Bait Worms and Incoming Prey
“Huh?”
[Bait Combat Earthworm (Lv.31)] Mud-colored skin dripping with slime, covered in sharp protrusions everywhere. Its circular maw was lined with hundreds of teeth layered in rows.
- We're screwed.
- Why does it look like that?
- Isn't that straight out of hell?
- The bait's way too strong, isn't it?
“Ugh……”
Juyeonu froze for a moment before steadying his stance again. He glanced back at Hanbit and asked,
“This is where we fight monsters, right?”
“The challenge dungeon was like that too. Why? Too tough?”
“Tough? Nah, it's perfect.”
Shing—
Juyeonu drew the sword from his waist. Then he kicked off and charged at the earthworm.
Splash—!
Screeech—!
The monster's neck split open from the powerful strike. Hanbit watched quietly from a few steps back.
“Oh, not bad.”
- Viewing mode ON
- Earthworm Butcher Roper.
- Melting the mobs easy;
- Seems weak compared to how it looks?
The viewers reacted instantly to Juyeonu dispatching the monster with ease.
Splash—!
After slaying the last earthworm, Juyeonu turned back with a triumphant grin.
“How was that? Pretty good, huh?”
“You've earned the brag. We'll be through quick.”
“Just trust me. Hurry up and follow!”
His mood lifted, Juyeonu strode forward boldly. He still kept his right hand on the wall.
Tap tap—
After a few turns, more new monsters appeared. This time, they were crabs with sharp claws.
[Bait Combat Crab (Lv.31)]
Monsters at the same level as the earthworms. Juyeonu, fired up, kicked off and lunged right in.
“This is nothing!”
Crack—!
He handled them boldly once more.
“Good job, keep it up.”
Hanbit clapped leisurely from a few steps behind. Juyeonu's shoulders were puffed up high as he led the way.
‘Looks like more players are gathering outside.’
The chat kept mentioning the growing crowd of players waiting at the dungeon entrance. It felt like time to make a move.
Step—
Juyeonu pressed on, following the right wall.
Scuttle—
“So many monsters?”
He finally grumbled amid the endless spawns. But the monsters kept coming.
Scuttle—
Then, from a blind spot above, a bug monster crawled down toward Juyeonu. Hanbit quietly drew his bow.
Twang—!
The arrow flew fast and buried into the bug's head. Juyeonu, focused on his fight, didn't notice a thing.
- lololol look at him not knowing
- He's working hard tho.
- But this dungeon's legit tough?
- Difficulty re-evaluation.
The chat's take on the dungeon was shifting. It felt easy since the monsters weren't that strong.
Hanbit shot a glance at the camera.
‘How's it look? Easy, right?’
He swallowed the words he wanted to say aloud. All he had to do was keep showing this deceptively simple dungeon clear.
“Oh, we're almost there, right?”
“For real?”
“Keep pushing. You might snag the first clear.”
“Then we gotta hurry!”
A little hope lit a fire under Juyeonu.
Slash—!
Twang—!
His struggles and Hanbit's subtle assists continued a few more times. Minutes later.
Ding—
A clear alert rang in their ears.
[Cuckoo sponsored 1,000 won.]
[Breaking: 2,300 scouts entering the waterway.]
‘They're here.’
Hanbit clenched his fist. Over 2,000 players, including Rainzer. Perfect fodder for this dungeon clear.
“Huh?”
Juyeonu, mid-fight, finally stopped.
“They're already in? We haven't even cleared the maze yet! And 2,300 is way too many!”
Clueless about the plan, his reaction was natural.
Hanbit furrowed his brow on purpose.
“This is a problem.”
He muttered while eyeing the chat, then paused as if pondering.
He turned to Juyeonu.
“They'll catch up quick, huh?”
“Rainzer at least will be fast. But what do we do? Losing the clear would be a disaster.”
Juyeonu sighed, sword drooping as he stared into the maze. But the next chat news drew an even deeper sigh.
- Breaking: Rainzer declares he'll PK if needed.
- Must've pissed him off bad. lol
- Why rage when our kids are just farming?
- Fr tho lol;
- Crashing the party for a bit.
- Huh? You too?
“He's going that far? Haa.”
“Whoa, PK? This is bad.”
Their reactions came out in unison. Juyeonu looked genuinely troubled. For Hanbit, PK was irrelevant—the situation would end before it started.
“I'll hurry.”
Urgent now, Juyeonu tried to push ahead. Admirable, but time for a switch.
“Nah, you've done plenty.”
Hanbit patted his shoulder with light steps. He drew his cyan-blue sword and took the lead.
“I'll take point now.”
***
At the waterway entrance, debris pushed aside. Amid the swarm of players, Rainzer's group stood out. Their flashy gear bore the Lashten corporate logo.
Grind—
Rainzer ground his teeth.
On a floating broadcast screen nearby, Roper and Black Dragon navigated the maze.
‘Black Dragon… that damn bastard.’
Since starting Record Project, Rainzer's life had changed. A noble-like status. Even in the megacorp Lashten, he got top treatment. Sure, he lagged behind some rivals, but he was always among the elite vanguard.
Until that day.
‘Luck's part of skill too. Or does he have neither?’
The first humiliation from that man called Black Dragon. He'd masked his fury then, but one slip and it would've turned to PK.
‘If not for that one mess……’
It started with the hero-confirmed skill quest from Atsbel. Right after Black Dragon cleared it, Rainzer—gathering intel—got an anonymous tip. He used it to farm bomb slime materials in a hidden cave, monopolizing them easily. His bold announcement about crushing noobs was perfect too.
Then a community post flipped it: <Where Did All Those Bomb Slimes Go?>
Who's the culprit? Up to you.
- Lashten hogged them all?
- Trash guilds.
- Greedier than a black hole.
- Corps always like that.
- Real selfish pricks.
The arrows pointed straight at Lashten. While monitoring backlash, Rainzer's team heard Black Dragon logged in. When he hit Atsbel's shop, the quest popped.
[Quest]
Learn the second spell from Atsbel.
Book unlocks in 5 minutes.
Objective: Use Atsbel's spellbook
Reward: 10,000 gold, Fire Burst (2-rank Hero), 3 stat points, 3,000 EXP
A 2-rank skill quest, shockingly fast. Black Dragon, stone-faced, nabbed it effortlessly. Rainzer and his crew rushed in too—only for the worst: no success, chance gone.
‘Helpers? Another corp?’
Plenty of corps hated Lashten. In-game guilds sharpened rivalries. One backing Black Dragon? Plausible.
But yesterday blew even that away.
‘Episode reset? Unbelievable.’
The world message stunned all players. Ripples hit the real world hard. His intel network was still scrambling.
‘But turning down Lashten?’
He had to respect Black Dragon's knowledge, even if begrudgingly. With him as support, Rainzer could've surged ahead. That's why he met the Lashten chairman, sealed the recruit, and approached.
But the arrogant prick, shoulders high, spat nonsense and refused.
‘What makes you think you can join Lashten? Sounds like nothing special anyway.’
Black Dragon had achievements, sure, but still just a regular player. Ignoring a vanguard corp? And implying recruits from higher vanguards? It dragged out Rainzer's buried inferiority.
『Oh, we're almost there, right?』
『For real?』
Voices from the broadcast. Rainzer mapped the maze progress in his head.
Decision made.
“We move in.”
“Boss, shouldn't we watch the full maze first?”
A subordinate sidled up. Rainzer shook his head firmly.
“No, now. If they exit the maze, it might be over.”
Pure logic, fury aside. Full trust or distrust didn't fit Black Dragon. Unpredictable from start to finish. Methods, process, results—all off-script. Plus that knack for mocking others meant caution. No way he'd play into his plan. This time, PK be damned—he'd seize the edge.
“I lead. Follow at a distance.”
Thud—!
Rainzer kicked off into the waterway. His high agility spiked his speed instantly.
Thump—!
A few frogs blocked the path. Bow drawn, he pulled the string with venom.
Twang—!
Crackle—!
The lightning-charged arrow surged, wiping every monster clean. A razor-sharp strike laced with rage.
‘I'll shut that mouth for good.’
If Black Dragon was cocky, crushing him with overwhelming power would ground him in reality. Instill that sense of loss.
Rainzer clenched his fist, face grim with resolve.
‘The boss is mine, no matter what.’