Chapter 25

The monsters, busy threatening the red wolf with spears and shooting arrows, suddenly looked up as they felt their surroundings dim. They saw it: the demon, with blazing blue eyes, falling towards them. The demon swung its fist, instantly turning two of its spear-wielding comrades into bloody pulp. Then, it snatched a fallen spear and impaled another comrade who was shooting arrows from a distance. That demon, Jun-sang, realized that the crude monster spears were surprisingly good for throwing. He snatched spears indiscriminately and hurled them at the archer monsters in the back.

-Kyaaaah!

The spear, thrown with a full shoulder rotation and body weight, tore through the air and pierced a monster’s chest. It continued its flight without losing momentum, but since the spearhead wasn’t strong enough to pierce the stone wall, it bounced off, sparking. The monster, having something flash and pierce its chest and then be slammed into the wall behind it, convulsed, spewing blood from its lungs, and lost consciousness.

With half of the four archers falling in an instant, the remaining two bow-wielding monsters, forgetting even to keep Jun-sang in check, scrambled and hid behind nearby rocks. As the archers who had been keeping him in check were neutralized, Jun-sang charged into the midst of the bewildered, spear-wielding monsters, and the wolf, not to be outdone, finally went on the offensive from its guarding position. It was truly like a wolf leaping into a flock of sheep.

Thump!

The monster that had raised its spear to block the black military boot flying towards it saw the spear break before its eyes; that was its last memory in this life. The monster that had been aiming for its comrade’s back, seeing it crushed by the military boot, had its neck torn by the angry wolf’s teeth, gushing blood as it fell.

When the archers finally raised their heads again to check on Jun-sang’s movements, all their spear-wielding comrades had been transformed into gruesome corpses. The two monster archers looked at each other’s faces, as if by unspoken agreement. And, in each other’s eyes, they confirmed that these unidentified intruders who had suddenly appeared were beyond their power. Having reached that conclusion, the two monster archers screamed and began to flee deeper into the mine, neither waiting for the other.

Jun-sang picked up a fallen spear and aimed for the back of a fleeing monster archer, but unfortunately, it missed this time.

“Tch.”

Now, the remaining monsters numbered ten. It was a somewhat awkward number to face all at once, but Jun-sang decided to collect the spoils first. He obtained a few spears and daggers, and two gold pieces, but no seeds appeared. After collecting all the spoils, Jun-sang checked on the injured wolf. It had a few lacerations and two arrows lightly embedded, but nothing serious. Since he was already exposed, Jun-sang unsummoned the wolf to heal its injuries, then waited at the fork. His calculation was that since eight monsters had been defeated without even a chance to fight back, the remaining ten wouldn’t dare to attack.

As expected, the monsters dared not approach the fork, and after about ten minutes, the Crimson Wolf was completely healed.

“Open Crimson Wolf.”

Jun-sang summoned the red-furred wolf, then slowly moved deeper into the mine. After descending for about five minutes, Jun-sang discovered a group of monsters huddled behind a crude wooden palisade, reinforced with shields, raising their morale within.

“Hmm…”

Indeed… If they hunkered down there and threw arrows or spears, it would be tricky for even Jun-sang to approach. Of course, that was only if Jun-sang tried to fight them head-on. Jun-sang gently stroked his chin, then punched the rock wall beside him.

Bang!

With a reverberation that was hard to believe came from a human fist, dust poured down in handfuls from the tunnel. At the sight, the monsters stopped their roaring and rallying. Jun-sang punched the wall again.

Bang!

Then, a part of the weaker wall crumbled, and rock fragments poured down. Jun-sang struck the rock a few more times, then picked up a broken, fallen rock fragment. He then arched his back with full force and, putting his entire body weight into it, hurled it towards the monsters’ barricade.

Crunch!

The rock fragment shattered the shield draped over the barricade, penetrated, and turned one of the monsters huddled inside into bloody pulp.

“…”

The monsters unconsciously swallowed dryly for a moment. But… seeing another rock fragment fly, shatter a shield, and even crush the head of a comrade whose eyes were darting around nervously inside, they panicked. Finally, seeing Jun-sang pick up a third rock fragment, the monsters shrieked in terror and began to flee further inside.

This left eight monsters remaining. Jun-sang collected his spoils, then leisurely descended deeper into the tunnel as if on a stroll. It seemed quite deep, as the air was starting to become murky. Covering his nose and mouth with his hand, he went a bit further in, and a cave unlike the previous tunnels revealed itself.

“Hmm…”

It seemed they had dug down the tunnel and encountered a natural cave. As he entered, a stream, seemingly an underground water vein, appeared in a slightly wider space. Jun-sang found what looked like the remains of a broken wooden bridge there. The monsters had destroyed the bridge to cross the underground water vein, to hinder his advance. But there was no other exit beyond the underground water vein either. It meant the monsters had resorted to a siege, using the underground water vein as a natural barrier.

-Kyaaaah!

-Kyaaah!

As he stood lost in thought near the broken bridge, the monsters, watching from afar, cheered.

“Well, well…”

Jun-sang thought for a moment, then took out a spear he had just picked up from his inventory’s spoils box and tested the depth of the water.

“…”

The water was deeper than he expected. It was at least a meter deep, and the current was quite strong, so if he went in as he was, there was a risk of being swept away by the current. As Jun-sang pondered, his eyes caught sight of a pile of rocks, seemingly created from the tunneling. Seeing that, Jun-sang made up his mind. If the bridge was broken, couldn’t he just build one?

The monsters began to look at Jun-sang with doubtful expressions as he approached the pile of rocks, but… as he soon began to lift rocks and throw them towards the underground water vein, their faces began to turn pale. Although the water was quite deep, there were also shallow spots, so Jun-sang threw rocks there to create a stepping stone bridge. The monsters, now completely flustered, tried to hinder Jun-sang with arrows and spears, but whenever they dared to peek out, a powerful rock projectile came flying. Even if one ignored the accuracy… the rock, flying at terrifying speed, was threatening enough to make them wet themselves just by seeing it, so the monsters could only watch helplessly as the stepping stone bridge was completed.

However, Jun-sang did not attempt to cross even after the stepping stone bridge was completed. No, instead, he suddenly turned around and began to go back up.

-Klik?

-Kick?

The monsters, who had been despairing, thinking they were certainly doomed, made bewildered expressions as Jun-sang suddenly turned back. But they dared not cross the newly built stepping stone bridge to investigate. They considered the possibility of it being a trap.

And sure enough. After a short wait, Jun-sang returned and suddenly pulled out a large pile of wood from thin air. These were the logs they had just piled up to build their barricade. Jun-sang used the logs to build a bonfire, then sat down beside it. And then, he took out the monster bear corpse he had put back into his inventory and began to butcher it.

The monsters felt an ominous premonition watching Jun-sang’s actions. The substance of that ominous premonition became clear a little later when Jun-sang began to roast the bear meat over the bonfire. They had realized too late that they hadn’t managed to pack any food while hastily fleeing. But Jun-sang devoted himself to skinning the bear and cutting the meat, regardless of the monsters despairing, sitting down, and clutching their heads. In the real world, he wouldn’t dare to skin or cut meat at such leisure, not knowing when a quest might activate and summon him, but here, there was no problem.

“…”

Skinning the hide with the multi-tool’s gutting blade wasn’t easy, but since it was the hide of the largest capture he had made, Jun-sang continued to meticulously process it. He cut the meat into appropriate sizes, put it into plastic bags, and placed it in a large cooler he kept in his inventory.

“Is this bear gall?”

Since it was such a large creature, its gallbladder was quite big too. Jun-sang tossed a large bear bone with some flesh still on it to the Crimson Wolf, then collected the stripped hide and put it into his inventory. He had managed to skin it, but he hadn’t dared to attempt tanning. Once he was mostly done, Jun-sang roasted and ate a chunk of bear meat, then rested until it was digested.

“Phew…”

As his food was roughly digested, Jun-sang finally got up. It was about time to finish the quest. As he loosened up with some light warm-up exercises, the monsters began to fuss and prepare for battle. Jun-sang first unsummoned the Crimson Wolf, then immediately began to cross the stepping stone bridge. The monsters tried to hinder Jun-sang with bows and spears, but before they could even do anything, Jun-sang had already crossed the underground water vein.

“Open Crimson Wolf.”

As Jun-sang, who had re-summoned the red wolf, approached, the largest monster among them let out a roar, wielding a large axe. The other monsters, who had been looking at Jun-sang with fearful eyes, were pushed forward by its cry and began to charge.

Jun-sang swatted away a spear thrusting towards him, then kicked the monster in the stomach. As one monster flew backward, feeling a pain as if its intestines had ruptured, the monster charging behind it, likely their leader, swung a large axe.

“Whoops.”

The power was quite formidable, so Jun-sang subtly pulled back his body and dodged the axe. Then, the archers, seizing the opportunity, shot arrows at Jun-sang.

“…”

But at that very moment, Jun-sang activated Shoulder Charge towards the monster leader, who was exerting effort to recover its swung axe.

-Klik!

The monster shrieked in terror at the sight of Jun-sang suddenly charging at him with his shoulder, without any preliminary movement. He tried to abandon his axe and dodge to the side, but the moment his foot left the ground, Jun-sang’s shoulder directly impacted the leader monster’s chest.

-Cough!

As their leader shrieked and was sent flying with a single blow, the monsters’ faces turned pale. And then, as the monsters watched the duel between Jun-sang and their leader with bewildered expressions, the red-furred wolf pounced on their backs.

Crunch!

With teeth firmly embedded in its neck, the monster’s neck broke without even a scream, and it died instantly. Realizing anew that there was an enemy other than Jun-sang, the monsters began to flail about. With nowhere to run, their leader defeated, and their morale broken, the monsters could no longer find a way to resist and one by one fell under Jun-sang’s fists and the Crimson Wolf’s teeth.

“Phew…”

As soon as Jun-sang defeated the last monster, he moved to collect the spoils. In addition to daggers and gold pieces, he obtained a seed from the leader monster. But before he could even check the seed, a message arrived on his phone.

Quest Update

Clear the Monsters in the Mine.

: The mine has been occupied by silently gathered monsters. Clear out the monsters hidden in the mine (Remaining monsters: 0).

[This quest is a solo quest.]

-> Completed

• Calculating your actions and performance in this quest. This process will take a moment. Please wait.

Jun-sang checked the message and unsummoned the Crimson Wolf and Will-o’-the-Wisp. As he slowly checked if he had missed anything, a new message arrived.

Congratulations!

: Your rank is S.

• You have perfectly achieved the objectives of this quest. Additional rewards will be granted beyond the basic rewards.
• Reward: Some Experience, Additional Reward Box (S-Rank) -> Would you like to receive your rewards now? (Y/n) (Caution: Unclaimed rewards will be automatically deleted after 7 days.)

And a little more time passed, and the quest completion message arrived.

Quest Completed!

: You have completed all assigned quests. It’s now time to return to your original location. We wish you good luck on your journey. (Time remaining: 10 seconds)

And, as the 10-second countdown ended, Jun-sang returned home.