DHW 08

Chapter 8 ….

Instant Dungeon (4)

Central Road was filled with the murmur of people.

Bad news spreads quickly, and besides the restless local residents, newspaper reporters had also arrived.

Chief Park Choong-jae shouted toward the reporters near the cordon line.

“Don’t come over!”
“Ah, just for a moment—it’s fine!”
“Fine? What do you mean ‘fine’? Step back immediately!”
“Just let me take a quick shot—”
“Step back now!”

Chief Park rolled up the sleeve of his right arm.

Only when he hinted that he would use force if they resisted further did the reporters retreat.

Through the crowd of reporters, Captain Kim Jae-sang pushed his way roughly.

“Wow… what a hassle, hyung.”
“Yeah. The guy who should have been here isn’t.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I just came from negotiating at City Hall.”
“Negotiating?”
“Asking them to send someone with a detection skill.”
“That’s smart. I thought you were late because you went to get some kind of certification or something.”

Nodding, Chief Park scanned the surroundings.

All he saw were pot-bellied bald men—no one with a detection skill in sight.

“…They’re on their way from Geumsan County.”
“Dungeon broke, right? Damn it. That’ll take about thirty minutes…”

Captain Kim Jae-sang let out a wry smile at that.

It was exactly the kind of reply he had expected.

Sighing, he glanced at the reporters.

Perhaps it was because of the current situation, but they looked like hyenas, eagerly waiting for something disastrous to happen.

“I wonder what Yeon-i is doing right now…”

***

Choi-yeon stuck his tongue out in exasperation.

Even though a dagger was lodged in his side, the Orc Centurion paid no mind and swung a massive axe.

It seemed being a Centurion wasn’t just about being bigger than other orcs.

Thud, thud.

Choi-yeon stepped back two paces, escaping the effective range of the axe.

The dagger in his right hand remained embedded in his side. The blow had stiffened his muscles and fat, so it didn’t come out.

He hadn’t tried to pull it out intentionally—there was a simple reason. Once the Orc Centurion died, removing it would be easy.

“Shhhk!”

The Orc Centurion charged forward with a thunderous stomp.

Although Choi-yeon’s left hand was on the holster at his waist, his right hand was empty.

The Orc intended to kill him before he could draw a new weapon.

Whether this was instinct or a conscious decision was unclear.

From Choi-yeon’s perspective, however, it was a mistake—a misjudgment for failing to properly consider the surroundings.

Finishing this wouldn’t require much effort.

“Shhhk! Die!”

Whoosh!

The massive axe blade fell from above.

Just before Choi-yeon’s head would split like dry firewood, he twisted his body to avoid it.

At the same time, he drew his left hand from the holster—empty-handed.

Thud!

The axe slammed into the ground with such force that the forest floor momentarily trembled. Yet it accomplished nothing.

The axe continued moving, the broad side sweeping toward Choi-yeon.

He took a large step back with his right leg, dodging the axe as if swatting a fly.

“Shhhk…!”

The Orc Centurion snorted, visibly flustered at Choi-yeon’s simple evasion.

Unlike orcs, Choi-yeon was unbothered.

The follow-up attack after a downward chop with an axe or hammer was predictable.

The Orc Centurion’s next move was equally obvious: either step back to gain swing distance or use momentum to swing again.

Choosing the latter, the Orc Centurion swung the axe much faster than before.

Whoosh!

Still, nothing changed.

The blade cut through the air, again accomplishing nothing.

Of course—this was a momentum-based follow-up attack from a failed strike.

It was cost-effective but far from a remarkable attack.

Had their physical abilities been drastically different, perhaps—but they weren’t.

“Shhhk! Shhhk…!”

Breath hissed from its pig-like nostrils.

Each time, the large axe blade sliced the air violently.

Once, twice… Choi-yeon dodged, stepping back or to the side, without counterattacking.

Was it because he had no time to draw a weapon?

No.

It simply wasn’t necessary.

The Orc Centurion’s attacks could not last long without him using his hands.

“…”

Choi-yeon’s eyes focused on the arms swinging the axe high above—arms powered solely for slaughter.

They fell with force…

Scrrk!

Somewhere along the path, the axe cleanly severed.

Blood spurted from the cut.

The power devoted purely to killing now spilled uselessly, staining the ground like petals on soil.

“W-what…?”

The Orc Centurion muttered dumbly, staring at the missing part below the elbow, unable to comprehend what had happened.

The axe fell nearby, the Orc’s hand still clinging to its handle. The Centurion didn’t realize its hands were severed before the weapon did.

Not for long.

It processed the situation before the Orc did and slumped. Seconds later, it fell limply from the axe handle.

Plop, plop…

Seeing its hands fall pitifully to the ground,

“Kuuik…!”

The Orc Centurion realized and screamed.

The delayed pain echoed across the forest, intense and visceral.

Choi-yeon quietly observed, neither ending its suffering nor halting the grisly act.

Still, the scream ended quickly.

Blood from the severed arm spouted like a fountain.

Thud.

The Orc Centurion collapsed.

“Ugh…”

Stubbornly, it was not yet dead.

Its massive body contained a lot of blood, but not enough to move. All it could do was look up at Choi-yeon.

No, there was one more thing—it could still smell. The foul scent it had been tracking since encountering humans.

“Shhhk, shhhk…”
“…”

Choi-yeon sat beside the bloated orc body.

Feeling the dying Centurion’s gaze, he removed the dagger from his side, which came out much more easily than before.

Scrrk.

He slit the Orc Centurion’s throat.

This was not mercy to relieve its suffering, but simply processing a now-useless body.

“…A-amazing!”

A voice shouted from behind.

With a clattering sound, Go Seong-yoon rushed over and exclaimed in astonishment:

“Wow, how can you do that?”
“Do what?”

Choi-yeon asked back without answering.

With his left hand, he held the Orc Centurion’s head in place, while his right hand guided the dagger along the neck.

Once the blade passed, it lodged snugly—but not satisfied, the dagger moved slightly back and forth.

Scrrk, screeech…

The sharp steel cut through flesh and bone.

“Ugh…”

Go Seong-yoon let out a small groan.

For an ordinary person, not a hunter, it was remarkably patient. Even if he vomited, Choi-yeon would have understood.

Though unpleasant to watch, Choi-yeon did not stop the task. He continued.

Screech, screeech…

Go Seong-yoon tried to speak along the way:

“In the wasteland, I thought maybe it was because you threw smoke grenades and we couldn’t see. Even if the orcs couldn’t find you!”

He continued, trying to erase Choi-yeon’s unstoppable actions from his mind.

He looked away, covering his ears slightly with both hands. Somehow, his long rabbit ears drooped.

“But just now, you didn’t throw smoke and still managed to sneak behind them! That was incredible!”
“Ah, that’s thanks to a skill.”
“A skill?”
“Erasing presence. As the name implies, activating it can make your presence vanish. It’s like a weaker version of the stealth skill.”
“Wow. That skill exists? I’ve never heard of it!”
“I understand. I didn’t know it existed before I mastered it either.”
“Wait… mastered? You didn’t learn it?”
“Yes.”
“Wow! That’s incredibly difficult! I heard you had to become a master of something to learn it…!”

Go Seong-yoon exclaimed, turning to Choi-yeon, forgetting why he had looked away.

Choi-yeon smiled faintly at his clumsy reaction.

“That’s not entirely wrong, but not 100% correct either. Everyone’s conditions for mastering a skill are different. The environment is also a key factor.”
“Ah, really…?”
“Think of juggling a soccer ball. Some people can never do it no matter how much time they spend, while others can bounce it easily with minimal effort.”
“Ah.”
“And here’s a secret… I got this skill by chance.”
“By chance?”
“Yes. I was avoiding tasks assigned by the captain.”
“Uh… what…?”

Go Seong-yoon’s jaw dropped.

Avoiding work led to gaining a skill?

“But it’s not very effective. Only three of us in our squad, so every time I use it, I get noticed daily.”
“Ah…”
“Maybe it would work if there were more people, but that’s unlikely.”
“Haha…”

Listening to Choi-yeon, Go Seong-yoon laughed awkwardly.

Avoiding work to gain a skill—he could hardly believe it.

If mastering skills were that easy, most people in modern Korea could erase their presence.

While Go Seong-yoon guessed, Choi-yeon lifted the severed Orc Centurion’s head and stood.

Seeing this, Go Seong-yoon couldn’t resist asking, voice trembling:

“But… why did you cut off the orc’s head…?”
“This? I’m giving it as a gift.”
“A gift?”
“Yes.”
“Ah… I see…”

Go Seong-yoon nodded.

He didn’t understand Choi-yeon’s reasoning, but went along.

A gift? An orc’s head is hardly something you give as a present.

Unless it was for an offering… who would offer an orc’s head at a ritual?!

The more he thought, the more confused he became.

“Now then.”