Fantasy Gate Portal Dungeon 1: Goblin Hive

[The Black Knight]

The portal dungeon opened to a musty cave system. Immediately above their heads by nine feet was the compacted ceiling of stone and dirt. Torches conveniently lit the path wrapped in cloth and resin. The tunnel seemed endless vanishing into darkness ahead, but fortunately, the portal was at their backs, easing any worries of ambush.

Seung Ryu had been the first to step through the portal still wearing his nice clothes. He wasn't wearing any armor from what the others could see, and he had no visible weapons on him. He made sure to walk ahead to permit enough space for nine other hunters to fit in such a narrow space. He turned to face them with an indifferent expression on his face. He seemed hardly bothered by the atmosphere. He shared, "Looks like a goblin tunnel. We didn't encounter any goblins though. I wonder if the Bugbears faced a power struggle and killed them all. It seems only two people can stand side-by-side in this narrow space. We can only hope for the tunnel to get larger if we reach a chamber. The party leader needs to set the strategy."

Seung wasn't about to rob anyone of any experience. The dungeons were hardly ever what anyone expected. They were unpredictable, and this situation was quite the strategic challenge.

DuckPrince
You acquired a party buff!
Mana Boost Lv.1
Party's max MP increased by 50.​

Tagged: Heyitsjiwon Heterological DuckPrince Haze- Twist Flare Megilagor Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Seung Ryu
Rank: A
Class: Dark Knight
Guild: Hunters Association
HP: 1,250

 

[Haze-]

Name: Jwan Min-Jee
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Tag: Megilagor DuckPrince Heyitsjiwon Heterological Twist Flare Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Goblin Hive


“Down to earth and calm? I’m flattered and all, Hana, but don’t forget I’ll be up at the front too. Besides, sorry to pop your bubble, but I’m a menace to society– a maniac. Worst leader you could choose, really.” – The whole of her body jerked slightly away from where Haneul stood, a hand waved at him dismissively, pressing a finger at the vet’s forehead and pushing away the moment he’d gotten a little too close for comfort, avoiding his gaze. She thought it wouldn’t show, caught the words as a ‘compliment’ and fanned herself dramatically, as though a princess in distress about to faint. One could’ve seen it in her deadpan stare, though. Lying and pleasing her co-workers was but on instinct, a fleeting thought at times, but for some reason she couldn’t do it with Haneul. She looked at him, felt a twitch in the brows, and sighed.

He truly was a puppy boy after all.

“Alright, you won’t be team leader,” – She held up her hands in plead, - “My first order of business as team leader, though,” – And apart in mock supplication, the motion born specifically for a certain fancy-dressed person, the jazz hands at the end carrying the whole display – “Is making my friend here Chin-Mae the leader. Period. I won’t be able to oversee it all and give accurate orders at the front, but he sure can at the back. I can be the advisor if that’s good enough for you all.”

With that, she finally turned to the portal, eyes set in a daze as it swallowed what once was the silhouette of Seung-Ryu. A beat and a half, a staredown, she watched it spew particles. A wide array of colors that stretched at her like decrepit hands, trying to take ahold of her. Again, just another old friend from work. And she met the portal accordingly, reaching her hand out for it.

It never responded. It always pulled her in –


She always felt tightness in her throat, a knot that untied once the few moments of darkness after that first step into the gate began dispersing. Her eyes did a pivot, all around the vicinity, like a feral animal on a high. Up, down, left, and then right, coming to a halt in the middle where she took a moment to let the habitual headache ease away. Min-Jee would be glad to tell sob stories about her first dungeon. Always trying to reminisce how the sky looked like, how hard it was to breathe, from whose corpse she inherited the cowl and the scythe. There was nothing to reminisce about, little to piece back together when there were only scattered memories, zoned out sceneries at best. Opposite ends attracted each other, in her case she’d been drawn to portals and the sweet release of violence the moment she came out alive of her first dungeon. Yet she was in the grey as to why that was, Min-Jee never realized when it was she picked the predator’s need to hunt, what the monsters roaming these halls had done to her for it to feel so personal.

Then all of it traced back to that photo dangling from a locker, that girl splattered on the floor. Her knuckles went white, the grip on her scythe tightened – “You can tell it’s a goblin tunnel just by looking at it?” – She went to get a feel of the inner walls of these tunnels, eyes going from the dimly lit passage ahead and straight to the roof, landing finally on Seung-Ryu. She spared him a nod, her eyes carrying the gleam of someone willing to reconsider. He might’ve placed himself in a bad spotlight back then, and he sure as hell appeared just as stuck up now, but she could agree that in the presence of a trained professional they would all seem like mere amateurs.

Seung-Ryu might be able to identify every nook and cranny in this dungeon, but he seemed unwilling to share with the class. This isn’t a training drill you know?, she thought to herself. Of course, she wasn’t an actual hunter back in her world, she wouldn’t be tracking footprints nor telling who’s who from their mere smell, but there were still some things she could gather. From the way her hand slid off the walls, or how it stuck to the walls, she could figure out how to roam these halls without falling on her ass. The asphyxiating dampness in the air; how it felt in the lungs and how much oxygen she would have. Tapping her weapon against the floor and roof to measure out her reach. Small, useless data. But data nonetheless.

She turned to everyone else – “As advisor, all I can do is repeat some common sense I once heard.” – The feel in her voice switched to a more automated one, bare and toneless, her eyes set to the floor as though trying to reminisce – “The one’s that aren’t squirmish go in the front, you know who you are. Support in the middle, backstabbers and everyone with half-decent eyesight in the back. If there’s a fork in the road and the path becomes less linear, the ones in the back keep an eye out behind our formation. We don’t split up at all, so always keep someone in the corner of your eye or within earshot. There might be traps, so if the floor suddenly gives in to your weight or a wall looks at you funny; sucks to be you, keep your eyes peeled.” – She raised her head to look at them – “I might’ve missed something, but you get the memo. You play dumb and you die a dumb death. Stick to the team and don’t get too panicky. If there’s one of them exotic goblin survivors in your way, just think of them as a child with a knife; punt them to the moon or something. The bugbears we deal with as a team.”

The scythe vanished into her inventory not to take up anymore space, they were practically merging with each other at this point – “Again, this is just advice I heard once. It’s all I can add to our strategy. Mae’s the leader so put his advice over mine if you need to.” – And with that, she finished advising. Her hands were on the back of her head as she went for a sigh, waiting on anyone else to speak up.

 

[DuckPrince]

Name: Chin-Mae Jun
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor Flare Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Chin-Mae had no clue how he ended up the leader out of everyone, even if he was more passive than anyone else. He sucked in a soft breath, frowning a touch at the musty air that filled his lungs. It did not leave a nice taste on the back of one's palate. "Alright.. I want warriors and the like up front, like Min-Jee said. Depending on your style as a mage, go behind the warriors or behind me and Hana, we will be in the middle as your support. Archers and longer ranged, or sneaky classes go in the back." He said, looking between the eight other rookie hunters. "I know we have never fought together, but everyone try your best, we have to return alive and make sure to close the dungeon.. for the sake of the students." He said, brows furrowing softly.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Name: Sophia Hughes
Rank: E
Class: Thief
Location: Sector #10 Hanyoung High School - rooftop
Tag: The Black Knight Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor DuckPrince Flare Dhruv_The _Quiet

Sophia gripped her daggers tightly as she let herself be absorbed into the portal. She unconsciously bite the bottom of her lips and closed her eyes before finally opened it and witness the sight of her first dungeon, a bleak dimly lit cave which the senior hunter quickly state as a goblin tunnel. She let out a relieved sigh and chanted a silent prayer before listening to the strategy proposed by the apparently team leader and the advisor and nodded.

"My class is thief, I will stay in the back then." She openly stated and positioned herself just like she said. Though after she did that she realized she might have a hard time moving forward if they encounter enemies in this narrow passage.

 

[Twist]

Name: Young- Soo Sun
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: The Black Knight , Haze- , DuckPrince , Spoiled Bread Heyitsjiwon Heterological Flare Megilagor Dhruv_The _Quiet

Young Soo had taken up position within the middle of the party, almost dab in the center. From here, his Tome would be most useful, it's power to pull together and cluster enemies within it's Black Maelstrom, allowing him the option to keep them safely at bay from his less hardy teammates, be it a surprise attack from behind or a full frontal assault. It would also afford him a means to stop any fleeing foes, or flying ones, but in the cramp quarters of the Dungeon so far, he doubted the second points necessity.

He was feeling a lot more clear headed after his phone call to his sibling, as well as lighter, as if a huge weight had been lifted from him. Though the conversation had brought tears to his eye, just the normality and inane things that his brother and sister had talked about, like who was taller, or who was Sook's new favourite cartoon character or how Jee had tracked in mud when he went looking for bugs in the back garden, just normal everyday things you talk about with your family, it was these things that gave Young-Soo a renewed sense of purpose. He had got all caught up with the responsibility of being a Hunter, and all the tragedy around him, letting it get to his head. What he really should have been thinking about was who he was fighting for and fighting to get back to. People like Alex, and Sang and all his loving family. That was his drive now.

And to succeed he would need to remain positive, pushing away all the doubt and turmoil as he proceeded further into the Dungeon.

 

[Dhruv_The _Quiet]

Name: Sameer Vadlamani
Rank: E
Class: Warrior
Location: Goblin hive
Tag: The Black Knight Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor DuckPrince Flare Spoiled Bread


Sameer decided that he does not like traveling through the gates. It was an unpleasant sensation, like curdled milk sliding on his skin. Nonetheless, he noted the feeling for his journal, since he wanted to understand how the portals worked. Looking around, he found himself in a narrow corridor, dimly lit by some torches. Struck dumb by his first portal experience, he tries to take in as much detail as he could so that he may note it down.

Sam felt torn. On one hand, he was fascinated by the mystique of the portals as he grew up with all sorts of Indian myths which describe similar powers of Gods, but on the other, he was screaming internally about the laws of physics being broken. The theoretical cost of energy required to open a portal from one place to another place a centimeter apart was already astronomical, not to mention that the portals would be so unstable that it could cause a massive explosion or something worse, yet here he was passing through a portal to what looks like another dimension.

Shaken out of his pondering by the obviously powerful man who went into the portal first speaking, Sam listens to what all is being said. Remaining quiet as the team leader was chosen, he felt a mild pang of envy looking at how they spoke with such confidence. Shaking himself out of his thoughts upon receiving instructions, Sam positioned himself in such a way, that he may punch and kick the soon-to-be (hopefully) dead monsters, Sam pondered upon his motivations. Even though there were more hunters out there, most much more competent compared to him, he still felt that he should help.

 

[Megilagor]

Name: Narae "Hana" Haneul
Rank: E
Class: Healer
HP: 85/85

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Location: Goblin Hive
Tag:
The Black Knight , Heyitsjiwon , Twist , Heterological , Pseudo-nim , Haze- , Flare Spoiled Bread , Dhruv_The _Quiet , DuckPrince


Hana trotted towards the front of the group tightly gripping his shield in one hand and the morning star in the other.
As this passage was damp and small to only allow two people to stand side by side, he realized something.
‘If I situate myself behind the two warriors of course could switch out whenever someone got badly hurt or fatigued.’

He spoke no words, as he situated himself behind the two warriors of the group and only nodded to them with a smile on his face.
Hana knew he had no healing spells and wasn't able to fight long range so he thought that at least he could be a secondary wall for those behind and that he was determined to become since even the smallest wall can protect something big.
"I might not be the greatest help, but I will help you guys out. If one of you gets badly hurt or fatigued move a bit to the back and I will take over for a bit. "

 

[The Black Knight]

The healer was calling the shots, which wasn’t too unusual to him. It made sense that the leader should be a class who wasn’t on the frontlines. Healers were already strategic with how they had to conserve their mana. He wanted to believe that Chin-Mae would control the battlefield, or at least learn how to do so.

At Jwan’s question, Seung answered, “When you’ve completed as many dungeons as I have, you start to notice some similarities. Our enemies are bugbears, but this, is a goblin tunnel. They could be cohabiting. Goblins tend to be weak, but like ants, they attack in great numbers to compensate.”

The party assumed their battle positions. Seung faced the rest of the tunnel and started casually walking. There hadn’t been a cautious pace in his step. He moved as though he hadn’t even been in a dungeon, but after a few seconds he stopped. He blinked his blue eyes, his brows raising a little as realization dawned. He smiled sheepishly back at the group and apologized, “I’m sorry. I forgot where we were.”

The dungeon was such a low rank that he hadn’t taken into consideration the apprehension the party must have felt. He also didn’t want to cost them ambush opportunities by walking so blatantly. He slowed in his pace and checked the walls around them as though trap doors or false walls could have been a possibility. They were in higher ranked dungeons at least. The path split into a fork, one leading to the left, and the second leading to the right. Seung frowned as he stared down each of them before he turned to face Chin-Mae.

“All right; now this is where things can get complicated. You can either split the party, and I go with one of your groups, or you stay together. What is your decision?”

Haze-
Spell acquired!

Wicked Augmentation Lv 1.
You use your dark powers to boost the lethality of your allies' magical attack. M. Attack increased by +15.
Duration: 3 turns
Cooldown: 3 turns
MP Cost: 20
Fatigue Cost: 10

Megilagor
Spell acquired!

Prayer of Protection Lv 1.
You pray to The Maker to protect you and your fellows. Defense increased by +10.
Duration: 5 turns
Cooldown: 5 turns
MP Cost: 20
Fatigue Cost: 10​

Tagged: Heyitsjiwon Heterological DuckPrince Haze- Twist Flare Megilagor Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Active Party Buff: Mana Boost Lv. 1 - Party's max MP increased by 50. (Chin-Mae Jun)

Spoiler: Seung Ryu

Seung Ryu
Rank: A
Class: Dark Knight
Guild: Hunters Association
HP: 1,250

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Name: Park Jiwon
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: Haze- Megilagor Heterological DuckPrince Twist Flare Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet The Black Knight

---

The portal had led the group to what seemed like a murky cave system of sorts... exactly the sort of place that Goblins and Bugbears stereotypically seemed to like, dark with a lot of dirt and stone with a few makeshift torches here and there to barely illuminate the area. Jiwon was content to simply aid where he was needed this raid. After all, he didn't need the burden or want the guilt that came with being in charge when something bad happens. God knew that he didn't want that kind of pressure or guilt weighing on his conscious. Thus, Jiwon for now had silently tagged along, taking his place more towards the back of the formation. Though in his mind, he began to ponder if the other E-Ranks were even able to really take hits. At least Jiwon had a few levels under his belt. He wasn't sure if he could say the same of the others. Doubts began to cloud his mind. Jiwon took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He thought back to an earlier time when he was just a young boy.

---

Jiwon walked around in circles through the wood hallways. Beyond white walls of paper, Jiwon could hear the prayers, recitals, and meditation of the monks of the temple. It was a dull, incessant droning of lazy sing-song, near torture for the young boy who had merely followed his Grandparents here. Every week or so, his grandparents would head to the temple to meditate and pray to the Buddha, and since Jiwon was visiting during summer vacation he was forced to follow. The temple was eerily still and near suffocating. Nothing happened in these halls and rooms as the monks sat like statues in their eternal search for enlightenment. Thus, the bored Jiwon simply walked around the temple, curiously exploring. However, after only 20 or so minutes, he had walked around the entire compound already. Now, with nothing to do, Jiwon walked around the halls in repetitive circles.

As Jiwon walked past a door for what was perhaps the 32nd time, it slid open and an elderly monk stepped out into the hall. He called out "Child, why do walk around so anxiously?" Jiwon froze in his steps... thinking that the monk was annoyed with him and angry. Now he was about to get scolded... just his luck. Jiwon turned to look at the monk and said "I'm not anxious. I'm just bored, Sunim." The monk chuckled and said "Come here, Child." as he walked back into the room he stepped out of. Jiwon followed the Monk into a small, private meditation room. There was little here except a few floor cushions, a small floor desk, and a tiny golden statue of the Buddha. The Monk sat on one of the cushions and motioned for Jiwon to do the same. The young boy obediently obeyed and sat on one of the cushions. "Now, Child. Why do you walk around so anxiously?" Jiwon replied "I'm not! I'm just bored." The Monk said "Why are you bored?" The young boy replied "Because I could be doing other things. Like playing with my friends or watching TV." The Monk gently nodded and said "I see. Are you worried that you're friends might be having fun without you? And that you might be missing your favorite TV show? Maybe even afraid?" Jiwon noticed the monk's word choice... worried. Jiwon didn't want to admit it, but that was correct. He felt like he could be doing so many other things right now and feared that he was missing out on having fun. Jiwon simply nodded to the Monk's question.

The Monk gently smiled and said "You are wise for your age to be able to understand yourself. Worry... fear... anxiety... these are some heavy emotions to have and manage." The Monk paused for a brief moments before speaking "Let me tell you a story: Once there was a young warrior. His teacher told him that he had to do battle with fear. He didn’t want to do that. It seemed too aggressive; it was scary; it seemed unfriendly. But the teacher said he had to do it and gave him the instructions for the battle. The day arrived. The student warrior stood on one side, and fear stood on the other. The warrior was feeling very small, and fear was looking big and wrathful. They both had their weapons. The young warrior roused himself and walked towards Fear, bowed three times, and asked, ‘May I have permission to go into battle with you?’ Fear said, ‘Thank you for showing me so much respect that you ask permission’. Then the young warrior said, ‘How can I defeat you?’ Fear replied, ‘My weapons are that I talk fast, and I get very close to your face. Then you get completely unnerved, and you do whatever I say. If you don’t do what I tell you, I have no power. You can listen to me, and you can have respect for me. You can even be convinced by me. But if you don’t do what I say, I have no power’. In that way, the student warrior learned how to defeat fear."

Jiwon sat there silently as he absorbed the story. The Monk then asked "What do you think this story means?" The young child quietly replied "The only thing we should fear is fear itself?" The Monk nodded and said "Fear is an illusion, an illusion that every person creates and then assumes to be true. Fear makes people run, hide, and self-destruct. You are suffering and are bored, right?" Jiwon nodded silently. The Monk continued to speak "To beat fear, you must respect fear just as we’re taught to honor and respect all emotions that arise within us. Each one of them – joy and sadness, pain and anxiety and relief – are waves in our oceans, no more, no less. So we accept that fear exists and we validate our experience. It is okay, Child. Your fear that your friends are having fun and have completely forgotten you are real, but how true is your fear?" Jiwon looked at the Monk with a puzzled look. "Do you really think that your friends are having the best time of their lives right now without you and that you will never be able to experience something so fun ever again? What do you really think that your friends are doing right now?" Jiwon paused before muttering "Being tutored or having piano lessons... or something." The Monk nodded and said "Exactly, Child. There is no need to be worried, bored, or anxious. Your fear is an illusion. You should respect how you feel, but always face it and the truth for the two are not the same. As you said, there is nothing to fear other than fear itself."

---

Jiwon's eyes burst open just a few seconds later. Ahead of them, the path seemed to split into two paths. Left and right. He looked down both of the paths, but when he looked at the right path... something just felt... right to him. While he wasn't the raid leader for this raid... and his earlier determination to take a back seat and not let the burden of being a leader sit upon his shoulder. Jiwon examined his own fears. He feared that he would perhaps make the wrong choice that would get others hurt or injured... that kind of guilt would be overwhelming. Yet, his fears were not the present truth. The party was in no danger yet, and no one was injured. Just a few seconds earlier, Jiwon would have likely stayed silent about his intuition and let someone else take the burden of potentially failing, but a distant memory reassured him and calmed his nerves. Jiwon took a deep breath before saying loudly to the group "The right path... something about it just feels right to me. I honestly think we should all head down that way, and if it turns out to be a dead end or whatever, we can always circle back and take the left path." He then reached over to scratch Shiro's ears before he realized... he had captured one of the Bugbears. Jiwon spoke up to Mr. Ryu. "Mr. Ryu, I don't know if you can speak Bugbear, but I've heard that some very skilled hunters can understand the languages of the monsters. During the fight in the school earlier, I tamed one of the Bugbears. Maybe you can ask it for information?"

 

[Twist]

Name: Young- Soo Sun
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: The Black Knight , Haze- , DuckPrince , Spoiled Bread Heyitsjiwon Heterological Flare Megilagor Dhruv_The _Quiet

"Don't worry Hana. I've got your back"

With his ever positive pal just ahead of him, and inspiringly willing to throw himself into the fray, Young-Soo would try to do the same for him. After all they were friends and what else where friends for, if not to help each other out in bad situations. Even dire ones such as this.

He readied his dagger in his off hand, now more than ever, willing to fight.

A shout from behind him caught his attention, as the one of the other, more experienced mage's called out to everyone as they reached a fork in the path, telling them to go right. Young-Soo was hesitant, not with the mages gut feeling, after all he had more experience in these situations so far, but with his somewhat nonchalant comment about circling back. After all, if they went to the right and found it to be dead end, the cramped quarters of the corridor wouldn't allow them to them to reposition themselves easily, and if they were attacked from behind, his fellow Mages would have to take the brunt of the assault.

Young-Soo quickly voiced his concern, though his ears did perk up at the mention of Jiwon's skills. "Sorry to interrupt but did you mention a Bugbear? The things that came through the portal? Couldn't we use it to scout ahead? After all this is it's "home"..." Young- Soo was unsure of his choice of word. Did these creatures actually live in these places? "... and no-one's going to think otherwise if they see another Bugbear wandering about."

The minor mage scratched the side of his face, a tad sheepish about his next idea. "Also I think I may able to help with translating. A dragon spoke to me once, and I managed to understand most of what it was saying."

Thinking back to it, Young-Soo had received a boon from the Black Dragon, one that had him more knowledgeable and if he could decipher it's words before then, then now translating should come a little easier.

Hopefully.....

 

[Haze-]

Name: Jwan Min-Jee
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Tag: Heyitsjiwon The Black Knight DuckPrince Megilagor Twist Flare Heterological Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 7/10
HP: 190
MP: 210 > 260 (Party Bonus - Mana Boost +50 MP)

Defense: 95
P. Attack: 100
M. Attack: 235
Accuracy: 2d100+55

Goblin Hive

Seeing every piece fall into position, Min-Jee took her place near shy from the warriors at the forepart of formation, cramped in as the silver lining between the prow of a ship and everything else – supposedly part of the wall between their one healer in the back and anything that managed to get past the front line. She was their third warrior in a sense, a technicality she shared with Haneul it seemed. They were both standing side by side. Now, for all she knew at least, she was the one and only generalist in the group, only falling short in the range department and limited in the overall support she could give. In the long-ago, far distant happier times she still had rookie numbers under her belt, Min-Jee once heard from a hunting aficionado of the bunch to “Always strive to be a jack of all trades, not the wild card.”. Senseless advice. Specially coming from someone who’s only clear characteristic she could recall as of now was that of the brownish mess of grease in his shirt’s collar from the cheap burger he was eating. Yet it somehow sounded vehement back then; possibly a mock that flew over her head; and it hung at the back of her mind for a while – for some odd reason, as they walked, Min-Jee began dusting off the thought. Musing over it. Beginning to understand it. Three fingers tapped in sequence the cover of her phone, going from the ring finger and all the way to the index, her pinkie jutting out from her pocket as she fidgeted with the phone. She didn’t want the battery to go to waste, but if it would help her gather her thoughts for a strategy then –

Now Playing. . .

No such thing as a waste.

The idea simmered, came out lukewarm and struck her like a cold slap in the face. Her way of handling dungeons thus far had been an afterthought, as natural as swimming is to a fish, swing wildly at anything that comes too close. Pointy ears; sharp claws; thick fur; long fangs – any of those and it was fair game. But she never stopped to think about her teammates. That was in E-Rank dungeons, mind you, this was two steps above her bracket. That is what scared her the most; they weren’t supposed to be rookies lashing out on impulse, but a sole unit. Being a big hitter with a mean streak never translated into being good at anything else, didn’t make you any more useful for your team aside from that narrow focus. Solitary and chaotic, a wild card. That side of Min-Jee wasn’t needed here. And she could not bear the thought of someone dying because she wasn’t a team player.

Her head veered upwards, tracing the superficial cracks in the stone ceiling, wondering if those were seen as gigantic trenches by ants and the like. The far-off advice came back to her, started to make her head throb. She took a deep breath as the darkness ahead of the group split in two, Min-Jee tried to simplify it. If she was to be a jack of all trades, then she would throw herself where she was needed, making sure to keep the integrity of the team as top priority in lieu of her usual, blatant violence. The group’s pace went for a go-slow, ending in a complete halt before Seung Ryu turned to them. Min-Jee took off her earbuds, eyeing the darkness in both tunnels as though trying to catch a glimmer therein; she spoke up after everyone else, holding back the urge to bat a brow at the mention of a Dragon

“I don’t know about a gut feeling, but I’ll trust your intuition if you think it’s the right call.” – She started, bringing a hand out of her pockets, reaching out for the furball perched atop Jiwon’s shoulder. It might’ve appeared ominous at first, given her rigid, cautious body language, but it ended in her gently running a finger through the creature’s fur. Landing on its head, sliding all the way down to its nose, she poked it playfully. One might’ve almost caught her flashing a little smile at the time – “I also don’t see why we’d have to talk in the bugbear’s tongue if you're saying it’s tamed like this guy, that’s what the universal language’s for. I can’t speak dog, but I can tell my neighbor’s dog to head back home. We can point it in a direction and have it fetch us where his used-to-be boss is.” – Her hand reluctantly pulled away a bit, a slow motion, almost verging on hesitance. It broke quickly, though; Min-Jee looked away from the albino creature and huffed – “I can also speak another universal language, in case that thing’s still loyal to the end even after being caught and ‘tamed’.” – A burning glare, a lengthy, threatening crack of the knuckles and Min-Jee was back to violence. Needless to say, she had an opinion to voice at Seung Ryu’s idea of splitting up, but as far as she could remember, Min-Jee had already stated her stance on that. They could cover a larger area, sure – if they were doing a competition to see whose chalk outline ends up more scattered, that is.

A sigh left her, her eyes shot wide as plates and she found it hard not to jump at a sound reverberating in her ears. Old friend made a grand reappearance.

Spell Acquired!​

Hey, I was joking about being a witch…what do you mean dark powers…? It was then she realized she’d make up for one hell of a method actor, the only sign of bother coming from her being a slight twitch of the eyebrow. She somehow managed to play it off nicely with so many people around to catch her in the act of… Well, acting like a maniac. She reeled back a bit from the blue ghost light suddenly playing around the edges of the dark tunnels, at least in her eyes. No one seemed to notice it thus far, no one ever did it seemed. It’d gotten to a point where it stopped freaking her out. A hand waved at the screen, invitingly, a raven flew straight into her open palm. This one didn’t break into feathers once it was caught, however. She held the bird with both hands, spreading out its wings and poking around its stomach in seemingly random places. What was she doing? Trying to discretely read through the screen and close it. If she was inquired about her sudden magical armor-animal abuse, Min-Jee would simply say that the witch was practicing her dark magic – “Quiet…” – She held a deadpan stare at the bird’s attempts to free itself, wondering where she’d gone wrong in her life for it all to lead to this moment.

After the most excruciating thirty seconds of her life, Min-Jee had memorized the spell’s name, the bird finally at peace resting as the feathers in her gloves. Her hands went back to her pockets; she didn’t quite understand how this screen pop-up worked. All this time’s she had thought of it as a part of her magic, something so oddly specific that only she seemed to have. But after seeing how she could apparently grow stronger through the digits on that screen, a chill crept up her spine. It wasn’t her being delusional; Min-Jee felt it, engraved on her mind, as if she knew how to cast that spell since the very beginning. Only, whatever barrier blocking her from casting it had suddenly been torn apart by that one, videogame styled screen.

Those digits on the screen meant something now. But she would worry about it later.

 

[The Black Knight]

Seung Ryu listened to Jiwon’s hunch, and his blue eyes narrowed with contemplation when he mentioned understanding the monsters. No one he knew understood the monsters. Resting his hands on his hips, Seung tilted his head a little and asked for an elaboration: “What do you mean you’ve heard? The Hunters Association has no data on hunters being able to understand the monsters. Who do you know can understand these monsters?”

The mage had Ryu’s attention then. He might even find himself being asked to go with him to HA HQ to be further interrogated after the portal dungeon. “I can’t understand these monsters but using it to scout ahead doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

He looked to Young-Soo then. “If he had captured that bugbear in any other portal dungeon, then I might have been cautious about the suggestion. It should be able to blend in, but how will we know if it runs into trouble? What if it leads the trouble to us?”

He had to ask the counter-questions to get them thinking about every possibility before they settle on a final decision. When Young-Soo revealed that he understood a black dragon, Seung’s dark brows jumped into his hairline. He immediately marched up to the mage and asked, “You understand them? You understood a black dragon? You encountered one and lived?”

Seung couldn’t suspect the E-rank to be a liar. The tone he had used insinuated that the encounter actually happened, and he might not have understood the power the creature held. “Do you know that a black dragon is a S-rank monster? How are you still alive, and what did it say?”

Forget the portal dungeon! Seung wanted to snatch up Jiwon and Young and take them to HA HQ right then and there for questioning. They would have been able to give them a polygraph to ensure their honesty.

Seung listened to Min-Jee speak next and he was starting to wonder why he was the only one fascinated. Did they not understand what was being said? He soon realized that he might have been alone in his astonishment because it was his job to look for new data. He hadn’t expected E-ranks to say such things. They couldn’t have been a new generation for everyone alive on 1 January 2021 was subjected to the mysterious radiation released by the Master Portal. A mutation perhaps? The hunter reached into his pants pocket and removed his cellphone. There was no signal inside the dungeon, but he could record some notes on a word doc to investigate later. He also took down Jiwon’s and Young-Soo’s names.

Tagged: Heyitsjiwon Heterological DuckPrince Haze- Twist Flare Megilagor Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Active Party Buff: Mana Boost Lv. 1 - Party's max MP increased by 50. (Chin-Mae Jun)

Spoiler: Seung Ryu

Seung Ryu
Rank: A
Class: Dark Knight
Guild: Hunters Association
HP: 1,250

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Name: Park Jiwon
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: The Black Knight Heterological DuckPrince Haze- Twist Flare Megilagor Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

---

Jiwon shrugged and just said "I didn't know anyone until just now if what he's saying is correct. Just heard in the rumor mill from people and on the internet. You know, just like how some people say that The Red Queen is in a relationship with an E-rank or that Spear's Commander had single-handedly captured a platoon of North Korean Special Forces alive when he was in the military. Not sure if it's true or not, but if Young Soo can speak with them, then it wouldn't hurt to try it out." Jiwon was a bit curious about how surprised Mr. Ryu was. There was all sorts of rumors out there about hunters just like how people often made rumors about celebrities having secret relationships or something about 5G towers causing cancer in people. Most of these rumors usually ended up being false conspiracy theories, but this specific one seemed to have some grain of truth to it. Jiwon then looked to Young Soo and said "Here, let me summon the Bugbear. See if you can speak with it. If you can, then... we can hopefully get some reliable information about this dungeon."

Jiwon began to cast Summon (-10 Mana, +10 Fatigue), using some of his valuable mana, and began to start to feel a bit tired as if he had carried a heavy box for a minute or two. Shiro seemed to vanish, but in its place next to Jiwon was the lesser Bugbear that he had tamed before. Jiwon walked over to the wall and sat along it to take a short break and rest. Jiwon said to Young Soo "Have at it. Hell, maybe you all should try to figure out a way to communicate with it." Jiwon took a seat along the wall of the hallway and began to just watch and listen to the party as they attempt to gain some information from the Bugbear. Hopefully, the bugbear didn't have social anxiety or something like that "Good luck, Gom (Bear in Korean). Hope you don't mind being the center of attention." Jiwon said with a chuckle towards his Bugbear summon in a joking manner.

As Jiwon opened the stage to allow others to try and speak with Gom, he pulled out his cell phone. He noticed the lack of cell phone service, which didn't surprise him much. Maybe you could get some service close to the portal itself, but they had walked quite a bit away from it by this point. Jiwon looked up at the party once more and realized that there was a decent chance that this could be the last time that all of them would be seen alive. Someone or multiple people could very easily die in these halls. It would be a travesty if someone did die... so many families and loved ones who couldn't say good bye. Jiwon opened his camera app and instead began to record a short video of the party. Hopefully, this would just be a fond memory in the distant future of everyone's first raid into a portal. Just a fun little video that they could all reminisce and share a chuckle or two. Otherwise Jiwon would be filming the last moments of people's lives, a moment of bravery and self-sacrifice to close a deadly portal that had already killed so many.

 

[Twist]

Name: Young- Soo Sun
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: The Black Knight , Haze- , DuckPrince , Spoiled Bread Heyitsjiwon Heterological Flare Megilagor Dhruv_The _Quiet

Good point thought Young-Soo but if Jiwon summoned it couldn't he... Young-Soo took a step back, his chain of thought broken, as the official marched towards him, the intensity of his gaze surely threatening to set him alight in an instant. Uh oh

The officials questions came quick and fast like a champion boxer's blows, with the astonished ACO nodding along, barely able to keep track as he took another step back in the cramp corridor. With his back against the wall, there was nothing he could do but answer the man's questions.

"Well.... No. I didn't know it was an S Rank. But it just suddenly appeared.... and I couldn't just leave it to possibly kill someone... " Young Soo tried to swallow the lump in his throat, as the man continued to glare at him "So I approached it... slowly and carefully... like how I was trained too... I am an Animal Control Officer you see... and well it greeted me.... and than offered me something..." . Unsure if he was giving a good enough answer, the nervous neophyte cleared his throat as he took a second "It's exact words were, welcome Hunter. What power? Mind or fire? At least that was as much as I could understand...."

It wasn't hard for Young-Soo to remember the Dragon's word, after all, and maybe quite fittingly, they were seared into his memory. Hoping that was enough information, Young-Soo tried to get the officials attention off him. Luckily the summoner did that job for him as he summoned the Bugbear. "If you'll excuse me..."

Young Soo didn't wait for a reply as he slipped away and approached the Bugbear. "Hey there. Gom was it?" He glanced at the resting Jiwon for a quick confirmation. "So this is your home right? Any chance you could help us navigate through it? Or maybe tell us the safest way to go?"

Young-Soo looked at everyone in the party, gesturing for them to ask any other questions they thought would be helpful.

 

[Haze-]

Name: Jwan Min-Jee
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Tag: Heyitsjiwon Twist The Black Knight Megilagor DuckPrince Heterological Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet Flare

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 7/10
HP: 190
MP: 210 > 260 (Party Bonus - Mana Boost +50 MP)

Defense: 95
P. Attack: 100
M. Attack: 235
Accuracy: 2d100+55

Goblin Hive

“Ah, you act as though you’ve never spoken to your local S-rank Dragon before, Mr. Ryu.” – Were the words that almost fought their way out of Min-Jee’s mouth, but her tongue remained clamped tight between the front row of her teeth. She instead headed over the torch-lit gleam of a plain rock wall, moth to a flame, leaned her back against it and simply watched the words hang in the air.

A hand went to pass over her brow; a subtle change of heart made her casually rustle her bangs out of her face instead, Min-Jee sighed and shook her head. Mostly to herself, she was holding back a chuckle. She went from revisiting whatever she could remember about those forums where people gathered for mining crystals in dungeons, to somehow learning that animal control officers were apparently trained to handle Black Dragons, and that – again, somehow – one of those had broken out of an S-rank without anyone but her fellow mage noticing.

For some miracle, half of the district hadn’t been charred into oblivion by it.

She wanted to say that what disturbed her most was the lack of irony in Young-Soo’s tone, his dead serious delivery, maybe – but alas, that prize went to the sudden 180º in the ever so stoic Seung Ryu. Min-Jee stood there wondering if big boss had been replaced by a doppelganger, the ones you’d hear in one of those cryptid campfire stories that picked up overseas, failing to fully mimic human mannerism. Out of synch and not realizing that the real Seung Ryu, at least the one she knew, was incapable of showing a shred of human emotion, nothing beyond equanimity – let alone genuine surprise at a rumor he heard from an E-rank. In her eyes they were being escorted through the C-rank by a walking-talking, fine looking suit.

She didn’t lag on the thought for long, though, didn’t take much for her to figure out the root of his surprise as she herself had not heard of anyone capable of communicating with monsters. Yet for some reason, the moment Jiwon brought up the idea, it didn’t quite strike her as something unnatural. It was after Seung Ryu’s words that her brain connected dots and pointed out the screaming error in that logic.

It became uncanny for a while, but then she started thinking back to whatever nonsense that dark-furred Bugbear was growling at the others. And for a moment, she found herself almost… Deciphering it –

“Are you sure that Dragon wasn’t just speaking Korean to you?” – Min-Jee was jolted out of reverie, left floundering to pick back up where she’d left off on her train of thought; she gave the other mage an estranged look once he was done speaking with Gom – “I don’t think speaking casually to it and hoping it understands us is the right approach here… Unless it does, which would save us a lot of trouble but–” – She advised, her gaze set on the floor as she scratched the back of her head, as though trying to syphon out an idea. Min-Jee clicked her tongue, gave it a roll, and exhaled. Back at her other gig, whenever she would show an inch of – whatever the group of freshly defrosted Neanderthals she worked with found condescending –, there was a 9 to 10 chance that half of them would tell her to “Do it yourself then, smartass.”

She found it inspiring in a sense. Heartfelt, moving words from her peers, truly. But these guys didn’t seem to have that bone in them.

Have a go at it then, so she willed herself to give it a shot – “Hold on, I think I can… Let me try something.” – Min-Jee slipped between the cramped crowd, making her way beside Young-Soo, she had to look up to meet the Bugbear’s eyes. She stood five-eight while the monster towered about a head taller than her, at least from her perspective. It was weird, she didn't find it intimidating at all; it was as if that sudden red glow and surge of strength from before still coursed through her.

Min-Jee felt something slowly tugging at the corners of her mouth, a warm sensation that stretched across her lips, – unable to completely hold it back – it flashed on her factions for a split second, a wide smirk, insultingly wide. Toothy, baring teeth in a quick snarl. Her eyes sung in a completely different tune, almost a pained expression as she glared up at Gom. Nothing that belied her complete animosity – “Hey I remember you~” – Her expression went back to normal in the same flash, bringing a hand out of her pocket and lightly tapping the back of her head with two fingers. There was no sign of real mockery behind it, she just wanted to see if the thing remembered the little dance they had back in the classroom – “No hard feelings, I assume.” – She didn’t wait for it to process her tone, nor to reply. There were all sorts of hard feelings.

With a sigh, she started – “Anyways,” – She paused, cleared her throat. After that she looked down and held up a hand, shuffling her ideas back in order, Min-Jee’s breathing grew hoarse until there were only incoherent grunts and growling. She tried to tune in her voice to match their way of speech. It might’ve seemed silly at first, she herself thought she was just playing around; it was then that her voice dropped a heavy decibel, and she finally adjusted the growls to sound animalistic. Almost pitch-perfect. The inflection didn’t match her original voice at all; it was rather deep and had this gnarly ring to it – “Urrk… Cha gro-“ – Grunting given an incomprehensible structure, is what most of the group would’ve heard, but for her ears, and perhaps the ears of the other mages, it went somewhere along the lines of – “Bear… This your home…? Help us navigate? Safest way?” – She haphazardly repeated everything Young-Soo had told Gom in Korean, in case the Bugbear had missed any of that.

After her whole spiel, she lifted her head back up and took a deep breath, a hint of self-satisfaction that she allowed to spill with a light chuckle. She clenched her throat and had a fit of hoarse coughing soon after – “G…od, your voices are throaty…!" – Big emphasis on those last few words. Min-Jee grumbled and tried again, adding her own questions this time in cleaner Bugbear – “Are there…Traps? Where is your boss? Any weakness? Do you remember any of this, Bear?” – She asked with a much lighter tone carrying her growling, gesturing towards the far end of the roads dividing ahead – “Can you guide the hunt? Safe?”

 

[The Black Knight]

“The Hunters Association is capable of interviewing who we need to. We use data to separate the truth from the rumors. There is no data on Hunters being able to talk to monsters,” Seung explained. He wasn’t concerned with what the Internet said. A Hunter before him had just confessed being capable of talking to monsters, and he was about to witness it with his own eyes. No; he had to record it!

Seung opened a camera app on his cell phone and began recording as Jiwon summoned the Bugbear. Gom materialized, still having the same resting bitch face he had when he was a wild monster. His small beady eyes swept over all the hunters from beneath his bushy and unkempt brows and ended at Jiwon, his master, as he made his joke. It was no surprise that the creature didn’t giggle. He gave Jiwon an empty stare until Young-Soo approached him. He looked down at the hunter as he was asked questions. Once Young-soo had finished asking the questions he wanted, Gom once again looked over at Jiwon expectantly. The Bugbear appeared to be waiting for an order. By the way his nose wrinkled, he could have been insinuating with his eyes: Kill?

The light of interest seemed to die in Seung’s eyes. The creature didn’t appear to understand anything Young-Soo had said. Min-Jee attempted to talk to the creature and the impression she demonstrated of the Bugbear language had been so believable that she could have convinced anyone. Gom’s brows rose a little as he gazed at Min-Jee next. She was speaking a tongue familiar to him, and he didn’t quite understand how. The summon didn’t seem capable of speaking like the untamed Bugbears. He looked again at his master, Jiwon, like a dog seeking permission before he outstretched his furry arm and pointed down the right path.

The Bugbear then started walking ahead of the group to guide them as Min-Jee had asked. Seung was somewhat confused by what had happened and ended the recording. “It…seems to understand what you’re saying, but it can’t speak?” he questioned.

He started tapping away on his phone, documenting everything that happened so far. “It seems to agree with Jiwon’s hunch about going right, but does it really know to go right or is it just acting on Jiwon’s thoughts?”

He had so many questions. His mind was so blown by discovering that E-rank hunters could talk to monsters. Perhaps not E-ranks but these hunters in particular: Young-soo and Min-Jee. Maybe Min-Jee more than Young-soo? Her linguistic capabilities seemed more convincing. Nonetheless, he wouldn’t ignore Young-soo’s claim.

The Bugbear wandered down the right path as though it had been familiar to it. However, no different, it was a tunnel of rock and darkness lit only by torchlight. Eventually, the creature stopped as the wall to his right opened to a corridor that led to a small circular chamber. Inside, the shrill, growling voices of mysterious creatures could be heard.

For a third time, the Bugbear turned to regard Jiwon for orders. Seung crept over to the tunnel and turned his ear toward the noise. “It sounds like goblins,” he whispered. He looked toward the team. “We don’t know how many there are, but I would use this time to prepare if we’re going in to find out. They don’t know we’re here, so we might be able to catch them off-guard.”

Seung would go with them inside, but he didn’t plan on helping unless necessary. He didn’t want to deprive them of the teamwork and experience they would need.

Tagged: Heyitsjiwon Heterological DuckPrince Haze- Twist Flare Megilagor Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Active Party Buff: Mana Boost Lv. 1 - Party's max MP increased by 50. (Chin-Mae Jun)

Spoiler: Seung Ryu

Seung Ryu
Rank: A
Class: Dark Knight
Guild: Hunters Association
HP: 1,250

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Name: Sophia Hughes
Rank: E
Class: Thief
Location: portal
Tag: The Black Knight Heyitsjiwon Heterological Twist Haze- Pseudo-nim Megilagor DuckPrince Flare Dhruv_The _Quiet

Sophia just listened silently at the conversation between the other hunters. She's very aware that she might be the least experienced hunters among this bunch so she tried to absorb as much lesson from these people as possible. She found it really fascinating how one of the hunter was able to summon a creature once used to be an enemy and the other was able to apparently talk to it. She tried to mimic a few of those guttural voices but she only let out some noise that would be closer to the sound of someone who got foods stuck inside their throat so she stopped it.

At long last, their walk was halted when they reached a corridor next to a chamber. Seung Ryu said those would be goblins, Sophia never heard their voices before so she believed it. Green, short, ugly and thrive in big numbers? Whatever those goblins would be, she hoped she would be able to contribute.

"I will be in the back." She whispered as she tighten her mouth mask and readied her weapons, holding one blade in each of her hands in reverse grip position.

 

[Twist]

Name: Young- Soo Sun
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: The Black Knight , Haze- , DuckPrince , Spoiled Bread Heyitsjiwon Heterological Flare Megilagor Dhruv_The _Quiet

Young-Soo's questions seem to fall on deaf ears, as the Bugbear seemingly couldn't, or chose not to, respond to his questions. He might have been able to translate but with the monstrous mute unable or unwilling to talk, there was no chance. Maybe it needed Jiwon to tell him speak? Or maybe they couldn't talk? Young-Soo hadn't actually ever encountered a Bugbear.. But for whatever reason, his attempt had been a failure.

Luckily Min-Jee appeared to be able to actually converse with it and managed to get an answer from the Bugbear. Outstretching it's furry arm, it pointed right, the same direction Jiwon had a hunch about earlier. The Official seemed as baffled as Young-Soo was by the creatures silence, a somewhat comforting thought, but there was little time to ponder as the creature plodded down the rightmost passage. Taking up his position within the middle once again, Young- Soo followed the Bugbear to a small circular chamber where it stopped.

Shrill growls and barks could be heard from the rooms inhabitants, which the Official noted as Goblins. They would have to enter the room to find out how many however, but at least they seemed to have the element of surprise on their side. Hopefully.

With Jiwon and his Bugbear seemingly agreeing that this was their best option to navigate through the dungeon, Young-Soo readied his weapons though his arms relaxed slightly, unconsciously, as he turned to the Official to speak. "If I may ask, how big are Goblins? As long as they are not too small, we could always engage them in this corridor." Young-Soo motioned at the cramped quarters of the passageway "Numbers won't mean much if they have to come through one at a time."

The minor Mage looked to everyone in the party for input on his idea, though his eyes lingered on their leader Chin-Mae, as well as the other two more magically inclined, and more experienced members of the party, Min- Jee and Jiwon.

 

[Dhruv_The _Quiet]

Name: Sameer Vadlamani
Rank: E
Class: Warrior
Location: Goblin hive
Tag: The Black Knight Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor DuckPrince Flare Spoiled Bread


Looking at the Conversations going on, Sameer couldn't help but get intimidated.

Is this what hunters are like? And I want to be like them? What a joke. I can barely speak to a person for more than a couple of minutes before the conversation becomes awkward. Nonetheless, I will go on. I will help people, I will make my way in this world of powerful people and emerge stronger. I will solve the mystery behind the portals and its denizens.

Astonished and intrigued by another hunter suddenly speaking the language of the bugbear, Sam furiously begins to make up theories. Finally coming to the conclusion that it wasn't the time to think about how things work when there were more important things to pay attention to. He sweeps the corridor once again and slowly moves forward, making regular sweeps in case something was hiding.

When Sam heard the powerful man say that the goblins were nearby, He shook himself out of his thoughts and settled into a combat stance, ready to attack the foreign beings at a moments notice.

 

[Megilagor]

Name: Narae "Hana" Haneul
Rank: E
Class: Healer
HP: 85/85

MP: 80/100

Fatigue: 10/100

Location: Goblin Hive
Tag:
The Black Knight , Heyitsjiwon , Twist , Heterological , Pseudo-nim , Haze- , Flare , Spoiled Bread , Dhruv_The _Quiet , DuckPrince

Upon thinking for a long time Hana decided to use his skill Prayer of Protection, upon all party members.
“Ashes to ashes, order to disorder, balance to chaos, beginning till the end, live till death, but today is not the day, so I pray to you to help defend my people.”
Upon saying those words that he thought were necessary to activate the skill, a green dim light radiated from Hana shaped light butterflies and it flew towards each party member and upon sitting on them they meld into a very thin layer on other people thin enough that its essentially see-through veil upon them, that Hana could feel was there.
He gripped his morning star and his shield harder ready to move out & fight.

 

[DuckPrince]

Name: Chin-Mae Jun
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: Heyitsjiwon Twist Heterological Pseudo-nim Haze- Megilagor Flare Spoiled Bread Dhruv_The _Quiet

Chin-Mae kept to himself, as he didn't have much to contribute to any conversation. He prepared his lyre though, ready to debuff or heal as necessary. Truthfully, the nerves were starting to gradually get to him, which made him sink into his shell a touch. He didn't know how good it was that he was the party leader and he was very much glad it was a one-time thing. Rubbing a hand over his face, he took a slow, soft breath to soothe himself.

 

[FloozyMcDoozy]

Name: Bo-Bae Byun
Rank: E
Level: 1/10
XP: 0/10
Class: Thief
HP: 70/70

MP: 120/120

Fatigue: 0/100

Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: Megilagor Haze- Dhruv_The _Quiet Heyitsjiwon SoftSmile Fenris The Black Knight
If I miss you I'm sorry please let me know for future posts, thank you.

Spoiler: Stats w/ Buffs

Defense: 100 + 10 (Prayer of Protection)
P. Attack: 115
M. Attack: 75
Accuracy: 1d100+45
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 20
Strength: 50
Agility: 45
Sense: 10

The tragedy that struck the school was worse than anything Bo-Bae had witnessed before; it was a massacre, there was no other word for it, but Bo-Bae had been expecting to see sights like this since she decided she wanted to become a hunter. She knew scenes like this could become a daily occurrence given her new found occupation, but the scenes of blood and gore she saw, and knowing it was all from children, left scars on the women ones that she wouldn't quickly forget, but it strengthened her decision to become a hunter. She wanted to do everything she could to keep a tragedy like this from happening again.

Bo-Bae's presence in the area at the time was due to a stroke of luck or misfortune. She was on her way to run an errand for her father, who needed a delivery picked up for the hotel and refused to shop anywhere else but this one store, and she overheard the end of a news broadcast informing her about the portal at the school and decided to rush over. Sure, her father would be furious; he wasn't a patient man, but she couldn't just abandon the kids. Many people perceived her as cold and they would be right, but she was far from heartless. When she arrived on the scene, it appeared she was too late; tragedy had already struck. The creatures that emerged from the portal had already been dealt with, but the portal remained and the party had only recently entered it, giving her enough time to sneak in behind them and join the raid.

Bo-Bae had nothing to say, the images of the dead still lingering in her mind, she wanted vengeance for the dead. The group started strategizing, and Bo-Bae agreed to the plan. The warriors are in the front, the support types are in the middle, and the rougeish types are in the back. While she is a rogue, she positioned herself in the middle of the battlefield, her Devil's tail granting her mobility, ranged capabilities, and most importantly, the ability to help control the battlefield, dragging allies into safety and enemies out of position. It wasn't ideal for high-ranking parties, but it was ideal for low-ranking parties with limited control abilities. The portal itself had been uneventful thus far, but the party members were the most intriguing.

The portal had led to a dimly lit, musty cave system, and this couldn't have been a worse place for Bo-Bae to be. The cramped conditions made it difficult to use Devil's Tail, but on the other hand, it made it simple to use Death's Fingers. The man in front of the party informed them that this was a goblin cave, but the fact that bugbears came out of it meant that it wasn't just goblins who lived here, which was a simple deduction, but he also believed they were cohabiting, which Bo-Bae hoped wasn't the case and that a takeover of the cave system had occurred as it would mean fewer enemies to fight. The group came to a fork in the road, and the conversation that ensued caught Bo-Bae off guard. It turned out that one of the party members had somehow captured a bugbear and the group had decided to question it, which seemed like a good plan... if any of them could speak the language.

The discussion continued, and a second party member revealed yet another surprise. He'd had a conversation with a dragon. Bo-Bae's confidence was usually unshakeable, but this time it was shaken because it appeared that this party was far more experienced than it appeared, but Bo-Bae quickly shook the thought out of her mind because she was fucking amazing and she knew it, she'd just have to prove it to them. This entire conversation had left Bo-Bae speechless; she had spent the better part of a year gathering information, but nowhere had she read about people being able to speak to the monsters, or at least none with tangible proof, or about an E rank meeting a S rank and surviving; these stories were ridiculous, and yet Bo-Bae couldn't help but listen and become even more enthralled. She didn't appear to be the only one who was taken aback; the clearly more experienced man appeared to be as taken aback as she was. If these stories were true, this was valuable information that could be sold to the right person for a fortune.

A bugbear appears. It was her first time seeing such a creature in person, and it was every bit as hideous as she had imagined. The party's array of abilities seemed to have piqued the girl's interest. The Bugbear's name was Gom, and as soon as it appeared, the party began attempting to communicate with it in order to gather information. The first attempt was in Korean, and it failed as expected. Bo-Bae took a quick look around the party, and her gaze was drawn to the most experienced member, who was clearly recording this. Bo-Bae quickly took her phone out and copied him. With proof, the information would sell much more easily. Unfortunately, the second attempt appeared to be just as futile as the first, with Gom clearly not understanding, just as she was about to stop recording, Gom appeared to react to the Mage's instructions. She couldn't believe her eyes; this Mage clearly spoke the language of the monsters and, despite not speaking, Gom understood her and began leading the party. She stopped recording because it was more than enough to demonstrate what she needed when the time came, and she put her phone away. Bo-Bae took her place in the middle of the group.

Gom led the way, and when they arrived at what appeared to be an opening into a small circular room, it was as dimly lit as the corridor before it and came to a halt. The most experienced hunter reported back that it was goblins. Bo-Bae had heard of goblins but, like the Bugbear, had never seen them in person before this, after all this was her first real raid. The party came to a halt and began strategizing; the party's leader gave no commands, which did not inspire much faith, but with limited information, it was difficult to give commands.

"It doesn't appear that range is on our side." For the first time, Bo-Bae spoke, her voice calm, clear, and quiet enough that the party could hear her but not the goblins in another room. She had been preparing for this, so she was keeping her nerves in check. The party didn't appear to have a lot of ranged abilities. "We have a few options. We can try to sneak in and hope they don't notice us until we get close, but that requires us to break formation. We can try to taunt them to come to us, using a decoy would be the best course of action, just one of us running in getting there attention and then running out; whether or not this works depends on their intelligence, but if it does, it means we can use the corridor to our advantage, preventing them from swarming us depending on their numbers. Another strategy is similar to my previous strategy, but with a twist." Bo-Bae paused for a fraction of a second, pointing at her weapon. "This is Devil's Tail, a grappling hook, and my strategy is to go fishing with the first creature I see as bait. With luck, one will be near the entrance, which I can hook and drag towards us, giving us a single target to quickly take down, and if the goblins have a thing for comradeship, they'll come running to save their ally, allowing us to funnel them into the corridor and mitigate their possible number advantage, but if they don't come running, we can rinse and repeat until they get wise to it and take cover." Bo-Bae's voice maintained its cool, yet quiet demeanour as her eyes scanned the party in an attempt to get a sense of what they wanted to do."We could, of course, just charge, but that seems excessively risky. I recommend that, regardless of what we decide, we should send someone in first to scout what they see and get a rough headcount while remaining hidden, all agreed?"

 

[SoftSmile]

♥Minseo Moon♥

RANK		CLASS
E		MAGE

DEF	P.A	M.A	ACC
60	60	85	+40
VIT	STR	INT	SEN
25	10	35	25

HP: 75/75

MP: 135/135

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

Passive: Basic attacks are imbued with fire.
Twin Destiny: +5 Mana/Turn

Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: The Black Knight Fenris Heyitsjiwon Dhruv_The _Quiet Haze- Megilagor
Interaction: FloozyMcDoozy

Spoiler: Before Dungeon

Minseo was sitting in her dark room, her screen being the only source of light. She tapped away at her computer, occasionally stopping to bite at her nails or tear her cuticles apart. Earlier that day she had gotten a text from her father that indicated he knew that she was buying hunter equipment, which Minseo would have played it off as a gift for her sister, but those would be far more expensive--So she went with the usual charity lie. It allowed her another moment of reprieve from the overbearing weight of her father's expectations, but she couldn't help but feel a bit of anger boiling in her stomach. She might even vomit at this rate.

It was only when she was looking through her phone for recent events did she find out about the school massacre. Some of the posts were simply text, others included images. She didn't hesitate to get up, putting on her red and white robe, tying it tightly before she picked up her staff and bolted out of the penthouse. No one was ever there anyway, except for Nao, the nice maid lady who would pick up after her sister. She probably wouldn't even say anything if she did see the girl anyway.

She was a bit late, having to get there entirely on foot, huffing and puffing as she finally stopped to catch her breath after arriving at the portal. They wouldn't mind if she was a bit more late...Right? After all, she needed to make sure she was in tip top shape in order to lessen the chance of spontaneous death. She had started to sit down, but as she breathed more heavily she noticed the stench that lingered around the school.

Were people actually stupid enough to die in a school? She let out one exhausted sigh before stepping into the portal.

She was immediately annoyed by the dungeon itself, dank, cramped and unappealing. Her nose wrinkled as she scowled at the empty hallways, walking a bit before she met up with the group. Her face changed to a placid expression as soon as the group came into view, not wanting to seem like any of her anger was towards her team. She never really disliked her teammates, it's just she never really liked them either. As far as she was concerned, they were just there so she wouldn't have to kill everything by herself.

Yes, it is possible, no it is not quick. She had spent two days in her first dungeon simply killing one enemy at a time that would wander too far with a hello kitty switchblade of all things. She was angry enough to just keep stabbing and ignore any backlash, but had regretted it later after the dry cleaner told her that her clothes were basically ruined forever and an eternity. It wouldn't be as bad if they didn't cost more than a literal arm and leg.

So she stood in the background, her natural ability of being always out of people's vision coming in handy when blending in with the group. Her footsteps barely making an audible sound as she stood in the far rear listening to the...Thief?...Ramble on. She didn't have time for this whole planning business, they were a group, and not a completely shabby one either! They could just...WALK IN!

Her expression couldn't help but change to one of disgust as he spoke even more, and eventually she just rolled her eyes and walked forward. She made sure to bump shoulders with the talkative one before she continued her beeline to the front, walking ahead of them without saying a word. Either they would follow her, or they would let her walk in alone and most likely die.

She gambles that these people aren't heartless, from the way they seemed to dance around each other, none of them having the balls to really take the reigns and just lead and give commands. Not suggestions.

Into the goblins, Minnie Moon!

 

[Fenris]

Name: Alec Carmichael
Rank: E
Level: 1/10
XP: 0/10
Class: Healer
HP: 75/75

MP: 120/120

Fatigue: 0/100

Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: Megilagor Haze- Dhruv_The _Quiet Heyitsjiwon SoftSmile The Black Knight FloozyMcDoozy

Spoiler: Stats

Defense: 75 + 10 (Prayer of Protection)
P. Attack: 80
M. Attack: 80
Accuracy: 1d100+40
Vitality: 25
Intelligence: 25
Strength: 25
Agility: 40
Sense: 5

Once Alec had decided to venture into the gate as a hunter there was little which could have deterred his course and the scenes flashing across several news outlets did nothing but harden his resolve. Still the dim light and musty air beyond the portal seemed to exude a sense of hostility he'd never experienced as member of the collection team. Instinctively his knuckles turned white around the branch and knife he carried as eyes darted from shadow to shadow. When nothing jumped out to get them his attention swiveled back to the men and women around him; noting the wide array of weaponry brandished with a mix of reassurance and curiosity.

When the party came to a halt a general quiet murmur filled the hall but the healer had little to add. He'd never had a knack for subterfuge and knew little of goblins beyond what media and numerous fantasy novels portrayed. Luckily Alec wasn't forced to speak up as a petite girl further ahead began to lay out a plan with stoic calm. Introducing her weapon which was a sort of mechanical grappling hook more unique than most. Before he knew it the man was nodding along, “Divide...conquer. Its a good plan, simple.”

A group of strangers wouldn't be able to execute a delicate plan but something straight forward to reduce the enemies number advantage should work. Besides it would give Alec the chance to test the function of his recently purchase magical tools by supporting his comrades from a distance. Before anyone else could agree Minseo pushed through the crowd, even bumping the speaker on her way into the next room. Clicking his tongue the healers gaze followed her for a moment, this one might be trouble but she had guts.

Falling into step a comfortable distance behind Minseo he gave Bo-Bae a sheepish grin. “Maybe she's just no good at scouting...” Motioning down the hall Alec added, “Better follow, before we must come running to save an ally.” In his past he'd met plenty of people who carried a storm within them and just couldn't help but cut loose under pressure, being assigned as a healer Alec figured it was his implied task to cover for them when those tempestuous winds carried them into peril.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Name: Park Jiwon
Rank: E
Class: Mage
Location: Goblin Hive
Tag: Megilagor Haze- Dhruv_The _Quiet SoftSmile FloozyMcDoozy The Black Knight
---

Jiwon watched and recorded with interest as the group tried to talk to Gom. He had difficulty telling how much individual will his summon had as the Lesser Bugbear kept looking towards him for guidance throughout the entire situation. Still, the bugbear seemed to understand the general situation, though it wasn't clear if it was because it understood folks or if it was because the Lesser Bugbear was now bound to himself and therefore its knowledge and personality was molded by its summoner. Regardless, it was an interesting experiment, which rose new and curious questions. Eventually Gom began to lead the party towards the right and led them to the entrance to a great chamber where the lesser bugbear stood at the entrance once more, looking towards Jiwon for guidance. They could hear some growling. Mr. Ryu commented that it was goblins. How many? Only god knew. Still, it did seem like the party was in a prime position to set up an ambush or sneak attack.

The others started talking about trying to lure the goblins into the funnel or something along the lines of that, which admittedly wasn't a half bad idea. However, in Jiwon's mind, being able to potentially get rid of the goblins in one fell swoop through a surprise attack was too tempting. Fighting straight on would simply lead to a battle of attrition... and frankly Jiwon didn't want to get hurt if he could avoid it by killing the goblins before they even have a chance to react. Additionally, Jiwon wondered if Gom could just walk towards the goblins and past them without problems since he was at one point... one of them so to speak. However, before Jiwon had a chance to speak up, one of the newer Hunters simply began to walk towards the chamber. Jiwon was alarmed, but frankly it did seem like being aggressive and bringing the fight to the goblins seemed to be a better choice.

Jiwon quietly commented to the group "We should close the gap and get as many kills as we can before they realize we're here. The less of them there are... the less chances that they have to stab us. Not that we have much of a choice anymore. I'll be closer to the front since I have a bit more experience than some of you guys. I might not be a warrior, but I'm pretty sure I can take an extra hit or two compared to some of you guys who haven't had to fight a monster yet and aren't meant to fight in the front. Plus, I'll have Gom covering me." as he then looked over to the lesser bugbear. "You hear that Gom? Stick close to me, and protect me if any of them get too close. Draw their attention away from me so that I can cast my magic." Jiwon hoped that Gom got the general gist of what he was saying, but he wasn't confident about whether it fully understood what was said. With that, Jiwon began to cautiously head into the chamber to try and get a better sense of the situation in order to hopefully set up an ambush with the rest of the group.