Chapter 46
The road extended past the wire mesh fence, and it was a new road skirting the hill to avoid the village. The car's headlights were the only light source from here because no streetlights had been installed on purpose. The bare hill had turned into an ocean full of darkness, and it seemed like time had stopped at the moment when a huge wave was about to roll in. The night sky was empty without any stars and a half-eaten moon looked down on the high wall surrounding the facility.
Who would die today?
"..."
I stepped on a tattered banner when I got out of the driver's seat. Several weeks ago, a few villagers used to protest the new facility. Most of them became quiet after receiving bribes, but traces of their activities still remained here with leftover banners, containers of cup noodles and pieces of floorboards. I pushed them away with my feet, then raised my head. The wall looked larger at night, and I stopped my walk through memory lane there.
I began to pack items I had brought in the trunk. I took out a flashlight from the military backpack, then unsheathed the sword, and left the sheath in the trunk. After I closed the trunk and its red light disappeared, the darkness encompassed everything.
I headed to the only entrance of the wall with the flashlight pointed to the iron door.
「Medical corporation: New Hope Mental Hospital」
A surveillance camera was running above my head.
Clank!
The empty hospital looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, and the bare gardens seemed to be the perfect place for the dead to walk.
As I walked up to the dungeon, I remembered my colleagues who had died in there. I thought of the screams of the traitors and the cheers of those who won the boxes. Trust, deceit, faith, lust, despair, joy, love, desire, fear…Everything was in the dungeon as anything could happen. I always recruited my colleagues to go into dungeons since going alone was the same as committing suicide.
My heart was beating fast which clearly meant that I was nervous.
"It's just an F-class dungeon."
Mumbling to myself didn't help because it was not a matter of having courage. The only reason that someone entered the dungeon alone with F-class stats was that they were crazy enough not to care whether they would survive or not.
So far, I've been comfortable in this peaceful world as I had earned money easily by using my memories of the previous history. Naturally, I would continue to do so.
But… But…The knowledge of the past was not reliable in a dungeon. I needed to admit that I was afraid of being in the dungeon alone as I dreaded the darkness and I was obsessed with my past memories.
Even though I had spent so much time buying the hill, logging and disguising it as mental wards, I was not mentally prepared. I smiled bitterly. I knew that time couldn't solve this. Going into the dungeon alone with an F-class stats meant that my fear was natural. I couldn't gather other people or purchase escape insignias and monster alarms like I could in the past.
However, I was still on my way to the dungeon despite the fact that the night sky was warning me that this was suicide. I couldn't postpone this until the Trial Tests, which would happen decades later. By doing that, I would be nullifying the advantages I had gained by going back in time.
I had to trust my survival skills and I murmured to myself that this was my career as I walked forward.
Phew.
I came into the ward. The dungeon entrance was designed to be on the basement floor, and the half-open emergency exit door to the underground seemed like it was beckoning to me. I could only hear my footsteps going down the stairs, then a message popped up. I hadn't even arrived at the dungeon entrance in the underground storage room and was still on the emergency stairs.
[Would you like to open the dungeon?]
The "Explorer" trait I acquired the other day had been activated, and it expanded the radius of the area a person could activate the System of the dungeon. I continued walking down the stairs to the storage room without answering the message. Only a roughly painted sign indicated that it was a storage room, but it was just an empty space. However, I locked the door first, then spoke to the air.
"Open the dungeon."
[The dungeon is now open.]
Dudududududu!
The ground started to crack, and the stairs made of soil appeared below my feet. A subtle clutter of blue lights spread out like a barrier where the ground originally existed. The stairs leading to the underground looked as if they were submerged.
Many people were deceived by that fantastic sight, not knowing that it could kill them. I hurriedly took a step back when I remembered it.
"I'm so dumb."
I turned off my cell phone and flashlight, then put them on the floor of the entrance as if I was going for an investigation at the U.S. Federal Police Department. All electronic devices and firearms failed to function inside dungeons.
I was determined, but I still found myself hesitating to enter. I didn't want to go in by myself without anything. I clenched my teeth as I took a step.
[You are entering the dungeon.]
I felt the stairs past the blue light, and the first warning message popped up.
[Warning: You must meet the conditions to leave.]
Then, I received my quest notifications.
[The quest 'Joy and Sorrow' has begun.]
[The quest 'Declan Extermination' has begun.]
[The quest 'One on One Battle' has begun.]
The first quest was the boss quest, the second was a hunting quest, and the third one was the duel quest. I sat on the stairs and waited for my eyes to get used to the darkness.
[You have achieved the skill 'Night Eyes'.]
[You have obtained 5 points.]
[Total points: 92]
Night Eyes was a basic skill given to all hunters and was absolutely necessary for survival. I no longer needed to sit in the dark since the skill class didn't increase by sitting alone in the dark. This theory could be applied to all the skills as the system mechanism was simple: get enough points to open boxes, then increase your abilities by what comes out of the box.
However, everything that happened from then on was too complicated to be described as words.
I reached the end of the stairs and was in front of a shoddy wooden door.
Screechhhhhh.
The door made a sound like it was screaming when I opened it, then I saw the entrance room inside. With my current low-class stats, I couldn't see the entire space. I had to guess there would be walls and doors leading somewhere to the next room beyond the darkness.
The F-class dungeon in Hwa-seong was a maze-type dungeon, and in the past I had come in with a useless map given to me by the military. Considering that they had provided dozens of maps, the military authorities must have known that the maze would change its shape after each entry. However, they forced us into here without warning.
At any rate, I took out a piece of paper and a pen from my backpack and put them in my pocket. I had to record the way out in order to make sure I wouldn't starve myself to death before being killed by monsters.
People might question why I wasn't planning on using a string like Ariadne in Greek mythology, but that was a hilarious idea. The military and the Awakened had tried it long ago, but unfortunately, monsters tracked them using the string, and the Awakened were mobbed and killed. The string had also been cut off as well.
Stump. Stump.
I saw a wall after taking a few steps and circled the room by following the wall. There were two doors leading to the other room, and they were on the left and right side of the stairs.
Things actually began from the entrance room as monsters, traps and Pandora's boxes that would tempt me to open them all awaited me. In fact, the monsters might even be mad because I woke them earlier than scheduled.
I chose the right door as luck would decide my future. Even if I knew how to attack the boss, I wasn't at the point where I would dare to go to the treasure room, let alone the boss room.
My ultimate goal was clear, and I would only try the duel quest at most. Survival was not even guaranteed until then.
"Status window."
[ Name: Na Seon-Hu
Health: F (14) Strength: F (22)
Agility: F (15) Sense: F (25)
Total points : 92
Trait(2) Skill(2) ]
"Skill list."
[Odin's Wrath (Skill)
Effect: Increase the power of Lightning to the target of your choice.
Class: F (0)
Duration: 30 minutes
Cool time: 24 hours ]
With that skill, I could turn my sword that I bought for three hundred thousand won into an Excalibur. However, due to the limited duration and cooldown period, I couldn't use my skill for every single engagement. I held the sword in one hand and used the other hand to open doors. This was to make sure I could swing the sword whenever I needed it.
However, things were quiet even when the door creaked. I could see about twenty feet with my skill, and, if I remembered correctly, the corridors of this dungeon were about a hundred and fifty feet long. The width was more than forty feet across and was also covered in darkness and was over fourteen meters. In fact, they resembled roads more than corridors.
Then, I saw a large box in front of me. It looked like a bronze box, so in the past many Awakened had thrown themselves at it. If that was a real one, I didn't need to be reluctant. That chest could be real or fake. If it was real, it would give me something at random, but if not…A curse that drove people crazy would come out like an evil spirit.
Indeed, the boxes inside dungeons were all like that. They made me consider opening them despite knowing something horrible may happen. I could get something that I would normally need to risk my life for if I was fortunate.
How many points did we get from killing one monster? Was it one or two? How many monsters did I have to kill to achieve a bronze box? I started calculating in front of the box as it was a force of habit. I needed to kill a hundred fifty or three hundred low-grade monsters since I needed three hundred points in total to open a bronze box. It was a formidable number.
I smelled something faint but disgusting and tightened my grip on my sword. I rolled my eyes while guessing what would appear. With my current stats, it was difficult to deal with even a few F-class monsters alone.
I realized again that I had come here when I was too weak. However, this was the only option I had to improve my capabilities.
In the past, I entered here after I went through the Trial Tests, and my average skill was tailored at E-class. I wasn't alone since more than ten people were needed to increase the survival rate of a dungeon raid. But things were different now. All of my stats were at F-class, and I wasn't much different from an ordinary civilian. My past memories were the only things that supported me.
Finally, I could see figures through the darkness.
"...There are three."
Chapter 47
I had fought against more massive, hideous and frightening monsters. Compared to them, these mutts were in the lowest class, just like the nicknames we gave them. However, they looked more intimidating today as the dungeon walls also seemed larger than I remembered.
According to the database, they were categorized as KF-07, two-legged beasts, and were called 'Declan's scouts.' Their official nickname was 'Guard Dogs,' but we called them 'Mutts.' They had the face of a Doberman and the body of a bulky adult man.
Seeing them reminded me of my past. Despite Anubis having the head of a jackal, there had been occasions of superstitious fear because they somewhat resembled the god.
Anyway, their defined musculature was not depicted realistically in my drawing as their muscles were more suited to racing than fighting. They were nimble and fast, and the three bolted towards me as soon as they saw me.
They were too fast! One was ahead of others and was rushing at me with a mouth already wide open like it was going to bite my neck.
I saw a chance. I could just thrust my sword into its throat. Then, I would have to fight only two others, and that would be the actual beginning of this fight.
Do I look too easy for y'all? Die, you little brats.
The moment I plunged my blade, dirty blood splashed on my face, and I closed one eye by reflex. The weight at the end of my sword was heavier than I had expected. I let go of the blade and rolled back, then I felt a burning pain on my right shoulder. I hurriedly took my dagger out of the sheath on my thigh and pointed at the shadow that came up. I wasn't late.
Where's the other one? I had some time as the other monster, who was supposed to immediately follow the second mutt, wasn't there. I quickly pulled back the dagger and grabbed the last one's neck. Well, I was actually blocking it from pushing its head towards me. Its sharp teeth snapped right in front of my eyes, and its drool flew everywhere as it vigorously shook its head.
However, I couldn't plunge the dagger in its neck. I let go of its neck while kicking it in the stomach, but fuck, I was already being pushed back. The moment I kicked one of them, the other one threw its entire body at me. My line of sight was blocked by its torso, and the monster wasn't heavy enough to crush me. My lower body was left vulnerable, and I clenched my teeth instead of screaming.
I knew my screams would make them frantic. I felt a sharp pain in my right leg, and it was the one I had thrust my dagger in. It was trying to tear off my whole leg!
"Ughhh!"
After I pushed the one that had laid on my stomach, I saw the mutt on my leg, doing the exact thing I expected. Our eyes met, and I threw the dagger at it.
Whoosh.
The dagger traveled faster than it could dodge, and it lodged itself into the mutt's eye. Its screams and cries of pain didn't faze me in the least. Once I confirmed the dagger had hit the mark, I began to wrestle with the mutt that I had previously pushed away from my stomach. It was aiming at my neck this time. I felt its teeth narrowly miss my jugular as its jaw was right next to my ear.
Get away! I got on top of it and glanced at the one I had stabbed in the eye. It was rolling on the floor, grasping the handle of the dagger. Pull it out! It's going to be more painful if you do it!
I heard a scream behind my back as I turned my attention back to the monster under me. The sounds of me punching it in the face echoed through the corridor. Its snout finally broke after I smashed it three times and I moved on to strangling it with my arms. I poured all of my strength into my arms until I began to grunt under the strain.
Two mutts had been incapciated so far. One with its head pierced by a sword, and the other with an eye stabbed by my dagger. Both couldn't fight anymore, so it was my chance to kill one of them.
The monster under me flailed like a freshly caught fish, and its strength was so powerful that it dragged me along. The mutt managed to stand up, and I clung to its back with my arms around its neck. I tried my best to shift the balance back, but it managed to stand upright.
However, I knew that the mutt would die soon. It stretched its arms behind its head and grabbed my face in a last ditch attempt. The intense pressure covered my head, and I felt my world spin. Blurred vision was a dangerous sign, but the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' hadn't activated yet. This meant the situation was not too urgent despite my pain.
The pressure to my head and the mutt's resistance to my stranglehold disappeared in an instant. The mutt went limp and didn't move at all when I finally loosened my arms.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
[You have obtained 2 points.]
[Declan Extermination: Defeat Declan scout 1/60]
Huff. Huff.
I was out of breath and saw the two other mutts that were down. The one with the sword stuck in its throat was barely breathing, and the other one covering its missing eyeball was lying on the ground, trembling.
I saw an additional notification message in the window that seemed to congratulate me on my victory.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
[You have obtained 2 points.]
[Declan Extermination: Defeat Declan scout 2/60]
The one with the sword had died, so I walked to the last one. It was in enough shock that it didn't recognize me. I picked up the dagger on the ground, squatted down near its head, then stabbed it right in its forehead.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
If there were more mutts beyond the darkness, they would've jumped into me already. The Guard Dogs' intelligence and patience didn't go very far.
When I concluded that I had emptied one aisle, my legs started throbbing and my shoulders began to burn. Of course, my head also hurt from the pressure I got from the mutt. At that moment, it was only natural that I looked at the box that was still there. If I was lucky, I could receive a reward that was worth fifty fights from that box.
However, there was truth in everything like Equivalent Exchange, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and high risk and high return. I had to risk such a reward.
The risks of dungeon boxes varied, and while stat decreases or deep wounds were terrible enough, the worst were mental afflictions. Those were indeed curses and ranged from fear of a certain monster to complete destruction of the self.
Since the one in front of me was a bronze box, I didn't have to worry about taking the worst risk. I had gained an escape insignia from a box like this before but I couldn't gamble because of the slightest possibility of something bad happening. Jonathan, who had been obsessed with revenge, only opened the dungeon boxes when necessary, such as when he had to find essential items to attack a high-class dungeon.
I checked my wounds, and the one on my shoulder was light. However, my leg had been injured quite seriously as blood had splattered everywhere before I stopped the bleeding. It looked like I had bled more than the mutts.
There was only one drug currently on the market that was useful for us hunters. My backpack was messy due to the fierce fight, and I had placed liquids in steel bottles expecting this would happen. The lid of the plastic pillbox was gone, and I searched for the pills scattered on the bottom of my bag. I grabbed one codeine which was an addictive narcotic analgesic prescribed to patients with cancer. This was the best I could do for now as drugs for hunters, which should be avoided like dungeon boxes if possible, didn't exist yet.
I headed to the nearest mutt corpse. Then, I cut its stomach with a dagger and put my hand in the same nonchalant way I had done when searching for medication. I grabbed the heart between its ribs and found what I had been looking for.
What was I doing? Bloody habits. My body was moving according to my memories, and this was why habits were scary. I didn't need to look through its organs in search of magic stones.
I pulled out my hand and rubbed it against my pants. Even in the dark, I could feel the mutt's blood staining my pants. They were monsters, but they had red blood like humans.
At that point, the painkiller seemed to work as the throbbing pain on my head disappeared. As I walked towards the end of the corridor, I idly wished to only see just one mutt in the next room. Just one!
Ah, I knew that I wasn't so lucky. When the door opened, I remembered again that the dungeon wasn't a place that someone can conquer alone. I saw them through the crevice of the door, and there were at least five within my visible range. I didn't know how many more were there outside my field of view.
Closing the door carefully wouldn't help at all as their Night Eyes were glittering at me in the darkness. These things didn't panic when they saw other beings, and they didn't have fear. They must have been waiting with rage for an object to rip apart.
The one who saw me sprinted towards me, and the others followed it in reflex. Six, seven, eight, nine…The number was increasing.
Trying not to use my skills had been arrogance on my part, but I couldn't believe I had to use my skills from the very first room. Shit… I activated Sixth Sense. Using it on the weapon rather than on myself had been effective during practice.
[You have activated Odin's Wrath.]
[Target: Weapon, your long sword.]
Zing. Zingggg -
Blue rays came out in sparks from the blade, and I kicked the door open. Come to me, you assholes!
Chapter 48
The greater the skill's potential, the more likely it was to be named after various myths worldwide, such as Amaterasu, Isis, Loki, Hermes, Debbie, Vishnu, Shiva, Ares, Gaia, Geumgang History, Chang'e, and Emperor of China. When entered into a database, those names were used as indicators for dividing the class of skills. No one knew the mechanisms behind the skill names, but it was undeniable that the names had a huge impact on the hunter's confidence, who were all already strong to begin with.
The closer the hunter was to S-class, the more likely it was that the individual would derive their codename from their major skills. The codename of the unofficial sixth of the Eight Virtues was Odin, who had been the original owner of this skill. He was flighty in daily life but became the incarnation of Odin during battles. He was like a thunderstorm itself, and my stats, for now, would be as low as those mutts to him. But now, it was the time to let these mutts have a taste of my thunder!
Swoosh.
My swing beheaded the Declan perfectly as I didn't feel my sword getting caught through its neck bone. Normally, I could only do this at E-class Strength, but the lightning flowing down my blade seemed to make it possible. If I could continue effortlessly beheading them with one shot, I could go through this by myself.
I waited behind the broken door since this was an advantageous spot. No matter how many mutts there were in front of me, the number of those who could deal with me was bound to be extremely limited.
The problem was how long my Strength would last…
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
The message dissipated as another mutt's head was shoved through the doorway, and its chest filled the spot where the message popped up.
Sshhluck!
I stabbed it so hard that the blade stuck out of its back before pulling it out. I kicked the corpse away from me as it began to tilt toward me.
Following that, I pierced the third mutt's face, and the monsters must have realized something was off after seeing three dead bodies piled up in front of me. Another came jumping in thoughtlessly and became number four. I kicked the body under my feet.
The mutts were no longer sprinting towards me, but they were still willing to fight. The number of them increased while they maintained their distance from my sword. I quickly checked the corridor behind me. If they had raised the alarm, one of the remaining doors in the entrance would have been opened, and another pack of mutts would've rushed in.
Fortunately, there was no sound from the back, which meant the alarm had not been raised yet. Was a sorcerer who knew how to raise the alarm among this bunch of Declan's scouts?
Since I didn't have the Monster Alarm Insignia, they were more intimidating to me. The only thing that comforted me in this situation was that there was probably only one sorcerer. I was risking my life depending on that fact, and if I faced another group… And if they had a sorcerer… Damn it. I had no choice but to believe in myself.
The confrontation was getting prolonged. Considering my F-class Strength and the duration of my skill, I couldn't waste any more time. I had to either advance or retreat, so I took a step backward and then another.
My leg had not recovered as I still felt the pain, and I would drive them into a frenzy if I showed them my back. I saw countless mutts through the open door. How many are there? I had to kill all of them but didn't have a tanker or a healer with me. There was only one wounded damage dealer: Me.
Even though this was one of the many rooms in the dungeon, my goal had changed instantly from completing the One on One Battle quest to mere survival. This situation was inevitable since I had to come here alone. However, there was no other option as the world had changed and I came in of my own volition.
Oh, mother… Mother…
One of them jumped toward me as if it had noticed the anxiety in my eyes. I realized that its muscles were particularly more developed than others when I stabbed its chest. My eyes widened in surprise when I felt the tip of my sword breaking through its skin, muscles and ribs. Although the sword punched through its back, I knew that this monster was different from the others. I reached out in a hurry to block its darting head, but it moved faster and dodged my hand.
The mutt pushed its head and chomped down on my shoulder with all its might. My legs shook, but I couldn't let go of my blade. I was fortunate I hadn't taken my hands from my sword as it pushed itself until the sword's guard slammed against its chest.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
This freak finally died, and the head that bit me was tearing into the flesh of my shoulder with the weight of its limp body.
"Ugghhhh…"
I tried to shove away the body as the pain increased. The dead mutt's teeth were digging into my shoulder and its jaw would not open. I saw other mutts swarming over the dead one's shoulders, and if they recognized what was going on, it was over for me.
If they poured out at once, I could no longer attack or endure them. I counted up to three inwardly and pushed the dead mutt's body as hard as I could.
"Aahhhhhhhh!"
I couldn't stop myself from screaming as the dead monster's head finally snapped backwards with a chunk of my flesh still in its mouth.
"Ughh…"
I managed to pull out my sword, and kicked another one rushing at me as it jumped over the corpses of its fellows.
Shit. I thought I had gotten used to F-class Strength, but no. I had miscalculated and instinctively raised my sword vertically. That foolish mutt tried to turn itself in the air, but of course, it couldn't and pierced itself on my blade.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
I didn't care about the notifications anymore as I could tell the mutts were dead without it. I couldn't throw off its body without letting go of my sword, so before I stood up, I took out a dagger from the sheath and threw it at the mutts. Only one fell down, and I didn't have enough time to think or react.
Earlier I wanted to ignore all of the unspoken rules such as not screaming or not showing my back to the mutts because I desperately wanted to escape this dungeon. However, I didn't have an Escape Insignia.
My muscles wriggled and my heart beat wildly. My instincts and intellect started giving me different orders. Even after countless experiences like this, I couldn't get used to it. When the shadow of death was just around the corner, the bloody hand shook again. However, I had not come here without my final trump card.
I exposed my neck to the one rushing toward me. Turn your head back and bite my neck like Dracula and a werewolf.
"Come on in!!!"
Crunch!
[You have activated the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity.']
There was no shock and instead, I felt quite calm.
[Your Health class has changed. Change: F E]
[Your Strength class has changed. Change: F E]
[Your Sense class has changed. Change: F E]
[The effect of Odin's Wrath has changed. Change: F E]
[Your injuries will be slightly healed.]
[You will be immune to pain temporarily.]
At that moment, I saw a blue light on the ground. The sword that had been standing up due to being stuck in the corpse was now tilting to the side as it melted the mutt's flesh due to Odin's Wrath. I reached out to the smoking, stinking void that had been created in the mutt's body and grabbed the handle of the sword. Following that, I immediately beheaded the monster biting my neck in a single stroke.
I now could feel the strength of the death grip from its teeth when it died, which was unable to feel with my previous F-class Sense. I struck its head with my left fist, and its head bent sideways with the sounds of bone splintering.
Of course, the pain was intense as I felt my skin being torn off by its fangs.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
I stood up and killed three at once. I sliced one in half at an angle, lowered my blade to slice upwards, and opened it up from crotch to sternum. My sword vertically slashed the third one, and when the mutts hesitated, I used the time to step back with my eyes on them.
They had some intellect, particularly regarding battles. The distance from the entrance was wide enough for them to spread out.
Some of them turned around and tried to attack from behind, but I didn't let them do that. The rear would soon be completely blocked, but I couldn't let them obstruct my line of retreat. Four mutts had gone behind my back, and I was now capable of killing all of them.
It became much easier to use my sword with my strengthened skill class, and I was able to swing the monsters much more without dropping them on the ground.
Even if my leg was injured and out of control, it was still better than the leg of an unwounded civilian. That was the difference between class F and E.
I got rid of the four mutts in the rear, and others came behind me like moths to a flame.
And now, their heads were rolling on the floor, pouring out blood.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
[You have obtained 2 points.]
[Declan Extermination: Defeat Declan scout 17/60]
Odin's Wrath lasted thirty minutes, but the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' only lasted five.
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity time remaining 0 hours 4 minutes 00 seconds]
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity time remaining 0 hours 3 minutes 59 seconds]
From the corner of my eyes, I could see the notification messages changing every second. I started running backwards, and their growls became louder as if telling me they wouldn't let me escape.
Chapter 49
I couldn't run. If I could, I would've made a break for it. I deliberately slowed down in front of the mutts, then pretended to stagger. It was easy to act naturally as my balance collapsed with my injured leg.
I deceived two idiots, and they threw themselves at me with a roar. They jumped so high and fast that I had to tilt my head to see them.
Slice!
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
Their intestines and blood poured down like heavy rain and continued to spill out after their corpses fell to the floor. One of them crawled towards me as my hit had not been fatal. I stepped on its head with all my might and crushed its skull with my upgraded Strength. I only had a few more steps left to the entrance room.
I counted the mutts, and they were down to only ten. However, going against them in a frontal attack was still a suicide. I opened the door, then closed it quickly.
Thud!
The wooden door shook as if it would break, but it became quiet for a moment. I pressed my back against the door and waited for the first unwelcome guest with my sword in my hand.
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity time remaining 0 hours 2 minutes 59 seconds]
Since the remaining time was less than three minutes, my disadvantages would only increase as time passed. The mutts didn't know about this as they ripped the door into pieces with one of them sticking their head in. I could only see its ears and cheek, but I slashed down my sword at it instantly.
Aaarggghhhh!
I heard a shriek as the effect of Odin's Wrath coupled with my E-class Strength sliced the mutt's head in half. The moment the hideous corpse was about to fall into the entrance room, I kicked it away.
At the same time, I moved to the spot where the door was torn off and stabbed my sword into the mutt that had been stupidly standing within my reach. I consecutively beheaded one, kicked the body away, and thrust into another's throat. Two messages popped up one after another right away.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
This time, I jumped into the remaining mutts instead of hiding behind the wall. For the first time since entering the dungeon, I attacked them first as I should be able to deal with eight of them at my current stats with Odin's Wrath.
"Ughhh…"
[Declan Extermination: Defeat Declan scout 29/60]
I threw off my burdensome backpack, and the message in the air seemed to be laughing at me as I laid down on the ground. I couldn't believe the F-class hunting quest that the System provided as a present was this dangerous.
Going through the first room alone was as risky as a boss battle. My limbs were heavy, but there were things I had to do before 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' wore off. When I shook my backpack, the survival items dropped into the pool of mutts' blood. The zipper bag I picked up was dripping with blood. I took out a bandage from it and wrapped it around my neck, legs, shoulders and abdomen. I had a lot to cover.
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity time remaining 0 hours 0 minutes 01 seconds]
I was thirsty, but if the effect wore off…
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity time remaining 0 hours 0 minutes 00 seconds]
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity effect will now disappear.]
"Ah… ahh… ahhhh!"
I woke up in pain, hunger and thirst. I felt a mutt's head as I was searching for a water bottle. Oh, right. I was still in the dungeon. I tried to sit up, but all my muscles ached. My body was so messed up that I had to support myself with my hands to remain upright.
Then, I drank some water and found a codeine pill from the blood pool. It was sticky with clotted blood, and I swallowed it dry. The problem was standing up, and after three attempts using the sword as a cane, I was able to put my feet on the ground.
When I came to my senses, I realized that the exit was in front of me. I crawled up the damn stairs, desperate to flee this place.
The world outside the blue barrier was also dark. People claimed that reality and fantasy cannot coexist as they cannot be mixed together. But that was bullshit as both existed here. The dungeon was fantasy and the world outside was reality. I was stuck in this fantasy, and I could only think of escaping from it. I reached out to the blue barrier.
[Warning. You haven't met the conditions to exit.]
I felt my fingers tingle and remembered what happened to those who ignored the System's warning while terrible memories flashed through my mind. I flung myself back on the stairs and fainted.
I opened my eyes. How long have I been passed out?
"...Traits…list."
[The Man Who Overcomes Adversity (Trait)
Effect: All stats and skill classes increase by one when you are incapable of fighting. Also, there is a minor healing effect, and you will become immune to pain until the duration ends.
Class: F (0)
Duration: 5 minutes
Cooldown: 7 days (time remaining 6 days 1 hour)]
I had been unconscious for twenty-three hours, and that allowed me to move a bit. I took off the bandage on the leg, and the wound from the savage teeth that cut me to the bone had healed quite nicely. However, my shoulder was still severely injured as a chunk of flesh had been torn off. Even the narcotic analgesics didn't help much with the pain.
I returned to the entrance and began organizing my survival items. I checked my hygiene and filled my hunger with canned food. I had a lot of free time even though I was prepared to risk my life. I felt the darkness had deepened, and my sights narrowed although I knew it was impossible.
Time like this tended to lead in two ways. It could be a valuable maintenance time, but it could also be the time for a new battle. If people had been gathered together without any choice, teammates turned into enemies at the drop of a hat. They may have already suffered from PTSD, had deceived others about the curse on themselves, or had received a curse from the dungeon.
If a mental affliction was not the case, problems happened when someone's purpose was to kill everyone else in the party for a nice payday, or something went wrong with the contract, or someone coveted an enticing item from another team member.
Not only that, but someone might also have become mad due to an incident during battle. Anything could be a reason in a dungeon.
However, there were positive things to being in a group. I could gain emotional stability from reliable team members and receive treatment from the healer. In addition, we took turns on the night watch to get proper rest and immediate reaction to any sneaky mutts.
I used the space next to the dungeon box in the first aisle as a campsite where I could spend the night alone. It wouldn't happen, but if mutts appeared, I would open the box. I would rather risk my life at the last chance than just die like the way I had done in my previous life. Now, the points I needed for a bronze box were…
[Total points: 150]
I needed a hundred fifty points to open a bronze box, and I had to kill seventy-five mutts in total. There was only one thing I was desperate for now, something that anyone with my wounds would want. It was an Escape Insignia, which would let me escape from the dungeon without meeting the exit conditions.
Fighting by risking my life would upgrade my stats, but an Escape Insignia raised my survival rate. There was comfort in realizing that I could escape alone without considering anyone's safety. In the past, runaways were severely punished, but it was better than dying in this bloody dungeon. You could hide your identity and live among civilians.
I had all kinds of thoughts since I had faced the darkness, mostly about past memories. However, the darkness reminded me of pain and suffering such as dead comrades, brutally killed corpses, severed intestines, blood and traitors.
Then, I started thinking about the future while walking in the darkness, about sudden pitfalls, suspicious eyes of teammates, and powerful monsters beyond imagination.
However, the scariest thing about dungeons was the mental stress and loneliness. It not only constrained our minds but also our bodies, and we crumbled and attacked each other.
Romance? Friendship and love? The possibilities of them happening were lower than receiving high-rank box rewards.
It was time to move on. I was still holding my blade, but I had already changed my main weapon to the dagger, which suited me better at my current ability and class. The corpses I killed remained like milestones on the ground as I walked to the next room. I continued as I had finished up in that room.
I spotted one room. I had to open the door without hesitation, but instead of pushing in, I stared around. No traps were found in the aisle and previous rooms, so now was the time for one.
There was a string on the doorknob, and I thought it looked like an F-class trap. I stood aside and cut it.
Boom!
I still had to cover my face with my arms despite the fact I had moved sideways. When pieces of the shattered doors flew toward me, a huge log crashed through the door and spun away after demolishing it. That chunk of wood would have turned the unwary into meat paste and bone splinters. I could still feel the wind of its passage buffeting me. After a while, all the walls echoed for a bit.
[You have removed a trap.]
[You have obtained 2 points.]
Wait, there was another message popping up.
[Congratulations. You are the first one to have completed the hidden quest 'Declan Trap Removal.']
[You have obtained 4 points.]
What was his name? Woo Young-Jin? Woo Hyung-Jin? Yoo Young-Jin? Anyway, it looked like there was a reason why he acted awkwardly after removing the trap in the dungeon since there had been a free quest. However, he wouldn't have been the first as there were teams before us and one of them had probably completed earlier than him.
Okay, it was time to see what the first reward was!
[You have obtained a 'bronze box' for being the first one to complete the quest.]
At this moment, it wasn't just a box worth three hundred points. It was a box worth killing a hundred fifty mutts. The bronze box was opening. I desperately hoped for an Escape Insignia, but the possibility was quite low.
However…
[You have received the Escape Insignia.]
A beam of light from the box shone on my chest, and I now realized why the Eight Virtues had been crazy about the System. I just hit the jackpot!
Chapter 50
[Escape (Insignia)
Effect: It meets the conditions to exit the dungeon for a single time.
Class: F]
The Escape insignia had been engraved to the same location that the previous Revival Insignia had been. I moved to the entrance room door and wedged an empty food can to keep the door open. I hadn't recovered enough to break the door yet. Now I could escape when the mutts poured in from the two doors in the entrance room.
As long as I settled here, I could maintain my life. My smile became bitter. The System had toyed with us with that tiny insignia, and it always had been like this. The contents of the boxes were random as it could be either a blessing or a curse. Good out of evil? That was bullshit. The phrase 'the irony of fate' was more suitable to describe the boxes as blessings could easily become misfortune and vice versa.
I had stayed away from the Eight Virtues after realizing that. Even after returning, acquiring the trait 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity,' and giving my father a Revival Insignia, I was still skeptical regarding the so-called goodwill of the System that the Eight Virtues had advocated in the past.
Since I had obtained an Escape Insignia, I decided to stay near the entrance room while continuing quests rather than going forward and attacking the dungeon. That way, I could escape in case of an emergency.
I noticed from the past few days that I couldn't even try the One on One Battle quest until I completed the Declan Extermination quest. And that was only if I was lucky. I had brought materials that were not only available in this period but also usable in the dungeon.
After installing traps in the exit and the entrance room doors, I laid down firmly on the floor. If I had just wasted time before, now I had an exit behind my back. I was able to check my condition and wait for my body to recover so that I could fight again.
Another day had gone by in the dark, and bandages caked with dried blood littered the floor. The codeine's pain relieving properties had finally started to work for my left shoulder. Of course, the wound would reopen if I made any large movements, but I could fight in this state. I opened the closed door in the entrance room. Just as I thought there was nothing there, a mutt came out of the dark corridor.
"Are you alone?" I asked.
If I had chosen this path at first, it would've been a perfect way to get used to battle. Anyway, these mutts had some brains, but their rationality never won against instincts. Whenever their fellows were bleeding on the ground, they chose to rush into me.
Whoosh.
I used my blade like a dagger and threw it at the mutt's forehead. I had not prepared a javelin and a bow as I knew I wouldn't be able to see far. The mutt took out the embedded sword, and the blood flowed out like a low pressure faucet instead of gushing out.
Crack!
A notification popped up as I kicked its head.
[Declan Extermination: Defeat Declan scout 30/60]
I had completed fifty percent of the hunting quest. Alright, I just have to do what I've been doing so far.
I stopped walking when I saw a door at the end of the corridor. There were twenty-seven mutts huddling in the second room on the opposite side. There would be more in the room after that, but I couldn't use 'The Man Who Overcomes Adversity' trait as it was on cooldown. Furthermore, I couldn't bring them out one by one since I had to fight against all of them if I opened the door.
"Sigh."
Going into a dungeon alone was taboo in my past life unless someone wanted to commit suicide. A minimum of five were required, and more than ten was better if possible. Although the ideal ratio of tankers, dealers and healers was different based on the dungeon's design, we had to train for changes in roles since a single death spelled a decreased chance of survival for the team.
When the military placed us here, there were only four of us in E-class: one tanker and three dealers. The result was obvious. I was different back then since I was just any other psycho who had been thrown into the world. I did anything to survive, and the situation got worse. The dungeon boxes turned into our only hope. Despite the low probability of receiving insignia, we started fighting among each other to death just for that chance. And the winner, obviously since I'm here, was…
"Shit."
The bloody darkness was nibbling again at my brain. I swept my hair back forcefully with my fingers, then moved up to the door. There was no trap, and I just had to push the door. However, my body refused my commands with all its might. A frontal attack was not my style, but I had to get used to it since I was alone.
I opened the door, and the screams of dozens of mutts gave me chills. The room was filled with savage murdering instincts, and many heads quickly jumped towards me. There were more here than in the previous room. I threw a sword at the mutt in the lead, then pulled out a dagger.
[You have activated Odin's Wrath.]
[Target: Weapon, Dagger]
It was that moment.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
Another jumped in, scattering the notification message with its arms stretched out instead of shoving its head. I deflected its arms with my empty hand and thrust the dagger in between its eyes. I stabbed three times, and blue sparks from the dagger scorched its blood.
[You have defeated the Declan scout.]
This was the same situation as before, and I was enduring with my back to the door. The difference was that my last resort had changed to the Escape Insignia. I quickly looked over the mutts that had increased in number. The sorcerer with red eyes was not there, probably because I was still at the beginning of the dungeon. That was the only reason that I was still standing behind the door.
"Come on in. Yes, you. I'm talking to you."
I gave the finger to the one in front of me. When it didn't react, I bit the back of my hand as mutts also became frenzy at the smell of blood. They were dying to jump at me, but no one was rushing in. I gulped and widened my eyes.
Ahhh…
There was one coming out of the darkness. It was bigger than the rest of them, so I could clearly see it coming toward me as it squeezed in between the ordinary mutts. It had two heads, and they were swaying close together as if they were having a creepy and obscene dance party. The moment this beast entered the battle, their heads would turn into warriors. For the One on One Battle quest, the Double-Headed Declan usually came out from the deeper parts of the dungeon, so this was the dungeon cheating!
I was planning to find it after completing the initial hunting quest. Of course, this was not the first time plans had changed due to the dungeon's fickleness. I had to gauge the risk I was encountering for now. I turned my back immediately and ran as fast as I could by ignoring the unspoken rules.
Thud. Thud.
I heard the Double-Headed mutt chasing after me while howling loudly in hunger and excitement. Its scream filled up the entire corridor, and one of the head's snarls was louder than the other.
As soon as I saw the entrance, it struck me with its full weight and speed. When I came to my senses, I was already tumbling with the mutt. It must have bit and scratched me quite deeply as I was close to losing consciousness. I thought of only one thing at that moment, the trap installed on the door was activated!
I shut my eyes tight and crawled by looking only straight ahead. I couldn't think about my nails being broken like the day I had crawled over the corpses of my colleagues to escape from the boss monster.
I felt the stairs caught in my fingertips, and it was time to sprint out to the world. The speed that the howls reached my ears was faster than before, which meant the mutt was right behind me. I thought I had been caught right at the end, so I had been preparing for my last fight. But then, I saw a new message when there were no more stairs to go up.
[The Insignia 'Escape' has been removed.]
Oh my gosh! Yes! I survived! I got out of the dungeon!
The screams that shook the world had disappeared, and it was then I saw a blade stuck in my arm. Instead of pulling it out, I grabbed the flashlight at the entrance of the dungeon first. Then, I turned it on towards the boundary between reality and fantasy.
I first saw its face, and the Double-Headed mutt was staring at me right behind the boundary. Their ferocious expressions and growls were promising that they would kill me the next time.
