Chapter 53
It hadn't been long since we nearly died inside a dungeon.
Any sensible person wouldn't willingly return to the place that had almost killed them.
But if we don't take this raid, when will another suitable chance appear?
And what were the chances that one would also be D-rank or higher?
Almost none.
Still, I should at least ask.
I pressed Send.
Honestly, I didn't expect much.
The teammates I knew would probably refuse.
Before long, replies started arriving one by one.
[Mom's Son] What's this?
[Han Siwoo] Raid participation?
[Me] Yeah. I looked into it and apparently they have things like this too.
[Mom's Son] So?
[Mom's Son] Don't tell me you're saying we should go.
[Han Siwoo] Do you want to go?
My thoughts stopped for a moment.
Honestly...
No.
I didn't want to go.
But I had to.
I made a rough excuse.
[Me] Well... maybe because I've been stuck in the hospital so long, my body's been feeling stiff lately.
[Mom's Son] Are you insane?
[Me] If you don't want to go, don't.
[Me] I just thought it was interesting that this existed.
It wasn't like I had threatened to kill anyone who refused.
Suppressing my irritation, I put my phone down for a moment.
I didn't want this either.
Not being able to explain the situation was frustrating.
Then another notification rang.
[Asshole] ?
[Asshole] wat is this?
[Asshole] joint raid?
[Mom's Son] idk apparently it's new
[Asshole] Do they pay? I'll do it if they pay, I'm broke these days lol
[Han Siwoo] I'll do it too.
What...?
[Mom's Son] ?? Are all of you insane? Did you already forget we nearly died not long ago?
[Asshole] Then are you gonna pay my living expenses hyung?
[Asshole] Do u know how broke ppl living alone areㅡㅡ
[Mom's Son] Hey
[Mom's Son] Don't try squeezing blood from a stone
[Mom's Son] I'm F-rank, remember?
[Asshole] I'm broke enough to squeeze blood from stones
The chat scrolled rapidly.
Apparently, Lee Junhyuk noticed that the unread number had disappeared.
He directly called for me.
[Asshole] Noona
[Asshole] We get paid if we join this right?
Only then did I quickly start typing.
[Me] ..probably we'll get monster drops
[Me] but we might earn less than when it's only our party
[Me] actually we probably WILL earn less
Damn fingers.
People said if you stayed quiet, at least you wouldn't make things worse.
Why couldn't I even stay quiet?
I squeezed my eyes shut.
It's over.
Completely over.
I sighed in defeat.
[Asshole] Still better than a part-time job probably
[Asshole] I'll do it
[Han Siwoo] Same. Staying home with nothing to do is getting boring anyway.
[Mom's Son] What the hell is wrong with you guys? You're seriously doing this?
[Asshole] If u don't wanna do it hyung then stay out
[Mom's Son] No... Haa, fuck. I'm doing it too. How can I stay out when all of you are going?
[Asshole] If you're gonna do it then just do it why do u talk so much..;
[Asshole] tsundere as hell lol doesn't even look like one
[Mom's Son] Tsundere my ass. I'm doing it because I'm broke too?!
I stared at the rapidly scrolling messages in a daze.
They're really agreeing?
That easily?
I felt stupid for worrying so much.
Still...
It was a relief.
Maybe because the tension left me, a silly smile appeared on my face.
Raid day arrived.
This time, the gate had opened near a hiking trail.
I could see many ordinary people hiking nearby.
If a Dome phenomenon happened here...
Would the entire mountain become part of the dungeon?
“Hey, are you sure it's around here?”
“Yeah. They said to leave the hiking trail around the middle and take a small side path.”
“Isn't that it?”
I looked where Han Siwoo pointed.
There was something that barely looked like a path.
It was overgrown with grass.
If not for the recent human footprints, I probably wouldn't have noticed it.
We stepped over the bent grass and continued.
Eventually, we reached a small spring.
Was it around here?
While I looked around, someone approached us.
“Are you perhaps the people who applied for the raid?”
He was a plain-looking man who seemed to be in his early thirties.
My brother nodded.
“Yes. Are you participating too?”
“Ah, yes. Thank goodness. I was worried you might not come. A lot of people say they'll participate and then don't show up. I'm Yoon Jeongan.”
“Kim Jihoon. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. This place is pretty remote, so it must've been difficult to find. Everyone, follow me. We need to go farther inside.”
The man led us deeper into the area.
Only when we reached a place where I would never have expected a gate to exist did we finally arrive at the meeting point.
A Center employee and several Hunters were waiting in the distance.
The Center employee welcomed us and immediately began explaining.
“Welcome. We don't have much time, so I'll explain first. According to our measurements, the Transitional Phase will begin in three hours and thirty minutes. Please keep that in mind.”
“I have a question. As far as I know, you can't check time inside a dungeon. How are we supposed to estimate it?”
At the man's question, the Center employee made a short thinking sound.
Then he pulled something from his pocket.
A pocket watch.
“It isn't a finished product yet, but it's a clock that functions inside dungeons.”
The man accepted it with a surprised expression.
Electronic devices stopped working inside dungeons.
His reaction was understandable.
“Thank you. Then shall we go?”
Everyone nodded.
Apparently, that man was the temporary raid leader.
I watched them enter first.
Then I turned toward my party.
“Let's go too.”
The first thing that greeted us was an enormous wall.
“This place...”
“A wall?”
The white walls were covered in vines.
They reminded me of ancient ruins.
There are dungeons like this too.
I had heard that higher-ranked dungeons came in many different environments.
Still, this was unfamiliar.
I stared around with my mouth slightly open.
The walls rose so high that I couldn't see the top.
Even Lee Junhyuk's Wind skill probably couldn't carry someone over them.
Both sides were blocked.
That meant there was only one direction we could move.
A man who had been tapping the wall as though inspecting it turned toward us a little late and smiled.
“It's been a while since I entered a dungeon that wasn't a cave. Pretty unusual, right? Ah, come to think of it, we still haven't introduced ourselves. We'll be teammates for a short while, so how about everyone introduces themselves? I'm Park Seungjun, and my trait is Assassin. These are my teammates.”
“Hello. Yoo Mina. Swordswoman.”
“I'm Choi Jiwoo. Tanker.”
“I'm Jo Kangjun, a mage. Nice to meet you.”
They bowed after briefly introducing themselves.
It suddenly reminded me of the joint raid we had done not long ago.
It hadn't been that long.
Still, it already felt like something from the distant past.
At least these people seem friendly.
Han Siwoo scanned the surroundings.
Then he asked Park Seungjun,
“There aren't any monsters?”
Normally, at least one monster appeared near the dungeon entrance.
Or at the very least, you could sense something nearby.
But now...
Nothing.
“Ah, yes. We checked around here, but strangely, there's nothing. I can't sense anything either, so I think this area should be safe for now.”
“I see.”
“For now, I guess we have no choice but to keep going straight.”
Park Seungjun pulled out the pocket watch the Center employee had given him.
“Three hours and fifteen minutes left.”
It looked more like a countdown timer than a watch.
Come to think of it, I have something similar.
[Remaining Time: 85:20:53:21]
Since you couldn't normally sense time inside a dungeon, the feature was pretty useful.
“About this wall...”
I turned toward Han Siwoo.
Then...
“Aaaaagh!”
A loud scream came from behind us.
Nothing around us seemed to change.
Except for one thing.
“Choi Jiwoo?”
“...What? Where did he go?”
Choi Jiwoo had vanished without leaving any trace.
Everyone looked around in confusion.
Then Lee Junhyuk spoke.
“I saw it. Choi Jiwoo disappeared beyond the wall...”
“What do you mean? He disappeared through the wall?”
Park Seungjun grabbed Lee Junhyuk's shoulder in shock.
Lee Junhyuk shook his head with a troubled expression.
“I don't know either. Choi Jiwoo was leaning against the wall. Then the wall suddenly moved and flipped over with him.”
“Which wall?”
Lee Junhyuk pointed.
Park Seungjun hurried over.
“This wall? Jiwoo! Choi Jiwoo! Can you hear me?!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Cracks appeared across the wall.
Several vines hanging from it fell to the ground.
Still, there was no sound from the other side.
Park Seungjun hit and pushed the wall repeatedly.
Eventually, exhausted, he stopped and breathed heavily.
Then he looked back at Lee Junhyuk with disbelief.
“Are you sure? He really disappeared through this wall?”
“Yes. I'm certain.”
At Lee Junhyuk's firm answer, Park Seungjun lowered his head with a troubled expression.
While I watched them, Han Siwoo muttered beside me.
“Something feels strange.”
“What?”
He looked around once.
“I didn't notice at first, but... doesn't this place feel like a maze? Especially because there's only one path.”
“A maze?”
“Now that you mention it... yeah, it kind of does.”
Park Seungjun gave a bitter smile.
“Either way, if we can't get through the wall, isn't the answer obvious?”
Yoo Mina seemed frustrated by everyone standing around.
She nodded toward the path ahead.
Park Seungjun turned toward us.
“Mina's right. The fastest way to save Jiwoo is probably to clear the dungeon. I'm sorry, but we'll need to move quickly.”
