The Dungeon
—Kugugugong—
As Cheon Seong slotted the final beads into place, the ground rumbled and a passage opened downward.
—Pssshhk—
The beads had fulfilled their purpose in opening the passage; their mana had drained away entirely, and they crumbled to dust. An oppressive pressure seeped up through the corridor, wrapping around him like a suffocating blanket.
This was a dungeon boss. Even from this distance, the weight of its presence was on an entirely different level from the doppelgangers he'd faced before.
But what worried him more than that sense of wrongness was the time. He'd been delayed far longer than expected inside the dungeon, and now others might be arriving.
All he had left was a time attack: finish the boss before someone stronger than him walked in.
He cast healing magic with white mana, mending every wound, then drained the last of his mana recovery potions and descended.
The closer he got to the boss, the more the wrongness swelled, growing to fill his senses.
He had to be more cautious than ever against this final opponent.
Teleportation was a top-tier spell, and its mana cost was brutal — and it grew worse the farther the distance.
If he killed the boss but had no mana left to return home, he'd be the one in danger.
Most of this world's "heroes" were nothing but trash.
The mana potions Beatrice had given him were also exhausted now. He had no means left to restore his depleted mana.
He couldn't absorb the boss's mana stone either — he already had plans for that one. And though his mana capacity had grown, his recovery speed was still nearly the worst it could be. Mana management was his greatest priority, and the chain that bound his feet.
"Kurrururuk."
When he reached the bottom, what greeted him was a small doppelganger — about half the size of the ones he'd faced so far.
But size was no reason to let his guard down.
Its total power was undeniably greater than his own. And unlike the earlier doppelgangers, which could only copy one of his techniques at a time, this boss could use all of them.
He had to end it fast, at full power, from the very first strike.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
First Form.
White Night — Strike.
Thud-thud-thud.
His veins bulged and burst across his arms.
Cheon Seong kicked off the ground, propelling himself backward before surging forward toward the boss and throwing a punch.
A beam of white light — refined power, a single point of penetration that pierced through the enemy — drove straight through the boss.
—Pung!!!
The black organic boss was struck by White Night Strike, its body pierced, and it flew backward.
Someone watching might think it was over. It wasn't.
No sensation.
When he'd pierced it, he hadn't felt the characteristic resistance of going through a doppelganger.
"Kurruruk."
As expected, the hole in its body sealed shut, and it slowly rose—
Whew!—Bang!!
"Kuhak!!"
The creature's form vanished, and when he came to his senses, he was embedded in the wall.
Before he could even react, it had closed the distance at incredible speed and struck him.
"Kuhhk!..Kuhk!..Huhk..."
He'd been hit straight in the solar plexus. Breathing was agony.
As he struggled to draw breath, the doppelganger's off-white White Night surged toward him, aiming to cut off his air.
Just before it engulfed him, he teleported to a marked location. What greeted him on the other side was the doppelganger's magic, searing his skin.
—Hwarrruruk—
Flames roared, radiating intense heat in every direction.
—Pung!!
Still reeling from the blow to his chest, he rolled and barely dodged. As his breathing gradually steadied and control returned to his body, he teleported behind the creature and steadied his stance.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Third Form.
Moonlit Night — Setting Moon.
The night of the dazzling moon ultimately fades, and the moon hides its face.
The moon hides alongside the stars, and the stars shine as if to announce themselves until the very end. That light deceives the enemy, and the enemy, entranced by its beauty, draws near.
As it approaches, the enemy's breath is strangled by the light, and the moon aids the stars.
And so the setting moonlit night unfolds through Cheon Seong.
Moonlit Night engulfed the creature, but he knew this wasn't enough to finish it.
Even deployed at full strength, Moonlit Night wouldn't be enough to end something like this.
Cheon Seong immediately activated Black Moon, flooding his body with dark mana, and punched forward with a fist dyed black by the surging power.
The doppelganger's Black Night — the counter to Moonlit Night, which it had endured.
Black Night filled the boss room, and Cheon Seong met it with his own Black Night, clashing against it directly.
It felt like fighting a mirror.
Each knew where the other would strike, and each blocked accordingly.
But a war of attrition like this favored the doppelganger.
Black Moon's effects were waning, and its backlash was beginning to take hold.
—Pit—
Amid the tense exchange, Black Moon's backlash finally hit. The strength left Cheon Seong's legs, and his stance collapsed. In the instant he tried to recover, the doppelganger's combo strikes came down.
The doppelganger's Black Night, followed by Black Night Sky, crushed him.
Even with dark mana wrapped around his body, Cheon Seong's exhausted form — blackened and burning from Black Moon's backlash — couldn't withstand the doppelganger's assault. The gap in power was too vast. His collarbone and leg bones shattered under the combo strikes, and he was sent flying into the wall.
—Bang!!
"Kurul? Kurrururuk."
The doppelganger approached Cheon Seong, motionless against the wall. Its body split open as if opening a mouth, and it swallowed him whole.
"Wow! It's been forever since we've had a dungeon!"
"Miss! Please slow down! If you get hurt, the Guild Master will kill us!!"
"But I haven't been allowed to go to a dungeon in ages! How can I hold back!"
Yoo Hwa-young, thrilled to finally be permitted to enter a dungeon after so long, sprinted toward the location where the dungeon entrance had been detected. Lee Kang-hoon, team leader of the Flame King's Fourth Division, had been ordered to ensure she didn't get hurt under any circumstances, and he chased after her with his heart in his throat, terrified she might trip and injure herself.
Lee Kang-hoon and his team members had been told they'd better be prepared to die if even a scratch appeared on Yoo Hwa-young's body. Watching her bounce across the rocky field spread across Seoraksan, they aged decades in seconds as they scrambled after her.
"Dochaak! Hurry up and get in, okay? Why do you all look like you've aged fifty years?"
By the time they reached the dungeon entrance, Lee Kang-hoon and the First Division team members were already sitting on the ground, faces ashen as if they'd aged decades. When Yoo Hwa-young asked what was wrong, they couldn't yell at her or argue — she was the Guild Master's youngest daughter — so they could only stammer that nothing was wrong and hold back their tears.
"Really? Then let's get in quickly!! Someone might have gone in before us!"
"That's impossible, Miss. The estimated time since the dungeon appeared in Seoraksan is only five hours. And finding a dungeon spawned in such a remote corner of Seoraksan in five hours is already incredibly fast."
"Eh~! I know that, but you never know! Someone might have stumbled across Seoraksan by chance! So everyone, get up!"
Yeah, right. Who exactly stumbles across Seoraksan by chance, Miss...
Even their current location was cleverly concealed by the surrounding landscape. And even if it weren't, who in their right mind would come to Seoraksan — access forbidden without Association permission? — Lee Kang-hoon muttered "I understand" as Yoo Hwa-young shook his arm, urging him on, and entered the dungeon with his team.
—Hooong—
—Squelch—
"Ugh! What is this! It's disgusting!"
Yoo Hwa-young, having entered the dungeon, recoiled in disgust at the dark, sticky substance underfoot and shook the dirt from her shoes.
"Ha-sung-ah, what does this look like?"
Lee Kang-hoon, familiar with dungeons, looked at the black substance he'd stepped in and asked his team member who possessed an analysis-type unique ability.
"Well... it looks like a dead black slime, but... I can't say for certain, Team Leader."
"You can't tell even with your unique ability?"
"No. I tried, and the closest match was slime, but I can't identify it precisely."
"Tsk... So Miss was right? Someone got in before us?"
"See! I told you we had to hurry!"
Yoo Hwa-young shot back at Lee Kang-hoon, but he was too busy assessing the situation to hear her. He continued to examine the dungeon thoroughly.
Collapsed walls. Endless stretches of black slime trailing forward.
"First off, this definitely isn't a normal slime. If it were a slime, there'd be too much damage and too much slime around. At this volume, there would've been thousands of slimes."
"I agree. If it were slimes, there'd be far more signs of burning and freezing around."
Unlike the weak slimes depicted in games and fiction, real slimes were among the most troublesome monsters. They were highly resistant to physical attacks, and their bodies contained an acid that could corrode steel in an instant — lethal to anyone who couldn't wrap their skin in qi or mana, making close combat dangerous.
But slimes were also incredibly easy to deal with if you knew the method.
Simply evaporate their bodies completely, or freeze them solid and shatter them.
Most people handled slimes by using their unique abilities and magic to evaporate or freeze them, then smashing the remains.
But here, there were signs of burning and freezing — just not nearly enough. And most importantly, the slime on the floor had no acidity, and there was far too much of it.
At this volume, the dungeon would have been filled with thousands of slimes. Lee Kang-hoon ruled out the slime possibility.
"Team Leader, I'm sensing someone up ahead. It looks like they've triggered some kind of trap."
"Could it be a villain?"
"No, it doesn't seem like a villain."
"Then what are you waiting for!! Go save them!!"
Lee Kang-hoon shouted at his team member with a detection-type unique ability, and they rushed to the location. There, trapped in a pit and suffering from countless trap spells, was a blond young man.
"Huhk! Huhk! Th-thank you... for... saving me..."
The blond young man, Cheon Yu-seong, expressed his gratitude after the Fourth Division team members helped him out of the trap. When asked how he'd ended up there, he answered through tears.
"That... that masked person who introduced themselves as Hanwol inside the dungeon got hurt, so I healed them and accompanied them. But right before the boss room, they attacked me and pushed me into this trap..."
"Oh my... to repay kindness with betrayal..."
Thanks to Cheon Yu-seong's handsome appearance, the female team members of the Fourth Division looked at him with pity, healed his wounds, and comforted him as he wept bitterly.
Tsk. Just an extra, and such a disgusting one at that.
Of course, Cheon Yu-seong ignored the women encouraging and comforting him, finding their touch repulsive. But this was an opportunity to get close to Yoo Hwa-young, whom he'd seen when he was rescued, so he continued playing the victim and building favor with the Fourth Division women.
"Thank you so much. As a token of my gratitude, I'd like to treat you to a meal when we get out. Do you have time...? Huh?"
Cheon Yu-seong, about to speak with a wistful expression toward Yoo Hwa-young, was thrown off when she had vanished. He was about to ask Lee Kang-hoon where she'd gone when the First Division women surrounded him.
"We have plenty of time!"
"A meal? You really don't have to, but thank you so much."
"A meal? That sounds wonderful!"
"Ah... no, um... the woman who was behind us earlier... where did she go...?"
"What!? Hey! Miss, where did you go!?"
When Cheon Yu-seong, face flushed, asked the people who were fond of him, Lee Kang-hoon realized Yoo Hwa-young was gone and shouted. The only person who hadn't latched onto Cheon Yu-seong — Jeina, the First Division member with a detection-type unique ability who had guided them here — answered Lee Kang-hoon.
"Ah~~ If you mean Miss, she ran off that way when the mask came up in the conversation?"
"You saw that and didn't stop her, what were you doing!!"
Lee Kang-hoon's face went deathly pale, and he shook Jeina while shouting. Jeina answered in time with the rhythm of his shaking.
"Mollu."
"You crazy woman!! Miss, please wait a moment!!!"
At Jeina's answer, Lee Kang-hoon despaired and sprinted in the direction she'd pointed. Watching his retreating back, Jeina suddenly realized something, scratched her head, and muttered.
"...Oh right. It wasn't left, it was right. I pointed the wrong way."
At the sound of Lee Kang-hoon's voice coming from the direction they'd arrived from — not the direction Yoo Hwa-young had run — Jeina pressed her palms together in prayer and simply bowed her head as his cries grew fainter and fainter.