Chapter 161

Cho-i Hyeon tapped the door. It was firmly closed and had no handle. It seemed like a door that just needed to be pushed open. Cho-i Hyeon looked back at Nara Shim.

“You found it, so do you want to open it?”

“Oh, no! You open it!”

“Always so scared…”

Cho-i glanced back at her companions, her hands on the door. Her eyes met Taeyang Kang’s. Taeyang Kang nodded. Cho-i looked forward and opened the door. Creak, the door swung open with an eerie sound. The sight that greeted Cho-i after the door opened made her a little flustered. It was because, just like in the Mantis Hidden Dungeon, a stone path was laid out in a straight line, blocked on all sides.

“I’m feeling a sense of deja vu.”

“Me too.”

“Hmm.”

Cho-i Hyeon started walking forward with heavy steps. Her companions followed behind her.

“Still, the fact that a hidden dungeon appeared means there was someone suitable among us.”

“Dongju Kim the hunter, Yeonhan Kim the hunter, and Zhixuan the hunter weren’t here last time, right?”

“Then it must be one of those three.”

“Is that how it is?”

“Yes. That’s how it is.”

As Cho-i Hyeon walked along the long stone path, she felt a strange sense of unease. It could even be called trauma. She became increasingly agitated as the situation became similar to when she was first abandoned.

“What’s wrong?”

And the first to notice this change was Nara Shim. Perhaps Nara Shim, having been there herself, recognized Cho-i Hyeon’s feelings. Nara Shim, feeling a peculiar sensation, approached Cho-i Hyeon and gently patted her shoulder.

“The situation will be different this time.”

“It better be.”

Cho-i Hyeon’s voice was stiff. Those who saw her like this for the first time tilted their heads. Nara Shim found it difficult to explain why she was like this, and Cho-i Hyeon didn’t particularly want to explain about the Entity. Clatter. Just then, Cho-i stepped on something. It was the same stone path, but one of the stones she stepped on sank down. She quickly backed away, but it was already too late. A clanging sound came from the ceiling.

“Everyone, get out of the way!”

“What’s the point of telling us to get out of the way in such a narrow space!”

“That’s true!”

Cho-i Hyeon raised her shield.

[Casting skill Pushback!]

Spikes emerged from the ceiling and began to fall over their heads. Cho-i Hyeon shielded Nara Shim and cast Pushback, while Dongju Kim, Yeonhan Kim, and Zhixuan each took a defensive stance on their own. Clang! Clang! Dongju Kim and Yeonhan Kim struck down the falling spikes with their swords, and Zhixuan wrapped his Shadow around his body to block the spikes. And Cho-i Hyeon repelled the spikes with her Pushback skill.

“Ah! They’re bouncing off!”

When the spikes Cho-i Hyeon repelled bounced towards Zhixuan, Zhixuan showed subtle annoyance. Cho-i Hyeon stuck out her tongue at him and protected Nara Shim until all the spikes had fallen. Nara Shim clung to Cho-i Hyeon.

“Didn’t we not have traps like this last time?”

“No, well. It’s a different dungeon this time.”

Cho-i Hyeon said in a strangely calm voice. Yes, just because it was similar didn’t mean it was the same situation as last time. Cho-i Hyeon and the rest of the party were strong, and she would not be abandoned again. Cho-i Hyeon knew that well enough.

“It seems to be settled for now.”

At that, Cho-i Hyeon lowered her shield and looked at the ceiling. Nothing more seemed to be falling from the perforated ceiling.

“It seems this hidden dungeon has traps everywhere.”

Cho-i looked ahead. The straight path stretched endlessly, only darkness visible. She grabbed Nara Shim around the waist and lifted her up.

“What? What?”

“If there are many traps, there’s only one way.”

“What is it, what is it? I’m nervous!”

“Run in a straight line.”

Cho-i grinned, and Yeonhan Kim and Dongju Kim also smiled in agreement. Zhixuan sighed. As his sigh hit the floor, Cho-i Hyeon pushed off the ground and dashed forward. Boom! Crash! As she started running, she triggered numerous traps, causing walls and floors to explode.

“Aaaah! Kyaaah!”

Only Nara Shim screamed, clinging to Cho-i Hyeon’s side. When a large boulder rolled, Cho-i Hyeon stood at the very front and destroyed it. When spikes shot out from the walls, Yeonhan Kim and Dongju Kim took the left and right sides respectively to smash the spikes. Zhixuan, meanwhile,

“Ah, I really hate this kind of thing.”

Zhixuan stood in the middle of the group, doing nothing as if he was in a protected position.

“It’s coming from above!”

“Ugh.”

But when a trap activated from the ceiling again, he had no choice but to summon Shadow to block above their heads. Splish-! An unknown liquid poured down on them. The Shadow blocking above their heads hissed and melted. It seemed to be an acid-like liquid.

“There’s really everything here.”

Cho-i Hyeon said, holding Nara Shim tightly by her side. And despite all that running, the end of the path was still not in sight. Cho-i Hyeon started running again.

“Where do you think this ends?”

“I wonder. It’s not an endless path, is it? Surely not?”

“Oh, come on, no way.”

Clunk- And Cho-i Hyeon stepped on something again. As soon as everyone heard the sound, they raised their weapons, preparing for whatever might fly at them from all directions. With a clunk, a sound of something opening was heard. That is to say. Where? The floor where Cho-i Hyeon was standing.

“Oh.”

Just before Cho-i Hyeon fell, she threw Nara Shim, whom she was holding, to the side.

“Kyaaah!”

“Hunter Cho-i Hyeon!”

As soon as Yeonhan Kim caught Nara Shim, Cho-i Hyeon plummeted below the floor. Into a pitch-black, gaping abyss with no end in sight. And the floor clunked shut again with a bang. While everyone stared down at the floor in dismay, Cho-i Hyeon was still falling.

***

“Hmm.”

How did this happen? Cho-i Hyeon thought as she fell. About ten seconds had passed since she fell, and she was still falling. She began to wonder how deep this place was.

Or this isn’t some strange Nara-like place either.

Right. If this were a strange Nara, there wouldn’t be liquid like mountains, nor awls to pierce people. There would be drugs that make one’s body bigger or smaller. Choi Hyeon then suddenly noticed the floor getting closer.

“Whoa!”

She slammed her shield into the wall to slow down. Scraaaape- Her body slowly began to stop, and she was able to land safely on the floor. After landing, she saw a space wider than the straight path she had been walking on until now. Hmm, so.

“It looks like a prison?”

The long, continuous path was the same, but both sides were made of iron bars. Choi looked inside the iron bars instead of walking forward.

“Ugh.”

And immediately frowned. Inside, there were spherical entities made up of hundreds of eyeballs. So many that they almost filled the prison. She made a gesture of dry heaving and loitered in front of the prison.

“Why is this in prison?”

She looked at the prison across from her. There, too, a monster with dozens of eyeballs was imprisoned. What was a bit strange was that all the entities stood still, having stopped moving. It seemed like they could struggle to escape the prison.

“More importantly, even monsters have the concept of a prison?”

She began to recall the dungeons she had passed through so far. Come to think of it, she didn’t remember reading the script of this world. She didn’t have time to read either. She started walking forward, looking for any script that might be in the prison. Inside the prison, only monsters with dozens of eyeballs were lined up and confined.

“Oh, over there.”

Choi Hyeon found some writing on a wall. The entity also found writing on the wall inside the prison. It was difficult to read the writing because the monster was crowded. It was also dark.

“Let’s see….”

She pressed tightly against the iron bars and began to read the writing. The monster was still motionless.

“The monsters that appeared one day, the Calamity. Destroying our world….”

Choi Hyeon thought she had read this somewhere before. Indeed, according to the entity’s story, the dungeon was a fragment of a Ruined World. It would be strange if there were no such words. She tried to classify the hidden dungeons in her mind but soon shook her head.

“My head hurts.”

The dungeons she had seen so far had created hidden dungeons to carry on their will, passing on their legacy. But.

“A dungeon is ultimately a fragment broken off from that world. It seems there are cases where the fragment has been tainted by the Calamity.”

The first thing that came to mind was the SS-Rank dungeon I went to in the USA. I caught a Spider in that dungeon, and a butterfly sword came out. I was puzzled then, but now I think I understand why.

“It must be a similar feeling to when Taeyang Kang was here.”

It seemed like Taeyang Kang was also affected by the Ice Calamity. When I entered the hidden dungeon, its true form, with flowers in full bloom, was revealed.

“Then there are dungeons that have their true form and dungeons that have been corrupted by the Calamity.”

Cho-i Hyeon walked slowly, lost in thought. She now knew that dungeons were divided into two types, but she wasn’t sure what to do about them.

“For now, it’s clear that the three dungeons I’ve passed through have been corrupted by the Calamity.”

Just looking at how the monsters were confined in these prisons confirmed it. This dungeon must have had a different original owner.

“I’ll only be able to get the hidden item if I find them, right?”