Chapter 127 - Entry (2)

“Are you alive?”

No answer. It seemed to be a corpse.

Next to Mr. Seo Jin-seong, who was spread-eagled on the floor gasping for breath, I also plopped down.

All around us were the A~B-rank demonic beasts he had just cut down. It was an amount that could be said to have formed a mountain.

Considering that a few formidable enemies worthy of being S-rank were mixed in, he had truly accomplished an unbelievable feat.

It was a spectacle achieved by mobilizing every dirty trick in the book, including the bug-like enhancements used when catching the Planet Eater.

After a battle like that, it was only natural for even a monster like Mr. Seo Jin-seong to be exhausted to this level.

“Exhausted... you say?”

Mr. Seo Jin-seong said, looking at me with murderous eyes.

“My heart actually stopped a few times in the middle. I died biologically several times.”

“And I revived you each time, didn't I? By diligently throwing potions or appropriately diverting the aggro.”

“…”

A glare that said, ‘Is that something a human being should say?’ came back from him.

Well, it was an extension of the ‘death judgment cancellation’ I had used when curing Ms. Han Si-yeon.

As a top-tier veteran, any skill I could use on myself should naturally be usable on others.

“...I misjudged you. No, should I say I saw you accurately instead?”

Mr. Seo Jin-seong said, grinding his teeth.

“You accepted my Oath beforehand, knowing you would fall into this hellscape. May I interpret it that way?”

I chuckled at Mr. Seo Jin-seong, who said that while grinding his teeth, and lent him my shoulder.

A hellscape. Quite an appropriate choice of words.

It meant that Evangeline hadn't told me ‘Don't go because you'll die’ for no reason.

‘...Anyway. Being popular is also a problem.’

It was said that the zones were assigned randomly, but this was clearly a placement filled with personal feelings.

The reason was that the Guardian had shown all sorts of interest in me.

The Guardian's position in the Round Table was truly absolute. Wasn't that why Evangeline had summoned a Water Dragon to torment me?

“…”

The problem was that someone like Evangeline was a very soft-level obsessive Guardian fan in the Round Table.

Crazy bastards like the Knight of the Southern Yellow or the Knight of the Blue and Gray boasted a level of mentality that would drive even the onlookers insane.

Seeing as I was thrown in here just for seeming close to the Guardian, the probability that one of those two was supervising this ordeal was very high.

Well, anyway.

“But you lived, didn't you? Thanks to my appropriate and good command.”

“...That is true. Honestly, it was an astounding skill.”

Mr. Seo Jin-seong, who answered with a heavily crumpled expression, continued to speak while gasping for breath.

“But, what on earth is this place? To think that demonic beasts like this would pour out as soon as we started. Is this an EX-rank dungeon or something?”

“Yes.”

“…”

At the simple answer, the killing intent in Mr. Seo Jin-seong's gaze grew even stronger.

“I'm not in the mood for jokes. There has never been a single precedent of an EX-rank dungeon being discovered.”

“It’s not a joke.”

“…”

When I spoke calmly, Mr. Seo Jin-seong's expression turned slightly pale as he finally realized what my words meant.

Well, yes.

The rank of a dungeon was determined by what kind of creature was inside its deepest part.

For example, the ‘Dragon's Nest,’ where the SS-rank demonic beast, the Ancient Dragon, resided, was an SS-rank dungeon.

As a simple conclusion.

“Are you saying there’s an EX-rank demonic beast in here...?”

“Yes.”

“…”

At the simple answer, Mr. Seo Jin-seong, whose face had turned even paler than before, shut his mouth.

Indeed, in all his long life as a climber, there had never been a single reported precedent of an EX-rank demonic beast.

It meant a demonic beast that could only be caught if all the EX-rank climbers in the world, who could be counted on one hand, rushed in. If such a thing existed, the world would have been in danger of being destroyed long ago.

But.

In the underground cavern where he and I were now staggering, such a demonic beast definitely existed.

“Don't worry too much. We're not going to catch it now.”

“...How does the idea of catching it even compute?”

Of course, we had to catch it.

Why else would I have prepared so much outside?

But, well.

As can be seen from its EX-rank, that creature was a kind of ‘wild card’ in this ordeal.

Its true form and ‘how to use it’ would probably come to the surface in the latter half of the ordeal.

Meaning, there was no need to make contact with it until then.

‘So for now...’

I smirked and brought up the window in front of my eyes.

It wasn't a status window that only I could see, but a ‘Point Shop’ window that anyone in the current ordeal could check.

The total points earned from finishing that struggle with Mr. Seo Jin-seong a moment ago were 60p.

Considering what kind of creatures Mr. Seo Jin-seong and I had just been brawling with, I felt that the number of points the Guardian had given me from the start was really very generous.

That guy probably did it because he had a rough idea that the ones below him would pull this kind of trick on me.

‘There's all sorts of stuff.’

Even in the game, the Third Ordeal was a stage that had so much effort put into it that it was treated almost like a different game within the game.

Just by looking at what could be done with these points, you could build buildings, create objects out of thin air, and even do things like create living beings.

But right now, there was something more urgent than these things.

I used 10p to purchase a healing kit. We had used up all the potions we brought, so first, I would use this to heal myself and Mr. Seo Jin-seong.

‘The additional member slots are...’

The first slot was 50p, and the next was 100p. In the original story, it was a system that increased by 50p like this.

Considering the number of points Mr. Seo Jin-seong and I had just earned, it meant that bringing all 10 initial members registered on the list was a pretty big deal.

Well, I could still bring in two more people I needed right now.

I opened two slots in a row.

“Wah!”

“Oof!”

And two people who fell from the air with a whoosh.

They were Seo Ah-in and Ironclad, whom I had registered on the list.

One seemed to have come straight from the blacksmith, and the other seemed to have been rolling around hard in the training room, as both were lightly dressed.

Yes. That's good.

“...What's good? And what kind of place is this?”

Seo Ah-in, who was rubbing her butt with teary eyes as if she had landed quite painfully, looked around and replied.

“Oh, huh? Master Kim Jin-gyu? Why are you so battered...!”

“...Ah, I'm fine.”

Mr. Seo Jin-seong smiled bitterly and brushed away Seo Ah-in's worried touch.

Master. It seemed they had gotten quite close while training.

A strange emotion seemed to dwell in Mr. Seo Jin-seong's eyes as he heard that.

Well, yes.

If he revealed that he was her father here, he'd be lucky not to get a knife in him, so it was natural to have such a reaction when treated like this in his disguise.

“…”

And during this ordeal, there would be a chance to talk it out very frankly.

I wasn't the meddlesome type, but I also didn't want to see the people around me constantly deceiving each other.

Having cured Ms. Han Si-yeon was part of that process.

Well, but.

That's that.

For now, shouldn't we think about how to get through this situation?

I used points to summon a few pickaxes from the air.

It seemed the point consumption depended on the value of the item, but simple items like this were good because summoning dozens of them only cost 1p.

“Hey. Worker number 1. If the employer calls, shouldn't you pay attention to this side first?”

“...Please call me by my name. I'm begging you.”

Alright. Then I'll call you by your name.

“Hey. Seo. Stop complaining and come here and dig.”

“…”

Seo Ah-in accepted the pickaxe offered to her with an expression full of skepticism.

I'll be generous. I'll even give you work gloves.

“...Okay. Mr. Kim Gyu-sik. I've known you were this kind of person from the beginning, so I'm not particularly surprised. But won't you at least explain why we have to do this?”

“Because inside here is terribly dangerous.”

As proven by the fact that Mr. Seo Jin-seong and I had died several times despite twisting our bodies, this was actually a place where smooth progress was possible only after sufficiently securing points and resources from other zones.

Meaning, rolling around inside here now would only lead to hardship with no real gain.

“...So. You're saying I and Mr. Ironclad here are going to make a tunnel to the outside? Who knows how many kilometers it will be? With just pickaxes and work gloves?”

“Yes. I can keep supplying the tools, so don't worry. You're both sturdy anyway.”

“...Is that something that can come out of a person's mouth with a straight face? Do you really have hair on your conscience...”

“Or do you want to fight your way out through continuous waves of demonic beasts with S-rank ones mixed in here and there?”

“…”

That's right.

There was a reason for everything I made them do.

***

“Eck, gehek, keck, keheheck...”

It was the sound made by Seo Ah-in, who had been swinging a pickaxe for several hours straight and was now completely exhausted, drooling and collapsed on the floor.

Hey.

No matter what, how can a young lady from a prestigious family give off the vibe of a construction foreman who's been at it for over 10 years?

“Shu, shut uuup... Keoheok...”

“…”

I could feel Mr. Seo Jin-seong looking at me with a hollow laugh.

“...Yes. What is it.”

-No. It's just. I was wondering if the Seo family is fated to be tied to one Mr. Kim Gyu-sik and continue to suffer like this...

How can you say something like that?

Anyone who heard that would think I was some crazy bastard who had captured the entire Seo family and was making them work for me. Really, now.

-But isn't that true?

“…”

Actually, it seemed to be more or less true.

Finding a reply difficult, I turned my gaze to the holographic map I had purchased from the point shop for 20p.

Despite buying it for quite expensive points, it was worth its price as it displayed my current location in real-time and showed the surrounding terrain as a hologram.

“The good news is that we are clearly advancing. If we work hard like this for about one more day, we should be able to proceed to another zone.”

“…”

Two indignant glares flew and landed on me at the fact that we had to do this for that much longer, but I smirked and turned the map.

‘Well, by now...’

It was the time when everyone would be struggling to capture the crystal in the zone they first fell into.

And usually, that was achieved through unique quests given by the natives of that area, and the difficulty of those things was all atrocious.

Considering that, the zone I had to proceed to first was also decided.

‘Conquering the first zone is pretty important.’

Let’s be the first one to finish it.

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