The Strange Capsule
The F-rank dungeon located on Soyosan.
Also known as the Red Devil Cave, this dungeon is classified as a so-called grape-cluster type. A single massive main passage runs like a thick stem, with smaller branch passages connected to it. At the end of each of those passages sits a grape berry—that is, a separate room.
One more thing. This dungeon is one of the early-discovered ones that has been cleared repeatedly more than a dozen times even after the boss monster was defeated. Thanks to that, it is now known that there are a total of forty-three rooms. Every scrap of information has been dug up so thoroughly that you can even pull up a 3D map of the place online.
Our goal for this expedition was to explore the five rooms farthest to the left and take down the Red Devils that appeared. In every room a monster larger and somewhat stronger than ordinary Red Devils showed up—the so-called Red Devil Captain, an intermediate boss of the dungeon. The purpose of our company's expedition this time was to educate the novice Awoken by hunting that thing five times over.
"GO!"
Jang Yong shouted with a confident look on his face. The battle in the second room had just begun. I stood at the entrance with Lee Donggeul and watched the three Awoken. Since it was already the second room, there was nothing left for me to instruct.
Jang Yong used sword and shield to draw the Red Devil Captain's attention. Whenever it tried to do anything he shoved with the shield; the moment it opened even a little distance, the blade swung. The captain's face twisted with raw fury. Confirming the aggro was stable, Kim Isol slipped behind it and launched her real attack.
Sword strikes that looked nothing more than excessively light and flashy. I had warned her about her style several times, but she never listened—she only glared at me. Baek Hwayeon nocked an arrow and poured mana into it. That mana-filled arrow was our finishing blow. At the tip of her beautiful yet haughty, cold expression, the sharp point of the arrow slowly gathered power.
"I'm ready."
Baek Hwayeon gave the signal, but Kim Isol did not move at all. Same as earlier… She probably never heard because Baek Hwayeon's voice was so soft. Put kindly, she was focused on the fight; in my eyes it looked anything but good. Narrow vision, zero sense of coordination. Get ambushed from behind in a situation like this and she would go down without doing a thing. That dumb bitch.
I had no choice but to shout for Baek Hwayeon. How many times was this already?
"Kim Isol! Baek Hwayeon says she's ready!!"
Only then did Kim Isol shift to the side. She clicked her tongue as she moved, and the sound alone made irritation surge through me for no good reason. Almost at the same instant a missile-like arrow left Baek Hwayeon's bow, sliced the air, and struck the Red Devil Captain square in the head.
"Huh? …Don't tell me it failed to pierce again?"
An attack she had taken time to concentrate on. For a monster in a low-rank dungeon like this, finishing it in one shot would have been nice, right? Even if it was an intermediate boss… Geez. Their level seemed even lower than the senior team's Awoken I had watched last time. I had thought well of Baek Hwayeon… so there was a reason she ended up at our company…
I had written the first room off as a fluke. I looked at her with open pity; she seemed to realize it too, her expression sour.
"Kim Isol. Jang Yong. Can you two handle it?"
"Of course!"
"Yes. I'm fine, Team Leader."
With the arrow still buried in its skull the Red Devil Captain remained standing. Baek Hwayeon's shot had been accurate, yet it had failed to punch cleanly through the bone. She could fire multiple arrows, so mana quantity was not the issue—what was? The only silver lining was that this was an F-rank dungeon and the captain carried no weapon.
In the end Kim Isol began carving the captain's entire body. Just like the first room, she was going to bleed it out. Watching her, I sighed, but what could I do? Frail me was in no position to help.
Then it happened. The Red Devil Captain, which until now had only charged Jang Yong's shield, suddenly made a throwing motion. The attack came so abruptly that Jang Yong neither dodged nor blocked. The object struck him square in the face.
"Ugh…"
Closing the barn door after the horse is gone, Jang Yong finally raised his shield to cover his face and rubbed at his eyes with the hand still holding the sword. Utterly pathetic. Even Jang Yong, the one I had trusted somewhat, was reduced to this. Had it hit his eyes? That would be disaster. The sudden change made my heart race. If something went wrong and these idiots all died, I died with them.
"Jang Yong, are your eyes okay?"
"Ah, yes, yes. I'm fine. Nothing got in my eyes."
I grabbed Lee Donggeul's arm at once.
"Not now. Save the heal."
"Yeees…"
I stopped the airheaded woman before she could waste her one remaining heal. I was so frustrated I could die wondering where exactly these morons began. Academy my ass. I could picture the teachers' level without even looking.
Fortunately Jang Yong was not seriously hurt, and not long after the Red Devil Captain collapsed. I had plenty to say and said none of it. I simply watched them one by one. What the hell was I supposed to do with these bastards…
"Team Leader. I found something suspicious."
Jang Yong called me. He no longer called me hyung. Ever since the argument with Kim Isol he had addressed me strictly as Team Leader. I stepped carefully forward from the rear. The only time I could move up was after the monsters were cleared.
"What is it?"
"Look at this. This."
What lay in front of me was strange. Hard to describe, but it was shaped like a small capsule.
"Was it just lying on the floor?"
"No. It's the thing the Red Devil Captain threw at me. This."
Red Devils are basically naked. The captain is no different. In an F-rank dungeon these things own nothing—hence no profit. All they have is a dangling, oddly shaped bit that looks vaguely human but smaller. None of us turned our heads at the sight, men or women. Awoken especially had seen goblin versions to their heart's content at the Academy; when you are chopping bodies apart with weapons you do not care about that. Same principle as not feeling special about a pet dog's equipment. Weapons appear only rarely, so most of them are bare, which makes the place perfect for practice. No one comes here for loot. That is why it is safe. Our team had arrived with zero expectations of that sort.
Yet a Red Devil dropping an item? As impossible as winning the lottery.
"Give it here."
I carefully took the strange capsule-shaped object. Slightly larger than a pill. I squeezed hard between thumb and forefinger; whether metal or something else, it stayed hard and unresponsive. Hmm… The thing did not belong in this place. For reasons I could not name it looked like a product of a highly advanced civilization. Or maybe another expedition had dropped it on a previous run.
"We'll take it for now. It might be a mana item. But this is an F-rank dungeon, so better not get your hopes up—saves the disappointment later."
"Ah… I guess so?"
"Tch."
Kim Isol clicked her tongue. Ordinary people and Awoken alike all hope for a windfall while running dungeons. These kids had only just set foot in an F-rank place, so of course they hoped harder. Even graduates of the state-subsidized Awoken Academy still need jobs and dungeon runs to survive. Especially these three, who had never received proper sponsorship.
"We'll stop here for today and rest. You're starting to feel it, right?"
I was not asking about basic stamina. I was asking whether their mana was bottoming out. Once awakened, they can sense how much remains inside them. Silence meant everyone wanted a break. Two of the five rooms done; sleep, then clear the remaining three and the expedition would be over. Sigh…
We made our way back toward the central exit. Temporary lodging and toilets set up by the support crew came into view, along with a simple kitchen. Ah, fuck… I have to cook too? Just when I thought I could rest. I was the only one who could. The thought that some big company ought to scout me rose unbidden. In truth the dungeon was close enough that we could have lodged outside and commuted, but this was an educational run, so camping was mandatory. The idea of doing this forever made the road ahead look bleak.
I stripped out of the suit and changed into comfortable clothes. Protocol said wear it twenty-four hours because dungeons are dangerous, but nobody follows that manual in an F-rank place. Besides, cooking made it impossible. The C-rank suit was a full-body unit that covered even feet and fingers.
"Wow, Team Leader cooks too?"
Lee Donggeul came over with rabbit-round eyes. She had taken off her suit and wore a short-sleeved T-shirt. My gaze drifted to her chest before I could stop it; this time she was properly wearing a bra.
"Yes. Not well, though. I'm making braised chicken—okay with you?"
"Oh! I like it. Chicken! Cheese cake is my favorite, though."
"Here we can't even bake bread, let alone cake. And I don't know how anyway."
"Yes. Hehe."
Looking at the girl who had been desperate for a toilet earlier, I felt a flicker of interest. Beautiful, big chest, and soft-spoken on top of it—of course. I had been single since yesterday; who was going to complain?
"Want me to help? I can cook too."
"Then chop some onions and carrots for me?"
"Yes."
Her last heal had gone unused; strictly speaking she had done nothing all day. Yet I could not dislike her. She was the one who had fixed my right hand. And I liked this personality that felt nothing like an Awoken. What Awoken in this world would help cook inside a dungeon? Well, before the current system only Awoken entered, and I had heard they used to help one another clear the places.
"All chopped."
"Ah, thank you."
While Lee Donggeul and I prepared dinner, the transport crew across the temporary tent were setting up barricades. That was why they stayed and camped with us. If something went wrong those barricades would buy our lives. Not perfect, but even a few seconds of delay could mean the difference between survival and wipe. Tents, barricades—most of the gear was mana-coated and ruinously expensive. Companies like ours could never own it, so we rented, and the rental fees were steep. In short, today's expedition was a massive loss for the company. Packaged nicely it was an "investment"… but only if I could drag these rookies into E-rank and D-rank dungeons and pull items worth real money. Fail that and I was out of a job…
While those thoughts ran, the food finished and we finally sat down to eat. We split across two tables; I took a seat with the transport men.
"Please enjoy. Our company's small, so we didn't prepare much."
"First time for you, right?"
"First time as team leader. I've come along as assistant a few times, though."
"Hahaha. Not what I meant. For us operators, F-rank customers are the best. Who cares what you put on the table? Safety is king. The pay doesn't drop just because it's F-rank, so don't worry. We like it here."
So that was it. I had heard that for A-rank and above the support companies often refuse the job on purpose. Life comes first. For those places the country has the military; they go in with national gear and the army.
While we ate and talked a thought surfaced—the capsule-type item from earlier. I wanted to show these veterans. They might know something. Expensive would be nice. I left the meal halfway and ducked into the temporary tent. I had put it in my bag with the water bottles and shovel… Small as it was, it must have rolled deep inside. In the end I had to empty every bottle and piece of gear.
"What a hassle, really."
Only then did the capsule appear. The instant it settled into my palm—
User detected. Beginning installation.
"Ugh—!"
I screamed at the strange voice that suddenly rang inside my skull.