Chapter 47: Double Owner

Demigod Team 3 was getting ready. Jang Do-cheol, as Team 3 leader, reminded his team members to double-check the weapons and items they would use in the dungeon.

“Everyone ready?”

“Yes, sir!”

Team 3 members answered loudly in unison.

Do-cheol smiled at their enthusiasm.

“Let’s get rid of this Portal Gate!”

Zap, Zap–

One by one, Team 3 hunters enter the tier-3 Portal Gate.

Ji-woo, who was behind, watched as they disappeared before his eyes.

‘Suddenly, I feel not so sure about this.’

Ji-woo was unsure of his existence with the Portal Gate. A door to a dungeon that could restrict the hunters based on their Mana capacity.

And Ji-woo was a creature not endowed with Mana. He was worried that the Portal Gate would reject him and make everything he had planned so far in vain.

Ji-woo’s belief in daring to join the guild and enter the Portal Gate stemmed from an incident when he lost his Artifact suit helmet in the previous dungeon.

Ji-woo knew that the Portal Gate could hurt ordinary people and would not allow anyone without Mana to enter it. The fact that he was unharmed and not thrown out of the dungeon at that time. It made him think it was possible that the Portal Gate just thought he was an invalid existence because he had no Mana but could not get injured by Mana.

Like a single line of code in a program, whether it was in it or not didn’t make any difference.

Not long in waiting, it was finally Ji-woo’s turn to enter the Portal Gate.

‘Let’s hope it works out like what I thought.’

Ji-woo walked slowly and then closed his eyes. Meanwhile, his left hand made the first contact with the Portal Gate.

Zap–

It was beyond Ji-woo’s expectations.

Everything went as simply as through an ordinary door. There were no obstacles at all.

Zip, Zip–

“Hey, are you okay? Is this your first time coming to the dungeon? It’s normal to get scared.”

Dong-hyun didn’t know about Ji-woo’s experience with the Portal Gate. That was why he asked after looking at Ji-woo stand still with eyes closed.

Ji-woo, after hearing Dong-hyun’s voice opened his eyes. He looked at his hands and the surroundings, ignoring Dong-hyun.

The somewhat barren forest, combined with the ruins, made the hunters feel uneasy. Even Ji-woo, who got used to the various atmospheres of the battlefield, felt uncomfortable with the dungeon.

“Gather around me.”

Do-cheol wanted to work out a plan with his team members. He also knew that the dungeon was probably the most dangerous among the tier-3 Portal Gates he had ever entered.

The environment of the dungeon seemed very similar to the description of the Demon Ape realm.

“All of you must get flustered by this place. Don’t worry, luckily I have access to the Demigod repository, so I might know what we’re dealing with at the moment.”

All of the Demigod Team 3 members breathed a sigh of relief. Their confusion and nervousness disappeared at once.

Well, everyone was afraid of what they didn’t understand and didn’t know. So, the hunters’ reactions to getting scared were normal.

Even so, Do-cheol did not show a relieved face when he saw the members finally calm down. He then continued his words.

“If I’m not mistaken, the dungeon owner this time around is the Demon Ape.”

The hunters wore puzzled expressions. Since they didn’t know the environment, they automatically didn’t know the dungeon owner too.

“Huh?!”

“Demon…?”

“Leader, you mean Ape like that, our Ape?!”

Do-cheol narrowed his eyes, speaking solemnly.

“However, I also do not have complete information about this. All of you except newcomers should know about the accidents that occurred in Africa and Southeast Asia in 2020.”

The hunters tried to rack their brains to think about memories of the past. Shortly after, some of them began to remember an uproar event that happened at that time.

Portal Gate closed with only one hunter surviving.

Absurd!

How could a hunter get out of the Portal Gate alone? Moreover, those hunters were the lowest rank in the team. It was the rarest case in the world. Even six years after the Portal Gate existed, only those two events had one hunter survive from each dungeon.

Some of the hunters looked at each other, nodded.

“We remember both of them. But, what has that accident got to do with this dungeon? Don’t tell us. Only one hunter will survive from this team too?! Just like those cases?!”

The faces of the other hunters turned gloomy, and the atmosphere became tense at the words of their teammates.

Do-cheol shook his head.

“That’s not the point. The possibility why there were only two cases around until now. Probably because the hunter’s team that faced the same type of Portal Gate got wiped out in the dungeon. That’s why information about this place is limited.

“And those two hunters who survived were the lucky ones. Hence, the worst-case scenario is that we won’t be able to get out of here.”

Assuming the situation turned out to be like that. How unlucky the Demigod 3 team was to face such terrifying pressure.

“So, from now on. I want all of you to follow my orders strictly!”

All the hunters swallowed hard and nodded at the stern request of their team leader.

The hunters realized that they might die in the dungeon. Although it was hard to believe, they chose to follow their team leader’s orders for a glimmer of hope of survival.

Do-cheol then arranges for six to seven hunters to form a group. It was leaving only 15 hunters, including him, staying behind.

Do-cheol ordered the five groups to go in all directions within one hour. And they had to come back when the time was running out without any excuse. He also emphasized that they shouldn’t engage in any form of combat on their way through the area when they meet those dungeon creatures.

Check, survey and report!

All groups immediately set out to carry out their duties. For Do-cheol, time will be of the essence. It even if he and his team get forced to stay for a long time. He needed to know their odds in the dungeon.

The sooner, the better, to put together some plans.

—- —-

Meanwhile, the other side of the ruins. Where the light only illuminated a few parts of the underground. There was a sound of heavy breathing from the corner of the place, dark, no light at all.

Hhss, Hruagh–

“Ukn’zal, it looks like we have guests.”

A rough and heavy voice could get heard, filling the entire underground area.

After the voice echoed the underground, a pair of white eyes got seen from the corner of a dark place.

“Bring the Smilodon with you. Lead those guests to me.”

“Consider it done.”

Hhss, Hruagh–

“Hmm!”

—- —-

A half-hour after the scout operation began.

The Hunters of Team 3 who stayed behind were hiding under the trees and resting.

Do-cheol didn’t want to cause a mess before his reconnaissance group returned.

On the other side, Ji-woo felt like something still not quite right, despite knowing what the Team 3 leader had worked on,

“Team leader, what happened to the two survivors of the Portal Gate that you talked about earlier.”

Jiwoo asked straight away. Of course, he could not overtly ask the team leader if there was anything he was hiding.

Do-cheol was confused by the sudden question that came out of nowhere. Regardless, he answered it.

“They get brought in by the International Hunter Association to deal with their trauma and try to extract as much information as possible. But in the end, the fear they experienced was too great that no crucial clue could get obtained.”

Ji-woo continued to stare at Do-cheol even though he had heard the story.

Do-cheol frowned. “What??!”

“Ah, nothing. Sorry to interrupt your time, leader~nim.”

In truth, Do-cheol had been hiding an important secret about the dungeon from his teammates.

Double Owner!

According to the report that Do-cheol read, it mentioned that the dungeon would have multiple owners. Those two hunters were lucky because their team had many high-rank hunters. And could kill the dungeon owners at the expense of almost the entire team. However, even a team with such a lineup was close to being wiped out.

Then, what about Demigod Team 3? With a balanced mix of low and high-rank hunters?

Their chances were close to zero!

Do-cheol didn’t want to scare his team members to death and decided to hide it. In the middle of his contemplation, he suddenly heard a call for him.

“Team Leader!”

“Hyung!”

“Hyung~nim!”

Do-cheol was relieved that the groups returned safely.

“Good. What’s the situation? Wait! It looks like one more group haven’t returned yet.”

On the side, the other hunters that were waiting with Do-cheol started to feel restless. Even Dong-hyun, Yu-jin, and Ji-woo were worried about the current situation, seeing that the returning groups seemed to be having trouble.

Do-cheol could only hope nothing wrong happened and that one group was only late to coming back.

One hour in the dungeon and Demigod Team 3 already in a pinch?!