The Ugly Face of the Jackal Guild

"The newbie's tanking is actually better than I thought, isn't it?"

"Right? It'd be a waste to just use him as a disposable tool."

Choi Giuk and Go Gyeongpyo whispered, thinking Kang Taesan couldn't hear them, but their voices came through to him with crystal clarity. 'Disposable? What the hell does that mean...?'

After trekking for another half-day, they arrived at a massive basin.

"This is the 'Hall of the Dead'."

"I can't believe a place like this exists inside a dungeon..."

The Hall of the Dead was, true to its name, a colossal graveyard. There were no burial mounds, only rows upon rows of tombstones. But instead of inscriptions, masks hung from them. Some tombstones held golden masks, others wooden ones, and some even featured masks carved from crystal. It was clearly not a natural landscape.

'Something's fishy here...' Kang Taesan felt a strong sense of unease.

"Mr. Kang Taesan, go get the mask."

"Me?"

"Yes, you're the tank, aren't you?"

"But there are so many masks here. Which one is the Death Mask?"

"We don't know that either."

"What?"

Park Hyeonggwang's reply sent a chill down Taesan's spine. When Taesan hesitated to step forward, Park Hyeonggwang dropped his friendly facade, his tone turning icy.

"If you don't want to do it, you can quit right now."

"Can I really do that?"

"But you won't get a single cent of the promised commission."

"What?"

"Did you forget? The contract clearly stated that if you abandon the expedition midway, you forfeit all compensation."

Taesan belatedly remembered signing that contract. 'So that's what that meant...'

"Well? What will you do?"

Taesan scanned the tombstones again. Even a rough estimate suggested there were dozens of masks hanging there. 'My gut is screaming at me... what should I do?'

Go Gyeongpyo shook his head, clicking his tongue. "He's finished. That bastard's chickened out."

Go Gyeongpyo sneered as if he’d expected nothing less. Park Hyeonggwang and Choi Giuk also wore expressions of clear disappointment. Only Yu Eunju’s expression was strange; she almost looked relieved.

Taesan stared at the tombstones, thinking, 'I’m anxious, but if I back out now, I truly have nowhere to go. I’ll be stuck working at the logistics center for the rest of my life.'

"I'll go in."

When Taesan steeled his resolve, Park Hyeonggwang said, sounding pleased, "A wise choice."

Taesan looked at the graveyard and thought, 'I have the Nullification skill. No matter what appears, I just have to make sure I don't die within eight seconds. Nothing to be afraid of.'

Taesan steadied himself and slowly stepped into the graveyard. As he walked, he inspected the tombstones. His eyes landed on a tombstone with a silver mask hanging from it. He reached out and grabbed it.

The tombstone holding the silver mask sank into the earth. From the hole left behind, something shot out—fire arrows.

"Whoosh! Swish! Whoosh!"

It wasn't just one. Multiple fire arrows flew simultaneously, and one headed straight for Taesan's head. Instinctively, he blocked it. The arrow embedded itself in his arm, instantly setting his flesh ablaze.

The intense burning sensation was agonizing, and the smell of charred flesh filled the air. But the pain didn't last. After eight seconds, the agony vanished, and a message appeared on his status window.

The wound disappeared as if it had never been there. Taesan checked the mask he was holding, but it crumbled into sand. It was a fake. From outside the graveyard, a voice called out, "Mr. Kang Taesan, that's a fake! Find another one!"

Taesan moved toward a tombstone with a golden mask. As he lifted it, the ground shook again, and the tombstone sank. This time, a cloud of toxic green smoke erupted from the hole.

"Ugh!"

Taesan's skin, touched by the green vapor, turned purple in an instant—the mark of poison infection. But again, it didn't last.

With the message, his body returned to normal. Even the Jackal Guild members, who had initially thought it was a fluke, reacted differently this time. They looked stunned.

"That newbie is something else. He survived the trap again."

"Right? It's a real waste to use him as a disposable tool."

"Shut up! What if the newbie hears you?"

"Well, if he stays alive, our share gets smaller."

The men of the Jackal Guild spoke as if they were hoping for Taesan's death. Yu Eunju, however, looked shadowed; she seemed to be the only one hoping he would stay safe. Unaware of their conspiracy, Taesan caught his breath and moved to another tombstone—this one with a stone mask.

He lifted it. The ground shook, and the tombstone sank. But this time, nothing shot out of the hole. Instead, he lost sensation in his feet. Looking down, he saw his ankles turning to stone.

"What the hell...!"

Taesan was shocked, but the damage didn't last long.

After eight seconds, his body returned to normal. Watching this, Park Hyeonggwang muttered in disbelief, "He even cleared the petrification..."

Choi Giuk muttered, "That bastard must have swiped a petrification-prevention item behind our backs."

"Is that it?"

"How else would he clear petrification?"

Go Gyeongpyo grew angry. "Must be. Petrification-nullification passives are high-tier; there's no way an unregistered newbie would have one."

Regardless of the conspiracy surrounding him, Taesan couldn't move forward anymore. He was genuinely terrified after being petrified. 'Petrification... if it's like this, there's no guarantee there isn't an instant-death trap.'

He looked around at the many remaining tombstones. Paper masks, wooden masks, ornate bronze masks inlaid with jewels, glass masks, and... bone masks.

'Bone?' His eyes locked onto the bone mask. 'Why didn't I think of that? Even in games, the Death Mask was always made of bone.'

He walked to the tombstone with the bone mask. Standing before it, he hesitated. 'No matter how I think about it, this has to be the Death Mask... but what if it's another trap? If I get hit by an instant-death effect, I'm done for...'

He glanced at the Jackal Guild members watching him from outside. They were desperately waiting for him to bring the Death Mask. But Yu Eunju was different; she shook her head, as if telling him not to touch it. But Taesan had no choice.

'It's a trashy guild, but it's the only one that took me in. If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I run away from here, I have nowhere else to go.'

Stiffening his resolve, Taesan grabbed the bone mask and squeezed his eyes shut. He waited for the ground to shake, but it didn't. Nothing happened, and the tombstone didn't sink. Most importantly, unlike the others, this mask didn't turn to sand.

The Jackal Guild members cheered. "He did it!" "That's 100 million! 100 million! Hahaha!"

Everyone rejoiced, but the joy was short-lived. The ground began to tremble again. But this time, it wasn't the tombstone—it was the ground beneath Taesan's feet. The sandy floor began to sink.

"Whoa, whoa!"

The sand turned into quicksand in an instant. Taesan was pulled under. With half his body already submerged, he struggled to escape. Park Hyeonggwang shouted urgently, "Mr. Kang Taesan, throw the mask!"

Park Hyeonggwang demanded the mask first, but Taesan wasn't an idiot. "Save me first! Save me first!"

"Throw the mask and we'll help you! Throw it first!"

"No, me first! Save me first!"

Go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gyeongpyo yelled, "Throw it, you bastard! You're going to cost us 100 million!"

"Yeah, throw it!"

"Throw it!"

Choi Giuk joined in the pressure, but Yu Eunju was different. "What are you doing! You have to save the person first!"

Park Hyeonggwang looked at her with cold eyes. "Since when did you start worrying about people? You didn't even blink when the last newbie's body melted in acid."

"That's..."

"You slept with this bastard, didn't you?"

Choi Giuk and Go Gyeongpyo looked on in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shock. "You slept with him already? Yu Eunju, you're really something."

"Slut."

Park Hyeonggwang shoved Yu Eunju aside and continued the pressure. "Mr. Kang Taesan, throw the mask!"

"Yeah, throw it!"

"Throw it..."

They all just shouted for the mask; no one reached out a hand to Taesan. He realized the reality instantly. 'These bastards never had any intention of saving me.'

Recognizing the situation, Taesan suddenly put the Death Mask on his own face.

"W-what is that bastard doing?!"

"Mr. Kang Taesan, don't wear it, throw it!"

"Yeah, throw it now!"

Taesan, wearing the mask, said, "I won't take this mask off until you save me."

"What?"

Only then did Park Hyeonggwang shout to his guild members, "What are you doing! Look for something like a rope!"

"There's no way something like that would be in a place like this!"

"Then take off your clothes and tie them together!"

"How far away is he? Clothes won't be enough!"

Yu Eunju was the first to strip off her outer layers. She began weaving them into a rope. "You guys join in too!"

The other two followed suit, but Taesan's body was already submerged up to his neck.

"Damn it, do something! We're going to lose 100 million!"

Park Hyeonggwang, who had been pretending to be a gentleman, revealed his true nature in his desperation. Seeing Park Hyeonggwang's true colors, Taesan felt a sense of hollow despair. 'I trusted a guy like this just because he gave me a shield...'

Realizing it was already too late, Park Hyeonggwang shouted at Taesan one last time. "Mr. Kang Taesan, please throw the mask! Then I'll make sure your share is delivered to your family!"

Taesan laughed hollowly. "How would you even know who my family is..."

"I'll find out, so just throw it! Throw it!"

The other guild members joined in the persuasion. "Yeah, we'll find your family somehow!"

"Yeah, newbie. Trust us!"

Taesan looked at the men begging for the mask and thought, 'They never once said they'd save me.'

The Jackal Guild members screamed as if in agony, but Taesan's body was completely buried in the sand, leaving only his eyes and ears exposed. Park Hyeonggwang shouted, "Kill him! Even if you have to cut off the head wearing the mask, stop it from going under!"

Yu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Eunju tried to stop him. "Are you crazy? You'll destroy the mask too!"

But Park Hyeonggwang, having lost his reason, continued to scream. "If we can't have it, no one can! Kill that bastard! Or should I kill you all instead?!"

Threatened by Park Hyeonggwang, the remaining members—excluding Yu Eunju—took up attack stances as if they had no choice. But Taesan's body was already fully submerged, face and all. The only thing left of him was his right hand.

Taesan's right hand gave the Jackal Guild members a final, defiant middle-finger salute before it, too, was completely swallowed by the sand.

"Damn it..."

As Taesan vanished into the sand, Park Hyeonggwang collapsed. "I thought we'd succeed this time... that damn newbie bastard."

"Right. If he was going to die, he could have at least given us the mask first."

"Son of a bitch."

The curses poured out by the men of the Jackal Guild reached Taesan's ears even as he was being pulled deep into the quicksand. For a brief moment, he felt a sense of grim satisfaction, but it was only for a moment. The reality awaiting him was cold and cruel, as his body continued to sink deeper into the earth.