Chapter 121
ㅡPlease look over here!!
ㅡHere!! Over here!!!
“Wow…. There are seriously so many people….”
“Princess, you don’t need to respond to every single one of those requests.”
“O-okay, got it.”
Chaerin unnie had told me in advance, but when I actually came out of the tent, there were an incredible number of people. She’d said my reaction would be the biggest, and it really was.
“Eve, you’re okay, right? It’s not uncomfortable because there are too many people or anything, is it?”
“Ah, yes! I’m fine! Don’t worry. Hehe.”
“You’re so brave even though you’re young.”
“How can someone be so mature?”
“Th-thank you….”
I got showered with praise by the veteran hunters from Nova who were part of the same raid party. Honestly, I was a little nervous, but what could I do? Even if there had been fewer people watching, I would’ve been nervous anyway.
“Hunters, we’ll begin preparing to enter now-!”
“Yeees!”
“So it begins.”
“Phew. It’s been a while since I’ve put on full armor, so it’s clunky.”
“Exactly. What the heck is this about?”
“Haha... seniors. Still, I’m very relieved you all came.”
Some of the raiders on the same team were veteran hunters who were far more senior than even Chaerin unnie. Of course, because Chaerin unnie is S-rank, she’s the raid leader, and since they’re all older hunters who now seem to be taking it easy, they even give off a local construction-site vibe at first glance.
That just means their skills are that proven. Even half-retired, they’re the kind of hunters Nova would still call in for an urgent matter.
“Please take care of us today. I’m Han Won-seok, the investigation team leader.”
“Ah, yes. Good work.”
There were six people from the Dungeon Management Association, so if we all went in together, that makes eighteen in total, which is more than the raid party’s twelve.
The core of the dungeon structure—or whatever you’d call it—apparently gets a little unstable and starts throwing a fit if too many people go in at once. That’s why the investigation team’s job is so hard, and why they called in the veteran hunters who were finally getting some rest.
“Let’s wrap it up quickly and go rest.”
“Sounds good, sounds good.”
The tower-type dungeon structure called Silence Laboratory is located on the outer ridge of Sobaek Mountain in Chungcheong Province. Near the entrance, there’s a fairly broad cleared plain, and a long stretch of police tape runs from the investigation team’s prep area to the portal.
ㅡClick, click!
‘They’re taking a ton of pictures….’
Ophelia and Minyum were following behind me, along with Dangdang in my arms.
“Then, we’ll enter ㅡ !!”
The investigation of Silence Laboratory began.
* * * * *
ㅡFlash..!
[Location change detected…….]
[You have entered the 1st floor of the tower.]
[Movement to the next floor or exiting is restricted until the floor is cleared.]
[Clear condition: None]
“Wow, even this shows up.”
The status window, which I’d thought had nothing else to do, even popped up a notice saying our location had changed and that we’d entered the 1st floor. Other than that, there wasn’t any other information.
The other veteran hunters didn’t react much, probably because they’d experienced this before.
“Ophelia, can you see this too?”
“Yes, I can.”
If Ophelia, who can see my status window too, can see this as well, then I guess it’s no different from a normal status window.
The first sensation feels similar to when entering an entry-type gate. Maybe this one takes a little longer to move us through, though.
ㅡBeep-beep!
“Nn...? No walk today, it’s dangerous.”
ㅡBeep….
When I opened my eyes, I was in a forest. And near the forest’s edge, too.
“So we start in the forest.”
“Ah, look over there. That’s it.”
Tall tree trunks rising high overhead and leaves that densely cover the sky block out almost all of the sunlight, but scattered rays still slip through between the branches swaying in the wind.
Looking ahead, there’s a section where the trees stop growing and bright light comes in, and it seems everyone thinks it’d be better to come out of the forest and look around instead of walking straight in.
“Let’s head that way first. You need to be able to see the sky to find the portal, too.”
“According to the records left by the previous investigation team, there seems to be a gimmick-type portal every five floors. We’re planning to go up to the 5th floor, so you should keep that in mind.”
“A gimmick-type one, huh? What a pain.”
It’s the kind of structure where you can’t enter the portal unless you solve a puzzle or satisfy a specific condition. In a slightly different case, there’s a gatekeeper-type boss, and that one simply won’t let you into the portal unless you defeat the boss.
With the formation set in advance, Minyum and the other front-line bruisers, tanks, and attackers were up front. Ophelia and Chaerin unnie, along with me, were in the back.
Seven in the front line and five in the rear, for a total of twelve, and six members of the investigation association’s forensic team walked in the center as we moved forward.
“Are there any life-form reactions around us?”
“Uh, I don’t think so. Not so far.”
At Chaerin unnie’s question, a front-line hunter with a wide detection range answered. It can detect almost 1.2 kilometers in all directions, and since there are no signs of life, it should still be safe for now.
Once we came out onto a treeless plain where a lot of light filtered in, we could finally see the portal’s location.
“Ah... so it’s inside the forest.”
Far off in the distance, a bright yellow pillar of light shot up high into the sky. It felt like a beacon marking the portal’s location.
“No choice then, let’s go inside. Can our golem friend fight well in the forest too?”
ㅡClack!
“Hmm, I guess that means it can?”
“Ah, yes! It says it can fight well!”
With Minyum giving a thumbs-up, we turned the formation back toward the forest and slowly began walking in again.
“What... squirrels? Birds? There’s a deer over there too. Look at that, though—it doesn’t have any mana reaction. Just beasts.”
“That’s strange.”
The raiding party walked on, thoroughly searching the area with the help of detection-type skills. If the forensic equipment detected toxic substances or viruses never found before, an alarm would sound, but there was nothing like that either.
In fact, the non-awakened person who had been included in the previous investigation team returned alive without any trouble, which is proof that this place is safe in that regard. Still, we can’t just coast through the investigation this time.
I can really feel the people from the Dungeon Management Association watching me and Chaerin unnie very carefully. Maybe it’s because Dangdang flipped things over once.
The investigation went on without any major problems as we walked for quite a while. The soil composition was normal. The trees were normal. The animals were normal too, for this weird dungeon interior. What came into view as we got closer to where the yellow pillar of light was shining down from the sky was...
“That....”
“An outpost?”
“It does look exactly like that. Kind of like an old building, though.”
An outpost of unknown origin. A classic watchpost, with a wooden roof atop a tall stone building.
“Chaerin unnie, is it normal for it to be this peaceful?”
“Hmm, there are hardly any difficult dungeons starting from the 1st floor. But a dungeon this peaceful is pretty rare, though.”
“I see.”
“Chaerin, though, aren’t you past the age of being called unnie now?”
“...Senior.”
“Sorry. I was just joking.”
The yellow pillar of light pierced straight through the exact center of the watchpost building. Structurally, that means there’s a portal to the next floor inside that building.
ㅡCreeeaaak….
Pushing open the wooden door, whose old rusty hinges made a metallic screech, and stepping inside, I found a cylindrical watchpost building with a spiral staircase running all the way up along its sides. In the center there’s a broad open space and a portal spewing a yellow pillar of light, and nothing else particularly noteworthy.
“No choice. Let’s go in for now. If the work’s easy, that’s better for us.”
“Yes, everyone, let’s go in.”
With the slightly odd ending to the 1st-floor exploration, we moved on to the 2nd floor.
ㅡWooooong….
[Location change detected…….]
[You have entered the 2nd floor of the tower.]
[Movement to the next floor or exiting is restricted until the floor is cleared.]
[Clear condition: Warn of danger]
The 2nd floor, reached after pushing through a full-body queasy sensation that felt a little shorter than before. Clear condition: warn of danger...? That’s pretty vague.
When I opened my eyes, I was inside that same watchpost from before. But the peaceful outside situation had completely changed.
“...There’s a huge number of monsters out there. Everyone be careful.”
“Uh-oh, they’re coming! Front line, get outside fast! Forensic team, stay here, and rear line, take the stairs up and defend from above- !”
“Ah! Yes, senior! Eve, let’s go up!”
“O-okay!”
As expected of veteran hunters with lots of experience, they instantly began a defensive battle using the terrain. I climbed the spiral staircase, which was nearly three stories high, and checked the outside.
About ten meters around the watchpost, where trees had been cut down and the ground below was visible, the grassy area was laid bare, and a swarm of beasts smeared with something dark was charging in.
Beyond that, there were too many trees to count them properly.
“The trees are too tall here, so I can’t get a good count of the monsters! I don’t think there are any flying monsters! But the fog is so thick I can’t see where the next portal is!”
“At least several hundred are coming at us! Those who can fight from the upper floor, fight! Those who can’t, come down and join us!”
“Eve, stay put here for now, okay? I’m going down now!”
“U-uh, huh..?”
“I will protect the princess. For now, please sit safely in the center.”
“Ah, okay!”
ㅡFlash!
Ophelia drew a huge gun, rested it on the jagged stone wall, and began firing mercilessly downward. Unlike before, it wasn’t in sniper-rifle form anymore—it had been switched to a machine gun.
Beside her, veteran rear-line hunters of the mage and archer classes were clinging to the edge of the wall like Ophelia, killing monsters.
“Hey, this is endless. I’m gonna use a skill.”
“Uh, yeah. Hurry and go up.”
One of the front-liners jumped straight from the open center of the spiral staircase to the watchpost roof in a single leap.
“Kid, you okay?”
“I-I’m fine!”
“Good. I’m going to use an old-man skill, so stay quiet.”
“Gasp. Yes, sir.”
And then the old man started chanting something in a long stream. An orange magic circle spun beneath his feet, and an enormous amount of mana burst out in an instant.
“Damn... I see it! A pillar of light at the 8 o’clock direction from the entrance!”
The clairvoyance skill consumed an enormous amount of mental strength and mana. Thanks to the old man spotting the pillar of light in the fog, everyone quickly began rushing toward the 8 o’clock direction from the current watchpost entrance.
“Princess, wait a moment.”
“U-whaaa?!”
Ophelia hoisted me up and jumped down from the three-story tower in an instant. The other rear-line hunters also came down and joined the front line, then moved straight toward the direction of the pillar of light.
“Hey, hey! Front line, carry one forensic team member each on your back!”
“I-I’m an Awakened! I’ll run!”
“But is it okay to go straight ahead without clearing this first?!”
At my question, Chaerin unnie looked troubled.
“The clear condition isn’t specified clearly..! If we stay here, we could get overwhelmed by the monsters swarming us, so for now we’re going to the portal first!”
“I-I see!”
The three non-awakened members of the forensic team were hoisted onto the shoulders of the front-line hunters, and they quickly began retreating.
“Minyum ㅡ !! Are you okay ㅡ ?!!”
Even amid the fierce battle, Minyum nodded at what I said and then immediately resumed fighting. I don’t know how far we ran, but even at the speed of veteran Awakened, it felt like we had been running for a full ten minutes.
Thanks to Chaerin unnie’s plant-growth skill, our defense was rock-solid, and we were able to arrive quickly without a single person getting hurt.
“Phew! Yu Chaerin’s still alive, huh..!”
“T-thank you!”
“Another outpost again? Hurry and let’s go in!”
“How on earth is this a quiet laboratory..!”
And then, the second portal leading up to the upper floors came into view. As expected, it was made of stone bricks, and this time it was a giant square watchtower eight stories tall, even taller than the last one.
The door was also firmly sealed with an iron door, and after Chaerin unnie’s plant vines forcibly tore open the tightly shut iron door, we entered inside.
ㅡKkikigigik...!
Thunk ㅡ !!
“Hey, the portal’s open - !?”
“Looks like it’s cleared! Hurry and go in!”
“Let’s go in! Forensic team first!”
“Ah, yes!”
The forensic team, carrying their equipment in bundles, went into the portal, and the front-line hunters who had been holding back the swarming monsters until the very end entered afterward.
“What a crazy dungeon..!”
ㅡWoooooooong….
The next floor, reached after passing through a ripple that felt unbelievably, unbelievably long.
[Location change detected…….]
[You have left the battlefield without meeting the condition.]
[You have entered the 10th floor of the tower.]
[Movement to the next floor or exiting is restricted until the floor is cleared.]
[Clear condition: Warn of danger]
“W-what is this..?”
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me right now..?”
A notice that said we had entered the 10th floor instead of the 3rd floor we should have come out on.
“...Hurry and go up.”
“Ah, yes!”
Under the veteran hunters’ instructions, we headed up the towering watchtower.
“O-Ophelia..?”
“Princess. Hold on to me.”
ㅡBeep-beep!! Beep!!
“D-Dangdang..! We have to go up first..!”
I tightly held onto Dangdang, who kept trying to wriggle out of my arms, and climbed hundreds of spiral stairs to the rooftop in Ophelia’s arms.
And what I saw was...
“Ah….”