A Side Character's Mission ↠ Solo Leveling

Chapter 7: The Awakened Boss

"Huh?" Jin-Woo was startled by the sudden question. "I wouldn't say that I'm scared. After the... I've went through many times near death experience so seeing unexpected monsters like these becomes usual."

Jin-Woo decided not to say anything about the Double Lair.

When all of the monsters had been annihilated, Hwang Dong-Suk's group members collected the magic crystals from the carcasses. According to their contract, Jin-Woo and Seung-Eun wouldn't get any share for it.

"Dong-Suk! Come take a look at this!"

Some of the dead insects ahead of them had their body chewed off, revealing their green body liquids.

"Look at their wounds."

"It's not a blade wound. We didn't inflict this, I guess?"

"Right? It's not a burn from magic either, it seems like they were eaten off, and there aren't just one or two of these."

Hwang Dong-Suk inspected the carcasses closer and touched the edge of the bitten part. "So it was like this before fighting us? Were the monsters having a territorial feud amongst themselves?"

"That means there is a monster stronger than these guys..."

"A boss? Or..."

Suddenly, they were quiet, making the atmosphere tense.

"Jin-Ho, that sword and shield are expensive, right?" Jin-Woo suddenly asked.

"Yes? Oh, my father took extra care after hearing that I'm on my first raid."

"I'm not sure but... you should be wary."

Hearing the weird comments, Seung-Eun asked, "What's wrong, hyung?"

Jin-Woo looked at him with a contemplated gaze. 'If they attack us at once, I can fend off myself but I'm not sure if I can protect him. Even worse, we are outnumbered.'

Jin-Woo lowered his voice as he asked, "Have you ever fought a Hunter before?"

"... What's with the sudden question? I'm learning swordsmanship under Teacher Song, is that considered?"

"..." When Jin-Woo turned back to the front, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Alright."

Jin-Ho noticed that Jin-Woo was getting serious and tried to lighten up the mood with a grin. "What are you worried about hyung? You have me to protect both of you."

It took a while moving around in the tunnels to find the Dungeon boss. Once in a while, the raiding party took a short rest before continuing the journey. Seung-Eun noticed that Jin-Woo still had a serious expression, and cautious towards the squad of Hunters around them.

They moved around for a while and encountered only few of the insect-type monsters since most of them were already dead. Horrible smell lingered in the air from the green liquid of the monsters. Most of the time, Jin-Ho talked with Seung-Eun about random things while Jin-Woo remained quiet most of the time. Hwang Dong-Suk lead the way together with the magician who created a light on his palm.

"Wait. Gyu-Hwan, illuminate the area."

When the light's brightness intensified, they could see a spider nest in front of them. The tunnel was covered with thick spider webs and cocoon of the insect monsters they fought earlier.

They continued to walk further until they saw numerous amount of blue crystals within the gaps of the webs on the tunnel.

"Mana crystals?!"

"How many are there?"

"Wow, this is amazing!"

"It's worth less than monsters dropped crystals because of its low energy but... If it's this many, I guess they should fetch a higher price than magic crystals? Just looking at them, they should fetch over 10,000,000 won."