“This bone is…”
“Did a ritual happen here? It feels like quite some time has passed, maybe 2-3 weeks?”
“Aren’t those guys doing a ritual at every dungeon?”
As the companions looked at the pile of bones that seemed to belong to both monsters and people, they each shared their speculations.
“Are these guys insane? They could have sacrificed themselves if they wanted to do a ritual instead of dragging innocent people into it!”
Joo-ah picked up what was clearly a woman’s clothing item and yelled out in a fit of rage.
“Did these idiots have some urgent business? They seem to have left in a hurry without tidying up?”
“This isn’t a personal bedroom, so there’s no need to clean up, right?”
“Come on, even an ice queen should know that erasing traces is common sense, right?”
“Hmm… I suppose.”
I placed my hand on the black altar supporting the dust-covered bones.
Blue-eyed Simple Altar
– An altar made of black mahogany, allowing blue-eyed cultists to perform rituals anywhere.
‘It’s been a while. It means it’s a valuable item if an explanation pops up. Did they have something urgent to deal with that they couldn’t even grab this?’
It was not a solid piece but a structure made by assembling several pieces of wood.
If it were an urgent situation, they wouldn’t even have time to dismantle it, so they could have just discarded it.
For now, I decided to put it in my space.
– Collected the second “Blue-eyed Simple Altar.”
‘… Wait a second.’
The system doesn’t show messages without significance, right?
‘Collecting… What happens if I gather a lot of these?’
An altar offering to the blue-eyed deity. If a lot of this ominous item gathers…
‘If I’m unlucky, the blue-eyed one might notice my existence.’
Or maybe, another event might occur.
‘This is the most troubling part.’
Sometimes, I can’t get a grasp of what might happen, and this is precisely one of those times.
For now, I decided to ponder it carefully and continued searching the inside with my companions.
“Whoa?! There are traces of a gate here!!”
“What? Where exactly?”
Where Ah-rin pointed was a smooth, perfectly circular hole in the wall.
“I’ve heard that if a gate forms and disappears to the wall, it looks like this.”
“Certainly… So the ones here might have fought the beings that came from the gate?”
‘Or they might have entered through the gate.’
Given the lack of signs of battle, the latter seemed more likely.
We searched further inside but couldn’t find anything special.
“With just this clue, it’s hard to figure anything out. How about we go outside, shoot off a flare, and proceed?”
*Piyuung—* *Perung!*
Once outside, we alerted the administrators with the danger signal and left immediately without waiting for them.
They’d probably reach the same conclusion we did, just by looking around.
Afterward, we faced another two medium-sized dire wolf packs for two hours.
The bunch of about 50-60 didn’t stand a chance against us anymore, allowing us to overpower them without much difficulty.
“Oh, a Rune of Thorns. This is a good stat. The rune drop rate is great today!”
“True… Only high-grade ones have dropped. It’s like night and day compared to a few days ago when we were with the Veil Four-member Party.”
‘…… This is surely odd.’
Even considering the dungeon’s instability, the difference in probability is just too much.
‘The only thing that’s changed is the composition of the party. But I can’t see those guys having a kind of ability that would affect that. Unless…’
Thinking of a possibility, I asked the cat that was snuggled in Eun-young’s arms.
‘Azraelon—’
(?! How do you know my true name?!)
‘I heard what your master said. You weren’t even trying to hide it. By the way, it’s “Azra”. Do you have any ability related to “luck”?’
I’d heard of beings that had such innate abilities, even if they don’t show up in stats.
Hunters with abnormally good luck.
(Don’t you dare shorten my name without permission!)
‘Alright, then please answer the question.’
The cat wiped its face with its paw a few times before responding.
(Do you think I only have a few special abilities? Hmph!)
The haughty cat said only that and then nestled into Eun-young’s arms again.
Eun-young, who had recently been gaining weight, had quite a bust that could almost bury the cat’s head.
‘Definitely a male.’
Regardless, it seemed clear that being around “Azra” brought about a lucky outcome.
‘Can it provide that effect not just for itself but for the entire party? I thought it was just strong in brute force, but it has some strange abilities too. What on earth is that guy’s identity?’
I only saw Azra’s power once.
That was when it unleashed a tremendous shockwave against a ghoul mutant.
Just that one ability alone would deter most monsters from approaching, and with him being so talented, I was deeply curious about what other abilities he might possess.
Regardless, I felt the need to guide Ham Eun-young properly, especially because of that little furry character. It would be nice if I could keep Noh Ha-yoon from going anywhere as well.
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
“There’s a centipede hell up ahead. Distance… about 250 meters?”
*Nodding.*
“Is Il-wol gonna be the one to catch the first one again?”
The party members slowly began to grasp my abilities.
In fact, they couldn’t be ignorant any longer.
They couldn’t help but notice, as I kept using skills similar to those employed by the monsters we had encountered earlier.
I asked for their permission and began to dig into the ground.
*Kwa-kwa-kwaak—*
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1Um5uZnVjSEpLcGFDdEZnS1FJVnIyL1hCRDdWdmFCbDNRSy8zRWt2SnkxTA
As I moved forward effortlessly, like swimming underground, I realized the “Centipede Hell” sensed me and began to flee, prompting me to pick up speed.
‘Where do you think you’re running off to?’
The centipede was surprisingly fast for its size, but it seemed to think it wouldn’t be able to ditch me underground, so it clumsily turned to run on the surface.
I followed it and as I leaped out, its tail, armed with a hooked stinger, was aiming straight for my head.
*Swish──!*
‘Ugh— What kind of magic power is that?’
The quantity and quality of magic power concentrated at the tip of its tail were terrifying.
If that attack hit, even Lizardman 1 wouldn’t have walked away unscathed.
*Thud—!*
But I blocked its attack with just my arm, without any kind of equipment.
– When rushing toward an enemy outside of the burrow, defense +135.
The options increased significantly as the level of “Burrow Destroyer” rose, hardening my arm tougher than any shield.
– Kiiick?!
It was stunned to see all of its power utterly thwarted, its antennae flailing in confusion.
*Clang──!*
I bound it with [Chain of Flame], gripping its tail, I spiraled it around a few times.
*Whoosh— Whoosh—*
Then I launched it high into the air, creating a bizarre image of the massive centipede wriggling in the clear blue sky.
*Hoo—*
With a powerful leap into the air after it, I swung my sword down five times.
As [Flame Cut] landed rapidly, sufficient marks accumulated on its body.
*BOOOOOM──!*
I unleashed a [Flame Explosion] right there in the air.
*Dudududuk—*
Its body spiraled upwards in columns of flame that consumed it, and the debris falling down were remnants of its countless legs.
– You have defeated “Small Centipede Hell” for the first time!
– Randomly steals skills and traits from “Small Centipede Hell”!
– Acquired trait [Burrow Rush]!
– Trait [Burrow Destroyer] merges with [Burrow Rush].
[Burrow Destroyer Lv.Max]
– You can dig through all terrains similar to the ground much more easily.
– Your speed while digging increases by 100%.
– You gain heightened senses to detect enemies outside the burrow.
– When charging at designated enemies outside the burrow, defense increases by 250.
– Attack increases in proportion to the time spent waiting underground. (Once you attack, the increased attack power resets.)
‘Huh— I’m already at max level?’
I was just beginning to enjoy the thrill of leveling up, so it was somewhat disappointing.
However, the increase in skill points due to defeating the centipede hell was incredible.
The newly acquired option, where attack power rises based on how long I wait underground, seemed like it would come in handy.
– Acquired skill [Toxic Scale]!
– Achievement [Pioneer] is activated.
– All attributes increase by 2.
As I gained the skills and traits of the centipede hell, my stats increased, and my sense reached 170.
A small hum echoed through my mind as the area of my enhanced senses expanded.
Now the range of my senses was close to 6km.
It had expanded so much that I felt burdened by the thought of extending it to its maximum limit.
[Toxic Scale]
– The spiky stinger will never miss its prey once it bites.
– Upon a successful attack, it injects poison with paralysis effects.
‘Toxic stinger? Don’t tell me…’
Feeling uneasy, I felt something trying to burst out from between my waist and hips.
I hurriedly focused my will to prevent a tail from forming.
‘Phew— Are horns and tails really what happens now?’
It was already horrifying to switch to combat type, but if all the powers I just acquired manifested, it would be more like a chimera.
‘But it’s convenient to have a rear attack method without moving my spikes.’
“……..”
“……..”
When I returned after gathering the legs of the centipede hell, all the companions were silently staring at me, mesmerized.
Their lips quivered; it felt like they wanted to say something, but they didn’t voice it.
“Sh-Should we go?”
“Yeah…”
My companions seemed somewhat dejected.
“Honestly, if it wasn’t for the minimum number of members, Yeon-hee could have gone back alone. Right? Just having Il-wol would have sufficed…”
Joo-ah was the first to finally speak to Yeon-hee.
She implied that they could explore the dungeon just fine without them.
Yeon-hee completely disagreed, but I believed it was true.
They were probably all feeling this way.
“Ah, who cares? I don’t mind going through the dungeon with anyone. It’s just, going with Yeon-hee often leads to amusing things happening, so I prefer that. And Joo-ah, quit thinking unnecessary thoughts and focus on our work. Making money safely is what you’re most concerned about, right?”
“I was just asking. Don’t overreact.”
Bae Joo-ah cautiously inquired but sighed in relief internally after hearing Lee Yeon-hee’s reply.
She was worried about possibly being excluded from the party.
Having just surpassed level 60 and thinking she’d grown a lot, she felt small again seeing Il-wol.
‘I have to cling on somehow. Just how much money is earned each time we go through the dungeon?’
Bae Joo-ah resolved to focus on developing her skills to enhance her value.
Unlike her, Baek Ah-rin was absorbed in other thoughts.
‘I still don’t understand why Il-wol’s swordsmanship has suddenly improved so much…’
After witnessing Il-wol easily slice a dire wolf mutant in half, that thought occupied her mind.
It was a level she couldn’t aspire to reach.
Of course, given that she specialized in one-on-one combat, her swordsmanship was fundamentally different, but ultimately, swords aim for the same goal.
It was only a few weeks ago that Ah-rin had called him her master, so her mind was understandably troubled.
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