[Ant Cave Area #84 Fortified Orc’s Colony]
Jung Si-woo tilted his head in confusion as he read the message that flashed before his eyes.
“Why isn’t there a time limit?”
Soo Ah-rin watched in silence, her head scrambling to come up with an explanation for the situation. However, they had no time to worry about the lack of time limit. They were more concerned for the man they just saved a while ago. Still in Si-woo’s arms, the young man started regaining consciousness and began murmuring something.
“This, this is…”
His voice trailed off.
“I’ll explain briefly. You were falling off the sky and almost died, but we managed to get to you before you crashed.”
However, the young man they saved didn’t understand any of what Si-woo said. All of his attention was focused on the message reflected on his retina.
“This…unbelievable… I’m grateful for not being dead, but…no, shit!”
His words were incomprehensible.
“What are you talking about?”
Si-woo’s voice turned a bit serious and concerned.
“Perhaps he got a separate notification than us.”
Soo Ah-rin’s guess was correct. The young man was quickly going through the notification that briefly and clearly explained what happened to him.
“Thank you for saving me.”
The young man continued after finally collecting his thoughts. He bowed his head deeply to Jung Si-woo as an expression of gratitude, and Jung Si-woo nodded back in response.
“I have nothing to offer as a reward, but I am very grateful to you for risking your life to save me.”
“No problem. We’re just glad we managed to get to you in time.”
Soo Ah-rin answered before hiding back behind Jung Si-woo. The man looked at them with a light smile.
“I finally figured out the situation. This is a quest dungeon.”
The young man offered an explanation.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a hidden quest. There are quests that aren’t listed but exist. Even an entire dungeon could be included in the quest. Think about it. It would be impossible for me to change to a supporter without dying or to become an underground player for you who used to be an ordinary person, unless it was the reward of the quest, right?”
Soo Ah-rin’s explanation convinced Jung Si-woo. The young man he had saved earlier appeared to be on a similar quest as Soo Ah-rin. Of course, Jung Si-woo didn’t receive any notification about a special quest since he was an underground player. But since he entered the dungeon with this man, there would surely be a reward once he completed the dungeon.
“We have a lot of work to do.”
Jung Si-woo turned his attention to the stranger he saved.
“But first, you need to tell us your name.”
“Yes, my name is Yong Se-ha.”
Yong Se-ha. Jung Si-woo and Soo Ah-rin made sure to remember that name.
“We can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to clear this dungeon safely. The first thing we need to do is to find out just what kind of monsters we will face here, and based on that, we need to decide whether to fight or flee.”
Jung Si-woo paused, giving the others enough time to rationalize what he just said.
“In the event where we need to run away, I hope you won’t have any hard feelings about that.”
Si-woo chimed in, addressing Yong Se-ha.
“It’s fine with me; I’m prepared for any consequence.”
Even if Jung Si-woo and Soo Ah-rin were to escape the dungeon without clearing it, Yong Se-ha wouldn’t die immediately. At worst, he would be condemned to the fate of wandering within the dungeon’s entrance until he starved. But despite the horrible end, he might face, Yong Se-ha’s reaction was quite calm. There weren’t many people who could willingly accept their death simply because they had retired as players. Yong Se-ha and Soo Ah-rin were of a minority that weren’t afraid to face death.
“Don’t say something so morbid like that.”
Soo Ah-rin interrupted his thoughts, trying to sound optimistic.
“We haven’t even gone in yet.”
Jung Si-woo fixed his gaze on the dungeon’s pitch-black darkness, trying to penetrate the veil of shadows to see what kind of monsters lurked within.
“This…”
Jung Si-woo didn’t need to enter the dungeon to know just how powerful the monsters he was about to face were. A chilling sensation swept over him, alerting him of the danger that waited for them inside the dungeon. Jung Si-woo pulled out his hammer from his inventory in response to that chilling presence, his body tense. Soo Ah-rin, who had never seen Jung Si-woo react like this before, turned to Yong Se-ha.
“Where did you retire, and against whom?”
“I retired in the 26th stage, the Socheon Battlefield dungeon. Against an elite monster, the armored orc commander to exact.”
Soo Ah-rin was taken aback by Yong Se-ha’s confession. Socheon Battlefield was a dungeon she had also experienced. For the past ten years, several dungeons had been renowned for their extreme difficulty. Among them was the 32nd-level dungeon Ah-rin retired from, but of all the dungeons before that, the 26th-level dungeon was said to be the toughest.
“Why did you go there? There are a lot of other dungeons in Korea besides Socheon Battlefield.”
“The clear rewards for the Socheon Battleground were too tempting, and our guild was in a hurry. I was training my juniors to fill the void left by Soo Ah-rin.”
“Well…”
Ah-rin’s voice trailed off. She didn’t know how to respond to what Yong Se-ha just said. Stage 26 dungeon, Socheon Battlefield, was a hellish place where players fought for supremacy over a small domain. It was notorious for having countless elite monsters. Many had fallen trying to break through the dungeon to defeat its boss — the most recent of these victims being Yong Se-ha.
Among the plethora of creatures that call that wretched place its home was an elite monster more feared than the actual boss Metal Snake. It was an armored orc commander. The armored orc was reinforced by the power of mechanical and magical engineering, and the commander was a strong monster who had several decades of experience being on the battlefield. Together, they were feared for their combat skills and power, which they could wield with maximum efficiency.
When faced with the boss monster, Metal Snake, a player only needed to understand its few attack patterns to evade its tremendous blows. But the armored orc commander was a different story. Its combat skills weren’t something you could deal with using ordinary attack formations and strategy. The armored orc commander was notorious for his brutality on the battlefield. Many players confident enough to face him head-on lost their lives as he stabbed them in the neck with his spear. Even the other armored orcs under his command were known to overwhelm players with their power and superior combat skills.
“The unit I belonged to managed to overcome that dungeon because we were able to avoid the armored orcs.”
“We did it too. But, I wasn’t as lucky as the others. I’m sorry for having to show my pathetic face to my senior.”
Jung Si-woo wondered just how strong Yong Se-ha’s guild was. Despite her miniaturized size, whenever Soo Ah-rin would frown even just a little, Yong Se-ha would flinch and bow his head. It looked a bit ridiculous seeing this automatic response coming from him. Soo Ah-rin stepped back.
“I’m sorry, Yong Se-ha, but you must go back. The odds aren’t in our favor this time.”
The mood turned more serious as Ah-rin continued.
“Armored orcs are too strong. Some of them even exceed level 150 despite just being regular soldiers. And the Armored Orc Commander that leads them is no less than level 180.”
Jung Si-woo had dealt with many strong monsters in the past. The Giant Black Wolf that he had bested in the test dungeon was level 100, and the centipede boss he fought in the centipede soldier’s den was just as strong. The demon he fought recently could possibly be around level 120. At the back of his mind, Jung Si-woo had been calculating his odds of winning.
“The power of these orcs are on a different level. They could probably hold their own against the monsters from other dungeons.”
Soo Ah-rin warned.
“I think I can hold my own against them too.”
Jung Si-woo declared.
“Ah…”
Soo Ah-rin was at a loss for words. Meanwhile, Jung Si-woo was already gearing up for battle, his posture perfect.
“The armored orc generals are only level 150, right? They’re only 30 levels higher than the demon I just handled. Plus, if they’re armored, there’s a chance they’re machine-based. If that’s the case, perhaps my new fire attribute can handle them.”
“You have a point.”
Soo Ah-rin continued discussing other elements they needed to factor in for the battle ahead. She had already accepted the fact that this was the best she could do since there was no convincing Jung Si-woo to back out now. Yong Se-ha turned his attention at Jung Si-woo.
“Excuse me, but your level is…”
“Twenty-six.”
The reply stunned Yong Se-he. It wasn’t the answer he was expecting from someone who was confident he could take on the armored orcs.
“This is foolish. Our enemies are tougher than any we have faced before.”
Ah-rin said, considering retreat once more.
“There’s no way we can do this. Give me the Hearthstone.”
Of course, Soo Ah-rin wasn’t trying to leave by herself. Although the Hearthstone was a consumable item, it could safely return everyone in the party when used.
“Woah, a Hearthstone,”
Yong Se-ha was surprised at seeing the Hearthstone.
“You must have gotten a clear rank B in a previous dungeon to get such a rare item.”
Getting a clear rank D or above in the Sky Castle dungeon wasn’t easy, especially if every player’s priority was their own safety. Jung Si-woo took out the Hearthstone and handed it to Soo Ah-rin.
“If ever I get stuck in a dangerous situation, use the Hearthstone to bring us all to safety.”
“Leave it to me. After all, I doubt you’ll be able to judge clearly when to bounce and when to stay.”
Ah-rin teased, eliciting a pout from Jung Si-woo. Despite the obvious threat to his safety, a part of Jung Si-woo was delighted at the idea of facing an enemy stronger than the centurion goblin and the demon who underwent a third awakening. Even the giant black wolf and boss centipede, who were large enough to terrorize most men, didn’t thrill him as much as this.
Jung Si-woo craved a worthwhile battle, but he also wanted to keep his life. The Hearthstone was an important backup plan, should his skills fail him this time.
“Your risk criteria are strange.”
Soo Ah-rin sighed. Jung Si-woo entered the dungeon and slowly advanced with Soo Ah-rin. Yong Se-ha, having lost all his powers, was left at the entrance. The armored orc in the first room immediately detected his presence, canceling all plans of using a sneak attack to catch the monster by surprise.
[Big, human.]
The armored orc gibbered as Jung Si-woo took another step toward the room.
[A human with a sharp sense and trained in martial arts. It’s been a long time since I’ve faced a challenger of your caliber. But what I don’t understand is why are you here if you know the difference between our power?]
Mana coursed through Si-woo’s arms and into his hammer. Unlike others who faced difficulty keeping control of their mana, he had nearly perfect control with his now. He could infuse his weapons with mana without risking any backlash like a mana explosion.
“Since I haven’t met a person stronger than me in my life, I was very curious about how strong you would be.”
[Kya, Kyakyyakyak!]
The orc smiled cheerfully and lifted his battle-ax. He was just as excited as Si-woo. The armored orc didn’t deal with mana. In exchange for their machine strengthened physical power, armored orcs had to give up their magical powers. Jung Si-woo only needed to take one more step before he was officially inside the room. The moment he took that step was the signal for the battle to begin.
Soo Ah-rin could only sigh as she watched the scene from behind Jung Si-woo. A part of her feared that her player mightn’t have enough skill to take on his opponent safely. Si-woo tilted his head and felt the mana in his body activate in preparation for this battle. Considering that he was still just level 26, it was expected that he wouldn’t have much mana. But the bad thing was that Si-woo had very low mana growth even for his level, something that Jung Si-woo didn’t know himself.
Soo Ah-rin considered that perhaps it was because of his superhuman nature. His mana talent was lackluster as a tradeoff for his excellence in other fields. But despite his low mana, Soo Ah-rin had always been amazed at what he could do with the little mana he possessed.
“Let’s do this!”
[Come, human!]
Jung Si-woo finally charged into the room. The armored orc raised his ax against Si-woo. The power from his mechanical arms made the swing more powerful, turning his attack into a guillotine aimed at Jung Si-woo’s neck. Luckily, Jung Si-woo was quick enough to parry the attack. A loud metallic sound echoed in the room as ax and hammer collided.
The force of the impact was strong enough to make Jung Si-woo stagger backward. Jung Si-woo shifted his weight and resumed his battle stance without losing balance. His face was filled with fighting spirit.
“Khaahahahahahahah!”
[Khahahahaha! Hahahahahaha!]
They both laughed in excitement. This was a battle they had both been waiting for.
