Chapter 134

Che Huiyi was initially a little embarrassed about revealing her true feelings, suddenly remembered that with Castorice's emotional intelligence, it was impossible for her not to have noticed her mistake.

After realizing that she had become the one being taken care of, Che Huiyi almost pouted.

"Sorry, it's because Senior Cha didn't want to reveal his appearance..."

Castorice, who had been exposed, was not embarrassed; she just smiled helplessly.

"Never mind, let's go back first."

Che Huiyi sighed and led the way back.

"Um... aren't we continuing this time?"

The other hunters were still excited after getting a close look at the friendship between the two beautiful girls, but they were a little upset to hear that the exploration was canceled.

"I'm not confident I can protect you without equipment."

Che Huiyi explained, "After all, if it is Demon Beast with the same level of intelligence as the White Specters, then its leader must have even higher intelligence."

After she finished speaking, she saw the others looking dejected and disappointed, and then she realized what was bothering them.

"Because I unilaterally terminated the engagement, the engagement fee will not be refunded."

"As expected of Vice Chairman Che!" X6.

Such a quick change of expression?

Castorice didn't care about this at all. Money wasn't important to her; what mattered was recognition. And for S-Class, conquering an A-Class dungeon was the least meaningful way to gain recognition, because everyone already knew she could do it.

What she was really hoping for was an S-Class teleportation portal, but... such a portal is truly rare and hard to come by. It seems that the only S-Class teleportation portal in Country H was on Qizhou Island a few years ago.

According to information online, many S-Class hunters went there at the time, but in the end, they returned empty-handed, and many intermediate and advanced hunters were killed.

One S-Class hunter even lost his life there, and now the portal there is fully open, turning it into a paradise for insects.

Che Huiyi had mentioned this to her before, and also told her that Choi Jung-in had always wanted to take back Qizhou Island. The addition of two 'youngest S-Class' players in the last two years has made Choi Jung-in even more determined to take back Qizhou Island.

Leaving aside Che Huiyi, the strongest S-Class car overall, Castorice is also known as the strongest S-Class in the Phantom Realm, the Maid of Deathly Shadows.

Although she doesn't have the actual combat record that the public sees, judging from the hunters who team up with her and her almost godlike special abilities, there are always reasons to say that she is the strongest S-Class.

With the addition of these two S-Class, it's no wonder that Choi Jung-in is eager to make a move.

According to Che Huiyi, once Choi Jung-in's application is approved, he will also pay her a high employment fee and ask her to go with him.

Castorice knew that this was a pure tactic of winning him over. Even if he didn't pay her, as a registered hunter with the Hunter Association, she was obligated to obey the Hunter Association's orders. Going to Jeju Island would definitely be decided by the Hunter Association, which meant that if combat power was needed, she would have to go even if she didn't pay a single penny.

Unless you don't want the license anymore.

Of course, this is basically impossible. If you lose your license, other countries will immediately come to win you over. So even if you could revoke your license, you most likely wouldn't, but it would undoubtedly cause your reputation to plummet.

Whether for the sake of recognition, the maintenance of Order, or her own inner choice, Castorice would not refuse the association's assignment.

Choi Jung-in didn't know the details, but he certainly knew that he would be transferred in the same way. In this case, paying an extra hiring fee was an obvious attempt to win him over. Moreover, it was probably not just Choi Jung-in; other guilds had been paying attention to him for a long time.

At this moment, Castorice was somewhat grateful to him. If it weren't for Hantes, she would probably be facing invitations and harassment from several guilds at the same time.

Is it you protecting me and my senior colleague in our daily life?

Chairman Cui, you're so gentle these days (like a cow or a horse).

Before their thoughts could even process, the group had arrived at the teleportation portal, but...

"It turned... red?"

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Sweating Orc Lord

Why... why is that?

"It's not Red Portal."

Hearing the terrified cry of the D-Class hunter beside her, Castorice spoke up to comfort him, "Although it's red, it's not Red Portal. It's just that some kind of force has blocked our escape route."

Her clear and gentle voice instantly extinguished the restlessness that had just been stirred up in everyone's hearts.

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that although the portal appeared red at first glance, the red color was not actually the color of the portal, but rather a seal covering the portal.

The main reason is that these D-Class and E-Class rarely have the opportunity to see the Red Portal, which leads them to mistake it for one.

Che Huiyi also explained, "If it were Red Portal, the anomaly wouldn't have appeared so late. Normally, it would have turned red when we came in."

"Is... is that so..."

The others relaxed slightly.

"But..."

Che Huiyi's expression turned even uglier. "I've never seen anything like this before, the ability to seal a portal, and S-Class leader with intelligence..."

This sounds like... it's even worse than encountering the Red Portal!

The D-Class and E-Class hunters were made nervous again by this sudden change of attitude.

"It's alright. Although death is ever-present, I assure you it won't come for you today."

Castorice still wore a serene smile, showing no negative emotions despite the scene.

"That's right, Castorice and I are here, so you don't need to worry."

Che Huiyi also noticed the worried expressions on the other hunters' faces. Not being very good at comforting people, she simply tried to divert their attention. "This accident was caused by me. I will apply to Hantes afterwards to give everyone some compensation."

She actually wanted to offer compensation, but she really didn't have any income right now. The money from the sale of the Magic Crystals wouldn't arrive immediately, and even if it did, she would have to repay Choi Jung-in's favor first.

She is currently facing a tighter financial situation than ever before.

After saying that, Che Huiyi gave Castorice an embarrassed smile, "I'm sorry, Castorice, I didn't expect things to turn out this way..."

"It doesn't matter."

Castorice never minded this kind of thing. She knew that Che Huiyi wanted to thank her, which was why she tried to get access to this underground city. But what Castorice paid was not as much as Che Huiyi imagined.

For various reasons, the effort and reward between friends may not be proportional. Castorice only said one sentence, but Che Huiyi paid a lot of energy and money. From the perspective of results and general rationality, it is indeed equal, and Che Huiyi even benefited. However, Castorice does not think so entirely.

At least she felt somewhat unworthy of it, which was why Castorice didn't take the others away from here directly.

After leaving here, Che Huiyi will have to do favors again. Although there are reasons for this, it will certainly not be as difficult as the first time. However, the operation of the guild is very complicated, and even if there are reasons for this, it is still a major operation that changes the guild's action plan.

She was confident she could protect everyone, and there was no need to make Che Huiyi go through all that trouble.

However, this matter was not easy to explain, so they simply decided to send Che Huiyi some things in other places later.

Just treat it as a friendly exchange.

Che Huiyi was unaware of Castorice's inner thoughts. Seeing that Castorice showed no resentment and not even a hint of negative emotion, she thought that Xia Die's temper was exceptionally good. She even wondered if Castorice's loneliness at school was due to being too gentle and being ostracized.

But regardless, the more important thing now is to solve the portal problem.

Thinking of this, Che Huiyi couldn't help but regret going out without equipment. Without equipment, a hunter's combat power would drop significantly. Although she was still S-Class hunter, without equipment, she would only be seven or eight times stronger than a fully armed A-Class hunter.

This doesn't meet the S-Class standard required to enter the dungeon... Even if it's due to oversight that I didn't intend to enter the BOSS area, oversight is still oversight.

Just as everyone was about to turn back, Che Huiyi sensed an unpleasant odor coming from afar. This startled her, and she moved closer to Castorice. Amidst the slightly surprised expressions of Castorice and the other hunters, she inhaled a faint fragrance from Xia Die's hair.

Feeling revived, Che Huiyi breathed a sigh of relief and then looked at the corner in the distance of the cave.

As she stood ready, the other hunters realized what was happening and quickly hid behind the two of them.

Castorice and Che Huiyi exchanged a glance, then walked forward together.

The heavy yet orderly footsteps were clearly audible, and dozens of huge red figures emerged from around the corner. Their appearance reminded Castorice the orcs she had encountered in her first dungeon, but those orcs were obviously not as tall as these, and their colors were completely different.

"Giant Orcs..."

Che Huiyi frowned.

Giant Orcs aren't exactly a highly intelligent race... but with so many of Giant Orcs, they are indeed a formidable opponent.

"I'll lead the charge!"

Che Huiyi knew she lacked equipment, so she didn't intend to be reckless and try to handle things alone. However, she still took on the responsibility of being the main tank and tried her best to make it easier for Castorice to fight.

Castorice naturally understood Che Huiyi's mindset, so she didn't say anything polite, "Then I'll leave it to Senior Che."

She also wanted to see Che Huiyi's fight in person so she could decide what gifts to give Che Huiyi later.

Having received the reply, Che Huiyi did not hesitate. Her figure flew like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of the Giant Orcs, trailing golden light. The longsword in her hand was wrapped in dazzling magic power, and with a simple swing, she cut the three Giant Orcs in front of her in half at the waist.

This immediately attracted the hatred of all the orcs, not because they cared much about their companions, but because they instinctively wanted to eliminate the threat in front of them.

This was exactly what Che Huiyi wanted.

Every move of the Giant Orcs carries terrifying power. Its powerful attacks can even make an A-Class tank's arm go numb, but it's meaningless if it misses.

Che Huiyi's figure among the orcs was like a butterfly fluttering in the air; rather than agile and nimble movements, it was more like a magnificent dance performance.

Sure enough, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

Taking in her figure and assessing her strength, Castorice decided not to slack off any longer.

Just as all the orcs' attention was on Che Huiyi, a deadly and chilling cold suddenly crept up their backs. The sudden premonition of death made their wild survival instincts alert like never before.

But this sense of vigilance did not make them run away immediately; as if they knew death was inevitable, it simply left them standing there dumbfounded.

A purple blade, seemingly tearing through space, flashed among the orcs. Without even a scream, several Giant Orcs turned into purple particles and disappeared into the cave.

"What's this...!?"

Deep inside the cave, the once composed giant Orc Lord was now sweating profusely.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Mutual Flattery in Business

"This is Castorice's..."

This was actually the first time Che Huiyi had seen Castorice make a move. Although she already knew about it and could vaguely sense the aura of death emanating from Castorice, this scene, which seemed to materialize the concept of death and bring it into reality, truly broadened her horizons.

That's a nice way of putting it. In reality, even as a teammate and companion, her strong survival instinct was urging her to get away from here.

The fear of death, unsurprisingly, sowed the seeds.

But Che Huiyi quickly watered it with boiling water until it could no longer sprout.

It wasn't that she was particularly rational; she was simply convinced that Castorice wasn't a bad person, nor was she a threat.

The presence that even Che Huiyi could sense nearby could not be ignored by the beastmen, whose wildness and instincts were even stronger. The Giant Orcs were about to throw their weapons at Che Huiyi immediately stopped and then roared as they ran into the depths of the cave without looking back.

Castorice was no stranger to this scene. She had been to many dungeons and any Demon Beast would react in the same way upon seeing her power. She had seen it too many times.

Compared to Che Huiyi and the beastmen, the other hunters in the attack team did not have such strong perception. In their eyes, only Castorice and Che Huiyi Kamui, causing the ferocious and fearless Demon Beast to flee in panic.

This reinforced their bias that 'S-Class = powerful.' As the saying goes, knowing something and seeing it in person are two different things. Only by truly experiencing the oppressive feeling of an enemy can one understand how real the power depicted in the video truly is.

However, Che Huiyi had no intention of letting the tiger return to the mountain.

Unlike Castorice, who knew she had a powerful backer and was always full of confidence, Che Huiyi, who understood the dungeon and its formulaic processes, knew the benefits of defeating them one by one. The moment the orcs tried to escape, she decisively switched from defense to offense. Her sharp blade drew a golden arc, cutting down all the orcs that passed by her.

The Giant Orcs, which are extremely troublesome for A-Class, are just a large number of grunts that she can easily clear out with a little effort.

Seeing Castorice, Xia Die naturally cooperated in the harvest. These three-meter-tall behemoths, under the pursuit of two S-Class, even escape was a distant dream.

"It's solved."

Che Huiyi only sheathed her longsword after killing all the orcs.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Castorice said with a smile.

"No, you contributed more in the fight just now."

Che Huiyi waved her hand and smiled, "Even though it's your first time participating in A-Class dungeon, I feel like you, Castorice, are much more at ease than me."

She wasn't the type to cling to her senior status. Castorice's performance exceeded her expectations and imagination, so she naturally wouldn't consider herself a senior anymore.

On the contrary, Che Huiyi felt at ease and happy because her teammates were reliable.

"After all, Senior Cha wasn't in top form."

Castorice knew that her starting point was different from others, but being too humble would be inappropriate. Since it wouldn't be good to say it no matter what, she simply said something nice.

That's the truth anyway.

However, despite their different starting points, Che Huiyi and she have a lot in common. In this world where the starting point is the end point, Che Huiyi is a natural-born strong person.

In addition, she was not the type to consider herself superior, so she could empathize with Castorice's mentality. Even though she knew that she might not be able to do better even fully armed, she just smiled and did not make excuses.