14
The 2nd team, including Eun Ga-ye and moving smoothly through the dungeon, astonishingly found the orb not with Eun Ga-ye but with Park Yu-chun.
“Hey, Yu-chun. I’ll kill you. How did you chase away those shadow crows? And where did the dungeon worms go again?”
“Ah, suddenly those wormlings popped out and I was startled. Thankfully, Yu-chun was there.”
Until they entered the dungeon, Lee Soon-cheol and Nam Min-woo, who had looked as if they owned the world, praised Park Yu-chun endlessly.
It was no wonder, as for some reason, the dungeon monsters, upon seeing Park Yu-chun, scrambled to flee as if their lives depended on it.
Even with a single punch from Park Yu-chun, dozens of shadow crows were sent flying.
Thanks to Park Yu-chun’s valiant efforts, the 2nd team could advance to the boss room without much difficulty.
“Hey, Yu-chun. You’re so strong, why were you in the F Rank before?”
“I was weak back then.”
“hahahaha, how long has it been since you enrolled? It’s like you became strong overnight.”
At Lee Soon-cheol’s jest, Park Yu-chun smirked subtly.
Contrary to expectations, the atmosphere of the 2nd team was filled with camaraderie as they stood before the boss room.
“If everyone’s rested, let’s go in now. Check to see if everything’s in order.”
At Lee Soon-cheol’s words, each member of the 2nd team checked their physical condition.
Is their equipment intact, magic power fully restored, not leaving anything behind…
Eun Ga-ye glanced down at the raincoat she had reluctantly handed to Yoo Haesol before entering the dungeon.
She couldn’t quite grasp the intention behind that gesture.
‘What does “be cautious of Park Yu-chun” even mean?’
He’s just someone who spouts strange nonsense.
Eun Ga-ye, with a lowered head, briefly glanced at Park Yu-chun.
His relaxed posture with crossed arms seemed somewhat different from the usual moody Park Yu-chun.
No, looking at his actions today alone, he seemed like a completely different person. Of course, it might be because he had been hiding his true abilities.
But after hearing such words from Yoo Haesol, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Then, Park Yu-chun’s expression suddenly darkened. Eun Ga-ye licked her lips. It seemed like he was struggling.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah, just a bit tired… *cough*”
“If you’re tired, take a break. We’ll go and come back together.”
As soon as he spoke and half-turned his body, Eun Ga-ye’s footsteps abruptly halted. Her eyes widened in shock.
“Hey, Park Yu-chun.”
“Why?”
As Park Yu-chun, who was coughing, raised his bowed head, Eun Ga-ye fell silent.
In Park Yu-chun’s eyes as he looked at her, a distinct dark energy was swirling.
It was a sinister magic power that only those who had crossed a line possessed, ‘Magi’.
“So, this was what they meant by ‘be cautious.'”
“What?”
Puh-haak!
Blood gushed out. Park Yu-chun’s right arm was severed.
“aaargh!”
Park Yoochun, who grabbed his shoulders, screamed and stepped back.
“What, what?!”
“Eungaye! Are you insane?!”
Lee Soon-cheol and Nam Min-woo were startled by Eungaye’s sudden act of cutting off Park Yoochun’s arm and shouted.
However, Eungaye didn’t even glance at them. Only when the two suddenly felt something strange, their gazes followed Eungaye’s. And the next moment, their eyes widened.
“Gasp!”
Park Yoochun’s severed shoulder. From the cross-section, black ash powder was faintly flowing out.
It was a sensation they were all too familiar with. Lee Soon-cheol muttered in a dazed voice.
“Son of a… gun?”
***
At that moment, Squad 3 was rushing through the dungeon like mad.
“Why are there so many?!”
“Watch your step on the floor!”
Squad 3 couldn’t regain their composure against the shadow crows attacking from all directions.
And I, who had been the first to dash out, was now lagging behind inexplicably.
“So damn fast.”
They say I’m quick, but that’s just my standard. I realized anew the pitiful state of my body in the face of such an insurmountable gap.
Anyway, as Squad 3 ran for their lives dodging the shadow crows, I belatedly realized that I was running needlessly.
I was as powerless as a roadside pebble to the shadow crows who fed on magic.
I hesitated for a moment whether to be upset at being ignored or relieved at the ease of it, but seeing my squadmates running for their lives, the latter seemed preferable.
Before I knew it, I stopped running and strolled leisurely. As I watched Squad 3 running and the shadow crows passing me by without a care.
Being so comfortable inadvertently heightened my reflexes.
I belatedly realized that shadow crows only form a cluster when the commanding “head entity” appears.
So, catching that one would naturally disband the crows.
I carefully observed the shadow crows loitering by the wall.
“Hmm, still not sure.”
I recalled the saying that a male lion finds the leader among hyenas, but to me, they all looked the same.
Well, if they were distinguishable, I’d be a beast.
Of course, to the naked eye, they all looked the same, but I had a radar more useful than a lion.
Hmmm.
The magic stored in Gram flowed into me through my arm.
With magic-infused flesh, my senses were heightened to a cellular level. It felt like the world brightened up, as if I had opened my eyes for the first time.
[Gram◆Understanding Ratio 5.3%]
“Oh, it went up by 0.3%.”
I felt a slight satisfaction at the slightly increased understanding ratio, not in vain for my efforts. The shadow crows’ gazes turned towards me.
They reacted to the magic temporarily absorbed from Gram.
It was quite a dangerous situation being surrounded by them, but it didn’t matter.
I could now clearly grasp the behavior pattern of these previously unreadable creatures.
I swiftly turned my head. Thankfully, the leader of the shadow crows was right next to me on the wall.
─······!
The surprise in the eyes of the guy I was facing was palpable, as if he was even signaling an attack towards me.
Even though countless hooks would aim at me from every direction due to that signal······
“You’re late, punk.”
Whack!
Before the signal could even be fully delivered, the sword’s blade shattered the guy’s skull.
The guy, now turned into black ash without a head, crumbled down. As a result, the dark dungeon gradually started to brighten.
It was the death of the head creature that paved the way for the shadow crows to flee from the passage.
***
Hanse-yeon watched with keen interest as the understanding pine naturally mingled with the flock of shadow crows.
Initially, the understanding pine, which was running alongside them, suddenly fell behind, slipping in between the crows.
However, the shadow crows were unaware that the understanding pine had blended in among them.
Although they were creatures responsive even to the slightest trace of magic, the understanding pine did not exhibit any trace of its magic.
The ability of the understanding pine to erase its magic was just as remarkable.
But why did it blend in?
Hanse-yeon, puzzled, soon understood the reason.
The understanding pine accurately singled out one of the shadow crows and made it vanish with the sword. As a result, the shadow crows began to retreat like a receding tide.
“Why are they suddenly retreating?”
“It’s an artificial dungeon. They’re probably only allowed to come this far.”
“Is that so?”
Kim Ha-yoon and Oh Jin-hyuk muttered in confusion as they ran around without realizing the situation.
Due to the shadow crows, they couldn’t distinguish their surroundings even if they moved a bit further, so the two were unaware that the understanding pine had blended in among the crows.
On the other hand, Hanse-yeon, the ‘guardian,’ with keen eyes, could precisely grasp what the understanding pine had done.
The understanding pine didn’t just kill a shadow crow. It targeted and hunted down the ‘head creature.’
In the dungeon where the view opened up, Hanse-yeon muttered as she watched the approaching understanding pine.
“Haesol is truly remarkable.”
When the understanding pine first used the sword, she showed only a slight interest.
It was fascinating, but it seemed to have limited practicality compared to a gun. The fact that she seamlessly blended in with the shadow crows was surprising, but at the same time, Hanse-yeon thought it could be possible.
Since shadow crows responded to magic, and it was a known fact that the understanding pine excelled in magic control.
But when the understanding pine accurately singled out and eradicated the head creature among numerous shadow crows, Hanse-yeon was truly astonished.
Because in order to single out a specific creature among the shadow crows, one had to read their magic patterns.
And reading magic patterns required a significant gap in skill compared to the opponent.
No, if one were to read the magic patterns of all the shadow crows gathered here, it might require an even greater disparity.
Of course, it was heard that with a certain item like a divination orb, one could read magic patterns, but Hanse-yeon, whose abilities were only partially unlocked by Gram, never even dreamed of possessing a divination orb.
***
“Why is she like that?”
Seeing Hanse-yeon blinking uncomfortably since earlier, I frowned and decided to roughly ignore her, looking around.
“It’s a cave.”
“Yeah, it’s a cave.”
Kim Hayoon agreed with my opinion.
A dungeon being a cave? The dungeons we’ve passed through so far had environments too diverse to simply call them caves.
On the other hand, this place truly embodied the structure of an original cave.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling, water dripping steadily, the floor uneven, walls covered with moss – a cave just like that.
The proximity to the boss room was evidence.
In Eternity, they designed the vicinity of the boss room like this.
Then, from the other side of the cave, the sound of a barking dog echoed. Soon, what appeared were Grade 1 Undead Horses, Black Dogs, four of them.
Fairly agile for Grade 1, but possessing a difficulty level not much different from the ones we encountered before.
“What, only four? Not a big deal.”
O Jinhyuk confidently stepped forward, showing a dismissive reaction.
However, I knew that these creatures were mere fake-outs.
With the boss room nearby, Eternity wouldn’t have placed only these creatures and called them monsters.
I glanced down at the ground.
Traces of worms that could go unnoticed if not carefully observed were scattered around.
“Dungeon Worms.”
Grade 2 monster Dungeon Worms.
While the Black Dogs caught attention from above, these creatures suddenly sprang from the ground, making people fall apart.
Dealing with this one was indeed tricky. You never knew when or where it would pop up, and once it did, it vanished just as quickly.
“Oops!”
O Jinhyuk, who rushed forward without much thought, was taken aback as the Dungeon Worm suddenly sprang from the ground and fell back.
Puk!
The Dungeon Worm, with its head suddenly raised, was pierced through the head by my prepared rapier.
“······Wow.”
Kim Hayoon marveled quietly at the rapier piercing the Dungeon Worm’s head.
No wonder. To her, it must have seemed like my rapier had pierced through the Dungeon Worm that sprang up out of nowhere like lightning.
The speed and the ability to pierce through the Dungeon Worm’s thick skin in an instant must have been astonishing.
Hanseyeon, standing beside, grinned as if she knew it all, silently ignoring the situation.
That’s how we easily hunted down the Dungeon Worm baited by O Jinhyuk.
The rapier at my waist trembled, and my expression slightly hardened.
“Has it begun already?”
It seemed like Park Yoochun was showing his true colors. There was no time to waste.
“Let’s go.”
I swiftly followed the lead of the rapier. The three followed behind.