

Woojin glanced around and pointed at a Goblin’s corpse.

Puh-uk.

“Kekekeek.”

A single Skeleton Soldier leaped up. Everyone looked at Woojin in surprise.

Bae Dohsoo grinned, “Huh huh. A summoner type. Well, do you have another ability?”

Woojin picked up a club dropped by a Goblin, and swung it lightly, "Well, I have enough power to keep myself safe.”

The rest of the party was too busy examining the Skeleton Soldier.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a Necromancer.”

“Whoa. This is amazing.”

“Think it’ll be good at searching or scouting?”

While everyone speculated on what they could do, Bae Dohsoo made some changes to the formation, "We’ll keep the same positions, but Woojin’s summon can act as a scout. Mr. Sunggoo will let a fireball fly when I give him a signal.”

As they turned the corner in the hallway, Woojin silently opened his Skill Window and increased [Skeleton Soldier Summon]’s level.

———————————————

<Lv 9 Skeleton Soldier Summon>

A monster’s corpse is sacrificed, and a Skeleton Soldier of [Strength 14 Agility 17 Health 14] is summoned.

Magic Consumption : 1, Required Control : 1

———————————————

He used eight points to bring up its Skill Level. In one shot, the Skeleton Soldier’s abilities had eclipsed itself. Its combat ability now exceeded that of a fully grown adult.

Since the Skeleton Soldier’s appearance changed when the Skill Level reached 10, he only raised it to level 9. Otherwise, he’d have to explain the change and that would be a pain.

It should be able to pull its own weight now.

It wasn’t Woojin’s style to put in too much effort anyway. He’d be happy just making a decent amount of money, just enough to attack the next dungeon by himself.

Bae Dohsoo quietly hissed, “The next corner will have six Goblins!”

At Bae Dohsoo’s request, Woojin would have the Skeleton Soldier draw the enemies’ attention and then have the frontline fighters move in or form a shield wall, depending on what they faced.

In the next battle, Sunggoo’s fireball was also surprisingly effective.

Hwa-roo-rook. Boom.

The Goblins instantly collapsed when a head sized fireball exploded on top of them.

On the other hand, Bae Dohsoo’s Ignition couldn’t directly cause damage, but it was good at creating a tactical advantage.

A spark of flame suddenly forming in front of a Goblin’s face would often blind them. While the surprised Goblins were flailing about, the frontline fighters would run in and kill them.

Woojin also participated as he directed the Skeleton to kill the Goblins.

“The pile of bones is faster than I’d expected.”

“It’s also powerful. Isn’t it moving better than most F Ranks?”

Bae Dohsoo’s team had started to acknowledge Woojin and Sunggoo. As they fought more battles, they started to sync their movements more, increasing their hunting speed.

Their goal had never been to clear the dungeon. They’d decided ahead of time to exterminate all the summoned monsters so that they could extract the maximum number of Bloodstones. So, they didn’t take the shortest route to the Return Stone, but rather hunted everything they could before they had to leave the dungeon.

As such, they killed a good number of monsters. Woojin leveled up once more, reaching level 5. Goblins also gave more Achievement Points compared to Drabbits, every kill giving him two points.

Woojin only had to direct the Skeleton Soldier, so he didn’t have much to do. The original team worked well together since they’d attacked numerous one star dungeons together.

Since this was a two star dungeon, Bae Dohsoo was initially very cautious, but his confidence had begun to rise. That the drop rate of Bloodstones in this dungeon was so much higher than a one star dungeon was making him particularly happy too.

They had already acquired seventeen Bloodstones, in various sizes. If they sold their haul right now, they’d make 4,000,000 won at the very least, which would leave each party member with roughly 440,000 won.

Of course, they still had more monsters left in the dungeon, which would only add to their Bloodstones, and in turn, their profit.

The two star dungeon is a jackpot.

Of course, the original team was taking an active role, but since Woojin’s Skeleton Soldier was taking the brunt of the attack, they were much safer than they’d thought they’d be. Moreover, Sunggoo’s fireball was an excellent addition to their offensive ability.

The two of them had pretty good abilities, and they’d probably be coveted by teams as soon as they made their name known. Even Bae Dohsoo contemplated giving them an offer after they completed the Mine.

He clapped, drawing their attention, “This is the last floor. Let’s all work hard, everyone.”

They only had an hour to clear the Mine and exit, so the break was short. The team headed towards the steps leading to the last floor.

Five Goblins and a Hobgoblin stood in front of the stairs. The Hobgoblin towered over its Goblin counterparts and held a large cane.

Bae Dohsoo stared at them, “Let’s go forward in our basic formation.”

Taken off guard, Woojin glanced over at Bae Dohsoo’s confident words. He’d fought the Demon Lord’s army on Alphen, and crossed paths with innumerable monsters, including Hobgoblins.

This particular bastard was very troublesome compared to normal Goblins. It wasn’t just the larger physique that was an issue. It boasted the highest intellect among its kind and could wield magic, a Goblin magician. Moreover….

I don’t think this will be successful.

Woojin softly clicked his tongue as he saw his teammates inch forward.

He couldn’t help but put in a word of caution, “Shouldn’t we be a little bit more careful?” 

Bae Dohsoo nodded in reply, but his face was filled with confidence. The unbroken streak of victories on earlier floors had made him forget that this dungeon had been ranked as two star for a reason.

Bae Dohsoo replied, “I went through the package for this Mine. That bastard’s main attack is magic. Jongchul’s ability can be used to create a barrier. Once he blocks it, we’ll rush in before he can strike again and win decisively.”

It seemed one of the frontline fighters had a barrier ability. Woojin shrugged, but decided to follow Bae Dohsoo’s lead. After all, he was the leader, and Woojin just a temporary member.

Of course, the team leader also held all the responsibility.

Bae Dohsoo barked, “It’s coming. Block it!”

The fighter named Jongchul activated his ability at Bae Dohsoo’s command. Upon invocation, a grey barrier snapped into place in front of the team, intercepting the lightning arcing towards them.

Pah-ji-jeek!

The barrier splintered into shards of grey, along with the lightning.

Bae Dohsoo grinned, “Alright. Let’s go!”

He immediately activated his ability, and sparks blossomed in front of the Hobgoblin’s face. The remaining party members charged the group of Goblins as Sunggoo threw a fireball at the Hobgoblin.

It should still be dangerous.

Woojin knew that Hobgoblins were very intelligent, high enough for them to learn and cast magic. But magic wasn’t the main reason Hobgoblins were so dangerous.

“Ggeee, ggeek.”

The Hobgoblin snarled once, and more Goblins came out of hiding, momentarily huddling together. They then turned to face the charging party, revealing what they’d previously hidden behind them. Each Goblin in front now wielded crude shields alongside their clubs.

The Goblins had dismantled signs, newspaper stands, anything they could find, to create makeshift shields. The Goblins at the very back pulled out blowpipes and took aim from behind their shields.

Bae Dohsoo roared, “Attack! We just have to kill the Hobgoblin first.”

The archer, tucked away in the back, aimed and fired at the Hobgoblin. But the Hobgoblin had already dropped back to hide behind the balustrade. Moreover, Sunggoo’s fireball hadn’t caused the Goblin formation to collapse like it usually did. Instead, they had dug in their heels and blocked it in formation.

The Goblins and the team collided with each other with an almighty crash of shields and clubs.

“I-I think something is different about these bastards!”

The Goblins were just as strong as the ones the party had killed before. However, these Goblins were fighting in formation, shrewdly protecting each other while only attacking when they saw openings. The party felt danger creep up on them, and the tide of the battle began to turn.

Pew-pew-pewk.

The Goblins in the back took this chance to raise their pipes to their lips and blow. In an instant, paralysis and poison needles found targets among the party members.

“Ah! It burns! What is this?!”

“Guh, why… my body...”

They hadn’t been entirely paralyzed, but for a moment, the place the paralysis needle hit had locked up. Even if a single moment, it was a huge source of danger in the middle of a tense battle.

Puh-uk!

“Aaahhhh!”

One of the frontline fighters couldn’t get his shield up in time and fell to a Goblin’s club. Bae Dohsoo felt like he was being strangled. The Goblins that he’d thought would fall to pieces with a single swing of his sword were fighting back, and even winning. It was very troublesome to fight against their organized defence.

Tsk, this is why I knew they would fail.

The most dangerous aspect of a Hobgoblin was neither their physical ability nor magical prowess, but their ability to command. With a commander at their head, Goblins were no longer a one star threat. If you didn’t have a strong enough group, you’d fall prey to Goblin tactics.

“E-Escape! Get out of there!” Bae Dohsoo bellowed from the rear, and the frontline fighters scrambled away from the battle. However, one fighter was unlucky enough to receive a glancing blow to the head. He fell to his knees, dazed. If the remaining fighters continued to flee, he would inevitably die to the Goblins.

Hwa-roo-rook. Puhng!

Sunggoo’s cooldown had just expired, so he threw a fireball at the Goblins who were racing forward to cut down the dazed fighter. Two Goblins screeched as they caught the brunt of the fireball’s explosion and started to roll on the ground. The fighter came to his senses and sprinted to safety.

Bae Dohsoo shouted, “I don’t think we can do this. Let’s retreat first!”

One of the fighters stammered, “What about Jongchul?”

“He’s already dead! Can’t you see it?” At Bae Dohsoo’s bellow, their faces grew rigid. They felt sorry for their comrade. But at the same time, they also felt fear and the desire to live, so their expressions were extremely gloomy.

Even if they thought about it, their decision was obvious.

Nothing was more precious than their own lives.

Bae Dohsoo gritted his teeth, “Retreat!”

The party started to run away from the battle. But the Goblins weren’t about to just let them flee.

Pah-jee-jeek!

The Hobgoblin was finally able to see again. It howled, pointing its cane at the group. The room flashed white, and a lightning bolt struck Sunggoo as he ran.

His throat locked up, so he couldn’t even let out a scream. Sunggoo’s eyes rolled up in his skull as he dropped heavily to the ground, unmoving.

Bae Dohsoo cursed, “Che, hurry up and run away!”

Sunggoo wasn’t part of their original team, so they didn’t feel sorry for him. After all, an Awakened who chose to enter a dungeon flirted with death at every moment.

He was just unlucky.

“Kee-eek, keek!”

The Goblins chased the group a bit further up the dungeon, but soon returned to the Hobgoblin’s side. At long last, Woojin, who’d hidden behind a pillar, revealed himself.

“It’s been a while since I hunted a group.”

Two casualties, and the rest had run away. Woojin laughed as he looked at the Goblins.

He had enjoyed being a spectator, but now it was his turn.