Chapter 58: Alchemist’s Dungeon (2)
Chapter 58: Alchemist’s Dungeon (2)
“Oww… that hurts. You’re so mean.”
Sol rubbed her bottom, complaining about the pain. Hyun smiled sheepishly and offered her a hand, but Sol turned her head away with a huff to show her displeasure. Hyun looked crushed. With a hardened expression, I walked over and helped her up. Sol pouted but still let me support her.
“Why… Why are you only like that to me?”
“Hmph.”
Ahn Hyun squeezed between me and Ahn Sol, voicing his grievance, but all he got was a cold shoulder. Seeing Hyun’s crestfallen face again, I spoke in a stern voice.
“Sol.”
“Whyyy~?”
Perhaps not entirely pleased with me either, Ahn Sol answered in a slightly defiant tone, different from her usual innocent “Yes?” But when she saw my stern expression, she immediately lowered her eyes and bowed her head. And then, a moment later, a short scream escaped her lips.
“Hyaaaah?!”
…So much for helping her up. All that effort went to waste. They say that when you’re unlucky, you can fall backward and still break your nose. That was Ahn Sol to a T.
“Calm down. Calm down. That’s right. Good girl.”
One thing I had to wonder was why she had so deftly avoided Hyun, who was right in front of her, only to fall into my arms. Still, her shock seemed genuine. After comforting the trembling Sol, who had tears welling in her eyes, I calmly bent down.
Hyun and Yoojung also bent down to follow my lead, but they flinched and scrambled backward. The thing Sol had landed on was none other than the corpse of a User. A grotesque corpse, twisted in a bizarre fashion.
“Ugh…!”
Yoojung couldn’t hold it in any longer and threw up. Even I had to frown slightly at the sight of the body. This was the kind of thing only the most vicious members of the Murder Brigade used to do…
Seeing the bow snapped in half beside the body, I guessed they were a Ranger. Their neck and face, contorted in agony, came into view—twisted a full 360 degrees, the bones ripped right out. I’d thought any caravan that made it to a dungeon located between the middle and rear sections of the Black Forest would be skilled, but now I understood why they’d been annihilated.
“Fools… Crawling into a dungeon without a guide? They must have been completely insane. Or blinded by greed.”
I wasn’t exactly in a position to criticize others, but I muttered quietly to myself and bit my lip. I knew the atmosphere above and below ground would be like night and day, but this was like getting hit with a fastball right from the start. I continued to soothe Sol, who was shivering with her teeth chattering, and calmly surveyed our surroundings.
It was nothing more than a pitch-dark, straight corridor, leaving only forward or back as possible directions. From this point, there was no need to follow the caravan’s tracks. It was unfortunate that their bodies wouldn’t be discovered until two years later, but I couldn’t afford to do anything about that now.
After running the calculations in my head, I turned to the others, a sense of excitement bubbling within me. My face immediately soured. The initial shock of seeing the corpse must have been significant, as they all looked anxious and restless. Yoojung was even giving off a palpable vibe of wanting to return to the city. Looking at them, I spoke in a sharp voice.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen a User’s corpse? Don’t you know this is common in the Hall Plain? You’ve all killed Vagabonds before, so why are you making such a fuss over one body?”
At my rebuke, I could see them swallow hard. But they were still just glancing at each other, a flicker of hesitation remaining in their hearts. I continued in an even stronger tone.
“What’s wrong with all of you? Weren’t you all thrilled about finding a dungeon on our first expedition? How can you tuck your tails and run already? Do you have any idea how huge the reward will be if we succeed here?”
“……”
It might sound materialistic, but this was reality, and it was the truth. The way they were acting now was proof that they still hadn’t reached the mental standard I required. In the Hall Plain, you can’t think of people as ‘modern people.’ You have to see them as a ‘User,’ first and foremost.
“It seems you still don’t grasp the significance of finding a dungeon on our first expedition, just as you said. If we just endure this one time, do you know how much easier our future will be…? There’s a treasure right in front of you. Do you want to just kick it away? Are you satisfied with just having found it? Should we go back to the city?”
“N-No. Absolutely not. No, Hyung. I mean it.”
The first to get a grip was Ahn Hyun. He kept repeating “no” while slapping his own cheeks and shaking his head, as if steeling his resolve anew. I felt a bit of my frustration ease, but I couldn’t help but find them pathetic. Back when I was with Hyun’s older brother’s party or under Han Soyoung, it was a struggle just to keep up. Of course, I knew they couldn’t be compared, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of impatience.
“It’s the same for everyone. Forget expeditions, it’s not uncommon for entire caravans to be wiped out in explorations like this, let alone a few casualties. Of course, I want to keep you all alive. I have no intention of letting us get wiped out. But I can’t do it alone. I need your help.”
“…Yeah. Sorry. I get it. I’m sorry, Oppa.”
As I continued to press them, Yoojung finally seemed to snap out of it, and I saw her stand up with a determined look on her face. She was gritting her teeth and her legs were still trembling, clearly not over the shock of the gruesome corpse, but it was much better than vomiting.
“…Phew. Anyway… Sol, get back in the center. Yes, yes. Good girl. Let’s move out. Everyone, get in formation.”
Seeing them nod and take their positions at my command, I let out a sigh and turned around. I heard Yoojung mutter in a small voice from behind me, “He always plays favorites with Sol,” but I didn’t say anything.
Because whether you looked at it objectively or subjectively, Yoojung wasn’t wrong.
*
We advanced slowly in a triangular formation. It was slightly different from the one we’d used in the forest; Hyun and Yoojung, who were guarding the left and right flanks, had pulled in 45 degrees closer to me. The inside of the dungeon was quite dark, but the Light magic Sol maintained secured us a decent field of vision.
We walked through the pitch-black underground, remaining vigilant of our surroundings. Of course, my senses hadn't detected any traps or monsters yet. The only things we occasionally found were monsters that had been turned to ash or traps that had already been sprung. It seemed the caravan that entered before us had taken care of most of them. Thanks to them, our passage was easier, and I felt a little grateful.
I briefly wondered if the future might change and they would get all the exploration rewards, but it didn’t matter. I could just secretly kill them all and take everything back. With thoughts that would make the previous Users faint, I pressed onward.
Sol’s Light spell was still unstable, the orb of light flickering precariously. It couldn’t stay in one place, bobbing and weaving about. Visibly annoyed, Yoojung swatted at the orb with an irritable gesture whenever it drifted too close to her. The orb immediately floated away.
I didn’t understand why the two of them were having a war of nerves, but I decided to ask later and expanded my senses further.
“Hm.”
After walking for some time, I suddenly stopped and let out a low hum. The others tensed up, raising their weapons and extending their senses. A small part of me felt a sliver of satisfaction, thinking they were finally starting to look the part. Sol was already muttering a spell, even though no enemy had appeared. I raised a hand to ease their excessive caution and spoke in a calm voice.
“I sense a presence up ahead. It’s a bit strange. I think we need to get closer.”
At my signal, the others, who had been lowering their guard, quickly raised their hands again. A bitter smile formed on my lips. It would be nice if they could be a little more consistent. Their reactions changed so drastically depending on the situation that even I found them hard to predict. After a moment of such trivial thoughts, I focused my vision and hearing.
There was still some distance, but what my senses were picking up wasn’t a monster, but a User. They were too small to be a User, but I could hear faint groans. I gestured for the others to follow and ran ahead.
“Ughh…”
The closer we got, the clearer the User’s groans became. Could the caravan have been wiped out this quickly? No, they couldn’t have been defeated this easily. Various thoughts crossed my mind, but confirming if they were alive or dead was the priority. If they were alive, I might be able to extract some information.
“Haa… ugh…”
I saw someone lying on the floor ahead and rushed forward, dropping immediately to one knee. The others followed without understanding why, then gasped at the fallen User. First there had been the Ranger, and now this. The User before us wore priestly robes, and the torso had been violently torn from the lower body, both halves strewn across the floor.
“…It’s a miracle they’re still alive.”
A faint white light emanated from the severed torso, a sign that they had been desperately casting a healing spell. After checking the User’s condition, I reflexively activated Third Eye.
〈 Player Status 〉
1. Name: Park Namheon (Year 4 User)
2. Class: Priest (Normal, Priest, Expert)
3. Nation: Barbara
4. Clan: -
5. True Name · Nationality: - · Republic of Korea
6. Sex: Male (27)
7. Height · Weight: 177.8cm · 79.1kg
8. Alignment: Lawful · Neutral
[Strength 36] [Durability 57] [Agility 31] [Stamina 47] [Magic Power 81] [Luck 41]
He was not worth saving—not for a fourth-year User. The moment I checked his Stats and the remaining information, I abandoned the idea completely. Sensing our presence, the male User struggled to open his eyes and looked at us.
It was remarkable that a Priest with those Stats had remained alive after suffering such wounds. He must have cast a healing spell on himself or survived through a Special or Latent Ability. Even so, an injury this critical made death unavoidable…
“A… User… How…”
“What happened? When did you enter this dungeon? And where are your comrades?”
“Th… thank… Cough!”
“Oppa, w-we should save him first…”
I can’t save him. Wasting resources would be pointless; getting whatever information we can out of him is more valuable. I barely stopped the words from escaping by clamping my mouth shut. I still needed to watch what I said. Sol began chanting a healing spell, while Yoojung had already handed me a Stamina Potion. The mana required for the spell and the potion itself felt terribly wasteful, but I reluctantly uncorked it.
“You fool. What were you thinking, entering a dungeon without a guide? Anyway, open your mouth.”
I whispered softly into his ear, supported his head, and poured the potion into his mouth. He seemed to drink a little at first, but then he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The sight startled Sol, causing her to lose focus and nullify the spell she had been casting. When I tried to make him drink again, the priest weakly shook his head, refusing. It seemed he already knew he couldn’t be saved and was calmly accepting his death.
In that moment, I felt a sense of dissonance. Despite calmly accepting death, he had been trying desperately to survive just moments before. He wanted to hold on, even for a little longer. But upon seeing us, the User had given up on life. That meant he had something to tell us.
Finally, the male User spat out the blood filling his mouth and struggled to speak.