Chapter 39: Buffalo Dungeon (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 39: Buffalo Dungeon (3)
It had been barely an hour since Kang Geomma and his party entered the Buffalo Dungeon.
The checkpoint employee at the Buffalo Dungeon hurriedly made a call. Pressing his phone tightly against his ear, he cast wary glances around, terrified that someone might overhear.
Ring, ring.
The dial tone rang briefly.
Click.
The person on the other end picked up. Instantly, a look of sheer tension washed over the employee's face. He silently cleared his throat and spoke in a deeply deferential tone.
"Ah, Instructor. Kang Geomma and his party arrived and entered the dungeon about an hour ago."
—You've prepared everything as I instructed, right?
A woman's voice responded indifferently, accompanied by the sound of her chewing on something.
"Yes, yes, of course. By now, they should have run into the buffaloes driven into a frenzy by the magic stone. There are about fifty of them, so you don't need to worry. No matter how outstanding a cadet may be, they're still just mere kids, aren't they? They've probably been trampled into a bloody pulp by the hooves by now."
—Well, fine. Though I don't quite trust you.
The woman let out a cold, mocking chuckle.
—Did you take care of the other thing too?
"Ah, yes. I did as you ordered, but..."
The employee trailed off. He spoke cautiously, acting as if the person on the other end of the line was standing right in front of him.
"In my personal opinion, I think they'll be taken care of by the frenzied buffaloes alone."
—Listen here.
The voice was as cold as frost. The thick malice laced in her tone froze the employee on the spot. He forced down the bile rising in his throat along with his dry spit.
—You know what happens if you fail, right?
"..."
The employee nodded, his chattering teeth serving as his only reply.
The faint laughter of the woman on the phone echoed in his ears. Soon, she added in a highly playful tone:
—Well, I trust you did a good job. Call me right away when the results are out~ Bye!
"Yes, ma'am. Understood."
Click.
Even after the call ended, the employee stared at his phone screen. Only after setting it to Do Not Disturb did he finally let out the breath he had been holding. His collar was drenched in sweat.
Wiping the sweat dripping down his temples with his sleeve, the employee turned his hollow gaze toward the dungeon entrance. He muttered bitterly,
"I'm dead either way..."
A few days ago, he had used the magic stone he received from the woman to drive dozens of buffaloes into a frenzy. Though usually docile magical beasts, a stampeding herd of frenzied buffaloes would be nothing short of living tanks.
Even a party of fully grown adults would be trampled to a pulp if hit by them. No matter how prestigious Joaquin Academy was, its cadets were still just inexperienced teenagers.
On top of that, just in case, he had even forced open the gate to 'that place.' Their chances of surviving the dungeon were practically zero.
'...But.'
Yet, an oppressive sense of anxiety weighed heavily on his chest. Suddenly, the employee recalled the brief moment his eyes had met Kang Geomma's.
At first, he had wondered why the female instructor was going to such lengths, but seeing Kang Geomma had changed his mind.
Black hair with tips so white they looked dyed, and pitch-black eyes that gleamed with a terrifying intensity.
That gaze, which seemed to pierce right through to his very core, had made him shudder reflexively.
The employee shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had done everything the woman had ordered. He had done his absolute best.
'However...'
He turned his gaze back toward the dungeon entrance. For some reason, the lingering dread refused to fade. Stroking his mouth with a grim expression, the employee made up his mind.
'I need to go in and check.'
After giving a quick heads-up to his colleague standing nearby, the employee grabbed his gear and stepped into the dungeon.
He wanted to eliminate even the slightest possibility of failure. Yet, the fingers gripping his weapon were trembling noticeably.
* * *
Saki Ryozo stood frozen, her face completely blank. Her lips moved before her brain could even process the thought.
"...Insane."
The yanggaeng she had been chewing on plopped onto the ground.
A damp, metallic chill hung in the cool air. A sticky, foul stench assaulted her nostrils. The deafening roars that had shaken the dungeon had completely ceased.
Wondering if she was dreaming, Saki Ryozo rubbed her eyes and squinted forward. But the scene before her remained unchanged.
A mountain of shredded flesh piled high with the corpses of magical beasts. Beneath it, a pool of crimson blood flowed like a river.
On the dungeon walls, blood splattered like a piece of abstract modern art was gradually cooling and beginning to harden.
Staring blankly, Saki's gaze drifted slightly upward. Her light-blue pupils dilated to their limits.
Standing atop the mountain of cooling buffalo corpses, one foot planted firmly on the peak, was Kang Geomma.
The sashimi knives in his hands, thinly coated in sticky blood, gleamed between his fingers. In his shadowed face, only the white light of his eyes shone with a brilliant luster.
The colors of this distorted scene were black and red. They blended in a gruesome yet harmonious tapestry of carnage. With her eyes locked onto the sight, her cheek twitched.
An indescribable emotion spread across Saki Ryozo's face. Forcing strength into her trembling, weak knees, she stood up straight. Then, she blinked hard and looked around.
'What in the world...'
Time. No, "an instant" would be a more accurate description. A fleeting moment of less than a minute.
The herd of dozens of buffaloes had been transformed into cooling chunks of meat. She couldn't believe her eyes, even as she stared right at it.
Whenever Kang Geomma swept the blades held between his fingers like a fan, the beasts' bodies were sliced diagonally as if they were sliding apart.
Of course, this included Chloe, who had distracted the buffaloes by darting left and right at incredible speeds; Speed Weapon, who had diligently played his recorder to buff them; and Saki Ryozo herself, who had disrupted the enemy's formation with her arrows.
Although they had all faithfully carried out their duties, in the end, it was none other than Kang Geomma who had slaughtered the vast majority of the enemies.
With every powerful swing of his shoulders and arms, the multiple blades slashed through the enemies like lightning. It looked like indiscriminate hacking, yet the buffaloes fell in single, decisive strikes.
As if the blades hadn't met a single speck of resistance, the buffaloes split in half revealed perfectly smooth, clean cuts.
'...'
She had known Kang Geomma was extraordinary from their subspace sparring and the endless rumors, but witnessing his performance firsthand was on an entirely different level.
His movements were as fluid as a sword dance amidst the chunks of flesh falling like blocks of tofu. Saki Ryozo had been in the middle of nocking an arrow, but she completely forgot to shoot as she watched him.
His sheer lethality left her speechless. When she turned her head slightly, Weapon shrugged, as if he completely understood her reaction.
"I told you, didn't I? Don't be surprised."
"...How can I not be surprised after seeing that, you idiot?"
"Puhaha! True. I was speechless the first time I saw it, too. Honestly, it's still absurd to me now. Every time I see Kang Geomma, he completely shatters all common sense."
Saki's lips trembled slightly as a complex mix of emotions crossed her face.
"...What is Kang Geomma, really?"
"I don't know either."
Weapon shook his head with a wry smile.
"Well, but..."
Weapon trailed off and suddenly looked up. Saki's eyes followed his gaze.
Standing there like a reigning monarch, Kang Geomma flicked his arm to shake off the blood. The sashimi blades flashed white, as pristine as if nothing had happened.
Kiiiiing—
A sinister, mournful hum echoed from the blades, as if they were still unsatisfied. Kang Geomma casually sheathed them and dusted off his hands.
Soon after, Kang Geomma pulled out a wire saw and began sawing off a buffalo's horn. Chloe was right beside him, helping harvest the materials.
Staring quietly at Kang Geomma, Weapon muttered softly to Saki.
"A legend."
"...?"
"Well, something like that, I guess?"
Weapon gave Saki a knowing smile and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Then, he started walking toward Kang Geomma.
Saki was left standing there alone.
"Ha."
Soon, a hollow laugh escaped her lips.
* * *
"This should be enough."
A cloth bundle packed tight with buffalo materials. I stroked my chin and checked it once more. Although we had slain over fifty of them, we could only carry enough materials for about twenty.
It was a bit of a shame considering the effort, but since we didn't have items like subspace pouches, we had to limit ourselves to what we could realistically carry.
Honestly, even this was a highly satisfactory result. I nodded with a pleased smile.
"Geomma, you were so amazing today!"
Chloe beamed, practically wagging an invisible tail. Having darted around at high speeds to draw the buffaloes' attention, her hair was a windswept, messy nest.
Combined with her cute features, she looked just like a fluffy puppy. I smiled warmly at her.
"Good job, Chloe. It could have been dangerous, but thanks to you, the hunt went smoothly."
"Hehe, thank you!"
Chloe looked down, her face flushing red. I gazed down at her gently.
Chloe and the rest of my team members had given it their all for me. Thanks to everyone faithfully carrying out their roles, we were able to wipe out that massive horde without a single scratch.
I had no intention of getting sentimental, but there was no reason to withhold words of gratitude from those who had worked so hard for my sake.
'And my gamble paid off to some extent.'
The greatest achievement from this battle was finding a solution for one-versus-many combat. I would have to run many more dungeons in the future to upgrade my armaments.
Most dungeons were inhabited by packs of magical beasts, and I couldn't rely on my teammates every single time.
If I couldn't find a way to handle multiple enemies at once, I ran a high risk of dying a dog's death inside a dungeon in an emergency. That was why I had spent all night brainstorming a method, and it had worked surprisingly well.
Of course, the activation time was still under a minute, but the duration of the Blessing of Painlessness would gradually increase the more I used it. Furthermore, as I raised my 'Armament Rank,' the intense pain would lessen, making the future look highly promising. The thought brought a smirk to my lips.
"The dungeon clear condition was to hunt twenty buffaloes, but we somehow ended up killing more than double that. Well, technically, you did all the work yourself, Geomma, so I feel a bit shameless..."
Speed Weapon said, scratching the bridge of his nose sheepishly.
"I didn't do anything during the merman hunt in the midterm exam. Just think of this as us being even."
"Hey, back then, you alone with the merm—"
He quickly glanced at Saki Ryozo and trailed off. Then, letting out a deep sigh, he nodded.
"Well, whatever. Anyway, thanks. Honestly, putting the dungeon clear aside, we all almost died a horrible death. But seriously, what was up with these buffalo bastards today?"
Weapon pinched the bridge of his nose, lost in thought. At his words, Saki Ryozo scanned the buffalo corpses and was about to speak when—
Sssssssss—
A sudden, eerie wind blew from the depths of the dungeon. An incredibly unpleasant sense of déjà vu. Along with the chill carried by the wind, my teammates' faces turned pale.
The artificial draft triggered my body's muscle memory, and my brow began to furrow.
A resonance of magic power. A presence so terrifyingly hostile that the energy the Mermaid emitted during the midterm exam felt like a joke. The goosebumps on my forearms refused to go away.
'Something is wrong.'
Figuring out what was happening could wait; we had to run.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a bleak, ominous magic power wrapped around our bodies in the blink of an eye.
"What the fuck is this...!"