The air in this underground cavern was thick with stifling heat.
Snarling roars echoed off the stone walls.
The clash of iron, the thud of heavy impacts, the wet spray of blood, the crackling bursts of magic—all these sounds wove together into a heart-pounding symphony that frayed the already taut nerves of Han Song-Yi.
On a clearing not far away, eight hunters in varied attire darted through hordes of monsters.
Some weaved through the chaos, others lurked at the edges, minimizing their presence only to lend crucial support at key moments.
Though a hastily assembled team, they displayed a surprising degree of coordination.
Yet, even as seasoned hunters, the sheer level disparity and overwhelming numbers left them struggling desperately.
Han Song-Yi never imagined that the first strangers willing to take her in, on her very first dungeon dive, would lead to such a hopeless situation.
One A-rank, two B-ranks, four C-ranks, and one D-rank—a balanced party with warriors, tanks, mages, and a healer. Against a D-rank dungeon, this lineup should have been an easy clear.
They hadn't even been overly concerned about the loot, willing to bring along E-rank Han Song-Yi for a tutorial run, letting her learn the ropes while sharing some magic crystals with her.
But the current situation could only be described as a slow, agonizing death.
An endless tide of orc soldiers poured into the clearing from cavernous tunnels on all sides.
The tank had been wounded more than once—in fact, everyone except the mage and healer bore injuries of varying severity. If not for the B-rank healer's constant restorative efforts, they would have already been overrun.
Orcs weren't particularly formidable monsters, but numbers changed everything. And clearly, there was an orc chieftain here. While a C-rank could handle a regular orc, dealing with the chieftain would require at least three A-ranks.
In their current state, the chieftain didn't even need to show itself. The relentless tide of grunts was enough to wipe out the entire party.
"Damn it... Even a red gate shouldn't warp a D-rank dungeon into an A-rank one, should it?" the healer gasped, her face pale.
A B-rank healer was a prized asset for any guild. Under normal raid conditions, their ability to heal mid-combat, with far greater frequency and potency than C-ranks, made them highly sought after. A single B-rank healer could usually handle the real-time healing needs of an entire party.
But... that was under normal circumstances, where both sides were evenly matched, and the healer didn't need to work at maximum intensity, often just focusing on the tank.
Now was completely different. She was bearing the healing burden for the entire frontline without a moment's respite.
This wasn't a strain a B-rank could handle—even an A-rank healer would be hard-pressed to keep up.
Cowering in a corner behind the party, Han Song-Yi watched the hunters on the verge of collapse. She desperately wanted to help but found herself utterly powerless.
She couldn't help but glance at her phone again. The screen still displayed the same frustrating message: 'User out of service area.'
Messages couldn't be sent... no way to contact the outside... How could this happen?
Were dungeons really this terrifying?
She shouldn't have come... No, she should have waited for Castorice-unni... If only she'd checked her phone before entering, if only she'd asked everyone to wait for Castorice-unni...
"Ah!"
"Urk!"
"Gah!"
A series of agonized cries snapped Han Song-Yi out of her daze.
The healer's mana was spent.
Without the constant stream of healing, the frontline fighters, though individually stronger than their opponents, were accumulating wounds under the sheer weight of numbers.
As injuries mounted, pain and blood loss twisted their movements and numbed their thoughts.
It didn't take long for the hunters to be overwhelmed.
The orcs looked down at the fallen hunters but didn't immediately go for the kill. Instead, they grunted in a guttural language incomprehensible to humans, seeming to debate something.
Han Song-Yi's body had gone rigid. She even quieted her breathing, terrified of drawing the orcs' attention.
Yet, at that moment, several orcs turned their heads in unison, fixing their gazes directly on her position. The mockery on their faces nearly stopped her heart.
Seeing the orcs stride toward her, Han Song-Yi didn't even have time to think. She whirled around to flee into the darkness.
But...
'My body... won't move?'
The cannon fodder characters she had once mocked and scoffed at in comics now overlapped perfectly with her own pathetic self.
'Why don't they just run when they're in danger?'
Her past self, who had uttered such naive words, now seemed appallingly ignorant. Only now, with fear paralyzing her limbs, did she understand why those comic characters had been rendered helpless.
A green, calloused hand drew closer, blotting out her vision.
The suffocating pressure forced Han Song-Yi to squeeze her eyes shut.
But the awaited pain never came. Instead, she heard a sound both familiar and foreign—the same sound of a weapon slicing through flesh she had just heard moments before...
Han Song-Yi's eyes flew open instinctively.
Where the orc had stood was now another figure. A woman in a white, backless gown, holding a scythe taller than herself.
The skirt fluttered like tattered butterfly wings, adorned with countless petals. It looked dreamlike, yet as untouchable as a butterfly.
The attire was unfamiliar to Han Song-Yi, but the cascade of white and purple hair and the silhouette she had studied so many times instantly revealed the woman's identity.
The light returned to Han Song-Yi's eyes.
"Castorice-unni?!"
The girl didn't even stop to wonder how her sister had entered through the red gate. All that flooded her now was the dizzying relief of survival and a profound sense of safety.
Castorice-unni was an S-rank hunter! If it was her, clearing this dungeon would be nothing!
The orcs lounging further away noticed the commotion.
Seeing Castorice and the orc at her feet dissolving into purple motes of light, they let out furious bellows. But to Castorice... these roars sounded less like rage and more like fear and warning.
For these non-human creatures, Castorice harbored no extra mercy. The only compassion she could offer was reserved for those who became citizens of her realm.
Her eyes grew colder. Gripping her scythe, she took a step toward the orcs.
But the moment she moved, the orcs scattered with low growls, fleeing into various tunnel passages with startling speed, leaving both Han Song-Yi and Castorice momentarily stunned.
"This..."
Monsters could feel fear too?
Han Song-Yi didn't understand, but she was deeply shaken, her gaze turning to one of pure admiration for Castorice's back.
"They're all gravely injured... They need treatment, quickly."
Castorice paid no mind to the young girl's awestruck look, frowning instead at the hunters lying wounded in the distance.
If this were before she became Thanatos, she might have been at a loss, forced to ask her main self for healing potions.
But this particular incarnation happened to be Castorice, who had taken over Thanatos's Coreflame.
Healing wasn't her specialty, but she knew a thing or two.
In fact, compared to healing someone, it might be faster to cut them down, send them to the underworld, and then pull them back out.
But that method was a bit too... startling for the average person.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.