Into the Belly of the Beast

No matter how much the crowd wailed, their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cries fell on deaf ears—the streamers had already shut down their broadcasts. Meanwhile, some of those who had been watching the stream reacted differently.

Representatives from broadcasting stations, streaming platforms, and other corporations desperate to acquire Pandemonium Online footage immediately realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A jackpot that might only come around once in a generation!

Normally, footage of Korean players was broadcast by Korean networks. Due to national barriers, audiences rarely went out of their way to watch foreign players when they had their own local rankers to follow. But that only applied to ordinary players. For a player of Tae-hyun's caliber, the rules were entirely different. Even if a broadcasting station in Luxembourg aired his gameplay, the locals would watch it with tears of gratitude.

In other words... not just Korean networks, but broadcasting stations from all over the globe were now competitors. It was bound to be a cutthroat bidding war, meaning they had to move a step faster than anyone else.

Everyone instinctively knew that while the terms of the contract were important, money alone wouldn't be enough to settle this. After all, any corporation attempting to buy the rights to the Korean National Team's footage was already a massive conglomerate. If the financial terms were similar, the ultimate deciding factor would be sincerity. Sincerity!

The reason players sometimes signed even under less favorable terms was because, in the end, contracts were deals made between human beings. No matter how lucrative the offer, it meant nothing if the players chose to shake hands with someone else.

Anticipating the fierce competition ahead, the tension between the corporate representatives was already suffocating.

'It's... massive!'

That was the collective thought that crossed everyone's mind the moment they stepped inside. Generally, people expected labyrinth walls to be just slightly taller than a person, or at most, twice their height. However, the walls of the Labyrinth of Hungry Chaos towered so high into the sky that their peaks were completely lost to sight. Furthermore, the walls were not made of ordinary stone or brick, but of the condensed energy of the Hungry Chaos itself. The overwhelmingly massive maze radiated a deeply ominous aura.

'Hmm. If I blow this place up, does that mean I'm blowing up its stomach?'

'True.'

He had brought some incredibly potent bombs just in case, but even to Tae-hyun's eyes, they felt woefully insufficient to blow up this endlessly vast labyrinth. He had to detonate them at a critical juncture. If this place was indeed the beast's stomach, he needed to get as close to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its heart as possible!

“Let's go this way!”

“What are you... It's this way! It is written so in our order's historical records!”

“Hah! What nonsense... Are you sure those records are even accurate?! Our bishop cast a spell, and the results clearly point this way!”

“What does the Beretarba Church know anyway! The holy magic of the Beretarba Church isn't even that strong!”

“Are you finished talking?! And what makes the Phytos Church so great? We can write history books too! You there! Bring me paper and a pen! I shall write that the Phytos Church is a cult of idiots!”

“W-Why, you insolent fools?!”

The church NPCs were already bickering, and they had barely even arrived. Watching them, Tae-hyun thought to himself:

'Looking at this, blowing the whole place up with a bomb seems much more realistic than trying to clear it properly.'

Since he had borrowed prominent NPCs from various religious orders, he had expected a certain level of friction. But fighting over which entrance to take right at the threshold?

'That sounds plausible. Maybe I should use that excuse in the future.'

He could steal another church's authority and then make excuses: 'Urgh! The Hungry Chaos compelled me, I had no choice!' Or attack another order and claim: 'Urgh! The Hungry Chaos deceived me, I had no choice!'

'What a shame.'

The Phytos Church insisted on the leftmost entrance. The Beretarba Church demanded the rightmost.

“Divine Foresight.”

'Hmm.'

Putting the penalties aside, Divine Foresight highlighted all the entrances in the exact same way. It meant it didn't make a single bit of difference which path they chose.

'So these bastards are literally fighting over nothing. Useless fools.'

Tap, tap.

Persmes, the successor to the Bishop of the Idergo Cult, nudged Tae-hyun from the side. Having been captured, threatened, and dragged here against his will, he was easily ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the NPC with the lowest morale. Tae-hyun was naturally puzzled when such an NPC initiated a conversation.

“What is it?”

“Shh. I will look for an opportunity to help you escape.”

“...?!”

Tae-hyun suddenly had an epiphany. Ah... This guy still thinks I'm a member of the Idergo Cult!

'Does he think I was dragged here along with him?'

“Th-Thank you.”

“Until then, I will do my absolute best to protect you. We must protect our brothers of the same faith among these wicked people!”

'I'm starting to worry that if he ever finds out the truth, he'll sell his soul to the Hungry Chaos out of sheer betrayal.'

Was it really okay to keep this charade going?

'You went along with it too, so don't start acting innocent now.'

“By the way, which way do you think we should go?”

“Hmm. I believe we should go through the middle.”

“Why?”

“Lord Idergo told us that while they are all similar, the paladins of our order hid a great power along the middle path long ago.”

“!”

Indeed. It wasn't just the righteous churches that had entered the Labyrinth of Hungry Chaos. The evil cults had also formed raid parties to attack it! And the path the former Idergo paladins had taken was precisely the middle one.

'My father went through the middle too. Maybe the middle really is the best option.'

If many people had already gone through, there would be fewer monsters, more equipment to salvage, and authorities to steal... Though he was heavily leaning toward the latter, there was no downside either way.

“The left!”

“The right!”

“Left!”

“Right!”

“We are going through the middle. Everyone, advance!”

The two churches stopped their bickering, looking thoroughly displeased.

“Is there a reason...?”

“Because I am the commander, and I say so.”

Eloquence, tactics, reputation, achievements, and status. He possessed so many overwhelming titles and stats that normal NPCs found it nearly impossible to argue with him. Ultimately, the expedition turned and headed down the middle path.

“...Skeletons?”

From the far end of the corridor, which was as wide as an open field, a horde of skeletons appeared, leaving the players bewildered. Skeletons were low-grade undead monsters. Among all undead, they were considered the weakest and easiest to deal with. Since even a novice Necromancer could summon them, there was no need to explain further.

Yet, skeletons were appearing in a high-difficulty dungeon like this? What was this? A freebie?

“Everyone, be careful! These are no ordinary skeletons!” Tae-hyun warned.

Thanks to the information he had received from Kim Tae-san, he knew exactly what these skeletons were. Their true terror lay in their endlessly multiplying numbers.

“Purify Undead! Extinguish Light! Return to Dust!”

The priests immediately cast holy magic. Normally, skeletons would melt instantly under holy spells. But instead of melting, the skeletons split into two. Then four, then eight, then sixteen...

“!”

“They're multiplying?!”

“They are still just skeletons! Pour on the attacks!”

The church NPCs still underestimated them, but Tae-hyun gave a stern warning to the rest of his party.

“Artillery, get ready. Everyone, brace yourselves. I heard their numbers multiply like crazy.”

According to the testimonies of the Orc uncles, the numbers easily exceeded tens of thousands. They would have to fight an endless army of skeletons from the front, back, left, and right. Fighting a massive army that felt like the climax of a legendary quest right at the entrance of the dungeon... If they had prepared half-heartedly, they would have lost their lives in an instant.

“...Th-Those are really...” Lee Se-yeon trailed off.

“You want them, don't you?”

“Yeah. I want them.”

“......”

Ryu Tae-su looked at them in horror. Are you really thinking about that when looking at thousands of skeletons?

But Lee Se-yeon couldn't help it. Undead that continuously split and multiplied? As a Necromancer, she couldn't help but covet them.

“Should we stop the church people?”

“We have to attack. Apparently, there's a limit to their splitting, so we just have to keep beating them down.”

Crunch, crack!

When enough skeletons gathered, their combined energy allowed them to summon stronger undead. To prevent that, they had to blow them away beforehand. In that regard, the church priests and paladins were fighting quite well. Clad in various holy magics, they charged through the formations, literally melting the skeletons.

However...

'They're fearless. The paladins of our church would never fight like that.'

The paladins of the Archisus Church were cowardly and suspicious. Even against weak skeletons, they would never charge in blindly. They would poke and prod from a distance to check for traps first!

“Dominion of Black Death, Acquire Control, Return of the Undead!”

Lee Se-yeon cast her signature Necromancer area-of-effect spells, attempting to hijack control of the skeletons.

“Sacred Veil of Phytos, Descent of the Hammer, Shock Storm!”

“Hey! Why are you casting holy magic over there?!” Lee Se-yeon shouted in frustration.

The charging paladins of the Phytos Church were completely ignoring Lee Se-yeon's spell zones.

“We do not take orders from a Necromancer!”

“In the name of the God!”

“......”

Seeing Lee Se-yeon get ignored, Tae-hyun spoke up instead.

“Paladins! Fight without interfering with our magic!”

“We refuse!”

“To retreat before the undead is a disgrace!”

“...Artillery, are you ready? Open fire.”