The Bandits' Conspiracy
"Kang Mi-hyun, that woman's responsibility is crystal clear." Yet Seo Moon-hyun had desperately tried to whitewash and defend her. There was no epilogue to the incident, but I suspected the righteous Yee Eun-chae must have been deeply disappointed in him and turned away. No matter how aggressively she tried to appeal to the protagonist as a heroine, the Yee Eun-chae I had experienced in this world would never condone such hypocrisy.
"Cheon, are you ready to head in?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."
"Me too. I'm all set."
Yee Eun-chae drew her sword, sharpening her senses with a focused intensity that contrasted sharply with her usual innocent demeanor. I nodded at the sight of her turning serious the moment battle began.
"Alright, let's go in."
With that, Yee Eun-chae and I stepped into the dungeon together.
* * *
Kieeek!
The first thing that greeted us inside was an endless swarm of Killer Ants multiplying without restraint.
"What the hell is this?"
Yee Eun-chae had barely entered before cutting down a few charging Killer Ants and sending their corpses tumbling over the cliff. She now stared at the interior with a bewildered expression. The dungeon's interior, a fragment of another dimension, took the form of a mountain filled with rocks and soil, offering a clear view straight down. Killer Ants had proliferated along every path leading downward, and their numbers even crawled up the sheer rock faces where humans couldn't possibly walk. The sticky oozes scattered everywhere could also scale the cliffs, turning the terrain itself into a living hell for mana awakeners.
'The path is about three meters wide. Not narrow, but not exactly spacious either.'
The fighting space was constrained, yet the enemies weren't the type to engage in straightforward frontal assaults—they could fire sticky mucus. Even the mucus that fell to the ground took several minutes to harden, meaning a single misstep could glue your feet in place. It was the kind of dungeon that offered no profit while being brutally difficult and dangerous, which explained why mana awakeners had left it alone.
'The monster composition and terrain are both a hassle.'
However, what truly unsettled Yee Eun-chae wasn't the structure. She had come here precisely because she knew what kind of dungeon it was. Her shock came from the sheer, bottomless number of Killer Ants visible below. The ground looked pitch black with their mass. At this rate, the dungeon would overflow within a day.
"Cheon, this is strange. According to the timeline, the Killer Ants shouldn't have multiplied to this extent yet."
When the warriors of the Yee family had scouted nearby dungeons as the advance party, they had gathered basic information on this one as well. Her smartphone contained records of this dungeon, stored in the family's private app rather than any official one. It listed details on dungeons near the Yee estate, including predictions about monster proliferation rates.
"How many were there originally?"
"Not even a tenth of this. There should have been nearly two months left before overflow..."
Yee Eun-chae's bewildered gaze soon settled on a single possibility.
"Then... this doesn't seem like a natural phenomenon. Cheon, I think someone has interfered."
Her words were correct.
"Yeah. Someone definitely orchestrated this."
As I spoke, I identified exactly who had set this up and what they had done.
'Kang Mi-hyun's subordinate, Lee Gyu-cheok. So he's the one who tried to trigger the dungeon overflow.'
He had repeatedly inflicted minor stimuli on the dungeon to accelerate monster proliferation. For example, he wounded the dungeon in various places to make it register the presence of intruders, and he inflicted light injuries on the monsters without killing them. In response, the dungeon would produce monsters at an accelerated rate to eliminate the threat. While this could prove fatal to anyone without sufficient skill, repeated stimuli ensured the proliferation continued even after the intruder left, as the dungeon failed to confirm the invader's death and prepared for their return.
'But Lee Gyu-cheok isn't someone who would get caught easily.'
As a villain affiliated with the bandit group and based in Korea, his abilities were far from the weakest in their ranks. As an active villain, he remained a dangerous opponent even for the current Yee Eun-chae.
'In the original story, Eun-chae only encountered him after she had grown stronger.'
"Hmm, I'm sensing something."
"Cheon?"
"It seems we're not alone in this dungeon, Eun-chae. There's someone else here besides us."
Yee Eun-chae didn't question how I knew or express doubt. Her absolute trust in me led her to ask something else instead.
"Cheon, is there a high chance that person is the culprit behind the dungeon's current state?"
"Almost one hundred percent."
At my answer, a fierce killing intent flashed in Yee Eun-chae's violet eyes.
"Then I absolutely cannot forgive them."
Hearing her words, I prepared to extend my hand toward the countless monsters below.
'When it comes to wiping out large numbers, magic is far better than a sword.'
There was no need to drag this out.
"Let's clear out the monsters first, then deal with him."
Lee Gyu-cheok was hiding using some stealth artifact while accelerating the monsters' growth. His miscalculation was underestimating that the Yee family would bother investigating an unpopular dungeon in the area. Normally, people would only give such places a cursory check before either handling the threat or leaving it to the government if it grew too dangerous. However, the justice-driven Yee Eun-chae had taken an interest in this dungeon's information and continued receiving updates through the family's app on her phone, allowing her to compare the current monster count and proliferation speed against past records. Naturally, such an obvious intervention would catch her attention.
'This must be unexpected for him too.'
It was Lee Gyu-cheok's misfortune that he had never imagined someone as righteous as Yee Eun-chae would meticulously monitor even an abandoned, unpopular dungeon. Yet for the people living near Uidong and the surrounding areas, it was a stroke of luck.
"Cheon, are you planning to demonstrate your ability to handle such large numbers quickly?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm. With your power, nothing would seem strange, so I'll look forward to it."
I smiled faintly at her words and added, "Don't be too surprised if it's beyond your imagination."
Then, gathering magic power at my fingertips, I casually unleashed a spell.
"Continuous Explosion."
Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaang!
A series of explosions erupted, sweeping away countless Killer Ants without leaving a trace. While I had adjusted the range and not eliminated every single one in the dungeon, the massive swarm gathered below along with the sticky oozes mixed among them had been completely wiped out.
"Ah."
Yee Eun-chae stared at me in a daze, momentarily speechless from the sheer destructive power she had just witnessed.
"Incredible..."
Yet her face soon lit up with pure admiration. Even though I had displayed strength far beyond her expectations, there was no doubt or suspicion in her eyes—only trust and genuine awe.
"Cheon, how many monsters remain in the dungeon now?"
"For now, the Killer Ants and sticky oozes on the path leading down the mountain outside the explosion's range are still intact, so maybe around five percent are left."
The exit was currently behind us. There was only one entrance and exit.
"They were guarding this place, so he'll show up eventually. But it would be better to catch him before he tries anything else in the dungeon."
"I agree, Cheon."
"Then, Eun-chae, would you like to come into my arms for a moment?"
"Wh-what? Wh-what are you saying?"
Her serious expression flushed red with embarrassment, and she began to stammer.
"If we want to get down quickly, I'm going to carry you and fly straight to the destination. It'll be the fastest way to reach the villain."
Descending on foot would mean constant interference from the remaining monsters, and circling around the mountain would take even longer.
"Ugh, sorry. I misunderstood. I-I understand. Uuu!"
Still stammering from embarrassment, Yee Eun-chae sheathed her sword and carefully moved beside me, ready to be held. I lifted her in a princess carry. The pleasant scent wafting from her made me feel refreshed.
"Let's go, then."