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Chapter 10
World Boss Raid.
The timing could not have been more perfect.
A raid opening right when I needed crafting materials.
The area in front of the gate was already packed with countless people.
All of them were hunters gathered from across the country.
This gate was classified as an S-Rank super-large gate.
And only one hunter from each guild was allowed to participate.
Everyone gathered here represented the strongest members of their respective guilds.
When I looked around, I noticed multiple camera crews set up nearby.
From the media’s perspective, a raid that happened only once a month was major news.
“Please state your affiliation.”
A Bureau employee approached me.
I was already officially registered as Gaya’s representative.
“I’m Kang Hyuk from Gaya.”
“Confirmed. But…”
The employee tilted his head slightly.
“You’re a B-Rank hunter?”
“That’s right. Is there a problem?”
I could already guess what he was thinking.
He probably never expected a B-Rank hunter to show up here.
As our conversation continued, whispers started spreading nearby.
“Kang Hyuk? Haven’t I heard that name somewhere before?”
“Now that you mention it, I think I have too.”
Of course they had.
Probably through the Hunter Community.
The hunter who suddenly grew from E-Rank to B-Rank.
The topic had become so huge that almost nobody would have missed it.
But judging by their reactions, they still had not realized I was that same person.
“But a mere B-Rank hunter is joining the raid?”
“What guild is he from? Are they really that desperate for talent?”
“Hope he doesn’t get himself killed in there.”
These were not simple whispers anymore.
Every single comment was mocking.
Looks like they still did not know I was the growth-type hunter everyone talked about.
Officially, I was a B-Rank hunter.
In reality, a C-Rank hunter.
And someone like me had earned the right to represent Gaya in the raid.
For people who knew nothing about me, reactions like this made sense.
I glanced around.
Several hunters were already staring at me.
Some of the faces felt familiar from before my return.
Which meant every single one of them was at least A-Rank or higher.
I was the only B-Rank hunter here.
As the entry time approached, a Bureau employee began giving a brief explanation about the raid.
Entry precautions.
Reward distribution.
And various other details.
There was a lot of information, but everything was heavily simplified.
World Boss Raid.
Since it only happened once a month, the rewards were guaranteed to be valuable.
And usually, the same hunters participated over and over again.
Everyone already knew the basics, so the explanation felt purely formal.
Honestly, I was probably the only one actually listening carefully because this was my first time participating.
The massive amount of loot obtainable here.
And the reward distribution system was simple.
Damage contribution.
The raid recorded how much damage each participant dealt.
And rewards were distributed according to those numbers.
“Simple enough.”
All I had to do was deal more damage than everyone else.
“Please enter slowly.”
Following the Bureau employee’s instructions, dozens of hunters approached the gate.
[S-Rank Gate entered.]
[Time Limit: 24 Hours]
The inside of the gate was simple.
A massive open field.
A dark sky.
There was not even any terrain to hide behind.
RUMBLE!
Far away, something enormous burst up from the ground.
And when I saw it, I could not believe my eyes.
“A dragon?”
The World Boss was a dragon?
A gigantic dragon, dozens of meters long, appeared before us.
I thought dragon-versus-dragon combat would only happen on the 100th floor of the Tower of Trials.
“So this month’s raid boss is a dragon.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. A dragon?”
“If it’s a dragon, doesn’t that mean it can use Dragon Breath? Everyone stay alert!”
Yeah.
At least they understood that much.
Dragon Breath?
If you got hit directly, you were finished.
But unlike them, I had nothing to worry about.
Because I was not fighting personally.
[Summon Rank: C-Rank]
[Summoning an attack-type dragon using the Bronze Ring as a medium.]
[Summon Limit: 1/1]
“Grrrr…”
My Red Dragon appeared before me.
“W-What the hell?! Why is there another dragon?!”
“An ambush?!”
Several nearby hunters stepped back in panic.
“But… that looks like a summon.”
After hearing someone say that, the confused hunters calmed down and looked more carefully.
And then came the reactions.
“A dragon… as a summon?”
“Wait… if someone summons dragons…”
One hunter muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
“No wonder the name sounded familiar. That’s the hunter who got corrected from E-Rank to B-Rank.”
“Oh my god. That’s him?”
Looks like they finally realized who I was.
Honestly, I should have summoned the dragon earlier.
Now that they knew my identity, the mocking finally stopped.
“He’s still just a B-Rank hunter. Stop staring and focus on the battle.”
Never mind.
Someone was still mocking me anyway.
I wondered who was arrogant enough to say that.
And when I turned my head…
I saw an extremely familiar face.
The hunter who held the highest Tower of Trials record in the world.
World Rank #1.
Korea Rank #1.
The undisputed strongest S-Rank hunter in Korea.
Kim Dojun.
I already knew him.
Before my return, he was the first person to challenge the 100th floor.
And the first to die there.
Meaning he was also the first hunter to ever clear the 99th floor.
Meeting him alive after returning to the past did not really affect me emotionally.
He was just another hunter who looked down on anyone weaker than himself.
Right then, the World Boss opened its mouth and unleashed Dragon Breath.
“Everyone focus! Start attacking! This battle’s going to last over thirty minutes, so manage your stamina!”
Thirty minutes?
Even with this many hunters?
Countless hunters scattered in every direction and began attacking in their own ways.
The moment the battle started, a health bar appeared above the World Boss.
Apparently, it displayed the monster’s remaining health.
But even while taking attacks from dozens of hunters, the health bar barely moved.
“That thing really has absurd health.”
Now I understood why they expected this fight to last over thirty minutes.
I turned toward the Red Dragon.
“We absolutely need first place here. Second place means nothing.”
“Grrrr…”
“I’m counting on you.”
As if it understood perfectly, the Red Dragon roared and shot high into the sky.
After reaching the same altitude as the World Boss, it immediately unleashed Dragon Breath.
BOOOOOOM!
The breath attack hit the World Boss directly.
But the creature did not even bother dodging.
It simply ignored the hunters beneath it like insects while continuing to unleash its own breath attacks.
“W-What the hell is that?!”
At that moment, someone staring at the health bar shouted.
“This can’t be real! The health bar is actually dropping already!”
Under the relentless barrage of the Red Dragon’s breath, the World Boss’s health visibly began decreasing.
“W-Who exactly is he?! Isn’t he supposed to be B-Rank?!”
Everyone here forgot one important fact.
Even at lower ranks, dragons were beings far beyond humans.
“Keep attacking.”
“Grrrr…”
The health bar, which barely moved even under attacks from countless S-Rank hunters, now started dropping at a ridiculous speed.
Even Kim Dojun looked shocked.
He had probably experienced countless raids before.
But today would likely become the fastest raid clear in history.
“You think I’m going to lose to some B-Rank summon?”
Kim Dojun quickly launched himself forward.
Though he tried to sound confident, panic was obvious on his face.
At this rate, all the rewards would go to me.
Anyone would panic in that situation.
Red flames erupted from Kim Dojun’s sword.
As expected of an S-Rank hunter, his attacks were powerful.
But only by human standards.
Compared to the Red Dragon’s breath, his flames looked pitiful.
“Thirty minutes? This won’t even take five.”
Before long, the World Boss’s health had already dropped below half.
****
[S-Rank Gate cleared.]
It was ridiculous.
This raid only happened once a month.
And it was supposed to be an S-Rank gate.
Yet the entire thing ended in less than five minutes.
But the truly shocking part was something else.
[1st Place]
[Kang Hyuk]
[Damage Contribution]
[89%]
Eighty-nine percent.
At this point, it was basically a solo clear.
Or more accurately, a solo clear by my Red Dragon.
“What about Kim Dojun?”
[2nd Place]
[Kim Dojun]
[Damage Contribution]
[6%]
To be fair, Kim Dojun’s result was still impressive.
Out of the remaining eleven percent, more than half belonged to him.
As expected, if I had not participated, he would have monopolized all the rewards.
“It’s already over?!”
A Bureau employee rushed inside after seeing the clear notification.
The moment he saw the World Boss collapsed on the ground, he was left speechless.
“A-And these results…”
That employee clearly never expected my name to appear at the top.
Neither did the other hunters.
The people mocking me earlier now stared at me in shock.
“So according to the rules, I get all the rewards, correct?”
“T-That’s correct.”
Looks like Guild Master Lee Sunjin worried for nothing.
The strongest hunters monopolized raid rewards?
In reality, my C-Rank Red Dragon was far stronger than S-Rank hunters.
“Wait. This doesn’t count.”
I already expected someone to say something like that.
Someone who monopolized rewards every month was obviously going to protest.
Kim Dojun.
The man who failed the first challenge against the 100th floor and died.
Back then, people treated him like humanity’s future hero.
Yet this was what he was actually like.
Still, nothing changed because of that.
“This doesn’t count? There are witnesses everywhere. Are you planning to change the rules now?”
“Well…”
Kim Dojun could not continue.
S-Rank hunter?
Highest tower record holder?
None of that mattered in front of the raid results.
“Then according to the rules, all rewards will be transferred to Mr. Kang Hyuk.”
In the end, every reward from the raid was handed over to me.
Including massive amounts of crafting materials.
“This should be enough.”
Just how incredible of a weapon could I craft with all this?
I could feel an intense stare burning into the back of my head.
I did not even need to look.
It was obviously Kim Dojun.
After all, he just lost every raid reward to a so-called B-Rank hunter.
