Dungeon Underground Floor 8
Having defeated the boss monster troll on Dungeon Underground Floor 8, they had assumed the monster extermination would proceed surprisingly easily. But the subjugation effort was hitting a major snag.
The night before, the 36 dungeon warriors realized this forest was an unimaginably vast expanse. With Seol Ara keeping her map window open, they roamed every corner of the woods, but the map kept expanding endlessly—no end in sight.
Dealing with the monsters they encountered while scouting the forest wasn't difficult. Right after descending to Floor 8, the 10 people with skills that provided real combat utility had used their skill enhancement tickets. Ishihara Yui, Jonathan Yombi, Irene Luker, Dennis Cobitt, Hoakin Onelli and Vivien Onelli, Kim Jung-min, Josh McConnell, Red, and Andra Marshall were the key players.
Ishihara Yui's body enhancement skill upgraded, boosting her defense stat by 20 and all other stats by 10. In pure stat terms, she had reached an unrivaled position no one else in the group could touch.
Jonathan Yombi's Wind Cutter gained even greater destructive power, and what was once limited to manifesting a single blade now allowed two. Moreover, it was no longer a one-shot deal—instead, the blades floated in the air like obedient swords, striking continuously at Jonathan's command. The slight downside was their short duration.
Irene Luker could now craft far stronger armor. The maximum material range for armor crafting expanded from leather to include wood and bone. So, in addition to body armor, she made wooden shields and bone helmets, distributing them to those in need. One more thing: armor crafting time was drastically reduced. No longer handmade one by one—if the materials were ready, they combined on the spot. In a way, it resembled Han Ji-woo's Creation skill.
Dennis Cobitt contributed just as much to everyone's safety as Irene. His holy recovery strengthened, amplifying his holy power and widening its scope. Now a ranged skill instead of single-target, one prayer could heal up to three people at once. And it could mend even more severe wounds in an instant.
Hoakin Onelli and Vivien Onelli—the twin siblings—saw all their base stats rise by 8 with their taekwondo skill upgrade. Their techniques also packed more punch than before.
Kim Jung-min's taming skill evolved to tame two monsters simultaneously, and with increased mana, the duration extended as well.
Josh McConnell's Fast and Slow skill, which sped up or slowed down a target's movements, doubled in effect strength to 0.5x on both sides.
The red-haired boy Red hadn't spoken a word since entering the dungeon, so no one knew his skill's name. He couldn't use it often, but when he did, it unleashed tremendous power—saving lives multiple times. Everyone anticipated what its upgrade might bring.
Finally, Andra Marshall's hypnosis could now control two or more living beings at once.
...But since everyone found Andra so creepy, they weren't exactly thrilled about his upgrade.
Anyway, with these massively enhanced skills, they easily crushed monsters and collected loot. The problem was that number floating in the air.
Remaining Monsters: 1/100
They couldn't spot where that last one was hiding.
Pierre Rasbon, owner of the Monster Encyclopedia skill, scanned his surroundings meticulously with every step. Since he could see monsters' HP gauges, he figured he might detect one even if disguised. But even as night deepened, no luck.
So the dungeon warriors decided to take shifts on watch and get some sleep. Better to rest comfortably, so they returned near the 2-pyeong house Han Ji-woo had built.
Jonathan cast Wind Cutter to fell surrounding trees, and those with high stamina stats hauled them away. With a wide clearing made, Seol Ara activated her Barracks Construction skill. A barracks for 30 people materialized.
"We'll take watch shifts in pairs," Mitchell said. Thirty entered the barracks, two lay in the 2-pyeong house. That left two more without shelter—but then another 2-pyeong house appeared nearby. It was the one Han Ji-woo made for Osgeelro Haiban, now shared. All 34 got cozy beds.
Shifts rotated hourly through the night. Dawn broke as the brilliant sun pushed back the darkness.
And the group faced a shocking sight.
"Munghutur! Munghutur isn't breathing!"
"His body's cold, no heartbeat... He's already dead."
Among the survivors, the sole Mongolian, Munghutur, had stopped breathing. He'd gone straight to sleep inside the barracks. But not a single ant had entered all night.
This inexplicable death plunged them into a mystery, tension swirling among the survivors.
Then someone poked Munghutur's cheek with a finger, chuckling amusedly.
"He really looks just like he's sleeping."
It was Andra Marshall.
* * *
BOOM!
RUMBLE!
KABOOM!
"What the hell?"
The rumbling from the salt mine grew louder. Han Ji-woo's startled group entered combat stance and rushed in.
"A salt mine? There's something like this here?"
Osgeelro Haiban gasped in admiration amid the tension.
BOOM!
Another ear-piercing roar shook the entire salt mine. Amid the salt crumbling from the shock, Han Ji-woo darted forward.
There!
His gaze fixed on a particularly deeply recessed black rock compared to the other walls. The source of the booms—beyond that rock!
The day he first found the salt mine. Frantically mining rock salt, the black rock emerged. There seemed to be empty space beyond, but back then, Han Ji-woo lacked the strength to break it, so he'd regretfully left.
But now, something was happening beyond it.
Han Ji-woo gripped his single-horned steel sword before the black rock. Osgeelro Haiban and Pao flanked him, weapons ready.
Hiss!
Lucy climbed atop Pao's head, baring her fangs.
Then—
KABOOM!
The black rock vibrated massively with an impact. Then, beyond it, sapphire eyes gleamed.
"You pests! What vermin dares now?!"
Osgeelro Haiban bellowed, swinging his axe wildly.
CLANG!
But it barely scratched the rock before rebounding.
Meanwhile, Han Ji-woo was quite shocked to confirm some lifeform lurked beyond.
"What's inside there, anyway?"
As he muttered, the blue glow piercing the rock blinked in and out—like blinking eyes. Then it slowly dimmed, winked out entirely, followed by snoring.
Grrrumble.
Grumble.
"What? All that racket, and now it's sleeping?"
"...Seems like it."
"What kind of fool beast is this?!"
Definitely no human, and those blue eyes marked it a monster. But with limited monster knowledge, Han Ji-woo glanced at Pao just in case.
Reading his master's intent, Pao scratched his head.
"Don't know. What monster it is."
Then he accidentally scratched Lucy's butt atop his head.
Hiss!
Whack!
"Ow ow!"
Furious Lucy's paw mercilessly smacked Pao's crown.
Ignoring the bickering pair, Han Ji-woo stepped away.
"Looks asleep. No point waking it—let's go."
"Ah, got it!"
Pao hurried after his master, grateful for the topic change. Osgeelro Haiban glared suspiciously at the rock for a while before leaving.
* * *
"What was that thing?"
"How should I know! More shocking is the salt mine itself. How's this possible?"
"Explaining that takes a bit..."
Han Ji-woo detailed the series of events leading to the salt mine's creation.
After hearing it all, Osgeelro Haiban stroked his chin beard, organizing his thoughts.
"From the dungeon system's view, you're an error that shouldn't exist. So it activated a protection program to eliminate you... that monster wave thing..."
"Monster Wave, yeah."
"Right! That started, part of the outer wall collapsed, and crazy bastards poured out. And the breach they came from connects straight to that salt mine?"
"Exactly."
As he chatted with Osgeelro Haiban, reminiscing past days, something flashed in Han Ji-woo's mind.
"Come to think of it, Pao. You said back then—where there are mad cows, there's always a salt mine."
"Yeah!"
Mad cows lived off salt as staple food, always near salt mines.
Han Ji-woo turned to Osgeelro Haiban.
"Was there a monster called mad cow on the Adrigur continent by any chance?"
"Nope! First saw 'em in the Dungeon Prison. Now that you mention, there was a small salt mine there too..."
Han Ji-woo's gaze shifted back to Pao.
"Pao. Was the continent you lived on Bryunak?"
Pao nodded.
"Yes."
Things started clicking into place.
"Turkan came from Bryunak continent too."
Not just Orc Lord Turkan—all monsters in the Dungeon Prison hailed from Bryunak continent. Its humans lost a bet with the gods, dooming the whole land, per Turkan. And Pao, meant for a dungeon, also from Bryunak...
"All monsters in this dungeon were dragged from Bryunak continent."
Then what about the salt mine? Did the dungeon system recreate mad cow habitats?
No way.
Osgeelro Haiban said dungeons were endlessly hostile to those summoned. No way it'd provide an infinite salt source.
Just the power of Hidden Space creating it?
Possible. Hidden Space nerfed the Monster Wave level, granting mad cows and the mine. But crediting Hidden Space for pure aid didn't explain the black rock entity. Whatever it was, palpable killing intent radiated through the rock. Even if it helped Han Ji-woo, Hidden Space always gave direct aid—no convoluted setups.
Dungeon system or Hidden Space—neither fully convinced. Felt less "created" and more "summoned from somewhere."
"Ah, whatever."
Han Ji-woo shook his head at the frustration.
"Huh?"
Pao had suddenly vanished.
* * *
Dungeon Prison.
Pao, who appeared using the prison key skill, faced Orc Lord Turkan.
Pao asked him.
"Black rock has something inside. Scary thing. Know any salt mine like that?"
Turkan, hit with the blunt question sans greeting, eyed Pao irritably before nodding.
"I know. Queek!"