Yongsan, on the second floor of a building owned by Riyu.

What had once been an office was now the base of the Demons Class.

Since nothing had been moved in yet, the only things in the room were a whiteboard, desks, and chairs.

At the six long desks sat the HAUT participants I had invited, grouped by academy.

Everyone’s eyes were on me as I stood at the front by the whiteboard—everyone except for one person, whose gaze was deliberately elsewhere. I didn’t need to say who.

“Thank you all for accepting my invitation,” I said with a smile.

“Since not every academy has given formal approval yet, we can’t officially begin. Still, I thought it was important for us to gather beforehand, so I arranged this meeting.”

I placed my hand behind my back, and I could feel all eyes follow it.

From my belt, I set a small inventory box on my team’s desk.

“Inside are rings, crafted by my friend, to commemorate your joining the Demons Class.”

“Your friend? You mean the Mysterious Craftsman!?”

Rio shot to his feet.

“For real!?”

Maria nearly jumped up herself.

As expected of Ucheon Academy—their interest in items was always more intense than the rest.

Not that the others weren’t impressed. They stared so intently I could almost hear them holding their breath.

“Yes. There are twenty-four rings, all identical. Each team leader, please come forward.”

One by one, the leaders rose from their seats and approached me—Toby from Crystal, Ao from Martial Go, Rune from Magica, Rio from Ucheon, and Jang Taeil from Dao.

I handed each of them four rings.

“Oooh…”

Rio let out a gasp as he held one up.

“Same rarity, but the aura’s so much denser. That means every possible effect got stacked.”

‘As expected from Ucheon, he knows how to appraise.’

Rio was right. Each ring carried the full five effects possible for a rare item:

After explaining the effects to everyone, I added:

“This time, since it’s a commemorative gift, my friend made the same versatile ring for all of you. But in the future, each of you will receive equipment tailored to your individual strengths. Please look forward to it.”

The reaction was explosive.

Faces flushed red with excitement, everyone began speculating aloud about what kind of items they might receive.

Of course, my team didn’t react that way—we already had such equipment.

‘But even our team isn’t complete yet. To fully draw out their powers, rare-grade gear alone won’t cut it.’

“Now, let me explain today’s plan.”

I returned to the whiteboard.

“You’re all aware that a new dungeon appeared here in Yongsan.”

“You mean the fortress gate?” Zen asked.

“That’s right. Officially, it’s being called The Fortress. Entry permission was granted today.”

“Wait… don’t tell me…”

Zen’s eyes widened.

“Yes. Our dungeon today will be the Fortress.”

The room burst into chatter again.

“Hold on.”

A single calm voice cut through the noise.

Everyone turned toward it.

Rune was on her feet.

“This isn’t HAUT, and we don’t even have academy approval yet. If we enter on our own, won’t there be consequences?”

“That’s true…” Ao murmured.

“Of course, I prepared for that.”

I revealed my trump card.

“What’s that? A document?” Rune frowned.

“This is an official dungeon entry permit, signed by the mayor himself.”

“What??”

Rune’s eyes went wide—

“Mayor Cheon Jiweon!?”

Ao shot to her feet, then quickly sat back down with flushed cheeks when her teammates gave her pointed looks.

“Yes. The mayor knows about this gathering. When I told him, he issued this permit.”

He’d actually printed it for me that very morning at the hotel lobby.

At this point, Jiweon’s trust in me was even higher than in the late-game events of the original game.

“Then… I suppose there’s nothing to worry about.” Rune nodded.

“Hmph. Needless worry.”

Meiling muttered under her breath.

“M-Meiling…!” Lumina hissed in panic.

The air in the base instantly chilled as the Magica group glared at her.

Then—

“It’s not needless.”

A quiet, steady voice spoke.

“What?” Meiling frowned at Seo Yui beside her.

“When so many people from different academies come together, our actions will carry weight. Rune was right to bring it up. That’s how I see it. Don’t you?”

“……”

Meiling’s lips twitched, then she pouted and looked away.

Seo Yui gave me a subtle wink.

‘Thanks, Seo Yui.’

With her timely senior’s grace, the Magica students eased their expressions.

“In that case, let’s head for the Fortress now.”

“Ohhh! I can’t wait!”

Rio leapt up with a cheer.

As if his energy were contagious, everyone else rose from their seats.

We left the base in high spirits, reaching the Fortress gate in no time.

But actually stepping inside took an entire hour.

“I’ve never seen this many hunters at one dungeon before.”

Lumina muttered with a weary face.

“Sure, I get it—it’s the first day after a new dungeon appeared and permits got issued, so of course it’s crowded. But… even knowing that, it’s still exhausting.”

“Haha… true enough,” I said, and she gave me a faint smile.

“It’s at least lucky that the Fortress dungeon is an isolated type,” Toby said, stepping closer.

“If it were an open-type, every hunter who lined up outside earlier would’ve been inside with us by now.”

“Exactly. An independent type is a blessing.”

I already knew that, of course, but it did make me consider carefully when it came to the open-type dungeons that would appear in Phase 2.

“They didn’t call it the Fortress dungeon for nothing.”

“No kidding. There really is a castle.”

Ahead of us, Rio and Maria were chatting.

“A drawbridge, walls, towers… it’s like something straight out of the Middle Ages.”

Ha Yugeun tilted his head back to look and muttered, “It’s practically a fortress from a textbook.”

“Before we get too far, let’s set our positions.”

I gathered everyone and divided the roles.

Frontline tanks:

Frontline melee DPS:

Midline melee DPS:

Midline support:

Backline mages:

Six in total:

Backline healers/support:

Three in total.

“Sounds reasonable,” Toby said after listening to my breakdown.

“We’ll refine the details as we fight, but for now—let’s head in.”

“Alright, let’s do this!” Rio shouted, raising his shield.

We split into three groups and crossed the drawbridge.

The moment we passed through the gates, the frontline came to a halt.

“Oh, straight into it, huh?” Rio said brightly.

Four armored skeletons had appeared ahead.

“Undead.” Cho Inhu raised his shield.

CRASH!

With a single deafening blow, the skeletons shattered into pieces and flew across the air.

[…]

Everyone silently stared forward.

“Stopping for trash like this is a waste of time.”

It was Iris, gripping her greatsword.

“With this lineup, we could bulldoze through any dungeon up to the fourth floor. There’s no point in marching in neat formation.”

She turned to me.

“All melee and mages, get to the front. We’ll clear to the fourth floor ourselves.”

Lumina turned to me, flustered.

Not just her—the others were looking back and forth between Iris and me, waiting for direction.

“Iris,” Toby stepped forward, “this gathering was created by Nam Yein. He’s the actual leader. Even if you’ve got a good idea, you should suggest it first, not bark orders.”

“Hmph. Leader? I never accepted Nam Yein as my leader!” Iris planted a hand on her hip, shouting.

Toby sighed, about to argue again, but I stepped in.

“It’s fine,” I said. “We’ll do it your way—let the DPS take point to the fourth floor.”

“……”

“What’s with the face? I’m agreeing with you.”

“Tch.” Iris clicked her tongue and turned her back on me.

‘As I thought—she was baiting me.’

If I had insisted on following my orders, she’d have challenged me on the spot to prove who the real leader was.

But that would’ve been a waste of time.

Fighting Iris when she was on guard? I’d lose. No point in a battle I couldn’t win.

And besides… her plan wasn’t actually wrong.

For a normal dungeon, that is.

I stayed quiet. Sometimes the fastest way to learn is through pain.

With the DPS leading, we plowed through the dungeon like a storm.

The Fortress dungeon’s structure was simple: climb the castle floors to reach the boss at the top. Defeat it, and both a return portal and a deep-realm portal would appear. Passing through the latter would reveal another fortress beyond the drawbridge.

Through the third floor, nothing posed a challenge.

With ten melee and magic users combined, armored undead and translucent ghosts were deleted as soon as they appeared.

But as we advanced, everyone started noticing something unusual.

“This dungeon…”

After defeating the third-floor boss, Ao sheathed her sword and spoke.

“Doesn’t it seem like way more demonic relics and materials are dropping than normal?”

I glanced at the pile of loot the DPS had gathered—rare and magical-grade relics and materials, all from the last fight.

“The amount’s at least triple a normal dungeon,” Jin Cheongryong said.

“If this keeps up, it’s going to get hard to even enter.”

“Yeah. Every hunter’s going to flock here,” Rio and Maria whispered behind them.

‘Not yet,’ I thought with a grin.

The true value of a Phase 2 dungeon wasn’t trash drops like these. Once we went deeper, they’d see for themselves.

A short while later, we entered the fourth-floor boss chamber. Barely thirty seconds passed before—

“Guhh!!”

A ragged gasp tore through the air.

Iris collapsed to the floor, her body riddled with holes.

“Iris!!”

Toby shouted, sprinting forward.

‘The fastest lessons are learned with the body… but pain is the price.’

I looked down at Iris, bleeding out across the stones, and thought to myself.

(End of Chapter)