Episode 40: Buffalo Dungeon (4)
“what!”
The eyes of the checkpoint staff scanning the scene were filled with shock. The blood was so thick that it was like fog. The mountain of demons towered over the passageway, which was at least 50 meters wide, like a barrier.
The employee opened his mouth a few times and then closed his dilated pupils. His mind, which had woken up a beat later, was now slowly beginning to realize the seriousness of the situation.
“Hey, shit. If I do this wrong, it looks like it’s going to be fucked up.”
An employee biting his fingernails with a pale complexion. Every bone in his body popped out in fear.
Something was wrong. That thought filled my head. Those kids I thought were just cadets.
Her trembling eyelids opened slightly, and her sorrow deepened. In a few minutes, the wrinkles on her frog-like face deepened.
“It’s fucked.”
The boasts made to the female instructor were meaningless, and all of the dozens of buffalo that had been enraged using magic stones were completely annihilated.
With 10 years of experience as a Buffalo Dungeon staff member, there’s probably no one who knows more about this place than he does. That’s why I was confident…
The employee grabbed his head with a crumpled expression. It took a lot of force, and a handful of hair was pulled out into his hand.
“Fuck!”
I already have genetic hair loss, and with the excessive stress on top of that, my forehead line and crown are about to meet.
Debt of 2 billion won accumulated from playing cards at Cheorwon Land, the largest casino in South Korea.
It had been a long time since he had lost all his assets, and there were even creditors who would come to his house at every opportunity and threaten to kill him.
So, a woman who called herself an instructor at Joaquin Academy came to him and made him an offer, even though she was in deep debt.
‘I’ll pay off your debt if you do me one favor.’
A woman with dark blue hair and a model-like build. Her purple eyes, permeated with a faint dryness, made my stomach churn just by looking at them.
I instinctively knew that if I went against her, my neck would fall out of place. Besides, her proposal was also suspicious.
After handing over a magic stone of unknown origin and making the buffalos go berserk, tame them and target the cadet named ‘Ganggeomma’ and release them all at once when he stops by.
Another one is to use the magic stone to open the stone gate that is tightly closed in the deep part of the dungeon.
It was a proposal that was no different from an assassination attempt, but he had no other choice as he was at rock bottom in life.
If you pay off the debt of 2 billion and finish the job properly, you can take the magic stone. If you auction it off on the black market, you can get a nice cash reward. It’s such a rare and valuable item.
“… Then… I can try one more time, hehe.”
It was still a situation that could be avoided. The employee’s mean face still had a deep sense of desperation, but he began to laugh in an effort to deny reality.
Bloody footprints were imprinted on the floor like a stamp. At some point, they stretched out like a rope toward the stone gate, as if being dragged by something.
“You little bastards, I’ll make sure to take care of you.”
The employee spat on both hands and ran his hand through his hair. A few strands of hair, unable to support the weight of the cold sweat, fell down in drops.
Then, he grabbed the single-edged axe-type weapon and staggered towards the center of the dungeon. There was a twisted earnestness at the base of his footsteps.
* * *
I thought things were going well for some reason.
‘…Fuck.’
I was dragged into a hidden dungeon as if I was being swallowed up by the swirling current of magical energy. At this point, the situation was not surprising, but rather annoying.
No, why was the stone gate of the dungeon, which was supposed to be closed from the beginning, open, and why was it gaping open as if it was waiting for us?
And the stone gate that closed as if it had been waiting for me and my crew to cross the threshold.
Even before entering the dungeon, I felt a little uneasy at the suspicious gaze of the checkpoint staff, but who could have known that things would turn out like this? I’m not a god after all.
‘That bastard employee… … .’
I don’t know for sure, but I could guess it from the look in the eyes of the employee who was glancing at me from the corner of his eye. Buffalo’s personality was completely different from when I played it. That bastard must be the one who opened the door to this damn hidden dungeon.
But suddenly a question arose.
The stone gate of this hidden dungeon could only be opened with the ‘Gigant’s Mana Stone’, a quest reward from around the middle of the game.
The first magic stone to drop from the player’s perspective in Miracle Protection M.
This is an ore item that drops when you defeat the final mob in the ‘Gigant Dungeon’, which can be said to be the turning point between the beginning and the middle of the story.
However, the sense of accomplishment that the player felt at having entered the middle of the story was short-lived. Those who acquired the Gigant’s magic stone soon found themselves in an absurd situation.
Since it was a 7-star item, the second of seven levels of rarity, and there was no explanation in the information window, users who didn’t read the guide just turned it into a strengthening material.
However, users realized too late that the seemingly useless magic stone was the key to the hidden dungeon.
Even the ‘Gigantic Magic Stone’ was one of the few one-time drops, so it must have been quite a chill to users’ heads.
Besides, it would have been less frustrating if it had been just a hidden dungeon with nothing special to see, but the reward for this dungeon is a unique blessing, the ‘Blessing of Transfer’.
A blessing that transfers one of the owner’s blessings to weapons or objects. As a single blessing, it has virtually no effect, but the synergy is incredible.
By using the protection of transfer and giving protection to ‘Balmung’, who would later become Leon’s weapon, according to the situation, you could really cut down your enemies.
It was not easy to control the Balmung, which had both yin and yang tendencies, and to amplify the power inherent in the sword without the protection of transfer.
However, since such an important protection was kept hidden in a hidden dungeon, the complaints of users who had ground up Gigant’s magic stones into strengthening materials were obvious even without looking at it.
Of course, our Miracle Guardian M’s game company has consistently ignored and set an example of K-operation that makes our hearts swell.
Fortunately, I was busy with my main job at the time, so I put it in my inventory and forgot about it, so I was able to avoid this unfortunate incident.
“under.”
I let out a sigh of relief, and steam rose from my mouth.
It was understandable that the temperature would be low in a cave-shaped dungeon, but the air here was particularly bone-chillingly cold.
The atmosphere was also heavy. Not because of my mood, but physically. My skin felt tingly from the magical energy that stabbed my entire body like needles.
I quickly turned my head and looked around. One by one, the crew members who were covering their foreheads to soothe their nausea started to get up.
Fortunately, none of them seemed to have been seriously injured while being dragged here.
Only Saki Ryozo’s school uniform skirt was swept to the floor, and the side of the skirt was torn all the way to her thighs. It seemed to be because the skirt was quite long.
She brushed the dirt off her skirt with a displeased expression.
The shape somehow reminds me of the cheongsam, a garment from a neighboring country. The straight, bare legs are visible through the torn gap. Upon closer inspection, only the skirt was torn, and there were no rips.
‘You’re lucky.’
After confirming that the crew members were in good condition, I checked the situation.
A dome-shaped, hemispherical ceiling that must have been at least 30 meters high. A spacious space the size of the Academy’s training grounds. Torches lined up like belts on the walls flickered softly.
In the meantime, the center of the room was dark with a shadow. I strained my eyes to look at it. Thanks to the protection of the swordsman, my night vision improved at some point.
As I narrow my eyes, a shape slowly wrapped in a dark curtain begins to appear on my retina.
A giant sitting with his upper body bent over, using a large rock as his throne.
Hidden boss of Buffalo Dungeon. A-class demon, Minotaur.
Among users, he was affectionately called ‘Cow King’ after the name he got from the game next door.
Despite his friendly nickname, he wasn’t all that friendly in person.
Its head was like that of a buffalo, but from the shoulders down, its body resembled that of a human. It held a long, double-edged axe in one hand, supporting it like a cane.
Minotaur is a hidden boss, and unlike the other monsters that are just field mobs, its strength is comparable to that of a mine.
In reality, it is a very powerful demon that is treated as a mine in the work, although it cannot handle magic.
In addition, on either side of him, there was a pair of twin demons that looked like a deteriorated version of the Minotaur, as if the vassals were assisting the king.
At the time of play, these B-class demons were called Left Ox Politics and Right Ox Politics in the community.
In particular, the Demon Twins are not a big threat on their own, but when their powers are combined, they can be quite a challenge.
‘It’s impossible to deal with all three of them alone.’
Even though I had both eyes closed, I swallowed dry saliva as the energy seeped into the floor.
“…Geumma-kun, what the heck is that?”
Chloe came up next to me, grabbed my sleeve, and quietly opened her mouth.
She, who is specialized in detecting presences, seemed to have noticed it too. I put my index finger to Chloe’s lips to silence her. She nodded silently as if she understood.
Weapon and Saki were blinking, their eyes still not fully adjusted to the darkness, keeping them on alert.
Still, the two of them kept their mouths shut as they watched me silently fret. I turned my head back and looked at the stone gate. It was so hard that even a simple blade wouldn’t be able to scratch it.
A single red line carved diagonally on the solid stone door that was firmly shut. It was clearly the ‘【???】line’ written on the status window.
‘Let’s go out quietly.’
The 40 seconds of painless protection were all used up to kill buffaloes. So it was no use dealing with the Minotaur.
If it were that guy’s material, it would be easy to strengthen his weapons, but my life was more precious to me.
If you catch Daiso Sashimi and activate the protection of the swordsman, you will scream loudly instead of cutting through the door. If you use Murasame, it will hurt so much that you will die, but you can endure it.
After thinking for a moment, I put a piece of Daiso sashimi in my mouth. It was not intended as a weapon, but as a gag to endure the pain.
Then, he took out the Murasame that he had kept carefully in his arms. Then, he felt a creepy sensation behind him. His eyes instinctively turned to that direction.
One of the Minotaur’s ears twitched. Then, his eyes, which had been tightly shut, slowly opened, then soon swung open. Then, he slowly began to lift his butt off the rock he was sitting on.
thud!
The Minotaur struck the ground hard with the butt of his double-edged axe.
The demons standing next to him also roared in a ferocious manner as if they were worshipping the Cow King.
““Mu …
“what?!”
Weapon, who had been trying hard to keep his mouth shut, swallowed a breath.
thud!
As the Minotaur struck the ground once more, the flickering of the torches intensified. Soon, a blazing flame illuminated the entire interior of the cave.
Only then did the crew members catch sight of the Minotaur and the Demon Beast. They just stood there, holding their menacing double-edged axes, but cold sweat formed on their backs.
By the time that guy woke up, it was too late to run away with all his limbs intact.
Even if we cut open the door and headed outside, we couldn’t guarantee the lives of all of our crew members.
‘In the end.’
I gritted my teeth and turned around. My cold reason and perception quickly began to find a solution.
It’s different from the midterm exam. At that time, I had no information about the Minotaur, but I had caught the Minotaur before.
If everything was perfect, I could easily catch those three on my own. But now, I was over the time limit for the protection of the painless, so it was impossible.
That’s why you have to use everything you can, even if it’s a bit of a gamble. I spat out the Daiso sashimi in my mouth and moved my dry lips.
“Weapon, can you give me a pain reduction buff?”
“Oh, it’s possible.”
Weapon looked at my face and the pale complexion returned to its original color.
Meanwhile, the Minotaur slowly advances towards us. I wiped the urgency from my expression and spoke one word at a time.
“How many minutes can you spare?”
“The maximum is about two minutes.”
“That’s enough. Instead, keep putting it in while I fight that guy. If I lose focus for even a second, I’ll probably… … .”
I made a motion to hit his neck with my palm. Weapon licked his lips in embarrassment. I smiled faintly and relieved the guy of his tension.
“Okay. Okay. That’s what you said, Kanggeomma.”
“Saki and Chloe, I’ll ask the sidekicks to take care of some things.”
Saki nodded, her face clearly showing signs of tension. Her fingers, tightly gripping the bow, were trembling slightly.
“Don’t be so nervous.”
I smiled faintly and walked towards the approaching Minotaur.
Saki just blinked at me. The passion on her face melted away in an instant.
I looked at the faces of the crew members. They nodded slightly at me. There was determination in their eyes.
“Let’s just do it like before.”
