Chapter 548: Eternal Spire[R-18] (67)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 548: Eternal Spire[R-18] (67)
Seo Eun-ha drew her Ray Pier and shouted urgently.
“Battle formation! Rear guard, fall back!”
But it was too late. The goblins charged all at once, and the narrow passage left no room for the fourteen of them to form a proper line.
“Aaargh!”
The man from C-Group at the very front screamed as a goblin’s axe sliced into his shoulder. Blood splattered everywhere, and fear spread through the team in an instant.
I calmly observed the goblins’ movements.
That’s the one.
Among the horde was a seemingly ordinary goblin warrior. But its eyes were different.
A doppelganger on the 1st floor… On top of that, the power I’m sensing from it is at least 6th-floor level. Now I get what kind of special dungeon this is.
The rule of this special dungeon was simple. The boss was determined by the highest-level person in the party.
In other words, that thing was born because of me.
What a shitty draw.
I thought for a moment. Should I save all the team members, or just look after Seo Eun-ha and Han So-young and abandon the rest?
The decision came quickly.
This is a golden opportunity to comfort a mentally shattered Seo Eun-ha. I couldn't care less about the lives of these insects.
And most importantly, it would be too conspicuous if a low-level participant openly killed that doppelganger.
Just then, Han So-young cried out from beside me, her voice trembling.
“The, the magic is ready!”
The moment she tried to raise her hand, a goblin lunged at her.
Swish!
A gleaming axe flew toward her neck.
I reflexively threw myself forward and snatched the creature’s wrist.
Crack!
With the sound of bone breaking, the goblin let out a grotesque shriek. I slammed it into the wall.
Thud!
“Hey, hey, I won’t let you get away with touching So-young!”
I deliberately drew their aggro with an exaggerated tone as I dealt with the charging goblins. Blood and screams echoed through the narrow passage, and a moment later, the chaotic fight was over.
Fortunately, no one else had died. The only one dead was the rogue from B-Group whose voice had been mimicked earlier. The rest had suffered injuries of varying degrees but were still able to fight.
And the doppelganger…
“…Seo Eun-ha. One person is dead. Are we… going to continue to the boss room in this state?”
I don’t know when it devoured the instructor, but the creature had already transformed perfectly into his body.
Unaware, Seo Eun-ha pressed her lips together grimly and looked around at the team members.
“…What do you all want to do?”
Their reactions were uniformly filled with fear and confusion.
“Don’t you think it’s too dangerous with all the traps? Even with you and Geum Tae-yang here…”
“And those goblins… they were much stronger than we thought…”
“This is weird! There was no intel about goblin warriors appearing this early!”
As fear spread, the doppelganger coolly exploited the opening.
“You’ve all been here for a month, you should know this by now. Getting into a good guild means securing a high probability of survival and safety. If your evaluation drops here… you’ll be weeded out. Is that what you want?”
The team members’ faces turned pale. On top of their anxiety and fear, another layer of pressure settled in.
“Ugh… that’s…”
Some bit their lips, while others avoided eye contact and lowered their heads.
Seo Eun-ha glanced around for a moment before speaking decisively.
“…Let’s put it to a vote. Whether we continue or stop here. Raise your hand if you want to keep going.”
At her words, seven of the fourteen, including me, raised their hands. Most of those who didn’t were from the lower-tier groups, the ones lacking in skill.
“…It’s a tie even if I vote against it.”
The moment Seo Eun-ha muttered that, the vanguard from B-Group raised his voice.
“Hey, are you guys really going to stop here? You know what’ll happen if our evaluations go to shit!”
A harsh rebuttal immediately shot back from the other side.
“Dammit, you want us to throw away our only lives for this?! It’s over if you die!”
“What are you going to accomplish if you’re scared of a few damn goblins?!”
Voices escalated in an instant. Sharp words clashed in the passage, heightening the tension.
Just then, the doppelganger in the instructor’s form stepped forward. The noisy chatter subsided for a moment.
“Neither of you is wrong.”
Its voice was low and strangely persuasive.
“But remember this. This isn’t a simple adventure. Those who get scared and back down here… will always back down in the future. No guild will accept someone like that.”
At those words, a few others slowly raised their hands after deep consideration. A voice mixed with anger and resignation followed.
“Fuck… even if we get a good evaluation… we’re from F-Group, so we can’t get into a good place anyway…”
But their words were ignored, and the choice was made.
All that was left was to head for the boss room.
*
The deeper we went, the more the dungeon became a complex maze.
What started as a simple, straight passage began to split into endless forks. Left, right, and sometimes even stairs leading up or down. There were many choices, but no one except me knew the right path.
Every time we reached a fork, opinions were divided.
“Don’t you think the path with the wind blowing is more likely to lead to the exit?”
“No, the wider path must be the main route.”
“Instructor, what do you think?”
The doppelganger replied with a calm expression.
“Seo Eun-ha is the leader. Let’s follow her judgment.”
Seo Eun-ha thought for a moment before making a decision.
“Let’s go left.”
But an hour later, another three-way fork appeared. And then another, and another.
“This… is a maze.”
“It’s strange… there was no information about the dungeon being this large.”
A sense of unease began to creep in.
We found a relatively spacious area and decided to rest there.
“How are we on water and food?”
“We brought enough. We should be fine for a while.”
“When do you think the monsters will show up? It’s been too quiet, aside from the ones we fought earlier.”
“You’re right. It is strange.”
The team members sat in a circle and ate a simple dinner. They still seemed to have some composure.
I watched them quietly from a corner.
And the next day.
“Where’s Min-seok? Min-seok!”
The man from C-Group was gone. He had been following right behind, but when they turned around, the spot was empty. Not even a footprint remained. It was as if he had never existed in the first place.
“Huh? Where did Min-seok go?”
“Min-seok! Answer me!”
The team searched the area, but there was no trace of him.
“This is weird… he was definitely here.”
“Maybe he got lost and is wandering around?”
The doppelganger spoke with a worried expression.
“Let’s search some more. He couldn’t have gone far.”
But even after another hour of searching, Min-seok did not appear.
The remaining members gathered in one place for an uneasy sleep, but no one could close their eyes. In the silence, the tension grew sharper.
The next morning.
“Min-seok still isn’t back?”
“He might have gotten more lost trying to find his way alone…”
“We can’t just wait here. Let’s keep moving and look for him along the way.”
Everyone agreed to follow Seo Eun-ha’s decision. But the atmosphere had already grown heavy.
And that afternoon.
This time, it was more blatant.
“I… need to use the restroom.”
A man from B-Group disappeared into a corner. But 10, then 20 minutes passed, and he didn’t return.
“Jun-hyeok is taking too long.”
“Should we go check on him?”
When they went to look, all that remained was a dark red bloodstain spreading on the ground.
“Blood… It’s blood!”
“Jun-hyeok! Jun-hyeok!”
Screams and shouts echoed through the dungeon.
Now, any trace of composure had vanished from the team members’ faces.
“Something… something is hunting us.”
“You mean there’s a monster?”
Fear began to spread.
No one dared to act alone anymore. Even to go to the bathroom, they moved in pairs.
But that was useless too.
“Ji-yeon, Yu-jin! Where did you go?!”
Two women from D-Group who had gone together disappeared at the same time.
Now, only 10 remained.
And so the days passed.
“Instructor… Instructor, why aren’t you doing anything?”
A woman from E-Group asked the doppelganger, her voice trembling.
“How… how long do we have to stay like this? People keep disappearing…”
The doppelganger remained silent, merely staring ahead with a blank expression.
“Answer me! What are we supposed to do?!”
Her voice grew sharper, a scream mixed with terror and despair.
That night, she disappeared, along with the instructor.
This threw everyone into shock. With the instructor, whom they had considered their safety net, gone, everyone panicked.
“The instructor is gone too!”
“It’s really over now…”
It was the moment the team’s last hope was shattered.
Seo Eun-ha’s fingertips were trembling. Her once-determined eyes had clouded over, and even her breathing was ragged.
“Something… something is wrong. Why do they keep… why…”
Realizing something was amiss, the party tried to escape the dungeon immediately, but they were lost. With each passing day, another person vanished. Soon, only I, Seo Eun-ha, and Han So-young were left.
Seo Eun-ha was slumped against a wall, staring into space and muttering to herself.
“Why… why do they keep disappearing… What… what did I do wrong…”
Her lips quivered. Fear and guilt overlapped, and she could no longer form proper sentences.
“Eun-ha eonni… are you okay?”
Han So-young approached her with a worried face, but all she received in return was a vacant stare, devoid of any reaction.
At that moment, I looked at Seo Eun-ha and slowly raised the corners of my mouth.
Her mind is being consumed by the darkness of the dungeon.
At this rate, she would truly break completely. I didn’t want her to be that broken.
Time for me to step in.
I sat down in front of Seo Eun-ha. My voice was serious, not its usual playful tone.
“Hey, Eunha-jjang. If you’re the leader, act like it and get a grip.”
“……”
Seo Eun-ha slowly lifted her head, but her eyes had already lost their focus. In the pitch-black despair, only a faint, dying light remained.
“It’s… it’s all my fault… I’m not qualified to be a leader… that’s why everyone…”
“Don’t say that.”
I grabbed her shoulders. As if forcing her limp, trembling body to straighten, I met her eyes directly.
“If it weren’t for you, we would have all been dead long ago. We’ve survived this long thanks to you.”
“But… but…!”
“Seo Eun-ha.”
When I called her name firmly, her trembling gaze barely managed to lock onto mine.
“Trust me. I’ll get us all out of here alive.”
At my words, Seo Eun-ha’s eyes wavered violently. A moment later, as if her suppressed emotions were bursting forth, she screamed at me.
“What can you do?! You’ve just been standing by this whole time!”
“Eonni! What are you saying?!”
Han So-young shouted, her eyes filled with anger.
“If it weren’t for Oppa, we’d all be dead by now! He stayed up all night, stood watch, and protected us the whole time!”
“And what good did that do?!”
Seo Eun-ha shrieked, shaking her head again.
“In the end, he couldn’t stop a single team member from disappearing!”
Han So-young tried to argue back, but I raised a hand to stop her. Then, I gripped Seo Eun-ha’s shoulders again and whispered.
“Get a hold of yourself. You heard it in class.”
I stared straight through her, speaking firmly.
“If you get agitated and panic in a dungeon… it’s only a matter of time before you destroy yourself.”
Seo Eun-ha only let out shaky breaths, saying nothing.
I met her eyes and spoke seriously.
“First, let’s calm down. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Follow me.”
I took an exaggerated breath.
“Woo—!”
“Woo…”
“Hoo—!”
“H… Hey…”
“Woo-hoo~! That’s it! You’re doing great, Eunha-jjang. It feels like you’re already halfway back to life, doesn’t it~?”
I deliberately snapped my fingers. Seo Eun-ha shot me a dumbfounded glare and turned her head away, but the corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
“Haa… you really are something else… even in a situation like this…”
“Hehe, this is the Geum Tae-yang style of mental care!”
“……You’re an idiot.”
Seo Eun-ha’s voice still trembled, but the completely broken demeanor from before had subsided.
Just then, Han So-young pouted beside me and shot her hand up.
“Hmph, Oppa! Give me some mental care too! Why are you only doing it for Eonni?!”
I grinned and spread my arms wide.
“Alright~ Then I’ll just have to care for you both, won’t I?”
The moment I finished speaking, I pulled both of them into a sudden hug.
“Kyaa… wh-what are you doing?!”
Seo Eun-ha struggled, but her body was drained of strength. She couldn’t even push me away properly, only squirming in my arms. Han So-young, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction.
“Heek… Oppa’s arms are so warm…♡”
She burrowed herself into my chest, burying her face. Her cheeks were flushed bright red, but her lips were curled into a happy smile.
Pleased by the stark contrast between the two women, I smirked and held them both tighter—the struggling Seo Eun-ha with one arm, and the willingly clinging Han So-young with the other.
“How is it? Aren’t Oppa’s arms surprisingly comfortable?”
“Wh-who’s your Oppa…! And that hand… move it right now!”
“Hehe… being in your arms, Oppa… it’s strangely calming. It feels like all the scary things are disappearing…”
At Han So-young’s words, I grinned and pulled the two women even closer.
“Good, then from today on, these arms are your sanctuary~ No matter how much the dungeon tries to devour us, it can’t touch you in my embrace.”