Chapter 113

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 113: Night Dungeon (1)

“What… Why is it black?”

Amidst the obsidian rain falling from the murky sky, a black sphere…

Yeongwoo felt a vague sense of unease.

“Is it because it’s night? But it shouldn’t just be a different color, right…?”

In this world of the night, there was only Yeongwoo, a human.

So, he had no choice but to converse with the goblin, who was sheltering from the rain at the edge of his cloak.

-Keet!

Eventually, the little goblin reached out from under the cloak as if gesturing to touch the sphere.

Of course, it was highly unlikely that this Relic-level slave knew the secrets of this world.

He was probably just imitating what Yeongwoo had been doing whenever he touched the sphere.

Still, it was somewhat comforting.

“Well, leaving this here just because it looks a bit scary doesn’t make sense.”

In essence, he was talking to himself.

After hesitantly glancing around the dark surroundings, Yeongwoo cautiously reached out his hand towards the black sphere.

Tap.

Then, as usual, a system message appeared.

“Huh.”

The content was completely different from when it was ‘day’.

「New authority has been unlocked.」

|Dungeon

“Dungeon…?”

As Yeongwoo muttered to himself, a grayish wave emanated from the black sphere where he had placed his hand, spreading in all directions.

Bzzzt!

Suddenly, the colors of the entire area turned to shades of gray, as if they had crossed over to a parallel world.

-Purrrup!

The unidentified grade horse, Negwig, provided by Dogo, licked its lips.

It seemed to be disliking this endlessly silent space.

-Keey…..

Even the golden goblin let out a sharp, prolonged cry, unlike its usual behavior.

And a moment later.

Kwaadddd!

The ground beneath their feet began to tremble, and something began to happen.

“W-What’s…”

As Yeongwoo, taken aback, pushed Negwig back, the ground in front of them split open, and a huge structure rose up.

Kwaaaa…!

It was a pyramid.

However, it was a pyramid made of something black and sturdy, created in another world.

‘But why does it feel so familiar?’

Yeongwoo was overcome with a sense of déjà vu as he looked at the swollen “pyramid” that seemed to cover the entire sky.

And then he realized where this familiarity came from.

‘…Currency Exchange.’

It was like looking at that currency exchange that reflected no sunlight and gave a sense of discomfort on the first day of the reset.

‘Was it made in the same place?’

It was familiar, yet entirely unwelcome.

He wondered what would happen next this time.

“……”

As Yeongwoo stared intently at the pyramid, a brightly lit rectangle appeared on the front of the pyramid.

Pip!

Upon Yeongwoo nudging Negwig forward, letters soon appeared above the problematic rectangle.

「Please dismount from the mount.」

“Oh…?”

A user-friendly interface, contrary to expectations.

Following the instructions, Yeongwoo dismounted from Negwig.

Clang!

Then, as the golden goblin also leaped down, almost simultaneously, another message appeared.

「You cannot bring slaves into this dungeon」

Keek! Ket!

Immediately, the golden goblin raised its ears and voiced angry protest.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo stroked his chin and nodded his head.

‘So, this is a dungeon after all. The appearance conditions must be so strict that I haven’t seen it until now…’

On the first day of the reset, many factors emerged, including quests, currencies, as several celebrities, including the president, chose ‘disbandment’.

Among them, Yeongwoo distinctly remembered the dungeons.

‘No wonder. I wondered why I couldn’t see any dungeons when monsters were falling from the sky every night.’

In fact, they were available for appearance every night, but no one came out to see them through the abnormal weather.

“Hoo…”

As Yeongwoo’s thoughts reached this point, he suddenly felt his heart racing.

He was excited to have reached the hidden elements of this world that no one had discovered so far.

Was this also a trait of the ‘stubborn’?

Clang.

As Yeongwoo left Negwig and the goblin behind and took another step towards the pyramid, a new message appeared in the glowing rectangle.

Paaat!

It was none other than the dungeon format.

[Pain of Iria]

|Dungeon Grade: Normal

|Difficulty: D

|Required Personnel: 3

‘This is surprisingly straightforward.’

Yeongwoo chuckled at the dungeon system he had commonly seen in games.

Then…

“Wait a moment.”

He checked the last letters written in the dungeon information again.

“Required Personnel?”

And it was three people.

“If it requires three people, who else is here besides me?”

With a resentful expression, Yeongwoo took another step towards the pyramid, and a whirlpool began to swirl in front of the pyramid, opening up space.

Whiirrrr!

So, this was…

‘A portal.’

It was the entrance to this dungeon.

‘But we need two more people.’

With a disappointed expression, Yeongwoo peered into the portal and discovered numbers written inside.

[0/3]

Of course, this didn’t change the situation.

It simply meant that there was currently nobody inside this dungeon that required a total of three people.

‘Too bad.’

Still, since he was already here, should he take a look inside the dungeon anyway?

Although the excitement had waned a bit, there was still some potential gain.

After all, now that he knew the appearance conditions of the dungeon, he could eventually recruit two more warriors and explore the dungeon.

‘Anyway, let’s go in and do some preliminary exploration…’

As Yeongwoo thought this, as he was about to step into the portal…

Pat!

[1/3]

The number inside the portal changed to ‘1/3.’

“Huh?”

Yeongwoo withdrew his foot at this, but the number didn’t change back.

“What’s this?”

Unless it was a system error, the current situation implied something significant.

“Could it be… someone is inside…?”

He couldn’t help but think so.

In that case, who entered the dungeon from where?

“If that’s the case, it means there are multiple entrances.”

More precisely, someone came out tonight and summoned another dungeon from somewhere else.

“……”

Sssaaat!

Without hesitation, Yeongwoo drew his black sword.

Then, with heightened vigilance, he walked into the portal.

* * *

Portal.

In games or novels, it generally refers to ‘dimensional gates’ or ‘spatial transportation.’

Regardless, the core function of a portal is to instantly transport the user to their destination, no matter how far it may be.

So, Yeongwoo once wondered what it would feel like to experience portal movement in real life whenever he used portals in games.

But this time…

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Suaat!

He couldn’t tell.

“Wow!”

Although the time passing through the portal was very short, he didn’t feel anything during that time.

Despite taking just a few steps forward, he found himself in an entirely different place.

It was a spacious room that resembled an ancient ruin.

Clang!

As Yeongwoo, who had passed through the portal, instinctively stepped on the floor, he immediately heard a chilling sound from behind.

Shiriririk!

It was the sound of the portal closing.

“What…!”

Startled, Yeongwoo turned around, but the portal had already disappeared.

Then, someone who had been leaning against the opposite wall approached him, speaking with a voice that felt surprisingly welcoming.

“Don’t worry at all! You can leave anytime you want if you wish! But you shouldn’t leave yet!”

‘What… what do you mean?’

Only then did Yeongwoo realize that he had belatedly decided to be cautious of people.

“…Who’s there?”

“Oh, startled, aren’t you? It seems like everyone experiences that when using portals for the first time. Your memory blanks out for a moment.”

It was only then that Yeongwoo noticed a large brazier in the center of the room.

And on this brazier, there were numbers written in the same format as what he had seen in the portal.

[2/3]

‘It was 1/3 before, but now it changed to 2/3.’

Presumably, it was the result of the person on the other side of the brazier and the one on this side chatting incessantly.

In other words, two out of the required three for dungeon exploration had arrived.

And amidst all this, the other person continued to speak without pause.

“Now, shall we take a leisurely look at each other? I’m so curious about what you’re like.”

“……”

Yeongwoo finally understood why the other person couldn’t stay still like a restless puppy.

“Did you happen to be here yesterday too?”

As Yeongwoo asked this, the figure across the brazier responded with a much more animated voice than before, clapping enthusiastically.

“No, how did you know…! That’s right! I stayed up all night yesterday waiting, but nobody came!”

“……”

Despite the somewhat ridiculous tone, it meant that the other person was undoubtedly a skilled individual.

It meant that they had been able to pass through the abnormal weather for two consecutive days.

Either they were incredibly lucky or they had equipment that could ignore all weather conditions.

“Now, let’s slowly move to the right, shall we? Let’s see each other’s faces.”

Of course, they didn’t seem to be particularly sharp-witted.

“Um, whose right are we talking about? If we each go our own right, we’ll never meet.”

“Oh…! That’s right.”

“You should come out to the right from your perspective. Then I’ll move accordingly.”

“Okay!”

The other person readily accepted Yeongwoo’s suggestion.

And finally…

Clang, clang.

Step by step.

With the brazier between them, the two who had only exchanged voices began to close the distance little by little.

And as their faces gradually became visible under the light…

“Oh… Oh.”

“What… what’s going on?”

Both of them couldn’t help but stiffen their expressions.

Because…

“Oh, you… for an Asian… you’re tall.”

“If you’re Sicilian… aren’t you from Italy?”

One was Korean, and the other was from Sicily, Italy.

『Gyeongbuk’s Strongest Sword』

『Guardian Sword of Sicily』

Two people from opposite sides of the Earth.

‘Oh my god.’

Yeongwoo had a premonition that this dungeon was a place accessible to people from all over the world.

But if that were the case…

“Um, wait a moment.”

A very strange sensation, or rather something close to fear, began to creep from the elbow to the back of the neck.

“What did you just say? Didn’t you say you waited all night yesterday?”

Upon hearing this, the Italian swallowed heavily and looked around anxiously.

“Yes… I waited alone all night yesterday and then went back. But why are you saying this all of a sudden? It’s a little scary.”

Upon this, Yeongwoo felt as if his heart had stopped, so he briefly placed his hand on his chest.

“What day was it on the second day of the reset?”

“It was the second day. Of course.”

“Then today is…”

“The third day…”

As the Italian counted on his fingers, his face finally stiffened.

He too realized.

That there was a significant discrepancy in this space, or rather in this meeting.

“…Time difference.”

As the Italian widened his eyes, Yeongwoo nodded.

“If you’re from Italy, there’s about an 8-hour time difference with Korea.”

“T-Then…”

“I also entered here on the third night. So, in Italy, it should be around three in the afternoon of the third day.”

“So, you mean… I’m experiencing events that haven’t happened yet?”

“At least from my perspective, yes. You, sir, have come from the future.”

“But I have memories of everything from three in the afternoon today until now. Rather, from my perspective… you’re the one who came from the past.”

“……”

As the conversation reached this point, it was no longer surprising that the two had been effortlessly traversing the language barrier from the beginning.

And to make matters worse…

Shirring!

Once again, there was the sound of the portal closing from beyond the brazier.

The third party member had arrived at the dungeon.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]