A Hunter on Borrowed Time Keeps Surviving - Chapter 4

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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 4.
〈B-rank Gate — Mapo District 7th Section〉
Dungeon Name: Stone Canyon
Monster Type: Golem
Estimated Clear Time: Approximately 4 hours
The moment Siul stepped into the dungeon, a heavy sensation washed over him as though he’d plunged beneath water.
Cold pressure squeezed his lungs, and a low hum reverberated in his ears.
The dungeon’s interior was nothing but shades of gray.
Rock faces pressed overhead, while the canyon walls rose in jagged, chaotic formations of twisted colors.
From the stone-strewn ground, purple minerals glowed faintly with a soft patter-patter sound.
The irregular light refracted off the rock walls, causing them to flicker intermittently.
“As I mentioned, these faint lights are all we have in this dungeon. Since visibility is poor, everyone should use Light Orbs.”
At the team leader Min’s directive, Siul and the party members opened their inventories.
『 Light Orb 』 ― E-rank
Illuminates your surroundings.
A pure white sphere, about the size of a baseball.
When thrown into the air, it emits light and follows the user within a 1-meter radius.
“Much better now.”
Park Do-hyeon grinned at Siul.
The two of them shared the support position and walked together at the rear of the group.
“How many B-rank dungeons is this for you? It’s my first time.”
Park Do-hyeon, who had launched into casual conversation naturally enough, flinched.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I won’t bother you….”
Whether Team Leader Min had scolded him separately, Park Do-hyeon took a step away from Siul.
“It’s fine. We have quite a walk ahead to reach the inner chambers. I’d appreciate the conversation.”
“Really?”
Park Do-hyeon’s expression brightened.
After exchanging a few words, Siul realized Park Do-hyeon was an extremely outgoing chatterbox.
“So your entire family are Hunters?”
“Yes. My father Awakened first, then my mother, and I was last.”
“That’s interesting.”
“Right? There must be a hereditary factor to Awakening too, I guess. Haha.”
Boom—.
A tremendous sound rolled toward them from somewhere.
“Hold.”
Team Leader Min, walking point, barked the command.
Bang…! Boom…!
The ground trembled in rapid succession.
And the vibrations were growing closer.
“It’s here.”
Team Leader Min spoke in a low voice.
In the same instant, massive boulders came rolling toward them in a clatter.
“Golems. Battle formation, everyone!”
At Team Leader Min’s command, the raid team spread into a wide combat stance.
‘That’s a golem?’
Siul furrowed his brow at his first sight of one.
Rock masses standing three meters tall.
They resembled human silhouettes, but in truth they were crude creatures of stone.
Their Rank was known to be C+.
‘No quest appeared.’
Siul glanced at the unresponsive quest window while scanning the golems.
‘So C+ rank monsters aren’t Danger Level 10…?’
Just as disappointment crept in, something strange unfolded before Siul’s eyes.
Above the golems’ heads, the translucent number ‘7’ hung in the air.
“Do-hyeon, are those numbers normally supposed to appear above the golems’ heads?”
“What? What numbers?”
“There. See? It says 7.”
Park Do-hyeon peered ahead and tilted his head in confusion.
“I don’t see anything.”
…….
Siul only then realized it.
That number was visible to his eyes alone.
‘A danger level indicator?’
He hadn’t noticed it during the Wyvern Goblin encounter—his mind had been elsewhere—but now he perceived it clearly.
‘So whenever an enemy appears, the danger level displays like that.’
His objective for this raid was to confirm the Quest’s metrics with numbers.
It was already proving fruitful.
“Siul! Here they come! Stay sharp!”
“Got it. You too, Do-hyeon.”
Fifteen golems encircled the raid team in a tight ring.
More than double the seven members they fielded.
‘C+ Rank with a Danger Level around 7—not a bad first test.’
Siul loosened his wrists with a faint smile.
This was his first real combat since his re-Awakening to C Rank.
Though they outmatched him in grade, he wasn’t facing enemies he couldn’t overcome.
『B-rank Longsword』
Siul drew the silver blade from his inventory.
After the Wyvern Goblin incident, the Hunter Association had awarded Siul and Jang Jin-young seventy million won in monster-disposal compensation.
Siul had invested forty million of it into purchasing this B-rank Longsword.
‘Incredibly light. The manual said its destructive power is ten times that of a C-rank blade.’
He was genuinely curious how it would perform in actual combat.
Just then, one golem charged straight at him.
Siul swung the blade in a wide arc from left to right.
A silvery spray of light bloomed along its trajectory.
Crack!
The slash that erupted from the blade’s edge cleaved the golem’s torso clean in two.
“Huh.”
The shattered fragments tumbled to the ground with heavy thuds.
‘This is no joke. Worth a compact car, and it shows.’
Siul pressed on with satisfaction, grinning.
Besides the B-rank Longsword, there was another skill he wanted to test.
【The Skill ‘Dungeon Sprint’ activates.】
Mana surged from his feet.
In the same instant, Siul shot forward in a blur and severed the golem’s neck at blinding speed.
‘This rush is insane.’
Dungeon Sprint—a skill that amplified instantaneous acceleration through mana.
It was a sensation entirely new to him.
‘I thought I’d never be able to use skills in my life…’
For Awakened individuals of C Rank and above, skills unlock.
Unlike Traits, Skills represent superhuman abilities usable only within dungeons.
C Rank grants one Skill, B Rank grants three, A Rank grants five, and S Rank grants seven—the types that unlock are identical across all Ranks.
‘My mana pool’s grown and I have Skills now. I really can feel how much stronger I’ve become.’
Blood thrummed through Siul’s veins.
Whether from the overwhelming sensation or from finally satisfying a long-held hunger, he couldn’t say.
One thing was certain: his heart would burn even hotter from this point forward.
* * *
“Everyone, well done. Rest and consume your Health Recovery Potions, then we’ll press on.”
Under Team Lead Min’s direction, the party members regrouped and resupplied.
In that moment, Park Do-hyeon withdrew a round, gray disc from his inventory and laid it on the ground.
“What are you doing?”
Siul approached with curiosity, asking the question.
“Setting up a Mini Gate.”
“A Mini Gate?”
『Mini Gate』― B-Rank
A pair of discs functioning as a portable gateway device. Can establish connections up to 10 kilometers apart.
“You place the two plates at different locations, and you can warp between them conveniently.”
“I’ve heard of those. People say they’re incredibly useful. Didn’t know they looked like this, though.”
“Ha. This is right at the dungeon’s midpoint, so setting one up as a backup before entering the Boss Chamber is smart.”
An excellent decision.
The Boss Chamber always brings unexpected complications.
It’s wise to take out insurance beforehand.
“Team leader, I’ve set up the Mini Gate. Who should stay behind?”
‘Stay behind?’
Team leader Min pointed to the youngest member of the party—a woman in her early twenties with the least experience among the hunters.
“Let’s have Hyo-won stay here.”
“Understood. I’ll mine Mana Stones while I wait.”
Siul looked bewildered, unsure why the team leader was suddenly separating one of them from the group.
Park Do-hyeon stepped in to explain.
“The Mini Gate requires at least one person standing on the platform at each installation point to activate. So you need one person where Plate 1 is set, and another where Plate 2 is set—that way you can travel between them.”
Siul’s eyes lit up as he grasped the system, and he let out an exclamation of understanding.
There was one thing that troubled him, though.
“It’s not great as an escape route, though. Ultimately, one person has to stay behind at that location.”
Park Do-hyeon smiled wryly, conceding the point.
“That’s exactly why it’s just insurance. Ideally, all party members should exit together, of course.”
He added that the best-case scenario was never having to use the Mini Gate at all.
“If everyone’s rested enough, let’s move on. The Boss Chamber is just ahead.”
Team leader Min pointed deeper into the cavern, issuing the order.
Siul and the party members gathered their gear and resumed their advance.
* * *
As the narrow canyon opened up ahead, the vista suddenly widened.
A circular stone chamber with an unusually high ceiling stretched before them.
At its center, an enormous pile of boulders crouched, motionless.
“That must be the boss, right?”
Siul whispered, and Park Do-hyeon answered.
“That’s right. A Giant Golem. Its build and strength are roughly three times that of the lesser golems. B-rank, too.”
Crack-crack-crack…!
Before Park Do-hyeon could finish speaking, the boulder pile split open.
Red light flickered from the cracks, and the Giant Golem—three times the size of an ordinary golem—rose to its feet.
“Kuuuooaarrr—!!”
The Giant Golem’s roar swallowed the cavern whole.
A dust storm rose, and stone powder scattered everywhere.
【Continuous Quest Triggered!】
【Eliminate Mortal Threat】
Directly eliminate the obstacle that poses a threat to life.
Obstacle Danger Level: 10
Success Reward: 3 Level-up Points
At last, the quest window appeared.
Siul couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
‘So a B-rank monster has a Danger Level of 10.’
Above the Giant Golem’s head, a translucent numeral “10” floated in the air.
‘Three reward points. That falls short of the ten-point threshold for leveling up, but if I take down three or four of these creatures, my Awakening Rank will rise again, won’t it?’
While others struggled their entire lives to raise their Awakening Rank, such hardship meant nothing to him.
‘But why is there only this one?’
Something felt off.
Typically, a dungeon boss commanded legions of subordinates beneath it.
The Giant Golem before him was so solitary it seemed embarrassed to bear the title of boss.
“This dungeon is a complete breeze.”
“Let’s finish this quickly and grab drinks after.”
The party members drew their weapons with overconfident swagger.
Boom-boom-boom!
But then a deafening sound erupted.
The moment the raid team turned to look behind them, a massive boulder crashed down into the Boss Chamber entrance.
Rock upon rock interlocked, and the exit vanished without a trace.
“The exit is sealed…!”
“Don’t panic. It happens all the time. The exit opens once we defeat the boss, anyway.”
Boss Chamber lockdowns were one of the common nasty patterns that occurred in dungeons.
The raid team paid it little mind—it wasn’t as if this were their first time.
But the next sound changed everything.
Crack-crack…! Screeeech…!
This time, an ominous noise came from above, from the ceiling.
“Look up! Look up!”
Someone screamed, their shock absolute.
Siul lifted his head, and in that same instant, the true structure of the Boss Chamber revealed itself.
He’d thought it was simply a chamber with a wide-open ceiling.
But from the darkness above, a new silhouette emerged.
A two-tiered structure of railings circled the chamber like a hidden balcony above the stone hall, now fully visible.
And along that railing…….
“Are those all golems?!”
A chill ran through him.
Arrayed along the railing stood a horde of fifty golems.
“This can’t be…!”
The Raid Team froze.
Fifty golems standing in formation, looking down from above.
The sheer oppressive weight of their presence defied words.
Whoosh.
The giant golem raised its arm.
At once, the golems on the railing moved with the precision of trained soldiers receiving a signal.
Each lifted an enormous boulder from beneath its feet and hoisted it onto its shoulder.
“Surely not……”
It didn’t take long to understand.
“Run!”
Park Do-hyeon shouted, but it was already too late.
The golems had already hurled their boulders with all their might.
With a sound like tearing air, fifty boulders rained down.
“P-please! Save us!”
The chamber walls sealed them in on all sides.
From above, dozens of boulders cascading down.
From below, the giant golem belching mana with sinister intent.
‘We’re going to die….’
Every member of the Raid Team sensed the same fate.
“Come toward me, now!”
But then Min, the team leader, stepped forward and rallied them back to their senses.
【The Trait ‘Solid Barrier’ activates.】
A transparent barrier enveloped the Raid Team.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Min’s barrier barely held against the successive volleys of falling stone.
“Ugh…!”
Beads of sweat rolled down Min’s forehead.
The damage was real, but thanks to his Trait, the team members were spared from being crushed beneath the rocks.
Yet before relief could set in, the giant golem raised its arm again.
Gripped in that massive hand was a boulder of an entirely different magnitude than the others.
The giant golem hurled it with all its strength.
Crash-boom-boom-boom—!!
The moment the stone struck the barrier head-on, a clear crack split across its surface.
“Team leader!”
Min’s face drained of color.
‘No… if it hits again even once more…!’
The team members instinctively understood they could not withstand another blow.
They were caught in a state of terror and shock, helpless.
No matter where they looked, there was nowhere safe from attack.
Nowhere to run.
They could only stare at Min’s crumbling form with faces bleached of color.
“……?”
In this moment of utter despair, Siul walked forward calmly through their midst.
And then, quietly, he called to someone.
“Park Do-hyeon.”
Park Do-hyeon turned.
Siul’s face bore an oddly serene composure.
As if he felt no fear whatsoever.
“Take the Mini Gate. I’ll remain here.”
The Hunter with a Limited Lifespan Continues to Survive
Author |
Kutsumattsu
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Corporation
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Corporation – Dream Books
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7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260731071
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Corporation – 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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