Nightmare of the Past (2)
The dungeon, built in the shape of a castle, consisted of six enormous floors. Each floor was populated with designated monsters, and clearing them—along with the mid-bosses guarding the passages between floors—allowed access to the level above. Up to that point, there had been nothing particularly unusual about the setup.
Dungeons generally followed one of two patterns before reaching the boss room: a random maze where paths simply appeared as you advanced, or a structured layout with its own internal logic. This one clearly belonged to the latter category. From the moment we entered, it was obvious this was a classic structured dungeon, with the boss almost certainly waiting on the top floor.
Yet something felt off, and that unease only grew clearer once we began the raid.
“Hmm… something’s strange. Is this really a C-rank dungeon? The monsters’ levels and the overall difficulty seem at least C-rank or higher…”
The first to voice her suspicion was a veteran huntress in our party. We had just reached the third floor and paused for a short rest when she muttered the words to the rest of us. Most of the others nodded, their expressions uneasy. I felt the same way. No one had said anything earlier, but we had all sensed that the dungeon’s difficulty was subtly higher than the reports had claimed. The veterans, especially those who prided themselves on their experience, felt the discrepancy even more sharply.
“I agree. The black-market ticket must’ve been the problem. Those damn scammers… If they’re going to cheat people, they could at least pick something other than the dungeon’s difficulty. I swear, if I see that guy again outside, he’s not walking away unscathed.”
In the end, it was our leader who spoke first amid the growing tension. His face flushed as he let his anger show without restraint. From his words, I could roughly piece together what had happened. Either the ticket seller had misjudged the difficulty and sold it anyway, or—more likely—they had deliberately fudged the numbers to move the ticket faster. Given how careful these people usually were, a genuine mistake on something as critical as difficulty seemed unlikely. The seller had probably just handed over the closest ticket they had to the requested rank.
Of course, our party had every right to be furious, but since buying black-market tickets was illegal in the first place, reporting it wasn’t an option. All we could do was finish the raid safely and settle the score if we ever ran into the seller again.
Overwhelmed by guilt for dragging his teammates into danger, our leader couldn’t lift his head for a while. No excuse could change the fact that he had been the one to obtain the ticket. The others quickly rallied around him, insisting we clear the dungeon first and then go teach the scammer a lesson. The gloomy atmosphere lifted almost instantly. Though anger still lingered on his face, the encouragement seemed to help.
With renewed determination, we pushed forward at a brisk pace. The difficulty was indeed higher than expected, but aside from accumulating fatigue, it wasn’t impossible to handle. Our party had fought together for a long time, so we adapted to the unexpected challenge with practiced ease. Before long, we reached the top floor, right in front of the boss room. We were later than planned, but not by enough to cause real trouble.
As always, we stopped at the massive doors and began checking our gear for the final preparations. Unlike when we first entered the dungeon, a heavy tension now hung over the entire group. That was only natural—the boss raid was the most dangerous and climactic part of any dungeon clear. No matter how many regular monsters you killed, leaving the boss alive meant you couldn’t prevent a future dungeon break. On top of that, bosses were famous for dropping valuable materials. A boss fight was an unavoidable high-risk, high-reward gamble.
Unlike the battles we had fought on the way here, this one could genuinely cost lives. Not being nervous would have been stranger. Even I, who was only a porter with no combat role, felt the same pressure as we prepared to enter the boss room together.
One might wonder why a useless porter like me would follow the party inside. The answer was simple: safety. Even the area right outside the boss room was still part of the dungeon. There were no safe zones here. Being left alone as a defenseless porter was far more dangerous than staying with the fighters. Unless someone stayed behind to guard me—which no one would—I had a better chance of survival by sticking close to the group. Of course, entering with them carried its own risks, but they were the lesser evil.
I was still trying to suppress the familiar, yet never-quite-familiar, tension when our leader approached me.
“…You idiot. All you’re going to do is watch from the back anyway, so why are you so tense? Loosen up a little.”
He gave my shoulder a light smack and smiled. I, on the other hand, let out a pained groan and shot him a wronged look.
“Hyung… isn’t that a bit too much? You and the others can at least protect yourselves. If something goes wrong, I’m dead on the spot! This is so unfair…”
“What are you worried about? I’ll split that boss in half with this greatsword, so relax. Besides, with all of us here, why would the boss bother with a cornered porter like you?”
He glanced at me with a mix of pity and exasperation, then pointed at the massive greatsword strapped to his back. I looked at the weapon—nearly as tall as I was—and felt a small measure of relief. As the party’s tank and main warrior, he also had the highest level among us. He always led from the front, so his presence was the core of our formation. His overly aggressive personality sometimes led him too deep into enemy lines, but the rest of the party covered for him well enough. Thanks to that balance, our group was one of the best I had ever worked with.
“By the way, I’ve got a good feeling about this one… Since the boss is the lord of this huge castle, it might be wearing some valuable gold or treasures, right? I’m not asking for much—just a few gold ornaments would be worth a fortune.”
“…Isn’t that unlikely? Just look at the inside of the castle we’ve already passed through. It feels completely abandoned. There’s no way anything like that is still here…”
“Why does a young guy like you have zero sense of romance?! Think about places like pyramids—there’s always massive treasure hidden in the deepest chamber. This could be the same!”
His eyes sparkled like a child’s as he practically drooled at the thought. I almost pointed out that pyramids were royal tombs, but I swallowed the words and simply nodded with a faint smile. I didn’t want to ruin his excitement. The other party members who overheard us seemed to share my skepticism, wearing subtle smiles of their own. Only the youngest members looked genuinely hopeful.
Looking back, he probably hadn’t believed it himself. He had likely said it just to ease the tension on my face. He always paid close attention to everyone’s mood, even if he didn’t show it.
The brief moment of levity passed, and the time for battle finally arrived. With our leader at the front, we finished our final preparations. But I had no idea that the conversation we just had would be our last casual exchange.
The attack came with terrifying precision and speed.
Fweeeeee—!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Aaaagh!!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Everyone down! We’re under attack!!”
A chilling whistle tore through the air, followed by screams. Our attention had been focused on the boss room doors, so none of us reacted in time. From the rear, I instinctively ducked at our leader’s shout. When I opened my eyes again, I couldn’t believe what I saw.
Embedded in the floor not far from me were several glowing blue arrows radiating a deadly aura. If even one had veered slightly off course, it would have pierced straight through me instead of the stone.
I scrambled to my feet and looked around in horror. Blood—whose, I couldn’t tell—stained the ground. Unlike me, several party members had been hit and lay writhing in pain. A few had been struck in vital spots and lay completely still, already cold.
While I stood frozen in shock, the tanks who had been at the front rushed back toward us, raising their shields to guard against follow-up attacks. Our leader reached us first. His expression twisted when he saw the bodies, then hardened as he examined one of the arrows.
“This isn’t from the monsters inside the castle. It’s an Awakener’s ability.”
The others around him paled. The implication was clear: another group of hunters had been lying in wait deep inside the dungeon. And as if to confirm our worst fears, figures emerged from the shadows—many of them, all wearing black masks. Their presence alone was enough to tell us they weren’t here for a friendly chat.
“Ahh, how disappointing… I timed it perfectly, yet so few died instantly. What a waste of waiting.”
The masked man at the front spoke with open regret. There was no doubt he and his group were responsible for the ambush. My mind, still struggling to process the situation, latched onto his words about “perfect timing.” The arrows had been concentrated on the rear—exactly where our mages, the most vulnerable to close-range attacks, had been positioned. They had been hiding, waiting for the exact moment we entered the boss room and our backline was exposed and defenseless.
That meant they had planned this attack from the very beginning.
“You bastards… Who the hell are you? What do you think you’re doing?!”
Our leader’s voice shook with rage at the sight of his fallen comrades. The masked man merely chuckled.
“Kuk, can’t you tell? Unless you’re an idiot, you should already know what’s happening. That’s what you get for using a black-market ticket, Leader.”
The taunt pushed our leader over the edge. He looked ready to charge with his greatsword drawn, but the party’s second-in-command—a female mage—grabbed his arm.
“Wait… something’s wrong. According to the dungeon’s structure, reaching the top floor should require defeating every mid-boss on the way up. How did you people bypass that and lie in wait here?”
She had taken an arrow to one arm, blood dripping from her fingers, yet her voice remained steady and analytical. Her point was valid. We hadn’t seen any signs of previous passage on our way up, and there was no way these people could have known exactly when we would arrive. Too many things didn’t add up.
The masked man showed no interest in answering.
“Oh? Sharp, aren’t you? Even with that wound, you’re still thinking clearly. But I have no obligation to explain. Call it trade secrets… I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”
With a sinister smile, he drew his weapon. His subordinates followed suit. Our leader clicked his tongue and gripped his greatsword. Whatever these people were, their hostility was obvious. Standing still would only get us killed. There was no choice but to fight.
The rest of our party, still shaken, drew their own weapons with grim faces. A suffocating killing intent filled the room, and the standoff shattered in an instant.
The masked group charged as one. Our leader swung his massive blade forward to meet them, and the battle that would decide our fates began.