And once again, the god whispered in his ear, announcing the entrance of the hunters.

[Mission: Protect the dungeon core from the intruders.]

[Intruders: 10]

[Time: 00:01]

[Reward: Advance to tier Ⅱ and 2000 Dungeon Points]

[Failure: Destruction of Dungeon.]

Ignoring the notification for now, Dhruv turned his focus back on the screen, which was displaying the event happening in the entrance room.

’So, there are seven of them this time... why such a decrease in numbers...’

Dhruv thought, remembering the formation of his troops this time. If their power level is of a similar level to that of the previous hunters, then it would be a piece of cake.

’But I won’t be this lucky now, would I...’ Dhruv was observing their movement when one of the hunters suddenly moved and slashed the lurker apart.

’How can they see him, when he is the stronger version of the scout...’ Frowning, Dhruv finds his plan crumble into dust right in front of him.

The screen glitched for a second before disappearing altogether.

’I’ve to move the monsters out of the way...’ Thinking, Dhruv ordered Lucian to make the monsters who were waiting to ambush the hunters retreat back to the jungle.

If they can see them, he wasn’t going to serve the monster on their platter.

’But if all of the monsters retreated, how would I see their progress...’ After thinking for a moment, Dhruv realized there was no other option.

He has to sacrifice some of the monsters in exchange for learning about their location.

It was fortunate that he had summoned some scouts as well, so the wasting of dungeon points wasn’t much.

[Lucian keeps some of the Scots there. Place the scout at the right entrances so we can see them passing each checkpoint.]

[Will do master.]

With this approach, Dhruv only needs to expand three monsters to keep track of their progress.

’Please, gods... let them spend at least two hours in the maze...’ Praying to the gods, Dhruv looked back at the statue and tried to understand the stake he had this time.

’An increase in the dungeon point despite only seven hunters... hmm, did the dungeon measure their strength before giving the rewards, or is it just random?’

Thinking, he looked up, but there was no one to answer this for him.

’Let’s assume the worst for now... so these seven could be stronger than the previous hunters... but how strong? If there isn’t really a strong gap between the two, then I can manage somehow, but if there is... then it’s gg.’ Thinking, Dhruv turned his head around and looked at the penalty for the failure.

’Here it only mentions that the destruction of the dungeon... does that mean I can escap—’ Before he could finish his thought, a whisper rang in his ear.

[Upon the destruction of the dungeon, any being inside of it will cease to exist along with it as well.]

’Sigh, there really isn’t any way to escape the dungeon...’ As he was thinking about it, something came to his mind.

’But wait a minute, why are you answering now and not all that time when I was begging for an answer?’ Dhruv asked, but once again it had gone silent.

Complaining about it, something clicked in his head.

’Wait, didn’t the system and the dungeon authority have merged in the past... Can this affect the dungeon to answer the question that is exclusive to it?’ As if having uncovered something, Dhruv looked up and asked about something in the mission.

"What happens when the dungeon upgrades to tier Ⅱ ?"

[Upgrading the dungeon to tier Ⅱ grants these rewards:

Free daily summons

A Dungeon exclusive artifact

An Active Skill

A Guardian Creation Card

Earning exp for the monsters

Additional Worker Class Type Monsters

Passage to the Underworld

Remove the limitation on entrance and leaving]

’Whoa whoa! So it really can answer my question...’ Reading the list, when he reached the last two, a frown appeared over his face.

’...but why do the last two of them sound like a punishment? And what is this underworld? Is this hell?’ Thinking, Dhruv turned and asked the question, but once again the system had turned silent.

’Tsk!! This bastard really only answers when it wants to.’ Sighing, Dhruv turned his head and closed the status.

’Good... they are still in there...’ Looking back at the panel, he didn’t see any of the hunters yet, so he heaved a sigh of relief.

With nothing else to do, Dhruv began weaving mana in his hand.

With all the training he had done, there was an obvious improvement in his capability. But still, it wasn’t enough to go into battle.

That doesn’t mean he was without any options.

’I can use the shoe and Wither as a combo to hurt some of them... i don’t think it would be fatal, but... it could give others enough time to finish them.’

Nodding his head, Dhruv continued his training when the movement of the panel caught his attention.

Turning his head, he finds that the hunters have reached the first scout and killed them.

’How did they come here this quickly... were they lucky...’ As he thought about it a bad feeling began to rise in his stomach.

Forgetting about the spell, he paid all his attention back on the panel and soon enough the hunters reached the second scout as well.

Sweat began to gather above his head as Dhruv realized it.

’It wasn’t because of some luck. There must be someone with an ability specially tailored to find the right place...’ Thinking, Dhruv looked at the timer. It hasn’t even been ten minutes, and they were halfway to the jungle.

[Lucian retreats the monster to the deeper part of the jungle. We have to come up with something else. They can find the correct path and will have their entire arsenal with them. It can be dangerous to face them at their best.]

[Is everything good, master?] A reply came, a hint of worry apparent in his voice.

[Nope... absolutely not. There is nothing good.] Dhruv replied, wiping the sweat from his face.

The plan to utilize the dungeon’s passive ability seemed impossible this time around, as Dhruv found the only way forward was direct confrontation.