Chapter 56: In Nepal (5)
Chapter 56: In Nepal (5)
After finishing breakfast and helping tidy up, Han Shin quickly prepared to enter the dungeons.
Once ready, he grabbed his smartphone and opened the Manager App to check his mana levels.
I cleared six dungeons yesterday, so I’ve gathered quite a bit of mana... If I keep this up today, I’ll probably level up.
He had checked this last night as well, but he looked one more time just to be sure.
"Han Shin-nim, I am ready."
Grace had also finished her preparations and approached him.
"Be careful, both of you."
With Kang Yujin seeing them off, Han Shin and Grace immediately moved to the dungeons.
The number of portals they could enter was six, the same as yesterday.
They dove straight into combat. Today, Han Shin decided to use his sword. By now, it was actually easier for him to fight with a spear, but he judged that he needed more practice coordinating his swordplay with Grace in actual combat.
Han Shin felt much more composed than he had the day before.
Entering six dungeons in a row, engaging in non-stop combat each time, and slaying the boss monsters had provided him with invaluable experience.
As he grew more accustomed to battle, he began to instinctively sense how to move his sword in tandem with Grace—judging what would make things easier for her and more efficient for himself.
The monsters in the first dungeon they entered today were Giant Spiders.
They were massive arachnids. Han Shin and Grace had faced them a few times before, and they were quite a nuisance.
The species varied each time, but they were consistently agile and used their webs to restrict movement. Above all, since the dungeons were usually shaped like spider dens, they always had to deal with overwhelming numbers.
These types of monsters were relatively easy to handle if one had Awakeners like Mages or Psychokinetics. However, Grace was a knight who hadn't fully recovered her strength yet and couldn't use Sword Energy freely, and Han Shin had yet to awaken his true talent. Consequently, it required a lot of manual labor.
They had to hack and stab every single one of them, and with spiders of all sizes swarming them, it was a grueling task.
To be honest, Han Shin felt a surge of irritation, but he calmed himself, reminding himself that this was all part of the experience.
Right, it would be weirder if I only met easy opponents. I need to experience as many annoying situations as possible to get used to handling them.
In a game, you could just avoid these types of monsters and hunt something else, but this wasn't a game.
Han Shin knew he would face increasingly powerful monsters and even more frustrating situations in the future, so he steeled his resolve.
The terrain was a vast cave system with tunnels branching out in every direction.
By now, Han Shin was familiar with such environments and understood why monsters chose them as habitats. Webs were spun across the walls and ceilings, and spiders with glowing eyes watched from the shadows, waiting for a chance to strike.
An ordinary person would likely have screamed at the mere sight of these giant black spiders.
Their menacing red eyes, the powerful mandibles and fangs beneath them, the dripping venom, and the sharp claws at the ends of their hairy legs—everything about them screamed "lethal predator."
Grace, however, had exterminated many such monsters during her time as a knight and was perfectly composed.
She blocked a glob of venom flying toward her with her shield and then proceeded to carve up the spiders lunging at her.
Since they had fought these spiders before and had already synced their movements yesterday, the duo broke through the swarm without hesitation.
This is fun.
It was a strange emotion to feel in such a situation, but Han Shin felt a sense of enjoyment and excitement while fighting alongside Grace.
This wasn't a game; they were putting their lives on the line against dangerous monsters. Yet, rather than fear or dread, a sense of competitiveness and a desire for self-improvement welled up within him.
Grace was somewhat aware of Han Shin's state of mind.
Han Shin-nim might be a bit like me...
Grace herself had never experienced panic or fear in battle. No matter how strong the opponent, her will never wavered. Han Shin had been an ordinary person until recently, yet here he was, hunting by her side with that same spirit.
She felt a sense of kinship. It was rewarding to polish a brilliant raw diamond like Han Shin.
Screeeech!
A piercing shriek echoed through the entire cave.
The queen of this spider brood—the boss monster of the dungeon—had appeared, enraged.
The sight of the massive spider, large enough to fill the entire tunnel, charging at them with bloodshot eyes was quite intimidating.
However, as soon as she clashed with the pair, the legs supporting her body were instantly severed. Fluids sprayed everywhere as her body crashed ungracefully onto the cold cave floor.
Thud!
The queen spider’s red eyes, each larger than an adult’s fist, flickered with rage as they reflected Han Shin and Grace.
But soon, that rage turned to terror as she realized how easily she had been neutralized. Even with a temperament made more violent and powerful by mana, she could feel death approaching.
The spider’s body twitched, but without her legs, her struggles were futile.
The remaining spiders rushed forward to protect their queen, but they were like moths to a flame. They hadn't been able to leave a single scratch on Han Shin or Grace before, and attacking now changed nothing.
In an instant, the swarm was cleared, leaving only the legless queen spider rolling her eyes in terror.
Han Shin saw no reason to delay. He thrust his sword into the queen’s head, ending her life.
Kiek!
With a final cry, the queen spider died. Han Shin began the harvest.
The mark of Tiamat on the back of his left hand glowed as he absorbed the mana from the Dungeon Core. After a brief rest, he and Grace immediately entered the next dungeon.
Ah... but I really should spend this accumulated mana soon...
While caught up in the hunt, Han Shin checked his smartphone again during a break after clearing the fifth dungeon.
I’ve gathered almost enough mana now...
He had already noted before starting today’s hunt that he had collected a significant amount of mana from the Dungeon Cores and was due for a level-up.
As he confirmed this, the realization hit him: to level up, he would need to have sex with Grace today.
With a valid excuse now in hand, Han Shin felt a subtle heat rising within him, especially since they hadn't done anything the previous day. As a man, it was difficult to resist the urge to be intimate with a beauty like Grace.
Since Noona hasn't said anything yet, I should head to the Sanctuary before we go back to the villa.
At the villa they had secured in Kathmandu, Nepal, Kang Yujin was staying with them, making it difficult to have sex with Grace there.
It had been the same back at home, which was why Han Shin had been intimate with Grace in the Sanctuary. He figured he should do the same this time.
Since they only had one more dungeon to clear for the day, Han Shin cautiously brought up the idea of going to the Sanctuary to "wash up" afterward.
He spoke in a roundabout way, but the meaning was crystal clear to both of them. There was no way Grace wouldn't understand what he was implying.
Han Shin naturally expected her to agree, but...
"I think it would be better to go back to the villa to wash up."
"Huh...?"
Han Shin was puzzled by Grace’s unexpected response. When she simply stared back at him without saying another word, he wasn't sure how to react.
The Sanctuary was Grace’s personal space; if she refused, Han Shin had no way of going there. He could try to force the issue, of course, but he had absolutely no intention of doing that.
"Right... Okay. Let's do that then."
Han Shin nodded in agreement, thinking that perhaps Grace just wasn't in the mood today.
Based on how she had acted toward him so far, it was hard to imagine her being uninterested, but he figured everyone had their days.
Grace maintained a neutral expression as she watched Han Shin’s reaction—his slight look of disappointment and the way he was tentatively checking her mood.
She found him quite cute in that moment, but she worked hard to maintain her poker face and hide her thoughts. Han Shin didn't notice a thing.