The Hidden Vault of the Orcs
"Eek!" Jubel threw himself flat on the ground the moment Cain raised his weapon. Right then, a system message popped up in front of Cain.
The Wandering Orc tribes recognize you.
The Orcs are absolutely furious that you have shamelessly set foot in their fortress!
"...?!"
The dungeon they were currently in was supposed to be a safe, cleared zone. For the Wandering Orc tribe to recognize Cain here of all places...
"What?!"
-*Squeeeal!* Enemy of the Great Chieftain! How dare you set foot here! Even if it costs us our lives, we will never forgive you!
"W-wait a minute! I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding..."
*Rumble!*
The walls of the fortress corridor suddenly began to close in, and a bizarre grinding sound echoed from beneath the floor.
"What's going on?! What the hell is this?!"
Both the raider players and Tae-hyun's party looked around in sheer panic. No one had expected such a drastic change in a dungeon that had already been cleared countless times!
For Tae-hyun, who possessed the highest Engineering and Blacksmithing skills in the entire group, a different system message popped up.
The Wandering Orc tribes have activated all hidden traps within the collapsing fortress.
The fortress is completely collapsing. Escape immediately!
"..."
There was nowhere to run. Tae-hyun glared at Cain.
"You bastard..."
"This one isn't my fault!!"
With those final words, every player in the corridor plummeted through the collapsing floor.
You have entered the Hidden Dungeon. Logout is temporarily restricted. Logging out will result in a forced exit and a penalty will be applied.
You have entered this dungeon for the first time. As a bonus...
"They say an unlucky guy can break his nose even if he falls backward..." Tae-hyun muttered as he landed on the ground.
He quickly assessed the situation. This was a dungeon that quite a few players had already cleared, yet no one had ever reported anything like this happening. Which meant Tae-hyun's party had somehow triggered the conditions for a hidden dungeon.
It's probably because Cain and I have such high Infamy among the Orcs of the Uruk region...
The mistake was treating this like a run-of-the-mill dungeon just because everyone else had cleared it so easily. He should have been on guard the moment he saw "Orc" in the name!
"Oof!"
"Argh!"
"Ack!"
The raider players landed with a series of short groans. Though startled, they read the dungeon system messages, slapped their knees, and cheered.
"I knew it! It's Kim Tae-hyun! I told you there was a hidden dungeon here! What did I say? There was no way Kim Tae-hyun would just walk into a boring, ordinary dungeon!"
"W-wow, it's true! We're actually in a hidden dungeon! This is amazing!"
"..."
Tae-hyun stared at them blankly. They were so swept up in the excitement of discovering a hidden dungeon that they hadn't even noticed Tae-hyun and Cain glaring at them from right next to them.
*Tap, tap.*
"...?"
"Now that you guys are done talking, we can get back to what we were doing, right? Hmm?"
Cain spoke to Jubel, practically radiating murderous intent. The way he casually spun his heavy weapon with one hand made it look like he was ready to chop them into mincemeat at any second.
"Hold on, hold on, Cain. Sure, these guys followed us to see if they could scavenge some scraps, and yeah, one of them did PK you and strip your gear back in your old guild days... but attacking them like this is a bit too harsh, don't you think?"
"...Do you even hear yourself right now?!" Cain asked, utterly dumbfounded. No matter how he looked at it, it wasn't harsh at all!
-We just entered an unknown dungeon.
-So?
-So, the more meat shields we have, the better.
-...
In short, he wanted to use them as cannon fodder! Cain was filled with admiration. To make a cold, calculating decision to exploit others even in a sudden crisis like this...
This guy is an absolute professional at screwing people over!
-I feel like you're thinking something weird about me.
-N-no, not at all! Anyway, I get it! I think doing what you said is a great idea!
Cain quickly agreed. Turning back to glare at Jubel, Cain spoke.
"I'd love nothing more than to PK you right now, camp your respawn point to PK you again, and then PK you a third time for good measure...! But since Kim Tae-hyun spoke up for you, I'll let it slide! Hmph!"
"...?!?!"
The raider players were utterly bewildered by Cain's words. What had gotten into him?
"He's sparing us because Kim Tae-hyun said so?"
"Is it really because of Kim Tae-hyun?"
"Well, they did say Kim Tae-hyun has mellowed out lately..."
While the raiders babbled in confusion, Tae-hyun scanned their surroundings. The previous dungeon had been on the surface, but this one was deep underground.
Wait, the system message mentioned 'two races'. If it's two races... Orcs and... Goblins? What could be valuable enough to make two races wage war against each other?
"Tae-hyun, Tae-hyun!" Lee Da-bi nudged Tae-hyun's side.
"...?"
"Look over there. It's an ore vein!"
"...!"
Where Lee Da-bi was pointing, there were indeed iron veins waiting to be mined.
You possess the Advanced Blacksmithing Skill.
You have discovered an exceptionally high-quality Advanced Iron Ore Vein.
Thanks to having raised his Blacksmithing skill to Advanced, he could easily assess the quality of the vein even with a low Mining skill.
What the? Why are there so many veins here?
Having been a blacksmith in Pan-On 1, Tae-hyun knew all too well how crucial high-quality ore veins were. Whenever one was discovered, nearby guilds would often occupy the entire area just to monopolize it.
You possess the Advanced Blacksmithing Skill.
You have discovered an exceptionally high-quality Advanced Black Iron Ore Vein.
You have discovered an exceptionally high-quality Advanced Silver Ore Vein.
But this place...
If other players found this, they'd lose their minds.
To have this many high-quality veins in one spot was absurd. Not just blacksmiths, but any player would go absolutely wild trying to get their hands on them.
"Should we mine them?"
"Do you even have the Mining skill?"
"Of course! I'm a Merchant!"
"Merchants don't usually level up Mining."
"Coming from you, that's a bit rich..."
It really wasn't something Tae-hyun—who had a skill tree so chaotic he was practically a jack-of-all-trades—had any right to say. Lee Da-bi expertly pulled out a pickaxe and began swinging it at the vein. Her form showed she was no amateur.
*Clang! Clang!*
"Do you have a spare pickaxe I could borrow?"
"Do you even have the Mining skill?"
"I didn't level it, but my other skills should cover the difference."
Tae-hyun took the pickaxe and stepped up to a vein. Though he hadn't leveled Mining, his Advanced Blacksmithing skill provided a decent bonus. On top of that, he had his monstrous Luck stat and the class skills of the Avatar of Archisus.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
"...?"
"Tae-hyun, look! The Flurry skill! If I use this, I can get two or even three ores at once!"
"Oh... wow."
Lee Da-bi demonstrated a flashy skill where her pickaxe split into multiple afterimages. It was a skill unlocked only after reaching the Intermediate rank in Mining! It was an incredibly useful skill that allowed a player to extract far more ore from a single vein. Lee Da-bi's mining efficiency was easily on par with a dedicated miner class, and she looked quite proud of herself, knowing it.
"Why is your reaction so lukewarm? Isn't it cool? Do you have any idea how hard it is to pull two or three ores at once?!"
"...It was so cool I was temporarily left speechless."
"Oh, really?"
Lee Da-bi let out a bright laugh and went back to swinging her pickaxe.
Tae-hyun thought to himself: I'd better not tell her how many I just got.
For some reason, mining efficiency in Pan-On 2 felt even better than it had in Pan-On 1.
"Uh, excuse me, Kim Tae-hyun?"
"What is it?"
"...Aren't we going to explore the dungeon?"
"Ah, right. We should. Cain! Take these guys and go do a lap around the area."
Tae-hyun ordered the raider players around as if he were sending them out to walk a dog. Cain nodded eagerly, thrilled by the idea.
"Sounds great! Sounds great! I'll take them and be right back!"
"C-could you please come with us? We don't know what that guild leader... I mean, what Cain-nim will do to us when you're not looking..."
"What did you say, you punk?! You don't trust me?"
"Yes! We don't trust you at all!"
"...You, get over here."
Cain bristled as Jubel blurted out his honest thoughts.
"I can't go right now because I have to mine this," Tae-hyun said.
"But we're in a dungeon! Why would someone of your caliber... why not just let her do it? She's clearly great at it."
*Clang-clang-clang!*
Lee Da-bi was currently demonstrating a godlike pickaxe speed. However, Choi Sang-yun shook his head. Having played with Tae-hyun since Pan-On 1, he knew there was absolutely no way Tae-hyun would ever walk past a resource node like this.
"Forget it. Let's just go on our own. Tae-hyun, we'll head out first, alright?"
"Yeah. Don't forget to put them at the front of the line."
"Got it, got it."
"Wait, why are we at the front?"
"Because you guys are so reliable, of course. Let's move."
The raider players tilted their heads, sensing something was off, but before they could put two and two together, Choi Sang-yun, Cain, and Jeong Su-hyeok shoved them forward.
*Clang! Clang!*
"Oh dear. My pickaxe's durability is completely depleted."
"Hand it over. I'll repair it for you."
Tae-hyun kindly repaired Lee Da-bi's pickaxe.
Come to think of it, my own gear barely loses durability, so I haven't been able to level up my Repair skill in ages...
Repairing one's own gear was usually a steady source of skill experience for blacksmith players, but for Tae-hyun, it was practically a non-existent occurrence.
"Thank you! ...Wait, Tae-hyun, haven't you been using that same pickaxe this entire time?" Lee Da-bi asked, realizing something was strange. Mining usually ate through durability incredibly fast, yet Tae-hyun was somehow still using his very first pickaxe without a scratch.
It was all thanks to his absurd Luck stat!
"It's thanks to my Advanced Blacksmithing skill," Tae-hyun lied smoothly.
"Ah, I see. Advanced Blacksmithing... wait, when did you reach Advanced?"
Tae-hyun pretended not to hear and kept swinging his pickaxe.
*Clang!*
"We've pretty much cleared out this spot. It'll take a while to respawn, so let's move on."
"Do you think the others we sent ahead are doing alright?"
"Since they haven't whispered us, they're probably fine."
"Usually, whenever someone says that, a whisper immediately comes in..."
"...Don't jinx it."
Tae-hyun suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He could almost hear Cain screaming in his whispers: Hey! Kim Tae-hyun! We're doomed! What do we do?!
"Let's see if there are more veins this way... Alright. Metal Detection!"
A path illuminated before him. However, the path didn't lead toward a visible vein, but directly toward a solid, blocked wall.
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"It looks like there's something behind this..."
"With my Intermediate Mining skill, I can tell you that wall looks way too tough to break—"
*CRASH!*
Tae-hyun swung his pickaxe with all his might, completely shattering the wall.
"Huh?"
"...Never mind!"
"...!"
"...!"
Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi stared at each other. This system message...
"T-this is huge...!"
"Calm down. We don't know what's inside yet. It could just be a bunch of junk."
"Right, right...!"
Calming Lee Da-bi down with a steady voice, Tae-hyun stepped inside.
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
*Clatter!*
Lee Da-bi's foot brushed against some old boxes scattered on the floor. After checking for traps using his Engineering skill, Tae-hyun carefully opened them.
It was clear the Orcs had mined and refined these materials before storing them here! Tae-hyun let out a low whistle. In an instant, several ideas on how to utilize these materials flashed through his mind.
"Tae-hyun, look at this!"