————-<Dungeon Entrance>————-
[‘City of the Dead’ entrance confirmed.]
—————————————–
The scenery before my eyes completely changed.
An asphalt road stretched across a barren plain, much like an American highway. At the end of the road, the vague silhouette of a city was visible.
The temperature was slightly low, a weather akin to that between winter and spring, but tolerable enough.
I unfolded my spear and secured it. Its elongated blade allowed for both slashing and piercing with ease.
Sshurrrllng.
The others also drew their swords.
“I’ll draw their attention from the front. You guys focus on attacking swiftly from behind in a hit-and-run style.”
I assigned each of our roles, since I was the most experienced here.
“Okay.”
“Nyaan!”
I turned to Park Hayeon.
“Hayeon, you’ll also act as a tank.”
Though her growth was still lacking, her ‘Guardian of the Species’ skill made her decent enough to handle the role. She nodded with determined resolve.
With Park Hayeon and me at the front, we advanced.
“Is this a modern setting? It’s rare for dungeons to have such a backdrop. Interesting.”
Lee Sang-hyun muttered to himself, looking at the asphalt road.
True to his words, dungeons typically featured cavernous landscapes and forests, so it was unusual to see traces of civilization. But this wasn’t exactly modern Earth. The level of civilization here seemed to be advanced compared to Earth.
It was said that this dungeon had the ruins of a vanished civilization with its monsters set to be…
At that moment, the ground started shaking.
Du-du-du-du.
Dark fountains erupted across the open plain. On closer inspection, these ‘fountains’ were actually countless insects.
“HELL ANTS!”
I shouted loudly for those who didn’t know what we were dealing with. There were far more of them than expected. In a large skirmish, the side with the greater numbers usually had the advantage, so we needed to narrow our battlefield.
I had already contemplated how we would fight once we entered.
“Laurel, can you create something like a fire wall to limit the combat area?”
Preferably, a defensive shield would be better, but since Laurel appeared to have fire-based skills, a fire wall was the best option.
She seemed slightly irritated by my commanding tone but followed without hesitation.
“Fire Wall.”
A fierce wall of flames three meters high surrounded us, leaving only a tiny gap through which a single Hell Ant could pass. This was the plan—Park Hayeon and I would be stationed at the front to deal with the ants coming through this small gap.
Being near this small gap and close to the fire made it extremely hot. Had we not been Awakened Ones, we might not have been able to endure it for long.
“Let’s proceed according to the plan!”
“Understood!”
“Got it.”
The horizon was entirely covered in a black tide. The Hell Ants rushed at us like waves of dark water. The only fortunate thing was the fiery dike protecting us.
One of the ants leapt at me. It was about the size of a large dog. Unless it managed a solid bite, its mandibles wouldn’t pierce my skin, but I would be in danger if surrounded.
I impaled it with my spear. The ant thrashed as it dangled from the end, and I shook the spear to dislodge the corpse.
Park Hayeon was slightly struggling. She was allowing the ants to land a few blows, resulting in minor wounds. This seemed to be an issue due to her sword’s short reach.
Whenever an ant was about to deliver a lethal bite, she shot lightning, rendering it unconscious.
Elsia and Lee Sang-hyun helped by cutting the throats of the unconscious ants or aiding us in dispatching the ones we were directly battling. While not high-powered dealers, their primary role was to support the frontliners by preventing us from being surrounded.
“Fire Ball.”
As Laurel’s spell concluded, massive fireballs soared toward the rear ranks of the ant swarm.
“Kieeaaahh!”
The ants unfortunate enough to be in the fireballs’ path were scorched black and died midair.
I, to be honest, found it somewhat suffocating to have confined roles in set positions. Still, in party play, it’s crucial not to act recklessly. I could reserve that for moments of crisis.
Our party wasn’t yet in dire straits. We still had a number of options left to us. For instance, Isiah could transform into her ‘Magnus Cat’ form if necessary.
Another ant charged at me, but I swiftly cleaved it in two with my spear, its bodily fluid splattering everywhere.
An occasional winged ant managed to bypass the fire wall, but I used telekinesis to push it back into the flames.
“Kiiiiiiieeee!”
The ant suffered in agony before dying.
Thus, the battle waged on for over 30 minutes. Eventually, no more ants approached. However, the strange smell they emitted upon death filled the air.
Even for Awakened Ones, a 30-minute fight was taxing.
We all collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
“Exhausting…”
“I could go mad…”
Only Laurel and I managed to remain standing. I rummaged through the ant corpses. From insects, it was unlikely to find proper items—only occasionally did a ‘Orb of Growth’ appear.
I distributed the collected ‘Orbs of Growth’ to the rest of the team.
“Isn’t this a lot?”
“Don’t worry about it. I collected some along the way and consumed them bit by bit.”
I gave Park Hayeon an extra share of both Laurel’s and my portions.
After consuming the Orbs, we moved toward the city that was now visible in the distance.
Park Hayeon’s voice carried a slight hint of worry.
“I wonder what lies in that city?”
“If we encounter a boss, we can eliminate it and leave. If not, we’d probably have to spend the night there.”
Lee Sang-hyun offered his advice.
“Based on what we learned from the Academy, since there’s a place that obviously looks like it needs to be explored, it doesn’t seem like a field dungeon. There must be something significant in that city.”
As usual, his observation was sharp. This dungeon was supposed to conclude in that city. But even in the city, the boss wouldn’t be immediately accessible.
After about two hours of walking, we reached the entrance to the city. The signs, written in an unknown alien script, seemed to convey a sense akin to <Welcome to City>.
We moved forward with some anticipation.
The city was eerily silent. Judging from the wreckage, there had likely been some form of past conflict, with a few fallen buildings scattered around.
Vehicles were abandoned everywhere, some rusted, others completely burnt.
The city’s foundation appeared to be similar to Earth’s, made from steel beams and concrete. However, the architectural styles and road systems seemed foreign, confirming it was indeed a different world.
“In any case, it’s comforting to be in a city.”
The ‘Gigantic Forest’ we visited last time had been terrifying—dark with sunlight barely seeping through, and immensely vast.
In the center of the city stood an incredibly tall building. It looked like it was at least 200 stories high.
I pointed to it and suggested.
“Shall we go check that out? There must be something significant there.”
“Let’s go.”
“Nyaa.”
We followed the large boulevard. The atmosphere was gloomy.
Sck-ru-duhk.
The sound of stepping on a bone shard startled Lee Sang-hyun, causing him to jump.
“What, what was that?”
Surveying the area, it was filled with damaged military vehicles and bones. It seemed a fierce battle had taken place here. He picked up a handgun from the scattered bones.
“Will this still work?”
He aimed it into the sky and pulled the trigger.
Click. Click.
Unfortunately, it was out of ammunition.
We soon reached the entrance of the massive building.
There stood barricades surrounding the entrance, behind which countless skeletons similar to human bones lay. They seemed to be wearing identical uniforms—likely soldiers.
In the middle rested a robot about 3 meters tall, felled. It had several legs like a spider, with its upper body equipped with recognition cameras and twin machine guns.
“This dungeon is kind of a letdown, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. Much easier than that strange dungeon I went through with Shin.”
Park Hayeon and Lee Sang-hyun relaxed, sheathing their swords. It seemed carrying them had become burdensome.
‘Saying things like that… we shouldn’t.’
At that exact moment,
“Kweeeeerr.”
“Kraaaa.”
A sound akin to an animal’s growl pierced the air.
“What, what is that?”
“What was that noise just now?”
We began to survey our surroundings cautiously.
Soon, human-like forms started appearing from the distance, filling the wide road.
There were an overwhelming number of them.
“Grurrrrr…”
“Kwaeerrr.”
Bodies missing parts, exposing entrails that dangled, they moved slowly—undead beings. Zombies.
They approached us with sluggish, dragging steps.
“Zombies…! What do we do?!”
Park Hayeon’s voice was fraught with concern.
“Maybe we should go inside?”
Lee Sang-hyun suggested, pointing to the entrance of the large building.
At that moment, familiar sounds echoed from within the building.
“Kraaaahhh…”
“Kweeeeee!”
The cries of the zombies reverberated through the structure.
“Damn! Looks like it’s full of zombies inside as well! What the hell should we do now?”
“Nyaah!”
All eyes turned to me, awaiting direction.
Without panicking, I thought through our options. Engaging in combat again could lead to injuries; we were all exhausted.
Hidden gimmicks.
It was time to use those.
I addressed Isiah in a commanding tone,
“Isiah-ssenpai. For now, please do as I ask without questioning.”
