The Whale Spirit's Trial
The whale spirit Garonok regarded the brothers with a peculiar gaze. It was not hostile, yet neither was it friendly — the look one might give an amusing toy.
"Hyung? What do we do?"
"First..."
Kang Dohyun cautiously opened the conversation.
"Whale spirit, might we be able to speak with you?"
He addressed the creature politely, but Garonok responded by drawing in water and expelling it in a long, forceful stream.
"Dodge!"
Dohyun sidestepped, and the water jet tracked his movement before slamming into the rock wall with devastating force.
Boom!
The rock shattered completely. It was a wide-area attack like a breath spell, but by Dohyun's standards, it was slow. He loaded his shotgun and closed the distance to the whale spirit.
Boom!
He fired, the pellets striking Garonok's body. The whale spirit howled in pain and began thrashing violently. The real battle had begun.
Garonok, enraged, demonstrated his will.
Grrrrr...
As he gathered power, the movement of the water changed.
"Dohun, watch out!"
A wave of tremendous force surged toward the brothers — the wave itself was the attack.
"Hyung, what do we do?"
"Dodge! Grab on, quick!"
Dohyun summoned his drone, and the brothers clung to it, barely escaping the wave's path. The range was enormous, and the power was considerable. When the wave struck the wall —
Kwaaang!
— the wall was obliterated.
"Dangerous. Wide range, and the power is substantial."
Dohyun nodded at his brother's assessment. They had dodged the first wave, but Garonok continued his assault, launching empowered waves from a distance.
"This time, over here!"
The brothers clung to the drone, darting and weaving to evade each successive wave attack.
"Hyung, what do we do?"
They had already dodged more than ten wave attacks, and Garonok showed no sign of stopping.
"He won't attack infinitely. Keep dodging for now."
They held out, evading the waves. After the twentieth wave attack, Garonok's movements finally ceased.
Kiiiiii....
For a brief moment, the whale spirit caught his breath.
"Dohun, counterattack timing! Go in!"
Dohun charged at Garonok, swinging his fists.
Thwack!
Ooooooo!!!!
The punch landed squarely on Garonok's forehead, and the whale spirit howled in agony. But the brothers did not hold back — they pressed the attack relentlessly.
Thump, thwack! Clank, boom!
Dohyun fired his crossbow and shotgun simultaneously, dealing damage to Garonok.
Thwack, thwack, pow!
Dohun unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks against the whale spirit's face.
Struck during his brief respite, Garonok raged anew.
Grrrrr...
After gathering his strength for a moment, the whale spirit let out a tremendous sound wave.
Woooooo-ooooooong!!!
The sonic waves radiated outward in all directions.
"Dohun, grab on!"
Dohyun summoned the drone again, and the brothers mounted it, fleeing as far as possible from the sonic attack.
"...Phew, that was close."
They had fled roughly a kilometer before the sonic force weakened and dissipated. Judging by how everything the waves touched had been shattered to pieces, the attack's power would have been impossible for humans to withstand.
Garonok was furious. It infuriated him that insignificant humans had attacked him, and that they had evaded all his devastating attacks with such speed.
Ultimately, he decided to use his trump card.
Woo-woo-woo-woo...
A unique, deep low-frequency sound spread outward — like a song. And then —
Mrrr... oooong... woooom...
Other whales swam in from the distance.
Garonok had summoned other whale spirits. They formed a group. Seeing this, Dohyun realized he had made a mistake.
I underestimated this. So it wasn't a kill-the-boss dungeon after all.
With multiple whale spirits like Garonok, the difficulty was far too high for a white-barrier dungeon.
"Hyung? What do we do?"
"There's no choice."
Still, there was hope. Dohyun finally drew the Chungmu Soul Sword from his inventory.
"We just need to kill Garonok. Then there's a chance we clear this."
"....."
Dohun disliked seeing his brother use that sword that consumed his lifespan, but there was no other option now.
Dohyun left his brother in a corner of the dungeon and flew toward the whale spirits alone on the drone.
Woooom...
The whale spirits' gazes turned to Dohyun, and arrogance flickered in Garonok's eyes.
"I don't know why you attacked first, but if we hadn't counterattacked, the situation might have been different, right?"
Garonok nodded at this question.
"But that doesn't mean we can just stand there and take your attacks. Want to try resolving this through conversation now? I doubt you do."
Garonok nodded again. He had attacked first, but the painful counterattack had left him with no intention of reconciliation — because his opponent was merely an insignificant human.
"Right. And I'm not going to die easily either."
Dohyun raised the Chungmu Soul Sword and swung with all his might. Garonok tried to dodge easily, but Wall-Cutting Single Slash activated, making the speed impossible to evade. And then —
Shhhhk!
"....."
Garonok was split in half in an instant.
Swinging the Chungmu Soul Sword with full power has slightly reduced your lifespan.
You have slain the whale spirit Garonok.
Level has increased.
Special reward "???" has been acquired.
Garonok vanished in an instant.
From the aftereffects of the Chungmu Soul Sword, Dohyun felt his strength draining from his entire body. Still, fortunately, Garonok was dead.
"....."
The dungeon was not cleared. The other whale spirits Garonok had summoned still remained.
Damn it. Is that not it? Do I have to kill them all?
As Dohyun seriously contemplated this, the other whale spirits addressed him with a unique sound wave.
"Impressive for a human."
"Indeed, to destroy Garonok."
"Truly an unexpected turn of events."
"Humans always show unexpected power, don't they."
The whale spirits spoke calmly — they did not appear angry.
"Garonok was an arrogant spirit."
"He was destroyed, but since it was due to his arrogance, it cannot be helped."
"This is a place to test humans. It was wrong to attack without any explanation."
"We have no intention of holding you responsible for destroying Garonok."
Fortunately, there was no sign of hostility. However —
"Return the energy you have gained. Then we will let you leave."
"That energy is something you cannot use anyway."
"That energy must be reclaimed by us."
"Return it."
Though suffering from extreme fatigue, Dohyun used his mental power to examine the item he had gained from destroying Garonok.
Grade: Gradeless
Description: ???
It was a condensed mass of energy with no description at all. But it was clearly valuable, so Dohyun summoned his nerve.
"I cannot simply hand it over."
"Hahaha."
"Impressive for a human, aren't you?"
"Interesting."
"Then, in exchange, we will give you this."
When Dohyun refused, one of the whale spirits handed him a small blue gem.
Grade: Gradeless
Description: When used, allows you to form a contract with a water spirit.
"This is the reward you would have received from passing the trial here."
"Human, this is a fair price. Do not be greedy, or it will be dangerous."
"We must reclaim the energy, no matter what."
"So, now return the energy."
The whale spirits gathered their energy as they spoke — a clear indication that if he refused the offer, they would use force.
Dohyun felt regret, but —
"Yes, I will return it."
He handed over the condensed energy without resistance.
"Good. Thank you, human. Thank you for returning Garonok's power."
"In any case, humans cannot handle that kind of power."
"Get along well with your spirit friend."
"And since you returned it willingly, we will give you a gift as thanks."
The whale spirits bestow a blessing upon Kang Dohyun.
You have acquired the skill "Whale Spirit's Blessing."
And with that, the conversation ended.
You have cleared a special dungeon.
Congratulations. You are the first in the world to clear a special dungeon.
You have acquired the achievement "Party to Clear a Special Dungeon First in the World."
As an effect of the achievement, your defense in dungeons increases.
The party consisting of Kang Dohyun and Kang Dohun has cleared their 19th dungeon.
The record "Party to Clear 19 Dungeons First in the World" has been updated.
After the long series of messages, the dungeon vanished, and Dohyun and Dohun fell into the Taehwa River.
Plonk!
Dohyun, having swung the Chungmu Soul Sword with all his strength, was in a state of exhaustion and could not move his body.
"Hyung!"
Fortunately, Dohun came over and pulled him out of the water.
The two brothers caught their breath on the bank of the Taehwa River.
"Hyung? Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah... I'm fine."
Having exhausted both his physical stamina and mental power, Dohyun fell asleep right there on the spot, and his brother let him rest comfortably.