Chapter 561: Gathering (1)

Abandoned village, Sector A.

From the deepest bottom of the Poison Lake, a pair of eyes quietly opened.

A monster awakened from a long slumber at the bottom of the quiet lake.

Its massive body, overflowing magic power, and the deadly poison constantly radiating from its entire being.

The monster, which anyone would call a ‘Boss Monster’, slowly rose from the bottom.

As the monster’s body, buried in mud and heavy metals, was lifted from the lakebed, the tranquil lake churned with great waves.

‘Greeeeeee….’

It couldn’t even gauge how many years it had been asleep.

Ten years, or perhaps even longer.

To adapt to the new environment, so different from beyond the Gate, it held its breath and waited for ages.

Until its body grew accustomed and adapted to the new surroundings.

‘Guaaaaaaah!’

Twelve years ago, the monster wave that occurred in the dungeon now called the Abandoned Village.

This was the moment the boss of that wave awakened from its long slumber.

---

After Sihee, Cha Yuri, and the other two somehow finished introducing themselves.

After chatting for a bit, we prepared to wrap up our meeting for the day and part ways.

“Let’s head back. It seems like most other hunters have already clocked out, and the large-scale subjugation event is almost over.”

“…Indeed. I overdid it a bit today, moving my arms, so my shoulders are stiff.”

“Me too~! I think I’m a little tired~! I was so busy doing physical labor with Taekyung all day that I lost track of time~!”

“……What?”

“Physical labor…?”

“…I’m talking about the purification work.”

Why did she have to use such an easily misunderstood phrase to confuse people?

As someone who could swear to the heavens that nothing happened between her and me, it felt like an incredibly unfair accusation.

The physical contact I had with Lulusia today was, at best, rolling around in a puddle together, accidentally falling and ending up on top of each other, or her hugging me tightly while wet.

…Come to think of it, maybe it wasn’t unfair enough to complain about.

Still, they were all necessary actions for the purification work, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, the Saintess acted that way without even considering me a man in the first place.

Since we met, it felt like fate, so I’d love to grab a meal on the way home, but unfortunately, those from the company and those from the foundation had different routes home.

Sihee and Lulusia, belonging to the foundation, had to return via the Sector A Gate leading to the foundation, while Cha Yuri and I, being company employees, naturally had to return through the Sector B Gate leading to the company.

Making plans to meet again after leaving the dungeon would be troublesome in many ways, so it was cleaner for both of us to part ways here.

Coincidentally, the area with this Poison Lake was quite close to the Sector A Gate.

After seeing them off towards the Sector A Gate, Cha Yuri and I decided to head to Sector B to clock out.

“It was a pleasure meeting you today, Lulusia. And you too, Sihee-ssi.”

“Yes~! See you next time, Taekyung~! And Yuri~!”

“…Yeah.”

“It’s a shame to part already, but please get home safely, Sungchul-ssi.”

“Yes, you too, Sihee-ssi.”

As we were about to exchange final goodbyes in front of the Sector A Gate leading to the foundation.

Although it was a short meeting, we had shared quite a bit of emotional exchange, and we exchanged farewells before parting.

Just before they stepped onto the foundation-bound Gate, I quietly noticed that something about the surrounding environment had become a little strange.

‘Was the Poison Lake area always this wide?’

I recall the Sector A Gate being built a bit farther from the Poison Lake where the factory is, for safety reasons.

Looking at where the Gate was currently installed, it was practically right next to the lake.

Moreover, for some reason, it felt like the lake was getting closer and closer even now…

“…Hmm, what’s going on?”

“What’s wrong, Sihee~?”

“The Warp Gate suddenly isn’t working. It doesn’t seem to be recognizing ID cards properly either. Could it be broken…?”

-Kugugung.

“Wh-what is it? Suddenly, there’s some kind of vibration…”

While the two were lingering in front of the Warp Gate, a slight tremor was suddenly felt nearby.

To me, who was already sensing something was wrong, that subtle vibration was enough to induce tension.

As soon as I grasped the situation unfolding before my eyes, my body moved first, rushing towards the two people standing at the Gate.

Because leaving them defenseless on the Warp Gate platform would lead to predictable disaster.

“Kyaaaak?!”

“Taekyung?!”

I escaped the Warp Gate, holding Lulusia and Sihee, who were standing on the white platform, in my arms.

Although the two, suddenly embraced by me, showed flustered reactions, I didn’t have the luxury to explain everything to them while rescuing them.

The moment I carried the two of them out of the Warp Gate, the ground where they had been standing turned into a pile of dirt and collapsed.

As the ground supporting the Warp Gate collapsed, it was sucked into the Poison Lake, and the Gate was seen being destroyed with a burning sound.

There was a blonde young lady who let out a scream of terror the moment she saw the Warp Gate she had been standing on moments before sink into the lake.

“Hiiik…!”

“……!”

And Lulusia, held in my other arm, also began to assess the situation with a silent, shocked expression.

The crisis had already begun the moment I sensed something was wrong.

Not only had it swallowed the area where the Warp Gate was, but the Poison Lake was still expanding its boundaries.

One thing was certain: we had to escape this area as quickly as possible.

“Let’s run quickly for now! If we’re not careful, we’ll be swallowed by that Poison Lake!”

“Yes, Sungchul-ssi!”

“Ah, okay!”

“Sacred blessings of the heavens, protect us….”

If we were sucked into that Poison Lake, we probably wouldn’t even leave bones behind and would meet a swift death. To avoid a terrible death in a place like this without understanding why, we had to get out of here immediately.

Because it was still difficult to grasp how wide the Poison Lake’s area would expand.

I quickly moved out of the contaminated zone with Cha Yuri, Do Sihee, and Lulusia, who suddenly started chanting an incomprehensible spell as if struck by inspiration.

We intended to escape as far as possible from the rapidly expanding Poison Lake, but unfortunately, our escape plan didn’t go smoothly.

“Wait, just a moment! There’s already a toxic zone ahead…!”

“Damn…!”

To make matters worse, the toxic zone wasn’t just approaching from behind; our escape route had also become contaminated, leaving us isolated on a small island.

Furthermore, the toxic gas emanating from above the Poison Lake had begun to thicken to a point where the special masks we received beforehand were barely enough to endure.

“Kuhk, kkhk…!”

“Cough! Cough, cough!”

“Kek, A-Air Barrier!”

Cha Yuri, the first to grasp the situation, was doing her best to block the incoming toxic gas with a barrier of wind.

However, the lake’s toxic liquid, still creeping up from our feet, was further isolating us.

For now, I also erected a temporary defensive wall using ice magic around the perimeter.

-Chiiik. Chiiiiiik….

“……!”

The problem was that this ice magic barrier was truly just a temporary shield.

The toxic liquid reacted with a loud noise the moment it touched the makeshift ice wall, corroding the barrier.

I was rebuilding the ice wall as much as possible in sync with the corrosion speed, but dealing with the rising toxic liquid required more and more magic power.

Even if I used all the potions in my subspace pocket right now, it would be far from enough to hold out until rescue arrived.

-Cheombung!

‘Kyeaek!’

“Damn it…!”

Moreover, to add insult to injury, it wasn’t just the toxic gas and the Poison Lake’s liquid approaching; toxic monsters, native to the Poison Lake, were also heading our way.

The problem was that neither I nor Cha Yuri had the capacity to fight, as we were currently focused on blocking the approaching toxic gas and liquid.

In the current situation, the only one who could fend off the approaching monsters was…

-Kwajik!

‘Kyeaee…!’

“I’ll handle the monsters! You two just focus on maintaining the defensive magic!”

-Kkeudeok.

Fortunately, Sihee’s arrows weren’t thrown off course by Cha Yuri’s wind barrier and were eliminating the monsters; as long as she was there, it seemed unlikely we’d face problems from monster attacks.

Of course, the biggest problem remained unresolved amidst all this.

The water level of the Poison Lake, which had engulfed us, was steadily rising, pressuring the four of us.

My magic power consumption also became extreme during the process of building the ever-rising ice wall.

-Chiiiiiik….

“Haa, shit…”

The toxic liquid, which had only been creeping along the floor initially, had now risen to cover about half of our calves.

I couldn’t help but intuitively feel that we wouldn’t last much longer.

“…Cough!”

“Kekh, kek…!”

The fog of toxic gas, thickened to the point where even Cha Yuri’s wind magic struggled to block it. Monsters approaching more and more within that darkness. And the rapidly rising water level, as if the very ground was collapsing…

‘Wait, the ground is collapsing?’

…It somehow felt like the lake’s water level was rising too quickly, but it turned out the land we were standing on was actually collapsing beneath us long ago.

Although I couldn’t figure out the reason why the ground beneath us was suddenly collapsing right now, one thing was certain.

That the current situation, with the ground giving way beneath us, was a fucked up situation for all of us.

At that moment of utter desperation, where I felt like I should leave a final will, Lulusia’s chanting suddenly stopped.

As the sounds abruptly ceased, all our eyes focused on the Saintess. At that moment, Lulusia suddenly spread her arms wide and shouted loudly.

“Everyone, come close to me!!”

“Waaah?!”

“Lu, Lulusia?!”

With those words, Lulusia suddenly embraced the others in her arms.

Cha Yuri, maintaining the barrier with wind magic, and Do Sihee, fending off monsters with arcane arrows, were both taken aback by Lulusia’s sudden embrace.

But sensing that there must be a reason for the Saintess’s actions, I didn’t hesitate and moved into Lulusia’s open arms.

“Celestial Sanctuary!!”

As soon as she confirmed I was within her embrace, Lulusia’s holy spell followed immediately.

The moment her final spell was uttered, Lulusia and our surroundings were enveloped in a golden, spherical shield.

Simultaneously, the last handful of ground we stood on collapsed, and we were sucked directly into the Poison Lake.