Altar Dungeon (2)
Ko Sung-yoon was surrounded by the forest wraiths.
He had originally been facing just one, but following Choi Yeon’s instructions to stall for time, their numbers had gradually swelled to four.
He diligently blocked the attacks coming at him from front, back, left, and right—literally every direction.
He even went so far as to roll across the dirt whenever an attack he simply could not block came crashing down.
“Roll!”
How many times had he rolled by now?
Ko Sung-yoon pushed down the question that rose in his mind and glanced back at Choi Yeon.
“Did you see that just now? That’s the wraiths’ attack skill—Forgotten Touch. It inflicts a status ailment that keeps bleeding from stopping.”
“Hmm…. Well, I did see it, but….”
“I honestly can’t tell what’s different. I can’t distinguish it from a normal attack at all.”
“Is that so? It’s fine. Just keep watching until you can tell them apart.”
Choi Yeon spoke as he finished off a wraith that had just aggroed onto him. His calm voice stood in sharp contrast to the frantically moving rabbit.
“…By the way, is he really okay?”
But why do we even need to figure it out?
Seo Yun-jae swallowed the question he truly wanted to ask. Just standing around watching was starting to get boring.
“It’s almost been ten minutes. I’m worried he’ll collapse like that—”
“You don’t need to worry.”
“……”
Seo Yun-jae scratched the back of his neck with his staff and looked at Ko Sung-yoon.
Clang, claaang!
The rabbit defending with those oddly metallic sounds looked precarious—dangerously so.
But in Choi Yeon’s eyes, it looked completely different. The rabbit’s breathing was not labored.
As long as he kept breathing properly, he could endure the wraiths’ attacks just fine.
As long as he didn’t attack without realizing it.
“Ah…!”
Thud!
Ko Sung-yoon’s short cry and the sound of a fist burying itself in a wraith’s head rang out at the same time.
Was it because he had already attacked once?
Ko Sung-yoon could not hold back and thrust his fist out again.
A dull thud sounded, and another wraith collapsed.
“No, I didn’t mean to do that….”
He made excuses, but his hands were honest.
His round fist finished off the last remaining wraith as well.
Having dropped three wraiths in an instant, Ko Sung-yoon glanced around nervously, gauging the mood.
“You’ve only been dodging for ten minutes. I understand.”
“R-right?”
“Besides, there are plenty more of them anyway.”
“What…?”
Choi Yeon pointed into the forest. Between the deep trees, a cyan glow was visible. Another wraith.
“Sung-yoon. As a skilled teaching assistant, show off your skills for us.”
“Again?”
“Yes.”
Droop….
The rabbit who had become a skilled teaching assistant against his will let his ears hang limp.
After that, Ko Sung-yoon repeated what he had done for the previous ten minutes. Blocking attacks, dodging, rolling whenever he was told to roll. And then—
“Roll… oh?”
He rolled before Choi Yeon even shouted. He had finally recognized it—the difference when a wraith used Forgotten Touch.
“Well done, Sung-yoon!”
“Yes!”
At Choi Yeon’s praise, Ko Sung-yoon answered energetically and took down the remaining wraiths.
Then he scurried over.
“I get it! When a wraith is about to use a skill, there’s a tiny bit of stiffness!”
“Yes. Exactly. How about you two? Did you see the stiffness?”
“Hmm. Now that you mention it… yes. I think I know what it is.”
“Same here.”
“Then that’s settled. Now, shall we look for the core?”
“Yes!”
The trainees answered vigorously to Choi Yeon’s suggestion.
As if responding, the guide orb floating in the air slid smoothly forward and led the way.
The ground where densely intertwined branches blocked every ray of sunlight was no longer dirt.
It looked as though the forest wraiths that had spent their lives here had tangled into one mass, and the terrain sloped upward because of it.
At the summit, wraiths circled, and a red core floated in the center.
Sss….
The guide orb flew straight toward the core and seeped inside without the slightest hesitation.
Crack. Creak…!
The tangled branches moved, and every time they did, eyes flashed open.
They would exclude every other living thing.
They expressed that will—but it was already too late.
An arrow pierced a forehead first, and a magic missile struck a leg and brought its owner down.
A few wraiths managed to close the distance, but they only gained holes in their chests and became new altars.
Soon the fierce sound of snapping branches fell completely silent.
The three people’s movements stopped as well. They stood still, looking at one another.
Choi Yeon lifted the corners of his mouth. How cute.
“What’s wrong with you all?”
“Huh? Ah, well….”
“We just fought really….”
“Well… right…?”
“Ah. Are you praising yourselves right now?”
“Huh? Ah, no! That’s not what I meant—”
“I know. I was joking.”
Choi Yeon continued as he climbed the slope. The trainees followed behind him.
“You fought well. Just from that fight, no one would ever think you were trainees.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Ohhh! The trainees exclaimed. They had thought they fought well, but hearing it directly from an active hunter made it hit much harder.
While the trainees celebrated, Choi Yeon reached out toward the core floating at the top.
Tap.
The floating core dropped onto his palm as if it had never been floating at all.
“…Hmm. This should be fine.”
Choi Yeon tossed the core to Ko Sung-yoon as if throwing it.
Ko Sung-yoon staggered the moment he caught it. His head spun the way it did after standing up from sitting for a long time.
“Ueh…? Yeon-i hyung? This—why is this happening…?”
“It’s a status ailment effect from the core.”
“Ah…!”
The knowledge he had completely forgotten came flooding back.
Anyone holding a core received a random F-rank status ailment.
He had known that and steeled himself when they entered, but it had all been useless.
Knowing in advance did nothing to clear the dizziness from his head.
“Ugh….”
“Once you get used to it, it becomes nothing.”
“Get… used to it? This?”
“Yes.”
“Ugh, I don’t think I can….”
Saying so, Ko Sung-yoon trembled all over. He closed his eyes hoping it might improve, but nothing changed.
“You two try holding it as well.”
“Here, Ha-rin.”
“Thanks…?”
Yu Ha-rin’s voice rose at the end as she received the core. Was this really something to be thankful for?
“Hmm….”
“……”
“…This is fine?”
“Ueh?”
At the unexpected words, Ko Sung-yoon’s eyes went round.
Why is that fine?
Reading the question in his eyes, Yu Ha-rin simply shrugged. She did not know why either.
The three of them turned to Choi Yeon.
“It’s always like that. F-rank status ailments are fine for some people.”
“Heeh, so that’s how it is. I’m curious how it’ll be for me. Ha-rin.”
“Yes, here.”
Tap.
The red core crossed from Yu Ha-rin’s right hand to Seo Yun-jae’s left.
The moment it did, his Adam’s apple bobbed like a toad’s. He kept dry-heaving.
“Ugh, uugh…!”
“That bad?”
“It’s—no joke… uugh….”
He tried to protest the incredulous looks but could not finish the sentence.
Every time he opened his mouth his stomach churned, so clamping it shut made things a little better.
Only after seeing the slight tears in his eyes did Yu Ha-rin realize it was no joke, and she held out her right hand again.
“Give it back. I’ll carry it.”
“Uup, sorry….”
The red core was about to cross back into Yu Ha-rin’s hand—
“No. Let’s not do that.”
—but it never made it.
Choi Yeon firmly pressed the core back into Seo Yun-jae’s hand. The face he had been looking at all day suddenly looked like a demon’s to Seo Yun-jae.
Why on earth was he putting this damn core back into his hand?
“Uugh! T-Teacher?”
“We came here to gain experience, not to clear the dungeon, right?”
“S-so…?”
“You need to get used to it, so let’s have Yun-jae keep carrying it.”
“……”
Seo Yun-jae twisted his tightly shut mouth.
He wanted to refuse, but the suggestion was entirely reasonable, so he had nothing to say.
Instead he asked the question that was bothering him.
“You do… get used to it… right…?”
“Of course. Even ordinary people adapt to F-rank status ailments.”
“……”
“Even ordinary people.”
“I got it…! Uugh….”
The flaring Seo Yun-jae answered halfway and squeezed his eyes shut. Trying to get angry only made the dizziness worse.
To him as he leaned quietly on his staff and focused on breathing, Choi Yeon said,
“Yun-jae, try putting mana into the core.”
“Huh? Ah, yes….”
With a weak voice, mana flowed into the core. Just like at the altar, the guide orb rose glowing red.
“This way we can go straight to where the second core is.”
“What? Don’t tell me…?”
“Yes. Let’s set off like this.”
“N-no…!”
Seo Yun-jae urgently protested, but it was useless.
The moment Choi Yeon started walking, Yu Ha-rin followed right behind him, and after a brief glance at Seo Yun-jae, Ko Sung-yoon followed as well.
“Wait! T-together…!”
Left alone, Seo Yun-jae groaned and chased after them—only to stop almost immediately. Moving made the dizziness far worse.
“……”
Still, he forced himself to take another step.
From everything Choi Yeon had shown so far, he would not simply wait. He might walk a little slower, but that was all.
“Hoo… hoo….”
Looking at the ground as he walked, sometimes with his eyes closed, Seo Yun-jae finally raised his head again.
Even though his pace was slow from all the groaning, Choi Yeon’s back was still in sight.
Suddenly Choi Yeon’s steps stopped.
Of course it was not to wait for Seo Yun-jae. The terrain had simply changed, and he needed to explain.
“From here on it’s a swamp. It’s dangerous if you fall in, so everyone be careful. Especially you, Sung-yoon.”
“Yes. I’ll be careful!”
“And Yun-jae is….”
“I’m fine. Better than earlier….”
Seo Yun-jae answered, stumbling over the words.
He was still nauseous, but the dry heaves no longer rose.
Just as Choi Yeon had said, holding the core was gradually making him used to it.
“Good. Then let’s set off again.”
“Yes.”
At Choi Yeon’s words, Ko Sung-yoon took the lead.
Seo Yun-jae and Yu Ha-rin followed behind him. It had not even been many hours since they entered the dungeon, yet the formation already felt quite natural.
They might become a pretty good party….
“……”
Choi Yeon, who had been watching the trainees with quiet satisfaction, felt a prickly gaze and turned his head.
A middle-aged man stood frowning. Seeing another man of similar age walking ahead of him, the two seemed to be a party.
Choi Yeon listened carefully while watching the hunter call out to his companion.
“…Why? Did you fall in?”
“No, not that.”
“Then why?”
“Hey, look over there. There’s a rabbit.”
“…What are you talking about. Are you spouting nonsense because you don’t want to hold the core? That won’t work!”
“No, I’m saying there’s really one!”
“There is my ass. I’ve never seen a rabbit in this place… huh…?”
Following his companion’s pointing finger and spotting the rabbit, the hunter’s mouth fell open.
He seemed completely flustered by a sight he had never encountered before.
“What the hell is that….”
“Totally crazy, right?”
“Yeah. Crazy. It’s crazy.”
The hunter in front let out a sigh.
It did not take long for the absurd feeling of seeing something that defied common sense to turn into irritation.
Step.
The two hunters moved forward at the same time. Judging by the deep wrinkles on their faces, they had no intention of exchanging pleasant greetings.
But their feet soon stopped.
“Hey, hey. Wait a second…!”
“Why?”
“That—those squinty eyes! That’s Choi Yeon…!”
“There’s no way the guy who should be in Seonhwa-dong is here… he is…?”
The hunters stood blankly staring at Choi Yeon.
Only after Choi Yeon smiled brightly at the two men who were flustered and did not know what to do did they move again.
They simply returned to the path they had originally been taking.
Boring….
Choi Yeon shook his head and met Yu Ha-rin’s gaze.
“…What?”
“Those people just now—they turned back after seeing you, right, Teacher?”
“Well, I’m a Dongdae Hunter. They know there’s nothing good about picking a fight.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Yu Ha-rin shrugged.
The corner of her mouth lifted on one side said she did not believe a word of it.