A few days passed.
It was a drizzly morning.
After dealing with the dungeon break on Jeju Island, Haseong returned to Seoul on the first flight of the morning. Around the same time, Esther, who had also finished resolving the issue involving her guild's regional branch, was soaking in the bathtub.
And almost simultaneously, the two of them came across the same news report.
["No Need to Worry Anymore." Golem Incident Comes to an End]
Before either of them had even realized there was a problem, the crisis in the capital had already been resolved.
"Hmm? Golems?"
Well, the areas around the Han River did have a tendency to become overrun with certain monsters during the summer.
In the past, it had been fire cats wreaking havoc.
And this time, of all things, it had to be golems.
Esther relaxed in the bubble-filled bath as she watched the television mounted on the bathroom wall.
But what the announcer said next was enough to surprise even her.
«And in resolving this incident, the Hunter team from Neo Sisters played an especially significant role. It has been confirmed that Regular Team 3 alone cleared an astonishing 58% of all affected Gates.»
58%.
58%?
These were A-rank dungeons inhabited by Golems, and every Gate had to be cleared within a week to prevent dungeon breaks...
And yet they had handled 58% of them?
"Oh."
The sweet fragrance of British bath salts mingled with the steam filling the bathroom.
Esther calmly sank deeper into the warm water, easing the fatigue accumulated from work as she turned up the volume of the news with growing interest.
"How on earth did they manage that?"
It was the kind of situation where anyone would have reacted the same way.
***
Thump, thump.
"..."
Thud.
At a Gate near the Han River, an exhausted-looking Hunter emerged from the exit.
She was an A-rank Hunter belonging to Neo Sisters, well known for wielding a crossbow.
She was also the leader of a five-person team.
"Mom..."
But why was someone well past the age of independence suddenly calling out for her mother?
The answer had everything to do with the 58% figure that would later appear on the news.
That's right.
After the members of Neo Sisters' Regular Team 3 reached an agreement over the distribution of profits, they had finally cleared the last [Hand of the Giant] dungeon following a grueling four-day marathon.
[Hand of the Giant].
An A-rank dungeon set against the backdrop of a rugged temple.
The monsters inhabiting it were simple enough: the ordinary soldier-type 'Sand Golem' and the boss monster 'Pheres.'
For reference, despite their name, the Sand Golems were not actually made of sand. Their outer shells were vividly colored, and they were formidable enemies blessed with unimaginable durability.
And she had just defeated every last one of them and returned alive.
How?
It was all thanks to a certain shaved-headed student who happened to be on break.
"Mom... Mom, your daughter... made a lot of money this time..."
Thump, thump.
The crossbow wielder nervously fumbled with the family photo tucked inside her wallet.
Even now, it was difficult to believe.
The Sand Golems appearing in this dungeon were completely different from the Golem sentries found in [Golden Fragrance].
In other words, they were unfamiliar enemies—ones Yoonseung had never been specifically taught how to stop.
But hadn't the entire purpose of training been to teach him how to stand on his own?
In that sense, one alien had done a surprisingly excellent job as a teacher.
– Yoonseung, watch carefully.
– Yes.
– This is the golem's joint. It rotates from here to here.
– Yes.
– But unlike a human joint, when this one bends, it traces a perfect arc.
– Ah!
– So when you fight a golem with rounded joints like this, watch the angle of its arms carefully and slip inside its reach.
– Inside its reach...
– Don't be afraid.
At some point, Ahn Yoonseung had absorbed every scrap of knowledge about golems that Giryeo had casually explained in passing.
And through his experience in [Golden Fragrance], he had gained something even more valuable.
It wasn't only wizards whose battles were heavily influenced by momentum.
In a world where a mammal standing 174 cm tall and weighing 66 kg could panic and flee from an insect measuring a mere 1.3 cm and weighing only 0.3 g, fear undeniably played a major role in determining whether an action succeeded or failed.
Perhaps that was why Ahn Yoonseung had completely dominated this battle.
Thanks to a certain scene Kim Giryeo had once shown him, he had shaken off the distorted fear that had once gripped him.
What had initially seemed like an incomprehensible monster from another dimension gradually began revealing its clumsiness.
Its weaknesses.
Its countless openings.
That was what a golem looked like to Ahn Yoonseung now.
Boom!
Even the crushing weight of its attacks, sudden and vicious as a blast of winter wind—
Boom!
—could be avoided easily enough as long as he remained alert.
Whenever Hunter Kim Giryeo went hunting, Golems became nothing more than clumsy heaps of scrap metal, struggling like robot vacuum cleaners caught on a tall threshold.
And after witnessing such a sight firsthand, how could Ahn Yoonseung still carry any trauma toward golems?
– Draw out a big attack! The moment it starts swinging its arm, focus all your fire on the joint for the next ten seconds!
The members of Neo Sisters could only marvel at the defensive Hunter's performance.
The normally gentle young man became razor-sharp the moment he entered a dungeon.
Even before a giant more than five times his own size, he showed neither hesitation nor fear.
Only unwavering strength.
– Senior Yoonseung. Aren't you scared of golems at all?
A Sand Golem's attack was powerful enough to crush the internal organs of an A-rank Awakened if it landed badly.
That was why even most defensive Hunters instinctively flinched when blocking one.
And when his junior asked whether he wasn't afraid of them, Yoonseung had answered simply.
– My brother told me not to be afraid. So I decided not to be, just like he said.
Perhaps this was how religions first began.
Ahn Yoonseung.
That twenty-three-year-old young man had come to embody a genuine kind of faith.
He carefully studied the finest qualities of his mentor and, through sincere effort, made them his own.
And using the skills he had cultivated in that way, he ultimately helped bring Seoul's sudden flood of high-difficulty Gates to a successful end.
"Wow~ Who would've thought even the last boss would drop a core!"
"How much is all of this worth?"
"Oh my, selling this much is going to be a pain. Hey."
"Don't worry. The manager said the guild's already received a ton of calls from buyers wanting to reserve them."
"Oh!"
"Well, of course~ If you're selling Infinite Power Cores in bulk, it's the buyers who'll be willing to pay extra."
Bustle, bustle.
After a short wait, the remaining team members poured out through the open Gate.
Every one of them wore a bright, refreshed smile—the unmistakable expression of people who had finally emerged victorious after several grueling days of battle.
"At this rate, everyone could buy brand-new equipment and still have money left over!"
"Yoonseung, Jagyeong. You're not seriously planning to refuse your shares after all this, are you?"
"Yes, yes."
"Haha, right~"
Now that the job was finally finished, the obvious thing to do was go home, wash up, and collapse into bed.
But as Yoonseung wiped the sweat from his brow, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
First, he had taken care of this trivial problem in advance—the A-rank Golem dungeons—so Hunter Kim Giryeo wouldn't have to shoulder the burden himself...
But if he thought about it, the only reason Yoonseung had been able to defeat the Golems at all was because of that very Hunter.
If an S-rank Awakened hadn't carefully taught him how to fight them, Yoonseung would never even have considered involving himself in this situation.
"Ah!"
With a sincere desire to repay that kindness, Yoonseung made up his mind.
He would wholeheartedly let the world know about the good deeds of the Hunter who had helped him come this far.
"Ah! There you are. So this is where the exit opened."
"Huh?"
"Hello! I'm from Han Jeheon TV. I'm the creator who contacted you earlier. About the interview—would you happen to have a moment?"
The only problem was that this particular act of gratitude wasn't exactly the kind the person in question would have wanted.