I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 48

[ Chapter 48: Dungeon Strategy (2) ]

“Magicians, shield!”

In response to Oh Hyun-wook’s signal, the magicians cast their spells.

For beginners tackling their first dungeon, their movements were smooth. Although there were still some timing issues, they were performing well enough to pass.

“Battle over. Check if the monsters are dead.”

The fight with the five pixies ended quickly.

There had been three battles so far. The total number of pixies defeated was thirteen, excluding the first one Oh Hyun-wook took care of.

The second attempt was better than the first, and the third was better than the second. The kids’ awkward movements were gradually improving.

As they got closer to the dungeon core, the number of pixies increased. From my perspective, it was a laughable number, but it might be a bit different for them. Even so, seeing the color returning to their once pale faces from the tension….

It wasn’t all bad.

“This one’s still alive.”

Without hesitation, Seo Han-seong thrust his sword into the neck of the fallen pixie.

Despite the unfair contract, a guild was still a guild. Seo Han-seong and Oh Hyun-wook, who had experienced dungeons with a guild, were more or less mimicking an official raid party.

Oh Hyun-wook. Pig bastard.

No.

Piglet.

For the others, their faces were mostly unfamiliar, so there was no room for confusion. But for someone like Park Seo-hyun, whom I knew even twenty years later, it was impossible not to superimpose a familiar face.

The witch Park Seo-hyun, the pig Oh Hyun-wook.

Hong Seok-young too, and Yoo Ji-eun as well.

Even though I’d been here for over two months, it was still the same.

Even though I knew that the person who adopted me wasn’t that foolish hunter.

Even though that girl wasn’t the irritating hunter who called me a parachute and got annoyed.

The faces I knew always came to mind first.

Oh Hyun-wook was no exception.

“Is everything sorted?”

“Yes.”

“What about the rune?”

“Checked. No problems.”

Park Seo-hyun’s voice wavered for a moment as she replied. Perhaps she was reminded of what happened in Myeong-dong.

Still, Park Seo-hyun did not show it and helped Choi Jin-woo clean up the pixie corpses.

Oh Hyun-wook looked around at his friends one more time to check for any missed details.

The hardened expression on his face… was it similar to the pig I knew? I couldn’t tell. If I could dig out the features buried in that chubby face, it might look like this.

That pig was big. He was quite tall, but even wider. It was puzzling how someone with that body managed to be a hunter.

But his guild… I didn’t want to admit it, but it was one of the top guilds in the country. Despite his bulky appearance, the pig was famous for his swift movements. There was a reason why, despite his looks, he was considered the second-best hunter in Korea after Hong Seok-young. Though he got stabbed by a guild member.

That’s beside the point. Look at that piglet over there, standing on guard with a stern face.

It’s hard to believe that he would grow into such a large figure in the future. His small stature and lean body were filled with muscles, but….

“Then let’s move out.”

Seriously, who would believe that this small piglet would become that pig?

Life is strange.

* * *

### The dungeon strategy continued similarly after that. Although they encountered a few more pixies, they quickly dealt with them under Oh Hyun-wook’s orders.

It was not very exciting because they were doing better than expected.

Well, Oh Hyun-wook’s orders were not anything special. After all, their skills were pretty much on par at this point. Maybe except for Park Seo-hyun and Oh Hyun-wook. But that’s because I had the answers beforehand.

It’s easier to pick out those without talent. But isn’t that too cruel? No matter how much I might want to, I couldn’t bring myself to do something like that.

I looked at Oh Hyun-wook and Seo Han-seong again.

While the other kids were gradually relaxing after easily defeating the pixie group, those two remained tense until the end. It must be because of their experience with the guild.

… I still couldn’t believe it. That pig bastard had such an unfortunate past?

If he overcame such a past to become a top-tier hunter, wouldn’t he have turned out to be a more decent adult? Instead of being someone who crawls around drunk on all fours all the time.

Although the piglet who hadn’t yet become a pig tended to ignore me, he was still a diligent student. He didn’t talk back, but he tried to correct his movements when I pointed them out. Sometimes, he even aimed kicks at my neck….

Was he diligent…?

“The dungeon core will appear soon.”

“Already?”

Lee Seung-yeon asked in surprise at Oh Hyun-wook’s words.

“According to the exploration report. Though rare, the location of the dungeon core in C-rank dungeons can sometimes change. We can’t let our guard down until the end.”

How did that small, skinny, somewhat cocky yet diligent Oh Hyun-wook become a pig who only grew sideways….

… I thought as much. But when I reconsidered Oh Hyun-wook’s life, I couldn’t say I had no idea.

I took my eyes off Oh Hyun-wook for a moment and looked at Park Seo-hyun behind him. Yoo Hye-eun too. Then Lee Seung-yeon again.

It must have been the same for Park Seo-hyun.

Park Seo-hyun, who survived the Myeong-dong tragedy, became a gloomy woman with a sly smile, and Oh Hyun-wook became a pig living in a pit of alcohol.

Come to think of it, Oh Hyun-wook, who spewed harsh words indiscriminately regardless of age or gender, acted somewhat like a human being only in front of Park Seo-hyun or Yoo Ji-eun. It’s understandable for Park Seo-hyun, being a fellow trainee at the pilot high school, but Oh Hyun-wook oddly had a soft spot for Yoo Ji-eun.

Knowing that Yoo Ji-eun was Yoo Hye-eun’s younger sister explained everything.

Oh Hyun-wook clearly couldn’t forget the events of Myeong-dong either.

If he had told me about his circumstances, how much better would it have been? Then, I could have hinted to Yoo Ji-eun, saying I wouldn’t tell anyone she revealed Oh Hyun-wook’s weakness!

Back then, I wondered why Yoo Ji-eun cursed me out so much.

Expecting me to understand without telling me anything was shameless.

Harboring resentment that no one would hear, I continued to eavesdrop on the kids’ conversation.

“Still, for a C-rank dungeon, it seems easy?”

Seo Han-seong, who had been inside a dungeon before, assessed the difficulty in his own way. Choi Jin-woo tilted his head and then looked at Park Seo-hyun.

### “Seo-hyun, haven’t you been in a dungeon before? Is he right?”

“Uh, I’m not sure….”

Park Seo-hyun shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“I went in with my grandfather… only into A-rank ones.”

“…….”

“And I was so young then, I barely remember.”

“Really?”

“Ah, but I think Seo Han-seong might be right.”

This time, Soon Soon-jin spoke up.

“I’ve followed our master into a training C-rank dungeon. It was much easier than a standard C-rank dungeon, but this one seems even easier. Lee Seung-yeon, don’t you think so too?”

“Now that you mention it….”

Of course. If it weren’t easy, it would be a disservice to Dasun.

“But doesn’t that mean we’re that much skilled?”

Naturally, someone had to make a pointless comment.

Lee Seung-yeon scratched his head as all eyes turned to him.

“I mean, if our skills hadn’t improved after all that training with the principal and Mr. Woo, it would be frustrating.”

“That’s… true, but.”

“Besides, it’s not like a pixie is a strong individual creature. Like Mr. Woo said in class, they’re flying types, they move in groups, and they call for reinforcements, making them tricky for novice hunters. But look. How many have we encountered so far?”

Still, it was somewhat endearing that he tried to analyze the situation after having entered the dungeon.

“The most we faced at once was five, right? Even without Hye-eun, that’s fewer than our combat members. Even if each of us took one, we’d have extra hands.”

He pointed it out correctly, so I gave him a point.

No, wait. Scoring like this might not be fair. Fairness might not be a common concept for hunters, but this is a school. So, I need to ensure fairness too.

It’s not like the kids who haven’t entered a dungeon didn’t want to go.

I added a point for the other kids as well. They were doing well for their first time in a dungeon.

If anyone has an issue with my scoring, they can become a teacher themselves.

“And….”

“It’s naturally easy.”

Oh Hyun-wook, who had been quietly listening to his friends chat, interjected.

“No matter how much that person is watching over us….”

That person?

So, they haven’t called me a teacher even once?

Isn’t that too much? They diligently attended my rune classes!

You pig bastard!

“If it was a dungeon we couldn’t tackle on our own, the principal would never have let us in, given his personality.”

… Acting all sharp for a piglet.

“And don’t you remember what the principal said when we enrolled?”

The kids tilted their heads at Oh Hyun-wook’s words.

### “He said he checked the dungeons around the school himself to see if they were dangerous or not.”

“Oh, right.”

“He said he raided the ones that seemed close to breaking, and left the others. I think the principal cleared things up back then.”

Hmm.

So he thought that far.

Reluctantly, I gave Oh Hyun-wook another point.

Gathering information inside a dungeon is crucial for a hunter, but collecting data that can only be obtained from outside is also important. Dungeon strategy isn’t just about individual performance.

For now, without magic meters, we raid dungeons as we encounter them. However, once magic meters are developed and dungeon breaks can be preemptively prevented, dungeon strategy will take on a different aspect.

Stable dungeons might be exploited by multiple guilds to mine resources. Sometimes, to penalize other guilds, someone might cause havoc inside the dungeon. To identify and report such actions, it’s not enough to just be good at raiding.

Oh Hyun-wook was good at that. Wasn’t he the one who reported other guilds the most? Many guilds underestimated Oh Hyun-wook because he always reeked of alcohol. They suffered for it. Or rather, it’s not fair to say they suffered; they were the ones committing illegal acts. I also had a hard time because of those bastards.

What Oh Hyun-wook did was a form of justice.

“He also said that he wouldn’t intervene unless we were in real danger. But think about it.”

Hmm.

“That doesn’t mean we will be in danger. We probably won’t face any real threats.”

Hmmm.

“Judging by the level of the monsters we’ve faced so far, it’s obvious. He just said that to keep us on our toes. He’s probably spying on us right now, clicking his tongue because we noticed him.”

Hummm.

Oh Hyun-wook glanced back at the path they had come from. It was roughly in the direction I was hiding. Although he didn’t pinpoint my exact location, his darting eyes suggested he was close.

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue just like Oh Hyun-wook said.

Provoking people like this… he has a long way to go before becoming a pig.

When someone hits a sore spot, it hurts, and I enjoy crushing those who act overconfident. Seeing those who underestimated me because of my age and background later cry and apologize, realizing their mistake, feels….

No. That’s enough.

Even an easy dungeon made simpler through weeding out can be challenging to navigate.

“Let’s move on.”

“Okay!”

I watched the kids as they began moving leisurely.

To truly understand a person’s nature, it’s best to throw them into extreme situations.

Let’s make them understand firsthand why there’s a saying about the mouth being one’s ruin.