EP4. Cursed Dungeon
*Ding*
Lucifer's Fragment
Lucifer's minions have gone mad due to the curse.
Choose one of the two options to obtain the soul fragment.
📍 Option 1: Collect 100 human souls and offer them to the maddened minions of Lucifer
📍 Option 2: Eliminate all monsters in the cursed dungeon
🎁 Reward: Lucifer's Soul Fragment x1
❌ Failure: Death
'100 human souls?'
That meant sacrificing people as offerings.
No need to think twice—it had to be the second option.
Do you choose Option 2: Eliminate all monsters in the cursed dungeon?
'Of course.'
The number of monsters in the dungeon is now displayed.
'A thousand?'
'That many?'
A quick glance down at the underground space revealed no signs of life.
'Whew.'
'This won't be easy.'
Choi Jae-jun gripped his Frost Blade in advance, tensed up, and descended the stairs.
*Boom!*
*Rumble!*
As soon as he reached the underground cavern, the stairs he'd come down on rose back up, sealing the entrance.
His heart pounded with tension.
*Thump thump.*
But he wasn't scared or afraid.
Unlike before, he had confidence in his strengthened abilities.
*Step step.*
Choi Jae-jun slowly scanned his surroundings as he advanced.
*Whoooosh—*
A wind sound from somewhere echoed like wailing ghosts.
The underground cavern wasn't as vast as he'd thought.
Yellow torchlight from flames scattered around illuminated everything.
'It's huge.'
The interior felt like a massive altar.
Statues and sculptures stood in rows, with a giant lion statue—the one he'd seen earlier—at the center.
Each statue was crafted with lifelike precision, as if ready to move.
Most depicted humans in agony, as if screaming.
All of them writhed in torment, torn apart by tiny monsters.
Chilling statues.
Choi Jae-jun tore his eyes away and searched for another path.
'Which way?'
No paths led away from the altar.
'Maybe a hidden passage inside the altar.'
He cautiously moved deeper in.
Then.
A sound reached his ears.
*Crunch!*
A heavy noise.
Like something hard breaking.
*Crunch!*
*Crunch crunch!*
One of the statues behind him twitched faintly, stone dust falling from its surface.
'No way?'
*Boom!*
The statue shattered, and a monster burst out from within.
A ghoul—a rotten corpse in human form.
Freshly killed, dark red blood dripped from its mouth.
The ghoul looked around, spotted Choi Jae-jun, and let out a feral roar.
"Kraaaagh!"
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
Starting with that one, statues all around shattered, ghouls pouring out endlessly.
'Creepy bastards.'
Were there tunnels inside the broken statues? They kept coming without end.
"Kraaaagh!"
The first ghoul charged at Choi Jae-jun, staggering like a zombie.
Choi Jae-jun extended his hand toward it.
'Time to try the Chain Lightning I just got.'
Perfect for dealing with these endlessly spawning foes.
'Chain Lightning!'
*Ding*
Skills cannot be used within the cursed dungeon.
"What?"
Choi Jae-jun shouted aloud in shock.
Other spells failed the same way.
'Shadow Hand!'
Skills cannot be used within the cursed dungeon.
'Ragna Blast!'
Skills cannot be used within the cursed dungeon.
'Damn it!'
Even Blink?
Skills cannot be used within the cursed dungeon.
As expected.
"Kraaaagh!"
*Slash!*
Choi Jae-jun thrust his sword into the charging ghoul's forehead.
So that's how it'd be—a thousand like this?
'Whew.'
Fine.
Let's do this!
He kicked away the ghoul with the sword in its forehead, pushing back the horde.
Grinding his teeth, Choi Jae-jun charged into the ghouls.
"Kraaaagh!"
"Kraaagh!"
*Slash!*
'Whatever—one swing, one kill. A thousand swings it is.'
Every little bit adds up.
Choi Jae-jun swung his sword, targeting them one by one.
—
In Incheon.
Cheonma Guild Master An Gi-beom, in charge of Raid Team 3, felt like he was on cloud nine.
It felt like just yesterday they'd been mocked as the perennial 11th-place guild, but now they'd been assigned Team 3 for the A-rank gate in the Bukhak area.
Thanks to that, he'd grabbed a mic in front of reporters and gotten some media exposure.
If he played this right, they might break into the top 10.
"Guild Master, it's about time to head out."
"Already?"
An Gi-beom checked his watch.
3 PM.
Teams 1 and 2 had left 15 minutes earlier. Team 3's goal was to clean up remaining monsters and enter the gate.
He wasn't worried about monsters.
Teams 1 and 2 were mostly from Korea's top five guilds, and he'd mobilized all of Cheonma Guild just in case.
It was suspicious they'd gathered so many for a mere A-rank gate entry.
"Alright."
"Let's move out. Any word from Teams 1 and 2?"
"No. Nothing."
"Those bastards. They probably left a few monsters and rushed into the gate."
"Shouldn't we hurry too?"
"For the scraps? Yeah, pick up the pace!"
"Yes, sir!"
Team 3 advanced toward the gate from the rendezvous point.
*Screeech!*
"Kraaaagh!"
"Monsters! Ranged DPS, ready up!"
"Attack!"
A variety of monsters blocked Team 3's path.
Some had fish heads on bull bodies; others were spiders spewing acid.
But with Team 3's average rank nearing B, mixed with some A-ranks, they wouldn't be pushed back.
Every member was a seasoned monster hunter.
*Shooo—*
*Roar!*
*Boom!*
Under An Gi-beom's orders, Team 3 advanced smoothly, wiping out monsters.
But as the clears progressed, An Gi-beom noticed something off.
"...Did Teams 1 and 2 go a different way?"
"No, same path."
"Then why are there this many monsters left?"
"...Yeah. Did they take another route?"
Monsters kept coming endlessly.
Even reaching the gate would be tough; retreat would be a nightmare.
"Those pricks went around and dumped the monsters on us?"
"No way."
An Gi-beom irritably pulled out his phone.
*Ring ring—*
Team leaders 1 and 2 didn't pick up.
'What the hell?'
Then a guild member's alarmed shout came from behind.
"Wha—what's that?"
"Gu-Guild Master!"
"Hold on, I'm on the phone, you punk."
"Y-You gotta see this!"
"What is it?"
An Gi-beom turned irritably.
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
"...What the hell is that?"
Before Team 3 stood a massive black knight over 5 meters tall.
Clad in pitch-black armor, wielding a bloodied sword.
Its helmet had tall deer-horn ornaments, flawless high-quality plate.
But An Gi-beom wasn't focused on the armor or sword.
In its hand was a head he knew well.
'Team 1 raid leader!'
The very S-rank hunter from Another Guild whose master he was calling.
Eyes bulging in apparent injustice, dead.
An Gi-beom instinctively stepped back.
*Thud!*
Another black knight appeared behind Team 3.
Another head in its grasp.
'Team 2 raid leader!'
Dozens more black knights emerged around them.
Each clutched a human head like trophies.
The problem? Far more were empty-handed.
'What the—?'
*Whoosh!*
*Slash!*
A sharp sword aura sliced through, and An Gi-beom's vision spun wildly.
'What?'
'Why are you looking at me like that?'
His guild member stared in horror.
*Thud.*
Only as his head hit the ground did An Gi-beom realize.
His own head was severed.
"R-Run!"
Team 3, morale shattered, was annihilated to the last by the black knights.