Chapter 54
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: 9. Final Dungeon (2)
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9. Final Dungeon (2)
The dungeon paths weren't of uniform length.
Ahead, the path split into three directions, and the signpost lay half-broken on the ground.
We had no choice but to stop for a moment upon seeing it.
"Who broke the signpost?"
"If it's like this, it means the dungeon management is a mess."
It was suspicious that the signposts—deliberately placed by the Management Bureau—were damaged to this extent.
These rare S-class dungeons, even if they were stable, low-risk, always-open types, were typically assigned only to groups mixed with S-class examinees.
But we'd ended up as a weird group with an F-class thrown in.
There was no way the instructors hadn't slacked off even more on oversight because of that.
'And if the management has fallen apart like this, it means something dangerous is up.'
Was it playing out like the original story?
"Let's move for now."
Yoo Han-seong lifted the signpost fragment and gave it a quick check.
"Left is traps. Middle is continuous combat. Right is exploration."
"Then the middle?"
Yu-hee asked.
Yoo Han-seong paused to think.
"Speed first."
Everyone nodded at that.
I quietly picked up the pace to keep up.
A faint vibration trembled beneath my soles.
The middle path was a route where monsters spawned one after another.
Still safer than traps.
The exploration path was too long— it'd drain our stamina.
Energy tangled like straw straw rippled ahead.
The first monster revealed itself.
Combat kicked off again.
Yu-hee led the vanguard, Hae-sol provided support.
Iseo adjusted her angles from the rear and attacked.
Yoo Han-seong covered any openings.
I tracked every movement from behind with my eyes.
Something felt off.
The patterns weren't matching what I'd seen in the original.
The spawn tempo was a bit faster, aggression higher.
Who had altered the design?
Had the final dungeon itself changed?
Or was this the true face of this world all along?
My body lurched forward on instinct.
Iseo grazed her right arm slipping past an attack.
No blood, but her expression stiffened for a moment.
I pulled out a potion right away.
"Iseo."
"Yeah, got it."
She snatched the potion and downed it quick.
Meanwhile, Yoo Han-seong crushed the last monster's head underfoot.
The ground rumbled, then fell silent.
We paused to catch our breath.
Yoo Han-seong glanced my way.
No words, but the message was clear.
My movements were starting to stand out.
Not just some kid tagging along quietly from behind, but someone who moved precisely when it mattered.
'Am I reading too much into it?'
No— Yoo Han-seong's favoritism toward talent was so blatant in the original, it had even been called out.
This was tricky.
'But I can't just stand by when there's something to do.'
I couldn't ignore someone getting hurt right in front of me.
The path stretched on.
Our footsteps echoed lightly over the rough stone.
The final dungeon was only just getting started.
Not long after the fight ended, the air shifted.
A chilling aura seeped in from ahead.
A section barely described in the original—just mentioned in passing.
'This is... the real abyss route.'
The abyss route was a rare, special path in dungeons. Survival rates plummeted in them.
Not something that should show up in a student final exam, but it had appeared in the original.
My chest tightened slowly.
Yoo Han-seong sensed it first, ahead of everyone else.
He halted and raised the back of his hand, signaling silently.
We all froze on cue.
Without a single footstep.
We even reined in our breathing.
The passage ahead quivered faintly.
More like space itself twitching and folding.
The telltale sign of an abyss section.
In the original, a major battle always followed this phenomenon.
Likely the same now.
"Prepare."
Yoo Han-seong murmured low.
I yanked my bag forward and clutched it close.
Rechecked the lineup of potions familiar in my hands.
Antidote.
Emergency heal.
Endurance.
Breath stabilizer special.
My latest best-sellers.
That's when it happened.
Darkness lumped into a mass and peeled away from the passage's end.
It seemed intangible, yet moved with sharp clarity.
Hae-sol flung out ice, but its trajectory warped midway.
The abyss bending magic paths—a subtle effect.
"Hold."
Yoo Han-seong stepped up.
Sword aimed ahead, close-quarters stance.
Iseo moved in sync.
Her speed had jumped way up from before.
If she'd just awakened, an explosion was imminent.
I steadied my breath and scanned the surroundings fast.
In abyss sections, the environment outdid the monsters in danger.
Floor patterns irregular, distant sounds echoing near, vibrations spreading unpredictably.
The faint shaking suddenly surged.
"Right wall— careful!"
I blurted on instinct.
The wall ripped open like it was bursting upward.
A mirror-black surface gleamed, a beast-claw shape lunging from within.
Yoo Han-seong twisted aside, letting it whoosh past.
Hae-sol swapped ice density and struck on that beat.
Half a hit this time.
'This pace means a proper monster spawn soon.'
Abyss monsters usually emerged after the second shockwave.
The floor buckled like it was caving.
Yu-hee held her footing but struggled.
Prolonged exposure to terrain like this guzzled stamina.
I fished out an endurance potion and tossed it to Yu-hee.
"Drink."
She caught it wordlessly and chugged.
The third tremor hit.
Intensity on another level.
A heart-pounding quake.
Darkness tore at the passage's end— something plummeted out.
Massive frame.
No lightweight.
Iseo's eyes flashed.
"Here it comes."
The abyss monster materialized with her words.
No skin-like texture— a beast shaped like a shredded chunk of reality.
Tough even in the original.
And right now, its difficulty was surely ramped higher.
I drew a sharp breath.
My spot was always rear guard, but there was so much to watch over from back there.
This wasn't a section for half-assed moves.
I cinched the potion bag strap tight.
The subspace bag our homeroom teacher had shoved at me before entry— too lazy to take back.
'No way it'll get as hairy as the Blue Dragon incident, right?'
I'd packed that heavy, but Hyun had hit S-class already, and Hae-sol should awaken this time barring surprises.
Just before the fight erupted, Yoo Han-seong shot me the briefest glance.
A look laced with trust.
The abyss monster dragged its hunched form our way.
Hard to call it walking or slithering.
Black shards scattered in its wake, cratering every surface they touched.
Yoo Han-seong struck first.
Silver mana flared brief from his blade.
Rush.
Space jolted, warping like a split.
The abyss sowing chaos itself.
Iseo followed up.
Mana flow far smoother now.
Movement screaming fresh adaptation.
Straight-line precision despite the disorienting twist in spatial sense.
Light burst from her fingertips, carving the monster's flank.
Yu-hee readied a spell with pinpoint accuracy.
She nailed attribute shifts and angles to the situation.
That flexibility decided life or death in the abyss.
I gripped an antidote potion nearby while she condensed her mana.
Abyss monsters spewed toxic mist at intervals.
"Hari."
Yoo Han-seong called sharp.
I lobbed the potion already in hand instead of answering.
He snagged it midair with impeccable timing.
His sword slammed the monster's front.
Black debris flicked out, grazing his arm.
Stoic face, but he popped a recovery potion and poured it over the wound.
My heart sank.
'A graze like that would one-shot most people!'
Abyss monsters weren't speedy.
But their fluid forms made attack reads a nightmare.
Trajectories shifted on a whim.
Yu-hee's projected path missed once.
Her face tightened a fraction.
"Don't stray far!"
Hae-sol threw up an ice barrier, shielding Yu-hee's flank.
I kept eyes on everyone's motions, prepping potions as needed.
This stretch was chaos— positions crumbling, reforming on repeat.
Han-seong never glanced back, but he orbited me all the same.
The abyss monster shuddered violently.
Its back flipped suddenly, spawning a fresh protrusion.
Iseo lunged ahead swift.
Pure reflex.
In that instant, a mouth-like gash belched thick black haze.
Yoo Han-seong's face hardened.
"Fall back!"
I popped the cap on an antidote potion with my fingers on reflex.
Tossed three toward the nearest— Yu-hee, Hae-sol, Iseo.