When Hong Yeon-hwa accepted my proposal, I immediately selected a dungeon we could finish in a day.
It was a D-rank dungeon with no active bids, ice-themed, and ideal for her rank progression.
Later that evening, I met Shin Byeong-cheol and Hong Yeon-hwa, and we descended the stairs into the depths.
Leading the way, Shin Byeong-cheol cut through the path ahead while chattering non-stop.
“Hey, how come you never take a break during strategy battle weeks? You go in more often than most third-years.”
“That’s because I mostly choose easy dungeons.”
“I’m not so sure about that. This Friday, you’re—”
“Zip it.”
“Oh, sorry.”
If I had not warned him in time, he would have almost spilled the beans about our upcoming B-rank dungeon run.
Shin Byeong-cheol paused briefly but soon resumed his chatter as if nothing had happened.
“But, hey, hyung-nim, there really isn’t any reward for guiding this time?”
“You took that bet because you wanted to, remember?”
The previous bet was whether Shin Byeong-cheol would draw something D-rank or higher from the random box.
And sure enough, he pulled an E-rank tea set so this guiding job was free of charge.
“Sure, but, you see, my life’s been rough lately with all these tea sets piling up. I would appreciate it if you could show me some mercy—”
At that moment, Hong Yeon-hwa spoke up as if she was reaching the limit of her patience.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“Shut up.”
“Yep. Shutting up now.”
Shin Byeong-cheol zipped his mouth shut.
Since I too felt the need to manage the noise level, I didn’t say much to Hong Yeon-hwa.
Still, I thought it would be best to wrap up the conversation, so I added one last remark.
“I might be able to give you a box or two.”
“......!”
Shin Byeong-cheol expressed his gratitude with exaggerated gestures.
Well, I really did need his help to get that fifth stamp.
Thanks to the new reward, he eagerly focused on his role as our guide, and we reached the entrance to the D-rank dungeon without any major trouble.
[No.490] [Winterhalt Fortress]
“When should I come back for you?”
“We’ll probably be in there for a while this time. Morning.”
“Okay, see you then.”
Hong Yeon-hwa and I stepped into the teleportation portal one after the other.
In the next moment, we found ourselves inside a tent-like shelter.
The surroundings had a distinctly medieval feel, though the facilities weren’t in great shape.
The chill in the air was there even indoors, making it easy to imagine just how much colder it must have been outside.
Booooooong—!
At that moment, a deep resonant horn sounded from somewhere nearby.
Then came a chaotic mix of hurried footsteps, shouts, and calls, blending together in a frenzied hum.
I exchanged a glance with Hong Yeon-hwa and then stepped outside the tent.
Whoooosh—
Immediately, a blizzard struck against my face.
It’s freezing.
Though my uniform had a built-in cold resistance and elemental protection, the cold still bit through. It wasn’t unbearable, though, so I braced myself and surveyed the surroundings.
Winterhalt Fortress.
That was the setting for this dungeon.
As the word “fortress” implied, the main objective here was [Siege Defense].
Booooong—!
And the continued blaring of the horn in my ears signaled that the siege defense was about to begin.
Hundred-men captains commanded troops as they rushed toward the fortress walls.
“To your positions!”
“Move faster, you sluggish lot—!”
After watching the scene for a moment, I tossed a quick word to Hong Yeon-hwa and took the lead.
“Follow me.”
“Mhmm.”
We headed toward the fortress wall and began climbing the stone steps.
Along the way, I stopped a passing hundred-man captain.
“I have a few questions.”
Hong Yeon-hwa began muttering incantations under her breath.
The ruby at the staff’s tip glowed a vivid red, and a large magic circle formed beneath her feet.
After a moment, the large-scale magic spell was completed, the very one that had been used as a trump card back in the duel battle of the Cloud Stairs.
[Phoenix Flutter]
Whoosh—
A huge flame rose from the magic circle and took the shape of a phoenix.
With one powerful beat of its wings, hundreds of fiery feathers scattered forward.
The fiery feathers crossed the distance to reach the monster army, sparking countless small flames throughout their ranks.
The damage from this spell wasn’t usually significant, but—
If it’s Aqua Flame, that’s a different story.
Whoosh!
Monsters touched by the sparks melted away without exception, whether they were orcs, trolls, or golems.
With the added power of Aqua Flame, the fire magic was absolute poison to ice-attribute monsters.
– Ooohhh—!
The soldiers who watched let out cheers filled with awe and encouragement.
Hong Yeon-hwa couldn’t hide her proud expression.
The corners of her mouth kept twitching upward.
I threw in another word.
“Let’s keep going like this.”
“Mhmm.”
Hong Yeon-hwa summoned the phoenix again, and hundreds more fiery feathers swept across the battlefield.
Yet, despite this, the ice monster army still had plenty of forces left and continued their advance.
There’s no better hunting ground than this.
It was the perfect environment to rank up Aqua Flame and various fire spells.
While it didn’t have the density of Millennium Iron ice-attribute monsters continuously poured in.
She would rely on quantity over quality.
After casting a few large-scale spells, Hong Yeon-hwa seemed to get the hang of it.
As if she was ready to get serious about her rank-up work, she pulled out a rolled-up magic scroll from her inventory.
It was labeled with the word “Boost” and several arrows pointing upward.
Rank Boost.
Simply put, it was an experience boost item, almost identical to the event buff I received during the mentoring period.
It granted the user a timed buff and allowed them to gain rank faster even with the same training effort.
Unlike [Rank Up], it could be used at any rank and allowed the honing of various skills and traits at the same time.
I spoke honestly.
“How enviable.”
In this game, items related to rank were all highly valuable because they directly impacted one’s stats.
Especially Rank Boost, which only lasted a few hours, so it was typically saved for situations where rank-up efficiency was extremely high.
Hong Yeon-hwa was using it casually in her very first dungeon. Such a move would reveal just how wealthy the Ruby Magic Tower must be.
But for some reason, after hearing my remark about how envious I was, her gaze began to wander around nervously.
Finally, she cautiously extended a Rank Boost toward me.
“Do... do you want one?”
I hadn’t said it because I wanted her to hand it over.
Now I felt like I was coming off as the bad guy.
I shook my head.
“No, I’m good.”
“It’s, it’s okay. I have plenty.”
Hong Yeon-hwa took out even more Rank Boosters from her inventory.
Carrying around so many of something that’s hard to obtain even once... the Ruby Magic Tower was really going all out for her.
As I stood there, watching silently and lost in thought, Hong Yeon-hwa shivered.
Then she extended another Rank Boost toward me.
“Th-Then... how about two?”
Did she think I found one insufficient?
At this rate, she’d keep handing them over, so I decided to just accept her offer.
I wasn’t one to turn down gifts in the first place.
“One is enough. I’ll use it well.”
“Mhmm ...”
Whoosh—
Maybe it was because the snowstorm was coming down hard.
Hong Yeon-hwa looked more timid than usual.