When he came to his senses after the crash’s impact, Jung Si-woo realized that he had reached a cave entrance similar to that of the test dungeon. Suddenly an interface notification window popped up in front of his eyes.
[The Ant Cave Area #184 Centipede’s Lair]
[Time limit – 5:00:00]
Jung Si-woo waved his hand through the alert window before turning to Soo Ah-rin.
“Are there any time limits in the original dungeon?”
“As far as I know, no. But the information in Sky Castle doesn’t 100% fit in the Ant Cave. If there are any particularly concerning features…”
What happens if you don’t clear the dungeon within the time limit? Would the dungeon collapse as it was? Or was it similar to when you retired from the Sky Castle, you would lose all of your mana? Either way, it was unlikely that Jung Si-woo would die, but there was nothing wrong with being careful.
[Time Limit – 4:59:48]
“So, hurry up a little bit, Si-woo. Of course, it doesn’t seem like you’re in any danger.”
“Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you don’t even have to lift a finger.”
Jung Si-woo confidently brandished the sledgehammer from his inventory and swung it through the air, feeling as if he could even penetrate the sky. Normally, in movies and cartoons, the people who show off like this were the first ones to die, but if Jung Si-woo were determined to break through the sky, he would do so. Soo Ah-rin, who had been overwhelmed enough by his progress for those two weeks, was sure of it.
“But you still have to be careful, Si-woo. I don’t think there will be a high-level monster in the first dungeon, but…”
“The dungeon we need to explore right now is not the first-level dungeon, but a completely different dungeon, right?”
“If it’s a centipede, then they must have poison. I’m saying that you, who isn’t poison-resistant, shouldn’t be so calm about this.”
“Yeah, it’s just a centipede.”
“Can you still say that if you meet a ten-meter long centipede?”
“Uh, well. That’s big…?”
“Haa…”
Soo Ah-rin was reborn as a supporter and regained some of the skills she originally had, but the problem was that her mana wasn’t enough to use them several times. They had no healing potion or armor, so it was a situation where she had to heal all of his wounds with skills. To make it worse, she needed to use a poison cure skill? At best, she could only do it twice. In the worst case, the centipede’s poison would be so strong that it might be impossible to cure.
“It won’t make any difference even if you do a detailed calculation like that. Let’s go ahead.”
“I knew you would say that.”
Didn’t she remember the name of his skill, ‘Courage of the Ignorant’? There was no other skill that matched Jung Si-woo like the name of that skill! Soo Ah-rin pouted her lips and only muttered it inside her head.
“Go, just go.”
“If possible, don’t leave my pocket. Though I can’t sense the monster yet…”
“Your gut’s radar is fascinating.”
This dungeon wasn’t as dark. Jung Si-woo walked toward the entrance of the dungeon while feeling a little nervous. His five senses clearly conveyed to him that there was no enemy in the room.
[Hiik…ugh….]
But there was a ghost.
“Aaaaah!”
Soo Ah-rin screamed at the ghost and quickly hid inside Jung Si-woo’s pocket.
[Is-is it a person…?!]
“Oh! Ahhhh!”
It looked like a ghost was floating in the middle of the room. There was no color left on his skin, and his body was white and translucent enough to make people think it was a wandering soul.
“Yeah, it’s a ghost. Now, be quiet.”
“I hate undead monsters!”
“There was such a problem…?!”
Jung Si-woo wanted to have a deep discussion about religion and soul, but when he thought about it again, if players and dungeons existed, then it wasn’t weird for supernatural beings to exist, so he was convinced that it was a real ghost.
[Really…it is a person…!]
Meanwhile, the ghost was very happy to see them.
“I’m sorry, but can you speak a little faster?”
[Been…too long since…I opened my mouth!]
Soo Ah-rin still trembled, hiding in Jung Si-woo’s pocket, but he tilted his head in confusion.
“Are you a real ghost?”
[For sure…I retired, and yet here I am…!]
“Retired. So, you were also a Player.”
Jung Si-woo’s eyes were bright. Retired Players appeared as ghosts in the dungeon, so it was getting more and more fun.
“A-a retired Player…?”
After hearing that, Soo Ah-rin’s curiosity won over her fears, and she poked her head out of his pocket to look at the ghost. The ghost shouted after seeing Soo Ah-rin.
[Small!]
“I know!”
Jung Si-woo stared blankly at the sight of Soo Ah-rin having a staring contest with the ghost and raised his hammer.
“Let’s hit it first.”
“Si-woo?!”
“I wonder if he’s a monster that comes out of the dungeon.”
[Wait, if you hit me, I’ll die! Really die! Seriously die!]
“You’re already dead.”
[I’m already dead, but I’ll die more violently and aggressively!]
The man who was slow to talk surprisingly became a fast talker when he saw the hammer lifted up. Jung Si-woo, who was worried about losing money as it was, smacked his lips and pointed the hammer at him.
“Are you not our enemy?”
[I am not an enemy! Ever since I opened my eyes in this dungeon, I’ve been waiting for someone to come here! Those who will take revenge on my behalf, those who will perform my quest!]
“Quest…?”
As soon as Jung Si-woo replied, a new alert popped up in front of his eyes.
[Quest Acquired]
[Revenge in the Centipede’s Lair]
[A retired player, whose name and spirit has long since been forgotten, asks that you clear out all centipedes within the dungeon. Preferably, viciously and cruelly.]
[Quest Condition – Target Overkill of Centipedes: 0/150]
[Accept the quest? If rejected, a penalty will be applied.]
Quest. Although the meaning had changed a little from the dictionary definition, it was commonly used to refer to a ‘request’ in games and comics. In other words, it could be said that the ghost who had been killed here was entrusting his request to Jung Si-woo.
“Yes. Quests can be assigned to a player by another player. That is, as long as you can clearly present the rewards of the quest.”
“What kind of rewards?”
“It’s very diverse. Ordinary artifacts, potions, and other real-world treasures such as privileges may be required…on the rarest occasion, they could even put up their life or mana as a reward.”
Soo Ah-rin was already convinced that the reward for this quest would be in that direction. The reason was simple: the ghost already lost his house and money, so if there were anything left over, it wouldn’t be much. Jung Si-woo nodded and asked the ghost again.
“Is this quest a part of completing the dungeon?”
[I am not sure. But no matter what, I want to see those centipede bastards suffer! Just as much as I suffered, no, even more than that!]
The eyes of the spirit spitting out those words were colored bright red and felt eerie. If he learned anything from manhwa, usually, characters like this were fine in the beginning but always became a problem by the end…
“Hmm.”
Should I kill him now? Jung Si-woo held the hammer’s handle firmly while considering it, but it was a pity to miss his first quest.
“What do you think, Ah-rin?”
Eventually, the baton was passed over to Soo Ah-rin. Soo Ah-rin nodded, feeling a little proud to see him relying on her as well.
“I think it’s good to do quests. We have to clear this dungeon anyway. I’m a little conflicted over the word overkill, though…”
“Isn’t it just that you have to beat the shit out of the centipedes?”
“More precisely, it’s a term that refers to killing them with much more damage than the enemy’s overall health. It increases the odds of a monster bead coming out, but it’s a bit tricky.”
Rather than just killing an enemy, it took twice as much power or concentration to properly exhaust the enemy’s health and inflict serious damage all at once. The loot acquisition method was like that too. Just as he thought, the dungeon really was a place made to be a battle of strength!
“There might be a penalty if we fail the quest. However, even if you reject the quest, you will be penalized, so there is no difference. I think it’s better to accept the quest first, face the centipede and then decide whether to give up or continue.”
“Good. Then I will take the quest.”
When Jung Si-woo nodded and expressed his intention to accept it, the quest’s notification window disappeared, and a new notification window appeared.
[Quest Accepted. If failed, a penalty will be applied.]
[Thank you!]
The spirit was delighted to hear him accept the quest, but the eyes of Jung Si-woo, who looked at him, were extremely cold. It was a penalty if you rejected a quest and another penalty if you failed; the quest was more or less forced onto him.
“Now then, let’s go catch some guys called centipedes.”
[They have poison in their teeth, so be careful. I will assist you!]
“You’re so kind.”
“Assisting Si-woo is my job, though…”
However, Jung Si-woo didn’t express his feelings. He just raised the caution level switch in his mind. So, a strange temporary party of Players, supporters, and ghosts was formed.
[They always appear when you least expect it. That’s how I was bitten by them the first time.]
“Hmm.”
The ghost went along with the party while chattering non-stop. Unlike when they first met, it seemed like he had a motor in his mouth now. This dungeon became a Centipede’s Lair, as it seemed that he died by a centipede monster in the Sky Castle. Jung Si-woo doesn’t know how ugly a centipede monster looked, but it wasn’t helpful information at all in their current situation. But in case there was something important, Jung Si-woo listened to him carefully.
“Have you ever explored this dungeon?”
[I never did. I was killing time in that room, waiting for humans who will accept my quest to appear. In fact, I couldn’t move. But how did you get in here? Looking at your tail, I don’t think you’re an ordinary Player…]
“Hm.”
The ghost who said the centipedes were dangerous stuck with them, chattering endlessly like they were out for a picnic. Jung Si-woo quietly stopped in his place and muttered.
“Pay attention.”
[Yes?]
Jung Si-woo quickly turned around, holding his hammer firmly. Then they saw a monster dropping from the ceiling towards him. It was a giant centipede over 2 meters long, with many legs and a long torso with a pair of swaying antennae.
[Kiiiii!]
“Hup!”
Jung Si-woo turned around after warning the ghost while the red-tinted centipede was aiming for his neck. However, at the moment when it seemed like it had achieved its goal, Jung Si-woo’s hammer extended neatly and bashed its head off!
[Kkwak!]
The centipede’s body flew away and crashed against the wall of the dungeon! Was the impact recognized as looting? Its body disappeared, and a $100 bill with a red monster bead appeared on the ground. The ghost’s jaw dropped.
[What happened just now…?]
Jung Si-woo walked quietly, collecting the money and beads before checking the quest window. The achievement goal was changed to [1/150], so the blow was clearly counted as overkill. Jung Si-woo smiled, satisfied, and swung his sledgehammer in the air.
“Wow, it really is different when we have weapons! If only monsters like that appear, then I don’t even need to use mana.”
[…]
“…”
Achieving overkill just by pure strength, Jung Si-woo laughed without grasping what he had done. Both the ghost and Soo Ah-rin, who saw him, went silent.
Of course, his brutality had only begun.
