After raising the sword and aligning it horizontally, I thrust it forward as it was. The target was the exact center of the forehead. The tip of the sword soon pierced into the blue flames and accurately hit the intended spot. Perhaps because it was filled with magical power, I could see the creature's skull crumble with a cracking sound. Maintaining that force, I checked the position of the next Wraith and immediately changed course.
If the Wraiths had aligned their heights and were pressing An-Hyun together, I could have turned them all into ashes with a single thrust. However, since they were moving their bodies as well, hoping for that was a long shot, and I had no choice but to adjust the path of the sword to strike each one individually.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Each time I shattered one, I flicked the handle and immediately targeted the next. An-Hyun, startled when something brushed past his side, took a few steps back, but soon, realizing it was me, sighed in relief. As I took down the fourth Wraith, a blue flame erupted from the remains of the first Wraith. I could see An-Hyun's lips parting to speak, but there was no time to listen.
"Haah!"
Yun-Jung was dealing with three of them. On the way, I slashed one that lunged at me, and before I knew it, I sensed the Wraiths rushing at me from both sides. Thinking they were a nuisance, I stopped running and took a stance, estimating the remaining distance to Yun-Jung. Feeling that it might be possible, I timed it to when they both lunged at once, pivoted on my left foot, and spun half a turn clockwise.
Slice. Slice.
Through the sword, I could feel the sensation of cutting through rotten logs. Riding that momentum, I then pushed off with my right foot and leaped high into the air in the opposite direction.
"Fall back."
Even though I didn't say it loudly, Yun-Jung immediately stepped back a few paces. Sensing something strange, the closest Wraith lifted its head, and in that instant, I struck down hard with my sword. I didn't slice all the way through; instead, I stopped at the top of its skull, then thrust the sword in again, just like at the start.
Go Yeon-Joo's request was to take down all the creatures within ten seconds. About eight seconds had passed, maybe. Yun-Jung cheered as she watched the Wraiths fall to the ground one after another with a slight time lag, but her expression soon turned weary as she saw the flames rise again.
Wondering what Go Yeon-Joo was doing, I turned my gaze toward her. She stood with her eyes closed, both hands extended forward, all five fingers spread wide. At the same time, I could feel blue flames sporadically erupting ahead. It was the sign of the Wraiths resurrecting.
At that moment, she slightly opened her closed eyes and quietly muttered,
"Abyss Crowd."
Sssst. Ssssst.
Come to think of it, the dungeon was practically filled with shadows. The "Abyss Crowd" she had unleashed could be said to be incredibly useful, granting significant value in such a dark, shadowy place — almost too obvious to even mention.
Thin, ink-black threads began to stretch out stealthily from the darkness near where the Wraiths were reviving, and soon they densely filled the surroundings. The Wraiths that had been about to approach us got tangled in the threads and couldn't move a muscle, and the newly resurrected ones fell into the same trap.
As all ten Wraiths fully emerged, Go Yeon-Joo let out a soft, curious shout, "Hut!" and clenched her fingers all at once. And then—
Boom!
It wasn't the sound of bones breaking — a tremendous explosion shook the entire dungeon. Sparks flew fiercely through the air, and the noise of the air being torn apart filled the surroundings. As the group frowned at the deafening noise and looked forward again, they saw that the Wraiths had been shredded into tiny pieces in an instant. Moreover, the flames that had been rising from the creatures earlier were no longer visible.
"Whew. I'm really not used to using it after so long. It's over."
The moment Go Yeon-Joo's voice was heard, everyone instinctively turned to look at her. However, Go Yeon-Joo waved her hand with an annoyed look and let out a deep sigh. I tilted my head for a moment, but then a thought brushed past my mind, and I understood the situation completely.
"The answer was to defeat all ten of them at once."
"That's right. I don't know what kind of tricks they pulled, but it seems like the ten of them were organically connected. In other words, as long as even one survived, they would keep resurrecting endlessly. It's a technique possible because they're undead."
"I see. You did a great job."
"No, not really. It wasn't that hard. I had a similar experience before, so I just took a chance. I was a bit worried that it might not work... But still, what a grand welcome right from the start. Just what kind of creature is this dungeon master that they're pulling stunts like this from the beginning?"
As I watched Go Yeon-Joo feigning exhaustion, I fell into brief thought. I was sure that in my memory, Wraiths didn't appear this early. Also, I had never encountered resurrecting Wraiths before. I could understand the future changing, but this felt like a case of the past being altered, which was quite troubling. Originally, I was supposed to discover this dungeon two years later. That meant something must have happened during those two years. For instance, maybe some other players, ones I didn't know about, had entered the dungeon, passed through the entrance, and were wiped out along the way.
After contemplating for a while, I decided to continue the exploration. Turning back after coming this far was out of the question, and in our current state, we wouldn't be able to figure anything out anyway. It seemed best to push a little further and see if anything else had changed. So, I got the slightly exhausted party members back on their feet. It still wasn't time to rest.
"We can rest once we return to the Mule. Since we still have energy left, we'll resume the exploration immediately. Everyone, form up and take your positions."
The party members quickly moved into formation at my command, and stepping over the remains of the Wraiths, I restarted the expedition.
It seemed that the length of the entrance passage hadn't changed. We marched slowly at a steady pace, and after about twenty minutes, we reached a point where multiple tunnels branched off ahead. Entering one of these holes would effectively lead us underground. The slope wasn't particularly steep, but the path itself gently curved downward.
The first tunnel we were to enter was the one on the left. After briefly counting the number of tunnels, I moved forward according to plan. Since we couldn't exactly pick whichever tunnel we liked, the others quietly followed me, ducking their heads. Originally, I had wanted to send Sol ahead again, but after all the checks we had done so far, and more than anything, my eagerness to quickly get inside and conquer the dungeon won out.
Everyone followed me in silence. Whether it was the atmosphere of the dungeon or not, it seemed like this exploration felt more threatening than any we had faced before. As a result, everyone's faces were tense with caution. However, that silence was broken the moment we came out of the tunnel.
"Wow. Why is it so complicated?"
"Ugh. Just looking at it gives me a headache."
The moment we exited the tunnel, I saw yet another set of branching paths ahead. It was a bit pathetic that they were already holding their heads over a few mere crossroads, but I silently began walking toward the next passage.
"We don't even have an archer. It would've been nice to have a priest's Lead spell at a time like this."
When Go Yeon-Joo casually threw out a comment, Sol lowered her head deeply. It seemed she hadn't learned that spell yet. Certainly, from the perspective of other players, our caravan must have looked like it was just blindly pushing forward. But there was no other way for us now, and since we had found Cave Of Wailing in a similar manner before, she wasn't too worried about it. In reality, I was moving carefully along a meticulously calculated route — though there was no way she could have known that.
"You only really find out by going inside. Even if we can't get a perfect clear, all we need to do is find the way to the end."
"Well, I guess that's true. It's not like anything good would drop from killing the undead anyway. Still, we should at least reach the end, right?"
"That's a given."
When I nodded and replied, I heard Go Yeon-Joo let out a light snort. This time, unlike the first life, I planned to move differently. Instead of cleaning out every corner, I would only pass through the minimum necessary areas and head straight for the place where that guy was located. A full clear of the Cave Of Wailing would likely be left to the investigation teams or other players who would come after this dungeon was officially discovered. Of course, before that, I intended to snatch up all the valuable parts for myself.
It felt like it was about time for them to appear, but no undead had shown up yet. Still, since there was no way the monsters would be wandering around in exactly the same spots as before, I suppressed the growing unease in a corner of my heart and continued walking. Along the way, more and more forks in the path appeared, and I moved through the passages, matching the paths one by one according to my memory.
"Oh, stairs?"
When we reached the end of the path that had split into two, we came upon a terrain that, unlike the gentle slope we had been following until now, had a somewhat steeper curve. As Vivienne said, it was hard to tell whether it was a slope or stairs, but judging by the slight traces of human work on it, it seemed to be stairs.
After closely examining the curve, Go Yeon-Joo soon nodded and spoke.
"There are slight traces of human work here. It's not surprising. From the statues standing at the entrance, it already felt like this dungeon had some kind of purpose. And if you look further down, you can see a large open space. Player Kim Su-Hyeon, will you be going down there?"
As I slowly approached, I heard Go Yeon-Joo's voice say, "The slope is steep. Be careful not to slip." Just as she said, there was a point ahead where the slope suddenly dropped off sharply, and I could see part of a massive open area below. However, it wasn't a direct path down — only part of the clearing was visible. In other words, we would have to jump down from the edge.
"It seems we haven't come the wrong way after all."
When I agreed with Go Yeon-Joo's words, she pouted and made a slightly sulky face. This was also a place I knew well. The clearing visible ahead was completely safe, and after taking a rest there, we had continued along the single path that led out. At that moment, a sense of unease pricked at me, but the party members were already cautiously approaching behind me.
"It looks like there's more than a one-meter drop between the edge and the clearing. Everyone, be careful as you come down."
After finishing my words, I slowly stepped forward along the slope while activating my sensing ability. Only a few more steps remained before reaching the entrance to the area below. Monsters could be hiding, after all. As I lightly spread out my sensing field, I was relieved to find no trace of monsters. Instead, I felt a faint and unknown magical presence, so I raised my hand to signal the party to stop.
The group had already descended to some extent. Having walked on a gentle slope until now, the sudden steep incline had them bracing themselves against the dungeon wall with their hands. After being caught off guard earlier by the Wraiths, it was necessary to stay cautious from here on. Steeling myself, I was just about to activate my Third Eye when—
"Mommy!"
A low, startled scream came from behind, and then a heavy impact struck my body. At the same time, I felt myself pitching sharply forward. I tried to regain my balance, but my body was already leaning forward, and the thing that crashed into me clung tightly to my collar, pulling me along and causing both of us to fall.
"Su-Hyeon-ssi!"
"Oppa!"
"Sol!"
As the party members called out my name, I tumbled straight forward. I quickly tried to regain my senses and summoned my magic to plant my hand onto the ground, but just then, a sensation of floating through the air overwhelmed my entire body. The momentum from rolling forward was quite strong, and the hand I stretched out only barely brushed the edge of the entrance — and so I fell straight into the clearing.
Thud!
"Kyah!"
Even as I fell, I held tightly onto the one clinging to my collar, pulling her into my embrace and cushioning her fall with my back. A heavy shock ran up my spine, but thankfully, there were no traps or anything of the sort. Still, perhaps due to the impact that had passed through my body, Sol winced and lowered her head, grimacing.
"You—"
I was about to say something but shut my mouth and quickly scanned the surroundings. Thankfully, there were no undead monsters in sight. Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, the unease I had felt earlier came rushing back even more strongly.
"Uuu... I'm sorry... I slipped..."
Sol, having regained a bit of composure, said with a teary voice. From above, the voices of the party members calling out to us rang out continuously, and before long, Go Yeon-Joo peeked her head through the wide-open entrance.
"Are you okay? We're coming down now, so just wait a bit."
"Yes. We're not badly hurt. But the height is a little significant, so please be careful coming down."
"It's not even that high."
Soon, behind Go Yeon-Joo, An-Hyun, Jung Ha-Yeong, and the others appeared one after another and began carefully lowering themselves down. I also helped Sol to her feet, and she, knowing she was at fault, kept her gaze fixed guiltily on the ground. Just as I was about to open my mouth — having kept it shut until now — to scold her for her carelessness during the expedition—
Pop! Papap!
Suddenly, a white light flashed before my eyes like a camera flash. At the same time, several messages started popping up in front of me all at once. Even my Third Eye, which I had not yet activated, was sending messages. In that instant, a flash of panic struck me, but my eyes were already tracking the messages that had appeared.
『Ancient Magic "Unconscious Reveal" has been activated. This magic is based on a magical circle engraved with high-level spells...』
『Potential Ability "Blessing of the War" (Rank: EX) has been activated.』
『Luck stat 88. Defense check failed. "Blessing of the War" Rank EX confirmed. Defense check upgraded through reduction effect. Magic stat 96 confirmed. No magic resistance. Cannot resist due to the powerful magic. It is a mental-type magic. Hidden Ability "Clairvoyance (True)" (Rank: A +) reacts. Defense check partially upgraded.』
"What, what...?"
As the message said that a spell had pierced through my magic defense, I stuttered unconsciously. At the same time, an unpleasant feeling surged up from within, and a dizzying sensation hit my head. I barely managed to keep myself steady, clutching onto my scattering consciousness. At that moment, the sound of someone stomping hard on the ground echoed in my ears.
"Why are you staggering all of a sudden? It doesn't even hurt that much. Are you sure you're okay?"
I wanted to say, "Don't come any closer," but the moment I turned my head, I forgot what I was going to say. It was already far too late.
Seeing Go Yeon-Joo leading the others as they tumbled down in a rush made me feel as though I couldn't breathe.
Pop! Pop!
At the same time, that familiar white light flashed again from the ceiling. And this time, the light completely engulfed our entire group.
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