Red Moon's Shadow
“Hah!”
BOOM!
“Kek!”
“Kieeeek!”
“Kuok!”
That guy really fights exactly how he looks.
Ma Dong-cheol charged straight at the monsters, shield raised high, and slammed into them with a full-body tackle. His weight, strength, and speed all transferred perfectly into the shield. The monster that took the hit looked like it had been in a car crash—joints twisted at impossible angles. Even after the impact, the force kept going; the flung monster crashed into several others, sending them tumbling in the same broken state. It wasn’t even the shield doing the damage anymore—the monsters themselves had become the weapons.
Every monster within reach of Ma Dong-cheol’s shield was shattered and collapsed. A single tackle had cleared the entire area around him.
Holy power infused his shield, wrapped in swirling mana that formed sharp, thorn-like spikes across its surface.
“Hup!”
CRASH!
“Hah!”
THUD!
Ma Dong-cheol swung the massive shield with one hand, turning monsters into pulp. His hammer followed, crushing bodies and detonating the stored mana inside them. Monsters caught in the explosions staggered, missing limbs, and fell. His mana-infused roar drew every affected monster straight toward him—taunt successfully triggered.
Yoo Ji-sung couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene unfolding before him.
These guys weren’t in my memories? Maybe I really did live my life wrong.
Jang Su-ho kept firing arrows without pause. Jeong A-reum healed and buffed both him and the villagers while Ma Dong-cheol rampaged alone among the monsters with raw power. Their performance far exceeded expectations.
The three of them were just as shocked by Yoo Ji-sung’s abilities.
“Oppa! You’re amazing!”
Why am I suddenly your oppa?
Jeong A-reum’s eyes sparkled at the sight Yoo Ji-sung had created. He had been spreading mana through the forest, letting it seep into the leaves. At his will, the leaves turned into razor-sharp blades and rained down on the monsters. Accuracy was low, but the sheer number was overwhelming. The leaves pierced through monsters, turning them into living sieves. Even if they rose again as undead, they were too mangled to pose any threat.
Jang Su-ho’s head snapped toward Yoo Ji-sung in surprise. But Yoo Ji-sung still hadn’t shown his full strength.
Guess I should put on a bit of a show too.
They had already proven their worth as tools. He felt genuine pleasure at how they had surpassed his expectations and decided to reward them—while also leaving a deeper impression.
Time to use a little more power.
At Yoo Ji-sung’s gesture, massive spikes erupted around Ma Dong-cheol and the villagers. They appeared faster and larger than usual, tearing monsters apart. The ground rippled and sank, swallowing monsters whole, then walls of earth rose and collapsed forward. Even Ma Dong-cheol, who had been fighting monsters at close range, stood with his mouth hanging open at the sight.
The battle ended shortly after Yoo Ji-sung joined in earnest. With the villagers fighting alongside them, it hadn’t taken long. But in that short time, both Yoo Ji-sung and the three had done a lot of thinking.
Yoo Ji-sung sat in the carriage, wiping sweat with the towel the leader had given him. Having someone to watch his back had let him go all out, and now he was on the verge of collapse. He tossed the towel back to the leader and looked at the three.
“They think I can’t hear them just because they’re standing a little ways off.”
Yoo Ji-sung smirked at the serious discussion the three were having. As Tower Master, he could have eavesdropped easily if he wanted, but their thoughts were already written clearly on their faces, so he didn’t bother. He simply rested and waited for them to approach.
After a short while, the three walked over.
“Um… Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Would you consider joining our party?”
“A party? Me?”
“That’s right! A party! Honestly, after seeing what you can do, I’ve been thinking a lot! If you join us, it’ll be a huge help for both you and us! You’re still alone, right? And you said you don’t really have anyone close in the village!”
“A party, huh…”
Yoo Ji-sung put on a thoughtful expression. Seeing his hesitation, Jang Su-ho spoke up.
“After this battle, your mana looks completely drained. Your stamina too. If we run into the same number of monsters again, you won’t manage it alone. If you’re still unsure, how about we team up for a while? At least until you’re strong enough to travel the 11th floor solo.”
That was way too easy.
The invitation was almost laughably straightforward. It meant he had left quite an impression. Yoo Ji-sung felt satisfied that his plan had worked and couldn’t stop a smile from forming.
“Just for a while, then.”
“Yeah. We both know you can’t handle it alone right now. Once you’re confident you can fight solo, you can leave whenever you want. Even if it’s just a short-term arrangement, we’ll still gain a lot. Now that currency exists, the more monsters we hunt, the better.”
“Exactly! If you want to leave, just go! Though I bet you’ll fall head over heels for our party before that happens!”
“Oppa! Mouth! Mouth! Mouth!”
Jeong A-reum panicked at Ma Dong-cheol’s loud declaration and smacked him repeatedly. Ma Dong-cheol yelped as her palm struck him. Watching them, Yoo Ji-sung shrugged.
“Well… if you insist, I’ll join you. I think I can work with you all until we clear the 11th floor.”
“Until the 11th floor…”
Jang Su-ho repeated the words, then nodded. Yoo Ji-sung’s confident tone and the power he had shown made it believable. Jang Su-ho extended his hand.
“Then let’s do our best together from now on.”
“Likewise.”
Yoo Ji-sung shook his hand with a smile.
Three days passed.
“Man, this Red Moon or whatever it is has turned everything upside down!”
“Right? We thought the 11th floor would be easy, but we were dead wrong. Who would’ve expected this kind of difficulty on the 11th floor?”
Ma Dong-cheol and Jeong A-reum sat in a café, unable to hide their worried expressions. They feared many people would die or get hurt. Jang Su-ho clicked his tongue at their conversation.
“Quite a few people have already abandoned the village and fled to Marin these past few days. Not just Marin—any safe village is probably overflowing with refugees by now.”
“We saw it too when we came to Marin with you. The number of named monsters we spotted kept increasing! And the speed at which regular monsters are multiplying is no joke. If it weren’t for the escort quest, we wouldn’t have noticed either. Your words were spot on, weren’t they? Right, hyung?”
Roa’s handling things well. It’s a shame she can’t manifest and work at full efficiency.
Yoo Ji-sung clicked his tongue in mild regret while listening to their conversation, then glanced at the three.
Still, was teaming up with these guys the right call?
Yoo Ji-sung sighed as he sat at the same table. After their first meeting, he had agreed to travel with them for a while. He mulled over that decision and nodded to himself.
“I think the same. The speed at which monsters are forming groups is abnormal. There are probably hordes too large for Marin’s Conquerors to handle alone. This is really dangerous.”
“See! I knew it! Your thinking really matches ours!”
That’s not it… Let’s not pretend we’re on the same page just because we’re stating obvious facts.
Ma Dong-cheol laughed loudly and gulped down his drink, only to start choking. Jeong A-reum quickly cast Heal and patted his back. Jang Su-ho watched them and clicked his tongue again.
Why is there such a huge gap between how they fight and how they act normally? They’re a perfectly usable party in combat, so why…
Unable to watch their comedy routine any longer, Yoo Ji-sung rubbed his face. Still, he needed their strength for now, even if only temporarily.
Setting aside catching up to Lee Jin-ho, hunting alone is still too much for me right now. That’s why I’m sticking with them until the 11th floor—so I can leech some strength. They probably think I’ll beg to stay in the party once I get a taste of their teamwork, but that’s just wishful thinking.
He still didn’t regret his choice. But the more time he spent with them, the more sighs escaped him. If not for Jang Su-ho sharing some of his feelings, and if the three hadn’t shown better teamwork and synergy than expected, he might have left already.
Jeong A-reum sighed in relief once Ma Dong-cheol’s breathing steadied. Then she looked around and pursed her lips.
“Anyway, this is a problem. Just hunting monsters nonstop won’t clear the quest. There has to be something else, right?”
“It’s a dungeon! A dungeon! Have we ever cleared a floor without finding a dungeon? There’s gotta be a key monster or item in there!”
“We can’t find the dungeon, that’s why we’re stuck like this!”
Tsk… The fact that these idiots made it past the 20th floor is nonsense. Strong body, weak head. Is that it?
Yoo Ji-sung clicked his tongue at Ma Dong-cheol’s insistence and Jeong A-reum’s rebuttal. He had spent three days with them, waiting to see what choices they would make. But no matter how much time he gave them, they couldn’t find any lead on clearing the 11th floor.
I figured it was about time I stepped in.
Yoo Ji-sung put on a serious expression and cleared his throat to draw everyone’s attention.
“I think differently from Dong-cheol.”
“Huh? What do you mean, hyung?”
“Simply put, I don’t think the way to clear the 11th floor is a dungeon. No—I’m certain it isn’t.”
“Oh… Can you explain more?”
Jang Su-ho looked at Yoo Ji-sung with clear interest. As a Ranger with a cautious personality, he rarely spoke unless necessary. If even he was reacting, there was only one reason.
So you already suspected something too? You just couldn’t be sure, so you kept quiet. You’re a terrible leader.
“While hunting monsters together, I noticed something. There’s a commanding entity leading the monster packs. Monsters of different species are working together, and even the undead aren’t attacking the living ones. That means there’s something controlling them.”
“I also thought something was off. But couldn’t it just be the Red Moon’s influence? Or… do you have any actual evidence?”
“There was one monster that was unusually cautious while the others were rampaging. I think that might be the commander. I’m not completely sure, though.”
“I saw a monster like that too.”
Jang Su-ho backed him up. Ma Dong-cheol could no longer insist on the dungeon theory.
“Then what do we do? Hunting down every pack to smash the commander’s head won’t be easy.”
“It won’t. And the fact that smaller groups are merging without any infighting means there’s an even higher-ranking commander above them. Based on the information we have, the monsters are still growing in size. At the center of it all is what we’re looking for—the thing most strongly affected by the Red Moon.”
“The monster groups might be forming to protect that key.”
“So the answer we’re looking for is in the largest monster horde.”
Jeong A-reum and Jang Su-ho nodded in understanding. Ma Dong-cheol groaned as he tried to process it, then scratched his head with a pained expression.
“…You’ve got a point. I guess I was wrong this time. My thinking was too shallow. Hahaha!”
“No. You three are experienced climbers who reached the higher floors early. In the original Tower, your theory would’ve been correct. That’s why you thought that way. I only entered after the Tower changed, so I could consider more possibilities.”
“Hyung…”
Ma Dong-cheol’s eyes sparkled with emotion at Yoo Ji-sung’s comforting words. Seeing such a large, intimidating man make that face made Yoo Ji-sung want to gag. He forced a smile while repeating to himself, Just until the 11th floor. Just until the 11th floor.