Assault on the Unique Dungeon
Everyone else was focused solely on their own enemies.
Only two people—the Guardian Guild leader and the Phoenix Guild leader—were surveying the overall battlefield, so Mu-hyuk's movements were bound to be exposed.
It's fine. The distance is pretty far.
The real concern is those guys at the dungeon entrance.
Three of them.
When the distance had closed sufficiently...
"Skeleton Summon."
Skeleton Summon
He summoned Bone Swords and Bone Bows.
Bone Bows, all fire.
Bone Swords, all charge.
The three at the entrance wore panicked expressions.
"Wh-what the hell?"
"Block it first!"
Mu-hyuk smiled faintly.
If it was a scouting party, their levels were around 38.
With his skeletons, he was absolutely confident they couldn't stop him.
Bang!
The bone arrows sliced through the air.
One knight shielded his entire body and crouched down.
"Urk!"
He was shoved backward by the impact.
"H-heal!"
His desperate expression.
And his frantic tone.
But the priest tilted his head.
It was just an arrow, after all.
From a skeleton, no less.
"What? Why?"
"Heal me first...!"
He couldn't finish his words.
A Bone Sword had already closed the gap and slashed down from above onto his shield.
The remaining Bone Swords then surrounded the knight and thrust their blades.
Their current attack power ranged evenly from the late 100s to the late 120s.
Eight of them—even if blocked by a shield, his HP would drain at a terrifying rate.
"Damn it, this is insane..."
There was nothing he could do.
Just endure.
A heal came through in the meantime, but it wasn't enough.
In an instant, his body turned silver, faded faintly, and vanished.
He had literally melted away.
The priest and mage staring at the spot where he'd disappeared couldn't hide their bewilderment.
"Wh-what just happened...?"
At that moment, a bone arrow lodged in the priest's left chest.
-186 HP
The priest stared blankly at the floating message.
186...?
Not even from a player—just a skeleton's arrow—and 186 HP was gone.
Clack, clatter.
The approaching sword-wielding skeletons felt utterly terrifying.
"Fire Wall!"
A massive wall of flames erupted in that instant. An attack from the mage, who had barely kept his wits.
But the skeletons ignored it and passed straight through the fire barrier.
Their HP had taken a heavy hit, but with only two users left, finishing them off was all that mattered.
"Th-this!"
The two recoiled to the side in shock.
The dungeon entrance was now exposed.
Mu-hyuk's eyes widened.
No need to deal with them—just head straight in.
Bone Swords, charge.
As the Bone Swords closed in on the two users, Mu-hyuk kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
Whoosh.
The distance to the dungeon entrance shrank rapidly.
A chill ran down his spine.
He turned his head. Far off, something tiny like a speck caught his eye.
It grew swiftly, morphing into a sharp arrowhead.
Ignore it.
Mu-hyuk faced forward again and accelerated.
The dungeon was just a few steps away.
He figured he could take the hit and dive in.
Puk!
Sure enough, the arrow struck his back.
One Strike Kill
-928 HP
HP continuously decreases.
Movement slowed.
Duration: Until cured
But an unexpected number filled his vision.
928...?
Even with a critical hit from the infamous One Strike Kill skill, he hadn't imagined 60% of his HP would vanish.
This is too much.
Mu-hyuk's pupils shook violently.
No, can't panic.
The dungeon was right in front of him.
Just a few more steps...!
Another whistling sound pierced the air.
If it dealt the same damage, he'd die for sure. He had to dodge, but it wasn't easy. His movements were slowed by the poison.
Damn it...!
There was only one option.
"Haaap!"
Mu-hyuk gritted his teeth and hurled his body forward.
Just before crossing the dungeon threshold.
Swish.
The arrow, infuriatingly, struck his chest.
Right where his heart was.
*
Guardian Guild leader, Kim Bada.
The moment the Phoenix Guild's scouting party emerged from the dungeon, he spotted a user charging toward them and furrowed his brow.
A Phoenix Guild member?
From the vibe, no.
Fishing for scraps, then.
Level 38, aiming for the dungeon.
Skeletons summoned, so necromancer class.
He was confident he could one-shot him. Still, he prepared fully, just in case. Applying slow poison first.
"Yura."
"Yes."
"Cast enhancement magic."
After boosting his damage with enhancement magic, he nocked a piercing-effect magic arrow onto the string of his 2,000-gold bow.
On top of that, he used his newly acquired level 55 skill, One Strike Kill.
His base damage from stats and weapon alone exceeded 200.
With enhancement, One Strike Kill, and a critical? Easily near 1,000 overwhelming damage.
Time to clean up the mudfish.
He aimed and released the string.
Bang!
The arrow struck the target's back dead-on.
Critical hit message popped up.
But...
"Hm?"
The bastard didn't die.
Kim Bada's eyebrow twitched as he nocked another arrow.
HP over 1,000?
A level 38 necromancer?
It made no sense.
This time, you're done for sure.
Rapid Fire.
One Strike Kill was on cooldown.
Instead, he unleashed three arrows with Rapid Fire. They stretched out in a straight line like a single shot.
The target had just reached the dungeon entrance.
But he couldn't dodge.
Puk!
One arrow buried into his chest.
Critical again.
Over 400 damage. Regrettably, the other two from Rapid Fire sliced through empty air.
The target had vanished into the dungeon right before they hit.
But with two attacks totaling over 1,300 HP drained, a necromancer had no chance of survival.
Even a regular knight at level 38 would drop dead nine times out of ten from that.
No way a necromancer had knight-level HP, so Kim Bada was certain of his death.
He shifted his gaze from the dungeon to the battlefield.
"Yuhan."
"Yes, Guild Leader."
"You go block the entrance."
"Got it!"
Once the battlefield was cleared, the dungeon would be theirs.
*
Mu-hyuk rolled across the ground and let out a rough laugh.
"Heh, heh heh..."
His remaining HP was around 250.
A normal necromancer would've died instantly to the first arrow.
But Mu-hyuk was no ordinary necromancer.
His strength surpassed even a typical knight's, and his stamina and agility were no slouch either.
Of course, he wasn't laughing just because he'd survived. It was due to the message that appeared the moment he landed here.
You have entered the level 38 Unique Dungeon.
Inside the dungeon, EXP gain is increased by 50% and item acquisition probability by 20%.
A Unique Dungeon, no less.
He couldn't hold back his laughter.
What luck.
Of course, nearly dying to just two attacks was disheartening.
But Kim Bada was level 55. It was only natural.
Once their levels matched someday, he was confident he'd crush him.
So for now, endure.
Grow patiently.
That was key.
"Huu."
He leaned against the wall to rest.
Enough time had passed.
Honestly, MP wasn't an issue anymore. Recovery outpaced consumption, thanks to his title and Grokion's ring.
But as summon skills leveled up over time, per-second MP drain would skyrocket uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, knowledge and wisdom stats would plateau. There was a solution, of course.
The Grokion set items.
But could he even acquire them?
He shook off the stray thoughts.
His HP had fully recovered.
He stood and pressed onward.
His heart pounded already.
What were the rewards?
What would he get for clearing it?
What shape was the dungeon?
The monsters?
How long had he walked?
Chichik.
A strange sound echoed.
Something was coming.
Not visible yet.
Mu-hyuk summoned all his skeletons first.
Defense mode.
Then he waited behind them for the approaching thing's identity to reveal itself.
But no matter how long he waited, it didn't appear.
The sound was growing louder, though...
In that instant, something popped out from the ground with a thunk, slyly slipping through the skeletons' gaps.
Startled by the sudden attack, Mu-hyuk twisted his body sharply and blocked the incoming projectile with his staff.
Klang!
A harsh metallic clang revealed its identity.
A 1-meter-tall mole-type monster: the Mole King.
With its long snout and sharp sickle-shaped claws, it was agile and burrowed underground when threatened, making it hard to kill.
Of all the damn things...
Mu-hyuk frowned.
Then his eyes gleamed.
Wait—this guy's presence means...
Its paired monster would appear soon.
Mu-hyuk's eyes sparkled as he hurriedly pulled four items from his inventory.
Paralysis poison, hallucination poison, bleeding tear, weakness paralysis.
He smeared them evenly onto his summons' weapons.
Grrr...
Right on cue, the awaited growl arrived.
The Red Bear.
It paired with the Mole King: while the Mole King harassed from underground, the Red Bear bulldozed with its massive bulk.
Priority was clear.
Bone Bows, rapid fire.
Kill the Red Bear, and the Mole King flees.
For a necromancer like Mu-hyuk, targeting the clumsier Red Bear was far easier than the elusive Mole King.
Bone Swords, advance.
Of course, the Mole King wouldn't just watch.
It targeted only Mu-hyuk.
Chichichik!
They came flying from every direction, above and below.
Its claws clashed against the Skull Staff, producing an unpleasant screech.
Even amid the relentless klangs, Mu-hyuk commanded his skeletons mentally.
Grraaawr!
Clack, clatter!
The Red Bear's reckless charge against the skeletons.
The Mole King's harassment and Mu-hyuk on guard against it.
A bizarre battle unfolded, hard to describe in words.
Kagang!
After a few clashes with the Mole King, Mu-hyuk was certain.
Its strength is pretty weak.
But its movements are honestly hard to track.
Knock it down, and an opening might appear—but that wasn't easy.
In that moment, an ominous presence from behind.
Mu-hyuk's eyes lit up.