Life is cruel isn't it?

  Those who are chosen will be able to achieve anything they want without much effort.

  While those who aren't will struggle endlessly, no matter what they hope to achieve.

  This is the truth in the world of hunters.

  In a world where hunters must fight off monster outbreaks from gates, talent decides everything.

  Geniuses can learn all kinds of abilities and rank them up to become a superstar in a near instant.

  They become heroes admired by all.

  On the flip side, those without talent may never gain a skill and will not be able to increase their skills no matter what they do.

  That was the case for the F-rank hunter, Ryan Armstrong.

  Unlike his name which sounded badass, his physical body was not.  Known as one of the weakest hunters in this world.

  No matter where he went, this title always followed him.

  Ryan's overall strength was almost the same as that of an ordinary human being.  Except for being a bit stronger and his wounds healing slightly faster, Ryan was about the same as regular people in every other aspect.

  It was then normal that he always ended up getting injured.  He almost died several times too.

  Of course, it wasn't like Ryan Armstrong liked being a Hunter.

  The job was dangerous, others laughed at him, and to complicate matters further, the pay was also quite pathetic.

  If he hadn't been for the medical aid paid by the Hunters' Association to Hunters in their "payroll", he would have surrendered his hunter's license and quit now, and lived his life as an ordinary person. 

  Sadly, someone like Ryan Armstrong, in his mid-twenties and lacking any tangible job skills, had no other way but to stay on as a Hunter if he was to afford his home and necessities.  .

  Should we say that he had no choice in the matter?

  That's why, even if he didn't want to, he just had to participate in the raid supervised by the Association.

  Hunters operating in the same area tended to know each other quite well. If a door opened, all hunters in that neighborhood would be invited to come, which is why.

  The Hunters who had arrived early sipped the cups of coffee handed out by the Association employee and exchanged cordial greetings.

  "Oh hey. Mr. Len, over here. Here."

  "Oh? Mister Kim, what are you doing here? I thought you were giving up on being a Hunter?"

  "Well, that...I need a little more money you see."

  "Hahahaha, that's it. Yeah, for a hunter to win big at once, raiding is best, right.

  Mr. Len laughed happily.  Mister Kim followed suit with a sheepish chuckle, before asking Len.

  “By the way, why do I have the impression that the Association is calling on us less and less today?  Has the number of Gates decreased or what?  »

  “Eii, of course not.  It's only because guilds get upset about cleaning doors;  it has nothing to do with the Association.  I hear that various guilds are jumping in with both feet because there is big profit involved in all of this.

  "Well, then, since this raid is supervised by the Association, it should be safe, right?"

  Mr. Kim looked around as if getting nervous.

  If a guild wasn't involved today, it meant there wasn't enough profit to be made, and if there wasn't enough profit to be made, it could only mean that the difficulty of this particular gate would be low.

  Of course, nothing in this world was 100% absolute.

  It wasn't just Mr. Kim;  other Hunters were looking around nervously as well.

  "Hmm. I wonder…."

  Mr. Len finished the rest of his coffee avoiding answering his friend, before spotting a certain someone and raising his hand in happiness.

  "Uh! There he is. Hey, Mr. Ryan!! Mr. Ryan!"

  Other Hunters also expressed their joy in discovering this young man.

  "Ah, hello."

  He was none other than Ryan Armstrong.

  Ryan gave a simple nod to the jolly Mr. Len and walked on.

  After making sure Ryan was well out of earshot, Mr. Len began to snicker as he spoke confidently.

  “So Ryan came along.  So it will be fine today too.

  Mr. Kim's eyes widened and he hastily asked Len.

  "What was that? Is this Hunter Ryan Armstrong really strong?

  "Ahh. Of course, you wouldn't know who he is. He's a Hunter who started working shortly after you left, you see. However, every Hunter here knows who this child is now.

  "Is he really that strong?"  Wait, why does he work for the Association then?  Why not for a guild or as a freelancer?  »

  Len chuckled a little more before squinting.

  "Do you know what this guy's nickname is?"

  “How should I know?  Come on, man.  Just tell me already.

  "America's Weakest Weapon."

  "….The weakest? Not something like, the ultimate weapon?

  Dude, that's the nickname of S-rank Hunter Marck Gamin.  This kid is "weakest weapon".  I'm pretty sure he's the weakest fighter in the Republic of the United States.

  "Truly?"

  Kim began to frown deeply.

  Why would other Hunters hail this Ryan Armstrong if he really was that weak?  After all, didn't they need someone to trust them if things went wrong?

  Kim couldn't quite understand the reactions of the other Hunters.

  When Kim's head tilted this way and that, Len chuckled and nudged Kim's side with his elbow.

  "Eii! That's because he's really smart and helpful, he also helps us carried around a bunch of magic crystals, Haha, other than a carry bag he has no purpose in life, you wouldn't let a guy like that slide while he's very useful, right?"

  Only then did Kim's expression brighten.

  "R-Right. Yeah."

  Len continued.

  "This guy, there was a rumor not too long ago that he injured himself while raiding an F-rank gate and spent a week in the hospital."

  "A Hunter was injured by an F-rank Gate?"

  "That's right. Nobody expected to see a hunter get hurt in an E-rank gate raid, so they didn't even bring a healer, apparently!

  “Is that why he spent a week in the hospital?!  Pu-hahaha!"

  When Kim started laughing too hard, Len was quick to shut him up.

  “Stop it, man.  Mr. Ryan could hear you.

  "Aigoo. I didn't think about it."

  Kim cautiously checked Ryan's reactions as he continued to laugh.

  Fortunately, the distance was quite large and the young people did not seem to have heard them.

  Of course, they were wrong.

  “I hear everything, motherfuckers.

  A bitter smile formed on Ryan as he tried to ignore them.  At times like today, he couldn't help but blame his exceptionally keen sense of hearing.

  It seemed he had arrived too soon and the raid hadn't started yet.

  'Did I come too early?'

  Ryan looked around to pass the waiting time, spotted the Association employee handing out hot coffee, and approached.

  Why do you persist in being a Hunter, Mr. Ryan Armstrong?"

  "I'm sorry."

  Ryan lowered his head and apologized.

  The young and beautiful girl using healing magic in front of Ryan, Samantha showed how unhappy she was with a sulky expression.

  "I'm not trying to make you apologize, you know? I only worry about you. If you keep fighting this way, sooner or later you will face a really dangerous situation.

  Ryan glanced past Samantha's shoulders and glanced at the other Hunters fighting there.

  When we entered through the door, we arrived at a place called "dungeon".  The rank of this particular dungeon should be around E.

  More than a dozen hunters took care of the monsters inside this dungeon without even breaking a sweat.

  Unfortunately, for an F rank, such a feat was nearly impossible.

  Normally, the task of healing wounded hunters from behind fell to healers.  As he was always injured in the raids, Ryan was rather well known among the healers.

  Samantha asked him cautiously.

  "Maybe there's a reason why you can't give up being a Hunter?"

  Ryan shook his head resolutely.

  He didn't want to reveal anything personal to other people.

  “I only do this as a hobby.  If I don't do this, I'll probably die of boredom, actually.

  Samantha pouted even more.

  "If you continue your hobby, you'll be raiding a dungeon in the underworld soon, you know?"

  Ryan was taken back by her remark and ended up laughing loudly.

  Because of this, Samantha's harassment escalated.

  “Ah, ah!!  Don’t laugh!  Don't do it!  Your injuries could get worse!”

  Ryan chuckled before asking her.

  "Where did you even learn to say things like that?"

  "What do you mean, where?"  It's from Mister Len waaay over there.

  "Aigoo, that ahjussi really went and did it, didn't he..."

  As they chatted and laughed, her treatment was nearly complete.

  It was already too late by then, however.  It looked like the raid was pretty much over now.

  Ryan's expression hardened.

  "I only killed one monster today."

  A rank E creature, no less.  Ryan Armstrong started playing with the E-rank magic crystal in his hand.

  The lowest quality magic crystal from an E-rank monster fetched less than $90.  For something he bet his life to win, it was a pathetically small sum.

  “A magic crystal from a C-rank monster can sell for over $9,000

  however…."

  Too bad, an F-rank Hunter like him couldn't even attempt to kill a monster with a rank as high as E.

  When Ryan turns his eyes around.  There were 29 more people with them which made a total of 30 including Ryan.  All of them entered an E-rank dungeon.  Each of them had plenty of experience and around 4-5 of them were E-Rank, 2 of them were B-rank and others were either D or E. The only one who was F-Rank was Ryan .

  They all slowly started proceeding after clearing and killing the obstacles one by one.  All of them were smiling and were happy since the dungeon and everything till now seemed to be quite easy for them.  They were even collecting many rare materials and this dungeon despite being an F-Rank dungeon was not even as difficult as an E-Rank dungeon.

  So none of them even cared to think about anything else and kept moving forward except Ryan.  He was the only one who was getting a weird feeling.  You could call it a sixth sense or some instinct, but it was clearly telling Ryan that it was not a normal dungeon.

  Suddenly, someone shouted.

  "Uh? Hey, there's another entrance over here.

  Nearby hunters rushed there.

  "Uh, it's true."

  “Is there really another way?

  Just like this Hunter said, there was a hidden entrance to the dungeon itself.

  "A double dungeon, isn't it... So such a thing actually exists for real..."

  Mr. Leon, having more than ten years of experience as a hunter, looked through the hidden entrance and showed how surprised he was.

  The interior of the hidden cave-like passage was dark and nothing could be seen.  Monsieur Leon activated his specialty, flame magic, and threw it further down the passage.

  The flame flew forward and lit up the interior.  The passage seemed to go on forever.  Soon the flame lost its forward momentum, fell to the ground, and smoked a bit before disappearing.

  The passage was once again plunged into darkness.

  “Hmm….. Everyone, gather together.  Let's have a meeting.

  The unspoken leader of this raid, Mister Leon, called on the other Hunters to come together.  Ryan's treatment was over by then, so he and Samantha joined in as well.

  Leon spoke while sweeping his gaze over the gathered Hunters.

  “As you very well know, a door will only close if the dungeon boss is killed.  Since the door itself is still intact even though we've taken care of all the monsters here, it can only mean that the boss is beyond this passage.

  Leon gestured to the hidden entrance.

  The hunters exchanged meaningful glances and nodded.  No one could disagree with this notion.

  The Hunters' expressions wrinkled.

  The truth was that no one here could understand the current situation and therefore their safety could not be guaranteed.  However, the difficulty of this particular dungeon was found to be very low.

  So the dungeon hidden inside couldn't have been so difficult either.

  "HM hm."

  Leon coughed to draw everyone's attention to him.

  “Since we have 30 people here, let's put this to a vote, okay?  Once the decision is made, no one complains.  So?  What about?

  Others nodded after hearing Leon's suggestion.  No one disagreed with him.

  "I'm voting to go ahead."

  Leon raised his hand.

  And then other hunters started raising their hands one by one.

  "Me too."

  "Count on me too."

  Kim was the first to raise her hand, followed shortly by Len and a few other Hunters.

  "Me too."

  Samantha had also agreed to enter the dungeon.

    Leon then asked Ryan Armstrong, hesitantly.

  "And you, Mr. Ryan?"

  Ryan raised his hand high and said...

  "I'm also voting to go ahead."

  *******

  The passage continued indefinitely.

  Ahead, Mister Leon and other powerful hunters had taken the lead.  Leon had summoned a small flame above his palm to light the way forward.

  Mr. Len asked him as he walked alongside Leon.

  "We've walked a long way, haven't we? Shouldn't we also consider the time we need to escape from here?"

  “How long have we been walking?

  Len looked at his wristwatch.

  "Around…. forty minutes."

  "A door closes completely one hour after the boss dies, so we have a window of about twenty minutes left."

  "If we can't see the boss in the next twenty minutes, I suggest we should just give up."

  "I guess."

  Leon nodded for a moment, before pointing his back with his thumb.

  "Mister Len?"  It's dark ahead, so why don't you stand behind me?  »

  Len watched Leon's flames for a second or two, before wordlessly pulling out his smartphone and turning on the screen.

  And then, the passage lit up quite brightly.

  "..."

  Leon alternated his gaze between his flame and the smartphone, before also starting without a word to look for his own phone.

  ***

  At the very back of the group was the spot reserved for Ryan Armstrong, who was quite badly injured not too long ago, and Samantha, who had no fighting skills.

  Ryan scratched the back of his neck.

  “Forgive me, I…I'm really sorry.

  "About what?"

  “By the way, you know, I agree to come here despite my condition.  »

  "I agree with that."

  Ryan carefully studied Samantha's expression.  She definitely didn't look well at all.

  Ryan tilted his head this way and that while trying to better read her mood, before asking her again, even more cautiously than before.

  "Are you…really okay?"

  This prompted Samantha to shift her gaze to him.

  "Of course I'm not. Are you sane?! If you were stabbed a few inches higher, you'd already have a hole in your heart! And what about those wounds on your arms and legs?

  She spoke so fast that Ryan felt like his mind was going numb hearing her.

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  However, she was right about everything.

  If it weren't for the presence of the exceptional B-rated healer, Samantha, Ryan wouldn't have been able to go on living unaffected, let alone work as a hunter.  It was a small wonder why such high-ranking and hard-to-find healers were so popular in the halls of the Association.

  'Wait, come to think of it, I owe Miss Samantha a lot, don't I?'

  Samantha was a healer-type hunter, one of the rarest races.

  Not only that, she was also a “B” rated genius.

  The Association still required him to heal injured Hunters whenever a Gate opened.  And whenever Ryan went on a raid, he almost always ended up sitting next to her.

  Right now, Ryan was way past the point of feeling grateful for all she had done, and firmly in the territory of apologizing for inconveniencing her.

  "I'm sorry."

  "..."

  When Ryan looked crestfallen, Samantha also felt a little bad scolding him earlier and her demeanor softened considerably.

  “Are you really sorry?

  "Yes."

  Samantha fell into deep contemplation for a moment, before she began to look at him out of the corner of her eye and her lips slowly arched.

  "If you're really sorry, then...how about you treat me to dinner sometime?"

  It was a totally unexpected offer.

  Ryan looked at her with a surprised expression and found a teasing smile etched on her face like a teenager.

  'A teenager, uh…..'

  The truth was that Samantha was still a young girl who had barely reached her twenties.

  Didn't she say she would be twenty-one next year?

  If her long hair was replaced with something shorter and her current outfit was replaced with a school uniform, she would look completely like a high school girl.

  Her wandering mind imagined the image of Samantha in a school uniform and her face flushed somewhat.

  When Ryan hesitated with his answer, Samantha's cheeks started to swell like a balloon.

  "What the... Won't you buy me dinner?"

  It happened, just then.

  Ryan still feeling uneasy, he steps forward to talk to Mr. Len about his presentiment.

  "This is really weird. I don't know why but I'm feeling a bit uneasy. Hey Len bro, why don't we return for now?"  Ryan said this with a shrill voice.  His words were wavering as if they didn't want to leave his mouth.

  "Hahaha, what are you saying? We are having a wonderful time here. We are almost at the boss's room. We will clear it and return at once. Don't be scared. As a matter of fact, you accepted to come here  so there is no turning back. Hahaha"was what Len said to attract attention to himself.

  The remaining hunters were also laughing at what Ryan had said.  He was a bit frustrated as his words were completely neglected but at the same time the feeling of uneasiness kept on bothering him.  Did he regret coming here?  Why did he sense a weird feeling like this come out in a sudden?

  Ryan was turning his head towards his left and right again and again repeating it every second.  And on seeing this some of the hunters criticized him and were asking him if it was a Circus show.

  But no matter how angry Ryan was, he kept his cool and humbly accepted all the criticism.

  He had no choice to return behind with Samantha.

  So it got pretty hectic up front.

  "We found him!!"

  "It's the boss' room!"

  Ryan and Samantha's gazes automatically shifted forward.

  And they saw a huge stone door blocking the way.

  The hunters immediately surrounded this gate.

  "What is it? Why is there a door at the bottom of the cave?

  “Have we ever come across a boss room with a door before?

  "It's definitely the first time, I'm sure."

  "That… Doesn't that seem oddly dangerous to you?"

  The hunters started expressing their doubts and fears one by one.

  Since their own lives were at stake here, they had to be careful and meticulous.

  However, if one became too careful, one would end up not seizing the divine opportunity in the first place.  Mr. Leon thought it was one of those cases.

  "Do you all plan to come back empty-handed after coming this far?"

  Leon put his hands on the door.

  “If that's what you want, knock yourself out.  I'm moving forward, even if it means going it alone.

  Leon was a C-rank hunter with ten years of experience.

  If he weren't for his age, which was over sixty, he would now be a hit in a big guild with his excellent skills.

  And when a hunter like that expressed his opinion with such confidence, the others began to feel less anxious than before.

  "Wait a minute."

  A few hunters have started to recall rumors of double dungeons.

  "I heard that there are incredible treasures hidden in the double dungeons."

  "Yes, I heard that a certain small to medium guild found a double dungeon and became a large guild almost overnight."

  "The monsters inside a dungeon always have roughly the same ranks no matter where they are, so the hunt itself shouldn't be too difficult..."

  What if there were incredible treasures hidden with the double dungeon, as rumors have it, and the monsters beyond that door were about the same difficulty as the rank D, E creatures they have fought so far?

  "I can't let this old man monopolize all the treasure."

  'No way.'

  The Hunters' opinions were now on the same page.

  But no one had paid attention to Ryan.

  He was the only one among them who had a different expression.

  He was quite shocked by seeing the door.

  "This... this door. Where have I seen this before?"  While scratching his head Ryan started to think deeply about it.

  Ryan felt that he was somewhat close to this strange door.  It was as if he had already seen it previously somewhere.

  He was lost in his thoughts before he could realize it.

  Samantha saw his strange expression and asked him.

  "Ryan, what's wrong with you? Are you okay? Are you out of shape?"

  “…..Eh?

  Just as a stunned expression formed on Samantha's face, Leon pushed open the dungeon door and it creaked open.

  There must have been some sort of mechanism installed on the heavy door, since the physical strength of a sixty-year-old man was enough to open it easily.

  Slam!

  Now that the door was wide open, the huge open interior revealed itself.  The hunters rushed forward.

  "Let's go in too."

  Despite his foreboding, Ryan was no different, worried about falling behind.  He too wanted to get the rewards and by seeing the hunters go, he grabbed Samantha's hand and he started following them.

  “Ah…..”

  Samantha's face flushed slightly as she followed him.

  As soon as the Hunters set foot inside, flames erupted from the many torches clamped against the walls at once.  Thanks to this, the interior has become significantly brighter.

  "What's going on? The lights turned on by themselves?

  "First time seeing a dungeon like this."

  “Some things….  different from this place.

  The hunters carefully surveyed their surroundings.  The overall feel of the place was similar to an ancient temple.

  Not only that, an ancient and somewhat decrepit temple, something that could be buried and hidden under the ground;  moss and weeds could be seen sporadically on the floor, walls and ceiling.

  Several Hunters recoiled and shivered slightly.

  "It's a bit scary in here, isn't it?"

  "Don't you feel like you're being watched by someone?"

  Leaving the frightened Hunters behind, the strongest three, four of the group went further.

  “Tsk!  Don't say anything to jinx us, okay?  »

  "Let's get this over with and go home.

  The interior was absurdly huge.  The chamber was shaped like a giant dome.  It was as big as several Olympic stadiums.

  However, one could not help thinking that it was still insufficient.

  The reason was rather obvious.

  "That… that thing over there…"

  "N-not scary that thing's boss, right?"

  In the deepest part of the dome, something as enormous as it defied logic sat on a throne as tall as itself.  It was nothing but a huge stone statue of a demon with huge wings!

  "Oh my God…."

  "Wow."

  Shocked gasps escaped the Hunters.

  The hunters began nervously swallowing their saliva near the foot of the giant demon-like statue.  The tense and heavy apprehension and anxiety were clearly visible on their faces as they worried that this statue was the head of the dungeon.

  '…….'

  However, the statue did not move an inch.

  How lucky that was.

  "Phew…."

  Even Leon headed a sigh of relief.

  "Okay, everyone. Spread out."

  Now that they've found some leeway, the hunters split up and began to search the surrounding area.

  "I don't think there's a single monster here."

  “Do you think so too?  »

  "Never mind a monster, I can't even see a single insect too."

  The stone demon statue chamber may have been massive, but its actual internal structure was simpler.  On the walls, countless torches were there.  And in front of these walls, other stone statues, slightly taller than a human being, stood straight and motionless.  There were plenty here too, found some distance apart.

  "They're all rather handsome, aren't they?"

  “It's like they're works of art, right?  »

  The objects held by each of the stone statues were varied and different.

  Some were holding weapons, there was one with a book, some were carrying musical instruments and even torches.

  "It's as if…."

  "They are like statues of a holy temple or something."

  Leon finished what Len wanted to say.

  “Mmm?  »

  Then, Leon found something under his feet.

  "That…isn't that a core on that magical formation?"  »

  He found a kind of crystal ball on a magical formation he had never seen before located in the middle of this temple.

  As Ryan also watched his surroundings.  He was then, however, someone suddenly tugged at his arm.

  When he looked back, he spotted Samantha and her deathly pale complexion.

  Samantha's complexion was incredibly poor;  Ryan Armstrong was deeply taken back by this sight.

  “What's wrong?  Are you ill somewhere?”

  “T-there.  Over there.”

  Ryan's eyes followed Samantha's trembling pointing finger.  She was pointing at the giant demonic statue.  More specifically, she was pointing at the demon statue's face.

  Ryan could only tilt his head in confusion because it looked pretty much the same as before.

  “….?”

  Samantha stuttered some words out.

  “The, the eyes… The eyes of the demon statue moved towards us.  Just now.”

  "Sorry?"

  Ryan looked again several times, but nothing seemed to have changed.  There was no visible change to the god statue.

  “Eii… I’m sure you’ve made a mistake.”

  However, it seemed like Samantha didn't hear him;  her head stayed lowered, and as she held onto Ryan's arm, her entire body trembled even harder.

  ‘Hang on a dry here.’

  Even Ryan picked up on this strange but ominous sensation now.  The world was eerily quiet.  So much so, it felt just too weird.

  ‘No sounds….?’

  Even the sounds of the flames burning on the torches could not be heard anymore.

  While he was thinking this, a sudden noise made him wary.

  "Kekeke kekeke..."

  It was as if someone was laughing at the hunters.  As soon as he hears it, he turns around to see who was it but could find no one.

  It was then.

  SLAM!!

  Everyone was jolted back to their senses at the sudden explosion of noise.

  “What, what was that?!”

  “Where did that sudden noise come from?!”

  The first person to notice the change in the situation was none other than Ryan.  Because his senses were running at full tilt already, he could tell where the noise was coming from right away.

  “The door!!  The door is closed!!”

  As soon as Ryan shouted out, everyone shifted their gazes towards the doorway.  The door they left open was now firmly shut close.

  “God d*mn it!  I can't stand this!”

  One of the Hunter was starting to feel scared and began spitting out cusses as he took large strides towards the door.

  "I'm going home, so you all can have fun with a boss or treasures or whatever."

  That Hunter glared at Leon with an expression that contained all of his dissatisfaction before he spun his head around and angrily grabbed the door handle.

  It happened, then.

  Leon's eyes grew extra large.

  “No!!”

  Splash!

  The area above the Hunter's neck suddenly vanished.  The headless body powerfully collapsed to the ground.

  “K, kkkkyaaachk?!”

  “Uwaa?!  Uwaak!!”

  Hunters began screaming their heads off.

  The stone statue that smashed a human's head apart with a steel mace returned to its original spot next to the door, as if nothing important had happened, its body completely covered in fresh blood.

  “That, that thing can move?!”

  “What the hell??  Does that mean every statue in here can move, too?!”

  “We gotta fight against these things?”

  “I couldn’t even see that d*mn thing swing the mace, so how can I?!”

  Unlike others here, though, Ryan knew the truth.

  "No way...how...how is this possible?"

  Ryan suddenly smiled in a weird manner as he thought this.  He was completely shocked and puzzled.

  "How can a dream...become reality?"

  He continued to smile.

  "It's the same as the dream that I had 5 days ago... everything... it is all the same!"

  The truth is, 5 days ago he had a weird dream where he was standing in front of a door and behind this door was his own death and all of his friends. Not only that, this chamber seems to contain the power to destroy all life  .

  He now realized that why he felt the gate to be familiar.  It was because he had already seen the gate in his dreams.

  It was at this moment that he knew that their troubles only had just begun.

  Wait a minute…..Didn’t Samantha say it earlier?

  “The, the eyes… The eyes of the demon statue moved towards us.  Just now.”

  ‘If what she said is true….’

  A chill rapidly ran down his spine.

  Ryan forced his stiff neck to turn around so he could look behind him.

  “….Ho-Holy sh*t.”

  The stone statue of the demon was looking down at him.

  Was this the instincts of a Hunter?

  No, the instincts of a living being were sending out urgent warning signals.

  Something was coming, something none of them could contend with!

  Ryan turned towards the other Hunters and cried out as loudly as he could.

  “Get down!!”

  Almost at the same time, a fireball out of nowhere was shot out.  Ryan hugged Samantha and threw her body to the floor.

  BUZZ!!

  The fireball shot right by the spot Ryan had been standing.

  A tenth of a second.

  No, he survived by one-hundredth of a second.  That was definitely too close for comfort.

  Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky as Ryan.

  “Uwaaahk?!”

  “Uh-ahahack!!”

  Those who were swallowed up by the fire evaporated where they stood.  Only the ashes of what used to be human Hunters remained where the beam flew past.

  The screams came not from the dead Hunters, but those who witnessed their final moments from the sidelines, actually.

  “What the f*ck was that?!”

  “Uh, uh-uh…”

  “How, how can such a thing even be…”

  "I... I don't wanna die... *sob sob* I want to see my sister again..." One of the Hunter said while complaining.

  The remaining Hunters began freaking out.

  Out of the 30 Hunters, only 26 survived.

  Not one of them had ever experienced such a powerful attack before in their lives.

  ‘Is the attack…over?’

  Ryan looked underneath him.  The scared-silly Samantha was trembling in his arms.

  This was the reason why she worked for the Association and not for a big Guild, and participated in simple raids like this one, even though she was nominally an excellent Hunter with a rank as high as ‘B’.

  Samantha's breathing was getting rougher by the second.  But she wasn't the only one, Ryan's heart was beating as fast as it could.  His breathing had increased tremendously!  He was happy since he was safe.

  He couldn't let her be like this.  He had to do something.

  Ryan was about to raise his body up, thinking that he gotta do something here.

  Just as Leon stared at Ryan with a rueful expression, Ryan too found a little bit of leeway to check out the older Hunter's condition.

  It was then.

  "Don't move!"

  Something foolish happened.

  Leon shouted at Mister Josef, who was at the far end of the group.

  "Shut up!  Who knows when that thing will start attacking us again!!  But you want me to stay here and wait?!  We have to fight back”

  Mister Josef was a close-combat type Hunter.

  These types of Hunters possessed far, far superior physical abilities than regular human beings.  On top of this, Josef was about to sign up with a big Guild after his skills were acknowledged by them not too long ago as well.

  "I'll not die here today."

  While keeping low to the ground, Josef could all his strength down to his legs.

  His aim was one of the Statues.

  The muscles on his legs swelling were up fast.

  “D*mn it….”

  Leon could only mutter out to himself.

  Right then, Josef kicked the ground and exploded forward and many hunters followed him.

  ********

  After 2 minutes...

  Out of the 30 total hunters that had entered, 24 of them died and only 6 were left.

  All of their heads had just disappeared and the only thing that was left was their neck and the blood stains!

  The remaining hunters saw this and immediately puked.

  "Damn... if only I had stopped them earlier... they wouldn't have died!"

  Ryan started blaming himself as he couldn't watch them just die like this.  He kept on thinking that he could have saved them all of he was a bit convincing.

  It was then.

  BLAM!!

  SPALSH!!

  One of the statue slammed down his gigantic sword on the back of Mister Josef

  “Kkyaaahck!!”

  A male Hunter screamed at the top of his lungs.

  He must've developed a leak, because a puddle of yellow liquid formed where he was squatting on the ground.

  The expressions of the Hunters froze, hard.

  "Oh my God…."

  Mister Josef no longer stood where the sword slammed.Only the pair of ownerless ankles could be seen now.

  One of the men with a weaker constitution began emptying the contents of his stomach.

  “B-blergh!!”

  Ryan's expression also crumpled as well but the worst thing is below his right knee was gone.

  Ryan's eyes reflexively shifted toward a stone statue that was holding a shield.  He then saw the trail of blood clearly visible on the end of the shield.

  And the rest of his right leg was just below that.

  Drip.  Drip.

  Drops of blood started falling from Samantha's nose.  That was the sign of her reaching the limits of her physical stamina.

  The healing magic from a rank B Healer was unable to recover missing limbs.  Meaning, what she was doing was basically pouring water into a broken jug.  Her stamina rapidly bottomed out in the end.

  “It’s fine now…Miss Samantha.  You can stop….”

  “I'm going to heal you!!  I'll fix you as good as new!”

  Hunters stared at the two of them while forming miserable expressions.

  And when the youth's eyes turned towards Leon, his eyes opened up wider after finding something pretty terrible.

  “Mister, your, your… Your arm?!”

  “This is nothing.  I can still hold on.”

  “Goal, goal, still….”

  Ryan swallowed down his saliva.

  Leon's other hand that was there two minutes ago, his left arm, was gone.

  “…”

  Leon studied Samantha ’s conditions for a bit, before he took off the T-shirt he was wearing, and while not even showing the enormous amount of pain he must be feeling, he wrapped up what was left of his left arm.

  “Help me tie up the end, please?  It’s difficult to so with only one hand.”

  Ryan could only nod his head then.

  They were able to somehow stop the bleeding for now.

  Rather than a scream or a pained moan, Leon let out a long sigh.  It was a sigh containing ten years' worth of experience as a Hunter.

  “Fuu…..”

  Out of the 30 hunters who initially entered this chamber only five remained now.  And from this group of 5, two of them had suffered horrible, grievous wounds.  Leon had lost his arm, while Ryan lost his leg.

  They might have survived, but none of them felt like rejoicing at the moment.  It was then, something very surprising happened.

  "You little human... I want you!"

  The gigantic demon speaks up in human language with a heavy and scary tone.

  Ryan was taken in by surprise.  He didn't think that a monster could speak.  But he wasn't the only one who was surprised, the others was also having a surprising expression on their face.

  But the demon statue said something even more terrifying with his voice full of authority.

  "I will say this only once! Give me that human called Ryan and I will let others go!"

  "Eh? Wha-?"  Before Ryan and the others could ask anymore questions, the gigantic demon continues while threatening them.

  "If not…"

  RUMBLE….!!

  The temple started to tremble and the giant door which was once close started to open.

  Creeeakkk….

  At the same time, the Statues that were just standing started to move as well while wielding their deadly weapons.

  Ryan was now further surprised and puzzled.  But he was 100% sure of something.

  "They won't abandon me like that... haha haha..."

  Ryan was trying to tell the demon statue that the hunters here were his friends and considered him as a little brother and won't do such a thing as abandon him but little that he knows that what he thought was far different from reality.

  The hunters gave out a complete opposite response.

  Crreeeeaaaaack!

  “Uuuuh, uwaaaahhh!!  Yes!  You can take him!  Do whatever you want with him, just let us go..."

  The man standing on the opposite side screamed and ran towards the door.  He simply couldn't hold on any longer as the horrifying screeching noise coming from his back frightened him so much.

  “No!!”

  Ryan cried out urgently.

  However, the man running as if he had gone crazy escaped through the open doorway without meeting a grizzly fate, which took everyone by surprise.

  Len came to his conclusion, but until the result was in, he couldn't be 100% certain of anything.  He couldn't really believe that this monster was going to let them go.

  However, what Len wanted was a definite assurance.  Rather than an uncertain promise of everyone's survival, the definite survival of his own self had proved to be far more alluring in the end.

  “I’m sorry about this, but… I don’t think I can stay here anymore.”

  “Mister!”

  “Sorry.”

  With that parting word, Len started running.  He then ignored Ryan's urgent calling and ran towards the door.  He stopped and looked for a brief moment just outside the door, but Len did not step back inside the chamber again.

  Grit.

  Ryan scratched his teeth.

  “God d*mn it!!”

  To Ryan such treatment was not something new however leaving him to die was something which he had never thought of.

  He had saved the lives of others multiple time before, but what he got in return was definitely not something like gratefulness or friendship.

  In his eyes all of them looked like a devil.  None of them cared about others and only thought about their needs selfishly.

  His entire body shuddered from the pain of betrayal.

  All that was left within him was remorse, sorrow and hate.

  Ryan took a look around and then spoke to Leon and Samantha.

  “Both of you, you should leave now.”

  His voice was full of resignation.  Leon looked at the young man.

  “Goal, kid….?”

  Both the expressions of Ryan and Mister Leon hardened in an instant.

  Samantha's current physical condition did look terrible even from a casual glance.  Her lips were in the shade of pale blue, while her entire body continued to tremble ever so imperceptibly.

  She was suffering from the side-effects of overusing her magic energy when she was already at her physical limit.

  ‘Because she tried to heal my leg….’

  Ryan felt his chest tighten and couldn't say anything.  However, they really didn't have any time left now.

  Creeeeaaaakkk…..

  The stone statues were relentlessly approaching them without a moment of rest even now.

  Ryan shoved Leon's hand away and plopped down to the ground himself.  Seeing this, Leon's eyes grew wider.

  “Y-young man…..?”

  Ryan spoke up with a determined expression on his face.

  “Mister, please take Samantha and get out of this place.”

  “I told you, I can't let you behind.”

  “In that case, what about Samantha?  Someone should help Samantha to get out of here”

  It was pretty much impossible for him to take Samantha, who couldn't even stand properly, and leave through the door.

  'Of course….'

  There was the other choice of abandoning Samantha behind, as well.  However, Samantha had saved his life several times already, and the only reason why she was in this state was because she tried to help him with all her might.

  He definitely did not want to suffer the guilty conscience of abandoning such a person behind in this godforsaken place.

  “There is no time left.  Please leave now.”

  “…”

  Leon's expression remained hardened as he helped Samantha up.  She shook her head desperately while tears streamed down on her face.

  "No, you can't... Mister Ryan can still survive, you know?  Let me….”

  Pam!

  Leon knew that Samantha was going to be against this choice that's why Leon gave her a little strike behind the head.

  With that, Samantha passed out.  Leon picked up the unconscious girl and placed her on his shoulder.

  "...I'm really sorry about that."

  "It's my choice, so that's fine."

  Mr. Leon tilted his head at Ryan.

  With that goodbye, Leon quickly left the altar.

  Creaakkk….

  Creeeeaaaaakkk…..

  While the three of them were chatting, the statues had come within a proverbial stone's throw.

  Ryan knelt down and took several deep breaths.

  “Fuu-woo.  Fuu-woo..."

  He spotted a sword that was next to him.  So he reached out and picked it up.

  "Now that it had come to that, I'm going to take at least one with me."

  When he looked behind him, Ryan saw Mr. Leon leaving safely through the door with the unconscious Samantha still perched on his shoulder.

  What a relief that was.

  Ryan saw this and was happy within that at least 2 of them cared for him but it was too late.

  'Only I will die here now….'

  He wasn't doing this out of a noble determination to sacrifice himself or anything like that.  No, there was definitely an element in which he was calculating the best possible outcome in his decision.

  Even if he survived and got out of here today, he would have to live as a cripple for the rest of his life.

  Obviously, continuing as a hunter would then be impossible.  And it was also doubtful that he could also live normally.  He was only a high school graduate, and since he had no discernible professional skills, he simply didn't have too many options left to put food on the table.

  Ryan looks up at the huge demon statue.

  "Could I ask you a question? Why are you doing all this? Why you want to Kill me and how the hell do you even know my name?"

  "....."

  But, the demon looked at him with an expressionless face remaining silent.

  Ryan smiled

  "Ah! Are you really going to kill me without giving any reason? Talk about being rude, well you're a demon after all."

  Creaakkk….

  Shout…

  Noise.

  Finally, the statues have arrived.

  One of them had arrived first with Ryan.  Ryan glared at him and raised the sword.

  "Bring it on asshole."

  Unfortunately, the expected attack did not come from the front, but from the back.

  Stab!

  A long spear entered Ryan's back and out of his chest.

  “Kek!  »

  Ryan spat out a mouthful of blood.

  An unimaginable amount of pain rushed in like a tsunami wave.

  "If you were stabbed a few inches higher, you'd already have a hole in your heart!"

  Samantha's snarl that he had heard only a few hours ago slipped into his mind like a scene from a spinning lantern.

  "U, uwaaaahck!!"

  The stone statue lifted the spear.  Ryan was lifted into the air, still pierced by that spear.  He only had to struggle for a brief moment, as the statue threw him next to the magic circle he had discovered when he entered that room.

  CLICK!!

  “Kek!  »

  Sounds of breaking bones could be heard from every corner of his body.

  He recoiled from the intense pain.

  “Uh….. Uh, uh…..”

  As he began to shake, the stone statues slowly surrounded him.  They formed a circle around him.  Ryan lifted his head and looked at them, his whole being shaking nonstop.

  “I…I don't want to die like this.  »

  Now that he was facing his final moments, tears were streaming down his eyes.

  He recalled the faces of his family.  He even recalled Samantha's face, her face full of anxiety and concern for her safety...

  "I do not want to die..."

  He did not want to end his short twenty-four years of life here.

  Walk.

  The stone statue wielding a sword approached without the slightest emotion.  Then he raised his sword high.

  Even though he was shaking hard, Ryan didn't take his eyes off that bastard.

  Finally, the statue's sword swung down.

  Swiiiishhh….

  'Only if, only if I had one more chance!'

  That's when he touched something weird and when Ryan turned his head, his eyes widened.

  It was the strange crystal ball he had just landed next to and was starting to light up strangely.

  It happened then.

  As if someone had pressed the "pause" button, the sword moving at a frightening speed suddenly stopped mid-air.

  No, that wasn't really correct;  it hadn't stopped at all.  It just slowed down so much that he ended up thinking that way.

  A millimeter in a minute?

  It was very slow, but the sword was still definitely going down.

  'Wh-what's going on here?'

  Ryan couldn't hide his astonishment.

  It was then that a voice he had never heard before rang in his head.

  But when he picked it up, a dizzying amount of messages appeared.

  [The completion conditions for "Secret Quest: Courage of the Powerless" have been met.]

  「The ‘Demon God’ praises your unbreaking will.  」

  The first thing he saw in front of him was someone's praise.

  ‘Who is this?’

  Secret quest?  Have completion conditions been met?

  Ryan had questions, but there wasn't any time to continue with that train of thought.

  [Warning!  You have started to absorb the Demon god's power.]

  [Absorption percentage 0.001%...]

  “What?!”  Startled, Ryan wanted to drop this weird crystal, but it had already started to melt through his skin.

  A huge amount of energy started to spread on his skin and he felt his blood flow as his heartbeat slowed.  The horrible chill filled his veins and his body.  His joints went cold, and his chin shook uncontrollably, causing his teeth to chatter.

  “What… the hell…”

  “Ugh...uh…” System messages filled his eyes and ears.

  [Absorption percentage 99.9999%...]

  [Absorption percentage 100%.]

  [Congratulations.  You have completely absorbed the Demon God's power.]

  [Because of the host's current level, the Demon god's power will be locked.]

  [Creating "Level up System" for the host.]

  [Creating percentage 45%]

  [Failed!  Due to the host's level, the "Level up System" cannot fully activate.]

  [Level required to activate the System: E]

  Ryan felt his consciousness slip.

  Ryan didn't understand any of this.

  “No, wait a minute.  Besides all that, where does this voice come from?

  Too bad for him, the voice ignored Ryan's questions and continued anyway.

  [The host is about to be sent to the "Tutorial dungeon" .  Will you accept?]

  Had he acquired a right?  Accept what, exactly?

  'Looks like I'm going to get something…'

  A strange feeling of being on a border of consciousness and unconsciousness.

  Rather than questioning the circumstance, I could only think to make a decision.

  To make a choice.

  A choice that I wouldn't regret if I reached my hand out.

  Enticed, I reached out as if there was no other choice.

  He grew up in misery since childhood, so he had never refused gifts until now.  However, that was a story for when he was still alive.  What good was free stuff when he was dead?

  '…….'

  When Ryan hesitated and didn't answer, the voice in his head asked again as if to urge him to continue.

  [You don't have enough time to make your decision.  Your heart will stop working precisely 0.02 seconds after you refuse to accept.  Will you accept?]

  He couldn't tell if he was hallucinating or not, but he still had to realize that he was only a moment away from dying for good.  He eventually spotted countless other weapons aimed in his direction, alongside that damn sword, that's how.

  Now that things had evolved to such a degree, he might as well.

  Then…

  '….If you give it to me, then give it to me already.'

  There was no need to say anything.  He was just thinking about it in his head.  Even then, the woman's voice answered him immediately.

  [Congratulations, you have become a "Player".]

  [Now entering the "Tutorial dungeon.]

  GLOW!!

  A blinding light suddenly shrouded Ryan's body - and at the same time, he passed out.