The Secret of the Moonlight Altar
“Hup.”
“Mph!”
Every breath in the group died at once.
Even Hwang Dae-un, who had been fighting sleep just moments earlier, snapped his eyes wide open and clamped a hand over his mouth.
Moonlight Tribe!
Yeon-ho hyung said it—if they catch us, it’s total wipe.
Just hold your breath.
Thud. Thud.
The Moonlight Tribe member strolled into view without much caution, scanning the surroundings only casually.
Perhaps it was the arrogance of believing nothing in the underground city could threaten it.
- Kig-geuk!
The creature made a bizarre noise as it spotted the secret manual of poison swordsmanship, tilting its head for a moment.
- Kiruk?
It seemed to wonder why a book would be sitting out here alone like that.
Soon the Moonlight Tribe member picked it up and sniffed at it with a few sharp sniffs.
The party’s hearts plummeted again at the sight, yet Hyun Si-woon alone remained perfectly still, utterly calm.
It’s fine. It won’t find us anyway.
A Moonlight Tribe’s senses were somewhat lacking compared to their combat prowess.
How lacking?
You could walk right behind one in plain sight and it still wouldn’t notice.
He had no idea why it was sniffing, but its sense of smell wasn’t much better either.
Before long the creature snatched up the poison swordsmanship manual, flipped through a few pages—
- Kiaek! Kieeeeeak!
—and grew visibly delighted.
Just as expected.
Hyun Si-woon cracked a faint smile.
Up to this point, everything matched the scenes he had watched countless times in the game.
The creature carefully tucked the manual into its robes and started back the way it had come.
The real problem starts now.
Hyun Si-woon’s eyes sharpened.
They had to follow it.
Sssk.
He quietly gestured toward his crouching companions, palm open in a signal to wait.
If we all go, it’ll only get more dangerous.
If they were going?
Two was exactly right.
Yeon-ho hyung.
He pointed at Baek Yeon-ho with his index finger, then raised index and middle fingers.
Two?
Baek Yeon-ho understood instantly, nodded, and rose.
Inwardly he felt a swell of pride.
Well, I did roam this map until I was sick of it.
As mentioned before, he had experience mapping the third floor.
His grasp of the basic terrain, passages, and traps was second to none.
So Si-woon valued that, huh.
The other members obeyed the order without a word.
Hyun Si-woon’s judgment had never been wrong so far.
Soon the two of them carefully stepped into the dark tunnel where the Moonlight Tribe member had vanished.
Baek Yeon-ho held his breath and stuck close behind Hyun Si-woon.
His bulky shield had long since gone into inventory.
“Hoo…”
His mind was racing.
What the hell kind of guy is this?
Hyun Si-woon’s movements ahead of him were pure wonder.
He cut through darkness so deep you could barely tell the floor apart, never hesitating for an instant.
He really does know every inch of this place.
It was on a completely different level from the maps Baek Yeon-ho himself had drawn.
The entire underground city seemed etched perfectly into Hyun Si-woon’s mind.
He was clearly taking a different route from the Moonlight Tribe member.
Following the creature’s exact path would get them spotted by other kobolds.
And yet he never loses the trail.
He brushed past recessed sections of wall and avoided certain floor tiles with surgical precision.
Those were exactly where the traps lay.
Kigigik, clack!
Hyun Si-woon gave a slight push to a protrusion on the wall; mechanical sounds followed as a secret passage opened.
The two of them slipped inside just as a kobold patrol squad passed behind them.
The timing was nothing short of miraculous.
Hooo.
Baek Yeon-ho felt dopamine surge through him.
The way the two of them moved was unrealistically perfect.
Even as a movie it would get roasted for lacking plausibility.
If someone turned it into a YouTube clip titled “Absolute Monsters Tearing Through Floor Three,” the view count would have exploded, right?
About ten minutes passed that way before the Moonlight Tribe member arrived at a certain open clearing.
That’s…
Baek Yeon-ho remembered it.
An old stone altar thick with moss.
He had definitely poked around it back in the days of the Tower of Despair.
No matter how much he looked or clicked, nothing had responded.
It did feel a bit off, though.
For a mere background object, it had looked impressively elaborate.
Thud.
The moment the Moonlight Tribe member stepped onto the altar—
Kuuurrrrrng!
The ground in front of the altar split open with a heavy rumble.
The earth sank, slowly revealing a secret staircase leading downward!
“…!”
Baek Yeon-ho’s mouth fell open without him realizing it.
Ah.
Aaaah.
It only opened if a Moonlight Tribe member stood there!
Holy…
Easy to say.
Figuring this out at all was nearly impossible.
What kind of lunatic would think to lure a Moonlight Tribe member with a poison swordsmanship manual just to find a secret base?
And with zero information or hints, no less.
Tap!
Hyun Si-woon tapped Baek Yeon-ho’s shoulder and launched himself without the slightest hesitation.
Damn.
Baek Yeon-ho reflexively followed.
The thought that they might actually face a Moonlight Tribe member now crossed his mind, but right now he had no choice except to trust and follow Hyun Si-woon.
If that entrance closed, everything would be for nothing!
Whoosh, whoosh!
Their figures moved stealthily; the instant they slipped inside—
Kuuurrrrrng!
The ground before the altar sealed itself again.
Thump.
Hyun Si-woon set the Formless Sword down for a moment and held his breath.
- …What a crazy bastard.
Ha-wol, who had been watching, clicked her tongue.
- This lady may be a fully ascended Ranker, but even among Rankers I’ve never heard of this insane space existing on the third floor.
I get it, so pipe down a little.
Tap, thump!
He flicked a finger against the blade a couple of times, and Ha-wol shut her mouth tight.
The Moonlight Tribe’s dwelling was narrower than expected.
Even with their dull senses, the slightest mistake now could get them caught.
It’ll leave the manual in the loot storage area soon and head out.
They just had to wait for that.
Afterward?
Head for the escape route.
Unlike the entrance, the exit only needed a simple mechanism to open, so it was easy.
But…
A sudden curiosity struck him.
What would happen if we took down a Moonlight Tribe member?
He had of course tried it back when clearing the Tower of Despair.
And?
One hundred times out of one hundred.
He had failed.
Even Hyun Si-woon, who played the game at a level far beyond everyone else, had concluded it.
This wasn’t designed to be beaten.
With high-floor specs it might have been worth a shot, but with third-floor specs you could struggle all you wanted and it wouldn’t matter.
But right now…
He had two weapons.
Infinite regression.
And the breathing technique and footwork Ha-wol had taught him.
Wouldn’t that make it worth a try?
Perhaps she read the expression on his face.
- Ergh, you crazy bastard. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of taking on a Moonlight Tribe member? Don’t even consider it. With your abilities you could die and come back a hundred times and still never take one down.
That bad?
- Well, even if your life is infinite… thinking about having to start all over again from that scorching desert just to get back here… ugh, this lady wouldn’t do it.
Hmm.
She had a point there.
And…
No matter how curious he was, taking down a Moonlight Tribe member right now sat firmly in the realm of “impossible.”
Okay.
Hyun Si-woon steeled himself.
Just safely securing the rewards piled up over there would already give him a power-up on a completely different level from everyone else.
And if he ever did choose to fight, it would be far better to claim those rewards first, prepare properly, and then fight.
While thinking that and waiting for the Moonlight Tribe member to leave—
Kuuurrrrrng!
The ground shook.
Hm?
What was that?
Every nerve in Hyun Si-woon’s body went taut.
Baek Yeon-ho also looked around in alarm.
The sound of the sealed secret passage opening again…
Which meant?
Another Moonlight Tribe member was entering.
Baek Yeon-ho urgently signaled with his hands, asking what the hell was going on and whether this was supposed to happen.
No choice, I guess.
It was a perfectly possible situation.
There wasn’t just one Moonlight Tribe member on the third floor, after all.
We might have to camp out here a little longer.
- Kiik!
But then—
The newly arrived Moonlight Tribe member’s condition was strange.
Wounds?
Hyun Si-woon’s eyes narrowed.
Dark crimson blood was pouring from the creature’s abdomen.
A deep, serious injury.
A Moonlight Tribe member wounded? How?
Even the Kobold King wasn’t a match for them; it seemed like the entire kobold army on the third floor could swarm one and still struggle to leave a scratch—yet it had taken a critical wound?
The creature slumped down in the clearing, clutching its stomach.
The first Moonlight Tribe member approached it.
- Kieeeek! Keuk, kirik!
It looked flustered and began speaking in some fashion.
“…!”
Hyun Si-woon focused with suffocating tension, determined not to miss a single detail of the scene.
- Hmm?
Ha-wol made a sound.
- Looks like a fight broke out among fellow Moonlight Tribe members.
What?
Hyun Si-woon was startled.
How did she know?
Did she understand kobold language or something?
- This lady didn’t understand their words—she saw the wound. A considerable amount of energy lingers in that abdominal injury, and its nature is very similar to a Moonlight Tribe’s own.
Ahh.
So that was it.
If they were the same species, they could certainly wound each other.
Then—
Kuuurrrrrng!
The ground shook once more.
Another Moonlight Tribe member had arrived!
- Heh heh, that must be the one.
Even without Ha-wol’s explanation, he could tell.
Its very gait was menacing.
- Kieeeek!
The creature gripping a sharp dagger stalked toward the wounded one, fuming.
The wounded one bared its teeth right back, refusing to yield.
- Kiiek!
- Kirik! Kiaek!
The Moonlight Tribe member that had brought the manual darted between them, desperately trying to mediate, but it was useless.
The two were already boiling with rage, glaring as if ready to kill each other.
In the end—
- Kiaek!
The mediating Moonlight Tribe member gave a frustrated howl, then simply turned and left through the exit.
As if to say, “I don’t care. You two sort it out yourselves.”
It was a scene that perfectly illustrated the independent nature of the Moonlight Tribe.
And then—
The duel began.
Moonlight Tribe versus Moonlight Tribe.
They charged at each other swinging daggers, screaming as they fought.
Whoa.
The battle between the two Moonlight Tribe members was so fast and fierce that human eyes could barely follow.
Their movements weren’t mere brawling.
From the tips of their swinging daggers stretched faint yet unmistakable blades of energy—sword aura.
Wherever the aura grazed walls and floor, deep scars were left behind.
“….”
Hyun Si-woon immediately discarded the idea he had briefly entertained earlier.
Fight something like that at his current level?
It would be like trying to smash a boulder with an egg.
Especially…
The already-wounded one was especially vicious.
The pain must have been severe, yet it fought on without regard.
- Kieeeek!
The fierce exchange continued, and then—
Puuuk!
The first wounded Moonlight Tribe member luckily seized the upper hand.
It had driven its sword aura cleanly into the other’s shoulder.
Puhak!
Blood sprayed in every direction with a ghastly sound.
It didn’t waste the chance.
Puk! Seogeok! Puk!
Completely abandoning defense, it began frantically stabbing every part of its opponent’s body.
Brutal.
Hyun Si-woon frowned.
Its own abdominal wounds multiplied further, yet it pressed on with pure intent to kill.
And before long—
Thump!
The later-arriving Moonlight Tribe member collapsed to the floor, body thoroughly riddled with wounds.
It didn’t move.
It was dead.
- Kieeeeeek!
The victorious Moonlight Tribe member roared.
A victor’s cry.
But…
It wasn’t unscathed either.
The fierce fight moments earlier had left its entire body covered in major wounds, and its breathing was extremely ragged.
It staggered over to a nearby corner of the wall and slumped down heavily.
It closed its eyes as if trying to recover from the wounds while gasping for air.
“….”
In the heavy silence—
Hyun Si-woon stared at the exhausted victor with an almost breathless gaze.
- You… don’t tell me?
Why?
She was right!
Right now…
Wasn’t this actually doable?
How was he supposed to pass up free loot like this?
Without even realizing it, Hyun Si-woon’s hand drifted toward the Formless Sword at his waist.