Translator: Min, Editors: Spade, Roki
Proofreader: Sapphire
Chord324 had failed to clear the third out of the seven-dungeons Korean Raid.
They had entered the dungeon at 4:00 pm and left after six hours, all of which were broadcasted through the Hunters’ Association’s broadcasting station. The whole process was filmed, starting from the moment they entered the temple to when they used a teleportation stone to return to the gate and walked out.
The Association’s cameraman who had entered with them was spared the threat of the monsters by consuming an advanced invisibility potion, but his life was still put at risk when the temple collapsed. The process was captured on film, and the public’s reaction to the footage was one of despair.
Chord, one of the most elite teams that belonged to the No.1 guild in South Korea and included two S-class Hunters, had failed to capture the dungeon. The second-ranked guild, Crusade, announced that they would enter the dungeon after thoroughly analyzing the video of Chord’s raid, but this did little to quell the furor.
An outpouring of harsh criticism and blame from people horrified by the dungeon’s difficulty followed the failed raid. They specifically blamed the leader of Chord, Sa Hyeon, for saying the words “give up” at the end.
Sa Hyeon first took the collapsed Yisun home, then returned to the HN Guild building. It was close to midnight, but all of Chord’s Hunters were waiting to analyze the factors that led to the failure.
Since Chord had failed to clear the third dungeon, the entry rights would be passed on to the other guilds, but they would be able to enter the third dungeon again if the other guilds all failed. Even if they didn’t manage to enter a second time, Chord would still have priority access to the fourth dungeon. However, public opinion would not be favorable if another guild cleared the third dungeon and Chord entered the fourth dungeon first.
“You’re here.”
One by one, the Hunters greeted him as he arrived at Chord’s office. Their sullen faces were filled with regret, but Sa Hyeon started the meeting with a calm face. Shin Jian, who had just finished a call with the Hunters’ Association, switched on the TV in the center of the office and spoke.
“The Crusade Guild will enter at 6:00 am”
“That’s a long wait… Aren’t they wasting as much as eight hours?”
Na Gunwoo let out a long sigh. Of the sixty hours until the dungeon’s explosion, six hours had already been used by Chord, and if Crusade took eight hours as preparation time, a total of fourteen hours would be lost. Considering the fact that Chord’s dungeon clearing speed was quite fast compared to the other guilds, the Crusade Guild would have to spend at least 10 hours inside.Hopefully they would succeed, but if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have much time left.
As it was a “third, the damage caused by its explosion was three times that of a normal S-tier dungeon. Considering that the First Great Dungeon that had exploded and blew up half of Yongin was an S-class dungeon, it was possible that the third dungeon would erase the entirety of Seoul if it were to explode.
Na Gunwoo scratched his head in frustration and looked at the TV screen. Currently, the news was reporting that the Crusade Guild would soon reveal the time they would enter the dungeon and discuss their strategy.
“Do you think Crusade will clear it?”
“I’m not sure.”
Sa Hyeon answered the Hunter’s question. His jet-black eyes were fixed on the screen, index finger tapping on the desk.
“The S-class Hunter at the center of Crusade’s operations is also a Lightning Mage. She has the same attributes as the third dungeon boss, Zeus, so they shouldn’t do much damage… Moreover, Crusade has a higher percentage of close-range damage dealers than ranged ones, so they’ll struggle with the flying monsters from the start. And since dungeon mobs gain resistance to elements similar to the boss monster’s attributes, Crusade’s Guild leader’s Lightning ability won’t have much of an advantage against them either.”
The Hunters nodded at Sa Hyeon’s cold analysis. One by one, they came to the unanimous conclusion that the third guild to be granted entry, Paradise, didn’t have much of a chance either. Paradise had more ranged Mage Hunters, but the Zeus statue was highly resistant to all attributes, making it difficult for most magic users to deal with.
Naturally, with the possibility of re-entering the dungeon in mind, the team began to analyze the factors that led to their failure this time. Even if another guild ended up clearing it, it was still important to understand the root cause of their current problems. Everyone watched the recording of their third dungeon run and discussed the issues they were having. There were many situations that were not captured on camera.
Although they only decided to give up on the dungeon once Yisun couldn’t maintain his abilities and caused the temple to collapse, their failure was already a foregone conclusion from the moment Zeus struck with his thunderbolt.
“Rushing into action before we understood the pattern of the statue’s thunderbolt attack was our biggest mistake.” Sa Hyeon summed up neatly.
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.
Apparently, the boss monster’s lightning skill was triggered when it sustained a certain amount of damage, but because they hadn’t figured that out, they had everyone attacking the monster from the beginning, causing a lot of damage. As Sa Hyeon analyzed, the Chord Hunters bowed their heads in regret.
Suddenly, a breaking news report appeared on the TV. Cheon Hyeongwon, the next Guild leader of the third-ranked Paradise Guild, had called a press conference. He stood at the podium and expressed his concern over the situation, seemingly sympathizing with the citizens’ anxiety and fear, before finally clenching his fists and declaring:
[“Where Chord failed, I will definitely clear the third dungeon.”]
Na Gunwoo clicked his tongue.
“Look at him talking nonsense again…”
For a moment, the Hunters laughed out loud. It was a well known fact among Hunters that Cheon Hyeongwon had been trying to surpass Sa Hyeon’s performance even before his succession as Guild Leader was confirmed. It was no wonder, when Chord’s record in four years was better than his own achievements in over a decade. Chord was Korea’s most elite team— they were always a force to be reckoned with and a threat that their rivals needed to keep in check.
Sa Hyeon’s gaze tore away from the screen and turned to Shin Jian beside him.
“Where’s Hunter Han Arin?”
“She’s in the recovery room on the 24th floor. They said she’ll wake up sometime during the early morning hours.”
Sa Hyeon nodded and stood up to go check on her condition with Na Gunwoo swiftly following him.
Han Arin had taken a direct hit from the boss monster’s thunderbolt. Even with the resistance of an S-class Hunter, she couldn’t withstand it and eventually lost consciousness. Now, she was in the recovery room for HN Guild’s Hunters. Not only Han Arin was there, but so was Ki Joohyuk, who had been in the immediate vicinity when the boss monster used its lightning attack. He had suffered minor burns on his hands and was also being treated in the recovery room.
Joohyuk jumped out of his seat as soon as he saw Sa Hyeon coming, urgently gesturing for Na Gunwoo to sit down.
“You’re hurt, so you should be careful and take it easy.”
“It’s just a hand injury. It’ll heal up quickly, and I’ll be as good as new by the end of today.” Ki Joohyuk laughed as he squeezed and unclenched his swollen, reddened hand. If his hand was placed in a slightly different position, it would have been crushed by the statue of Zeus. Sa Hyeon checked his hand and moved to the room where Han Arin was. Fortunately, she didn’t have any major wounds, and her injuries were healing quickly.
As Sa Hyeon watched her through the glass, he spoke unhurriedly, “We’ll be re-entering tomorrow morning at the earliest, or in the evening, so tell everyone to regroup and prepare until then.”
“Hmm, Crusade’s main damage dealer is a Lightning Mage, so that’s that, but will Paradise also fail for sure?”
“I heard that the Paradise Guild’s elite team has been recruiting some Hunters lately…”
When told to prepare for re-entry, Ki Joohyuk and Na Gunwoo responded one after the other. Neither of them were particularly fond of the Paradise Guild, but they read that they had recently recruited many A-class Hunters. With Sa Hyeon leading the elite team, Chord, Paradise had followed suit, aggressively scouting for Hunters.
Sa Hyeon smiled at their words.
“So, you can call it an elite team just because they put a few A-classes together? Forget about clearing the dungeon, they can’t even match up. If you’re in Chord, then you have to have at least this much analytical skill.”
“Y, yes sir…”
Na Gunwoo and Ki Joohyuk responded awkwardly at the same time. They exchanged uneasy glances, but Sa Hyeon moved out into the hallway as if his business was done. He began heading back to Chord’s conference room to continue analyzing the video.
But Ki Joohyuk, who was following behind, hesitated for a bit before asking cautiously, “Um, will… Restorer-nim be okay? The reactions right now are no joke…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, well, I mean… I’m a little worried about whether he’ll be in a state to re-enter tomorrow or the day after. He doesn’t seem to use social media much, but just in case, it would be a good idea to take away his phone for a while so he doesn’t see anything…”
At Sa Hyeon’s puzzled gaze, Ki Joohyuk laughed unnaturally and cautiously informed him that public opinion was too vicious. After Chord’s failed attempt at the third dungeon was broadcasted live, an edited version of the last part where the temple collapsed was circulated around the internet and the reactions to it were really bad.
“Restorer-nim is already unstable, if he were to see things like that…”
Ki Joohyuk’s words trailed off as he felt the gaze fixed on him. Sa Hyeon seemed to ponder over the word “unstable”, before he started walking again.
At the end of the 24th floor corridor, where the recovery room was located, he could hear Hunters of the HN Guild talking. There was a small lounge where Hunters often gathered for a quiet chat, and they were discussing Chord’s failure in the third dungeon.
“What are we going to do now that we lost the entry right this time? Chord is supposed to go first in the fourth dungeon…”
“If another guild clears the third dungeon but it’s Chord who enters the 4th, the reaction will be terrible. They’ll be screaming to cancel the entry rights. The dungeon’s explosion would wipe out the entire city, who’d like to waste precious attack time?”
“I was uneasy about this the moment they decided to send a Restorer in.”
Raid teams in the HN Guild, with the exception of Chord, were divided into first, second, and third tier. If a dungeon was B-class difficulty or higher, the first tier raiders would go. For C-class difficulty, the second tier would go, and the third tier would take care of D-class difficulty dungeons. Even the second and third tier raid teams in HN were as good as the first tier raids of most other guilds, and Chord had the prestige of being the number one guild in Korea.
The ones currently huddled together, sighing heavily and voicing their concerns about the failure of this dungeon in the common lounge were none other than the second tier Hunters, their words of concern no more than mockery in disguise.
“Everyone was fussing about that cheat-like —or whatever it was— Restorer up until the second dungeon, and look where that got us now.”
“Honestly, they don’t even need to restore those paths, do they? It might be a little difficult, but it doesn’t seem impossible. Aren’t they just putting on a show?”
“Right? I thought I was the only one who thought that. Who knows, maybe they decided to cooperate with each other, showing off the Restorer to get more views, and get more kickbacks for Chord.”
“The Restorer? Ah– that Jung Yisun? The public was all over him like he was a hero, but the other Restorers said he was weird. They said he didn’t even restore the temple this time, that he seemed less capable.”
“Well, he’s just a dead weight, that’s true. I watched the video and he didn’t look like he was in his right mind… How can you clear dungeons with a kid like that…?”
The conversation in the lounge echoed through the silent corridors. There was an invisible line dividing the guild due to the constant conflict between HN’s Vice Guild leader, Sa Yoonkang and Chord’s leader, Sa Hyeon. Hunters on Sa Yoonkang’s side would proudly boast about being in the same guild as Chord when they set records, but would immediately turn around and criticize them when they failed.
Hearing them talk, Ki Joohyuk immediately jumped to his feet, but Na Gunwoo quickly tugged on his arm and pointed to Sa Hyeon. Ki Joohyuk glanced at Sa Hyeon’s back, then sideways to the glass window, where he caught a glimpse of his reflection, the smile painted on Hyeon’s face quickly extinguishing his rising temper.
Soon, Sa Hyeon walked over to the idle Hunters and asked casually:
“I did the scouting, do you have a problem with that?”
At the sound of his voice, all of the Hunters sitting around the table jerked up in surprise, especially their team captain at the front, whose shoulders were shaking. Sa Hyeon walked up behind him and spoke in a friendly tone.
“You guys seem to have quite a few complaints, tell me.”
“Oh, no. It’s…”
“As fellow members of the same HN Guild, I like to hear different opinions, so if you have a problem with my raid team composition, let’s hear it.”
Immediately, all the Hunters stood up and bowed in front of Sa Hyeon. However, he stood still as if he had no intention of retreating after simply receiving their greetings. As the Hunters exchanged panicked glances with each other, their captain closed his eyes and spoke.
“Sa, Sa Hyeon! We don’t mean to condemn Hunter Sa Hyeon’s scouting decisions, but honestly, bringing a non-combat-type Awakener into a raid, let alone an S-class dungeon, is a bit reckless… I mean, it’s too much added pressure. Even the Association’s cameraman is a combat-type Hunter, and an Awakener who’s unable to even defend himself…”
“Go on.”
“More importantly, isn’t the reason for the failure of this tactical room all due to Jung Yisun? He can’t seem to Restore properly, and he’s not in his right mind, so shouldn’t we dismiss him now…”
“Ah…”
“I also heard this a little while ago, but the Vice Guild leader said that instead of Chord, they were considering letting HN Guild’s first tier raid team enter the 4th dungeon.”
Emboldened by the other party’s sigh, the raid team captain spoke a little louder. While Sa Hyeon listened quietly until he was done, Ki Joohyuk’s frown only deepened behind him.
Sa Hyeon smiled, “Hunter Lee Seokmin.”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t your raid team the one that failed the first attempt at clearing a C-class dungeon on the 14th of January this year?”
“…Yes? That’s, that’s right…”
“You also failed on the 10th of February. And on the 21st, you almost failed, but then only with the help of another raid team did you manage to clear it. And a week later, you failed again.”
The smiling Sa Hyeon rattled off Lee Seokmin’s performance record. From the moment he joined the HN Guild and became the captain of the second tier raid team, the list was endless.
And finally, “Overall, the success rate for first attempts at clearing dungeons is 41.3%.”
“…….”
“Now, let’s try Jung Yisun-ssi. Ah, Yisun-ssi entered three dungeons so far and failed once, so his success rate is 66.6%. If we exclude the Great Second Dungeon, since he went in by accident and had no intention of clearing it, he has entered two S-class dungeons and failed once. Success rate 50%.”
Looking at Lee Seokmin’s pale face, Sa Hyeon affectionately prodded him.
“If even a 50% success rate is worth getting criticized, we’ll have to get rid of anything below 60%, don’t you think? The HN Guild has given you far too many chances already.”
“W, well, that’s…”
“In a world where failing once means you’ve lost your mind, HN Guild sure hasn’t kept up with the times. The number one guild in Korea shouldn’t be allowed to decline. The Vice Guild leader is very concerned about the guild’s image, so I’ll bring up this issue.”
Like a death sentence, Sa Hyeon’s words turned the faces of Lee Seokmin and the Hunters standing behind him a ghostly white. Caught off guard, they stuttered and fumbled for words, until one Hunter finally spoke up in frustration.
“But considering the damage it will cause, can we afford things going wrong now?? If someone causes trouble in the raid team, they should be expelled–!”
But his words were cut short. Sa Hyeon stared at him, the ever-present polite smile on his face nowhere to be seen at this moment. His smiling face was already scary, but now the Hunter was even more terrified.
Sa Hyeon looked at the Hunters in front of him, one by one, as if to confirm whether they shared their teammate’s thoughts, and then his lips curved. Their expressions already gave away the answer.
“Let’s just say that the current situation has the ordinary folks terrified, so it makes sense that, through the lens of their fear, they would magnify this failure and make a big deal out of it. In their panic, they might not be able to grasp the exact cause and effect of the dungeon failure, but what about you?”
“That’s…”
“Aren’t all of you Hunters? Did I unknowingly walk into a regular company? Or did you all somehow quit the guild and return to an ordinary citizen’s life? It would be better if that were the case, because it doesn’t feel like I’m talking to Hunters at all.”
“…….”
“You’re free to think what you want, but you can’t go around blurting nonsense carelessly.”
Sa Hyeon’s tone was chillingly calm, and there was not a hint of a scowl on his face, yet they all fell silent under his gaze. Sa Hyeon patted Lee Seokmin’s shoulder affectionately.
“If you’re idle enough to talk so lightly and blame others for failures, why don’t you go train instead? Maybe it would do you some good and improve your low and pathetic success rate, if even a little bit.”
Eventually, Lee Seokmin lowered his head. Sa Hyeon stared down at him for a moment, then, receiving a text, checked his phone. It was the caregiver he’d assigned to Yisun, letting him know he woke up. Sa Hyeon stared at the screen wordlessly for a moment before turning and walking away.
A chilling silence lingered in the corridor.
Min: Finally managed to post after a while, sorry for the long wait! All my thanks to Spade, Roki, and Sapphire for the hard work on the chapters, I love them so much ;-; well here’s the promised double update, i hope you enjoy~<3
Sa Byron’s absolute Beatdown is making me cry through the screen 😭
Sa Byron helpjdanjdsk ig he’s too eloquent, and tyyysm for reading 💞🌸
yay! thank you for the translate!
Thank youu for readiing~💞
Statistical slap down! Whoo hoo! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️📊👀
Mhm hard numbers hit hard🐦 Thank you for reaading~<3🌸🐤
Oh, yeah, let’s ruin the haters
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Yup, Sa Hyeon said no Yisun slander in this house😒, thank you for reading~🌸
TRANSLATOR YOURE BACK AHHHHHH IVE MISSED YOU
AAAA I also missed u guys hehe
How I imagine my fights to go a week after they happened 😌
Thanks for the translation!❤️❤️❤️