This is exactly why you shouldn't blindly buy equipment just because some famous person uses it.
"Aaack!"
"W-what kind of power is this...?"
"Ah, damn it! It's only gotten harder to catch now that it's gone berserk!"
Despite the hunters' desperate attempts to restrain it, the Green Dragon continued its relentless assault.
Boom!
With a heavy impact, the spearhead crumpled instantly.
Boom!
The next time the sound rang out, a hunter's arm was wrenched backward after they raised their shield half a beat too late.
"Aaargh!"
The peaceful break around the stump descended into chaos in an instant.
And amid the jumble of screams and crashing sounds, a calm voice suddenly cut through the noise.
"...What's going on here?"
It was only a single sentence, yet there was something strangely arresting about the speaker's voice.
Perhaps it was because his pronunciation and tone were so distinctively crisp and unmistakable.
"Did Green Dragons always have such an aggressive attack pattern?"
Kim Giryeo had appeared.
Beside him stood Korea's number-one-ranked Hunter, already preparing fire magic.
A few minutes later.
"T-thank you for saving us..."
"A-as expected, S-rank Hunters really are different. You dealt with it in an instant."
I shamelessly accepted their gratitude despite not having defeated the dragon myself.
Haseong was too busy checking whether the other hunters were unharmed to care.
But more importantly, I had deliberately kept my distance precisely to avoid getting caught up in any secondary damage caused by an S-rank.
So why was I here now?
"Then, if Hunter Kim Giryeo is here, that means..."
"Yes. We've finished dealing with all the dragons on the southern side of the dungeon. The only ones left now are the leader and its group."
As you can see, there was a reason.
Before entering the dungeon, we had agreed to split up and eliminate as many of the lesser monsters as possible.
Once only the boss remained, we would regroup.
As for me, tracking had always been one of my specialties.
The plan was perfectly feasible because the Korea Magic Tower's raid team also had a Searcher with excellent detection abilities.
"Then shall we finish eating and head out?"
"Yes!"
And so we set off toward the northern reaches of the dungeon, where its ruler made its home.
"Let's see... the leader of the Green Dragons..."
According to what I'd heard from Choi Jin, the bosses of dragon-type monsters in this world were always referred to as "Kings."
Green Dragon King, Black Dragon King, and so on.
In other words, the naming convention for these special individuals had already been standardized.
And these Dragon Kings shared several nearly identical characteristics.
First, they were enormous.
Second, they possessed a peculiar organ on their heads resembling a rooster's comb.
Unlike an ordinary rooster's red, protruding comb, however, this organ looked more like a "crown" at first glance.
"Is that why they're called Kings?"
Whatever its appearance, the organ accumulated an enormous amount of mana, so destroying it brought several advantages.
In any case, there was no harm in remembering such an obvious weak point.
"Ah, everyone. Stop. Stop."
Sak.
I gathered my thoughts and raised a clenched fist, signaling the others.
"The boss is just ahead."
At those words, the Korea Magic Tower hunters swallowed nervously.
Its body was still concealed by invisibility, but simply knowing that the pinnacle of A-rank dragons was waiting directly ahead exerted tremendous pressure.
The Green Dragon's breath was highly acidic.
And if you took a direct hit from it...
"Ugh."
It hurt like hell until a potion finally healed you.
"This is exactly why inferior Earthlings are so useless."
Remembering the suffering I'd endured before, I glanced back at the hunters groaning nervously and quietly clicked my tongue.
Then I turned my attention forward.
A bizarre mass of thorny brambles sprawled before us.
Curled within them was an enormous reptile, its body blending so seamlessly into the surroundings that it looked as though it had grown there together with the nest itself.
"Hmm."
I had felt the same way back in Japan, but the leaders of dragonkind really were large enough for the phrase "as big as a house" to be taken literally.
With a body that enormous, how much could it possibly weigh?
And just how much mana was flowing through its bloodstream?
"All right. Then we'll proceed according to the plan."
Still, there was no reason for me to worry.
My role hadn't even been included in the strategy we'd worked out beforehand.
There were powerful, genuine S-rank Hunters here.
What reason was there for low-ranking grunts like us to struggle?
"Jung Haseong."
"Yes."
At my signal, the hunters slowly retreated from Haseong's side.
At the same time, external mana began gathering sharply around the sorcerer's body.
The S-rank Hunter, standing at the very pinnacle of the hierarchy, drew in the surrounding mana.
And soon, the desire rising within him took form.
To us, wizards had always been beings who offered prayers to something within nature.
'According to the skill name registered in Pixy, this is [Hellfire]...'
The pyromancer's attack surged toward the dragon.
It was none other than Jung Haseong, unleashing his flames at full power without the slightest hesitation.
So just how powerful was it?
The red wave surged forward exactly as its name suggested, boiling the dungeon floor like a river flowing straight through hell.
Before long, it swallowed even the wooden nest surrounding the dragon.
"Kuaaaaaa!"
Whoosh!
Startled by the ferocity of the opening strike, the Green Dragon King reflexively spread its wings.
But the hunters' assault didn't stop there.
We had been waiting specifically for that thin membrane to be exposed.
"Now!"
"Right! Focus on the right!"
Boom, boom!
The moment the elite hunters of the Korea Magic Tower caught sight of the dragon, they unleashed their skills against its wings.
Its body was already engulfed in flames, and now this calamity had struck without warning on top of everything else.
"Kaaah!"
The green-bodied king of the skies failed to take flight even once before crashing pitifully back to the ground.
Flight failure.
Its right wing had been torn apart and riddled with holes.
However, Green Dragons rarely used their breath attacks while airborne.
What we truly needed to worry about was the ground battle that was about to begin.
"Grrr..."
"Kaaak!"
"Kaaah!"
Boom, boom, boom!
One after another, the minions guarding the nest began to rise, finally recognizing the intruders as enemies.
A chilling tension filled the air, born from the dragons' unmistakably otherworldly presence.
Even so, the outcome of this battle was bound to unfold exactly as expected.
Because here...
The Archmage of Alaphuri...
"Ha."
...had a disciple whom he had personally and painstakingly trained.
"Well then, shall we see what you can do?"
I stepped back and spoke to Haseong.
The young hero nodded and drew his sword.
To him, it was nothing more than a sturdy red longsword.
But in the hands of an S-rank Hunter, even a simple blade like that was enough to sever the neck of a creature out of myth.
"I will do my best."
Leaving behind those courteous words, Jung Haseong leaped toward the King of Monsters.
What followed was a dragon hunt carried out by Korea's strongest Awakened.
Crackle, crackle...
The sound of flames crackling through the air was almost like the embers of a campfire on an autumn night.
"Ugh, it's so smoky."
Quite some time later, I watched from a distance as the Green Dragon King, now reduced to a battered wreck, finally collapsed.
Its enormous body struck the ground with a dull thud.
And with that, the dragon hunt came to an end.
Sparkle.
As always, the rewards for defeating the boss went to those who had contributed the most.
"Cough, cough."
But right now, reward or no reward, all this smoke blowing into my eyes was killing me.
'Holding my breath only works for so long. As expected, Jeong Haseong isn't someone I can use as recklessly as Kang Changho.'
I covered my nose and mouth with one hand and surveyed the area.
Now that the hunt was over, several members of the Korea Magic Tower headed toward the exit to summon the transporters who had been waiting outside.
And since our group wasn't part of the team responsible for maintaining the dungeon, all we had to do was quickly gather the spoils and leave.
'Let's see. First, the rewards I got from sticking close to Jung Haseong...'
After all that effort, the only thing I'd received from the ordinary monsters was this [Compass of Greed].
Then again, rewards from regular monsters rarely appeared in the form of light orbs in the first place.
So, in a way, the result was only to be expected.
Still, receiving such a disappointing item left a bitter taste in my mouth.
This tiny jewel called the [Compass of Greed] supposedly pointed toward nearby treasure chests...
Unfortunately, I already had a body capable of detecting artifacts without needing anything like that.
'At best, I'll probably just sell it.'
That left only the reward from the Green Dragon King we'd just defeated.
I turned toward the orb still floating beside me, shining insistently as though demanding attention.
During the boss fight, I'd thrown my main weapon, Hydra, directly into one of the dragon's wounds.
Thanks to the poison status effect, I'd barely managed to secure a position among the top contributors.
But despite everything it had taken to earn the reward, I wasn't expecting much.
The magical energy radiating from it felt Rare-grade at best, perhaps Unique-grade if I was being generous.
I didn't even need to look at it properly to know it was probably junk...
...
I stopped.
Then I looked again at the magic item floating within the light.
Inside the small, translucent orb rested a serene cluster of exquisitely intricate alveolar structures.
Red.
Blue.
Luminous.
And at the same time, the delicate formation bore an eerie resemblance to the lungs of some living creature.
"--Hunter Kim Giryeo."
I quietly slipped the raid reward into my item box.
Just then, Jung Haseong approached after finishing the hunt, a faintly exhilarated expression on his face.
However, our conversation didn't last long.
"Excuse me. Just as you told me, I tried fighting while compressing the flames, and it really did keep the A-rank Hunters from getting hurt..."
"Haseong-ah."
"Yes."
"I just remembered something. I think I left the gas on at home."
"Yes?"
"Anyway, take care of the magic stones and leather and keep them with you. I'll collect my share later. I'm heading out now. Make sure you eat a good dinner."
After rattling off those words like a machine gun, I left the dungeon faster than I ever had before.
Life's blessings and misfortunes could never be predicted so easily.
In a way, this situation perfectly embodied the old saying:
A blessing in disguise.