The nature of dungeons was that they required periodic raids.

If the raids weren’t conducted, situations like this could occur.

Grrrrrr—!

The Leo Wolf crouched low, baring its fangs.

This place was a public dungeon named MA-15.

There were no other monsters here—only slimes were summoned.

Because of that, even low-level Awakened rarely visited it.

Normally, the Bureau would conduct raids and manage it, but the Bureau was always short on manpower.

As a result, they missed the timing for the raid, leading to the unintended consequence of monster summoning.

"Team Leader."

One of the team members, looking nervous, kept his gaze fixed on the Leo Wolf as he called out to Choi Sungkyun.

In the Bureau, routine raids on public dungeons were commonly referred to as "cleaning."

And while the cleanup of the MA-15 dungeon had been somewhat delayed, no one had expected monsters to be summoned in the middle of it.

The sheer disbelief was written all over his face.

"How many do you think there are?"

Unlike his team members, Choi Sungkyun remained composed. When he asked, another team member swallowed dryly before answering.

"We’re completely surrounded. There must be at least forty of them…."

At those words, Choi Sungkyun bit his lip.

The Leo Wolf, like the Twin-Headed Ogre, was classified as a C-rank monster.

And there weren’t just one or two of them—there were forty.

"Team Leader."

One of the team members called out to him softly, as if urging him to give an order. After a brief pause, he murmured.

"The moment they come in, switch to Formation C."

"But if we do that, Cheonsu will be in danger."

"There’s no other choice."

"……."

Choi Sungkyun glanced at Im Cheonsu. He simply nodded as if to say he was fine.

Carefully, Choi Sungkyun drew his weapon.

And at that moment—

The Leo Wolves pounced.

"Formation C!"

At Choi Sungkyun’s shout, the team members moved in perfect coordination, forming a circle with their shoulders pressed together.

The Leo Wolves, who had been charging in aggressively, hesitated upon seeing their defensive stance.

Instead, they circled around, looking for an opening.

"Cheonsu, you okay?"

Choi Sungkyun kept his eyes locked on the Alpha Leo Wolf as he asked.

"Yes!"

"If necessary, drop the shield."

"I’ll hold out as long as I can."

"Good."

The Leo Wolves were indeed intelligent.

After a prolonged standoff, they noticed that Im Cheonsu’s shield was beginning to flicker.

They seized the moment.

Grrr!

The Leo Wolves lunged from all directions.

Choi Sungkyun thrust his sword at one of the charging wolves. The blade struck the monster square in the forehead, but it didn’t pierce through.

Grrr!

Another wolf charged. This time, he concentrated his ether into his shield, blocking its body slam.

As the beast yelped and tumbled across the ground, he quickly redirected the ether from his shield to his sword and drove it into the monster’s nape.

Squelch—!

He could feel it.

One down.

"One clear!"

Following his call, the other team members also began shouting out their own kills. As time passed, the number of remaining Leo Wolves dwindled to around twenty.

"Cheonsu, how much mana do you have left?"

"I can… still manage."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Im Cheonsu shouted with confidence, but in truth, his condition was far from good.

His mana was nearly depleted. He had exhausted it trying to maintain his shield during the standoff with the Leo Wolves.

'I have to endure.'

If the formation collapsed, the entire team would be in danger. That was the one thing he had to prevent.

Grrr—!

Whenever the Leo Wolves lunged, he used Dig magic as efficiently as possible to conserve mana.

When his mana ran out completely, he even resorted to downing an emergency mana potion to maintain the formation.

But even a light drizzle eventually soaks through.

His mana was running dry, and the Leo Wolves soon realized he was only using a single spell.

They adjusted their strategy.

Like gazelles, they leapt off the ground to evade the Dig magic, attempting to land directly on top of him.

Had he been a regular Awakened, he could have used his weapon to strike at the wolf’s unguarded abdomen. But as a mage, Im Cheonsu was different.

"……!"

He had no choice but to use an offensive spell, yet there wasn’t a single drop of mana left.

"Aaaagh!"

The Leo Wolf clamped down on his shoulder, making him scream reflexively.

"Cheonsu!"

The beast bit down even harder, as if determined to tear his arm off.

The pain was so intense that he nearly blacked out, but he gritted his teeth and plunged a dagger into the wolf’s belly.

Unfortunately, it was futile.

The dagger wasn’t enough to penetrate the Leo Wolf’s thick hide.

His teammates couldn’t come to his aid. They were too preoccupied fending off their own attackers.

All they could do was steal anxious glances at him as he writhed on the ground in agony.

Eventually, Im Cheonsu’s arm became a mangled mess. His veins protruded, and the bone of his elbow was fully exposed.

He had long since lost consciousness due to the unbearable pain. At this rate, even his life was in jeopardy.

Then—

"Team Leader Choi!"

A faint voice called out from beyond. The reinforcements they had requested had finally arrived.

"Over here!"

With the arrival of the support team, they were able to quickly take care of the remaining Leo Wolves.

But the injuries among the team were severe. Im Cheonsu’s in particular was devastating—his arm hung limply in a grotesque manner.

Choi Sungkyun stepped into the shop.

Normally full of vigor, he now wore an unusually somber expression.

"One bottle of soju, please."

"Would you like any food to go with it…?"

"No, I’m fine."

As Yeon-jun placed a bottle of soju and some basic side dishes in front of him, Choi Sungkyun wordlessly took the bottle and drank straight from it, lost in thought.

Even after emptying an entire bottle of soju in one go, he didn’t even frown.

He simply ordered another.

“I’ll pour for you.”

When Yeon-jun, who had brought the soju, spoke, Choi Sungkyun hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Pour—

Gulp!

Pour—

Gulp—!

Choi Sungkyun downed each drink the moment it was poured.

“You should at least have some macaroni.”

“I don’t have an appetite…”

“You’ll hurt your stomach like this.”

“So what if I do?”

Yeon-jun stopped pouring. Perhaps realizing his intention, Choi Sungkyun let out a faint smile.

“The owner here really is a good person. The one in the kitchen too…”

“……”

“Do you know what my nickname is?”

In truth, Yeon-jun was well aware of the team leader’s nickname. He had often seen his team members visit the bar.

Choi Sungkyun smirked bitterly.

“Perpetual A-Rank. I can’t advance any further, so they call me that.”

“……”

“I never really minded before, but lately, I’ve been feeling doubtful.”

“Doubtful…?”

“Doubtful of my own helplessness. Especially…”

Choi Sungkyun recalled the recent Bamseom Channel incident.

He had attempted to sacrifice himself to seal the channel.

It wasn’t out of some grand sense of heroism or selflessness.

It was a purely logical decision.

Think about it. A person who has been stuck at A-Rank for ten years versus a subordinate at B-Rank.

Right now, an A-Rank might be a valuable asset to the Bureau, but a B-Rank had potential.

The potential to grow into an S-Rank.

After the Great Upheaval, human lives were assigned value, and awakened ones were no exception.

If someone had to be sacrificed, it was better for the one with no future than the one with even a shred of potential.

That was his reasoning when he volunteered.

But now, people were calling him a hero.

Even though he had done nothing heroic and had nearly lost a subordinate today.

“Hah…”

Choi Sungkyun swallowed his words and sighed.

“One of my subordinates was severely injured this time.”

“Is it the one I saw on TV…?”

“That’s right.”

“……”

“They say the nerves in his arm are damaged, and he won’t be able to use it anymore. He’ll have to live as a cripple, yet the doctor says he’s lucky. That it’s a miracle he didn’t lose the entire arm after being bitten by a Leo Wolf.”

For a moment, Yeon-jun recalled the cartoonish Leo Wolf emoji.

They were often depicted as cute, but reality was different. Leo Wolves were terrifying killing machines.

The doctor might be right—surviving a bite from one without losing a limb really was a miracle.

“I saw it.”

“What?”

“I saw Cheon-su struggling. The Leo Wolf was on top of him, savaging his arm, and all I could do was watch. While his arm was being torn apart…”

Yeon-jun remained silent. He felt that any words of comfort would only make things worse.

Choi Sungkyun smiled bitterly.

“If I were S-Rank… or an even higher rank, none of this would have happened.”

“Don’t blame yourself. You did your best.”

“I did my best, but I didn’t get the best outcome. The best outcome would’ve been bringing everyone back unscathed.”

“……”

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic, but it just slipped out…”

“I understand.”

Hearing that, Yeon-jun suddenly seemed to remember something. He stepped into the kitchen and returned with a plate of gimbap.

“Gimbap?”

“Yes. My brother made it. It’s really good. You should try some.”

Choi Sungkyun chuckled softly.

For something offered as just a taste, there was quite a lot of it.

He carefully picked up a piece and ate it.

“It’s good.”

“Right?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have any memories related to gimbap?”

“Memories?”

“Yeah. Everyone seems to have at least one nostalgic memory tied to gimbap.”

For the first time, a faint smile appeared on Choi Sungkyun’s face.

He seemed lost in thought, recalling something.

“Looks like you do?”

“Do you have one too?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t?”

Yeon-jun shared a story he had once told to Seo-jun. Seeing the faintly wistful look on Choi Sungkyun’s face, he asked,

“What’s your story?”

“Mine….”

He smirked.

“It was back when I was dating my wife.”

“Dating?”

“Yeah. I think we had been together for about four months. We went on a date at the Han River.”

“The Han River is nice.”

“She packed gimbap. We both ate it happily. It was really delicious. Honestly, even better than my mother’s… but then…”

Choi Sungkyun let out a short laugh.

“Something happened, didn’t it?”

“It must’ve been because of the heat, but the gimbap must’ve gone bad. While we were walking, my wife’s expression turned odd.”

“Her expression?”

“Yeah. I asked what was wrong, but she said it was nothing. So we kept walking. Then, suddenly… Pfft— A tiny fart sound came out of nowhere.”

“Ah…”

“It was hers. We were still early in our relationship, so her face turned bright red, and she was completely flustered. But to me, it was just adorable.”

“I get it.”

When you truly love someone, everything they do is endearing.

That must have been how it was for Choi Sungkyun.

“She kept making excuses. Saying she usually never farts, that something must be wrong with her stomach…”

“And what did you say?”

“It was so cute that I just smiled and said, ‘Alright.’”

Lost in his memories, Choi Sungkyun chuckled quietly.

Yeon-jun let out a sigh of relief.