The Ant Cave

“Hajun oppa.” Roa said. “How far down do you think we’ve come?”

I thought for a moment. Half a day had passed since we split from Jangcheok. Roa and I had left the ossuary behind and were now making our way down through the narrow ant tunnels toward the lower levels of the dungeon. Dungeons—especially underground ones built by non-human races—made it easy to lose your sense of direction. The ants had dug their passages however they pleased, so it was only natural that a human following them would get disoriented. Fortunately, we had the dungeon map and knew the points the ghosts had marked, so we never got lost.

“About halfway. If we keep going, we should reach the bottom in another half.”

Exploring a dungeon meant walking the paths, checking rooms, picking up items, and setting up camps. You didn’t finish a dungeon in one quick rush. Unless you were a veteran doing a speedrun, there was no reason to hurry. But right now we were forced into one. I had no idea what Jangcheok and Sion were doing. What if the ants had found them and they were fighting right now? What if one of them had triggered a trap while messing around? If either of them died, the supervisor would fire me for real. I’d be labeled the necromancer who “got his teammates killed.”

Roa and I tore through the dungeon at breakneck speed. We ignored every room and only searched for the fastest way down. At first Roa had followed me nervously, but after we dealt with the ants we ran into without any trouble, she seemed to be gaining confidence.

“Roa. Any gut feelings?”

I checked regularly in case her Guardian future-sight event had triggered, but she shook her head.

“I’m sorry… I don’t feel anything.”

Luck wasn’t on our side.

“Can’t be helped.”

If luck was good, things would work out. If it was bad, we’d just have to survive anyway. I’d thought about it plenty of times before—clearing a dungeon while everything went wrong was the real measure of skill. I had some pride in my gaming experience, after all.

“Roa. Hold on a second.”

Roa’s intuition sometimes worked. You couldn’t force it, but it was still a hundred times better than nothing. I spread out the map and let her choose our next path.

“Look. We’re right here.”

We took a short break and looked at the map together. We were in the exact center of the dungeon, crouched in one of the ant-dug corridors. My finger pointed downward.

“We have two options. Through the royal palace, or through the cathedral.”

Roa studied the map with admiration. I wasn’t sure if she’d still be impressed once she knew I’d fixed it with ghost power, but I laid out the two routes anyway.

The first route went straight down through the palace. We could drop into the tunnel right below us and head directly to the ant nest storage area. The second route went through the cathedral. We’d have to go quite a ways to the right first, and I was certain we wouldn’t make it there today. We’d have to camp in one of the ant-free rooms the ghosts had pointed out before continuing. That path was more complicated, but safer. More complicated meant the ants didn’t patrol it often. No matter how dumb the ants were, they used the short, fast routes—they didn’t deliberately take the long way around.

That was the key point on the map I showed Roa: the short but dangerous path versus the long but safe one. Which corridor should we take?

Roa hesitated.

“Which way do you think is better, Hajun oppa?”

“I don’t know either.”

She looked burdened. Having to make a life-or-death decision would weigh on anyone. But whichever choice we made, it was still a gamble. Rushing to regroup might be better, or taking it slow and safe might be wiser. One thing was certain, though—if I were the supervisor, I would have followed the Guardian’s decision without question. Who in their right mind would trust a necromancer’s judgment?

Just then, Roa’s blue eyes, which had been slowly scanning the map, flashed gold for the briefest instant.

“Huh?”

A sharp tension flashed across Roa’s face. She had seen something.

“Hajun oppa…”

She pointed at one spot on the map.

“Let’s go this way.”

I checked where she was pointing. The royal palace. The Guardian’s choice. And it looked like some kind of event had triggered!

Roa spoke in a dreamy voice.

“Just for a moment… but if we go this way, I think we might find something.”

We had received a revelation at the crossroads. A positive sign. No reason to hesitate. Our destination was the palace. We decided to take that route.

Passing through the vertical shaft was difficult. It was a straight drop from top to bottom. The ants, who could climb walls, moved through it without issue, but it was extremely inconvenient for humans. I felt like Santa Claus sliding down a chimney. After pushing through the slime-slick vertical passage, we arrived at the top of a spire in the abandoned palace.

“Shh.”

The moment we arrived, we nearly ran into a swarm of ants. We quickly hid behind a dust-covered cabinet. The ants were passing by—not just passing, but in huge numbers.

“There’s a lot of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them,” I muttered. Roa nodded vigorously. We had known this route was dangerous, but the number of ants exceeded our expectations. Maybe they had built a nest down here. That seemed likely.

“From here on, let’s avoid fighting.”

We had handled two or three ants directly so far, but fighting here would be too risky. If we drew more enemies while fighting… that would really be the end.

Roa, who had been peeking out from behind the cabinet, poked me after spotting something. It was a window in the spire.

“You want to go out there?”

She nodded. Even in the pitch-black cabinet, her eyes glowed bright yellow. In dangerous situations, her future sight seemed to activate more often. No wonder Guardians became such strong late-game carries. Higher levels made their predictions more accurate and useful, which was a huge advantage for carrying. Still, it was easier to just grab an area-of-effect skill and clear dungeons normally.

“Alright.”

We waited for the ants to pass, then moved to the spire window. Roa attached a bolt to the end of a detachable rope and loaded her crossbow. Outside the window was a dizzying cliff. We could enter the palace through a ladder, but that area was heavily trafficked by ants and therefore dangerous.

“Could you hold me for a moment?”

Before I could ask what she was doing, Roa leaned out the window—way out.

“Hey, wait—”

She was leaning so far that without someone holding her, she would fall. I hurriedly grabbed her slender legs and tucked them against my side. Good grief. Roa hung upside down from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the window and calmly raised her crossbow.

Thwip!

The bolt and rope shot out, striking the window frame of the room below perfectly.

“…You can pull me up now.”

I reached out, wrapped my arms around her waist, and slowly pulled her back inside without hurting her. Now that I was holding her, I could tell—she was incredibly light. Roa quickly hammered a nail into the crossbow’s body and secured the rope to it. We now had a line down to the lower floor.

That part was fine. But then, damn it, Roa grabbed the rope and said calmly,

“I’ll go down first. Please follow me.”

Whoosh. She disappeared. When I looked out the window, I saw her sliding down the rope like a special forces soldier doing a rappel descent. Was she ex-anti-terrorism unit or something? A moment later came the sound of shattering glass as she broke through the window and infiltrated the room below. Suddenly it felt like the game genre had changed. What was a roguelike doing with a bridge sequence?

What had Roa said again? Follow her down. Damn it. I climbed onto the windowsill and grabbed the rope. Far below, I could see ants crawling like tiny specks. No, what nonsense was that? Even at this height, it couldn’t be eighty meters. If I fell, I’d turn into a flat dumpling. They probably wouldn’t even be able to recover the body. Well, I wasn’t going to fall here, right? Fear crept up on me, but if I chickened out and couldn’t even climb down the rope, I wasn’t a man. …No, that wasn’t it.

“Shit!”

I threw myself out the window with all my strength. The moment I grabbed the rope and put my weight on it, I started sliding straight down. I didn’t even try to hold on—I just dangled and slid. It only took one or two seconds.

“Aaaagh!”

When I reached the lower floor, I tumbled across the ground. I was alive, at least.

“A-are you okay?”

Roa approached me with a very strange look in her eyes. I was not okay at all. If I had to do this stupid stunt twice, I wasn’t human.

“I’m fine, but…”

“Then let’s move quickly. The ants will come swarming.”

I looked around. Between the broken glass, I saw a table covered in suspicious liquid. There were over twenty chairs, and one luxurious chair that was smashed beyond recognition. Everything else was coated in some unknown viscous fluid that gave off a strong impression that ants had taken over the place. A banquet hall? A dining room? I couldn’t tell its original purpose, but I could tell the ants passed through here often.

Just then—

Shhhhh…

I heard the sound of ants approaching from a distance.

“Damn it.”

Roa’s face went pale. We needed to hide immediately, but there was nowhere suitable. Long tables, dilapidated chairs, unlit chandeliers, tall glass windows, decorative knight armor, stained carpets, thin candlesticks… There were no ordinary leather bags or wooden storage boxes in sight. I swallowed dryly. Roa was already loading a bolt into her crossbow. The situation was urgent, so we had no choice.

“Just bear with it for a second.”

“…Yes?”

I grabbed Roa’s hand and sprinted toward the decorative knight armor standing against the wall of the messy banquet hall. We had to survive first.

The hollow decorative armor. Just like the cabinet, the armor—being classified as furniture—could hide people inside. It was cramped for two, but if we squeezed in, it should be fine. I climbed in first and made room. One person fit comfortably.

“Get in.”

“Um…”

“Hurry!”

Roa flipped her robe over her head and slowly climbed into the armor. The space was awkward, but the armor was large and Roa was small. I could feel her slender legs brushing against my thigh. Once she was hidden, I closed the chest plate.

Thud.

Light was cut off and my vision went dark. The sound of ants crawling grew closer. Roa had placed her hand on my shoulder for support, so I adjusted her grip.

“…Hic.”

“Don’t make weird noises.”

“Ah, no, that’s not it…”

“If you lose your balance in that awkward position and fall, we both die. Get comfortable.”

Roa, who had been balancing on my thigh with her knee and holding my shoulder, adjusted her arms and settled into a more comfortable position. She had simply wrapped her arms around my neck. With our ten-centimeter height difference, Roa hugging my neck was almost like she was embracing me… Since we were already hiding uncomfortably, I pulled her waist closer so she could lean more comfortably. A faint smell of sweat and ant bodily fluids came from Roa’s body. It was too dark to see anything. Neither of us spoke, conserving our words like the dead.

How much time had passed? The ants lingered on the broken glass for a while before scattering. Even after that, we stayed hidden in the armor for another thirty minutes, just in case they came back. Once we confirmed the enemies were completely gone, we slipped out.

“Haa…”

The moment Roa emerged, she took off her robe. Steam rose from her head, making her look like a boxer resting after a weight cut. A drop of cold sweat fell from her curly hair. Her face was flushed, as if she had just stepped out of a sauna. When I offered her water from my canteen, she suddenly looked down at the floor and shouted.

“H-Hajun oppa!”

Her voice had started strong, but the next words came out in a shrinking tone.

“I-I’m sorry…”

I had no idea what she was apologizing for. Roa continued.

“I kept moving… I tried to stay still, but…”

Ah. As long as she didn’t make noise, it didn’t matter. She seemed embarrassed that she had fidgeted while we were hiding. Roa glanced at my face, then looked back at the floor. Seeing her like that made me feel like I was the bad guy. I might as well just apologize myself.

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It’s my fault for suggesting we hide there.”

“No. You were right, oppa. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to hide either…”

In the end, neither of us had done anything wrong. If we both felt sorry, that was enough. We had survived, after all. That was how it worked. We survived by doing our best in the moment. I left the embarrassed Roa to her embarrassment and started planning how we would get through the palace.