The Struggles of the #1 Rank - Chapter 31

A dazzling light enveloped their surroundings, scattering the team members in different directions.

Joo-ah’s expression hardened as she surveyed the area.

Lush trees and grass formed tall walls, creating an endless maze.

Numbers resembling a timer were displayed in the sky.

29:41

The quest had already begun.

They had to find the treasure chest before the timer ran out.

Joo-ah began walking, keeping a wary eye on her surroundings.

The unnaturally deep silence made the atmosphere feel ominous.

Where were her teammates?

Was there only one treasure chest in the maze?

If so, perhaps it would be better for the team to split up and search separately.

Finding a treasure chest in such a vast area within such a short time wouldn’t be easy.

Grruk, grruk.

A D-rank monster sprang out of the bushes.

Joo-ah pulled a mid-grade longsword from her inventory and struck the monster directly on the head.

Whoosh!

With the sharp sound of the blade cutting through the air, she defeated the monster without difficulty.

D-rank Magic Stone: Increases Agility by 1.

It was a negligible increase, but given the current situation, raising her stats even a little was worthwhile.

 

【You have used a D-rank Magic Stone.】

【Agility has increased by 1.】

 

Joo-ah immediately resumed walking, moving a little faster than before.

The maze’s forest stretched endlessly, making it impossible to determine where she was.

Tall trees stood like green pillars along the paths.

The routes were simple.

The scenery never changed.

Occasionally, monsters of the same kind appeared and attacked her.

Clang!

Joo-ah brought her dagger down on a monster’s head in a single strike, then raised her head.

“…That’s already the fourth one.”

Frowning, she extracted the magic stone from the monster’s body. After increasing her Agility, she opened her system window to check how many more monsters she needed to defeat to unlock her Second Awakening.

Second Awakening: ??? (Defeat 100 monsters. 9/100)

Joo-ah looked around.

The path was covered in nothing but dense trees, making it difficult to distinguish her current location.

She reached behind her head.

As she removed her hair tie, her dark brown hair tumbled messily over her shoulders.

Joo-ah used the hair tie to fasten some nearby leaves together.

“This should help me mark the path I’ve taken.”

If her teammates found the markers, they would also be able to figure out where she was.

Joo-ah started walking again.

How long had she been walking?

She stopped at a certain spot, her eyes fixed on something.

“…I had a feeling this might happen.”

At the end of her gaze was a very familiar hair tie.

With a helpless expression, she looked back at the path she had just taken.

“I’ve been going around in circles this whole time.”

She had been walking straight ahead, yet the place where she had stopped was the same spot she had marked with her hair tie earlier.

More than ten minutes had already passed, and there was still no sign of the treasure chest.

Since the quest was still underway, it seemed her teammates hadn’t found the treasure chest either.

There were 19 minutes and 21 seconds remaining.

Joo-ah warily scanned her surroundings.

The blue sky was unbearably clear, and the only sound in the profound silence was the faint rustling of the wind.

“…It’s too quiet.”

Her teammates must have encountered and fought monsters just as she had.

Yet all she could hear was the rustling of leaves in the breeze. Not even the slightest sound of clashing blades reached her ears.

Joo-ah turned her gaze toward the wall formed by the trees.

She took out her Taser Gun and aimed at a spot between the trees.

Just as she was about to pull the trigger…

Clang!

With an enormous gust of wind, the trees blocking the path were sliced cleanly in half.

A familiar figure appeared through the opening.

“…Hunter Shin Jae-rim?”

It was none other than Jae-rim, holding a longsword.

His eyes widened slightly as he looked at Joo-ah. He put his longsword into his inventory and approached her.

“Hunter Seo Joo-ah, are you injured?”

Caught off guard, Joo-ah nodded.

“I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

At Jae-rim’s calm voice, she awkwardly put the Taser Gun in her hand back into her inventory.

He looked around before speaking.

“It seems there’s a barrier covering the trees. We can’t see the other paths until we break through it.”

He was right.

Magic had been cast between the trees forming the maze’s walls. That was why she had kept wandering along the same paths without finding any traces of her teammates.

“Did you find a treasure chest here?”

Joo-ah answered matter-of-factly.

“No. Was there one where you were, Hunter Shin Jae-rim?”

“No.”

Did that mean the treasure chest was where Yeon-joo and Chan-hee were?

Joo-ah looked up at the timer in the sky and spoke.

“I think we should try breaking through the barriers on the other walls, too.”

They needed to create as many paths as possible. That would make it easier to search for the treasure chest.

Jae-rim seemed to share her opinion, as he took his longsword out of his inventory again.

The countless waves of mana flowing from the blade made the transparent barriers beyond the bushes tremble.

Just as he was about to swing his sword over the hedge, something happened.

The trees suddenly shot upward without end before exploding downward toward Joo-ah and Jae-rim.

BOOM!

Jae-rim was the first to pull Joo-ah into his arms and form a protective barrier around them.

Green leaves flew in every direction, while a cloud of dust obscured their vision.

Taking advantage of their momentary distraction, thorny vines that had spread across the ground rose up and wrapped around their bodies.

It was undoubtedly a plant monster that drained its victims’ stats.

Their stamina and mana were rapidly being depleted.

“Ugh.”

Joo-ah suppressed a groan and tried to move her hand. However, her stamina was dropping so quickly that she couldn’t use her strength as she normally would.

Jae-rim swiftly cut through the vines wrapped around his own body with his sharp blade. The moment he turned to rescue Joo-ah, a massive shadow descended from behind him.

“Hunter Shin Jae-rim!”

Joo-ah looked behind him and shouted urgently.

At the same time, a B-rank monster that had suddenly appeared attacked Jae-rim mercilessly, sending him flying toward the opposite wall.

THUD!

A violent tremor shook the ground. A monster covered entirely in green grass moved its feet.

 

Level: B-rank

Attribute: Wind

Special Skill: Thorny Vines

Special Notes: Appears to be a monster from the Gate on Floor 300 of the Third Tower.

 

Thorny vines emerged from the monster’s body and rapidly approached Jae-rim.

Clutching the shoulder that had struck the wall, he dodged and cut through the approaching vines with his sword.

“Ugh.”

Meanwhile, the vines binding Joo-ah tightened their grip. As she frowned and swallowed a groan, she felt Jae-rim’s gaze fall on her.

He stopped fighting the monster and started moving toward her.

Struggling, she pulled a dagger from her inventory and shouted at him.

“Don’t worry about me, Hunter Shin Jae-rim!”

He took a step toward Joo-ah, then stopped abruptly.

She adjusted her grip on the dagger in her hand. Turning the blade downward, Joo-ah spoke in a low voice.

“I’ll protect myself.”

Clang!

Joo-ah swiftly cut through the thorny vines wrapped around her body. Pieces of the severed vines scattered through the air.

Her feet landed safely on the ground.

While fighting the monster, Jae-rim glanced at her with mild surprise before his lips curved into a gentle smile.

“It seems your training with Chan-hee has been quite helpful.”

In truth, it was her own skill, but Jae-rim wouldn’t understand that. She didn’t want to give Chan-hee credit either, so she simply shrugged.

With Joo-ah no longer needing his attention, Jae-rim easily began killing the monster.

His heavy longsword stirred up powerful gusts of wind as it struck the monster’s weak points. Its massive body collapsed to the ground, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.

Jae-rim extracted a magic stone from the area around the monster’s heart.

“Hunter Seo Joo-ah.”

At his call, Joo-ah approached with a puzzled expression.

Jae-rim held out the magic stone in his hand.

“It’s not a particularly good magic stone, but it will help increase your Defense. You should use it.”

Joo-ah tilted her head.

“You were the one who killed the monster, Hunter Shin Jae-rim. Are you saying you’re giving it to me?”

“It doesn’t matter who killed it. The teammate who needs it right now should have it.”

He placed the magic stone in Joo-ah’s hand. At the same time, a blue system window appeared in the air.

 

【Would you like to use the B-rank Magic Stone?】

【Yes / No】

 

After glancing at Jae-rim, she slowly moved her finger.

 

【You have used a B-rank Magic Stone.】

【Defense has increased by 4.】

 

“Aren’t you two getting a little too friendly?”

A familiar voice came from nearby.

Joo-ah turned her head and saw Chan-hee strolling toward them from a short distance away.

“Where did you come from?”

In response, Chan-hee pointed behind him with the Taser Gun in his hand.

“Did you do all that?”

Jae-rim asked, looking bewildered.

In the direction Chan-hee was pointing, the entire hedge made of trees had been destroyed. Three monsters that Jae-rim and Joo-ah had fought were also lying dead nearby.

“More importantly, did you find a treasure chest here?”

Chan-hee asked as he looked around.

Apparently, there hadn’t been a treasure chest in the part of the maze where he had been, either.

Joo-ah raised her head and checked the timer.

Only seven minutes remained.