#008_C-Rank Dungeon (2)
Dungeon clear, searching for a new dungeon, another clear… then sleep, a meal, dungeon clear again….
While repeating the exact same pattern, time flowed astonishingly fast, and before I knew it, six days had vanished.
Shwua-!
In the heart of a forest where the twilight stretched long, befitting a winter afternoon, a green vortex briefly surged, and I revealed myself from such a place for the seventeenth time today.
The moment I emerged, I opened my phone and checked the timer that had been running for days.
[24:00]
[23:59]
Now exactly one day remained in the time limit.
“Whew… I should start wrapping things up now.”
Considering the clear time of a C-Rank dungeon—which takes at least half a day—and the fact that I had to enter in advance and hide, it was time to prepare to go in.
I opened my bag and briefly checked today’s haul.
Immediately visible were bracelets, dolls, rings, tokens… sorcery mediums of various shapes.
“Twenty… Not bad.”
Beneath them, the essences were packed full from gathering all day, too many to count with the naked eye, but by the volume, I could roughly guess the amount.
“There must be over 200 of these too.”
Even without counting separately, it was clearly more than the usual amount of about 170.
As if the system knew it was the last day, the extraction rate was unusually good today.
“Guess it’s my lucky day.”
The main game hadn’t started yet, but the start was positive.
I packed up today’s haul and headed straight back to the hotel room I’d been staying in for days.
In the room serving as a temporary shelter instead of a house I hadn’t had time to tidy, hundreds of essences I’d gathered so far… chunks of blue light rolled across the floor, filling it.
Dozens of sorcery mediums in various forms, like occult items, were piled high on the unused dresser.
I’d never performed a synthesis even once until now, and the reason I’d made such a mess despite that was simple.
“You gotta do the draws in one go.”
Simultaneous, or consecutive draws, are the absolute iron rule of gacha.
The actual probability obviously makes no difference, but hey, psychology is a thing.
It’s similar to why no one ever picks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in the lottery.
“Let’s start with the sorcery mediums.”
I reached for the items piled on the dresser.
[Forming a special sorcery medium.]
[Material sorcery mediums: 10 F-Rank sorcery mediums.]
[Formation probability adjusted to 10% based on the grade of material sorcery mediums.]
And the result was—
[Special sorcery medium formation successful.]
Success in a single attempt.
Multiple mediums combined, and piercing through the 10% probability, a squishy—jelly-like [Special Sorcery Medium] was created.
“Oh? What, is it really my lucky day?”
Looks like my luck was good today.
*
At the same time, Seoul, Cheonhye Headquarters.
A place that had been nothing but peaceful amidst the familiarity following its seizure of the title of Korea’s #1 guild today felt rather cold and stifling.
“It’s a total wipeout. Team B-4, all vital signs lost 42 seconds after entry.”
“What? Again?”
It was because of an obstacle that had appeared before them, who had not failed a single dungeon raid in recent years.
“How many times is it now?”
“The third time.”
“Ha… Did you find out what the hell is going on?”
“I requested assistance from a Scout. They should arrive soon.”
Knock, knock—just then, a knocking sound rang out, and the secretary entered.
“The Scout is here.”
“Let them in.”
“Yes.”
The secretary disappeared, and soon in their place, a dignified man with an eyepatch over one eye and strands of white hair mixed between his remaining hair entered the conference room.
“It is an honor to be summoned directly by the Vice Guild Master of Cheonhye.”
“We’re on the verge of a Break. We don’t have time for idle chatter, so I’d appreciate it if we could get straight to the point.”
“I was planning to do just that.”
The Scout held out his phone and continued.
“Is it this dungeon?”
On the screen was a dungeon map densely dotted with red points, with information on one of them displayed.
[C-Rank Dungeon / High-Grade / Gangseo-gu]
And the Vice Guild Master nodded at it.
“That’s right.”
Surprisingly, the obstacle now before Cheonhye was merely a C-Rank dungeon.
“First, let me tell you the conclusion: it cannot be cleared with Cheonhye’s current forces. Absolutely not.”
It was a blow to their pride, but the Vice Guild Master did not argue.
Because, as the Scout said, they had failed three times in a row already.
Moreover, for the third attempt, they had dispatched Team B-4 comprised entirely of B-Rank hunters, yet they had been wiped out in less than a minute.
“…Why?”
“Because it’s not a dungeon where you simply kill monsters and the boss.”
“Then what?”
“It is a ‘very strong’ grade curse dungeon.”
“Curse? And what’s with the ‘very strong’?”
“You seem to know nothing about curses. Well, curses have always been rare.”
At the Scout’s words, the Vice Guild Master jerked his chin, wordlessly telling him to explain.
“It would take too long to explain everything. Simply put, every curse inflicted on this dungeon is Overrank-grade.”
“Overrank?”
“It means they far exceed the general standard of their rank. Furthermore, dozens of such curses overlap within this dungeon, so even though it is C-Rank, it far surpasses B-Rank level. You’d need to be on the threshold of A-Rank to even endure about 10 or 20 minutes.”
“So that’s why the B-Ranks…”
The reason B-Rank hunters were helplessly dying in what was supposedly a mere C-Rank dungeon was explained in an instant.
The gap between B-Rank and A-Rank was as stark as that between an eagle and a crow.
And if even an A-Rank couldn’t even endure 30 minutes against such power, it was impossible for a mere B-Rank to overcome it and reach the boss room at the end of the dungeon.
“Then how do we clear it?”
“There is a curse stone in the boss room. Destroy it.”
“So we still have to reach the boss room somehow…”
For these and other reasons, clearing it truly seemed impossible.
“That is why I said it is impossible. I advise abandoning it and simply waiting for the Break to remove the curse stone.”
“A Break? Are you insane?”
That was the one thing they absolutely could not allow.
A dungeon break meant they had failed to clear the dungeon in time, which in turn meant there was a hole in Cheonhye’s current defense system.
If that happened, cracks would form in the image of Cheonhye, which had solidified its standing by claiming to perfectly defend the Republic of Korea from dungeons.
“Curses cannot distinguish between friend and foe, and all the monsters inside are already dead, so as long as people are kept out of the curse range beforehand, there will be no real damage.”
“It’s a dungeon that appeared in the middle of Seoul; there’s no way the reporters don’t know. Seoul is packed with foreign correspondents dispatched from overseas guilds.”
Thanks to the absence of monsters, if they just kept people out of the curse range, there would be no real harm, but that wasn’t the point.
The core issue was the dungeon break itself.
Whatever the reason, the very fact that a break could occur despite Cheonhye’s presence—moreover, in the middle of downtown Seoul—was the problem.
“Then is there any other way? Since it is a C-Rank dungeon, those A-Rank and above shouldn’t even be able to enter. There are no space or infiltration ability users of A-Rank or higher in the country, so surely we aren’t going all the way to England to fetch a ‘Tailor’ just to deal with a mere C-Rank dungeon?”
It was then.
While listening to the Scout, the Vice Guild Master’s complexion eased slightly.
“Mm… Did you say there are no monsters inside?”
“Precisely speaking, there were, but they all died.”
“Anyway, there are none now?”
“That is correct.”
“Then this curse stone in the boss room…”
“What are you asking?”
“How hard is it?”
“If we’re talking durability, it should be about as hard as ordinary rock. Because there are so many curses opposed to special resources, they likely could only use ordinary minerals as the medium.”
“Mm… I see. You’ve done well. I think you may leave now.”
The Vice Guild Master seemed to have thought of a good idea, his previously stiff expression relaxing, and the bewildered Scout soon understood the meaning of that face.
“Didn’t you say you threw that guy away last week?”
“I did. But still… if we tell him to do something, shouldn’t that damn guy do as he’s told?”
“…Even if the head changes, Cheonhye bastards’ personalities remain the same.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
*
About 1,000 F-Rank essences.
Enough to attempt special essence synthesis, which held a 10% probability per attempt, a total of 100 times.
However, the result was utterly devastating.
“No way… fuck….”
After all the synthesis was done, what rolled across the floor were a mere three chunks of blue light.
Even those didn’t add up to a multiple of ten, leaving unused F-Rank essences.
In other words—
“How do they all fail?”
Every single one had failed.
Out of over 100 attempts, not a single special essence was successfully created.
In contrast, the remaining time was—
[23:48]
Less than a day.
“…This isn’t something I can solve with grinding.”
If I was short one or two, maybe, but if I’m short ten, even if I get lucky and succeed, I’ll need 100 essences… and I can’t gather all that and still hide inside a C-Rank dungeon beforehand.
“Am I gonna die like this?”
It was then.
Just as curses never stopped flowing from my mouth, ding-dong—the room doorbell rang.
And at the voice that followed, I had no choice but to spew even harsher curses.
“Kim Hee-seong. Came from Cheonhye.”
“…The fuck?”
“I know you’re in there, so open the door quickly.”
“…I’m fucked.”
Worry and questions swirled.
I mainly moved around areas fairly far from Seoul, but I guess moving to over ten places a day was too conspicuous?
Or had they been watching me from before?
Or was it just debt collection?
I couldn’t know anything.
But seeing as they tracked me down to the hotel, there was definitely a purpose that required finding me at all costs.
“I think I’ve been caught….”
I wished it wasn’t the case, but the probability was highest for that.
“So either way I was dead… Fuck my life….”
Deep contemplation washed over me amid the shittiness.
But that damned Cheonhye bastard didn’t even leave me that time.
Click—
As if he had a master key, he boldly opened the door and came in.
The somehow familiar face was that of a B-Rank hunter I’d seen passing by a few times.
“Hey you fucker, if there’s no answer, you should think they don’t want to open it and leave; why are you entering someone else’s room? You a pervert? Get the fuck out, you bastard!”
Thinking I was going to die anyway, curses flowed freely even before a B-Rank hunter who was nothing more than a pure monster despite his human appearance.
“Are you crazy?”
“Yeah, I’m crazy! So what!”
“That’s why you got kicked out. No, maybe getting kicked out made you this way…. Tsk tsk.”
Still, the atmosphere was a bit strange.
He was far more docile than expected, and I too began slowly regaining my senses.
‘What? He didn’t come to catch me?’
No matter how I looked at it, that wasn’t it.
He clearly had no intention to kill, and he paid no attention whatsoever to the sorcery artifacts strewn across the floor.
Nor was he taking the stance of a debt collector demanding money.
‘Does he not know… No, then why did he come?’
It seemed there was a reason entirely different from what I had thought… one I didn’t know about.
But I couldn’t change my attitude completely.
That would only make him more suspicious.
I shouted even more brazenly.
“So what! What do you want!”
“Enough. Come along nicely. We have somewhere to be.”
“No! Get lost!”
“Then I’ll have to drag you.”
At the same time, swish—he vanished in an instant, and then thud—! A blunt sensation struck my nape, and my vision went dark.
.
.
.
When I opened my eyes a moment later, what I saw was air dyed various colors, as if mixed with black, and a notification floating before my eyes.
[C-Rank Dungeon: Forbidden Cave]
-Destroy the curse stone at the end of the cave.
Around me, withered corpses of humans and monsters lay strewn about.
[This zone is under the strong influence of the very strong curse, [Fever]!]
[This zone is under the strong influence of the very strong curse, [Hardening]!]
[This zone is under the strong influence of the very strong curse, [Exhaustion]!]
…….
And countless warnings rose up.
“…What?”