Chapter 34
"Huh?"
Yuben was momentarily dumbfounded.
What am I looking at right now?
"……."
Leaving the traps and minions behind.
And the Dungeon Master himself is coming to welcome the intruders at the entrance?
The man in the white gown walked over at an unhurried pace.
He was even armed with nothing but a single knife. Had he lost his damn mind?
'What the hell is this bastard doing?'
Yuben signaled the soldier and drew his weapon.
He didn't know what the guy was thinking, but this was an opportunity.
If he killed the Dungeon Master, Dreamland would become his.
The target was right in front of him, with no need for any special effort.
If he was the Dungeon Master of a newborn dungeon, he should be easy enough to subdue.
That was what Yuben thought.
'This is going to make things a lot easier… huh?'
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The battle didn't go as expected.
Half right, half wrong.
The newborn dungeon's Dungeon Master looked like someone unfamiliar with fighting, but
his physical stats were simply superior to Yuben's and the soldier's.
Even though he was living a debauched life now,
Yuben had actual combat experience, and he'd also received elite training.
He knew how to fight opponents who were faster and stronger than himself.
"What the hell, you insolent bastard."
He could somehow respond to the Dungeon Master's strikes,
and if the other side landed a clean hit, he made sure to pay the price in kind,
"Khk…!!"
But ordinary soldiers were different.
He had his neck pierced by the Dungeon Master's knife and collapsed on the spot, spraying blood everywhere.
Hadn't this been called a newborn dungeon?
Wasn't it only half a year old?
Only questions remained in his head.
What the hell kind of situation was this?
Yuben's body wasn't all that good either.
He'd been stabbed deep in the leg during the fight.
He met the blood-soaked Dungeon Master's gaze.
It was obvious both of them were injured, damn it.
"……."
Yuben assessed the situation.
"H-haa… sis, I'm scared…."
"It's okay. It's okay. We'll definitely be okay…."
The little slave brats were useless in a fight.
Besides, he had only brought along ones that were easy to control, skill or no skill.
In other words,
they were weaklings he could easily kill if any of them got out of line.
They were so frightened they could barely even keep themselves upright.
They wouldn't be any help.
'When I brought the knights, they didn't even leave a shadow…. '
It wasn't that he'd forgotten the Dungeon Master's existence.
He just thought that if they met, he could subdue him easily enough.
It wasn't an arrogant thought at all.
You could tell that just from the records in history books.
Among those who had conquered newborn dungeons, there had even been ordinary farmers. So wasn't it natural to think a six-month-old Dungeon Master would be weak?
If the traps were that vicious,
he at least thought the Dungeon Master himself would be someone he could handle easily,
'This dungeon is seriously fucking awful. Now I want it even more.'
Yuben burned with competitive spirit as he pulled out a healing potion.
It wasn't an unbeatable opponent.
The Dungeon Master's physical abilities were superior, but physicality wasn't everything in a fight.
If anything, the Dungeon Master had suffered the greater injuries while fighting at a disadvantage in a two-on-one.
The moment he decided to recover his body and then slit the bastard's throat,
the Dungeon Master also pulled out a healing potion, just like Yuben.
Judging by the insignia on the glass bottle, it seemed a Branded Elf had been used.
Could it be that the Branded Elves had fallen because of Dreamland?
'Unbelievable.'
Healing potions were the work of mages.
They dramatically accelerated the body's regeneration,
but unlike the black magic of the Dark School, they didn't regenerate wounds all at once.
The healing potion the Dungeon Master had was probably a cut above.
His body was regenerating at a rapid pace.
And since even his clothes were regenerating, that regeneration might have been his innate ability.
'If I expect one thing, he breaks it. If I expect another, he breaks that too. Fuck.'
He exchanged blows with the Dungeon Master once more.
When Yuben's sword pierced the Dungeon Master's thigh,
the Dungeon Master's dagger pierced Yuben's shoulder blade.
'Does he not feel pain?'
He'd never seen a bastard fight so brutally before.
That guy wasn't even afraid of death.
The Dungeon Master's expression was utterly simple.
It revealed no emotion other than killing intent directed at him.
Yuben swallowed hard.
At this rate, all he could see was an ending where both of them died.
He could only take a healing potion once a day.
He had to run before he suffered irreversible injuries.
Even if he killed the Dungeon Master,
it would mean nothing if he himself died.
"Fine. I lost, you son of a bitch."
"……."
He'd just have to take meaning in the fact that he'd gathered data this time.
Then he kicked the Dungeon Master's abdomen to create distance.
'Next time, I need to come with reliable guards… I've roughly figured out your level.'
Without hesitation, Yuben tore the escape scroll.
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Heidi blinked.
The lord had fled using an escape scroll, and the soldier had passed out on the spot.
That blood-soaked person was probably the Dungeon Master.
He had the same sort of atmosphere as this dungeon.
The lord and the soldier had been defeated.
Then what would happen to us?
The children were trembling with frightened expressions.
Heidi was no different.
There had never been any choice to begin with.
That had been true when they were dragged into the dungeon, and it was true now.
All she could do was hold the children close and wait for the end.
"……."
Heidi squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the Dungeon Master's action.
Then.
"What are you doing? It hasn't even been an hour yet. You can go back outside."
The Dungeon Master's cynical voice came to her.
Heidi looked up at him, dazed.
He wasn't going to kill them?
"You mean we can go outside…"
"For half a day after entering, you can leave the dungeon without a scroll."
"So does that mean you're sparing us…? We, we’re intruders…"
The Dungeon Master patted Heidi on the head.
"What kind of intruder are you, kid, with not even a single knife on you…"
"……."
"Sorry, but I'm not some saint who'll escort you back to your parents. Hurry up and go."
The Dungeon Master was kind to the children.
He said it.
He told them to keep what had happened here a secret; if they told anyone else, it would be them, not him, who'd be in trouble; and if they had nowhere to go, they should somehow find Restia, the South Kingdom's constable.
We thought we were going to die without a chance, so it felt like a dream.
Weirdly enough, he was the first adult who'd ever been kind to us.
"T-thank you."
The Dungeon Master waved.
As Heidi left with the children, she glanced back at the Dungeon Master.
He was rummaging through the soldier's belongings.
And he muttered something incomprehensible like, 'No escape scrolls. Good thing I brought Julius's.'
Also,
a sluggish giant slime appeared, swallowed the soldier's body, and disappeared somewhere.
Heidi turned her head away.
"Uh, sis, is it really okay for us to leave like this…?"
"Yeah. It's fine. So let's hurry and keep walking."
For a moment, it felt like something had flashed behind her back.
It was probably just her imagination, right?
***
"Escape scrolls are the problem. It'd be so nice if they just sent you straight to the entrance…."
Yuben staggered through the dark forest.
That fucking Dungeon Master bastard had wrecked his body, so he couldn't make much speed.
The limits of a healing potion were clear.
He'd have to be satisfied with stopping the bleeding.
"I should've thought through a few more possibilities before coming in. No matter how you look at it, I'm not even a dungeon raider, so I was too hasty…."
Honestly, it stung.
He'd already used two escape scrolls.
Now he had only two scrolls left.
He couldn't buy more scrolls again.
He'd already paid a massive amount for them.
"I need to find the horse. And when I get back to the estate, I need to replan the manpower distribution from scratch…."
There was no choice.
Still, wasn't there something to be gained?
It wasn't anything huge, but it was proof he was moving forward.
You can't get full on the first bite.
He just had to start again from the beginning.
This was growing pains.
If he got through them, he could become better than before.
That much was certain.
He thought back to when he'd tried to become lord.
Wasn't he the most cast-off of his siblings, the one who'd killed them all to get where he was now?
Phew.
His mind calmed a little.
Dungeon Master or whoever.
If I make it to the end, I win it all.
With that thought, Yuben quickened his pace.
"Hide and seek. I can see your hair."
But.
what in the world was this voice?
Was it just my imagination?
Maybe it was just an auditory hallucination from exhaustion.
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"Hide and seek. I can see your hair."
No. The voice wasn't an illusion.
It was getting closer and closer.
It sounded as though it were calling for me.
What? Who? Why the hell?
Yuben felt a chill.
He stopped walking for a moment.
The voice sounded familiar, and for a moment an odd thought crossed his mind, but
right. First, use detection magic.
All living beings had mana.
If he used detection magic, he could identify the source as long as there was no jamming.
Stay calm.
It could just be an ordinary person.
He used detection magic.
And Yuben's expression hardened.
Nothing was found.
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'No. I escaped the dungeon! I escaped the dungeon! If something could come out of a dungeon, then I, the Blessed One, and the world would have known long ago!'
He tried to steady himself while shouting that inwardly.
Yuben bit his lip.
There was no way the owner of that voice was the Dungeon Master.
He'd already confirmed it in the records.
And not just the records.
Even in the newspapers he used to read, and the history books he'd studied to become lord.
He'd never heard of anything coming out of a dungeon.
"Hide and seek. I can see your hair."
And yet,
it should have been that way.
He didn't know why that creepy, gloomy voice kept drawing nearer.
The dark forest couldn't reveal anything.
The dense forest, which had even swallowed the moon, stole away the light.
Yuben felt his breathing tremble.
His body wouldn't obey him, as if it had been swallowed by the cold.
The voice was getting closer and closer.
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"Hide and seek. I can see your hair."
Yuben saw it.
He saw it clearly, hidden in the grass.
A white gown stained with blood.
Two lifeless eyes filled with killing intent.
An atmosphere that was human, yet didn't feel human at all.
The Dreamland Dungeon Master was roaming nearby.
Compared to his own wrecked body, the bastard seemed to have already regenerated.
There wasn't a single wound or scar on the Dungeon Master.
If he ran into him now, his life was over.
He still didn't know where I was.
I had to get out of this somehow.
This was my last chance.
I couldn't escape with my body in this condition.
I had to find somewhere to hide until that sinister voice could no longer be heard.
The bleeding had stopped, which was a real relief.
"Ah!"
Found it!
If I hid my body in that pitch-black cave, I could be safe.
Step, step.
Step, step.
Yuben staggered onward.
That cave looked so peaceful; it had to be paradise.
But.
paradise always had someone who got there first.
"……."
Unfortunately, the first one there was a beast that couldn't understand speech.
For its huge, heavy body, it was surprisingly gaunt.
It looked as if it had been starving for quite some time.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhh───!"
***
"Hide and seek. I can see your hair."
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"Ah, found you."
I stopped walking inside the cave.
Yuben was being eaten by a starving bear.
He wasn't being eaten alive, so it didn't look like he was in any pain.
And there might have been another friend nearby, just in case.
I herded him to the side opposite the entrance in case he tried to escape on horseback.
I never thought he'd walk right into the starving bear's territory on his own.
"Grrr…."
The bear stopped eating and growled at me.
Eat up.
"This makes things a little awkward. I was about to ask him something."
I came out of the cave and scratched my head.
Good thing I hadn't raised my stats.
As I said before, even if I'm a Dungeon Master with a soft, newbie mindset,
I'm ruthless toward intruders with malicious intent.
What's more, this bastard tried to shove clueless children into some freak occurrence.
I'm not a judge or anything,
but keeping a conscience-free psycho like that alive wouldn't do anyone any good.
Well, he was dead already anyway.
Anyway,
You were weaker than Julius and still thought you could farm the dungeon with slaves?
No chance.
I'm not some dumbass.
There's no way I'd just sit there and watch.
Though last time I held back because there were knights and soldiers,
this time was different.
They'd naturally be weaker than those knights, but I judged I could handle the two of them somehow.
He was even taking notes diligently.
I couldn't let him figure me out that easily.
I posted an update.
I had to let them know this wave was over too.
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Newbie: I successfully defended the wave again lol
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah: Fair enough, the hype was real... I kept acting like an outsider who didn't know anything... I'm a sinner... I'm reflecting on it...
ㄴIHaveNoMinions: Newbie's level 55 now, so he can actually fight a bit ㅇㅇ
ㄴPsychWardTopPatient: His physical skills haven't really improved though...
ㄴAntQueen: Honestly, I sighed like crazy when he was saving the kids... but when I saw him use the escape scroll and follow Yuben, I clapped... I'll admit that ㅇㅇ
ㄴKingJjangSpirit: Demonic as hell... ghostly as hell... honestly, I thought he was some slasher-movie killer...
ㄴAnonymousButcher: Fear is the direction everyone should aim for. You need to brand it in them so firmly that no one can ever enter. Seriously, this wave was far too perfect.
ㄴSealedPhilosopher: It was seriously insane... If you take a minion out later too... ah, most of what can be bought now is just disposable junk, so I guess it can't be used outside the dungeon...
ㄴCowHead: I wanted to see the school this time, damn it...
ㄴTVHead: They say the next intruder will show it ㅇㅇ
ㄴOrange★: So how much info got revealed this time?
ㄴTVHead: Felt like they figured out the elevator... hmm, are they gonna get jumped over this...
ㄴSsigganLoverDog: I didn't mean for him to fight that brutally...
ㄴNewbie: You're safe, so you're forgiven lol
ㄴSsigganLoverDog: ㅡ_ㅡ
I turned my steps back toward the dungeon.
By the way, the lord died, so who would come next?
I felt a little uneasy.