Dawn Breaks
“Kuaaaaaagh!!”
The guy screamed in agony as his arm snapped.
“Ah, don't worry, I wasn't planning to kill you anyway. I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention by offing you.”
So.
“For now, just be satisfied knowing you can't run anymore.”
Once more.
With another crack, the Miner's scream echoed through the 10th floor.
After ensuring he couldn't escape any longer, I stood up and brushed the dust off my clothes.
“That should do it. Behave yourself and stay put.”
“Guhk...!”
Yeah, that grunting probably meant he got the message.
With the Miner subdued, I sat on the stairs to catch my breath and examined the ice crystal he'd been staring at.
“Oh. Looks like that's wrapping up over there too.”
Snowgirl Pa finally took a hit amid the relentless barrage and collapsed. It wasn't just a worm here—the last footage showed one crawling away only to get taken out by Jinwoo, then all the screens went dark in an instant.
Guess these projections were part of Snowgirl Pa's ability.
They should be heading up soon.
Grind grind griiiind—
Sure enough, the door connecting to the lower floor began to creak open.
“Is Eugene really in danger down there?”
“Didn't you see him scrambling out of that hole? He's going one-on-one with the Miner, I tell ya!”
“Han Yujin fighting the Miner solo? ...Lucky.”
“Anyway, the boss might be in the middle of a fight once we get in, so let's assess the situation before rushing—huh? It's quiet?”
“Too late.”
I waved at the kids cautiously stepping inside.
“Huh? Boss, you finished faster than us?”
“See? I told you Eugene couldn't lose. Why the fuss? Pay up that ten thousand won right now.”
“...It wasn't supposed to be for bread.”
Looks like they'd made a bet on whether I'd taken down the Miner first.
“Boss, Youngje said that taking out the boss here would let everyone else out too, right?”
Jinwoo asked about the 10th floor as he climbed up, probably briefed beforehand.
“Yeah. Since it's a nested dungeon, clearing the main core—the boss—should trigger the system to open an exit, freeing the others.”
In the original story, clearing the dungeon during the terror incident released everyone, so it was likely similar here.
“Cool. No need to drag it out then. Ready to challenge it now? What's the raid plan?”
Youngje gripped his fountain pen, looking eager.
“Nothing too tough. We just use that guy.”
“Huh?”
The kids glanced where I pointed.
There lay the Miner, limbs broken, staring blankly.
“That half-dead old guy's our key? He doesn't look tanky at all...”
Sea-a muttered skeptically, shaking her head at his pitiful state.
Understanding her concern, I smiled.
“All we need is his body and pickaxe.”
I grabbed the ragged Miner by his clothes and dragged him to the boss room entrance.
“Not sure if it'll work here too, but...”
His ability triggered by tapping the ground with a tool. Forcing the pickaxe into his grip, I thwacked the wall.
The surface rippled like tofu.
“It works.”
This makes things easy.
I punched the soft wall—boom—and grinned as it burst open.
A few more swings, and a new space yawned beyond.
“That'll do.”
I shoved the spent Miner into a corner and gathered the kids to brief them on the upcoming fight.
Now it was just the boss left.
“Alright, quick strategy session. The 10th floor is called the Stone Coffin, guarded by a golem boss.”
Not your average golem, though, since it was the final one.
“The golem's core is the dungeon's heart itself. Nested like this, it'll be way stronger and tougher than usual. Even if we all rushed in, no chance of winning.”
Jinwoo, listening quietly, raised his hand.
“Huh? Even all of us together, no shot?”
“Nope. We'd get wiped at the start or smeared on the floor. Simple reason: the golem scales with the number entering the boss room.”
It was difficulty adjustment for solo players without parties.
Solo? Easy mode. Group? Hard mode. Basic system.
But it had a flaw.
“That's why this hole matters.”
Once, while playing the academy dungeon normally, curiosity struck.
What if I lure the Miner to the boss room?
The Miner was key for speedrunning floors 1-9.
I'd done plenty with him, but never straight to the boss—why bother when floor 9 had no mobs, just run to the door?
Entering with him revealed the truth: the golem only recognized entrants through the main door.
Even with a party, one through the door and others sneaking? It scaled to the one, making it a cakewalk.
Bug exploited.
“Wait, that works? How'd you know, boss?”
Youngje looked baffled.
“We haven't cleared this dungeon yet.”
The others stared too, wondering how I knew the strats for an uncleared dungeon.
I'd prepared for this.
“Remember, this used to be another club's room?”
“Yeah?”
“And they vanished overnight.”
“Some creepy rumor, yeah.”
I met their focused gazes and spun my cover story.
“They left stuff behind in the cleanup. Found some research docs marked Error Occurred.”
“Oh...”
“There was stuff like that in the club room?”
Lies, of course.
But convincing—they nodded.
“Explanation done. Strat time. Simple: Me plus three enter first via hole, position up. Last one enters door, golem rises—unleash everything on the core. Questions?”
No hands up.
“Jinwoo opens the door. Rest sneak in, set up. Jinwoo, enter in exactly five minutes.”
“Got it. Just stand by the door? Opening in five sharp~”
We four slipped through the hole.
Emerging, a massive dormant golem loomed.
“...It's huge. And this thing moves?”
Sea-a dusted off, murmuring as she exited last.
True to her words, it was two stories tall, seated silently.
“Quick rundown. Door opens, eyes glow. Chest core lights up—that's our window.”
The core was its vital spot, hard to hit.
“Core activates, shield forms. Tough, since it guards the vitals... but I'll smash it. Sea-a, get us to the core. Youngje, max buffs on Choi Yeon for mobility.”
“...Me?”
Choi Yeon blinked at her name.
“Yeah. I break shield, you destroy core. That's your job.”
Only she could land a fatal blow on the core besides me.
I had shield duty, so she was it.
She'd nail it.
“Choi Yeon, learned Cheoncheon Sword?”
“...Basics.”
“Then you can do... that?”
“Yeah. I can.”
“Good.”
Glancing at my watch: two minutes till Jinwoo.
Choi Yeon took buffs from Youngje beside me, eyes closed, gripping her hilt like a true swordswoman.
“30 seconds.”
Sea-a called from her watch.
I poured aura into my gloves like slamming it in.
All remaining aura for this one shot.
Forcing it in, Midas's Gloves glowed red.
“10 seconds!”
Bloodline Ability: Calione dominates Midas's Gloves.
The awaited message popped up. I grinned at the knuckles on my hand.
Unlike before, sparks flew from the repulsion on my right.
“5 seconds!”
Gripping my right wrist with left, prepping the strongest strike.
“1 second!”
Jinwoo's voice from the entrance.
“Boss, just walk in like this?”
Instantly, the golem's eyes snapped open, chest core igniting brightly.
“Moving us now!”
Sea-a's mana enveloped Choi Yeon; scenery shifted.
In a blink, we were at golem-eye level.
“Choi Yeon! Get ready!!”
Leaving eyes-closed Choi Yeon behind, I twisted and swung at the green barrier over the core.
Kigigigi—!!
My knuckles hammered the shield; cracks spiderwebbed its once-solid surface.
Then, from behind:
“—Ready.”
“Blow it away!!”
Shatter!
Through the broken shield gleamed the purple core. Choi Yeon murmured low.
“Kaibyeokgeom.”
──Dawn had arrived.