Chapter 56

Siyoon walked carefully through the forest alongside his party.

The forest was now more dangerous than before.

The central pillar’s activation had collapsed the boundaries that once divided the zones.

This meant that the large-scale movement of magic beasts, previously restricted, was now possible.

‘So the System expressed this phenomenon as a Great Migration.’

Magic beasts from prey-scarce zones were drawn by instinct to abundant areas.

To safer, more suitable environments for breeding.

As the beasts migrated, their territories naturally overlapped.

The beasts fought one another, and the bloodshed attracted more, spreading like contagion.

They were creatures driven solely by instinct.

This was the tropical rainforest as it stood now.

‘I need to avoid combat as much as possible.’

sabak.

Siyoon was more on edge than ever before.

Footsteps. Sounds of combat. The scent of blood buried beneath the fragrance of vegetation.

Tracks left by magic beasts and the positions of roughly snapped trees.

He even calculated the rhythm and direction of the earth’s tremors, reconstructing a portion of the rainforest in his mind.

This ability emerged from his already Enhancement-sharpened senses combined with the effects of Path Finder.

At this moment, no guide could match him.

“Huu.”

Siyoon led the party using his intuition and the map in his mind.

Based on what he sensed, there were at least thirty magic beasts fighting nearby.

‘More beasts will swarm here soon. We need to get out before that happens.’

Fighting through the more aggressive-than-usual beasts was suicide.

The commotion of battle would only summon more.

If they didn’t want to die in endless combat, they had to move stealthily.

seureuk.

Siyoon signaled with a hand gesture.

They moved between trees, using dense branches and undergrowth to conceal themselves.

Fortunately, they all knew how to suppress their presence to some degree.

‘Smooth sailing. If we keep this up, we’ll arrive safely.’

Behind Siyoon, Seo Eunhyun and Jin Baekseon followed quietly, keeping low.

At the rear was the sturdiest among them, Jang Taeju, prepared for any contingency.

Apparently unwilling to fight such a large pack of beasts, he was even suppressing the sound of his breathing.

‘But even if we arrive, it’ll be troublesome if there are beasts near the pillar.’

Siyoon assessed the situation coolly.

The ultimate goal of the Hidden Route was to activate the pillar in the deep zone.

If beasts lurked nearby, avoiding combat would become difficult.

‘If that happens, I’ll send Jang Taeju charging forward, and the rest of us will unleash everything to end it quickly.’

If they couldn’t avoid it, they’d have to finish it swiftly.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more danger would pile onto them exponentially.

So they had two options.

Risk it and kill the beasts quickly, or pray there were none.

‘I’d prefer there aren’t any, if possible.’

tak.

With these thoughts, Siyoon covered ground via the shortest route.

He threaded masterfully between the territories where beasts were fighting.

After braving several close calls, they finally reached the pillar.

‘No beasts nearby.’

Siyoon’s eyes swept the surroundings quickly.

Whether to call it fortunate or not, the worst-case scenario hadn’t materialized.

For reference, the worst case was being caught mid-battle with beasts when more arrived in succession.

Perhaps sharing similar thoughts, the party let out faint sighs of relief.

“Thank god there are no beasts near the pillar. We got lucky.”

“Agreed. We avoided the worst.”

But the tension in their weapon-wielding hands hadn’t eased.

They remained vigilant of their surroundings.

“We’ll keep watch. Finish it quickly.”

“Will do.”

In dungeons, mutual cover was the most fundamental of fundamentals.

As he had done before, Siyoon produced a pebble he’d picked up earlier.

And crushed it in his hand.

wadeuk.

The pebble crumbled to dust, slipping through his fingers.

Though the pebble had no real effect, this procedure was essential.

On the surface, Siyoon was restoring the pillar using a restoration item.

The Enhancement skill was a secret he had to conceal as much as possible.

[ …Enhancement successful. ]

[ ‘Enseodotar’s Soul Pillar +6’ ]

Every time Siyoon attempted Enhancement, the level shot up steadily.

The pillar, now at +6, overflowed with brilliant light.

‘Now all that’s left is activation.’

What would happen this time?

He hadn’t the faintest idea.

Previously, the method had involved hunting beasts, but now the beasts were fighting each other.

This too was part of the Hidden Route’s progression, so something was bound to happen.

tek.

Siyoon placed his hand on the pillar.

‘No point thinking too deeply about it anyway.’

At the point where prediction became impossible, the matter was already out of his hands.

All that remained was to accept reality and exert his strength to push through.

[ Activating ‘Enseodotar’s Soul Pillar +6‘. ]

paat!

Upon activation, a massive beam of light shot skyward from the pillar, just as the others had.

At that moment, something strange occurred.

The light pillars from the entrance zone and the central zone began connecting with the deep zone.

Then, a new message appeared before them.

[ You have activated the pillar located in the deep zone. ]

[ Objective achieved. ]

[ All three pillars across each zone have been activated. ]

[ Hidden zone revealed. ]

kugugugugugugu.

The entire tropical rainforest shook.

From deep underground. An earthquake that felt as though the earth itself was splitting in half.

The impact uprooted trees, sending them toppling like dominoes.

“What’s with this sudden earthquake…!”

“It must be connected to that message just now!”

“Careful, don’t get swept away!”

The party barely maintained their balance during the powerful quake, keeping watch on their surroundings.

Even the magic beasts that had been fighting to the death sensed the danger and looked up at the sky.

That was when it happened.

jjeojik.

The ground split, and a small sprout emerged—

Seeing the new shoot visible beyond the rainforest, Seo Eunhyun broke into a cold sweat.

“What… is that?”

“A sprout? No, if it’s visible from this distance, it must be enormous…”

The sprout grew in an instant, splitting into multiple stems that began intertwining with one another.

The tangled stems transformed into thick tree trunks, encroaching on the surrounding area.

The widening rifts in the ground and the tree that grew massive enough to swallow the sky.

Siyoon realized it bore a resemblance to the ancient tree he had seen underground.

A strange unease flashed through his mind.

The massive ancient tree and the tangled passages he had seen while navigating underground.

And the three pillars divided across zones on the surface.

The scattered pieces of information lined up, conjuring an ominous picture.

‘The ancient tree underground and the altar reportedly sighted in another zone.’

And the countless plants that had grown, extending not only through the caverns but through the passages as well.

Though there was no other concrete information, one thing was certain.

The pillars they had activated had been suppressing the ancient tree’s growth.

[ Zone unlock complete. ]

[ ‘Heart of the Rainforest’ has appeared in the dungeon. ]

[ From this point forward, all zones merge into one. ]

[ All magic beasts’ attack power and speed increase. ]

[ New objective updated. ]

[ Defeat the boss located in the ‘Heart of the Rainforest’ and destroy the Core. ]

New messages appeared.

But the party’s attention was focused on a single point.

The massive ancient tree that had rapidly grown in the deepest part of the deep zone.

The Heart of the Rainforest.

* * *

Hidden Routes were said to be connected to a dungeon’s secret lore.

As a result, they were far more demanding than standard progression, with frequent unexpected events.

So they hadn’t entirely failed to anticipate this kind of situation.

However…

“I never expected the scale to balloon this much.”

Jin Baekseon said.

The others nodded in agreement.

This dungeon had been assessed as B-Rank from the outside.

But now that the Heart of the Rainforest had appeared, it could be said to have been upgraded to at least A-Rank.

Not only had all the dungeon’s magic beasts become more aggressive, but a special objective had appeared as well.

And there was an even bigger problem.

“You’re saying we have to fight through all those beasts to get there?”

“I was prepared, but the difficulty keeps escalating to insane levels.”

From the deep zone pillar where they stood to the Heart of the Rainforest wasn’t far.

At a full sprint, about ten minutes.

In other words, they had to fight through packs of frenzied magic beasts for ten minutes straight.

As everyone tensed at the increasingly dangerous atmosphere of the rainforest—

Siyoon’s thinking was a little different.

“There’s no need to fight the beasts head-on.”

“What?”

“What are you talking about…”

The party looked at Siyoon reflexively, then their expressions shifted to realization.

Having acquired a new skill, Siyoon was exceptionally capable as a guide.

After all, reaching this point without combat had been thanks to his efforts.

tek.

At that moment, Siyoon pulled doping agents from his bag and tossed them out.

They were the special Embertic mk.2 he had provided before.

“Everyone drink up and keep up.”

“Do you have some kind of plan?”

“You all know that getting into combat would only work against us.”

He pointed at the ancient tree towering into the sky—the Heart of the Rainforest—and spoke.

“So we sprint to the Heart of the Rainforest before any fighting breaks out.”

“…Do you seriously think that’s possible?”

“Damn.”

At first glance, it sounded absurd.

But right now, they all knew instinctively.

That with Siyoon’s abilities, this insane plan might actually work.

* * *

In truth, Siyoon had considered two options.

Arriving quickly while avoiding combat with beasts, or using the underground passages again.

But using the underground passages now carried considerable risk.

‘We were chased by countless insect-type beasts down there, after all.’

With the Heart of the Rainforest having appeared so dramatically, there was no telling what other variables might emerge.

So the best option was surface travel, where variables were at least somewhat controllable.

kwang!

Siyoon dashed through the forest.

Behind him, Jang Taeju, Seo Eunhyun, and Jin Baekseon followed fiercely.

If before they had moved stealthily, now it was a race for speed.

They had to reach that ancient tree while minimizing contact with the beasts.

-keuwoeo-eo-eo!!

-kaak!

Magic beasts that sensed their presence roared and charged.

But no one panicked.

They had expected this much.

Avoiding combat entirely against this many beasts was impossible from the start.

What mattered was breaking through in one go, minimizing the time spent bogged down.

kwadeudeudeuk!

Siyoon instantly overlaid Enhancement on his arms, hands, and legs.

Using his running momentum, he charged straight in and struck the beast’s body with a knife hand.

The overwhelming force from Enhancement shattered the beast’s body completely.

‘The beasts haven’t swarmed in large numbers yet.’

Siyoon immediately leapt between trees, assessing the situation.

Their exposed presence had drawn beasts toward them, but not in great numbers.

kwang!

Just then, Jang Taeju bashed away a beast that appeared from the side with his shield.

Toward the momentarily defenseless beast, Jin Baekseon swung his sword.

The beast’s legs were completely severed, and its body crashed into the ground.

Seo Eunhyun was no different.

seogeok, papapapat!

His reverse-grip dual daggers flashed in different directions simultaneously.

The dagger blades didn’t target vital points but deeply slashed the legs, severing them completely.

Since their objective lay elsewhere, killing the beasts was unnecessary.

So attacking the legs to prevent pursuit and moving on was the best approach.

Everyone understood this without Siyoon needing to explain.

With Siyoon switching to unarmed combat on the front line—

And the rest covering the flanks, they pierced through the rainforest’s beasts.

As a result, they finally reached the massive ancient tree.

The entrance to the Heart of the Rainforest.