Chapter 49

“Why? You said a tank’s best job is to protect party members.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, really? That’s different from what I understood, then?”

With those words, Cho-i clawed at Suui Kim’s hand with her fingernails. Suui Kim, who instantly lost his grip, moved away. Cho-i, being dragged across the red and black floor, thought.

“Go far away for now, then come back for me!”

I’m bad at finding my way! Cho-i’s cackling laughter soon echoed within the dark, gaping maw of the cave.

Once inside, Cho-i had to fight countless monsters again. The monsters, gouging at her eyes, tearing at her belly, and strangling her, seemed determined to kill her. The only regrettable thing was…

“I won’t die, you sons of bitches!”

She wouldn’t die no matter what pain she suffered or what injury she sustained.

“You guys picked the wrong person.”

As they tore at her skin, Cho-i raised her sword and cut off the Entities’ arms. She also slashed and tore out their eyeballs, which gleamed in the darkness. They were more troublesome than the Mantis. Perhaps it was because they had so many hands.She broke a hand that was stabbing and pulling at her eye, and with blood streaming from one eye, she slowly hunted the surrounding monsters.I don’t die. But you do. That fact alone left Cho-i with no despair. Pain was now sickeningly familiar.You can’t defeat me.That formula was ingrained in Cho-i’s mind like truth. Her hunt continued.And when her hair was matted with clumps of blood and the blood smeared on her skin had dried thick, Cho-i’s hunt came to an end. She blinked, looking at the cave filled with their corpses. Her eyelids felt sticky. She realized the inside of the cave was wider than she had thought.And slowly, she began to walk along the floor.Thud.Cho-i almost tripped over a corpse and braced herself against the wall to keep from falling. And on that wall, she felt something grooved. She raised her head. These were clearly letters. Letters she had seen the Entity use once. These characters, as if made of shapes.

“It looks like the same script I saw at the Place of Angels.”

Now that she thought about it, what kind of script did they use in the place she went with Taehyeok Sa? Back then, she had no time to look around because she was too busy killing and being killed. Taehyeok Sa, he’s really no help in life. She thought that as she felt along the wall. Indeed, it was the same script she had seen then.

“If so, then the place where the Angels came from and this place are the same world.”

She wondered if the same world could be so different, but then again, considering Earth, with its diverse environments, she supposed it was possible.

“The Mantis’s letters were somewhat readable, but these aren’t.”

Cho-i felt along the wall, gave up, and decided to go further inside. Surely, since monsters had poured out from within, there must be something in there.

“Huh?”

And so, Cho-i discovered it in the darkness.

“What is that?”

A faintly glowing door in the darkness.

“Is it a hidden dungeon?”

Was a hidden dungeon really found so easily? She approached and felt the door. It looked completely different from the iron door she had seen before. It was a door that looked like it belonged in some temple. The doorknob was a brilliant gold, the uniformly attached gold decorations were smooth, and the door was made of marble, a cold, white color.

“Why is it so different from last time?”

Cho-i slowly opened the door. And she saw it. The sight of the Bizarre World, precisely divided in half.

“…Wow.”

Cho-i’s eyes widened as she gazed at the scene. To the left, an orange-tinged sky and the ruins of a half-collapsed temple were visible, while to the right, black land, a red sky, and flowing lava unfolded. Cho-i blinked and began to walk down the central path. There was nothing there. Only space existed.

“Did all those monsters come from here?”

She stood on the central path, looking at both sides, then turned to the right.

‘Cho-i. Let’s go through this.’

“What was that sound just now…”

A voice was heard. Clearly. It was an unknown language, but the pronunciation was definitely from somewhere. It seemed like it might be the same language as those symbols. She followed the voice and entered the middle of the ground on the right. She really thought there was nothing here. But it was just a trap. Not long after she stepped on the ground, the floor began to vibrate.

“Vibration?”

And at that moment, countless hands shot up from the floor.

“Ah, so it’s starting now?”

Cho-i turned her head and looked at the door. The door was still open.

‘They shouldn’t come in here.’

They probably all ran away already. She thought complacently and swung her sword at the white and black hands rushing to attack her. The hands entangled Cho-i’s arms and legs, cutting and scratching her body with sharp claws. Cho-i shook off and cut down the arms, looking around. Another cave was visible in the distance.

“Everything here is a cave.”

But since it’s a hidden dungeon, there must be something in it. She grinned and tore off the hand gripping her neck. The long claws almost peeled off her skin. Soon, she regenerated, and the pain was momentary. However, other pains began to overwhelm her. The hands that emerged from the floor had multiple joints, as if their substance was the ground itself. It was a grotesque shape where an arm would extend from where an elbow should be, and then another joint below that. She smiled and tilted her head. Well, what could be inside there? She was a little, even excited. She didn’t care if the hands clawed at her, or poked out her eyes, she just tore off what was grabbing her legs and walked forward. Black claws deeply scratched her cheek. Ignoring the tearing skin, the rising flesh, and the flowing blood, she continued to move forward. Thus, she reached the cave. As soon as she reached the cave, the hands all disappeared back into the ground as if they had never been there. She was covered in blood. Her stomach had been pierced several times and her arm had been torn off on the way, but she had safely regenerated. It was a strange sensation to have her arm lying there while a new arm sprouted from below her shoulder.

“Let’s see, what have you hidden here?”

She began to walk into the cave. Then, a large hand suddenly shot out from inside the black cave. The entity was black and sharp like a demon’s arm. The entity did not attack Cho-i but pointed in one direction. She stumbled and headed in that direction. The cave was not very deep. And there, Cho-i found the black necklace being held up by the black hands.

“This is the hidden item?”

Before she touched the item, she brought up a thought she had put aside.

“Why have hidden dungeons, which others rarely see even one of in their lifetime, appeared before me twice?”

She crossed her arms and pondered. What was the commonality between then and now? But nothing really came to mind.

“Anyway, I need to get out as soon as possible.”

She snatched the black necklace in one swift motion.

* * *

Meanwhile, the party members, who thought Cho-i was struggling inside the cave, cleared out the monsters that had come outside and rushed into the cave. And inside the cave, they found piles of monster corpses. The corpses were stacked so high that they completely blocked the path inside.

“Where did this girl go…!”

Suui Kim shouted as she dug through the mountain of monsters. Other party members, even Ganansu, were out clearing away the corpses of dead monsters. As a path was cleared and they entered the cave, the four discovered a faintly glowing door deep inside.

“Hey, no way.”

“A hidden dungeon?”

“No way.”

Suui Kim, Yeonwoo Han, and Namsu Kang rushed towards the door. They found that the door was already open. The three exchanged glances. It was obvious that Cho-i Hyeon would have opened the door and walked in without a second thought.

“Let’s go in.”

“This is crazy. We don’t know where she might pop up.”

“Let’s go in and find her first, then talk.”

“Am I going in too?”

“Of course.”

Ganansu tried to say he wanted to be left out, but leaving Ganansu alone was even more dangerous. Ganansu fully agreed with that, so he cried and entered the hidden dungeon with them. Their awe at the sight of the world, divided exactly in half, was short-lived. They looked at the Land of Devils on the right, where thousands of hands protruded towards the sky, and said,

“Surely, she wouldn’t have headed that way unless she had no common sense, right?”

“…Surely not.”

“Let’s first search the side that looks safe, and if not… let’s try going that way.”

“Alright.”

So the four headed towards the Land of Angels. Unbeknownst to them, Cho-i had already entered the cave on the right. Fortunately, the Land of Angels accepted them without much resistance. They stepped into the crumbling temple. The Entity was half-ruined but shone brilliantly, not losing its white radiance.

“Do you think Cho-i Hunter is here?”

“We’ll have to search to find out. Don’t separate. Since it’s a hidden dungeon, we don’t know what might happen.”

They ran past the pillars erected everywhere. And how long did they run? Click- Namsu Kang looked down at his feet. The floor had a square indentation, as if a button had been pressed.

“No way…”

Everyone stopped and looked at his feet. Everyone had a ‘no way’ look on their faces, but ‘no way’ often leads to trouble. Blades began to shoot out from between the tall pillars set up everywhere.

“Damn it!”

“Everyone, dodge!”

Suui Kim instantly drew her sword and deflected the blades. But there were too many blades. Each of them was cut on some part of their body and groaned.

“Aargh!”

Especially Ganansu, a B-Rank, was lying on the floor, having been severely cut across his back.

“Come here!”

Suddenly, Yeonwoo Han shouted.

[Casting skill: Circular Protection!] [Fully protecting targets within a 10m radius!]