Ch.17Dungeon Tour Is Dangerous (3)

Since the rescue team was organized for the safety of the trainees, there were sufficient resources available. Treatment and first aid for the injured proceeded without issue.

However, the instructors couldn’t even pretend to look cheerful.

“We still don’t know the whereabouts of about half the trainees.”

“We’ve formed search teams, but it’s unclear exactly when we’ll be able to find them…”

The situation was already serious, but they needed to minimize any further damage somehow.

The instructors engaged in a serious discussion.

“Wouldn’t it be better to raid the boss room right now?”

“Clearing the dungeon as quickly as possible would increase the survival rate.”

It certainly wasn’t wrong. They didn’t know how extensive the underground cavern was, and had no idea when they could find all the scattered trainees.

When they attacked the boss room and destroyed the dungeon core, a portal to the outside would open, allowing everyone inside the dungeon to know its location.

The scattered trainees would also be able to recognize our position through it.

Honestly, that was the simplest solution. I thought it was close to the best option.

‘I want to go home…’

But there must have been a reason why we were still waiting in front of the boss room.

“Whatever it is, it’s clearly not a normal dungeon. I’m not sure if we can raid it immediately with our divided forces.”

“But we haven’t found any other abnormalities, have we? The monsters we saw underground were just Antworfs and Small Lizards. The boss doesn’t seem like it would be that powerful.”

“Above all, delaying any longer wouldn’t be good either.”

In the end, they decided to raid the boss room with only those currently present, excluding the personnel searching for the trainees.

Once the decision was made, preparations moved quickly. The instructors left one commander behind while gathering equipment needed for battle, and began asking some of the trainees if they wanted to participate.

“I’ve judged that you have sufficient qualities to be active hunters. Given the situation, I’d appreciate your help if possible.”

There were four of us in total: an unknown woman named Seo Yuna, Kim Seungmin, the man from Team 9 with the title “Guardian of Earth” or whatever, and me.

One of the instructors I often saw approached me as I was crouching behind an undead Antworf.

“To be honest, I think Eunha’s skills have already surpassed those of most active hunters. I haven’t seen anyone who can control this many summons even among D-rank hunters.”

That sparked a bit of motivation in me. I already liked him for accommodating me before, but he clearly had a good eye.

“In this uncertain situation, your ability to attack without risk using undead will be a great help. Once we get out, we’ll ensure you receive proper compensation.”

“…”

It was quite a serious attempt to flatter me.

When he earnestly asked for help while offering appropriate compensation, I couldn’t help but feel concerned.

Honestly, I was already completely unmotivated, but I reluctantly decided to accept.

“I-I’ll do it.”

However…

“Um, since I’ll be keeping my distance, I’d prefer if no one stayed close to me…”

“…With your undead, you won’t need frontliners. Understood.”

With all preparations complete, we entered the boss room.

Or rather, we tried to enter.

Thud!

“Huh?”

Ting.

“What is this?”

But our attempt was thwarted by some kind of resistance. While everyone was confused by this unexpected development, Kim Seungmin, who was also at the front, spoke up.

“It seems I can enter.”

“Do you know why?”

At the middle-aged man’s question, Kim Seungmin pulled over the so-called Guardian of Earth, Choi Seongcheol, and sent him to the boss room entrance.

“What are you doing all of a sudden? Do you want to die?”

“…Just as I thought.”

By that point, most of us, including myself, understood what Kim Seungmin was trying to say.

“Are you saying that those who entered the fake boss room earlier are now restricted from entering?”

“Or perhaps only those who fell into the teleportation trap can enter.”

“Either way, this is a serious problem.”

In short, all the instructors present had become useless. I blankly stared at the sky and thought.

‘…I need to do a raid tonight.’

Absolute idiots. Useless bugs who couldn’t help at all.

I glared at them with discontent from about 15 meters away.

I wanted to go home as soon as possible, but these so-called professional hunters couldn’t do anything.

In the midst of this, one idiot who could no longer suppress his hidden instincts began to throw a tantrum.

“What have you all been doing that’s so frustrating? I can’t stand it anymore. I’ll handle this myself, so the rest of you can just watch or whine or whatever you want.”

The so-called Guardian of Earth, Choi Seongcheol, left those words and entered the boss room alone.

Everyone was thrown into confusion at this unbelievable sight.

“…Did he just go inside?”

“Oh, no!”

“This is bad. No matter how talented he is, in this mysterious dungeon…”

“It’s reckless. If we don’t rescue him quickly, he’ll die.”

But there was no solution.

The core fighting force—the instructors—couldn’t enter the boss room, and once someone entered, they couldn’t come out until the battle was decided.

As the commotion grew, Kim Seungmin stepped forward.

“…I’ll go in.”

Judging by his determined expression, he seemed to feel responsible for inadvertently provoking Choi Seongcheol.

The situation didn’t stop there.

“I’ll go too. If we don’t resolve this, we’ll never get out of here, right?”

It was Seo Yuna, who had been among the four selected trainees earlier.

This meant that everyone except me who had agreed to help with the raid was now united.

I sighed at the indescribable atmosphere and fidgeted with my hands.

‘This is totally a “everyone must go together” flow…’

The typical insider’s forced participation environment creation.

It was truly a vicious and despicable act.

Swish.

Sure enough, Kim Seungmin, who had been the first to declare his resolve, gave me a long look.

What would happen next was obvious.

Unable to bear the silent pressure that would soon come, I finally gave in.

“…I-I’ll go.”

And so, the hastily formed four-person raid team disappeared into the boss room.

#

Whoosh.

Thud.

Upon entering the boss room, we found ourselves in a space with a completely different atmosphere from the outer cavern.

And there he was in the center.

Choi Seongcheol, inexplicably going berserk all by himself.

Whoosh!

Crash!

“Hahaha! You can’t even put up a fight!”

He was dancing fiercely with his distinctive battle axe, but there was no one there. He was just fighting against an imaginary opponent by himself.

“…Why is he acting like that?”

“It seems he’s fallen victim to a hallucination.”

Kim Seungmin’s assessment was accurate.

Behind Choi Seongcheol was a structure resembling a stone tower.

I could feel waves of malicious magical power emanating from between them.

“Kihit!”

Hop!

What revealed itself was a small creature holding a peculiar staff.

Its head looked like a mix between a lizard and a fox, and its body, wrapped in bizarre clothing, was not much different from a human’s except for its small size.

“I’m not entirely sure, but it appears to be a type that uses sorcery or magic. It would be best to be careful.”

“That’s actually an opportunity if you’re not specialized in close combat.”

Seo Yuna had said she had an assassin-type title.

If so, the matchup wasn’t bad.

“The enemy doesn’t know our specialties yet, so I’ll try to ambush when I see an opening.”

Kim Seungmin nodded at her words and stepped forward with his sword and shield to draw attention.

Of course, that wasn’t a wrong idea. However, my opinion was slightly different.

“I-I don’t think you should go…”

Unlike them, whose vision was blurred by tension, I clearly saw the boss’s gaze directed toward our equipment. It had surely identified our combat types through our weapons.

Why had it been hiding behind the stone tower only to jump out now?

The answer was simple.

At that moment, the enemy was trying to assess us. And it had determined it could kill us.

Honestly, even setting that aside, I could tell just from the aura of magical power.

The enemy was strong. At least stronger than us.

“We don’t have time to waste. What’s your basis?”

At Seo Yuna’s words, I nervously summoned an Antworf and had it body-slam Choi Seongcheol.

Crash!

Thud!

“Ugh! What the!”

As expected, the hallucination wasn’t too deep, as he immediately regained his senses from the impact.

If the spell had been that powerful, it would have killed Choi Seongcheol without mercy already.

“I see. This little bastard…”

Having assessed the situation, Choi Seongcheol immediately charged at the boss.

“…Die!”

But of course, that wouldn’t work.

The moment Choi Seongcheol approached the boss, the stone tower behind the boss began to glow, and strange patterns started to form on the ground around him.

‘A totem?’

Seeing that familiar sight, I began to analyze it carefully. After all, now that I was here, I needed to defeat that thing to go home.

Flash!

Crack!

“Argh!”

Crash!

Choi Seongcheol, who was about to swing down his axe with momentum, was hit directly by a quickly cast lightning spell and was thrown to the edge of the arena.

The smell of burning flesh and scorched armor filled the air. It was a critical hit.

“This can’t be.”

“Is this really the boss of a D5-rank dungeon?”

One-sided battle.

Voices filled with shock came from both sides.

‘…’

Unlike our useless debuff totems, the enemy’s totem was quite helpful.

It was practically home ground for the boss.

‘But…’

I had also roughly figured things out from what just happened.

After all, it was just a low-rank dungeon boss. Naturally, it was no match for me, the great Lord of Death and master of the netherworld.

I smiled triumphantly as I moved forward.

Thud.

“You bastard! You knew and still sent me in!”

Meanwhile, Choi Seongcheol, who had somehow gotten up, grabbed my collar and started yelling.

Perhaps the title Guardian of Earth wasn’t just for show? His body was tougher than I expected.

I responded to Choi Seongcheol without being intimidated at all.

“W-well, if you don’t have brains, you have to contribute with your body…”

“What did you say?”

“Eek.”

It was too much.

Facing him as he shouted at close range, I became completely disoriented due to the side effects.

“H-how dare you to the Lord of Death…”

“Huh?”

“Urp.”

Just as I was about to dry heave at my limit, a startled Kim Seungmin intervened and rescued me.

“I came to help, and what are you doing now?”

Released, I went to the corner wall of the boss room and crouched behind an Antworf.

“Kieek.”

“…”

I vowed not to participate in the battle until that hardhead died.