Chapter 66

Leveling Up Alone: Ragnarok Chapter 65

All day long.

Baek Mihwa stayed in the guild, periodically monitoring the status of the guild members.

Surprisingly, many of the field-type dungeons in the city have cell phone signals.

Of course, in places where the blue fog is thick, the signal often doesn't work, but today, the fields shared with C-grade Hunters avoided such places as much as possible.

"Vice President! We've received a call from Times Square!"

"Is it Min Seong?"

"It's not clear yet! However, there are phenomena that don't exist in the guild data..."

"Phenomena not in the data?"

Upon hearing the report, Baek Mihwa's expression hardened.

The information network of the White Tiger Guild is quite extensive.

Especially the fields shared with C-grade Hunters today were places that had been verified multiple times.

But if a situation not in the data occurred?

And at a time when the villain is causing chaos?

Baek Mihwa's eyes flashed sharply.

"What kind of phenomena?"

"It's... toxic fog and bees..."

Bees?

Just that one word was enough.

In the CCTV footage, Min Seong's appearance had transformed into something resembling a 'bee.'

Whether it was a skill or something else, if bees suddenly appeared in the field, it must be related to him in some way.

"Let's head to Times Square."

At Baek Mihwa's command, the guild members who were on standby all stood up.

Upon arriving at Times Square, Baek Mihwa held her breath the moment she entered the field.

"Ah."

A thick, toxic fog filled the thorny maze.

'The poison is this intense?'

Naturally, Hunters have much better resistance to poison than ordinary people.

Most poisons don't even affect them.

Even if they do get poisoned, they can be treated by Healers, so it's rare for them to be in danger from poison.

However, if the entire field is filled with toxic fog, the situation changes.

Since Healers' mana is limited, they can't keep using detoxification spells indefinitely.

"Everyone, put on your gas masks."

Squish.

Following Baek Mihwa's instructions, the subordinate Hunters put on the gas masks they had prepared.

Baek Mihwa herself also put on a gas mask.

Weeeeng—

Shh!

Baek Mihwa's hand quickly caught something.

It was a contaminated hornet that had approached like an assassin, hidden in the toxic fog.

Seeing the drop of poison at the end of the hornet's stinger, Baek Mihwa's expression stiffened.

A magical insect-type monster.

And one that could fly normally even in such a toxic fog.

She was worried about the safety of the Hunters who had entered earlier.

"Vice President..."

The White Tiger Guild members looked at Baek Mihwa with troubled expressions.

"Let's try to find as many survivors as possible."

Clenching her teeth, Baek Mihwa walked into the thorny maze filled with toxic fog.

'Somehow, we have to save them.'

Not all good intentions lead to good results.

It was Baek Mihwa herself who had led them here.

If someone were to die, it would be entirely her responsibility.

'Please... don't be too late.'

However.

"Huh?"

"Ah!"

They found them much faster than expected.

"Vice President Baek Mihwa?!"

"We're alive! Reinforcements have arrived!"

"......!"

Baek Mihwa was a bit taken aback to find the Hunters gathered and resting.

Contrary to her worries, they seemed unharmed.

Of course, their appearance was quite ragged, indicating they had suffered a lot.

But thanks to the Healers she had sent with them, all their injuries had been treated.

What surprised Baek Mihwa the most was the gas masks they were wearing.

"How did you get gas masks...?"

There was no information about poison in this dungeon.

There was no reason to bring gas masks, which would only be extra baggage.

Yet, for some reason, they were all wearing gas masks.

"Oh, these? Hunter Seong Suho suddenly brought them from somewhere..."

"Seong Suho...?"

At this, Baek Mihwa's gaze searched for Seong Suho.

But he wasn't there.

Of the 10 members of the attack team she had sent in, 9 were all safe, but the C-grade Hunter Seong Suho was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Hunter Seong Suho? Could he have... died?"

"No, no! Hunter Seong Suho is safe! Or, he should be safe!"

In response to Baek Mihwa's question about whether he might have died, the Hunters quickly answered.

But their expressions were a bit strange.

Noticing this, Baek Mihwa's expression hardened, and she looked at the White Tiger Guild members who had been deployed with them.

"What exactly happened here?"

"Vice President, well..."

"Hunter Seong Suho saved us."

"...What? Saved you? Who saved whom?"

What exactly did that mean?

A C-grade Hunter saving an attack team that included three B-grade Hunters?

But even when she asked again, the answer remained the same.

"Hunter Seong Suho saved us and then disappeared. He even gave us these gas masks before leaving."

Until just a moment ago, the Hunters gathered here were almost at death's door.

Their bodies were gradually stiffening due to the toxic fog spread throughout the field.

Thorny vines, the Wood Vines, kept coming from all directions.

In the midst of this, the contaminated hornets would appear silently and sting them whenever they saw an opening.

None of these enemies could be ignored, but the most terrifying were the hornets' stingers.

A single sting, no matter where it hit, would quickly spread the poison throughout the body, causing it to rot.

The only treatment was to cut off the infected area as quickly as possible, just as Seong Suho had done for Gudongjae.

Immediately after, the Healer would regenerate the cut area.

However, this treatment method consumed too much of the Healer's mana, making it impossible to use repeatedly.

That's when it happened.

Seong Suho, who had been separated by a sudden thorny wall, returned.

But the problem was his appearance when he returned...

"His hair was bleached?"

"Yes. To a silver-gray color..."

Baek Mihwa's expression hardened as she listened to the explanation.

As far as she knew, there weren't many skills that could suddenly change hair color.

The most famous one, of course, was the Beast Transformation skill.

Using the Beast Transformation skill, it was possible to change part of the body, or even more.

'Could Hunter Seong Suho also have the Beast Transformation skill? Ah! Now that I think about it...!'

Why did it just occur to her now?

Baek Mihwa suddenly remembered a recent memory.

She had seen this Hunter before, but it wasn't the first time today.

'Magic Song Field.'

A place where almost all the Beast Transformation Hunters in the capital region had gathered.

The strange dungeon that claimed to choose the King of Beasts.

'Hunter Seong Suho was there!'

Among the other Hunters, he had a peculiar aura, which made him stand out.

'Since it was a place where only Beast Transformation Hunters gathered, it's natural that he... .'

It seemed certain that Hunter Seong Suho had the Beast Transformation skill.

...But why?

For some reason, another thought was forming in Baek Mihwa's mind.

Wasn't there another person famous for their silver-gray hair, besides herself and her father?

A mysterious Hunter who was currently gaining popularity.

'Beast King Crow.'

Whatever the story, this person always wore a mask to hide their face...

'Ah. This isn't the time for this.'

Baek Mihwa snapped out of her thoughts.

She then asked the guild members who were waiting for her orders.

"So, what do you mean the Hunter disappeared again? Where did he go?"

"He said he was going to the place where the queen bee is."

"Queen bee?"

The situation was getting strange.

An unexpected event had occurred, but the cause was not the A-grade villain Min Seong, but a queen bee.

This dungeon was supposed to have no boss monster.

Had a new boss monster suddenly appeared?

'Could it be Min Seong?'

In the CCTV footage, Min Seong's back had insect-like wings.

Regardless of what ability this was, if all this was Min Seong's doing, it would make sense.

The Hunter she was talking to pointed to one side.

There was a staircase leading underground.

"Hunter Seong Suho went down there."

"So, the queen bee is underground."

Baek Mihwa nodded with a serious expression.

The situation would become clear once they went underground.

She looked at the support troops she had brought and gave orders.

"A few of you, evacuate these people. The rest, come with me to hunt the queen bee."

* * *

At that moment, Seong Suho, who had descended to the underground level of Times Square, had a serious expression.

"Is it you?"

The chill in his voice made the air around him seem to freeze.

At that moment, 20 black lancers rose from Seong Suho's shadow.

[Kiririk!]

The Shadow Lancers, now sturdy lancers protecting Seong Suho, took a stance as if ready to charge forward at any moment.

But even in this ominous scene, 'she' remained calm.

Hurok.

She sat with her legs crossed at a table in a cafe entangled with thorny vines, leisurely tilting her teacup.

"Would you like to sit for a moment?"

Her clear, calm voice offered the empty seat in front of Seong Suho.

"Sure."

Seong Suho sat in the chair in front of her.

In the midst of this ominous atmosphere, the space around them seemed to become calm, as if separated from the rest.

"Would you like some tea? It's sweet tea with honey. Special honey that I made myself."

[Kieeek! How dare a mere insect make a fuss!]

At this, Berga suddenly thrust his face forward and roared fiercely.

Although he was still the size of a fist, his presence was intimidating.

"Oh my. I see you have a formidable guard now."

[Kehm. I am formidable.]

Berga puffed out his chest with a smug expression.

The woman couldn't take her eyes off Berga.

A fist-sized ant glowing with black steam.

But the strength of insects is not related to their size.

In the world of insects, the smaller and weaker they seem, the more dangerous they are.

'This is the first time I've seen an insect with such presence since Queressa...'

The woman was confused.

Berga's state was very unusual.

His presence was overwhelming, but the aura he emitted was unstable.

"What are you doing? On a date?"

Seeing the two of them staring at each other with strange expressions, Seong Suho sneered from the side with a cold look.

At this, the woman snapped out of her thoughts and politely greeted Seong Suho.

"Ah, I'm sorry. My name is Arsha. May I ask your name?"

"Seong Suho."

"I'll call you Suho."

"Sir?"

"Yes. I don't want to get a scolding from this ant sir."

[Kehm. For a bee, you have good instincts.]

Berga smirked with a wicked expression.