The Accelerating Clock
The path we were currently traveling was Route C—the route with the highest frequency of monster spawns in this dungeon. Of course, it wasn't only Lizardmen that appeared in droves. Hobgoblins and Big Boars and other miscellaneous creatures showed up as well. Still, their numbers were noticeably higher than on the other routes. In short, it was a course that refused to give you even a moment to recover your magic power. But when you factored in our current stats, even this place felt lacking.
With a thunderous roar, Number One bellowed the command. The lizard unit immediately seized the scattered Lizardman corpses and began stripping their hides. There wasn't the slightest hint of sorrow over killing their own kind. They were already Yeonhee's summoned beings. To them, the others were nothing but enemies, even if they shared the same blood.
No Hayun trailed behind us, mopping up the monsters we left in our wake. At that moment she was staring blankly at the summons performing their grisly work from a short distance away. Her party members seemed to be under some strange misunderstanding, but her gaze was locked entirely on me.
She's still keeping a proper distance, at least. Just keep it that way.
She was acting far more cautiously than yesterday, which left me slightly puzzled, but I didn't dwell on it.
...
Thanks to No Hayun, the day's dungeon raid—which had carried a strange tension throughout—ended without any notable incidents. Of course she had been watching for any chance to stick close to us, but such opportunities only arose when variables appeared. Unless she lost her mind and charged straight at me, the distance between us would never close.
Since we had taken down the champion earlier than yesterday, we gathered near the exit and spent some time chatting. Post-raid conversations always carried a special flavor.
“It’s even more unsettling when he doesn’t do anything,” Helen said, arms crossed, shooting a glance toward No Hayun’s party.
“There’s definitely something going on, but I can’t figure out what,” Yeonhee added, tilting her head.
“This is driving me crazy. I’ll be right back.” Jin-gyeong, who could never stand feeling frustrated, marched over to No Hayun, asked her a few questions, then returned.
“Huh? She says she can’t come in for a while. Apparently forcing her way in today was already too much.”
When Jin-gyeong shrugged, the rest of our party shook their heads as if confirming the woman was truly odd.
“Um… From what I observed today, she seems extremely interested in the skeleton soldier.”
“In Ilwol?” Yeonhee flinched at Lee Jiu’s words.
“Her feet were always pointed toward the skeleton. In my experience, that’s usually a sign of interest. Yet she’s also radiating maximum wariness… Overall, I’d say she’s interested in the skeleton soldier but maintaining an extremely cautious stance?”
Jin-gyeong nodded at Lee Jiu’s analysis. “The first attack was like that too. Hmm—”
“Still, Yeonhee, this skeleton soldier really is something worth being curious about. Fighting alongside him, I’ve been startled more times than I can count. Never mind the stats—his judgment isn’t something a summon should possess.”
At Helen’s words, the corners of Yeonhee’s mouth lifted slightly, yet her eyes remained fixed on No Hayun.
“Anyway, since she won’t be coming for a while, let’s just focus on our own tasks.”
“Hehe, which brings me to my point—Yeonhee, how about we grab a meal after this? Come on, we really need to do it at least once. For team harmony! Please, just once.”
Helen linked arms with Yeonhee and pleaded. Yeonhee could only mumble awkwardly in response.
Nice work, Helen. Take her out and buy her some good meat while you’re at it.
After being hounded by the Helen duo for a long while, Yeonhee ended up attending her very first company dinner. As for me—
Time for the Room of Time and Spirit!
Standing once again before the massive door, I swung my club like a madman.
Actually, this is better. Even summons need time alone.
Whoosh— Whoooosh.
Even though I focused for what felt like an hour, I couldn’t even set foot in the realm I had reached yesterday.
Is it a problem of crisis awareness? Yesterday I had driven myself into a corner.
Still, I wasn’t anxious about failing to enter that pure white domain. Instinct told me such opportunities didn’t come often.
I’ve done this once before. If I keep working as hard as I did yesterday, another chance will come eventually.
Whoooosh—
With the mindset of pouring my entire being into every swing, I continued training for several more hours.
Creeeeak—
Yeonhee’s sweet voice shook my consciousness, and I was sucked back through the door.
* * *
“Keuheok…!”
In the basement of an abandoned building in the heart of Seoul—construction halted for years—Jo Giman and his right-hand man Jeong Ju-in stared down at a robed man with ice-cold eyes.
Crack—
“Kuaaak!!”
Jeong Ju-in twisted the dagger buried in the man’s abdomen and snarled.
“Now… Tell me where the rest of your base is. Do it quickly and I’ll kill you without further pain.”
“Kekeke—Th-that place… Keuk! It’s by Lord Ashuran’s side!”
“You bastard!”
With bloodshot eyes, Jeong Ju-in savagely tore through the man’s guts. Crimson blood sprayed in every direction, painting even Jeong Ju-in’s neat face with vivid color.
I already told him it was useless…
Jo Giman shook his head. Jeong Ju-in had been his loyal subordinate since the second round. This was the sixth time he had witnessed this scene. Those who operated outside the dungeons possessed a different depth of faith than those who hunted artifacts inside them. No matter the interrogation, these fanatics would never betray their comrades. Even knowing it was pointless, Jeong Ju-in always threw himself into the task with frightening diligence.
“I apologize.”
Having slaughtered all thirty-plus Blue Eye cultists who had been hiding in this damp place, preparing a large-scale transfer gate for the incoming orc army, Jeong Ju-in bowed deeply to Jo Giman with genuine shame.
“Enough. When I say it won’t work, why don’t you listen?”
Jeong Ju-in flinched. Jo Giman normally never spoke down to him, but when his mood soured, his tone would shift like this.
“S-sorry—”
“It’s fine. I didn’t have high expectations anyway. Let’s close the gate.”
Jo Giman walked toward the faintly cracked gate and spoke in his usual gentle tone once more.
Sigh— Just how many times had he performed this ritual?
Rotating his hand counterclockwise, Jo Giman began drawing a red barrier around the gate.
Blood Seal
The cracks in the gate were cleanly sealed. Soon the gate’s energy vanished entirely. It was one of the sealing spells he had received directly from the Seven-Headed Dragon.
Drip. Drip. Black blood slowly traced curved lines as it flowed from Jo Giman’s fingertips.
“It’s speeding up…”
The flow of every event was accelerating sharply. Preparing in advance for the orc legion invasion that would occur two years from now wasn’t much different from previous loops. A large-scale transfer required vast time and resources. Yet this time, the preparation phase had advanced far beyond any previous attempt. As if the world itself were denying his final life, singularities were erupting everywhere.
Half a year… No, has the clock accelerated even further? Kekeke… Damn it all…
Jo Giman smiled quietly and murmured.
“Do you really think I’ll end like this…?”
He had never doubted that this was a world where he was the protagonist. He would remove every obstacle and, this time, make all beings look up to him in awe. He was confident he could achieve it.
Kekekekekek…
Only his distorted, dark laughter echoed through the silence of the abandoned building.
* * *
Eight days later, at the entrance to the Lizardman Swamp.
Over the course of a single week we had experienced several major changes. First, Yeonhee had reached level 39, gaining four additional summon scrolls and four more Lizardmen. The lizard unit now numbered nineteen in total. Furthermore, with the profits from our dungeon raids we had managed to convert the ancient crystal obtained from defeating the Tooth into an orb. Thanks to that, her magic recovery speed had increased dramatically and her total magic power rose by thirty. She could now summon all her beasts at once and maintain them for several minutes.
I had caught up to Yeonhee, also reaching level 39. Over those eight days I maintained top contribution during the Lizardman Champion raids, allowing me to socket a large number of intermediate runes.
Of course the champion didn’t always drop intermediate runes. On the fourth day it had dropped only low-grade runes with its usual abysmal probability. Still, adding the two intermediate runes gained on the day No Hayun followed us, plus six more, gave me a full set of eight intermediate runes and two low-grade ones.
Replacing the Vitality Rune that raised stamina meant the absolute stamina value I shared with Yeonhee had decreased, which didn’t sit well with me. However, the massive difference in numbers made the swap unavoidable. Our party had an agreement to rotate the runes. But during boss raids the contribution gap was obvious to everyone, so the intermediate runes naturally ended up with me and Yeonhee. Even though the Helen trio only received the low-grade runes we passed to them, they still accepted them with apologetic expressions. The gap between us was widening by the day.
The change in my stats over the week had been considerable.
Skills: Heavy Strike, Stealth, Dagger Throw, Acid Spray, Basic Transformation, Reckless Charge, Contaminated Breath, Skeleton Bomb
Equipment: Sage Arhen's Self-Defense Dagger, Chain Mail of the Iron Sleep
My strength has become abnormally high. Of course, it’s only temporary…
Once I hit level 40 today, I could simply swap the runes depending on what options appeared. There was no need to worry too much about the current numbers.