The elevator doors slowly opened as they arrived at the 1st floor.
Oh Chan-seok anxiously glanced around.
“Eh…?”
Everything in the surrounding area looked perfectly normal.
The ominous red zone was nowhere to be seen, and the elevator that had been invaded was back to normal.
“Did I manage to escape…?”
The corners of his mouth gradually curled upward.
He had survived the dragon. While he had no clue why the dungeon and dragon had suddenly appeared, it had clearly happened.
“Hah, hah… This wasn’t a dream, was it?”
He pinched his cheek, and the vivid pain confirmed that what had just happened was, in fact, real.
“Hmph…”
He sighed in relief.
His plan now was to settle his affairs and escape abroad to avoid being pursued by the ‘Dark Knight.’
“Is it too early to relax…?”
At that moment, a red-haired girl dressed in a pure white dress appeared. She had horns, wings, and a tail, and her slit-pupil golden eyes resembled the dragon he had just escaped from.
“Who… who are you? No, might I ask your name?”
Although Oh Chan-seok hoped otherwise, deep down, he suspected who—or rather, what—this girl was. The dragon that had been pursuing him and the dragon-like characteristics of this girl suggested a clear connection.
“Just an A-rank and you had the nerve to steal my guardian? You’ve got some guts.”
Laura had been able to maintain the dungeon for another 30 seconds but chose to deactivate it early in case of unexpected situations. If she had waited any longer, she would have exhausted all her mana, possibly causing her to faint.
“Excuse me! I believe there’s some misunderstanding. I’m not that bad of a guy!”
“Hm?”
With nothing left to lose, Oh Chan-seok began spouting lies without hesitation.
“I found Alpha lying unconscious on the street and brought him here. It must have been a villain’s attack or something! I’m a person who gets along well with heroes…”
Laura frowned, clearly unimpressed. While he spoke, she rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, showing how bored she was.
Gradually, Oh Chan-seok realized that Laura wasn’t listening to him at all and stopped talking. What was the point in continuing if she wasn’t even paying attention?
“I… I’m a good person…”
“Are you done yet?”
Ssshrrr——
Laura drew her sword.
“Aaaaaaah!”
It was a factory-made shortsword belonging to Shinnoda. A red aura enveloped the blade.
An Aura Blade — the mark of a Sword Master. Becoming a ‘Sword Master’ was an extraordinary feat, requiring not just innate talent but years of relentless effort.
Earthlings like Oh Chan-seok lacked the expertise to fully understand the power behind it.
“In my frail human body, my physical abilities are, by your standards, roughly a top-tier B-rank. You have high-quality armor and weapon enhancements, while I only have this cheap sword.”
“What are you trying to say…?”
“I’m giving you a chance.”
Laura smirked, tilting her head slightly and gesturing with her hand, indicating that he should come at her.
However, despite being a naturally cowardly man, Oh Chan-seok found his body rooted to the spot, even in front of this small girl. He was a tyrant to the weak or those incapacitated by his skills, but against someone equally strong or stronger, he was a pathetic coward.
“Haha… We’re both A-ranked. How about we just pretend this never happened? I didn’t even touch that guardian of yours or whatever.”
Despite his desperate attempt to negotiate, his legs were visibly trembling. His brain was telling him to stay calm and act tough, but his body wouldn’t cooperate.
“Then I’ll go.”
Laura leapt forward, closing the distance between them. Having lived an immortal life, she often visited the human world for entertainment and was well-versed in swordsmanship. Her movements were elegant and fluid, almost like a dance. The Aura Blade shimmered like a streak of red light as she attacked.
“Haaaah!”
In pure luck, Oh Chan-sek managed to block her first strike. His sword, however, did not fare so well. As he examined it, his face went pale — the blade had been cleanly cut in half.
“This is impossible! This sword is worth 20 billion and comes from a dungeon artifact! I’m in debt because of this thing—”
Oh Chan-seok’s sword was one of the top-tier dungeon artifacts: the ‘Shortsword of the Bored Angel.’ It wasn’t supposed to be this easily damaged.
“What kind of sorcery is this?!”
“Kukuku, humans find this amusing…”
Laura continued her assault. During her second strike, Oh Chan-sek’s sword was shattered into pieces by Laura’s Aura Blade.
Ting!
The fragments of his sword clattered to the ground. His heart sank.
Though he told himself to remain calm, his limbs trembled and cold sweat trickled down his back.
“I’ve studied humans for quite some time and know exactly what you are — a coward who can do nothing on his own and leeches off others’ kindness. You’re a parasite.”
“…”
He could only stare at Laura, his wide eyes filled with fear. In fact, he lacked the courage to meet her gaze, focusing instead on her chest level.
“Humans are social animals, meant to evolve selflessly for the benefit of the group. But occasionally, individuals like you appear — selfish, incapable failures of humanity.”
During her immortal existence, Laura had witnessed an advanced civilization of humans that thrived and then collapsed, reverting to the Stone Age. As society progressed, selfish individuals gained an advantage in reproduction, while selfless ones were exploited and left unable to produce offspring.
“I-I’m not… like that…”
Before Oh Chan-sek could finish his excuse, spiral-shaped beams of light appeared around his arms, severing them at the joints. Blood spurted as his arms fell to the ground.
The sheer agony caused him to accidentally look up, meeting Laura’s gaze.
Her frosty stare was filled with genuine disdain.
“Ughh…”
He screamed in pain, feeling his situation to be both unjust and cruel.
“Damn it, if I had this kind of power, who wouldn’t act like me? Everyone would do the same, so why are you picking on me? The god who gave me this skill should be questioned. Damn it!”
Laura swung her sword with cold indifference. A crimson flash blinded Oh Chan-sek.
Now, he could no longer stand. His legs were severed and lay near the automatic doors of the first-floor entrance, making them indistinguishable from pig legs.
“Krraaah! Is all this my fault?! Was there any free will involved here?! Any idiot would act the same way after gaining such a hypnotic power!”
With all four limbs severed, Oh Chan-sek lay on the ground, crying out in agony.
“Heal”
Thanks to Laura’s healing magic, the severed surfaces of Oh Chan-sek’s limbs sealed, halting the bleeding.
“Kukuku, maybe I should torment you using the method often employed by Karschas.”
Laura muttered this to herself with a face full of boredom.
The suffering of Oh Chan-sek was just beginning.
*
Shinnoda arrived at a massive cave. The ceiling seemed impossibly high.
“Nyaaang?”
The overwhelming mana radiating from the cave was even noticeable to Isiah. Shinnoda, more sensitive to mana, swayed under the assault but felt an odd pleasure rather than pain.
“I see you’ve found a good place.”
Shinnoda had only seen descriptions of this place, the Black Dragon’s Lair, and was somewhat worried about what to expect.
Thud. Thud.
Shinnoda and Isiah continued walking forward. After about twenty minutes, they spotted a massive white object shrouded in dark energy.
“We’ve found it!”
The object was a Dragon Bone, reminiscent of dinosaur fossils.
“Milady Laura, we’ve found the Dragon Bone.”
Shinnoda sent a message to Laura, but received no response.
“What are you doing?”
[It’s a bit busy right now. Someone has kidnapped Alpha. I’ll go check it out. You continue with your task.]
His expression darkened under his helmet.
Many scenarios flooded his mind. Perhaps the research facility that had taken Alpha and Omega had returned, or someone might have kidnapped them to threaten Shinnoda or the ‘Dark Knight.’ Either way, it annoyed him.
“You mean Alpha, not Omega?”
[Yes. Use all the mana-stones you’ve collected. They’ll temporarily strengthen me.]
“Mana-stones? Of course, use them as you please.”
These were stones collected during his ‘Dark Knight’ activities, harvested from corpses and worth around 1 billion won. Despite their value, he figured it was time to use them.
Shinnoda decided to focus on the mission at hand and approached the Dragon Bone. The closer he got, the stronger the mana waves crashed against him.
Upon closer inspection, the powerful mana wasn’t emanating from the Dragon Bone but from a strange black gem within it. He deduced that this black mana had turned the forest dark.
“This resembles the Dragon Heart I obtained from Mt. Gwanak… could it be?”
He pocketed the gem into an extradimensional pouch. As soon as he did, the world returned to its normal colors.
“This gem was affecting the entire area.”
A sweet aroma assaulted Shinnoda’s nose. It smelled like honey. Following the scent, he found a large hollow near the Dragon Bone filled with a red liquid.
“Is this the stuff that grants skills?”
Using his finger, Shinnoda dipped into the liquid and tasted it, murmuring softly. Instantly, he could feel an overwhelming surge of sweet energy.
Isiah crept over and sat by his side, imitating him by licking the red liquid.
“Mmm…”
Her wide eyes revealed her surprise at how good the liquid tasted.
“Yaoon.”
