Deeper into the Demon King's Castle

Upon returning to headquarters, Park Taemin slipped into his tent and went to sleep as if nothing had happened, just like the day before. The next morning, after finishing his morning and afternoon duties, he visited the Demon King's Castle again. His nocturnal hunts continued like that for a while.

A week later, thanks to his accumulated hunting, Taemin was on the verge of reaching level 90. Depending on the departure time, there were variations, but on average, he racked up over 4 billion EXP per hunt. That meant he leveled up every other day.

In the process, he'd gathered a few useful items. He opened his inventory to check them out.

"Four unique items in a week. In terms of quality, it's definitely better than the Chaos Tower."

Taemin was a bit surprised himself at the haul he'd gathered in such a short time. When he first got the necklace after killing Cerberus, he'd chalked it up to luck. The drop rate for boss items in regular hunting grounds wasn't that high. The standard was maybe one out of ten kills.

But this place dropped items nearly every other time—hard-to-get unique ones, at that.

"The staff's useless to me, so I'll give it to Ji-young. Anyway, should I push higher today?"

Time constraints had always forced him to kill Cerberus and turn back, so he still didn't know what lay above. Having always turned away with regret, he now resolved to conquer the upper floors.

After an early dinner, Taemin slipped out of headquarters. He activated his map and set the Demon King's Castle from last night's hunt as his destination.

"I'll ignore the lower floors. Sticking to places I've been saves time."

Following the green light path, he plunged into the dungeon and raced straight for the castle. Since he'd cleared up to the 4th floor last night, nothing blocked his path. He went directly from the entrance to the 4th ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠floor, then took the stairs at the end to the 5th.

It didn't take long before the 5th floor appeared—surprisingly quickly.

"Huh? This setup?"

Taemin tilted his head at the familiar sight right after ascending. It was too similar to the 2nd floor's layout.

Countless rooms lining both sides of a corridor. He'd seen them countless times during his hunts.

"What is this? Another wave section?"

Something felt off, but he'd come this far, so he pressed on. Ready for ambushes, he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drew his blades and advanced.

As he reached the corridor's midpoint, doors flew open with familiar sounds, and monsters poured out by the dozens.

'Just like before.'

Taemin moved fluidly, slicing into the monsters slamming against his blades. He examined their forms.

They resembled Ghosts but were a different breed. They couldn't pierce his blade barriers, so they didn't seem that impressive, but he needed to know what they were. He activated his Insight.

'Same thing, different name. Weak—too weak.'

With the info confirmed, Taemin toyed with them while massacring. No different from Ghosts, they lost limbs and died to every swing of his blades.

Like on the 2nd floor, they kept spawning endlessly. EXP poured in accordingly.

After some time, having cleared the flying monsters, Taemin checked his gains and muttered.

"No idea how many floors, but at this rate, 10 billion EXP a day is doable."

2nd to 4th floors averaged 4 billion. This floor alone gave another 4 billion, so proper farming would've netted 8 billion. Massive for one hunt.

'Keep this up, and S-rank's a breeze.'

Anticipating the next floor's monsters, he moved on.

Upon reaching the 6th floor, Taemin smirked faintly at the sight ahead. Like how the 5th mirrored the 2nd, the 6th echoed the 3rd.

Monsters scattered across a wide open space. They resembled Phantom Knights but with slight differences in armor and weapons.

'A bit stronger, but the difference is negligible. Herd 'em up and wipe, same as before.'

Peeking at their info with Insight, Taemin started herding from a corner, just like with the Phantom Knights. A master at kiting—none in the world could match him— he quickly gathered the scattered foes trailing behind.

Dragging them to the center, he deployed his Chaos Trap and unleashed skills, mercilessly shredding the exposed Dark Knights.

After cleanly wiping them, he eyed the stairs to the next floor, lost in thought.

'This pattern means the next one's the boss... Obviously stronger than Cerberus, right?'

Taemin heightened his tension and swiftly ascended.

The 7th floor matched his expectations. A massive stone door stretching from floor to ceiling, just like the 4th where he'd met Cerberus.

Approaching, he inspected the carvings.

"Thought it'd be a wolf this time, but it's human?"

The motif was humanoid, similar to the Dark Knights from before.

"Whatever. As long as it drops good stuff. Time to start?"

Imagining the monster beyond, Taemin prepped his skills. Activating Defensive Critical and Hydeger, he triggered Invisible and Ambush simultaneously.

Bang!

Kaboom!

The door cracked open with an explosive roar, creating an entry gap.

Diving in without hesitation, Taemin scanned around. Then—

"Incredible. A living being, not undead, reaching this far."

Taemin looked up toward the voice. There stood the carved monster, greatsword dangling loosely.

Estimated at 3 meters tall, smaller than others but radiating an extraordinary aura.

"That you just now?"

"Indeed. You are... human. How did you enter here?"

The monster's red eyes gleamed as it questioned him.

"Eh, stumbled my way up. What are you? The boss?"

To Taemin's question, it answered straightforwardly.

"I am this castle's master. I don't know how you got here, but you've thrown your life away."

"Too early to say. You're the castle's master, so one question."

"What is it, human?"

"Who the hell are you guys? Where'd you come from? Why Earth? You real aliens?"

Taemin unleashed his pent-up questions. A boss of this dungeon's level should know something.

"So many questions. Fine, since you're dying anyway—one answer. We are creations of a single being, from the 291st dimension."

"What? 291st dimension? The hell's that?"

"The 291st dimension is the one our world descended upon—your kind calls it Earth."

"So you weren't born naturally. Then who's the one who made you?"

"Did you ignore my words, human? One answer per question."

"C'mon, show some generosity. Answer, and maybe I'll let you live today."

"What? A mere human dares... speak like that to the castle's master."

The monster's mood soured, red eyes glaring murderously, poised to tear him apart.

Meanwhile, Taemin scanned it with Insight.

'Definitely stronger than Cerberus. Gotta use traps aggressively.'

The stats befitted a dungeon boss—record highs. Especially the near-300 movement speed; not to be underestimated.

Taemin led by about 50, but in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠close quarters, 50 wasn't a game-changer.

Still, he was confident.

'No matter how strong, if it can't move, game's over. My evasion's over 60%. Even without traps, no slacking and it won't touch me.'

Thoughts sorted, Taemin raised his sword into combat stance.

The Death Knight scoffed.

"What a laughable fool. Looks like you beat Cerberus to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get here, but surely you don't think I'm on that level?"

"That guy's long dead. To me, you're both six of one, half a dozen of the other. Pro tip? Watch your feet. One slip, and you'll be crying regrets."

With that, Taemin shot forward.