The genre Hunter Gallery is peaceful today.
Of course, the meaning of peace is relative.
As always, they roll out new evils and new bait, killing someone and burying another, while someone brings in new bait again.
In this melting pot of peace and chaos, even if it ignites, sometimes talented creators share their works, receiving praise from the viewers. The daily routine is to keep causing mischief and arguing among themselves, but anyway, the genre Hunter Gallery, with an average user base in the tens of millions, was peaceful as usual.
[What the hell, why isn’t Isia here?]
[Who even cares about Isia, you nerd?]
[Goddamn Saintess.]
[Oh, that girl.]
[Why do you know the name ‘Saintess’ and not her real name? LOL]
[I’ve heard people complain about her all the time, that’s why I know. LOL]
[You’re so used to calling her ‘Saintess’ instead of her name… If you happen to get eaten by a tentacle on the street, just say ‘Well, it’s come for me.’ LOL]
Netrunners, viewers, and gallery members were unaware that Isia had set off to raid a dungeon.
Naturally, Isia hadn’t told the viewers anything through broadcasts or announcements.
Usually, streamers, when called for an emergency or unable to broadcast due to a hunt, always leave announcements.
Even if the streamer doesn’t leave an announcement, their manager or a friend or chat moderator would post one, but Isia had none of those.
Anyway, it had been four whole days since Isia last streamed.
While Isia’s streaming schedule was irregular, she streamed frequently enough for it to be almost daily.
Sometimes, she turned on the stream suddenly at 8 AM, getting ready to leave. Other times, she even streamed herself devouring 50 bowls of stew at the Stew Restaurant.
But now, with Isia suddenly not streaming for four days straight, certain dedicated fans began to express concerns.
On the first day without Isia, there wasn’t much mention of it in the gallery.
[Streamer, open the door!]
[Mom, I’m cold! Mom, I’m cold! Mom, I’m cold! Mom, I’m cold! Mom, I’m cold!]
[Where has she gone?]
[I’m holding my breath until she comes. Ugh.]
[The upper one might be dead, LOL.]
Even though she usually streamed daily about trivial subjects, there were some minor complaints, but it didn’t turn into any real drama.
The same situation continued the next day.
Although more complaints arose than the previous day, it was still the same.
However, by the third day, it started to roll into one of the main topics in the gallery.
[Hey, what if the streamer actually died?]
[Don’t be ridiculous, LOL. You think she’d just drop dead somewhere?]
[The Saintess who took down the Centipede Dragon in 5 seconds? Pfft, no way!]
[Seriously, when you think about it, anything could happen in dungeons or with monsters.]
[I’m a current B-grade Hunter. In a dungeon, nothing is surprising.]
[Shut up, LOL.]
[Hunter bragging time?]
[Why do you care, idiot?]
[Current B-grade Hunter speaking here. It’s fact, so no arguments.]
N/As: 1121
『Of course, I won’t post any Hunter proof. If I break the Hunter decorum rule, my income gets cut in half, so I won’t accept arguments on that.
Anyway, it seems you guys have never been in a dungeon which makes you unaware of its dangers, so let me explain.
As you probably know, dungeon risks are determined by rank—from F to S grade. Along with that, there’s also a factor called Invasion, which reflects the dungeon’s variability and the risk of invasion or traps.
You just need to think in terms of risk rank.
For an F-grade dungeon, usually it’s manageable with one heavily armed soldier.
For a D-grade dungeon, you need about 1 to 2 platoons of heavily armed soldiers. Once you get to C-grade, soldiers can’t handle it anymore.
I mean, it’s a mystery whether you could even bring military forces to the thousands of C-grade dungeons in Gyeonggi Province.
Anyway, once monsters start using mana, conventional military firepower has its limits. Up to C-grade dungeons, soldiers can still manage.
Therefore, dungeons usually start becoming serious from B-grade dungeons onward.
From B-grade dungeons onward, all monsters’ mana envelops their skin and organs, making human weaponry ineffective; only Hunter powers work.
So, from B-grade, gimmicks and oddities begin to get pretty absurd.
For example, let’s assume there’s a B-grade undead dungeon. Undead can’t feel pain, and unless you kill the Lich or command entities controlling them, they will continuously try to kill humans.
As it’s a B-grade dungeon, one or two A-grade Hunters would likely handle it.
But let’s say this A-grade Hunter unknowingly walks in without knowledge of the undead’s gimmicks. Then even bringing an S-grade Hunter would be a bad idea!
Citing the undead as an example isn’t the whole picture; the dungeon’s oddities can occur in unimaginable ways.
Some monsters become invulnerable when night falls, and only attacks from strikes and impacts can harm them.
In fact, there are instances where dungeons analyze Hunters’ attacking patterns and maliciously separate them too. And there are countless cruel and malicious incidents classified as confidential, undisclosed to the public.
Thus, if you’re incredibly unlucky, even an S-grade Hunter could die in an F-grade dungeon.
Although there hasn’t been any extreme case like that so far, it’s not impossible.
Twelve years ago, there was a case where students almost ended up dying in an F-grade dungeon after violating safety protocols during a school trip, and since then, significant improvements have been made to safety procedures, leading to strict access to dungeons for civilians.
Anyway, what I want to say is, dungeons aren’t as sensible as you think.
In simpler words, that Saintess you all idolize might have gotten in big trouble… in some way or another.』
[Information update.]
[Why is a real Hunter here, LOL?]
[That speech makes him sound like a real Hunter.]
[I didn’t read it because there’s no summary.]
N/[Just read it, you idiot.]
N/[Shut up!]
N/[You’re an idiot, LOL.]
[No Hunter proof, huh?]
N/[You didn’t read the text, did you?]
N/[I’m saying if he breaks the Hunter decorum, his income goes down by half! LOL.]
N/[C-grade Hunters do it fine, though?]
N/[‘Cause those guys prioritize showing their faces even if they lose half their income. The guy who wrote this claims to be B-grade.]
N/[In reality, low-ranking Hunter streamers often see their streaming income rise even if their Hunter earnings drop, so it’s a common tactic.]
[What does this mean? Why is it useful?]
[But honestly, why do I feel uneasy reading this?]
N/[Why?]
N/[Because it suggests the streamer might have died in a lame way.]
N/[Isn’t that kind of what being a Hunter is about…?]
N/[Now I’m kind of sad… it feels surreal.]
N/[Cue the sad Pepe image…]
Until this point, the gallery’s chatter remained similar.
Nah, it can’t be the case.
No way that would happen.
I’m feeling anxious over nothing.
But certainly, Isia’s constant absence from the gallery must have been noted by the Saintess, who had been secretly observing as well.
Then the next day, some members of the gallery and net runners began to get anxious.
While it’s true they enjoyed the antics of the Saintess in Isia’s streams, their teasing and mockery went beyond the line, revealing a friendliness that started from genuine fondness rather than hatred.
[Hey, think about it. Did we go too far with our playful teasing of the Saintess?]
[You think so?]
[When you think about it, we didn’t really go too hard, but still joked around, didn’t we? She’s a person too, and all our teasing might have piled up on her, right?]
[I’d rather have that than if she lost it and quit streaming. If she had a mishap in a dungeon, her life could be in jeopardy…]
N/[This guy’s about to cry.]
N/[Don’t say it like that; now I’m getting really anxious.]
N/[Delete this; words have power, you idiot.]
N/[I’m just feeling uneasy, LOL.]
Just from missing four days of streaming, the seed of anxiety planted in those who worried never settled down.
Despite being playful, their fundamental feelings towards Isia were rooted in like; the idea that the one they liked might have died led to a heightened emotional state that only escalated as the nights passed.
Then on the fourth night.
Isia’s stream, verified by the Hunter Association, suddenly came online.
[AHHH, the video is up!]
[What video?]
[Saintess is streaming!]
[YES!]
[Now I can breathe easy.]
[Ohio! I believed in you~]
And they finally saw the Saintess’s outrageous broadcast title after four days.
[I’m going to bathe with centipedes!]
[?]
[??]
[What!?]
[Holy crap, the title is absurd!]
○○○○
On March 11th, around 8:33 AM, a party of 20, including 19 A-grade Hunters and Isia with a temporary Hunter certificate, successfully returned.
Upon confirming the dungeon’s collapse, the Hunter Association dispatched many agents, support teams, researchers, and medical personnel to welcome the Hunters. Luckily, out of the 20 Hunters, one member complained about slight fatigue, but there were no casualties at all.
This was quite an achievement.
Even though the Hunter era has started and dungeons have become easier, they remain a mystery and a source of horror for humans.
New types of mutated raid dungeons generally lead to multiple casualties due to lack of information and miscalibrated danger levels.
Even if casualties don’t occur, setting up base camps inside a dungeon and sending additional strike teams requires immense resources and time.
Yet, successfully tackling such a dangerous raid dungeon on just one expedition itself was a significant success, combined with the fact that there were no casualties.
The association officials were astonished at the miraculous reality before their eyes.
“Thank you for your hard work! We’ll escort you Hunters to Yeongwoljung right away!”
Due to the significant victory, they felt genuinely sorry beyond mere gratitude and instructed the highest hospitality be shown to the successful strike team.
Well, by the highest hospitality, I mean just relaxing comfortably in a good hotel until they’re done writing their reports and the expedition is officially concluded, but nonetheless, the 19 A-grade Hunters and Isia were able to enjoy a comfortable holiday.
Of course, the Hunters didn’t entirely feel at ease.
While writing reports for the association and while expressing comments about the new dungeon’s gimmicks and the walker monsters, they realized they hadn’t contributed much at all.
Everything essentially hinged upon Isia with her temporary Hunter certificate. Had she not been there, they would have probably been wiped out, becoming bait for follow-up Hunters.
Isia had resolved everything on her own.
Including the presumed S-grade boss and the cruel new dungeon type.
“Is she on Yeonseo’s level?”
“…….”
Under normal circumstances, the phrase ‘Are you saying Yeonseo is your pet or something?’ or some vulgar equivalent might have been thrown around carelessly.
However, all Hunters who participated in this raid understood well.
Isia had climbed back up even after falling to the bottom of the dam, getting caught in the propeller, and still crushed the dungeon boss without a real battle.
In terms of time, it might have taken around 10 seconds…
Although the intelligent dungeon boss cunningly deceived the Hunters and nearly trapped Isia, in the end, Isia’s sheer raw power allowed her to easily defeat what was presumed to be a S-grade raid dungeon boss.
If the dungeon boss hadn’t faltered and had kept its guard up mixed well among the Hunters, the outcome might have been different.
“… If she killed a presumed S-grade in under 10 seconds, then we could consider her S-grade.”
“Right?!”
“Wow, so we have a returnee at S-grade, that’s exciting!”
“The only returnee believed to be S-grade was that Hunter named Yujin, right? It’s been a while since then?”
Seeing it happen right before their eyes, how could they deny it?
All Hunters here were veterans who had received Hunter names, so they could assess accurately.
While they chatted about Isia, reporting various things to the personnel from the Hunter Association, Isia lounged in her hotel room, taking her sweet time.
[Kiieee….]
The room assigned to Isia at Yeongwoljung was a massive suite.
Taking up the entire top floor, the room was far larger than Isia’s own house of around 20 pyeong.
It was so grand that even the suite’s attached bath, decorated with extravagant ornaments and interiors, seemed bigger than the house where Isia lived.
“I just wanted to be on the same floor as others…”
Despite her appearances, she’s a Saintess.
Except for her appetite, she takes pride in being quite frugal when it comes to her desires.
While she doesn’t dislike extravagant things, she never intended to take over the top floor all for herself.
However, due to the collective insistence of the 19 Hunters, pressuring the Hunter Association with “She deserves more respect,” Isia found herself occupying the spacious room on the top floor all alone.
Well, to be precise, she wasn’t entirely alone.
Grrrrr, grrrrr..
The Lucky Bladed Centipede.
When first meeting on Rotten Mountain, the Bladed Centipede was 10 meters in length, now it nearly reached 15 meters.
The Hunter Association hadn’t failed to raise concerns.
As soon as they laid eyes on the Bladed Centipede, they freaked out and asked where it came from and why it was brought here, but the other 19 Hunters testified it was Isia’s pet, and it was docile, so they managed to bring the Bladed Centipede into the suite without much hassle.
Well, how well a suite made for human comfort and luxury would be perceived by this Lucky Bladed Centipede remains to be seen…
“What to do, what to do…”
Now that she thought about it, she was bored.
So unbelievably bored.
Her belly was quite full.
After devouring dozens or even hundreds of walkers in the dungeon and managing to gulp down over 50 bowls of walker bone soup, Isia was now faced with an unprecedented feeling of fullness and lethargy.
She wasn’t tired, but rather lethargic and sleepy; however, even if she closed her eyes, sleep wouldn’t come.
Isia caught the centipede slithering around the room and pulled it close.
[Kiieee!?]
“Centipede, I’m bored.”
The Bladed Centipede suddenly felt a powerful tug, as if it were being drawn into a floozy and soft trap.
After realizing that it was Isia who had pulled it in, it quickly gave up trying to escape and coiled around her like a snake, curling up.
The Bladed Centipede had already felt various emotions, including fear. Its intelligence had raised enough to comprehend a simple language, recognizing Isia as its ‘master.’
It understood well enough that resisting against such overwhelming power would be futile.
Though it had some grievances, it also grasped that Isia viewed it not as a monster meant for meals, unlike the filthy kin back on Rotten Mountain.
So the Bladed Centipede decided to accept reality.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad at all.
Living by picking up crumbs while staying next to this monstrous master was certainly better than hanging with its filthy relatives from Rotten Mountain.
Of course, it didn’t particularly like being experimented on like a guinea pig… but what could it do?
If it resisted, it would be devoured.
“Hehe, that tickles…”
Isia smiled as the many legs of the Bladed Centipede brushed against her skin, causing a tickling sensation.
Interestingly, although she had once held a tremendous aversion to multi-legged insects in her previous life, she found this particular Bladed Centipede quite adorable.
It seemed capable of understanding spoken language. With it wrapping around her, it was clear it truly regarded her as its master.
“… Oh, I remember, when adopting pets, we’re supposed to take them to the vet and give them baths and such…”
Of course, Isia possessed the Miracle of Great Healing and Purification.
Yet at some point, dust and impurities would need to be washed away, wouldn’t they?
While living in the Royal Palace of her previous life, Menelepi often remarked,
“When there exists a miracle of purification, if you don’t bathe, what separates you from a beast? I will bathe you, so come here.”
She often had experiences being dragged to the Royal Palace’s grand bath.
She didn’t dislike bathtime, but it was a bit cumbersome.
These days, it had become habitual for her to wash twice a day, every morning and evening.
Isia stared at her Bladed Centipede for a moment.
“……..”
[…….Kiick?]
Sensing her gaze, the Bladed Centipede looked up.
It recognized Isia’s expression.
Her eyes were reminiscent of someone who had found something intriguing or delicious.
[Kiieee….]
Attempting to slither away, the Bladed Centipede unwound its coil off Isia and tried to crawl up to the ceiling, but after a moment, it began to be pulled somewhere by an overwhelming force.
[Kiiee!?!?!!]
“Come on, let’s take a bath together!”
[Kiiee!!!]
“No, should I say sister? Or should I say older sister? By the way, are you male or female?”
How would I know, damn it!?
