- Third Eye Activated.

◎ Silver Gatekeeper

Target does not match examination level.

Trait activation conditions not met.

Trait not activating.

- Target below examination standards.

- Not included in examination count.

...That's harsh. Even though I took it down in one hit, it's not even included in examination count.

Damn. If I knew this would happen, should I have gone easier with sword instead of shadow?

Fighting with Elders so much seems to have raised my level tremendously without knowing.

Certain. I never expected an A-rank boss to meet his maker in one strike.

If I knew, I would have gone easy. So it could at least resist a bit.

Then depending on that resistance level, it might have met examination standards.

It's A-rank so it could have been good experience, but one-shot kill ruined it.

"Wow, examiner. You're really too much!"

Lee Hyunwoo grumbles while checking the sprawled boss monster.

Don't tell me he's complaining I didn't help when they were struggling because I could catch the boss this easily...

"If there was one more, you should have told us! Then we would have caught it!"

"...Pardon?"

"Isn't that right, everyone?!"

What's right about that, you crazy bastard? Everyone clearly looks tired.

Look at that. Yoo Dasom's eyes look ready to devour you, Hyunwoo.

"Not at all, junior."

"Isn't it? I think so though..."

"Junior? Please, can we just rest quietly?"

Yoo Dasom, who was treating Suhyeon's arm, slightly frowns.

Then Lee Hyunwoo goes "Ahem!" and scratches his head before quietly returning to his spot.

I see you differently now, Yoo Dasom. You're not just a healer but Lee Hyunwoo's suppressor.

But what's also interesting is that Lee Hyunwoo got hurt a lot while leading.

Though he gets healed immediately, the pain inflicted on the body at that moment remains.

Normally, mental fatigue accumulates from that pain.

So even if the body is fine, they reach a level where they can't move due to mental exhaustion.

But Lee Hyunwoo looked very peaceful as if he didn't know such mental fatigue.

"Hmm..."

Glancing over, Kang Hana was contemplating while examining the boss monsters.

She was so focused that she didn't notice me approaching.

"Hana."

"Ah, yes! Examiner. What is it?"

When I carefully spoke, only then did she notice my presence and turn.

"Your mana. It must have been tight."

"It's okay. I thought mana exhaustion symptoms would come but they didn't."

"That's fortunate. All that hard training seems to have paid off."

She used magic continuously for nearly an hour without rest.

Normal magic-types would have taken at least one break to recover mana.

But Kang Hana succeeded in enduring mana exhaustion without rest.

"More than that, this is the first time I've seen something like this."

"The boss monsters."

More precisely, it would be boss monsters plural.

I've never seen this either. And never heard of it.

Dungeons have boss monsters. And that individual is only one.

Like there can't be two suns in the sky, or only one king in a country.

Boss monsters also exist as only one per dungeon.

Whether they die and respawn or not, that was an unchanging concept.

...Now it's become 'could be' instead of 'can be,' which is the problem.

"How can there be two bosses? The Academy definitely never taught about such cases. There might have been boss peculiarities or other things, but never this."

"Um, isn't there a possibility they're not bosses?"

Yoo Dasom's words have quite high possibility.

The problem is, the aura felt from each monster is definitely not that of regular monsters.

No matter how much monster upheaval occurred, differences between regular and boss exist.

To compare, it's like the gap between normal grade and rare grade?

And the better the ability users' skills, the more they can feel it.

"No, Dasom. This is definitely boss. I'm certain. It can't be otherwise."

"If unnie says that much... but if that's really true, it makes even less sense. Until now, there's never been a single reported case of two or more bosses appearing!"

"Right. None. Neither in academia nor unofficially."

Kang Hana stands up and points to the boss.

"But now there is. It doesn't make sense, but now it does."

"...When we collect monster byproducts, there should naturally be two boss items when there should be one."

"Right, junior. It's clear evidence. Plus, are the members here ordinary members? No one will disparage our words as low-quality lies."

That's true. Kang Hana is the Magic Tower Clan master's daughter right away.

Plus Suhyeon is that Kang Minseong's granddaughter, Yoo Dasom is a huge corporation's granddaughter.

Though Lee Hyunwoo has nothing special family-wise, he'll surpass that with skill.

Finally, for me, well, the question "You fought Elders?" would end it.

"Since dungeon subjugation is over, let's exit outside. We should report this fact quickly."

I nodded in agreement with Kang Hana's words.

This incident can't be something that happened only to us, an extremely unlucky event.

Surely similar phenomena will occur elsewhere too.

If that happens, there will be those who become troubled or face bigger problems.

Come to think of it, this really became a headache for the government.

Not just the Ability User Association but Ministry of Public Administration and Security and others will be in chaos.

Gates can appear anytime anywhere, monsters suddenly became stronger.

Now bosses might appear in twos or more in dungeons.

At this level, each related department cursing "Damn it!" would be innocent.

"Thank you for your hard work. As expected, it didn't take long."

As we exit the dungeon, the dispatcher warmly greets us.

If there was something bothering him, he would have run away as soon as he let us in.

Even if not that, it would be normal to show some panic.

Looking like this, I didn't feel at all like he was lying.

...Hmm, thinking about it, that's more problematic?

There would have been the clan master's words, he would have checked the dungeon in advance.

Then until at least a few days ago, it was an extremely normal dungeon.

But that dungeon changed too much in such a short time.

Dire Wolves should have appeared but Mist Tigers came instead.

The environment that had no special features became full of fog.

Decisively, the boss inexplicably popped out as two.

"Um, everyone? Why are you looking with such eyes..."

It seems I wasn't the only one staring at the dispatcher.

Yoo Dasom and Suhyeon also seem slightly suspicious.

"Um, could you come here for a moment?"

Kang Hana explained the detailed situation instead.

When we entered the dungeon, it was completely different from what we were told.

Environment, monster species, even the number of bosses - everything different!

"...Pardon? W, wait. Wait a moment. What did you just say?"

And the reaction from the dispatcher was as expected.

He showed clear signs of not understanding, saying it was impossible.

"Mist Tigers? You mean Mist Tigers, not Dire Wolves? That's impossible! Just three days ago we confirmed all the Dire Wolf individuals! But how... Ah, no! And! You said two bosses appeared?"

"Yes. It's hard to believe, but it's all true."

"That's completely nonsensical..."

The dispatcher who was saying that looks at our group and closes his mouth.

He probably can't think we're lying.

The personnel composition is too ridiculously overpowered for that.

"Could you wait a moment? If this is true, I need to report this immediately!"

Please do that. It's troublesome for us if you don't believe it.

The dispatcher runs off frantically somewhere.

There were the government ability users who came with us earlier.

Probably trying to notify related departments through them.

"...What kind of nonsense..."

"...But the person reporting this is..."

They're talking so loud it's audible from here.

Maybe I should go explain to those people again.

"I'll go."

"...Suhyeon?"

Suhyeon, who had been quietly beside me, steps forward.

"I'll go explain well to those people about what we saw and experienced in the dungeon."

"Uh... Suhyeon? You don't have to do that, right? Our clan member will explain well. Magic Tower Clan wouldn't make false reports to the government..."

"No. Hana unnie. I hate even a little suspicion about the examiner's... ahem. Our work."

So she'll go confirm it's true herself.

Since everyone knows who's behind her, they can't act carelessly.

Suhyeon asked us to trust her as she headed toward the dispatcher and government ability users.

"She wasn't such an active kid before...?"

Kang Hana, who said that, suddenly stares at me.

Why? What?

"Do you have something to say, Hana?"

"No. Just... hmm, have a pretty love life?"

Sorry, but we haven't reached that stage yet.

"Examiner!"

Looking back, Suhyeon is smiling brightly.

And the government ability users behind her were no longer arguing about our report.

They were urgently contacting somewhere continuously.

Meanwhile, Suhyeon runs over and stands right in front of me.

Her eyes sparkle so much, it's like looking at a puppy.

"I finished everything in one go. Did I do well?"

"Ah, yes. Suhyeon. You did well... but how did you do it?"

"I told grandfather that if he reports this, it'll go straight to the minister's office, so just process it quickly."

"..."

Somehow I feel like I unconsciously used the Kang Minseong card. Well, it's not like he'd complain about using it. Rather, he'd be subtly disappointed if I didn't use it. He's nominally a hero of the Great War, but in reality he's an immature person as Ma Hakjun said.

"We'll move locations for now! Let's go!"

The dispatcher who brought a vehicle shouts to get in quickly. I nodded and was gathering the team members...

Sususu—

'Huh.'

For a moment I thought I felt it wrong. But I hadn't felt it wrong. The shadow I had secretly hidden inside after dungeon subjugation. That thread suddenly trembled faintly and then became quiet.