The Larva Chamber

Roa wandered alone through the darkness. It was an underground dungeon where glowing mushrooms sprouted here and there. The air felt oppressively thick, and the strangely intense geothermal heat made sweat pour down her body with even the slightest movement.

...This is exhausting.

She had been eating and sleeping inside the dungeon for days now. She thought she had grown used to it, but the grueling exploration was wearing down both her mind and body.

But it's almost over.

Thinking this would be the end gave her a fresh surge of strength. Roa moved through the underground passage with astonishing agility. Ants appeared sporadically, but she hid her body without difficulty. She had already tricked ants several times before. Concealing herself so they wouldn't notice her was as easy as pie.

Near the underground royal palace, in a shadowy crevice between rocks, Roa hid and waited for the right moment. With a brief moment of respite, she closed her eyes and fell into thought.

When I think about it, it really was incredible.

Roa was only eighteen years old. Originally, she had planned to build her career by helping with tasks at the Guardian Guild. Her family had understood it that way too. But Roa had no intention of staying quietly within the guild.

More curious than most, Roa had knocked on the door of an exploration party the moment she became a Guardian. She knew how dangerous the underworld was. Yet the threat alone couldn't suppress her thirst for discovery.

As a child, Roa had seen the Twilight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tower. A massive black structure. And at its peak, a golden flame burning brightly. The overwhelming sight filled her with awe. An indescribable thrill had coursed through her entire body.

Her father had told her, "The Twilight Tower is an eye that watches over the threats to our world. When a great danger approaches, that golden flame burns even brighter."

Just as Guardians could foresee the future and sense threats in advance, the Twilight Tower held the power to predict dangers that would befall the world.

"Who made it?"

"The ancients. It's a relic created by priests who served the Sun God, Quas."

That night, Roa couldn't sleep. She dreamed of the world burning with golden flames. The entire world ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blazed in golden light. And in the middle of it all, Roa stood.

She instinctively knew her destiny. She would become a Guardian who protected the Twilight Tower and uncover the secrets of the ancients.

The secrets of the world.

After joining the Guardian Guild and becoming an official Guardian, Roa succeeded in acquiring a wide range of knowledge. The underworld, commonly called the "Old Kingdom," was actually the Crafolt Kingdom—a once-mighty ancient civilization that had ruled the surface world.

According to legend, a "Beast of Calamity" had suddenly appeared one day and destroyed the surface world. The kingdom's people had fled underground to escape the monsters and built a new home there.

Yet several questions remained in the records. If the Crafolt Kingdom had been destroyed by the Beast of Calamity, what had become of the beast? And who exactly were the people living on the surface? Were they descendants of the Crafolt Kingdom? Or had they come from somewhere else?

That was as far as Roa could determine. The masters of the Guardian Guild knew the forgotten knowledge and ancient secrets. To investigate and uncover those secrets, she needed to rise to a higher position.

The knowledge available in the library has its limits.

The secrets were buried underground. In a world without even a single ray of light. In dungeons teeming with horrible monsters and countless dangers.

Roa had decided of her own will to become an explorer. To reveal the secrets of the ancient kingdom!

Her determination had sounded plausible, but unfortunately, Roa knew absolutely nothing about exploration. The only training she had received was how to handle a crossbow at the Guardian Guild.

The dungeon she had actually descended into was far more difficult than she had imagined. Basic needs like eating and sleeping weren't guaranteed, and she could never let her guard down. Monsters lurked everywhere, and sudden crises could erupt at any moment.

During her exploration, Roa had faced death several times. But she hadn't died. Each time a crisis struck, she had survived thanks to the timely judgment of her fellow explorer, Hajun.

Looking back now, it was a series of events that seemed unbelievable. It was a miracle she had survived at all.

...What kind of person is he?

At this point, she had grown genuinely curious about the man named Hajun. She had heard he was a necromancer. His knowledge of dungeons was suspiciously extensive, and he knew far too much about monsters.

His explorer rank was only a Bronze Badge. That was the rank anyone would naturally receive after working hard for about a year. Honestly, with abilities like his, he should have been quite famous by now. Yet she had never heard the name Necromancer Hajun before.

I don't understand.

Roa habitually reached for her hood before freezing. She had given the hooded robe to Maya. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and crouched down.

Before entering the dungeon, she had thought exploration would be no big deal. Countless explorers ventured into dungeons. Some even reversed their fortunes by obtaining ancient treasures. With so many success stories about how much money people had earned from dungeons, she might have unconsciously underestimated them.

Everyone else does it. Why couldn't I?

But that had been a mistake. Inside the dungeon, her confidence kept crumbling. She had always been timid by nature, and situations beyond her capacity kept arising.

Even when Hajun had asked her to search for the jewels, she had been extremely flustered.

I said I could do it, but...

At first, she had wanted to refuse. But Hajun had told her she could do it. She was incredibly curious about how he could be so certain. What was the basis for his confidence?

Hajun saw things she couldn't see. He knew things she didn't know. One thing was certain: Hajun was far more experienced than she had imagined.

He must have studied a lot since he was young. He probably received extensive training too.

Based on the judgment Hajun had shown so far, Roa had trusted him and accepted his proposal.

Roa took a slow, deep breath and steeled her resolve.

The water's already been spilled. Since I've started, I have to see it through to the end.

She couldn't run away now just because she was scared. From here on, this was her mission. Only Roa could complete this task.

That was when it happened.

That's...

A massive bridge connecting the palace and the dungeon. Dozens of ants were swarming across it like a black tide. She couldn't tell what pheromones they were exchanging, but the ants were all rushing toward the underground as if by agreement.

The ants were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pouring out like an ebb tide. Roa immediately realized what it meant. Hajun had created an opportunity for her!

Now!

Roa sprang into action with nimble grace. She slipped beneath the bridge without the ants noticing, then immediately pulled out her crossbow.

Ping!

She tied a rope to the end of a bolt and fired it into a window frame of the palace. For a light girl like Roa, climbing up the rope would be more than manageable.

With practiced skill, Roa scaled the line. Her eyes flashed with golden light.

The vision I saw before is appearing again.

Roa's level was still too low to properly control future sight. But she could make rough judgments. Using the visions she had seen, she began navigating the palace, which was connected by dozens of rooms.

Thanks to Hajun drawing the ants' attention, there were almost no guards left in the nest.

Around here...

Relying solely on a Guardian's intuition, Roa explored. She arrived in front of a certain room.

Shhhhhh!

The moment she opened the door, a bizarre threatening sound rang out. A single ant raised its arm and shrieked. Roa charged straight at it and drove her dagger into its neck, twisting hard.

Crunch!

With the sound of its chitinous exoskeleton shattering, the ant's neck was torn to shreds. Roa gripped the ant's neck like she was wringing out a rag and twisted it completely. The ant died instantly.

Only then did Roa look around.

"Oh my god."

The area was filled with white cocoons. When she tore one open with her dagger, it was packed with pupae that were halfway transformed into ant shapes.

"It's the larva chamber."

The place Roa had entered was none other than the larva chamber—the very room Hajun had desperately tried to avoid.

She was bewildered. How could the jewel pouch possibly be in a place like this...?

Roa stomped on a crawling ant larva with her boot, crushing it to death. When she cleared away the dead larva's corpse, she saw a pile of bare bones stacked like garbage.

"Ah!"

Worn-out clothes and shoes. A heap of "things that couldn't be eaten." And sitting right there was a large pouch.

A luxurious silk garment that had fallen to the floor. It was clothing that proved its owner belonged to the Colodo Jewelers. Not far away, white bones lay scattered.

"..."

Roa slowly opened the pouch and checked its contents.

"Whew."

It was exactly the jewel pouch the Jewelers' Association had been so desperately searching for. It seemed the pouch's owner had been dragged all the way to this larva chamber and killed. By now, they had probably become one with the ants inside those cocoons.

Roa took the jewel pouch and began making her way back through the palace. Past the long staircase, up to the high spire. Through the vertical passage connected to the spire, and back into the passage where glowing mushrooms grew.

How long had she been moving? With a creak...

Roa finally succeeded in returning to the ossuary.

Upon arriving at the ossuary, we set up a temporary camp and checked our condition. Almost no one was seriously injured. Jangcheok was just complaining of a headache after inhaling too much poisonous gas.

"Are you okay?"

"I feel like I'm gonna die..."

Jangcheok looked utterly miserable.

"Shall I take a look?"

Maya spoke and examined his condition with practiced skill. Alchemists were a versatile class that could even provide healing. Maya chanted a spell.

"Cure Poison."

In an instant, Jangcheok was freed from the poisoning.

"Ugh... Take a look at me too."

Sion whined. Maya quickly ran over to check Sion's wounds.

"Let's just buy one bottle of healing potion."

"One bottle of potion costs more than your entire body is worth. You know that, right?"

"I-it's that expensive?"

Healing potions were produced exclusively by alchemists. It was also their main source of income. Even in the game, you had to scrape by with herbs in the early stages.

"Roa... hasn't come back yet, huh."

Jangcheok said it casually. Everyone was probably thinking the same thing—that they hoped Roa would return safely.

"She'll be fine."

Trusting your comrades in a dungeon was only natural. Since Roa had trusted me and headed into a place swarming with ants, I had risked my life to draw their aggro. I had done everything I could. All that remained was to believe in Roa.

We waited a full day at the camp. Everyone scattered and rested comfortably. It was around dinnertime. I was half asleep when Maya suddenly shook me awake.

"Hajun."

"...Yeah?"

"Roa's back."

Finally! I got up and looked around. There was Roa—the girl with purple curly hair. She looked like a walking corpse with dark circles under her eyes.

Roa had returned!

"Roa!"

The moment she heard my voice, Roa broke into a dazed smile and pulled a pouch from her chest. She tossed it over.

"A present for you, Oppa."

I almost shouted out loud. It was our mission objective—the jewel pouch the association had lost.

"Wake up! Roa's back!"

I shook Jangcheok and Sion awake.

"What?"

"For real?"

Jangcheok and Sion waved at Roa, then spotted the jewel pouch and started yelling at the top of their lungs.

"Whoaaaa!"

"It's real! Roa actually brought it!"

They seemed happier about the jewels than about Roa, but she neatly ignored the two of them and walked over to me.

"I did well, right?"

"Yeah. You did great."

Roa grinned, then collapsed right where she stood. She fell into a deep sleep, breathing softly.

I didn't need to ask. Roa had made her way through the dungeon without sleeping a wink.

"Yaaaaaay! We don't have to go back into the dungeon anymore!"

"We did it! The mission is complete!"

While everyone was touching the jewel pouch, shouting, and making a fuss, I pulled over a blanket and gently covered Roa's small body. She slept like a fairy, breathing softly, completely unaware even if someone picked her up.

My lips kept curving upward. Just as I thought, Roa really was an AA-rank explorer. I knew she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could do it!