Dungeon Predator (WN)

"You don't have a choice." Kang Oh whispered into Darion's ear.

"What?" Darion's face crinkled. 'What the hell are you talking about!?'

"If I tell Burkan that I want us to hunt together, what do you think he'll say?"

Burkan had told him that if he wanted to hire Darion, then he needed to speak with him in person. He hadn't expected Kang Oh to coerce him.

However, Darion wasn't aware of this conversation.

"He'll say no!" Darion forcefully said.

"I'm sure that's what you'd like to believe, but you do know that he let me borrow 600,000 gold, right?"

"What? Master lent someone else money? 600,000 at that?"

"Yeah. Do you think he'd care if I brought you along when he was willing to lend me 600,000 gold?"

"Liar!"

"When we're done here, go ahead and ask him yourself."

"Mm."

It likely wasn't a lie. If it was, it'd be too easy to ascertain the truth.

"So you've already been hired. That's if you don't have the guts to disobey Burkan's orders."

"That's..." Darion's body shook. Did he really have no choice but to work with this devil again!?

"I admit, I treated you too harshly in the past. That was my bad. I truly apologize." Kang Oh took his hand off of Darion's shoulder and bowed deeply.

He couldn't make Darion do whatever he wanted anymore. If he did, Burkan wouldn't just sit back and watch. After all, he'd instructed him to pay Darion his fair share.

If that's the case, then he needed to mend his relationship with Darion.

"W-Why are you doing this!? It's so unlike you!" Darion was taken aback. 'Why is this guy doing this? Did he eat something bad?'

"I can't treat you the same as before, since you're a first-class gladiator now. I'd like to formally hire you. You'll be treated with respect this time around."

"Haa." Darion sighed. "Are... you telling the truth?"

"I am." Kang Oh stared directly into his eyes. His eyes were unwavering.

"I understand. My daily wage is 100 gold. If I work overtime, please pay me extra. You also cannot hire me the day of, and the day before a gladiatorial match. Abuse, violent language, threats, etc. are not allowed! Please don't invoke Master's name to force me into doing something again." Darion named condition after condition.

"What about the loot?"

"That goes to my employer. It'd be too greedy of me to ask for both gold and loot."

"Got it." Kang Oh nodded his head.

"Oh, right. One last condition!"

"What is it?"

"Take this!" Darion forcefully swung his fist. It contained all of the shame and humiliation he'd endured while working under Kang Oh!

Kang Oh could have dodged it, but chose not to.

Whack!

Darion's fist struck Kang Oh's left cheek. It was quite loud, but it didn't hurt much since he was playing a game. It did make him feel bad inside though.

On the other hand, Darion felt thrilled. It was like his indigestion had finally passed!

"You good?"

"Yes."

"Let's forget the past and move on like men."

"Then be a man and forget about me hitting you." Darion extended his hand.

"Yeah!" Kang Oh shook his hand.

With him on board, he only needed two more members to complete his team.

* * *

He was able to procure his third and fourth teammates simultaneously. Man Bok had heard that Kang Oh was looking for teammates, so he introduced them to him.

"Hello, my name is Soren."

"I'm Karin."

Soren was a cool-headed woman with braided hair, while Karin was a pony-tailed tomboy.

"My name is Kang Oh." Kang Oh smiled.

"I know. You're one of the Numbers." Soren smiled back.

Soren and Karin were skilled players that possessed High-Rank Wizardry. They were in their late 300s, and were both middle rankers that were aiming for a spot in the high rankers (0-99).

"Are you and uncle close?" Karin asked.

"Uncle?"

"Uncle Man Bok."

"Mr. Man Bok is your uncle? He's not just some guy you know; he's your actual uncle?"

"Yes." Soren slightly nodded her head.

"Aha, I see. Mr. Man Bok and I are quite close." Kang Oh grinned.

"Are you friends?" Karin asked.

"It's more accurate to call us partners than friends."

"I see. How old are you, Oppa?"

"Oppa?" Kang Oh widened his eyes. That was pretty sudden.

"I don't want to use 'Mr.' every time I talk to you, and you seem too young to be called 'Uncle', so I'll call you Oppa instead."

"Hey!" Soren, who'd been quietly listening, glared at Karin. She was essentially saying, 'Don't be rude!'.

"What!?" Karin glared back.

Kang Oh mediated their dispute. "Please call me whatever you like. You're both Mr. Man Bok's nieces, so you must be sisters."

"I'm the older one," Karin firmly said. She was trying to prop herself up as the older sister.

"Older? You were born just a few hours before me. You have to actually act like the older one." Karen pointed out.

'A few hours older?'

"Are you twins?" Kang Oh asked.

"Yes. And I am the older sister because I was born a few hours earlier," Karin said.

"You're funny," Soren replied.

"You!"

"You're really...!"

The two looked like they'd fight any second now. Kang Oh smiled at the sight of the two sisters.

'It's the same wherever you go.'

They looked just like Mina and Yura when they were fighting. As an older brother who'd seen several of their fights, he knew better than to get in the middle of it.

"If you two are going to fight, then I'll leave and come back when you're finished," Kang Oh said, and the two did a complete 180, as if they were never going to fight in the first place.

"We weren't fighting."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Then let's clear some things up. I'm in my early twenties, and you can call me whatever's comfortable."

"If you're in your early twenties, then you are older than us," Karen said.

"Then I'll call you oppa too. You don't need to be polite with us," Soren said.

"Alright." Kang Oh nodded his head.

"So, Oppa." Karin stared at him.

"Yeah?"

"Can we really beat Galmoss? I joined because you'd be taking part, but he won't be easy to beat."

Soren, who was right next to her, nodded her head.

They'd actually fought Galmoss before. Of course, they'd been helpless against it. After that, they dreamt of their revenge.

Then, Man Bok had told them that Kang Oh was forming a team to beat it. The two had jumped on the opportunity.

However, when they actually sat down and thought about it, they asked themselves 'Can we win?'.

"We can," Kang Oh said confidently. There was no 'undefeatable' monster in this world! This was his creed.

Kang Oh's fame and his confidence helped them make up their minds.

"Alright, let's do it!" Karin clenched her fist.

"Yeah, let's!" Soren did the same.

"Follow me. I'll introduce you to our other teammates, and then we'll talk about the fight ahead."

"Ok!"

* * *

They gathered at Eder's house. Kang Oh, Eder, Darion, Karin, Soren, and even Man Bok were there!

The maid served them tea, and the team began to introduce themselves.

"You're really Darion?" The twins' eyes gleamed as they looked at him.

"Yes. I am Darion, the Invincible Gladiator, Burkan's final student." Darion raised his shoulders.

'It's because he's handsome.'

Darion had several female fans due to his good looks. Thus, he knew that Soren and Karin would be fans of his. Of course, that was a huge misunderstanding on his part.

"I've heard of you. He's that Darion," Karin whispered.

"Yeah. He's where the 'Darion' meme came from."

The meme he'd posted on Arthtory was still widely being used.

"Oh. He really does look like a Darion, doesn't he?"

"Yep."

Honestly, they looked at him like they would a rare animal at the zoo.

Anyhow, Kang Oh stood up when the time was right. "Let's begin the meeting."

Everyone went quiet and stared at Kang Oh.

"We're going to hunt Galmoss. Could you please pass them out?" Kang Oh said to the maid, who stood off to the side. She then passed out the stack of papers that she'd been clutching to her chest.

"This is what we know about the Roaming Galmoss." Kang Oh pointed at the paper. "Please memorize it before the hunt."

Eder perused the paper and said, "The Reaper of Souls will prove to be an issue."

Galmoss possessed a greatsword called the 'Reaper of Souls'. It was a truly overpowered weapon.

Why, you may ask?

The Reaper of Souls bypassed shields and armor. Befitting its name as Reaper of Souls, it did a tremendous amount of damage, as if it'd actually cut through one's soul.

"The Reaper of Souls. That's the biggest reason that Galmoss is considered unbeatable. Tanks can't do their jobs properly against it."

In general, a normal team consisted of a tank, which would aggro the boss, DPSers, who'd deal damage to the boss, and other teammates that offered support like healers or supporters.

However, tanks were useless against Galmoss. The Reaper of Souls would bypass their tough shields and armor. Which meant that Galmoss would kill the tanks in 3 seconds flat.

"Defense is pointless against it. So you have to keep evading it while dealing damage," Soren said.

"Is that even possible?" Karin asked.

There was another reason that the Reaper of Souls was called a cheat code. It was widely believed that the blade didn't have any weight to it. Thus, Galmoss swung the greatsword with incredible speed. This made it extremely difficult to avoid its attacks.

"If its equipment was where all its strength lies, then someone would've beaten it already. However, the boss itself is extremely powerful. It's a ghost-type boss, so it's immune to physical attacks. So you're forced to use elemental attacks like fire or lightning, but it has ridiculously high elemental resistances too," Karin added.

"She's right." Soren nodded her head.

If the Reaper of Souls was the strongest spear, then Galmoss's body was the strongest shield.

"I'll be the tank," Kang Oh said.

Soren was right. Fighting it head-on required someone skilled enough to repeatedly avoid its attack.

'Someone like me.'

"You will?"

"Will you be alright?"

Soren and Karin concernedly stared at Kang Oh. It wouldn't be easy. However, they also understood that Kang Oh, as one of the Numbers, was the only one capable of accomplishing this task.

"Mr. Kang Oh will be able to do it." Eder looked completely unfazed, as he'd fought alongside Kang Oh for a long time. He knew what he was capable of.

'He's not the type of person who's willing to accept that something is 'impossible'.'

"Yes, I'm sure he will."

When he fought alongside him in the Snowy Fields of Travium, Darion had seen Kang Oh's skill firsthand. Thus, he fully trusted in his skill.

'But everything else...'

His character was so-so. Kang Oh promised that he'd treat him better in the future, so he'd just have to wait and see.

"Darion, you and I will keep Galmoss busy," Kang Oh said. He wanted Darion to be the off-tank.

"Yes."

"Eder, you focus on healing, support, long-range attacks, etc., ok?"

Eder was both a Healer and a Necromancer. He could do everything aside from tanking.

"Understood."

"Soren and Karin, you need to do one thing and one thing only: deal damage."

"Ok!"

"Leave it to me!"

Soren and Karin simultaneously replied.

"Mr. Man Bok..."

"I'll prepare the basic necessities. Please let me know if you need something in particular. I'll get it for you," Man Bok, who'd been sitting quietly and sipping his tea, said.

Then, the twins stood up as if they'd been waiting for this moment.

"Uncle, buy me a staff!"

"I need a robe!"

"Hehehe." Man Bok just laughed.

"Let's end the meeting here and go hunting together. We have to learn how to work together."

"Where will we go?" Darion asked.

"Velin's Palace."