It looks like there’s nothing there, but there is.
That was how Choi Jin described a certain reptile found on Earth.
Rather than relying on the obvious method of hiding among dense foliage and blending into its surroundings, this creature used advanced magic to conceal itself completely, lying in wait until the perfect moment to launch a surprise attack.
[Nest of the Grass].
This was an A-rank gate known as the habitat of the ‘Green Dragon,’ one of only three dungeons where dragon-type monsters appeared.
And I already knew exactly how to deal with the treacherous creatures lurking inside.
I had prepared for this day by receiving direct advice from Choi Jin, who was famous as a dragon hunter.
More importantly, every scrap of information I had gathered back then had been recorded without omitting a single detail.
[Strategy Tips] — When you first enter the dungeon, all the Green Dragons will be hiding, so use an analyzer to scan the surroundings in a full 360°. — Their invisibility is only dispelled when they are struck. — Their crawling speed is naturally slow, so there should be no major problems as long as you deal with them one at a time. However, be careful during chaotic battles, as invisible dragons may approach unnoticed. (If they group up, it’s game over.)
In addition to that, they possessed extremely high resistance to physical attacks, comparable to that of golems.
Their coloring also resembled vegetation, but surprisingly, they weren’t weak to fire.
And so on.
When I opened the notebook I had brought with me, page after page of meticulously handwritten information about Green Dragons came into view.
“Anyone who hasn’t received their buffs yet, please come this way—”
“How many potions did you bring? Three? Wow, you really stocked up. Weren’t high-grade ones in short supply lately because of resellers?”
“You all remember your positions, right? Don’t panic once we’re inside the dungeon. Make sure you activate your analyzer at the right time and scan from your assigned angle.”
But why had it been so noisy around me for a while now?
I stopped reviewing the strategy and raised my head.
All I could see were hunters dressed in various types of equipment.
This was none other than a bridge in Daejeon, where the [Nest of the Grass] gate had appeared.
And the people gathered before me were the hunters who would be joining me on the dragon hunt.
“Team Leader, take a look at this new piece of equipment I bought. I picked it up at the market last time...”
But.
“I barely managed to find one that fit...”
Glance.
For some reason, the hunters from the Korean Magic Tower preparing for the raid near the gate entrance kept stealing glances toward one particular spot.
And there was no question who had attracted their attention.
“Wow. Seeing Jung Haseong in person... His magic power is seriously insane...”
“Hey, shut up. Close your mouth. An S-rank’s hearing is on a completely different level from ours. He can definitely hear you.”
Standing there was the most famous awakened hunter in Korea.
A white coat covered in an endlessly repeating diamond pattern.
Two layered bracelets.
And a crimson one-handed sword.
The outfit looked far too warm for this kind of weather, but from a hunter’s perspective—where practicality mattered far more than fashion or seasonal trends—it was probably the obvious choice.
I silently studied the young man wearing the item known as the [White Scale Coat].
Perhaps sensing my gaze, he turned his head and met my eyes.
“What’s the matter?”
To be precise, I was hoping that nothing would ‘happen’ from this point onward.
“No. It’s nothing.”
For now, as evidenced by the fact that Jung Haseong and I were standing here side by side, we had successfully received permission to participate in the dragon hunt.
“You’re bringing Haseong-ssi too? And his pay will be the same as the other A-rank hunters?”
“— Yes.”
“Ah— Then of course it’s OK. Absolutely OK.”
Since this raid permit had been won after a fierce bidding war against Neo Sisters, I had expected them to refuse such a request.
But after hearing the details, I understood.
Dragons were indeed creatures of enormous economic value.
At the same time, however, they were exceptionally powerful, which made hunting them extremely dangerous and carried a significant risk of casualties.
So from the guild’s perspective, having an S-rank hunter participate was actually more than welcome.
There weren’t many people involved in the raid to begin with, so they wouldn’t have to divide the rewards among too many participants.
And with a top-tier hunter joining them, the danger faced by the guild members could be reduced dramatically.
“As I mentioned before, Esther herself couldn’t make it in the end. She probably has too much to deal with regarding Go Byeongdo.”
Anyway, it was a relief that our request to participate had been accepted without any trouble.
I told Haseong to wait where he was and headed toward the cluster of Korean Magic Tower guild members.
Before we departed, I wanted to make one final check and ensure nothing had been overlooked.
“Team Leader, Haseong and I are both ready. How many minutes until departure?”
“We should be able to start soon. We just finished our final check too.”
But then I noticed something strange about the atmosphere.
Until just moments ago, the area had been bustling with conversation.
Yet the instant I approached the leader of Magic Tower’s Team 1, the murmuring abruptly died away.
“What is it?”
Sssk.
I turned my head to check.
Even with my limited field of vision, I caught several hunters hurriedly averting their eyes.
“Ahem.”
“Keuheem.”
Aha...
Since I also appeared to be an S-rank Awakener, I must have been attracting attention too.
“They don’t even realize they’re staring at nothing but an empty shell.”
How pitiful.
With the dragon hunt about to begin, I swept my gaze over the hunters gathered on the bridge and sank into thought.
I never imagined a day like this would come after I reincarnated into an F-rank body.
But now that I was once again being treated as someone powerful, I couldn’t help feeling strangely moved.
“Wow, what kind of look is that...”
“I heard seeing Hunter Kim Giryeo in person makes you instinctively watch your manners...”
The details of their impressions varied somewhat.
Still, I decided to be satisfied with the fact that they were treating me like an S-rank Hunter, just as they treated Jung Haseong.
***
The dragon hunt began soon afterward.
“Haseong-ssi, fighting!”
“Both of you, be careful!”
The excitement surrounding the participation of an S-rank hunter didn’t last long.
Once the actual hunt began, Jung Haseong separated from the Korean Magic Tower team.
After all, staying too close to an S-rank pyromancer would only increase the number of casualties for no good reason.
Haseong and I were assigned to a separate group and began carrying out our own strategy.
Ironically, however, our smaller team advanced much faster.
That was all thanks to the great mage beside me, whose instincts alone worked almost like an analysis device.
“Oh... The stealth level really is high. This is way better than that Park Juntae or whatever his name was.”
Unlike the Korean Magic Tower hunters, who carefully checked the enemy’s location with equipment as though testing every stone before crossing a bridge, the S-rank group strode forward without hesitation.
Before long, we found a dragon curled up asleep.
Now that we had located our target, it was time to get to work.
“Jung Haseong.”
I raised my index finger and pointed precisely toward the enemy’s location.
Then, without changing my pose, I said,
“Cast it as ‘cleanly’ as possible.”
Haseong responded immediately.
Before I could offer any further explanation, he summoned a spear of crimson flame into the air and launched it straight ahead.
“Kaaaaaaaah!”
The dragon struck by Haseong’s skill was forcibly pulled out of invisibility and screamed in pain.
The Green Dragon’s wing had been pierced clean through, leaving behind a perfectly round hole as though it had been punched out by a machine.
The edges of the wound still weren’t perfectly smooth.
But compared to the past, when his flames had been so weak and shapeless that they could barely be called proper fire, this was remarkable progress.
“Good job.”
This was the result of all our previous efforts.
I had substantially corrected that primitive sorcerer’s habit of carelessly leaking mana every time he cast a spell.
“Now it actually forms a proper circle.”
Seeing how much sharper and more refined his magic had become in just a few weeks, it was obvious—even with my eyes closed—that Jung Haseong had been practicing relentlessly.
And that was precisely why my conscience was starting to hurt...
“Hmm.”
With Kang Changho locked up in a detention center, I needed another source of labor for the dragon hunt.
So I had coaxed Haseong into coming along by telling him that I wanted to see whether he was properly applying what he had learned during our lessons.
But Haseong had no idea that a certain alien was not only skipping an entire week’s worth of lessons but also trying to dump his workload onto him.
“Hunter Kim, which one do you think was better—the first or the second?”
“Huh?”
“The first skill spread the mana evenly throughout the spear-shaped structure, while the second concentrated the power at the tip. I’m not sure whether it worked properly.”
The disciple waited obediently for my evaluation.
He even resembled a model student who had received excellent grades and was now eagerly awaiting praise from a respected teacher.
“Haseong-ah, this is exactly why the Association keeps taking advantage of you...”
As expected, Jung Haseong remained completely oblivious to someone else’s scheming and maintained his earnest attitude.
But mere guilt wasn’t enough to make me stop.
No.
If anything, I had to grit my teeth and make full use of that young man’s kindness.
‘If it raises my chances of obtaining a dragon’s lung by even 0.1%...’
Without this overwhelming greed, I never would have entered a monster’s den in the first place.
“Hmm, simply burning a dragon to death seems far too easy for an assignment.”
Immediately after the first Green Dragon fell, I gave the young hero a new instruction.
From now on, rather than killing the Green Dragons instantly, he had to figure out a way to incapacitate them instead.
“T, this is all for your sake, you know? It’s supposed to help you practice controlling your strength—”
Haseong began experimenting on the next dragon we encountered.
First, he tried disabling its mobility by burning its limbs.
But the monster couldn’t withstand the damage and died.
Failure.
Next, he attempted to suffocate it by using flames to consume the oxygen around it.
But once he extinguished the fire, he discovered that the dragon had been roasted to a crisp.
Another failure.
There were several rounds of trial and error, but an S-rank hunter like him quickly began to get the hang of it.