Episode 44.
If Jung Si-woo left his resting place now, he would automatically teleport to Seoraksan Mountain. By now, there would be soldiers, players, and all kinds of people there. Only a fool would carelessly head in that direction.
Since he planned to enter a dungeon, he chose to use the bead to exit from there directly.
[Ant Cave Area #127: Serien Cemetery]
[Clear time limit – 12:00:00]
“Is this an undead dungeon?”
“It’s an undead dungeon.”
“An undead dungeon!”
Yong Se-ha nodded sternly, while Soo Ah-rin contemplated, then plunged into Jung Si-woo’s arms. She looked like she was about to cry.
“I hate the undead. I hate them so much.”
“I know, you have said that before.”
“You.. you remember…?”
“Sunbaenim, that doesn’t seem like the part you should be moved by.”
Now, Jung Si-woo could roughly guess the meaning of the area’s numbering. This was merely the setting of the levels. The smaller the number, the stronger the monster, and the larger the number, the weaker the monster.
It was clear that the highest-numbered dungeon he had entered so far was the Slime Sewage Treatment Plant, while the smallest-numbered dungeon was the colony of fortified orcs.
“They are much weaker than armored orcs.”
Jung Si-woo twitched his tongue. He was able to engage in a thrilling battle against the armored orcs, but now he was far stronger than before. Even if the Elite Armored Orc or the Armored Orc Commander appeared, he had the confidence to take them on easily. His growth was fast enough for other players to grieve, but fortunately, only Soo Ah-rin and Yong Se-ha knew it.
“Oppa, this is not the time to be at ease. Undead dungeons are always accompanied with a higher level of difficulty than other dungeons in its class!”
“The reinforced orc colony is a level with a higher difficulty than other dungeons of its class.”
“That may be true, but in essence, they’re different!”
Soo Ah-rin purposefully glared at the gray dungeon wall that made her feel more depressed, as she shot out her rapid-fire explanations.
“If you’ve ever seen a zombie movie, you’ll know how tough they are. They don’t die easily. Besides, all of them, whether small or big, are poisonous. Even if you don’t know where they died, every time one appears, a bunch follows! And the smell is so bad during the fight; it smells similar to when you peel an onion….. When I look at its soulless, rotten eyes that have concaved inside its eye socket, I really… Even the name of this dungeon is a cemetery, isn’t it? It tells a lot about the number of the undead!” Soo Ah-rin complained on and on about the undead in rap-like phrases, perhaps from accumulating a lot of bad memories related to them during this time. Jung Si-woo smiled and spoke to Yong Se-ha.
“Se-ha, please explain it for me.”
“Yes, Hyeong-nim!”
“What!?”
Soo Ah-rin had been demoted one level. In contrast, Yong Se-ha, who has promoted to another level, started to explain in a cheerful manner.
“With your poison tolerance, you will not be infected by the zombies’ poison. However, considering the difficulty of this dungeon, it is very likely that not only zombies but also higher-level undead would appear. Apart from the skeletons, which are harder and faster than the zombies, there are also ghouls, the abandoned bodies, and terrible ghosts… You have to be careful around these guys. They possess not only poison but technology.”
“Hmmm.”
“Hyeong-nim basically knows how to effectively slaughter all living things, but the undead are not living creatures. Soo Ah-rin sunbaenim’s words are not wrong. The moment you are sure to have killed it, their body would twist strangely and a hook attack will come in. And I don’t need to even speak another word about ghosts without actual bodies.”
“Okay, I’ll be careful.”
If an attack came the moment he thought it had died, all he had to do was serve it with the strongest attack possible. The attack would be so strong that anybody would say, ‘Ah, at one point in time there used to be a living thing here!’ Jung Si-Woo had made an ignorant determination. Fortunately, there was nothing about one being unable to inflict damage onto the ghost monsters with ordinary attacks, like one commonly sees in fantasy novels.
Anyone who had awakened mana was a player, and a body that had awakened mana could touch any number of spirit bodies. Also, since all the artifacts originated from mana, they could, of course, hit the spirits.
“If you add divine power here, you can create a stronger attack. Soo Ah-rin sunbaenim at one point had the highest level of priest. Of course, her powers are not comparable to that of her previously. But since then she has recovered a lot of power, so there’s no way you’ll be outmatched with the undead, Hyeong-nim.
“Certainly Ah-rin deals with divine power. Speaking of which, if you deal with divine power, do you believe in God, too?”
“Yeah, do you?”
She tilted her head at that part, as if she were saying what was the point of asking her. As Jung Si-woo tried to pry, Soo Ah-rin spoke with an unsure voice.
“At first, I really didn’t think much of it. Why does it matter what kind of god the priest believes in the game? What matters is how strong the divine power is.”
“That is true.”
“So when I was young, I didn’t even think about it at all. I didn’t think about the power that I yield, the power that I use to reject those that are evil and inspire humans. It wasn’t that long ago that I was able to barely detect that pulse of information.
“So where does that pulse lead? Is it the god those monsters believe in? Or is it a religion the people of Earth believe in?”
“I do not know.”
The reason Jung Si-woo didn’t punch her right away was simply because Soo Ah-rin was too small to handle his fist.
“I don’t think there is only one who gives me divine power. Maybe it doesn’t even exist. The widely spread image of God… … Saying this might be too vague, but I think that Mana processes through me because God is going along with humans who believe it to be and wish it to be.
“Are you saying that the divine power is processed because of humans?”
“It may not be. It may be the power of transcendental beings beyond my perception. That’s why I said I didn’t know.”
In the end, no conclusion was reached. However, Soo Ah-rin seemed to have been seriously contemplating this issue. Jung Si-Woo looking out stupidly while shaking his head, shifted and moved his feet.
[Ah… How long has this been? I’m so glad that a living person came to visit.]
There was a ghost in the first room. Because it had been a while since Jung Si-woo saw a ghost, and he almost attacked it.
“Undead, undead. It must be the undead.” Soo Ah-rin muttered. It was only natural that she was anxious because it was a ghost in an undead dungeon. Jung Si-woo smiled bitterly and approached the ghost. He knew Soo Ah-rin was worried, but the ghost’s eyes were crystal clear.
“A detailed explanation is not needed. Give me the quest.”
[You came to save my soul. Even if our objectives are in different places, I will be saved in your heart.]
Indeed, the ghost was dressed as a priest. She looked like a woman in her late twenties, though no one could know how long she had been trapped in a dungeon, she seemed extremely calm and rational.
To add on, she was a priest in appearance only. She was unlike Soo Ah-rin, an ordinary girl in her twenties, speaking so archaically, as though she were an appointed official in medieval Europe.
[Quest, indeed, a word deeply engraved in my heart… Yes, I have to grant you a quest. However, you might become very confused.]
“I’ll be confused?”
The ghost just laughed at Jung Si-woo’s question. In the moment, a reminder appeared in front of him.
[Dungeon quest occurrence]
[The Priestess’ Hope]
[A priestess who lost all her colleagues after failing a quest in the dungeon. She wants to complete an unfinished quest from her lifetime. Help her uncover the identity of the banshee sealed in the cemetery.]
[Quest Conditions – Banshee Liberation 0/1]
[Would you like to accept the quest? If you refuse the quest, you will be penalized.]
“What’s the difference between this and clearing a boss?”
Jung Si-woo asked Yong Se-ha. Yong Se-ha friendly answered.
“Dungeons are not only about cleaning them linearly. Within dungeons there are many hidden elements, it is possible to kill monsters, prevent their birth, and or even create specific monsters by satisfying certain conditions.”
“In other words, the banshee this ghost is talking about is not a boss monster, but a monster that can be accessed when certain conditions are met?”
“That’s right.”
The moment he heard it, all Jung Si-woo could think was “what a waste”. If there were such a thing among the dungeons that he had gone through so far, he would have been able to try so many things without pushing quickly to just finish the dungeon! There could have been a better reward!
“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like every dungeon has such conditions, Oppa. Not to mention it’s difficult to get quests while the dungeon is still in progress. It is more beneficial to just clear the dungeon rather than try different things, especially when one has your ability to clear at such a fast pace.”
“That’s also true. In fact, you don’t even have to search for hidden elements of the dungeon if you’re like Hyeong-nim.”
Jung Si-woo’s existence was a scam. What more was there to add? Ignoring the words of the two supporters whom didn’t sound like supporters, he talked facing the ghost.
“Is there any guarantee that the Sky Castle dungeon and the Ant Cave dungeon are identical?”
[They are identical. The mana that makes up the dungeon and the structure of the dungeon is exactly the same. Moreover… I, who only has my soul left, has this quest. There is no more certain guarantee than this, right?]
Jung Si-woo made eye contact with his two supporters. The two thought there was no need to look for the hidden elements, but were not going to refuse if it was presented in front of them.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
[Thank you!]
[You accepted the quest. If you fail the quest, you will be penalized.]
The ghost’s smile was bright like the sun peeking from the clouds. It was a smile that made one happy for no reason.
“Okay then, let’s go inside the dungeon. Just to make sure, Ah-rin you…”
“I don’t know any dungeon like this. It’s probably not a dungeon in Korea.”
“I’m not sure as well. I know all the dungeons in Korea, but it’s the Serien Cemetery… The ghost seemed to have fallen from a distance far away.”
The grounds for their speculation were poor, but at least they had something. Although she was translucent, her features were obviously that of a Westerner. The language she spoke was also English.
“By the way, Oppa, you speak English really well. It’s almost annoyingly good…”
“I thoroughly prepared and reviewed centered around EBS.”
Soo Ah-rin tried to refute him straight away, but shut her mouth as the corridor came to an end and the first room appeared. Yong Se-ha and Jung Si-woo also fell silent.
“What the hell…”
[Welcome.]
The ghost smiled bitterly as she stretched out her hand. The first room…. was a medieval European city that was too spacious to be called a room.
[This is Serien’s cemetery.]
