Bus Passenger
Our dungeon run was nothing like the others.
With two overwhelmingly strong all-rounders in the party, there was nothing for Alesia or me to do from the start.
Just as guilt started creeping in—Is it really okay to just stand here like this?—
“Everyone, halt—.”
Antonio, leading the way, raised his right hand in a signal and called out.
Tension rippled through the air.
Up until now, it had felt like Antonio spotted the enemies first, and Parnello rushed in to wipe them out instantly. But this time, even Parnello crouched low, silently observing.
We slowly approached behind Antonio and saw why he'd signaled us to stop.
The pitch-black forest ended abruptly, giving way to a blinding white desert, as if an invisible line marked the boundary to a new realm.
“Don Bivalt, have you ever seen a dungeon like this?”
“This is my first time seeing one where the environment changes so drastically. A white desert, of all things.”
“……This texture. It feels like bone fragments.”
Alesia muttered as she touched the white sand in front of her, prompting gasps from the others.
“A desert made of bones. Horrific.”
“Sir Parnello, have you encountered a dungeon like this before?”
“I've rarely been dispatched to dungeons in the first place. This is new to me.”
At that moment, a dungeon matching this description flashed in my mind.
“……Undead Den?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and Parnello turned to look at me.
“Undead Den?”
“Yeah, I think I heard about it at the academy.”
In truth, it was from playing the game, but that wasn't important.
Among countless dungeons, only one A-rank had a forest leading to a white desert like this.
The Abyss Forest, born from the grudges and fears of the dead.
And beyond it, the Bone Desert, formed from their crumbling flesh.
Gamers like me called it the Undead Den.
Early on, it tormented players with its dark map and mobs that assaulted the eyes and senses.
Then came the bright expanse swarming with endless undead hordes.
If you didn't clear it properly out of annoyance, it would spew undead outside—a true disaster.
But why here, of all places?
In the original story, it spawned from massive grudges of powerful lifeforms, like after a mass slaughter event or defeating something with equivalent malice—practically unpredictable.
Ah, I remembered.
“Parnello, the waste disposal site was definitely near this dungeon, right?”
“Yes, but why bring it up so suddenly……?”
“Just figured out why this dungeon appeared.”
The recent materials from Fafnir we'd hauled here and disassembled thoroughly.
Nothing else connected like the waste from that process.
“I heard these dungeons form when immense grudges accumulate.”
The pristine desert after the sticky grudge-filled forest might look beautiful, but it was anything but.
“Everyone, get ready! If it's like I heard, the undead will swarm soon!”
The Bone Desert—phase two of the Undead Den—was a defense-style gauntlet.
Endless undead spawning from the bones.
Players holding them off.
Unless you felled a certain number, escape was impossible, even if you ran—a dungeon brimming with malice.
I pulled out Tommy to prepare for what was coming, but Antonio trudged toward the desert.
“Don Antonio?”
“No need for concern.”
His hair whipped in the desert's fierce wind as he advanced silently.
And then.
“This should suffice.”
As he muttered those cryptic words—
-Kirrik—.
Countless bony hands erupted from the vast white desert.
-Kruk.
-Kirrik?
-Kagak!
Thousands, tens of thousands of skeletons twisted up from bone shards, evoking old horror flicks.
A sheer violence of numbers worthy of the term disaster.
Yet Antonio showed no reaction to the shocking sight.
“Light enough to blow away nicely.”
He stared indifferently, then snapped his fingers.
Whiiiiiing—
——The desert moved.
No metaphor or exaggeration.
The endless bone desert stirred solely from the wind he summoned.
-Kieeeek!
-Kruk!
Kralak!
Skeletons meant to crawl from the ground were swept into the air, ground to shards by the gale.
Cigar in mouth, hands in pockets, he wielded wind capable of reshaping terrain—a sight that commanded awe.
“This is…… the Bivalt bloodline ability.”
Not mere wind control, but domination.
The Bivalt family.
His gales shredded enemies on spawn, evaporating them repeatedly.
After minutes of the storm pulverizing everything, silence fell—no more skeletons emerged.
Defense phase cleared without worry.
But if that were all, it wouldn't have the reputation of utmost loathing.
──────!!
-Krrrrrrrrrra!!
The desert exploded, revealing a colossal form.
Skeleton Dragon.
One glance confirmed it as the boss.
“Hmm…… Undead dragon's a poor matchup.”
His winds battered the bone dragon fiercely, but its thickness and resistance limited damage to scratches.
Antonio frowned.
“As expected, that one's tricky.”
“Then I'll handle it.”
Parnello stepped forward, unbuttoning his sleeves.
Perfect timing.
“Parnello. Here!”
I pulled "that" from my cube and tossed it to him.
“……Chopsticks?”
“Chopsticks? It looks like an awl to anyone.”
“Too thin for an awl.”
……I'd hammered it all night on Jeju, though.
“Anyway, attacking with that will help. It's a holy relic, after all.”
“Pardon?”
Stunned by "holy relic," he turned at the dragon's wingbeats, gripped Ascalon, drew back—
“If it's a holy relic, it should suffice.”
“Wait, hold on—.”
Pang—!!
Ascalon rocketed toward the ascending dragon, trailing afterimages and a massive light beam.
Crucially, it pierced the dragon's chest.
-Kru…… uh?
Born in the bone desert, oxidized to light in moments.
Its only sin? Meeting us today.
“Young master. Well used. No idea how you acquired a holy relic, but…… effective.”
Parnello returned Ascalon, his awakening ability Retrieval activated.
It literally called back items he'd thrown.
I knew, but the sudden toss startled me.
“……Yeah, good to have it back.”
I stowed Ascalon in the cube. The dragon's remains shimmered, scattering like snow.
Whew, cleared faster than expected……
“Alesia.”
“Yes, young master.”
“Pick all that up.”
“……Pardon?”
“It's all treasure.”
The Undead Den's standard reward: Dragon Eye Stones.
Gems holding dragon remnants, used for elixirs or item crafting.
But.
“Whoa, this many?”
Because they ended on spawn?
Twice what I remembered.
Total: 42 stones.
Enough to form a Calione dragon unit soon.
“Young master. Found this in the desert too.”
As Alesia and I gathered stones, Antonio approached with something.
“Dagger?”
I took it carefully. Item info appeared.
◈ Type: Dagger
◈ Description: A dagger infused with a dragon's remembrance. Inflicts fear on monsters and rot curse on slashed foes.
“Nice find. Give it to Jinwoo?”
“……This?”
“Yeah. More weapon options are better in real combat. He'll love it—dragon-infused, basically a dragon weapon.”
Dragon weapons were luxury icons here too. Everyone coveted them.
“As you say, young master. But I've never given him a proper gift. Unsure how to proceed.”
Just gifting his son, yet Antonio pondered gravely.
What's so hard?
Pitying him, I offered advice.
“Just be honest.”
“……Honest?”
“Yeah, 'Found it on the road' or something…… We did find it, right?”
Classic cliché gifting—safest bet.
“Found it on the road…… Yes. I'll try that.”
No other lines coming to mind, he nodded and pocketed the dagger.
I could already picture Jinwoo bragging everywhere.
……Might wanna smack him. But since Antonio helped, three free passes?
As I mentally awarded Jinwoo three noogie exemptions—
1. Human Totem: Simply standing boosts your team's luck slightly. Passively applies action corrections to the trait holder.
What the hell is this?
Seemed like a new trait since crossing to this world.
【Human Totem】
Made to troll me? What kinda trait is this?
Probably useless, so I closed the window.
White bone dust swirled like flushing a toilet, sucked into the ground, forming a massive portal.
Dungeon cleared signal.
“Time to head back. The others'll worry.”
Not bad at all.
Dragon Eye Stones, dagger…… even that weird trait.
My first A-rank dungeon: a resounding success.
* * *
Next day.
Jinwoo arrived at the academy earlier than usual, grinning ear-to-ear at his seat.
One difference, though……
“Ahem. Khm! Ahem!”
As expected, he'd plopped the dagger on his desk the moment he arrived, hacking awkwardly.
“Kkhuhuhu!”
His blatant Look at my dagger! via coughs moved me—downgraded one noogie pass.
“Ahem!”
Noogies: -2
“Aigoo, so pretty~ Hehe~ Whose is this gorgeous dagger?”
Noogies: -3
“Who, me? Owner of a dragon weapon. Jin.Woo.Bi.Valt.”
How'd he burn all three passes in under a minute? True talent.
Fist clenched for an instant knuckle-flick if he kept it up—
“Eugene! You here, Eugene?!”
“Huh, sir?”
Gwak Chunsik burst through the front door in casual outing clothes, bellowing.
“Come on! Let's go!”
“……Pardon?”
Go where?