Magnus of Ice

CERBERUS

Before encountering the monster, Jin-Woo and Magnus continued their conversation. "A key that allows us to enter the 'Demon Castle'... Its rarity is S," Magnus started as he could sense the creature they were about to face. "Yeah, and as we said earlier, If the dungeon's difficulty is tied to the key's item rarity, our chances of survival will be very low," Jin-Woo said as he stopped, thinking about their future course of action. "Right, they'll be low, but definitely above zero," Magnus said, agreeing with what Jin-Woo said.

"So... The best approach is to level up as much as we can and enter instance dungeons when we have the chance in the future." Jin-Woo started as he stared blankly at a burning building. The flames from the building seemed to be building up as the wind swayed. Standing next to him, Magnus held his hand. "At B-rank and above, the difficulty of the dungeon rises explosively, even for me, who was originally a C-rank hunter, that's leveled up quite a bit thanks to the system." Squeezing his hand, Jin-Woo continued, "Luckily, higher-ranked gates are much rarer than lower-ranked ones; only a handful of S-rank gates have ever opened."

"S-rank... Like Jeju island?" Magnus couldn't help but ask as he remembered the day the dungeon break occurred. He had been at the cafe, preparing to open up, when he received a notification regarding this specific dungeon. The news showed an island abandoned by Korea, allowing for the dungeon break to occur. "Yeah, after the S-rank dungeon gate broke there... The island became a wasteland where humans could no longer live." Jin-Woo said as he remembered watching the horrifying ant monster with their porcelain-colored exoskeletons and the glowing red eyes. The menacing pincers clicking as if waiting to bite a person in half.

"Haha... Yeah, even if a team is formed of only S-rank hunters, it's not certain that they'd be able to clear an S-rank gate. Especially a dungeon break," Magnus finished as he led Jin-Woo towards the monster he is oddly familiar with. "So... Given the limited pool of S-rank hunters that our country can currently call upon, clearing an S-rank gate would be nearly impossible." Jin-Woo commented as he saw the monster they needed to defeat if they wanted to be successful.

Standing a few meters away from them stood a boss-level monster. A quadrupedal monster whose height is at least fifteen feet tall. It has brown fur covering the muscular body, a tail made out of scales. Although all of this is impressive, what stands out the most is its three heads and name, which were colored blood red. "HELL'S GATEKEEPER CERBERUS..." Jin-Woo read out loud as he noticed that the three heads had different accessories.

"I faced this fuckers cousin or twin or something last time we went into an instance dungeon," Magnus commented as he created his scythe, twirling it around his body to get warmed up. "If it's anything like the other one, it's going to be a bitch to fight." Jin-Woo was surprised that Magnus kept cursing, but he didn't mind it; if anything, he preferred this side of Magnus just a little more. Nodding, he said, "The one on the left has a skull covering its face, kind of like armor or something. The one on the right has horns sticking out from the side, leading straight up, almost like an antelope... I think." "Yeah, and the horns on the center, the main head, resemble a crown... sort of."

"I don't know why we came in here... With our current level, we have to abstain from entering S-rank dungeons." Before Magnus could even respond, Cerberus dashed towards their location. With all three mouths open, poised to bite, Jin-Woo and Magnus jumped over the dashing Cerberus. Jin-Woo, with his dagger, sliced through its skin as Magnus slashed at the back of the right head with his scythe. Small flames erupted from the incisions, cauterizing the wounds. "Oh fuck, this one stops itself from bleeding, just like Kerberos, and if that mutt is anything to go by, Cerberus tail will spew out pillars of flame," Magnus commented as both he and Jin-Woo landed behind Cerberus.

'Fuck, if a C-rank boss does that, imagining the dangers posed by so many S-rank monsters at once is way beyond anything else.' Jin-Woo thought as he noticed Cerberus's ears twitch at the mention of Kerberos. "Baby, focus. As much as I would love to kill this idiotic mutt for you, I can't be the only one having fun." Magnus said as he noticed the change in Cerberus's growls.