Episode 372
Episode 372
Lee Han's expression turned slightly serious.
"Just call me comfortably."
"I-I am calling you comfortably though?"
"......"
"That was just a slip of the tongue."
The seniors belatedly tried to regain their dignity.
Of course, they were surprised by the sheer amount of Lee Han's mana, which was beyond anything they'd ever seen or heard of—but they were seniors who had entered Einrogard first, after all.
They couldn't just abandon their seniority.
"But just how much do you have?"
"Even if the undead in Area 1 aren't particularly strong, does it make sense for them to flee just from sensing your mana? Was the professor exaggerating?"
It made sense.
Witnessing the ghoul hounds from the opposite tunnel whimper and flee, the seniors stared at Lee Han with disbelieving eyes.
"How many times is that now?"
"S-six times."
"Isn't this way more effective than Undead Repellent Potions? We might not even need them anymore."
Originally, exploring undead dimensions was a lonely and suffocating task.
Mages had to cast darkvision spells, hold their breath, and tread carefully with every step.
Loud noises, heavy breathing, sweat, or even body odor could attract undead, and fighting them would only draw more undead from the commotion.
At that point, gathering or exploration became meaningless, and the focus shifted entirely to combat.
To avoid such situations, one had to evade enemies thoroughly from the start.
Using Undead Repellent Potions to block their approach was a good method, but it had the downside of heavy potion consumption.
But today, they had discovered a new method—
A living, breathing human undead repellent!
"This way, junior."
"Undead detected. Junior, walk quickly over there! Yeah! That's it! The undead bastards are running away!"
"Stand here for a bit! Don't let them get close!"
Dilette, seeing Lee Han standing there, apologized in a guilty voice.
"Sorry, junior. Are we overworking you?"
"Huh? No, not at all. Honestly, this is pretty easy for me."
"...R-right."
"Ah! Shadow Bugs here!"
"Bringing the collection net now!"
Watching the juniors scramble to grab their equipment and rush over at Lee Han's shout, Dilette thought to herself:
'...In about half a year, won't our senior-junior positions be reversed...?'
About two days after Lee Han's party entered the dimension, Park Deokgul, who had stayed behind in the village, began to feel something was off.
"...This is strange."
It was rare for the overlap timing to deviate by two whole days from the original estimate.
The other parties in the village seemed to notice it too, as he spotted them murmuring among themselves in the open square.
"What are the knights saying?"
"They keep saying it hasn't opened yet, that they'll inform us the moment it does..."
"...Those bastards, don't tell me—?"
Park Deokgul felt a creeping sense of foreboding.
In the Empire, those with half a brain didn't trust knights.
Knights had their own rigid internal logic and often broke promises on a whim.
"Check the surroundings first. See if any parties have gone missing!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"And keep probing the knights! If they react suspiciously, press them hard. If those bastards have something to hide, they won't be able to push back!"
Once people were sent to investigate, clues quickly surfaced—
The mage party that had arrived a few days ago hadn't been seen in a while, and one or two knights seemed to be avoiding eye contact.
Once the answer became clear, Park Deokgul's face flushed red with fury.
"How dare those damned knights?!"
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Gather everyone who's resting. We're setting out now!"
Gritting his teeth, Park Deokgul swore to himself that he'd repay this debt someday.
The mission was more important, so he had to let it slide for now—but these knights were truly beyond infuriating.
"Sir Knight! Is it true that the dimension has opened?!"
"What is this! Why have you been hiding it from us!"
The other adventurer parties gathered in the clearing swarmed forward, confronting them first.
Those who had heard the rumors belatedly were furious as they shouted.
"Answer us!"
"It seems to be a misunderstanding."
"Excuse me!?"
"The dimension opened just one hour ago today."
"......"
"...What kind of...! We heard it! Two days ago, something black was creeping and spreading in the forest! Wasn't that the entrance opening!?"
"False rumors."
"Such strange phenomena always come with false rumors spreading alongside them."
'These shameless bastards are truly disgusting!'
Even in this situation, the adventurers were amazed by the knights' ironclad refusal to admit any wrongdoing.
It wasn't for nothing that just anyone couldn't become a knight.
"Then why are you only telling us now that it opened an hour ago?"
"If we'd announced it the moment it opened, how much damage would have been done from everyone fighting each other? Look at the current situation."
"In times like these, an orderly entry is necessary."
"......"
The adventurers realized that arguing further would only leave them at a disadvantage.
'Sons of bitches.'
'May you be cursed.'
Grumbling, they quietly moved their steps toward the dimensional entrance. Park Deokgul also followed behind with his party.
Though he wanted to draw his sword right then and there, he couldn't cause a disturbance.
"I... I'm sorry."
"......"
"We'll definitely find and secure the mushrooms."
"If you don't want to die, of course you will. Keep a close eye on the other parties. If anyone finds the mushroom locations..."
Even spoken quietly, the superior's words reeked of bloodshed, making the subordinate tremble and nod.
"Found it! We found it!"
"Hurry and gather them!"
"Should I help too?"
"No. You can just stand still."
"Don't waste your energy unnecessarily. You'll drain your mana."
Gainando and Rafael grumbled as they plucked the mushrooms from the ground and placed them in baskets.
'I'm good at standing still too!'
Unlike Lee Han, the other first-year students weren't given any leniency. They had to work as much as they had come.
"Being here earlier than others really paid off. It seems we've swept everything in Area 1."
"Right? Feels like we've gotten everything we can for now."
The seniors put their heads together and compared the maps they had each drawn.
Though the cave was a convoluted maze, thanks to the mages exploring it for two days, the maps were fairly complete.
"Checked everything here."
"This side is done too. We've even gathered all the Dark Shadow Stones embedded in the walls."
"Maybe it's time to start heading toward Area 2."
When Gainando gave them a pitiful look, the seniors nodded understandingly.
"We'll let you guys out before we go in, so don't worry."
"Unlike other times, we've bought plenty of time, so we're good."
"You opened it two days late?"
"Hehe. It wasn't too difficult."
The students who had come out were surprised when the knights explained that they had gained so much time and even completed their maps.
Who would've thought they'd get a two-day head start?
"No wonder we didn't see anyone else..."
Listening, Lee Han suddenly had a thought and asked,
"Wait. So does that mean those who enter late won't have anything left to gather in Area 1?"
"Yep. But what can you do?"
"If they feel wronged, they should've come earlier."
"Or they can head into Area 2."
At the shameless responses of the Black Mages, Lee Han felt he understood just a little why Black Mages were so despised in the Empire.
"Don't feel sorry at all, junior. We just did what we had to do. Let's rest and organize the materials before heading in."
"It's great that we can rest a bit before entering Area 2."
The seniors spoke cheerfully.
Of course, since they had to conserve their funds, "resting" just meant eating the rough food from the inn and lying around—but it was still far more comfortable than wandering the gloomy undead dimension with their nerves on edge.
"Excuse me, what if we ask the merchants for more food? Just eating what the inn provides doesn't seem like it'll be enough to keep your energy up... The merchants must be struggling with the Manabane Mushroom shortage too, so they'd probably welcome even a small trade."
"...Junior, why don't you just skip a grade and join our year right now??"
The seniors were deeply moved by their junior's unexpectedly brilliant suggestion—one so appealing it made their ears perk up just hearing it.
"Perfect. We were planning to kill them anyway."
"Y-you dare?!"
When Park Deokgul's subordinates suddenly drew their swords, their opponents were caught completely off guard.
They'd assumed these were just some idle nobles who'd come sightseeing after hearing rumors, never expecting such a sudden ambush.
"Kill them all!"
"These bastards took what was ours first! Smash them and take it back!"
The parties who'd belatedly entered the now-empty Zone 1 suddenly found themselves embroiled in infighting.
At first, the wandering parties had thought they were just unlucky—that something useful would turn up soon. But as tensions rose, they grew suspicious of each other.
-Those bastards must've taken everything first, right?
-They moved too quickly... Could it be...?
The air grew taut with tension.
And the one to finally snap it was none other than Park Deokgul.
He had no intention of dragging unnecessary competitors along when he needed to gather materials anyway.
His subordinates, who'd already planned to kill them and now had an excuse to start a fight, happily brandished their blades and charged at the other adventurer parties.
"Block them!! It's an ambush!!"
"Duck! Shields up! Arrows incoming!"
"Don't let those bastards use their potions!"
"Scrolls! Where are the scrolls?!"
Shouts erupted from all directions, and the distant noise stirred other parties into drawing their weapons too.
"Approach and you die! Stay back!"
"Weren't you the ones fighting earlier? Don't come any closer unless you want to be suspected!"
The atmosphere grew explosive—one wrong move, and weapons would fly without mercy.
Park Deokgul couldn't care less.
"Since it's come to this, we might as well wipe them all out."
"A-are you sure about this?"
"Looking at this mess, it's better to deal with them now than leave them be. A little exhaustion is worth it. Zone 2 can wait."
The students, now recharged, re-entered the dungeon.
This time, their numbers had nearly halved—their goal was Zone 2 now.
"You'll feel the difference the moment you step in."
Cough. "The undead in Zone 2 will charge at you even if they fear your mana. They're that vicious."
"Of course, if you dodge well, you won't even encounter them, so no need to worry."
"More importantly, junior. Want me to carry your bags?"
The seniors fretted over whether Lee Han might tire from carrying his luggage.
If he got exhausted, his mana would drop, and with it, the effectiveness of his undead-repelling magic in Zone 1...
"Hold on."
Professor Mortum frowned suddenly and spoke up.
"There's a fight going on."
"Inside here?"
"It hasn't even been that long since it opened!"
While not unheard of, such incidents weren't exactly common either.
The students were already puzzled by the sight of others fighting.
Cough. "Normally, I wouldn't interfere, but this time..."
Through his far-sight magic, Professor Mortum saw one side overwhelmingly attacking the other.
"Should we prepare for battle?"
"No. Cough. They're quite skilled—no point in picking a fight."
"Couldn't we just herd the undead toward them? They're human too—if undead keep swarming them, they'll tire out eventually."
At Lee Han's question, Professor Mortum nearly scoffed at the absurdity before pausing.
"...That might actually work. And it's not even dangerous."
"We have undead-repelling magic here too, so it's completely doable!"
"Hey. Idiot. The junior's listening."
"......"