NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Left (1)
The ropes holding the runes are tangled in the air like spider webs.
All I heard from my older sister was that it was a small hole at the bottom left, but I didn’t hear anything specific about it being at the 7 o’clock position, under the protruding rock. Who would give such a detailed explanation of a dungeon that has already been cleared?
Besides, my sister would go on and on about the dirty crocodile babies, but she would also say the same thing about the small space where she had picked up the sword.
I should have suspected that, I found out too late.
I also realized how many things I had not known and lived so naively.
“hmm!”
Hong Seok-young lightly turned his shoulder.
Luckily, I was able to find the space my sister had mentioned before the stakes and rope I had brought ran out.
At first, I threw stakes haphazardly to secure the rope in order to secure the view. But once I figured out where to aim, it was easy.
“Okay! Let’s go over there.”
Hong Seok-young checked once more to make sure the stakes weren’t falling out. Just like the other wall, the stakes were haphazardly placed here as well. There was nothing he could do about it, since they were there to secure the rope. He was just careful not to let them get tangled up with each other.
The last fixed stake is not in the wall or ceiling, but is parallel to the floor. The rope tied to the stake is connected to the stake on the opposite side. Hong Seok-young stepped on the rope parallel to his shoulder width, easily balanced himself, and ran.
Considering that there is a huge crocodile swarming in the mud and feces below, it is a life-threatening feat. In many ways.
Even though the rope was strong, I wasn’t sure if it would be okay for two adult men to climb up. I waited patiently for Hong Seok-young to cross.
Fortunately, Hong Seok-young arrived safely on the other side without falling off the rope. Hong Seok-young waved his hand loudly after checking that the stake was properly installed. This time, I climbed onto the rope.
“This kind of thing is also fun.”
When I arrived, Hong Seok-young burst into laughter.
“I’ve always been quick to conquer and come out, so this is my first time wandering around like this. It’s surprisingly fun.”
“Is that so?”
“Runes are also useful. If you use them well, you can enter dungeons without a magician.”
I saw a faintly glowing rune.
I thought about the runes I’ve been preparing but haven’t been able to release yet because of Noah Michel. I have to deal with those too.
“… Well, if the monsters are strong and the nuke is in a place that is difficult to access, it is convenient to use this kind of trick.”
“It’s not a trick, it’s a smart move. Is it smart to just charge at monsters? If you can destroy the core with as little damage as possible, that’s the best.”
Hong Seok-young tapped me on the shoulder and went inside. I followed him a beat later.
“This one looks pretty deep too.”
It was still dark inside. There was only one path. As I turned the corner, even the light from the rope disappeared. I took out another glow stick to replace the one I had thrown into the mud.
Unlike the other side where mud was constantly flowing down, this place was dry. There was not a single drop of water on the walls or the floor.
Rather, it was to the point where a cloud of dust would form every time I walked.
“How much should I put in?”
“I’m fine with that too… .”
My sister only said that she had found a rare treasure hidden in a secret room, but she didn’t say that the secret room was a passage like this.
Hong Seok-young asked while shining a fluorescent stick on the wall here and there.
“But are the monsters here really only crocodiles?”
“yes.”
“Really? That’s weird.”
“…What?”
“Look here.”
I looked where Hong Seok-young was pointing.
There is a scratch mark, as if it had been scratched by something sharp. It is similar to the mark I saw on the other side earlier.
“If the only monsters here were crocodiles, this shouldn’t be happening.”
“… … !”
That’s… true.
The only thing I remember about this dungeon is my sister complaining about the crocodiles and the stench. If I hadn’t heard her, I would have noticed it sooner, but maybe the crocodiles were too memorable.
This was a clue I would never have missed under normal circumstances. Damn it.
Hong Seok-young muttered, touching the wall with his fingertips.
“The height is… just waist-high. If you think of it as a claw, it might be humanoid. Just an alligator? Are you sure?”
“I heard that….”
His eyes were furrowed.
I haven’t heard from my sister that she’s seen any other monsters here besides crocodiles. It’s the same in her dungeon report.
But if there had been a battle with another monster, I wouldn’t have been able to skip it. It wasn’t a dungeon that my older sister conquered alone.
… Did you omit it on purpose?
“I don’t think there’s any trace of it lately… It can’t hurt to be careful.”
“What are the chances that it’s a baby crocodile?”
“It might be okay on the other side, but not here. It’s a mud-rolling monster. If it walked here, it would probably get buried in the ground.”
“… I guess so.”
“And then, like this… .”
Hong Seok-young raised his finger and pretended to scratch the wall.
“They couldn’t have left it behind. If they weren’t bipedal, the crocodiles would have scratched up and down their bodies.”
The marks left on the wall run horizontally.
“But even if there are other monsters, it must have been a long time since they used this place.”
“Is it because of the dust?”
Hong Seok-young slightly lowered his mask and sniffed.
“It smells musty. If something was using this place all the time, it wouldn’t smell like this.”
“Hmm….”
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“Rather, this smell is… .”
“… … ?”
Hong Seok-young stopped talking.
“why?”
“no….”
Hong Seok-young, whose voice was somewhat light despite the seriousness of what he was saying, suddenly shut his mouth tightly.
What is it? Why is it like this? I feel uneasy.
“Why is that?”
“… … .”
Hong Seok-young shook his head.
“teacher?”
“… That. No, I guess I’ll have to check this out.”
Hong Seok-young muttered something incomprehensible and then began to walk briskly inside. He was walking, but in the end he was practically running.
I followed Hong Seok-young in a fluster.
“What the heck is this!”
I couldn’t even make a loud noise because there might be monsters.
If there’s a monster, it shouldn’t move like this. Seriously, why is it doing this all of a sudden!
“… … .”
Hong Seok-young, who had been running like that for a while, suddenly stopped moving as quickly as he had started running. It was impossible to figure out what was going on.
“teacher?”
“under.”
Hong Seok-young bowed his head deeply.
“… You said that the author was the one who cleared this dungeon?”
“yes.”
“You came all the way here? You wouldn’t have conquered it alone, right? Did the author’s convoy come here too?”
“That… I’m not sure.”
I couldn’t understand why Hong Seok-young asked that. But I tried to remember because I thought there must be a reason.
“There was no mention of any dispute over ownership of the item… so I wonder if he came here alone.”
“In a dungeon with this kind of structure, the raid party moves separately? I don’t think that’s the case.”
“uh….”
“Has that author only been here once?”
“… … .”
What the heck? I’m just confused.
My sister… No, there’s no way my sister would lie about clearing a dungeon. Then what? What is it?
“I do not know.”
I answered, stammering.
“…okay.”
I don’t think I did anything wrong, but strangely, I feel like I did something wrong.
Why on earth are you doing that?
My mouth felt dry. Suddenly, I felt a smell piercing my nose through the mask. It was a pungent, needle-like smell.
It’s different from the smell of dust that Hong Seok-young mentioned….
“Don’t get off.”
The moment I took off my mask to get a good smell, Hong Seok-young grabbed my arm.
“…Why is that?”
“This is. Uh… So.”
Hong Seok-young looked at ease.
He hesitates, which is unusual for an old man. You can see his eyebrows twitching and drooping.
“Why is that?”
“therefore….”
“What is it?”
Hong Seok-young eventually gave up.
Hong Seok-young stepped aside so I could see inside and threw the glow stick he was holding.
Knock. Knock.
The glow stick bounced a few times on the floor and then stopped.
It’s not a dead end. The road continues. A corner. The passage is just slightly wider.
The glow stick light that had been shaking dizzily and illuminating the walls and ceiling became fixed, so that I could clearly see what was inside.
The first thing that came in was the shoe that the glow stick had hit. A black combat boot. Left foot. The shoelaces were tight.
The clothes he was wearing were black, like those worn by special forces. He was wearing a vest with many pockets. Usually, he would have a badge on his chest with this kind of attire, but he was just wearing a consistent black outfit.
The drooping hand was half-rotted. After becoming conscious, I realized what the smell I had just smelled was. And why Hong Seok-young had acted that way.
Only one hand is visible, covering the entire body from head to toe. However, the other skin is probably in the same state as the rotting hand.
“Mr. Heejae.”
Hong Seok-young calls me.
“Heejae.”
I looked at the corpse’s face, shivering.
A crooked crow mask is smiling.
* * *
Of course, I can’t just leave this behind.
“He’s small.”
I was taken aback by the familiar crow mask, but after taking a deep breath and calming down, the facts hidden in the darkness came into view.
“It’s hard to tell at a glance because the clothes are thick, but… aren’t you a woman?”
“I like my son because he is so brave.”
“Oh, it’s noisy.”
Hong Seok-young took out another glow stick and looked at me.
“This is too dark. Do you have something a little brighter?”
“Do you think I brought it?”
“huh.”
I brought it.
I had a strange feeling, but there was no reason to lie and say that I didn’t have it. I took out the flashlight and gave it to Hong Seok-young.
“Shouldn’t you have taken this out earlier?”
“This isn’t waterproof.”
I stood behind Hong Seok-young and examined the body.
“… If it were a monster, I would at least pretend to analyze it, but I don’t know about people.”
“Have you ever seen a dead person?”
“I am a hunter.”
There is no such thing as a harmless strategy. Hong Seok-young glanced at me over his shoulder.
“I was just asking.”
Hong Seok-young focused on the body again. This one looked too familiar to him, so he couldn’t ask.
“…What are you doing?”
“Shouldn’t we look for something that can identify you?”
Hong Seok-young spoke shamelessly, searching through his vest pockets.
“I told you, that mask is from the Ark. I don’t know how someone like that ended up dead here, but… Can’t you tell when you see me? I don’t have a proper identity.”
“Ah. It’s a wallet.”
“… … .”
“Let’s see, maybe there’s something there.”
Hong Seok-young put the flashlight in his mouth and opened his wallet. Of course, there was no ID or credit card. There were only a couple of ten-thousand won bills.
Still, Hong Seok-young took out a business card from between the bills.
Ugh.
“What is it?”
There was a suspicious sound coming from the flashlight. I looked at Hong Seok-young in a hurry and saw that his jaw was tense. The flashlight caught between them cracked and made a dangerous sound.
“Mr. Hong?”
Hong Seok-young dropped his wallet. His hands were trembling. It was the first time I saw this man so shaken.
“teacher!”
Hong Seok-young reached out for the mask. Before I could stop him, the mask fell off the corpse’s face.
Bam.
The flashlight also fell from Hong Seok-young’s mouth.
The flashlight rolled and a shadow fell over us. Hong Seok-young spoke quietly, his voice barely audible, a mixture of sadness and anger.
“Yuhwa… .”
Fantasy, contemporary,