Isolated (1)
A massive monster took shape within the mold-stench and the humid air — a hulking plant nearly four meters tall, a writhing mass of tangled roots and vines, its whole body armored in rotted bark and toxic mycelium. And at the very center of its chest, a single emerald crystal pulsed with light.
-Thwip!
A vine lashed out from the monster's core like a whip.
-KAANG!
"Kuugh!"
The first to react was Do Yoonchae, our vanguard. She darted forward in a blur and parried the strike, but she couldn't slice clean through the stalk and was knocked skidding backward.
"...Pretty stubborn, this thing."
"Plant-type monsters are weakest where the branches fork. Aim for the joint partway up the stalk."
"...How considerate of you to casually assign people difficult tasks."
"What, can't do it?"
"...As if that were possible."
I had only called it difficult, not impossible, and with that she reset her grip on her sword and readied herself to cut again. Han Sora, meanwhile, nocked a loaded arrow, took aim, and loosed it at the stalk joint I'd pointed out.
-Thwack!
"Got one!"
True to the effects of the Soul of Artemis suggestion, she pierced it on the very first shot.
-CRACK!
"...Not so hard after all."
From one side an arrow, from the other a blade — the two of them sheared through the Corrupted Vine Guardian's stalks from both flanks at once.
As for me, I pulled out a bottle I'd procured before we entered and hurled it at the monster with all my strength.
-Shatter!
-Grrk... gruhhk...
The moment a fine white mist spread across its body from the broken bottle, the vines that had been flying toward us recoiled and curled back in on themselves.
The two of them froze for a beat at the monster's unexpected reaction, so I explained even as I gave the next order.
"Termite poison! Hit it while it's distracted!"
"O-okay!"
"...You really do carry everything, don't you."
Shooting me an incredulous look, Yoonchae raised her sword and leapt. The tip of her blade bit into the guardian's twisted joint with a faint splitting crack —
-Grrrgggh...
"Khh, damn it...!!"
But the thing spun its whole body and whipped its spiraling vines around, and without landing a meaningful wound she sprang back out again, sword and all.
"Yoon-sung, you okay?!"
"...Going again."
Proving through action that worry was a luxury she couldn't afford, she re-gripped her sword and threw herself back into the fray. I decided she could be left alone for a while, and immediately gave Han Sora her next instructions as she nocked another arrow.
"Sora, can you see the gap at the top center of its head?"
"...Gap? Ah—found it!"
"That's probably the weak point. The important thing is sniping it the moment it cracks open, so I need you focused as hard as you can."
"...Got it. I wait for it to open, then shoot. Right?"
"Yeah."
"But at what timing do I—"
"You've got to focus properly and shoot, got it?!"
-Tadadak!
"Wh-what?! H-hey, Lee Seonho!!"
Mid-nock, I suddenly bolted forward, and Han Sora panicked, calling after me. I suppose it was fair for her to be flustered — the combat support specialist was striding up to nearly the vanguard's position.
'Still, the faster we finish this, the better.'
That said, with the termite poison keeping the monster's attention locked and the other two occupying it, there was no real risk to gamble on this time.
Ring of Samsara: Axe
-KRAKOOM!!
Turns out nothing beats an axe for chopping wood. I reached out with my right hand toward the vine-covered wall, summoned the axe, and drove it straight in, severing a stalk in one stroke.
Even branches that couldn't be cut by swinging a blade directly could be finished off this way.
-Uzzzzuzk...
The severed vines and branches crashed downward, and the monster's massive body began to tip.
"HRAAAAAAH!!"
-Crack, cra-cra-crack!!
At the same instant, Yoonchae's sword bored into the monster's roots in a relentless series of strikes, toppling it further. And just as the Vine Guardian poured out its mana in a desperate attempt to keep its bulk upright, the fissure at the center of its head split open a hair wider —
-VWEEEEEING!!
Han Sora's waiting shot came screaming in and drilled straight through the emerald gem.
-Shatter!!
-Grrk... grrrgggh...
With a grotesque sound like an ancient tree rotting through and snapping at the trunk, the hidden boss of the first floor came crashing down.
We hurried clear of the cloud of mold spores its collapse kicked up, and after waiting a moment, the white mist simply settled and faded away.
"...Guess we got it."
"......"
Knowing Yoonchae's personality, I had a feeling she'd say something, but mercifully, the dead monster did not lurch back to life like some flag from a manga or light novel. No matter how many magic incantations exist in the world, dead is dead.
"Hey, Lee Seonho! What the hell was that stunt just now?! You're frail — what if you'd gotten hurt doing that?!"
"The aggro was already split between you and Yoon-sung anyway. I judged I could handle cutting one stalk, so I moved in. That's all."
"That's not a combat support's job! If you'd told me, I could've sniped it from range and cut it myself—"
"...For once, Han Sora has a point. You're a combat support, Seonho, yet you moved recklessly."
"Once you're in a fight, what's the point of drawing lines between combat support and everyone else? If a combat support has the means to fight, then you fight."
"...Still, there was no need to take the risk."
...I'd expected a lecture from Han Sora, but I never imagined Yoonchae would back her up. The wording was different, but either way, both of them were worried about me — and honestly, confirming that put me in a pretty good mood.
'...Not that I have time to sit around feeling pleased with myself.'
Using "checking the monster's materials" as my excuse, I activated the teleportation stone embedded inside the Vine Guardian's corpse and jumped to the dungeon's third floor. From there, all I had to do was swiftly retrieve the Seed of Manaroot, kill the gatekeeper, and take the return gate back. The third-floor boss might have been a struggle, but the gatekeeper alone? With either Han Sora or Yoonchae at my side, I could beat it into paste.
"Let's check the materials first. No idea what this thing was exactly, but if it's plant-type there should at least be a core or a mana stone, so we'll collect whatever we—"
-Psshhh.
"Heok—hah.... F-found you.... S-Seonho...."
"......Seo Woojin?"
"......"
"Haah, haahh.... I made it, in t-time...."
...Fuck.
Why is this bastard running his mouth all day long today?
A little earlier — around the time Seonho's party had been locked in battle with the Corrupted Vine Guardian.
Woojin's party had just finished a large-scale battle of its own.
-SHLUK!
"Ghk—haaaah...!!"
On the edge of collapse, Seo Woojin scraped together the last of his strength and swung his sword, driving the blade into the flank of the final Poison Spike Wolf. With that, he snuffed out the last of the pack — and then his legs gave out and he crumpled to the ground.
'Somehow... '
...Somehow, he'd won.
The fight had broken out without warning, and he'd swung his sword with everything he had until, at last, it was over.
But calling it a simple victory would have been generous. The party's losses were nothing to scoff at — of the four of them, only two had all four limbs intact, and one of those two was Seo Woojin himself.
"......"
"Fucking hell.... Because of that dog bastard Seo Woojin, look what happened...."
Chae Eunbi lay sprawled on the ground with both her legs bitten off, staring blankly at nothing. Yoo Ahrin, having lost her right arm and her bow along with it, fixed Woojin with a gaze brimming over with hatred and resentment.
Lee Hayeon, the shieldbearer, was at least whole — but only compared to those two. With a sprained left ankle and bite wounds big and small covering her body, she was in just as much agony.
"Fuck, we almost died back there.... Because of you.... You—because of you, we all almost died...."
"......"
Carcasses of the Poison Spike Wolf pack lay strewn around them.
Judging by the number of bodies visible at a glance — two or three packs must have swarmed them at once when they heard the commotion — there had to be a good dozen or more.
Even a four-person party would have struggled in that fight, and they were hardly a party of seasoned hunters — just students aspiring to be. Worse, none of them had been in decent condition when it started. The fact that all of them were still breathing was nothing short of a miracle.
"It—It wasn't just my fault. If you hadn't been screaming your head off in the first place—"
"YOU dragged us all the way here with your goddamn shrieking!! If you had half a brain in that skull, I wouldn't even have to yell at—mmph!"
"Arin, calm down. If you keep shouting and the monsters come swarming again... I won't be able to protect you this time either."
"Mmph—hmmph...."
She was furious and embittered.
She'd barely scraped through a life-or-death crisis that wasn't even her fault, come out of a battle with nothing gained at all, and the sheer unfairness of it was burning her up. And on top of that, she couldn't even vent her feelings freely — the frustration boiled over, and hot tears streamed down her face.
Even Lee Hayeon, who had followed Woojin blindly until now, had no choice but to coldly take stock of reality.
"Let's head back for now. Woojin, you carry Eunbi. I'll support Arin, so—"
"...If you're going back, go without me."
"......What did you say, Woojin?"
"I said go without me. I'm going deeper in."
"You bas—mmph!!"
Hayeon hastily clapped a hand over Ahrin's mouth as her voice spiked on instinct, then quietly met Woojin's gaze. And in that moment, she too finally lost whatever faith she had left in his selfishness.
"Fine. Do whatever you want. Arin, can you walk on your own? I think I'll have to carry Eunbi back."
"...What, did the love-glasses finally come off that retard bastard?"
"......Yeah. I think I went a little insane for a while there."
In the end, three of them resolved to head back — Woojin's stubbornness be damned.
In their state, running into even a single monster on the way out could mean total annihilation. But there was nothing for it. No matter how intact their limbs were, they'd all judged that turning back now was safer than venturing deeper into the dungeon with 'Woojin' as their leader.
Emergency treatment had stopped the bleeding, but the severed limbs still needed proper care — and above all, getting out of the dungeon before the Poison Spike Wolf's venom spread through their bodies was the priority. They didn't even have time to harvest materials from the ten-odd monsters they'd slain. A dungeon expedition with nothing gained and everything lost.
"Fucking hell. Just go in alone and drop dead, you piece of shit."
"...Arin, let's move."
"......"
Seo Woojin pressed on into the dungeon's depths with blind, almost deranged steps. The three of them, unable to bear the sight of his back a moment longer, turned at last and made their way toward the dungeon's entrance.