Chapter 32

Cho-i chased after him and looked ahead. The dungeon was wide open, and Paehyeok’s dungeon management team was setting up caution tape in front of it.

“What’s the dungeon’s status?”

“It’s stable. If you clear it once this month, it will be managed without any problems.”

“Alright.”

“What is it? What’s going on?”

When Cho-i popped out from behind Taehyeok and asked, he turned to look at her.

“Just one act of kindness, tell me.”

“Since you’ve already shown one, can’t you show two?”

“Mouth.”

“Yes, sir.”

He held his temples for a moment and said,

“The name of this dungeon is Silence of Angels.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s where higher-ranking monsters from the trial dungeon you cleared last time appear. And you’ll understand why it’s called Silence of Angels once you go inside.”

“So, you’re saying I should just experience everything as I go? Okay. Like this.”

Cho-i grinned.

“The Guild Master himself is guiding me, so I have to work hard, right?”

At those words, Tae-hyuk smiled noticeably.

“You’ll have to work hard.”

Cho-i still didn’t understand the meaning of that smile. Cho-i’s eyes widened as he tilted his head and looked inside the dungeon.

‘If this is a higher-level dungeon than the last trial dungeon, then winged monsters similar to those must appear.’

Then the strategy… The Guild Master will probably just attack from the back. But if he wanted to see my tanking skills, an A-plus rank, who is at the same level, would have been most appropriate. Why is it an S-Rank dungeon?

‘Why do I feel so uneasy?’

Cho-i tapped his chin with his finger and looked at Tae-hyuk, who was talking to the dungeon management team.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Of course, if the other person looked back, he would smile as if nothing was wrong.

‘Ah, it’ll be fine.’

Anyway, he doesn’t die. So, Cho-i could only enter the dungeon with Tae-hyuk after the dungeon management team had finished their preparations. When he opened his eyes with a dizzy sensation, he saw larger winged monsters in a similar setting to the previous dungeon.

“They’re much bigger, aren’t they?”

The entrance was a bit high, which allowed Cho-i to observe the monsters from above.

“They don’t have eyes, do they?”

“Look closely.”

“Oh, instead they have mouths.”

“And sharp teeth too.”

“They even have several…”

Cho-i looked down indifferently and asked Tae-hyuk,

“Now that I think about it, why did you only bring me? I think I know, but I’ll ask just in case.”

“If there’s something interesting, you have to trial it.”

“I didn’t think you’d be so open about it.”

“Why should I hide it?”

“Well, I have nothing to say to that.”

Cho-i stood idly, looking down at the monsters.

“How much will you help?”

“Enough.”

“How much is ‘enough’?”

“Well, you’ll find out when you experience it.”

Cho-i felt that bad premonition from earlier return. But she couldn’t figure out exactly what the Entity was, so she stared at him for a long time.

“Well, as you said, I’ll find out when I experience it.”

She dislikes thinking for too long. So she immediately jumped down from a high place, opening her mouth. And then something suddenly occurred to her. -! A huge growl erupted, and as all the monsters looked at her, Cho-i finally realized his true intentions.

“You—”

Cho-i, with her back to the monsters swarming her, looked at Taehyeok, who was still standing high above. She let out a hollow laugh as she heard the monsters shriek and approach her.

“You want to know how many times I die and live, don’t you?”

Then the horde of monsters overwhelmed her. Her screams mixed with the monsters’ shrieks.

“How many times I die.”

Her body was torn apart and dragged among the monsters.

“How many times I can live.”

The reason this place is called Silence of Angels is… Shrieeeeek! …it was a naming sense imbued with someone’s wish that they would just be silent. The monsters’ teeth began to tear into Cho-i’s body, tasting her. Cho-i knew this sensation. It felt like when she was trapped in the Mantis’s lair.

“Aaah!”

She screamed. The sensation of her whole body being torn apart wasn’t unfamiliar, but it was a feeling she could never get used to. She raised her sword. And with her shield, she struck the head of a monster that was biting a large chunk out of her waist. She impaled and killed the monster clinging to her arm with her sword, and stomped on the one attached to her leg, tearing its pretty mouth to shreds. But the monsters drawn by Cho-i’s Shout were not just one or two. Monsters of the same or similar rank as her.

“Haha…”

Cho-i felt overwhelmed for the first time in a very long time. Annoyance surged through her because of the man’s face, who stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking down at her.

“Taehyeok Sa!”

At her indignant call, the corners of his mouth turned up.

“How far, how many times will you revive?”

“Just ask me with words, you son of a bitch!”

And then, screams again.

“Gah!”

The monster’s sharp teeth, having sustained continuous damage, broke through the pierced equipment and lodged into her heart. She coughed up regurgitated blood and collapsed to the floor. More monsters swarmed her body as she lay on the floor. It was chaos. And it was hell. Cho-i clearly saw Taehyeok Sa’s eyes through the gaps of the swarming monsters.

“I’ll get that son of a bitch.”

Crunch, crunch, gnaw, gulp. Snap. The sensation of her entire body being gnawed at was relentless. Screams from the monsters and Cho-i’s screams mingled together, ringing out like a messy orchestra.

“She’s dead.”

And then, at some point, Cho-i’s screams abruptly stopped. Taehyeok, keenly noticing the entities, looked down at them. And soon after.

“Gasp.”

Her breathing returned. She was still among the monsters. She had already killed a few, but twenty individuals still remained.

“You damn bastard!” “I don’t know who you’re talking to.”

Cho-i cursed and swung her sword widely. Her arm ached as if it would break from the recoil of the monsters that weren’t cut down in one go, but she didn’t care. She cut them about halfway through in one sweep and leaped up. Then she rode on top of them, hunting the entities as if butchering them. Killing, slicing, tearing, and being sliced, torn, and killed. Cho-i succeeded in hunting all the monsters that had swarmed her. It was after she had died twenty and a half times. The half meant she was roughly half alive now. She looked up at Taehyeok Sa with burning eyes.

“You, you bastard. Come here.” “If I come, can you handle it?”

Cho-i, seeing nothing else, immediately rushed at him. But soon after.

“Gah!”

She was blocked by an invisible wall and bounced far away. Her shoulder was crushed like a wound from falling from a high place. She glared at him, her brows furrowed in pain as she slowly regenerated.

“You came in here intending this from the start, didn’t you?” “I offer my condolences to you, who only now realize it.” “Condolences, my ass, you son of a bitch.”

Cho-i gritted her teeth and spewed curses. He merely smiled in front of her.

“I won’t let you get away with this.” “What will you do if I don’t get away with it?” “First, when I get out.” “When you get out?” “I’ll spread rumors that I dumped you.” “….” “Why, what.” “Is that a joke you can make in this situation?” “It’s not a joke, I’m serious. You bastard.”

Cho-i staggered to her feet. The regeneration was roughly complete.

“What will you do now?” “What do you mean, what will I do?”

Cho-i was now completely abandoning honorifics and titles, Guild Master or not, and was speaking informally.

“First, I have to break through.”

Cho-i looked forward again. That bastard wouldn’t help her anyway, curious about his own limits. And this was an S-Rank dungeon. That meant the regular monsters were A-Rank or A+ Rank.

‘This is going to be incredibly difficult.’

She suppressed her heavy breathing and looked at the monsters gathered in the distance again. Fighting them one by one didn’t suit her temperament anyway. And the problem was…

‘They said growth would be slow, but now I don’t even get notifications about my stats going up.’

Despite killing all the monsters that were her equal, her stats hadn’t increased. Cho-i opened her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Just stay hidden somewhere out of sight.”

“Now you’re really talking back?”

“I’ve been talking back since earlier, haven’t I? Would you mind not talking to me, because I’m pissed off?”

And Cho-i ran forward alone. Taehyeok Sa followed her. Cho-i hadn’t realized yet that she hadn’t opened the reward she received last time. For several days after that, Cho-i’s death show unfolded. It was literally a repetition of killing and being killed, taking down monsters. Completely battered, she would occasionally glare at Taehyeok Sa as if to kill him, her brow furrowed, before swinging her Sword and Shield again.

“I’m scared to death.”

Taehyeok Sa watched her from afar, floating serenely in the air. There was a good reason why Cho-i looked at him as if she wanted to devour him.

“Already two hundred and thirty times.”

That was the number of times she had died to get this far. Taehyeok sat in the air, scratching his lower lip with his index finger.

“Where did something like that come from?”

“Aaaah!”

As he was lost in thought, she screamed, her thigh deeply bitten. Cho-i stabbed her sword deep into the monster’s maw, killed it, and broke free. Despite going alone, she was approaching the boss monster at a surprisingly fast pace. Taehyeok was also surprised because of the Entity.

“At this speed… almost…”

Who knew not dying would be so helpful in combat.

“It’s about time for the highlight.”

He had to admit it. She didn’t die. The person Cho-i Hyeon was a talent not to be missed, and a form of entertainment.

“Step back. Or don’t, it’s fine.”

You won’t die anyway. But those words didn’t reach Cho-i, who was surrounded by monsters. Just like that, wind began to blow around Taehyeok. No, the air began to move.

“It’s already too late.”

“What?!”

And the massive flow of air began to accelerate, creating a storm. Numerous monsters gathered around Cho-i were lifted into the air, swirling with the current. And Cho-i was included among them.

“You goddamn son of a bitch!”