A Hunter on Borrowed Time Keeps Surviving - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 18.
Inside the Rising Guild director’s office.
Si-ul sat alone on the sofa, leaning back against it, waiting for Park Jung-gi.
“This is ridiculous.”
This evening, Si-ul was scheduled to run an A-rank Dungeon raid.
The problem was that the schedule had been arranged on short notice.
To be precise, another guild had panicked when word of the split broke and dumped an A-rank Gate on the market at a bargain price.
The moment Park Jung-gi saw it, he’d cried “This is our chance!” and snapped it up without hesitation.
And who was left holding the bag?
“Me.”
Si-ul let out a hollow laugh.
‘At least he promised the settlement terms would be whatever I want.’
That much was enough to grin and bear it.
Si-ul had decided to demand a settlement ratio of five times the standard for this Dungeon.
He’d handle it solo—not as a team—so that much compensation was only fair.
‘It’s not every day a chance like this falls into my lap.’
As levels climbed, quest opportunities grew scarce.
For a mid-size guild like this to consistently bring in higher-ranked Gates was a blessing.
And entrusting the Dungeon to Si-ul alone was something to be grateful for.
“Once I nail this, I’m treating myself to Korean beef and a cold beer.”
Si-ul bowed his head to gaze down at his own lap.
“You’re ready for this today, right?”
The moment Si-ul spoke to his knee, the air itself rippled and warped.
Cyan scales flashed in the distortion, and a small form suddenly materialized with a soft thump.
“Bark!”
Zero dropped the Invisibility and chirped brightly.
“Hey, no! No!”
Si-ul flinched and glanced around quickly.
“You can’t drop Invisibility yet! I told you to stay hidden until we enter the Dungeon!”
Si-ul whispered urgently into Zero’s ear.
The office door was closed, but anyone could pass by in the hall at any moment.
Zero barked again and wagged his scales.
The cyan color faded once more, leaving only the weight of the dragon across Si-ul’s lap.
“Phew.”
Si-ul pressed a hand to his racing heart.
Bringing a baby dragon outside was always nerve-wracking.
‘Maybe the Dungeon’s still too much for him. Did I make a mistake bringing him?’
Such doubts surfaced, yet something in him resisted them.
After watching Zero these past few days, he didn’t seem like a creature that merely needed protection.
‘From the day he was born, he communicated as well as an elementary-school child would, picked up flight and Invisibility as natural instinct.’
That terrifying growth rate aside, Zero possessed a monster’s raw hunting instinct.
‘When I took him to the playground at dawn, he caught insects and rats. The one day I kept him in the house, he whined to go outside.’
By this measure, Zero was a monster born to hunt—a predator among predators.
‘Let’s just take him along. He should have seen a Dungeon eventually anyway.’
Si-ul was lost in thought when footsteps sounded from beyond the door.
Knock, knock.
The door swung open immediately, and Park Jung-gi stepped inside.
“Si-ul!”
Park Jung-gi’s voice hit like a gong.
His posture of greeting—arms spread wide—was over the top.
“I really can’t thank you enough. To make time for such an unreasonable request right away…”
Park Jung-gi bowed repeatedly.
“An A-rank Dungeon on the day of a split? Even I would’ve questioned whether my judgment was sound.”
He hailed Si-ul as a magnanimous man and poured out endless gratitude.
Meanwhile, Si-ul didn’t bother replying, didn’t even rise from the sofa—he simply raised one hand.
Whoosh.
All five of Si-ul’s fingers spread wide.
“Settlement ratio for the Dungeon clear is five times standard. Anything less and I’m not going.”
……
It was a curt statement of terms.
Park Jung-gi’s eyes flickered for a moment before he broke into an even broader grin.
“Of course! You deserve to be compensated for all your hard work. Ha ha.”
Not a shred of hesitation.
An attitude that left no room for negotiation.
Si-ul could feel Park Jung-gi’s eagerness plainly—a man unwilling to let a premium asset like him slip away.
“Well then, let’s begin the dungeon briefing right away.”
Park Jung-gi sat across from Si-ul and pulled out his Tablet.
After tapping the screen a few times, a PowerPoint with the dungeon manual appeared.
“Since time is tight, I’ll just cover the essentials.”
Dungeon structure, spawn monsters, critical variables.
The explanation was clean and lean, stripped of all fat.
Si-ul absorbed the information quickly, scribbling notes in his Notebook.
“May I ask you one thing, Director?”
“Of course.”
“It’s not about this dungeon. I just got curious about something else.”
“Go right ahead, please.”
Si-ul set down his Notebook and pressed on with his question.
“I heard that Rising Guild has no other A-rank Hunters besides you, Director.”
“That’s correct.”
“Then does the guild only handle Dungeons up to A-rank?”
Park Jung-gi’s expression hardened slightly.
He paused a moment to think before answering honestly.
“I’m afraid so.”
A rueful smile followed.
“With our guild’s current strength, we’ve decided that S-rank Dungeons are beyond our reach. And finding an S-rank Gate isn’t something you can just pick up whenever you want, anyway.”
Si-ul’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Seeing that, Park Jung-gi quickly added something.
“But!”
Park Jung-gi leaned forward, his tone brimming with determination.
“If you help us, things change. I’ll roll up my sleeves and bring in an S-rank Gate myself!”
It was a declaration fueled by nothing but ambition.
You could sense the desperation of a businessman hungry to expand his company.
“I see. Let’s talk about that another time.”
Si-ul laughed lightly and moved on.
He’d asked just in case, but the answer was exactly what he’d expected.
‘Once my rank climbs to A-rank, I’ll need to fight in S-rank Dungeons to progress with quests. Rising Guild won’t be able to handle that.’
When the time came, he’d have to shift his operations elsewhere.
The problem was that then, he wouldn’t be able to job-hop as easily as now, or monopolize dungeon bosses the way he did.
After all, S-rank Dungeons are the stage for the nation’s strongest Hunters.
Depending on the temperament of his party members, they could become allies or rivals.
‘This is going to be a headache.’
Si-ul swept the thought away just as his concern began to deepen.
Ever since his limited lifespan set in, he’d made it a point not to borrow worry from the future.
With so little time remaining, it felt too precious to waste.
* * *
『 You have entered the A-rank Dungeon “Submerged Research Facility.” 』
〈A-rank Gate — Mokdong District 3〉
Dungeon Name: Submerged Research Facility
Spawn Monsters: Slime
Estimated Clearance Time: Approximately 6 hours
The moment Si-ul stepped into the dungeon, the sensation beneath his feet changed.
Splash—.
Water sprayed up from the floor.
More precisely, cold water rose to his knees.
True to its name, the dungeon was the image of a submerged research facility.
Glass-partitioned laboratories, overturned experiment tables, console devices swallowed by water.
Wiring and scraps of documents drifted along the floor, while water droplets fell steadily from the ceiling.
“This feels like the kind of place ghosts would show up. I’d have gotten the chills if I were alone.”
Si-ul spoke to the empty air.
“You can come out now.”
Whoosh!
Space warped as scales of teal-blue fluttered into view.
“Screee!”
Zero emerged with a sweep of his wings.
“You’re way too excited about this, aren’t you?”
Zero spiraled through the air, making no attempt to hide his excitement.
He clearly relished being in a place so thick with Mana.
Si-ul watched him with unease and offered a warning.
“I’m letting you out now so I can see how you’re doing, but the moment enemies show up or things get dangerous, Invisibility. We’ve been over this enough times—you know the drill, right?”
“Screee!”
Satisfied by Zero’s spirited response, Si-ul turned his attention forward.
The research facility corridor was lit only by fluorescent panels.
He moved ahead with every nerve on edge.
……?
After walking for perhaps two minutes, he caught a faint presence nearby.
Si-ul realized it came from the shadowed ceiling and instantly opened his Inventory.
Shink!
The Tracker’s blade cut through the darkness and flew upward.
A dull thud rang out as the blade struck something solid.
Si-ul’s eyes narrowed as he looked up at the ceiling.
Suspended between the fluorescent panel shadows, a translucent blob of gel hung impaled on the Short Sword.
Its body drooped and deformed softly, a rounded form with no discernible limbs.
“A Slime?”
Si-ul spoke as he stared up at the dead creature.
It felt rather anticlimactic—a battle ended in a single strike with no resistance.
But in that moment, Park Jung-gi’s voice flickered across Si-ul’s mind.
— The monsters that spawn in this dungeon are Slimes. These creatures should never be judged by appearance alone.
Splurch!
Suddenly, the Slime impaled on the blade tore open like jelly, splitting into two halves.
The two pieces fell to the ground.
Yet bizarrely, both chunks began to writhe and reshape themselves.
Soon the two pieces had transformed into two Slimes.
‘There it is.’
Si-ul recalled Park Jung-gi’s explanation.
— Slimes possess infinite regeneration and multiplication abilities. You can never kill them by slashing with a sword or spear. That’s why these deceptively cute creatures are rated as B+-rank monsters.
Splat!
Both Slimes launched themselves upward simultaneously.
They rushed at Si-ul with bullet-like speed, their attack fierce enough to pierce through him.
“Tch!”
Si-ul reflexively swung the Short Sword that had returned to his hand.
He managed to slice both in one motion and narrowly avoided having his body pierced, but that victory created a new problem.
“Damn.”
The severed surfaces of the Slimes began to writhe.
Splurch, splurch.
This time, two became four.
‘Troublesome things, just like I heard… I can regenerate, but at least I don’t multiply.’
Coming face-to-face with something even more monstrous than himself left a bitter taste.
Meanwhile, the four Slimes launched another assault.
They spread their formation strategically wide, attacking from all sides so he couldn’t finish them all at once.
‘Regeneration, multiplication, speed, and now intelligence too?’
There was good reason these were the spawns of an A-rank dungeon.
Si-ul resolved to take a few Critical Hits and poured his Mana into action.
‘Can’t kill them with the blade. I’ll use Footprint Mine first….’
He was still considering his options when it happened.
Suddenly, a black shadow darted across his field of vision like lightning.
“Screee!”
It was Zero, his scaled face flushed with fervor.
He opened his maw wide to greet the incoming Slimes.
Roooaaaar—!!
Flames infused with teal-blue Mana erupted from Zero’s mouth in a torrent of fire.
It was Natural-type Magic—Fire Breath.
Roar!
Flames tore across the water’s surface, sweeping the area before them.
Four Slimes that had rushed in were engulfed by the blaze in an instant.
Hisss…!
The malleable bodies of the gelatin-like creatures melted away in seconds.
The bubbling silhouette that had roiled like boiling water finally lost all shape.
Not a fragment remained that could regenerate or multiply.
Where the flames had died, only blackened char marks remained.
Si-ul stared blankly at the scene for a moment, then finally opened his mouth.
“What are you?!”
Four B+-rank monsters had been instantly annihilated.
Si-ul’s voice shook badly, mingled with excitement and confusion.
“Where in the world did you learn magic like that?”
Zero tilted his head.
With an utterly innocent expression, he simply barked “Woof!”
There was no further explanation.
His expression was as if to say he could simply do it, as naturally as anything.
The way a human walks and runs without thinking.
“…Ha.”
Si-ul let out a hollow laugh.
‘I worried for nothing….’
All those concerns—that it was too early to bring him to a Dungeon, that it was too dangerous for a pup.
All of it was absurd.
Zero was far stronger than Si-ul had imagined, a being incapable of feeling fear.
‘If we fought, would I lose….’
A Hunter with a Limited Lifespan continues to survive
Author |
Kutsumattsu
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dream Books
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UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260731071
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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