The Dungeon That Wasn't a Joke

It had been the kind of sleep that felt sweet enough to steal from heaven.

For a long time now, every time Suhyuk drifted into even shallow sleep, he had been tormented by nightmares so vicious they felt carved into his skull.

“So why the hell did you go sticking your nose into Cheolsu-pa business, you bastard?”

The mockery had wound around his ears like a snake.

Then came the horrifying sensation of a cold blade mercilessly tearing into his abdomen again and again.

He used to wake only after gasping through that phantom pain and pouring out a bucket of cold sweat.

But not today.

The nightmare had left no trace at all.

He had thrown the knife specialist from Cheolsu-pa who stabbed him, Kim Tae-su, and even Cheol-gamen—the man who had pulled all the strings from behind him—straight into pillars of hellfire.

He got up lazily in the late afternoon, took a hot shower, and threw together a simple meal.

Outside the window, the leisurely red ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sunset had already deepened into dusk.

Suhyuk sank into the sofa and called up his status window.

The skill list was getting fairly crowded.

After pouring in a huge number of points, he had gone as far as buying Reincarnation of Karma and Shackles of Sin in succession, fully unlocking the Hell Shop’s skill tree.

“My skills are pretty stacked now.”

The only item left in the Hell Shop was Judgment Enhancement Stone, priced at 500 Hell Points.

“Don’t tell me the next achievement condition is going to be buying a bunch of enhancement stones.”

It was entirely possible.

He had already spent 500 Hell Points to evolve the ragged sack that had once been Reaper's Robe.

It looked better now, sure, but he had felt just how absurdly broken it was during last night’s fight with Cheol-gamen.

“Next, I should try enhancing the scythe.”

Honestly, its crude, farm-tool appearance didn’t do it any favors.

When he remembered the imposing presence Reaper's Robe had exuded as it transformed into the Judge's Robe, it seemed obvious that the scythe would also evolve into something cruel, elegant, and truly befitting the weapon of a reaper.

“Hmm... then where do I collect Hell Points from right away?”

Suhyuk’s mind spun quickly.

Cheolsu-pa had been cut down from head to tail and was essentially annihilated.

As for Yacha-pa, dozens of their core forces—including the boss and deputy boss—had been reduced to powder and vanished in the parking lot, so they would be lying flat and holding their breath for a while.

That left only Black Moon-pa.

The problem was that he didn’t know where their headquarters was.

With Yacha-pa, the place where the clash had made the news was in the neighborhood, so he knew the area well enough to raid it. But he had absolutely no information on Black Moon-pa.

“No choice. I’ll have to shake down Yacha-pa’s small fry and make them tell me where Black Moon-pa is.”

They’d been the ones preparing for war after being hit by Black Moon-pa’s ambush, so of course they’d know something about Black Moon-pa’s hideouts or routes.

The decision was brief, and the action was quick.

Suhyuk wasted no time heading outside and climbing onto his scooter.

His destination was Yacha-pa territory once more.

Wiiiiiing—!

He was slicing through the heart of the city, rolling on the throttle, when a shrill disaster siren nearly ripped through his eardrums and a frantic warning blared from the loudspeaker.

Screech! Crash!

Startled by the sudden siren and announcement, cars slammed on the brakes, and collision sounds erupted all over the road.

In the middle of the chaos, Suhyuk frowned and parked his scooter along the shoulder.

Rumble—!

In the center of the road, a heavy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pulse of mana swirled like a vortex, and the asphalt split wide open with a sharp crack.

Then space warped, and a massive fissure—the Gate—opened its mouth.

“A Gate?”

Memories from his time as an ordinary person flashed by: the frantic evacuations, the sight of Gates opening in the middle of downtown.

But now that he was awakened, his heart, standing among the fleeing crowd, beat with a strange curiosity instead of fear.

Judging by the crack, this looks at least B-class, maybe A-class.

By rule, a Gate could only be entered by a party of at least five people.

And only Awakers who had completed registration and carried an Awaker license were allowed past the checkpoint and into the Gate.

But the alert had only just gone out, and it would take some time for Hunters dispatched by the Awaker Association to arrive and for the military to set up a containment line.

Suhyuk walked against the tide of panicked people rushing for their lives.

His hand was already moving toward the Pouch of the Dead tucked in his pants pocket.

Slip.

The moment he took out Judge's Robe from the Pouch of the Dead and draped it over himself, Suhyuk’s presence vanished completely beyond the noise and eyes of the world.

Let’s have a look.

This would be the first Gate he had ever entered in his life.

And an illegal solo entry, at that.

But there was no one who could stop him while he was invisible.

Suhyuk shoved himself without hesitation through the swaying curtain of the Gate.

His vision blacked out for an instant with a wave of nausea, then came back.

A dark, damp cave reeking of mold and blood.

So this is a dungeon-type Gate.

Suhyuk stopped calmly.

When he extended his right hand, Reaper's Scythe was summoned out of the darkness with a cold edge and settled heavily into his grip.

“I wonder what kind of monsters are in here.”

His voice, for reasons even he couldn’t quite explain, sounded a little excited as it echoed through the cave.

As he went deeper inside, a disgusting stench thickened in the air.

The heavy smell of mold hit him first.

Mixed in with it was the nauseating reek of blood, like dozens of corpses were tangled together and rotting all at once.

With the hood of Judge's Robe pulled down low over his eyes, Suhyuk slipped cautiously inward.

Before long, a grotesque scene filled his vision.

The cave ceiling, the walls, even the floor.

Every inch of it was covered in a dense lattice of pale, silvery spider webs, forming a vile maze.

And between those sticky strands, red glints flashed in the darkness.

Giant spiders.

Hideous giant spiders, each as large as a person, clung to the cave walls and ceiling, their eight red eyes scanning the surroundings with an unnatural, crawling intelligence.

Disgusting little pests.

Suhyuk’s brow furrowed.

These were the first real monsters he had ever faced since awakening.

It was also the first time he had seen anything like them this close.

But what he felt was less fear than a visceral, bodily disgust.

Judge's Robe was perfect.

Even though dozens of spiders were watching every direction, none of them noticed Suhyuk standing at the cave entrance.

His body heat, his breathing, his footsteps—everything was erased.

Confident, Suhyuk took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a light step forward to slip past them and go deeper into the cave.

That was when the sole of his sneaker pressed down on a single strand of web spread thinly across the floor.

Crick.

A tiny sound of friction.

Then a faint vibration rippled through the web.

Shaaahh—!!

In an instant, dozens of giant spiders clinging to the cave wall all turned their heads at once with horrific, chittering cries.

The hundreds of red eyes fixed precisely on the coordinates where Suhyuk stood.

“...?!”

A chill slid down his spine.

Push! Pshhh-shhh!

From the spiders’ mouths came a rain of acidic webbing packed with venom, pouring down like a downpour.

It was a blind, indiscriminate volley aimed straight at the source of the disturbance.

By instinct, Suhyuk kicked off the floor and threw himself backward.

Chiiiiiik—!

The instant the acid web hit the floor where he had just been standing, the hard rock melted black and spat out noxious smoke.

After escaping the trajectory, Suhyuk held his breath and watched the monsters’ next move.

But there was no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠follow-up attack.

The spiders confirmed that the floor had melted, then crouched back against the walls as if they had perfectly exterminated the intruder and settled once more into silence.

They didn’t notice me by scent or presence.

Suhyuk’s thoughts spun rapidly.

Judge's Robe was a broken item that had rendered Cheol-gamen’s and Kim Tae-su’s keen eyes and ears useless, and even the unique sensing ability of an Awaker was no exception.

No matter how sharp a monster’s senses were, there was no way they could surpass the authority of the Judgment grade granted by the system.

So it’s the webs.

Their behavior was obvious now.

They weren’t finding invisible enemies by scent or presence.

They were locating intruders only through the physical vibrations running along the spider webs spread densely across the entire cave.

Judge's Robe could hide his form and presence perfectly, but it didn’t make him pass through physical matter like a ghost.

Suhyuk looked toward the long corridor stretching deeper into the cave.

From the floor to the ceiling, the sticky webbing was packed so tightly there wasn’t even room to put a foot down.

There’s no way through there without stepping on the webs.

Unless he could fly, there was no avoiding the vibrations the moment he entered deeper inside.

A covert infiltration was impossible from the start.

So that’s a weakness.

As expected, there was no such thing as perfection in this world.

Fine. Then I’ll kill them all and keep going.

Suhyuk tightened his grip on the reaper’s scythe in his right hand.

Disgusting little pests.

Without hesitation, he swung the scythe toward the nearest one.

Strike of the Dead.

An invisible surge of force, visible only to Suhyuk, sliced through the air from the scythe’s edge.

A black slash infused with the authority of Punishment and Judgment.

He was certain it would pierce the monster’s thick shell and drain its life away.

Swaaak—!

The black force struck the giant spider’s grotesque body dead on.

But nothing happened.

The giant spider didn’t even twitch, as if it had been brushed by a light breeze, and simply remained crouched against the wall.

Suhyuk’s eyes widened.

What?