Death's Cave (3)

Rumble rumble rumble rumble.

As the surroundings grew noisy, the stones around the gem began to move.

After waiting a moment, a passage appeared where the gem had been.

'Should I enter this way?'

I didn't know for sure if this was the correct path, but I couldn't not go.

Since I used the dungeon scroll, if I didn't clear this dungeon, there was no way out except death.

'I never imagined the difficulty would be this high.'

I thought it would end by catching just a few monsters, but my head shook at the even more sinister difficulty.

I didn't have much information on the scroll, and if I stayed put, I might lose the shelter, so I used it, but if I had known the difficulty in advance, I would never have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠used it.

After all, the 3-star scroll used by Kim Min-seong is a dungeon scroll that no one has cleared yet.

Even the 1 and 2-star ones have sinister difficulty, so of course with 3-star.

Step step.

I cautiously stepped towards the passage that appeared.

After moving for a while.

Fortunately, there was no monster in this passage, and the exit was right there.

Exiting the passage, one huge door appeared before my eyes.

'Is this the end?'

A single door existed.

And just looking at it, I instinctively felt there was something terrifying here.

So, I summoned one Orc.

I ordered the Orc to open the door, then made it enter first.

Step step.

The Orc entered the dark door.

But the guy who entered immediately lost control over me.

'What?'

The guy didn't die.

If he died, a message would appear saying he died.

But the Orc didn't move according to my command.

I summoned a few Bugbears and Orcs and sent them in, but same result.

'What the hell is inside?'

I couldn't keep sending monsters.

The number of monsters I have is limited, so I had to go in and figure out the situation.

So, I slowly entered.

'Whoa? This is...'

A bit inside, strange things started appearing before my eyes.

'Statues?'

Statues made of stone.

The statues made to look like people had dynamic expressions and poses as if they were alive.

'What's weird about this?'

I suddenly felt strange about statues like this.

So, I advanced cautiously.

Then, this time, the appearance of monsters that were not people began to appear.

Orcs, Bugbears, Goblins.

Monsters that had hardened into stone.

But then, a thought crossed my mind.

'Wait! These monsters?'

The statues next to me.

They were clearly the monsters I had summoned.

The monsters I summoned and sent in first had become statues.

'Wait, then is all this?!'

I hurriedly looked around.

Not only monsters, but people who had turned to stone.

Given the dynamic expressions and actions of these people and monsters, it was clear they weren't just simply carved.

'Stone! Statues! Then?'

A certain myth came to mind.

It was Medusa!

As soon as that thought hit, I hurriedly turned around and moved to a pillar that could hide my body.

Then, I cautiously began looking deeper inside using the knife as a mirror.

As expected, inside there was Medusa sitting on a huge chair, sipping from a goblet.

Medusa with countless snakes instead of hair on a human body.

If I looked directly at Medusa's face, I would definitely turn to stone.

'Insane. How is the level this high!'

This dungeon's difficulty is too ruthless.

How am I supposed to deal with such a guy.

It seems Medusa is the final boss of this dungeon.

It seemed impossible to escape this place without defeating Medusa.

“Here, there seems to be one more mouse.” A woman's voice was heard.

It seems Medusa can speak human words.

'Damn it.'

Medusa had already noticed me.

I tried to sneak up and look from behind, but it seemed impossible.

I summoned one Orc and rushed at Medusa.

Kwaaa!

The Orc ran with a roar.

But the Orc's body stopped immediately.

At the same time, the Orc's body turned to stone in an instant.

Just by looking at Medusa for a moment, it became a statue.

'What?'

It seemed the stone-turned Orc wasn't dead.

The Orc that turned to stone while alive.

Like the Medusa in the myth, just by looking, it turned to stone.

“How cute. Shall we play hide and seek?” Medusa got up from the chair.

Without letting go of the goblet in her hand.

It seemed she had confidence that she could handle someone like me even while drinking.

'Do I have to fight without looking?'

It seemed that because I saw Medusa's eyes, I could only fight with eyes closed.

So, I used the knife to draw a little blood.

[Special Ability - Blood Clone]

[Summon Blood Clone by consuming blood.]

- Blood is consumed by a certain amount.

- Create Blood Clone.

- Blood Clone can use 50% of base abilities.

With that, two clones were created.

It seemed I used a lot of blood, making me dizzy, but I made the two clones close their eyes and slowly approach Medusa.

When I made sure they closed their eyes, they didn't turn to stone even when facing Medusa.

'Okay. One in front, one behind.'

Because they were my clones rather than monsters, it was much easier to control the appearances reflected by the knife.

While one clone in front distracted Medusa's gaze, the other clone quickly approached from behind Medusa and swung the knife at Medusa's head.

'Is it over?!'

The knife flew accurately to the head.

But it didn't end that easily.

One snake from Medusa's head bit the knife with its mouth.

Then, one snake from Medusa's head fell off.

At the same time, the snake began to grow rapidly.

The appeared snake wrapped around one clone's body quickly.

Thud! Thud thud!

The clone's body couldn't withstand the snake's power, bones shattered, and it died.

And the other clone was the same.

My clone that lost its life to just one snake from Medusa's head.

The snake that killed all clones crawled back to Medusa's head.

“Oh, you do a lot of cute things.”

Medusa ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slowly approached me.

'What to do?'

If Medusa approached me like this, I would definitely turn to stone.

Before that, I had to do something.

I looked at Medusa through the knife and went outside.

“You were hiding there?”

“Wait! How about talking?” “What talk?”

Medusa tilted her head and looked at me.

At the same time, all the snakes in her head focused on me.

“If you save me, won't you?”

“Of course. All intruders here will just become statues. Um. Judging by the reflection, you are quite handsome, so I'll specially display you next to me.”

Of course, such talk wouldn't work.

I hurriedly summoned all the summons I could and prepared for a total attack.

Kwaaa!

If I push with numbers, it shouldn't be impossible.

But it was useless.

Despite the numerous monsters, the ones summoned immediately looked at Medusa and turned to stone.

They didn't deal any damage to Medusa.

“Ah. Stop doing these lame things and just look at me. Then you'll feel better.” Medusa approached me as if annoyed.

Medusa who was walking slowly came almost right in front of me.

- Sshiiik!

- Sshiiik!

The clear sound of the snakes in Medusa's head near my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ear.

As that sound gradually got closer!

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, Medusa clutched her chest and fell.

What the hell happened.

Clang.

The goblet Medusa was holding also fell to the ground.

“You! What the hell did you do... ”

Before finishing the words, Medusa died as is.

“Good job. Fairy.”

Fairy popped out from hiding behind me.

The reason Medusa died was simple.

While I was focusing her gaze, the secretly flying Fairy put a poison bead in Medusa's goblet.

The poison spread in the alcohol with instant death effect, colorless and odorless.

Medusa approached me without suspicion, drank the alcohol as is in one gulp, and died.

“Hoo.”

At the same time, the monsters and some people who had turned to stone returned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to humans from the statues.

“Here! Show your appearance!”

“I will be the first to clear this!”

People who seemed not to remember that they had turned to stone.

They moved to another place instantly upon turning back to people from stone.

It seemed that when this dungeon was cleared, the people who had turned to stone by Medusa could safely exit outside.

'Still, those people are coming back alive.'

Was this the reward for coming to the room where Medusa was.

People with much better luck compared to those who died.

And after those people moved, a new message appeared before my eyes.

- You have cleared the dungeon (Dark Cave).

- Time taken to clear: 47 minutes 39 seconds [S-rank]

- First clear!

- All-time clear ranking: 1st!

- Newly registered in the 100-person ranking.

1st - [Predator] 47 minutes 39 seconds [S-rank]

- Please move to the reward room.