The Hidden Dungeon (2)

"Jin-hwan?"

"You were the one holding the Black Dragon's egg?"

Ah-ra and Jin-ri stepped into view, and the moment they spotted Jin-hwan and Ji-ah, their faces went slack with confusion.

They had every reason to look that way. When Ah-ra and Jin-ri had first arrived in this place, the system had given them only a single choice: help the raiders steal the Black Dragon's egg. With no other option on the table, they had taken it, and they had been hunting for the egg alongside the raider band ever since — only to run straight into Jin-hwan.

In short, they were now on opposite sides.

"Hey. Hand over the Black Dragon's egg."

A man wearing a red bandana — the one who looked like the raiders' leader — stepped forward as he spoke. The dagger in his grip made it easy to guess he was the same man who had flung a blade at Jin-hwan only moments before.

If I hand over the Black Dragon's egg, what happens then?

Of the two choices he had been given, he had already picked one. If the raiders took the egg from him here, the Black Dragon would not let him or Ji-ah walk away unharmed. But if he refused to give it up? What would happen to Ah-ra and Jin-ri? Would they have to fight him? Or was there another way out of this?

While he stood there dithering, the man in the red bandana apparently decided he had waited long enough. Dagger in hand, he started forward at a slow, unhurried pace. The rest of the band drew their own weapons and began to close in on Jin-hwan and Ji-ah, tightening the noose one step at a time.

Ah-ra and Jin-ri found themselves trapped in an impossible position.

"Jin-ri, what do we do?"

"I know — we can't exactly attack Jin-hwan and Ji-ah…"

The raiders had nearly reached Jin-hwan and Ji-ah. A fight was a single breath away. And while the two girls were still frozen over which side to take, a new message bloomed in front of their eyes.

Ah-ra and Jin-ri looked at each other. A single nod passed between them. They had needed nothing more than that glance to settle whose side they were on, and they snapped into a fighting stance without another word.

"Jin-hwan! Ji-ah! Get back!"

The instant the words left her mouth, Jin-ri leveled her staff at the raider band and cast.

A shaft of fire burst from Jin-ri's staff and streaked toward the man in the red bandana. The attack came so suddenly he barely had time to react — and why would he? Who expected their own allies to turn on them like this?

BOOM!

The Fire Arrow struck him dead-on. Jin-ri thought that one shot had finished it. He hadn't even raised a guard, and he had taken the hit square in the chest. Without their leader, the rest of the band would be nothing but scarecrows.

The man in the red bandana taught her otherwise. He stood exactly where he had been, looking for all the world as if nothing had happened at all.

"Whoa. You startled me. A sneak attack? You really think that little of us?"

He cocked his head and gave himself a once-over, checking for damage. Jin-ri's magic had done nothing.

"Can we even win this?"

"We'll just have to find a way."

It was true they had been leaning on Min-seong Ssaem far too much. Ssaem wasn't here now. They would have to get through this crisis on their own.

"I'll put buffs on everyone."

Jin-hwan threw every buff he had at the gap in their strength, trying to close it however he could. Even he could tell it wouldn't be enough. It wasn't just the leader. The rest of the band looked like they packed serious power of their own. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠question of whether they would walk out of this place alive began to eat its way through his thoughts.

"Can Ji-ah help too?"

Ji-ah had seen the grim look on Jin-hwan's face. She wanted to do something — anything — to help.

"No. Don't worry. This big brother and the girls will handle it somehow."

"But still…"

Jin-hwan couldn't shake the fear that if Ji-ah used her power, the trauma might come roaring back. On top of that, she still couldn't properly control it. He had no guarantee that unleashing it would even help.

"Ah-ra! The water spirit!"

"Got it!"

Roa appeared in front of Ah-ra and, the instant it took form, began blasting water in every direction. The raiders were soaked through by the spirit's water-cannon assault. The attack itself didn't deal much damage, so they simply drew their daggers and rushed the group all the faster.

"Is this enough?"

"Yeah. Thanks!"

The raiders were drenched from head to toe — and they had already run this combo once before.

Bolts of lightning leapt from Jin-ri's staff and rode the water like a conductor, ripping through the raiders.

CRACKLE-ZZZT!

The same attack had done nothing to the alligator. Against the raiders, it was a different story. The damage wasn't huge, but it was enough to stall them, locking up their movement for a precious few seconds.

Jin-ri's staff flared again in that brief window.

White smoke poured from the staff, swelling and spreading until it swallowed the entire area. In a heartbeat, they couldn't see an inch in front of their faces.

"Go, now! Take the Black Dragon's egg back!"

"Right. Got it!"

This was the opening Jin-ri and Ah-ra had carved out for him. Jin-hwan could not afford to waste it. The fog's one real drawback was that it blinded their enemies and their own side in equal measure. The map marked where he needed to go, but that was all it did. Moving properly through this was going to be a nightmare.

Something cold brushed Jin-hwan's cheek.

"What was that?"

The thing that had chilled his face was Roa, Ah-ra's spirit. The water spirit had shrunk itself down and split into several smaller forms, and now it led the group through the dense ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fog as if it were guiding them along a safe path.

Just a little farther.

They were almost at the spot the map had marked. If he could just return the Black Dragon's egg, they would be able to escape this dungeon.

As if the world had no intention of making it that easy, the fog peeled away. And the raiders, it seemed, had a map of their own that could track the egg — because not far behind, Jin-hwan could hear people moving through the trees.

"Are we still far?"

"No. We're almost there."

"They're practically on top of us…"

It felt like the raiders would catch them before they ever reached the Black Dragon. And then that feeling became reality.

THUNK!

A dagger hissed past Jin-hwan's face and buried itself in a tree. A voice followed on its heels.

"Ah. Finally caught up."

The man in the red bandana appeared first. The rest of the raiders bled out of the trees behind him, one after another.

"All right. Hand over the Black Dragon's egg."

They seemed to sense they were closing in on the Black Dragon's lair as well. Their faces had gone grim, as if they meant to put everything they had into this last stretch. Weapons out, they started toward the group.

"You go. Take the egg back first."

"What? And you two?"

"We'll buy you time here."

"No, but—"

Jin-hwan hesitated. How was he supposed to leave Ah-ra and Jin-ri behind and run off with the egg? If something happened to them, what then?

"If we all stay and fight, our odds of getting out of here are worse than if you return the egg."

"She's right. We can stall them for a while, but actually winning…"

They had already felt the gap in strength during the last clash. Even if they fought at full power, there was no guarantee they could win. Betting everything on returning the Black Dragon's egg was the better play, ugly as it looked.

"Hey! What's all the whispering about?"

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Daggers came screaming in.

"Roa!"

Water cannons met the blades in midair and knocked them aside. Ah-ra shouted the instant the attack was stopped.

"Go! Now!"

"Got it! Just hold on a little longer!"

Jin-hwan hoisted Ji-ah onto his back and ran, eyes locked on the map. Just a little farther and he would reach the Black Dragon.

Damn it! If I were just a little stronger—!

His own weakness sat in his chest like a stone. He couldn't help wondering what it would have been like if he had awakened into a class built for fighting. He had always believed he could grow faster than anyone — but a Healer's inborn limitation was that you could not get strong fast on your own. Being a Healer wasn't a bad thing. It was a class people needed. That didn't make the frustration any easier to swallow.

"Hah. Hah. Hah."

He ran with those thoughts hammering in his skull, and then — at last — he reached the place the map had marked.

The scene that unfolded in front of him stopped him cold. Fear locked every joint in his body.

The Black Dragon was right there.

It was enormous. At least twenty meters from snout to tail, with a body to match — and every inch of that vast bulk was sheathed in scales as black as true darkness. The Black Dragon lay coiled as if asleep, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doing nothing at all, and the mere sight of it was enough to freeze Jin-hwan where he stood.

RUMMMMMBLE—!

Had it sensed someone approaching? The Black Dragon began to stir, shifting its body by degrees. It had barely moved, and already a colossal sound rolled out through the surrounding air.

"I— I came to return this."

Standing still felt like an invitation to die, so Jin-hwan hurriedly set the Black Dragon's egg down in front of it. It was hard to believe that something so relatively small could belong to a creature of that size — but he had no choice except to hope this really was the Black Dragon's egg.

"Ah… it was nothing."

With that, the Black Dragon spoke a language Jin-hwan could not understand, the words rolling toward him like a tide. At the same time, his entire body began to stain itself in black light.

Window after window bloomed in front of Jin-hwan's eyes. He stared at them, stunned. He had never imagined anything like this would happen.

A new mission unfurled in the air.

Apparently, returning the Black Dragon's egg was not going to be enough to get them out of this dungeon.