Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: The Fire Dragon
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"Looks like we've finally reached the end..."
Cha Si-won, walking at the front, spoke up with obvious exhaustion.
I craned my neck from the back of the group to peer ahead. Unlike the faint gray passages we'd traversed so far, a yellow glow emanated from the end of the corridor.
It definitely had the vibe of a boss room.
"Let's take a break here and regroup."
Kim Tae-hyun flopped down onto the floor with a weary voice.
It was like all the tension had drained out of him.
"Yeah, let's do that."
"Sure. I'm beat."
The moment they saw him, everyone except me sat down just like Kim Tae-hyun, as if they'd been waiting for the signal.
'It must be tough for them.'
It had been five days since we entered the hidden dungeon.
Fortunately, no monsters stronger than the Ironclad Warhorses had appeared.
But the constant attacks from monsters popping up out of nowhere had worn everyone down mentally.
On top of that, Cha Si-won and Lee Eun-ju had been overusing their skills relentlessly.
They looked fine on the outside, but inside, they were a mess.
"Sorry, everyone. I haven't been much help."
Kim Tae-hyun's sudden words drew all eyes to him. Then he dropped an even more absurd bombshell.
"So, I'm giving up my share of the dungeon rewards. You three can split them however you want—or give my portion to one person."
Giving up rewards after coming this far?
He had reason to feel guilty, sure.
Kim Tae-hyun only had seven skeletons left now.
He'd fought alongside us to help, but their numbers had dwindled fast.
'And now they're completely useless.'
Even with Lee Eun-ju's buffs, seven skeletons couldn't handle a single Ironclad Warhorse.
But he was the one who discovered this dungeon first and assembled the team.
"What are you even saying? You didn't know it'd be like this when you came in. It was just bad luck."
"Yeah. Idiot."
'What the hell is this guy's deal?'
Unlike the others, I suspected Kim Tae-hyun.
Giving up rewards after all this? The guy I'd seen wasn't some enlightened saint detached from material desires. No way that was possible.
"No. I had a different reason for coming here anyway. I'm not really attached to the rewards."
A different purpose?
What else could there be besides claiming the dungeon rewards?
"Remember why I found this dungeon in the first place? I sensed a corpse with powerful energy. That's my goal."
'Yeah, that makes sense.'
For someone with a necromancer-type trait, the real treasure wasn't items—it was powerful corpses.
'So he's forfeiting the loot to get that. Telling us to do the heavy lifting, huh?'
I was the same way, after all.
"You planning to turn that corpse into a skeleton?"
Cha Si-won asked, and Kim Tae-hyun replied.
"No. Too good to waste on a skeleton. I'm thinking Death Knight."
I knew what a Death Knight was.
Unlike regular skeletons that only retained the body's shell, Death Knights could wield the full power of their flesh in life—the pinnacle of undead summons.
"Death Knights can use skills, just like your skeletons, Lee Han."
But they couldn't grow like mine. Nor could they fully inherit traits.
Half-baked power, in other words.
"No restrictions, right?"
Cha Si-won tilted her head, her tone laced with skepticism about how overpowered it sounded.
If what he said was true, stumbling on a strong monster corpse would grant insane power.
"There are restrictions. To summon a Death Knight, the corpse has to consent. That's why people usually offer to avenge grudges or something."
Different from my ability to force skeletons.
Cha Si-won nodded in understanding and made another suggestion.
"So it might work, might not. No need to forfeit rewards over it. The corpse is just a side bonus—take your share."
What a kind person.
"Yeah. Feels wrong."
Lee Eun-ju agreed.
"We don't know what rewards we'll get anyway. Let's decide together at the end."
In the end, Kim Tae-hyun wrapped up the conversation with a reluctant tone.
As we each settled in for a rest,
Lee Eun-ju handed me an apple she'd pulled from her bag.
Come to think of it...
"Why are you only giving food to me?"
She'd shared her fruits with only me the whole way here.
"You look like my dad."
"Your dad?"
Not even "big bro"—straight to dad?
"In what way?"
"You're calm. Nothing fazes you, no matter what happens up front. And you're smart."
There were some similarities, sure.
Come to think of it, I hadn't caught her name earlier. If she'd cleared a hidden dungeon at her age, she might be someone I knew.
"What's your dad's name?"
"Lee Gyu."
"Lee Gyu?"
No way, right?
I pressed just in case.
"What's his trait, by any chance?"
"Secret. Dad said not to tell."
Had to ask sideways.
"Three syllables, legendary grade?"
Lee Eun-ju blinked at me.
"You know my dad?"
After the system and Utopia appeared, and the great cataclysm hit Earth.
Heroes protected the weak, while villains chased only their own gain, harming the world.
Lee Gyu was the strongest first-gen villain, a lone avenger fighting the world for his dead daughter's revenge.
"Nah, just a guess."
"Genius?"
"Siblings?"
"Nope. Only child."
And that dead daughter was this kid right in front of me, chomping on the apple.
"Your dad knows you're here?"
"No way! I snuck out! He'd never let me, especially a hidden dungeon—he says they're insanely dangerous!"
Makes sense. A revenge ghost that doting wouldn't allow it.
That raised a question.
"You're a real unfilial daughter."
"Unfilial?"
"Yeah. If something happens to you in here, your dad'll spend his life searching, never knowing where you died."
Something I didn't know must be between Lee Gyu and her.
"That won't happen!"
Lee Eun-ju put her hands on her hips and jutted her chin defiantly, as if to say not to worry.
Yeah, there was definitely something between just the two of them.
"Before coming here, I secretly put a [Mark] on Dad!"
"[Mark]? What's that skill?"
"Simple! Once I apply [Mark] and activate it, we can track each other's location for a week!"
A mark, huh...
That cleared up most of the mystery.
The person who should've come instead of me.
Everyone here would die by that person's hand.
And the hidden dungeon rewards stolen.
I called out to Kim Tae-hyun, who was resting against the wall.
"Tae-hyun."
If I could just confirm this with him, my suspicion would turn to certainty.
"Yeah, Lee Han?"
"Was there someone else who was supposed to come to this hidden dungeon? Instead of me?"
"Instead of you? No, I invited you first."
Can't confirm it that way.
"There was one person I considered besides you all. I saw her on the way back after meeting you."
"A woman, by any chance?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"Pretty face, short bob haircut, uses a spear?"
"Whoa, you know her?"
Every mystery solved.
Jin A-young.
Hero popularity ranking No. 3, and Lee Gyu's revenge target.
She was the one who should've been here instead of me.
Lee Eun-ju had put the [Mark] on Jin A-young before dying.
'The world got played.'
I remembered her press conference, shedding crocodile tears.
Begging to be believed that she'd never even entered a hidden dungeon.
Her popularity and politicking worked; the world sided with the popular 20-something hero over the 50-year-old guy swinging a sword over his daughter's unfounded revenge.
'Fools.'
That's how Lee Gyu became a villain.
Before long, he was fighting not just Jin A-young, but the whole world—causing massive damage until his lonely death.
"I think I saw her too. Stuck in my mind."
"Oh? Yeah, she was near the Death Lands, so you might've."
Anyway, one key thing mattered now.
If Jin A-young had killed everyone here and claimed the rewards solo...
'She's someone I can handle.'
The hidden dungeon boss wasn't an issue.
"Shall we get going?"
About fifteen minutes had passed while we talked.
At Kim Tae-hyun's words, everyone prepped to move.
"Time to meet the boss."
We headed toward the end of the yellow-glowing corridor. Finally, we emerged into a vast cavern.
At its center sat a massive golden coffin.
That was the source of the yellow light enveloping the chamber.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Obtain treasure from the guardian who protects the king's rest. The first message since entering the hidden dungeon.
This was the final area.
"Is the boss in that coffin?"
With nothing around but us, Cha Si-won pointed at the golden coffin and stepped forward.
"No. No boss in there. Just a corpse."
Kim Tae-hyun followed, shaking his head.
"A corpse?"
"Yeah. That's where I sensed the energy. It's coming from there."
"Then where's the boss..."
As Cha Si-won's words trailed off,
"Are you looking for me?"
A woman's voice came from behind us.
We all whipped around in unison.
There stood a woman in red robes with red hair, her expression relaxed.
Her appearance was human like ours, but we could all tell—including me.
The arrogant glint in her eyes that no human could possess, and the quiet ferocity emanating from her entire body.
"That's the hidden dungeon boss..."
The boss of this hidden dungeon.
"Lee Eun-ju!"
Cha Si-won shouted Lee Eun-ju's name. Her enhancement skill activated instantly, as if on cue.
After fighting together so many times on the way here, their coordination was solid.
"Haaah!"
Enveloped in blue light, Cha Si-won shot toward the woman like a cannonball.
I hoped it'd end there, but
"Such a brutish human."
We hadn't even sensed her presence until she spoke from behind.
A clear gap in power.
Cha Si-won's greatsword, swinging down with cleaving momentum, was effortlessly caught in the woman's slender hand.
"This greatsword... no ordinary blade, is it?"
As if appraising a treasure, she eyed the magic sword with faint curiosity.
Even with an enemy before her, she was utterly relaxed, like it was someone else's problem.
Her composure sparked impatience and fear in everyone but me.
"Eun-ju! Buff my skeletons too."
Kim Tae-hyun sent all seven of his remaining buffed skeletons charging at her—including the one guarding our bags.
With one hand tied up by Cha Si-won, he figured the attack would land.
'Still green, huh.'
Too hasty.
This red-haired woman was the hidden dungeon's boss monster. Her power naturally surpassed everything we'd faced.
Such a straightforward assault wouldn't work.
"Tch. I just wanted to talk, but you moths flock to the flame."
She clicked her tongue and stomped the ground hard.
A red explosion erupted from where her foot met the earth.
Perfectly controlled power.
She targeted only Kim Tae-hyun's charging skeletons.
The flames from her consumed them, reducing the bones to ash without a fight.
"Human. How about putting down that greatsword first? Unless you want to die."
Having witnessed her power up close, Cha Si-won reluctantly
"Tch."
retrieved her sword as the woman released it and fell back.
The red-haired woman smiled faintly at us.
"Now you're ready to talk. Humans still need to see and experience to believe."
Then she introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you all. I am the Fire Dragon."