Episode 74 No.104 Black Sand Room (6)
I quickly dove to the side.
– Kagagagagak!
Three black streams of energy just passed through where I had just been.
As I stepped back again, the Black Ark grabbed the air in front of me.
In that state, when I point at myself with my index finger, the finger lengthens and a ray of light flies out.
Since realizing that it’s impossible to catch it directly, it’s been chasing me like this and attacking me from a distance.
These long-range attacks had strong toxicity due to the nature of the martial arts learned by Black Ark.
As such poison kept falling in the wrong places, the poison accumulated and accumulated until the entire area became completely devastated.
Black puddles form in the deeply rutted ground here and there, and acrid smoke rises.
Not a single blade of grass will grow around here for a while.
Even after causing this mess, the Black Ark looked a little tired because he couldn’t even touch my collar.
“He is a very talented man. However, I don’t understand. I know that Yanpae mainly uses violent and tyrannical martial arts, but how can his disciple be so reckless?”
“I told you I’m not your disciple.”
No, don’t just flutter around like a grasshopper.
The moment I was about to jump around like a grasshopper again,
Shin Byeong-cheol’s voice was heard through the communication device plugged into my ear.
[It’s over. Move to the safe zone.]
“Okay. See you there.”
The Black Ark’s eyebrows rose.
I just realized that what I said was a conversation with someone else.
What this means is that I didn’t come in alone.
“… … You, really?”
“You have no sense.”
Now I realize that this is a diversionary operation.
In fact, it was largely because I kept nagging and annoying him.
When people’s heads are heated, they can’t think deeply.
“Then I guess I’ll take my leave now.”
“You don’t think I’ll send it to you, do you?”
“I won’t be able to catch it anyway. Then thank you for your effort.”
I said goodbye, turned around, and ran.
The Black Ark follows you as if it’s going to kill you.
“Stand up!”
Of course, I was only pretending to run away.
Although I have the advantage in speed, the Black Ark isn’t that slow, so I have to shake it off properly to gain some distance.
After running for a while, he suddenly turned around and ran towards the Black Ark.
“Shallow talk!”
As the Black Ark raked the air madly, a dark energy covered it, forming a large net.
I kicked the ground and moved diagonally, then kicked the ground again and arrived in front of the Black Scepter.
The Black Ark’s eyes couldn’t quite keep up with the speed, so it must have seemed like I had leaped through space.
And just before the Black Ark could respond, a fist filled with flames was extended.
[Use ‘amplify’.]
[‘Inferno Fist’ rank increases. (C->A)]
[Inferno Fist]
[Windforce]
– Kwakwakwakwa—!
A firestorm several times more powerful than anything previously cast advanced, burning the front.
The Black Ark’s appearance was engulfed in flames and disappeared from sight.
“ouch.”
I felt a stinging pain in my fist and looked down to see a faint burn mark.
If you hold it up to your nose and smell it, you can smell a slightly spicy scent.
Since the skill already had a high penalty, it was amplified, so even S-class elemental resistance could not completely nullify it.
‘But even if I did that, I wouldn’t have died.’
That’s the scary thing about the Black Ark.
Because he captured a group of young men and practiced the great law of the Demonic Cult, his lifeline was extremely tense.
If there is good news,
‘If we don’t fight, that’ll be the end of it.’
There is no need to necessarily defeat the Black Ark.
I’ve managed to temporarily disable the A-class Inferno Fist, so now is the time to escape.
I pushed [Thief’s Step] to the limit and started running at full speed.
When the battle began, the men in black had formed a tight encirclement, but now it was somewhat lax as the Black Ark was spraying poison everywhere.
– Boom!
I pushed back one of the blocking warriors with Windforce, grabbed another one, threw him into a nearby poisonous pool, and ran.
“Get—over—there—!!!”
The Black Ark’s shouts resonated behind me.
Look at that. It’s already recovered.
But would you stand if you were me?
I ran at full speed without looking back.
‘Okay, I won’t fight anymore. Go and don’t come back. Come after me for a hundred days.’
We’ll probably search the area like crazy even after we leave the dungeon, but if we still can’t find it, we’ll be in trouble.
He’ll vent his anger later on at the fencing club, when his older brothers and sisters with swords come looking for him.
As I left the market and entered the abandoned house, Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byeong-cheol were waiting for me.
“Brother Kim.”
“Oh, you came quickly?”
Since I came running as soon as I got the call, there wasn’t much of a time difference between the two of them.
Meanwhile, Go Hyun-woo’s complexion looked slightly pale.
There’s no way he could have been defeated by elite warriors with his skills, so I wonder what else happened.
“Have you fallen in love with Baek?”
“exactly.”
“You’re unlucky. You’ve had a hard time.”
You’ve defied the odds and are now facing the hidden boss.
Fortunately, it seemed like Go Hyun-woo was able to overcome the situation well.
It’s a good thing you mentioned the coping method just in case.
For now, Shin Byeong-cheol used the Hi-Potion he had been saving to soothe his internal injuries, but it seemed like he would need to recuperate for a day or two because the damage he had sustained was so great.
“I need to go to the infirmary. Let’s go out for now.”
Shin Byeong-cheol immediately took out the scroll he had been keeping.
[Emergency Escape Scroll (B)]
When the scroll was torn in half, the magical power imprinted on it was released and the spell was manifested.
The air shook violently, and then the crack opened wide as if a transparent hand was forcibly twisting it open.
We took turns inserting ourselves into the emergency escape portal.
* * *
As we came out and the scenery of the depths was about to come into view, a dark shadow suddenly swallowed us up.
We flinched for a moment, but quickly figured out the situation and kept quiet.
Dang Gyu-yeong was waiting outside, and as soon as he saw us, he put us in the [Shadow Pouch].
After waiting for a while, letting the shaking inside my pocket take over, I felt something being spat out and my vision returned to normal.
The first thing that catches my eye is the faces of Dang Gyu-yeong and Chae Da-bin, and when I look around, I see that I am near the boundary between the C floor and the deep section.
Dang Gyu-yeong looked into my face and asked.
“How was it? Heuksabang.”
“There were no major problems. I ate everything I had prepared and left.”
“Hey, our junior is really capable. Who would believe that a first-year student came out of B-class? Stop talking nonsense.”
Next, Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin’s gaze was fixed on Shin Byeong-cheol.
“What about the gift?”
“What about snacks?”
“… … Uh uh.”
Shin Byeong-cheol blinked his eyes and then made a face of surprise.
I guess I never even thought about it until now.
Let’s defend Shin Byeong-cheol for a moment. Since it was his first time entering a deep dungeon, he must have been very nervous and didn’t have time to go around buying anything.
I would have quickly forgotten about small requests like gifts.
‘Of course, that’s his business.’
Whether Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin understand the situation is a different matter.
Although it was said half-jokingly, it wasn’t a grand request, so wouldn’t it feel ignored if there wasn’t even one piece of candy?
Even more so if you don’t even remember it.
The two women’s gazes gradually become colder.
Shin Byeong-cheol, feeling a sense of crisis, asked for help with an urgent look in his eyes.
‘Help! Help!’
Just before Dang Gyu-yeong’s hand grabbed Shin Byeong-cheol’s radish-shaped head, I showed an exaggerated reaction as if I had just remembered something.
“That’s right. This is what he left for me. Here it is.”
Compared to Koh Hyun-woo and Shin Byeong-cheol, I had more freedom of movement, and I knew almost all of the stalls where they were, so it wasn’t difficult for me to take a break and buy a few specialty products.
[Spicy Sweet Jerky]
[Volcanic Eruption Jerky]
Jerky sold only in the markets near Heuksabang.
It is a famous dish that has been spreading by word of mouth among enthusiasts because of its unique seasoning.
To exaggerate a bit, there are even third-year students who participate in the Black Death Squad attack because of this.
When they received the bundle of jerky, Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin’s faces brightened again.
“You bought it? I thought Byeong-cheol had just let my words go unnoticed. I almost got upset.”
“I’ll eat well.”
“Hey, ladies. Of course I can’t do this much for you. Hehehe.”
Shin Byeong-cheol smiled cowardly and rubbed his hands together.
It’s so hard for a first year student to survive in a club.
Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin took the lead in the conversation.
“Should we eat one on the way up? What flavor do you want to try first?”
“Let’s start with the sweet and spicy. They say volcanic eruptions are no joke.”
While the two seniors were absorbed in the jerky, Shin Byeong-cheol slipped away and thanked me.
With a deathly look on his face,
‘Hi, my brother’s sense is just so great. I will continue to trust and follow you.’
‘This clears up the Hi-Potion.’
‘That’s a bit… … .’
‘You don’t like it? Then be honest.’
‘……call.’
A miraculous exchange rate for a few bundles of hyper potions and jerky.
I blocked it at the source because I was afraid that he would later change his mind and say that he used an expensive hyper potion.
If you think about it, it wasn’t a bad deal for Shin Byung-chul either.
If I had just left it alone, Dang Gyu-yeong would have torn out Kakdugi’s hair, but if I had given up the potion and kept my hair, wouldn’t it have been a better deal?
* * *
The way up was fairly smooth, just like the way down.
Dang Gyu-yeong sends Shadow Butterfly as a scout to guide the way, and Chae Da-bin and Shin Byeong-cheol lend a helping hand here and there.
I wish things could have continued to be that smooth… … .
It was a day when Ko Hyun-woo encountered a white snake and his luck was not on his side.
When I got to the E floor,
Dang Gyu-yeong, who had been walking smoothly, flinched and frowned.
“Miss, I got this.”
Something unusual seemed to have caught the eye of the person being greeted as a scout.
Chae Da-bin asked.
“Who are you, teacher?”
“It looks like Kwak Seung-jae.”
He decides that it is too late to run away and takes no other action.
Instead, he quickly gets in touch with the first-year students.
“Guys, we just came down to check out the basement. We didn’t even touch the dungeon. Okay?”
“Yes, senior.”
– Kukukukukuku… … .
As I stood there blankly waiting for a few seconds, a wooden door suddenly popped up.
As expected, the person who walked out as the door opened was Kwak Seung-jae.
He bows deeply to Dang Gyu-young.
“Hello, senior.”
“Hello Seungjae.”
“I found this on the D floor, so I came to check it out for a moment.”
Kwak Seung-jae lifted the wooden birdcage.
A couple of shadow butterflies are fluttering in the cage.
Shadow magic is not something that many people are suited to and is difficult to master, so few people learn it properly.
There are probably only a handful of people in Yongsal Academy who have practiced [Welcome Flight] to the point where they can use it as a scout.
Therefore, it is very likely that the Shadow Butterfly was cast by Dang Gyu-yeong.
Moreover, sending out scouts is like advertising that you are up to something shady.
If you came down simply to clear the dungeon, it wouldn’t matter who you met, right?
With this train of thought, Kwak Seung-jae immediately started chasing Dang Gyu-yeong as soon as he caught sight of the shadow butterfly.
And Kwak Seung-jae’s prediction was exactly right.
His gaze scanned me, Ko Hyeon-woo, and Shin Byeong-cheol in turn.
“… … .”
There was no room for excuses since the first-year students were caught wandering around the basement.
Kwak Seung-jae recommended it to everyone.
“Please accompany me to the leadership room for a moment.”
“Well, that’s what it is.”
The reason why Dang Gyu-yeong doesn’t put up any resistance even though he can easily subdue Kwak Seung-jae is because this is Dungeon-dong.
The moment you make even the slightest noise, all the faculty and staff stationed here and there and the patrolling leaders all rush to this place.
There will probably be someone waiting at the exit by now.
The calculation is that it is better to just follow along, since there is no point in expanding the work without any effort.
Kwak Seung-jae also seemed to know that we couldn’t take action rashly, so he turned his back without much caution.
He closed the wooden door, cast some magic for a moment, and then opened it again.
The scenery beyond the open door has changed into a mess.
“Come in.”
