The queen ant, pierced directly, didn’t even scream before burning black and crashing to the ground.

Thud!

The earth trembled under the massive body, raising clouds of dust.

• You have defeated the Boss Monster: Queen Ant (C-Rank)!

 

And, fortunately, the message appeared confirming the kill. It had been a clean shot.

Thud!

"EEEK!"

"My God!"

People screamed at the sight of the queen ant’s carcass, but I had no time to worry about them.

A sharp, unpleasant sensation surged in my throat.

I pressed my hand to my mouth.

"Ugh…"

The red blood tried to rise in my throat, but I forced myself to hold it down.

‘That was pushing it.’

Still, I was lucky.

I had managed to complete the spell just before the queen ant could bite me.

What I had just used was a type of incantation magic that I had created back when I was the Demon King, something that couldn’t be learned from typical spellbooks or tutorials.

In regular magic, the amount of mana required for casting is carefully calculated like ingredients in baking. If there’s not enough mana, casting the spell would fail entirely. But incantation magic is different.

Magic bends the absolute laws of the world for a moment. Such an act is forbidden to living beings and requires a price. The mage must pay for that transgression with the energy of their soul—mana.

Mana circulates through the body’s magical circuits, but fundamentally, mana resides within the soul.

If there is insufficient mana, it will harm the soul.

Using magic beyond one’s means is essentially suicide.

But, the upside is that as long as the mage can endure the toll on their soul, they can cast magic beyond their normal capacity.

And in this regard, I had an advantage over most mages.

I had already raised the level of my soul through incantation magic in my past life as the Demon King.

While casting large-scale incantation magic would certainly cause my current human body to collapse under the strain, taking down a C-rank monster was still within my capabilities.

• User ‘Jung Da-on’ has received agreement from many social members, and ability restrictions have been lifted.

• Potential Evaluation: S-Rank

• Stamina: LV. 12 (No Limit)

• Strength: LV. 8 (No Limit)

• Mana: LV. 18 (No Limit)

• Overall Level: LV. 12

• Dungeon Suitability: E-Rank Dungeon

 

Thanks to the quest success for saving the civilians from the boss monster, my physical stats were boosted. The body, which had been on the verge of breaking, was now reinforced like it was patched up with superglue.

Though it still hurt like hell.

"Da-Da-on! Oh my God!"

The boss called out to me in a terrified voice, but her concern was drowned out by the other humans quickly chiming in.

"Wait, did… did Hunter Jung Da-on cast that spell?!"

"How can a student who just awakened cast such an amazing spell?!"

"How did you do it? You really Awakened today, right?!"

The excited voices were deafening. I frowned, expecting more difficulties even once we were out of the dungeon. But thankfully, there was no immediate need to answer their questions.

"Look! Over there!"

One of the reporters, shocked, pointed at the ants.

• Kiiiiiik!

 

The swarm of ants, so dense that they resembled a storm cloud, began to converge on the queen ant’s corpse.

"What are the ants doing?"

"Hunter Jung Da-on, please explain!"

I sighed and swatted away the reporter trying to shove a microphone in my face.

Honestly, I wanted to tell them to shut up until we left this dungeon, but seeing how nervous the boss was, I couldn’t ignore them entirely.

"…It’s fine. The queen ant just died. They’re mourning her loss."

"Eh…?"

I listened carefully.

• We’ve lost our queen!

• Our queen is gone!

• The enemy attacked! The enemy has invaded!

• Get revenge! Get revenge!

 

Technically, this wasn’t something humans would understand. I was picking up the ants’ intentions through pheromones I had unwittingly released, not hearing their voices the way humans would.

As a former Demon King, I was more in tune with monsters.

For the ants, the queen wasn’t just any ruler. They lived in colonies, and the existence of a queen who could lay eggs was essential to the colony’s survival. Without her, the colony would inevitably perish.

So, they must have thrown everything into creating a new queen. But now, the one they had labored so hard to create was dead before she could even lay eggs. It was only natural for them to be both sad and angry.

They, too, fought for survival.

The reporters, watching the ants’ movements, began whispering among themselves.

"This feels bad."

"Uh, what do we do? Even if the boss monster is dead, if the ants come at us again…!"

Humans couldn’t understand the ants’ grief, and they were only concerned with their own safety.

I, too, was one of those humans now.

"It’s fine."

I pointed to the air, then realized I was surrounded by people who couldn’t see the system messages, so I said it aloud.

"We’ll be out of here in three minutes."

• By defeating the Boss Monster, the dimensional rift has been restored.

• The dungeon is now normalized and available for clearance.

• Dungeon exit is now possible in 00:03:00.

• The system will protect the user until the dungeon exit is completed.

 

With the boss monster defeated, the dimensional rift was successfully stabilized, and the area was now recognized as ‘conquered’ by humanity. The system, the collective intelligence of humanity, would now fully step in to ensure our safety.

Now, all that was left was to wait for the next three minutes in relative safety.

"Wait, the exit message popped up?!"

"Hah, it’s real. There’s a shield being generated!"

Since the reporters had some basic knowledge about dungeons, they quickly understood what I meant.

"Oh my, Da-on! You saved us!"

The boss tried to grab my bloodied hand, but I reflexively pulled it away. The boss’s eyes widened in confusion.

"Oh, it’s just… my hand’s dirty. Please don’t grab it, boss."

The hand I had briefly used to wield the electric spear had been charred black, and the blood I had coughed up was still smeared on it. If my family, who always emphasized hygiene, saw this, they would be horrified. But it couldn’t be helped.

I tried to wipe the blood off with my school vest, but the boss grabbed my hand again.

"It doesn’t matter! Oh, Da-on, you’ve been through so much! A young girl, all alone… What happened to your arm?"

"It’s fine, just some minor burns."

"Still! This is too much…"

The boss held my scorched hand, momentarily speechless. Her wrinkled face showed a mix of relief at being alive, admiration for me, and sympathy. She desperately tried to wipe the blood off with her tattered clothes, but all it did was make them dirtier.

And honestly, I was a little uncomfortable with the situation.

Having used incantation magic had left my insides in turmoil. I wanted to spit out the blood I had swallowed and focus on healing my mana circuits, but everyone’s eyes were on me.

The reporters, now somewhat reassured, began buzzing around again.

"Really incredible, Hunter Jung Da-on! This is unbelievable!"

"She just Awakened today, and she’s already this strong? She could even take on a Hunter like Hanul!"

"Truly amazing! Not only her potential but also her sense of responsibility, keeping civilians safe…!"

"Even after suffering such wounds… Once we get out of here, we’ll write an article about this heroic act of Hunter Jung Da-on!"

Wow, these compliments didn’t suit me at all. Goosebumps rose on my arms.

In truth, I hadn’t even planned to save the reporters. I just happened to end up saving them while rescuing the boss.

"Yeah, make sure to write a good article."

Of course, I didn’t say that directly. I wasn’t about to be that honest. After all, my past life had been that of a Demon King. I had to use whatever I could to my advantage.

‘Hunters even do commercials for big corporations. Maybe I’ll get some sponsorship too?’

S-Rank Hunters made a lot of money from commercials, after all. If I got a good article, I’d probably be able to rake in some lucrative deals.

While I could make money selling dungeon loot and items, my current level was just 12, and leveling up would take time. But commercials were an easy way to make money—just a few photos or videos, and bam, cash.

Considering my family’s financial situation, making money quickly was ideal.

"Of course, Hunter Jung Da-on! You can trust me…"

"Eh?! What happened?!"

"Don’t be too scared, we’re just escaping the dungeon."

Then, just as the system message indicated, one by one, people started disappearing from the dungeon.

I waved to the boss, who still couldn’t hide her worried gaze.

"Da-on, why aren’t you leaving? You’re the last one?"

"I guess so. Don’t worry, I’ll see you outside soon, boss."

Soon, the boss disappeared outside the dungeon.

Once everyone had exited, I was the last to remain.

And I too…

I, too, would leave…

"...What?"

Why was I still in the dungeon?

Of course, the system provided the answer.

• Due to a system error, the dungeon exit for user ‘Jung Da-on’ cannot be executed.

 

Whether or not I accepted this was another matter.

"...What?"

I rubbed my eyes.

But even with my disbelief, the message remained unchanged.

• Due to a system error, the dungeon exit for user ‘Jung Da-on’ cannot be executed.

 

The dungeon exit cannot be executed?

It can’t be?!

19 years since my rebirth.

For the first time since I was born, I let out a scream from deep within my gut.

I’m confident it was loud enough to shake a whole world.

"Hey, you cluster-brained idiot system!"

Is this for real?!