"Damn."
I cursed as I fumbled with my hands. I had to get the ropes off my wrists as fast as possible.
I had to free my legs from the vines even faster. But I had no strength left.
Funny.
I, an S-Class Hunter, didn't have enough strength to tear a plant apart.
Grrrrrr.
A low growl sounded nearby.
No, damn it. I needed more time.
Hope that the monsters had lost me was gone. Naive. Those wolf-like bastards could sniff prey from a mile away.
Lucky they hunt alone. That's why I hadn't been eaten yet.
A little more.
More!
The rope finally came loose. The vine immediately tightened around my legs, but I had already grabbed a fallen tree trunk.
Up above, on the cliff, chaos began.
The sound of water and a dogfight quickened my heartbeat.
I hurriedly cut at the vine with a stone. Why was it so strong?
My left leg broke free. But one of the dogs had already leapt down from the cliff. Without warning, it lunged at me.
"Fuck! Get the hell off me!"
I pressed myself as low as I could under the tree trunk.
The wolf bit into my leg. The sound of tearing flesh again.
It hurt. Damn, it hurt so much.
I kicked the bastard, hit it in the face with the stone. It didn't care.
Another dog jumped down and charged at me with a loud snarl.
What the fuck.
I huddled under the trunk again. Only my leg and the wolf biting it were visible.
Just in time.
A clawed paw barely missed my side.
Neither I nor the new monster noticed that the first attacker had been distracted from my leg.
Blood poured over me from above.
The wolf attacked the wolf.
As soon as the bastard opened its jaws, I struck its neck.
Again. Again. Again!
I struck until the heavy body went limp and collapsed on me, pinning me to the ground.
The blood of two beasts covered my face and body. My temples throbbed. My arms began to lose strength.
Another monster jumped down.
The dull thud meant this enemy was even bigger and heavier.
I had no strength left to resist. I couldn't even move the corpses.
Was this the end?
BOOM.
An explosion rang out somewhere, and the ground vibrated. The sound of the wolf fight above stopped. Everything went silent.
I lay there, pinned under two corpses. Breathing was hard. The smell of wet fur and blood made me nauseous.
My eyes closed.
***
A helicopter with roaring rotors landed smoothly on the rooftop landing pad of the "Latin Supremacy" guild. A girl in military uniform stepped out without waiting for the blades to stop spinning.
"It's nice when you're not late."
"Yeah."
Sunglasses appeared in her hands from nowhere. She looked at the tanned man in front of her and put them on. Dark eyes hid behind the lenses.
"Basically, everything's ready. Entry is scheduled for 14:00."
"And in five hours of work, you already got results?"
"No, but they want to act fast."
"Okay."
Elena Lim. S-Class Hunter. Sixth place in the rankings of the United Latin American Continent (ULAC) — a republic with the richest natural magical resources in the world.
ULAC controlled two-thirds of South America and was one of the three largest superpowers.
Elena, along with her B-rank manager, entered the gleaming glass lobby without a word.
A group of staff joined them along the way. One of them started reporting the situation without stepping aside. It had been the first time since the Great World Explosion that something like this happened.
The procession moved through the corridors. People ran around like ants, making noise, but as soon as they noticed the girl in sunglasses, they went silent.
Elena ignored the polite bows.
The conference room, filled with screens, was packed with people in expensive suits. When the tall girl entered, the discussions stopped for a moment.
"Lim, you're early today. Take a seat."
"Yes, President."
Elena nodded and sat at the massive table. Her manager, politely greeting the guild head, stood behind her.
A green candy and a large tablet materialized in front of her. Elena habitually popped the candy in her mouth and started the game.
While she built a house in the construction simulator, hunters and researchers gradually took their seats.
She grabbed a second candy.
Silent holographic sheets, control panels, and traditional notebooks with pens appeared beside each seat.
After a while, she looked at the manager standing motionless behind her.
"Coffee."
The man silently nodded toward the central seat at the table. Elena shifted her gaze. The guild president was watching her.
She saved the game and focused on the hologram rising from the tablet in front of her.
Most hunters did the same.
"Let's begin the meeting. Today, April 26, 2178, at 01:24, the gates opened on Easter Island."
With the words, multiple video feeds from the site appeared on the screens. All known information was displayed on the holograms.
"The peculiarity of this incident is that the system window contains no information about this dungeon. Every field shows a question mark."
"This is the first time since the rift appeared in 1986. Today, on the 192nd anniversary of the Great World Explosion, some of us must enter unknown gates."
"With news of suspicious monster behavior and escapes from previously inactive dungeons around the world, we cannot rely on the International Security Alliance in this matter."
"Our guild, as the country's number one guild, together with our colleagues, will step forward and protect the citizens."
"Today at 14:00, a raid will take place that will, in one way or another, go down in history."
The president paused briefly.
"Please return alive."
All the hunters in the room knew this wasn't politeness — it was a real plea to survive.
"That's all from me. The strategy director will continue next."
On Easter Island.
Hunters stood in several rows before the large blue portal.
"I hope we meet again."
"Manager, take your hand off me."
The tanned man smiled gloomily and stopped patting Elena on the shoulder. She silently extended her hand. An envelope appeared in her palm.
The manager didn't ask. He knew it was a will.
Elena turned and walked toward the portal.
Some hunters were seeing off by their families. The atmosphere was heavy.
"Elena, babe. If it gets scary, run. I'll handle everything."
She turned her head to the man walking toward her with a cheerful smile.
A twenty-five-year-old guy with short blond hair and blue eyes. In her eyes, he looked like a snake.
"Babe — your boyfriend. Idiot."
It didn't embarrass him in the slightest, as always.
After a while, when Elena felt her ears were about to fall off from all the chatter, an officer approached her.
"Hunter Lim, please prepare yourself."
The girl stepped ahead of her guild's group. Besides her, there were two other S-rank hunters. The annoying guy — second place in the national ranking (ULAC). And a handsome dark-skinned guy with a "half-box" haircut — eighth place.
The first was a dealer, the second a healer.
The order of entry was set so that the most mobile raid members entered first for scouting, followed by tanks, dealers, and supports.
As someone with instant movement skill, Elena went first. Not as valuable as teleportation (shorter range), but still very useful.
Thanks to her constitution, which reflected part of incoming damage, she could function as both dealer and tank.
Elena removed her sunglasses.
13:59
Many began counting the time in unison.
Everyone was ready.
Elena exhaled and stepped through the unknown gates precisely at 14:00.