The giant collapsed into an eardrum-shattering earthquake.

  The whole chamber trembled, threatening to cave in entirely, sending a fresh wave of dust over Josh’s body. He immediately curled into a tight ball over Henry, squeezing his eyes shut as the floor jumped violently beneath them.

  Shards of obsidian and clumps of dirt pattered against his back like hail. System alerts pinged in his ears as his HP dropped, but he didn’t dare move for fear of losing another teammate.

  Josh lay there for what felt like eternity, his lungs burning, waiting for the follow-up attack, whether it was from Shane or the King Golem.

  Nothing happened.

  With a cough tearing from his throat, he forced his eyelids open, his vision swimming with dust. When he saw more clearly, he reeled at the sight. His mind somehow failed to grasp what had just happened.

  “...Holy—”

  He scrambled backward, his leather shoes sliding on the slick stone, trying to put distance between himself and the mountain of rubble that used to be the King Golem.

  A weight jerked his shoulder, nearly pulling him off balance.

  He hadn’t realized he was still clutching Henry’s armor straps in a death grip. His fingers wouldn’t move, like they were locked.

  Josh dragged the unconscious tank with him, Henry’s plate armor screeching against the obsidian.

  The S-rank nightmare, the monster that had deflected a B-rank tank like a bug, lay dead.

  The King Golem had [Iron Mirror], a skill that reflected any skill that was below S-rank. That meant...

  His gaze snapped to the figure standing amidst the swirling dust.

  Shane’s face was a mask, only his flat, vermillion gaze showing any sign of emotion. Annoyance? Or perhaps, boredom.

  When those dead eyes turned to Josh, a primitive spike of fear shot down his spine. Somehow, he felt smaller than he had in front of the Golem.

  A groan came from below. It was Henry, waking up in Josh’s grip.

  “Henr—Hunter Stone,” Josh croaked, his voice trembling. “Can you move?”

  “Ribs... think three are broken,” the tank wheezed, pushing himself up on one arm. He looked at the mountain of stone lying a few feet away. “What the...?”

  But he clamped his mouth shut when Shane came near them.

  The hunter had just blown a hole through a living mountain, yet he wasn’t even winded.

  The two looked up at him as he stared down.

  Why was he coming so close without saying anything?

  Josh opened his mouth, but no sound came out. It took everything he had to stop himself from physically recoiling. Though the guy saved his party, Josh’s body was still in “fight or flight” mode, where his instincts screamed at him to run away from the new S-rank monster.

  After all, they didn’t know who “Shane” was.

  Josh didn’t know his full name, his guild, or his alignment. The man just walked into an S-rank dungeon and demolished a calamity.

  And in the lawless depths of a dungeon, a stranger with this much power could become much more dangerous than a Golem.

  What rang an alarm in Josh’s head was the fact that, as someone working in HR management, there wasn’t an S-rank that Josh didn’t know of. Yet he’d never even heard a wisp of a rumor about Shane.

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  If this guy was an unregistered S-rank hunter trying to keep his identity hidden, it wasn’t unlikely that he’d try to silence the witnesses. Killing someone inside a dungeon was a good way to destroy evidence, after all.

  Josh barely stopped himself from begging for their lives. To be honest, if Shane wanted the loot, he could have it; they wouldn’t care as long as he let them live.

  The only thing the two could do was just wait in silence to see what Shane would do.

  The man raised an eyebrow.

  “Are you planning to cuddle with your tank on the floor all day?”

  Josh blinked, before realizing Shane was holding something.

  Cradled in his arms was the swordswoman, Elodie, from Josh’s party, who had originally been caught in the [Nightmare Shackle]. She was limp, her head lolled back against his arm, her black hair cascading down toward the floor.

  But she looked alive. Alive, Josh thought.

  The tension that had been holding him together melted in that moment.

  He slumped down, barely catching himself on the cold floor, his breath coming in broken heaves.

  “Jesus, thank you...” Josh choked out, the reality finally crashing down on him. His eyes grew glassy with sudden moisture that pooled along his lash line. “Thank you so much.”

  Shane didn’t say anything as he looked down at Josh.

  It was quite surprising, because he seemed like the type to judge weakness like this, but instead of giving a snarky remark, he just handed over the sleeping woman to another hunter that had edged close.

  As the archer took Elodie with shaky hands, Shane was free to adjust his coat collar where the shockwave had skewed it.

  Josh watched him smooth out the fabric, the movement so mundane, so human, against the backdrop of the sizzling titan behind him.

  In that moment, in Josh’s head, the center of gravity was the man dusting off his coat.

  The fear was still there, but it was now warring with a desperate, ingrained urge to reach into his inventory, crawl over the rubble, and... hand him a new business card.

  The one with his private direct line, that he usually only handed to Guild Masters.

  I have to get this man on the payroll, Josh thought, staring at Shane’s back with feverish intensity, even if I have to strangle the Guildmaster until he agrees to double the budget.

  *

  This dungeon’s a joke if you have [Fireball], Shane thought, his heart thumping a little faster than he’d like.

  His face stayed a blank mask thanks to his [Behavior Lock]. If his expression had matched the shock he felt inside, the hunters would have buried him in an avalanche of questions. He needed to look like a guy who wouldn’t bleed if you stabbed him.

  At least, until the reward finished loading.

  [Payday! One moment while I wrap it up for you.]

  A text popped up in his vision, promising the goods, along with an elaborate treasure chest that solidified from thin air with a heavy clank before him. With nothing to do but wait, he lit a new cigarette beside the locked box.

  Next to him, the archer breathed, “That was so cool.”

  “I honestly thought we were all gonna die for a second there!” another hunter exclaimed, shaking out her hand as if shedding the tension.

  Only half-listening to the praise and gratitude of the NPCs, Shane focused on the massive mountain of rocks that was slowly starting to crumble.

  His lips twitched, and the corner of his mouth tugged up into a wry, effortless smirk.

  He didn’t think he’d find his target this fast.

  Sometimes, having a few screaming meat shields around did come in handy. If they hadn’t acted as bait, Shane might not have been able to kill the boss unscathed.

  His thoughts drifted to the massive curse circle that had been dominating the giant chamber.

  [Curse Immunity], which sat at C-minus, had been a godsend.

  Without it, Shane wouldn’t have even dreamed of clearing this dungeon riddled with D-rank curses.

  Before he quit the game, the only countermeasure to curses was [Curse Resistance]. It was a watered down version of his current power, but was considered one of the most important assets to possess.

  So combining the skill with his [Predator of the Seraphim] title and the sword he was about to get, he’d be able to pull his own weight by the next real dungeon.

  As for his method of clearing this one… judging by the NPCs’ reactions, he could see they hadn’t suspected a thing.

  Shane was an F-rank. Even with his title, which bumped his skills’ rank up two tiers when faced with Celestial-class monsters, there was no way he could fight A-rank or S-rank enemies in his current state. That’s why he had chosen this specific event dungeon.

  His thought process had been simple:

  Too weak for high-rank monsters. Choose a dungeon that is already cleared, with all the monsters technically dead.

  Lacks utility skills. Avoid dungeons with obstacles like deep water that can’t be bypassed with [Blink].

  F-rank status limits equipment options. Avoid dungeons that reward gear with high rank requirements.

  Must clear the dungeon alone. Avoid dungeons with puzzles or mechanics requiring two or more people.

  Needs an ability that doesn’t overlap with existing high-rank hunters. Avoid dungeons that drop gear similar to what’s already out there.

  …After filtering through the options, he chose the dungeon with the best reward.

  It was a shame these monsters didn’t drop any loot, but the payout was going to be more than worth it.