A Raid.

Unlike a dungeon, which was underground, a Raid was aboveground. During a Raid, a warp gate would open, spilling out monsters.

The Hunters closest to the warp gate would be called first and subsequently, Hunters would be deployed that were at the appropriate rank. Since areas within the vicinity of a warp gate were dangerous, he couldn’t use a taxi. Therefore, Sung Joon ran as fast as he could to the warp gate site.

“Let me check your identity!”

As Sung Joon approached, he met the controlling officer. The soldier blocked him and asked for his Hunter’s license.

“It’s right here.” Sung Joon presented it.

“I’ve confirmed your identity. You can go in.”

The soldier confirmed his identity and moved aside. Sung Joon began running again.

Kwang!

Sung Joon arrived at the assembly area and he heard an explosion. Near the assembly area, he heard gunfire and rampant screams.

A non-com officer ran towards Sung Joon and relayed the situation to him.

“The army and the first arriving Hunters are blocking the wave! Please go to the battlefield quickly!”

After the dungeons had first appeared, several soldiers began to be stationed in the city. They, like today, during the outbreak of a Raid, were the first to arrive and fight against the monsters.

Their bullets couldn’t contain mana, and Hunters couldn’t belong to the regular army because of the international treaty so the only thing the army could do was to buy the most time that they could.

“The battlefield is this way!”

The non-com officer lead Sung Joon to the battlefield. The twenty or so Hunters and the army were fighting intensely against Trolls.

The monsters’ corpses disappeared continuously but the fallen Hunters just went cold and still.

“It’s a B-rank Raid but there are only three B-rank Hunters who have joined up. You must fight right away!” the non-com officer urged.

Sung Joon wordlessly drew his sword and rushed into the fiercest part of the battle.

“H-Help, has arrived!”

The Supporter Hunter’s face brightened when he saw Sung Joon. Seeing as how he couldn’t even see an afterimage when Sung Joon closed the distance so quickly, the Supporter assumed that he had to be at least a B-rank Hunter.

At Sung Joon’s sudden appearance, the sharp spear-wielding Trolls focused their attention on him.

“I-I’ll buff you right now!” the Supporter said.

“That’s not necessary,” Sung Joon replied.

Sung Joon ignored the Supporter and swung his sword. His blade reflected the sunlight and like a flash, whenever his sword shone, a Troll’s head would fall and its lifeless body would follow.

Before the Supporter Hunter had even started casting, the fifteen Trolls that had surrounded them became headless corpses, their heads rolling around on the ground.

“Save your mana. A Raid is a prolonged fight,” Sung Joon said.

After advising the Hunter, Sung Joon raised his hand.

“Absorb.”

After he absorbed their mana, the monsters’ bodies dissipated.

“Your synchronization rate didn’t increase,” Rishubalt reported.

Since his synchronization rate had passed 10%, the fifteen mere C-rank Trolls hadn’t even raised his synchronization rate a little.

“I should kill a lot of them.”

Sung Joon grasped his sword and gave advance notice before the massacre. Then he went around the four-lane road, helping out the Hunters in danger.

It was a hassle for C-rank Hunters to take on trolls, but that wasn’t true for Sung Joon. Whenever he swung his sword, the monsters would fall helplessly.

“A-Amazing!”

“Is he an A-rank Hunter?”

Since they now had spare time, the Hunters checked their surroundings. They immediately saw the active Sung Joon and were in awe of his astounding combat abilities.

A few of them thought that Sung Joon was an A-rank Hunter, and their spirits were uplifted.

“Do we have a Healer Hunter?!”

Someone was looking for a Healer. Sung Joon turned his head in the direction of the voice. There, a spear-wielding man was holding a bloodied woman in his arms and with the help of the surrounding Hunters, he was retreating.

Of the Hunters who had been summoned, there didn’t seem to be another Healer, as no one had responded to his cry.

“I’m going!” Sung Joon replied.

Since Sung Joon’s ‘Heal’ had an effective range, he needed to get closer. He ran towards them and approached the collapsed Hunter, raising his left hand.

“Heal!”

“Ugh..”

A pure white light enveloped her and the unconscious Hunter regained consciousness. The Hunter holding the girl had found Sung Joon after looking around restlessly.

“Thank you very much!”

Sung Joon nodded his head and joined the battle once more. Three Supporter Hunters at the rear were astonished at the sight.

“What? He wasn’t a Combat Hunter?”

“His healing power’s no joke. Is he really an A-rank Hunter?”

“He might even be an S-rank. If we do well, we should be able to take down the Raid Boss before the assault team comes.”

Despite Sung Joon’s participation, the wave of monsters surged upon them, and the army and the Hunters were helplessly picked off one or two at a time.

Sung Joon swung his sword while casting ‘Heal’ but it was impossible for him to manage more than twenty Hunters alone.

“I think the first wave is finished!”

When the wave boss, the Troll Berserker, fell, the first wave was complete. Ten Hunters had died and five Hunters had come to take their place.

Although there had been a B-rank Hunter mixed in with the casualties, none of the reinforcing Hunters were B-rank or higher.

Since the next wave hadn’t come yet, the Hunters took a short break.

“When is the assault team coming?” a Hunter asked, grabbing a soldier.

“T-This time, it seems like the Hound Guild that is responsible for this area hadn’t prepared an assault team for a Raid yet.”

When a Raid occurred, the first Hunters called were those in the immediate vicinity. Next, the Bureau sent an appropriately ranked assault team but sometimes, a nearby guild would dispatch their regular assault team instead.

One of the reasons that guilds focused so heavily on their fighting strength was because they usually had to take care of the Raids.

“Hold the second wave! It looks like we’ll encounter them within ten minutes.”

“I asked when the assault team is coming!”

“How long do we have to hold out!?”

The soldier watching the wave reported that the second wave was approaching , increasing the dissatisfaction of the mustered Hunters. A Hunter could receive a huge reward from a Raid, but since they had to battle so many monsters, there was a higher risk of dying.

“I received word that the assault team departed! They’ll come within thirty minutes!”

“They’ll take thirty minutes to get here? Where the hell are they leaving from?”

“In ten minutes, the second wave will come. We’ll all die!”

The soldier grasping his radio relayed the information regarding the attack team. However, he couldn’t calm down the enraged Hunters.

Compared to the first wave, the second wave obviously had more monsters and stronger monsters. The group of Hunters thought they wouldn’t be able to block it.

‘It seems like it’ll be difficult to block the wave..’ Sung Joon thought.

Sung Joon thought the same as the other Hunters. He was confident that he would survive but he wasn’t confident that he could block all the monsters by himself.

He only had one body and there were several monsters in a wave.

They fought along with the army but they wouldn’t be enough. If the monsters made it out of this restricted area, the civilians would definitely get hurt.

“Go look at the number of monsters and come back. If it’s possible, find the location of the warp gate,” Sung Joon commanded Rishubalt.

Rishubalt moved immediately. A little while later, Rishubalt finished scouting and returned.

“The number of monsters in the second wave is about double that of the first wave. The warp gate is closer than we thought.”

“How many monsters are guarding it?”

“There aren’t many but they’re all elites. There are twenty Living Armors guarding it. One of them looked to be the commander.”

“If there are twenty B-rank monsters, I should be able to take care of them in around ten minutes,” Sung Joon mused.

Although he had used a stealth item, Sung Joon had gained confidence from fighting against the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch, and their A-rank Hunters.

As Sung Joon was preparing himself on-site, a Bureau worker called him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“You know that we cannot handle the second wave, right?” the Bureau worker said easily.

Sung Joon smirked.

“I’ll intercept the warp gate.”

If he took down the Raid Boss and destroyed the warp gate, the surviving monsters would also be unsummoned back to their preexisting dimension.

While they blocked the wave, a detached force would make a detour and intercept the warp gate. It was a strategy that several had attempted whenever a Raid broke out, but there had never been an attempt at it alone.

“Is it possible?”

“There won’t be any problems.”

“I’ll tell you this in advance but this is a dangerous plan, and the Bureau won’t take any..”

“Responsibility? I know, so don’t worry.”

Sung Joon checked the time. There were only five minutes before the second wave arrived.

“When I break the warp gate, I’ll be the MVP of this Raid, right?”

If he became the MVP, he could be rewarded by 30% more.

“Of course. No one would be able to object to you being the MVP.”

“There isn’t much time left. I’ll be going immediately.”

Sung Joon moved before the Bureau worker could respond. In a short time, he encountered monsters from the second wave.

“We can make a detour.”

Rishubalt guided Sung Joon along the way that he had previously mapped out while scouting. Thanks to him, Sung Joon didn’t have to fight any monsters before arriving in front of the warp gate.

There were twenty Living Armors silently guarding the warp gate, like statues. One of them had several decorations on its armor. It seemed that it was the commander.

“They may look disorganized but they’re in a battle formation.”

“It looks that way,” Sung Joon responded, nodding his head.

Sung Joon raised his sword and estimated the distance between him and the closest Living Armor.

He leaped once and instantly closed the distance.

He was too fast. The Living Armors couldn’t even respond.

After he had taken down two Living Armors with his aura-clad sword, the other Living Armors belatedly raised their weapons. They aimed their swords, spears, and iron maces at him.

However, Sung Joon had already had already moved to their blind spots and taken down a few more Living Armors.

Kwang!

“You’ve gotten more skilled with your combat swordsmanship! You’re amazing!” Rishubalt said in admiration, watching from his side.

As Sung Joon’s synchronization rate rose, his understanding of his combat swordsmanship became deeper.

As he fought the Living Armors, he took a brief glance at the commander. He didn’t bat an eye at his subordinate’s deaths and didn’t move an inch, guarding his position like a statue.

‘Is he trying to grasp my swordsmanship?’

It seemed as if he was following Sung Joon’s movements, as he moved his head slightly.

“Absorb!”

Eventually, he defeated the nineteen Living Armors. Sung Joon raised his hand and absorbed the mana.

He had fought several monsters in the previous wave and defeated nineteen B-ranked Living Armors, absorbing their mana. Due to that, perhaps, he felt that he had awakened a part of his lost memories.

“Is he moving now?”

When its subordinates died, the commanding Living Armor moved its heavy body. He laughed at its appearance for some time and looked at Rishubalt, asking..

“What’s my synchronization rate?”

“It’s at 14%.”

“It went up quite a bit. What’s my new ability?”

“You can understand the language of another world completely now.”

“What a useless ability.”

Sung Joon shook his head and looked ahead. The commanding Living Armor slowly removed his helmet. In the space that should’ve been empty, there was the face of a handsome man.

“A person..?”

It wasn’t a Living Armor.

“Where did you learn that swordsmanship?”

He asked eloquently in the language of another world.