Chapter 117

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 117: Night Dungeon (5)

What on earth is happening?

Ottavio from Sicily, Italy, and Ricardo from Tocantins, Brazil, were feeling a strange mix of joy and fear, half and half.

For starters.

Quaddddook!

The fact that the ship was moving quite fast was very encouraging.

With this speed, they didn’t need to resort to the “Russian roulette,” where one of them had to die as the price of mission failure.

However.

Pweeeeeng!

The fact that the Asian man on this ship’s helm was sucking in the monsters with the “A-Space Bomb” provided by the heavens made the two of them fearful.

“Wow, it’s really light!”

Is he muttering to himself into the air?

It seemed as if he were reporting to someone…

Even though it was a world with dragons and quests, that was… something that transcended even post-reset common sense.

Of course, it was thousands of times better to die unnoticed in this abyss.

Because that would be such a worthless death.

Pweeeeeng!

Finally, another explosion occurred, and Yeongwoo quickly moved the ship as if he had been waiting.

Dududuk, Dududuk!

Then he picked up the twelve-faced dice lying on the floor where the explosion had occurred.

Blame.

Next time.

Click.

After pressing the switch to activate the timer, he threw it back into the darkness ahead where there was a noisy commotion.

Hwaeat!

Then, as always, the twelve-faced dice split in twelve directions, sucking in all the monsters near the throwing point.

Kweaaaaaah!

– H, help!

– Save me!

– Aaaaaa!

Each time, the monsters screamed in agony, but it didn’t last long.

Their bodies were eerily muted as they reached the common space contained within the twelve-faced dice.

Shuaaak!

Once the “space” finished sucking in, the twelve-faced dice returned to its original form and fell to the ground with a thud.

And Yeongwoo, who saw this, moved forward again.

Dududuk, Dududuk!

This was the entirety of how the trio from the three countries was navigating through the dungeon.

Of course, from the rear and sides where the bomb’s range didn’t reach, monsters were still pouring in, but compared to the previous difficulty, it was incomparable.

‘If we keep going like this…!’

‘I can survive!’

Just like the two marksmen whose hope was growing brighter, Yeongwoo also became convinced that he could survive here.

The only problem is…

“…I have nothing more to say.”

An efficient hardware structure that could be utilized even if an alien came, a mysterious operating system that caused explosions but didn’t produce flashes, astonishing suction power that didn’t even leave corpses behind, and so on.

Now, everything that can be said about this “product” has been said.

Click.

As Yeongwoo activated the A-Space Bomb again, the marksmen behind subtly glanced towards him.

This time, they were secretly anticipating what nonsense he would utter next.

“Uh…”

Meanwhile, oblivious to his colleagues’ glances, Yeongwoo threw the bomb forward as he did before.

Hwa!

Then, the monsters rushing towards the fire like moths…

Pweeeeeng!

…were sucked into the air along with the explosion above their heads.

Kweaaaaaah!

An unidentified hole that selectively sucked in hostile targets without requiring specific conditions from the user, swallowing even the enemies’ heads, leaving no trace of them.

Yeongwoo gazed at the problematic hole, which seemed even darker than the darkness enveloping the surroundings, as if mesmerized.

“If this is clearly hell, then what is that place inside, which seems even darker than this hell? Is it emptiness itself?”

Now almost resembling a poet, the Eastern handler muttered with a wistful gaze, before stepping forward again.

Dududuk!

And so, the three continued their journey through the darkness.

* * *

Hell.

When Im Bonghee, who had been eliminated and perished, saw this place, it was fair to say that this was indeed hell.

‘All those who have been eliminated gathered here. They became monsters worse than mutants.’

At the time, ‘Voting’ was a one-sided attack method, but it was also the only way to block the flesh that might come at you.

In other words, in order to harm others, one had to risk one’s own life as collateral.

And flipping that around.

‘Getting voted means someone has harbored tremendous resentment against you. Resentment enough for someone to risk their life to denounce you.’

For example, someone like Im Bonghee, who was actually a rapist.

Sweep.

Yeongwoo, who had picked up the twelve-faced dice as usual, suddenly felt discomfort and glanced beyond the darkness.

“….”

Then silence returned like an echo.

The presence of monsters, which had been as natural as breathing until now, was no longer detectable.

“Huh…?”

With that, Yeongwoo, for the first time without throwing the twelve-faced dice, steered the ship away.

Dududuk, Dududuk.

And the two marksmen, who realized that there had been no more surprise attacks from the sides or rear for some time, widened their eyes like people who had discovered a lake in the desert.

“I-Is it… over?”

“…Really?”

Ricardo reflexively checked the fire.

“Oh…”

As he wished, the flame in the center of the stone floor was still burning brightly.

Then, all that remained was…

Dududuk!

To continue pulling the ship until the Eastern handler reached his destination, wherever that may be.

Dududuk!

As Yeongwoo silently dragged the boat with the two aboard for another hundred meters, Ricardo suddenly spoke with a shy tone.

“T-Thank you, Korean. I won’t forget your efforts until I die.”

Then, Ottavio sitting beside him poked his side and added a word.

“Jeong Yeongwoo. By now, you should remember our names.”

“…It’s not easy to remember Eastern names.”

They had become quite close over time.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Considering the sheer number of monsters they had fought off together, numbering in the thousands, it was only natural that their inner bond had strengthened as they crossed swords and backed each other up.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo, who had been quietly leading the group forward like the group’s father, finally spoke up.

“That’s it!”

It wasn’t until the moment when the sound of the ground rubbing against the boat changed that he opened his mouth.

“The ground material has changed.”

Then he bent his body forward and exerted more force to pull the boat.

However.

Kwak!

This time, the boat didn’t budge an inch.

It was as if it had hit something.

“…Ah.”

Finally, a sense of relief washed over him.

Yeongwoo silently released the chains that had bound him all over his body.

Chyurk, Chyurryuk.

It was an intuition that only the handler who had been pulling the boat alone for so long could possess.

The end of this arduous journey had come.

Chyrat!

Yeongwoo, who had released all the chains wrapped around his waist, walked forward like a prisoner released after a long sentence.

Then.

Cheolk, Cheolk!

A strange sound, different from before, emanated from the illusion.

At this, Yeongwoo momentarily removed his gloves and touched the ground.

Blame.

“It’s stone.”

The same material as the “boat” he had been pulling all this time was now spread out in front of him.

Although it was still pitch black, he couldn’t exactly discern what lay ahead.

“It seems to be over. I’ll go in further to check….”

As Yeongwoo spoke, taking another step into the darkness.

Chat!

A faint light descended from high above, illuminating Yeongwoo’s position.

And towering right in front of him was a pile of rocks.

“…?”

Resembling the remains of a collapsed giant ruin, this pile of rocks completely blocked Yeongwoo’s path.

“What’s that?”

“The path is completely blocked.”

Unconsciously, the two marksmen were about to follow Yeongwoo out of the boat, but they managed to stop themselves just in time.

They remembered that the dungeon hadn’t ended yet.

「Rule one: Only the handler can touch the chains.」

「Rule two: Only the handler can be outside the boat.」

Due to the absurd nature of this damn dungeon, they didn’t even know if this was a trap designed to induce a rule violation.

“Let’s just wait for now.”

“…Agreed.”

Eventually, when the two marksmen decided not to leave the vicinity of the fire, the next development unfolded.

Paat!

A holographic message appeared above the pile of rocks blocking the path.

「You have reached the end of the dungeon.」

“What?”

“This damn…”

As they suspected, it was indeed a device for “fishing.”

Still, Yeongwoo didn’t entirely trust this dungeon until the end.

“But don’t leave yet. There’s no other way out.”

The path was still blocked, and there were no additional instructions on the pile of rocks.

Instead.

Duduk!

The stone floor, which Yeongwoo had been pulling all this time with the boat, containing the fire and the marksmen, suddenly moved backward on its own.

Even though no one was holding the chains.

“Huh, what’s this?”

Ottavio, sensing something, looked at Yeongwoo.

And when Yeongwoo saw the stone floor moving, he quickly ran over and pushed his body against it.

Cheolk!

As Yeongwoo stepped onto the stone floor, the problematic boat, which had been slowly moving backward, suddenly floated into the air.

“Oh… We’re going back!”

Ricardo exclaimed with joy, sounding like a child.

Ottavio couldn’t hide his excitement as he looked up at the sky.

As the boat flew faster and faster towards the spot where everything had started, even the mighty ones among them couldn’t help but be startled.

Shoaaaaaat!

The stone floor, cutting through the vast emptiness diagonally, reached the hole beneath the stone structure where the three had first descended.

Then, after some adjustments.

Shiiiiiiik!

“Ugh.”

“Urk!”

Inside the high-speed elevator that even made the strong ones flinch, Ottavio managed to speak to Yeongwoo.

“Thank you very much, really.”

“…No, everyone worked hard to get us out alive.”

Ottavio chuckled softly and cautiously continued.

“We may not have much time left here, but I wanted to ask.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Will we be able to see each other again?”

“Oh.”

Shaaaaaaaat!

A fierce roaring sound cut through their conversation like a blade.

Then, Ricardo, who had been quietly listening, scratched his cheek and said.

“Do you seriously plan on coming back here? We’ve had enough at this point, haven’t we…?”

He seemed genuinely amazed by the difficulty of the dungeon.

However, Ottavio’s eyes were still filled with hope and determination.

“You’re called Yeongwoo, right? It’s the characteristic of having the surname first in Korea.”

“Yes, that’s correct. Yeongwoo is my name.”

However, it wasn’t certain whether “Jeong” was originally a surname.

Being an orphan from the start, even the name “Yeongwoo” given to him by the orphanage director had no real origin.

Of course, such unnecessary information wasn’t explicitly mentioned.

“If we meet again next time, please call me Yeongwoo. In Korea, close friends call each other by their names.”

“Oh, it’s the same here.”

Then Ottavio extended his right hand to Yeongwoo.

It was the first handshake with this European.

Thump!

When Yeongwoo readily shook hands with him, Ricardo also unexpectedly extended his hand.

“My full name is Ricardo da Silva Tavares Junior. Ricardo, I have the same name as my father.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Ricardo.”

After shaking hands with the South American for the second time, Yeongwoo looked at the fire and felt that the speed of the stone floor’s ascent was gradually decreasing.

At that moment, a new system message began to appear on the fire.

[Pain of Iria]

|Dungeon Grade: Normal

|Difficulty: D

|Required Personnel: 3

「The dungeon has been completed.」

「Survivors: 3」

Finally, the dungeon completion judgment was made.

“Is it finally over?”

As Yeongwoo took a deep breath and looked up, another message appeared in front of the fire.

「For the sake of rewards, individual scores will be calculated.」

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]