Translator: Min999, Editor: Spade
Proofreader: Sapphire
The first floor of the second dungeon, ‘The Hanging Gardens of Babylon’, was cleared in no time.
The path leading to the dungeon was neatly restored by Yisun, making it easier for Chord to enter. Sometimes the floor would shake beneath their feet, as if a trap underneath was triggered, but since Yisun had carefully restored the entirety of the road as a precaution, they managed to pass through safely. And the monsters that would have originally ambushed them through the holes in the ruins took more time to break through the floor, giving them ample time to prepare and counter them.
The monsters on the first floor were wiped out efficiently. Yisun had watched quite a few dungeon recordings of Chord when he had first decided to sign a contract with Sa Hyeon, but nothing could compare to the excitement of seeing them in action in person.
The elite team was mainly made up of A-class and S-class Hunters. Sa Hyeon and Han Arin were the only S-classes in Chord, and the two barely ever needed to step forward before they reached the Boss room. With the exception of its five main core Hunters, the rest of Chord’s 15 members were divided into 3 teams to face monsters from front, left, and right sides. Meanwhile, the remaining six, moving in a group centered around Sa Hyeon and Yisun, stayed back to offer support only when need arose.
In fact, Yisun had been extremely anxious about entering an S-class dungeon, however those worries were quickly swept away by Chord’s smooth and seamless operations. Each team was composed of five well-matched and properly coordinated Hunters, and every single one of their attacks was neat and accurate.
Since the dungeon theme was a garden, most of the monsters that appeared were in the form of plants. The eerie appearance of them crawling and extending their roots while heavily covered in dark red mud made for a bizarre sight. Furthermore, since it was an S-class dungeon, the sentient monsters also seemed to have a certain level of ‘intelligence’.
As they keenly aimed for the Mage and Healer Hunters first, Ki Joohyuk and Han Arin swiftly stepped forward. As Joohyuk raised his rod, a whirlpool of water swept all over the place. Meanwhile, Han Arin pulled out her staff and ran forward. Using her staff that extended into a 5-meter long weapon, she attacked fiercely, powerfully sweeping the ground where the monsters’ roots were entrenched.
As soon as Han Arin earned time by cutting off the monsters’ feet, the rest of the team wasted no time in attacking. Then, Ki Joohyuk struck as fast as lightning, unleashing sweltering fire. Contrary to the mesmerized Jung Yisun, Han Arin seemed unimpressed as she hit Joohyuk on the back.
“Hey! How many times did I tell you not to use fire magic after drenching the monster with water because it decreases the damage dealt?!”
“But look at it, my fire is strong enough to persist and burn anything, even drenched wood.
“Look at it burning? It burns everything? Are you sure it’s not your mana you’re burning out? Maybe your brain cells were fried a long time ago?”
Their bantering voices were quiet, conscious of the broadcast camera following them, but that didn’t stop them from exchanging a few more biting retorts. Yisun decided to quietly throw away his first impression of the ‘gentle lamb’ Han Arin.
However, he couldn’t dwell on that thought for long.
In front of them stood a giant door, from which an endless stream of somber energy flowed out. The Hunters who seemed to grasp the situation fell silent one by one.
Up until now, the raid party had been systematically destroying the monsters on the 2nd and 3rd floors as they climbed up to the roof. Yisun had restored the stairs leading from the 1st floor to the 2nd and 3rd floors, as well as their interiors. However, using his hidden ability consecutively consumed an enormous amount of stamina, so it was only natural that his restoration ability gradually deteriorated despite Na Gunwoo’s healing.
By the time they had reached the roof, he could only use around 30% of his restoration abilities. The magnificent door leading to the Boss room on the roof forced them to tilt their heads so far back just to see it in its full glory.
Sa Hyeon approached the door. His four team members naturally followed after his unhurried steps. As agreed on before, Yisun was handed over to another Hunter while Gunwoo followed his leader at the frontline. Since he was unable to fight, precautions were made so that he would be well protected in the rear.
Sa Hyeon looked up languidly at the grand door, both hands in his coat pockets, before kicking it lightly. It wasn’t a particularly forceful gesture, but a huge roar echoed as the door opened.
In the center of the spacious interior was a very large tree, and the trickling sound of water, the origin of which they couldn’t see, echoed quietly through the space. As soon as the door opened, relief soon painted the faces of the Hunters who had been standing on high alert. Everyone looked more relaxed, not only because there were no monsters rushing at them, but the Boss room interior was dark. The only place graced by sunlight was the tree in the center, other than that there were no lights to serve as a source of illumination in the dim room. This was a domain tailored completely to serve as a backdrop for Sa Hyeon.
“I’ll be casting the Haste Buff then.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Even before entering the Boss room, Na Gunwoo had been consistently buffing all of the Raid members. However, sometimes all buffs were dispelled upon entering the Boss room, so he would save the ones that consumed the most mana for last, and only on the 4 people of the main team, since the number of people he could cast it on was limited.
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A sudden gust of wind blew from behind, pushing all of the Chord members who were standing on standby into the room, and the door behind them closed with a loud thud. At the same time, moss started to grow in the gaps in the walls on both sides, as Ivy vines grew from the floor and quickly seized the entire room, just like a scene from a horror movie.
[FOOLISH HUMANS. YOU DARE TO INVADE MY GARDEN…]
A booming grim voice reverberated through the space, they weren’t so sure about whether it was echoing in the room or inside their own heads.
Shin Jian ran to the wall and, clenching her fist, punched it powerfully with her knuckles. However, even though the attack was so potent that the air around her vibrated, not even cracks could be seen on the wall that only shook slightly. The plants that filled the wall seemed to have cushioned most of the shock.
Ki Joohyuk, who saw this, yelled to retreat and shot a fire spell. However, the plants seemed to be resistant to fire, and thus sustained no damage at all.
Monsters soon began to emerge from all sides, and the vines growing on the wall charged at the Hunters in the form of monsters as well, while their protruding roots tried to grab at the Hunters’ feet. The Hunters stumbled around, shifting their feet to avoid all kinds of attack.
And then, Sa Hyeon let out a low amused chuckle.
“Well, this is going to be interesting.”
The sound of his laughter in this situation drew the attention of the perplexed Hunters. Yisun, who was also startled by the current situation, looked at him with widened eyes. He then noticed that the mass of black energy beneath Hyeon’s feet had formed a circle, keeping all the approaching roots at bay.
“Avoid the roots on the floor and stick close to the wall.”
Following his orders, the Hunters moved resolutely. After that, Sa Hyeon took two steps forward, as the shadow within the area became even darker. It was a phenomenon that occurred when Sa Hyeon designated an area as his own domain. The shadows on the ground rippled like waves, gradually pushing all the monsters and gathering them in one place.
That’s when Yisun realized that both the emerging monsters and the vine roots sprouting out of the ground had been naturally pushing people inwards, towards the center where the “tree” was located. There must be some large trap awaiting them there.
The shadows slithered out from the floor and started swirling like whirlpools. Transferring physical power to his manipulated shadows was one of Sa Hyeon’s abilities. As he controlled it, his own body would lose strength, and so, Shin Jian, the dedicated damage tank, stood beside him. Yet, Sa Hyeon stood in the midst of it all as he rounded up the monsters, looking undisturbed. It was as if he hadn’t needed someone to guard him at all.
It was a very bizarre sight where the shadows would attack its targets persistently, forcing the monsters to move towards the center. Sunlight shone down on the huge tree in the center, however, everything else around it was shrouded in darkness, so it was the right field for Hyeon to work his magic. At last, all the monsters were gathered in the center.
With a huge roar, the roots of the tree in the center sprang up and attacked viciously. It was likely an indiscriminate attack that was triggered as soon as someone entered its field. Multiple roots sprang up and pierced through the monster plants, before striking downwards. If it had been the Hunters who had been pushed in there, the consequences would have surely been dire.
Only when the monster blood spilled on the ground reached the center of its roots, did the tree’s ruthless attacks finally stop. It crawled out using its hand-like roots for support, and its full body finally emerged.
[YOU DARE…!]
It was the boss monster that laid dormant, masquerading as a tree up until now.
The thunderous roar of the dungeon boss made the air tremble. It seemed like it was also some sort of soundwave attack, and Yisun, who had no special resistance, staggered and collapsed in pain. His head felt like it was going to burst. But this pain only lasted for a moment, as all of the Chord members rushed to attack the boss monster.
The boss monster had already dealt with half of the lower class monsters, making it much easier. The tanks quickly rushed at the boss and taunted it, dragging all the aggro towards themselves, then the Mages launched their ranged attack. Han Arin wielded a long staff, attacking any roots sprouting from the ground, and pushed the big tree’s body to the side. All of the Chord members tacitly cooperated into leading the boss monster towards an area within the range of the shadow field.
When the boss monster finally moved away from its cozy spot in the sunlight, Sa Hyeon quickly moved behind it and struck its largest root with his dagger. The roots were cut cleanly as smoke flickered around the black blade. For a fleeting moment, Yisun saw Sa Hyeon’s hand briefly touch the monster.
Next, Sa Hyeon quickly moved through the shadows, consistently and accurately cutting down the monster’s roots. The long-range Hunters attacked from afar and steadily attracted its aggro, while the close-range Hunters guarded their surroundings to prevent any roots from reaching them. All errant roots that tried to attack Sa Hyeon were soon blocked by Shin Jian and Han Arin.
The roots had enormous attack power, preventing everyone from even coming near the tree monster. Only Sa Hyeon could move past them through his shadows and swiftly land his attacks.
Yisun had been training with Hyeon for the past week and was familiar with how fast he could move through the shadows, yet now, with the Haste buff, he could barely keep up with the speed at which he moved. The monster writhed and attempted to retreat back into its safe spot in the sunlight for a moment. Sa Hyeon, who had noticed, moved into the shadow behind it and attacked the monster, blocking its path.
However, the more they attacked, the stronger the monster’s resistance seemed to grow. Not only could they no longer cut them off as quickly, its roots also regenerated at a fast pace.
Yisun stood with the Healers at the back, watching anxiously as everyone struggled with the persistent roots. The trauma-induced anxiety that had been gently simmering inside him before they even entered the dungeon and accompanied him all throughout, finally boiled over in that instant. He was slightly relieved after entering the dungeon and witnessing Chord’s incredible ability, but the longer it took to deal with the monster, the more dread overwhelmed his mind and body.
He still felt dizzy from the monster’s earlier roar, which wasn’t really helping his case and prevented him from thinking clearly. His vision shattered into a million pieces, and his heart raced violently at the sight of Sa Hyeon moving swiftly in between the roots. Although he would disappear as soon as a root tried attacking him, but to Yisun, whose gaze couldn’t keep up with the speed of his movements, it seemed as if he was attacked. Even though it was just an afterimage, it stole his breath every time.
If only he could do something about those roots.
As soon as Yisun entertained that thought, he came to a sudden realization. As the boss monster crawled out from his initial spot on the ground, the floor had cracked and the marble tiles had collapsed. Yisun was standing by the door, but thanks to his training over the past week, he had learned how to restore damaged structures from afar.
Without thinking too much, Yisun lowered his body and placed his hands on the ground. The floor was shaking tremendously, causing his hands to tremble uncontrollably. The Hunters around him were perplexed by Yisun’s sudden behavior and asked him if there was anything wrong, but Yisun had no time to respond. He put all his focus into restoring the floor.
The boss monster’s roots shot out endlessly from the cracked floor. Then, if the ground was restored again, even if it doesn’t stop them completely, if it could at least delay the endlessly emerging roots…
Yisun’s amber eyes, that were shaking due to the mix of overwhelming fear, trauma, and worry, shone brightly at this moment as he stared accurately at the targeted area of the floor. Rather than restoring the entire space, he would only focus on the area where the roots had broken out from instead. He visualized the shortest path in his head, and then aimed for the moment when the tree roots had retreated for a short moment after attacking.
The moment the roots touched the ground with a loud thud, Yisun immediately used his restoration ability. The tile rubble lying on the floor flew up in an instant and started to patch up the holes in the ground. Rather than making a perfect restoration, Yisun focused on suppressing the roots that tried to emerge, burying them under the rubble.
The boss monster, whose movement had been suddenly restricted, roared in indignation. Yisun staggered as his head felt like it was splitting into a thousand pieces, but his hands on the floor were determined and steady.
“This is…”
The Hunters near the monster were the first to notice the situation. After glancing at Yisun briefly, they immediately turned their heads and helped block the monster’s movement together. After all, it was impossible for Yisun’s restoration alone to suppress all of the roots; they needed to cooperate.
As soon as the roots soaring above them decreased into less than to less than three, Sa Hyeon appeared behind the boss monster, and slashed his body sharply in a zigzag pattern. The body that was cut into pieces soon started regenerating, yet before it could completely piece itself back together, an black abyssal dagger was plunged into its core. Sa Hyeon had located the location of the boss’s nucleus in an instant.
With a deafening shatter, the pierced nucleus broke into pieces.
For a moment, time seemed to flow in slow motion, as the space pierced by Sa Hyeon’s attack gaped open, and the movement of roots ceased slowly, the large tree leaned forward.
Finally, the destroyed boss monster collapsed loudly onto the ground.
Silence descended upon the room. All the Hunters stood frozen as they looked at the boss on the ground, then at Sa Hyeon standing in front of it. The said Hunter lightly spun his dagger twice, sending the blood on his blade scattering on the ground in a crimson spray. Then, as soon as he opened the hand holding it, the black dagger scattered away like smoke and disappeared, signaling the end of the battle.
The leader’s expression announced the end of a long battle.
“Whoa…”
“Haa…”
The Hunters sighed in relief and burst in excitement, patting each other on the shoulder for a work well done, some even applauded. Yisun stared blankly at the scene.
It was a glorious moment where they successfully cleared the second S-class dungeon out of the 7 linked dungeons Raid.
Soon, the Healers who had been watching by the door quickly rushed to heal the injured. While the Hunters gathered around the boss monster’s corpse, Sa Hyeon approached Yisun in an area far away from the bustling crowd.
Sa Hyeon bent down until he was eye level with Yisun who was sitting on the floor.
“Thank you. You were incredible up until the very end, Yisun-ssi.”
Sa Hyeon’s eyes curved as he smiled at him. Although it was the easy polite smile that never left his face, Yisun still felt that he seemed to be quite pleased right now. Sa Hyeon patted Yisun on the shoulder and reached out for a handshake.
Yisun hesitated as he was barely supporting himself on the floor with both hands, but he was soon overwhelmed by Sa Hyeon’s gaze fixed on him and held out his hand begrudgingly. The warmth radiating off his skin was something he could never get used to, it was even more so unfamiliar in such a situation where they cleared the dungeon.
When he had cleared the dungeon a year ago, the only thing he could hold were his friends' cold hands. Even then, he had avoided them over and over again because he was terrified of reaching out to them with hands tainted in their own blood. But now there wasn’t a single drop of blood staining his hands. Moreover, he was even holding the warmth of a living person’s hand. Yisun couldn’t help feeling nauseated by the unfamiliar feeling.
Soon after, Shin Jian, who was in front of the boss monster, announced that the items from the monster boss had dropped. Not only high-rarity items, but they also found a wooden plaque containing clues for the upcoming dungeon. Sa Hyeon stood up and patted Yisun on the shoulder again.
“Get some rest, now.”
Then, he motioned for Na Gunwoo who had been following him, to check Yisun’s condition before walking away. Na Gunwoo first moved Yisun back, making him lean his back against the wall so that he could sit more comfortably.
“You were really amazing, Restorer Yisun! You could even think of such a use to your abilities at that time.”
Na Gunwoo exclaimed with admiration as he cast recovery spells on Yisun. However, the main culprit behind Yisun’s exhaustion was not a stamina problem, but a mental one. It was due to the sequelae penalty after using his hidden abilities. As a result, once he was healed by Na Gunwoo ‘s, his body felt lighter, yet his mind was weirdly detached. In the midst of that strange sensation, Yisun mumbled drowsily.
“Umm… About Hunter Sa Hyeon….he must really like to shake hands.”
His mind was fuzzy, as if he would fall asleep any second now. People from Chord who claimed to be fans of his had asked to shake hands a few times, but Sa Hyeon asked for handshakes frequently. Not only that, he would often hold his hand, and jokingly comment that his wrists were still very thin. Although the gestures were fairly gentle, Yisun disliked that kind of overly friendly contact. He was uncomfortable with the constant bursts of warmth radiating off his skin.
“Why does he like to hold people’s hands… so much.”
Yisun tilted his head, annoyed, after he barely managed to mutter two sentences. For some reason, Na Gunwoo looked at him with a very embarrassed and complicated expression. His lips twitched as he seemed to realize something from Yisun’s words, and he could only laugh awkwardly.
“Oh, that’s right… That’s because when the leader comes into contact with someone he… Ah, I mean, no…”
After stumbling over his words repeatedly, in the end Na Gunwoo simply closed his mouth. Yisun looked at him curiously, but Na Gunwoo suddenly wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, complaining about how hot it was… It was an extremely awkward, and extremely suspicious act.
“…What is it?”
“Nothing, nothing. It’s nothing at all. Haha…ha.”
Now Na Gunwoo had even started to sweat coldly. And although Yisun still had so many questions he wanted to ask him, his mind was already too lethargic. He didn’t even have enough energy to open his mouth anymore, so he dropped the hand he had briefly held out, and completely closed his eyes.
Min: *drowning in exams and assignments, checks the next chapter, it’s 90% netizen comments, faints, gets revived, looks at Hyeon for motivation* 
Alriight small pop quiz! What do you think the handshake deal is all about?
yaaaay thank you!!! 💕💕
(also idk if it’s just me but when I clicked your ko-fi link it took me to the regular homepage instead of linking to your page! 😭 I tried searching for min999 but couldn’t find you either 🙁 – just a heads up!!)
ope nevermind, it’s working now!!! false alarm!! ╰(´︶`)╯♡
╰(´︶`)╯♡
Thank you for reaading~~💞
It’s going to be intimate and blushy… hmmmm.
Hmmmm maybe? 🕵
WHEN LEADER COMES INTO CONTACT WITH SOMEONE HE?!? 🥹🥹😭😭
THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE TRANSLATOR 🥰
Thank youuuu for reaadiing~~ and yesss he!!!
Thank you for the chapter. 💙
Thank you for reaading~💕🌸
Korean novels are so interesting!
Thank you for your translation 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
Yeah they have a different flavor ig~~ tyyy for reaadiing 🐥💕🌸
congrats to Chord on clearing the dungeon! now I’m excited for Yisun penalty period lol (that’s next right??)
thank you so much, translator-nim, for your hard work!!
Yesssss, it’s so sad how Yisun keeps rejecting that warmth even though he clearly longs for it ;-; i also like how the novel delves more into his feelings cause we don’t get that in the manhwa !!!!
Yess the panalty period is next~ in the third volumThank you for reading, and for your lovely comments Min, I enjoy reading them everytime <3