Unsealing the Depths
After filling his belly with the hearty meal Park Se-ah had prepared, Taejeong dove back into his search.
No matter what, he was certain the entrance was somewhere nearby, so all he could do was patrol meticulously.
'It's way too fucking big.'
The crater's size was absurdly massive. Without boosters or his blaster, it would take half a day just to circle it.
The heavy rain was another problem. In an already vast area, the downpour made it impossible to spot anything without close inspection.
He even summoned his mech and ran the radar just in case, but it was pointless.
After exhausting every method and wandering for a good while, he finally reached the opposite side of the lake where he'd first landed, using the outer wall as his guide.
"Sun's about to set soon."
The overcast sky was growing pitch black. A glance at his watch showed it was already 6 PM—nightfall was imminent.
"This isn't getting me anywhere. Gotta be some other way... Huh?"
Pausing to ponder, Taejeong's eyes caught a lone rock standing isolated in the distance.
Not too big, not too small—just the right size.
He approached the rock. Up close, it was utterly ordinary, the kind you could find anywhere. Nothing special about it.
He climbed on top, squatted down, and sank back into thought, absentmindedly staring at the ground—when he noticed something odd.
"Why's the water pooling toward it?"
Water was gathering around the rock. At first, he thought it was just stagnant behind an obstacle, but no—it was steadily flowing.
He hopped down, knelt close, and shone his LED light on it. A spark of realization hit him.
"No way."
Struck by an idea, he plunged his hand into the water. His fist slipped under the rock, and when he pushed his arm in up to the elbow, it met empty air.
A hollow space.
He immediately summoned his mech, shifted to close-combat mode, and shoved the rock with all his might.
Rumble rumble.
Each time the rock budged, the pooled water drained away rapidly.
Seeing that, Taejeong cranked his boosters to 100%. The embedded rock rolled aside, revealing a hidden pit.
"Something like this here..."
He never would have guessed. Who'd think there'd be an entrance in a place like this?
He shone his LED downward to peer inside, but it was swallowed by utter darkness.
'Deep. Light doesn't reach at all.'
Realizing the drop was extremely deep, he quickly summoned his night-vision goggles and strapped them on. Deactivating the mech, he set his blaster to propulsion mode and began a slow vertical descent.
Down he went endlessly. Whoever dug this had gone deep.
After a while, external noises faded, replaced by growing sounds of rushing water.
The roar intensified the deeper he went until a gust of wind whooshed by, revealing a massive tunnel ahead.
"This must be it."
Not certain, but it felt right. The water wasn't too deep—just over his ankles.
Landing on solid ground with his exoskeleton legs, he proceeded cautiously.
The tunnel didn't look artificially carved. Same structure as the pit from above.
Stepping carefully, one foot at a time—then a chilling screech pierced his ears.
Screeeeech!
Click.
He snapped his gun barrel forward and froze, scanning the tunnel.
His night-vision was tuned for 20-30m monsters—react on sight.
Moments later, a black shape emerged at the tunnel's end.
At first, it looked like a sprawled human. Closer, its form clarified: an enormous spider, upside down.
Confirmed. He pulled the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat! Tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!
Flashes lit the tunnel as bullets hammered the unknown monster's body mercilessly.
But its hide was tough—it charged straight through.
The grotesque sight made his face twist in disgust.
Switching to hyper-fire mode, Taejeong unleashed another barrage.
Rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!
Far more bullets slammed into the advancing spider. It spasmed like its ankle was snagged, halting in place.
Keeping up the fire, a hole finally punched through its abdomen. It shriveled instantly and collapsed.
Titan Spider defeated.
5000000 EXP acquired.
"Whoa. The difficulty here's no joke."
Nearly a thousand rounds for one kill. Tougher than the Blue 9-grade boss he'd hit right before coming here.
EXP alone outstripped a boss. His mind sharpened instantly.
"Gerard, you know this thing? Regular mob? Mid-boss? What?"
"Titan Spider is a regular monster."
"A regular's stronger than a 9-grade boss? Gotta stay sharp or I'm fucked."
Perfect wake-up call. Every fight was life-or-death.
But he didn't feel cornered. Plenty of unused cards left.
He pressed on, skirmishes popping up sporadically.
Main foes: giant spiders and giant bats with useless wings. Comparable strength.
Hyper-fire could handle them. Issue was mana drain.
Super Vulcan on the mech would shred them effortlessly—even these guns could manage.
Plus, less mana use. Problem: tunnel too narrow for mech maneuvers.
'Potions are plentiful, no issue there. But these guns'll hit limits soon. When's it gonna widen?'
Forcing ahead, hoping for space—a vast chamber finally opened up.
He deactivated night-vision with a sigh.
"Finally, room to breathe."
Despite pitch black, everything was crystal clear.
Scanning around, he spotted stairs and an altar-like structure dead center.
His feet moved naturally toward it.
A stone tablet etched with a picture sat atop the altar—depicting Baekrokdam, marked with symbols for all the caves here.
"Five here. That one earlier. And here. What? Over 20 entrances? No wonder I missed 'em. A map."
Hanlla Mountain's interior like an ant colony. His spot: largest of five main chambers.
"This has gotta be it."
He scoured for anomalies—Hadea's core spot. Nothing.
Back on the altar, touching the tablet—it shifted.
Sliding it aside revealed a mold with five slots: four small ones linking cardinal directions, one larger center.
"Some kinda device?"
He called Gerard.
"Doesn't this look like a mechanism?"
"That is a plate used to release seals."
"Release seals? You know what this is?"
"I do not know the specific design. However, this plate's shape matches those used in rituals to unseal."
"What's sealed?"
"Powerful monsters, artifacts, encrypted mechanisms, formations, and the like."
"Feels right."
Gerard's explanation clicked. Baekrokdam's deepest point, largest of five main halls. A ritual unsealing plate. High odds Hadea's core was sealed here.
Problem: unpredictable if wrong.
"If it's a monster, how strong we talking?"
"No ordinary one."
"Figured. No pushover gets sealed here. How's it work? You know?"
"Place identical mana stones in the four outer slots, and a higher-grade one in the center."
"Expensive shit."
"They act as keys—no consumption."
"So what? Still can't activate without 'em. Got four from the tunnel... Wait, the octopus head dropped one too."
He opened his inventory, pulling out the mana stones.
Four matching small ones. One larger chunk.
Exactly five.
"This big one from the octopus better than the tunnel ones? Size-wise, yeah."
"Will you proceed with unsealing?"
"Came this far—can't just leave. If it's bad, I bail."
"If it possesses Hadea's core, then what?"
"Then... fuck it. Point is, unsealing's the only way to find out."
He placed the stones one by one in the outer slots.
Last one in hand. He hesitated, then steeled himself and set it in the center.
Intense light erupted from the tablet. The ground began to quake.
Boom! Pop! Boom!
"Don't skimp on mana—blast 'em hard!"
"I am."
"Can't even tell, fuck!"
Despair etched their faces as they spammed spells.
Japanese hunters, buried alive during a hunt.
Ikuzo, slouched with a hollow gaze, spoke in a drained voice.
"Quit wasting effort. Just burns stamina."
"But boss! This is bullshit. Dying like dogs?!"
"All my fault. Curse me."
"Quit moping—use a skill or something, shit!"
"Useless. All useless. We'll starve miserably."
Ikuzo had given up. Even top hunters were ants against nature's walls.
Massage-ma, same defeated look, muttered beside him.
"Why'd I set it there? Why..."
"Don't blame yourself, Massage-ma. My incompetence did this. You're blameless."
"No, Ikuzo—my fault. Don't take the weight."
"No. As leader, I..."
Mid their melodramatic blame game—the ground heaved violently.
Rumble rumble rumble.
"Wh-what?!"
"Earthquake!"
"Down, everyone!"
The shaking was body-rocking intense. Panicked hunters hugged walls.
Suddenly, a massive flash erupted before them.
It swallowed them whole. When it faded, no trace of the hunters remained in the cave.