Dependable Senior Lee Jiyeon
Dependable Senior Lee Jiyeon
When most people hear the phrase "verdant greenery," they picture a lush green forest.
The trunks and branches of trees are usually brown, but the leaves they bear are green.
[Blue]
The forest before me, however, was unmistakably a 'blue' forest.
Weeds and thickets growing wild across the ground.
Roots buried in the earth and trunks stretching straight upward.
Branches spreading wide, leaves clustered in abundance.
A landscape that should have been brown or green was instead painted in countless shades of deep and pale blue.
"No monsters at the entrance. That's a relief."
Lee Ji-yeon, who had been scanning our surroundings without letting her guard down, let out a long breath.
She must have been bracing for an ambush the moment we stepped into the dungeon.
"The last subjugation was three months ago, so I'd prepared for a surprise attack. We're lucky."
Standing beside her with Jeonghwa drawn, I nodded in agreement.
Unlike Grade 4 Dungeons, which cadets frequent and clear out regularly, Grade 2 Dungeons don't see periodic subjugation very often.
And this dungeon, 'Hansaek Dongsan,' was especially neglected.
It's in such a remote location that few cadets bother visiting, and there are plenty of other Grade 2 Dungeons to choose from.
Which means plenty of monsters have accumulated inside.
The Siyoram administration doesn't clean all the way to the deep core unless it becomes a hazard, just the entrance area.
That's exactly why I chose this dungeon.
Its structure contains spirits, and there are plenty of monsters to raise as undead.
And with so few visitors, it was the perfect location.
[Yes]
As we were walking, Lee Ji-yeon, who had been leading, called my name briefly.
She stopped at a distance close enough to reach with an outstretched arm, still sweeping the area with her gaze.
It was just a simple call, but I understood what she meant.
Rumble... A faint tremor flowed through the soles of my feet.
I nodded at the presence gradually drawing closer.
I quietly extended the Observation I'd been using to check our surroundings.
Given the circumstances, I didn't need detailed information.
I only pulled data on the group that was openly projecting its presence.
[Northeast 1.2km 37 entities approaching]
[Nokseonho]
[6th Rank]
[South 5.5km 32 entities approaching]
[Pungma]
[Lead entity estimated 5th Rank, rest 6th Rank]
[West 11km 9 entities on alert]
[Suspected Goehokjo]
[Two 5th Rank, rest estimated 6th Rank]
"Thank... you?"
Click-click... As the voice outputs poured in nonstop, Lee Ji-yeon, who had been scanning our surroundings with sharp eyes, made a dazed sound.
"Uh... ah, yes, thank you for the intel. Please continue sharing anything unusual."
She nodded with a somewhat awkward expression before steeling her face again.
She'd called my name, but probably hadn't expected me to provide such detailed information.
I thought I'd already demonstrated a fair amount of capability back in China.
- Rrruuumbble...!
Before the monsters arrived, Lee Ji-yeon and I cleared the area.
I cut down tree stumps and toppled them, and Lee Ji-yeon buried the wood underground.
That way, we created a clearing of decent size.
The trees weren't packed tightly together, but there was no reason to leave obstacles in place.
- Grrrr...
The presences had drawn close before we knew it.
The first to arrive was the monster group from the northeast.
Nokseonho.
A creature resembling a tiger in appearance.
It's characterized by yellowish-green fur and deep green patterns like spiraling whirlpools.
The beasts, glimpses of green fur flickering between the trees, fixed their eyes on us and approached.
'Is it because the monsters have built up so much? We run into packs after just a short walk. I should wipe out the whole area first...'
Just as I was about to act, Lee Ji-yeon clenched her fist and stepped forward.
I tilted my head at her boldness.
But it wasn't a bad thing, and the look in her eyes held a kind of grim resolve that made me quietly release my gathered mana.
This schedule is two days at the very least.
We have plenty of time, so there's no need to rush.
So I'll use this chance to observe Lee Ji-yeon's combat record and build data.
- Boom!
It wasn't a forceful step.
She didn't put enough strength into it to call it a True Step.
It was just an ordinary stride, yet Lee Ji-yeon's leg suddenly plunged into the ground.
Rumble! The earth cracked like a spiderweb centered around her buried leg.
A crevice opened, blackness flickering within.
- Groooaaar...!
A bizarre resonance spilled from the fissure.
The kind of sound that scraped unpleasantly at the mind, something the living would instinctively reject.
The approaching Nokseonho all halted in unison.
"Summon."
- Boom!
With the murmur that fell from Lee Ji-yeon's lips, dozens of thick arms shot up from the black crevice beneath her.
The arms, which had been flailing as if desperately grasping for something, abruptly slammed their palms against the ground and hauled the rest of their buried bodies out of the earth.
- Groooooh...
Armored Great Ape.
A standard 6th-Rank monster, a massive gorilla-like creature covered in thick exoskeleton like armor.
Dozens of Armored Great Apes that had crawled out of the ground positioned themselves in front of me and Lee Ji-yeon, facing off against the Nokseonho.
- Kruuhaang!
After a brief standoff, the Nokseonho struck first.
A Nokseonho kicked off the ground with a short roar.
Boom! The battle began as the Nokseonho, accelerated by wind, slammed into the lead Armored Great Ape.
'Hm...'
The battlefield, a chaotic tangle of dozens of monsters, was clearly mapped inside my head.
The Nokseonho's defining traits are high speed and wind-attribute mana.
Its body alone, with two pairs of legs, is more than enough for speed, but with the addition of wind energy manipulation, the Nokseonho becomes even faster.
The beasts encircled us as if laying siege, using their speed to hit and run repeatedly.
A solid strategy.
The Armored Great Apes that Lee Ji-yeon summoned have outstanding durability, as their thick armor suggests, but their movements are relatively sluggish. They can't match the Nokseonho's speed.
As a result, the Armored Great Apes were getting pummeled over and over by the hit-and-run Nokseonho.
- Grrrrr...!
But they didn't collapse.
It was the Armored Great Apes taking the one-sided beating, but no significant damage occurred.
The fundamental drawback of undead is that they function at a lower level than when they were alive.
Due to the loss of physical body and soul, undead inevitably have reduced functionality.
Necromancers know this well.
Thus, many methods have been researched and devised to overcome it.
The Armored Great Ape is originally a monster clad in armor-like exoskeleton.
But every single one of the specimens fighting now wore thicker, harder armor than they had in life.
That isn't because they're all variants, but because Lee Ji-yeon reinforced them in advance by grafting on additional materials.
Since they lose function after death, you forcibly raise their capabilities by adding various things.
Lee Ji-yeon's measures didn't stop there.
- Kruuhaang!
One Nokseonho that had been continuously hitting and running let out a pain-drenched howl right after an attack.
The Nokseonho that had leaped back had a large gash clearly visible on its front paw, and from that wound dripped black, poison-tainted blood.
The poisoned Nokseonho cried out in agony and foamed at the mouth.
- Ssslither
An unpleasant sound reached my ears.
I stopped myself from reflexively furrowing my brows and examined the source of the sound.
The Armored Great Ape that had been standing alone moments ago now had a gigantic centipede coiled writhing around its body.
Gyeongdok-o.
A 6th-Rank monster that looks like a centipede enlarged dozens of times.
Poison flows on its countless sickle-like legs, and the spikes jutting out at angles from its body are also toxic.
- Kikigik...
The Gyeongdok-o's sharp legs scraped against the thick exoskeleton.
But they couldn't cut through.
The Armored Great Ape, with the equally slow Gyeongdok-o coiled around its body, lumbered forward with heavy steps.
- Grrrrowl...
It had acquired a counter-offensive measure, akin to a hedgehog raising its spines.
And poison was dripping steadily from the tips of those spines.
Even monsters that act on killing instinct still possess some capacity for reasoning.
The undead, which had numbered only a few dozen at the start of the clash, now rose in numbers approaching the hundreds.
More were still rising even now, and the Nokseonho, which had been surrounding and hammering the opponent from all sides, were now being encircled in turn.
Unable to charge in boldly like before, the Nokseonho backpedaled until they finally twisted their bodies to flee before being completely surrounded.
- Thok!
- Kruaaaa!
At the same moment, sinister spikes erupted from the ground, skewering the Nokseonho all at once.
An attack aimed precisely at their vital points.
The Nokseonho struck directly in their vitals died on the spot.
Some individuals narrowly avoided their vitals and survived for the moment, but they could only roar in pain, impaled and pinned like mounted specimens.
- Whooong... Thok!
Even those met their end, either pierced again by a fresh wave of erupting spikes or having their heads burst open by Armored Great Ape fists.
- Grrrr... Kruhaang!
Amidst this, one Nokseonho, supremely lucky to have survived, kicked off the ground at full speed.
It wasn't trying to flee.
Having witnessed its kin dying in real time, it must have decided its own death was already certain.
Instead, the beast bared its fangs and charged in with lethal intent.
Specifically, at me, beside Lee Ji-yeon.
Of course, there was no way I couldn't respond to that.
I tightened my grip on Jeonghwa, which I'd been holding idly, and calmly began to cast a spell...
"Hup!"
...Before I could manifest it, Lee Ji-yeon thrust herself between me and the Nokseonho. My body was yanked back—she had wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against her.
As if she'd been prepared for this from the start, without a trace of panic, Lee Ji-yeon swiftly pulled back her fist and drove it forward with all her might.
- BOOM!
An explosive sound assaulted my eardrums.
I wasn't mistaken.
The Nokseonho's head, a fist buried in its temple, burst apart.
Splatter! The gruesome wreckage scattered across the ground.
"Junior, are you alright?"
Lee Ji-yeon withdrew her fist, scanned our surroundings one last time, then looked down at me, held in her arms, and asked after my well-being.
[?]
Having had a head explode right in front of my face, I should have been drenched in blood.
But the blood and bone fragments were swept away by the wind pressure from her punch and sent flying far off.
'...What?'
Meanwhile, under Lee Ji-yeon's worried gaze, I just blinked blankly.
'She's... incredibly strong?'
She's strong.
I already knew Lee Ji-yeon was strong.
But the Lee Ji-yeon right now was far stronger than the one I'd known.
Of course, the monsters she just fought were at most a 6th-Rank pack.
They're monsters that could easily commit mass slaughter if released into an undefended city, but they aren't especially threatening to Lee Ji-yeon.
Even so, she handled them far too easily.
The undead Lee Ji-yeon raised were much more precise than what I'd witnessed before, and they replicated their living functions well.
Her skill in wielding her Unique Ability had also leaped considerably—not just in terms of raw output.
The earth manipulation executed swiftly without any advance warning, drawing the earth's energy through her legs planted on the ground, spreading it across her whole body, and wielding it with instantaneous control.
That operation had taken several easy strides beyond the Lee Ji-yeon of before.
'......'
Setting all that aside, I felt truly unsettled.
An attack from a monster of that caliber poses no threat to me whatsoever.
Even if I'd just stood still, it was the sort of thing that would have bounced off my deployed defensive magic without any force.
It wasn't any real danger.
"Are you certain you weren't injured anywhere?"
And yet, whether I stood there flustered, mouth gaping, or not, Lee Ji-yeon hovered around me, searching for any wound that might have appeared.
Green eyes brimming with worry fixed on me.
Lee Ji-yeon, unaware of what had actually happened, was that concerned about me...
A truly strange fluttering lingered in my chest.
[Uh... uhm...]
[Reliablblblble]
"Pardon?"
- Ahem
[Thank you]
Caught off guard by the sudden situation, I flailed both hands for a moment before bowing my head slightly.
At that, Lee Ji-yeon, who had confirmed my body was unharmed and let out a deep sigh, shook her head.
"This is simply what I ought to do. We have two days ahead of us... we can stretch it to three or four if needed. So let's not rush. Let's tackle this calmly and safely."
[...Yesss]
I meekly nodded at Lee Ji-yeon's admonishment, delivered so clearly it was like scolding a child.
...It occurred to me anew. Having someone worry about you and protect you felt truly warm.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul→Lee Ji-yeon
●●●●●●○○○○(61/100)
｢Successor of Taesan｣ ｢A Good Person｣ ｢A Rock｣ ｢Reliable?｣
▽Change▽
●●●●●●○○○○(61▷66/100)
｢Fondness｣ ｢A Rock｣ ｢Reliable｣ ｢Stability｣