Dungeon & Commander (221)
Kim Jun deliberately put on a flustered expression. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve. It was all to give Jeong Myeong-ho a moment of relief.
That way, he'd get even angrier.
A moment later, he glanced at Han Ye-jin and said,
"Luckily, Pink Team has no rush. You go first."
"Thanks, Team Leader Kim Jun."
Ignoring Jeong Myeong-ho's eyes brimming with murderous intent, Kim Jun withdrew from the simulator with his team.
In their place, Han Ye-jin's Apgujeong team stepped up and boarded the simulator.
Kim Jun checked the display.
Relic Adaptation Test
Blue Lightning: 57 seconds.
An Seong-ho: 5 minutes 11 seconds.
Grintree: 9 minutes 34 seconds.
The current top record was 9 minutes 34 seconds, set by Jason Tyler's Grintree team.
It was worse than expected. Kim Jun had thought they'd last at least 15 minutes. It made sense if they'd held back some of their power. This wasn't a real dungeon, after all—no need to show everything.
Soon, the test began.
On the large display, the Apgujeong team arrived at the Relic.
"Whoa!"
"Check out that figure!"
"As expected of Han Ye-jin."
Admiration erupted from all around.
At 180 centimeters with not an ounce of excess fat, her body was still strikingly revealed even in crimson armor—shoulders, sides, everything. She looked like a fantasy movie warrior princess come to life.
The Apgujeong team shoved open the stone door and entered.
A square room appeared, with passages ahead and to both sides.
Han Ye-jin extended her hands toward the left and right entrances.
Yellowish-brown energy shot from her palms, and stalactites and stalagmites sprouted from floor and walls, meeting in the middle to seal the entrances like iron bars.
It was a preemptive measure against rear ambushes as they entered the central passage.
"Straight formation."
At Han Ye-jin's command, the Apgujeong team formed two columns and advanced.
"11 meters ahead, Hands Below."
Han Ye-jin called out.
The two tankers leaped forward simultaneously, slamming their fists into the ground.
Boom!
The shockwave ripped forward and downward, shattering the Hands Below—the trap that hid underground, grabbing intruders' ankles to twist and drag them down.
Fingers and dark red fluid sprayed from the cracks.
That was why Do Jin-yong's Blue Lightning hadn't lasted even a minute.
The passage split again.
Han Ye-jin sealed one with magic and led the team down the other.
The maze was complex, but with no attacks for a while, Apgujeong pressed on.
Already 5 minutes in.
Kim Jun glanced at Jeong Myeong-ho. To shoehorn Pink Team into B Group, he'd lowered the Relic simulation difficulty. That's why he'd insisted Han Ye-jin go first, even deploying voice magic to prevent yielding.
Han Ye-jin on the large display said,
"This is gonna make the other teams feel bad. Captain! Didn't you mess up the difficulty adjustment?"
Jeong Myeong-ho said nothing.
Around 7 minutes, the real battle began.
Red slimes swarmed the narrow space. The buffer turned the floor into a swamp; while the tankers blocked the charging slimes, the dealers unleashed attack magic.
Regular attacks bounced off or got absorbed, so slimes took time to kill.
Leisure faded from Han Ye-jin's face as she shouted,
"12 meters rear, slimes approaching! Second tanker, move to the back!"
Apgujeong was under attack from both sides.
Kim Jun checked the time.
Over 9 minutes, hitting 10. They'd broken Grintree's record. Yet Jason Tyler was winking at female raiders from other teams.
Han Ye-jin made her call.
"Push through! Snake formation ready! Three, two, one—go!"
Leading, Han Ye-jin thrust both hands forward. A massive jelly-like slime floated into the air.
Meanwhile, Apgujeong dashed past, Han Ye-jin following. As the team cleared, the slime splattered down. Furious at missing prey, they turned on each other.
Clap clap.
Applause broke out everywhere.
For Han Ye-jin's sharp judgment and the skill that lifted the corrosive slime midair.
Han Ye-jin was the only buffer leading a team in this Sokcho raid. She clearly showed the advantages.
'Definitely has its merits. Versatile skills for any situation—tons of utility.'
Kim Jun glanced at Yeom Sang-taek.
He was glued to the screen, utterly absorbed. Every move Han Ye-jin made would be a huge stimulus for him.
"Zombies!"
Someone yelled.
Kim Jun saw the display passage filled with human-like figures.
More precisely, humanoid monsters. They shuffled aimlessly until raiders approached, then charged like beasts. Hence, "zombies."
They carried pea-sized geludium cores, making them hard to kill.
The two tankers were up front, erecting barriers to hold them back.
"Attacking time—three, two, one."
Han Ye-jin shouted.
As the barrier briefly dropped, dealer Kwon Seong-mok fired a fireball.
Kim Jun winced. The zombies were too close.
Han Ye-jin noticed too.
"Retreat 5 meters!"
Apgujeong fell back, but the fireball exploded faster.
Boom!
The intense heat, meant to incinerate zombies, engulfed the tanker before he could raise a barrier. Second tanker Yang Su-kyung's hair and body caught fire. Han Ye-jin hurriedly pulled up earth to smother it, but it wouldn't go out easily.
Some Apgujeong members stared blankly at each other.
The narrow space and close-range blast had deafened them. It'd take time for their hearing to recover.
Gritting her teeth, Han Ye-jin stepped forward to lead. She aimed to escape before more zombies swarmed.
Zombies pursued from behind.
Falling back, Han Ye-jin turned the ground into a swamp with a gesture. A few zombies floundered in it, but the rest trampled their kin to follow.
"Aaaah!"
A scream from ahead.
Han Ye-jin looked forward, speechless.
Main tanker Lee Yun-tae thrashed in midair. Lightning burst from the ceiling, charring him. He dropped, blackened and dead.
Mana vortex zone.
They'd finally reached it.
The area where gravity and forces twisted bizarrely—even zombies seemed to fear it, slowly retreating into the shadows.
Panting, Han Ye-jin approached to check Lee Yun-tae. The body faded away.
Apgujeong was down to five.
Time: 13 minutes 52 seconds.
"There!"
Apgujeong's second buffer, Cha Hyun-joo, pointed at the front wall.
A ring half-protruded.
A vivid red dragon engraved on it.
Han Ye-jin's eyes widened.
Those watching the display recognized it.
"It's the King of Ring!"
"Getting a dungeon item like that from the Relic? Jackpot."
The King of Ring was globally rare; in Korea, only Lee Hwan owned one.
Han Ye-jin reached toward the wall. A fist-sized dirt clod popped out; she gripped it and hurled it at the ring-embedded wall.
Silver needles shot from floor, walls, and ceiling, embedding in the dirt. It shattered; the needles vanished back.
Han Ye-jin pondered.
This was a simulation—no real gain from grabbing it. But ignoring it right there was tough.
She turned to her team.
"Good work. Let's go."
The test ended there. Apgujeong called it quits themselves.
Kim Jun added one fact to the mental drawer labeled 'Han Ye-jin': //box2+txt7//Exceptional self-control—can curb desires when needed.
The drawer held info from Leaderbook, An Seong-ho's tips, Skyla's stories—stacked neatly.
Drawers weren't just for her.
He had them for Jeong Myeong-ho, Hwang In-su, Jason Tyler, Bang Yun-a, Do Jin-yong, An Seong-ho too, each brimming with data.
Apgujeong's official time: 14 minutes 49 seconds.
Han Ye-jin, drenched in sweat, approached Kim Jun after exiting. She smiled at him.
"To make B Group, you'll need over 10 minutes."
She led her team to the waiting room.
Kim Jun looked at Pink Team.
His prepared members watched him.
He stepped forward; they fanned out like wings beside him.
Pink Team's turn at last.
* * *
Sa Yeonggyo felt strangely thrilled.
Like her first dungeon at age 10 with her grandfather's Dungeon Association scouts—heart pounding. Even soloing life-or-death in Africa hadn't felt this way.
Kim Jun led.
Two tankers behind him, then the two dealers.
Sa Yeonggyo and Yeom Sang-taek took rear.
Choi Muhyun and Go Cheolmin forced the stone door open.
'We're in.'
They'd trained overnight on Relic adaptation sims at Uramata Guildhouse, but a public test with everyone watching and timing? The vibe was different.
'Feels like the real thing.'
A fork appeared.
Apgujeong had three paths; here, only two—structure changed.
Kim Jun turned, raising three fingers.
Sa Yeonggyo froze briefly. She knew exactly what it meant.
Order given—follow.
They shifted seamlessly to snake formation.
"Go!"
Kim Jun shouted and bolted.
Choi Muhyun followed; the rest surged speed in one breath.
Those watching outside would be stunned.
Kim Jun suddenly hugged left, wall-running.
Choi Muhyun and the pursuing team leaped to walls too—just as Hands Below burst from the floor. They maxed at under 50 cm high.
Exploiting that, they broke through.
Kim Jun never hesitated. At right-angle turns, he wall-kicked to maintain speed.
Sa Yeonggyo stifled a laugh.
Veterans like Jeong Myeong-ho or Hwang In-su had never seen Relic clears like this.
How baffled would they be? She wanted to see their faces.
About 2 minutes passed.
"15 meters ahead, slimes appearing."
Main buffer Yeom Sang-taek.
Sa Yeonggyo glanced at him. Relic interiors dulled detection—not just mana vortexes. Considering that, his senses surpassed Level 8.
'He's really something.'
Even she or Yoo Min-jeong couldn't match it.
Kim Jun showed no sign of slowing—speeding up, even.
Choi Muhyun behind yelled, "Let's go!"
Before slimes fully blocked, Kim Jun found the narrow gap and slipped through. He blazed the optimal path; followers just chased his back.
Pink Team cleared the slime horde that tripped Apgujeong in under a minute.
Sa Yeonggyo whooped in glee.
Yoo Min-jeong, Skyla, others shouted too.
"14 meters ahead, zombies appearing."
Yeom Sang-taek again.
Kim Jun glanced back.
Choi Muhyun accelerated to the front, Go Cheolmin covering behind.
Kim Jun fell to third.
Zombies filled the passage, but Choi Muhyun didn't stop. Like a rugby player bulldozing defenders, the tanker charged relentlessly.
As zombies clung to Choi Muhyun, Go Cheolmin sidestepped and flung them off. The two tankers shoved dozens forward—then Kim Jun yelled,
"Duck!"
Pink Team heads dropped.
Spark! Sparks flew from Cheonroegeom drawn from its sheath.
Kim Jun swung horizontally; thunder energy lanced forward, severing zombie necks. About ten heads flew up.
Another swing, and the rest rocketed to the ceiling.
Torsos convulsed, collapsing together.
Pink Team ran on.
Melee raider Kim Jun reclaimed the lead. Left, right—Pink Team surged unhindered.