Chapter 28: Ular’s Prediction

Ular has been feeling uneasy lately.

That unease did not come from a failed mission, nor from the fact that he was about to enter a dangerous Dungeon. As a rank D hunter, Ular was long accustomed to standing before Dungeon gates and facing the possibility of death.

But this time was completely different.

Recently, the number of newly recruited hunter teams dying inside Dungeons has been rising abnormally.

Not just one team, and not just two.

Every week, new names were added to the death list. Most were newly formed teams taking on missions in low-level or mid-level Dungeons, places where casualties should not have been this high.

The scariest part was that no one could find the cause.

The bodies brought out usually showed no clear signs of combat. Some teams disappeared entirely, leaving behind no distress signals. Some teams were still laughing and chatting before entering, yet afterward, not a single member returned.

If it were not for an underground connection within the Black Rose Guild, Ular would never have learned of this information.

The Guild always tried to control information. Unusual deaths could throw hunters into panic, even reducing the number of teams willing to enter Dungeons. And once hunters no longer dared to take on missions, the entire city’s operations would be affected.

So the Guild leaders chose to remain silent.

But Ular could not pretend not to know, because he was responsible for the lives of his team members.

"Recently, the death rate inside Dungeons has been rising. Do you two know about this?"

In a small restaurant near the Guild headquarters, Ular set his cup down on the table and spoke to his two teammates. Lee Jae Ji was chewing on a piece of grilled meat. Hearing this, he just looked up, chewed a few more times, and swallowed.

"Really? First time I’ve heard of it."

"Yeah. New teams are dying a lot more than before."

Ular looked at the two of them, his tone growing more serious.

"It’s not just the dangerous Dungeons. Even F-rank and E-rank Dungeons are seeing casualties. And the causes of death are very strange, they should have been strong enough not to suffer any losses."

Hanna set down her chopsticks. A hint of worry flickered across her face, but her eyes did not turn frantic.

"Could it be carelessness? New teams usually lack experience, and if they run into a mutated monster then..."

"It’s not like that."

Ular shook his head.

"The corpse recovery staff said those people showed no signs of combat. Some of them even died in the middle of running away."

The table fell silent for a moment.

Ular had expected his two teammates to grow tense, but their reaction was beyond his expectations.

Lee Jae Ji let out a dry laugh.

"You’re overthinking it, Ular."

"Overthinking?"

"Haven’t we already completed plenty of missions? I even feel like I’m about to hit my limit."

Lee Jae Ji placed his calloused hand on his chest, his expression full of confidence.

"Just a little more, and I’ll become a rank C thief. By then, no matter what monsters are inside the Dungeon, I can handle them easily."

"Jae Ji..."

"You don’t need to worry so much."

He picked up a piece of meat, speaking while pointing it at Ular.

"Instead of overthinking, you should try to get stronger. If you can break through to rank C before I do, then I’ll admit you’re impressive."

Ular looked at Lee Jae Ji’s confident face and ultimately said nothing more.

He knew the other man was not deliberately downplaying the danger. Lee Jae Ji was just trying to use confidence to hide his own unease.

Hanna also spoke up gently:

"Ular, I think as long as we’re always careful when exploring Dungeons, we’ll definitely be fine."

"Careful?"

Hanna raised her finger.

"Mm. Don’t split from the team, check the map multiple times, always keep enough recovery potions and distress signals ready. If we notice anything unusual, retreat immediately."

Hanna counted each point off on her fingers one by one."We’ve always done it this way. As long as we’re not careless, nothing will happen."

Ular looked at her.

Hanna was a rank F support-type female hunter, timid by nature. Yet when it came to survival rules, she was always calmer than anyone else in the team.

Perhaps because she was the one who understood best how close death could come when a teammate was injured.

Ular didn’t want to dampen their confidence. He just nodded, picked up his cup, and took a sip of water.

"I hope so."

But deep down, he still couldn’t feel at ease.

If those deaths had truly only happened because new teams were careless, the Guild wouldn’t have had to quietly cover up the information. The more he thought about it, the more Ular felt that an invisible thread was connecting those incidents together.

A thread that no one had seen yet.

After the meal, Ular parted ways with his two teammates.

Today, he decided he had to visit the Dungeon Management headquarters once. If possible, he wanted to look at the records of the teams that had died, to find out the locations, times, and conditions of each Dungeon.

Even though the Black Rose Guild wouldn’t easily let a rank D hunter access important information, Ular could still try relying on a bit of his connections.

He walked along the crowded street, heading toward the headquarters.

Large billboards hanging on the buildings continuously played images of famous hunters. Some were fighting monsters, some were showing off items they had just obtained, and others were smiling at the camera and declaring that Dungeons were an opportunity for humans to become stronger.

Ular didn’t stop to look.

To him, those words had never sounded like the truth.

A Dungeon wasn’t an opportunity. It was a place where people could make money, but also a place that could swallow their lives at any moment.

Ular had only walked a short distance when he suddenly heard a voice calling from behind.

"Hunter Ular?"

The voice wasn’t loud, but amid the noisy crowd, it was strangely clear.

Ular stopped and turned around.