Dungeon Predator (WN)

The Ungar Swamp was perpetually shrouded in mist. A giant Agrashi tree stood here, and the Stone Monkey's Hideout was located at the very top of the tree.

In order to catch a tiger, you need to venture into its den. Thus, Kang Oh and his raid team would need to enter the hideout in order to hunt Wukong.

"It's been a while," Sephiro whispered, and Kang Oh slightly nodded his head.

He, Sephiro, and Eder had been the first ones to find the Stone Monkey's Hideout. At the time, Kang Oh's Hyper Intuition had led them to it. Wukong had also given him a quest, demanding that he keep any outsiders from finding his hideout.

Of course, Kang Oh didn't do anything in particular. Ultimately, another Dungeon Hunter found Wukong's hideout. Thus, he not only failed the quest, but Wukong began his rampage throughout the Great Forest.

"I haven't heard word of Wukong appearing anywhere else, so he should be inside his hideout," Isher said.

"Yes."

Kang Oh's raid team began to climb the giant Agrashi tree. A short while later, they entered the tree through a hole in the middle.

[Entering the hidden dungeon, Stone Monkey's Hideout.]

The Stone Monkey's Hideout hadn't changed at all. The wooden footholds and the vines were still here, and they needed to use these in order to get up the tree.

Kii, Kiiik!

Of course, the monkeys still threw rocks at them.

However, Kang Oh was a lot different now than he was when he first discovered the hideout. He was strong enough to beat 10 of his past selves now. That was the extent of his growth since then.

Kang Oh climbed up the vines and slaughtered the monkeys. Viper and Bart's movements were impressive too. He had gathered all these people to kill Wukong, so the monkeys were obviously no match for them.

They climbed up the tree without any issues.

Kiik! Kiik!

Unable to hold them back, the monkeys retreated again and again.

Eventually, Kang Oh's team reached the top of the tree!

There was a giant room at the top, but it didn't give them the sense that they were at the top of the tree. It was as if they were within Buddha's giant palm. At the center of the room, a giant monkey laid on his side, resting his cheek upon the palm of his hand.

[You have encountered the Monkey King, Wukong.]

"Wow, it's really Wukong! It's really him!" Karin said excitedly. 'Wukong's right in front of me! The same one that I saw on TV!'

"Calm down, Karin." Soren tightly grabbed Karin's arm.

Kiik! Kii! Kii-kik!

Countless monkeys stood side by side on the Agrashi tree's giant branches and shrieked.

Wukong opened his eyes.

"More annoying bugs have come again," Wukong said. His voice was both irritated and murderous.

Eventually, Wukong widened his eyes.

"You!" Wukong pointed a giant finger at Kang Oh!

"You know me?" Kang Oh feigned ignorance.

"Do I know you? Do I know you!?" Wukong suddenly raised his upper body and slammed his fist into the ground, causing the giant tree to shake. What incredible strength!

"Listen carefully! I told you to prevent others from coming here. You agreed to that. And in exchange, I would give you those shining yellow lumps in exchange. But sometime after you left, more humans came here. I couldn't find you anywhere. You still don't remember!?"

Wukong clearly remembered Kang Oh.

"You were there too." Wukong pointed at Sephiro.

"What's going on?" Bart asked. He stood right behind Kang Oh.

On the off chance that Wukong recognized him, Kang Oh had explained his encounter with Wukong to his team. However, Bart, Mulan, and Viper had come on the day of the hunt, so they had no idea what was going on.

"I was the first one to find him."

"Aha."

"He gave me a quest, but I didn't do it. He's angry over that little thing. Tch, tch." Kang Oh shook his head.

"Good of you to come!" Wukong completely stood up. He was wearing a slanted gold crown on his head.

Wukong raised his right fist, which began to gather blue energy.

"Prepare for battle!" Kang Oh yelled.

His team began to get into formation based on their assigned duties.

Isher, Mulan, and the tanks stood in front, while close-range damage dealers like Kang Oh or Viper stood behind them. Healers and long-range damage dealers stood a certain distance away from them.

"Reflect on your mistakes in hell!"

Monkey King's Fist!

Whoosh!

Wukong's fist ripped through the air, unleashing a giant Chi Torpedo at Kang Oh.

"Get behind me!" The Shield Knight, Isher, positioned his shield in front of himself. Kang Oh hid behind him.

Immovable Stance!

Isher's body began turning into steel.

Boom!

The Chi Torpedo struck Isher's shield. The attack was so powerful that it left a small dent in the middle! However, Isher neither shook nor was he pushed back a single inch. It was because of Immovable Stance. With him in front, Kang Oh hadn't taken any damage either.

"Attack!"

"Move!"

The raid team quickly moved around, and bombarded Wukong with attacks.

Kiik! Kii! Kiik!

The monkeys didn't stand still either.

"I want the kids to stay back. Only the adults will intervene!" Wukong yelled.

Only the larger monkeys threw rocks or charged at them.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Wukong flung a player away with his finger.

"Ugh!"

He was one of Ares' Warriors' tanks. He clumsily rolled onto the floor, but a green light shined upon him. Their healers had cast a healing spell on him.

"Arrows! Magic! Anything's fine! Use whatever you got!"

"Attack!"

"Those assigned to monkey duty, go out and kill the monkeys!"

The tension began to rise.

Kang Oh, who'd been hiding behind Isher, rushed forward. He'd chosen to wield Blood at this moment in time.

"Let's go!" Kang Oh yelled. Kang Oh and Wukong. It was like the battle of David and Goliath.

"Hoh." Wukong was speechless. 'You fearless worm! I'll flatten you!' Wukong swung his palm downwards, as if he were swatting a fly.

Whoosh!

"Hueup!" Kang Oh dodged his palm, and rolled onto the floor.

Thud!

Wukong's palm sunk deep into the ground, and the tree shook. However, he hadn't caught the fly. Kang Oh had dodged well.

Now it was Kang Oh's turn. Blood turned completely red.

Festival of Blood!

Half of his HP was gone, but for 30 seconds, he'd be as strong as if he'd used Gluttony.

Swish!

His blood sword cleaved through the back of Wukong's tough hand. The sudden pain caused Wukong to scowl.

Kang Oh didn't stop there. As he swung downwards, he unleashed a Tempest Tiger! He was aiming for Wukong's hand!

Wukong quickly withdrew his hand, avoiding the golden aura.

"You rat!" Wukong gathered blue energy around his hands.

Monkey King's Fist!

Wukong swung his fists at him, alternating between the two.

Whoosh! Bam! Whoosh! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Kang Oh used Red Butterfly's Dance, allowing him to dodge a few of Wukong's attacks. However, the resulting shockwaves pushed him back.

He wasn't the only one who'd been pushed back. Aside from Isher and the Wolf Warrior, Mulan, all of the other tanks and close-range damage dealers couldn't move properly due to the shockwave.

"Take this too." Wukong raised his right hand. Then, a giant rock formed in the air. He threw the rock at the area where Kang Oh had rolled over to.

Whoosh!

Boom!

The boulder broke into pieces and scorched the ground. However, a red being flew into the air. It was the Red Demon!

Kang Oh swung his sword horizontally from midair!

Fresh Blood Wave!

The red crescent moon wave flew towards Wukong.

"Hmph!"

Wukong chopped the Fresh Blood Wave in half.

Meanwhile, the raid team's strongest members began moving in earnest.

The Genius Gamer, Bart, used Spear of Judgment!

The high-rank assassin, Viper, used Silent Slash!

Sephiro and Dambi, both skilled archers, used Sun Piercing Arrow and Crystal Arrow!

Soren used gravity to push Wukong down, while Karin created a sandstorm.

All of these attacks were focused on Wukong.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

However, Wukong didn't seem to care in the slightest. He merely raised his foot and stomped on the floor.

"Kuhahk!" One of Ares' Warriors' tanks cried out as Wukong stomped on him.

Wukong forcefully pushed his foot down and bared his teeth. Perhaps this is what a little kid who liked pressing on ants with their fingers looked like.

There was no way to save the tank. The healers couldn't heal him fast enough; he was losing more HP than they could possibly restore. Ultimately... that was game over for him!

It had only been 5 minutes since the battle had begun, yet one of their teammates had already died. However, this was only the beginning.

Wukong wasn't going to let any of them survive.

Uwoooooh!

Wukong roared and beat his chest. His voice reverberated throughout the tree!

* * *

Jin Cheol and his production crew were watching Kang Oh's hunt inside their conference room.

"Shall we begin?" the youngest production crew member asked, glancing at their seniors.

"Alright."

"Go, go!"

Jin Cheol nodded his head with his arms crossed, and the youngest wrote this on the whiteboard.

- Pass/Fail

"Please bet on one of these two options! Please be sure to write down your name and how much you bet."

"Ok."

The production crew members went up one or two at a time, and did as the youngest instructed.

"You're the only one left, Producer," the youngest said.

"Let's see here..." Jin Cheol stared at the whiteboard.

There were way more people that bet on Kang Oh failing, even though Kang Oh was the one who'd succeeded the most on this program. That's just how notorious Wukong was.

After all, the 5 great guilds had all failed to defeat Wukong.

"Which will you choose?" The veteran writer, Yoon Mi, pestered him from the side.

"Hmm." Jin Cheol grabbed the marker, and he kept going back and forth between the two options. But he did eventually stop!

Jin Cheol had stopped at 'pass'. No matter how strong Wukong was, he felt like Kang Oh would be able to beat him. This was Kang Oh after all!

"You hope you don't disappoint me," Jin Cheol said to himself.

However, Yoon Mi heard him and added, "It looks like he'll disappoint you this time."

"What?"

"Look at that." Yoon Mi pointed at the screen.

Uwooooh!

Wukong roared and beat his chest. Those who heard his cry were completely frozen solid. Only Kang Oh and a few others were fine.

At this rate, the battle would end in tragedy.

"Mm!" Jin Cheol couldn't look away from the screen. The other staff members couldn't look away either.

* * *

Wukong's roar was so intimidating that most of the raid team couldn't move.

"Get a grip!" Kang Oh, who hadn't been frozen, yelled. However, it didn't have much of an effect. His voice was too quiet. 'Ah, if only I had Baramut's Roar at a time like this!'

At that moment...

Uhaaahk!

A battle cry rang out. Though it wasn't as loud as Wukong's, it didn't lose in intensity.

Wolf Warrior, Mulan!

Mulan roared with his double-bladed axe resting on his shoulder.

Roar of Courage!

It felt like blood was circulating through their bodies again. It was as if they'd been given the strength to move again.

"Heok."

"Heot!"

The raid team regained their composure and backed off.

"We fight, and we win!" Mulan's yell was curt and coarse. However, he didn't need to say much to increase his teammates' morale.

"We fight, and we win!" Isher repeated.

"We fight, and we win!" The others repeated after him. But that didn't mean the battle was suddenly in their favor. They had only gotten over a huge hump.

Kiik! Kii! Kiik!

The Stone Monkeys came from every direction, and Wukong began his merciless assault once more.