We Cleared a Dungeon?

The 1st floor of the Tower of Life, [Alien Forest]. A scream echoed from inside a cave teeming with D-class monsters, the Skrinters.

Eunseo, gasping for air, crawled out and collapsed in tears outside the cave. The Skrinters that had been chasing her retreated back into the darkness.

“Haa... haa...” Eunseo lay sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily.

“S-stop.”

“Who told you to lie down?”

“I’m... sorry...”

“If you have the energy to talk, get up.”

“I can’t... anymore...”

I kicked Eunseo in the side. *Thud.*

“Gah?! H-Hyunseo-nim?”

“With your stats, you should be able to run twice this much. Are you playing around right now?”

Eunseo, seeing Ildo and Hyeongtae already collapsed on the ground, began to sob.

“Why... only me...”

“Your stats are different. So, you need to pull your weight.” I drew my sword. “I’m really going to stab you next time.”

“You already stabbed me once...” Her voice was thick with tears.

“...Ahem. I had to do it to test the Blessing of the Starry Body skill.”

“But it didn’t even heal me!”

“Right... well, I healed you with a potion instead, didn’t I?”

“My arm is still throbbing! It hurt so much!”

“You’re imagining it.”

Eunseo sobbed and gripped her two daggers tightly.

“How do you expect to get stronger if you can’t even handle a Skrinter nest?” I pushed Eunseo’s backside with my foot, my expression unchanging. “Alright, Eunseo, re-entry!”

“You bloodless, heartless witch! Monster! Villain!”

“Yeah, yeah~”

Eunseo went back into the cave. And then, immediately after:

“Kyaaaaah! Save me! It hurts! It hurts! Stop! Aaaack! I got cut! Stop it!”

Eunseo’s sharp screams rang out.

“Tsk, you can’t even do it when I show you how.”

Ildo, who had been lying down due to muscle pain, poked his head up.

“At that level, it’s not like I could copy you just by watching.”

“I know.”

“...”

I smiled wickedly, and Ildo pushed himself up. “Gah... I’m getting too old for this, I can’t keep my head straight.”

“Why are you getting up? You can stay lying down.”

“...” Ildo’s expression turned heavy. “I’m going in too.”

“In that condition?”

At my indifferent remark, Ildo hung his head. “If I just lie down because I’m weak, I’ll be lying down forever.”

At those words, Hyeongtae groaned as he tried to stand. “Ugh, you up? You weakling.”

“...Ahjussi. Did I really pass out?”

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

“F*ck... that’s embarrassing.”

Well, considering Hyeongtae’s level, it was a miracle he lasted that long. Hyeongtae asked me with a mix of worry and expectation, “Did I die?”

I chuckled at the question. “No. You just got cut in the side and passed out.”

“Sh*t...” Why are you disappointed?

While I was chuckling at Hyeongtae, another scream echoed from the cave.

“Aaaaaack! It hurts too much! Ah! Please, stop! Go away! *Sob* please...”

“...” Hyeongtae pointed at the cave with his thumb. “How many is that?”

“The fourth.”

“...And I passed out on the first one?”

“Yeah. And you did a good job at that.”

“...” Hyeongtae’s eyes blazed with fire. “I’m going too.”

“...Are you two trying to form a suicide squad?”

“What else can we do! I don’t want to just be a burden and keep getting help!”

Is that so? “Then you’ll have to die. Alright, Ildo-ssi and Hyeongtae-ssi, enter~”

And so, Park Hyeongtae and Cha Ildo entered the dungeon. I watched their trembling backs and smirked. “Is this how my master felt?”

The screams coming from the cave had increased to three.

“Gah, f*ckiiiiiiing!”

“Honey, I’m going first!”

“Kyaaaaah! It hurts! Go away! Dieeeee!”

Music to my ears. I sat on a large rock, feeling the gentle breeze. “Now, it’s time to set a goal.”

The goal remained the same: to be the fastest to climb to the very front lines of the Tower. I just happened to be dragging a bunch of dead weight along with me.

The time remaining in the Tower of Life was about 9 years and 10 months. Since it was a 70-story tower, if we allocated one year to the final floor, that left one month and fifteen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠days to clear the 1st floor. Of course, it would take longer as we went higher, so the early floors were on a tighter schedule than I’d thought. Speed was going to be the key to clearing this Tower.

“On top of that, there’s the Hidden Class inheritance scenario and leveling up the S-class safe zone.”

Both were on a completely different level from the Tower’s standard quests. The status window looked the same, but that was only on the surface. The content and the system were entirely different. The quest window was filled with a strange sense of dissonance.

“I don’t even have a clue what this is.”

I thought it was a powerful healing skill because of the massive mana cost, but that didn’t seem to be the case either. “Well, the quests are what I need to start with.”

“Appointing two Apostles... that means I have to find one more.”

Since I had already placed my hand on Ildo and Hyeongtae’s heads once before, it seemed there were other conditions besides me simply wanting to activate it. “I’ve never seen a quest like this.” I thought there would only be quests to kill, destroy, and plunder. Why was it asking me to make Apostles?

I pulled up the safe zone management window while listening to the screams again.

“Safe zone management.” Come to think of it, there were no NPCs or buildings in this Tower. I was sure this was related to that. The problem was, how was I supposed to secure NPCs? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Should I kidnap someone?

“Seriously.”

Kill 30 Skrinters. Kill the Obliter. Break through to the 3rd floor. Why were the quests acting so high and mighty when they used to be so simple? Hmm... Should I try going to the 2nd floor first?

I stroked my chin in thought, then closed the status window as I heard Eunseo scream.

“Kyaaaaah!”

At the blood-curdling scream, I pulled the Sword of Light from my subspace. “Here, take this!”

I threw the sword with just enough force. It cut through the air and flew into the cave. Immediately after, cheers erupted from inside.

“Ah, I-I’m saved.”

“H-Hyunseo-nim, it’s a sword...”

“Oh, I’m saved thanks to the kid.”

“Ugh, help us a little faster.”

“What kind of tone is that to use with Hyunseo-nim?”

“Is she your master or mine?”

“Oh, my aching bones...”

The muttering voices grew closer, and the three of them, looking like a complete mess, appeared under the light.

“Finally cleared it.”

At my words, the three of them collapsed simultaneously.

“It’s over, f*ck!”

“It was so hard...”

“T-this is no work for humans.”

The nest being cleared meant the boss of the nest had been caught.

Wow, I just threw one sword, and I’m the top contributor? I still have a long way to go.

“We, we cleared it.”

“My goodness...”

“We cleared the dungeon...”

I smirked at Eunseo’s emotional words. “What are you talking about? This isn’t a dungeon, it’s just a small nest.”

“...”

“Hey, let them enjoy it a little.”

“Haha, this is our first time having an experience like this as a 3rd-tier group.”

I walked over to the three lying on the ground and squatted down. “Alright, now that you’ve rested, let’s go to the next nest.”

“?” Everyone looked at me with bewildered expressions.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“We cleared the dungeon, Hyunseo-nim...”

“That dungeon is finished, you know?”

“But you said it ends when you clear a dungeon!”

My eyes sparkled. “Right, it ends when you three clear it.” I pulled up the contribution window and smiled. “This one was cleared by me.”

“...!”

The three of them realized what I meant and fell into despair. I tossed them recovery potions and said, “Let’s go to the next nest. Try your best to clear it that time.”

Screams of agony followed behind me.

“No way! Hey! Kang Hyunseo!”

“This is a scam!”

“Aaaaaaaah! Please, nooooo!”

Listening to the screams of the Nakwon Guild members, I looked up at the sky. Ah, Master. Raising disciples is truly a fun thing to do.

‘That person’s’ voice echoed from the sky. ‘Right? Giving hope and then taking it away is the real treat.’

I didn’t know this fun part. I smiled brightly and headed toward the next nest.