Chapter 45
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Beneath the River
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Blood trickled from the gash dug into Ji Hwa-yeon's arm. It flowed down her arm before dripping to the ground—then it stopped, defying gravity as it rose into the air instead. The blood gathered in the sky, clumping together softly.
From the river of churning black liquid, the monster fully took shape. It resembled a human in a strangely twisted way.
Kikik, the monster let out a small sound as it looked at us. At the same moment, Ji Hwa-yeon's blood in the sky sharpened into deadly forms.
The monster took a step forward—splatter! The honed blood attacked it. At the same time, the others launched their assaults too. A few minutes passed like that.
"It doesn't seem like a particularly strong monster."
Ji Hwa-yeon said, gazing at the monster as it reverted to liquid. It looked like nothing more than an obstruction tactic...
'No key here, either.'
The surroundings were packed with gloomy buildings. Even if we entered them, nothing worthwhile seemed likely to come of it.
I wasn't the only one thinking that—Ji Hwa-yeon and my brother were discussing it. Soon after, they called me over and spoke.
"It looks like we'll be better off moving in the groups we decided on at the start. We're thinking of splitting into up, left, and right. Where would you like to go, Hunter Han Ji-eon?"
"...Since we don't know where the key is anyway, does it really matter?"
"You're right. Then we'll stick with where we're standing now—I'll take left, Hunter Han Ji-eon on right, and Hunter Han Ji-un up."
I nodded without argument. Then I headed back to where our team was scattering.
I scanned the remaining members.
'Yun Sia, Park Woo-yun. Im Ha-neul, Park Ha-guk, Kwak Sang-hoon... Six including me.'
One looked like they'd fallen behind. A few had been dropped for lagging.
"For now, we're heading right and will keep going straight unless we hit a wall. Does anyone have any other ideas?"
The one who raised a hand in response to the question for other opinions was unexpected.
"Um... wouldn't it be better to follow the river?"
Park Woo-yun cautiously raised his hand and offered his opinion. I replied to it.
"It would definitely be nice to have a set path, but we're not sure where it leads. Even if we smash through space along the river, I'm not sure the river would still be there."
"Ah. What about under the river?"
"Under?"
"Yeah. It's probably not connected, but it wouldn't hurt to check... No, forget it. That was a dumb idea."
"No? Actually, that sounds like a good idea."
"Right! It is a good one!"
Yun Sia chimed in.
Under ordinary ground, there might be nothing special, but under a river that appeared out of nowhere? It could just be the same space, but checking couldn't hurt. We were heading that way because there was nowhere else to go anyway.
"Hold on a sec."
I approached Ji Hwa-yeon and told her we were going under the river instead of right. She gave a positive response.
"Not a bad idea. How about we do this instead?"
"How?"
"Hunter Han Ji-un goes right instead of up, and I go left and loop back."
"Loop... back?"
"Yeah. And Hunter Han Ji-eon, if there's nothing there, just come back up."
"And if there is something?"
"If you don't come back up after ten minutes, we'll come get you."
"Isn't that too much of a gamble?"
"In this situation, what else can we do besides gamble? If there's something big, jackpot. If not, oh well. Better to try, right?"
"...Yeah, fair enough."
I rubbed the back of my neck and accepted Ji Hwa-yeon's plan.
I returned to the group and briefly explained the updated plan. This time, everyone accepted without objection.
I turned my head and met Ji Hwa-yeon's eyes—she gave a small nod. I nodded back.
"Alright, let's move."
With that, crash! I swung my scythe at the river's surface. Unlike other places, nothing was visible beyond the shattered section. It almost looked like the space hadn't split at all.
'Because it's so dark?'
I took the lead and stepped through the broken space. As soon as I entered, splash—icy water flowed across the ground.
'A sewer?'
Fortunately, there was no smell.
I moved toward the path opening to the side and watched as the others descended. By the time the fourth person entered...
"Huh."
I felt the entrance shrinking. Wondering if mental aging was causing presbyopia in my body too, I squinted—realizing it wasn't my eyes playing tricks.
"Hunter Yun Sia!"
"Yes?"
I shouted toward Yun Sia, who was entering cautiously without grasping the situation. She looked around...
"Eek!"
As the shrinking entrance forced Yun Sia to pull her hand away and drop down, it sealed shut in an instant, blocking the next person.
"We'll have to break it open again. They might break through from the other side too, but just in case."
As I said that, I swung my scythe. But there was no shattering sound, no visible breakage. Thinking I'd swung wrong, I tried again—still nothing.
"......"
My head was already starting to throb.
I looked at the people who'd made it through: Park Woo-yun, Yun Sia, Im Ha-neul, and me. Four in total.
It seemed sufficient, but it was hopelessly inadequate. Who knew when or where an S-Rank—no, something even stronger—might appear? Moving with just one S-Rank and three A-Ranks was asking for danger.
'...But still...'
Standing still wasn't an option.
"It looks like the entrance is sealed. We're going to move forward—any good ideas?"
No one spoke up in the sudden situation. I sighed deeply and glanced toward the faint sound that had been coming from somewhere.
Thump. Thump.
It sounded like splashing water or tapping on a drum. What was clear was that it was the only sound nearby—and it could be bait.
In the end, we had no choice but to head that way. Coming in here was a gamble from the start, so continuing to gamble inside was par for the course.
"For now, we'll head that way. If anything happens behind us, shout."
With those words, we moved. The long sewer felt endless even at a normal walking pace.
After we'd gone some distance, the thumping grew louder. I wondered if it was water leaking from the ceiling hitting the floor, but as we got closer, it was clear that wasn't it.
This was definitely someone—or something—deliberately making the noise.
"Huh? Light!"
"Yeah?"
Im Ha-neul suddenly bolted forward.
There was clearly nothing ahead, so where was this light?
"Hunter Im Ha-neul, let me go first, so hang back..."
"No, it looks safe! Fireflies maybe?"
"Oh, you mean that?"
Park Woo-yun advanced too.
"...Hunter Yun Sia, do you see something too?"
"...Yeah. Kind of."
"Am I the only one who can't see it, then."
"Probably? I'm not getting closer just in case."
"It's dangerous, right?"
"Yeah. Uh. I don't know!"
Yun Sia flashed a bright smile as she said it. No matter how I looked at it, that seemed dangerous, so I turned my head—then...
"Get down!"
I shouted and charged forward. Fortunately, both ducked reflexively.
Before I could even check, I swung my scythe. Whoosh. Purple mist tangled with the scythe and split apart. Or rather, it felt like it split on its own to avoid it. A giggling laugh whispered past my ear.
'An illusion?'
I ignored the purple mist vanishing behind us in an instant and checked on the others first. Im Ha-neul was the worst off—not hurt, but...
"What light... We've cleared so many dungeons, and you're jumping at some stupid light like that...?"
Park Woo-yun, meanwhile, gave an awkward smile as he stood.
"Looks like you two fell under an illusion... Right?"
"Yeah. As soon as I saw it, this calming feeling hit me, so probably."
Illusions. Mental attacks that sometimes showed happy things, sometimes painful ones. Of course, they didn't work on me.
If this kept happening, getting out fast was key. Neither of them seemed to have illusion abilities or resistance.
"Hunter Han Ji-eon, do you have illusion countermeasures?"
"Huh? Yeah, I do."
"I have resistance!"
"I see."
That much I could've guessed. Yun Sia had seen it but hadn't chased after. Anyway.
Thump. Thump.
The tapping sound came from nearby. But nothing was visible down the straight path ahead. Of course not—the sound wasn't coming from the open path.
I turned my gaze to the side. Stacked bricks came into view. And beyond them, the thumping was unmistakable.
"Looks like it's here."
The others had noticed too and were staring past the wall.
Boom! I lightly used my ability on the wall, but it didn't work. I had the others try theirs, but no dice.
As I wondered what to do and looked at them, someone caught my eye doing something ridiculous.
"...Hunter Yun Sia?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing...?"
Yun Sia was repeatedly dipping her intact cutlass into the flowing water and pulling it out.
"I thought a fish might bite!"
"...There are no fish in sewers."
"But it's a dungeon—maybe there are?"
"......"
"Kinda makes sense."
Even Im Ha-neul chimed in agreement.
'Did I get the wrong party members?'
How did it end up splitting like this?
"Hmm, but no bites after all. Guess Hunter Han Ji-eon was right!"
"Yeah......"
She pulled the cutlass from the water and shook it in the air to flick off the droplets. As I watched her for a moment before looking away to ponder how to get past—
Rumble!
"Oh!"
The wall split open, revealing a door. Stunned by the situation, I looked at Yun Sia, who was pressing on one of the bricks.
"I snagged it while swinging my sword—looks like it worked!"
It suddenly hit me—maybe the Pattern activation adjusted luck too. There's a reason they say luck is skill.
"Nice work."
I praised her with a casual smile. Yun Sia beamed back.
Kikik, I opened the split gap. It must not have been maintained, as dust billowed out. The dark interior made me squint before I used my ability to illuminate it.
"This is..."
When I lit up the inside, something unexpected came into view.