They were also envious of Hyun-Soo because Riri would sit on Hyun-Soo's shoulder.
Hyun-Soo felt proud.
However, all of them didn't feel the same way.
'……Is it just me?'
Leon, the leader of Team Xeon, gave off a different vibe.
Hyun-Soo wasn't sure if he felt that way because his first impression of them wasn't great or if it was because Leon really was looking at him with disgust.
But when he first awakened as a hunter, he met a lot of people with horrible personalities, so this was nothing to him.
"Um……."
Some of the members from Xeon looked like they wanted to ask questions.
Before Hyun-Soo could answer, the members kept their mouths shut due to the glares they were receiving from others.
Team Xeon must have a strict system because when Leon started walking without saying anything, the members quietly followed behind him.
Team Xeon was following behind, but most of the members wasn't feeling great about this.
'Can't believe we're asking for their help…'
It wasn't even teamwork. They were basically carrying Team Xeon.
Both sides knew that that was the truth.
Team Xeon knew that they weren't skilled enough to hunt a colorful portal.
Because the guilds that were stronger than them failed at clearing the portal.
They probably never thought about going in by themselves and clearing it.
Coaching? Giving advice?
That only helps when you're slightly lacking, but it's useless when you have nothing to start with.
Kyuuuuu!
Riri flew up to the sixth floor, but quickly came back.
It was different from the other floors that she explored.
"What is it? What is she saying?"
Riri came back as soon as she flew up and the members asked when they noticed the way she was acting.
"Is there something up there?"
Kyuuuu!
"Something dangerous? Is there a monster?"
Kyuuuuu!
Riri nodded her head and created a large circle.
"Is the monster round?"
Riri nodded again and this time, she flapped her arms and legs.
"I guess the monster has a lot of arms and legs."
Kyuuuu!
"You heard it, right? Let's prepare for battle."
Kim Yoo-Na, who was also watching Riri, clapped her hands to get their attention.
'It would be nice if I can actually understand her.'
Then he would be able to obtain more detailed information.
Hyun-Soo looked at Riri with disappointment, but Riri tilted her head in confusion.
'Maybe I should teach her Korean since she's pretty smart.'
Teaching a monster a language?
Ordinary people would definitely lose their minds if they heard this.
Interacting with a monster is interesting enough that it would grab the attention of people all over the world.
Creak, creak.
The stairs that led to the seventh floor made unpleasant sounds.
The sound of people walking on these wooden floors filled the room.
Moments later.
La la la la la.
'Music?'
A quiet hum could be heard despite the creaking sound.
The members that were in the front must've heard it too, because they stopped walking.
"This……."
"……I think this is it."
The members exchanged glances. They carefully took a step forward.
When Kim Yoo-Na gave the signal, the members nodded.
It was a sign to get into the formation they prepared as soon as they walk up.
Before entering, Brad raised his hand. Three of his fingers were stretched out.
Brad slowly folded them one by one.
It was a countdown.
Three, two, one!
As soon as he folded his last finger, the members ran up the stairs.
And then.
Kyahhhhhh!
"Ack!"
"Ah!"
The hunters almost lost their balance when they heard a loud screech.
Because of that, it took them a while to get into formation.
During that time, a silver light flashed. It was a sudden attack.
Luckily, Lahatlan shielded Hyun-Soo, but not for the other hunters.
Hyun-Soo was supposed to take his place and use Lahatlan, but…
"Riri!"
Hyun-Soo called Riri.
Riri was in front of the group, but when she heard Hyun-Soo, she flew up.
Swoosh.
The silver light disappeared as if it shot into the hunters.
It's because Riri consumed it all.
Kyuuuuu.
Riri released a long sigh.
During that time, the members and Team Xeon came back to their senses.
They had lost it because the short and loud screech messed them up mentally.
"To your places!"
Even though they were in danger for a brief moment, they quickly adjusted.
The members stood in formation and glared at the monster.
"……Wow."
The monster was so bizarre, that they couldn't help but exclaim.
It had a circular body and it had over 20 slender legs.
It was exactly like how Riri expressed it.
But the level of grotesqueness was extreme.
The monster's entire body reminded Hyun-Soo of the make-up that's used in the Beijing opera.
The monster was hugging a pile of wood.
They reminded him of the wooden models he saw on the other floors.
Oddly-shaped wooden models were lying on the floor in each of the levels.
It looked like a wooden doll, but it looked really rough, so Hyun-Soo didn't think it could be a doll.
But.
"Oh, shit."
The wooden models that the human spider was hugging started moving.
The monster moved its legs and controlled the silver thread.
Creak, creak.
It moved awkwardly at first, but.
La la la la la la.
The moment the models heard the spider singing, the awkward movements disappeared.
Even though we had a tank, beating 20 attackers at once was impossible.
However, close-range attackers circled around them and long distance attackers and healers stood behind them, so the damage wasn't so bad.
Even though the close-range attackers weren't as strong as the tanks, they were able to protect themselves.
However, there are times when things don't go as planned.
On top of that, they were inside a colorful portal.
It was difficult to predict the situation here.
Swoosh!
"Ack!"
One healer started bleeding and fainted.
Another healer quickly ran to their side and activated a healing skill.
"Wha, what happened?!"
The attacker was the one that yelled out the question.
That attacker wasn't the human spider and it wasn't one of the models the spider was controlling.
"Denver? What are you doing?!"
"No, I didn't mean to…ack!"
"Move!"
Denver charged towards the nearby members with a shocked expression and started attacking with his sword.
Clank!
Thankfully, Brad intercepted and blocked his attack.
He was able to prevent them from killing each other.
Everyone was surprised by this unexpected situation.
It's because they didn't expect an ally to attack them all of a sudden.
On top of that, Denver himself didn't know why he was acting that way.
"Ack! Please stop! Stop it!"
He tried to move his body, but he couldn't because it felt like someone was controlling him.
'Wait, control?'
Hyun-Soo quickly used Interface.
'Thread?'
He was able to see the thread that was connected to Denver.
The thread that was connected to the models was connect to Denver as well.
"Try using any cutting skills around Denver!"
He yelled as soon as he checked and the members immediately used their skills.
Different skills cut the air near Denver.
Flop!
"Ahhhhhh……."
Denver prepared to run, but he ended up falling to the ground.
It seemed like his body was out of energy because he couldn't move.
A few of the members carried Denver and moved him to the back.
"Make sure the monster's thread doesn't touch you. It can control you once it touches you."
Hyun-Soo recalled the information he saw on Interface.
The monster's name was the Puppeteer.
Like Karazhan, Interface didn't show the monster's rank and only said that it was currently evolving.
Control was listed as one of its attributes, so the monster probably used threads to control the body.
Thanks to Hyun-Soo's information, the members became even more cautious.
They couldn't really make a move.
20 wooden models were in front of the Puppeteer.
The Puppeteer's attacks itself couldn't be ignored.
The silver thread was actually made out of metal, so the threads can be used to attack.
'On top of that they're able to control the body, so we have to be careful.'
This was definitely a colorful portal.
The nickname, impregnable, was fitting.
If a different guild entered this portal, the Puppeteer would've controlled all of them and that's how the hunt would've ended.
They wouldn't know why their member was attacking and they would've suffered greatly because of it.
On top of that, the worse situation would be…….
'Killing that member.'
Even though they didn't know the reason, the easiest way to resolve the issue would be to kill them.
However, it wouldn't end there and the same situation will repeat itself…
'Annihilation.'
Nothing more, nothing less.
They might be able to resolve it in the beginning by killing the killer, but the number of hunters will decrease and in the end, the clan will suffer from a counterattack.
Or, the Puppeteer might attack and kill all of them.
'In that sense, we're off to a good start.'
Whew…….
After analyzing the situation, Hyun-Soo realized that they managed to overcome a big issue.
Was it because of that?
A deep sigh was released.
Kyuuuu?
Riri tilted her head in confusion.
"I said move!"
The members of Team Xeon flinched when they heard yelling.
They tried to discreetly join the group, but Marcus noticed them.
Going against the Puppeteer was extremely complicated, but that didn't last long.
Knowing the monster's attack pattern was the most important task.
Once they understand the pattern, they're able to naturally understand the monster's skills and movements.
Since it wasn't a machine, it didn't have a routine.
However, during dangerous situations or when there's a big attack, people usually use the most familiar and most used skill.
It's only natural to react that way.
Monsters weren't any different.
"Haa!"
The puppeteer opened its mouth to release a sound wave attack, but it twisted its body when attacks entered the body.
With that, the wooden models' movements became twisted as well.
After that, the Puppeteer didn't use the sound wave attack.
The wooden models kept on attacking.
Every time that happened, the long distance attackers stepped up and cut the threads that was between the Puppeteer and the models.
But the Puppeteer released more threads.
"Damn it, we can't get near it."
Even though the models attacked, it was also the Puppeteer's way of defending.
The close-range attackers couldn't keep playing the sub-tank role and block the models' attacks.
Thankfully, after Denver was released, no one was controlled by the Puppeteer.
It's because the long range attackers cleaned up the areas near the members.
They had to attack and clean up the area.
'It's chaotic.'
Hyun-Soo, who was using Invisible Attack, was getting a headache.
There were a lot of things they had to focus on.
If this continues, there's a high chance that they'll be the first ones to get tired.
But during that time, the members of Team Xeon must've thought that this was an easy hunt, because they slowly started approaching the members.
Because of that, Marcus's yelling filled the room once again.