Chapter 17
"Huu."
Ja-geon burned his cigarette down to the filter in one drag as he contemplated the Black Tiger Raid Team. Though Isaac's scheming had caused this trouble, it remained a trivial hiccup compared to the path ahead.
"No point dragging this out against pyramid-tier trash. We'll devour them whole." Ja-geon gritted his teeth and thrust his fist forward.
The Black Tiger Raid Team's headquarters stood at the center of Baekje City's District 6 - a neighborhood dense with radar stations and raid team offices. They'd received intel about Ja-geon and Big Bo entering a dungeon.
"Boss, they went into an E-rank dungeon."
The Black Tigers couldn't devote themselves solely to Ja-geon and Big Bo. Their elite 1st Squad had been deployed to a D-rank dungeon. Though normally handling C-ranks, they'd downgraded today due to leader Kim Choon-sik's absence.
"Send the 2nd Squad. Capture them alive if possible - I want to see them grovel at my feet." Kim Choon-sik ground his teeth. "I can already visualize their sniveling, regretful faces."
"They'll pay dearly for looking down on the Black Tiger Raid Team." Kim interlaced his fingers with confidence. As a skilled radar operator with sharp business instincts, he'd built the Tigers into a respectable force. Closing his eyes, he chuckled darkly while imagining how to break those bastards.
The 2nd Squad couldn't lose to some low-tier duo - intel placed Ja-geon and Big Bo around levels 30-40. Our 2nd Squad won't fall, Kim thought. I only considered recruiting them for their dungeon-clearing guts and potential, not their current strength. He waited calmly for the capture report - mere formalities now.
The Black Tiger 2nd Squad entered the dungeon. Accustomed to clearing D-ranks, an E-rank posed no threat. "Prioritize capture, but don't hold back on beating them senseless," one member said. "Publicly humiliating our boss? Damn bastards!" Their faith in Kim Choon-sik ran deep.
They followed faint footprints across damp dungeon floors through interconnected corridors and chambers. Reckless advancement might miss their targets, but waiting for them to finish clearing wasn't an option.
We can't lose. Unshakable certainty of victory filled their minds. This confrontation had been unfair from the start - an inevitable Black Tiger triumph.
Snap.
A member's leg caught on taut wire.
KABOOM!
Explosions shook the dungeon as weapons flashed drawn. "Stay sharp!" "Evacuate the wounded!" Their disciplined response belied the ambush's surprise.
"Salamander heart traps? Damned clever!"
"Since when do they set traps...?"
The Black Tigers lacked experience in dungeon warfare - common in A-ranks and above where teams competed for profits. Planting traps against rivals was basic strategy... knowledge they'd gain too late against Shin Ja-geon, the raid scene's living legend.
"Severe burns. Even regeneration potions won't get him combat-ready." Though such potions healed burns cleanly, their stamina drain proved brutal. Leaving one member behind, they pressed on: "Unexpected, but manageable. The rest of us advance."
More footprints led them through additional traps. "Fool me once!" they roared while disarming explosives. "When we catch them, we'll beat those fuckers within an inch of their lives!" Biting through minor injuries, they entered a chamber where footprints ended - presumably cleared.
"Huh?"
Pitch-black monsters surged from the opened room - not scattered few, but swarming hordes. No time for strategy as chaotic melee erupted against what should've been trivial E-rank foes.
But the difference between being prepared and unprepared is huge.
"Aaaah! Get these bastards off me!"
The mage who should have been in the rear shouted.
With no time to cast spells, they fought monsters using weapons instead.
Three members fell in rapid succession from the ambush.
A vicious cycle repeated as overextended members tried to rescue injured comrades, only to be overwhelmed by monsters themselves.
‘In a mere E-rank dungeon…!’
The Black Tiger members barely managed to form a defensive line.
They slashed through monsters with battered bodies, fighting desperately.
‘First eliminate these bastards, rest, then resume tracking… Just a minor setback. Stay composed.’
Had they been an ordinary E-rank dungeon raid team, they would have been annihilated here.
Only their usual competence in clearing D-rank dungeons kept them alive.
“Huff… Huff…”
They gasped raggedly. Some members groaned through clenched teeth.
The damage was too severe for immediate pursuit.
‘Maybe we should contact hyungnim for reinforcements…’
The Black Tigers tended to their fallen comrades.
Only now did true urgency strike them.
“The tracks clearly led here, so why were monsters still in this room?”
Crunch. Crunch.
Footsteps echoed along the path they’d taken.
Jagen and Bigbo emerged from the shadows.
“What’s the matter? You’ve been fooled. Let’s see… How many can still move? One, two, three, four. Five? More survivors than expected. Not entirely useless, I suppose.”
Jagen grinned,
using Bigbo as a human shield while hiding behind him.
Bigbo stared at the Black Tigers, cold sweat dripping down his neck.
‘Just as the boss predicted. Few remain.’
He’d never understood Jagen’s actions in the dungeon—
planting expensive salamander cores everywhere,
advancing toward monster spawn rooms only to retreat repeatedly.
‘It was all a trap. The boss is terrifyingly brilliant.’
He observed the Black Tigers’ condition—
thoroughly manipulated by Jagen’s schemes.
“Well? Come at me. I’ll humor you myself.”
Jagen drew his sword with a smirk,
the blade custom-forged by Old Man Wang.
Its crystalline edge shimmered ominously.
“You fucking son of a bitch!!”
Enraged Black Tiger members lunged forward.
“Block them, Bigbo!”
Jagen kicked Bigbo forward with a bark.
Bigbo stumbled into the charging group.
Though heavily armored and lacking offensive power, his defense was monstrous.
He endured the Black Tigers’ relentless assaults.
Thud!
The Black Tiger members, already battered from combat, were severely injured and exhausted.
Such opponents stood no chance against Jagen and Bigbo.
‘You lack PvP experience.’
Jagen possessed as much combat experience against humans as against raid bosses.
He thrived in personal confrontations.
No amount of mediocre stats could bridge that gap.
“Even exhausted… cough…”
Jagen swiftly incapacitated every Black Tiger member.
The defeated lay gasping, eyes rolling weakly.
‘Why? The boss isn’t killing them?’
Bigbo had braced for carnage.
Knowing Jagen’s temperament, he’d expected total slaughter.
“Bigbo. Strip their gear and bind them.”
Bigbo fumbled through confiscating their equipment.
The Black Tigers were left completely naked,
their armor and weapons piled mountain-high in a corner.
“You. Wake up.”
Jagen nudged a unconscious member with his boot.
The revived man’s eyes bulged wildly.
“I’ll kill you, you runt! When hyungnim learns of this, you’re dead! Beg on your knees now, and I might spare your pathetic life!”
Jagen muffled laughter behind his hand
before seizing the man’s hair.
“Threats are weapons for the strong, you incompetent worm.”
Crack!
Jagen’s boot shattered the man’s face.
Blood gushed as the member gurgled incoherently.
“Ggrrkh…”
He glared with pure hatred, but Jagen remained unfazed.
Being loathed was nothing new.
“Run outside and fetch your precious hyungnim. Now.”
Jagen cut the man’s bindings.
Both the freed member and Bigbo gaped in shock.
“Boss? What’re you doing?!”
The naked member sprinted away,
desperate to escape before Jagen reconsidered.
‘Madman… When hyungnim arrives, you’re finished.’
