However, when we were told to keep quiet, the hunters reluctantly suppressed their anger. The dwarf’s wrinkled face remained dead serious as he faced the dumbfounded hunters.

An evil dragon, huh? As far as I know, the boss monster in the Svartálfaheimr dungeon wasn’t a dragon. I don’t remember clearly, but I think it was some other kind of beast…

So what’s this evil dragon? Isn’t it a named monster? But it’s a monster with legendary-grade weapons. There’s no way it’s not a named monster.

“Hmm…”

As I was still thinking it over, I decided to follow behind the dwarf for now. The hunters who had shown discomfort had no choice but to quietly follow the dwarf’s lead since turning back was no longer an option. Not wanting to run into any monsters, everyone kept their mouths shut and remained silent.

Like thieves trying to avoid making noise, we moved quietly—when suddenly, the dwarf walking ahead of us came to an abrupt stop. The hunters all stopped and looked at him.

“…!”

The dwarf who turned back said nothing, only slightly moving his lips as if to indicate this was the place. The hunters’ eyes then followed the direction of his fingertip.

“…?”

Isn’t this another dead end?

But since we’d been through this before, the hunters were only momentarily surprised before quickly regaining their composure. There must be another path somewhere. Still, the dwarf stayed in place, silently moving his lips once more.

“…?”

What is he trying to say? This time, his lip movements lasted so long that I couldn’t understand a thing. The other quick-witted hunters felt the same and all furrowed their brows. Then, a calm voice spoke up from beside me.

“He’s blocked out the noise around here, so you can speak now.”

“Eup…!”

“Ah.”

It seemed Eden used his wind ability to block out the noise. Doing something so thoughtful was a bit unexpected. Still, Eden himself couldn’t speak. He glared fiercely at Do-gyul, clearly signaling him to deactivate the skill by now. But Do-gyul simply ignored him.

“But since it’s an A-rank skill, just in case, everyone speak quietly.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

The dwarf let out a small sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then, he glanced around at the hunters and spoke in a low voice.

“If you go down from here, you’ll come across the evil dragon. The legendary weapons are close by, too.”

“What?”

The hunters were once again thrown into confusion by the dwarf’s words. It meant they would inevitably have to face—and fight—the evil dragon. But if that evil dragon was an S-rank or higher mid-boss monster, it might be difficult to defeat with this team. Joshua Lehmann frowned and asked the dwarf.

“What rank is that evil dragon?”

“Huh? Rank? I’m not sure what you mean by that…”

“Sigh…”

“…?”

It seemed that things like ranks were only visible to hunters. Since the dwarf was classified as the same type of monster in the system and had a low rank, it made sense that he couldn’t see the evil dragon’s rank. So, what was the next move? Leaving the dwarf with wide eyes behind, the hunters gathered together to discuss.

“Should we just fight?”

“We don’t even know what kind of monster it is. Charging in with this team might be reckless…”

“But we can’t just turn back now, can we?”

“Then should we rally the raid team back? We haven’t even confirmed whether the legendary weapon actually exists yet.”

“Hmm…”

Everyone voiced their opinions, but no clear decision was made. They could either steel themselves to face the monster—likely a named one—and keep exploring, or turn back to the raid team empty-handed, with no useful information or loot. It seemed these were the only choices left. It was then—

“Um… we don’t necessarily have to fight the evil dragon.”

“…?”

What did he mean by that?

The hunters now looked at the dwarf with disbelief. Under their gaze, the dwarf hesitated before replying.

“The thing is, once the evil dragon falls asleep, it rarely wakes up… and it’s currently in its dormant phase. If a few swift people sneak in and grab the treasure, the dragon probably won’t even notice.”

“…”

He should’ve mentioned that earlier…!

The hunters frowned once more, their silent frustration evident.

Still, something about the dwarf’s words didn’t sit right. Andrew Bailey furrowed his brow and asked.

“How can you guarantee that? Isn’t it a trap?”

“A trap? No, I got out safely myself. And look — isn’t the bracelet still fine?”

“Hmm…”

Just as the dwarf said, the bracelet was still fine. Liam White had put it on the dwarf himself, and since it belonged to the Baldur Guild, Andrew Bailey had nothing more to say.

“Then, shall we decide who’s going down?”

“…”

Liam White spoke with a bright smile, as if he found the whole thing amusing, but the hunters remained silent. Of course, no one wanted to volunteer. It was far too dangerous.

"First, it'll be me and—"

"No."

"Why not?"

"What are you even talking about, Liam?"

Liam White, who had naturally included himself in the group going down, widened his eyes when Andrew Bailey stopped him.

“You don’t even have a stealth skill or anything. Obviously, I should be the one to go down.”

“And let you have all the fun by yourself?”

“No, I mean, you— Ugh, seriously.”

He was set to become the next guild master of the Baldur Guild and inherit a giant global corporation—there was no way those around him would let him take such a risk. But Liam White was no pushover, and Andrew Bailey looked visibly troubled.

What made it worse was that the other hunters didn’t take kindly to Andrew’s actions. After all, how many of them wouldn’t value their own lives? Even if someone held a higher position, telling them not to go probably didn’t sit well with anyone.

Andrew Bailey didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t openly stop Liam White, so he sighed and rubbed his forehead. I watched him and shook my head.

“How about we don’t send too many people down?”

As I stepped forward and spoke, all eyes turned to me. I kept a nonchalant expression and continued speaking.

“If the dragon really is asleep, then the chance of running into a named monster is low. So, I think it’s better to send a small group of the fastest hunters down first.”

“Hmm…”

The hunters nodded, as if I had a point. But Andrew Bailey, still looking unconvinced, spoke up.

“What if that evil dragon wakes up?”

“Then we avoid it.”

“If it’s an S-rank or higher named monster, we probably can’t just avoid it that easily.”

“We still have to avoid it.”

I replied calmly and began searching through my inventory. Then I pulled something out and held it up for the others to see.

“This is…!”

“It’s Lee Chae-jin’s potion.”

The groundbreaking potion that Lee Chae-jin would later produce was similar to my auxiliary skill. However, unlike mine, it didn’t boost all stats—its main effect was increasing skill proficiency. In other words, it could be seen as a downgraded version of my auxiliary ability. Even so, it was a highly useful potion.

Although the potion hadn’t been perfected yet, I had no choice but to offer it, since I couldn’t openly reveal my identity and use my auxiliary skill. Even if it was just a sample, it was still crafted by Lee Chae-jin, so its effectiveness was guaranteed. Their eyes widened the moment they heard my explanation.

“There are only three bottles, so three people should go down—preferably those with evasion, stealth, or defense-type skills.”

“…”

The hunters glanced at one another. They had a rough idea of each other’s skill sets, but nothing too detailed. That was to be expected—most people kept one or two abilities hidden.

“Damn it.”

Meanwhile, Liam White looked visibly annoyed. He couldn’t argue his way out of it—his assistant, Andrew Bailey, knew perfectly well that he didn’t have any evasion or defense skills. Liam White was the only one itching to go down when no one else wanted to—but he couldn’t. He really was a unique character.

“I’ll go with this pink-haired person.”

“…!”

“The pink-haired one has evasion skills, and I possess mental skills.”

Do-gyul calmly pointed at Eden as he spoke. I stared at him in surprise.

‘No, Do-gyul-ah!‘ For a moment, I almost shouted it out loud—but I managed to keep my mouth shut.

“That’s a perfect combination.”

“It’d be ideal if the third person has a detection skill.”

“…”

I bit my lip, watching the hunters talk as if everything had already been decided. I never expected Do-gyul and Eden to be the ones heading down.

“But Hunter Han Do-gyul has no dungeon experience. Is that really okay? I’d rather go instead.”

“No, but you…”

A hunter shot me a sour look, scanning me up and down. I hadn’t said anything about my rank, but being on the collection team made it obvious—I was a lower-ranked hunter.

Wow, I really wanted to turn everything upside down. Legendary weapons or not, maybe the only way to stop Do-gyul was to cause a scene. It was right then, when my frustration was at its peak.

“…?”

“…”

I felt a tug on my sleeve. When I turned, Do-gyul looked up at me with a calm expression.