Chapter 39: Preliminary Preparations (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 39: Preliminary Preparations (2)
“Seriously, you’re a total traitor.”
“Exactly. How could you go hunting with Cheon Yu-hak on a weekend?”
“Ugh, you guys are whining so much.”
It was Friday evening.
I had just turned down Lilac, who had come to me all excited about going volunteering together, and now both he and Kang Ha-ni were grumbling at me.
“And here I thought you weren’t interested in points. Was that all a lie?”
“Yeah, So-hyun. Seeing you head out to hunt already… are you aiming for the top of the class?”
“How am I supposed to take the top spot when you and Cheon Yu-hak are around?”
Forget you two; in my current state, I can’t even beat Ha-ni, you brat.
“Anyway, I guess that means you can’t come on Sunday either?”
“Probably not.”
To be honest, the dungeon we were heading to wasn’t that large, so we could likely clear it in a single day. However, you never knew what kind of accidents might happen, and even if we finished early, I wanted to rest for once.
“It can’t be helped, then. Let’s all go volunteering together next time!”
“Uh, you do know I never actually joined the volunteer club, right?”
“Wow, you’ll go hunting with Yu-hak but won’t go volunteering with me? I think we need a test of our friendship.”
“Cut the crap.”
“I’m sorry to say, but So-hyun won’t be going volunteering next week either,” Ha-ni interjected.
“Huh? Why?”
“Because I’ve already made a reservation to go out and play with him next week.”
“What…? Then I’m tagging along too!”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Excuse me, but where exactly does my input fit into this? Are you guys bullying me?”
“So-hyun, we’re going to hang out next weekend. Do you want to come?”
Are these people insane?
I wasn’t exactly thrilled about them giggling amongst themselves, but well, I figured I’d have time next weekend. I planned to wrap up all my urgent business during the week, after all.
* * *
“Everyone is here, I see.”
No matter how I thought about it, this was weird.
I had shown up thirty minutes early specifically to avoid giving anyone a reason to pick a fight, yet everyone except for me and Cheon Yu-hak was already there.
At least I wasn’t later than Cheon Yu-hak. We arrived almost at the same time, but hey, thirty seconds early is still early, right?
So, even though that hulking bastard named Jae-hee—who really didn’t live up to his feminine name—was glaring at me, I kept my head held high.
Seriously, who told them to gather so early? Don’t drag me into your little loyalty tests.
Then again, no one else was glaring at me besides that meathead.
“I’m glad to see everyone is so motivated and arrived early. Shall we go over today’s objective one more time?”
As Cheon Yu-hak turned his gaze toward me, the others naturally followed suit.
I had already posted a brief summary in the group chat, but knowing Cheon Yu-hak’s perfectionist streak, I expected him to double-check everything.
“First, we’re heading to the field near the coordinates I sent for the portal.”
A “field” refers to an area where a long-neglected dungeon has suffered a Mana surge, causing a Dungeon Break that transforms the surrounding environment into something resembling the Otherworld.
The size of these fields varied wildly depending on the dungeon’s rank. According to the setting, a super-sized Dungeon Break in China had once swallowed nearly half the country.
“I thought the investigation of this area was already finished?”
There he goes again. That oversized oaf just had to interrupt while an adult was speaking.
However, since it was a reasonable question, no one stopped him this time.
He was right. The area—or rather, Korea in general—had a fairly well-established hero system. Except for a few regions that had suffered Dungeon Breaks in the early days, most areas had been fully investigated and stabilized. The dungeon we were heading to today was hidden in one of those stabilized zones.
“It’s because it’s a dungeon you can’t find through conventional means.”
“And how exactly did you find it?”
How do you think, you brat? I’m a transmigrator who read about it in my friend’s Setting Book. Got a problem?
“I have my ways. Do I really need to explain that to you?”
“No, what I mean is…”
“Look, friend. I know you don’t like me, but let’s not be pathetic and act smaller than your size. We made a bet, didn’t we? Just shut up and follow me. If the dungeon isn’t there, or if I end up being less helpful than you, I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”
That’s right.
During our first meeting, I had made a bet with this hulking jerk who kept picking fights.
If you’re going to settle things like a man with a bet, you should know when to quit, but there are always people who have to be ugly about it.
Of course, it was a rigged bet since the winner was already decided, but that’s how most bets work anyway.
The guy’s face flushed red, clearly unhappy about being insulted, but Cheon Yu-hak only offered an amused smile.
“On the flip side, if the dungeon is exactly where I said it is and I’m more helpful than you, you have to do whatever I say. Got it?”
By the way, he had accepted that deal very readily at the time. He probably thought that even if the dungeon existed, there was no way I could outperform him.
“Fine. If you’re lying, you’d better be prepared.”
“Oh, I think you’re the one who needs to be prepared.”
For a moment, I felt a pang of self-loathing for bickering with a kid years younger than me. But since these are the types of people who usually cause trouble, I figured it was best to put him in his place for the sake of the Cheon Yu-hak party’s future.
And I wasn’t just joking or guessing.
In the original story, Cheon Yu-hak’s party, which had been on a winning streak early on, gets wiped out—everyone except Cheon Yu-hak dies due to a disastrous collaboration between a troller and a villain.
I had already taken care of Lilac’s side, so now it was Cheon Yu-hak’s turn.
Well, there were other reasons too, but hey, everyone wins, right?
* * *
After walking for about thirty minutes after stepping through the portal, the complaints started erupting from his mouth again.
“Are you serious? There’s a dungeon in a forest like this?”
Even without me, Cheon Yu-hak’s party was quite well-balanced.
First, there was Cheon Yu-hak, who served as both a melee dealer and a sub-tank, and Jae-hee, the dedicated tank. Then there was Ju Ri-ra, who could use basic support magic and was skilled at disarming traps. The rest consisted of a girl who acted as a healer, a mage, and finally, a porter.
Usually, porters were hired on a per-trip basis or provided through long-term contracts with companies, but the setting established that Cheon Yu-hak was training a professional porter specifically for his ideal party.
Well, no matter how much effort he put into training them, they all died in the original story.
“Yeah, we’re almost there.”
“See, Ri-ra? I told you he’s just wasting our time.”
“Be quiet. Even if that’s the case, Yu-hak is the one who makes the call.”
“I’m just saying! We should have just gone hunting as originally planned.”
Wow, look at him. Since he can’t win an argument with me, he’s trying to play politics with the girl he likes? He really is a pathetic excuse for a big guy.
On the other hand, Cheon Yu-hak followed me without a hint of doubt. I wondered what made him so trusting.
“Hey, just admit there’s no dungeon, you bastard. If you promise to just pay the portal fee and never act cocky again, I’ll let it slide.”
“Man, you really talk a lot for someone your size.”
“What? You little…”
“We’re here.”
“What?”
“I said we’re here. Maybe you’ve got too much fat in your ears to hear properly. My bad for not being more considerate. I’ll try to be more careful next time, so could you just shut up for a bit?”
“Pfft.”
Cheon Yu-hak let out a burst of laughter he couldn’t hold back, while Jae-hee’s face turned so red it looked like it might explode.
“This is just a flat clearing with a bunch of trees. One of them is even rotten.”
“No, this is the place.”
— The reason this dungeon remained undiscovered for so long was that no one suspected a single, unsightly, rotting tree among ordinary ones could be the entrance.
The description was identical to the novel, and the coordinates matched the Setting Book perfectly.
Unlike the surrounding trees, the one in front of us was dead and decaying. But when I stroked the rotten bark, it began to vibrate as if demanding something.
Vrrr…
“Wh-what? What’s wrong with it?”
“Why are you scared? I told you it was a hidden dungeon.”
“Everyone, prepare for combat.”
The method to open this dungeon was quite gruesome, even among the many dungeons in this novel.
One had to offer enough life force to the tree to wither a normal person to death. You couldn’t swap out for another person halfway through, and if you ran away before the tree was satisfied, the door wouldn’t open.
In short, there was no normal way to open it.
But that didn’t apply to me.
Innate True Qi? Life force? Take it if you want it.
The only thing I had in excess was exactly that.
Energy slowly flowed from my hand into the tree.
By the time an amount of Innate True Qi equivalent to a full person’s life force had left my body, the rotten tree began to make a strange sound, seeing as my appearance hadn’t changed at all.
Vrrr…?
It seemed flustered and tried to greedily suck out more, but since the requirement was explicitly stated as one person’s worth of life force, it couldn’t take much more even if it tried.
Eventually, having absorbed life force to its limit, the tree shed its rotten bark and began to sprout leaves. The moment the transformation was complete, a gate manifested in front of the tree.
“What… how did you do that?”
“Huh?”
“That dead tree just came back to life.”
The mage girl was staring in shock as if she’d seen a miracle, but it had just revived itself; I hadn’t “healed” it.
“What are you talking about? It’s probably just a gimmick for the dungeon entrance. Let’s get inside.”
It’s not like I’m a Druid or a High Elf; how would I bring a dead tree back to life?
“I’ll take the lead.”
Cheon Yu-hak took the front, and the dazed Jae-hee followed behind him.
It was finally time to claim my second fortuitous encounter.
* * *
The Human-Faced Tree Dungeon.
It was a dungeon filled with tree-type monsters that devoured humans to bear fruit.
Decent treasures slept within, and the item given by the Dungeon Master upon clearing wasn’t bad either. However, in the original story, all of those things fell into the hands of certain villains.
It wasn’t just because it was hard to find. Even after it was discovered later on, no one could clear it because of the bizarre entry requirements—until a high-ranking member of a Villain Alliance sacrificed one of his subordinates to enter and cleared it in secret.
Thanks to the fortuitous encounter he gained here, that man grew into a villain powerful enough to push Lilac and Cheon Yu-hak to their limits.
“Well, that’s all meaningless now.”
In the original work, this dungeon was cleared around the time of the Jin Gyeong-tae incident, which was relatively early. But that was the original timeline. Since the story had been moved up by a month, I knew the dungeon would still be available.
“Ho, Human-Faced Trees.”
The Human-Faced Trees that appeared as common mobs were classified as low-tier Mid-Rank species because of their excellent stealth, but their actual combat ability wasn’t that impressive.
They were only slightly stronger than a Hobgoblin, a high-tier Lower-Rank species.
The real problem was that the number of Human-Faced Trees in this dungeon was incredibly high.
And that was the other reason I had come here with Cheon Yu-hak instead of Lilac.
“A bunch of rabble.”
Cheon Yu-hak drew his weapon, a long spear.
Cheon Yu-hak’s talent was “Unrivaled.”
It was a broken talent that made him stronger the more enemies he faced and the longer he fought.
“Begone…!”
The spear blade, shrouded in Mana, began to tear the Human-Faced Trees to shreds.
Lilac was still a bit weak against large numbers like this; he would have likely been forced onto the defensive, trying to protect his allies once the battle started.
In contrast, Cheon Yu-hak was relentless, trusting the allies he had gathered.
Occasionally, caught up in the heat of battle, Cheon Yu-hak would miss a few trees, but it wasn’t an issue.
“Hmph…!”
When Jae-hee slammed a tree with his shield, the mage, who had already prepared a spell, incinerated it with fire magic. Meanwhile, Ju Ri-ra managed the monsters’ aggro from a distance to ensure no one was overwhelmed.
“Haha! This isn’t nearly enough!”
Not just the others, but even that meathead was playing his part well. As expected of a party gathered by Cheon Yu-hak.
What was I doing? I was just watching.
I had already fulfilled my role by revealing the dungeon, and Cheon Yu-hak likely didn’t expect me to jump into the fray myself.
I only stepped in occasionally.
“Gotta be careful.”
Just enough to block the roots trying to ambush the rear.
“…How did you see that?”
Ju Ri-ra looked at me with suspicion as I blocked a root reaching for the healer with my dagger.
“I don’t know. I just saw it?”
I was using my enhanced vision to make sure the kids didn’t get hurt, but there was no need to tell her that.
As long as I did my part, it was fine, right?
And though they didn’t know it yet, I planned to handle almost everything in the boss room myself, so it wouldn’t be a problem if I took it easy for now.