No. 104 Black Snake Chamber (2)
Once we stepped out of the inn, we tracked the footsteps of the two low-ranking Black Snake Chamber warriors.
Before long, we spotted the backs of two men in black martial garb and Jeomsoi.
They noticed our presence just as quickly — no surprise, considering we were following them without making the slightest effort to hide it.
The men didn't call for reinforcements. Instead, they began luring us somewhere.
Which meant they intended to handle us with their own strength alone.
We followed along obediently, and soon enough, we stood facing each other in a deserted spot far from any foot traffic.
Warrior A of the Black Snake Chamber looked us over and spoke.
"So you're the ones from the inn. Come to play at being heroes, have you?"
"Yeah. I saw an injustice, and I just couldn't stand by and watch."
Hidden pieces wait for no man.
I shot Go Hyeon-woo a sidelong glance, asking for backup, and he clapped his hands together in agreement.
"That's right. How could any man stand idle while an innocent youth is dragged off before his very eyes?"
"Your courage is admirable, but foolish. That righteous heart of yours will be the death of you."
Shing—
Warrior A drew his sword in an instant.
Warrior B, on the other hand, seemed to have something different in mind. He looked us up and down, then said to A,
"Decent bone structure on this one. He'll fetch a price."
"Are we taking these two back to the chamber as well?"
"Yes. Subdue them with as few wounds as possible."
"So lopping off an arm or a leg wouldn't be a problem, then?"
"Of course not."
Their attitude made it clear: subduing us would be easier than flipping a palm.
I, in turn, gave Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byung-cheol a quiet signal.
"Don't damage the clothes."
"Understood."
We'd be putting those black uniforms to use, after all.
I cast Wind Force at Warrior A without a word of warning, and the battle began.
"What the—"
The wind blew toward me and dragged his body along with it. He panicked for a heartbeat, but quickly recovered his composure — and instead of resisting, he rode the current, flying straight at me to slash at my arm.
I tilted my head just enough to dodge, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him straight into the ground.
WHAM!
He was tougher than he looked — he didn't go down right away, but swung his sword from where he lay pinned to the earth.
A split second before my ankle could be severed, I hopped lightly out of the blade's reach, cast Wind Force again, hoisted him into the air, and drove him back down into the ground.
THUD!
He still had some fight left in him, so I seized his head and drove my knee into his temple.
CRACK!
I turned to check on the others. Go Hyeon-woo and Warrior B were trading blows.
Fists and hands wove rapidly through the air.
Shin Byung-cheol circled the edge of the fight, trying to trip the man or crack him across the back of the head, only to take a hit for his trouble each time.
Why does this fight look so messy?
I couldn't tell whether it was because Go Hyeon-woo wasn't using his main weapon, or because Shin Byung-cheol simply fought like a brawler in a back alley.
That unwatchable farce finally ended when Shin Byung-cheol locked the man in a headlock from behind and Go Hyeon-woo drove a fist into his solar plexus.
We stripped the two subdued warriors of their uniforms, bound them tight, and tossed them carelessly out of sight. By the time they woke up — or by the time anyone noticed they were missing — we would already be long gone from the dungeon.
Shin Byung-cheol looked like every inch of him ached. He'd taken more than a few hits in that brief scuffle. He kept kneading his shoulders and limbs as he asked,
"Wait, THESE are the low-rank warriors? Aren't they more like officers?"
"Nope. These guys are the weakest here."
Low-rank, yes — but low-rank in a deep-layer, B-rank dungeon.
They'd rank somewhere around the elites or mid-bosses of an ordinary low-tier dungeon.
Go Hyeon-woo and I could manage, but Shin Byung-cheol wouldn't stand a chance one-on-one.
Which was exactly why he needed to avoid combat whenever possible.
Either way, the first step was done.
I turned to Jeomsoi, who was standing there half-frozen, and said,
"Let's head back."
"My son!"
"Father!"
Father and son threw their arms around each other as if they hadn't seen one another in decades, and had themselves a proper family reunion.
It would have been a touching scene, if I hadn't watched it so many times that it left me completely unmoved.
Come to think of it, even the first time I saw it, I don't think it moved me much either.
So I rudely cut in between the two of them.
"Sorry to interrupt the touching moment, but business is business."
"Ah — yes! Of course. What would you have me do...?"
"Can I take this?"
In my hand was a small statuette.
I'd picked up the Bodhidharma statue that had been decorating a corner of the inn.
The innkeeper's face said, Why on earth would you want that?
But a Bodhidharma statue was hardly an outrageous request, and it seemed he decided it was too late to go back on his word now. He nodded.
"...Take it, then."
"Thank you. The duck soup is still on, right? Dumplings alone won't quite settle it."
"Naturally. I'll have it ready at once."
The innkeeper and Jeomsoi disappeared into the kitchen to finish the cooking.
I took a seat at a table and examined the Bodhidharma statue at length.
It was worn and chipped all over — a genuinely sorry sight.
And yet, sitting face to face with the smiling face of Bodhidharma, I felt a strange, quiet charm about it.
Go Hyeon-woo, peering at the statue beside me, seemed to feel something similar.
"There's more to this than meets the eye."
Shin Byung-cheol, who had been crowding in for a look, chimed in.
"Isn't that the thing you use for formations? Or am I wrong?"
"You're right. It's used for formations."
More precisely, it served to break through a specific formation.
Think of it as a kind of key.
But that wasn't all.
"What do you see?"
With that question, I handed the statue over. Go Hyeon-woo took it, almost absently, and looked down at it.
At first his expression was puzzled,
but as the moments passed, it hardened into something deadly serious.
"This is...!"
Just as Go Hyeon-woo suspected, whoever had carved this was no ordinary master.
Someone skilled enough to pour his martial principles into the carving of a mere Bodhidharma statue.
Every single line of the statuette looked like the trail left behind by a razor-sharp sword qi.
Even after long years had weathered much of it away, those traces remained vivid as ever.
Keep observing it, keep studying it, and a glimpse of those principles could be glimpsed.
To a martial artist like Go Hyeon-woo, it was a treasure worth a king's ransom.
For me, on the other hand, only its formation-breaking function mattered.
So I decided to lend it to him until I had a use for it.
"Hold onto it for now. Study it from every angle."
"Are you certain? Lending something this precious to me?"
"We walked into this dungeon with our lives on the line. You've more than earned that much."
Go Hyeon-woo always trusted me and followed without question. He deserved a reward to match.
Deeply moved, he bowed to me with full formality.
"Brother Kim, your generosity never ceases to amaze me. My thanks."
"Get strong fast. I want you along in other dungeons too."
"I shall give it my utmost."
The Bodhidharma statue vanished into Go Hyeon-woo's inventory.
Just then, Jeomsoi emerged from the kitchen balancing a tray with three bowls of duck soup.
"Your duck soup, honored guests."
And she set one down before each of us...
A lava-colored liquid was bubbling furiously inside each bowl.
One look was enough to tell it was ferociously spicy.
Even back when I knew this place only as a game, this restaurant's duck soup had been famous for its heat.
There was a reason the inn was called Spicy Duck Soup.
We raised our spoils, took a mouthful each at the same time — and our eyebrows all trembled in unison.
Every face at the table wore the same expression: this is going to kill me.
Just as I was about to say, this is pretty hot, Shin Byung-cheol blustered first.
"Not spicy at all. This is basically plain water."
Go Hyeon-woo and I exchanged a glance.
"Quite palatable, I'd say."
"Huh. It's actually growing on me."
And so began a battle of masculine pride.
Originally, I'd only planned to come here for a taste of the famously spicy duck soup, out of simple curiosity.
But thanks to an unexpected contest of manhood — or rather, of half-grown boys' pride — we ended up inhaling the duck soup like it was a battlefield ration.
The result: everyone scraped their bowls clean, retching, and it was a draw.
In cases like this, the restaurant that sold the soup is the real winner — except the innkeeper refused our money, so not even that.
With the duck soup demolished, we dropped all playfulness and got down to a serious review of the operation.
The strategy for the Black Snake Chamber was, in broad strokes, similar to the Feathered Serpent Altar.
While I tied down the main force, including the Black Snake Chamber Head himself, Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byung-cheol would secure the target items.
The one decisive difference from the Feathered Serpent Altar was that the Black Snake Chamber Head was simply too strong to kill.
Which meant we'd have to finish things a different way.
"Take them out."
At my words, Go Hyeon-woo placed two items on the table.
Both had been purchased from the student shop at a steep cost in points.
One was a small communication device worn in the ear, bought so we could relay our situations to one another mid-operation.
The other was a single sheet of parchment etched with an intricate magic circle.
◈ Effect: Forces an exit portal open without clearing the dungeon
◈ Restriction: Must be activated within a safe zone
A one-time item that generates an exit on the spot, allowing escape without clearing the dungeon.
It carried an enormously powerful effect, but it came with a strict limitation — misuse it, and it could send you straight to your grave.
That part was critical, so I pointed at the scroll and stressed it again.
"No matter what happens, you must make it to a safe zone before you use this. Non-negotiable."
"And what happens if it's used somewhere it shouldn't be?"
"If you're very, very lucky, an escape portal will open..."
If not, there was no telling where that portal might lead.
There was a very real chance of dropping into some unknown dungeon entirely.
To guarantee a proper exit, you had to finish everything and use the scroll from within a safe zone.
Somewhere like that abandoned house where we'd first set foot, for instance.
Shin Byung-cheol nodded.
"Okay, so basically, just follow the plan and we're fine."
"You'd best have it memorized yourself."
After drilling a few more key elements of the operation into their heads,
we stepped out of the inn and split up.
"Then, Brother Kim — may fortune favor you."
"Same to you two. Keep in touch."
While Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byung-cheol headed for the secret passage — the starting point of this operation — I had a little time to spare.
So I strolled through the marketplace and bought a few gifts.
I remembered telling Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin to bring snacks when they came, so I mostly shopped with that in mind.
By the time one corner of my inventory was stuffed full of treats, Go Hyeon-woo's voice came through the earpiece.
[We've arrived.]
"Good. Let's begin."
I gave a short reply and headed straight for the Black Snake Chamber.
Two gatekeepers were leaning insolently against the front gate, and one of them spotted me and barked a question.
"Who the hell are you?"
I didn't answer. I just kept walking toward them.
Something about my unhurried, confident stride — coming straight at them, dead ahead — must have struck them as off. The questioner's expression turned ugly, and he drew his blade and leveled it at me in one motion.
"I asked you a question, stranger!"
I still didn't answer. I just kept coming.
So the gatekeeper charged, sword sweeping down.
What he'd failed to notice was this: my fist was already glowing scarlet, trailing a faint wisp of smoke.
I let the descending blade slide past, slipped inside his guard, and drove my fist forward—
KWAKWAKWAKWA—!!
A storm of flame came charging through, sweeping away everything in its path.
Both gatekeepers included.
Where the front gate had stood, there was now a gaping, hollowed-out hole, and the fire that had leapt onto the main hall was steadily growing larger.
I paused to admire the view for a moment.
"Burns nicely."
They say the two most entertaining things in the world are watching a fight and watching a fire — and I'm starting to think that's true.
Granted, I was the one who started the fight and the one who lit the fire, but that's a minor detail.
Soon the interior erupted into chaos, like a beehive someone had poked with a stick.
What the—! What's going on out there?!
The front gate! It's the front gate!
Fire! Put the fire out first, hurry!
From their perspective, this must have felt like a bolt from the blue.
So I decided to help the Black Snake Chamber disciples get a better grasp of the situation.
I took an enormous breath, stretched my voice to its very limits, and roared:
"ENEMY ATTACK—!"
Come and get me!