Chapter 209: Residents of a Ruined World (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 209: Residents of a Ruined World (5)
What kind of dungeon do heroes hate the most?
Is it a specialized puzzle-type maze with a complex progression?
Is it a dungeon where the monsters are so unique that it’s difficult to deal damage without first figuring out their gimmicks?
Or perhaps a dungeon where special energy interference causes trouble with the use of machinery and artifacts?
The answer is simple.
They hate dungeons like this one, where all of those things happen at once.
The movement paths, which feel like near-random teleports; the situation where every piece of equipment has gone haywire, forcing them to set up base camp using primitive methods; and the monsters that look like a blend of shadows and plants, making physical attacks largely ineffective—these are all things heroes despise.
Now, let’s look at it from the opposite perspective.
From the dungeon’s point of view, who is the most unpleasant challenger?
This, too, is simple.
It’s those who can simply smash through every hardship with sheer power.
I learned this lesson thoroughly today.
Compatibility? What does it matter if they’re hard to kill with physical force? If you hit them harder than the force they can deflect, they die.
The dungeon’s layout is strange? You just have to break everything in your path until enough data is gathered.
Well, as for the last part about not being able to use machines, I didn’t exactly solve that with power, but…
“So-hyun, I told you we’re just going to hold hands while we sleep. It’s because you seem anxious. Don’t you trust your Noona?”
Wait, maybe I did? She’s telling me to come inside because her sleeping bag is warm, but I feel like if I step in there, I’ll experience a ‘power difference’ in a completely different sense.
I trust you, Professor. Why wouldn’t I trust Professor Cathy?
It’s Kang So-hyun I don’t trust. What if I crawl into that sleeping bag, start making weird melting noises, and things end up like last time?
My head spun just thinking about what the two who had returned from their watch would think.
— What would they think? They’d probably think what was bound to happen finally happened. Though, it’s dangerous, so try not to do it in a dungeon.
‘Sun Wukong, do you know that in this country, there’s a law against defamation by stating true facts?’
— I wouldn’t know, being an artifact. Or what, are you going to sue your own artifact?
…He really never lets me have the last word.
* * *
Throughout the trek into the dungeon, Kang Na-hyun had a pounding headache.
First, there was the constant bickering between the Hero and the Hunter assigned to the same team.
Fine. That was expected. Even teams made of highly experienced heroes have internal conflicts.
So, if the cause of their argument had even the slightest bit to do with clearing the dungeon, she would have tried to understand and move on.
However.
“Didn’t we agree that the Association would take all items found in the dungeon in exchange for a fair additional commission?”
“Ah, that only applies to the rewards generated by the dungeon. The byproducts from hunting monsters weren’t specified in the contract.”
It was a different story when it was a petty squabble over interests—or worse, just bickering because they simply didn’t like each other as a Hero and a Hunter.
Since the clocks weren’t working, she didn’t know the exact time, but it felt like roughly two days had passed. Their progress was at a near standstill because of these trivial fights, and it was driving her mad.
If this were a normal dungeon raid, she would have paid the penalty to cancel the contract or tried to take command of the party. The problem was that both the Hunter and the Hero were A-rank, meaning they might be stronger than her.
Even if this country still held onto some ‘common sense’ compared to others, the logic of power was undeniable in superhuman society.
Moreover, it was suicidal to show irritation toward someone stronger than yourself in a dungeon when you weren’t even close acquaintances.
…Honestly, judging by the combat she’d seen so far, they were far below Cathy Unnie, and she felt like she could take them if she really tried. But even if that were the case, there was one more reason she couldn’t flip the table.
Unlike the Hero and Hunter who had been posturing about being A-rank from the start, there was a swordsman who had remained silent, wordlessly hunting the surrounding monsters.
Of course, since the swordsman was part of this mission, they couldn’t be weak. Strong Awakened individuals generally don’t tolerate weaker people acting out in their presence.
Since the swordsman didn’t have a clear rank like a Hero or Hunter, she couldn’t be sure, but they were likely around the lower tier of A-rank.
She couldn’t let an innocent person who was just quietly doing their job get caught in the crossfire.
Let’s endure it just a little longer.
…Though in her experience, people like this rarely came to their senses halfway through.
* * *
This dungeon was similar to a formation.
It was likely a structure where you had to proceed in a specific order or satisfy certain conditions, otherwise you’d just keep going in circles.
It wasn’t a complex deduction; the professors had probably realized it too. The problem was that even if they knew, there were no hints, so there was no way to know the correct sequence.
The professors seemed to be planning to verify every single possibility one by one. But while they had no way of knowing the order, I actually did.
After thinking it over during my watch last night, I realized I could just use the Touch of the Devil to contract a devil that could find the way.
Just in case, I asked the Touch of the Devil directly, and I received confirmation that while it was a complex structure and would require a significant price, it was possible.
Now, the problem was that using this method meant I had to show myself handling Demonic Energy in front of the professors. Honestly, no matter what excuse I made, it was going to be awkward. So, I made a big decision.
I would just be honest.
I’d tell them I have a somewhat dangerous artifact and that I think I can find the way with it.
Isn’t it always because I beat around the bush that I end up having to clean up a mess later?
So, I spoke.
Or rather, I tried to.
“Actually, I found a way to find the path, but it involves Demonic En—”
“You don’t have to say it, Cadet Kang So-hyun.”
But I could tell things were starting to go sideways.
Chairperson Leilan and Professor Park A-ram were looking at me with even more pity than usual as they cut me off.
“Pardon?”
“…I am ashamed that I tried to rely on a cadet without knowing the circumstances. Don’t worry. You don’t have to use the power you received from him to clear this.”
No, I’m just using an artifact, what are you talking about? What is it? Why are you suddenly looking at me with those eyes?
“Kang So-hyun. There is no power without a price. Especially if it’s Demonic Energy. Please trust us this time. This is a good opportunity to show you that we can do this without relying on such power.”
I don’t have the slightest clue what you’re misunderstanding.
“I don’t know what he’s trying to achieve by using you, but don’t worry. If it comes down to it, do you really think we can’t protect a single cadet?”
“Yes. But just in case, I want you to tell me immediately if he contacts you again.”
Who is ‘he’? Why are you two the only ones who know what you’re talking about?
And Chairperson, why is your face so strangely flushed?
I knew something—something was going horribly, terribly wrong, but since I didn’t know what they were misunderstanding, I couldn’t even respond.
What kind of conversation did those two have yesterday, and what conclusion did they reach?
“Still, for the path at least…”
“A-hem. No matter how small the power is, if you keep borrowing it, you’ll eventually become dependent on it.”
I turned my gaze away from the people I couldn’t communicate with and looked at Professor Cathy for help. As expected, Professor Cathy gave me a bright smile.
“So-hyun. You promised not to overdo it, right?”
But she wasn’t on my side either.
In this atmosphere, if I said I was just borrowing a bit of power from a devil through an artifact, would they even believe me?
No, the moment I brought out Demonic Energy, I felt like another uproar would break out.
I couldn’t bring out Demonic Energy while ignoring those eyes filled with trust and sympathy. In the end, the conversation concluded warmly with me nodding my head.
No, fine. Everything is fine. Everything is fine, so could you please just tell me what on earth you’re misunderstanding?
I’ve thrown out so many baits in so many different directions that I can’t even imagine what kind of result they’ve created by getting all tangled up.
— Do you know that people call your current situation ‘reaping what you sow’ or ‘karma’?
…I truly have nothing to say to that.
In the end, I decided to move forward without borrowing the devil’s power.
* * *
In the deepest part of the dungeon.
The Immature Calamity was observing the intruders through the eyes of the creatures it had created.
Its mind was still hazy, but thanks to the voice it heard, it knew what it had to find.
Black hair and red eyes.
Among the intruders divided into several groups, there were those with black hair and red eyes, but the voice reacted violently to only one of them.
— That’s what you were looking for. Bring him to me.
Is it? It doesn’t feel like it.
For a moment, such negative thoughts surfaced, but a headache soon rushed in. By the time the pain subsided, the doubt had vanished.
It must be right. It only had the lingering sensation of craving something without knowing what it was, so the only thing it could trust was this voice.
And it would find out once it captured him anyway.
Using its vast mana and ‘something’ that was its specialty, it blended shadows and plants to birth another subordinate.
Now that it had the knack for creating them, it could make them stronger and larger.
It felt like it shouldn’t use this ‘something’ in a place like this, but because of its foggy mind, it couldn’t quite remember why.
The headache began to surge again. It would just do as the voice said. Then, it wouldn’t feel the pain.
It couldn’t make something half-baked.
If it was too weak, it would be destroyed by the things surrounding the target again. It had to be sturdier, heavier, and stronger.
It had to pour everything it had to create it in the best possible state.
After kneading shadows and plants for a long time…
What was born was not a simple monster like the ones before.
The monster began to move to fulfill the purpose of its creation.
Step by step, it vibrated with a massive tremor.
* * *
Baek Seol had always been skilled at observing others.
To be precise, if she didn’t observe them perfectly, she would have trouble mimicking them. Occasionally, when there were people who moved in directions she couldn’t understand, she felt the need to analyze them, which was how it became her specialty.
And using that specialty, Baek Seol was able to reach a conclusion.
There was a terrible misunderstanding between her cute junior and the professors.
And judging by his expression, while the junior was the one who provided the cause, things had flowed in a direction different from what he intended.
He really had changed a bit.
And now that he had changed, she finally understood why she liked him.
Because he was cute, like a prickly and haughty cat? Because it was fascinating that he disliked her when everyone else loved her?
Those weren’t entirely wrong.
But they weren’t the fundamental reason.
I see. I thought he was like me. That we were of the same kind.
The day they first met. Those eyes that were hostile toward her were strangely cold, even though they were clearly filled with anger.
Something that went beyond simple dislike.
That strange coldness remained when he looked at the people he cherished, when he looked at the people who cherished him, and even when he looked at the professor who was clinging to him.
She was able to identify the nature of that coldness before long.
Eyes that didn’t see the other person as human in the first place, regardless of like or dislike. Since she was exactly like that, how could she not know?
That was why she was drawn to him.
Perhaps it was a sense of relief that she wasn’t the only strange one.
She was glad that there was someone else besides her who didn’t see people as people.
But why?
Why had that coldness weakened in the eyes of the junior she met again?
It hadn’t disappeared, but he was making an effort to forcibly erase it.
“I wish he wouldn’t do that.”
It was a small voice that no one could hear, but Baek Seol was quite surprised by the words she had muttered to herself.
“…Why?”
Naturally, she and her junior were the strange ones. If he could become normal, that would be a better and more rational thing.
Yet, the thought that she disliked it had surfaced without a clear reason, and she had blurted it out.
This was a clear abnormality, an action she would never normally take.
She tilted her head as she watched her junior, who was muttering to himself.