episode_0374

“This is the first time in my life I’ve been slapped like this… “

[sorry]

Aiden caressed his cheek, which had been hit, with a bewildered face. The wingbeat was so slight that it left no marks.

“What on earth did you do to get slapped?”

“I didn’t do anything. Is it worth getting slapped by coming into a dungeon and being on guard?”

“Hmm, maybe there was another reason… ”

“This shit.”

Aiden’s face crumpled at the joke of Namyeonjung who entered the dungeon next.

Although they are joking with each other, they are not letting their guard down. They are maintaining an appropriate level of alertness so that they can respond immediately.

“… Fortunately, there was no attack right after entering.”

The crew members quickly came in through the vortex. Among them, Yusei, who had drawn his supply sword, checked the front and back of the cave.

“The space is wider than you think. It won’t be uncomfortable to swing your sword right away.”

“But I don’t know what the road ahead will be like. It might get narrower.”

“That’s right. You’d better adjust your formation with him in mind.”

After finishing his words, Yusei looked back at me.

[… All positions completed. The attack will begin as of now.]

I folded my wings and nodded at that gaze.

[I will perform the roles of assistant, magician and healer as previously discussed]

Knock knock – I tapped the ground with the staff I was holding in my hand. Everyone nodded at the vibrations flowing through the floor.

“Honestly, it would be easier if I closed my eyes and took the bus… ”

“If we do that, we won’t be able to grow at all, let alone do individual or collaborative evaluations.”

It’s forbidden to let your guard down inside the dungeon, but at level 2, I can cause trouble by myself.

But if that happens, there will be nothing for the crew members to do. Since it is clearly a collaborative task, it is important to distribute and perform roles.

‘If it was a real match, it wouldn’t have mattered, but this is a test.’

He raised his left arm slightly. There was a purple wristband tied around his wrist. It was a safety device provided by the Vice President.

If you have this belt, you can escape in an emergency situation where your life is in danger.

Thanks to this excellent insurance, the students of the cradle can gain close-to-real-life experience in the dungeons within the premises.

I can also grow by performing this role, or I can do other training separately.

[Lorraine, what are the results?]

“… There are no adjacent objects. The trap is the same. ”

Meanwhile, Lorraine, who was inside the formation with me, reported.

Lorraine is a superhuman with unique sensing abilities, and she took on the role of sensing and exploring in this expedition.

… But he’s watching me closely while reporting. It seems like he’s a bit nervous.

[Yes, please keep checking and seeing]

“Okay.”

[Then, we will proceed as discussed]

The assignment our group was given in this dungeon practice was exploration and map making.

In short, it is similar to the mission of the dungeon’s advance party. It is not a mission to actively subdue monsters, but a mission to carefully learn about the risk factors and status.

The group moved forward.

The formation is Namyeon and Yusei in the lead, Lorraine and I follow in order, and Aiden takes the rear.

-Tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck…

Every time I stepped on the uneven ground, the sound of my footsteps echoed in the cave.

“… Trap on the front, on the floor.“

“Confirm.”

These were the words of Lorraine, who was simultaneously detecting and mapping in the center.

Nam Yeon-joong nodded and slowed his pace. At the same time, he took out an iron ball from his pocket in space, filled it with magic power, and threw it to the ground a little way away.

-Wow!

A short vibration rang out. Crunch! The iron ball was pierced by the thorn that had shot up. The thorn, which had not stopped its momentum, struck the ceiling.

Thud! A heavy vibration reverberated through the air. Aiden’s face turned pale as his body shook.

“… Is the trap still there?”

[Because it’s a 2nd level. Even if it was released before, it will appear again because the trap regeneration period is short.]

Traps that are automatically generated in dungeons. There weren’t many of them in the level 4 dungeons I experienced during last year’s dungeon practice, but you encounter them more often than you’d think in level 2 dungeons.

I passed the thorns that were sticking out.

Just as Yusei said, the cave was wide enough. Even if five people walked side by side, there was plenty of room to spare, and the height was also ample.

“… It’s getting narrower.”

As he walked, the cave gradually became narrower. Nam Yeon-jung, who was holding a long spear, frowned.

“It’s getting narrower from here on out. It’s so bumpy that there are parts that get wider repeatedly… ”

“It’s a hassle to put it in and take it out while looking at it. I expected it since it was a cave.”

In the end, Nam Yeon-jung put the spear in his pocket and took out a shorter sword.

“Yusei, will you be okay? The curve seems a bit long.”

“No problem. We trained you to be able to use it skillfully in such narrow places.”

“Oh, I see. I got it too, but not that much─“

“Raid!”

Lorraine’s sharp voice broke into the chatter. Raid. Those who were already on alert looked around at the word.

“Floor, wall, ceiling!”

A list of simple and clear words. But no one failed to understand them.

A monster soared high, aiming for the leader’s leg. Yusei and Naminjou lightly stepped back, their sword blades flashing.

Crunch! The monster’s body was cut off. Nam Yeon-jung’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Rock?”

The thing that rose was an earthworm. However, it was as thick as a human torso, and its surface was covered with rocks like cracked earth.

Maybe that’s why it wasn’t cut cleanly. In fact, it was closer to being torn off like chopping wood with an axe.

The assault was also in the center and rear. Earthworms were popping out from the floor, walls, and ceiling. Their round mouths were filled with yellow, sharp teeth.

“Sigh!”

The first to react was Aiden, who was in the rear guard role. Crunch! The sword blade flashed and sliced the necks of the two worms with a single stroke.

I didn’t stay still either.

It’s a supporting role right now, but it’s not like you can just sit there and do nothing in an attack situation.

In fact, Lorraine is drawing her sword and slashing at the worm.

Bam! The body of the earthworm that was hit by the cane broke.

Instead of blowing them to death, he kicked them out appropriately. He also kicked out those who were trying to go too far with Lorraine, and lifted some of them up so that Aiden could easily hit them.

Aiden’s sword accelerated as if he understood him. In an instant, the sword swung through the air. The bodies of the worms overlapped beneath it.

Thud! The torn earthworms poured out onto the floor.

[oh]

My mouth is slightly open. I lifted it up so that it was easy to eat, but even without that in mind, the attack was fast and accurate.

He lightly tapped the broken part with the tip of his staff. The surface where the rock was pressed down. The sword dug into the gap between the rocks.

[Aiden, you’ve grown a lot, haven’t you?]

“… It sounds so strange to hear that from you.”

[Oh, I didn’t mean to be sarcastic]

“No, I know that’s not what you meant… um.“

The raid was over. Bam! Aiden, who had shaken off the damp blood from his sword, made a strange expression.

“It’s been a year since I entered school, so of course I need to grow too.”

“You little shit, speak with the corners of your mouth closed. It’s disgusting.”

“Shut up, you piece of shit.”

Aiden gritted his teeth at Namyeon’s death.

“What kind of monster is this?”

Meanwhile, Yusei narrowed his eyes at the monster lying on the ground. He tilted his head while picking at the severed part with the tip of his sword.

“Was there a monster like this in the previous dungeon information?”

“… Wait a minute.”

Lorraine tapped the hologram. It was disconnected from the outside world, but some of its built-in programs were still usable.

“… No, there isn’t any.”

“That wasn’t in the information either.”

“That too, it is not an entity registered in the monster dictionary.”

“What? It’s not even in the dictionary?”

Namyeon-jung, who had been awkwardly stroking the handle of the sword, came closer with his eyes wide open.

Lorraine nodded as she searched the dictionary displayed as a hologram.

“The only similar one is the Rock Worm. Rock Worm? It’s a standard 7th-tier monster.”

“Is this a mutant? ”

“How can there be more than one or two variants like this?”

“I don’t know. The dungeon itself may have mutated, so the average mutation may have occurred… Ah, is this what you sent me to find out?”

“Um… ”

It’s more common than you might think to encounter mutants in dungeons. However, it’s strange that dozens of mutants are pouring out like they did just now.

Abnormal phenomenon. This is the situation you must be most wary of inside the dungeon.

“… Now that we’re at the entrance to the dungeon, there’s only so much we can figure out. Above all, this is the dungeon of the cradle, so there’s no reason to retreat because our lives are at stake. ”

After a moment of hesitation, Yusei shrugged his shoulders and turned his gaze to me while caressing his purple wristband.

“Please encourage and judge.”

[Didn’t you just decide?]

Didn’t we all gather around and decide that? Yusei chuckled as I tilted my head.

“The ultimate authority originally belongs to the leader.”

[I just said there was no reason to retreat… Hey, let’s just keep going like this]

“Good decision.”

When I shook my head in bewilderment, everyone laughed.

“By the way, those wings. Do you know why the color changed?”

Before we even entered the cave, Yusei, who was preparing his position, suddenly pointed behind me.

Behind my back were three pairs of neatly folded wings.

What’s different from before is that the wings that were once pure white have been dyed dark brown.

[Wings? Oh, there are spirits in them. I put some earth spirits in them just in case.]

“… A spirit enters the artifact?”

Of course, Yusei’s eyes, as well as those who were listening to my answer, blinked.

-Flutter

The wings flapped once. The feathers of the heavenly wings, filled with earth spirits and pottery, rippled.

***

“Elia? Are you feeling unwell? Your expression is a bit dark… Dinner wasn’t that great, was it? Hey, Yuseol. Look at this. I told you not to touch my cooking. ”

“This is ridiculous. I defrosted the convenience food and cooked it, but what the heck.”

“Your shit hands make it possible. That’s the realm of true uniqueness, I tell you. How can you be so dexterous?”

“Why are you suddenly picking a fight? Do you want to be kicked out of the barrier?”

“What, no matter how angry you are, are you just telling me to leave the barrier and leave?”

“Why? Or kill me yourself?”

The center of the temporary base. Elia blinked at the sudden murmuring of the group members who had been huddled together around the fever magic tools.

But soon he realized that it was just a farce for Elia, who was somewhere far away, and he laughed.

“… Ahahaha. That’s not it. I was just thinking about something else for a moment. ”

“Hmm… Elia is thinking of something else… So is it ultimately her thoughts?”

Him. Elijah shrugged her shoulders at the question that seemed to refer to something great and secret.

“Hey, is that person thinking about this? That’s really sincere.”

“But does that guy have anything to worry about? I can believe it even if he comes out of the dungeon in one day.”

“That’s right. Even if you go into a level 1 dungeon alone, you’ll probably be able to clear it easily.”

A joke that continues. It’s a joke that is told while thinking about Lee Ha-yool’s power that is known to the world.

But it’s also true.

That’s because the interest rate is that low.

If we just look at his major achievements, he single-handedly subdued the twin-headed dragon that had become its commander, and displayed his unrivaled skills against all the cadets at the birth ceremony.

Recently, there has also been activity shown in the Iran disaster.

He is no longer at the cadet level. He is at the top level even in active duty, so I had no reason to worry.

But what Elia was worried about wasn’t the power aspect.

‘… I wonder if I can sleep well.’

If I had to pick one, it would be the mental aspect.

Elia couldn’t hide her worried eyes as she ran her hands through her hair.

***

A tent spacious enough for one person.

This is a special product that contains all kinds of magic. It is an item that even the Aeros of the past would find difficult to scratch a hundred times over.

[… … ]

Inside. I sat on the sleeping bag, hugging the pillow, and blinked blankly.

I couldn’t sleep.

A warm embrace, a caring touch, a warm body temperature, a fragrant scent, a loving gaze…

There is nothing.

I corrected the expression I said earlier.

I didn’t want to sleep alone.