Underground Floor 19: The Monster Extermination Quest

Underground Floor 19. The quest they received there was as follows.

The 17 dungeon warriors were clearing the floor without any major crises. Fortunately, Andra Marshall hadn't shown up since his initial appearance. Instead, mid-grade monsters swarmed like a pack of wild dogs.

But with Ferrofero's help, they'd each gained 100 bonus stat points, allowing them to crush those mid-grade monsters effortlessly. The difficulty on Underground Floor 19 felt almost too easy.

And there was one more big change.

"Um, there's way too many loot drops! And most of them are high-grade!"

The excited voice belonged to Lisa Simpson.

When hunting monsters, you'd usually get one drop at minimum, up to three or four at most. But every monster on this floor dropped three or four without fail upon death. Even drops from the same monster type varied—take orcs, for example: teeth, nails, claws, and bones were low-grade; hides and eyes mid-grade; livers and hearts high-grade.

Low-grade loot had little use or went into low-stat accessories, basic gear, or potions. Higher grades produced better items. Normally, you'd get low-grade drops over 70% of the time.

Yet around 60% of the loot Lisa had collected was high-grade. The impossible reason? Seol Ara.

She'd invested all her bonus stat points from Ferrofero into Luck. Her Luck stat soared to 150, affecting not just her but the whole group. No matter who killed the monsters, they got plenty of drops—and lots of high-grade ones at that.

Lisa was thrilled, using her Alchemy Herbology skill to brew top-notch potions. They couldn't quite reach high-grade quality from mid-grade monster loot, but they were the best of the mid-grade bunch.

Irene Luker also crafted high-quality armor and items from the loot Lisa passed her, distributing them to the group.

The dungeon warriors already wore Osgeelro Haiban's Red Dragon Bone Armor as their base gear, so their equipment was solid. But more was always better, right? With Irene's additions, they felt invincible.

As they hunted more monsters, the group only grew stronger—a snowball effect.

They scoured every corner of the dungeon, styled like a dilapidated underground temple, hunting down the monsters. The remaining count floated in mid-air.

"All clear!"

Jonathan Yombi spun wind blades around himself in a victory ceremony. Ishihara Yui narrowed her eyes at him.

"Hey. Nothing good ever comes from your antics, so just play dead and stay quiet. Before I knock you out for real."

"Uwuu~ Violence is bad."

Jonathan waggled both thumbs down. A vein popped on Yui's forehead.

Before Jonathan could take more hits, Kim Jung-min stepped in.

"Duduk-i! Stop Yui noona."

Quack-!

Duduk-i nodded and charged at Yui, grabbing her ankle with his tiny front paws. Yui, ready to pummel Jonathan senseless, turned with a glare—then softened.

"...It was you."

She smirked, spotting Duduk-i.

"Telling me not to fight?"

Quack-!

Yui petted Duduk-i's head as he nodded.

"Fine. I could kill that idiot tomorrow if I wanted anyway."

Jonathan clutched his chest in relief at her chilling words.

"You've already killed me a hundred times with your mouth alone."

Dennis Cobitt scolded him.

"Brother, you know this always happens—why keep provoking Sister Yui?"

"Ah, what can I say? It's like the thrill of a scary ride."

—But rides don't kill you. Maybe keep that in mind~?

Kayla Aleksandrov's telepathic voice echoed in their heads, drawing laughter from everyone. Jonathan, the sudden butt of the joke, embarrassed, yelled at the easiest target: Diya.

"Not you too, Diya hyung!"

"Ah, sorry."

The pure-hearted Indian youth Diya apologized instantly.

"If I really wanted, a guy like you would be a one-punch— Aaaack! My eyes!"

Diya zapped Jonathan's eyes with his Sunlight skill. Jonathan clutched his stinging eyes, flailing. Diya panicked and apologized.

"S-sorry! But you deserve a scolding for trash-talking..."

"Ugh. Can't tell if you're just pure or ridiculously uptight!"

Both, actually.

"So where's the entrance to the next floor?"

Once the commotion died down, Josh McConnell scanned around, muttering.

"And no quest clear window yet?"

As Seol Ara chimed in, it popped up.

"Reward's a linked quest?"

Someone sounded baffled, but as if mocking them, the new quest appeared.

The walls shifted around them, forming a maze.

"What kinda trick is this?"

"Annoying quest."

The Onelli twins grumbled.

"No wonder the reward was question marks!"

"Making us tired on purpose."

Everyone vented their frustration. But it was all for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠naught.

"Found it!"

Seol Ara led the way, and in under 10 minutes, they found the passage down. Her Luck stat at work again.

A treasure chest glowing softly appeared before them—the Mid-Grade Comprehensive Item Box. These boxes contained assorted rewards: gear, potions, buffs, stat boosters, even Dungeon Coins. Jackpots were rare; most were solid but balanced.

But Seol Ara's Luck turned it into a windfall of epic loot.

"Whoa, Ara noona. Can't even count how many times you've saved us today."

"That Luck stat is busted."

Mitchell Hoff spoke as they rummaged excitedly.

"This is Underground Floor 20 ahead. Remember ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the tough boss on Floor 10? Might be one every 10 floors, so prepare. We'll rest here tonight and head down fully ready tomorrow."

Everyone agreed, starting to set up camp—when a welcome message appeared.

The 17 warriors' faces lit up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brighter than from the loot box. They swarmed Seol Ara.

"What is it? What got added?"

"Ara noona! Check the map quick!"

Heart pounding, Seol Ara opened her map. Spotting two new icons, she gasped in disbelief.

"Everyone. There's a valley and a beach now!"

Woooaaah!

Cheers erupted at the news of valley and beach. But one thing wasn't shared: the Logaku wolf den.

* * *

"Dimensional Gate is changing?"

As the message ended, the skill info window appeared.

The updated Dimensional Gate had no mana cost. But it vanished after one use—a one-shot skill.

Han Ji-woo tilted his head reading the description.

"Hard to grasp what this does just from the text."

He reread it several times.

"Hmm... Okay, it definitely opens a Dimensional Gate at Chunsik's den. Connects to another dimension's dungeon. And only other dimensions' heroes can use it."

In other words, it linked Hidden Space to one of the Creator's countless dimensional dungeons. But Han Ji-woo's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠group couldn't use it—only foreign heroes could.

"So what's the point?"

Foreign heroes coming to Hidden Space wouldn't benefit him much. Unless they taught skills or something.

"Maybe they get shared with the dungeon? ...Nah."

No cloning nonsense like that. If possible, his pets would've been shared already.

"Tricky. Gotta test it to know."

Hidden Space always bent toward his convenience. He trusted it and activated the skill.

"Chunsik!"

At his call, Chunsik—mid-play with Lucy and the chubby Seibier—came bounding over.

Myang!

Hek hek hek—Chunsik's cute barks and wagging tail melted hearts as he panted happily.

"Ooh, you can bark now? Do wolves usually bark like that? Well, he's more like a wolf-kin anyway."

Han Ji-woo gently stroked Chunsik's head and chin. Suddenly, Lucy and Seibier bolted over, shoving their heads in for pets too. Lucy got slightly squished under Seibier's bulk.

Hiss-!

Grrruuuk?

Lucy hissed and punched Seibier with her paws, but the stat gap was immense—no damage. Oblivious, Seibier kept nuzzling Han Ji-woo.

"Hey hey, pets later."

He pushed away the rapidly plumping Seibier, picked up Chunsik.

"Chunsik. Time to use Dimensional Gate. You can do it, right?"

Myang!

Han Ji-woo set him down. Chunsik stared at his den with uncharacteristic seriousness.

Then—

Ferrofero leaped at the message.

"Ahh! Master! So every time the outer wall crumbled before, that's how I found Hidden Space, yes?"

Han Ji-woo nodded.

"Yeah."

"This is bad! Weakening the concealment means...!"