Chapter 12
"Keep your field of vision wide. Make sure you watch the trees too."
Chaeho's calm voice cut through the dense forest path.
The party leader walking at the front nodded and adjusted his grip on his shield.
"Just like Lee Chaeho Hunter said, everyone stay alert. C-rank forest-type dungeons are open on all sides, so we never know where an ambush might come from."
The damp smell of soil and the heavy scent of grass filled their noses.
Thick branches intertwined overhead, blocking most of the sunlight and making the dungeon as dark as early evening.
Once again, Chaeho had joined the party as a one-day mercenary.
There was one tanker, two damage dealers, one healer, and Chaeho.
Because the party was small, their defensive line would inevitably become thin if too many monsters attacked at once.
Rustle.
Suddenly, an unnatural sound came from the bushes on their right.
It wasn't the sound of leaves brushing against each other in the wind.
It sounded like something heavy stepping on the ground before springing away.
Chaeho stopped walking and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"To the right."
Almost as soon as he spoke, three gray shadows burst through the bushes.
They were wolf-type monsters as large as grown men.
Blade Wolves.
"Grrrrr!"
"Monsters in front! Get into formation!"
The party leader shouted and rushed forward.
The damage dealer holding a sword followed closely behind him.
Blade Wolves weren't particularly overwhelming when it came to raw attack power.
The real reason they were troublesome was something else entirely.
They never charged straight toward their prey.
They would leap off thick tree trunks, hide themselves inside bushes before suddenly springing out, and constantly move along unpredictable paths at incredible speed.
Clang! Clang!
The forepaw of one wolf bounced off the party leader's shield.
However, the creature twisted its body in midair, landed smoothly, and immediately rushed toward the damage dealer's blind spot.
"Damn it! Why are these things so fast?!"
The damage dealer hurriedly swung his sword, but his blade only cut through empty air.
With the dynamic vision of an average D-rank Hunter, even following the monsters' zigzag movements was difficult.
The two Hunters in the front desperately swung their weapons, focusing on keeping the attention of the two leading wolves.
They needed to somehow pin the monsters down long enough for magic or ranged attacks to hit them.
"Healer! Get back!"
At that moment, the remaining wolf quickly circled around the front line.
It had taken advantage of the moment when the frontliners were distracted by the other two monsters.
After moving around the party at tremendous speed, the wolf turned its gaze toward Chaeho and the healer guarding the rear.
"Shit! They broke through the rear!"
The party leader turned around in shock.
But the distance between them was already too great.
There was no chance of reaching them in time.
The wolf was simply too fast.
Crunch!
Its claws tore across the ground as it charged forward.
The predator closed the distance so quickly that it almost seemed to leave an afterimage behind.
The healer couldn't even scream.
She simply collapsed to the ground in terror.
Three meters.
Two meters.
In the blink of an eye, the wolf was already right in front of them.
The other party members squeezed their eyes shut.
For a D-rank Hunter to face something moving that fast head-on was almost impossible.
But Chaeho didn't panic in the slightest.
He remained exactly where he was.
And he didn't immediately activate his skill.
There was no reason to waste his precious daily usage time carelessly.
Chaeho adjusted his grip on his sword and calmly fixed his eyes on the wolf.
Using nothing but his natural vision, he followed the Blade Wolf's irregular movements all the way to the end.
He focused so intensely that his eyes began to ache.
And then...
He could see it.
The rhythm of the wolf's muscles contracting and expanding.
Now.
The wolf had completely closed the distance.
It gathered strength in its hind legs, preparing to leap forward and tear into Chaeho's throat.
The decisive instant came when its paws violently pushed off the ground and its body rose into the air.
A quiet switch flipped inside Chaeho's mind.
Time Slow.
Suddenly, the shouts of the party members and the wolf's breathing stretched endlessly inside his ears.
The wolf flying through the air now moved as though it had been submerged underwater.
Extremely slowly.
Chaeho's eyes moved rapidly.
The angles of its four legs.
The tightly stretched muscles around its neck.
The location of its center of gravity over its front paws.
All of that information poured into Chaeho's mind at once.
It's airborne.
It can't change its trajectory anymore.
A leap was a powerful weapon.
However, once both feet left the ground, there was a fatal weakness.
The monster could no longer change direction.
Chaeho calculated the exact place where it would land.
Once he'd confirmed the pattern, he didn't waste another moment.
He immediately deactivated the skill.
He had used it for barely 0.1 seconds.
The world returned to its normal speed.
The wolf's sharp fangs came rushing toward Chaeho's face.
He didn't retreat.
Instead, he stepped half a pace forward toward the wolf's predicted landing point.
At the same time, he raised the sword that had been resting near his waist.
It almost looked as though Chaeho hadn't thrust his sword at all.
Instead...
The wolf had thrown itself onto the tip of his blade.
Puk!
"...!"
It couldn't even let out a death cry.
Chaeho's sword entered beneath the wolf's jaw and pierced straight through the vital point below its neck.
The tremendous momentum of its own charge had become the weapon that took its life.
The wolf's body, still impaled on the sword, bumped against Chaeho's shoulder before crashing onto the ground.
Thud.
The thick smell of blood spread through the air.
The wolf rolled across the ground, kicked its legs twice, and then went completely limp.
Chaeho casually flicked the blood from his sword.
There had been no unnecessary strength in his movement.
It was clean.
Simple.
Efficient.
"Huh..."
The healer sitting on the ground sucked in a stunned breath.
Even the party leader gripping his shield at the front turned toward Chaeho with a blank expression.
None of them could understand what they had just witnessed.
He had read the trajectory of a wolf moving at that speed...
And instead of retreating, he had taken half a step forward and countered it?
A D-rank Hunter?
"Lee Chaeho Hunter... Just now, how did you—"
Before the party leader could finish speaking—
"GRRRAAAAGH!"
One of the remaining Blade Wolves roared after seeing its companion die.
It stepped on the party leader's shield, jumped high into the air, changed direction, and charged straight toward Chaeho.
"Watch out! Another one's coming!"
The damage dealer shouted urgently.
But Chaeho's gaze didn't waver.
If anything, he seemed even more relaxed than before.
That was because the first exchange had allowed him to completely understand the Blade Wolves' unique jumping rhythm and momentum.
The angle they used when jumping from the terrain.
The degree to which their knees bent when pushing off the ground.
He had already seen it all.
Chaeho lowered his sword diagonally as the second wolf approached.
Slide.
The wolf rushed across the ground like it was gliding.
Then it planted its feet against the base of a tree and launched itself high into the air.
The exact same pattern.
Time Slow.
The skill activated for an instant.
The world slowed again.
But unlike the first time, there was no reason to observe the monster for long.
It was like solving a question when he already knew the answer.
Chaeho only checked the angle at which the wolf's chin tilted upward.
Then he immediately deactivated his skill.
This time, the skill hadn't even remained active for half as long as before.
The moment normal speed returned, Chaeho's body seemed to blur.
He slightly tilted his head aside.
The wolf's claws swept past his cheek.
And in that same instant, Chaeho's arm moved.
Slash.
The sound of leather tearing and bone splitting echoed through the forest.
Chaeho's sword cut through the thinnest part of the wolf's side and tore precisely across the area around its heart.
"Yelp!"
The wolf screamed and crashed onto the dirt.
Because it had suffered a fatal wound while moving at full speed, it rolled several more meters before foaming at the mouth and going still.
There hadn't been a single hesitation from beginning to end.
Even against an enemy whose greatest weapon was its speed, Chaeho hadn't been overwhelmed.
Instead, he had used that speed against it while minimizing the amount of strength he needed to use himself.
The party members could only stand frozen as they watched.
Chaeho lowered his sword and steadied his breathing.
I can definitely see it now.
I'm getting used to this.
He was learning how to control his ability only during the most decisive moments.
That was allowing him to draw out the maximum possible efficiency from it.
Follow the enemy with his eyes.
Find the pattern.
Then, the moment he became certain, briefly interfere with time and end the fight.
That style of combat was gradually becoming engraved into his body.
A faint smile appeared on Chaeho's face.
"Let's deal with the last one."
Chaeho turned toward the front line as he spoke.
Only then did the stunned party leader and damage dealer snap back to reality and point their weapons toward the remaining wolf.
After watching two of its companions get cut down almost instantly, the last Blade Wolf was already frightened.
Its tail was tucked between its legs.
"R-Right! Hey, damage dealer! Block the right side!"
The party leader hurriedly raised his shield.
But the flow of battle had already completely shifted in their favor.
Not long afterward, the final wolf fell to the damage dealer's sword.
The forest became quiet once again.
Only the party members' heavy breathing and the smell of monster blood proved that a battle had taken place there moments earlier.
"Haa..."
The party leader placed his shield on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Then he approached the healer, who was still sitting on the ground.
"Are you all right? You're not hurt anywhere?"
"Yes... I'm okay, but..."
The healer stood up with trembling hands and glanced toward Chaeho.
As though they had silently agreed beforehand, every other party member was also staring at him.
Chaeho, meanwhile, was calmly using a dagger to extract mana stones from the bodies of the fallen wolves.
"Lee Chaeho Hunter."
The party leader carefully approached him.
"Yes."
Chaeho answered without lifting his head.
"What you did earlier... How did you do that? The thing was flying toward you through the air, but instead of dodging, you actually stepped forward."
There was clear awe in his voice.
Chaeho casually wiped the blood from his dagger with a piece of cloth.
"Once they're in the air, they can't change direction. I figured that if I could predict where they were going to land, I could kill them."
"Predict where they were going to land? While they were moving that fast?"
"I got a little lucky. Their movements were pretty straightforward."
Straightforward?
Those monsters had been jumping in every direction and driving the entire party crazy.
The party leader and damage dealer looked at each other, speechless.
"You call that luck, but you killed the second one even faster and cleaner than the first. To be honest, I couldn't even see the path your sword took."
The damage dealer shook his head in disbelief.
Then he stared at Chaeho suspiciously.
"Are you really a D-rank Hunter? You're not someone from a top guild messing with us, are you?"
"My résumé should have said D-rank."
Chaeho answered lightly as he collected the mana stones and stood up.
There was no sign that he wanted to show off or receive praise.
His expression remained calm.
As though he had simply done what needed to be done.
"Check your weapons for damage. We still have some distance left before we reach the inner area."
Chaeho swept his gaze around the surroundings as he spoke.
The party leader was technically the one giving orders.
Yet at some point...
The center of the party had completely shifted toward Chaeho.
"Ah, yes! Everyone, check your equipment and we'll move immediately!"
The party leader hurriedly raised his voice and reorganized the formation.
Chaeho once again took his position at the very back and watched the surrounding bushes.
I can shorten it even more.
The sensation he'd experienced while killing the second wolf still remained in his fingertips.
Keeping his skill active for a long time and slowing the entire world was certainly safe.
But it was inefficient.
It consumed too much of his limited resource.
See with his eyes.
Predict with his brain.
React with his body.
And between those steps...
He only needed to insert the skill for an incredibly short moment.
Just 0.1 seconds.
Or perhaps even less.
That alone allowed his D-rank body to strike the vital points of monsters that should normally have been impossible for him to catch.
Having repeatedly confirmed in real combat that his judgment was correct, Chaeho lightly tightened his hand around the sword hilt.
The deeper they entered the forest, the gloomier the dungeon became.
Sunlight no longer reached them at all.
The moss covering the ground was slippery enough that a single careless step could easily twist someone's ankle.
"Watch your footing. You'll hurt your ankle."
Chaeho lightly grabbed the healer's arm when she began falling behind.
"Thank you..."
The healer answered quietly, her face turning slightly red.
The party leader walking at the front suddenly stopped and raised a hand.
"There's a mana reaction ahead. I think we're close to the boss room."
Tension immediately appeared on the party members' faces.
If ordinary monsters in this dungeon were Blade Wolves, then its boss would undoubtedly be much faster and far deadlier.
"Let's enter slowly while maintaining formation. Lee Chaeho Hunter, please keep the rear secure for us."
The party leader turned around and asked him respectfully.
His tone was completely different from the stiff orders he'd given when they first entered the dungeon.
Now, he was speaking like someone who completely trusted Chaeho with their backs.
"I'll do what I'm here to do."
Chaeho gave a short answer and looked forward again.
The more he fought, the lighter his body seemed to feel.
The sensation of activating and cutting off his skill in extremely short bursts was becoming completely natural.
Even if an unexpected variable appeared now, he felt like he could handle it without much difficulty.
Chaeho silently flicked the thumb resting against his sword's guard.
Click.
With a quiet metallic sound, a small portion of the blade slid from its sheath.
Faster.
Shorter.
Chaeho quietly repeated those words to himself while studying the path the frontliners would take.
"Let's go."
At his short command, the frontliners adjusted their grips on their weapons and stepped into the darkness first.
The healer followed them.
Chaeho entered last.
A deep, heavy breath from some enormous beast rolled out from deeper inside the boss room.
Chaeho didn't stop walking.
The instant a massive shadow flickered into his field of vision, the tip of his sword quietly lowered toward the ground.
