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Chapter 7 – Dungeon Boss
The beast hunters’ faces turned serious.
Just a moment ago, they had been full of gratitude—but now their mood completely changed.
“May I ask your name?”
“Kranol Wizard.”
“I see. Nice to meet you, Mr. Kranol. I’m Birg Krol, a beast hunter.”
Birg sighed and said,
“We are beast hunters. We exist to protect humanity by hunting monsters.
So even if you’re our savior, we can’t just blindly follow your words.”
“If you truly intend to hatch the Egg of Calamity, we will risk our lives to stop you.”
The gratitude they once had for Kranol was now gone.
Instead, they looked at him with determined eyes, ready to fight if needed.
Kranol calmly looked back at them.
They were like the protagonists of the original story—hunters who believed all magical beasts were threats to humanity.
So, of course, they resisted.
“Destroying the Egg of Calamity would actually bring more harm to the world.”
“What? But the ancient texts clearly say—”
“Who wrote those ancient texts?”
Birg fell silent.
Most dungeon information came from old books, journals, or wills.
But no one knew who wrote the text about the egg.
“That ancient text is a trap—written by a magical beast, to trick humans into breaking the egg.”
“What? That’s impossible. A beast writing in human language?”
It sounded ridiculous.
They had only ever seen beasts as savage, instinct-driven creatures.
“Follow me.”
Instead of arguing more, Kranol walked to the melted iron door—the same one that had trapped the hunters.
He kicked the dirt wall, and several old torture tools fell from the ceiling: bloody saws, rusty cuffs, ropes…
The hunters were stunned.
“W-What is all this?”
“This room… was a torture chamber for adventurers. What kind of dungeon has something like this?”
No one could speak.
The thought that monsters were intelligent enough to set up a torture room was terrifying.
“You fell into a trap. The monsters want you to destroy the egg.”
Had they broken the egg, they would have ended up tortured to death in that very room.
They had only survived because they fell and missed the trap entirely.
Birg asked, shocked:
“How do you know all of this?”
“No need to explain.”
Kranol’s voice remained calm.
“All you need to know is that hatching the egg is what’s best for humanity.”
And that wasn’t a lie.
In the original story, the egg was destroyed by ignorant adventurers—
and the magical energy released caused mass death among nearby wanderers.
Birg, in the original story, was found dead—his final words used as a clue for the main character.
Now he looked at Kranol nervously.
“You keep looking at me… You’re not going to take our gear too, are you?”
“No.”
Kranol hadn’t planned to get this involved, but their paths happened to cross.
He had saved these hunters from what was originally their destined death.
But not out of kindness alone.
“If you truly stand for justice, then help me reach the dungeon’s core. Not to destroy the egg—but to safely hatch it.”
The hunters whispered among themselves.
“Birg, what should we do?”
“It’s suspicious, but… we can’t ignore those torture tools. We didn’t even notice them during two weeks trapped in that room.”
“Maybe we should follow him. If the hatchling turns out dangerous, we can kill it then.”
“Yeah. If it’s just a newborn beast, we can handle it.”
Destroying the egg was their original goal.
Even with the difficulties, turning back wasn’t an option now.
Birg spoke up:
“Alright. We’ll continue through the dungeon with you, Mr. Kranol.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Wait, just a moment.”
Birg pointed sadly at a body in the torture room, covered with a handkerchief.
“One of our comrades died during the fall.
We want to bury him here. Carrying him out isn’t an option… Would you mind waiting?”
“Go ahead.”
Kranol agreed easily.
Honestly, it was strange they were even asking his permission—
since their overall stats were actually higher than his.
‘Well, I guess I can’t blame them for assuming I’m strong…’
They had no idea he was secretly accompanied by an SSS-ranked baby dragon.
The burned monsters and mysterious white flames made Kranol seem far more powerful than he was.
While they buried their comrade, Kranol rested on a rock.
“Kryaaaang.”
The invisible baby dragon whined beside him, annoyed at the humans’ presence.
“Just bear with it a little longer.”
The hunters finished the simple burial and paid their respects.
They were used to losing comrades.
“Aria, how many healing potions do we have?”
“Enough. I’m really glad I saved them even when I was dying of thirst.”
“Haha, though your potions are so salty they make you thirstier—ack!”
They drank water from the underground spring, packed some ant meat, and rested.
These were elite hunters—stronger than Kranol in every physical way.
“Ready to go?”
“Yes. Let’s move.”
Kranol got up.
And just like that, their improvised party began the dungeon’s deeper journey.
***
While descending to the next floor—
“Kryaang.”
The baby dragon quietly whined again, tapping his back.
It was annoyed.
Why bring these useless people along when it could clear the dungeon itself?
‘True… With just this baby dragon, I could easily solo this dungeon.’
But Kranol had his reasons.
He wanted something from these hunters.
Near the bottom of the stairs, he suddenly stopped.
“Kranol?”
“Please fight ahead of me. I need to recover my mana.”
“Ah, of course. You wiped out so many monsters earlier…”
They were understanding.
Everyone knew how exhausting casting magic could be.
“Sorry. I don’t have any mana-restoring potions…”
“That’s fine.”
Mana potions were incredibly rare and expensive.
“Alright, let’s do this. We’ve been stuck in that room too long!”
Kranol had rescued five beast hunters.
The largest among them, Birg, took the lead—his eyes sharp and focused.
***
From the 4th floor onward, stronger monsters appeared:
Ant Generals—bigger, smarter, with helmet-like armored heads.
Under their command, the monster ants launched a coordinated attack.
“Ant swarm charge! Formation B!”
The hunters moved instantly, using practiced tactics.
Their teamwork was seamless.
They blocked with shields, attacked with swords, threw potions, and shot arrows.
Kranol?
He relaxed and watched from behind.
‘Auto-hunting is the best.’
But he wasn’t just loafing around.
He observed their combat closely.
They used a common fighting style—something unique to beast hunters.
‘That beast hunter sword style… It’ll come in handy.’
It wasn’t something you could learn just by watching.
Normally, you’d need to change your class to “Beast Hunter” first.
But Kranol had no plans to train for it the hard way.
He had a shortcut.
[Trait “Heavenly Martial Body” activated.]
[You have acquired “Beast Hunter Sword Style (Lv1)”.]
[You have acquired “Basic Shield Technique (Lv1)”.]
[You have acquired “Basic Archery (Lv1)”.]
Just by watching, he learned new skills.
These were basic combat techniques every hunter used.
Nothing special, but still extremely useful—especially against monsters.
‘Anything that makes me stronger—I’ll take it.’
In this world, there’s no such thing as a “level.”
There’s no single measure of strength.
Your power is decided by many factors—total stats, unique skills, gear quality, natural talent, battle experience, and potential from birth.
Sometimes, even a weak opponent can beat a stronger one if they have the right advantage.
‘The more you train and develop different abilities, the better you can handle unexpected situations.’
Of course, some people become the best by focusing on one area.
But those are rare outliers.
Anyway, no matter how small a reward may seem, if it makes you stronger—it’s worth it.
It’ll come in handy someday.
***
“Kieeek!”
“You’re finished!”
Birg’s sword pierced through the armor of a giant ant.
He struck a small weak spot between the tough shell.
The ant general let out a painful cry, trembled violently, and died.
“Kryaang.”
The invisible baby dragon gave a soft cry as if impressed.
Those humans were pretty good fighters.
If they hadn’t been trapped in that torture room, they probably would’ve reached this deep on their own.
“Good job, everyone. I didn’t even have a chance to step in.”
“Haha! No worries! This kind of small fry is easy for us. A powerhouse like you doesn’t need to waste energy. As long as you’re recovered, that’s what matters.”
The hunters collected the loot from the ant general—and something unusual dropped.
***
[Item: Ant General’s Head Armor]
[Grade: ★]
[Effect: A special outer shell harder than steel. A skilled craftsman could use this to make a powerful helmet. A flawless helmet may come with bonus effects.]
Another 1-star item.
The hunters started whispering among themselves, and then Birg suddenly offered the item to Kranol.
“Here, you should take this, Mr. Kranol.”
“But I didn’t fight this time.”
“Think of it as a thank-you gift for saving our lives.
Just know—when we fight the boss, we’ll split the loot fairly based on what each person contributes.”
Kranol quietly stared at the item.
It wasn’t something he could use right away—it was crafting material.
Still, it would sell for a good price.
The hunters probably offered it because they were still feeling guilty about earlier tension with the Egg of Calamity.
‘Smart move. They’re playing the long game instead of focusing on short-term gain.’
In beast hunting groups, it was common to treat the strongest person with respect—
so this over-the-top kindness was their way of saying, “Please be good to us.”
“Thank you.”
No reason to refuse free benefits.
Now Kranol had collected two 1-star items already—he was satisfied.
‘Being mistaken for a powerhouse really pays off.’
***
The group smoothly advanced to the 5th floor of the dungeon.
But strangely, no monsters appeared.
Only a large passageway leading to a massive chamber.
“It’s the boss room! This is the final floor! Stay sharp!”
They had finally reached the dungeon’s deepest point.
Inside that room was where the boss monster—
the dungeon’s ruler—should be waiting.
“Kryaang…”
Even the baby dragon was tense, sticking close to Kranol and purring quietly.
Everyone carefully entered the boss room—
but what they saw left them speechless.
“Huh?”
The huge corpse of a queen ant lay broken open, already dead.
It was over 5 meters tall, and wore the crown symbol that marked a dungeon boss.
“Wait… the boss is already dead?”
“Did another adventurer get here before us?”
“No way! This dungeon has never been cleared before!”
The group was confused by this sudden twist.
But Kranol was the only one smiling.
Someone unknown had already killed the boss monster.
Which could only mean one thing:
An even stronger prey—with better rewards—was still lurking somewhere ahead.
