The Minotaurus Dungeon was dark.
With only the light of a flashlight, they could barely see ahead, and Seyoung Jang muttered, taking a deep drag from her cigarette.
“So, what are we going to do now?”
By the time they entered the Minotaurus Dungeon, they were already moving separately from Kanghyeon Lee’s group.
A moment later, she slowly exhaled cigarette smoke into the darkness.
“We can’t just take care of Kanghyeon Lee alone in our current situation. As Team Leader Seo said, we need to kill the other hunters with our own hands.”
Seyoung Jang’s words were accurate.
As Gyuhye Seo had said, more scapegoats were needed to avoid suspicion. Killing just Kanghyeon Lee would be too conspicuous. Therefore, other hunters had to be killed as well. Whether it was some or all of them.
“Wouldn’t it be cleaner if we just dealt with all of them?”
A hunter observing the path ahead turned back and said. His name was Sanghun Han. He was an A-Rank Hunter and one of the members of the team led by Gyuhye Seo. In his hand, he held a machete that smelled faintly of blood.
“After all, who would know if we killed them all in a dungeon like this? Right?”
“That’s too dangerous, Sanghun-ssi.”
Kangmin Chul chimed in at Sanghun Han’s words.
“If we kill everyone, Yerin Jeong will be suspicious.”
Everyone else died, but they survived? That was also too unnatural. Yerin Jeong was more likely to investigate meticulously.
“Rather than that, it would be more natural to collapse the dungeon and create a cover-up.”
“To reduce suspicion, you want to collapse the dungeon?”
Seyoung Jang spat out the cigarette filter she was chewing onto the ground and sneered.
“Then, at least a few of us need to survive to bear witness to the ‘tragic accident.’ That’s interesting.”
Her voice was filled with blatant disbelief and sarcasm.
“So, how are you going to decide who survives and who makes a heroic sacrifice, our resident brain?”
“Well, that’s…”
In fact, Kangmin Chul knew well that no matter which choice they made, it would inevitably be unnatural.
“Let’s observe their movements first and then talk about it again.”
Everyone nodded at Kangmin Chul’s words. The reason they could talk so calmly was that they had something to rely on.
“They’re moving again.”
Kangmin Chul took out a small device from his pocket. It was a tracker. On the screen, a blue dot was moving, and that dot was Kanghyeon Lee’s movement. Before entering the dungeon, they had secretly attached a tracker to Kanghyeon Lee.
Currently, Kanghyeon Lee was moving very slowly.
“I guess it’s a bit burdensome to move quickly with such a large number of people,” Seyoung Jang said, taking out a new cigarette. “Excluding Kanghyeon Lee, there are twenty-seven people on their side. Ten A-Rank Hunters and seventeen B-Rank Hunters. What are you going to do about that?”
On the other hand, there were thirteen people on their side. Although numerically inferior, there was no worry.
“Let’s lure monsters and create chaos,” Sanghun Han said with a demon-like smile. Then, they could carry out their plan amidst everyone’s confusion. But just then, Kangmin Chul shouted.
“They’re moving! And at a suddenly fast speed!”
The dot shown on the tracker began to move at an incredible speed.
“……!”
Their movement was different from Kanghyeon Lee’s slow movement until now.
“Monsters appeared! That’s why they’re all running away!” Sanghun Han shouted with excitement. Without even needing to lure monsters, the opportunity arrived earlier than expected.
“This is our chance! Let’s take care of all of them!” They also picked up speed and began to go deeper into the dungeon.
***
Quite some time had passed since entering the dungeon. I deliberately advanced slowly, reasoning that it was dangerous. In reality, there was no urgency, but it was a natural course of action for any hunter who knew how dangerous this dungeon was.
“Everyone maintain your defensive formation. You never know when a monster might pop out in a dungeon.”
These were things any hunter would know. Even then, everyone here was an A-Rank and B-Rank Hunter. Nevertheless, they scanned their surroundings with even more tense expressions at my instructions. Fortunately, it seemed everyone agreed, and they explored the Minotaurus Dungeon with thorough vigilance.
“To find the dark stone, we need to go to the deepest part of the dungeon. I wish there were no monsters like now…” Team Leader Namgung Hyuk trailed off. A few people nodded at his words. So far, no monsters had appeared. Of course, it was because I was here, but they didn’t know that. They merely thought they were lucky. Especially hunters like Namgung Hyuk, who had previous experience in this dungeon, breathed sighs of relief simply because they hadn’t encountered any monsters.
But they also knew. They knew the obvious fact that monsters would appear as they went deeper into the dungeon. The terrifying truth that they would eventually have to face them. They didn’t know when that would be, but as Namgung Hyuk said, not encountering monsters was the top priority.
‘Well, that doesn’t matter.’ This dungeon is mine, so who would dare to mess with us? Unless I give separate orders, they won’t approach me. Rather, I was worried about Kangmin Chul’s group who had split off from here.
‘Did they really think they’d be fine even after attaching a tracker to me?’ I had known that Kangmin Chul had secretly attached a tracker to me long before we entered the dungeon.
‘So that’s how they’d use the Spirit Affinity trait.’ The B-Rank trait ‘Spirit Affinity,’ which I acquired as a sacrifice at some point. Although my race wasn’t Elf, making it difficult to feel spirits, I felt something alien when the tracker was attached to my clothes like now. Moreover, the tracker itself was made from resources found in the dungeon. Nowadays, there’s hardly anything that doesn’t use dungeon resources. That meant the tracker contained a minuscule amount of mana, which my other trait, A-Rank Mana Sensitivity, could easily detect. Thanks to that, I was deliberately wearing the tracker. However, playing along for fun only lasts so long.
‘I have no reason to stand by when they could be aiming for my back at any moment.’ Honestly, at first, I wanted to believe them. I wanted to believe that volunteering here was ultimately a stance for the Fire Bird Guild. However, Kangmin Chul’s actions made it clear they had no such intentions. Eventually, I had no choice but to respond to their actions.
‘If they make a move, casualties are unavoidable.’ Maru and I are fine. But I was worried that other people might get caught up in it for no reason. ‘That must not happen.’ I just need to make a move before they do. “Let’s take a short break here.” It was the opportune moment. Even though we hadn’t encountered any monsters so far, staying vigilant was subtly draining. At my words, the hunters relaxed their guard and took a rest. “Then, since we don’t know what’s ahead, let’s send Maru first.” I detached the tracker from my clothes and gently attached it to Maru’s robe. “Nguu?” Maru looked at me with questioning eyes. To Maru, I quietly whispered, “Go to Necros and the Death Knight. Hurry and finish them off, then come back. Understood?” ‘Nguu!’ Having lived with Maru for quite some time, he understood the meaning of my words well. With the tracker attached, Maru started running forward with excited steps.
***
The center of the dungeon. Baalcherit rose from his seat. “Hm? Are they already leaving?” The appearing undead monsters were moving their positions. “…” The Death Knight remained silent. “Click clack.” Necros said something to Baalcherit and turned his back. As the two 5-Star undead monsters prepared to move, the rest of the undead monsters had no choice but to follow them. “Demonic Sword… need power…” Among them was Bertter, who had become a 4-Star Durahan. At that moment. “Demonic Sword…!” Bertter, sensing something, tried to rush forward. Just as he was about to move quickly, Necros’s bony hand grabbed Bertter. “Click clack clack?” (Got rope?) Necros tilted his head and asked Baalcherit. “Chieftain, do you have rope?” Baalcherit turned his head towards the Minotaurus Chieftain beside him and asked, “If you don’t have rope, you might have to cut off your horns to make one.” “…Moo.” (…Yes.) The Chieftain nodded hastily and replied. In fact, Baalcherit was joking, but the joke didn’t land as a joke.
“Bring it.” At Baalcherit’s command, the Minotaurus Chieftain hurriedly brought a thick rope from a corner of the dungeon. A moment later, Necros, having received the rope, tightly bound Bertter’s body. “Demonic Sword…!!” Even while bound by the rope, Bertter kept exclaiming “Demonic Sword.” He struggled continuously, but he couldn’t withstand Necros’s strength. “…” The Demonic Sword is the sword held by Maru, who is guarding the Master. Bertter’s reaction meant that Maru was somewhere in this dungeon. “Click clack.” Leo, holding the end of the rope binding Bertter, carefully led him as if walking a dog. The Death Knight and Skeleton Knights, along with the Banshees, followed Necros. After walking for a while. “Demonic Sword…! Power!!” Following only Bertter, they were able to meet Maru. Upon seeing the Demonic Sword held by Maru, Bertter began to thrash even more. However, the problem was separate. “Demonic Sword…! Ma…” Bertter’s gaze, which had been shouting “Demonic Sword,” turned towards Maru. Maru. The Skeleton Priest. And he had become a 6-Star somehow. “Ah…” No matter how much of a 4-Star Bertter was, he couldn’t possibly snatch the Demonic Sword held by the 6-Star Maru. Moreover, Maru even had the Holy Sword. If Bertter approached, his body would surely be annihilated. “Demonic Sword… not needed…” Bertter immediately lowered his eyes to the ground. “Click clack.” Necros pulled Bertter with the rope and dragged him out. Thus, the undead monsters were able to gather in one place. 6-Star Maru. 5-Star Necros. 5-Star Death Knight. There were as many as three monsters of 5-Star class or higher. And Bertter, a 4-Star, Skeleton Knights, and Banshees, a 3-Star, all gathered in one place and maintained silence. “Lee Kang-hyeon-nim! It’s a big…” Kangmin Chul appeared with a desperate voice. It was an act to induce complacency in the opponent. However. “…problem…” Kangmin Chul could only show a bewildered expression. ‘Huh?’ He followed the tracker, but Kanghyeon Lee wasn’t here; why were only the undead monsters here? “Why are you just standing there?” Seyoung Jang, who followed, appeared with a cigarette in her mouth. “Uh…” She too was so surprised that the cigarette dropped from her mouth. “Is my eyesight failing me?” Seyoung Jang rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was dreaming. But even when she opened her eyes again, it was the same. Before her eyes stood the Arch Lich, who had bound the Death Knight and the Durahan. And instead of Kanghyeon Lee, who should have been there, his familiar stood guard. “Shit.” Sanghun Han also blurted out a curse. At that moment, he realized they had fallen into a trap. Sanghun Han hastily raised the blood-stained machete. However, it provoked Bertter’s obsession. “Sword…! Not the Demonic Sword, but power…!!” Bertter, tied by the rope, struggled to run towards Sanghun Han. Nod. Necros nodded once and released the rope in his hand. It was time for the undead trio to hunt.
