The Dungeon (3)

"Ah."

The moment the massive goblin statue stirred, I instinctively unleashed Sage's Sense on the thing.

Shhhk!

A translucent window materialized above the creature's head.

It was a hidden boss even more powerful than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an ordinary boss. Hidden bosses were typically the kind of enemies you took down with a full raid party — which meant the rewards for slaying one were enormous.

'Ha!'

My mind raced. Taking that thing down alone was out of the question. My most powerful weapon was the Mythic-grade Thunderbolt, but the golem was a statue type — made of solid stone, and therefore highly resistant to electric damage.

— Even so, if you land enough hits in succession, you'll destroy the 'core' inside.

Shattering a stone golem's core with lightning magic? Anyone who heard that would've scoffed. But with Sage's Aura, weakness perception, and a Mythic-grade Thunderbolt combined, it was possible — because the amplification of attack power would be beyond all imagination.

Right. If I'd had enough mana, attempting it solo would've been worth a shot. As it stood, however, I barely had enough to cast Thunderbolt even once. Using Sage's Aura on top of that was unthinkable.

'But I'm not alone here, am I?'

Lee Naksu at Level 10. Han Gain, armed to the teeth with expensive gear. And Park Changwon — unreliable, but a Level 4 all the same.

'If the four of us coordinate well, I think we can pull this off.'

I turned to my party with that judgment in mind. Han Gain. Lee Naksu. Both wore the same look I did. Excellent — time for a proper raid….

Huh? Wait a second. Where did the bald guy go?

Feeling a prickle of dread, I turned my head back toward the front —

"KHAHAHAHAHA!"

And I saw it: a bald head slick with pure greed. Park Changwon had climbed off the goblin golem and was chasing the Treasure Goblin as it scurried toward a corner of the dungeon.

"The treasure is MINE!!"

His voice was thick with madness. His eyes had already rolled halfway back into his skull.

'He's insane!'

He was going to cause a disaster at this rate. My gut said something was very wrong.

And then — wouldn't you know it.

"Gotcha!! I caught it! It's mine! HEHAHA!!"

The Treasure Goblin let itself be captured by Park Changwon with an almost unnatural docility. And in that instant, a strange, sour unease crawled up my spine.

"Kreuk, kruruk!"

Right on cue, the goblin let out an ominous cackle.

Along with the message flashing before my eyes, both walls of the cavern began to convulse.

KUGUGUGUGU!

The stone split apart, and four statues emerged.

"Ah!" "My — my god." "Hup!"

Cries of horror burst from our lips. They had no choice — the four newly revealed statues looked to be the same breed as the one we'd first encountered.

'Son of a—. We're screwed.'

Park Changwon had gone full troll. We should have brought down the first statue before touching the Treasure Goblin. Because his greed had flipped a switch in his brain, all of us were now royally screwed.

KUGUGUGU!

Jet-black bars began descending over the entrance we'd come through.

"We have to run!"

Hidden stage or not, we needed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stay alive first. One hidden boss was dangerous enough — five was beyond perilous.

"Move, now!"

Han Gain and Lee Naksu, sharing my urgency, leapt from their positions —

WHAM—!

"GAAAAGH—!"

With a sound like a drum bursting, Park Changwon came rocketing toward us like a bullet —

CRASH!!

He slammed into the rear wall and collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Kreek, kreeek!"

The Treasure Goblin cackled with villainous delight at the sight. What had beaten him into that state? Apparently the Grand Warrior Golem standing beside the Treasure Goblin.

'Is he dead?'

The thought flickered through me as I watched Park Changwon lie utterly motionless — but there was no time to examine him closely.

The countdown to the exit's closure was still ticking. Five seconds left. If we sprinted for our lives, the three of us could just barely squeeze out.

And yet.

"Ascender Park Changwon!"

Han Gain. She spun on her heel and ran toward him.

"M-miss!!"

Lee Naksu cried out to her, his face drained of color.

"Mr. Park Changwon, snap out of it."

Ah…….

I couldn't help but let out a groan as I watched her. Her heart, it turned out, was not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as hard as I'd thought.

Poof!Patter patter.

Wait. Hold on. Isn't that a subspace bracelet?

She rubbed the bracelet on her left wrist, and a health potion materialized in her palm. Unbelievable! I'd known she was rich, but a subspace bracelet? It was an artifact imbued with space magic — price on application, the kind of thing ordinary people could hardly dream of acquiring.

'And that health potion looks like the highest grade, too.'

Top-tier health potions went for well over tens of millions of won. Just how wealthy was her family?

And Lee Naksu had just called her "Miss." If my hunch was right, he was definitely connected to Han Gain in some capacity. Not a mercenary — a bodyguard her family had assigned her? Or perhaps they belonged to the same clan.

"Ugh……."

Thanks to Han Gain's merciful administration of the top-grade health potion, Park Changwon clawed his way back from death's door. Talk about a stubborn old goat. If he made it out of here alive, he'd owe Han Gain for the rest of his life.

If, that is. If we made it out of here at all.

KOOM. KOOM. KOOM!

"Kruruk, kruruk!"

Five goblin golems advanced with ponderous, earth-shaking strides — and behind them, the Treasure Goblin kept up its gleeful cackling. Speaking of which, the way that thing had been splitting its sides this whole time was really getting on my nerves. I wanted to plant my fist square in its face, but this was no time for that.

We were mice sealed inside a poison jar.

KOOM, KOOM, KOOM!

The golems' footsteps pressed in on us from every direction, and a suffocating tension closed over the four of us like a shroud.

"F-Firebolt!"

Then Lee Naksu, unable to bear the strain, spasmodically hurled a Firebolt.

SHWOOSH—!

KWAAAAANG!

An explosion bloomed against the torso of the lead Goblin King Golem. The result? A slight scorch mark. That was it.

"Ah—"

Lee Naksu's face went even harder than before. For all that he was Level 10, his attack hadn't so much as tickled them. Then again, each and every one of those things was a hidden boss that normally demanded a full raid — perhaps the outcome was inevitable.

'Maybe I should have just run for it.'

Damn it. My heart hadn't been any harder than hers. I was hardly in a position to call her soft-hearted.

"G-gather over here!"

Han Gain's desperate shout rang out. I sprinted to her side the instant I heard it, and Lee Naksu did the same.

"I'm going to use an emergency escape scroll. Stay right against me."

Oh.

So she had one of those? A dungeon emergency escape scroll — a one-time-use item that let you slip out of a dungeon at a moment of mortal danger. It was essentially a spare life inside the dungeon, which made it another eye-wateringly expensive item.

No wonder she ran to Park Changwon. This is why she kept such things on hand.

"Using it now!"

Rubbing her bracelet to draw out a yellow scroll, Han Gain tore it open without hesitation.

FAAASH!!

Golden particles burst from the torn scroll like flower petals, swirling around us and binding to our bodies.

Ahh. That's it. We're saved.

Exhaling, I flexed my sweat-soaked palms open and shut and let out a long breath of relief. I'd done my best not to show it, but I'd been wound just as tight as anyone. Still, a little regretful. If we could've killed that thing, I had a feeling treasure would've come pouring out. Realistically, we'd never get another chance like this.

But nothing mattered more than our lives, so I was grateful to simply make it out al—

The moment I thought that—

ZIIIING!

A violet glow came hurtling toward us.

"……!!" "W-what?" "That—that thing—."

The instant the escape was canceled, all of us reeled in shock.

"Kruruk, kruruk!"

The Treasure Goblin burst out laughing again at the sight of us. So that thing was the culprit. The silver ring clutched in its hand was evidently an artifact with Dispel magic built into it.

'You insane little—.'

A curse tore itself out of my mouth.

KOOM, KOOM, KOOM!!

We were well and truly out of time now. The statues had closed to within arm's reach. Only because golems moved slowly had we escaped their attacks this long — otherwise we'd have been crushed ages ago.

"H-here, one more time."

Han Gain pulled out another emergency escape scroll.

FAAASH!!ZIIING.

But once again, the Dispel Ring in the Treasure Goblin's hand rendered it null and void.

"Kreuk. Kruruk—!"

"Ahh……"

While the goblin was beside itself with glee, our little huddle had taken on the atmosphere of a funeral parlor.

"I'm — I'm so sorry."

Han Gain opened her mouth, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"My careless judgment… I dragged all of you into this. I'm sorry. Truly."

And then she was sobbing openly, fat tears streaming down her face. Ah. Great. She was apologizing so wretchedly that I couldn't very well say anything to her face. And truthfully, I had no right to blame her — I'd stayed behind of my own will, after all.

"Miss, it isn't over yet. It's too early to give up. If we avoid the statues and deal with the Treasure Goblin first, we may yet find a way through."

— So you've finally arrived at the correct answer.

At Lee Naksu's words, Ellaon spoke up.

'That's the answer?'

— Indeed. That Dispel Ring the goblin holds — you must steal it and use it to neutralize the golems' cores. That is the key to clearing this dungeon.

Ha! So that was it? If that was the plan, why didn't he say so sooner? Well — back when the golems were spread out wide, maybe. But now they were packed tight, pressing in on us from all sides. I couldn't picture us breaking through their encirclement to reach the Treasure Goblin. And even if we did, catching that quick-footed little thing was another matter entirely.

"O-okay. Then I'll draw the statues' aggro…."

Han Gain said, her voice trembling. She was offering herself up as bait. I could feel it — the guilt of believing she'd brought this whole disaster on us. Watching her, I found myself thinking that beneath that cold first impression, she wasn't a bad person at all.

"Miss! Absolutely not. I'll draw the aggro instead — you take down the Treasure Goblin."

"No. I'm the fastest one here."

"Even so, I cannot allow you to—"

Not you two as well. What were we supposed to do if they kept bickering back and forth even in this situation? I clicked my tongue softly and spoke.

"I have a different plan."

"Sir?" "……?"

The two of them turned puzzled eyes on me. This plan had come to me from the subspace bracelet on Han Gain's wrist — so what I was about to say might not make sense to either of them.

"Miss… Han Soo-yeon. Do you have any mana potions in that subspace bracelet?"

My mouth, which had nearly blurted out Han Gain on reflex, swerved sharply at the last moment as I asked whether she carried mana potions.

"Sorry? Ah — yes. I have plenty of mana potions. But why would you…"

That's it. A thin smile crossed my lips at her answer. And with that, wasn't the answer already decided?

— Heheh. Quite right. A man should always answer with a frontal assault, no?

The smile deepened at the corners of my mouth as I spoke on.

"Then take out all of those mana potions, please."

"Sorry? What on earth are you—"

"Quickly!"

KOOM, KOOM, KOOM!!

The goblin statues' footsteps thundered louder than ever. She looked into my unwavering eyes, and finally — without another word of protest — she granted my request.

FAAASH!!

Mana potions came pouring out before my eyes. Wow — the vast majority of them were mid-grade. Looking closely, a few high-grade and top-grade bottles were mixed in as well.

"I'll be borrowing these."

I snatched up what looked like a top-grade mana potion and downed it on the spot, then another, and another, gulping them down one after the next.

Ahh.

I could feel cool, limpid mana surging within my body. So this is what mana potions are supposed to taste like. It wasn't as fast as I'd expected, but my nearly empty mana reservoir had begun to refill at last.

— Hoh. Even after drinking top-grade mana potions, your mana recovery is this slow? A mana circuit so staggering it deserves admiration.

Ah, so that's what it was. No wonder my mana had felt like it was regenerating sluggishly even after downing top-grade potions.

"Kreek, kreek!"

Even as I restored my power with the potions, the Treasure Goblin kept up its sneering mockery. Sure. Let's see how long you can keep laughing.

'Sage's Aura.'

WOOOONG!

A faint golden radiance began to seep out of my body.

"Thunderbolt."

Crackle-crackle-crackle.

Emerald lightning materialized in my right hand. Beside me, I could feel Han Gain and Lee Naksu's eyes going wide, low groans escaping their lips. An extraordinary pressure began to swirl around me, with me at its center.

"K-Kreek?"

Even the ever-snickering Treasure Goblin stopped laughing, its face sagging into bewilderment.

Hey, Treasure Goblin. Can't you feel the ground shaking?

Twisting my lips into a smirk, I stretched out my hand and aimed at the scarlet patch glowing in my vision — the weak point the Sage's Sense had laid bare on the Goblin King Golem's body.

And then, one word.

"Release."

With that single syllable —

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE—!!

Emerald lightning flooded the entire hidden stage from wall to wall.