Just Visible? (1)
After meeting the elves, the group followed Lee Do-hyeon without a single word, as if his words were the only path they needed to take.
Soon after, the ground rose in the distance, revealing a doorway that looked like a strange relic.
The moment they saw it, a long curve appeared on Do-hyeon's lips while shock filled the faces of the others.
Could they actually find a dungeon?
Unbelievable yet undeniable—Do-hyeon had found it.
He had never seen a dungeon before either, but using Analysis, he quickly understood everything.
And he even learned its exact name.
【『Glitch Fragment of the Black Gate』 was Analyzed.】
【Glitch Fragment of the Black Gate】
▶ "A distorted fragment of the Black Gate born during its creation, warped by dimensional forces."
▶ "New cracks caused by the Glitch Fragment allow entry."
▶ "Placing a hand on the stone will allow entry for the party only."
▶ "Once all distorted elements inside are corrected after entering, the Fragment is removed and rewards are obtained."
▶ "Only one party can enter simultaneously."
'If the stone is distorted, it becomes a dungeon.'
A stone slab that always existed in the safety zone versus a completely opposite Glitch Fragment. That was a rather interesting contrast.
But right now, that wasn't important at all.
After understanding it, Do-hyeon looked at the others for a moment, lost in thought.
Since only one party could enter, of course his party should go in.
Even in the E-rank zone, a dungeon was a dungeon.
He didn't expect Park In-su's party to clear it—after all, it was just the three of them.
So what should Park In-su's party do?
“I need to set a strategy.”
“A strategy?”
When Park In-su asked, Hana Rin nodded and quickly read Do-hyeon's intent.
She explained it in his place.
“We have to be the ones going in anyway. We're trying to figure out how to handle In-su Oppa’s party. Even if we clear it fast, revealing this place is a time issue.”
“Hah, if we leave, it’ll be impossible for them to defeat the elves…”
Park In-su wanted to say it was hopeless, but he cut himself off so as not to be rude. Do-hyeon simply accepted it.
“Taking on ten elves after clearing the dungeon is impossible no matter how you look at it. That’s why we need a plan. I’ve thought about it, and how about this?”
Everyone listened intently, and soon Do-hyeon laid out his strategy.
It wasn’t complicated at all.
“I’ll be interfering with the detection, but once we enter the dungeon, it’ll reset. We’ll be found instantly. So when that happens, In-su Hyung should head back to Radon. The enemy will notice and the dungeon will be exposed. They’ll suspect we entered. Then, when In-su Hyung calls for support and comes back, we’ll use a flanking operation to finish it off.”
Everyone agreed with Do-hyeon’s plan.
It was the cleanest one available right now.
Support might not arrive in large numbers, but not calling was worse. Park In-su nodded.
Both Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan were satisfied with the support request.
Since they had to deal with a large number of elves, help would give them breathing room.
Everyone memorized the plan and carried it out exactly as instructed.
Not much time had passed, yet it happened exactly as Do-hyeon said.
While Do-hyeon was still interfering with detection using ultrasound, his party entered the dungeon.
Detection activated normally, and the elves saw Do-hyeon disappear and Park In-su leave through the portal.
As a result, Jerpael’s elves headed toward the dungeon.
Time passed. After calling for support, before Normal Yoon and Kim Jin-ha arrived, Park In-su returned first.
He waited with surprise at the situation that had unfolded exactly as Do-hyeon predicted.
Do-hyeon desperately hoped the support would arrive soon so he could exit the dungeon safely.
‘Please be all right.’
The dungeon was normally set for five people, so he was worried.
In his head, he thought Do-hyeon would handle it, but he prayed anyway while waiting.
The Hunter’s Handbook for Demore Shuten
Among the dungeons, there is no treasure more valuable than anything else for a hunter, nor a more poisonous chalice that steals a hunter’s life.
Every dungeon places a burden on the entering party and aims to wipe them out entirely.
However, most hunters do not believe they will be the ones to suffer when they see a dungeon.
You are no different.
Trapped in the arrogant belief that you will not be the one to suffer, you pray you will not be devoured by the dungeon.
* * *
Shuiiing—
When Do-hyeon’s party placed their hands on the stone, the sound seemed to come from somewhere.
Since it was their first time entering a dungeon, the sound was accompanied by a pulling force that felt like it was sucking out their souls, making it impossible to resist.
When he came to his senses, he had already been moved to another location.
Had he been transported to the dungeon?
While trying to look around with that thought in mind, everything was completely dark.
“In front of me…”
“……It’s completely dark.”
Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan spoke in trembling voices, clearly shaken.
Human sight makes up over half of all senses.
That was why both of them were having a hard time regaining their composure and felt deeply confused.
Even though they had already known about the burden of entering, the sudden total blocking of sight was too much.
It was a structure that naturally bred fear.
While Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan were trembling in panic and bewilderment, Do-hyeon was the same.
A slightly different reason, but still the same.
【You have entered the Glitch Fragment.】
【The burden of the Glitch Fragment has begun.】
【Analyzing the burden.】
【Vision Block is being analyzed.】
‘What is this?’
He wasn’t just surprised by the fact that he couldn’t see in front of him.
Rather, he was shocked that he could read almost all the information.
Vision Block.
It wasn’t enough that he knew the type of burden.
【Analyzing Glitch Fragment.】
【Hunt the Blind Man’s Guide.】
‘The Blind Man’s Guide?’
The dungeon’s quest even gave him the mission.
Of course, Do-hyeon knew about dungeons after completing training center education.
‘This is a boss-type dungeon.’
Dungeons were generally divided into four types: extermination, condition, boss, and defense. This one was a boss-type.
Extermination meant clearing all monsters inside.
Condition meant clearing a maze with special conditions and no monsters.
And defense meant guarding a specific point or something.
The boss-type was the most straightforward among them.
Just defeat the boss and it was over.
That was why most people rated it as the hardest.
‘Boss-types are the hardest.’
It just had to be this one.
Plus, the burden was the most annoying one.
Vision Block was definitely one of the harder burdens.
But since he was already inside, there was nothing he could do.
He had no choice.
If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to escape before dying here.
Wasting more time here would be pointless.
Since he had no other option, Do-hyeon looked at the two who were finally calming down and spoke.
“Let’s go. There’s a corridor there.”
“……What do we need to see to go?”
“First, set up countermeasures.”
Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan answered in slightly trembling voices, still a little unsteady.
Then, suddenly.
Hana Rin, whose brain had briefly gone numb from fear of the vision block, noticed something strange.
Do-hyeon had casually said something and it had passed naturally.
She asked him curiously.
“Huh? Then how did you know there was a corridor?”
“……Wait? What do you see?”
“……Eh?”
Do-hyeon also looked startled.
Then he wondered why he was seeing anything at all.
Do-hyeon’s reaction when he realized that made Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan stand there with utterly bewildered expressions.
Since they couldn’t see Do-hyeon, they turned their heads toward his voice.
“J-just, it looks like I can see it.”
“……Haa.”
“……Huu.”
For some reason, the sound of their blood pressure rising crackled in the air.
Anyway, thanks to Do-hyeon, both of them had come out of their panic.
Instead, anger was rising in them, but that wasn’t Do-hyeon’s concern.
Once again ‘looking’ at his comrades, Do-hyeon noticed something odd for a split second.
Even though it was a Vision Block, he figured out how he was seeing.
‘Ah, ultrasound!’
Ever since he got ultrasound, he had been spraying it around while using detection and Analysis together.
It had become a habit, so natural that even with the vision block he felt like he was seeing just fine.
That was why he hadn’t noticed the big difference.
Do-hyeon scratched his head and explained.
While telling them about the bat people he had met and killed yesterday, he mentioned that he had learned ultrasound then.
“……No way, how can a human learn ultrasound???”
“……Is that even possible?”
Both of them looked at Do-hyeon like he was a monster and he explained the misunderstanding.
He had easily obtained it through Analysis, but it was a technique that even a human could use.
In fact, he hadn’t learned that people couldn’t fly because wings didn’t exist, and that proved he could use ultrasound.
So Do-hyeon explained based on his Analysis.
“Basically, by colliding mana and receiving the reflected signals to analyze, you can do it too?”
“……The principle of colliding mana to create vibrations… is that right?”
“Hoo, I heard there’s a similar technique called Sword Name…”
When he heard it, it seemed like the principle wasn’t impossible, so their anger subsided a little.
Do-hyeon nodded, a little relieved.
Then Hana Rin asked a sharp question again.
“But how do you hear the reflected ultrasound?”
“Can you even feel the returning ultrasound to begin with?”
“Eh? I can.”
“……”
“……”
Their voices fell silent again, and Do-hyeon turned his head, unable to avoid the stare they were giving him.